Catholic News

• Cardinal Pell freed from prison after High Court of Australia unanimously overturns sex abuse conviction (CNN)
  “I have consistently maintained my innocence while suffering from a serious injustice,” Cardinal Pell, 78, said in a statement following the decision. “I hold no ill will toward my accuser, I do not want my acquittal to add to the hurt and bitterness so many feel; there is certainly hurt and bitterness enough.”
• 'Welcomed by many, devastating for others': Australian bishops react to Pell decision (Australian Catholic Bishops Conference)
  “Today’s outcome will be welcomed by many, including those who have believed in the Cardinal’s innocence throughout this lengthy process,” Archbishop Mark Coleridge, president of the bishops’ conference, said following the Australian High Court decision that overturned Cardinal George Pell’s sex abuse conviction. “We also recognize that the High Court’s decision will be devastating for others.” Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney struck a different tone: “I welcome today’s exoneration of Cardinal George Pell in a unanimous decision of the High Court of Australia. The Cardinal has always maintained his innocence and today’s decision confirms his conviction was wrong.”
• Lessons to be Learned from Cardinal Pell's Case (News Analysis) (CWN)
  Sometime early this morning, Australia time, Cardinal George Pell should have been praying the Liturgy of the Hours. The first psalm in today’s Morning Prayer (43) begins: “Vindicate me, Lord; judge my case against an unholy nation.”
• Pope establishes emergency CO19 fund, donates $750,000 (Vatican News)
  “This fund has the aim of supporting the presence of the Church in mission territories, which also suffers the consequences of coronavirus,” said Archbishop Giovanni Pietro Dal Toso, president of the Pontifical Mission Societies. “Through the Church’s activity of preaching the Gospel and of practical aid through our vast network, we can show that no one is alone in this crisis.”
• 'Mercy does not stop,' Vatican cardinal emphasizes in letter to confessors (Apostolic Penitentiary (Italian))
  Vatican News published an English-language summary of the letter by Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the Vatican’s Major Penitentiary.
• At weekday Mass, Pope prays for prisoners, preaches on the new 'hidden poor' (Zenit)
  At a Mass celebrated in the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae on April 6 (video), Pope Francis preached on John 12:1-11, the Gospel reading of the day. The Mass concluded with adoration and Benediction of the Most Blessed Sacrament and the chanting of the Ave Regina Caelorum.
• Chinese authorities imprison priest, cut off bishop's water, utilities (AsiaNews)
  “After the signing of the provisional agreement between the Vatican and China, the government launched a campaign to eliminate the unofficial communities by requiring each priest to sign a document with which they adhere to the ‘independent Church,’ [and] refuse relations with foreigners, prohibit religious education to young people under the age of 18,” the report notes.
• In Easter message, Cardinal Tagle calls for global unity in the face of the pandemic (Caritas Internationalis)
  Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle is prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, president of the Catholic Biblical Federation, and president of Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s federation of relief and development agencies.
• Colombia: 19 priests suspended, suspected 'network of abusers' (CNA)
  Archbishop Oscar Urbina of Villavicencio, Colombia, has suspended 15 priests who were suspected of sexual abuse. A local radio station reported that those priests, and four priests from other dioceses, “apparently formed a network of abusers.”
• 'Powerful nations are brought to their knees,' leading Asian prelate says (Catholic Outlook)
  “This angel of death, like the Seventh Seal of the Book of Revelation, brings a shattering message,” Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Myanmar, president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences, said in his Easter message. “World powers that arrogantly negate all transcendent powers, learn with humility that life is fragile and that we all need one another. More than anything, all powers can learn to acknowledge the presence of a Power that is above all.”
• Spanish police disrupt rooftop Mass (Periodista Digital (Spanish))
  Police in Seville, Spain, broke up an attempt by “at least nine” Catholics to celebrate Mass on the rooftop of a building in the city on Palm Sunday.
• Rome's Chief Rabbi, Pope Francis exchange holiday greetings (Vatican News)
  “May the Almighty, who has freed His beloved people from slavery and led them to the Promised Land, accompany you even today with the abundance of His blessings,” Pope Francis said in his message to Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni.
• Orthodox 'fanatics' fined for breaking Greek quarantine (Orthochristian)
  More than 100 Orthodox worshippers have been fined for breaking a quarantine imposed by the government in Greece. Authorities cited participants in two liturgical services, in the towns of Agia Varvara and Patras. A government spokesman, noting that the Orthodox hierarchy had agree to abide by the quarantine, said that the services “have nothing to do with the faithful but with the fanatics.”
• Congo cardinal: 'We are terrified' of CO19 (Fides)
  “We are terrified of the possible spread of COVID-19 here in Congo; we have no means or logistical solutions to deal with it and it would be a disaster,” said Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu of Kinshasa. “Here, the slogan ‘stay home’ in many cases would make no sense, because houses are precarious, up to about 10-15 people live in a small room, and the vast majority of our population lives on the street all day.”
• Head of Iran's Muslim seminaries writes letter to Pope, calls for greater collaboration with Church (Hawzah News)
  Alireza Arafi wrote, “I take this opportunity to announce that the Seminary and its professors, scholars, and students are ready to exchange scientific, cultural and relief experiences, especially in the virtual field, and to open a new chapter of collaboration with International scientific centers, universities, religious centers, leaders of divine religions, official organizations of countries, and specifically the institution of Catholic Christianity in order to form a community of divine religions to serve humanity.”
• English cardinal calls for prayer for Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Cardinal Nichols)
  “Prime Minister Boris Johnson has a personal fight on his hands against the vicious coronavirus and needs our prayers,” Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster said after Johnson was admitted to an intensive care unit. “Let us pray for him, all who are suffering and our NHS [National Health Service] workers caring for them.”
• Egypt grants legal recognition to 74 more church buildings (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
  “Church building regulations have historically been a source of controversy and of sectarian violence,” the report notes. Legal recognition has been granted to 1,568 church buildings since the passage of the 2016 Church Construction Law.
• Colombia's bishops welcome truce (Fides)
  Over 175,000 civilians have lost their lives in the Colombian conflict, which began in 1964. The National Liberation Army (ELN), which declared the 1-month truce, has continued to wage war despite a 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the main rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
• 'Behold my servant, whom I uphold': Pope, on Palm Sunday, preaches on Christ's betrayal and abandonment (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Francis celebrated Palm Sunday Mass (video, booklet) without a congregation in St. Peter’s Basilica.
• Jerusalem archbishop blesses city with relic of Holy Cross (Custodia Sanctae Terrae)
  “The city is closed, the world is closed,” Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa said on Palm Sunday at the place where Jesus wept over Jerusalem. The prelate also published a Palm Sunday message that began, “Today we have not celebrated the solemn and beautiful entrance of Jesus to the city of Jerusalem like every year, with faithful from all the parishes of the diocese and with pilgrims from all over the world … What is the Lord saying to us? Why all this?”
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