Several thousand Hondurans, marching towards the US through Mexico this week, have thanked Catholic groups for their hospitality along the way. While travelling through Guatemala, they received assistance from the Catholic Church and pro-migrant civil society organisations. Church communities in southern Mexico mobilised to ensure that marchers had food, clothing and shelter. United States President Donald Trump has warned the migrants to turn back, threatening to close down the border and cut aid to countries allowing the caravan to pass.
Sexual abuse study refused
The French Senate has rejected a motion to form a parliamentary commission to study sexual abuse only in the Catholic Church.
The Catholic magazine, Témoignage Chrétien, had called for an investigation into “the crimes of paedophilia and their concealment in the Catholic Church”. An opinion poll showed support of 90 per cent among practising Catholics for the motion, but the Senate’s legal commission rejected it, saying it focused exclusively on the Catholic Church rather than all religions.
Belgium’s Catholic bishops support the ordination of young married men to counter the current shortage of priests. Brussels Auxiliary Bishop Jean Kockerols told the Synod of Bishops on 10 October that “some young people, who have drawn from the baptismal vocation their call to wed, would gladly say ‘here I am’ if the Church were to call them to the priestly ministry”.
Fr Tommy Scholtes, spokesman for the Belgian bishops’ conference, told the official Catholic website, Cathobel, that Bishop Kockerols spoke for the whole conference, saying that the Belgian proposal was “not the only solution to the vocations crisis” and that Protestant and Orthodox Christian Churches, which allow married clerics, also faced challenges in attracting new vocations.
The Episcopal Conference of Guatemala took a stand against corruption as the country’s president, Jimmy Morales, continued to question the presence of international corruption investigators. He has called for the UN-sponsored International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG) to leave the country. Mr Morales is under investigation for illicit campaign financing, and some of his close associates have been implicated in CICIG investigations.
Pope Francis told South Korean President Moon Jae-in, during his recent visit to the Vatican, that he is willing to make a landmark trip to North Korea. President Moon, a Catholic, relayed the invitation from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to the Pope during a 35-minute private audience on 18 October. A formal invitation directly from North Korea is expected to follow. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin (pictured above with President Moon) confirmed that Pope Francis “expressed his willingness” but such a visit requires “serious preparation and consideration”.
Africa is losing some of its most gifted young people to migration, a prominent South African cardinal said last week during the youth synod in Rome. Speaking at a press conference, Cardinal Wilfrid Napier, Archbishop of Durban, blamed particularly “the exploitation of natural resources and the environment” and noted that the synod’s draft document does not sufficiently recognise the impact of mass migration. Many migrate “because of the effects of deforestation and aggressive mining techniques”, he said. Cardinal Napier deplored the economic conditions that lead to child labour in Africa, and called for revisions to the synod’s “Eurocentric” working document.
Demand for a safe environment
Catholic bishops in Nigeria have said the country must introduce sex education classes to combat sexual molestation at schools by clerics, secular teachers and students. They said recent cases of clerical abuse were an embarrassment to the Church, a threat to children and must be stamped out.
“We, bishops, all priests, consecrated men and women and all those who work in Catholic institutions in Nigeria must ensure that there is a safe environment for every child and vulnerable adults,” they said in a 16 October statement.
Women leaders from 35 countries around the world addressed issues relating to water and peace when they met this week in Dakar for the General Assembly of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO) from 15-22 October. During the conference, “WUCWO women, bearers of ‘living water’ in a world thirsting for peace”, participants discussed ways to build solidarity “chains”, particularly in Africa where women were often the principal victims of conflict. For the first time, Muslim women from Senegal took part in the conference.
The Vietnamese Catholic blogger and rights activist, “Mother Mushroom”, who was jailed two years ago for posting anti-government material on social media, has been freed and then immediately forced into exile in the United States. Nguyen Ngoc Nhu Quynh was driven from Prison Camp No. 5 in Vietnam’s northern province to the international airport in Hanoi on 17 October, the Network of Vietnamese Bloggers said. The following day, an appeals court in central Vietnam confirmed a draconian sentence imposed on a Catholic activist accused of trying to overthrow the Communist government. The Supreme People’s Court upheld Le Dinh Luong’s sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment.
In the countdown to the second round of Brazil’s presidential election on 28 October, both leading candidates have sought out religious leaders. Jair Bolsonaro met the Cardinal of Rio de Janeiro, Orani Tempesta, and reportedly affirmed his pro-life stance. Left-wing candidate Fernando Haddad met leaders of Evangelical Churches and the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB). Both candidates are Catholic. Mr Haddad, former mayor of São Paulo, has stated that, if elected, he will not introduce a law to legalise abortion. He represents the left-wing Workers’ Party of former president, Lula da Silva. Mr Bolsonaro represents the Social Liberal Party and is favoured to win the election.
Deadly clashes over pasture in Kenya
CATHOLIC BISHOP Peter Kihara of Marsabit is leading efforts to end violence in his diocese, where clashes over water and pasture have left at least 14 people dead, writes Fredrick Nzwili.
The violence has forced the closure of about 16 schools where confrontations are frequent. The latest flare-up pitted the Borana and Gabra, two nomadic communities, against one another. “We shall not stand on the sidelines and watch lives being lost or people being displaced,” said Bishop Kihara.
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