La Iglesia española entregará al Papa en julio el nuevo plan de reparación integral

(Alfa y Omega. Victoria Isabel Cardiel).

El Papa se ha reunido durante 40 minutos en el Palacio Apostólico del Vaticano con la cúpula de la Conferencia Episcopal Española tras la renovación de los cargos en marzo. Han abordado, entre otros temas, la falta de vocaciones en España, la reforma de los seminarios y los avances en el plan integral de reparación a las víctimas de abusos. A la salida del encuentro el presidente de la Conferencia Episcopal Española, Luis Argüello, ha asegurado que la comisión interdisciplinar estará en funcionamiento «este verano». Formarán parte de ella tanto profesionales del mundo del derecho, de la psicología y de la psiquiatría como del acompañamiento espiritual. Podrán acudir las diócesis y las congregaciones religiosas, pero también las víctimas.

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Sisters throughout Africa make pilgrimage to shrine for martyrs in Uganda

(Global Sisters Report. Doreen Ajiambo).

Hundreds of religious sisters in Uganda and across other African countries are among hundreds of thousands of Christian pilgrims on their journey of faith to the Uganda Martyrs Shrine of Namugongo in Kampala, the country’s capital, ahead of Uganda’s Martyrs Day celebrations on June 3. Millions of pilgrims from around the world flock to the shrine every year on June 3 to honor the 22 Catholic and 23 Anglican martyrs killed on the orders of Kabaka Mwanga II, then King of Buganda Kingdom, between 1885 and 1887. Mwanga II, who wanted to wipe Christianity out of Buganda, murdered these Christians because they refused to renounce their faith. The Catholic sisters and other pilgrims are making stopovers along their journey at various parishes for devotions, rest and exercise sessions. The sisters are using the event to pray for themselves, their families, friends and even for their countries.

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Catholic Relief Services unable to provide aid to southern Gaza amid ongoing war

(Kate Quiñones. Catholic World Report).

A Catholic Relief Services (CRS) official told CNA this week that the organization has been unable to get humanitarian supplies through the southern Gaza Strip since early May and that it no longer has supplies in the warehouses in the area.

“Most of the aid crosses through Rafah, and the Rafah crossing has been closed since early May because of the military operations there,” spokeswoman Megan Gilbert told CNA in an email.

“Some aid gets through the Kerem Shalom crossing, but it’s very limited,” she said.

CRS has served more than 750,000 people in the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023, according to an April press release from the organization.

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We Need to Take a Closer Look at the Suffering of Christians in North Korea 

(Abigail Ferrara. The Whasinthon Stand).

“Life for Christians in North Korea [is] a constant cauldron of pressure; capture or death is only a mistake away.” As cited by the 2022 State Department report, this is the daily reality for Christians in North Korea.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) was the latest to sound that alarm, documenting the testimonies of several North Korean defectors on the horrific experiences of Christians and other religious adherents in prison. One defector testified of a Christian prisoner who would pray daily and was then punished with extreme beatings with clubs or boots: “One time they beat [the Christian prisoner] to the brink of death, leaving the person bleeding on the ground. But this person got up and prayed just the same the next morning.” After being beaten, the man was cursed at by Ministry of State Security officials and told “he should just drop dead.” This torture lasted for 15 years in the political prisoner camp.

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A un año de acusación por «lavado de dinero» contra Iglesia, la dictadura calla sobre investigaciones, pero «se robó el dinero», dice analista.

(Artículo 66).

El politólogo Félix Maradiaga analiza que, las acusaciones contra la institución religiosa nunca han tenido base en la verdad ni en el derecho, sin embargo, la dictadura pretende que la opinión pública nacional e internacional «pase la página» del capitulo represivo contra la Iglesia y ante ello exhorta a seguir denunciando.

Este 27 de mayo se cumplió un año de la acusación por supuesto «lavado de dinero» hecha pública por la Policía orteguista contra la Iglesia católica de Nicaragua y, hasta la fecha, los «investigadores» que prometieron informar sobre el resultado de las indagaciones no han dicho nada más, sin embargo, siguen manteniendo congeladas las cuentas de la institución religiosa y el dinero ocupado «se lo robaron», dice analista.

Mediante un comunicado oficial, el 27 de mayo del año pasado, la Policía al servicio de la dictadura Ortega-Murillo informó que, tras una supuesta denuncia, que no especifica de quién, procedieron a investigar y encontraron «centenares de miles de dólares escondidos en bolsas en diócesis del país». El comunicado es tan superficial y opaco pues no da mayores detalles. No especifica cantidad de dinero encontrado ni en qué diócesis.

