Catholic senator votes against abortion survival bill
Catholic bishops in Virginia have said they are “outraged” at the vote of a Catholic senator which helped block the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Bill in the US Senate last week. The bill, which would have protected babies who survive a late abortion, was described as “extremely misleading” and “unjustified and unnecessary” by Senator Tim Kaine.
“We are dismayed and outraged that Virginia’s US Senators Warner and Kaine voted against this critical lifesaving legislation,” said Bishops Barry Knestout of Richmond and Michael Burbidge of Arlington. “That this bill did not pass unanimously – let alone pass at all – is appalling and beyond comprehension.”
‘Weak’ seminaries helped create crisis, says bishop
Poor priestly formation was one of the prime causes of the clerical abuse crisis, Bishop Thomas Olmsted of Phoenix has said. Writing in his diocesan newspaper, the Catholic Sun, the bishop said that “weak” seminaries, combined with the sexual revolution and clericalism, created the crisis.
“We see clearly now that Church leaders failed to adequately screen applicants for the priesthood during the confusion caused by the sexual revolution,” he wrote. “In our seminaries, where young men are to be formed as true servants of Jesus and His Church, it was often assumed that the human and the spiritual qualities of the man were present and sufficient. This was a poor assumption, and it led to too little consideration of a man’s human virtues and of his relationship with Jesus Christ.”
Sexual abuse policy to be enacted
The Church in Canada is preparing to enact its new document, Protecting Minors from Sexual Abuse, published last year.
Bishop Ronald Fabbro of London, Ontario, who oversaw the document, emphasised the importance of education on the Church’s teaching on chastity. Paedophilia is a psychological disorder, he said, emphasising that “just going to Confession and confessing the sin is not going to lead to the stopping of the sin”. Psychological testing should be part of seminary formation.
A zero-tolerance approach to abuse by priests and bishops, “that if you are ever convicted, you won’t do ministry any more, is very powerful”, said Archbishop Christian Lépine of Montreal. “It says to those who would abuse, the Church is not a place where you can hide.”
Call for prayer as talks begin in Nicaragua
Nicaraguan bishops have asked Catholics to pray for talks that have begun between President Daniel Ortega’s government and the opposition Civic Alliance for Justice and Democracy.
Cardinal Leopoldo Brenes of Managua asked the faithful to pray “so that we can make a sincere effort to authentically work for the common good, declining all selfish and sectarian interests, in the search for new horizons for Nicaragua”. This must be based “on respect for human rights, promoting a culture of dialogue and understanding”, he said. Cardinal Brenes and Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua, are attending the talks as witnesses.
Amazon synod ‘won’t focus on married priests’
Married priests will not be the main focus at October’s synod of bishops on the Amazon, a cardinal has said. A debate at the synod on whether to ordain married men of “proven virtue” had first been mooted in June 2018, leading to speculation that priestly celibacy was under threat.
But Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno of Huancayo, vice-president of the synod, insisted that climate change would be the main focus. He said: “Climate change is increasing at an exponential level compared to how humanity is trying to address it.”
See change in Peru’s capital
Fr Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio was ordained as the new Archbishop of Lima on Saturday, replacing Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani who has retired at the age of 75 after 20 years as archbishop. In addition to pastoral roles, the new archbishop has been professor of theology at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru since 1987.
Archbishop Castillo’s appointment by Pope Francis has been seen as a change in stance in Peru. He is viewed as being sympathetic to liberation theology and the “spirit of Vatican II”. His predecessor, a member of Opus Dei, was openly critical of both Liberation Theology and the Pontifical University itself.
Mummy of ‘Crusader’ vandalised
Thieves have broken into the crypt of a Dublin church and desecrated the remains of mummies there, taking the head of an 800-year-old mummy known as “the Crusader”. The 400-year old remains of a nun were also damaged.
Anglican Archbishop Michael Jackson of Dublin said: “I am shocked that someone would target this ancient burial place and desecrate the remains of those lying within it.” He added: “Not only have these individuals desecrated the sacred crypt, but they have destroyed these historic mummies, which have been preserved in St Michan’s for hundreds of years.”
Police are examining CCTV images from the church to try to identify the perpetrators.
Man who spat on priest imprisoned
A marcher who spat on a Catholic priest as an Orange parade passed St Alphonsus Church in Glasgow has been jailed for 10 months.
Last July, Canon Thomas White was saying goodbye to parishioners after Mass when Bradley Wallace, 24, spat on him. In his trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court (pictured), accepted his crime was motivated by anti-Catholicism. Last year, a government report found that Catholics are the victims of more hate crime than all other religious groups in Scotland combined.
Portuguese dioceses donate to Venezuela
At least six of Portugal’s 21 dioceses have decided to donate their Lenten collections to the people of Venezuela, writes Filipe d’Avilez. The social, political and financial crisis in Venezuela has also affected the 200,000-strong Portuguese community in that country, a large proportion of which has its roots in the island of Madeira (pictured).
The Diocese of Funchal, which covers the whole of Madeira, is one of those that will be sending its collection to Caritas Venezuela. A further 10 diocesan bishops have yet to publish their Lenten messages, so the number could increase.
Pius XII wartime archives to be opened
The Vatican will open its archives on Pope Pius XII after decades of accusations that he kept silent on the horrors of the Holocaust. Pius’s supporters say he worked quietly behind the scenes to help Jewish victims of the Nazis.
“The Church is not afraid of history,” Pope Francis said on Monday, adding that Pope Pius was “criticised, one can say, with some prejudice and exaggeration”. The archives are not usually opened until 70 years after a pope’s death. Pius died in 1958. The early opening of his archives next March may be so that his record can be examined as part of the process towards his canonisation. Benedict XVI declared Pius Venerable in 2009.
Bishop calls for talks
After rising hostilities between India and Pakistan following Indian airstrikes in Pakistan, a Pakistani bishop, Samson Shukardin of Hyderabad, has appealed for peace talks. Bishop Shukardin said the countries’ leaders must negotiate, instead of accusing each other.
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