Stories for January 2020

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Saturday, Jan. 18

 Background: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity

Released Friday, Jan. 17

 Cardinal Sarah: no confusion on Benedict’s role in new book
 Virginia Episcopalians cancel plan for bishop’s consecration in Catholic church
 260 million Christians face persecution worldwide
 Pope greets Lutherans, emphasizes common Baptism
 Vatican, Congo, reach bilateral accord
 German court affirms pharmacist’s conscience rights
 Turkmenistan police raid Christmas gathering of Protestant women
 Italian bishops decry anti-Semitism
 ‘The blasphemy law is like a sword,’ Pakistani prelate says
 Iran bulldozes grave of pastor hanged by regime
 Nicaraguan police record license plates of those attending Mass
 Trump administration issues updated guidance on prayer in public schools
 Marxist communism is being reborn in Spain, cardinal warns
 Leading Australian archbishop rejects breaking seal of confession for abusers
 Pope, at weekday Mass, reflects on ‘the little prayer that moves God’
 Bishops call for the application of international law in the Holy Land
 67,000 Austrians left Church in 2019
 Protecting unborn is a preeminent priority, Pope Francis tells US bishops
 USCCB Martin Luther King Day statement: ‘We have not come nearly far enough’

Released Thursday, Jan. 16

 Case of Benedict’s book is closed, Pope tells Scalfari
 Virginia bishop defends use of cathedral for Episcopalian ordination
 Ganswein filters information to Benedict, Archbishop Vigano charges
 Peace accord strengthens chance of papal visit to South Sudan
 Chinese ‘underground’ bishop evicted, homeless
 Cardinal Hummes offers tips for allies on promoting Synod document
 Belgian missionary priest killed in South Africa
 Bishops ask Kerala state to end discrimination against Christians in benefit distribution
 Turkish police release Syriac priest; Christian couple abducted
 Mongolia, Vatican ‘foreign minister’ sign agreement on cultural collaboration
 Victims face French ex-priest in court for first time
 Bishops urge Central African Republic’s government to hold ‘free, transparent elections’
 Vatican authorizes 85 scholars to examine Pius XII archives
 After signing peace deal, South Sudan’s government, opposition leaders pay tribute to Pope Francis
 Cardinal asks DR Congo’s president for solutions for strife-torn region
 Australian bishops support proposed climate change bill
 USCCB committee chairman appreciative of Trump administration’s ‘concrete actions’ on religious liberty
 Christians persecuted in Nigeria amid deafening silence
 Pope appoints woman undersecretary in Vatican Secretariat of State
 Reflecting on St. Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, Pope concludes general audiences on Acts of the Apostles

Released Wednesday, Jan. 15

 Cardinal Burke: ‘I do not believe that the Holy Father will ever answer the 5 dubia’
 Utah bill would require priests to report child sexual abuse disclosed in Confession
 Mexico’s bishops urge no statute of limitations for sexual abuse
 Brazil’s supreme court sides with Netflix over blasphemous portrayal of Christ
 Muslim Fulani herdsmen kill 13 Christians, wound 3 in central Nigeria
 Arson at historic French church
 Jihadists murder 3 Kenyan teachers
 Thieves desecrate relics of Italian saint
 Influential Jesuit journal: Pope Francis ‘has never intended to tell Islam what it should be’
 Jihadists’ aim is forced conversion of Sahel region to Islam, bishop warns
 Central African Republic bishops warn against syncretism, Freemasonry, other secret societies
 Cardinal Filoni bids farewell to ‘Propaganda Fide’
 Showdown brewing over Equal Rights Amendment
 New documentary offers rare glimpse of Benedict XVI’s life in Vatican Gardens
 Authority is not in commanding but in consistent witness, Pope preaches at weekday Mass

Released Tuesday, Jan. 14

 Korean Catholic population soars, but Mass attendance falls
 Former Pope’s name removed as co-author of book on celibacy
 Turkish police arrest Syriac priest
 Massachusetts court holds there is no right to assisted suicide
 Fewer than 3% of Russians attend church Christmas
 In India, hundreds of Hindu radicals protest against statue of Christ
 Latin American bishops plead with world leaders to pursue peace
 Record number of tourists and pilgrims in the Holy Land
 Colombian Bishops appeal for resumption of peace process
 Following Sant’Egidio meeting, South Sudan’s leaders vow to recommit to truce, pursue peace
 Pope Francis would rather give his life ‘than change the law on celibacy,’ Vatican press office director recalls
 Hungarian bishops raise $223M for Syrian hospitals
 Pope emphasizes prayer in meeting with Minnesota, Dakota bishops
 Vatican spokesman responds to new book by Pope Emeritus Benedict, Cardinal Sarah

