Catholic News

  • President Biden lashes out at critics of LGBTQ agenda (CWN)
    President Joe Biden on June 8 lashed out at critics of the LGBTQ agenda, calling them “prejudiced” persons who engage in a “thoroughly unjustified and ugly” “appeal to fear”
  • Vatican: Pope doing well after surgery, has another good night (AP)
    Pope Francis had a second good night following his surgery, the director of the Holy See Press Office announced on the morning of June 9. On June 8—the day after his surgery—the Pontiff was able to receive Holy Communion, drink liquids, and call the mother of a child who sent him a get-well card.
  • Vatican-Orthodox dialogue commission issues document on synodality, primacy (Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity)
    The Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue Between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church concluded a seven-day meeting in Alexandria, Egypt—the 15th such session since 1980—and issued the Alexandria Document on synodality and primacy in the second millennium and today. At the previous session in Chieti, Italy, in 2016, the joint international commission issued the Chieti Document on synodality and primacy in the first millennium.
  • Bishops appeal for dialogue between North, South Korea amid escalating tensions (Fides)
    Two commissions of the Korean bishops’ conference called for dialogue between North and South Korea amid escalating tensions. “These days we are again facing a serious crisis,” the bishops warned. “North Korea continues to conduct missile tests, and the military exercises by South Korea and the United States in response are also very impressive. The dialogue for a peaceful solution has long ceased,”
  • Priest murdered in Nigeria (ACI Africa)
    Father Charles Onomhoale Igechi, a priest of the Archdiocese of Benin City in Nigeria, was shot to death on June 7. He was ordained to the priesthood less than a year ago. In the past two weeks, three other priests have been abducted in Africa’s most populous nation.
  • Fort Worth diocese, Carmelite monastery trade charges (CNA)
    The Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, has released photos which appear to show marijuana usage at a Carmelite monastery, as a bitter dispute between the diocese and the religious community escalates. Bishop Michael Olson has dismissed the superior of the Carmelite community from religious life. The Carmelites, in turn, have brought a civil suit against the diocese, saying that the bishop had no legal authority to intervene in the monastery’s affairs. The report of marijuana usage, which local police are now investigating, comes after the Carmelites revealed that police are also investigating the bishop’s intervention. In each case it appears that police are responding to criminal complaints lodged the parties involved.
  • French bishop who oversaw vocations boom awaits Pope's verdict (Pillar)
    A year ago, the Vatican ordered Bishop Dominique Rey of Fréjus-Toulon to suspend all ordinations to the priesthood and diaconate. In February, the diocese was subject to an apostolic visitation.
  • Bishop chairmen call on lawmakers to protect children online (USCCB)
    Bishops who chair four USCCB committees called on members of Congress to draft and enact legislation that protects children online. In their June 6 letter, the bishops called for consideration of three moral principles: “respect for life and dignity,” “the call to family,” and “the call to community and participation.”
  • St. Peter's Basilica partners with DC-based organization to lower its carbon emissions (World Resources Institute)
    “Our planet is going through an environmental crisis that has no comparison to the past,” Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, OFM Conv, Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, said as he discussed the basilica’s partnership with the World Resources Institute (WRI). The Washington-based environmental research organization had $233 million in revenue in 2020, with major donations from foundations and governments. “Here at the Basilica, we have established a Scientific Committee to study, develop and implement concrete actions to improve the Basilica’s environmental sustainability ahead of the Jubilee of 2025,” Cardinal Gambetti added. “The partnership with WRI enriches this urgent commitment.”
  • Traditionalist priest pleads guilty on child-porn charges (CNA)
    Father James Jackson, a priest of the traditionalist Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (FSSP), has entered a guilty plea on child-pornography charges and faces a minimum prison sentence of five years. Father Jackson entered his plea at a federal court in Rhode Island on June 8. He still faces related charges in Kansas.
  • Coptic Orthodox Pope also suspends public activities (Fides)
    Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II has suspended his public activities for health reasons. The Coptic prelate—who co-authored a preface to a book on ecumenical relations with Pope Francis, and joined the Roman Pontiff for a public audience last month—is suffering from inflammation of a facial muscle, a spokesman said. The condition is not considered dangerous, and the Coptic leader, who is 70 years old, is expected to resume normal activities after a period of rest.
