Catholic Culture Overview
Catholic Culture Overview

Stories for August 2017

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Thursday, Aug. 31

 Scottish Catholic cemetery custodian pleads guilty to fraud in sale of burial plots
 Relics of earliest Popes—including St. Peter?—found in Roman church
 Former White House spokesman Spicer finally meets Pope at Sunday audience
 Clergy taken hostage in Marawi are still alive, military officers say
 Argentine bishop lauds Amoris Laetitia, but says no change in Church teaching
 Russian Patriarch issues encyclical for 100th anniversary of Moscow Patriarchate
 Pope offers sympathy to Texas hurricane victims
 Coptic Orthodox Patriarch, visiting Australia, speaks against same-sex marriage
 Cathedral and tomb of slain bishop desecrated in Cameroon
 Former Ratzinger students to discuss persecution of Christians at annual seminar
 Knights of Holy Sepulchre cancel speech by Fr. Martin
 CWN unveils new approach to headline coverage
 Pope Francis addresses rabbis from America, Europe, and Israel (full text of address)
 ISIS soldiers leave Lebanon
 UN Security Council condemns North Korea missile test
 UN agency calls for aid as thousands flee Myanmar daily
 ‘Roofing Contractor Leaves Job Half Done When He Learns the Building is an Abortion Clinic’
 Philippine army retakes cathedral from Islamist militants
 North Korean Christian, now in South Korea, recounts imprisonment, torture
 Court upholds Nebraska city’s ban on religious pamphlet distribution outside sports arena
 Australia: Catholic school considers gender-neutral uniforms for sake of transgender students
 US bishops’ Labor Day statement (full text)
 State agency fines parish for violating Utah’s liquor law
 Charlotte: parish employee robbed outside bank
 No charges against accused Scranton priest
 1,300 Catholic educators call on Trump to preserve DACA
 Catholic school’s dreadlock ban sparks controversy
 ‘I’m proud to be Catholic,’ says NY news anchor
 Australia: ‘elite Catholic schools defy Church leadership on same-sex marriage’
 Colombia: bishops’ ‘week for peace’ coincides with papal visit
 Tension between Christians, Muslims in Central African Republic city
 Kenyan prelate speaks out against nurses’ strike
 Pray for evildoers who attack churches, Coptic Orthodox patriarch asks faithful
 Pontiff greets Brazilian soccer team
 Full text of Pope’s Wednesday general audience

Released Wednesday, Aug. 30

 Vigil continues at Chinese parish church slated for demolition
 Minnesota judge to weigh competing plans in archdiocesan bankruptcy case
 Pope, Orthodox Patriarch to join in message for Day of Prayer for Care of Creation
 Joy is a sign of vocation, Pope tells Wednesday audience
 National collection for hurricane-hit dioceses
 Pope calls on African sisters to rediscover the Gospel’s freshness
 Statistical portrait of Church in Colombia
 Vatican cardinal representing Holy See at world’s fair in Kazakhstan
 American Jesuit to lead Church in Kyrgyzstan
 India declares Muslim instant divorce unconstitutional

Released Tuesday, Aug. 29

 Spanish bishop apologizes for Hindu ritual in Catholic church
 Chilean president, sponsor of abortion legislation, to speak at Vatican conference
 Attorney for accused Guam archbishop says statute of limitations bars abuse lawsuits
 Chinese Catholics rally to block demolition of church
 Vatican investigation of Indonesian bishop is complete; reported expected soon
 Mob invades Venezuela bishops’ headquarters
 India: bishops call on government to work for abducted priest’s release
 Cardinal Mahony: Trump’s pardon of former sheriff is ‘disgusting’
 Guatemala: bishops criticize president for firing anti-corruption official
 Scotland: prelate calls for increased government assistance to poor children
 Angola’s bishops call for calm after disputed election
 Vatican prefect tells sisters: beware of idolatry of money

