News Briefing: The Church in the World

Russia’s Orthodox Church has reported a sharp rise in seminary admissions, with the highest numbers ever recorded now training for the priesthood in its 261 eparchies, or dioceses.
The Interfax news agency said 1,593 ordinands were expected to begin studies this summer, a 19 per cent increase from 2016, while a further 827 young men would also join the Church’s preparatory course, or propaedeuticum, a quarter more than last year. It added that a total of 5,877 seminarians were now preparing for ordination, a figure comparable to that of Poland’s Catholic Church in its peak years of 1985-87.
The Russian Church was harshly persecuted under Soviet rule, but is now by far the largest of the 14 Orthodox denominations, claiming 144 million members.
The latest data were released as bishops from Russia’s four Catholic dioceses, whose membership numbers 773,000, began a pilgrimage to Fatima to mark the centenary of the shrine’s Marian apparitions.


Vietnamese blogger jailed A prominent Catholic blogger has been sentenced to 10 years in prison by a Vietnamese court for defaming the Communist Government.

Mary Magdelene Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh (above), 37, also known as “Mother Mushroom”, was sentenced on 29 June. Her conviction related to the content of 18 articles on her Facebook page and interviews with foreign news outlets on human rights, civilian deaths in police custody and environmental concerns. The single mother of two young children said in court, “I hope people will continue the struggle and overcome their fears to build a better country”. UN human rights experts in Geneva said the trial did not meet international standards. The British Government said it was “deeply concerned”.


On the second anniversary of the papal encyclical Laudato Si’, Philippines Cardinal Luis Tagle, the Archbishop of Manila, has called on Catholics to respond by pledging “to pray for, and with creation, live more simply, and advocate to protect our common home”.
Archbishop Tagle, the President of Caritas Internationalis, appears on a short video urging Catholics to take the Laudato Si’ Pledge, “for ourselves and for the next generation”. The Pledge, created by the Global Catholic Climate Movement, aims to mobilise one million Catholics worldwide to commit to steps including reducing energy use and adopting clean energy.


Before being named El Salvador’s first cardinal on 28 June, Bishop José Gregorio Rosa Chávez of San Salvador made remarks recalling his friendship with Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero who was assassinated in 1980. “The Pope is inviting us to be a Church that is a witness to pain, a Church that walks with the people, that gets its hands dirty, that takes risks, and a Church in which we are even willing to give our lives,” Rosa Chávez said. “The Church’s role is to endure. Governments pass, but the Church endures.”


SSPX ordains two priests The German branch of the Priestly Society of St Pius X (SSPX) ordained two priests at Zaitzkofen near Regensburg on 1 July, despite the local bishop’s refusal to give them permission to do so. As soon as the SSPX announced their intention of ordaining the priests, Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensberg wrote to the head of the SSPX seminary at Zaitzkofen, Franz Schmidberger, recalling that ordinations could not take place without the local bishop’s permission and that he (Voderholzer) could not give permission as SSPX priests and bishops had been suspended. They were not allowed to take on church offices “unless the SSPX unconditionally accepts all the teachings of the Second Vatican Council”, he wrote.


Seized priest ‘seen alive’ A Catholic priest abducted by Islamist militants who seized parts of the Philippines city of Marawi six weeks ago has reportedly been seen alive in a neighbourhood still in the hands of extremists. The sighting was confirmed by the Philippines military, which is struggling to expel the gunmen from Marawi. Fr Teresito “Chito” Suganob was taken hostage with some parishioners early in the siege of the city.


The head of the Czech Church has said his country cannot accept migrants unless they “respect its system of values”, and warned that Muslims can only be considered a “safe presence” if they make up less than five per cent of the population.
“If you look at the entire Muslim world, you won’t find a single country where there’s democracy, religious freedom or gender equality,” said Cardinal Dominik Duka of Prague (above), the Czech Primate. “As a Christian and a Catholic, I believe all people share some common ground which allows us to accept each other. But this also means we must insist our rules are observed.” In an interview with the Czech weekly, Echo 24, Cardinal Duka said he believed Muslims raised “no problems” when they comprised no more than five per cent of a given population, but would begin demanding “key positions in society” when they made up 15 per cent and “take over the government and impose sharia law” if they increased to 25 per cent. The Czech Church has been widely criticised for opposing the admission of refugees from Syria and Iraq, despite calls for hospitality and support from the Pope.


More than 3,000 lay members of Ahiara Catholic Diocese in Imo State, Nigeria, converged on Mater Ecclesiae cathedral, Mbaise, to restate their rejection of the embattled Bishop Peter Ebele Okpaleke.
Bishop Okpaleke was appointed in 2012, but laity and priests in the diocese rejected his appointment complaining that local candidates were continuously overlooked.
On 8 June, Francis gave all the priests of the diocese, which has 163 parishes, a 30-day deadline: either write to him promising “total obedience”, or face suspension. The deadline expires tomorrow, Sunday.


Church wins playground case The US Supreme Court ruled by 7-2 last week that a Lutheran church could receive funds from the state of Missouri to resurface its playground. Lower courts had ruled that Missouri’s “Blaine Amendment” prohibited any state money going to a religious entity. Blaine Amendments were enacted in 37 states in the late nineteenth century with the goal of preventing public funds from going to Catholic schools.