(Diego López Marina. Aci prensa).
With the 54th General Assembly of the Organization of American States (OAS) taking place in Paraguay through June 28, the Paraguayan Bishops’ Conference (CEP) along with other leaders in the South American country are emphasizing the importance of defending the fundamental values of life and family.
The central theme of this year’s general assembly is: “Integration and Security for the Sustainable Development of the Region.”
(El Nacional).
Video en el que Francisco señala una canonización es usado por Maduro para afirmar que conoce incluso la fecha. El Tiempo de Colombia consultó al Vaticano y el chavismo
Una de las cosas que une a los venezolanos es la devoción al doctor José Gregorio Hernández, beatificado por el papa Francisco el 30 de abril del 2021. Sin embargo, su canonización -que está en proceso- provocó una contienda entre el gobierno de Nicolás Maduro y la Iglesia católica.
(Kath.net. Staff)
Deutschlandweit gab es nur 38 Priesterweihen im Jahr 2023. In Frankreich gibt es 2024 über 100, im kleinen Österreich 20. In Deutschland wurde heute die sogenannte “Kirchenstatistik 2023” veröffentlicht, aus der hervorgeht, dass im Vergleich zum Jahr 2022 die Taufen deutlich zurückgingen. So gab es 2023 131.245 Taufen, im Jahr davor 155.173. Die Zahl der kirchlichen Trauungen ging von 35.467 auf 27.565 zurück. In der Aussendung der Deutschen Bischofskonferenz wird dies als “leicht rückläufig” bezeichnet. Zur Erstkommunion kam nur mehr 151.835 statt 162.506 Kinder. Ähnlich sieht es bei den Firmungen aus (105.942 statt 110.942). Einen leichten Zuwachs gab es beim Gottesdienstbesuch (6,2 statt 5,7 %). Allerdings besuchen weiterhin mit 6,2 % der Katholiken nur eine kleine Minderheit an einem Sonntag eine Hl. Messe. Im Bistum Regensburg ist die Zahl der Gottesdienstbesuche mit 9,9 % deutlich höher als in anderen Diözesen, in Passau sind die Gottesdienstbesucherzahlen bei 7 %, in Köln nur bei 5 %. Das Bistum Limburg hat das Thema “Messbesuch” in der heutigen Presseaussendungen nicht einmal erwähnt.
(la Política).
En la víspera de la asamblea de la OEA, que se realizará esta semana en Asunción, el secretario general del organismo optó por ignorar a los movimientos ultraconservadores aupados por el gobierno.
(Zenit).
Justo un año después de su exilio de la Ciudad del Vaticano, donde el secretario privado de Benedicto XVI vivió desde 1996 hasta 2013, año en que por decisión de Papa Francisco fue desterrado a Friburgo, Alemania, el que fue secretario privado de Benedicto XVI tiene una nueva misión: representar a la Santa Sede ante tres países bálticos. O, en otras palabras, se convierte en el embajador del Papa Francisco en Letonia, Estonia y Lituania. Sin embargo, lo que unos calificaron de exilio fue vivido de otro modo por el “exiliado”: “De hecho, a bastantes personas se les ocurrió la impresión de que me habían enviado “al exilio”. Para ser honesto, yo también sentí lo mismo, pero seguí las claras instrucciones del Papa sin quejarme de que tenía que regresar a mi ciudad natal de Friburgo, aunque sin que me asignaran una nueva tarea. Esa fue una experiencia personal amarga. Pero no me dejé desanimar y esperé y recé para que algún día me estuviera esperando una nueva tarea. Ahora ella está aquí. Es muy posible que hubiera una lógica divina detrás del nombramiento del nuncio apostólico, que hizo uso de la pedagogía papal.
(Catholic Bishop’s Conference of Japan).
This report will introduce the “Walking Together” Church that the Catholic Church in Japan aims to be after the first session of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops in October 2023. First, we will look at the current situation of the Catholic Church in Japan, followed by a presentation of the efforts of the Church here and the challenges that lie ahead.
(Crux. Ngala Killian Chimtom).
