Catholic Culture News
Catholic Culture News

Stories for January 2017

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Tuesday, Jan. 31

 New Archbishop of Krakow seen as strong conservative, ‘culture warrior’
 City says San Francisco archdiocese failed to cover employees’ health costs
 Dutch doctor cleared of charges after restraining patient for euthanasia
 Filipino bishops take stand against return of death penalty
 Mexican archbishop: apologize to emigrants for failure to provide jobs and security
 Vatican, World Council of Churches preparing joint statement on Education for Peace
 Iraqi patriarch: Trump executive order harms the Middle East’s Christians
 Hungary aims to be hub, support for persecuted Christians
 EU bishops’ commission welcomes court decision on surrogate motherhood
 Vatican cardinal hopes ‘no other country will follow Trump’s example’ on wall
 5 US cardinals speak out on President Trump’s executive orders on immigrants, refugees
 Canadian bishops lament attack on Quebec mosque

Released Monday, Jan. 30

 Irish premier urges Pope to reconsider status of dissident priests
 German bishops suggest joining with Protestants for religious education
 Knights of Malta accept Pope’s intervention
 Pakistani court clears defendants charged with arson attack on Christian neighborhood
 Bishop assaulted in New Jersey cathedral during Mass
 Pope, Vatican ecumenical office send sympathies to Quebec terror victims
 Pope no longer delivering addresses to bishops making ad limina visits
 Maltese bishops ‘following the Pope’s directives’ on Amoris Laetitia
 ‘Come out of the caves,’ Pope challenges laity
 Martyrs sustain the Church, Pope says
 Vatican close to agreement with Society of St. Pius X
 Action alert on immigration legislation
 Report: over 900 churches destroyed by Boko Haram
 USCCB: strong opposition to President Trump’s executive order on refugees
 Pope reflects on poverty of spirit
 Pope Francis discusses ‘hemorrhage’ of religious vocations
 Vatican message for World Leprosy Day

Released Friday, Jan. 27

 March for Life encouraged by Trump’s ‘full support’
 Chaldean Patriarch visits towns liberated from Islamic State
 Memory of Holocaust guards against repetition, Pope tells Jewish group
 Venezuela’s crisis threatens thousands of lives, archbishop says
 Pope says all recent decisions of Knights of Malta are ‘null and void’
 Italian bishop chides Trump on torture
 Shared suffering should bring Christians closer together, Pope tells ecumenical commission
 Pope orders fresh review of liturgical translations
 Caritas to assist Italy with refugee humanitarian corridor
 Polish bishops mark Day of Islam
 English bishop calls for prison reform
 EU bishops’ commission reflects on mental health
 UN tribute to Austrian bishop who opposed border fence
 Mexican bishops decry Trump border-wall plan

Released Thursday, Jan. 26

 French Cardinal Etchegaray, vice-dean of College of Cardinals, retiring at 94
 Lay church workers killed in Bolivia, South Sudan
 US bishops rap Trump’s plan for border wall
 Chinese bishop rejoins Patriotic Association; regime still withholds recognition
 Pope Francis: look to the Cross on the road to Christian unity
 Cardinal Wuerl speaks on conscience, Church teaching, and Amoris Laetitia
 Dissident Irish priest defies CDF, celebrates Mass publicly
 Northern Ireland: Catholics achieve employment parity with Protestants
 USCCB awards $1.2M to Church in Africa
 March for Life: 20,000 expected at National Prayer Vigil for Life

Released Wednesday, Jan. 25

 US public favors ‘significant restrictions’ on abortion, new poll confirms
 Staff distressed by cost-cutting changes at Vatican Radio
 Fighting in Kachin destabilized region, bishops tell Myanmar’s leader
 SNAP director resigned just before lawsuit was filed
 Christians must ‘learn from one another’ to achieve unity, Pope says at ecumenical service
 Leader of Knights of Malta resigns at Pope’s request
 Pope Francis reflects on Judith and hope
 Cardinal Nichols: God is source of society’s unity
 US withdraws from TPP; bishops had expressed concern about trade agreement
 Iraqi patriarch: inciting violence against other religions should be a crime
 India: evangelist in coma following police interrogation
 Cardinal Wuerl’s prayer at President Trump’s inaugural prayer service
 USCCB committee chair weighs in on changes to health care law

