Catholic News

• Pope-emeritus Benedict defends his decision to resign (Bild (German))
  Pope-emeritus Benedict defended his decision to resign in private letter, written last year to Cardinal Walter Brandmüller. The letter has been made public, nearly a year later, by the German tabloid Bild. In it the former Pope said that he understood the pain some people when he stepped down, but feared that pain had “turned into an anger” against him, and consequently “a papacy itself is now being devalued.” He added that the pain is aggravated by “sorrow about the situation in which the Church now finds herself.”
• Korean cardinal lauds summit results, welcomes denuclearlization of peninsula (Fides)
  Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung of Seoul praised the results of talks between South Korean President Moon Jae-in (a Catholic) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
• Nigerian bishops: 'These are indeed very trying times in the life of the Church' (Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria)
  The bishops of Africa’s most populous country commented on the state of the nation, called on the government to secure the release of kidnapped Christians, deplored sexual abuse, and affirmed their commitment to priestly celibacy.
• Pope reflects on 'Honor your father and mother' (Zenit)
  In recent months, Pope Francis has devoted his Wednesday general audiences to the Sacrament of Baptism (April 11-May 16), the Sacrament of Confirmation (May 23-June 6), and the Commandments (beginning June 13). The September 19 audience, devoted to the Fourth Commandment, took place in St. Peter’s Square (video).
• Bishops join Japan-Korea pilgrimage against nuclear energy (UCANews)
  The Japan-Korea Anti-Nuclear Peace Pilgrimage has been held each year since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
• Bono meets with Pope, offers support for papal educational initiative (Vatican News)
  Founded by the future Pope Francis in 2001, Scholas Occurrentes seeks to “educate young people in the commitment for the common good” and to “implement the culture of the meeting for peace through education.” The Irish singer Bono said that he and the Pontiff discussed “the wild beast that is capitalism” and clerical sexual abuse.
• Foster solidarity, not fear, Vatican cardinal says at conference (Vatican News)
  Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, delivered the opening address at the World Conference on Xenophobia, Racism, and Populist Nationalism in the Context of Global Migration.
• Brooklyn diocese reaches record $27.5M settlement with 4 victims of abuse (NBC News)
  When they were teenage boys, the plaintiffs were abused by a layman who was his parish’s director of religious education.
• Pope fears spread of racism (AsiaNews)
  Pope Francis voiced his fear that racism is spreading, because of political leaders exploiting tensions for their own short-term gains. In an audience with participants in a conference on xenophobia and racism, the Pontiff called for “inspiring gestures that contribute to societies founded on the principle of the sacredness of human life and respect for the dignity of every person.”
• 'The Chinese government wants absolute control over the Church,' missionary warns (AsiaNews)
  Father Sergio Ticozzi, PIME, an Italian missionary, is project director of the Diocese of Hong Kong’s Holy Spirit Study Center. He has lived in Hong Kong for 50 years.
• Missouri: diocesan school superintendent retires following allegations (Springfield News-Leader)
  Leon Witt, a layman, was superintendent of Catholic schools for the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau.
• Hijab must be allowed in courtroom, European Court of Human Rights rules (Religion Clause)
  The Court found that the exclusion of a Muslim woman from a Belgian courtroom because she wore a hijab “amounted to a restriction on the exercise of her right to manifest her religion.”
• Man confesses to arson of medieval German church (Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination)
  The church of St. Jodok in Ravensburg is over 600 years old; the church of St. Martin in Schlier was built in the 1830s.
• South Sudan peace accord welcomed by bishops (Fides)
  The Catholic bishops of south Sudan have welcomed a peace agreement, which was signed by the warring parties while the country’s bishops were in Rome for their ad limina visits. Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio, the president of the bishops’ conference, said that the agreement was a “miracle,” in light of the differences that had seemed likely to prevent peace.
• Vatican newspaper highlights: Syria, general audience, carbon dioxide emissions, Kenyan hospital (CWN)
  L’Osservatore Romano (September 20 Italian edition) devoted front-page coverage to the following stories:
• US bishops unveil new plans on abuse--without Vatican OK for apostolic visitation (CWN)
  The US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has announced a series of new responses to the sex-abuse scandal. But the USCCB request to Pope Francis for an apostolic visitation of the American Church has apparently been rejected.
• New Jersey town accused of 'hatred, bigotry' against Orthodox Jews settles lawsuit with state (NJ.com)
  Mahwah is a town of 26,000 in northeastern New Jersey.
• Vatican confirms ongoing inquiry into Sistine Chapel Choir finances (Catholic Herald)
  Msgr. Massimo Palombella, SDB, has directed the choir since 2010.
• Pope sends greetings to the Jewish community of Rome (Vatican News)
  The Pontiff extended greetings for Rosh Hashanah (September 9-11), Yom Kippur (September 18-19), and Sukkot (September 23-30).
• Jesus is the icon of the meek and compassionate pastor, Pope preaches at weekday Mass (Vatican News)
  As he preached on Luke 7:11-17 on September 18, Pope Francis returned a theme of recent weekday Mass homilies: the Pope said that Jesus remained silent as His Passion began because “the people were deceived by the powerful ... Here the shepherd chooses silence when the ‘Great Accuser’ accuses him ‘through so many people.’”
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