Stories for week of July 19, 2020

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Friday, Jul. 24

 French sex assault trial ordered for former apostolic nuncio
 Sister Ruth Lewis, ‘mother of Pakistan’s special children’, loses CO19 battle
 Pope encourages boy with disabilities on Camino de Santiago pilgrimage
 Churches burned, people beheaded in Mozambique’s escalating extremist violence
 Judge halts South Carolina voucher program
 Despite protests, Vietnamese bishop to tear down 135-year-old cathedral, build larger replica
 Bishops broker peace talks in Cameroon
 German abbess faces landmark trial on Church asylum
 With dam near completion, Catholic leaders urge equitable sharing of Nile
 Australia’s Catholic, Orthodox bishops decry conversion of Hagia Sophia to mosque
 Nuncio supports exhuming babies’ remains at Irish home, giving them Christian burial
 Vatican publishes book containing Pope’s ‘lockdown’ homilies
 Cardinal Scola calls out Pope Francis’ critics: ‘The Pope is the Pope’
 Cardinal Schönborn laments exodus of Austrian Catholics
 US bishops to President Trump: Rescind memorandum excluding undocumented from congressional apportionment
 US bishops’ agency makes $300,000 grant to assist Native Americans

Released Thursday, Jul. 23

 New Russian law would restrict foreign religious leaders
 US bishops’ agency makes $500,000 grant to activist group
 Convent outside Detroit loses 13 nuns to CO19
 Zimbabwe: Churches mediate between government and opposition
 China-Vatican agreement after 2 years: repression against minors and churches
 23 states sue HHS over new regulations on ‘gender identity,’ ‘termination of pregnancy,’ and sex discrimination
 Local officials must permit religious schools to reopen, Texas AG says
 Vatican foreign minister: Religious freedom must be protected
 Planned Parenthood acknowledges ‘racist legacy’ of founder, continues abortions
 Cardinal Becciu: 2 martyrs’ beatifications were shelved following abuse allegations
 Greek-Russian talks focus on Hagia Sophia
 Greek Orthodox archbishop grateful for Catholic support of Hagia Sophia day of mourning
 New accusation surfaces against McCarrick
 Church in Germany receives highest ever Church tax income despite record exodus
 Bishops launch year of intercultural conversations with young adults, ministry leaders
 Prelates condemn acts of vandalism, destruction at Catholic sites
 Conditions for asylum seekers at US-Mexican border are inhumane, nun writes in op-ed

Released Wednesday, Jul. 22

 Vatican statement urges solidarity in face of pandemic
 Vatican denies approving exhumation of Gen. Franco
 Italian priest presides at same-sex union
 Chinese officials: replace religious images with pictures of President Xi
 Sino-Vatican agreement after 2 years: flags and monitoring
 Taiwan president attends Taipei archbishop’s installation
 Cardinal Brandmüller discusses interpretation of Vatican II
 New Vatican document ‘a major step forward’ in protecting minors, abuse commission member says
 In California, Ventura city council decides to remove Junipero Serra statues at city hall
 ‘Sue us,’ says Philippine bishop after Duterte criticizes pastoral letter
 Kidnapped Enugu priest regains freedom
 Vatican cardinal weighs in on Hagia Sophia, CO19 origin
 Ancient Buddha statue discovered in Pakistan, destroyed for being ‘un-Islamic’
 15 children in chains freed from Nigeria Quran school
 July 24: day of mourning for Hagia Sophia
 In Kerala, Church forms volunteers’ groups for decent burial of CO19 victims
 Nashville diocese responds to report on handling of adult abuse case
 Attacks on Catholic statues continue
 Office of Civil Rights intervenes to allow Catholic in Maryland hospital to receive sacraments

Released Tuesday, Jul. 21

 Vandalism again at Boston parish
 Chaldean prelate protests US deportation of illegal Iraqi residents
 Turkey’s Erdogan invites Pope to dedication of Hagia Sophia mosque
 Rome diocese provides church for Syro-Malabar Catholics
 Summit report urges reforms to forestall Church financial crisis in US
 Africa’s inadequate CO19 response mired in colonial legacy, South African cardinal says
 ‘Jesus helps us understand God’s patience, opening our hearts to hope’: Pope reflects on parable of the weeds
 Pope pays surprise visit to Vatican’s summer camp
 USCCB calls on Congress to spend at least $12 billion on international CO19 relief
 Changes in criminal law as Sudan annuls apostasy death sentence
 Pew Research examines ‘the global God divide’
 British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal to hear complaint against parish
 Australian Catholic students urge bishops to ‘reject unambiguously’ women’s ordination
 At least 9 bishops have died of CO19
 ‘Anti-Catholic bigotry’: congressman demands investigations into anti-Catholic crimes
 Victims of Tolkien’s son among hundreds in line for larger abuse payouts
 Under new California rules, LA Catholic schools will no longer be able to resume in-person classes
 Gravely damaged in war, Syrian cathedral rises from the ashes
 Japanese archbishop urges US to witness the Gospel of peace

Released Monday, Jul. 20

 Filipino bishops welcome constitutional challenges to anti-terrorism law
 Archbishop hosts talks between Cameroon government, separatists leaders
 Taipei archbishop: Vatican-China accord will not endanger ties
 Chinese regime recognizes another ‘underground’ bishop
 Vatican issues guide for remodeling parish life [News/analysis]
 Caravan of 100 cars protests Indianapolis archdiocese’s policy on transgender students
 Woman who now identifies herself as man sues Catholic hospital for refusing hysterectomy
 Indonesian archbishop, several priests catch CO19
 Louisiana’s Catholic governor calls for 3 days of prayer and fasting
 Fire destroys organ, shatters stained glass at Nantes cathedral in France
 Pope reiterates appeal for global ceasefire, calls for peace in the Caucasus
 Turkey’s Erdogan visits Hagia Sophia after reconversion to mosque
 ‘There is no objection to building churches with Muslim money,’ Egypt’s Grand Mufti says
 Mexico’s bishops lament multifaceted culture of death
 Argentine priest, energy executive forge huge food-aid program that doesn’t buy votes
 In California, priest charged with sexual battery
 Adult abuse case in Nashville: accusations of grave mishandling across Church jurisdictions
 Vatican-China agreement: Catholics keep the faith in historic deal despite slow progress
 Pope appoints new director of Vatican healthcare services
 ‘Priestly zeal, fidelity to the Gospel’: papal telegram on death of Cardinal Grocholewski

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