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Browsing News Entries

Browsing News Entries

U.S. Bishop Joins Slovaks Honoring Blessed Bishop Tortured by Communists

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Pope Leo Prays Where St. John Paul II Was Shot on Feast of Our Lady of Fátima

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Cardinal Fernández, DDF prefect, warns SSPX of excommunication (CWN)

Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, warned the Society of St. Pius X of excommunication if the Society proceeds with its plan to consecrate new bishops on July 1 without the Pope’s approval.

Prelate calls for world day of prayer for Haiti (Vatican News (Italian))

The vice president of Haiti’s episcopal conference called for a world day of prayer for the Caribbean nation.

“Our people have been suffering for years without anyone seeming to care,” Bishop Pierre-André Dumas of Anse-à-Veau-Miragoâne told the Vatican newspaper. “Therefore, the world must be helped to rediscover a sense of concrete solidarity toward Haiti through prayer; it would be truly wonderful to see individuals, parishes, institutions, families, and religious communities unite in a global day of prayer.”

“My country is just one hour away from the United States, the world’s leading power,” Bishop Dumas continued. “And yet, that nation squanders vast sums of money waging wars, while right next door, we suffer. Haiti asks not merely for superficial pity, but for concrete solidarity.”

Vatican diplomat sees need for more resilient food systems as urgent priority (Vatican News)

Addressing a conference in Tajikistan, a Vatican diplomat said that “building resilience into the world’s agrifood systems is among the most urgent priorities of our time,” according to a summary of his remarks by Vatican News.

“The combination of merciless wars, economic recessions, extreme climate events, political instability, and market volatility has given rise to a lethal combination for the world’s food systems,” said Msgr. Fernando Chica Arellano, Permanent Observer to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.

“The agricultural sector,” he added, “should be supported by wise economic and political decisions, enabling young people to devote themselves enthusiastically to agriculture and not to abandon the countryside in discouragement in order to migrate to the cities.”

Israeli soldiers sentenced after desecration of Virgin Mary statue in Lebanon (OSV News)

An Israeli soldier was sentenced to 21 days in military detention for placing a cigarette in the mouth of a Marian statue in Debel, Lebanon.

A second soldier who photographed the act was sentenced to 14 days.

Israel’s military “respects freedom of religion and worship, as well as holy sites and religious symbols of all religions and communities,” said Lt. Col. Ariella Mazor, spokeswoman for the Israeli Defense Forces.

Vatican diplomat calls for renewed commitment to Global Compact for Migration (Holy See Mission)

Addressing a UN discussion of migration, a Vatican diplomat praised the Global Compact for Migration (2018) and called for “renewed collective ownership and joint implementation.”

“Migrants are, first and foremost, human beings whose God-given dignity, as well as fundamental human rights and freedoms must remain at the core of international cooperation and migration governance,” said Msgr. Robert Murphy, Chargé d’Affaires of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations.

Archbishop Gallagher marks 50 years of diplomatic relations between Holy See, Cabo Verde (Vatican News)

Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, traveled to Cabo Verde (Cape Verde) to mark 50 years of diplomatic relations with the Holy See.

Speaking at a conference on May 11, Archbishop Gallagher highlighted the importance of the “defense of life, the family, religious freedom, human rights, democracy, multilateralism, and international law,” Vatican News reported. The prelate also discussed the Holy See’s diplomatic history.

Located in the Atlantic off the coast of Africa, the island nation of 620,000 (map) is 95% Christian (77% Catholic) and 3% Muslim.

Shio III elected Georgian Orthodox Patriarch (CWN)

The bishops of the Orthodox Church of Georgia (CNEWA profile) elected Shio III as the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia on May 11.

USCCB, other Catholic organizations decry proposed federal housing policy change (USCCB)

The general counsel of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, joined by representatives of four other Catholic organizations, decried a policy change proposed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Under the proposal, families with mixed immigration status would be “effectively prohibited from participating in federally funded housing programs,” the Catholic signatories said.

“The Catholic Church teaches that access to safe, decent, and affordable housing is a fundamental human right,” the signatories stated. “Denying subsidies to eligible individuals because of their membership in a mixed-status family is morally wrong, concerning from a fiscal perspective, and is in conflict with the underlying law.”

Representatives of Catholic Charities USA, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, the Catholic Health Association of the United States, and the Catholic Legal Immigration Network joined William Quinn, the general counsel, in signing the public comment, dated April 21 and posted on the USCCB’s website in May.