Released Tuesday, Jan. 24

 Ivory Coast: bishops warn tensions inhibit reconciliation after civil warfare
 Italian cardinal cautions on living-will legislation
 Italians at their best in response to earthquake, cardinal says
 Filipino president looses obscene tirade against Catholic Church
 New exposé: no prenatal care at Planned Parenthood
 Do not glamorize evil, but communicate hope, Pope says in message
 Vatican envoy concludes visit to Aleppo
 German prelates criticize government over Afghan deportations
 Caritas: refugees at risk from abnormal weather
 Bishops call Israeli occupation of West Bank, Gaza a ‘scandal’
 Supreme Court declines to hear challenge to polygamy law
 Cardinal applauds Trump executive order on ‘Mexico City policy’

Released Monday, Jan. 23

 Italian prosecutor seeks jail time for former executives of Vatican bank
 Nuns joined in Women’s March
 Vatican Museums launch new multimedia web site
 Mafia, terrorism feed ‘culture of death,’ Pope says
 ‘Wait and see’ on Trump’s presidency, Pope tells interviewer
 Trump executive order reinstates ‘Mexico City policy’
 Pope Francis: pray for Christian unity, earthquake victims
 Pope Francis reflects on Christ’s preaching in Galilee
 Pope calls on Dominicans to be salt, light amid ‘carnival of worldly curiosity’
 8 beatification causes advance
 Vatican blessing of lambs for Feast of St. Agnes
 Marriage prep should be time of evangelization, catechesis, Pope tells Roman Rota
 Paraguay’s president meets with Pope

Released Friday, Jan. 20

 Bishop sees hope for rebuilding Somalia
 Vatican mediator stays away as Venezuelan crisis talks falter
 Archbishop of Canterbury: remember ‘lasting damage’ from Reformation
 Maltese bishop denies threatening to suspend priests who balk at Communion for divorced/remarried
 Pope offers congratulations, prayers to President Trump on inauguration
 Nigerian cardinal: let us ‘declare war’ on Fulani terrorism
 Taiwan’s president tells Pope she hopes for ‘new era’ of relations with Beijing
 Bishop encourages Irish to welcome immigrants
 Catholic, Orthodox prelates discuss terrorism and Islam
 Cardinal Dolan calls for participation in novena for life
 USCCB awards $2.3M to projects in Eastern Europe

Released Thursday, Jan. 19

 Pope thanks organizers of exhibit on Jubilees
 Duterte writes to Pope Francis of his ‘profound respect’
 Lawsuit charges SNAP works for lawyers, not sex-abuse victims
 At Davos Forum, Cardinal Parolin urges Europe toward constructive engagement with migrants
 Nigerian prelate laments lack of missionary commitment
 French, German bishops issue statement on child migrants
 Italian cardinal: ‘populism does not solve problems’
 Pope Francis: Reformation’s 500th anniversary is ‘privileged occasion’ for living the faith
 US prelates welcome next synod’s preparatory document
 Rising attacks on Christians in India

