Papa Francesco, dopo la frase sulla “frociaggine” giro di vite ai giornalisti: testi in embargo e audio col contagocce

(il Messaggero).

Gli incidenti di comunicazione sono tanti. Parole fraintese e fraintendibili, altre pronunciate senza immaginare le conseguenze (spesso diplomatiche), o discorsi modificati sul momento che sono andati a creare scompiglio. Se si analizzano questi undici anni di pontificato affiorano autentiche bufere che hanno costretto Papa Francesco a correre ai ripari con il suo entourage impegnato a metterci una toppa anche se a volte risultava poi peggio del buco. Persino correggendo i virgolettati dei passaggi più controversi. L’ultimo grande incidente planetario si è verificato sulla risposta data a un vescovo italiano, durante la assemblea della Cei. Nonostante Bergoglio si fosse raccomandato di non dire nulla ai giornalisti (che non erano presenti, fatta eccezione di quelli dei media della Cei) la frase choc sulla frociaggine nei seminari è ugualmente uscita dalle sacre mura (come del resto era prevedibile). 

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Albergues católicos atendieron a casi medio millón de migrantes en 2023.

(Patricia Carrasco. La Prensa).

Aunque el equipo de la Pastoral de Movilidad Humana de la Conferencia del Episcopado Mexicano (CEM), no tiene como prioridad ver números, sino rostros humanos, el año pasado, en sus 54 casas y albergues de migrantes que tiene en el país, atendió a 499,995 personas integradas un alto número de familias y de niñas, niños y adolescentes (NNA), sigue siendo la población masculina el número más alto de migrantes.

Y los números hablan de la magnitud del flujo, del compromiso como Iglesia y sobre todo de la preocupación por hacer de la atención humanitaria una vivencia del evangelio.

En el informe de la Dimensión Episcopal de la Pastoral de Movilidad Humana (DEPMH), menciona que del total de atenciones 193 mil fueron hombres; 113 mil mujeres y 80 mil 760 niños, niñas y adolescentes y 17 mil 213 eran migrantes mexicanos.

En materia de movilidad humana, el principal reto que abordó la Iglesia Católica fue el de proporcionar atención humanitaria y asesoramiento legal directos a través de las Casas del Migrante, Parroquias y comedores a las personas migrantes y refugiadas, las cuales esperaban resoluciones de trámites ante alguna autoridad como el Instituto Nacional de Migración (INM) o la Comisión Mexicana de Ayuda a Refugiados (COMAR).

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Catholics Object to Buffalo Diocese’s Expulsion of Gay Men’s Chorus from Cathedral

(New Ways Ministry. Sarah Cassidy).

The Diocese of Buffalo has cancelled a scheduled concert by the city’s gay chorus, which was scheduled to be held at the local cathedral as part of a city-wide choral festival. However, some Catholics, including a U.S. congressman, have pushed back.

The Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus was set to perform at St. Joseph’s Cathedral as part of an event by the Greater Buffalo Friends of Music, which also had invited several other singing groups. However, the Buffalo diocese eventually decided not to host the concert because “a choir identified to perform is a group whose values are inconsistent with Catholic teaching.” A diocesan spokesperson later confirmed that referred to the gay men’s chorus.

The Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus issued a statement expressing its frustration with the diocese’s lack of inclusion, posting on Facebook:

“The Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus is angered and deeply disappointed to learn the Choral Festival scheduled on Sunday, June 9th at St. Joseph Cathedral, was to be cancelled by the Catholic Diocese, in part due to the inclusion of the Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus.”

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Walk into the light: A Catholic take on Pride parades

(National Catholic Reporter. Jim McDermott).

I recently attended Queens Pride, the Pride parade in the New York borough of Queens. Queens is actually the largest borough in New York City by area, 109 square miles, and the second biggest by population at about 2.2 million. And yet what was most noticeable about the parade was its small-town feeling. Rather than some kind of summer variation on Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, this was a Main Street USA-kind of affair, filled with LGBTQ marching bands, cheerleaders, street performers, politicians, community groups and even the Girl Scouts.  Pride parades have become a contentious issue in some quarters. In fact, just the idea of Pride is getting blasted by some these days as somehow offensive, including by some Catholics. I find that opposition so baffling. Who denounces a group for celebrating their community and its history, or for advocating for their civil rights? Could you imagine a city shutting down a St. Patrick’s Day parade? A San Gennaro feast? The Puerto Rican Day parades which also occur in June across the nation? (Boricua de Corazón!)

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Tensiones culturales y barreras de salud estarían complicando el acceso al aborto en comunidades indígenas.

