Catholic News
- Cardinal Grech: Fiducia has 'nothing to do' with October Synod meeting (Our Sunday Visitor)
Cardinal Mario Grech, the secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, has revealed that he had no prior notice about the release of Fiducia Supplicans. Cardinal Grech told that he heard about the declaration from the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, authorizing blessings for same-sex couples, “like everybody else, when it was published.” However, he said that he saw no particular reason why he should have been consulted on the document, emphasizing that any Vatican dicastery can release statements in its own sphere. Questioned about the impact of the controversial document on the deliberations of the Synod of Bishops, the cardinal said the statement has “nothing to do with” the Synod. - Papal nuncio to US warns of 'auto-referential' Church (CNS)
Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio in the United States, told Catholic News Service that he believes there is a “tendency to withdraw, to be more auto-referential,” in the Church in the US and elsewhere. While the Church in the United States “always been very faithful to the Holy Father,” Cardinal Pierre said that “the difficulty in America, like in every country in a world which is globalized but becomes more and more individualistic, (is) to receive the message of the Pope, especially to work together.” “The Pope feels that if we don’t work together, we are not a church,” he added. - 'Vote for climate, vote for our future,' front-page Vatican newspaper image urges (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
The April 22 edition of L’Osservatore Romano featured five articles devoted to Earth Day, most prominently a front-page article with Pope Francis’s Earth Day tweet. The front-page article included an image of a child sitting in a field and holding the planet Earth. Next to the child are the words, “Vote for CLIMATE, Vote for OUR FUTURE.” - Pope to speak at UN in September? (La Croix)
Citing unnamed Vatican sources, the French Catholic newspaper La Croix has reported that Pope Francis has accepted an invitation to address the UN General Assembly in September of this year. If accurate, the report would suggest an unusually rigorous travel schedule for the 87-year-old Pontiff. Pope Francis is already scheduled to make a lengthy trip to Asia in early September, with stops expected in Indonesia, Singapore, Papua New Guina, East Timor, and possibly Vietnam. - Be like fathers to children on the margins, Pope tells Brothers of Christian Instruction (Vatican Press Office (Italian))
Pope Francis received participants in the 48th general chapter of the Brothers of Christian Instruction on April 22 and encouraged them to be like fathers to children on the margins of society. “Dear brothers, you work in regions of the world where poverty, youth unemployment and social crises of all kinds are rampant,” Pope Francis said. “I therefore exhort you to be fathers for those to whom you are sent, fathers who reflect the loving and compassionate face of God.” The Pontiff also lamented the effects of war on children, advised the brothers to collaborate with local bishops and avoid gossip, and encouraged them to be inspired by the prayers and example of the Virgin Mary as they prepared to reconsecrate their institute to her Immaculate Heart. Founded in 1819 by Ven. Jean-Marie de La Mennais and Father Gabriel Deshayes, the Brothers of Christian Instruction are distinct from the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools (founded by St. Jean-Baptiste de la Salle) and the Congregation of Christian Brothers (founded by Blessed Edmund Ignatius Rice). - Vatican foreign minister concludes visit to Vietnam (Crux)
Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, recently concluded a six-day visit to Vietnam, during which he met with Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính. The prelate and the prime minister expressed hope for a papal visit. Archbishop Gallagher’s visit followed the historic 2023 agreement that allowed for the first resident papal representative in Vietnam since 1975. With the headline “A hope for even more fruitful bilateral relations,” the Vatican newspaper offered detailed coverage of the prelate’s April 9-14 visit, including his address to 250 major seminarians in Huế. As he spoke to the seminarians, Archbishop Gallagher recalled the words and example of the nineteenth-century martyr St. Paul Le-Bao-Tinh. The prelate encouraged the seminarians to read Pastores Dabo Vobis, Pope St. John Paul II’s 1992 apostolic exhortation on priestly formation. - Connecticut archbishop on transgenderism: 'Biology is biology' (Connecticut Public Radio)
