CNA

Pope Francis erects new metropolitan see in Zambia, appoints pioneer archbishop

Posted on by Catholic Radar An

(CNA. Silas Mwale Isenjia).

Pope Francis has erected the Archdiocese of Ndola in Zambia and appointed Bishop Benjamin Phiri as its first archbishop. The southern African nation has had two metropolitan sees — the Archdiocese of Lusaka, headquartered in the country’s capital city, and the Archdiocese of Kasama in northern Zambia. The latest administrative changes in the southern African nation were made public by the Holy See Press office on Tuesday, June 18. The newly erected metropolitan see is located in the central region of ​​Zambia and measures 32,000 square kilometers (about 12,400 square miles) and has a population of 3.2 million, of which 1.9 million are Catholic, representing 59.6% of the total population of the archdiocese, according to the Holy See Press report.

Continue reading..

Catholic migrant shelter calls ‘human smuggling’ accusations ‘utter nonsense’

Posted on by Catholic Radar Al

(Peter Pinedo. CNA).

As Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is threatening to shut down a Catholic nonprofit known as Annunciation House for allegedly facilitating illegal border crossings from Mexico, a lawyer for the group has called the state’s claims “utter nonsense.”

Attorneys representing both sides argued before El Paso District Judge Francisco Dominguez in a hearing on Monday.

Jerome Wesevich, a lawyer with Texas Rio Grande Legal Aid (TRLA), which is representing Annunciation House, claimed that Paxton’s actions constitute an attack on the free exercise of religion and violate the Texas Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Rob Farquharson, an attorney with the Texas attorney general’s office, claimed that Annunciation House has been breaking portions of the Texas penal law that prohibits “knowingly encourag[ing] or induc[ing] a person to enter or remain in this country in violation of federal law by concealing, harboring, or shielding that person from detection.” 

Continue reading…

Tension between state and church: prayer becomes “sidewalk nuisance”

Posted on by Catholic Radar Al

(Von Martin Grünewald. CNA).

The current federal government is deviating from social consensus – for the first time in history – introducing high fines and wanting to interfere with freedom of religion and freedom of expression.

Self-determination law
In future, every citizen will be allowed to determine their own gender – supposedly a social construct. All they have to do is go to the registry office and have the entry changed there. Anyone who calls a so-called trans person by their original first name and thereby “intentionally harms” them can incur a hefty fine. It is completely new and constitutionally controversial that mentioning biological facts is punishable by a high fine of up to 10,000 euros. This is because the name change does not have to involve any medically effective changes. It is still unclear what is meant by “harm” – it may not even mean material damage.

Continue reading…

Einstiger Chef of the Vatikanbank is the new President of the German Malteser

Posted on by Catholic Radar Al

(CNA).

Ernst Freiherr von Freyberg, einst Chef of the Vatikanbank IOR, ist new Präsident of the Deutschen Assoziation des Souveränen Malteser-Ritterordens. Damit folgt er auf Erich Prinz von Lobkowicz, der 18 Jahre lang für den deutschen Teil des berühmten Ordens zuständig war.

Freyberg ist Volljurist und seit 1994 bei den Maltesern, wo er innerhalb der Deutschen Assoziation zuletzt das Amt des Schatzmeisters innehate. From 2013 to 2014 read the Vatikanbank. Nach seiner Wahl of him am Samstag in Regensburg rief der 65-Jährige in Erinnerung: „Die vor über über 900 Jahren in Jerusalem gegründeten Malteser sind der älteste Krankenpflegeorden der Christenheit. Die Malteser sind Träger bedeutender katholischer Werke in einem säkularen Umfeld – das ist Präsenz der Kirche inmitten der Gesellschaft.“

„Es geht darum, Nächstenliebe in Wort und Tat zu leben – Jesus Christus und persönlicher Einsatz sind das Fundament unserer täglichen Arbeit für den Nächsten“, erläuterte er. „Die Malteser stehen für Engagement, für soziale Arbeit, Zivilschutz und gelebten gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhalt. Wir sind den staatlichen Institutionen ein verlässlicher Partner. Wir stellen uns den Herausforderungen im Bereich des Gesundheitswesens und humanitärer Hilfeleistungen.“

Continue reading…

Civil war in Sudan: What’s happening and why?