Released Wednesday, Jan. 18

 Farm animals gather in St. Peter’s Square for annual observance
 Irish primate urges statesmanship after collapse of government in Northern Ireland
 Bishops of Kazakhstan launch appeal for prayer for clear teaching on marriage
 Catholic nun told she cannot wear habit in Nebraska school
 Pope remains popular with American public, poll shows
 Vatican stamp to honor Luther
 New earthquakes strike central Italy, rattle Rome
 Planned Parenthood coached staff to cover up child abuse, former employee discloses
 2016 was ‘truly ecumenical year,’ says Cardinal Koch
 Cardinal Pell: new personal attacks are a bid to thwart economic reforms
 Pope Francis reflects on Jonah and hope
 Bishop interprets Amoris Laetitia in manner consistent with prior papal teaching
 Prelate: Iraqi Christians don’t want ‘humanitarian corridor’
 Cardinal Dolan to offer prayer from Book of Wisdom at Trump inauguration
 Church destroyed in Sri Lanka
 Cardinal DiNardo on immigration: ‘we need not sink into the darkness of isolation’
 Background: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Released Tuesday, Jan. 17

 Pope raps Christians who do not want change
 Stockton diocese to emerge from bankruptcy
 Pro-life group unwelcome at ‘Women’s March’
 Attorney-general nominee Sessions promises tough enforcement of pornography laws
 In French presidential race, Fillon holds large lead among practicing Catholics
 Malta archbishop defends Amoris Laetitia guidelines
 Former CDF prefect speaks on curial reform, prosecution of abusive priests
 Dispute escalates between Vatican, Knights of Malta
 Group has spent $45M to aid Middle East’s persecuted Christians
 Stone slabs stolen from 8 French churches
 English bishop welcomes prime minister’s mental health reforms
 Catholic organizations petition President-elect Trump on climate
 President Obama pays tribute to religious freedom
 Morocco bans burqa sales
 Cardinal DiNardo: encounter, solidarity can help overcome racism’s effects

Released Monday, Jan. 16

 Papal ghostwriter apparently copied his own work into Amoris Laetitia
 Papal condolences after air disaster in Kyrgysztan
 Palestinians being stripped of land, rights, American bishop reports
 Show mercy to those most in need, Cardinal Tagle says at international congress
 Vatican ‘foreign minister’ outlines Pope’s top priorities in world affairs
 Archbishop of Canterbury to apologize for violence of Protestant Reformation
 Italian police identify siblings arrested in cyberattack on Vatican
 Italian cardinal: ‘only a blind man’ denies confusion over Amoris Laetita
 Guinea’s president meets with Pope
 Pope visits Roman parish, distinguishes witness from proselytism
 Pope recalls plight of child migrants, example of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini
 Pope Francis: the Church, like John the Baptist, proclaims Christ
 Palestinian president meets with Pope
 +Cardinal Gilberto Agustoni, 94
 St. John Paul’s warnings about capitalism have come to pass, Pope Francis tells business leaders

Released Friday, Jan. 13

 Palestinian President Abbas to meet Pope, open embassy to Holy See
 Bishops of Malta: divorced/remarried should receive Communion if ‘at peace with God’
 Missing priest found dead in Mexico
 Knights of Malta: chancellor’s removal not solely related to condom program
 Russian cathedral, converted to ‘museum of atheism,’ returning to religious use
 Ancient Roman church offers overnight shelter to homeless during cold weather
 Paul Ehrlich, prophet of ‘overpopulation’ doom, invited to speak at Vatican conference
 Papal thanks for Vatican security officials
 Vatican releases preparatory document for next Synod of Bishops
 Pope Francis calls on immigrants in US to turn to Mary
 Paris cardinal, other religious leaders meet with French president
 Priest alleges Florida diocese retaliated after he cooperated with abuse investigation
 Report ranks persecution of Christians by country

