A gunman killed 49 people and wounded 53 others after opening fire at random in a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, in the early hours of Sunday morning. The gunman, Omar Mateen, was shot dead by police.
Although Mateen was known to the FBI, he had legally purchased an assault rifle the previous week in Florida.
The FBI have said there are “strong indications” of “potential inspiration by foreign terrorist organisations”, but not of a direct plot.
What US politicians are saying
The killing provoked a series of reactions which demonstrated the divisions in American politics. As the Guardian observed, “Barack Obama struck a cautious tone in the immediate aftermath, stressing it was too soon to speculate on the precise motives” of the killer.
But the presumptive presidential candidates made political points. Republican Donald Trump attacked Obama’s “weak” language, saying the President should step down because he did not use the words “radical Islam”. Trump also tweeted: “Appreciate the congrats for being right on radical Islamic terrorism.” Hillary Clinton, who has spoken often in favour of greater gun control, said: “We need to keep guns like the ones used last night out of the hands of terrorists or other violent criminals.”
What Catholics are saying
Bishop John Noonan of Orlando said: “A sword has pierced the heart of our city. Since learning of the tragedy this morning, I have urged all to pray for the victims, the families and first responders.”
Charles C Camosy at Crux said that “We should pray – not only for the victims, but for a gun-obsessed culture like ours that’s deeply unhealthy and even sick. It simply cannot be a witness to the Peaceable Kingdom of God in which swords will be beaten into ploughshares.”
Fr Edward Beck, meanwhile, writing for the same site, said the attack, despite being Islamist, had provoked online criticism of Catholic sexual ethics. He said: “We are called to be vigilant in assuring the edicts of our traditions are never hijacked as apologia for nefarious ends.”
The most overlooked story of the week ✣Vatican cancels full external audit of finances
What happened?
The vatican cancelled a full external audit of its finances. The audit, which was originally to be carried out by the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), will instead be performed by the auditor general, Libero Milone, former chairman of Deloitte Italy. The Vatican said that PwC will play a supporting role instead.
Why was it under-reported?
The story fails to fit either of the obvious narratives about Vatican finances. It does not fit the idea that, under Pope Francis and his finance chief Cardinal George Pell, Vatican corruption will be expunged. But nor can the downgrading of PwC’s role be simply attributed to Vatican skulduggery: there are respectable reasons (a fear of leaks, for instance) as well as devious ones for departments not wanting to face the “full transparency” of a PwC audit. And for sovereign states, giving ultimate power to an auditor general is the norm.
What will happen next?
The vatican has denied that the change is because of internal resistance to reform. Nevertheless, that reform will probably slow down: the auditor general is an internal, Vatican-appointed figure, widely seen as a softer touch than PwC.
Just how close the scrutiny is, and what results from it, will partly depend on Cardinal Pell’s determination to continue the financial clean up, and perhaps even more on impetus from Pope Francis.
✣The week ahead
The pan-orthodox Council is scheduled to begin formally on Sunday, lasting until June 26. Doubts remain over how many churches will attend. The council in Crete was intended to be the largest ever gathering of Orthodox churches, but the Bulgarian Church has already announced it has pulled out. Other churches have asked for the council to be postponed.
The relics of St Anthony of Padua (right) will return to Britain on Sunday. The tour, the first since 2013, will pass through Paisley, Middlesbrough, Manchester, Sheffield, Shrewsbury, Birmingham and finally St Anthony’s, Forest Gate, London.
The theme of this year’s Day for Life on Sunday is “The Wonder of Human Life in Our Common Home”. It was inspired by St John Paul II’s 1999 letter to artists, in which he wrote that “wonder is the only appropriate attitude” to the sacredness of life. The prayer is taken from the encyclical Laudato Si’. See dayforlife.org/article/celebrating-the-gift-of-life.
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