Posted on by Catholic Radar An

(CNA. Jonah Mckeown).

For over a year, the people of Sudan — one of the largest countries in Africa — have suffered under a brutal civil war that has reduced the capital, Khartoum, to a war zone. Amid the chaos and a complex set of competing political interests, children and the poor have been hit hardest. Just last week, the United Nations confirmed that 35 children were among those killed in one of the war’s deadliest attacks to date. All told, at least 15,550 people have reportedly been killed in the fighting and some 10 million people have been displaced, many internally. An overwhelmingly Muslim country, Catholics made up roughly 5% of the population of Sudan before the most recent war and played an important role in schools and education. But now, many missionaries and religious communities have had to flee the country, and parishes, hospitals, and schools have ceased their activities. In Sudan’s neighboring country, South Sudan, the Church maintains a large presence and remains very active in relief efforts.

Continue reading..

Joe Biden meets with Pope Francis at G7 Summit to discuss foreign policy, climate change

Posted on by Catholic Radar An

(CNA. Tyler Arnold).

President Joe Biden privately met with Pope Francis early Friday evening in Apulia, Italy, at the Group of Seven (G7) Summit to discuss foreign policy and climate change. Francis is the first pope to address the G7 summit, which is an annual meeting of government leaders from the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, and Italy. The European Union also participates but is not an official member. In a statement following the meeting, the White House said both leaders “emphasized the urgent need for an immediate cease-fire and a hostage deal” in Gaza and the need to “address the critical humanitarian crisis.”

Continue reading..

Armenian Church leader, Pope Francis meet at Vatican

Posted on by Catholic Radar FM

(Almudena Martínez-Bordiú. CNA).

For the first time in 10 years, Pope Francis met Wednesday with His Holiness Aram I, the leader of the Armenian Church of Cilicia with jurisdiction over some 800,000 Armenian Christians in Lebanon, Syria, Cyprus, Iran, and Greece.

The meeting took place behind closed doors in the Holy Father’s personal office and the Vatican has not offered any further details. Pope Francis last met with Aram I at the Vatican in June 2014. On that occasion, the Holy Father thanked him for his commitment to achieving Christian unity and affirmed that the suffering of the Armenian martyrs must be venerated “like the wounds of the very body of Christ.”

Continue reading…

Doctors urge U.S. medical groups to ‘immediately stop’ transgender treatments on children

Posted on by Catholic Radar Is

(CNA. Kate Quiñones).

Top medical groups and physicians have signed a “Doctors Protecting Children” declaration that expresses “serious concerns” about the treatment of minors who are uncomfortable with their biological sex, one advocate told EWTN News this week. Jill Simons, the executive director of the American College of Pediatricians, told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Tracy Sabol on Thursday that the medical group has been “sounding the alarm” after the recently leaked files from the World Professional Association of Transgender Health in which transgender advocates admitted that children who receive permanently life-changing transgender procedures are too young to be capable of giving informed consent.  Also raising alarm bells has been the release of England’s Cass Review, which found no  comprehensive evidence to support the routine prescription of transgender drugs to minors with gender dysphoria. Those revelations “had the overwhelming evidence that these so-called gender-affirming care treatments should not continue,” Simons said.

Continue reading …

Cardinals Müller and Schönborn: Ordination of women is impossible

Posted on by Catholic Radar FM

(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.

Continue reading…

Archbishop warns of religious freedom erosion in Australia, calls for ‘saints for our time’

Posted on by Catholic Radar FM

(CNA. AC Wimmer).

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney has raised the alarm over Australia’s incremental erosion of religious freedom in health care, education, and broader society.

In a written interview with CNA, the Dominican friar described the situation as a “house of human rights built on sand,” calling on Catholics “to be serious about being saints for our time.”

Fisher, a member of several Vatican bodies, pointed to “lawfare” and “many more examples of legislative or policy moves in our federal and state governments that are hostile to religion.”

He warned of the consequences of legislative and bureaucratic actions, which, he argued, can shred the very fabric of religious liberty.

Continue reading...

