First abuse investigation under new bishops’ law
An archbishop will investigate cover-up allegations against a local bishop, in the first example of the new “metropolitan model” put in place by Pope Francis earlier this year. Archbishop Bernard Hebda (left) of St Paul and Minneapolis announced that he will lead an inquiry into Bishop Michael Hoeppner of Crookston, who is accused of “acts or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil or canonical investigations of clerical sexual misconduct”. Bishop Hoeppner denies any wrongdoing.
It is the first example of an inqury under the new Vatican law Vos estis, promulgated in March by Pope Francis, which empowers archbishops to investigate bishops in their ecclesiastical province.
Retired priest is acquitted of abuse
A retired priest has been acquitted of allegations that he sexually abused an altar boy. Fr William Nolan, who is 66, was found not guilty of five counts of sexual assault.
The accuser, who is 26, claimed that Fr Nolan had had sexual contact with him 100 times, beginning in 2006. The allegations related to Fr Nolan’s time as parish priest in Fort Atkinson, where the accuser was an altar boy.
According to the local station WKOW-TV, Fr Nolan said he had had no physical contact with the accuser except for a friendly hug. The priest was had said that, when he was told about the allegations, he was “mad, angry because it didn’t happen.” He said the alleged abuse could not have taken place: for instance, the boy could not have gone to his office alone without others noticing.
Bishop holds up Newman as a model for priests
Blessed John Henry Newman can help priests to carry out their ministry in a time of secularisation, Bishop James Conley of Nebraska has said in a column looking forward to Newman’s canonisation next month. In his column for the diocesan newspaper, Bishop Conley said that in Newman’s time, as in ours, society “had become very
secular, morality had gone out of fashion, and evangelisation seemed critical”.
Newman was realistic about his own sinfulness, the bishop wrote, but he “he sought holiness with vigour. And he relied on the grace of celebrating the sacramental life in full awareness of the profound reality of the mystery.”
Vatican calls for talks and elections
With increasing concerns worldwide about human rights violations in Nicaragua, a Vatican representative has called for an immediate return to negotiations and a rollout of reforms necessary to hold “free and transparent elections”, the Catholic News Service reports.
“The Holy See has been following with great attention the sociopolitical situation in Nicaragua and believes that the unsettled disputes should be solved as soon as possible,” said Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, the Vatican observer to UN agencies in Geneva. He called for all “political and social stakeholders” to come together in a “renewed spirit of responsibility and reconciliation”.
Archbishop questions President Macri at Mass
Mauricio Macri has become the first Argentine president in decades to make a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lord and Our Lady of the Miracle, in Salta. Macri is fighting a re-election campaign, and is facing low poll numbers and an economic crisis.
The annual celebration, marking the saving of Salta from an earthquake, was attended by nearly a million people. Archbishop Mario Cargnello, who invited Macri, addressed him directly in a homily, saying: “When you began, you said that you were going to fight for zero poverty. What can you say to Salta now?”
Government ‘not spying’ on synod
Brazil’s government has said it is following the preparations for next month’s Amazon synod, but is not monitoring individuals.
Brazilian media had claimed that the Institutional Security Office, an intelligence unit, was working to undermine the synod, which may issue a statement challenging President Jair Bolsonaro’s environmental policies. But according to Crux, the agency has recently denied that it is spying on synod organisers or delegates. It is, however, “keeping track” of proceedings. The synod is likely to draw attention to the degradation of the rainforest. Bolsonaro says recent fires are the fault of NGOs.
Prince Charles to attend Newman canonisation
The Prince of Wales will attend next month’s canonisation of Blessed John Henry Newman in Rome. As well as going to the Mass on Sunday October 13, the heir to the throne will also attend a reception at the Pontifical Urban College where Newman studied, according to a statement from Clarence House, the Prince’s official residence. The statement described Newman as “an author and scholar who devoted his life to helping the poor and sick”.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster said he was delighted that Prince Charles would attend the ceremony, noting that the Prince had been “a lifelong champion of the spiritual in everyday life” who had worked to promote understanding between religions.
Call for Catholics to fast and pray ahead of synod
Two bishops have urged prayer and fasting to aid Pope Francis in rejecting doctrinal errors at the Amazon synod. Bishop Athanasius Schneider, from Kazakhstan, and US Cardinal Raymond Burke issued an open letter, detailing what they see as problems with the working document. For instance, the working document rejects what it calls an “attitude that reserves salvation exclusively for one’s own creed” – apparently questioning the necessity of faith for salvation.
Row over teacher
A controversial priest will teach at the John Paul II Institute. Fr Maurizio Chiodi, who has questioned Church teaching on contraception and homosexuality, will teach at the recently overhauled institute. Last year the philosopher Joseph Seifert urged Fr Chiodi to “revoke his grave errors”.
Good intentions not enough, say bishops after Mugabe dies
Stating that “an evil action cannot be justified by reference to a good intention”, the bishops of Zimbabwe have issued a reflection on the death of former president Robert Mugabe (right). In the pastoral letter, titled “The end does not justify the means”, the bishops argued that Mugabe had some good intentions, but used his power unjustly.
“We are deeply concerned,” the bishops wrote, by “beatings, torture, sexual assaults, abductions, harassment of dissenting voices and violent repression of demonstrations.” Mugabe had a Jesuit chaplain, according to ACI Africa.
Pope’s itinerary announced
Details have been announced for Pope Francis’s visit to Thailand and Japan in November. He will be in Thailand on November 20-23 and Japan on November 24-26. During the second stop he will visit Tokyo – where he will meet Emperor Naruhito and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe – as well as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, cities devastated by the atomic bomb.
The Pope is likely to call for an end to war, as did the Japanese bishops’ conference earlier in the year. The logo for the Thailand trip depicts the Pope above a boat symbolising evangelisation. The logo for the Japan visit has the motto “protect all life”, a reference to the Pope’s ecological and anti-war writings.
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