(Crux. Eduardo Campos Lima).
Gang violence has led 580,000 Haitians to leave their houses and move elsewhere, according to a new UN report released earlier this week, with the Catholic Church also reeling from the chaos and rapid deterioration. Many of the displaced people left the metropolitan area of Port-au-Prince and went to other provinces in order to escape the violence of the capital city, where 80 percent of the territory is under control of gangs.
(The Remnant Newspaper. Angeline Tan).
In May this year, the Liberal Democrat party of Britain deselected David Campanale, a parliamentary candidate, due to his Anglican religion and anti-abortion views, in a move which critics have decried as a blatant breach of equality law. According to The Telegraph, whistleblowers complained about the Liberal Democrats to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on the grounds that the party has tolerated a “hostile environment” for people of faith, failed to probe grave accusations of discrimination and harassment and “emboldened those who believe Christians should be driven out of public life”. Following a two-year campaign against the Anglican politician by members of his local party and some LGBT+ activists, Campanale was scheduled to be replaced as a prospective MP candidate, as per The Telegraph in May. Moreover, the politician has been slammed for his links to the anti-abortion and anti-LGBT+ Christian People’s Alliance (CPA) political party, which he even subsequently criticized as having been “infiltrated by extremists.”
(National Catholic Reporter. Christopher White).
A leading religious sister in the Amazon region believes Pope Francis’ recent interview that seemed to close the door to women deacons isn’t the final word on the much-discussed topic that has repeatedly been raised during the ongoing synodal process. “Francis’ speech caused some perplexity, but an interview is not the magisterium of the church,” Franciscan Catechist Sr. Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso told NCR via email. Her remarks come just weeks after an interview with CBS News where Francis said he was opposed to women deacons, if it’s connected to the sacrament of holy orders. “We’re living through the second stage of a synod on synodality, and I know that it won’t resolve all the necessary issues of change in the church,” Pereira Manso added. “But it will open up ways for us to continue the conversation and for all of us.”
(National Catholic Register. Andrea M. Picciotti-Bayer).
The Catholic Church in the United States has always had a knack for responding not just to the needs of the faithful but of society at large. Consider, for example, the U.S. bishops’ Religious Freedom Week, running from June 22-29. By asking Catholics across the country to promote and protect religious freedom here at home and abroad, the Church is championing individual freedom and the common good. And never more so than now. The focus of this year’s Religious Freedom Week is a subject that desperately needs addressing. Catholics are being asked to consider the importance of sacred spaces. Why? Because they are under threat.
(Life Site News. Louis Knuffke).
A High Court in Namibia declared the country’s laws that criminalize sodomy “unconstitutional,” claiming they ran contrary to laws prohibiting discrimination based on a person’s sex. The High Court in the nation’s capital, Windhoek — a court of first instance for cases relating to the country’s constitution — declared Friday, June 21, that the common law crimes of “sodomy” and “unnatural sexual offences” to be “unconstitutional and invalid” in a push to impose LGBT ideology despite strong opposition from the nation’s own population, legislature, and government officials. In its ruling, the court inconsistently both invoked the country’s “democracy society” to justify its judgment and went on to acknowledge that the majority of Namibia’s citizens supported the anti-sodomy laws. The court stated, “We are not persuaded that in a democratic society such as ours … it is reasonably justifiable to make an activity criminal just because a segment, maybe a majority, of the citizenry consider it to be unacceptable.”
In its ruling, the court inconsistently both invoked the country’s “democracy society” to justify its judgment and went on to acknowledge that the majority of Namibia’s citizens supported the anti-sodomy laws. The court stated, “We are not persuaded that in a democratic society such as ours … it is reasonably justifiable to make an activity criminal just because a segment, maybe a majority, of the citizenry consider it to be unacceptable.”
(14 y medio).
Impartirán clases en el posgrado “500 años de la Escuela de Salamanca”, para los 160 estudiantes inscritos
Los frailes dominicos, la orden que fundó la Universidad de La Habana en 1719, podrán volver a las aulas de la enseñanza superior en Cuba, un hecho inédito desde que Fidel Castro nacionalizó la educación en 1961. La noticia, sin embargo, ha dejado una imagen inquietante: la del prior de la comunidad habanera, fray Celio de Pádua García, junto a Miguel Díaz-Canel, su esposa, Lis Cuesta, y el cura brasileño afín al régimen Frei Betto.
(Crisis Magazine. Janet E. Smith).
“You are welcome!” This “pat” phrase is delightfully warm when uttered with a somewhat lilting cadence, a beautiful broad smile, and direct, sparkling eye contact—as it regularly is in Uganda, the home of a most hospitable and open people. I heard it often on my visit to Uganda. In previous columns, I wrote about the serious elements of my trip; today is about the nonserious moments and random observations.
(The Catholic World Report. Christopher R. Altieri).
“Who am I to judge the Rupnik stories?”
