Catholic News
- Be ashamed of being a sinner but trust in God's great mercy, Pope preaches (Zenit)
At a Mass celebrated in the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae on March 30 (video), Pope Francis preached on the readings of the day. The Pope invited those watching the Mass to pray the act of spiritual communion by Cardinal Rafael Merry del Val (1865-1930). The Mass concluded with adoration and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament and the chanting of the Ave Regina Caelorum. - Cardinal Vicar of Rome hospitalized after testing positive for CO19 (Vatican News)
Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, the Pope’s Vicar for Rome since 2017, is Archpriest of the Lateran Basilica. - Vatican postpones Good Friday collection for Holy Land (Custodia Sanctae Terrae)
The Congregation for the Eastern Churches has postponed the international collection until Sunday, September 13, the day preceding the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross. - Boko Haram hits hard in Nigeria and Chad, threatens northern Cameroon (Fides)
The jihadist group, also known as Islamic State in West Africa, was founded in 2002. - 4 aid workers for Christian organization released in Iraq, France says (Reuters)
The four, who work for SOS Chrétiens d’Orient, were abducted in January. - Pope at Sunday Mass: 'I am thinking of the people who are weeping' (Vatican News)
“We ask the grace to weep” with Jesus, “who was not ashamed to weep,” Pope Francis preached on the Fifth Sunday of Lent. “May today be for everyone like a Sunday of tears.” - Cardinal Nichols: Obligation to Easter duties removed this year (Diocese of Westminster)
“The obligation to our Easter Duties to go to Confession and receive Holy Communion is removed from us,” the Archdiocese of Westminster stated. Instead, says Cardinal Nichols, “we can make an Act of Perfect Contrition to express our deep sorrow at our sins against the goodness of God.” - 'What will happen will be catastrophic,' Haitian religious superior predicts (Fides)
“There is no clean water anywhere to wash your hands as required, there is no electricity in the houses, and there are not even hospitals,” said Father Renold Antoine, the Redemptorist superior in Haiti. “Many people live on the streets. As Redemptorists we offer our help not only spiritual[ly], but also materially, by placing water tanks in some spaces so that people can at least wash their hands.” - Food denied to Christians, other non-Muslims in Karachi (AsiaNews)
“Due to government travel restrictions, many day laborers [in Pakistan] lost the only source of livelihood for their family,” leading them to seek food from non-governmental organizations, according to the report. - Man has built 50 churches in Punjab over past 3 years (UCANews)
Punjab (map) is Pakistan’s most populous province. 97% of its people are Muslims; nearly 3% are Christians. - Indian bishop decries spraying of migrants with chemical disinfectant (AsiaNews)
“This is inhuman, because these people are poor and marginalized and desperate,” Bishop Ignatius D’Souza of Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh (map) said after hundreds of migrant workers were sprayed with a chemical solution. “Their dignity cannot be violated in this inhuman and shocking manner.” - Survey: 55% of US adults have prayed for an end to virus's spread (Pew Research Center)
“Large majorities of Americans who pray daily (86%) and of US Christians (73%) have taken to prayer during the outbreak—but so have some who say they seldom or never pray and people who say they do not belong to any religion (15% and 24%, respectively),” according to the survey. - In Philadelphia, 'Catholics can still find public Mass' (Philadelphia Magazine)
“I can’t explain what’s going on at [the two parishes],” said Father Gerald Dennis Gill, director of its archdiocese’s Office of Divine Worship. “This is definitely contrary to our directives.” - Holy See flies flags at half-staff (Vatican Press Office)
“Today, in solidarity with Italy, the Holy See will fly flags at half-mast in mourning, to express its closeness to the victims of the pandemic in Italy and around the world, to their families and to those who generously fight to bring it to an end,” Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, announced on March 31. - Caritas issues appeal for refugees on Lesbos (Caritas Internationalis)
Caritas Internationalis is the Church’s federation of relief and development agencies. In 2016, Pope Francis visited the Greek island of Lesbos (Lesvos), to which thousands of refugees have fled (map). - 'By His cross we have been healed and embraced': Pope imparts extraordinary Urbi et Orbi blessing (Vatican Press Office)
On March 27, Pope Francis presided over “an extraordinary moment of prayer in the time of pandemic, with the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament” (video). - Angelus: Pope appeals for global ceasefire amid Covid pandemic (Vatican News)
Pope Francis issued his appeal at the conclusion of his March 29 Angelus address, in which he reflected on the raising of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), the Gospel of the day. - Texas bishop dissents from colleagues' statement on health-care resources (CWN)
In a rare public disagreement, Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas has dissented from a statement signed by all other Catholic bishops in Texas, supporting Governor Greg Abbott’s plan for setting health-care priorities during the CO19 epidemic. - Italy: police cite Christians for prayer service during quarantine (Crux)
In Nocera Inferiore, Italy, police have charged several residents with breaking emergency regulations by holding a prayer service in church. Neighbors reportedly called the police to intervene. - 'Refrain from visiting churches,' Russian Orthodox patriarch tells faithful (Reuters)
“The most intransigent Orthodox see the Patriarch’s change of stance as a surrender to the ‘phobias of the godless,’” AsiaNews reported. - More...