The triennial national assembly of the Indian Catholic Youth Movement (ICYM) ended in Mangalore, south-west India, on 22 January with a colourful three-kilometre march (above), with youth delegates from across India marching in their traditional ethnic attire.
The theme of the convention was “Touched by Jesus, Walking his way”. The march by 2,500 delegates along with 5,000 young local Catholics preceded the concluding ceremony and solemn Mass led by Cardinal Oswald Gracias, Archbishop of Mumbai and president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences. “The youth have shown the diversity of the nation while united in Catholic identity. We wanted to assert this dimension of unity in diversity. That is why we sent circulars in advance for the delegates to bring their ethnic dresses,” Fr Deepak Thomas, secretary of the Youth Commission of the Indian Bishops’ Conference, told The Tablet.
Vatican envoy
Archbishop Claudio Maria Celli will not travel to the Venezuelan capital Caracas for the forthcoming talks between the Government and opposition representatives. The president of the Venezuelan Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Diego Rafael Padrón Sánchez, said this week that the Venezuelan Church still supported the continuation of the dialogue but criticised the format, methodology and what he called a lack of clear goals.
The Apostolic Nuncio to Venezuela, Archbishop Aldo Giordano, informed the Venezuelan opposition of the decision of the Vatican, which has been promoting the dialogue. The opposition coalition thanked Archbishop Celli for his contributions to the talks, and said: “We also understand the reasons that led the Holy See not to send, under the current circumstances, the delegate to represent the Pope.” The nuncio has been designated as the Vatican representative for future meetings, in Celli’s absence.
Pope Francis on 21 January celebrated Mass at the basilica of St John Lateran for the conclusion of the Jubilee for the 800th anniversary of the papal confirmation of the Order of Preachers – the Dominicans. In his homily, Francis contrasted two opposed “human scenarios”: a carnival of worldly curiosity, on the one hand; and on the other, the “glorification of the Father through good works”.
Sri Lankan theologian Fr Tissa Balasuriya has been remembered in Sri Lanka on the fourth anniversary of his death. The Vatican, under Pope John Paul II, excommunicated him in 1997, saying that the priest was propagating ideas contrary to the Catholic faith in his book Mary and Human Liberation. This was lifted the following year. For more than 40 years the Centre for Society and Religion in Colombo established by Fr Balasuriya has been a venue for inter-ethnic and inter-religious dialogue and served vulnerable communities.
Museum appointment
For the first time, the Pope has chosen a woman to head the Vatican Museums. Barbara Jatta (above), 54, is an Italian art historian and graphic arts expert, who had been serving as vice-director of the museums since June last year. She began her new role on 1 January, replacing 77-year-old Antonio Paolucci, director since 2007.
Two new Catholic churches are being built in Iceland after a threefold increase over the past decade in the Catholic population, which numbers 13,500 over seven parishes. The Reykjavik diocese, headed since 2015 by a Slovakia-born Capuchin, Bishop David Tencer, numbers 15 priests and 38 Catholic nuns. The Catholic Church makes up 3.5 per cent of the country’s 330,000-strong population. Its growth has been aided by East European and Filipino immigrants.
Prayers for peace and unity were said in Pakistan’s churches last weekend by a fearful Christian community. The Sacred Heart Cathedral in Lahore hosted a service with Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shaw of Lahore and leaders of the Church of Pakistan, Salvation Army and Presbyterian Church. The Churches condemned ongoing human rights violations “with one voice”.
Mgr Fernando Ocáriz Braña was named on Monday as Prelate of Opus Dei. Mgr Fernando Ocáriz, until now Auxiliary Vicar of Opus Dei, becomes the third successor of St Josemaria Escrivá at the head of the prelature, following the death of Archbishop Javier Echevarría on 12 December last year. Youngest of eight children, he was born in Paris on 27 October 1944, to a Spanish family exiled in France due to the 1936-1939 Civil War.
A Jesuit who heads the Polish Church’s youth protection office has accused Catholic leaders of making light of child abuse, after a priest was reported to have resumed pastoral duties despite being jailed for molesting a 13-year-old. “In our struggle against the abuse of children by Catholic clergy, we still face a brewing crisis in Poland,” said Fr Adam Zak, bishops’ conference child protection co-ordinator, after the Gazeta Wyborcza daily revealed that a member of the Society of Christ Fathers, Fr Roman Pozniak, had been allowed to continue in ministry after a four-year sentence for abusing a girl in his parish.
The first cardinal for the small mountain kingdom of Lesotho, Koto Sebastian Khoarai, who could not travel to Rome for the consistory to join 17 other cardinals appointed from 11 countries by the Pope on 19 November last year, was installed on 21 January. Thousands of Catholics joined Lesotho King Letsie III to celebrate the country’s only cardinal receiving his red hat. Archbishop of Durban Cardinal Wilfrid Napier led the celebration at the Catholic Training Centre in Lesotho. Khoarai, 87 (above) was unable to travel to Rome due to ill health.
Obamacare benefits plea by bishops
In A LETTER to all members of Congress the US bishops’ conference urged them not to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or Obamacare) without devising a replacement that guarantees the coverage the ACA achieved, writes Michael Sean Winters. “A repeal of key provisions of ACA ought not be undertaken without the concurrent passage of a replacement plan that ensures access to adequate health care for the millions who now rely upon it,” wrote Bishop Frank Dewane, chairman of the committee on domestic justice and human development. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order laying the groundwork for dismantling the ACA.
Wall built, then taken down
The Catholic and Protestant bishops who attended the main ecumenical service in the Week of Christian Unity at Wittenberg stressed the need for reconciliation in view of increasing nationalism, writes Christa Pongratz-Lippitt.
During the service on 22 January in the Wittenberg church where Martin Luther delivered his famous sermons, members of the congregation erected a mock wall and took it down again in memory of the Berlin Wall and its fall on 9 November 1989, which led to a united and reconciled Germany.
In his sermon, the Catholic Bishop of Speyer, Karl-Heinz Wiesemann, said that in view of increasing nationalism and the wish for segregation, it was more important than ever for Christians in Europe to bear witness together to peace and reconciliation.
Pro-immigrant bishop praised
The UN has praised one of Austria’s best-known Catholic bishops, Aegidius Zsifkovics of Eisenstadt, for helping persuade the Government to change its policy of excluding refugees, writes Jonathan Luxmoore.
“This bishop is a builder of understanding and a breaker of human barriers,” the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said in a website commentary. “It was his moral stand which led the Austrian Government to rethink its policy of protecting borders with fences, and his persistent voice of compassion which motivated hundreds of diocesan lay workers to help turn the eastern border region into a model area for integrating refugees.”
Austria began constructing fences in November 2015 on its southern frontiers with Italy and Slovenia. It later announced plans for a parallel fence with Hungary. However, border closure was bitterly opposed by Bishop Zsifkovics, who refused allow the fences to cross land belonging to his diocese.
Ray of hope after Francis visit
Catholic bishops in Central African Republic (CAR) say they are seeing the benefits of Pope Francis’ November 2015 visit to their country, writes Fredrick Nzwili. Francis defied security warnings to fly to the African nation when the pro-Christian anti-Balaka militants and Islamist Seleka rebels were involved in mutual hostilities. “The visit gave a signal that it was time for reconciliation. It resulted in general elections supported and accepted by all,” said Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga, the president of the Bishops’ Conference, after a bishops’ plenary from 5-15 January.
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