Global Briefing: Cardinal in assassination attempt; Jesuit beatnik priest dies

Gunmen target cardinal
There was an attempt on the life of Cardinal John Onaiyekan, (left), the Archbishop of Abuja, on Friday last week as he was travelling from Benin, the capital of Edo State, to Uromi Diocese. He was sleeping in the back of his car, and as the driver slowed down near a pothole, three men emerged from a palm plantation and sprayed the vehicle with gunfire. No one was hurt. The Catholic Archbishop of Benin City, Augustine Akubueze, and the Catholic Bishop of Uromi Diocese, Donatus Ogun, confirmed the incident.

Pell promises to remain in office
Pope Francis’ treasurer has pledged to serve his full five-year term of office as a battle rages in the Vatican over financial accountability. Although he reaches the retirement age of 75 next month, Australian Cardinal George Pell plans to continue in post until 2019 and said elements in the Holy See were refusing to cooperate with an external audit.

Pell, who is the prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, has made strenuous attempts to introduce transparency and accountability into the Roman Curia, including bringing in PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct a review of Holy See finances. Last month a senior official at the Secretariat of State, the Vatican’s most powerful department, suspended PwC’s work citing problems with the firm’s contract. In a statement, the cardinal’s office said that “so- called concerns … were only raised when auditors began asking for certain financial information and were finding it difficult to get answers.”

Austria to tighten asylum controls
The Austrian Government’s decision to tighten asylum law is an “unacceptable violation of asylum seekers’ basic rights”, the Austrian bishops’ conference has stated. From mid May, requests for asylum in Austria will be assessed individually and those not accepted will be turned away immediately.

Australian migrant centre 'unconstitutional'
The director of the Australian Catholic Migrant and Refugee Office, Fr Maurizio Pettenà, has welcomed the ruling of the Papua New Guinea (PNG) Supreme Court that Australia’s immigration detention centre on Manus Island is unconstitutional under PNG law and must close. He said the ruling was a welcome sign of hope for 850 men currently in detention on Manus Island.

“This ruling highlights the fact that governments have human-rights obligations un­der domestic and international laws,” he said. “We also welcome the decision of the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, Peter O’Neill, to close the Manus Island detention centre as a result of the ruling.”

Fr Pettenà urged Australia’s Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, to end indefinite mandatory offshore detention. “The Catholic Church opposes mandatory indefinite detention and offshore detention. These policy responses do not respect the dignity of people seeking our refuge,” he said.

Canada plans assisted death courses
News that Canada’s 14 medical schools are planning courses in assisted death has shocked anti-euthanasia activists. Christy Simpson, of Dalhousie University, told the Toronto Star: “We always knew that assisted suicide and euthanasia was a topic that was going to need to change as legislation changed. So this year it changed … So stay tuned.”

Moira McQueen, of the Canadian Catholic Bioethics Institute, tweeted on hearing the news: “Such Haste”. Sean Murphy, director of the Conscience Project, told LifeSiteNews that schools might “screen out or flunk those without the politically correct view”.

Biden Vatican visit
US Vice President Joe Biden was welcomed to the Vatican on Friday last week by Pope Francis.

Biden addressed a church-sponsored conference on cutting-edge therapies to treat diseases such as cancer, and noted that Francis met him and his family during the papal visit to the US last September. He “provided us with more comfort than I think even he will ever understand”, said Biden, whose eldest son, Beau, died of brain cancer last year.

Cathedral cutbacks
Faced with cost overruns in renovating the Christ Cathedral sanctuary, the Catholic Diocese of Orange in California has moved to rein in the project’s construction expenses, according to The Orange County Register. The diocese bought the 34-acre campus for US$57 million (£39m) in 2012 after its former owner, the Revd Robert H. Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral Ministries, filed for bankruptcy. Costs of renovating the cathedral were underestimated by more than $40m (£27m).

Papal greetings
Pope Francis sent greetings to the faithful of the Eastern Churches who celebrated Easter on Sunday 1 May, according to the Julian calendar. Speaking to pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square for the “Regina Coeli” prayer, he said: “May the Risen Lord bring to our brothers of the Eastern Churches all the gifts of his light and his peace. Christos anesti!”

Meanwhile, it was agreed in Minsk that Ukrainian government forces and Russia-backed separatists would observe a ceasefire in south-east Ukraine, where the festival is observed by Orthodox and Greek Catholics. The armistice was supposed to be effective at midnight last Saturday, but Ukrainian government sources said a soldier was killed and several wounded on Sunday.