Bishops in Scotland react to new data showing majority of Scots have ‘no religion’

Posted on by Catholic Radar JM

(Madeleine Teahan. CNA).

Catholic bishops in Scotland have said that new data indicating that the majority of Scots have no religion comes as no surprise.

Census results from the year 2022 on ethnicity, identity, and religion in Scotland were released on May 21, revealing that 51.1% of respondents to the census claimed they had “no religion” compared with 36.7% of respondents in 2011. 

The religiously unaffiliated — or “nones” as they are often referred to — now also make up the largest religious category in the U.S., according to a new report by the Pew Research Center.

Continue reading…

Kentucky parish offers scheduled appointments for same-sex blessings

Posted on by Catholic Radar An

(CNA. Daniel Payne).

A parish in the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky, is openly promoting blessings for same-sex couples despite a Vatican directive that suggests such blessings should be “spontaneous.” Historic St. Paul Catholic Church in downtown Lexington says on its website that “same-sex couples who would like a blessing” can contact the church’s pastor, Father Richard Watson, via phone or email. The offer, made via the church’s “LGBTQ+ Ministry” page, is accompanied by a link to the Vatican’s December 2023 Fiducia Supplicans declaration, which says that Catholic priests can bless same-sex couples as an expression of pastoral closeness without condoning their sexual relations. 

Continue reading..

Vatican arrests ex-employee for attempted extortion using allegedly stolen Bernini manuscript

Posted on by Catholic Radar JM

(Hannah Brockhaus. CNA).

The Vatican arrested a former employee in late May for attempted extortion after he sold an allegedly stolen 17th-century manuscript to the Vatican for hundreds of thousands of euros.

According to the Italian newspaper Domani, which broke the news June 6, the art historian and former Vatican employee was questioned and arrested by Vatican gendarmes on May 27 after being handed a check by Vatican Cardinal Mauro Gambetti for 120,000 euros (about $130,000) for the sale of the manuscript.

Continue reading…

Lawsuit: Los Angeles Co. Fire Dept. ‘retaliated’ against Christian employee who refused to raise Pride flag

Posted on by Catholic Radar Is

(CNA. Tyler Arnold).

A Christian employee has filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Fire Department in which he alleges he was subjected to “retaliation” and “religious discrimination” for refusing to raise a well-known Pride-theme flag while he was working. A veteran county employee, Capt. Jeffrey Little alleges that the fire department violated his religious freedom when it ordered him to raise the so-called “Progress Pride” flag after he requested a religious exemption. The lawsuit alleges that Little was suspended from his role in a department unit due to the dispute and subjected to an internal investigation. It also alleges that Little’s superiors breached his privacy by informing unauthorized persons about his request for a religious accommodation, which led to him receiving a death threat in the mail. In his request for an accommodation, Little informed the department that he could not raise the flag because it would convey an “endorsement and or celebration of the messages on various sexual behaviors (among other topics) associated with the [flag],” the lawsuit states. His request lists various Bible verses regarding homosexuality and sexual ethics that are in opposition to the message conveyed by the flag. 

Continue reading …

Mexico elects first woman president: Who is she and what does she believe?

Posted on by Catholic Radar FF

(Diego López Colín. CNA).

In a historic election, Claudia Sheinbaum will be the first woman to become president of Mexico, succeeding incumbent Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whose “legacy” she promised to “save” at the close of her campaign on May 29. Who is she, what does she think, and what is her relationship with the Catholic Church?

Sheinbaum, the candidate of the Let’s Keep Making History political alliance consisting of the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), the Labor Party (PT), and the Green Ecologist Party of Mexico (PVEM), obtained a solid majority of the votes in the country’s three-candidate June 2 presidential election.

The director of the National Electoral Institute (INE), Guadalupe Taddei, reported in the early hours of June 3 that according to the results from the rapid count, Sheinbaum led her principal rival, Xóchitl Gálvez, by between 30 and 34 points. Gálvez ran under the Strength and Heart coalition comprised of the National Action Party (PAN), Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), and Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD).