Asked to comment on the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith’s new document, Dignitas Infinita, Coadjutor Archbishop Christopher Coyne of Hartford, Connecticut, said that “biology is biology. You’re either XX or XY. That’s a scientific fact. You can’t un-prove that fact.” “You don’t have to pass a test to belong,” he continued. “We walk with each other. We accompany each other. We don’t leave each other; we try to grow together.” “It doesn’t cost me anything to accept you as you want to present yourself to me,” he added. “I’m not going to get off on my high mighty horse, and all of a sudden say, ‘Well, I won’t accept that.’ I accept you as a person.” “People who have gender dysphoria can choose to live that out in different ways,” the prelate said. “You could have a biological man who presents himself as a woman, but he’s still biologically a man.” - President Biden issues Passover statement (White House)
President Joe Biden issued a statement for Passover, which he described as a “holiday [that] reminds us of a profound and powerful truth: that even in the face of persecution, if we hold on to faith, we shall endure and overcome.” Decrying “Hamas’ unspeakable evil on October 7th,” the president also lamented anti-Semitism. “The ancient story of persecution against Jews in the Haggadah also reminds us that we must speak out against the alarming surge of Antisemitism—in our schools, communities, and online,” he wrote. “Silence is complicity. Even in recent days, we’ve seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant Antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous – and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.” - 'The caress and the smile': 6,000 grandparents, grandchildren to gather with Pope Francis (Vatican News)
At a press conference on April 22, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia discussed “The Caress and the Smile,” an April 27 event at which 6,000 grandparents, other elderly persons, and grandchildren are expected to gather with Pope Francis. The president of the Pontifical Academy for Life highlighted the warm relations between grandparents and grandchildren and expressed hope that the event will “encourage a real wind of spring capable of changing the direction of the demographic emergency,” in the words of the Vatican newspaper. Births in Italy have fallen to a record low, and there are now more Italians over 80 than under 10. - Bolivian bishop's home raided; prosecutor sees financial misconduct (Crux)
Police in Bolivia have raided the residence of a retired Catholic bishop, saying that he is suspected of involvement in a money-laundering operation. A local prosecutor said that Bishop Karl Stetter—who retired in 2016 from his post as head of the Diocese of San Ignacio de Velasco—has been identified as the owner of extensive properties, which cannot be explained by his relatively modest income. Bishop Aurelio Pesoa, the head of the Bolivian bishops’ conference, denounced the raid as “an act of intimidation of the pastors of the Bolivian Church.” - USCCB committee chairman asks US government to be like Simon of Cyrene in South Sudan (USCCB)
Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, has asked Secretary of State Antony Blinken to assist South Sudan’s Christian leaders in fostering peace there, four years after the official end of the South Sudanese Civil War. “The heads of the member churches of the SSCC [South Sudan Council of Churches] call on their international partners to help the people of South Sudan mediate these dialogue sessions,” Bishop Zaidan wrote on April 19. “The SSCC leaders have no illusions about how difficult this challenge will be, and they will need skilled and experienced expertise to engage in a meaningful and lasting way.” “Similar to ‘Simon of Cyrene’ who helped Jesus carry his cross, I know the people of South Sudan can count on the United States Government to help the SSCC carry this cross,” Bishop Zaidan added. - Record Catholic representation in Korean parliament (AsiaNews)
When South Korea’s National Assembly meets in May, there will be 80 Catholics among the 300 members: an all-time high for Catholic representation. The proportion of Catholics in the National Assembly will be more than double the percentage (11.3%) in the nation’s population. - A year after resignation, Bishop Stika sends 'threatening and intimidating' messages to priests (Knoxville News Sentinel)
Ten months after his resignation, former Bishop Richard Stika of Knoxville, Tennessee, has sent text messages to priests that one described as “threatening and intimidating.” Bishop Stika has “contact[ed] whistleblowers directly with threats of a lawsuit, including one who is a key witness in the sexual assault lawsuit,” the Knoxville News Sentinel reported. - Pope welcomes Earth Day celebration (Vatican News)
Pope Francis called public attention to the celebration of Earth Day on April 22, with a Twitter statement: Our generation has bequeathed many riches, but we have failed to protect the planet and we are not safeguarding peace. We are called to become artisans and caretakers of our common home, the Earth which is “falling into ruin.” In a report on the Pontiff’s statement, Vatican News called special attention to a UN drive to eliminate single-use plastics, and particularly to the UN Treaty on Plastic Pollution. - Texas Carmelites resist 'unacceptable' Vatican directive (Arlington Carmel)
