Paradise, United States
Pope Francis prays for victims of wildfires
Addressing pilgrims in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, Pope Francis prayed for the victims of the Californian wildfires. He asked that “the Lord welcome the deceased into his peace, comfort family members and sustain all those involved in rescue efforts”.
Francis said he wanted to offer a “special prayer to all those stricken by the fires that are scourging California, and now also for the victims of the freeze of the east coast of the United States”.
At least 76 people have died in the wildfires, but many hundreds are still unaccounted for. At least seven have died in an unusually early snowstorm on the East coast.
Washington, DC
Trump cuts funding for Catholic hospital in Jerusalem
US bishops have criticised President Trump for ending financial assistance to six hospitals in East Jerusalem, including a maternity hospital and the Catholic St Joseph Hospital.
The hospitals provide “invaluable medical care for the most vulnerable populations, including Palestinians living in East Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank,” said a statement from Catholic, Lutheran and Episcopalian leaders. President Trump said his administration would cut $200 million (£155 million) of aid to medical and humanitarian aid providers.
The hospitals are “integral parts of our common commitment to ministry in the Holy Land,” the bishops said. “It is difficult to understand why this humanitarian assistance is being brought to a halt, given that lives are being threatened unnecessarily.”
Brownsville, United States
Bishop opposes border wall on church property
A bishop in Texas is making a stand against plans to build a border wall with Mexico on church property.
A statement on behalf of Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville said he refused permission for federal agents to access two sites. A statement from the diocese said the bishop had “the greatest respect” for those involved in border security, but added: “in his judgment Church property should not be used for the purposes of building a border wall. Such a structure would limit the freedom of the Church to exercise her mission in the Rio Grande Valley, and would in fact be a sign contrary to the Church’s mission. Thus, in principle, the bishop does not consent to use Church property to construct a border wall.” Papers have been filed in court seeking right of entry.
Mexico City
World’s largest diocese to be split into three
The Archdiocese of Mexico City is to be split into three. The archdiocese, which serves over eight million people and has 456 parishes, is currently under the pastoral care of Cardinal Carlos Aguiar Retes. The Mexican bishops’ conference last week approved his proposal to divide up the archdiocese. The resolution will be sent to Rome for the Pope’s approval. Marilú Esponda, director of communications of the Archdiocese of Mexico City, said the division seeks “to offer a closer and more effective attention to the faithful, to achieve a better coordination of pastoral processes and to have a greater integration and fraternity of priests”.
Santiago
Cardinal confirms exit from Pope’s council of advisers
Embattled Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz has said he is no longer a member of Pope Francis’s Council of Cardinals, having finished his five-year term in office. He made the statement just as a local prosecutor announced he was summoning him to testify over allegations of abuse cover-up. He denies the charges.
The retired Archbishop of Santiago, 85, stressed he had not resigned, but had merely come to the end of the period of his appointment. He said he had travelled to Rome to “say goodbye to the Pope and to thank him for the job he entrusted us with”.
Pilar, Argentina
State will stop paying bishops’ wages
the Church in Argentina will no longer be funded by the state. Under Argentina’s 1853 constitution, the federal government pays bishops’ wages and supports border parishes and the training of priests. The budget for 2018 came to 130 million pesos ($3.6 million). Protesters have called for the arrangement to be ended and since August government and church officials have been in talks about how to reform it. The bishops, meeting for their plenary assembly in the city of Pilar earlier this month, said they had committed to a “gradual replacement of state contributions” and had set up a commission to study alternatives.
Monreale, Sicily
Priest who calls Francis the ‘anti-pope’ is excommunicated
An Italian priest has been excommunicated by the Archdiocese of Palermo, Sicily, for the crimes of “heresy and schism”. Fr Alessandro Maria Minutella, who says his teachings are the “true” Catholic doctrine, considers Pope Francis to be an anti-pope, and claims to have supernatural communications with angels, saints and Our Lady.
In 2015 Archbishop Michele Pennisi of Monreale warned Catholics that they risked “grave danger to their souls” by listening to Fr Minutella. He said the priest was suspected of manipulating parishioners with his prophecies and “seriously posed a risk to the genuine popular devotion to the Madonna, angels and saints”. He was removed from his parish last year.
Cueibet, South Sudan
Jesuit priest shot dead
Tributes have been paid to a Jesuit priest who was killed last week in South Sudan. Fr Victor-Luke Odhiambo, 62, from Kenya, was the principal of a Church-run training centre for teachers. He was shot dead when gunmen stormed the Jesuit residence in Cueibet. Fr Arturo Sosa, the Jesuits’ superior general, said Fr Odhiambo “leaves a name, not only in South Sudan as the first Jesuit to die at the service of its people, but in the whole of eastern Africa as a teacher of thousands of students”. The local government declared three days of mourning.
Southern India
Protest against bail
More than 500 people have protested against the bail of Bishop Franco Mulakkal, who denies raping a nun 13 times between 2014 and 2016.
The protest was organised by VS Achuthanandan, former chief minister of Kerala, who said the bishop’s bail put witnesses in danger.
Casablanca
Pope Francis to visit Morocco in March
Pope Francis will make a two-day visit to Morocco in March. Accepting an invitation from Moroccan King Mohammed VI, the Pope will visit the cities of Rabat and Casablanca on March 30-31. Vincenzo Abbinante, Italian honorary consul to the Kingdom of Morocco, said earlier this year that the Pope’s visit would highlight Morocco as “a centre of excellence in intercultural and inter-religious dialogue”. Pope Francis will be the second pope to visit. St John Paul II made a historic trip to the overwhelmingly Muslim country in 1985.
Alindao, Central African Republic
At least 42 people killed in attack on cathedral compound
Pope Francis has prayed for the victims of a massacre in the Central African Republic.
At least 42 people were killed when Islamic militants attacked the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Alindao, in whose compound an estimated 20,000 displaced people had taken shelter. Among the victims was Fr Blaise Mada, vicar general of the Diocese of Alindao. Another priest, Fr Celestine Ngoumbango, is thought to have been killed. According to Aid to the Church in Need, the massacre was in retaliation for an attack on Muslims a day earlier. Pope Francis, who visited the Central African Republic in 2015, asked for prayers for a “beloved country that is in great need of peace”.
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