Catholic News
- Pope Francis, at general audience, reflects on virtue of faith (CWN)
At his May 1 general audience, held in Paul VI Audience Hall, Pope Francis reflected on the theological virtue of faith, in the latest talk in a series of Wednesday general audiences devoted to the virtues and vices. - Leading Vatican diplomat criticizes push for abortion (Holy See Mission)
Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, lamented “the push for abortion under the guise of politically correct language,” 30 years after the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. At the Cairo conference, the Holy See worked with many Muslim nations to head off attempts to declare an international right to abortion. The push for abortion “is not just a harmful misunderstanding” of the Cairo conference’s program of action, “but of development in a wider sense,” Archbishop Caccia said in an April 29 statement. “It also leads to the erosion of respect for the sanctity of human life and the inalienable dignity of the human person.” - Cardinal Parolin visits Brazil, discusses indigenous peoples, peace (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, recently concluded a six-day visit to Brazil, during which he met with President Lula da Silva. The president “praised Pope Francis’ role as one of the world’s great leaders to stand up against war and inequality,” according to the president’s office, as he and Cardinal Parolin discussed “the need to overcome inequalities, the importance of religious freedom, and the Brazilian government’s efforts on behalf of indigenous peoples.” Cardinal Parolin also spoke about the importance of prayer for peace as he visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Aparecida. Brazil has more Catholics than any other nation. Cardinal Parolin’s visit had added significance because he led a two-day retreat for the nation’s bishops, allowing the cardinals there to become better acquainted with the papabile Secretary of State. - 'Please, brothers, stay here,' Franciscan minister general tells friars of the Holy Land (Christian Media Center)
Father Massimo Fusarelli, the minister general of the Order of Friars Minor, has concluded a five-day visit to the Holy Land. St. Francis of Assisi founded the Franciscan province there in 1217, and the Holy Land’s principal shrines are entrusted to the care of the Franciscan friars. “I found the brothers better than I thought: hurt by what is happening, but also determined to stay here,” said Father Fusarelli. “So the first word is please, brothers, stay here.” “Stay not locked in, but stay with the people, next to the people, as you can,” he continued. “Remain as intercessors, from the Latin intercedere, to walk between God and people, in the midst of the battlefield. We are in a battlefield.” - Chinese Christian sentenced to 5 years in prison for sale of Bibles (Bitter Winter)
Three years after ten Chinese Christians were jailed for illegally selling Bibles, one of them has been sentenced to a five-year prison term, and four remain jailed and awaiting trial. “The prosecutor’s argument was that sales of Bibles by an illegal house church not affiliated with the government-controlled Three-Self Church is a crime, even if the Bibles are in themselves legal,” according to Bitter Winter, an online magazine that covers religious liberty in China. The trial took place in Hohhot, a city of 3.5 million that is the capital of Inner Mongolia (map), a Chinese region that is distinct from Mongolia, the independent nation. - AP sees 'an immense shift toward the old ways' in Church in the US (AP)
In a tendentious wire story, the Associated Press reports on a “shift, molded by plummeting church attendance, increasingly traditional priests and growing numbers of young Catholics searching for more orthodoxy,” that has “reshaped parishes across the country.” “I don’t want my daughter to be Catholic, not if this is the Roman Catholic Church that is coming.” said one woman in a Wisconsin parish, after “contemporary hymns were replaced by music rooted in medieval Europe.” (The AP reporter was presumably referring to Gregorian chant, which the Second Vatican Council decreed “should be given pride of place in liturgical services.”) - May papal prayer intention: for the formation of religious and seminarians (Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network)
The Pope’s May prayer intention, disseminated by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer), is “that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel.” - Young American women are leaving church in unprecedented numbers (American Enterprise Institute)
