Catholic News

  • Vote on female diaconate throws Australian plenary council into crisis (Catholic Weekly (Australia))
    In 2018, Pope Francis approved the Australian bishops’ request to convoke their first plenary council (definition) since 1937. Non-bishop participants in the plenary council have a consultative vote; bishops have a deliberative vote, with a two-thirds majority required for resolutions to pass. A resolution calling for the ordination of women to the diaconate (should the Vatican approve), after gaining the support of over 70% in the consultative vote, gained the support of the majority of bishops, but not the required two-thirds majority. “This is not the way we were anticipating or hoping the process would go,” said Bishop Shane Mackinlay of Sandhurst, the plenary council’s vice president. “It is disappointing and a lot of people – women and men, priests and laypeople and bishops – were very distressed” at the failure of the resolution to pass.
  • Pope will appoint women to help choose Bishops (Vatican News)
    Pope Francis said that he plans to add women to the Dicastery for Bishops—the Vatican body that selects candidates for episcopal consecration. In the third posted segment of a wide-ranging interview with Reuters, the Pope said that “two women will be going to the Congregation of Bishops.” The addition of women to a body previously composed entirely of bishops would “open things up a little bit,” he said. Pope Francis pointed out that he has already appointed a woman religious, Sister Raffaella Petrini, as the second-ranking official in the Governorate of the Vatican city-state.
  • Retired Pope surprised to be alive (CNA)
    Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI has expressed surprise that he is still alive, his longtime personal secretary has revealed. Archbishop Georg Gänswein recalled with emotion that the former Pope said: “I would never have believed that the last stretch of the journey... to the gates of St. Peter would be so long.” Archbishop Gänswein said that Benedict made that remark “a few years ago.” Today, he reported, the retired Pope is very frail, and his speaking voice is “increasingly low and incomprehensible,” but his mind remains alert.
  • Maine religious schools may face another hurdle to state tuition (AP)
    In Carson v. Makin, the US Supreme Court struck down a Maine law barring tuition aid for religious schools. Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey responded by blasting the Christian schools that were plaintiffs in the case. “The education provided by the schools at issue here is inimical to a public education,” he said. “They promote a single religion to the exclusion of all others, refuse to admit gay and transgender children, and openly discriminate in hiring teachers and staff.” Frey insisted that schools would not receive state tuition reimbursements if they did not abide by the Maine Human Rights Act.
  • Mississippi judge allows abortion ban to take effect (AP)
    A judge in Mississippi has turned down a request from the operators of the state’s only abortion clinic to block implementation of new law. The clinic is expected to close on July 6, as the law will take effect the next day. The Mississippi law allows for legal abortion only in cases of rape or danger to the mother’s life. It was passed in 2007 as a “trigger law,” to take effect when the US Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade decision.
  • Kidnapped Nigerian priest regains freedom (Nigerian Tribune)
    Father Emmanuel Silas, who was kidnapped on July 4, has regained his freedom. Father Silas ministers in Kaduna State (map), which “has been one of the hardest hit by the wave of violence and criminality that is sweeping large parts of Nigeria,” according to an Aid to the Church in Need report on the abductions of priests there.
  • Cardinal Ranjith demands resignation of Sri Lanka leader (AsiaNews)
    Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo, Sri Lanka, has renewed his call for the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. At a July 5 press conference the cardinal charged that Rajapaksa has lost the ability to lead the country through a period of crisis. He said that the president’s family “considers their political power more important than the wellbeing of the people.”
  • Florida 15-week abortion ban reinstated after legal appeal (AP)
    A judge in Florida, the nation’s third most populous state, ruled that the right to privacy in the state’s constitution includes a right to abortion. The state has appealed the ruling, and the law is again in effect.
  • 19 Catholic institutions announce divestment from fossil fuels (Catholic Bishops' Conference of England & Wales)
    Nineteen Catholic institutions, including the Archdiocese of Armagh and Marquette University, were among the 35 Christian institutions that announced their divestment from fossil fuels on July 5. “I think it’s going to get to the stage (where) it will be an embarrassment for any Catholic institution that hasn’t divested,” said Archbishop William Nolan of Glasgow. This has gone from a purely symbolic gesture to something much, much more than that. Because we’re now advocating, and Pope Francis is advocating as well, (for) a complete change of lifestyle.” “In 2020, the Vatican called on Catholic institutions to divest from fossil fuel companies given their harm to the environment,” added Father Joshtrom Isaac Kureethadam, Coordinator of the Ecology Sector in the Dicastery for Integral Human Development. “I applaud these prophetic institutions divesting today and encourage every institution in the world to reduce our dependence on such harmful energy sources by divesting from fossil fuels.”
  • Pope speaks of personal prayer life in new podcast (Vatican News)
    Pope Francis spoke about his personal prayer life in a new podcast, recorded with an Argentine priest, Father Guillermo Marco. The Pope said that “the prayer of a bishop is to take care of the flock, to put it in evangelical terms, and the Pope is a bishop, so he follows the same style. It is similar: to ask, to intercede, to give thanks for all the good that is done.” Pope Francis said that he prefers to pray early in the day, “because if you don’t pray in the morning, you don’t pray anymore, because you are caught in the meat grinder.” Questioned about the effects of growing older, the Pope said that: “At this age, I laugh at myself and move on.” Father Marco is an old acquaintance of the Pontiff, having served as press spokesman for the Buenos Aires archdiocese under then-Cardinal Bergoglio.
  • Suspected arson causes $1M in damage to Catholic school in Ohio (CNA)
    The fire at St. Anthony of Padua School in Lorain, OH, is one of at least 144 acts of vandalism, arson, and other destruction since May 2020 at Catholic sites in the United States.
