Catholic church

Another 400,000 people left Germany’s Catholic Church last year, but the pace slowed from 2022

Posted on by Catholic Radar An

(AP News).

Another 400,000 people formally left the Catholic Church in Germany last year, though the number was down from a record set in 2022 as church leaders struggle to put a long-running scandal over abuse by clergy behind them and tackle calls for reform, official figures showed Thursday. The German Bishops’ Conference said that 402,694 people left the church in 2023. That was down from 522,821 the previous year, but still the second-highest figure so far. At the same time, 1,559 people joined the church and another 4,127 rejoined — in both cases, broadly similar to the numbers from 2022. In Germany, people who are formally members of a church pay a so-called church tax that helps finance it in addition to the regular taxes the rest of the population pays. If they register their departure with local authorities, they no longer have to pay that. There are some exemptions for low earners, jobless, retirees, students and others.

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Church in Haiti overwhelmed by spike in gang violence

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(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.

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Vignettes of Uganda

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(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.

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“Queering” the Catholic Church

Posted on by Catholic Radar Is

(STREAM.  JOSEPH D’HIPPOLITO).

An article published in The Stream last March featured this headline: “Pope Francis Must Choose: LGBTQ Ideology or Children.” A few days before “Pride Month” began, Francis announced his choice, quietly but blatantly. When the Vatican celebrated World Children’s Day in late May this year — a holiday it created — a male drag performer danced in front of children, who even saw the performer’s posterior deliberately exposed to them. The performer, Carmine De Rosa, said on social media that the Vatican invited him to perform and knew what his act contained: “I would like to point out, reading the comments, that I was WANTED at this event FOR THE TYPE OF SHOW I CARRY ON STAGE and for professionalism…But I simply defend MY ART.” (Capitals in original) De Rosa’s appearance not only exposes Pope Francis’s public condemnation of gender ideology — which he called “ideological colonization”— as a lie; it shows he supports it. He fully intends to “queer” the Catholic Church, regardless of how it affects children or anyone else — and he has been doing so for quite some time.

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The People-Pleasing Vatican

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(Crisis Magazine. Richard C. Antall).

One of the catch phrases you hear about and from people in recovery from addiction is the danger of “people pleasing.” It is the old concept from spiritual theology which used to be called “human respect.” The Stations of the Cross by St. Alphonsus Liguori refer to that in one of the meditations, and I try to give a gloss on it during Lent when we pray the Way of the Cross. “Human respect” treated as a negative value is the seeking of man’s approval instead of God’s. This can be because of fear of conflict, or intimidation, or because dissidence means we will not “fit in.” People-pleasing gets us into trouble because we are more worried about others’ opinions than the judgment of God. It is the old situation St. Peter described in the Acts of the Apostles when the authorities of his society forbade him to preach Christ. His response was clear: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). Eventually, this led him to martyrdom. Constantly seeking the high opinion of others makes cowards and hypocrites of us all. It is also behind the attraction of associating with celebrities, which makes some people ignore the demands of conscience. Celebrity is the fool’s gold of our society, and often fame is strangely misconstrued as an adjunct to authority. C.S. Lewis talks about the desire to be in the “inner ring.” Look at the “influencers” that abound on the Internet. Seriousness is sacrificed to glitter. 

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Perché la Chiesa parla una lingua «morta»

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(Avvenire. Riccardo Maccioni).

Nelle liturgie presiedute dal Papa e nei documenti ufficiali, la Chiesa utilizza il latino. Anche se nelle celebrazioni viene usata abitualmente la lingua dei singoli Paesi, nelle liturgie solenni (per esempio presiedute dal Papa), e nei documenti ufficiali la Chiesa cattolica parla e scrive in latino. Una scelta che ha tra le sue motivazioni proprio il fatto che si tratti di una lingua “morta”, cioè non utilizzata quotidianamente e come tale immodificabile. Una volta imparata sai che non cambierà. Il nuovo episodio di Taccuino celeste, podcast dedicato ai temi della fede, spiega i motivi di questa scelta.

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