Catholic News

• Pope Francis, Israel's president discuss Jerusalem (Vatican Press Office)
  In summarizing the audience, the Vatican press office referred to Jerusalem’s “religious and human dimension for Jews, Christians and Muslims, as well as the importance of safeguarding its identity and vocation as City of Peace.” President Reuven Rivlin tweeted, “Jerusalem has been a holy city for the three monotheistic religions for centuries. For the Jewish people, Jerusalem has been the spiritual center since the days of the First Temple over 3000 years ago, but it is also a microcosm of our ability to live together.”
• Pakistan's foreign minister: Asia Bibi not permitted to leave Pakistan due to pending court review (Dawn)
  Asia Bibi is the Pakistani Christian woman who was jailed from 2009 to 2018 on an unsupported charge of blasphemy against Islam. Protests erupted across Pakistan after the nation’s high court voided her conviction.
• Be artisans of communion and evangelizers who are close to the people, Pope tells Latin American seminarians (Vatican Press Office)
  On November 15, Pope Francis received the community of the Pontifical Latin American College (Spanish-language link) on the 160th anniversary of its founding.
• UNICEF chief meets with Pope, lauds his commitment to children affected by war (@unicefchief)
  “I had the great honour to meet His Holiness Pope Francis,” the CEO of the United Nations Children’s Fund tweeted on November 15. “We share a strong commitment to protect children & young people uprooted by violent conflict and other crises. Thank you @Pontifex, for your leadership and the decade-long @iamCARITAS @UNICEF [Caritas-UNICEF] partnership in 65 countries.”
• God's Kingdom, manifest in the Eucharist and good works, 'doesn't make the news,' Pope preaches at weekday Mass (Vatican News)
  On November 15, Pope Francis preached on Luke 17:20-25, the Gospel reading of the day.
• Pope and Pope Emeritus write letters for Ratzinger Foundation symposium (Vatican News)
  The Ratzinger Foundation’s symposium is devoted to “fundamental rights and conflicts among rights.” Here are links to the full text of the letters from Pope Francis and Pope Emeritus Benedict.
• Brexit could lead to renewed border violence, bishop in Northern Ireland warns (Irish Catholic)
  In the face of growing political turmoil, Prime Minister Theresa May is “determined to see this through,” The Guardian reported.
• Pontifical Mission Societies leader highlights importance of extraordinary missionary month (Fides)
  Archbishop Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, president of the Pontifical Mission Societies, spoke to the Italian bishops on November 15 about the extraordinary missionary month (October 2019), which marks the 100th anniversary of Pope Benedict XV’s apostolic letter Maxime Illud. The month’s theme is “Baptized and sent: the Church of Christ on a mission in the world.”
• Kenyan Jesuit murdered in South Sudan (East African Jesuits)
  Father Victor-Luke Odhiambo, SJ, was the principal of Mazzolari Teachers College in Cueibet and acting superior of the Jesuit community there. Cueibet is the capital of South Sudan’s Gok State (map).
• Angolan police close 34 churches (The East African)
  The report did not state whether any of the closed churches are Catholic parishes. The southern African nation of 29 million is 41% Catholic and 38% Protestant; Pope Benedict XVI made an apostolic journey to Cameroon and Angola in 2009.
• Abortion dominates international family-planning conference (C-FAM)
  The International Conference on Family Planning took place in Kigali, Rwanda.
• In Kyrgyzstan, convert from Islam to Christianity attacked, severely injured (Forum 18)
  The central Asian nation (map) of 5.8 million is 75% Muslim and 20% Russian Orthodox.
• Bishop Trautman criticizes media, attorney general report (GoErie.com)
  “We should not be so naive as to accept every government report, every attorney general report as being totally accurate or honest,” said the retired Pennsylvania bishop, once a leading critic of the more accurate translation of the Roman Missal. “And I would not cite the Philadelphia Inquirer or the Boston Globe as sources of confident information.”
• Bible students escape from China-backed militia in Myanmar (UCANews)
  Rebels backed by China are targeting Christians in Myanmar’s Shan State (map). The state is 81% Buddhist, 10% Christian, and 7% animist.
• Salvadoran martyrs gave voice to voiceless, Vatican official says (CNS)
  Father Michael Czerny is undersecretary of the Migrants and Refugee Section of the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.
• Editorial: 'The Catholic Church is in crisis, and its leaders are making it worse' (Baltimore Sun)
  “The Church once moved abusive priests from parish to parish, now it is shuffling the fallout from meeting to meeting,” the editorial stated. “The bishops’ failure to act this week now places the priest sex abuse scandal squarely in Pope Francis’ lap. By ‘insisting’ that the American bishops hold off on any action until after a previously scheduled meeting in Rome in February, he has taken full ownership of the matter. It will now determine his legacy.”
• Kenyan cardinal calls on fathers to lead their families, children to seek to please God (AMECEA )
  Cardinal John Njue of Nairobi was the Pope’s representative at a special Mass commemorating the 150th anniversary of the beginning of the evangelization of the Tanzanian mainland.
• At UN, Holy See Mission commemorates WWI centenary with performance of Mozart's Requiem (Holy See Mission)
  “A century after the Armistice, we come together to commemorate those who died in the Great War and in so many wars and conflicts in the hundred years since,” said Archbishop Bernardito Auza. “We come together somberly hoping to learn from the mistakes not only that led to World War I, but also from the lessons contained in the Armistice itself.”
• Cardinal DiNardo: US bishops will take 'strongest possible actions' against abuse 'at the earliest possible moment' (USCCB)
  “I am sure that, under the leadership of Pope Francis, the conversation that the global Church will have in February will help us eradicate the evil of sexual abuse from our Church,” the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops said at the conclusion of the bishops’ fall meeting. “Listening is essential, but listening must inform decisive action ... We leave this place committed to taking the strongest possible actions at the earliest possible moment. We will do so in communion with the Universal Church.”
• 'Open Wide Our Hearts': US bishops issue pastoral letter against racism (USCCB)
  The 32-page pastoral letter (“Open Wide Our Hearts: The Enduring Call to Love”) has three major sections: “Do Justice,” “Love Goodness,” and “Walk Humbly with God.” The bishops also issued a pastoral letter on racism in 1979; the current letter follows a 2016 report by a USCCB Special Task Force to Promote Peace In Our Communities.
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