Pontificates diverge
The divergence between the pontificates of Popes Francis and Benedict XVI is becoming more perceptible, Peter Seewald, Benedict’s biographer, told the Austrian daily Kurier on 24 December. “It is not only a case of a different style but of a different identity and line, and also about the question of whether there are still certainties in the Catholic faith,” Seewald said. Every Pope chose his own staff, he recalled. “Now, however, Francis’ appointments and personnel management have begun to make people think. The fact that people Benedict trusted are now falling behind cannot be overlooked.” The Pope Emeritus was very worried not only about the situation of Christianity in Europe but, above all, about the present situation in the Church, he said.
Poland’s ambassador to the Vatican has pledged that his government will work with the Pope in defending Christian values in Europe. “Poland has had long and successful relations with the Holy See – we were, are and will always be very close,” said Janusz Kotanski. “We share the same values, based on Judaeo-Christian civilisation, Greek philosophy and Roman law, and we are both trying to ensure all the countries of Europe uphold these and resist attacks on our civilisation.” The 60-year-old diplomat was speaking as Poland’s right-wing government continued to dismiss threats of EU sanctions. The EU says legislative changes are undermining the rule of law in Poland. In a Tablet interview, Kotanski said that no other moral authority in the world was working as effectively as Pope Francis to “build bridges at a time of turmoil”.
Man held after church killings
A gunman killed up to 10 people last week in an attack on a Coptic Orthodox church in Cairo and a nearby Christian-owned shop, before he was wounded and arrested.
The armed assault on the Church of St Mina, in the city’s Helwan district, on 29 December was the latest in a series of attacks on the Coptic Christian minority in the country in 2017. Islamic State claimed responsibility. “They want to eliminate our smile,” Anba Antonios Mina, Bishop Emeritus of Giza, said. “For this reason, reviving our joy is a miracle that only Jesus can do.” President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi is expected to attend the Coptic Christmas Mass, celebrated in the night of 6 January by Coptic Patriarch Tawadros II, in Cairo’s Coptic Cathedral.
Security forces in the Democratic Republic of Congo have killed at least seven people at Church-backed protests, calling for President Joseph Kabila to step down. Human Rights Watch reported two of the men were shot dead outside a church in the capital, Kinshasa. The Congolese authorities banned the demonstrations and police used live ammunition and tear gas against protesters. More than 150 people were arrested. Last week, a senior Kinshasa priest appeared in court over charges relating to his call to ring church bells for 15 minutes every week to demand the departure of Mr Kabila, whose mandate expired at the end of 2016. Fr Vincent Tshomba was in court on 27 December after Kabila supporters filed a complaint about a “night-time racket”.
Christmas and New Year passed off peacefully in mainly Muslim Indonesia, after the government deployed 180,000 security personnel, particularly in Christian-majority areas. President Joko Widodo said on Twitter: “To all Christians in Indonesia, I wish you a Merry Christmas. The country’s religious diversity is a blessing for us all.” The national heads of the police and the military visited Jakarta Cathedral for its Christmas Midnight Mass.
Austria’s bishops’ conference has had its guidelines on sexual abuse translated into English, French, Polish, Croatian, Bosnian and Serbian, and has made them available online. “It is important for the guidelines to be available for seminarians and church employees in their native languages,” the head of the Church’s “Foundation for the Protection of Victims”, Rita Kupka-Baier, said. The numbers of foreign employees, seminarians and priests in the Austrian Church is growing.
Christian communities in Myanmar publicly celebrated Christmas in the streets of Yangon for the first time in 50 years. Under the country’s military dictatorship, which ruled for half a century, the celebration of Christmas was limited to private services held in churches and homes. Pope Francis visited Myanmar in November. As a gesture of solidarity with Christians, the government this year allowed public processions and events.
Prisoner exchange
Russia’s Orthodox Patriarch has helped to mediate a prisoner exchange between the Ukrainian army and separatist forces in the eastern Donbass region. “This is only the beginning – I hope very deeply that all prisoners will soon be released,” said Patriarch Kirill. “It’s of great importance to the Russian Orthodox Church, whose children are involved on both sides of the conflict.” The Patriarch was speaking after talks in Moscow’s Danilovsky monastery with Ukrainian government representatives and leaders of the Russian-backed breakaway Donetsk and Luhansk republics. The prisoner exchange, involving 306 captured separatists and 74 Ukrainian soldiers, is the first successfully completed since summer 2016. It has been welcomed by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), as an “important step” with “high symbolic significance”.
Council digests report
The Truth, Justice and Healing Council (TJHC), set up by Australia’s bishops and heads of religious orders to coordinate the Church’s response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, has gone “into the bunker” for the Australian summer to enable Church leaders to consider an initial response to the Commission’s final report last month. With the conclusion of the five-year Royal Commission on 15 December, the TJHC is embarking on its final phase.
The chief executive of the TJHC, Francis Sullivan, wrote in his blog on 19 December: “Our Council will now go into the bunker for the summer and digest the Final Report in order to supply the Church with an initial response. Our brief is to produce a report by Easter 2018.”
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