The Carmelite nuns of the Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Texas have rejected a Vatican directive putting their community under the jurisdiction of a national Carmelite Association, saying that it is “in effect a hostile takeover that we cannot in conscience accept.” The members of the embattled Carmelite community—which has been locked in a dispute with Bishop Michael Olsen of Fort Worth—announced that they would not welcome a visitation by the Carmelite Association of Christ the King. They said that they were “surprised and disappointed” that the Vatican decision was announced without any consultation. The Carmelite community professed its willingness to submit to proper ecclesiastical authority. “An abusive father, however, must be resisted,” they said. - Candace Owens becomes a Catholic (Catholic Herald)
Political commentator Candace Owens has disclosed that she has been received into the Catholic Church, saying “praise be to God for his gentle but relentless guiding of my heart toward Truth.” Owens—whose husband George Farmer is also a convert to Catholicism—was received in the Brompton Oratory in London. - Respect the truth, shun ideology, Pontiff bids historians (Vatican Press Office)
Pope Francis received members of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences on April 20, in commemoration of the 70th anniversary of its founding under Venerable Pius XII. “It is good that you collaborate with others, expanding your scientific and human relations, and avoiding forms of mental and institutional isolation,” Pope Francis told the historians. “I encourage you to maintain this enriching approach, based on constant and attentive listening, free from any ideology—ideologies kill—and respecting the truth.” Contrasting the “civilization of encounter” with “the temptations of self-absorbed individualism and the ideological affirmation of one’s own point of view [that] fuel the incivility of confrontation,” the Pope told the members of the committee that “it is good that you, 70 years after your establishment, bear witness to being able to resist such temptations, living with passion, through study, the regenerative experience of service to unity.” - European bishops' conference backs EU expansion (COMECE)
The Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) has issued a statement supporting the expansion of the European Union (EU), while urging further efforts to build a “true European spirit.” At the conclusion of a plenary meeting in Poland, the COMECE leadership said that “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the geopolitical developments in EU’s neighborhood have generated a new momentum for future accessions to the Union.” The commission welcomed the prospect of new countries entering the EU as a “strong message of hope.” However the COMECE statement cautioned that new member-states should adhere to the principles on which the EU was founded—and expressed concern that existing member-states have not reached accord on those principles. The statement read: Despite a solid political and economic integration of the EU member states, it is questionable to what extent a genuine dialogue of national realities, cultures, historical experiences and identities has taken place across European societies. - Christ, the Good Shepherd, loves you and gave His life for you, Pope tells pilgrims (Vatican Press Office)
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, “tells us that we are always infinitely worthy in His eyes,” Pope Francis emphasized during his Regina Caeli address on April 21, the Fourth Sunday of Easter, as he reflected on the day’s Gospel reading (John 10:11-18). The Pope told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, “Brothers, sisters, let us ask ourselves: am I able to find the time, every day, to embrace this assurance that gives value to my life? Am I able to find the time for a moment of prayer, of adoration, of praise, to be in the presence of Christ and to let myself be caressed by Him?” “Brother, sister, the Good Shepherd tells us that if you do this, you will rediscover the secret of life: you will remember that He gave His life for you, for me, for all of us,” he continued. “And that for Him, we are all important, each and every one of us.” “May Our Lady help us to find in Jesus what is essential for life,” the Pope concluded. - Vatican breaks silence on Italian abortion controversy (Crux)
Both the Vatican and the Italian bishops’ conference have avoided public comment on a proposal by the Italian government of Prime Minister Georgia Meloni to allow pro-life groups to obtain public funding for counseling women who seek abortion. But Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Secretary of State, broke the silence on April 20 with a guarded comment to reporters. While declining comment on the “technical details” of the government’s proposal, Cardinal Parolin said that the Church would favor “all those instruments which can help to affirm the fight to life, above all for women who find themselves in difficulty.” That mild comment was interpreted by Italian media outlets as a sign of Vatican support for the government’s proposal. The Vatican has generally kept at arm’s length from the Meloni government, while the Italian bishops have shown some discomfort with the approach taken by the country’s most influential pro-life groups. - More...