Released Monday, Aug. 28

 Guam archbishop dismisses four Neocatechumate priests from presbyteral council
 Poll shows Australian Catholics support same-sex marriage
 Judge dismisses some charges against Bishop O’Brien in sex-abuse lawsuit
 Brazilian priest murdered; police say killer was an acquaintance
 South Sudan: diocesan justice-and-peace official arrested
 Iraqi Shi’Ite leader to meet with Pontiff?
 Philadelphia archdiocese warns donors: some funds mishandled
 Vatican doctrinal congregation no longer cautions dissident theologians
 ISIS threats on Vatican are ‘worrying,’ Cardinal Parolin admits
 Pontiff to visit Myanmar, Bangladesh in November
 Swedish police raid church camp, arrest migrants
 Pontiff calls on Catholic politicians to heed Church’s teaching
 Texas cardinal calls for prayer in wake of Hurricane Harvey
 Pontiff prays for flood victims, Rohingya Muslims
 Pope Francis: ‘In Jesus’ hands we participate in the building of the Church’
 Our Lady of Czestochowa is a Queen and tender Mother, Pope tells Polish Catholics

Released Friday, Aug. 25

 Letter by Christopher Columbus, stolen from Vatican library, located in US
 Swiss Guard leader: prepared for terrorist attack
 Nigerian bishops urge obedience in troubled diocese
 Pope meets with leaders of World Council of Churches
 Documents show British effort to influence choice of Irish archbishop in 1990
 Cardinal Parolin recaps meetings with Russian leaders
 Diocesan worker murdered in Philippines
 ‘The pain and anguish of Chinese Catholics’
 Report: Christianity spreading among Iran’s youth
 Coptic bishop: Christians are denied freedom of worship in parts of Egypt
 Angola’s bishops call for peaceful elections, hope for ‘feast of democracy’
 Pope speaks to young prisoners about ‘punishment with hope’

Released Thursday, Aug. 24

 Priest charges UN troops abandoned town in Central African Republic, allowing massacre
 Release soon for priest kidnapped by terrorists in Yemen in March 2016?
 Maintain solemnity of the Mass, Nigerian cardinal urges African Catholics
 Liturgical reform is ‘irreversible,’ Pope proclaims
 Putin welcomes ‘new dynamic’ in relationship between Catholic, Orthodox churches
 Waldensian commission calls for recognition of homosexual unions
 Nepal: bill criminalizes conversion
 South African bishops call for unemployment summit
 South Sudan’s government responsible for civil war, prelate charges
 Los Angeles archbishop laments nationalism, racism
 Kandhamal Day recalls 2008 anti-Christian pogrom

Released Wednesday, Aug. 23

 South African cardinal: BBC ‘propaganda’ harms society
 US bishops’ conference forms committee against racism
 Ugandan prelate: push for women’s ordination causing divisions in Catholic Church
 Venezuela’s Maduro claims fear of US invasion, asks Pope for help
 Pope prays for Ischia earthquake victims
 Archbishop says Nigerian government should compensate Boko Haram victims
 Pontiff reflects on Christian hope and the heavenly Jerusalem
 ‘We need fear nothing,’ Burkina Faso bishop says following terrorist attack
 Canadian prelate denounces racism following Charlottesville violence
 Paraguayan bishop: ‘there is no justice’ in region
 Nigerian bishops warn of simmering ethnic, regional tensions
 Virginia congressman: ‘something bold’ must be done to help Iraq’s Christians
 Report: 3 Kenyan Christians killed after refusing to convert to Islam
 Theme announced for papal trip to Chile

