Sistine chapel ‘first’
Cecilia Bartoli (pictured), one of Italy’s most renowned classical singers, has become the first woman to perform inside the Sistine Chapel with the all-male Sistine Chapel Choir, as part of a musical project that draws on ancient, forgotten musical archives of the Church.
On Friday night last week, the mezzo-soprano joined the 20 men and 30 boys who make up the choir, among the oldest choral groups in the world, to sing Beata Viscera, by the thirteenth-century composer Pérotin.
Germany and the Sovereign Order of Malta officially established diplomatic relations in Rome on 15 November. The German Foreign Minister, Sigmar Gabriel, and the Order’s Grand Chancellor, Baron Albrecht von Boeselager, signed the corresponding mutual agreement at the Order’s headquarters on the Aventine Hill and announced that above all they wish to intensify their cooperation on helping refugees and immigrants.
“I would like to express my deep gratitude for the great work of the Federal Republic of Germany in relieving human suffering, particularly in helping migrants and refugees. It shows an ambitious commitment that fully reflects the principles and values that inspire the activities of the Order of Malta”, Grand Chancellor Boeselager said.
The Catholic Bishop of Marawi in the southern Philippines has welcomed pledges from regional leaders who attended this year’s Manila ASEAN summit to help rebuild the city. Bishop Edwin de la Pena, of the Prelature of Marawi, said providing relief to those who suffer can be an “opportunity to experience our common humanity”. The reconstruction aims to help displaced civilians to return home. President Rodrigo Duterte last month declared Marawi liberated from jihadis after five months of fighting between the Islamist militants and government forces, which displaced almost 400,000 people. Among the Asean countries that have promised financial aid are Australia and Japan. The European Union says it is looking to offer a grant of up to 100 million euros.
Cathedral entry fees rejected
The French bishops have sharply rebuffed suggestions that they should charge entry fees to their cathedrals to raise money for their upkeep. They recalled in a statement that France’s 1905 law on the separation of Church and State turned cathedrals into public property dedicated to worship with free entry. The French state maintains cathedrals but the Church has had on occasion to appeal for private funds. “Cathedrals are places to express a living faith, not museums,” the statement said.
Chile’s former president, Sebastian Pinera, the Conservative candidate in the presidential election, will advance to a run-off after winning 36 per cent of the vote in Sunday’s first round. Four years after he left office, largely due to unpopular austerity measures and cuts in education spending, Mr Pinera took the highest percentage of votes in a field of eight. He will face the centre-left candidate, Alejandro Guillier, who came second with 22 per cent, in the second round on 17 December. The incumbent centre-left president, Michelle Bachelet, may not seek re-election under Chile’s constitution. The bishops’ conference called for Chileans to create “civic spaces of dialogue and respect” in a letter published before the elections, and to put “people at the centre of the common good, distancing ourselves from purely ideological or economic visions.”
Copts ignore security warning
Tens of thousands of Coptic Christians from around Egypt gathered last week at the St George monastery in Rizeigat, Luxor province, to celebrate one of the largest annual Christian festivals in an Arab country. The pilgrims ignored warnings given over recent months by Egypt’s security services to avoid big public gatherings because of the dangers of jihadist groups, particularly at places of worship. This followed a number of deadly attacks in the past year, including the bomb blasts at two Coptic churches on Palm Sunday, which killed at least 47 people. Local and national politicians and imams also attended as guests.
The Ukrainian Catholic bishop whose diocese includes the rebel-occupied Donbass region has warned that Russia is still “pouring arms and bullets” into eastern Ukraine, with up to a dozen Ukrainian soldiers dying each week. “Russia has no interest in ending the violence – it’s fuelling this war to prevent Ukraine turning to Europe”, Bishop Stanislav Shyrokoradiuk of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia told a Caritas conference in Germany.
The commission that speaks for the European Union’s Catholic Bishops’ Conferences, Comece, has welcomed the EU’s adoption of a “European Pillar of Social Rights” at last week’s Gothenburg summit, and pledged Church backing for a “deeper and fairer internal market”. “This is a vital further step towards the European social market economy,” Comece said in a joint statement with the non-Catholic Conference of European Churches.
Murder victims remembered
In San Salvador, a commemoration took place on the 28th anniversary of the killing of six Jesuits and two female staff at the University of Central America (UCA). The killings on 16 November 1989 were carried out by US-trained members of the Salvadoran military. During the event at the UCA, the rector, Fr Andreu Olivo, said: “The death of the Jesuit martyrs and laywomen encourages us to work tirelessly to change the course of history and country.”
Churches in France and some other French-speaking regions are to begin using a new translation of the Lord’s Prayer at Mass. The wording, to be introduced on the first Sunday in Advent, says in French: “Do not let us enter into temptation” rather than “Do not subject us to temptation”, as the phrase was rendered in an ecumenical translation agreed after the Second Vatican Council. “The 1966 version was not wrong but it was often misunderstood,” said Bishop Guy de Kerimel, head of the bishops’ conference’s liturgy commission. The new wording was closer to the Greek original and would “remove the ambiguity”. The Congregation for Divine Worship approved the translation in 2013 and Protestant Churches have also accepted it.
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