La acusación policial, de hecho da por culpable a la institución religiosa, pues asegura que, dentro de la Iglesia existe una «red delictiva de lavado de dinero», sin establecer siquiera la presunción de inocencia, como manda la Ley, y afirma además que, en la supuesta investigación que desarrollaban en aquel momento participaban, además del aparato policial, la Fiscalía, la Unidad de Análisis Financiero (UAF) y la Superintendencia de Bancos y otras Instituciones Financieras (SIBOIF).

¿Y los resultados?

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‘Divorce law won’t make divorce moral’

no foto

(Gabriel L. Cardinoza. The Manila Times).

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said on Tuesday that the Catholic Church cannot support the bill legalizing divorce in the country because “it makes legal what to us is a transgression of Christ’s sovereign will.”

“The existence of a divorce law will not render divorce a moral option for Catholics for whom it will always remain contrary to the Gospel and to the constant teaching of the Church,” said Villegas in a pastoral letter posted in his social media page on Tuesday.

The pastoral letter was Villegas’ reaction to the proposed Absolute Divorce Act, which was approved in its third and final reading last week by the House of Representatives.

Villegas is a former president of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

“While we may not have the power to thwart the passage of a law that would legalize divorce by legislators minded to pass it, it nonetheless remains the duty of every Catholic to catechize and instruct fellow Catholics and brothers and sisters in other faith-communities the reasons why we cannot support [it],” said Villegas.

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El Vaticano, en contra del uso de armas de la OTAN en Rusia

(Alfa y Omega. Victoria Isabel Cardiel).

El cardenal Parolin viajará a Ucrania el próximo 21 de julio en representación del Papa para la celebración conclusiva de la peregrinación de los católicos ucranianos de rito latino, que tendrá lugar en el santuario mariano de Berdychiv. Hasta ahora la ayuda militar que han prestado a Ucrania los 32 países que componen la Organización del Tratado del Atlántico Norte (OTAN) ha sido meramente asistencial. Sin embargo, el secretario general de la Alianza, Jens Stoltenberg, invitó el jueves a replantearse las líneas rojas que han impedido, entre otras cosas, que Kiev use el armamento de medio y largo alcance que se le ha suministrado para atacar objetivos militares en territorio ruso.

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Former US senator from Indiana Joe Donnelly to step down as US ambassador to the Vatican.

(AP).

Former U.S. senator from Indiana Joe Donnelly is stepping down as U.S. ambassador to the Vatican and returning to his home state two years after assuming the role.

In a post on the social platform X on Thursday, the U.S. embassy to the Vatican confirmed Donnelly will leave the position July 8, but did not cite a reason for his departure.

“It has been an honor and a privilege to serve my country in this unique way,” Donnelly is quoted as saying in the post.

President Joe Biden nominated Donnelly for the position in 2021 and he was confirmed as ambassador to the Holy See in 2022.

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Bätzing: “The Holy Father is open to change”

(Katholisch).

Bätzing insists on the creation of synodal councils
The president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Georg Bätzing, believes that the creation of synodal councils in the Catholic Church is possible despite the current Vatican ban. He is firmly convinced that a culture of consultation can be achieved in cooperation between the Church and the laity, the co-president of the Synodal Path stated on Thursday during a round table at the 103rd German Catholic Day in Erfurt. The church will always remain an Episcopal church, even when addressing the laity. That’s what defines her.

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La Cei torna a parlare di pedofilia, ma la verità sugli abusi nella chiesa è ancora lontana

(Domani. FEDERICA TOURN).

La Conferenza Episcopale Italiana illustrerà le nuove ricerche multidisciplinari. Forse è l’unica novità. Il resto segue lo schema degli ultimi anni: le istituzioni ecclesiastiche privilegiano un dibattito generico sugli abusi nella società, da cui le specificità della Chiesa non emergono in tutta la loro serietà. Chiara Griffini nominata responsabile del Servizio nazionale tutela infanzia: un’operazione pinkwashing. La Chiesa torna a parlare di pedofilia e di lotta agli abusi sessuali. Mercoledì 29 maggio, presso l’Ambasciata d’Italia presso la Santa Sede, la CEI organizza “Child Abuse. Una lettura del contesto italiano (2001-2021)”, un convegno dedicato ad esaminare “il quadro sociologico dell’abuso”, con “prospettive e testimonianze nel contesto più generale della società italiana”.

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Papa Francisco a consagrados: La castidad no es esterilidad austera, sino el camino para amar sin poseer

(Aciprensa. Almudena Martínez-Bordiú).

El Papa Francisco dirigió un mensaje a los participantes del Congreso sobre la vida religiosa consagrada que se desarrolla en Brasil con motivo de su 70  aniversario, a quienes recordó que “la castidad no es esterilidad austera, sino el camino para amar sin poseer”. Al inicio de su mensaje, el Santo Padre les aseguró su cercanía y sus oraciones “por el buen desarrollo del encuentro y para que dé frutos abundantes en la vida de cada comunidad religiosa y de la Iglesia en Brasil”.