Young women in Generation Z are more likely than young men to disaffiliate from religion, according to a survey of over 5,400 Americans conducted by the American Enterprise Institute’s Survey Center on American Life. In the previous generations—the Baby Boomers, Generation X, and the Millennials—men have been more likely than women to disaffiliate. “There is a cultural misalignment between more traditional churches and places of worship and young women who have grown increasingly liberal,” said Daniel Cox and Kelsey Eyre Hammond of the Survey Center on American Life. “Since 2015, the number of young women who identify as liberal has rapidly increased ... This has also coincided with the rise in LGBTQ identity among young women—nearly three in ten women under the age of 30 now identify as something other than straight.” Carmel Richardson of The American Conservative commented, “What might it mean for young women to outnumber young men at elite universities, while young men outnumber young women at church? Certainly, these two pieces—women leaving church and men leaving college—say something about the relative status of men and women today, and perhaps also about the two sexes’ penchant for prestige ... Young women leaving church might be doing so due to a staunch commitment to egalitarianism, but more likely they are leaving because of a more general sense that church is not cool.” - 'The saved and the drowned': Vatican newspaper laments migrant boat disaster (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
The Vatican newspaper devoted the most prominent front-page coverage in its April 30 edition to a migrant boat diaster that left over 50 people dead in the Atlantic Ocean off the western coast of Africa. “They remained at the mercy of the Atlantic Ocean for two days, their hands desperately clinging to the wreck of their boat, their mouths parched with thirst, their eyes wide with fear,” the unsigned article began. “Two days, 48 hours, 3,000 minutes of suffering for nine migrants, the only survivors of the shipwreck of their boat which occurred yesterday off the coast of the Canary Islands.” - Vatican meeting of parish priests opens with talks by Synod cardinal, Czech theologian (CNS)
Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod of Bishops, encouraged parish priests to share their stories of “how Jesus is working today in you, in your parishes, in your diocese,” as he opened Parish Priests for the Synod. The international meeting was announced in February amid criticism that parish priests were insufficiently included on the Synod on synodality. “Often it is hard to understand the way in which our stories could be the stories of God,” said Cardinal Grech. “Our parishes are probably far from being the best parish that one could wish for. Our stories are anything but perfect. No wonder we find it difficult to understand, to discern, how our stories are God’s.” Czech theologian Father Tomáš Halík advised the parish priests “not to repeat past methods and old mistakes.” “For more than 100 years, regular prayers, novenas, fasts, Eucharistic adoration and pilgrimages have been held in our part of the world to beg for new priestly and religious vocations,” he said. “However, the number of vocations continues to decline.” Father Halík said that it is as if God were saying that our prayer for vocations “no longer resonates with what I expect for the future. Please do not knock on the door I have closed for you. Instead, boldly and creatively seek the ones I want to open for you.” Editor’s note (5/1/24): Subsequent to the posting of this story, the Synod of Bishops released the full text of Cardinal Grech’s address. - Congo attorney general accuses cardinal of 'seditious behavior' (Pillar)
The attorney general of the Democratic Republic of Congo has written that Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo is guilty of “seditious behavior.” The statement by Firmin Mvonde Mambu—made in a letter in which he encouraged prosecution of Cardinal Ambongo—represents a major escalation of a conflict between the government and Cardinal Ambongo, who has been critical of government’s failure to provide security in the war-torn country. Earlier this month he charged that “the Congolese army is in complete chaos.” Cardinal Ambongo, who is a member of the Council of Cardinals and the president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), has taken an increasingly prominent role in the leadership of the Catholic Church in Africa. Last week he emphasized that African prelates are united in their opposition to the blessing of same-sex unions, setting aside the recommendation of the Vatican declaration Fiducia Supplicans. - Pope encourages religious to look to Jesus and the poor, treasure 'diversity in harmony' (Vatican Press Office)
On April 29, Pope Francis received members of two religious institutes that were assembling in Rome for the general chapters. The Pope encouraged members of the Canossian Sons of Charity, founded in 1831, to follow the example of St. Magdalene of Canossa. “When the journey gets difficult, then, do as she did: look at the Crucified Jesus and look at the eyes and wounds of the poor, and you will see that gradually the answers will make way in your hearts with ever greater clarity,” the Pontiff said. The Pope encouraged members of the Montfort Brothers of St. Gabriel, founded by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort and re-founded by Father Gabriel Deshayes, to treasure diversity in harmony. “The one who makes harmony between diversities is the Holy Spirit, who is the master of harmony,” said the Pope. “Uniformity in a religious institute, in a diocese, in a lay group, kills! Diversity in harmony makes one grow. Do not forget this. Diversity in harmony.” - Mexican bishop abducted, released (AP)
