Stories for June 2017

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Friday, Jun. 30

 Swedish cardinal: not ready for shared Communion with Lutherans
 Cardinal Müller to be removed from top Vatican doctrinal post
 Vietnamese police organize violent attack on Catholic monastery
 New Laotian cardinal was imprisoned for 3 years
 Ecumenical Patriarch, in letter to Pope, highlights persecution of Christians
 Pope Francis: God liberates us from sin, Satan in the Sacrament of Penance
 Prelate ‘deeply concerned’ following Supreme Court decision on travel ban
 Court issues nationwide stay on deportations of Iraqis

Released Thursday, Jun. 29

 English bishops, Vatican issue cautious statements on English baby refused medical treatment
 Syrian conflict is the victim of a Middle East power struggle, papal envoy says
 Church of England, Methodists discuss joint ministry
 Name change coming for John Paul II Institute?
 Pope blesses archbishops’ pallia, preaches on confession, persecution, and prayer
 Pontiff grants Cardinal Pell leave of absence to face abuse charges in Australia
 ‘The bottom 100’
 Venezuela’s bishops lament attacks on journalists
 Prelate ‘saddened’ by President Trump’s Cuba policy changes

Released Wednesday, Jun. 28

 Vatican’s UN envoy reiterates plea for steps to end proliferation of weapons
 Britain’s Catholics support legal abortion, same-sex unions, survey says
 US support for same-sex marriage soars; most Catholics approve
 Irish education minister proposes to bar Catholic schools from favoring Catholic applicants
 Five new cardinals visit Benedict XVI
 Five new cardinals elevated at consistory
 Turkish government seizes Syriac Orthodox properties
 Mexican priest recovering after cathedral stabbing
 China rejects Vatican ‘interference’ on imprisoned bishop
 Aid to developing nations should support refugees, local poor, says Vatican envoy
 111 assisted suicides in California in first six months under new law
 Unions should be prophetic voice for a new social compact, Pope says
 Italian paper reveals US embassy assessments of Pope Francis
 Christians should always expect opposition, Pope tells audience

Released Tuesday, Jun. 27

 British Medical Association endorses decriminalization of abortion
 Church in Colombia struggling to cope with ‘hungry’ refugees from Venezuelan
 Cardinal-designate from Mali recovering from illness, will attend consistory
 Priest, other hostages seized in Mindanao reported still alive
 European court rules out Spanish subsidies for Catholic institutions
 Australian census shows falling Catholic population
 Retired Archbishop of Canterbury resigns from Anglican post after abuse report
 Myanmar: Cardinal Bo challenges government to acknowledge Rohingya suffering
 Pope celebrates 25th anniversary of episcopal ordination
 Pope greets delegation from Ecumenical Patriarch
 Prelate: Supreme Court’s Trinity Lutheran decision is ‘landmark victory for religious freedom’
 Congo’s bishops decry violence, call for elections
 Portuguese bishops announce national hymnal
 English cardinal addresses Lithuanian parliament
 Cardinal commemorates Avignon papacy
 Nuncio encourages Christians to return to Iraq

Released Monday, Jun. 26

 Ousted Vatican bank president raps Pope on Amoris Laetitia
 Did Venezuelan bishops ask for papal silence on their country’s crisis?
 Indonesian parishes reschedule Masses to accommodate Muslim holiday
 British doctors protest move to decriminalize abortion
 Supreme Court to hear Colorado baker’s plea in gay-wedding cake
 Al Azhar university proposes legislation to bar use of religion inciting violence
 Cardinal Turkson issues statement for UN Day against Drug Abuse
 Caring for the sick is of inestimable value, Pope tells anti-cancer organization
 Vatican: ‘grave concern’ over detained Chinese bishop
 Lithuanian bishop beatified as martyr
 Pope Francis: the Christian must expect rejection, persecution
 Pontiff greets Italian swimmers, speaks about water, baptism
 Many await the joyful proclamation of the Resurrection, Pope tells Resurrectionists
 Schedule announced for papal trip to Colombia

Released Friday, Jun. 23

 Be bold, Pope urges members of Serra International
 US Senate health-care bill is ‘unacceptable,’ says bishops’ spokesman
 Illinois bishop bars Communion, funerals for same-sex married couples
 Patriarch to consecrate Lebanon, Middle East to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
 Pope calls on priests to show apostolic zeal, denounce evil
 Leading exorcist appeals for improved seminary formation
 Community of at Sant’Egidio brokers Central African Republic accord
 Federal court blocks deportation of Iraqi Christians
 Trump administration issues new letter on transgender students
 USCCB: prayer, solidarity following London mosque attack