Catholic bishops in Kenya have expressed disgust at the heavy-handed response of the police to anti-tax protesters that has resulted in several deaths. The Kenyan parliament on Tuesday voted for the controversial 2024/25 Finance Bill that sparked nationwide protests. The proposed law raises taxes on essential items like bread, vegetable oil, and sugar, raises an eco-levy that would apply to most manufactured goods (including items like sanitary towels and diapers), increases banking charges, and imposes higher annual charges on car owners. The tax bill seeks to raise an additional $2.7 billion in taxes, in order to decrease the country’s budget deficit without incurring additional debts.
(Crux. Charles Collins).
Ireland – north and south – is far from immune from human trafficking, according to the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Women account for 67 percent of people trafficked into Ireland, and trafficking for sexual exploitation is the most common form of this modern slavery, accounting for 55 percent of victims, followed by labor trafficking at 38 percent, according to a 2023 report by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission.
(National Catholic Reporter. Mark Rondeau).
It’s time for the Catholic bishops of the United States to begin regaining their lost credibility by taking a courageous stand for democracy before the 2024 election. As former NCR editor Tom Roberts writes in the March 29 issue, “Here in the US, Catholicism is for sale.” The bishops have ceded their teaching authority to a host of well-funded right-wing political groups who have embraced the “Catholic” brand to advance their economic and partisan goals. “Mirroring the civic reality of the moment, extremists have taken over much of the public square in the name of Catholicism,” Roberts writes. “They preach a crimped and narrow church, one that is retributive and rule-bound, willing to contort teachings and tradition in the interest of money and political power.” Let’s take a step back. The bishops last fall again issued their quadrennial election guide, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship.” The document closely follows those that have gone before, especially since the guide was last approved in 2015. Abortion remains the bishops “preeminent” concern, though this was not always the case in these documents. Democracy is mentioned once in the text, in passing.
(Vatican News. Andrea Tornielli).
“The moment is very painful, we are living through a very long night. But we also know that nights end. It is the time when the Church must work with all those who are willing to do something beautiful and good for everyone…”. Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, passing through Rome, spoke to Vatican Media about the situation in Israel, Gaza, and the West Bank. What is the situation these days in Israel and especially in Gaza? The situation has not changed much compared to the recent past of these last months, with ups and downs. Gaza is now divided between the north and the south, Rafah, and the city of Gaza. There was a period when more humanitarian aid, especially in the north, was coming in. Now it has become a bit complicated again. Meat, for example, is missing. Water is problematic, and let’s say that, in general, the situation remains very deteriorated and it is very difficult to see ways out. It doesn’t seem to me that negotiations are leading to anything and that there is a real desire on the part of the parties to reach a conclusion. And this is what is perceived, also keeping in mind the Lebanon front which is heating up more and more. The prospects are not very encouraging.
(First Thinks. Melisa Langsam Braunstein).
Growing up Jewish in 1980s New York, I started learning about the Holocaust in kindergarten. But along with those loaded lessons came constant reassurances from Jewish day school teachers and communal leaders that it would happen “never again.” With the help of the global community, it seemed Jews had finally triumphed over the repeated horrors of Jewish history. That was a comforting message for children. Now, though, it looks like wishful thinking. History will likely frame the early twenty-first century as a hinge moment. After the Holocaust, overt anti-Semitism was stigmatized by democratic societies worldwide. Jews were optimistic that this represented a permanent, positive change. However, October 7 and its aftermath have proven otherwise. For global Jewry, this means confronting ugly truths, like the durability of Jew-hatred. But reality is quickly shifting around our non-Jewish neighbors, too.
(Crux. Elise An Allen). ç
Experts who participated in a recent conference on Safeguarding and Disability have said that a broader inclusion and recognition of the belonging of disabled individuals in church life would make abuse prevention easier and is something all faithful must work towards. Speaking to Crux, Anne Masters, who holds a doctorate in disability theology and who gave a presentation during the conference, said “what was interesting was, by bringing in folks with the experience on disability and practice and theology, it opened their eyes.”
(Infocatólica).
Franz-Josef Bormann, profesor de teología moral en la Universidad de Tubinga, criticó la forma en que se ha abordado el tema de la crisis por los abusos sexuales en la Iglesia en Alemania. Durante una entrevista con EWTN News lanzó serias acusaciones contra los promotores del «Camino Sinodal».