(Jhoan Pardo. INFOBAE).

La fundadora del Movimiento Feminista de Niñas y Mujeres Wayuus busca asegurar los derechos reproductivos de las mujeres indígenas en La Guajira, donde enfrentan diversas barreras.

En el norte de La Guajira se encuentra una región rica en resguardos indígenas mayoritariamente wayuus, donde desde hace cuatro años Jazmín Romero Epiayú se ha destacado por fundar el Movimiento Feminista de Niñas y Mujeres Wayuus, pues resulta ser una de las regiones donde se ven más vulnerados los derechos de esta población, a pesar de los avances del Estado en materia de igualdad de derechos.

Y es que este movimiento lleva varios años trabajando para garantizar a las mujeres el derecho a acceder al aborto, que fue despenalizado hace varios meses pero que sigue siendo una barrera para las poblaciones con creencias propias.

Este grupo pionero aboga por los derechos sexuales y reproductivos de las mujeres indígenas, un tema tabú en la región. Según explicó Romero Epiayú en diálogo con El Espectador, el movimiento ha crecido hasta contar con unas 25 integrantes, y se ha extendido gracias a distintos métodos de financiamiento, desde organizaciones sin ánimo de lucro hasta fondos estatales y universitarios.

Uno de los mayores logros en Colombia en materia de derechos reproductivos ocurrió en 2022, cuando la Corte Constitucional despenalizó el aborto hasta la semana 24 de gestación mediante la sentencia Causa Justa.

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Il Papa: omelie brevi, se no la gente si addormenta

(Avvenire. Gianni Cardinale).

Le omelie devono essere brevi, massimo di otto minuti, «altrimenti la gente si addormenta e ha ragione». E ciascuno dovrebbe sempre avere con sé un Vangelo tascabile in modo da poterne leggere un brano ogni giorno, questo «è importante per la vita». Lo ha ribadito Papa Francesco nel corso dell’Udienza Generale di questa mattina in Piazza San Pietro, rinnovando l’appello per la pace nella «martoriata Ucraina», in Israele e Palestina, in Myanmar. Nel discorso in lingua italiana, il Papa, continuando il nuovo ciclo di catechesi “Lo Spirito e la Sposa. Lo Spirito Santo guida il popolo di Dio incontro a Gesù nostra speranza”, ha incentrato la sua riflessione sul tema «Tutta la Scrittura è ispirata da Dio». Conoscere l’amore di Dio dalle parole di Dio.

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Bill aims to equate abortion and homicide in Brazil

(Crux. Eduardo Campos Lima).

Pro-life movements in Brazil are campaigning for a fast approval in Congress of a bill aiming to equate abortion after 22 weeks of pregnancy to homicide, carrying a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The Christian bloc in the Chamber of Deputies – formed mainly by Evangelical Congressmembers – has been pushing for the approval of a “regime of urgency” for the bill. That measure would exempt it from the need to be approved by different Congress’s commissions before being moved to be voted in the assembly. The bill was introduced by Congressman Sóstenes Cavalcante, an Assembly of God theologian who formerly led the Christian bloc and is a member of former President Jair Bolsonaro’s Liberal Party. Nowadays, abortions are legal in Brazil if the pregnancy was the result of rape, if it puts the mother’s life in danger, or if the unborn child has no brain. There is no time limit for the practice of an abortion in such cases.

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“Io estremista islamico? Sì”. Chiesta l’espulsione per l’imam di Bologna

(il Giornale. Francesca Galici).

Il riacutizzarsi delle tensioni in Medioriente dopo il 7 ottobre 2023 ha nuovamente alzato l’allarme terrorismo in Italia e in Europa. Un allarme, comunque, mai sopito che tiene sul chi va là le intelligence nel tentativo di intercettare qualunque minaccia alla sicurezza. Mentre si alza la soglia di attenzione sugli arrivi degli irregolari, per evitare che possibili soggetti radicalizzati possano entrare in Europa con scopi pericolosi, si effettuano anche maggiori controlli e interventi sui soggetti già presenti sul territorio. Tra i quasi 1800 rimpatri effettuati dall’inizio dell’anno, ha spiegato pochi giorni fa il ministro ell’Interno, Matteo Piantedosi, “sono stati eseguiti 77 provvedimenti di espulsione per motivi di sicurezza nazionale, per rischio di radicalizzazione o estremismo e che dall’inizio dell’anno in corso sono state già eseguite 34 espulsioni proprio gli stessi motivi”. Ed è proprio in questo contesto che si inseriscono le interrogazione parlamentari, una alla Camera e una al Senato, dell’onorevole Sara Kelany, responsabile del dipartimento immigrazione di Fratelli d’Italia, e di Marco Lisei, senatore dello stesso partito, incentrate sulla figura dell’imam di Bologna, Zulfiqar Khan.

