Catholic News
- New York archdiocese: priests cannot support Catholics who resist Covid vaccine (CWN)
The New York archdiocese has instructed priests that they should not support parishioners who seek religious exemptions from Covid vaccination mandates. - Pope's Angelus address: Let us ask ourselves, 'Why do I seek the Lord?' (Vatican Press Office)
On August 1, the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Pope Francis devoted his Angelus address to John 6:24-35, the Gospel reading of the day. The Pope concluded, “Let us now pray to the Holy Virgin, to her who lived the most beautiful story of love with God, that she may give us the grace to open ourselves to the encounter with her Son.” - Public Masses suspended again in Phillipines (CPCP)
The public celebration of Mass has been suspended in the region around Manila until at least August 20. The suspension covers the Archdiocese of Manila and the dioceses of Cubao, Novaliches, Pasig, Paranaque, and Kalookan. - South Sudan's bishops meet with nation's president, ask to be part of peace negotiations (AMECEA)
The nation of 10.6 million (map) is 62% Christian (and 42% Catholic), 31% ethnic religionist, and 6% Muslim, and gained independence from largely Muslim Sudan in 2011.The South Sudanese Civil War began in 2013 and officially ended in February 2020. In April 2019, Pope Francis kissed the feet of the nation’s leaders as he appealed for peace. - Nicaraguan cardinal: Church will not be intimidated (Crux)
Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of Managua has vowed that the Catholic clergy in Nicaragua will not be silenced by fears of government reprisals. The cardinal said that the Church will continue to support democracy, despite attacks by the Ortega regime. Pointing to the historic role of the Church in resisting injustice, he said that the work of the Church is not political, but promotes the dignity of all people. - Leading African cardinal calls for prayer, urges unity (SECAM)
SECAM is the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar. Africans “are going through distressing and traumatizing experiences caused by different variants of Coronavirus (Covid-19),” writes Burkina Faso Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo, SECAM’s president. “Ongoing wars, terrorist attacks and other violent clashes have resulted to loss of life and property in different African countries,” he added. “Countless numbers of our sons and daughters have been brutally murdered and numerous others are living in dehumanizing conditions, perpetual fear and anxiety. While we bemoan the plight of our people everywhere, we also call for renewed courage and trust in our omnipotent, loving and merciful God.” - In Bangladesh, Christians flee after attacks by Buddhist radicals against their church (AsiaNews)
The South Asian nation of 163 million (map) is 89% Muslim and 9% Hindu.“Radical Buddhists warned us to completely destroy the church, but we will not, even if we have to sacrifice our lives,” said the assistant pastor of the Bangladesh Tribal Baptist Church. “They threaten us in order to get us to return to our old religion, but we will not return. Jesus Christ is our Savior. We will die for Him.” - Parents hold prayer event opposing mask rules for Atlanta's Catholic Schools (CBS46)
According to the report, the event followed a decision by the archdiocese’s superintendent of schools to make masks “mandatory for elementary school students and staff indoors in large group settings, and when individuals are within three feet from one another for more than fifteen minutes.” - In Pakistan, Christian nurses suffer discrimination, threats of violence (Aid to the Church in Need)
Islam is the official religion of the South Asian nation of 234 million (map), the fifth most populous in the world. Though 96% of Pakistanis are Muslim, 60%-70% of Pakistan’s nurses are Christian, according to Aid to the Church in Need. - Manitoba tribe bans priest from its territory (Western Standard)
The Bloodvein First Nation in Manitoba has banned Father Rhéal Forest from its territory. Archbishop Albert LeGatt of Saint Boniface also barred the priest from preaching after the priest, in a homily, accused residential school survivors of lying about abuse. - Federal judge permits racketeering suit against Mormon church (Religion Clause)
A former Mormon filed suit against the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, alleging that several of the church’s teachings involve misrepresentations; she also filed a RICO suit against the church, alleging misrepresentations in fundraising. While a federal judge dismissed the former claim, he permitted the member’s RICO suit to proceed. RICO (the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) was enacted in 1970 against the Mafia. - German bishops appeal for Madagascar, plagued by drought, hunger (Vatican News)
“There is a risk of a massacre, the situation is disastrous and hunger is rampant in a frightening way,” said Archbishop Ludwig Schick, president of the German bishops’ Commission for the Universal Church. “Babies and children are just skin and bones.” - With Haiti in turmoil, Catholic agencies trying to help face enormous difficulties (National Catholic Reporter)
President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in his home on July 7.“I worked in the past with poor communities in Brazil, but nothing compares to the Haitian reality,” said Sister Ideneide Rêgo. “It’s an indescribable misery.” - Retired Albany archbishop acknowledges returning abusive priests to ministry (CNA)
Bishop Howard Hubbard, the retired leader of the Albany, New York, diocese, has acknowledged that in the 1970s and 1980s, priests who were credibly accused of sexual abuse would be sent to treatment facilities, then returned to ministry, without giving notice to law-enforcement officials. - Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians celebrate the baptism of Kievan Rus' (AsiaNews)
During the reign of St. Vladimir the Great, the people of Kievan Rus’ (map) were baptized in 988. In Kiev, an estimated 350,000 Orthodox faithful took part in a procession led by bishops of the the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate). Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, issued a statement in which he also recalled the 425th anniversary of the Union of Brest, in which several Orthodox bishops entered into full communion with the Catholic Church. - Papal prayer intention for August: reform of the Church (Pope's Worldwide Prayer Network)
The Pope’s August prayer intention, disseminated by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer), is “Let us pray for the Church, that she may receive from the Holy Spirit the grace and strength to reform herself in the light of the Gospel.” - Vaccine acceptance particularly high among Catholics, survey finds (Public Religion Research Institute)
67% of Americans surveyed by the Public Religion Research Institute have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine. 15% of Americans are “vaccine hesitant,” and 14% are “vaccine refusers.”Vaccine acceptance is highest among Jews (85%), Hispanic Catholics (80%), and white Catholics (79%). It is lowest among Hispanic Protestants (56%), white evangelical Protestants (56%), and Mormons (65%). - Confession must be part of talks on worthiness to receive Communion, nuncio says (CNA)
Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, made his remarks during a panel discussion on the US bishops’ upcoming Eucharistic document. - Millions meant for residential school survivors spent on Church lawyers, administration: documents (CBC News)
In the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, 47 Canadian Catholic entities agreed to pay $29 million in cash, to provide $25 million in “in-kind services,” and to attempt to raise an additional $25 million (less than $4 million of which has been raised).A 2015 Canadian government document obtained by CBC News (the Canadian public broadcasting agency) alleged that the Church in Canada “breached its obligations in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.” $5 million of the $29M in cash was reportedly used for Church attorneys and administrative costs, and $8M was reportedly deducted for funds paid to survivors prior to the agreement. - Vatican newspaper draws renewed attention to jihadist violence in Mozambique (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
On July 29, L’Osservatore Romano devoted its most prominent front-page article to a crisis that has received scant media attention: the brutal jihadist insurgency in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province that has caused 800,000 people, 70% of them women and children, to flee their homes.The newspaper also highlighted the efforts of the Community of Sant’Egidio, Aid to the Church in Need, and others to draw attention to the crisis and assist the refugees. Pope Francis referred to Cabo Delgado in three of his most prominent addresses over the past year: his Christmas and Easter Urbi et Orbi addresses, and address to the diplomatic corps. - More...