Released Thursday, Jun. 22

 Church of England acknowledges cover-up of abuse by retired Anglican bishop
 Dutch royals meet with Pontiff
 Vatican Secretary of State: need to consider excommunication for Mafia figures
 New Melkite Patriarch receives papal welcome
 Islamic State razes historic mosque in Mosul
 Pope recognizes ‘heroism’ of Eastern Catholic churches
 Los Angeles archdiocese cancels pro-abortion forum scheduled for cathedral plaza
 Indonesian priests ask Vatican to intervene in conflict with bishop
 California court dismisses charges against makers of films exposing Planned Parenthood
 Kenya’s bishops warn faithful against tribalism
 Hundreds of Catholic institutions closed or destroyed in Congo violence
 4 new members of US bishops’ National Review Board
 Pontiff encourages faithful to turn to the Sacred Heart, pray for priests
 Pope backs proposed Italian legislation on migrants
 EU bishops’ commission weighs in on security, defense

Released Wednesday, Jun. 21

 Papal initiative sends aid to South Sudan
 Italian theologian: Pope must address ‘full crisis of faith’
 Leader of Communion and Liberation applauds Pope’s leadership
 Pope again plans no meeting with cardinals at June consistory
 Melkite Synod elects new Patriarch
 New president for Pontifical Academy of Sciences
 Football Hall of Fame members meet with Pontiff
 6th Fortnight for Freedom begins
 Saints are witnesses and companions of hope, Pope says at Wednesday audience
 Refugees meet with Pope
 Nigerian police rescue kidnapped priest
 Venezuelan bishops blast government over police attacks on citizens
 Moscow patriarch links Islamist terrorism, Western secularism
 Papal tribute to Cardinal Dias

Released Tuesday, Jun. 20

 Zambia: Christian leaders warn against autocratic rule
 Help adolescents mature, rather than seek ‘eternal youth,’ Pope urges adults
 Syrian Christians still suffering, emigrating, nuncio reports
 Papal ‘pilgrimage’ to honor Italian priest-activists
 Chaldean prelate challenges Christian families to return to area liberated from Islamic State
 Vatican auditor resigns
 Dubia cardinals make public plea for audience with Pontiff
 Prelate calls for passage of Iraq and Syria genocide act
 200th anniversary of Church in South Africa
 +Cardinal Ivan Dias, 81
 Ambassador calls on China to release bishop
 Catholic organizations issue World Refugee Day statement
 Cardinal Nichols: prayers, support for Muslim community following attack

Released Monday, Jun. 19

 Irish bishops announce plan for reform at Maynooth seminary
 Italian bishops seek citizenship for children of immigrants
 Judge weighs competing plans in Minnesota archdiocesan bankruptcy case
 Melkite Synod meets to elect new Patriarch
 Archbishop Paglia defends appointment of abortion supporter to Pontifical Academy for Life
 Maronite Patriach fears inadequate moral teaching, urges efforts to keep families intact
 Dutch bishop nixed ‘Pink Saturday’ service at cathedral
 Pope plans visit to Chile, Peru in 2018
 ‘Underground’ Chinese bishop reported back in diocese, but still held in custody
 Rosary helps us unite our lives to Christ’s: papal message to Marian shrine
 The Eucharist comforts us with God’s love, Pope preaches in Corpus Christi homily
 Personal encounter with refugees removes prejudices, Pope tells faithful
 Pontiff: in the Eucharist, Christ sustains us on the pilgrimage to eternal life
 Helmut Kohl was a ‘great statesman,’ Pope says upon his death
 Merkel meets with Pope
 7 beatification causes advance
 Discastery sees need to explore excommunication for corruption, mafia association
 Pope Francis recalls Avignon papacy
 Papal condolences following Grenfell Tower fire

Released Friday, Jun. 16

 Priest says charge against Cardinal Pell involves ‘physically impossible’ scenario
 Vatican calls for negotiations, elections to resolve Venezuelan crisis.
 Pope names no. 2 official of new dicastery
 Austrian bishops discuss security
 Israeli official sees ‘obvious progress’ in negotiations with Vatican
 69 priests resign posts in Indonesian diocese
 New Swedish cardinal: ‘Europe is not lost for Christianity’
 WCC leader surveys ecumenical landscape
 Turn to St. Anthony, Pope encourages faithful