Pope Francis’s Communicator-in-Chief, Dr. Paolo Ruffini, asked that rhetorical question on Friday in an Atlanta, GA hotel ballroom, in front of journalists, one of whom—Colleen Dulle of America Magazine, it happens—had asked him to explain his dicastery’s rationale for continuing to use reproductions of artwork by a disgraced priest who is accused of serial sexual abuse. Well, nobody is asking Ruffini to judge the case, which—just so we’re clear on the point from the outset—is very strong. The Rupnik Affair has been before the public for the better part of two years. The Jesuits who investigated him believe he is guilty. The CDF believes there is a case to answer but declined to prosecute, citing the statute of limitations. Rupnik would never have faced the prospect of trial were it not for sustained press scrutiny and pressure from inside Francis’s own inner circle. No one is asking Natasa Govekar to judge the business, either.
(Religión en Libertad).
La violencia y el trauma psicológico a los que están expuestos los niños en Palestina ha alcanzado niveles de intensidad sin precedentes en los últimos meses”, comenta el presidente de la Fundación Soleterre.
La guerra siempre tiene un impacto devastador. En Palestina, atormentada por meses de conflicto, sólo queda un hospital público para el tratamiento del cáncer infantil y de las enfermedades pediátricas crónicas. Se trata del Hospital Beit Jala, en Cisjordania, a unos 10 kilómetros al sur de Jerusalén.
La Fundación Soleterre ha lanzado el proyecto Cada niño en la vida y en la paz con el objetivo de garantizar que no se interrumpa el tratamiento de los pacientes infantiles con cáncer. Para ello, se ha propuesto ayudar a 120 niños, y a sus familias, en un año.
(KORAZYM. Simone Baroncia).
“Non potevano esserci luogo e giorno migliori per iniziare questo pellegrinaggio di comunione e pace con tutti i fratelli e le sorelle della Terra Santa. Sperimentiamo, come gli apostoli, l’intima gioia di essere suoi, intorno a quella mensa dove continua ad essere versato e spezzato, dove la sua Parola si fa presenza nell’eucarestia e chiede di diventare carne nella nostra vita e nel nostro oggi. La comunione inizia nella prossimità, frutto di colui che si fa prossimo per farci capire chi siamo, prima vittoria sul male che distrugge, divide, allontana, rende incomunicabili, cancella il mio prossimo tanto da renderlo solo un nemico. Il vostro dolore è il nostro dolore, il loro dolore è il nostro, le vostre lacrime sono le nostre”. Parole pronunciate dall’arcivescovo di Bologna, card. Matteo Zuppi, all’inizio della celebrazione eucaristica al Getsemani in occasione del pellegrinaggio in Terra Santa dell’arcidiocesi di Bologna fino al 16 giugno a cui hanno partecipato circa 160 pellegrini, ribadendo il valore della preghiera di intercessione: “La preghiera di intercessione si è unita a quella dei tanti salmisti che popolano (consapevolmente o no) questa terra e nei quali la preghiera ci permette di identificarci: liberami, salvami, ascoltami, proteggimi, difendimi, aiutami, comprendimi, sollevami.
(AP News).
Opponents of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza staged a protest that evolved into brawling and one arrest outside a Los Angeles synagogue over the weekend in violence condemned by President Joe Biden and the city’s mayor, who called for more police patrols. Fighting between pro-Palestinian demonstrators and counterprotesters erupted Sunday outside the Adas Torah synagogue in the heavily Jewish Pico-Robertson neighborhood and police were called in to break it up. “I’m appalled by the scenes outside of Adas Torah synagogue in Los Angeles,” Biden said in post on social media site X. “Intimidating Jewish congregants is dangerous, unconscionable, antisemitic, and un-American.” In a statement, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the violence was “abhorrent” and that blocking access to a place of worship was unacceptable. Bass said she asked the Los Angeles Police Department to provide additional patrols in Pico-Robertson and outside houses of worship citywide.
(Nicolás de Cárdenas. Aci prensa).
El Prelado del Opus Dei, Mons. Fernando de Ocáriz, se ha prestado a dar alguna orientación sobre el momento en que se encuentra la institución fundada por San José María Escrivá de Balaguer, a cuatro años de celebrar su centenario en 2028 e inmersa en la adaptación de sus estatutos.
Estos cambios se preparan de acuerdo a dispuesto por el Papa Francisco en el Motu Proprio Ad charisma tuendum publicado en julio de 2022, en el que se desarrolla lo contenido en la Constitución Apostólica Praedicate evangelium que reformó la Curia vaticana en marzo de ese año. Precisamente este lunes el Papa Francisco ha recibido a Mons. Ocáriz en el Vaticano.
(Léa Burger. SRF).
Dispute over the direction of Kath.ch: To what extent should the Catholic Church report on itself critically? After years of disputes over how critically the online portal kath.ch should and can report on the Roman Catholic Church, A new Catholic Media Center Association board of directors was elected Thursday, after all members of the previous board resigned or were no longer in place.
