Catholic News

• 'Listen to the cry of the poor and the cry of the earth,' Cardinal Turkson says at Davos (Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development)
  “And if, with the analogy of Pope Francis, the earth and its poor are crying to us, then there is an urgency on the part of humanity: to go to these elements which are crying to us and to try to save them, to help them stop crying,” the prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development said during a press conference at the the 2020 World Economic Forum.
• Vatican diplomat urges international community to 'keep the flame of dialogue alive' in the Middle East (Holy See Mission)
  Msgr. Fredrik Hansen, Chargé d’Affaires of the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations, addressed a UN Security Council meeting devoted to the Middle East.
• US bishops applaud administration measures to strengthen religious liberty (USCCB)
  Days after a statement expressing appreciation for the Trump administration’s “‘concrete actions” on religious liberty, two USCCB committee chairmen expressed their gratitude for new steps taken by the administration on school prayer and federal grants for faith-based organizations.
• Bolivia's bishops call for democratic, transparent elections (Fides)
  Evo Morales, Bolivia’s Socialist president since 2005, resigned in November following weeks of violent protests.The nation of 11.5 million (map) is 79% Catholic and 14% Protestant; Pope Francis made an apostolic journey there in 2015.
• 'No to new wars,' bishops of 3 African nations plead (Fides)
  “We appeal to the conscience of rulers to keep in their hearts and minds the duty to protect the populations and to work for the prosperity of people who must fully enjoy their rights as creatures created in the image of God,” said the bishops of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Rwanda.
• Argentine bishop fires professor who posted Viganò text on Facebook (LifeSite News)
  A spokesman for Bishop Gabriel Mestre of Mar del Plata declined to comment on the dismissal of Dr. Maximiliano Loria.
• Indian archbishop declares day of reparation after profanation of Blessed Sacrament (Vatican News)
  “I am deeply disturbed and terribly shocked and also greatly grieved that desecration was done to Lord Jesus Christ who is present in the Holy Eucharist,” Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore said after vandals broke into the tabernacle of a parish church and desecrated the Blessed Sacrament.
• In Iran, Christian convert receives 3-year prison sentence (Middle East Concern)
  Ismaeil Maghrebinejad, 65, was convicted on the charge of “insulting Islamic sacred beliefs.”
• Missionary reports that Islamist violence is spreading fear among Niger's Christians (Fides)
  The West African nation of 20.5 million (map) is over 96% Muslim, with 3% adhering to indigenous religions.
• Utah bans conversion therapy for minors (Religion Clause)
  With rare exceptions, mental health professionals are now forbidden to provide “any practice or treatment that seeks to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of a patient or client, including mental health therapy that seeks to change, eliminate, or reduce behaviors, expressions, attractions, or feelings related to a patient or client’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”
• Church in Poland marks 'Islam Day' (SIR)
  “Islam is one of the main fears Polish Catholics have”, said Karol Wilczyński, member of the Council for Dialogue of the Archdiocese of Krakow, who hopes that the day will help “overcome prejudice and show the true face of Muslims.”
• 'Opening the way to the Scriptures': Irish bishop issues pastoral letter for 'Sunday of the Word of God' (Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference)
  In 2019, Pope Francis issued Aperuit illis, an apostolic letter instituting the annual Sunday of the Word of God, which takes place on the 3rd Sunday in Ordinary Time.
• Buffalo priest files defamation suit against accuser (Buffalo News)
  Father Roy Herberger, 77, resumed active ministry after an attorney hired by the diocese found that a 2018 allegation against him was “completely false.”
• New research offers details on Catholic inmates at Auschwitz (CNS)
  The Nazi extermination camp was liberated 75 years ago.
• Vatican conference focuses on pastoral care of the elderly (Vatican News)
  The theme of the first international conference on the pastoral care of the elderly (program, description), organized by the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life, is “The richness of many years of life.”
• Taiwan president tells Pope of China's religious persecution (UCANews)
  In her letter to Pope Francis, President Tsai Ing-wen spoke of “authorities dispatching armed police to fire tear gas and suppress and arrest people expressing the wish to pursue democracy and human rights … religious practitioners facing detention and persecution by public security officers when they, following their conscience, refuse to be coerced into signing documents to join an organization that violates their religious doctrines.”
• International finance watchdog re-admits Vatican (Vatican Press Office)
  The Vatican’s Financial Information Authority (AIF) has been re-admitted to full membership in the Egmont Group. The Egmont Group, an international consortium that shares information about possible financial crime, had suspended the AIF in October, after Vatican police removed documents from the AIF office. The Vatican agency was re-admitted after Egmont leaders were assured that confidential documents would remain secure.
• Supreme Court appears split on Montana's ban on vouchers for religious schools (Washington Times)
  The Becket Fund has published background information on the case. “The case before the Supreme Court today concerns whether the Constitution offers states a license to discriminate against religion,” the USCCB said in a statement. “It is about whether our nation will continue to tolerate this strain of anti-Catholic bigotry. Blaine Amendments, which are in 37 states’ constitutions, were the product of nativism … We hope that the Supreme Court will take this opportunity to bring an end to this shameful legacy.”
• In US, conversions to Catholicism have fallen 46% since 2000 (CARA (Georgetown University))
  The number of adults received into the Catholic Church in the United States fell from 172,581 in 2000 to 93,621 in 2018.
• Islamic extremists kill Nigerian pastor, attack his hometown (AP)
  Following the killing of Rev. Lawan Andimi, Boko Haram attacked his hometown in Borno State (map), a largely Muslim region where sharia is the basis of civil law.
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