Released Thursday, Jun. 15

 Stolen relic of St. John Bosco is recovered
 US bishops extend mandate of committees on religious liberty, immigration reform
 Pope writes preface to Cardinal Turkson’s book on corruption
 Christian population of Iraq, Syria halved since 2011
 Former secretary to two Popes releases new book
 Suspended Guam archbishop awaits canonical trial outcome before settling abuse suits
 English political leader steps down, says party stands incompatible with Christian faith
 Bishops’ commission welcomes EU document on resilience
 Papal support for Day for Life
 Maduro calls for papal intervention
 Australia: abuse victims angered by apology service
 US bishops ask forgiveness for role in abuse scandal
 Nuncio challenges US bishops to evangelization, solidarity

Released Wednesday, Jun. 14

 Israeli and Vatican negotiators still short of long-awaited diplomatic accord
 Cameroon bishops urge police action to solve bishop’s brutal murder
 Leader of Brazilian movement steps down amid rumors of Vatican investigation
 Council of Cardinals weighs plans for decentralization of Church governance
 Rome’s mayor calls for moratorium on immigration
 New Hampshire diocese joins trend toward earlier confirmation
 Archbishop vacates apartment in Rome, offers it to Syrian refugees
 Pope Francis: ‘in God’s love is the source of all our hope’
 Holy See names new head of hospital that suffered financial scandal
 English bishop: Trump on ‘wrong side of history’ on climate change
 Eastern Catholic leader recalls 70th anniversary of deportation of Ukrainians
 Detroit’s Chaldean bishop responds to deportation of Iraqi Christians
 Nigerian Jesuit discusses kidnapping
 Bishop calls on South Sudan’s Catholics to ‘pray a lot more’ for peace

Released Tuesday, Jun. 13

 Pope adds new meeting to schedule for bishops’ ad limina visits
 Irish bishops say Church now faces hostility in country
 New appointments, new direction for Pontifical Academy for Life
 Synod office launches web site for interaction with youth
 Mexican priests are targets of violence
 Algeria: Catholic church demolished to make way for new mosque
 Abortion increasingly common for multiple pregnancies, English statistics show
 Pope challenges faithful to concrete acts, in message for World Day of the Poor
 Report: 190 incidents of anti-Christian violence in Sri Lanka since 2015
 500,000 people see relics of St. Nicholas in Moscow
 Taizé works to bridge St. Louis racial divide
 Prelate: people have a right to migrate for their survival
 Moscow patriarch emphasizes Christian link between Russia, Latin America
 June 14: US bishops’ day of prayer, penance for sexual abuse
 ‘Night of the churches’ in France

Released Monday, Jun. 12

 Chaldean Patriarch visits Mosul, three years after Islamic State took city
 Council of Cardinals holding 20th meeting
 Exorcisms on the rise in France
 Pope asks cardinals to inform him about travels
 French bishop faces criminal charge for failure to report abuse
 Vatican bank showed healthy profit for 2016
 Dozens of Iraqi Christians arrested in immigration roundup, face deportation
 Prelates tell Senate that House GOP’s health care bill has ‘many serious flaws’
 Welcome bishop or incur suspension, Pope tells priests of Nigerian diocese
 Cardinal Re replaces Cardinal Etchegaray as vice-dean of College of Cardinals
 Migrants are persons, not numbers, Pope tells Latin American lawmakers
 Stable employment and the family are ‘2 pillars’ of society, Pope tells Italy’s president
 God is ‘Love that rescues man from infidelity,’ Pope says in Trinity Sunday reflection
 20th-century mystic beatified

Released Friday, Jun. 9

 Pope sees women’s role as key to inter-religious dialogue
 India: school book describes Jesus as a demon; Christians demand removal
 Egypt’s interior minister suggests Christians avoid churches for safety
 Mexican bishops launch drive to support Venezuelan poor in crisis
 Bishop, Muslim leaders decry desecration of Philippine cathedral
 Ecumenical Patriarch: address root causes of environmental crisis
 Iranian priest: Christians, Muslims deplore ISIS attacks in Tehran
 Prelate welcomes Trump administration’s reported changes to HHS mandate
 Typical new US priest: 34-year-old who prays Rosary, takes part in Eucharistic adoration
 Striking teachers in Colombia take over 16th-century church

Released Thursday, Jun. 8

 Chinese Protestant church destroyed, worshippers arrested
 Four priests ordained in Shanghai; bishop remains in custody
 Jesuit spokesman says Father Sosa does not deny devil’s existence
 Cameroon bishop was murdered, autopsy confirms
 Venezuelan bishops huddle with Pope on national crisis
 All religions should renounce ties with violence: Cardinal Marx
 1,700 Bibles sent to Lampedusa
 Parish priest in Warsaw Ghetto aided thousands of Jews
 +Trento Longaretti, 100
 Dominican friar saved 800 manuscripts from ISIS
 Cardinal Kasper calls for an ‘evangelical Catholicism and Catholic Protestantism’
 Vatican cardinal seeks international agreement on oceans
 Prelate to represent Vatican at international energy exposition

