Congolese bishops are calling for a “credible” presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 23 December amid dismay in the country over the voting process, a volatile political situation, chronic poverty and an outbreak of Ebola.
The new Archbishop of Kinshasa, Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, has appealed to the people “not to succumb to provocation and violence during this presidential campaign”.
After delaying a new poll for two years, long-time President Joseph Kabila finally agreed to step aside. He has been the target of popular protests and 15 people were killed this year while attending peaceful, church-organised rallies.
The two main candidates vying to replace Mr Kabila are his handpicked successor and one of the opposition leaders. The Congolese bishops have declined to endorse a specific candidate.
However, the Catholic Church has expressed concern over electronic voting machines that some opposition figures have described as “rigging machines”. Last week, an unexplained warehouse blaze destroyed thousands of voting machines and ballot boxes in the capital, Kinshasa. The government has refused to accept any foreign assistance in the holding of the election.
Only around 1,000 of the 10,000 young people from the Diocese of Granada in Nicaragua who were hoping to go to Panama for the 22-27 January World Youth Day will be able to attend the events, Bishop Jorge Solórzano Pérez of Granada, who is responsible for the country’s youth ministry, told the US Catholic website, Crux. The bishop explained that many of the youngsters were still in hiding after a clampdown by the Nicaraguan authorities following an outbreak of anti-government unrest in April.
Pope Francis is to visit Bulgaria and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in May next year. The Holy See Press Office said that the Pope had accepted invitations from the civil authorities and the Catholic Church in the two states.
He will visit Sofia and Rakovski during the 5-7 May visit to Bulgaria, and on 7 May will travel to Skopje in Macedonia, where Mother Teresa (above) was born in 1910 of Albanian parents. The Pope canonised her as St Teresa of Calcutta in September 2016.
Bulgaria and Macedonia are both mainly Orthodox Christian countries with significant Muslim minorities and small Catholic communities.
The Vatican has also confirmed trips to Panama for World Youth Day, Morocco and United Arab Emirates in the first half of the year, with possible visits to Madagascar and Japan in 2019 as well.
Between 8 and 10 million people descended on the Basilica of Mexico City last week to celebrate the 487th anniversary of the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe. Pilgrims arrived on Monday and Tuesday last week, and on Wednesday at noon the Archbishop of Mexico, Carlos Aguiar Retes, celebrated Mass.
In the United States, the country’s largest religious gathering grew even larger this year, as some 300,000 pilgrims (pictured) made their way to the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Des Plaines, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The pilgrims walk miles from parishes throughout the region, and others come by bus.
A vigil Mass starts the celebrations, followed by torchlight processions, a Midnight Mass, singing throughout the night, and around-the-clock Masses on the feast day itself. The Des Plaines celebration is the largest in the world outside Mexico City. It is the only place, other than the basilica, where pilgrims can “fulfill their pledges or promise to Our Lady of Guadalupe”, according to the Church.
Gunman kills four in cathedral
Four people were killed and four more injured when Euler Fernando Grandolpho opened fire in the cathedral in Campinas in Brazil after midday Mass on Tuesday last week. The 49-year-old turned the gun on himself after police shot him. No motive has been established for the killings.
Former Archbishop of St Paul and Minneapolis, John Nienstedt, has had his ministry restricted. The current archbishop, Bernard Hebda, said that until “all open allegations are resolved”, his predecessor is not free to exercise public ministry in the archdiocese. The 11-member Ministerial Review Board recommended that Archbishop Hebda publicly clarify that Archbishop Nienstedt, like any priest facing similar allegations, is not free to engage in public ministry in the archdiocese until pending allegations are resolved. Archbishop Hebda said he agrees with the recommendation, and that the action “is not intended to convey an indication or presumption of guilt”.
The clarification of Archbishop’s Nienstedt’s ministry restrictions refers to a 2014 investigation into allegations that he had engaged in sexual misconduct with adults as a priest in Detroit and Rome, and as a bishop of New Ulm. The archbishop, who resigned as leader of the archdiocese in June 2015, has maintained that he is innocent.
US returns church bells
Three church bells (above) seized as a war trophy by US troops 117 years ago from San Lorenzo de Martir Church in Balangiga were returned to the Philippines last week, following a controversial decision to repatriate them as a gesture of friendship. “Their safe return is thanks to the efforts of US Secretary of Defense James Mattis, supported by President Trump, and is driven by respect for the Philippines,” the US ambassador, Sung Kim, wrote in The Philippine Star.
Israeli authorities this year have rejected nearly all permit applications for Gazan Christians to travel to the West Bank for Christmas. Only Christians over 55 are obtaining permits. Over the last nine months, Palestinians have held weekly demonstrations along the Gaza-Israel buffer zone.
‘Silent Night’ celebration
As “Silent Night” celebrates its 200th anniversary on Christmas Eve, a delegation of Austrian parliamentarians presented Pope Francis with a CD entitled 200 Years of Silent Night, Holy Night – A Song Goes Round the World on 12 December. The CD is a recording of a performance by the MPs in St Stephen’s Cathedral, Vienna, on 30 November, in aid of families with special needs.
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