Catholic News

• Theme of Pope's general audience: 'The fruit of the Spirit' (CWN)
  Continuing his Wednesday general audience series on St. Paul’s Letter to the Galatians, Pope Francis spoke on October 27 about the fruit of the Spirit.
• Canadian diocese requires Covid vaccination to attend Mass (CNA)
  “It will be mandatory for all persons 12 and older wishing to attend Masses or Services in our churches to demonstrate proof of vaccination by using the Vaccine Passport: NLVaxPass or by showing proof of vaccination by presenting their QR code before entering our churches,” Bishop Robert Anthony Daniels of Grand Falls wrote in a recent letter.The diocese is one of three in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador (map).
• British Columbia parish receives warning for not following lockdown order (Energeticcity.ca)
  All indoor and outdoor worship services have been forbidden by an order (p. 11) of the Northern Health Authority of British Columbia. The Church of the Resurrection in Fort St. John announced that “due to inconvenience and unavoidable reasons, we are not conducting in vehicle worship services in our parish as we had planned.”
• Pope to visit Canada (Canadian bishops' conference)
  Pope Francis has accepted an invitation from the Canadian bishops to visit their country “on a pilgrimage of healing and reconciliation.” No date for the papal visit has been set. Native tribes in Canada have demanded an apology from the Pope for the abuses in “residential schools”—which were set up by the government for the care of native children, but usually administered by religious orders and other church groups.
• Texas bishop condemns 'Remain in Mexico' policy (CNS)
  Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, has demanded an immediate end to the “Remain in Mexico” policy, which blocks migrants from entering the US until their application for legal entry has been processed. Bishop Seitz urged President Biden, “as a person who values your Catholic faith and the leader of our country,” to end the “disastrous policies of deterrence” that slow immigration and “put in place at the border humane policies.” The “Remain in Mexico” policy was abolished by President Biden shortly after he took office, but a court ruling overturned that decision.
• Bishops call on US Senate to retain longstanding bipartisan pro-life policies? (USCCB)
  “The bills released by the Senate Appropriations chairman [Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-VT] represent a radical departure from the will of the American people and the principle of justice for all,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, chairman of the bishops’ Committee for Religious Liberty, and Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, chairman of Committee on Pro-Life Activities.“By proposing to eliminate the Hyde and Weldon Amendments, among other longstanding, bipartisan pro-life provisions, the Senate is staking out an extreme position of forcing taxpayers to pay for the taking of innocent unborn human life and forcing health care providers to participate in this injustice,” they added.
• 3 Philippine priests suspended for running for office (Manila Times)
  “Clerics are forbidden to assume public offices which entail a participation in the exercise of civil power,” according to Canon 285 of the Code of Canon Law.
• In Venezuela, economic crisis has brought many closer to the Church, bishop says (Aid to the Church in Need)
  “The best contribution we can make to the country is a genuine discernment based on the principles of the social doctrine of the Church,” said Bishop Raul Biord of La Guaira. “Sometimes, such a voice can upset members of the government or of the opposition, or different economic and social groups, but the prophecy cannot remain silent.”“The proclamation of the Kingdom of God often goes against the injustices that people commit and the harm they inflict upon the poorest,” he added.
• Catholic foster care 'back 100%' after Supreme Court decision (Catholic Philly)
  In a unanimous June decision, the US Supreme Court ruled that the city of Philadelphia should not require Catholic Social Services to provide foster-care referrals for same-sex couples. The city had cut off funding for the archdiocesan agency, citing an anti-discrimination rule. The archdiocese contested the decision, arguing successfully that the policy would force the agency to violate its own religious principles.
• Lebanese prelate suggests 'institutional compromise' in political crisis (Fides)
  Maronite Catholic Patriarch Bechara Rai has called for an “institutional compromise” to defuse a political crisis in Lebanon. The Lebanese prelate met with the country’s president, prime minister, and parliament leader in a series of talks on October 26, later telling reporters that he had spoken of a “constitutional and legal” approach to resolve tensions that erupted in a series of sniper shootings this month.
• Anti-Christian violence in India seen as clear constitutional violation (Fides)
  A coalition of human-rights groups in India has decried the continuing violence against the country’s Christian minority, saying that the failure of authorities to curb the violence is a flagrant betrayal of the country’s constitution, which guarantees religious freedom. The group documented more than 300 incidents of anti-Christian violence this year, mostly carried out by militant Hindu groups, which are not restrained by Hindu-nationalist government officials.
• European bishops' leader sees 'profound moral imperative' on global warming (COMECE)
  In a message to European leaders on the eve of a UN climate summit, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich, the president of the Commission of Episcopal Conferences of the European Union (COMECE), has said that to “respect the 1.5ºCV threshold for global warming is a profound moral imperative.”
• Sudan bishop says military coup was predictable (CNS)
  An October 25 coup d’état has shaken the country’s Christian minority.“They do not believe we exist. They say we are infidels,” said Bishop Yunan Andali of El Obeid, the president of the bishops’ conference.
• Ecumenical Patriarch, Cardinal Gregory meet at Georgetown University (CNS)
  Born in 1940 and installed in 1991, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches. During a meeting with President Biden, he discussed climate change and the pandemic, encouraging vaccination.
• Caritas leader calls for radical conversion, reconciliation with creation (Vatican News)
  Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s federation of relief and development agencies, is preparing to celebrate the 70th anniversary of its establishment by Venerable Pius XII.“This pandemic has shown us that we will all become more and more vulnerable without care for humanity and Creation,” said Aloysius John, the confederation’s general secretary. “Today the world needs more than ever a radical conversion of hearts and minds, and reconciliation with creation.”
• Pope tightening control over Knights of Malta (Pillar)
  On October 26 the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has extended the authority of Cardinal Silvano Maria Tomasi as his delegate to supervise the restructuring of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. Pope Francis intervened in 2017 to change the leadership of the order. Since that time divisions within the group have continued, however. A Pillar analysis concludes that the Pope’s latest move “appears to signal an end to the need for compromise.”
• Vatican hosts conference on early history of the Church (Vatican Press Office)
  The 3-day conference (program) is organized by the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences, in collaboration with the Université Catholique de Lyon.
• Chinese bishop taken into police custody again (AsiaNews)
  BIshop Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou has been by police to an undisclosed location. While official sources say that the bishop is “on vacation,” Catholics in the region assume that he will undergo a series of “education” sessions, aimed to persuade him to accept the authority of the government-backed Patriotic Association. Bishop Shao, who is not recognized by the Chinese government, has been arrested numerous times over the past several years. Usually he is held for 10-15 days, although in 2017 he was in custody for seven months.
• Ecumenical Patriarch meets Biden, urges vaccination (CNA)
  Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople met with President Joe Biden at the White House on October 25, described the American leader as “a man of faith and vision,” and announced an interfaith drive to promote Covid vaccination. The Orthodox Patriarch had been hospitalized with exhaustion the previous day, after arriving in the US, but recovered to continue his scheduled appearances. He reportedly spoke with Biden about climate change and religious freedom.
• Hundreds of Lutherans, Catholics go on joint pilgrimage to see the Pope (Rome Reports)
  Pope Francis welcomed the German pilgrims of Mit Luther zum Papst (With Luther to the Pope) and said, “Always remain attentive to God’s melody in your life. Then many voices will join to form one song. This is also where ecumenism happens, in Germany and in many other parts of the world.”
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