(Infovaticana).
El proyecto de ley sobre discursos de odio en Irlanda ha generado controversia internacional por temor a que restrinja la libre expresión y el debate. La legislación, que afecta significativamente a las grandes tecnológicas, ha pasado por el Dáil (parlamento) y está detenida en el Seanad (Senado) debido a la oposición.
(Courtney Mares, CNA),
The Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith announced Thursday that alleged apparitions of the Virgin Mary outside of Rome are not supernatural, upholding the local bishop’s ban on Masses and pilgrimages to the site.
The DDF communique on June 27 confirmed the legal validity of an Italian bishop’s decree that the supposed apparitions in Trevignano Romano, a town about 30 miles northwest of Rome on the shores of Lake Bracciano, are “not supernatural.”
(religión en Libertad. José María Carreras).
Continua la debacle de la Iglesia del llamado “camino sinodal” en Alemania: este jueves se han publicado las Estadísticas de la Iglesia en el año 2023 y los datos no son esperanzadores, emulando la tendencia generalizada a la baja de los últimos años. Pueden consultarse íntegramente en la página de los obispos alemanes.
De este modo, y según recoge el portal Kath.net, dichas estadísticas arrojan una cifra de bautismos sensiblemente menores que los ya escasos dados en 2022: de 155.173 entonces se ha pasado a 131.245, unos 24.000 menos en solo un año. La tendencia en los matrimonios es similar, pasando de los 35.467 a los 27.565, lo que para la Conferencia Episcopal Alemana supondría “un ligero descenso”. Las primeras comuniones han caíddo de las 162.506 en 2022 a las 151.835 el año pasado.
La situación, recoge Kath, es similar en lo tocante a las confirmaciones, que pasan de casi 111.000 a cerca de 106.000. Uno de los pocos indicadores que parece incrementarse es la asistencia a servicios religiosos, lo que se ve ensombrecido por el hecho de que tan solo el 6,2% de los católicos acude a misa los domingos. En la diócesis de Ratisbona la asistencia a los servicios religiosos es del 9,9%, significativamente mayor que en otras diócesis como Passau (7%), Colonia (5%) o Limburgo, donde esta cuestión ni siquiera mencionó en los comunicados de prensa.
(The Irisch Catholic).
Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that about 9,000 Christian families have returned to their homes on the Nineveh Plains after fleeing a decade ago, when ISIS took the region.
In June of 2014, the Islamist extremist group captured Mosul and the villages to the north and east of the city, prompting a mass exodus of Christians and Yazidis, among others. The occupation of Mosul left other Christians on the Nineveh Plains vulnerable, and indeed, on August 6, 2014, prompted by further ISIS aggression, the entire Christian population fled to Iraqi Kurdistan.
(Jonathan Luxmoore. UCA News).
Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández celebrated Mass for ordination of first Bishop of Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
The first bishop of a special diocese in Great Britain created for Catholics of the Anglican tradition has welcomed the pope’s show of support and predicted the fledgling Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham will continue growing and strengthening.
(José Luis Aberasturi. Infovaticana).
Siento decirlo, pero no puedo afirmar otra cosa. Si empezó teniendo razón, ha acabado por perderla, intelectual, moral y eclesialmente.
Porque, “estar” en la Iglesia Católica es estarlo sí o sí, sabiendo que las reglas del juego, por decirlo en lenguaje coloquial, las pone Ella. Todas. Y “las tomas o las dejas”.
(MIGUEL ÁNGEL MALAVIA. Vida Nueva).
En la mañana de este 28 de junio, el papa Francisco ha recibido a una delegación del Patriarcado Ecuménico de Constantinopla que, como todos los años, ha querido visitarle en la víspera de la fiesta de los santos Pedro y Pablo.
Ante los representantes del patriarca Bartolomé, con quien el Pontífice mantiene una estrecha amistad, ha celebrado el legado petrino y paulino, que ha marcado la identidad de la Iglesia, además de estar ante dos apóstoles que “dieron testimonio de su fe en Jesucristo hasta el martirio en esta ciudad”, Roma.