Catholic News

• 'Christ's Transfiguration shows us the Christian perspective of suffering,' Pope tells pilgrims (Zenit)
  In his March 17 Sunday Angelus address (video), Pope Francis reflected on Luke 9:28-36, the Gospel of the day.
• Cardinal DiNardo, head of US bishops' conference, suffers stroke (Vatican News)
  Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Texas, the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, was hospitalized on March 15 after suffering what archdiocesan officials described as a “mild” stroke. The cardinal was expected to remain hospitalized for a few days for tests.
• Original 'Scala Sancta'--stairs Jesus mounted to face Pilate--exposed in Rome (CWN)
  The original Scala Sancta, or Holy Stairs, believed to be the stairs that Jesus climbed to be judged by Pontius Pilate, have been opened to the public, after restoration work that exposed the 28 original marble steps.
• Syrian patriarch praises Russia's role in nation's civil war (Syrian Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch)
  Born in 1965, Patriarch Ignatius Aphrem II has led the Damascus-based Syriac Orthodox Church since 2014. Russia has offered military support of President Bashar al-Assad’s government since 2015.
• Pope praises cooperatives as alternative to statism, profit-centered capitalism (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Francis addressed members of the Confederation of Italian Cooperatives on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its founding (video). Recalling that cooperatives were inspired by Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum, Pope Francis said that “we must never forget that this vision of cooperation, based on relationships and not on profit, runs counter to the mentality of the world.”
• Pope reactivates plans for South Sudan trip (Reuters)
  On March 16, Pope Francis received Salva Kiir Mayardit, the nation’s president since its 2011 independence. Two years later, the South Sudanese Civil War began.
• Vatican diplomat accused of corruption and romantic relationship while at UN (CNA)
  Archbishop Francis Chullikatt was apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations from 2010 to 2014. After two years without an appointment, Pope Francis named him apostolic nuncio to Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan in 2016.
• Vatican diplomat criticizes stigmatization of motherhood in some nations (Holy See Mission)
  Archbishop Bernardito Auza, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, addressed a meeting of the UN Commission on the Status of Women. He said that “while many countries fear that the decline in fertility will lead to economic and cultural tipping points, their public services and protection programs regularly fail to extend to mothers and families the kind of social justice and the economic and employment assistance that would enable them to satisfy their noble desire to enjoy the beauty of motherhood.”
• Cardinal Barbarin meets with Pope; resignation expected (Vatican Press Office)
  Cardinal Philippe Barbarin of Lyon, who last week was found guilty of covering up sexual abuse, met with Pope Francis in a private audience on March 18. The French cardinal had indicated that he would present his resignation.
• Brexit dominates Irish primate's message for St. Patrick's Day (Crux)
  Click here for the full text of Archbishop Eamon Martin’s St. Patrick’s Day message to the people of Ireland at home and abroad.
• Catholic hospitals criticized for lack of transparency about Catholic identity (Journal of the American Medical Assn.)
  The study found that “among US Catholic hospitals, 21% did not explicitly disclose their Catholic identity on their website, and only 28% specified how religious affiliation might influence patient care.”
• Anti-Catholic climate worsens in France (The Tablet)
  “15 vandalism attacks had been registered nationwide during the month [of February], along with 15 robberies, 10 acts of profanation, and one torching incident,” according to the report.
• USCCB committee endorses American Dream and Promise Act (USCCB)
  The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration endorsed the American Dream and Promise Act of 2019 (H.R.6), sponsored by Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA). The legislation would “provide permanent legal protection and a pathway to citizenship for qualifying Dreamers and Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and Deferred Enforced Departure (DED) holders,” the USCCB stated in a news release.
• El Salvador bishops criticize proposal for civil-war amnesty (AP)
  The Catholic bishops of El Salvador have raised objections to a proposed law that would grant amnesty for crimes committed during the country’s civil war in the 1980s. The bishops said that the proposal would protect wrongdoers without offering any reparations for victims. The proposed legislation responds to an order from the country’s top court, which directed legislators to prepare a law that would provide for a just settlement of civil-war claims.
• Federal appeals court rules that tax exemption for clergy housing is constitutional (Religion Clause)
  The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals Appeals overturned a lower court ruling.
• German bishops announce 'binding synodal process' on celibacy, sexual morality (CNA)
  Participants in the process will also examine “the necessary reduction of [clerical] power,” Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich said.
• Theme of papal preacher's 1st Lenten sermon: 'Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God' (Cantalamessa.org)
  Capuchin Franciscan Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the preacher of the papal household since 1980, began a series of five Friday Lenten sermons in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Apostolic Palace. The theme of the series is a phrase of St. Augustine: “In te ipsum redi” (return into yourself).
• India: Cardinal Gracias urges voters to protect democracy, spiritual life (Crux)
  Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, the president of the Indian bishops’ conference, has released a pastoral letter urging voters to uphold democracy and revive India’s status as a “spiritual nation,” as parliamentary elections loom in coming weeks. India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu nationalist body, faces a challenge from the secular Indian National Congress.
• Up to 3 million Turkic Muslims imprisoned in Chinese government crackdown (UCANews)
  The report describes the region of Xinjiang (map) as “open air prison” in which “passports are confiscated” and “checkpoints stop pedestrians every 50 to 100 meters.”
• Holy Land's bishops discuss protection of minors (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)
  At a meeting in Nazareth, the members of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land also discussed Church-state relations and the upcoming extraordinary missionary month (October 2019).
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