Released Tuesday, Aug. 22

 Australian archbishop warns Church workers: same-sex marriage may lead to dismissal
 Chilean court upholds bill allowing legal abortion
 Historian sees Catholic involvement in plot to end Nazi Holocaust
 Russian Patriarch says Moscow, Vatican agree on crisis in Ukraine
 Northern Ireland: court finds no ‘right’ to same-sex marriage
 Virginia priest reveals past KKK membership, before change of heart
 Spanish terrorists planned to bomb Sagrada Familia basilica
 Kenya’s bishops welcome legal challenge to election results
 Louisiana court to weigh case involving abuse complaint, confessional seal
 Vatican Secretary of State meets Russian counterpart
 Prelate discusses employment, migration with EU Council president
 Male religious superiors ask Pope Francis for encyclical on nonviolence
 English prelate welcomes government report on prisoners’ families
 10,000 take refuge at cathedral in South Sudan
 Leading Russian Orthodox official reflects on liturgical music
 USCCB: bishop criticizes termination of program for Central American minors
 Spanish cardinal denounces religious violence

Released Monday, Aug. 21

 Priests who have children must accept responsibilities: Irish bishops
 Nigerian archbishop makes plea for obedience in divided diocese
 Papal greetings for Methodist-Waldensian synod
 Bolivian bishops rap president’s decision to open tribal land for development
 Papal adviser: critics of Amoris Laetitia guided by ‘intellectual Pelagianism’
 Vatican delegate expects Holy See to approve Medjugorje apparitions
 Philippines: bishops protest killing as 76 die in drug raids
 Societies must support, promote migrants and refugees: papal message
 USCCB: prelate decries Barcelona terrorist attack
 Bishop demands end to Mapuche violence against churches
 Don’t watch life from a balcony, Pope tells Communion and Liberation gathering
 Pope laments ‘inhuman violence’ of recent terrorist attacks
 Vatican Observatory bloggers cover eclipse
 Vatican Secretary of State, Russian patriarch to discuss Ukraine
 Pope Francis: Canaanite woman shows importance of faith, trust

Released Friday, Aug. 18

 New Jersey mayor removes Guadalupe shrine from state-owned land 
 Salesian missionary in Ethiopia has baptized over 7,500 
 Catholic marriages in Scotland plunge to 1941 level 
 Cardinal Medina: no Communion, funeral for pro-abortion politicians without public repentance 
 Canadian bishops: ‘We cannot accept the unethical way Canadian mining companies have been operating in Latin America ‘ 
 To help flood victims, Caritas Vietnam avoids government involvement
 Papal sympathy for victims of accident on Madeira
 Filipino bishop decries terrorists’ plan to use hostages as suicide bombers
 Chinese officials close down Buddhist monk’s crisis-pregnancy center
 Prominent English theologian says canon law should allow for correction of Pontiff
 Australian prelate urges faithful to vote against same-sex marriage 
 Cardinal Parolin, Patriarch Kirill won’t discuss papal visit 
 Pope ‘greatly disturbed’ by Barcelona attack, prays for victims 
 Over 1 million people have fled South Sudan for Uganda 
 Cardinal Urosa: Venezuelan bishops reject foreign military intervention, whether from US or Cuba 

Released Thursday, Aug. 17

 Catholic Church in Russia recalls victims of Communism 
 Protests follow prison death of Pakistani Christian 
 In foreword for book by abuse victim, Pope Francis repeats pledge to take action
 Church in El Salvador establishes Office of Lay Martyrs to honor civil-war victims
 Church must clarify papal teaching, Cardinal Burke says
 Cardinal Sarah urges faithful to resist ‘revolutionaries’ who attack faith and family
 Trump administration poised to end contraceptive mandate
 Vatican donates to shelters for immigrants on Texas border
 India: Catholics rally against ‘one village, one denomination law’ 
 Investigator in fetal-parts scandal wins legal battle against university employees 
 Over 200 Christians detained in Eritrea since May 
 Indian state of Jharkand passes anti-conversion bill 
 Syriac Catholic patriarch laments US invasion of Iraq, Western aid to ‘moderate’ Syrian rebels 
 Melbourne archbishop says he’s prepared to go to jail rather than divulge confessions 
 Teacher in landmark Philadelphia abuse case released 10 years early
 US State Dept. publishes International Religious Freedom Report; Tillerson highlights ISIS genocide

