Catholic News

• On World Food Day, Pope Francis calls for 'conversion in our way of living and acting' (Vatican Press Office)
  “We are in fact witnessing how food is ceasing to be a means of subsistence and turning into an avenue of personal destruction,” the Pontiff wrote in his message for World Food Day (October 16). “820 million of the world’s people suffer from hunger, while almost 700 million are overweight, victims of improper dietary habits … Our first concern should always be the human person: concrete men, women and children, especially those who lack daily food.”
• Pope, in general audience, reflects on St. Peter and the outpouring of the Holy Sprit upon the Gentiles (Vatican News)
  On May 29, Pope Francis began a new series of Wednesday general audiences devoted to the Acts of the Apostles. In his October 16 audience (video), the Pope reflected on Acts 10:34-36.
• Synod fathers reject 'inter-Christian colonialism' and proselytism, Vatican prefect says (Vatican News)
  Speaking at the October 15 synod press briefing, Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, cited remarks made by Pope Benedict XVI in a 2007 homily to the bishops of Latin America.
• Turkey's invasion of Syria strikes blow against Christians (Our Sunday Visitor)
  “Christians and Yazidis will be collateral damage,” warned Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil (Iraq).
• To be freed from hypocrisy, learn to point the finger at yourself, Pope preaches at weekday Mass (Vatican News)
  At a Mass celebrated in the chapel of Domus Sanctae Marthae on October 15, Pope Francis preached on Luke 11:37-41, the Gospel reading of the day.
• 'Leaving room for the abundant outpouring of the Spirit': Vatican summary of synod day 8 (Vatican News)
  Themes discussed on the eighth day of the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region included “no to victimization, more co-responsibility,” “fundamental contribution of science for the care of creation,” “putting out into the deep for a profound ecological conversion,” “symmetry of relations,” “the drama of priestless communities,” “mission: in the footsteps of Jesus,” and “migrants in the cities, torn from their territories.”
• California sex abuse law likely to spur thousands of claims (AP)
  The law, for the next three years, eliminates the statute of limitations for sexual-abuse lawsuits. Dioceses are not the only institutions affected: “the California School Boards Association called the new law an ‘existential threat’ to smaller school districts,” according to the report.
• UN, bishops' conference mediate in strife-torn Ecuador (AP)
  The South American nation of 16.5 million (map) is 74% Catholic and 10% Protestant. Pope Francis made an apostolic journey to Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay in 2015.
• Synod participants discuss permanent episcopal Pan-Amazonian structure (Vatican News)
  According to the Vatican’s summary of the October 15 morning synod discussions, the synod fathers also discussed an “Observatory for Human Rights and Protection of the Amazon,” inculturation and education, missionary commitment and the witness of the martyrs, “the ecumenical challenge,” “the response of the Eucharist,” and “women in ministry, following the example of antiquity.”
• 'Night will be no more': El Paso bishop reflects on racism and white supremacy (Hope Border Institute)
  Reflecting on the 2019 El Paso shooting, Bishop Mark Seitz writes, “I have decided to write this letter on the theme of racism and white supremacy to reflect together on the evil that robbed us of 22 lives.” The four parts of his pastoral letter are entitled “This is Racism,” “‘Heart-Sick’: The Legacy of Hate and White Supremacy on the Border,” “He Took the Form of a Slave,” and “They Threatened Us with Resurrection.”
• Study 'definitively refutes the idea that being gay is an innate condition' (Public Discourse)
  Father Paul Sullins, research professor of sociology at the Catholic University of America, discusses a landmark study published in the journal Science.
• Non-Catholic indigenous woman brings message from her elders to Pope (CNS)
  Anitalia Pijachi, an observer at the synod, is a member of the Ocaina Huitoto indigenous people (Encyclopaedia Britannica article).
• National Council on Disability warns of danger of assisted suicide laws (National Council on Disability)
  Two prelates who chair committees of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops welcomed the study.
• Apostleship of Prayer launches 'Click To Pray eRosary' (Vatican Press Office)
  The Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network (Apostleship of Prayer) launched the initiative as part of the extraordinary missionary month.
• Vatican cardinal: We must help the Amazon's people 'open up to modernity' (Vatican News)
  “We must help them open up to modernity, to innovation, to development, “ said Cardinal Peter Turkson, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. “The people of Amazonia must not be left behind … I suspect that mobile phones are there. How do they charge them?”
• 'Neglected and abandoned by this world': Syriac Catholic patriarch pleads for peace in northeastern Syria (CNS)
  “We Christians of the East are neglected and abandoned by this world, which searches for its immediate material interests,” Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Yonan preached as Turkish forces advanced in Syria. “We know that those who will pay the price are particularly innocent, especially Christians who cannot defend themselves, while Christians believe that the world around them, especially the powerful, exploits them and does not think of them, as if they are the scum of this world.”
• New head named for Vatican Gendarmerie (Vatican Press Office)
  Gianluca Gauzzi Broccoletti has been named director of the Vatican Gendarmerie, replacing Domenico Giani, who resigned under pressure yesterday. Broccoletti, who has worked on the Vatican’s internal network and internet security since 1999, had been named deputy commander of the Gendarmerie, and second in command under Giani, last year.
• Laity, women, sexual abuse, water: Amazon synod discussions continue (Vatican News)
  “Thanks to the laity, the Church is manifesting itself as a Church moving outward, distancing itself from clericalism,” the Vatican stated in its summary of recent discussions at the Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region. “Sexual exploitation of the young was a recurring theme … In Brazil alone, 62,000 rapes were recorded … Forming catechists toward an integral ecology was underlined again, particularly regarding caring for and safeguarding water, a primary resource and source of life.”
• Vatican's Secretary of State affirms support for persecuted Christians, religious freedom (Holy See Mission)
  “The Holy See will continue to be fully engaged in the promotion of religious freedom, as this fundamental human right is intimately connected with the protection of conscience and the defense of the human person,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin said at a recent UN panel discussion.
• Bishop, at synod press briefing, affirms Vatican's respect for Brazil's sovereignty (Vatican News)
  Paolo Ruffini, prefect of the Dicastery for Communications, added that a meeting between the Vatican’s Secretary of State and Brazil’s vice president had “no influence on the synod.”
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