News Briefing: The Church in the World

Germany’s top Labour Court has referred the case of a senior doctor, who was fired by a Catholic hospital because he had remarried after divorcing his first wife, to the European Court of Justice (above) in Luxembourg.

The ECJ will now have to decide whether the doctor was unlawfully fired or whether the German Catholic Church has the right to apply its own labour rules under the special status it was granted in 1949, which allows it to fire employees who violate church teaching. In this particular case the Church holds that, by marrying a second time, the doctor violated the Church’s teaching on the indissolubility of Catholic marriage.

Just over a year ago, the German bishops’ conference revised the Church’s labour law. Over two-thirds of Germany’s 27 Catholic dioceses voted in favour of not automatically firing lay employees if they remarried after a divorce.

Women deacons
Pope Francis has decided to institute a Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women. As president of the Commission, Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, SJ. In addition to Archbishop Ladaria, the commission is composed of six women, including Professor Phyllis Zagano and six men from academic institutions around the world.

During a meeting with the participants in the Plenary Assembly of Superiors General, which took place in May, Pope Francis expressed his intention to establish such a commission, “especially with regard to the first ages of the Church”.


The United States has announced that Costa Rica will provide temporary shelter to refugees fleeing El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, as officials try to cope with the surge of people escaping from violence, rape and kidnappings.

Under the plan, Costa Rica will host up to 200 migrants at a time for up to six months, while the US processes their refugee claims. The numbers arriving in Costa Rica are so high that some Catholic priests have opened improvised shelters to help the refugees, using local parish halls and other church centres.


The President of Egypt has received a visit from Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II (above) at the presidential palace, along with a delegation of his bishops, to emphasise the value of warm collaboration between Christians and Muslims in Egypt.

The visit on 28 July followed a string of sectarian attacks on Christians in Upper Egypt, although specific incidences of sectarian violence were not discussed. President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi stressed that “all Egyptians are equal in their rights and duties”.  


Lyon’s public prosecutor has closed without charge an inquiry into Cardinal Philippe Barbarin for “non-denunciation of sexual aggression against minors”, based on victims' claims that for long he did nothing about a known paedophile priest in his archdiocese. Six victims filed a suit against him for only removing Fr Bernard Preynet from ministry in 2015 despite knowing of his misdeeds for several years. A victims’ group called the decision regrettable.


2018 Year of Youth
Australian bishops have launched a Year of Youth to be held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of WYD in Sydney in 2008.

Auxiliary Bishop Mark Edwards, the Australian Catholic bishops’ Delegate for Youth, said: “The years of preparation leading up to World Youth Day 2008 and its events have changed the landscape of youth ministry, leaving a lasting impression on the Church. Local youth ministries have grown and diversified. The number of youth ministers has increased along with diocesan support structures.”

The Year of Youth will start with the Australian Catholic Youth Festival in December 2017. “The challenge for a WYD host city is how to make the event fruitful 10 years on. Australia could well be one of the countries that has leveraged World Youth Day to the greatest potential,” Bishop Edwards said.


Trafficking prevention
Many vulnerable people fleeing from danger in conflict and post-conflict zones end up in the nets of unscrupulous criminals every year, according to a new report on human trafficking from Caritas Europa.

The report – which investigated 10 countries in the Euro-Mediterranean area, including Albania, Bulgaria and Turkey – makes a series of recommendations for national governments, the United Nations and the European Union. The aim is to provide the relevant authorities with methods for intervention regarding the specific vulnerabilities of children and adults at risk of being trafficked.


Cardinal Franciszek Macharski who served for many years as Archbishop of Krakow, inheriting a position opened up by the election of Pope John Paul II, died on Tuesday at the age of 89.

He died five days after Pope Francis stopped by his hospital in Krakow to pray for him during his visit to Poland.


Mexico bishop urged to resign
Prominent priest Alejandro Solalinde (above), known for his human rights work in Mexico, has called for the Bishop of Antequera, José Luis Chávez Botello, to resign over his handling of sexual abuse charges against the Church in Oaxaca. Fr Solalinde is a priest in Ixtepec, Oaxaca, where he runs a shelter for Central American migrants.

The bishop has been criticised for his handling of two cases in Oaxaca. Gerardo Silvestre Hernández was imprisoned in 2013 for sexual abuse of minors yet Chávez Botello criticised his accusers. Fr Carlos Franco Pérez   was cleared early in July of charges of abuse due to lack of evidence. However, the catechist who alleges that the priest raped him in March said that the Church was using its power to influence the legal proceedings.


Door open for co-operation
The Russian Orthodox Church has left open the door for further consultations on closer unity with its fellow Churches despite differences over the Orthodox council in Crete in late June, which it boycotted.
The Moscow Patriarchate’s last-minute decision to shun the Holy and Great Council on 20-26 June, joining three smaller Churches staying away from the first such summit in over 1,200 years, looked like a setback to the unity efforts of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew.
But the Russian Church’s synod, in its first official reaction to the summit, called it “an important event in the history of the conciliar process” and asked its theological commission to evaluate the six documents that the Council passed.