A retired Mexican bishop known for his attempts to mediate between drug cartels was abducted on April 27 and then released. Bishop Salvador Rangel, OFM, 78, retired as bishop of Chilpancingo-Chilapa in 2022. “Considering his poor health, we call firmly but respectfully to those who are holding Bishop Rangel captive to allow him to take the medications he needs in a proper and timely fashion, as an act of humanity,” the Mexican bishops’ conference stated before his release. - Miami archbishop slams Biden for 'unconscionable' deportation of Haitian refugees (CNA)
“What President Biden has done is unconscionable when you think of the fact that he’s deported over 28,000 Haitians back to Haiti in the last three years, at a time when Haiti has been in a political, social, and economic freefall,” said Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami. “If a house is on fire, you don’t force people to run back into the burning house.” President Biden and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis “are speaking about them [Haitian refugees] as if they were an invasive species, [when] they’re human beings,” the prelate added. - Sicilian bishops meet with Pontiff, discuss migration, criminality, depopulation (Vatican News (Italian))
Pope Francis received the bishops of Sicily, who were in Rome for their ad limina visit, in an April 29 audience. Bishop Antonino Raspanti of Acireale, president of the Sicilian episcopal conference, said that during the “very cordial” and “very long” meeting, the Pope and the bishops discussed migrants, the Mafia, and corruption. They also discussed “the problem of depopulation, because unfortunately people are leaving our island.” - Court rules insurers must cover gender-change surgery (Washington Post)
A federal court in Virginia has ruled that health-insurance companies must cover the costs of gender-change treatments. Judge Roger Gregory wrote in his judgment that “discriminating on the basis of diagnosis is discriminating on the basis of gender identity and sex.” - Florida permits public school chaplains (Religion Clause)
Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has signed into law a bill that authorizes volunteer chaplains at public schools. Under the law, parental consent is required for students to take part in a chaplain’s programs. The law passed the state house and senate by wide margins (89-25 and 78-12). - French prosecutor dismisses charges against priest who opposed homosexuality (CNA)
A French prosecutor has declined to press criminal charges against a prominent Catholic priest who had stirred public outrage with online statements that homosexuality is a “weakness.” Father Matthieu Raffray, a traditionalist priest with a large following, had posted in March encouraging people to fight against homosexual inclinations. The French government’s minister for equality, Aurore Bergé, had encouraged prosecution of the priest for his remarks. But the prosecutor determined that “it does not appear that there is any infraction sufficiently characterized to justify any criminal procedure against him.” - Vatican cardinal pays tribute to St. John Paul II (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, dean of the College of Cardinals, was the principal celebrant at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on April 27 commemorating the tenth anniversary of Pope St. John Paul II’s canonization. Cardinal Angelo Comastri, 80, former Archpriest of Saint Peter’s Basilica (2005-2021), was the homilist. Cardinal Comastri preached that “John Paul II must be given credit for having been a courageous, decisive, and coherent man in the era of great fears, compromises, and programmatic indecision.” He paid tribute to St. John Paul’s Marian devotion, commitment to peace, defense of life and the family, and efforts to introduce young people to the Gospel. “He knew that young people without Christ would never be able to find the meaning of life and would never be able to savor the fascinating truth of love, which is self-giving and not a whim that bends everything and everyone to itself,” said Cardinal Comastri. “The Pope sought out young people, and young people felt he was a friend: a true friend, a sincere friend, a friend who does not compromise to gain an audience, a friend who does not water down the evangelical proposal to become popular.” - Schedule released for papal trip to Verona (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Francis will visit the northern Italian city of Verona on Saturday, May 18. During the morning of his 11-hour visit, the Pope will address priests and religious and meet with young people. He will then chair a meeting, “Arena of Peace: Justice and Peace Embrace.” Around noon, the Pontiff will visit a prison, address prisoners, and have lunch with them. At 3:00 in the afternoon, he will attend Mass in a stadium. - More...