  • Pro-life sidewalk advocacy groups share safety tips after attack outside Baltimore abortion clinic (Our Sunday Visitor)
    Two elderly men who were peacefully praying outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Balitmore were assaulted on May 26. One victim, thrown to the ground and kicked in the eye, faces multiple surgeries, according to a Baltimore priest.
  • Vatican cardinal, in Congo Republic, offers critical assessment of missionaries' work (CWN)
    Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, spoke about the “ambivalence” of missionary work in the Congo Republic, using a “decidedly critical and objective lens,” because of its association with colonialism, in a June 3 address as the Church in the African country celebrated the 140th anniversary of its evangelization.
  • Radical nun: Vatican II changes 'meaningless' (National Catholic Reporter)
    Writing in the National Catholic Reporter, Sister Joan Chittester announces that in the Catholic Church since Vatican II, “all the changes to be seen were basically meaningless ones.” She goes on to say that the documents approved by the Council “were clearly meant to dispense with the church of the Middle Ages, to bring the church into the modern world rooted in Scripture and the model of Jesus.” Elsewhere in the same issue of the National Catholic Reporter, one can find an article headlined: “What the Catholic Church can learn from Taylor Swift.”
  • Decrying war, Pope appeals for 'One Minute for Peace' (Vatican News)
    At the conclusion of his June 7 general audience, Pope Francis lent his support to One Minute for Peace, a prayer initiative of the International Forum of Catholic Action. On June 8 at 1:00 PM, the organization “suggests that believers of various denominations and religions gather in prayer, dedicating ‘One Minute for Peace,’” Pope Francis said. “Let us accept this invitation, praying for an end to the wars in the world and especially for the dear and tormented Ukraine.”
  • Pope plans to write document dedicated to St. Thérèse of Lisieux, offers white rose to the Little Flower (CNS)
    During his June 7 general audience, Pope Francis placed a white rose near the relics of St. Thérèse of Lisieux and announced that he would write an apostolic letter this year for the 150th anniversary of the birth of the saint, popularly known as the Little Flower. The saint’s reliquary has traveled to more than 80 countries since 1997. The Vatican newspaper reported that the presence of reliquary at the Vatican was the saint’s first “visit” there since 1887, when she asked Pope Leo XIII to allow her to enter the Carmelite order at the age of 15. Relics of the saint’s parents, Saints Louis and Zélie Martin, were also present at the audience.
  • Pope comfortable, recovering after surgery (Vatican News)
    Pope Francis is resting comfortably and recovering, a day after intestinal surgery, the Vatican reports. The surgeon who performed the operation said that the Pontiff was alert and joking Wednesday evening, after the procedure. “The routine follow-up examinations are good,” papal spokesman Matteo Bruno told reporters on Thursday. He said that the Pope was aware of, and grateful for, the many expressions of affection and promises of prayer that he had received. The Pope is expected to remain in the hospital for several days. He is staying in the same room at the Gemelli Hospital that Pope John Paul II used after to recover after two operations: the first in 1981, after he was shot in an assassination attempt; the second in 1992, when he had colon surgery.
  • Vatican judges dismiss defense motions, end evidence phase in financial trial (Pillar)
    Following 60 hearings over a two-year period, the trial will resume in July, when the prosecution will present its case. Defense attorneys are scheduled to present their case in October.
  • European Court: Ukraine is in violation of human rights treaty because it does not recognize same-sex unions (Religion Clause)
    The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Ukraine is in violation of the European Convention of Human Rights, a human rights treaty drafted in 1950, because Ukraine does not offer legal recognition of homosexual unions. The judges cited an anti-discrimination provision of the convention. The Ukrainian constitution defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is a proponent of legislation that would legalize same-sex civil unions.
  • Pope's surgery successful, full recovery expected (CWN)
    Pope Francis was “alert and conscious” after successful surgery on June 7, the Vatican reported.
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