Released Monday, Jan. 13

 French bishops to remove references to parents’ sex on birth certificates
 Four Nigerian seminarians kidnapped
 Dutch survey: when churches close, most parishioners don’t seek another
 Cardinal Pell moved to new maximum-security prison
 Pope Emeritus Benedict, Cardinal Sarah author new book on priesthood, celibacy
 Seasoned Vatican diplomat named nuncio in France, succeeding accused prelate
 Leaders of Catholic women’s organization meet with Pope
 Catholic, Protestant leaders welcome new political agreement for Northern Ireland
 Bishops from Europe, North America visit Gaza
 Rome’s Lutheran pastor meets with Pope
 Pope emphasizes ‘welcome’ in audience with Pontifical Ethiopian College
 Cardinal Tagle urges prayers for peace amid tension in Middle East
 Texas bishops denounce governor’s decision not to accept refugees
 Love is expressed in concrete actions, Pope preaches at weekday Mass
 Vatican officials hail importance of migration, 2018 global compact
 Following scandal, Caritas in Central African Republic adopts safeguarding policies
 May we ‘understand increasingly the gift of our Baptism and live it coherently,’ Pope tells pilgrims
 Pope Francis baptizes 32 children during Mass in Sistine Chapel

Released Friday, Jan. 10

 Burkina Faso: bishop warns of Islamic plan to take over African region
 New York accepts offer to shelter homeless in empty archdiocesan buildings
 Woman arrested for bomb threats against DC Catholic school
 US bishops increase diocesan fees for episcopal conference
 Venezuelan bishops denounce invalid election to National Assembly
 NY bar association seeks investigation of AG Barr for promoting Judeo-Christian values
 Buffalo ex-seminarians charged with harassing diocesan official
 US and Iran escalation worries Christians in the Middle East
 Vatican official rues declining respect for human dignity, sense of community in Europe
 Avert war in Middle East, Maronite bishops plead
 Venezuelan bishops condemn Maduro’s actions against legislature
 Catholic leaders say Congo risks being broken apart by violence
 Pro-life teen Nicholas Sandmann wins settlement from CNN
 In Alberta, campus pro-life group wins appeal over security fees
 Parish destroyed in Puerto Rico earthquake
 Myanmar bishop upbeat about peace prospects in conflict-torn Kachin State
 In Philippines, an estimated 6 million people take part in Black Nazarene procession
 Vatican spokesman: ‘Realism and hope’ are key themes of Pope’s ‘state of the world’ address
 ‘To make war is the temptation of the devil,’ Pope preaches at weekday Mass

Released Thursday, Jan. 9

 In address to diplomatic corps, Pope urges hope in times of trouble
 Judge allows parents to sue Pittsburgh diocese for failing to report abuse
 Maronite bishops urge Lebanese leaders: avoid involvement in Middle East conflicts
 Chinese restrictions on Church rose after deal with Vatican, US panel reports
 Cardinal Zen: Pope Benedict rejected secret deal with China
 Mexican priest kidnapped, shot, hospitalized
 Glorification of jihad in textbooks stokes violence against Pakistan’s religious minorities
 ‘We should not be afraid,’ Pope tells pilgrims from the Middle East
 Create a welcoming society, not more barriers for refugees, Catholic, Lutheran leaders tell Minnesotans
 ‘We have enough of wars,’ Iraqi archbishop says after Iran fires missiles
 Cardinal Dolan, Bishop DiMarzio address New York march against anti-Semitism
 Vatican announces papal visit to Bari
 Sisters of Mercy condemn US strike on Iranian general
 Indonesian human rights activist charged with ‘hate speech’ after criticizing ban on Christmas Masses
 US bishops, in new statement, urge US and Iran to embrace peace
 President of US bishops’ conference expresses sorrow for earthquake aftermath In Puerto Rico
 Slavery to oneself is the ‘greatest form of bondage,’ Pope says
 Pope requests prayers for the people of Australia

Released Wednesday, Jan. 8

 FBI probing McCarrick ties to Papal Foundation
 Pope sends condolences following Iran air crash
 Wild New Year’s party hosted at Vatican-owned building in Rome
 Bishop says he was given no ‘particular mission’ in troubled Buffalo diocese
 Hindu opposition stalls India’s tallest Christ statue
 Vietnamese priests, religious join local protests against dam
 Moscow patriarch denounces divisions in Eastern Orthodoxy
 Constantinople is the mother church of the Orthodox world, Ecumenical Patriarch affirms
 ‘Soleimani killing must unite Islamic countries,’ Malaysian premier says
 America’s religious order superiors condemn US killing of Iranian general
 ‘Volcano about to erupt’ in Iraq, Chaldean patriarch warns
 ‘Live through trials by staying close to Christ’: Pope reflects on St. Paul’s shipwreck in Malta
 Vatican spokesman warns against lack of charity in speech
 Say no to the spirit of the world that leads us to corruption, Pope preaches at weekday Mass
 Myanmar bishop calls for talks as fighting rages in Rakhine
 Church in Australia plans national response to bushfire crisis
 ‘Pray urgently,’ USCCB president says following Iranian attack

