Most Popular News Within Last 30 Days
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German Catholics’ manifesto opposes bishops’ Synodal Path
Pope Francis today received a document signed by almost 6,000 German Catholics, expressing opposition to the “Synodal Path” being pursued by the German episcopal conference. The...
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Pope gives homily—but does not preside—at Te Deum for year’s end
Pope Francis, who was scheduled to preside at the singing of the Te Deum in St. Peter’s basilica on December 31, bowed out of that role, but delivered a homily at the annual service. The...3
Vaccination in fore of Pope’s annual address to diplomatic corps
In his annual address to the ambassadors accredited to the Holy See, Pope Francis gave top billing to Covid vaccination, saying that vaccines are “the most reasonable solution for the...4
Pope stresses education, environment in message for World Day of Peace
In his annual message for the World Day of Peace, Pope Francis calls for an decrease in military spending, greater investment in education, and care for the environment. The World Day of Peace is...5
Vatican official: Pope is ‘trying to disconnect the leadership role from ordination’
The Wall Street Journal has interviewed Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ. In February, Pope Francis named her an Undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops.“What Pope Francis is doing here at the Vatican . . . is trying to disconnect the leadership role from ordination,” she said, as she commented on the appointment of religious sisters and laity to leadership roles. “The Vatican is like a big cargo ship, it’s not just a small sailing boat. It doesn’t move quickly, you have to be patient.”
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In handwritten letter, Pope Francis praises Sister Gramick’s 50 years of ministry
Pope Francis has written a letter to Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, the subject of a 1999 notification by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and a 2010 statement by the president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops.“I am thinking of your 50 years of ministry, which were 50 years with this ‘style of God,’ 50 years of closeness, of compassion and of tenderness,” Pope Francis wrote on December 10. “You have not been afraid of ‘closeness,’ and in getting close you did it ‘suffering with’ and without condemning anyone, but with the ‘tenderness’ of a sister and a mother. Thank you, Sister Jeannine, for all your closeness, compassion and tenderness.”
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Ousted Vatican archbishop rumored at odds with papal policy
Archbishop Giacomo Morandi, who was abruptly removed from his office as secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) earlier this week, is “widely believed responsible for a controversial document barring blessings for same-sex couples,” according to an Associated Press report.Archbishop Morandi’s resignation was accepted in the same week that Pope Francis wrote a congratulatory letter to Sister Jeanne Gramick of New Ways Ministry, thanking her for her efforts to change attitudes toward homosexuality.
The archbishop, who has been moved out of Rome to head an Italian diocese, was also rumored to be unhappy with the move by Pope Francis to suppress the traditional Latin Mass.
The Vatican has not announced a replacement for Archbishop Morandi. The AP report notes that two prelates are listed as “adjunct secretary” to the CDF, and might ordinarily be viewed as candidates to become secretary. But one, the American Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, is 78 years old and overdue for retirement; moreover, he has been primarily responsible for negotiations with traditionalist groups, and that initiative is now clearly not a Vatican priority. The other, Archbishop Charles Scicluna, has other responsibilities as Archbishop of Malta; he has been the Vatican’s specialist in sex-abuse investigations.
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Dublin archbishop: ‘Radical change is coming in the Church’
“With a powerful commitment from clergy and lay faithful, across the full range of the life and ministry of parish communities, we are going to experience a renewal of energy and the adoption of new forms of outreach and ministry,” said Archbishop Dermot Farrell of Dublin. ““Pope Francis is offering us a way of being Church, the synodal pathway, of walking together more closely and being a Church that is hope-filled, despite many challenges.”“We need to open up a new chapter in the history of the Catholic Church in Ireland,” he added. “Change is never easy, and there will be conflicts, disagreements and tensions. These matters will not be resolved by argument or weight of numbers.”
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102 African Orthodox clergy enter Moscow Patriarchate
Over 100 clergy of the Patriarchate of Alexandria (CNEWA profile), who minister in eight African nations, have left their Patriarchate for the Moscow Patriarchate. Both patriarchates are among the 15 autocephalous Eastern Orthodox churches.The Moscow Patriarchate has created the Patriarchal Exarchate of Africa, along with the Diocese of North Africa and the Diocese of South Africa, as Russian Orthodox ecclesiastical structures in Africa.
The Orthodox Times previously reported that the Moscow Patriarchate was seeking to impose “consequences” on the Patriarchate of Alexandria for supporting the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople in the controversy over the Orthodox Church of Ukraine. Until recently, Ukraine’s Orthodox faithful were divided into the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Moscow Patriarchate), the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (Kiev Patriarchate), and the Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church, with only the first canonically recognized by other Orthodox churches. In December 2018, the latter two bodies united to form the Orthodox Church of Ukraine (OCU). The Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches, granted canonical recognition to the OCU in 2019—a decision condemned by the Russian Orthodox Church.
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Orthodox observe Christmas amid virus concerns
Many Eastern Christians, in accord with the Julian calendar, observe Christmas on January 7.Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije called for “respect of reasonable measures and recommendations of governments and other authorities in the states and regions in which our people live,” as well as “for respect of human freedom as the highest and most valuable God’s gift to men.”
In Kazakhstan, Orthodox Christians “could not observe Christmas in churches because all religious services were cancelled under a nationwide state of emergency imposed after violent clashes between protesters and police.”
