$35,000 fine for criticising transgender politician
Christian activist Bill Whatcott has been ordered to pay $35,000 (£20,000) in compensation to a local politician who identifies as a woman. Whatcott had distributed leaflets stating that Morgane Oger was “a biological male who has renamed himself … after he embraced a transvestite lifestyle”. Describing the tribunal hearing as a “kangaroo show trial”, Whatcott has said he would not pay the fine and will continue his leafleting campaign.
John Carpay, president of the Justice Center for Constitutional Freedom, said: “Society is full of people with diverse views and the Tribunal’s decision undermines the foundational principles of the free society and jeopardises the health of Canada’s democracy.”
A third of Canada’s churches ‘to close’
A third of Canada’s churches, both Catholic and Protestant, will close over the next 10 years, according to the National Trust for Canada. This amounts to around 9,000 churches out of 27,000.
The Nova Scotia Diocese of Antigonish has already closed 30 per cent of its churches in the last 12 years – but not because of a priest shortage, said diocesan spokesman Fr Don MacGillivray. “I think it can be argued we don’t have a shortage of personnel. We have an overabundance of infrastructure,” he said.
In contrast, the Archdiocese of Toronto has built a new church a year this century. “The Archdiocese of Toronto is blessed to have a large immigrant population engaged in their faith locally, part of the reason we celebrate Mass in more than 35 languages each week,” said Neil MacCarthy, archdiocesan spokesman.
Chaput: It’s always a good time to be Catholic
Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia has urged seminarians to face the Church’s crisis with “hope and joy” – though he admitted that another possible response is “confusion and anxiety”. Speaking at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, the archbishop said priests were called “to make [the Church] young and beautiful, again and again, so that she shines with His love for the world”. There was much to be frustrated about, Archbishop Chaput said: for instance, “German bishops who seem willing to break what remains of Church peace and unity with bad ideas about sexual morality and impressive array of other issues”. Nevertheless, “this time of ours, like every other difficult time in history, is a good time to be a Catholic”.
Actors threaten boycott over abortion
Almost 50 celebrities have signed an open letter threatening to boycott the state of Georgia should its Governor sign a bill making abortion illegal when a foetal heartbeat has been detected.
Signatories to the letter include actors Alec Baldwin, Alyssa Milano and Sean Penn. They say they would do “everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women” were this “dangerous and deeply flawed bill” to become law. The letter continues, “We can’t imagine being elected officials who had to say to their constituents: ‘I enacted a law that was so evil, it chased billions of dollars out of our state’s economy.’”
March for Life postponed at last minute
The new Archbishop of Lima, Carlos Castillo Mattasoglio, has postponed the city’s annual March for Life – one of the largest in the world – at only a few days’ notice. It will take place in August.
Archbishop Castillo replaced Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani, a more conservative figure, earlier this year. Cardinal Cipriani had taken an active role in the event, which is organised by an archdiocesan committee. Last year 800,000 pro-lifers marched. Cardinal Cipriani appeared to criticise the postponement on Twitter, saying the pro-life position needs “a strong public expression”.
Compensation for abuse victims
An appeal court in Chile has ordered the Church to pay three men 100 million pesos ($150,000, or £113,000) each. Juan Carlos Cruz, José Andrés Murillo and James Hamilton sued the Church, claiming it systematically covered up Fernando Karadima’s abuse for many years. Karadima, a former priest defrocked last year by Pope Francis, denies the allegations against him.
The court’s decision is the first to order the Church to pay damages to victims of clerical abuse. Many more such cases are expected to follow.
The decision may yet be subject to appeal at the Supreme Court.
Vatican’s medieval manuscripts to be digitised for the public
Medieval manuscripts held by the Vatican Library, Heidelberg University and the University of Cambridge are to be digitised and made publicly available.
The project, lasting two years and costing £1.6 million, will cover more than 800 volumes ranging from the early Christian to the early modern era. A spokesman from Cambridge said that the works include “classical texts and some of the most important treatises on religion, mathematics, history, drama and philosophy”. It will prevent wear on already fragile manuscripts, many of which cannot be handled regularly.
Dr Veit Probst, director of Heidelberg University library, said: “Numerous discoveries await. [We] have yet to uncover how they were studied and used, both during the medieval period and in the centuries beyond.”
Cardinal says preachers ‘have obviously failed’
Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne has criticised clerics who argue that the Church must change its moral teachings.
Writing in Die Tagespost, the cardinal said that the laity often lacked a supernatural outlook: “It is shocking and shameful when fewer and fewer people hear – and want to hear – the salvific message itself, when they do not make use of the Sacraments and consider the Gospels as a sort of pious chat.” He added: “Obviously, the preachers of the faith have failed.”
Clergy detained
Chinese officials have detained Bishop Augustine Cui Tai of Xuanhua and his vicar general.
It is the latest sign of the Church’s vulnerability to a government which seeks to control religions. The aim of the detention “is to paralyse the diocese”, according to a priest quoted by the Catholic News Agency.
New laws on child protection at the Vatican
Pope Francis has signed new guidelines on the protection of minors within the Vatican City State.
The new laws apply to Vatican officials, diplomats abroad, and anyone who lives within Vatican walls. They make it clear that everyone is obliged to report crimes or suspicions of crimes against minors and vulnerable adults to the authorities. The Vatican City prosecutor is also empowered to start proceedings even if the presumed victim has not lodged a complaint. “The Church must be ever more a safe home for children and vulnerable persons,” said a Vatican spokesman.
Priest to return to Qaraqosh as archbishop
The Holy Synod of the Syriac Catholic Church has elected Mgr Nizar Semaan as its new Coadjutor Archbishop of Mosul. Mgr Semaan is expected to eventually succeed Archbishop Youhanna Botros Moshe of Mosul, who is 75.
Since 2005 Mgr Semaan has been based at Holy Trinity Church in Brook Green, west London. He has been responsible for the pastoral care of the Syriac Catholic faithful in Britain. He will be returning to live in Qaraqosh, near Mosul, where he was ordained a priest in 1991. Qaraqosh was Iraq’s largest Christian city until it was overrun by ISIS in 2014, with massive destruction of churches. Now that ISIS has retreated, Catholics are returning.
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