Catholic News

• Pope calls idea of declaring Mary co-redemptrix 'foolishness' (Crux)
  Pope Francis made the comment during his Spanish-language homily at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (video, booklet).
• Cardinal Turkson sees Greta Thunberg as model for Catholic social teaching (Crux)
  Cardinal Peter Turkson, the prefect of the dicastery for Integral Human Development, praised Greta Thunberg as “a great witness to what the Church teaches on the care of the environment and the care of the person.”
• Did Australian police use Pell investigation to distract from internal scandal? (CNA)
  An investigation into abuse charges against Cardinal George Pell was seen by senior police officials as a way to shift attention from a major scandal brewing in the police department itself. In an email memo on the internal scandal, the deputy police commissioner in Victoria wrote that the Pell charges “will knock this way off the front page.”
• Prelate foresees 'hard times' for Church in Lebanon (Aid to the Church in Need)
  “We are living like in an earthquake,” said Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop George Bacouni of Beirut, the capital of the Middle Eastern nation of 6.1 million (map). “We’re facing enormous economic problems, including a failing banking system … There’s a risk of losing the young generation: they don’t want to stay in Lebanon.”
• CDF official: No link between celibacy or homosexuality and pedophilia (Revista Palabra (Spanish))
  While denying a link between homosexuality and pedophilia, Father Jordi Bertomeu Farnos, an official of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, said that “a certain homosexual subculture typical of some clerical groups and present in certain seminaries or novitiates, with the consequent tolerance of active homosexual behaviors, may lead to pederasty.” The priest also criticized the notion that clerical celibacy was a medieval innovation; instead, he said, scholars have shown that it dates from the time of the Gospels.
• Chaldean patriarch calls for muted Christmas celebrations in Iraq (AP)
  “It’s not normal to celebrate our joy and happiness while others are dying,” said Cardinal Louis Raphaël I Sako, referring to the killing of hundreds of demonstrators.
• Independent abortion clinics bemoan their shrinking numbers (National Right to Life News)
  The number of independent abortion clinics in the US—that is, those not affiliated with Planned Parenthood, hospitals, or physician’s offices—has fallen over 32% since 2012.
• Pope marks 50th anniversary of priestly ordination (Vatican News)
  Born in 1936, the future Pope Francis entered the Society of Jesus in 1958 and was ordained to the priesthood on December 13, 1969. Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, called for prayers for the Pope.
• Priest, ex-spokesman for 9 Indian dioceses, arrested, accused of fraud (CNS)
  Father Anand Muttungal, 47, has been charged with “cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy and criminal breach of trust,” according to the report.
• No eulogies at funeral Masses, Cardinal Cupich affirms (National Catholic Reporter)
  “Eulogies, stories, and favorite songs are most appropriately shared during this time of visitation at the Evening Vigil,” the Archdiocese of Chicago’s revised guidelines state. During the funeral Mass, “the pastor of the parish may allow a reflection by one individual. This is to take place between the Post-Communion prayer and the end of Mass. The personal reflections should be limited to 3 minutes and are to be presented in writing to the pastoral minister assisting the family in advance of the service.”
• 'Avoid ecumenical Christmas celebrations during the Advent season,' Indonesian archbishop advises (UCANews)
  “A number of Catholics attend many ecumenical Christmas celebrations held by clans from early December,” said Archbishop Kornelius Sipayung of Medan. “This has seen the number of Catholics attending Christmas Masses decrease significantly because people become tired of going to many Christmas celebrations.”
• Avoid condescension toward those in need, Pope says (Vatican News)
  Speaking on December 13 to French representatives of groups involved in the Divine Mercy devotion, Pope Francis said that true Christian charity entails respect for, and solidarity with, the people in need—never treating them with condescension.
• Austrian bishop joins Archbishop Viganò in denouncing pro-LGBT concert at Vienna cathedral (LifeSite News)
  Bishop Andreas Laun, OSFS, 77, is the retired auxiliary bishop of Salzburg.
• No permits for Gaza residents to visit shrines for Christmas (AsiaNews)
  Christian residents of the Gaza Strip will not be allowed permission to visit Bethlehem or Jerusalem during the Christmas season. The Israeli army has announced that residents of Gaza, currently controlled by the Hamas movement, will be allowed to go abroad but not to enter other parts of Israel.
• Man charged with burning down New Jersey parish (NorthJersey.com)
  The parish, Most Blessed Sacrament Church, is located in Franklin Lakes, a town of 11,000.
• World peace requires 'ecological conversion,' Pope says in annual message (CWN)
  Peace is “a great and precious value, the object of our hope and the aspiration of the entire human family,” Pope Francis writes in his message for the World Day of Peace.
• Illinois court dismisses Catholic school principal's retaliatory discharge claim (Religion Clause)
  Mary Rehfield sued the Diocese of Joliet in 2017. She alleged she was fired “because she had reported threatening conduct from a parent to the police” and that diocesan officials were “making her a scapegoat for a situation they found embarrassing and problematic.”
• God's works are unpredictable, Pope tells musicians (Vatican Press Office)
  The Incarnation is a “disconcerting mystery,” Pope Francis observed during a December 13 audience with musicians who will take part in the Vatican’s Christmas concert. He thanked the musicians for helping people to develop an appreciation for beauty, and thus to appreciate how God “unpredictable and constantly acts in unforeseeable ways.”
• Pope recalls suffering of Ukrainian Catholics under Soviet rule (Vatican Press Office)
  The Byzantine-rite Eparchy of Mukachevo “is the mother of many martyrs, who with their own blood confirmed their fidelity to Christ, to the Catholic Church, and to the Bishop of Rome,” Pope Francis said in a December 11 audience marking the 30th anniversary of the emergence of the eparchy from hiding. “In particular, let us remember the Blessed Martyr Bishop Teodor Romzha, who in the darkest moments of your history was able to guide God’s people with evangelical wisdom and courage.”
• Jews return to prayer near mosque on Temple Mount (Jerusalem Post)
  Jewish worshippers have been allowed to pray on the Temple Mount, despite a longstanding agreement that sets the site aside for Muslims, the Jerusalem Post reports. The paper reports that police are not currently enforcing a rule that bars Jews from gathering to pray on the Temple Mount.
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