Catholic News

• Amazon missionary bishop rips synod's working document (CNA)
  Bishop José Luís Azcona Hermoso, 79, said that the working document of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region ignores rampant pedophilia and the spread of Pentecostalism. The document, he added, is “ecclesiologically devoid of theological and pastoral foundations, annulling the Gospel of salvation.”
• Bishop denies that Pope Francis has meddled in Argentine politics (Crux)
  Bishop Sergio Buenanueva of San Francisco (Argentina) dismissed a recent Financial Times report as “science fiction.”
• At least 150 Christians arrested in Eritrea clampdown (World Watch Monitor)
  The oppressive regime recently closed and nationalized Catholic health care institutions.
• Benin's bishops deny reports they have ceased to meditate between government, opposition (Vatican News)
  Benin, a West African nation of 11.3 million (map), is 28% Muslim, 26% Catholic, and 14% Protestant, with 12% adhering to the traditional regional Vodun religion. The nation’s government has taken legal action against opposition leaders.
• US bishops hire a new spokeswoman, 1 month after another stirred controversy with her pro-Trump tweets (Washington Post)
  Chieko Noguchi, the new director of the Office of Public Affairs, has worked as the Archdiocese of Washington’s director of media and public relations since 2011. She previously worked for public relations agencies and for Rep. Newt Gingrich when he was Speaker of the House of Representatives.
• Death penalty an 'attack on the inviolability' of the human person, prelate says (Vatican News)
  Bishop Frank Dewane, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, was commenting on the execution of a Texas man who has maintained his innocence since a 19-year-old woman was murdered in 1998.
• World's oldest living bishop, who is uncle of Chile's president, accused of abuse (Crux)
  “I find it hard to believe because I know his behavior, his attitude over a lifetime, and I find it hard to believe a complaint that is made against a man who’s 103 years old today, over an alleged event that occurred 50 years ago,” said Chilean President Sebastian Piñera after the Holy See’s embassy announced the allegation.
• New head of National Catholic Bioethics Center sees threats to human life, dignity advancing at 'breakneck speed' (CNS)
  “We have never seen this speed of scientific change,” said Joseph Meaney. “There are huge developments in robotics, movements to replace organs and limbs with robotic parts, artificial intelligence implants directly into the brain. These all were science fiction so recently.”
• Breakaway St. Louis parish declines Episcopal affiliation over property rights concerns (Episcopal News Service)
  St. Stanislaus Kostka parish officially split from the Church in 2013.
• Indian priest, 5 nuns accused of defaming dismissed nun (UCANews)
  The Franciscan Clarist Congregation, with Vatican approval, dismissed Sister Lucy Kalapura for disobedience; the nun maintains she was dismissed because she called for the arrest of a bishop accused of rape.
• Philadelphia priest arrested for spending Church money on beach house, boyfriends (Philly Magazine)
  The charges against Msgr. Joseph McLoone are “serious and disturbing,” a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia said. “The archdiocese and the parish will continue to cooperate with law enforcement as the criminal matter enters its next phase.”
• New York Post op-ed: 'Catholic-haters have just convicted an innocent cardinal' (New York Post)
  Julia Yost, senior editor of First Things, wrote this op-ed after an Australian appeals court upheld the conviction of Cardinal George Pell
• Burkina Faso's leading prelate warns jihadists could eliminate the Christian presence there (Fides)
  The West African nation of 19.7 million (map) is 62% Muslim, 23% Catholic, 7% Protestant, and 8% animist.
• Prelates applaud proposed regulations preventing government discrimination against faith-based federal contractors (USCCB)
  Three bishops who chair committees of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed a US Department of Labor proposal clarifying civil rights protections for religious organizations. The proposal also attracted some criticism.
• Pope welcomes presence of autistic girl who interrupts general audience (CNS)
  A 10-year-old autistic girl unexpectedly started singing and dancing on stage during his August 21 general audience. The Pope then said, “I ask one thing, but everyone should respond in their heart: ‘Did I pray for her; looking at her, did I pray so that the Lord would heal her, would protect her? Did I pray for her parents and for family?’ When we see any person suffering, we must always pray.”
• Melbourne, Sydney archbishops react to Pell decision (Archdiocese of Melbourne)
  “I respectfully receive the Court’s decision, and I encourage everyone to do the same,” said Archbishop Peter Comensoli of Melbourne. Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney added, “Reasonable people have taken different views when presented with the same evidence and I urge everyone to maintain calm and civility.” The Holy See and Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference also issued statements.
• Christian woman named to Sudan's transitional ruling council (Vatican News)
  Sudan (map) is a Muslim nation of 43.1 million in which Christians have faced persecution. Omar al-Bashir, Sudan’s ruler since 1989, was overthrown in an April coup.
• Jesuit superior general says Satan is a 'symbolic reality' (CNA)
  After Father Arturo Sosa, SJ, made similar comments in 2017, a Jesuit spokesman said that the superior general does not deny the devil’s existence.
• British bishops call for a Christian spirituality of ecology (CBCEW)
  “The challenge before us is to learn to care, in the same breath, not only for the beauty of God’s creation, its bounteous biodiversity and life sustaining ecosystems, but also for the unborn, the elderly, those who are victims of exploitation, and others thrown away by a society focused on the satisfaction of our supposed needs as consumers,” the bishops of England and Wales said in a statement.
• Hindu extremists attack 40 Catholic pilgrims walking to Marian shrine in India (UCANews)
  “The attack is an open threat to the constitutional freedom of expression and freedom of movement to a citizen of the country,” said Father Cyril Joseph, director spokesman for the Archdiocese of Bangalore.
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