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Mainline Denomination Fully Capitulates, Alters Logo to Support LGBT ‘Pride’

(Allison Anton.The Western Journal)

While the Episcopal Church has not exactly been a bastion of conservatism and Christian orthodoxy for many years now, its recent unveiling of an LGBT “pride” logo signaled its final capitulation to secular forces.

The church — the American branch of the Anglican Communion — had already lent its public support to questionable causes over the last century.

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Pope Francis ‘repeats gay slur’ just weeks after being forced to apologise for saying there was ‘an air of f*****ry’ in the church

(Daylymail. FREYA BARNES).

The Pope has again used a homophobic term after apologising last month for saying gay men should not be admitted to church seminaries because ‘there’s already too much f*****ry’ in closed-door meeting. He used of the word ‘frociaggine’, a vulgar Italian term roughly translating as ‘f*****ness’, on May 20 during a closed-door meeting with Italian bishops. According to Italian news agency ANSA, Pope Francis, 87, repeated the term on Tuesday as he met Roman priests, saying ‘there is an air of f*****ness in the Vatican’. He added that it was better that young men with a homosexual tendency not be allowed to enter the seminary – a college that trains students to become priests. Asked about the latest report, the Vatican’s press office made reference to a statement it had issued regarding Tuesday’s meeting with the priests, in which the pope reiterated the need to welcome gay people into the Church and the need for caution regarding them becoming seminarians.

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El papa Francisco habría vuelto a hablar de “aire de mariconada en el Vaticano”, en un encuentro a puertas cerradas.

(Elisabetta Piqué. La Nación).

En un diálogo con sacerdotes romanos, el Pontífice en verdad habría reportado algo dicho por un monseñor, aludiendo a un lobby gay.

En un encuentro a puertas cerradas que tuvo este martes con unos 200 sacerdotes romanos, al hacer alusión otra vez a la cuestión de si los homosexuales pueden ingresar a los seminarios, el papa Francisco habría vuelto a utilizar el término “frociaggine”, expresión italiana vulgar y despectiva hacia los gays, traducible como “mariconada” o “puterío”, que hace dos semanas creó gran revuelo tras filtrarse de otra reunión reservada con obispos italianos y de la que se había disculpado.

Esta vez, en un diálogo con sacerdotes romanos que tuvo en el Aula Magna de la Universidad Salesiana, el Papa habría dicho que “en el Vaticano hay aire de frociaggine, según refirieron a la agencia de noticias ANSA fuentes presentes. Según el Corriere della Sera, en cambio, el contexto fue distinto y el Pontífice habría reportado algo dicho por otra persona: “vino un monseñor y me dijo ‘aquí en el Vaticano hay demasiada frociaggine’ (…) No es fácil ayudar a esta corriente”, habría afirmado, al parecer, aludiendo no tanto a los homosexuales, sino a un lobby gay.

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Addressing Homosexuality in Uganda, Part III

(Crisis Magazine. Janet E. Smith).

As I stated in previous columns, Ugandans don’t have much experience of homosexuality. What there is of it in their culture is largely unseen. One of my challenges was to help them understand the phenomenon of homosexuality and why a compassionate response is warranted. My lifetime work on contraception has led me to look closely at other sexual sins, such as homosexuality.  I have read countless books on the subject and have also learned a great deal from close friendships with men who experience same-sex attractions. These men want to live chaste lives but find the challenge nearly impossible—until they turn their lives over to Christ. In order to illustrate the causes of homosexuality and the trials faced by those attempting to live chaste lives, I told the real-life stories of several homosexual men: Paul Darrow, Hudson Byblow, Dan Mattson, Andy Comiskey, and Ken Williams.

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Vaticano, i gesuiti scienziati della Specola interrogano l’universo: Big Bang, espansione delle galassie, altre forme di vita

(iL Messaggero. Franca Giansoldati).