For this reason, some media outlets have already spoken of a kind of coup d’état by ecclesiastical leaders against critical voices. Among other things because the media bishop, Josef Stübi, recently prevented a new co-publishing direction.
(Katholisch).
Those affected by abuse have reiterated their call for the resignation of Hanover’s regional bishop Ralf Meister and rejected an offer of talks from the Protestant bishop. “We will not accept the invitation,” the initiative declared in an open letter in Hanover on Friday. “We have not asked Bishop Meister for an audience.” From the perspective of those affected, resignation is more than ever “the only responsible option.” The initiative had already called for the 62-year-old’s resignation at the beginning of June, before the Synod’s deliberations. He must accept the consequences of the church’s inadequate handling of cases of abuse, it said at the time
(José María Carrera. Religión en Libertad).
La revocación de Roe vs Wade en junio de 2022 fue una victoria provida de dimensiones históricas, pero ni mucho menos definitiva: destacamos diez lecciones, reflexiones y conclusiones tras dos años de Dobbs.
Este lunes se cumplen dos años de la histórica sentencia que revocaba el aborto como derecho federal en los Estados Unidos y que devolvía a los estados la capacidad de regularlo y legislar al respecto. Hasta entonces, el aborto en EEUU se cobró la vida de unos 60 millones de personas, a las que se les quitó la vida sin dejarlas nacer.
La sentencia, Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization, fue aprobada con 6 votos favorables en el Tribunal Supremo de los Estados Unidos –Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh y Amy Coney Barrett y John Roberts-, frente a 3 contrarios –Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor y Elena Kagan-.
(JULIA FRANKEL. Time of Israel).
Though they’re major landowners, churches traditionally were exempt from property taxes; leaders call warning letters a ‘coordinated attack’ on Christian presence in Holy Land
Leaders of major churches have accused Israeli authorities of launching a “coordinated attack” on the Christian presence in the Holy Land by initiating tax proceedings against them.
While Israeli officials have tried to dismiss the disagreement as a routine financial matter, the churches say the move upsets a centuries-old status quo and reflects what they called mounting intolerance for the Christian presence in Israel and the West Bank.
(asianews. Vladimir Rozanskij).
– La Chiesa Apostolica Armena ha assunto ormai una posizione politica esplicita di confronto con il governo di Erevan, con il rischio di una radicalizzazione sempre più violenta delle proteste di piazza, guidate dall’arcivescovo di Tavowš, Bagrat Galstanyan, che continua a ripetere che “non lasceremo le strade fino alla vittoria”, cioè fino alle dimissioni del primo ministro Nikol Pašinyan.
Galstanyan non si limita ad arringare le folle, ma le spinge all’assalto dei palazzi del potere, com’è successo nei giorni scorsi, cercando di rinchiudere il premier e i deputati in quello dell’Assemblea nazionale per costringerli poi a presentarsi davanti al “tribunale popolare” da lui stesso presieduto. La polizia ha cominciato a usare le maniere forti per disperdere i dimostranti, anche se finora l’arcivescovo rivoluzionario non è stato toccato. Pašinyan e i sostenitori della maggioranza di governo stanno però utilizzando argomenti sempre più infuocati contro gli oppositori ecclesiastici.
(Exaudi).
El papa Francisco recibió en la mañana de este lunes 24 de junio en el Vaticano al prelado del Opus Dei, Mons. Fernando Ocáriz Braña, quien estaba acompañado por Mons. Mariano Fazio, indicó hoy la Oficina de prensa de la Santa Sede, al mencionar las actividades del día del Santo Padre.
El encuentro en el Palacio Apostólico -que como se aprecia en las fotos fue muy cordial- duró media hora, en la cual el Sucesor de Pedro conversó con Mons. Ocáriz, 79 años, nacido en Francia de una familia exiliada tras la Guerra civil española, quien en Roma vivió con el fundador san Josemaría Escrivá; Mons. Álvaro del Portillo y Mons. Javier Echevarría.
(José María Carrera. Religión en Libertad).
Las repercusiones del Informe Cass sobre casos de mala praxis que llevaron al cierre de la clínica Tavistock -de cambios de género en menores- continúan cruzando fronteras y llevando a la reevaluación de múltiples gobiernos sobre las llamadas políticas de afirmación. El último en hacerlo ha sido el chileno, que a través de su Ministerio de Salud –Minsal-, se ha anunciado la suspensión de nuevas terapias en niños hasta que se disponga de “lineamientos nacionales” al respecto.
(CNA. Gigi Duncan).
The chairman of the U.S. Catholic bishops’ pro-life committee has released a statement commemorating the second anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, as chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, reflected on the challenges faced by the pro-life movement since the historic decision. “On June 24, 2024, we celebrate the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ending the tragic reign of Roe v. Wade,” he said. “It is a day for thanksgiving to God for answering our prayers and blessing the many years of hard work. This anniversary calls us to reflect on where we have been and where we are going,” Burbidge said.