The African continent is seeing an increasing number of violent attacks on Christians, according to Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga (pictured), Archbishop of Bangui in Central African Republic. “These attacks have targeted priests at the altar, religious representatives and also ordinary believers,” he said. But he warned Christians “not to respond to violence with violence”. Last week, the bishops of Burkina Faso and Niger said that, “despite the commitment of the defence and security forces, terrorist attacks are intensifying and have taken on a new religious dimension, through targeted kidnappings and homicides”.
Poles to train more exorcists
The Catholic Church in Poland is to become the first after Italy’s to set up a national preparation programme for exorcists, amid fears of an upsurge of satanist groups and claims of possession in the mainly Catholic country.
With 120 registered exorcists, the Church in Poland has long recognised procedures for expelling alleged demons and evil spirits from troubled Catholics. However, Bishop Andrzej Czaja of Opole, head of the Church’s Faith Doctrine Commission, said firmer rules were needed, specifying practices that were officially identified with the Church, as well as guidelines to ensure exorcists co-ordinated with professional psychologists.
Polish bishops have staged nationwide expiation Masses after anti-Church events took place across the country, in which LGBT activists and others parodied and ridiculed Catholic rites and ceremonies. The special rites were performed after parish Masses on Sunday, following incidents that included the stabbing of a priest outside his church in Wroclaw and the parodying of images of the Virgin Mary and other Christian symbols by gay rights campaigners in Czestochowa, Gdansk, Krakow and other cities.
Martyred nuns beatified
A group of Immaculate Conception nuns in Spain shot by Republicans during the 1936-9 Civil War have been beatified, bringing the number of Spanish Catholics honoured as martyrs under Pope Francis to more than 890.
“When attempts were made to eliminate the Church in Spain, they remained strong in faith, suffering persecution and death because of their total attachment to Christ,” said Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints. “Their executioners were militiamen guided by hatred of the Church.”
Saturday’s beatification Mass in Madrid’s La Almudena Cathedral was attended by relatives of 14 members of the Order of the Immaculate Conception who were imprisoned, tortured and executed after communist and anarchist armed groups seized their convents in Madrid and Toledo in July 1936.
Indianapolis Archbishop Charles Thompson has issued a canonical decree stripping the Jesuit-run Brebeuf High School of its Catholic status after the school refused to fire a teacher who had entered into a same-sex marriage. The decree severs all ties with the archdiocese and prevents the school from calling itself Catholic. Officials at the school and Jesuits in the Midwest Province of the Society have contested the archbishop’s authority over the personnel of a school run by a religious order. The Jesuits have said they will appeal the decision to Rome.
Cardinals Ricardo Ezzati and Francisco Errázuriz, both emeritus archbishops of Santiago who have been subpoenaed by local prosecutors for covering up cases of clerical sexual abuse, attended the episcopal ordination of Alberto Lorenzelli at the Vatican on 22 June, that was presided over by Pope Francis. Lorenzelli, born in Argentina but raised in Italy, was chaplain of the Vatican’s Directorate of Security Services and Civil Protection.
Police in Mexico have detained a Mexico City priest, Fr Francisco Javier Bautista, as the prime suspect in the murder of Leonardo Avendaño, 29, who studied theology at the Catholic Intercontinental University. Bautista worked with Avendaño at the Christ the Saviour Parish.
In a much-anticipated decision, the United States Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that the Bladensburg, Maryland Peace Cross did not endorse religion and therefore does not violate the country’s constitution. The cross was built on public land in 1925 to honour those who died in the First World War.
The Albanian bishops’ conference has appealed to the country’s political leaders to combat deepening political hostilities in the country. “We beg you to open a new chapter in your politics. Forget the harsh words you have directed to your opponents,” the bishops wrote in a letter dated 20 June.
Cardinal John Tong Hon, Apostolic Administrator of Hong Kong, has called on the territory’s leader, Carrie Lam, (pictured) to completely withdraw, rather than simply suspend, a controversial extradition bill. The proposed legislation would ease the transfer of suspects to mainland China. A Christian hymn, “Sing Alleluia to the Lord”, has become the unofficial anthem of the protests that have drawn millions of people on to the streets of Hong Kong.
At least 100 people have died in a record-breaking heatwave that swept the Indian state of Bihar, which borders Nepal, in June. “It is a very tough situation and we don’t know how to deal with it,” said Archbishop William D’Souza of Patna. He added that poor people without adequate shelter and water had been worst affected.
‘Shoe parade’ for refugees
Hundreds of pairs of shoes were lined up along a road in the city of Marawi in the southern Philippines on World Refugee Day last week to remember those who died during the 2017 conflict that devastated the city. The 20 June “shoe parade” aimed to lobby the government to hasten the rebuilding of the Muslim-majority city and compensate those affected by the conflict. The “parade” led to temporary shelters where an estimated 2,000 families still live. A five-month siege displaced about half a million people after Islamist gunmen attacked Marawi, on Mindanao, in May 2017. At least 66,000 people remain in temporary shelters.
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