Tra le centinaia di miliardi di galassie che compongono l’universo gli scienziati (tutti gesuiti) che dirigono l’osservatorio della Specola vaticana, danno per scontato che vi siano altre forme di vita, anche se finora non ci sono prove. «Sarebbe già una cosa grandiosa individuare una forma di vita anche sotto forma di un virus. Tuttavia sembra strano che le uniche forme di vita si trovano solo sul nostro pianeta tenendo conto che l’universo è infinito. Da un punto di vista scientifico, infatti, costituirebbe una sorta di singolarità. Le condizioni che si sono realizzate sulla terra potrebbero essersi realizzate anche altrove». Padre Gabriele Gionti è uno degli scienziati che fanno parte della Specola, l’Osservatorio fondato da Leone XIII con due sedi, una a Castelgandolfo e l’altra in Arizona. L’attività di ricerca si mescola alla preghiera, al lavoro di scrittura, ai rapporti con gli accademici di mezzo mondo. La domanda sulla quale si arrovellano tanti governi è d’obbligo: esistono gli Ufo? «Noi non abbiamo progetti dedicati a questa ricerca tuttavia in passato sono passate da noi persone che hanno affrontato questo argomento». In questi giorni i gesuiti della Specola sono, invece, impegnati a promuovere un convegno sull’origine dell’universo, sulla teoria del Big Bang e su cosa si è manifestato prima della scintilla che ha dato il via alla grande esplosione facendo espandere a velocità elevatissima l’universo a temperature e densità estreme.

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Continued errors are costing the Vatican in late innings

(TCWR. Christopher R. Altieri).

What do the scandals in and around Major League Baseball of late have to do with the ongoing leadership crisis in the Catholic Church? In a word: Nothing. In another: Everything. Bad for business, bad for baseball. There are gambling scandals, for example, one of which has seen a player get the boot and one of which hasn’t. 24-year-old journeyman Tucupita Marcano of Venezuela received a lifetime ban for placing bets on baseball with a legal sportsbook, totaling $150,000 over a several months’ stretch that began in 2023 when Marcano was on the injured list. The LA Dodgers’ superstar nice guy and perennial fan favorite, Shohei Ohtani of Japan, has seen his reputation tarnished by the behavior of his friend and interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara. Ohtani, it seems to prosecutors, had been inadvertently bankrolling his interpreter’s gambling habit to the tune of $16 million in illegal bets on games other than baseball. One should not be surprised to see the Lords of Baseball taking an institutional hard line on baseball betting. The “Black Sox” scandal nearly ruined Major League Baseball a little more than a hundred years ago. The best-known of the unfortunate fellows at the center of the Black Sox scandal was Joseph Jefferson “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, a slugging outfielder. Some shady characters offered Jackson and seven other players for the Chicago White Sox some big money to throw the 1919 World Series. Word got out. There was an investigation and a trial that ended in acquittal, but Major League Baseball banned Shoeless Joe and the others for life.

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Il Papa torna a parlare di frociaggine: le parole in un incontro a porte chiuse

(Il Giornale. Marco Leardi).

Papa Francesco insiste. In un incontro a porte chiuse avuto oggi coi parroci romani di mezza età, il Santo Padre sarebbe tornato sul concetto di “frociaggine“, già espresso nelle scorse settimane con un seguito di accese polemiche. Lo hanno riferito all’Adnkronos alcune fonti che erano presenti all’incontro. “In Vaticano c’è aria di frociaggine“, avrebbe affermato Bergoglio, ribadendo anche che se un ragazzo ha una tendenza omosessuale è meglio non farlo entrare in seminario. Sono “ragazzi buoni” ma con questa tendenza meglio di no, avrebbe osservato Francesco, rimarcando una convinzione non inedita. Le affermazioni attribuite nuovamente al Santo Padre hanno immediatamente suscitato scalpore. Proprio come era accaduto a fine maggio, quando, parlando coi vescovi a porte chiuse, Bergoglio aveva usato la medesima espressione colorita. “Guardate, c’è già un’aria di frociaggine in giro che non fa bene. C’è una cultura odierna dell’omosessualità rispetto alla quale chi ha un orientamento omosessuale è meglio che non sia accolto” in seminario perché “è molto difficile che un ragazzo che ha questa tendenza poi non cada perché vengono pensando che la vita del prete li possa sostenere ma poi cadono nell’esercizio del ministero“, aveva affermato Francesco in quel caso, sempre stando a quanto riportato da alcune fonti presenti all’incontro.

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Papa Francesco punta alla riforma del primato petrino, vuole avvicinare le Chiese cristiane per il Giubileo

(il Messaggero. Franca Giansoldati).

