Stories for week of January 17, 2021

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Friday, Jan. 22

 Abortion zealots disrupt Mass in Ohio cathedral on Roe anniversary
 Malaysian bishops extend ban on public Masses
 Vatican tribunal convicts three laymen in financial scandal
 Cardinal sees Danish legislation as threat to religious freedom
 Fauci assures WHO: Biden will protect abortion
 Biden, Harris underline commitment to abortion on Roe anniversary
 Portugal: bishops suspend public Masses
 At inaugural prayer service, faith leaders pray for nation, its leaders
 Priest among casualties at Madrid parish explosion
 Hundreds reportedly dead after massacre at church in Ethiopia
 Archbishop Gomez repeats: Abortion is the ‘most fundamental’ injustice
 US bishops, in flurry of statements, welcome President Biden’s actions on immigration, environment
 Total elimination of nuclear weapons is ‘moral and humanitarian imperative,’ Vatican foreign minister says
 English bishops ask government to transfer patient to native Poland after court orders withdrawal of food, water
 Bishops call on EU to help make the Mediterranean ‘a place of peaceful encounters’
 Bishops call on Israel to work with Palestinian authorities to make Covid vaccines accessible to Palestinians
 In Burkina Faso, a frantic search for a missing priest
 Pope, due to visit Iraq in March, condemns Baghdad attack

Released Thursday, Jan. 21

 Archbishop rebukes Pelosi for attack on pro-life voters
 Russian foreign minister charges US swayed Orthodox patriarch on Ukraine
 Priest lauds Biden at Mass before Inauguration
 Papal condolences after Baghdad suicide bombing
 Vatican advances beatification cause of Jerome Lejeune
 Ohio cathedral arson suspect, police officer killed in volley of gunfire
 US bishops begin novena for protection of human life
 Bishops clash over Archbishop Gomez’s statement on presidential inauguration
 US bishops’ conference president welcomes President Biden’s call for national healing, emphasizes ‘we cannot stay silent’ on abortion
 Ecumenical Patriarch holds virtual environmental summit
 Papal prayer for inhabitants of Amazon city hard hit by Covid
 Homeless people receive Covid vaccine in the Vatican
 Central American bishops: Respect the human rights of the thousands fleeing Honduras
 Papal prayer, solidarity following Madrid explosion
 Pope Francis sends message to President Biden
 Pope receives, congratulates Italian pro soccer team
 Papal appeal to nations to work toward elimination of nuclear weapons

Released Wednesday, Jan. 20

 Federal appeals court backs conscience rights on ‘transgender’ case
 British Tories’ report find widespread human-rights abuse in China
 Pope cancels Lenten Retreat for Roman Curia
 Pope, in weekly general audience, reflects on prayer for Christian unity
 President-elect Biden has appointed 7 Catholics as Cabinet nominees
 Supreme Court case unites ACLU, USCCB
 Title IX applies only to biological sex, US Education Department says
 Maronite Patriarch appeals for greater separation of civil, religious spheres
 Colombian prelate decries ‘another pandemic’: ‘irrational violence’
 Trump signs anti-Semitism bill into law, creating ambassadorial post
 Salvadoran archbishop refuses to open records on El Mozote massacre
 Cardinal Gregory offers invocation at national tribute to lives lost to Covid
 US bishops: Regulatory change will prevent government discrimination against faith-based social services
 ‘Time to heal wounds in the United States,’ Vatican spokesman writes in op-ed
 ‘Climate of fear’: Philippine bishops condemn killings of Tumandok indigenous
 Pope urges Venezuelan clergy to unite love and service
 Jesuits renew call for release of Father Swamy from Indian prison

Released Tuesday, Jan. 19

 Joe Scheidler, ‘godfather’ of pro-life activism, dead at 93
 Biden taps transgender health secretary
 Southern Africa: bishops, religious alarmed over Covid variant’s spread
 President-elect’s Cabinet nominee for science is pontifical academy member
 Kentucky bishop weighs in on Catholic public officials and the death penalty
 DR Congo bishop: ‘We have been on the Via Dolorosa for years’
 Archbishop Paglia: To promote the gift of life, ‘change of approach is extremely relevant’
 DC, Maryland, Delaware bishops issue statement for MLK Day
 ‘For the love of God, send us oxygen,’ plead bishops in Brazil’s Amazon region
 Cardinal Gregory to deliver invocation at Covid memorial before inauguration
 Papal condolences following death of former almoner
 English ordinariate celebrates 10th anniversary
 ‘The misery of the Central African people is unspeakable,’ bishops warn
 Pope Francis pays tribute to Rev. Martin Luther King’s legacy of nonviolence
 ‘Appeals to objective truth are treated as attempts to oppress,’ US bishops’ chairman says on Religious Freedom Day

Released Monday, Jan. 18

 Facebook bars Covid-conspiracy claims by Mexican cardinal
 New #2 appointed for Congregation for the Causes of Saints
 Australian Archbishop Wilson, conviction overturned, dead at 70
 Italian financier involved in Vatican property dispute sues newspaper for libel
 Salvadoran archbishop: ‘no progress’ since 1992 peace accord
 Nigerian priest, brother murdered
 Vatican drops extradition request in financial-scandal case
 South Dakota governor calls for Down syndrome abortion ban
 2021 March for Life will be virtual
 Pope Francis blesses NBA team’s MLK jersey
 ‘Massive, massive progress’: Cardinal Pell welcomes Pope’s removal of funds from Secretariat of State’s control
 ‘Words can be kisses,’ but also ‘swords,’ Pope writes in introduction to new book
 US bishop chairman urges peace following reports of plans for additional violence in US
 USCCB president recalls Rev. Martin Luther King’s ‘belief in nonviolence and the power of love’
 Leading Latin American prelate offers ‘4 great dreams’ for 2021
 Philippine bishops emphasize conscience in statement on Covid vaccines
 English, Welsh bishops mark Peace Sunday
 Iraq’s Catholics begin prayer for papal visit
 South African cardinal’s coadjutor dies of new Covid strand
 Background: Week of Prayer for Christian Unity
 Papal tribute to Jewish-Catholic dialogue
 Pope Francis: God calls us to life, to faith, to a particular state in life
 Ambassador Callista Gingrich has farewell meeting with Pope
 Papal prayer for victims of Indonesia earthquake and plane crash

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Mon30 June
Ordinary Time

Monday of the Thirteenth Week in Ordinary Time; Opt Mem of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church

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The Optional Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church is in honor of the nameless followers of Christ brutally killed by the mad Emperor Nero as scapegoats for the fire in Rome. The pagan historian Tacitus and St. Clement of Rome tell of a night of horror (August 15, 64 A.D.) when in the…

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