Released Wednesday, Jun. 7

 Court dismisses suit against Massachusetts Evangelical leader for ‘crimes against humanity’ in Uganda
 Archbishop Paglia defends leadership of Pontifical Academy for Life
 Australian court refuses to dismiss charges against archbishop for failure to report abuse
 Cardinal Sarah rips ‘inhuman contempt for Benedict XVI’
 Cameroon: bishop’s death seen as likely murder, not suicide
 Russian Catholics seek reassurance from Pope
 Notre Dame attacker claimed allegiance to Islamic State: report
 Pray for peace on June 8, Pope asks faithful
 Pontiff encourages Sacred Heart devotion in June
 Pope Francis: God’s Fatherhood is the ‘wellspring of our hope’
 Hong Kong prelate takes part in pro-democracy prayer rally
 Prelate concerned about Philippine Catholics in Qatar
 Pence reflects on Catholic upbringing, says Catholics have an ally in President Trump
 Vatican newspaper: women religious need to be involved in Church’s decision-making

Released Tuesday, Jun. 6

 Cardinal Turkson suggests greater UN role in conserving ocean resources
 Over 300,000 view relics of St. Nicholas in Moscow
 English bishop issues liturgical norms for Neocatechumenal Way
 Chinese ‘underground’ bishop still in government custody
 Venezuelan bishops to meet with Pope, discuss country’s crisis
 Police shoot attacker at Notre Dame in Paris
 Denmark repeals 1683 law against blasphemy
 Mass desecration of Christian graves in Kosovo city
 Lutheran body, World Council of Churches: ‘deep dismay’ at US withdrawal from Paris accord
 Religious leaders lament London attacks
 Vatican newspaper on Cardinal Bergoglio’s ‘charismatic ecumenism’
 Pope Francis: Catholic charismatic renewal is ‘current of grace for all the Church’

Released Monday, Jun. 5

 Pakistan: Christian worker dies after Muslim doctor declined emergency treatment
 Pope Pius XII took risks to save Jews, Pope Francis says
 Cameroon: missing bishop’s body found in river
 Relic of St. John Bosco stolen
 Papal tribute to Cardinal Husar, deceased leader of Ukrainian Catholic Church
 Emphasize God’s gratuitous love and mercy, Pope urged missionaries
 Belarus expels Polish-born priest
 Massachusetts bishops bar petition drives on parish property
 Pope prays for victims of London terrorist attack
 ‘Mission at the heart of the Christian faith’ is theme of World Mission Day message
 Holy Spirit creates ‘new people’ with a ‘new heart,’ Pope preaches at Pentecost Mass
 50th anniversary of Catholic charismatic renewal commemorated in Rome
 Italian children from earthquake-ravaged region meet with Pope
 Christ is ‘truly, really, substantially’ present in the Eucharist, Pope says in letter
 October 2019 to be ‘extraordinary month of prayer’ for the missions

Released Friday, Jun. 2

 Gay son of immigrant poised to become Irish premier
 Latvian president meets with Pontiff
 Seoul archdiocese to open Korean section of Vatican Radio
 Catholics share blame for Reformation, says top Vatican ecumenical official
 Illinois requires foster parents to support ‘transgender’ children
 Pope Francis’ prayer intention for June 2017: end arms trade
 Crosier religious order enters bankruptcy
 Outspoken Vatican official sees ‘slap in the face’ in Trump’s withdrawal from Paris pact
 Pope encourages children to maintain positive attitude, rise to meet challenges
 Vatican message for Ramadan focuses on ecology
 Prelate: US withdrawal from Paris climate agreement is ‘deeply troubling’
 Bishop describes growing ISIS presence in Somalia
 In election statement, Northern Ireland’s bishops warn of Brexit impact
 British bishops’ commission: 145 abuse allegations made in 2016
 50th anniversary of French bishops’ overseas initiative

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Fri20 March
Lent

Friday of the Fourth Week of Lent

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The hostility of the enemies of Jesus becomes increasingly clear, and the agitation around His person continues with greater intensity; but He awaits His "hour." Satan and the forces of evil will appear to triumph, but the real victory will come and that is God's. —St. Andrew Missal The…

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