Released Thursday, Jan. 12

 Panama World Youth Day will be held early in 2019
 New Vatican dicastery to launch campaign for awareness of vulnerable migrant children
 Irish bishops will discuss proposal for married priests during ad limina visits
 In France, 5% of population attends Mass, but over 50% identifies as Catholic
 Fetal-tissue firm drops suit against undercover-video producers
 Sicilian chapel converted to synagogue on anniversary of expulsion of Jews
 Vatican McDonald’s franchise agrees to feed homeless
 Ousted leader appeals disciplinary action by Knights of Malta
 Syrian prelate urges West to end sanctions and support for rebels
 Vatican computers hacked in major international scheme
 Vatican sought to stop Armenian genocide, new research shows
 Bishop opposes death sentence for Dylann Roof, convicted of mass killings at South Carolina church
 Pope recalls Polish saint, warns against fraudulent charges to papal audiences
 40% of recent sainthood causes are from Italy
 Restoration campaign for famed Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio
 USCCB, CRS: pass legislation on human trafficking and supply chains
 Russian Orthodox leader grateful for ‘resurrection of faith’ since Communism’s fall
 Cardinal Nichols urges British government to welcome refugees
 Top 10 biblical archaeology discoveries of past year

Released Wednesday, Jan. 11

 Pope raps choice of abortion to preserve good looks
 Over 800 dead since September in tribal violence in Nigeria
 Dominican prelate pleads for government action against crime wave
 Pope’s special prayer intention for January 2017
 Boston archdiocese to convert sacramental records to digital form
 Filipino government to provide free contraceptives for the poor
 Vatican: investigation of Knights of Malta is legitimate
 French presidential candidate Le Pen criticizes rival Fillon for emphasizing Catholic faith
 Catholic schools cannot oppose same-sex marriage, says UK government official
 Cold snap killing vulnerable children in Sudan
 St. Louis Archbishop Carlson rips proposal for abortion ‘sanctuary city,’ says Church would not comply
 In Ethiopia, Church works against genital mutilation
 Egypt: Muslim leader visits Coptic cathedral
 Pope Francis reflects on ‘false hopes and worldly idols’
 Church in Nepal dedicates 2017 to the family
 Belarus may ban religious symbols in medical settings
 Priest missing in Mexico
 USCCB initiative issues action alert on immigration

Released Tuesday, Jan. 10

 Report: doctrinal congregation suggested corrections to Amoris Laetitia
 Most Jesuit-college alumni in US Congress support legal abortion, study finds
 New books by ‘Vatileaks II’ figures promise new sensations
 Situation ‘desperate’ in Venezuela, reports president of bishops’ conference
 90,000 Christians killed in 2016, report says
 Pope renews attack on ‘clericalist attitude’
 Knights of Malta reiterate stand against Vatican investigation
 India: high court bans religious references in elections
 Stay focused on message of salvation through faith alone, Lutheran leader emphasizes
 Anglican leader calls on British to ‘live well together’ amid differences
 Malta: prelate sees renewed hope for EU as Church identifies 3 ‘normative objectives’
 President Obama offers Christmas greetings to Orthodox Christians
 Cardinal DiNardo, Archbishop Gomez issue migration-week message
 Priests attacked in Roman basilica

Released Monday, Jan. 9

 Archbishop suggests presidential pardon for political prisoners in South Sudan
 Egyptian President unveils plans for Coptic cathedral in Cairo
 Indian cardinal decries acquittal of nun’s accused rapists
 Security tight as 1.4 million Filipino Catholics join annual procession
 Italian archbishop, after attending exorcism, testifies to reality of devil
 New lawsuit challenges $60 million bequest to Legion of Christ
 Pope reflects on foreign trips in new Italian book
 Cardinal Müller: no need to clarify Amoris Laetitia
 Vatican now has diplomatic ties with 182 countries
 Pope condemns terrorism in address to Vatican diplomatic corps
 Italian priest describes conversion of Mafia boss
 ‘Very high’ chance of terror attack on Rome, Italian official fears
 Columnist Nat Hentoff dead at 91
 Pope calls for prayers, assistance for the homeless
 Pope reflects on Christ’s baptism and the mission of the baptized
 Pope baptizes 28 children
 2017 is ‘year of the parish’ in Philippines: emphasis on Fatima message
 Czech bishops raise questions about government’s preference for foster care
 Cardinal: welcoming migrants, refugees is part of Christian humanism
 +Father Michael Scanlan, TOR, 85

