The abbot of Einsiedeln, Urban Federer (above), 50, has called for a more differentiated view of homosexuality than that put forward by Pope Francis in his latest book-length interview. He was reacting to the Pope’s statement to Fr Fernando Prado in The Strength of Vocation that if priests and religious men and women were living a “double life” it would be better if they left the ministry.
“As far as homosexual priests and Religious are concerned, one must differentiate whether they live as celibate lives as their heterosexual brothers and sisters or whether, under the umbrella of their cassocks or habits, they act out their sexuality in a way that is not compatible with celibacy,” the abbot told the St Galler Tagblatt on 5 December.
As a teacher, he said he was aware of the great pressure young people were under to define themselves sexually nowadays but this overtaxed many of them, he said, adding that he thought this was “exactly” what the Pope had meant when he said that homosexuality had become “fashionable”.
As the tenth-century Benedictine Abbey of Einsiedeln is a territorial abbey, the abbot is the equivalent of a bishop and only responsible directly to the Pope.
“We are en route to introducing same-sex marriage,” the leader of the Lutheran Church in Austria, Bishop Michael Bünker, told the press at the end of the Protestant Church Synod in Vienna on 7 December. Each of the Church’s 194 parishes, covering congregations of some 285,000 members, would now have the chance to discuss it.
After almost four hours of intense debate on the subject, 54 of the 63 members of the synod voted in favour of same-sex marriage.
By way of explanation, their recommendation notes that “the conditions under which people live their relationships reliably and bindingly nowadays have changed since biblical times”.
The Lutheran Church should respect same-sex partnerships, “provided they are geared to life-long fidelity and mutual care and support”. Church marriage for homosexual couples, however, should only be possible in parishes where the pastor and the congregation were openly in favour of it.
The Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, led by Bishop Daniel Flores (above), is fighting a request by Donald Trump’s administration for a federal court to grant it “immediate possession” of 66 acres of land owned by the Catholic Church, in order to construct part of the border wall separating Mexico from the United States.
A statement issued on the bishop’s behalf said: “Church property should not be used for the purposes of building a border wall”.
It added: “Such a structure would limit the freedom of the Church to exercise her mission in the Rio Grande Valley, and would be a sign contrary to the Church’s mission. Thus, in principle, the bishop does not consent to use church property to construct a border wall.”
The Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference published an Advent message on 2 December calling for “unarmed prophets” to help the country deal with its current crisis, and to reject violence.
“We call on Nicaraguans not to let themselves be seduced by immediate solutions, and to instead act with civility because the new Nicaragua needs non-violent leaders who pursue goals of liberty and justice with the help of God,” said the message.
The Church has come under fire from the administration of President Daniel Ortega this year, after bishops spoke out against it. More than 300 people have died since protests began in April.
Meanwhile, on 5 December, Fr Mario Guevara, Vicar of the Cathedral of Managua, was attacked with acid while hearing Confessions. A 24-year-old Russian woman was detained. Fr Guevara was taken to a local hospital. His condition is stable.
Abuse investigation
The Vatican nunciature in Chile announced on 6 December that it has begun an “apostolic visitation,” or investigation, into accusations that nuns were abused at the Institute of the Good Samaritan in Talca, Chile.
Several sisters report having been expelled from the institute after denouncing sexual abuse at the hands of priests and their superiors.
There are other ongoing investigations into abuse by Catholic clergy in Chile. This investigation, however, marks a turning point, showing a new willingness on the Vatican’s part to investigate the abuse of nuns.
The allegations were made public on 25 July this year when an investigation aired the nuns’ story on television.
The Good Samaritan Institute was headed by Bishop Horacio del Carmen Valenzuela Abarca from 1996 until June this year, when the Pope removed him from his post.
The nuncio, Archbishop Ivo Scapolo, reported that the apostolic visitors will be Rosario Alonso, a Salesian sister, and a Franciscan priest, Fr Maurizio Bridio.
New party leader welcomed
The German bishops’ conference has welcomed the appointment of the new head of the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU), Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer (above), who is a Catholic.
Fr Karl Jüsten, head of the Katholisches Büro (Catholic Office) in Berlin told domradio.de that the religious denomination of CDU leaders was not decisive; the main thing was that they based their politics on Christian values.
For this reason, he had always got on very well with Chancellor Merkel, a Lutheran, who has said she will step down as chancellor in 2021. But the fact that Ms Kramp-Karrenbauer was a Catholic who supported Catholic Social Teaching meant that the Church could expect more of her, Fr Jüsten added.
In the Philippines, President Rodrigo Duterte has intensified his feud with the Catholic Church, which opposes his violent war on drugs. Last week he called the country’s Catholic bishops “useless fools” and said they should be “killed” because “all they do is criticise”.
The Catholic hierarchy had come to the defence of a bishop whom Mr Duterte accused of involvement in drugs and pocketing church donations.
They vouched for the integrity of Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, who is a strong social justice campaigner. Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, the bishops’ conference president, said that they were “saddened” and “disturbed” by the allegations questioning Bishop David’s integrity.
Successor to Napier named
Pope Francis has name the Bishop of Kimberley, Abel Gabuza, as coadjutor of the Archdiocese of Durban, which means he will succeed Cardinal Wilfrid Napier when the cardinal retires, writes Christopher Lamb. The South African cardinal, 77, who took part in the 2005 and 2013 papal elections, has led the Archdiocese of Durban for more than 26 years. Archbishop-elect Gabuza, 63, was appointed to lead the Diocese of Kimberley, in South Africa’s Northern Cape province, in 2010 and will vacate Kimberley on 10 February 2019.
Meanwhile on 25 November Archbishop Fridolin Ambongo Besungu was installed as Archbishop of Kinshasa replacing Cardinal Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, 79, who was a member of the Council of Cardinals advising the Pope.
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