Released Tuesday, Jan. 7

 Controversy continues after archbishop’s appointment in South Sudan
 China: new rules for all religious bodies
 Portrait of Benedict XVI today: body weaker, mind still clear
 Poland: 1.3 Million People Participate in Marches of Three Kings
 McCarrick moved out of Kansas friary
 Arson attack against Pentecostal church in Germany
 Priest removed from ministry after taking ‘disturbing’ photos, Pennsylvania diocese says
 Planned Parenthood increases its number of abortions by nearly 13,000, annual report reveals
 Tennessee bishop: ‘Congress and the President are playing with the emotions of the people of this nation’
 Kenyan Catholic leaders alarmed at increase in terror attacks
 Indian bishops decry infant deaths in state hospitals
 Philippine bishops praise court’s rejection of same-sex marriage
 In Montenegro, clashes over law confiscating Orthodox Church assets
 Poll examines political views of Catholics, evangelicals, other Protestants
 Report: Church offers little outreach to minority abuse victims
 Ecumenical Patriarch declares 2020 as Year of the Youth
 Pope Francis rebels against the ‘rhetoric of the apocalypse,’ influential Jesuit journal states
 Pax Christi decries killing of Iranian general
 Iraqis have ‘big anxiety,’ archbishop says
 ‘The encounter with Jesus changes us,’ Pope tells pilgrims on Epiphany
 Pope, at Epiphany Mass, preaches on importance of worship

Released Monday, Jan. 6

 Church in Pakistan begins ‘year of youth’
 New Armenian patriarch praises Turkey’s Erdogan
 Ivory Coast cardinal calls for release of opposition figure’s supporters
 Methodists propose to split over same-sex marriage, clergy impasse
 Jesus is the only Savior, Pope tweets
 Archbishop Paglia: Reject euthanasia, assisted suicide, and abandonment of the sick
 Australian bishops extend prayer campaign in response to devastating fires
 ‘Very sad and heartbreaking’: Cardinal Turkson reacts to tensions between US, Iran
 Following Trump speech, La Civiltà Cattolica editor recommends ‘ecumenism of hatred’ article
 In address to pilgrims, Pope reflects on meaning of Jesus’ birth
 Chaldean patriarch: Iraqis are in shock, fearful
 Pope appeals for self-control, dialogue amid heightened threat of war
 ‘Conflict must be rejected,’ nuncio in Iran says

Released Friday, Jan. 3

 The person comes first, Pope says in message for World Day of Sick
 Syro-Malabar Catholics debate liturgical orientation
 Judge throws out theft charges against former archdiocesan official
 Archbishop accuses Togo government of ‘specializing in fraud’ ahead of vote
 Yazidi survivors are key to bringing Islamic State members to justice
 Study: Anti-Christian vandalism on rise in Western Europe
 Windows smashed at renowned Bach church in Leipzig
 Abortionist kept fetal remains in moldy boxes amid piles of rubbish, report says
 29 missionaries killed worldwide in 2019
 Cardinal Bo, other Catholics call on Hong Kong executive to end police brutality
 New seminary under construction in Vietnam
 Iranian president sends Christmas greetings to Pope Francis
 Catholic scholars, activists weigh in on ‘Afghanistan Papers’
 Make the Church in the Holy Land a place for dialogue and encounter, Jerusalem archbishop preaches
 Christian faith stronger than ever in Iraq despite instability, says Mosul archbishop
 Pope leads funeral rites for Cardinal Grech
 Video released for Pope’s January prayer intention
 USCCB: Church in US ‘stands in solidarity with immigrants and refugees’

Released Thursday, Jan. 2

 Lawsuit alleges famed Jesuit abused boy ‘more than 1,000 times’
 Archdiocese of New Orleans staves off default
 English cardinal condemns anti-Semitic graffiti in London
 Oldest known church in sub-Saharan Africa unearthed
 Catholic Relief Services prepares for busy 2020 in Africa
 Church crisis comes from abandoning God, adapting to culture, Cardinal Müller tells college students
 Ohio woman wakes up from 7-month coma after family was told to ‘pull the plug’
 Cardinal Grech offered exemplary service to Church, Pope says in condolence message
 ‘We pray for the conversion of every heart that hates,’ USCCB president says in New Year’s message
 God enters the world in the least among us, Pope preaches as 2019 concludes
 Pope pays private visit to Roman parish for friend’s funeral
 Pope apologizes for slapping woman’s hand, encourages pilgrims to cultivate peace and hope in 2020
 Pope preaches on woman’s dignity, the Church, and the Virgin Mary at New Year’s Mass

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