Released Friday, Jan. 6

 Kidnapped priest was warned not to visit Yemen, Indian government official says
 Legal executions down in US for 2016
 African cardinal: does Amoris Laetitia open door to polygamists?
 Pope contrasts Magi’s ‘holy longing for God,’ Herod’s ‘cauterized conscience’
 Cardinal laments Venezuela’s ‘socialist totalitarianism’
 USCCB task force calls for prayer, engagement to address racial tensions
 Pakistan: Christian evangelist arrested for blasphemy
 Indonesia: Catholic students lodge blasphemy complaint against Islamist activist
 Myanmar army bombs church; parishioners reported missing
 Bishops say Turkish government concerned about Christians

Released Thursday, Jan. 5

 Transgender plaintiff sues Catholic hospital for refusing to perform sex-reassignment surgery
 Repair work stabilizes earthquake-damaged facade of Norcia basilica
 1,000 vigilante killings a month in Philippines, missionary reports
 Pope meets Italian earthquake survivors
 To encourage vocations, learn to listen to young people, Pope suggests
 DR Congo’s president agrees to leave office in Church-mediated agreement
 Cardinal demands that Nigeria’s president address new wave of attacks on Christians
 India: men acquitted in rape of nun
 US: Catholics donated $7.3M in 2016 in response to natural disasters
 Franciscan who preached to Curia dead at 96
 Bishop warns against ‘classist,’ Puritan mentality in Church
 Italian Catholics march for peace

Released Wednesday, Jan. 4

 Papal plea for prison reform after dozens die in riots in Brazil
 In India, Church to sponsor school for transgender students
 Pope Francis reflects on Rachel’s tears
 Maronite patriarch deplores conversions for sake of divorce
 Amnesty International decries Pakistan’s blasphemy law
 Vatican newspaper discusses theologian’s influence on Pope Francis
 Venezuela: bishop’s office robbed
 Colombian prelates encourage nonviolence, forgiveness
 Slovenian bishops lament chapel desecration
 Patriarch: commemorate Bolshevik revolution without celebrating it

Released Tuesday, Jan. 3

 Pope’s policies seen weakening prosecution of sex-abuse cases
 French presidential candidate Fillon rouses Catholics, challenges secularism
 Catholics comprise 31% of new US Congress
 Iraqi prelate sees ‘grass-roots revolt’ by Muslims against terrorists
 Massachusetts bishop indicted for abuse dies at 83
 New system for publicizing Pope’s monthly prayer intentions
 Vatican warns against fake papal quotes on Islam
 28 Catholic pastoral workers killed in 2016
 Moscow patriarch grateful for developments in Syria
 Aleppo’s Christian leaders pray for peace
 New CEO of Catholic Relief Services
 Norway: partial separation between state, Lutheran body
 Cardinal Marx calls for renewed focus on the common good
 Dublin archbishop laments rising violence

Released Monday, Jan. 2

 McDonald’s opens near Vatican, despite prelates’ objections
 Controversial Archbishop Capucci, expelled from Israel, dies at 94
 Iraqi city officials urge Christian refugees to return after Islamic State driven out
 Protect children, Pope urges world’s bishops
 Top Knight of Malta reaffirms allegiance to Pope Francis
 Arson attacks on Chilean churches continue
 Scholar: 90,000 Christians were killed for their faith in 2016
 Pope condemns Istanbul attack, deplores ‘plague of terrorism’
 Pope reflects on Mary’s attentive cooperation with the Lord
 Pope Francis: because of Mary, we are not orphans
 Make Christ’s ‘logic’ of compassionate encounter your own, Pope preaches at Vespers

Want more news? Visit the Archives.

Subscribe to Insights...free!
News, analysis & spirituality by email twice-weekly from CatholicCulture.org.
First name:
Last name:
Email address: