Catholic Culture Trusted Commentary
Catholic Culture Trusted Commentary

Stories for week of December 17, 2017

Ordered from most to least recent.

Released Saturday, Dec. 23

 Yemen’s Hadi says no talks until rebels surrender arms
 Separatist parties in Spain’s Catalonia win majority in election
 Defying Trump, over 120 countries at UN condemn Jerusalem decision
 ‘Napalm girl’ discusses conversion to Christianity
 Papal audiences (12/22)
 Papal preacher’s 2nd Advent sermon: ‘Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever’ (full text)
 Vatican’s Secretary of State renews plea for dialogue in Holy Land
 Italy: Catholics, Orthodox, and Protestants issue joint statement on Reformation
 +Father Piero Gheddo, 89

Released Friday, Dec. 22

 Miracle approved, canonization next for Paul VI
 John Allen explains Vatican choice of funeral in St. Peter’s for Cardinal Law
 Papal preacher delivers second Advent Sermon
 Papal master of ceremonies appointed for new term
 New Egyptian ambassador welcomed by Pope
 New US ambassador, Callista Gingrich, presents credentials to Pontiff
 Cardinal Maradiaga decries charges as ‘half-truths worse than lies’
 ‘There is a climate of greater hope,’ Aleppo bishop says a year after Assad victory
 Venezuela’s brutal crime crackdown: executions, machetes and 8,292 dead
 Former USCCB president recalls ‘my friend and brother bishop, Bernie’
 Catholics of the Year 2017
 Guatemala: Supreme Court strikes down UNFPA pro-abortion manual
 Worldwide round-up of journalists killed, detained, held hostage, or missing in 2017
 13th-century basilica reopens 7 years after earthquake
 UN war crimes court that prosecuted Milosevic closes doors
 Poland remains defiant as EU threatens sanctions
 Catalan pro-independence group claims election victory
 Prelate says President Trump should work with Congress toward ‘acceptable tax bill’
 USCCB president on the passing of Cardinal Law
 Philippines’ coast guard rescues 252 passengers from capsized ferry
 South Korea asks US to delay joint military drills
 Thousands flee violence in Cameroon’s Anglophone region
 Pope sends 350 cakes to Roman prison for Christmas
 Children’s drawings for Pope Francis on display at pediatric hospital
 India’s interior minister promises nation’s bishops a safe Christmas
 Capuchins provide welcome and hope to Dublin’s homeless this Christmas
 Pope, at weekday Mass, preaches that Christians should be joyful
 Vatican newspaper editor: Pope is calling Curia to turn its gaze outward
 Jerusalem bishop: Catholic youth concerned about rising Islamic fundamentalism
 Ecumenical Patriarch’s 2017 Christmas proclamation
 Yemen’s 1000-day war hitting children the hardest
 Tighter security mixes with festive spirit at German Christmas markets this year

Released Thursday, Dec. 21

 Cardinal Maradiaga, top adviser to Pope, embroiled in financial scandal
 Cardinal Sodano invokes God’s mercy at funeral for Cardinal Law
 Vatican envoy at UN repeats plea to preserve ‘status quo’ in Jerusalem
 Pope rips ‘traitors’ in Christmas message to Roman Curia
 Phil Lawler reflects on the death of Cardinal Law
 Department of Justice drops appeal to prevent immigrant teen’s abortion
 FDA approves gene therapy for inherited forms of vision loss
 India: Hindu extremists warn Christian schools not to celebrate Christmas
 Pakistan: Methodist leader responds to attack on church
 Turkmenistan’s tiny Catholic community prepares for Christmas
 Indonesian authorities on maximum terror alert over Christmas
 Scholar critiques book that argues Christians destroyed the classical world
 Christians ready for Christmas after the caliphate’s collapse
 Vatican astronomer’s 2017 Christmas message
 Christian satellite TV station brings hope, healing, and education to Middle East
 Cardinal Gracias: Pope’s visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh was successful yet challenging
 English bishops: ‘we stand at odds with President Trump’s recognition’ of Jerusalem
 Chaldean Catholic patriarch releases 2017 Christmas message
 Iraq: Advent among Mosul refugees sees solidarity stronger than hardships
 Coptic Orthodox patriarch says Pope Francis called him during recent hospitalization
 Ecumenical Patriarch, in Jerusalem, delivers lecture on religion and fundamentalism
 Leading Canadian bishop releases Christmas message
 Catalonia votes in new election pivotal for independence campaign
 Number of migrants worldwide rises to 258 million
 Jerusalem archbishop, at press conference, reviews events of 2017
 Vatican Nativity scene sparks controversy
 Yemen’s children risk death as fuel shortage creates water crisis
 US Ambassador Haley: we ‘will be taking names’ of countries that vote against US on Jerusalem recognition
 Vatican newspaper pays tribute to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini and her community
 Resignations and appointments (12/20)
 Pope Francis: general audience on the introductory rites of the Mass (full text)

Released Wednesday, Dec. 20

 Milwaukee’s Archbishop Listecki supports priest who announced he is gay
 Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned amid abuse scandal, dead at 86
 Cardinal Parolin opens exhibit of children’s portraits of Pope—fundraiser for Bambino Gesu hospital
 32 Planned Parenthood clinics have been closed in 2017
 Christians say no to the Christmas event organized by Jakarta’s Islamist governor
 Pakistan: mourners bury 11 killed in attack on Methodist church
 Kentucky commission reprimands judge for concerns about adoption by homosexual persons
 2018 Catholic social ministry gathering will focus on racism, environment, immigration
 Pope holds video discussion with Japanese university students
 Vatican prefect: God sometimes upsets our plans
 In Myanmar, Cardinal Bo visits displaced Kachin
 Vatican newspaper highlights Philippine cardinal’s book on evangelization
 Peru: indigenous community names its forests in honor of Pope Francis
 South Africa ruling party’s election exposes divisions, Jesuit says in analysis
 At general audience, Pope reflects on Mass as an encounter of love with Christ
 Beatification process begins for Romano Guardini, Fritz Gerlich
 Geneva: Catholics, Protestants, and Old Catholics issue joint statement on Reformation
 German churches warn of increasing oppression of Christians worldwide
 +Arseny Roginsky, 71
 Resignations and appointments (12/19)
 Papal audiences (12/18, 12/19)
 Fighting in eastern Ukraine at its worst since February
 Italian court: best interests of child should prevail in surrogacy disputes
 West African leaders resolve to fight terrorism, political instability
 UN leader appeals for solidarity with migrants
 Trump national security strategy sees US confronting China and Russia
 Vatican official discusses net neutrality, artificial intelligence
 UN Security Council takes aim at US recognition of Jerusalem

Released Tuesday, Dec. 19

 Reporter offers a glimpse of how Pope’s airplane interviews are conducted
 Sterility by choice is a disease, Pope says
 Cardinal Nichols congratulates London’s first female Anglican bishop
 Jordan’s King Hussein speaks with Pope about Jerusalem
 Cardinal Wyszynski, Father Peyton advanced toward beatification
 Vietnam: government demand for removal of Nativity scene sparks tension
 Why are Chile’s churches under attack?
 US religious leaders sign interfaith letter criticizing gender ideology
 Vatican prelate exhorts youth to overcome indifference to migrants, work for peace
 Vietnamese Catholics serving the poor and children at Christmas
 Vatican newspaper tribute to saints who ministered to migrants
 Papal prayers for victims of French school bus tragedy
 India’s vice president commends Christian contribution to nation
 Indian cardinal explains how Council of Cardinals (C9) works
 Jerusalem archbishop lauds Jordan’s king, renews criticism of Trump decision
 The 2017 Christmas message of the heads of churches in Jerusalem
 Papal almoner visits earthquake victims in southern Italy
 Children serenade Pope on 81st birthday; he appeals for release of kidnapped nuns
 Pope at Mass: Joseph, example of a man who took nothing for himself
 Macron, Merkel lend support to anti-jihadist peacekeepers in Mali
 Boko Haram militants attack food aid convoy in Nigeria
 Over 5000 migrant fatalities reported worldwide in 2017
 Russia: CIA information thwarted ISIS attack on Kazan Cathedral
 9 killed in suicide attack on Methodist church in Pakistan
 Libyan army commander: nation is entering ‘dangerous phase’ as UN agreement expires

Released Monday, Dec. 18

 Local diocese: Medjugorje pilgrimages still not approved
 Former Archbishop of Canterbury angry at successor’s criticism
 New Vatican rules for relics
 Milwaukee priest announces to parish that he is gay and proud
 Pope will extend mandate of abuse commission, but may replace members?
 Papal greetings to children at Rome pediatric clinic
 Duterte will push for same-sex marriage in Philippines
 Pope’s Angelus message: constant joy, prayer, and thanksgiving
 Vatican unveils streamlined news site
 Ecuador’s president meets with Pope
 Report the truth and avoid disinformation, Pope tells Italian journalists
 Be attentive to the forgotten poor, Pope tells youth of Italian Catholic Action
 Resignations and appointments (12/16)
 Papal audiences (12/16)
 Cardinal: Pope Francis seeks to restore Confession to central place in Church’s life
 As Christians leave Egypt, Coptic Orthodox Church creates new French diocese
 Leading Russian prelate calls for expanded religious instruction, laments West’s rejection of God
 European Christian, Muslim groups decry violence against women
 20,000 youth from 45 nations expected at Taizé gathering
 Malaysian religious leaders deplore human trafficking
 India: Catholic university leaders discuss ‘saffronization’ of schools
 Catholics in Pakistan celebrate Year of the Eucharist
 Southeast Asian prelate calls for ecological conversion to protect mankind from destruction
 Indonesia’s Christian leaders warn of rising fanaticism, societal divisions

Released Saturday, Dec. 16

 Vatican newspaper: funerals are crucial moments in the new evangelization
 Papal preacher devotes 1st Advent sermon to Christ and creation, recalls Teilhard de Chardin (full text)

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