The rapid count showed Sheinbaum obtaining between 58% and 60% of the votes while Gálvez ran far behind with between 26% and 28%. Jorge Álvarez Maynez, the candidate of the Citizen Movement party, won between 9% and 10% of the votes. Sheinbaum will take office on Oct. 1.

López Obrador congratulated the candidate on X for her victory, calling it a glorious day that Mexico has elected its first woman president.

Who is Claudia Sheinbaum?

Continue reading…

Vatican clears New Zealand Cardinal John Dew of abuse allegations

Posted on by Catholic Radar FM

(CNA. AC Wimmer)

A Vatican-led review of an abuse complaint against New Zealand Cardinal John Dew has concluded that no further Church inquiry is required, according to a statement by Archbishop Paul Martin of Wellington provided to CNA on Wednesday.

The allegation of historical sexual abuse had been raised against Dew around the time he retired as archbishop of Wellington in May of last year.

The archdiocese said on June 5 that New Zealand police had also conducted a lengthy inquiry that led to a decision not to file any charges.

The accusations dated back to the 1970s and involved an alleged incident at St. Joseph’s Orphanage in Upper Hutt, roughly 20 miles northeast of Wellington, where Dew was serving as an assistant priest at the time. 

Continue reading…

Netherlands permits euthanasia for physically healthy 29-year-old woman

Posted on by Catholic Radar JM

(AC Wimmer. CNA).

A physically healthy 29-year-old woman was allowed to end her life through physician-assisted suicide in the Netherlands on the grounds of depression, sparking renewed debate about the sanctity of life and legislation.

Zoraya ter Beek died by euthanasia on May 22. Despite being physically healthy, the woman from Oldenzaal, a town near the German border, chose to end her life due to mental health issues.

Only days before her death, ter Beek told The Guardian: “People think that when you’re mentally ill, you can’t think straight, which is insulting.”

Diagnosed with depression, anxiety, trauma, and other issues, she was approved to die by assisted suicide for “unbearable suffering with no prospect of improvement,” as per the official Dutch Euthanasia Code.

Continue reading…https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/257887/netherlands-permits-euthanasia-for-physically-healthy-29-year-old-woman

Catholic bishop: Biden administration ‘subverted’ pro-family policy by mandating abortion leave

Posted on by Catholic Radar JM

(Tyler Arnold. CNA).

A law meant to offer accommodations for pregnant workers has been “twisted” to “undermine human dignity” thanks to a new regulation mandating paid abortion leave, according to the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Archbishop Timothy Broglio.

The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which requires employers to accommodate women for workplace limitations that arise from pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions, had the full support of the USCCB when lawmakers considered the bill in 2022. 

However, regulations issued by President Joe Biden’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) this year have interpreted the related medical conditions covered in the law to include abortion.

In an op-ed published in the Wall Street Journal, Broglio denounced the EEOC for its new regulations. His op-ed comes less than one week after the USCCB filed a lawsuit that asks a court to strike down the abortion accommodation rule.

Continue reading…

Cardinal Schönborn and Viennese dogmatician Tück speak out against the ordination of women

Posted on by Catholic Radar FM

(CNA. Alexander Folz).

Following Pope Francis’ clear no to female deacons, the Archbishop of Vienna, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, spoke out against a sacrament of ordination for women in a sermon at the Catholic University ITI in Trumau, Lower Austria, on Saturday, as the Catholic weekly newspaper “Die Tagespost” reports .

Schönborn was “deeply convinced that the Church cannot and must not change this, because it must keep the mystery of women present in its purest form.” All social evidence suggests that the Church’s order of the sacrament of ordination is “the last remnant of a patriarchal system” and is therefore discriminatory.

Continue reading…

Cardinal Marx: “Our democracy is based on the Christian view of man”

Posted on by Catholic Radar Al

(CNA Deutchs).

Cardinal Reinhard Marx affirmed in a major interview: “Our democracy is based on the Christian view of humanity.” The Archbishop of Munich and Freising spoke to the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Wednesday about society and Christianity.

“The Christian view of humanity also means that freedom is not celebrated as limitless narcissism, but that life can only succeed if one lives responsibly with others,” emphasized Marx. “This is an essential basis for the future of our community, and it will determine whether democracy has a future.”

Continue reading…