Released Wednesday, Aug. 16

 Kenyan bishops plead for peace, fear post-election violence
 Scotland: Church leaders urge action against anti-Catholic hate crimes
 ‘This is the land of Gandhi and Buddha’: India’s prime minister denounces religious violence
 Jerusalem: Greek Orthodox patriarch decries court decision on sale of Church properties
 Prelate praises Uganda’s longtime ruler
 Nigerian cardinal: Amoris Laetitia affirmed traditional Church teaching on receiving Holy Communion
 Bishops ‘very slow to change’ in confronting abuse, says lay leader of Catholic commission
 New Jersey: judge affirms right of Catholic school to refuse to re-enroll student
 Father Sosa: Jesuits’ mission is fostering reconciliation with God, human beings, environment
 Australian bishops: seal of Confession must be protected
 Papal prayers for mud-slide victims in Sierra Leone
 For assumption, Pope speaks on power of Mary’s humility

Released Monday, Aug. 14

 Crux contributor, editor apologize for ‘convert neurosis’ remarks
 French archbishop admits ‘inadequate’ response to abuse complaints
 Two Chinese ‘underground’ bishops, veterans of prison camps, have died
 Australian commission recommends ending legal protection of confessional seal
 Korean bishops appeal for peace, counsel prudence
 FBI raids Catholic Worker house in Des Moines in search of pipeline sabotage evidence
 Guam’s Catholics pray for peace as North Korea threatens
 Eastern Catholic patriarchs urge international action on genocide of Christians in Middle East
 US bishops condemn ‘abhorrent acts of hatred’ in Charlottesville
 Central African Republic: leading imam backs bishop’s assessment of UN troops’ complicity in massacre
 Pope Francis: faith sustains our journey but does not exempt us from trials

Released Friday, Aug. 11

 China continues coercive family-planning measures, despite end of ‘one-child’ policy
 Japanese bishops caution politicians on Korea, pray for peace
 Colombian rebels plan ceasefire for papal visit
 Northern Ireland: government will fight to retain restrictive abortion law
 USCCB awards nearly $1.4M to Church in Africa
 Venezuelan bishops demand that regime ‘stop the witch hunt,’ respect human rights
 Catholic church in Somaliland reopens, then closes
 Bishop charges UN troops with complicity in Central African Republic massacre
 Argentina: bishops oppose nuclear power plant
 Pakistan’s leaders pay tribute to nun who served lepers
 Cardinal urges Rosary for peace, calls on North Korea to abandon nuclear weapons

Released Thursday, Aug. 10

 Priest shortage growing despite ‘Francis effect’
 Brazilian archbishop robbed at gunpoint
 Eritrean priest faces charges in Italy for helping illegal immigrants
 Italian bishop embraces new role as missionary priest in Honduras
 Priest of small religious order chosen as rector of Rome seminary
 Aid groups rush to repair Iraqi Christian homes in Nineveh Plains before school opens
 Cardinal Burke: Amoris Laetitia is not authoritative teaching
 Missionary priest has made 50 trips to North Korea
 Russian patriarch: Soviet persecution was ‘hardest page’ in Church’s history
 Central African Republic bishop: ‘they are cutting the throats of men and children’
 Venezuelan prelate: ‘every day we feel a greater oppression’
 Nigerian bishops emphasize Marian devotion, liturgical norms

Released Wednesday, Aug. 9

 Indonesian bishop under investigation for financial, sexual misconduct
 Vatican reaching tacit accord with Beijing on appointment of bishops?
 Papal pleas for peace in Nigeria, Central African Republic
 Papal trip to Russia in planning stage?
 ‘Hate crime’ charge against Spanish archbishop dismissed
 Pope orders Belgian Catholic hospitals to end euthanasia
 God’s mercy is ‘driving force’ of Christian hope, Pope says at general audience
 18 NY parishes may be sold or leased
 Brazilian bishop describes homosexuality as ‘gift from God’
 ‘Pope congratulates, blesses gay couple’
 Report: massacre at Nigerian parish was drug-related
 Asian Catholic youth pledge to witness to faith amid challenges
 Christians in India decry mounting violence, discrimination