  • 5 Catholic parishes in Wisconsin vandalized (Spectrum News)
    Five parishes in Wisconsin, four of them in Chippewa County (map), have been vandalized in recent weeks. Since May 2020, there have been at least 144 acts of vandalism, arson, and other destruction at parishes and other Catholic sites in the United States.
  • Catholic leaders welcome Supreme Court ruling in Biden v. Texas (USCCB)
    In Biden v. Texas, the US Supreme Court ruled that President Biden has the authority to end a Trump-era asylum policy. “Today’s decision recognizes and preserves the executive branch’s ability to reverse untenable, illegal, and immoral policies, regardless of who is in office,” Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville, chairman of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration, said in a statement joined by the leaders of Catholic Charities USA and CLINIC (the Catholic Legal Immigration Network). “While this ruling helps pave the way forward, it does not resolve the ongoing challenges at our country’s southwest border,” they added. “We remain committed to supporting immigration policies that produce more sustainable solutions, respect the God-given dignity of migrants, and better reflect Christ’s call to welcome the stranger.”
  • Papal condolences upon death of Cardinal Cláudio Hummes (Vatican News)
    In a telegram of condolence following the death of Cardinal Claudio Hummes, Pope Francis spoke of the prelate’s “dedicated and zealous service, always guided by Gospel values.” “I always carry vividly in my memory the words which Dom Claudio said to me on 13 March 2013, asking me not to forget the poor,” the Pope added, referring to the date of his election by the College of Cardinals.
  • After shooting, Chicago cardinal urges unity to 'build path to safety and peace' (CNS)
    “Weapons designed to rapidly destroy human bodies have no place in civil society,” Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago said after the Highland Park parade shooting, which left seven dead and 46 injured. “Please join me in praying for the victims and their loved ones, who never imagined a July 4 celebration could become a killing ground.”
  • Pope scoffs at rumors of resignation, cancer (Reuters)
    Pope Francis scoffed at reports that he might soon resign, said that he may yet travel to Ukraine and Moscow, and commented on the US Supreme Court’s decision on abortion, in his latest published interview. In a conversation with Philip Pullella, the veteran Vatican correspondent for Reuters, the Pope said that he is not contemplating resignation, and the prospect “never entered my mind” when he scheduled a visit to the city of L’Aquila, and the tomb of Pope Celestine V, who resigned in 1294. He allowed that he could resign in the future, if he finds himself unable to fulfill his role, but indicated that was not likely soon. “God will say,” he concluded. Pope Francis also laughed off a rumor that surgeon discovered cancer during his abdominal surgery last year, saying that doctors “didn’t tell me anything about it.” Questioned about the US Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs case, the Pope said that he was not acquainted with the legal arguments, but reiterated his condemnation of abortion, saying that it is tantamount to “hiring a hit man.” However he refused to support American prelates who have said that pro-abortion politicians should be barred from Communion. He said that “when a bishop loses his pastoral nature, it causes a political problem.” In perhaps his most surprising comment, Pope Francis said that he still hopes to visit Ukraine, but may visit Russia first, in a bid to advance the cause of peace. He suggested that he might make the trip after his scheduled visit to Canada later this month. Finally the Pope disclosed that he had suffered a “small fracture” in his knee recently, complicating problems caused by an inflamed ligament. He said that the painful condition is gradually improving.
  • Pope hopes for renewal of secret China accord (Reuters)
    Pope Francis says that a secret diplomatic agreement with China, governing the appointment of new bishops, is working well, and he hopes it will be renewed in October. In an interview with Reuters, the Pope conceded that the appointment of new Chinese bishops is “going slowly.” He suggested this was “the Chinese way,” adding “no one can rush them.” Since the reached the accord with Beijing in 2018, allowing the Chinese regime to select episcopal candidates for the Pope’s approval, only six new Catholic bishops have been installed; about 40 more appointments are still overdue. Defending the agreement—which has been criticized for allowing the Chinese government to select Church leaders—Pope Francis said that the Vatican was practicing the “martyrdom of patience.” He likened the situation to the Cold War diplomacy undertaken by Cardinal Agostino Casaroli when he was Vatican Secretary of State, which was also criticized for refusing to confront Communist regimes.
  • Investigative series on abuse in New Zealand's Marist schools (Stuff.co.NZ)
    New Zealand’s largest news website has begun a five-part investigative series on child sexual abuse in Marist institutions in New Zealand. The Marists are the Society of Mary, founded in 1816 by Venerable Jean-Claude Colin; three Marist schools in New Zealand have graduated hundreds of priests and numerous prominent alumni, including leaders of New Zealand, Kiribati, Samoa, and Tonga.
  • 'Peace begins with each of us,' Pope preaches to Rome's Congolese community (Vatican News)
    On July 3, Pope Francis celebrated the Mass of the 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time in St. Peter’s Basilica for Rome’s Congolese community. The Mass was scheduled after the announcement of the postponement of his apostolic journey to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and South Sudan. In his homily, the Pope discussed “three missionary surprises that Jesus reserves for the disciples and reserves to every one of us, if we listen to him”: “equipment,” “the message,” and “our style.” He concluded, “May the Lord help us to be missionaries today, going in the company of our brother and our sister, with peace and God’s closeness on our lips; bearing in our heart the gentleness and goodness of Jesus, the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world.”
  • Vatican diplomat warns: expect crackdown on Church in Hong Kong (Reuters)
    The Vatican’s former top diplomatic representative in Hong Kong has warned missionaries to expect further restrictions on religious freedom. “Change is coming, and you’d better be prepared,” said Archbishop Javier Herrara-Corona, who was recently named apostolic nuncio to Congo and Gabon.
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