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Stories for December 2019

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Friday, Dec. 6

 Vatican investment in Elton John biopic?
 German bishop faces embezzlement charge
 Take time to understand the poor, Pope urges Jesuit editors
  ‘They looked the other way’: dismissed abuse claim foreshadowed years of allegations against Bishop Bransfield
 Diocese of Rochester confirms it requested Archbishop Sheen beatification delay
 Man alleges he told St. John Paul about McCarrick abuse in 1988
 Cleveland priest arrested in child pornography probe
 Pope granted Buffalo bishop an early retirement, apostolic nunciature says in statement
 Video released for Pope’s monthly prayer intention
 ‘The West is ignoring the plight of Christians in West Africa,’ prelate says
 At UN climate talks, Catholics organizations work to provide ‘moral perspective’
 Prelate calls for international pressure to end Yemen war
 ‘Welcome the stranger,’ bishops exhort Irish Catholics
 Pope, Grand Imam ask UN to declare World Day of Human Fraternity
 We base our lives on Christ, not on appearances, Pope preaches at weekday Mass
 Mariology helps foster dialogue and fraternity among cultures, Pope tells pontifical academies
 Reflecting on crèche and Christmas tree, Pope calls for ‘effective decisions’ to protect our common home

Released Thursday, Dec. 5

 Vatican Christmas tree illuminated
 Spanish bishops: ‘Euthanasia and assisted suicide are ethically unacceptable’
 Vatican diplomat lauds ‘beneficial globalization,’ criticizes ‘narrow partisan or nationalistic policies’
 Indonesia to deploy 160,000 security personnel to guard churches at Christmas
 New potential abuse payouts could surpass $4 billion
 Indian bishop accused of corruption, fathering child now faces harassment complaint
 Former Buffalo bishop: ‘My decision to retire early was made freely and voluntarily’
 Abduction, forced conversion of 14-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan
 In Uttar Pradesh, 3 evangelical Christians arrested for ‘forced conversions’
 14 slain in attack on Protestant church in Burkina Faso
 Texas justice of the peace warned over her refusal to perform same-sex weddings
 Tucson’s bishop opposes ‘remain in Mexico’ migrant policy
 Hong Kong’s bishops back street protesters
 Council of Cardinals discusses draft apostolic constitution on the Curia
 Vatican Secetary of State opens academic year at John Paul II Institute
 Poland’s Solidarity union has ‘played an inspiring role,’ Pope says on 40th anniversary of its founding

Released Wednesday, Dec. 4

 Chaldean Patriarch cancels public Christmas celebrations
 Islamic State persecution led to ‘many thousands’ of conversions: Iraqi archbishop
 Cardinal Zen: Vatican’s China policy is ‘terrible, terrible, terrible’
 Daleiden sues Planned Parenthood doctor for defamation
 Theme of Pope’s general audience: St. Paul’s ministry in Ephesus and his farewell to the elders
 Buffalo bishop resigns; Pope names apostolic administrator
 ‘It is not the will of God’: Haiti’s bishops decry ‘scandalous opulence’ in impoverished nation
 Vatican postpones Archbishop Fulton Sheen’s beatification
 Baltimore archbishop sees Pope’s ‘utter seriousness’ in addressing abuse scandal
 Holy Land’s bishops urge Israel to investigate hate crimes in Arab villages
 Myanmar’s cardinal urges international community not to punish nation’s people for crimes of its leaders
 Congolese in Rome decry genocide, call on Pope to canonize 2 blesseds
 Caritas president reflects on refugees in Advent message
 Cardinal Turkson: ‘Caritas in Veritate’ has ‘made big impact’ in Church teaching on ecology, development
 Pope calls on world’s nations to act decisively to address climate change
 Vatican, Italian prelates explain Loreto jubilee year
 The Church praises littleness, Pope preaches at weekday Mass
 What new CDC numbers tell us about abortion in America

Released Tuesday, Dec. 3

 Congo bishops suspend social services to protest killings
 Disabled people should not be ‘hidden exiles,’ says Pope
 Evangelizers are like angels, bringing good news to the world, Pope says
 ‘Love for the homeland must be greater than the love for the Church,’ Chinese bishop declares
 Man ransacks Carmelite chapel in Alsace
 Stop violating religious freedom of Christians, European Parliament urges Algeria
 New lawsuit alleges McCarrick abused teen in Newark in 1990s
 English bishops: Consider candidates’ positions on abortion, migrants, religious freedom, and the environment
 Uphold principle of subsidiarity in addressing genocide and war crimes, Vatican diplomat says
 Cardinal consecrates Africa to the merciful Heart of Jesus
 Myanmar’s cardinal calls on government to abandon violence
 Nicaragua’s Ortega blasts clergy
 Nigerian bishop rips social media bill
 Bishop warns of Islamist persecution in Burkina Faso
 Professors, politicians gather for Vatican conference on Pope Benedict’s ‘Caritas in Veritate’
 Pope encourages young French entrepreneurs to offer Christian witness in their work
 Pope welcomes 33 refugees seeking asylum

Released Monday, Dec. 2

 Vatican joins in European conference on education in digital age
 West Virginia bishop wants punished predecessor to ‘respond as a Christian man’
 Michigan judge, instructed not to receive Communion, opts for Methodist parish
 Council of Cardinals meeting this week
 Hindu radicals attack Christian pastor’s family in Jharkhand, leaving his wife in a coma
 In meetings with Curia, bishops of PA, NJ discuss McCarrick report
 Pope rues violence against Iraqi protesters
 Advent calls for a ‘commitment to vigilance,’ Pope tells pilgrims
 ‘Come,’ ‘walk together,’ ‘watch’: Pope celebrates Advent Mass for Rome’s Congolese community
 ‘Look to your moment of death with hope and trust in the Lord,’ Pope preaches at weekday Mass
 Pope issues apostolic letter on meaning and importance of the Nativity scene
 The ‘right to die’ is ‘without any legal basis,’ Pope says in tribute to Italian magistrate
 In St. Andrew’s Day message, Pope welcomes progress in Catholic-Orthodox relations
 English cardinal laments London terrorist attack
 Pope Francis visits Caritas in Rome
 Pope calls on marriage tribunals to avoid coldness, seeks marriage preparation that forms witnesses to the Gospel
 Pope returns manger relic to Franciscans in Bethlehem
 Vatican diplomat: Focus on job creation, education, health care to lift people out of extreme poverty
 December papal prayer intention: The future of the very young

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