Catholic News

• Pope laments rising racism, fear of foreigners (AsiaNews)
  Pope Francis addressed participants in the World Conference on Xenophobia, Racism, and Populist Nationalism in the context of Global Migration.
• Work should not be equated with productivity, Pope tells injured workers (Vatican News)
  Pope Francis also discussed subsidiarity and solidarity in his address to members of the Italian Association for Injured Workers.
• Pope accepts resignations of 2 more Chilean bishops (Vatican Press Office)
  In May, all 31 active Chilean bishops joined in a mass resignation; in June, Pope Francis accepted the resignations of four bishops. The Pontiff has now accepted the resignations of Bishop Carlos Pellegrín, 60, and Bishop Cristián Contreras, 71.
• Vatican conference participants issue message against racism, xenophobia (World Council of Churches)
  The World Conference on Xenophobia, Racism and Populist Nationalism in the Context of Global Migration was organized by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development and the World Council of Churches, in collaboration with the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
• Create good soil where God's call can take root, Pope tells Italian religious community (Vatican News)
  The Figli di Santa Maria Immacolata (Sons of Holy Mary Immaculate) were founded by Venerable Giuseppe Frassinetti (1804-1868).
• Pope appoints administrator for Indian diocese following rape charge against bishop (AsiaNews)
  On September 19, police in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala questioned Bishop Franco Mulakkal for seven hours.
• In weekday Mass homily, Pope links 'doctors of the law,' scandal, persecution (Vatican News)
  The Pope preached that the “doctors of the law” “have an attitude that only the hypocrites use often: they are scandalized ... Now everyone has the right to enter into the church, even the divorced, everyone. But where are we? The scandal of the hypocrites ... And the Church, when it journeys through history, is persecuted by hypocrites: hypocrites within and without.”
• Pope Francis sends video greetings ahead of visit to Baltic nations (Vatican News)
  Pope Francis begins a 4-day apostolic journey to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia on September 22.
• Hundreds of Chinese Christian leaders sign join statement on religious freedom (St. Charles Institute)
  Since February, “the state has enforced a dramatic tightening of controls over religious matters,” the Protestant pastors said. “A fresh wave of attacks on religious gatherings, places of worship, and individuals has since erupted.”
• EU court orders pro-life activist to stop comparing abortion to Holocaust (AP)
  The European Court of Human Rights issued a unanimous decision in the case.
• Pope visits Santa Maria Maggiore as pastoral visit to Baltic nations approaches (Vatican News)
  
• Pakistan's religious minorities urge government to return to nation's more tolerant founding vision (Fides)
  Pakistan, whose official religion is Islam, is the world’s sixth most populous nation (205 million). Over 96% of Pakistanis are Muslim.
• South Sudan's bishops welcome peace agreement (Fides)
  The South Sudanese Civil War began in 2013. The peace agreement was signed as the nation’s bishops were meeting with Pope Francis in Rome—leading the president of the bishops’ conference to say, “This is a miracle!”
• 10 years after Kandhamal riots: '7 innocents have been convicted' (The Wire)
  In this interview, veteran Catholic journalist Anto Akkara discusses the 2008 anti-Christian pogrom in the eastern Indian state of Odisha (formerly Orissa).
• Nepal's anti-conversion law has fostered anti-Christian violence, group charges (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
  The South Asian nation of 29 million is 81% Hindu, 9% Buddhist, 4% Muslim, and 3% Kirat Mundhum (an indigenous religion).
• Belarus: Orthodox body seeks autocephalous status (AsiaNews)
  Belarus, an Eastern European nation of 9.6 million, is 48% Orthodox and 7% Catholic. The Belarusian Orthodox Church is under the control of the Moscow Patriarchate; the much smaller Belarusian Autocephalous Orthodox Church is seeking autocephalous status—in effect, a canonically recognized independence from Moscow.
• Korean cardinal lauds summit results, welcomes denuclearlization of peninsula (Fides)
  Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soo-jung of Seoul praised the results of talks between South Korean President Moon Jae-in (a Catholic) and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
• Costa Rica's bishops rue civil strife (Fides)
  The Central American nation of 5 million is 76% Catholic and 14% evangelical Protestant.
• Pope-emeritus Benedict defends his decision to resign (Bild (German))
  Pope-emeritus Benedict defended his decision to resign in private letter, written last year to Cardinal Walter Brandmüller. The letter has been made public, nearly a year later, by the German tabloid Bild. In it the former Pope said that he understood the pain some people when he stepped down, but feared that pain had “turned into an anger” against him, and consequently “a papacy itself is now being devalued.” He added that the pain is aggravated by “sorrow about the situation in which the Church now finds herself.”
• Bishops join Japan-Korea pilgrimage against nuclear energy (UCANews)
  The Japan-Korea Anti-Nuclear Peace Pilgrimage has been held each year since the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.
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