Asimismo, agradeció “el inmenso don de la vocación a la vida consagrada que, en sus más diversos carismas, enriquece la comunión eclesial y contribuye en gran medida a la misión de la Iglesia en todo el mundo”. En este sentido, precisó que en muchos lugares “el primer anuncio del Evangelio tiene el rostro de consagrados y consagradas, que asumen con gran compromiso y con la entrega de su vida el mandato del Señor”. El Santo Padre expresó además que “el don de la vocación debe ser custodiado y cultivado cada día, para que produzca buenos frutos en la vida de cada religioso”. 

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A template for change? Zero tolerance by the numbers

(The Pillar. ED. CONDON).

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released on Tuesday its annual independent statistical report on abuse allegations in the Church in the U.S. As with previous years, the headline statistics make for grim reading — some 1,300 new allegations came to light from July 2022 to June 2023. But also as with previous years, the report charts some remarkable progress. The number of new allegations in 2022-23 was less than half the previous year’s tally, and barely more than a quarter of the tally for 2019 — the high water mark for allegations coming to light in the wake of the McCarrick scandal and Pennsylvania Grand Jury report. And, as has been the case for some time now, the overwhelming majority of the new cases reported were of decades-old instances of abuse, more than two-thirds of which concern the 1960s through 1980s.  The report, compiled by the National Review Board for the Protection of Children and Young People, has become a bittersweet annual health check for the Church in the United States, marking real year-on-year declines in the number of allegations coming to light, both recent and historical. While no report could ever capture the human cost of decades of sexual abuse, facilitated by negligent and sometimes maliciously culpable administration, the USCCB findings do lay bare the ever mounting financial price of failure — more than $260 million in compensation to survivors in the last year.

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Santa Sede sobre los Estados insulares: Cancelar la deuda por una prosperidad resiliente

(Vaticans news. L’ Obsevatore Romano).

Intervención de monseñor Robert Murphy, jefe de la delegación de la Santa Sede, en el debate general de la IV Conferencia sobre los Pequeños Estados Insulares en Desarrollo (PEID) que concluye hoy 30 de mayo en St John’s, Antigua.

«Instamos a los Estados desarrollados a considerar la cancelación de la deuda como un factor de “prosperidad resiliente”». Así lo ha afirmado monseñor Robert Murphy, jefe de la delegación de la Santa Sede, durante el debate general de la IV Conferencia sobre los Pequeños Estados Insulares en Desarrollo (PEID) que se celebra en Saint John’s, Antigua, hasta el 30 de mayo.

«La búsqueda del desarrollo sostenible es esencial para la prosperidad futura de todos los PEID», afirmó el prelado; sin embargo, tiene que hacer frente a «la creciente carga de la deuda» que «obliga a los PEID a elegir de forma insostenible entre el aumento del pago de intereses o la asignación de recursos para invertir en salud, educación, sistemas de protección social e infraestructuras», con dificultades añadidas ante «cuestiones acuciantes como la erradicación de la pobreza y el cambio climático».

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Papa Francesco, ai consacrati dice di rimanere in dialogo costante con Gesù

(Acistampa).

Il messaggio del Pontefice al Congresso della vita consacrata promosso dalla Conferenza dei Religiosi del Brasile per i 70 anni di fondazione.

In molti luoghi “il primo annuncio del Vangelo” è quello di “uomini e donne consacrati, che assumono con grande impegno e con la dedizione della propria vita” l’invito di Gesù a raggiungere tutti i continenti per proclamare la Buona Novella a ogni creatura. Papa Francesco lo scrive nel messaggio inviato ai partecipanti al Congresso della vita consacrata promosso dalla Conferenza dei Religiosi del Brasile per i 70 anni di fondazione. Per “vivere bene la chiamata divina”, dice il Pontefice, è necessario un “dialogo costante con Gesù nella preghiera quotidiana e la fedeltà ai voti”.

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Papa Francesco, per la sinistra ormai è rimbambito

(Libero Quotidiano. Daniele Dell’Orco).

C’è una scena di uno dei più celebri film d’animazione di sempre, Toy Story, quella in cui un ragazzino, Andy, getta nella spazzatura il pupazzetto protagonista della saga, Woody, pronunciando le parole «non voglio più giocare con te», che è divenuta celebre sui social sotto forma di meme. Rappresenta alla perfezione la tendenza a mettere da parte, per noia o per convenienza, qualcosa che fino a poco tempo prima sembrava indispensabile, innovativo e irrinunciabile. Nel cestone dei giocattoli in disuso, insieme a Woody la sinistra italiana ha scelto di gettare Papa Francesco, la cui santità dopo annidi celebrazioni è stata disconosciuta una volta per tutte a seguito del suo perentorio no ad ammettere omosessuali in seminario e della freddura, pronunciata lunedì di fronte a oltre 200 vescovi italiani nell’Aula del Sinodo in apertura dell’assemblea generale della Cei, sull’eccesso di «frociaggine» in giro.

