Four alleged religious obtain deacon ordination fraudulently
(Katholisch)
It was quickly discovered that the Bishop of Lokoja had been tricked by fraudsters: four alleged members of the order fraudulently obtained an ordination as deacons. The diocese has distanced itself from the men – and is now looking for ways to limit the damage.
(Domradio).
It is legal: Anyone who holds extremist views is not allowed to participate in the parish committees in the diocese. The Catholic Council also has an argumentative tool against right-wing extremism in the pipeline.
Will Cologne soon no longer be the largest German diocese?
(Raimund Neuss. Kolonie Rundschau).
Even if the number of the person was abandoned, the native population had a disminuir: in the last years the number of the children in the Archdiocese of Colonia was reduced to around 380,000.
(CNA).
With regard to the topic of artificial intelligence and war, Augsburg’s auxiliary bishop Anton Losinger has called for a “technology that complies with human rights and human dignity.”
Abbot Schröder: Redefining the office of bishop makes sense
(Katholisch).
Retired bishops are constantly speaking out and justifying their views with their responsibility as successors to the apostles. Abbot President Jeremias Schröder criticizes such behavior and points out possible changes with regard to the office.
Growing interest among young Catholics in the Old Mass
Despite the restrictions imposed by Pope Francis, interest is increasing, especially among young believers.
(Kath).
(CNA. Rudolf Gehrig)
A few weeks ago it was announced that Pope Francis had appointed the former Prefect of the Papal Household, Archbishop Georg Gänswein, as Nuncio to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. On the sidelines of the “Benedict XVI Forum” in the Bavarian Marian pilgrimage site of Altötting, EWTN News spoke with Pope Benedict XVI’s former private secretary at the weekend about his new tasks in the Baltic States and about the legacy of the German Pope ( here is the interview as a video ).
(CNA).
The American journalist George Weigel, known as the biographer of Pope John Paul II, has stated that the German Synodal Path seems to have been “more characterized by the deconstruction of tradition.” Weigel spoke to the Catholic weekly newspaper “Die Tagespost” (current edition).
(Kath).
Pope Francis has appointed Maurizio Chiodi as a member of the seven-person study group on “controversial doctrinal, pastoral and ethical questions” of the Synod on Synodality. This is reported by Catholic journalist Diane Montagna on X.
(Kath).
The approval of the Austrian population for gender has continued to decline from a low level in recent years. A survey by the Linz-based opinion research institute IMAS, which was published at the beginning of July, found that 52 percent never use gender-neutral language and only four percent “always”, reports the Kronen Zeitung . 12 percent each use gender “sometimes” and “rarely”.
(CNA).
During the so-called Great Procession, Münster Bishop Felix Genn spoke of an “almost frightening” political situation in the world. Against this background, it is important to work to preserve democracy.
(Katholisch).
The Catholic parish of Zizers in Switzerland is looking for a new priest starting this summer. In times of priest shortages, this is not an easy undertaking. The parish has therefore come up with something special and taken the initiative itself.
(Katholisch).
One could consider the case of the former papal ambassador Carlo Maria Viganò, who has now been excluded from the Catholic Church, to be a tragic and bizarre isolated case. A recognized Vatican diplomat descended into the realm of conspiracy ideologies during and after the Corona pandemic . He transformed from a conservative critic of the Pope to a reactionary hater of the Pope and now rejects the reforms of the Second Vatican Council . Even the traditionalist Pius Brotherhood , which broke with the Roman Church in 1988, has distanced itself from him. Excommunication is only logical.
(Katholisch).
For the first time, the Catholic city deanery of Cologne is taking part in the program for more rights for sexual minorities around Christopher Street Day. Among other things, a panel discussion entitled “God meets Gays” is planned, as the deanery announced on Wednesday in Cologne . There will also be a film screening and a stage program. The drag artists Cassy Carrington and Julie Voyage are also taking part.
(Katholisch).
The former Vatican auditor, Libero Milone , has described the death of Cardinal George Pell as “shrouded in mystery”. “At his funeral, at his coffin, I promised him that we would bring the truth to light,” Milone said, according to a report in the newspaper “The Australian” on Wednesday (local time). The economic expert thus suggests a connection between Pell’s death and the real estate scandal in the Vatican. According to research by the Australian media, there were rumors in the Vatican for months about the last hours of Pell’s life because of the unusual handling of his body. After the autopsy, it was said that it was not prepared, as is usually the case, but was left “in disarray”. After a routine hip joint operation on January 10, 2023 in Rome’s Salvator Mundi Hospital, the Australian former Curia cardinal died as a result of complications.
(Kath.net).
Courtalain (kath.net) kath.net documents the sermon of Gerhard Cardinal Müller on Saturday, June 29, Peter and Paul in full in the original German. The Prefect Emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ordained five candidates as deacons and two deacons as priests in Courtalain near Chartres. He explained to kath.net verbatim: “I have complied with this request to confer these ordinations because of the sacrament of ordination itself, not because of the form of the extraordinary rite, because the two ritual variants of the Latin rite are secondary to the substance of the sacrament instituted by Christ and effective in the Holy Spirit. (This is just to explain two opposing false positions). This is explained in more detail in the text.”
(Katholisch)
German Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller has been promoted from cardinal deacon to cardinal priest. On Monday, the consistory led by Pope Francis decided to elevate Müller to the class of cardinal priest upon his request, the Vatican announced . Müller’s titular deaconry, Sant’Agnese in Agone, will be temporarily elevated to a titular church during his term of office (“pro hac vice”). After ten years in office, cardinal deacons have the right to ask the Pope for elevating them to cardinal priest and for a titular church (“optatio”). Müller was admitted to the College of Cardinals on February 22, 2014. Following his retirement as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Müller is now a judge at the Apostolic Signatura , the Church’s highest court.
(Katholisch)
Munich Cardinal Reinhard Marx is concerned about the European Union (EU). This peace project is threatened by “ethnic nationalism,” warned the Archbishop of Munich and Freising on Sunday evening during a service in Munich’s St. Boniface Basilica. The service was held in memory of the journalist Fritz Gerlich (1883-1934), who was murdered in the Dachau concentration camp 90 years ago.
(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.
(Katholisch).
Regensburg Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer has banned the ordinations of deacons and priests of the Priestly Fraternity of St. Pius X (FSSPX) announced for Saturday in their seminary in Zaitzkofen, Bavaria. As the Diocese of Regensburg announced on Wednesday, Voderholzer stressed in a letter to the rector Pascal Schreiber that the ordinations were being administered without permission. The Pius Brotherhood is ignoring the necessary legal conditions of the Roman Catholic Church for the ordination. “Due to this behavior, I once again feel compelled to protect the order of the Church and, as Ordinarius loci (local bishop, editor’s note), to prohibit the unauthorized ordinations for the area of the Diocese of Regensburg, as I have done in previous years,” Voderholzer said in his letter.