Released Tuesday, Aug. 8

 Scottish archbishop predicts greater hostility to faith in US
 Orthodox prelate protests sale of property in Jerusalem to Jewish settlers
 Korean religious leaders plead for peace
 Minnesota archdiocese: proposed bankruptcy settlement would destroy Church work
 Governing council named for Pontifical Academy for Life
 75th anniversary of martyrdom of St. Edith Stein
 Philippines: prelate welcomes free tuition at state colleges
 Indian nun wins international AIDS nursing award
 Inaccurate reporting on Bible and Canaanites
 Protestant pastor jailed in Tajikistan
 Court rules against pro-life organization in HHS mandate case
 Maduro rips Vatican statement against constitution rewrite
 Papal condolences following attack on Nigerian parish

Released Monday, Aug. 7

 Michigan priest charged with embezzling funds; over $1 million missing from parish
 Pope to visit Myanmar in November?
 Papal message to Asian Youth Day
 Pope prays at tomb of Paul VI on anniversary of death
 Italian Cardinal Tettamanzi dead at 83
 Papal message to Church in Peru
 Deadly gunfire at Nigerian Catholic church
 Puerto Rican religious leaders thank Congress for debt-relief legislation
 Keep priests safe, bishop asks laity in troubled Congo diocese
 Kurdish leader urges Christian support for independence effort
 Cameroon: bishop was killed for opposing gay clerics, priest charges
 Transfiguration is focus of Pope’s Sunday audience

Released Friday, Aug. 4

 ‘Pope loves China,’ visiting prelate tells Beijing audience
 African archbishop will boycott Anglican conference, citing discord on homosexuality
 Vatican to host another population-control panel
 ‘Gene editing’ poses threat of eugenics, ethicist warns
 Retired Phoenix Bishop O’Brien accused of sexual abuse
 Vatican opposes Venezuelan government’s plan for new constitution
 Cardinal calls on President Trump to fulfill promise to end HHS mandate
 14.5 million Christians remain in Middle East
 Report: Vatican closed 8 churches in Baghdad
 Cardinal comments on book on reparative therapy
 Maronite bishops call for global plan to bring Syrian refugees home
 Papal letter to Japanese interfaith meeting encourages prayer for peace

Released Thursday, Aug. 3

 Pope sends greetings, thanks to Knights of Columbus
 Lebanese bishops urge plans to help Syrian refugees return
 Mexican priest, stabbed on altar in May, pronounced dead
 Jubilee year of Portiuncula indulgence concludes
 Philippine bishops launch anti-trafficking initiative
 Catholic organizations: be open to Venezuelans fleeing oppression
 Vatican newspaper welcomes Jordanian vote on rape law
 Iranian Christian convert released from prison
 USCCB: ‘strong opposition’ to RAISE Act
 Asian Youth Day begins

Released Wednesday, Aug. 2

 Vatican forms international group to fight corruption, organized crime
 Malawi’s government praises Catholic media outlets
 Archbishop stung by criticism of spider-on-cathedral show
 Pope meets with German soccer squad
 First-ever Christian woman elected as mayor of Iraqi town
 Indian cardinal: ‘Forced conversions do not exist’
 Date America’s founding from appearance of Our Lady of Guadalupe, suggests Archbishop Gomez
 Patriarch sees youth festival as ‘restart’ of Church in Iraq
 India: prelate calls for continued advocacy on behalf of dalits
 Pontiff resumes general audiences, reflects on baptism as gate of hope
 2.5 million Russians venerated St. Nicholas’ relics; patriarch thanks Pope
 Archbishop: Trump failed to address essence of transgender issue
 Pope links Marian devotion, missionary spirit

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