La stampa di sinistra in un colpo solo ha messo in soffitta tutti i vademecum di linguaggio inclusivo, di tolleranza e di superamento delle identità nazionali. Così c’è chi dice che il Papa non conosca bene le sfumature dell’italiano, chi invece è convinto che ci sia un preciso calcolo politico alla base dell’utilizzo di quel termine, «frociaggine», chi ancora sfoggia il solito élitismo prendendosela con Bergoglio reo di utilizzare troppo spesso termini ed espressioni spiazzanti, spesso mutuate da stereotipi e gergo iper popolare o lo ritiene inadeguato ad affrontare discorsi a braccio.

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Religious minorities in Pakistan most affected by modern-day slavery, British report says

(Crux. Charles Collins).

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Religious minorities in Muslim-majority Pakistan are disproportionately made into modern day slaves, according to a new report issued by a group of UK parliamentarians. The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Pakistani Minorities issued “Exploitation of Bonded Brick Kiln Laborers in Pakistan: The Unseen Modern-Day Slavery” on Wednesday. The study showed religious minorities in particular are victims of bonded laborer system. “According to the most recent national census, religious minorities constitute 5 percent of Pakistan’s population. The percentage of religious minorities in brick kilns is often as high as 50 percent, especially in Punjab and Sindh, the two provinces predominantly occupied by religious minorities,” the report says.

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Catholic Relief Services unable to provide aid to southern Gaza amid ongoing war

(The Catholic World Report. Kate Quiñones).

A Catholic Relief Services (CRS) official told CNA this week that the organization has been unable to get humanitarian supplies through the southern Gaza Strip since early May and that it no longer has supplies in the warehouses in the area. “Most of the aid crosses through Rafah, and the Rafah crossing has been closed since early May because of the military operations there,” spokeswoman Megan Gilbert told CNA in an email. “Some aid gets through the Kerem Shalom crossing, but it’s very limited,” she said. CRS has served more than 750,000 people in the region since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on Oct. 7, 2023, according to an April press release from the organization.

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Papa Francesco: ai religiosi del Brasile, “la castità non è una sterilità austera”

no foto

(SIR)

La vita consacrata “arricchisce la comunione ecclesiale e contribuisce grandemente alla missione della Chiesa in tutto il mondo”. Lo scrive il Papa, nel messaggio inviato ai partecipanti al Congresso della vita religiosa consacrata, promosso dalla Conferenza dei religiosi del Brasile (Crb), in occasione del 70° anniversario di fondazione, che si svolge a Fortaleza, in Brasile, dal 30 maggio al 2 giugno. “In molti luoghi del pianeta il primo annuncio del Vangelo ha il volto degli uomini e donne consacrati, che assumono con grande impegno e con la dedizione della propria vita il mandato del Signore: ‘Andate in tutto il mondo e proclamate il Vangelo a ogni creatura’”, l’omaggio di Francesco, secondo il quale “il dono della vocazione deve essere custodito e coltivato ogni giorno, affinché produca buoni frutti nella vita di ogni religioso e religiosa”.

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Diocese of Fresno to file for bankruptcy

(National Catholic Reporter. Osv News)

Bishop Joseph V. Brennan said in a May 28 open letter that the Diocese of Fresno would file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization “to address the substantial number of claims brought forth by victims collectively.” The letter also said after a three-year window prompted by California state law “for individuals to bring forward otherwise barred or expired claims for sexual abuse suffered as a child,” the diocese was “informed of 154 cases filed against our Diocese.” “The reopening of the window has made every Diocese in California susceptible to more claims,” he said. “What we are facing gives us the opportunity to redouble our efforts in creating a safe environment for everyone in and out of the church and address real issues in atoning for the sin of clergy abuse against children.”

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Il monastero benedettino di Norcia diventa abbazia: cosa significa

(Avvenire. Ricc. Macc).

Norcia, la cittadina umbra patria di san Benedetto, torna ad avere un abate dopo oltre tre secoli, per la precisione dal 1792 quando morì dom Benedetto Cipriani. A interrompere la lunga attesa, un decreto dello scorso 25 maggio che ha elevato il monastero benedettino della città umbra ad abbazia. A guidarla sarà dom Benedetto Nivakoff, già priore della comunità monastica maschile, eletto al nuovo incarico martedì scorso 28 maggio. «Questa elevazione canonica conferisce onore e dignità alla comunità monastica proprio mentre celebra il suo venticinquesimo anniversario di fondazione», ha sottolineato Nivakoff subito dopo l’elezione. Come noto tra monastero e abbazia c’è differenza. Il monastero è l’edificio in cui vivono monache e monaci sotto la guida di una badessa o di un priore.

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