Papa Francesco rivede la supremazia del primato petrino con una riforma di ampia portata per tutto il cammino ecumenico. E’ contenuta in un documento che verrà presentato domani in Vaticano (titolo: il vescovo di Roma) ed è l’elaborazione di anni di studi e contatti con le Chiese orientali, i protestanti, i luterani, il mondo ortodosso. Un tema che gli sta particolarmente a cuore. Già nella prima messa che fece iniziando la sua missione, Bergoglio il 19 marzo 2013 si interrogava con queste parole:  «Gesù Cristo ha dato un potere a Pietro, ma di quale potere si tratta? Non dimentichiamo mai che il vero potere è il servizio e che anche il Papa per esercitare il potere deve entrare sempre più in quel servizio che ha il suo vertice luminoso sulla Croce». Pochi anni dopo ad una delegazione di Costantinopoli si disse convinto «di avere a questo riguardo una responsabilità particolare, soprattutto nel constatare l’aspirazione ecumenica della maggior parte delle Comunità cristiane e ascoltando la domanda che di trovare una forma di esercizio del primato che, pur non rinunciando in nessun modo all’essenziale della sua missione, si apra ad una situazione nuova forma di esercizio del papato».

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New book examines conservative Catholics, and it isn’t pretty

(National catholic Reporter. Michael Sean Winters).

Francis Maier, longtime aide and amanuensis to former Archbishop of Philadelphia Charles Chaput, tells the reader of his new book, True Confessions: Voices of Faith from a Life in the Church, that it is “a snapshot of the Catholic Church in the United States in the third decade of the 21st century: Who she is; where she is culturally; how she got there; and her prospects for the future, with a special emphasis on the lay vocation.” What Maier does not tell you, but which becomes evident pretty quickly, is that the lens of his camera only takes in a small — I had almost written narrow — slice of the picture of that church in this moment. The book consists of a series of interviews with bishops, clergy, laity who work in the church, parents, donors and new Americans. Maier starts with the bishops. Oddly, he doesn’t include the questions he posed to the bishops, only their replies, and they are not identified by name. This anonymity soon becomes deeply problematic.

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Donald Trump tells a group that calls for banning all abortions to stand up for ‘innocent life’

(AP. Michelle L. Price and Peter Smith).

Donald Trump on Monday urged a staunchly anti-abortion Christian group to stand up for “innocent life,” ambiguously revisiting an issue that Democrats want to make a focus of this year’s presidential election.

The former president and presumptive Republican nominee’s pre-recorded message praised the work of those attending the event hosted by The Danbury Institute, which is meeting in Indianapolis in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention. The newly-formed institute is an association of churches, Christians and organizations that wants to eradicate abortion in its entirety.

A panel of in-person speakers doubled-down on that anti-abortion stance on Monday, and a top Southern Baptist leader called for a hardline position against in vitro fertilization. Albert Mohler, the president of the SBC’s flagship seminary, said IVF is a “commodification of the embryo” that assaults human dignity. He criticized pastors as well as politicians showing openness to it including in Alabama, which shielded IVF providers from prosecution and civil lawsuits after a state Supreme Court ruling said frozen embryos are children.

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Cardinals Müller and Schönborn: Ordination of women is impossible

(CNA. AC Wimmer).

Shortly after Pope Francis opposed the possibility of an ordained female diaconate, two German-speaking cardinals publicly have said that only men can be ordained to the priesthood.

“Women cannot be called to this office,” Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller told Swiss portal kath.ch on June 7. “The priest represents Christ in his manhood.”

The German cardinal, who held the role of prefect of the Congregation — now Dicastery — for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2012 to 2017, stressed the theological and doctrinal underpinnings of this view, saying the prohibition of women from priestly ordination is deeply ingrained in the sacrament itself.

Müller, who taught dogmatic theology at Munich’s Ludwig Maximilian University, emphasized “the fundamental equality of all people in their personal relationship with God,” be they man or woman.

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A Rabbi Goes To Church: What Christians Should Know about Israel at this Moment

(The Times of Israel. Michael L. Feshbach).

Friends, I want to express my deep gratitude to you, and to your wonderful pastor, for the invitation to be with you this morning.  Reverend Ney is certainly familiar with, and a friend of the Jewish community in this area, having davened out of a different siddur – I mean prayed out of a different prayerbook – over years of service as the accompanist at both my congregation, Beth Israel, in its original Atlantic City location and, later, at Emet Shalom, now part of Shirat Hayam synagogue in Ventnor.  And then, of course, she also taught at the Hebrew Academy.

This is my second time in this special place.  The first was last November, for the area interfaith Thanksgiving service.  I used that occasion to thank Reverend Ney for her powerful words of support for the Jewish community at a  service of solidarity held a few weeks prior, a gathering meant to bring comfort following the events of early October.  What she said then was, and remains, deeply meaningful to me, and to many others.

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