Archbishop Bernard Hebda of St Paul and Minneapolis has clarified that his predecessor, Archbishop John Nienstedt, is not free to exercise public ministry in the archdiocese until “all open allegations [of sexual misconduct] are resolved”. Archbishop Hebda said he was “frustrated” that a Vatican investigation into allegations appeared to come to an end in 2015 when Archbishop Nienstedt resigned. He said he hoped his announcement “prompts further action by those with authority … to resolve this question”. Archbishop Nienstedt has denied the allegations. Archbishop Hebda said his statement was “not intended to convey an indication of guilt”.
The Director of the National Institutes of Health, a medical research agency, has provoked criticism for defending the use of tissue from aborted babies for research, saying it could be done “within an ethical framework” and even be seen as pro-life.
Francis Collins, a geneticist-physicist, said that if the research “might save somebody’s life downstream, perhaps that’s a better choice than discarding them”, and that this might be a “credible stance” even for those who oppose abortion.
Greg Schleppenbach, associate director of the US bishops’ secretariat of pro-life activities, said the comments were “deeply disturbing”. He added that there was “nothing pro-life about further violating these aborted babies by scavenging, even commodifying, their body parts for use in research”.
Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles accused of sexual misconduct with a child in the 1990s.
Archbishop José Gómez of Los Angeles said that Bishop Alexander Salazar denied wrongdoing and had stepped down “out of deep concern for the healing and reconciliation of abuse victims and for the good of the Church’s mission”.
Police investigated the complaint in 2002 but prosecutors declined to bring charges. The diocese learnt of the allegation in 2005, according to Archbishop Gómez, and the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith subsequently imposed “certain precautionary conditions” on his ministry.
An armed group claiming to be “community police” has threatened to arrest Bishop Salvador Rangel of Chilpancingo-Chilapa and submit him to “re-education”. A spokesman for the United Front of Community Police of Guerrero accused the bishop of links to “leaders of crime”, adding: “If the authorities do not stop him, we will stop him.”
In Guerrero state, torn apart by drug-related violence, community police have taken control of a number of villages, driving out inhabitants. Calling their actions “atrocities”, Bishop Rangel said: “They are not properly protecting the population, but are, we all know, at the service of the drug-traffickers.”
The bishops of Haiti have urged political leaders to do “everything possible” to stop the country’s “disturbing deterioration”.
The country faces an economic crisis and in November its capital, Port-au-Prince, was paralysed by violent protests against the president, Jovenel Moïse, amid allegations of corruption.
The bishops urged elected leaders to “renounce undue and extravagant privileges” that harmed the “vital needs of the people”. They urged Haitians “not to lose hope” despite the “failure of state institutions, the escalation of violence [and] economic meltdown”.
Brazil’s new president Jair Bolsonaro has denied rumours that his Evangelical wife had requested the removal of Catholic artwork from the presidential palace.
“I am Catholic and she is Evangelical and we respect each other … There is no religious conflict between us,” he said in a video on his Facebook page. He pointed out that his wife, Michelle, had had no objection to an image of Our Lady of Aparecida in their home. The first lady, meanwhile, said a sculpture of St Barbara had been transferred to the residence of the vice president, General Hamilton Mourão, because he had requested it.
Ireland’s president Michael D Higgins has signed a law introducing abortion on demand into the country.
Abortions under the new legal regime were expected to be carried out from January 1. The law allows abortions for any reason up to 12 weeks of pregnancy and up to six months in cases of fatal foetal abnormality or if the mother’s health is at risk. Health minister Simon Harris called it a “historic day” for Ireland.
The country’s Catholic bishops have asked for the rights of conscientious objectors to be respected, saying that healthcare workers and pharmacists “cannot be forced either to participate in abortion or to refer patients to others for abortion”. Publicly funded Catholic hospitals will be required to carry out abortions.
In his pre-Christmas address to the Curia, Pope Francis said the Church must never again “hush up” abuse cases or treat them lightly. In a 40-minute speech largely focused on the abuse crisis, the Pope issued an appeal to abusers. “To those who abuse minors I would say this: convert and hand yourself over to human justice and prepare for divine justice,” he said. He excoriated abuser priests, saying: “Behind their boundless amiability … they shamelessly conceal a vicious wolf ready to devour innocent souls.”
The Holy See and Vietnam have reached an agreement on “upgrading relations in the near future”, the Vatican has said. The statement said that a joint working group meeting in Hanoi last month had agreed on matters relating to a “permanent pontifical representative” in the country.
Egypt’s government has said it gave legal approval to more than 500 churches last year.
The registrations follow a 2016 law that set up a central body to authorise new churches. Previously, local authorities delayed approving churches to appease extremist groups. There is still a backlog of 3,000 applications of churches seeking approval, officials said. Coptic Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria said the government of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi – which has also promised to repair churches hit by Islamist attacks – “is healing scars left by deep wounds”, according to the Vatican agency Fides.
Bishops and priests, including the papal nuncio to the Philippines, were asked to leave a national ceremony in the town of Balangiga apparently to avoid upsetting President Rodrigo Duterte.
In a post on Facebook, the Diocese of Borongan said prelates including the nuncio, Archbishop Gabriel Giordano Caccia, were told by the president’s aides to leave a ceremony marking the return of three church bells taken by the United States 117 years ago. A diocesan official, Fr Edmel Raagas, said priests were also asked to move to the back and to take off their dog collars “so as not to offend the president”. They refused the requests, he said. A palace spokesman denied that such requests were made.
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