As more troops arrive in the Mozambican province of Cabo Delgado to fight jihadists allegedly belonging to the Islamic State, a Jesuit has supported Church concerns about a military response. Fr Alberto Maquia, of the Jesuit South African province, suggested last week that, military interventions, usually by foreign soldiers, have temporarily weakened the opponents but "without achieving lasting stability". He supports, "the initiative launched by Tanzania through Foreign Minister Liberata Mulamula to mediate between the government of Mozambique and the terrorists."
On 1 August, Benedictine monks moved into the Solignac Abbey in west-central France after a 230-year absence. It is the first time since the French Revolution that the Benedictines have returned to this historic Christian site, established by St Eligius in the seventh century.
On the eve of the country's national feast, Salvadoran Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chavez voiced worries that increasing political polarisation is threatening El Salvador’s stability. "The culture of confrontation and the culture of indifference prevail among us," the cardinal said in a 5 August homily at the Cathedral of San Salvador. "It is urgent to fight it with the culture of peace." El Salvador celebrates the 6 August feast of the Transfiguration of Christ as a national holiday.
In a post on Instagram last week the American singer Britney Spears declared “I just got back from mass...I’m Catholic now...let us pray.” The 39-year-old was raised in a strict Baptist household and is a regular churchgoer, but has had a troubled relationship with her family. She has recently been in the headlines due to her ongoing court battles to free herself from the “conservatorship” established by her father in 2008 which gives him huge amounts of power over both the star’s daily life and her finances, an arrangement she has described as “abusive”.
Bishop Joseph Vianney Fernando of Kandy has urged Sri Lanka’s government to investigate the suspicious death of a young domestic worker and to end child labour, especially on tea estates. His call came after a 16-year-old girl, employed at the residence of a former cabinet minister, was admitted to hospital with severe burns on 3 July and died 12 days later. She had been subjected to repeated sexual assault. Bishop Fernando called for the protection of domestic workers' rights in a letter addressed to President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.
Bishop Bernard Emmanuel Kasanda Mulenga of Mbujimayi in Democratic Republic of Congo has denounced recent thefts and attacks on a dozen churches in his diocese in the Kasai region. "These are deliberate acts of desecration," he said last week. Targets have included the Cathedral of Saint Jean-Baptiste de Bonzola in Mbujimayi. Nationally, there are tensions between the Catholic Church and the government over delays in the election of the President of the Independent National Electoral Commission. On 1 August unidentified protesters threw stones at the residence of the Archbishop of Kinshasa, Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo.
Now that Covid deaths in South America’s Amazonia region number more than 100,000, the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (REPAM), which promotes indigenous people’s rights, has launched a campaign uirging national governments, "to spare no effort to buy and deliver vaccines for the Amazon region, especially for the poorest and most vulnerable". In addition, the population is called upon to "to get vaccinated and not be fooled by disinformation.”
Judge Kathleen Cardone issued a ruling temporarily blocking Republican Governor of Texas Greg Abbott’s order barring anyone but law enforcement from transporting undocumented workers. The order would have hit Catholic and other religious aid agencies directly. The federal Department of Justice filed notice it plans to challenge the order.
The US Conference of Catholic Bishops is working through its Migration and Refugee Services agencies to resettle Afghan interpreters who have fled that country as the US pulls out its military forces. “By working with the United States, each of these individuals has put their lives and those of their family and friends at risk,” said conference President Archbishop Jose Gomez and chair of the Migration Committee, Bishop Mario Dorsonville. “As they now leave everything behind to begin new lives here, the many sacrifices they've made should not go unacknowledged.”
A memo sent to all priests in the Archdiocese of New York declared: “There is no basis for a priest to issue a religious exemption to the [Covid] vaccine”. The memo from the Vicar General and Chancellor of the archdiocese came at a time when many companies are requiring employees get vaccinated in order to return to work. Most Catholic schools – at all levels – are likewise requiring students and employees to get vaccinated. However, the bishops of Colorado announced they were opposing any vaccine mandates, and defended the rights of those who “have well-founded convictions that lead them to discern they should not get vaccinated.” The bishops provided a template letter for employees to use when asserting a religious exemption from a vaccine mandate.
“Where is the government of South Sudan when communities are at war?” Bishop Edward Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio, President of the Interfaith Council for Peace Initiative, and Samuel Peni, Archbishop of the Lutheran Church of Yambio, asked in a joint statement last week. They condemned “growing violence in Western Equatoria State,” blaming "the country's tragic history, endemic corruption, internal political struggles, moral decay, lack of compliance with the law and unfavourable economic conditions, worsened by the COVID pandemic". Noting the recent celebration of the country’s tenth anniversary of independence, they reflected, “our hard-fought freedom is at stake.”
A Catholic diocese in South Korea has joined local government to organise funerals for those who die lonely deaths. Until now, such people were cremated by the government, mostly without religious rites. Under the deal, Suwon Diocese will organise funeral and commemoration ceremonies and Suwon city authority will finance the disposal of the body. Funeral services will be organised according to the deceased’s faith.
Sensitive to criticism of the government’s call on Ghanaians to support the construction of a new cathedral in Accra with monthly donations, the President of Ghana’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference said officials should have consulted the Churches first. Archbishop Philip Naameh of Tamale said last week, “I have a different opinion for funding the construction of the National Cathedral,” to be announced soon. The project was launched by the government in March 2017, for completion in March 2024. Critics suggest the government should instead raise revenue to improve health, education and the country’s infrastructure.
The use of “killer robots” and other lethal autonomous weapons systems violate international treaties because innocent civilians could be erroneously targeted, the Vatican permanent observer mission to UN agencies in Geneva said on 3 August in a presentation to the 2021 Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems.The potential of having "swarms of 'kamikaze' mini drones" and other advanced weaponry using artificial intelligence raises "serious implications for peace and security," warned the Vatican.
A weekly 30-minute Mass is the longest-running national broadcast on Australian television. Celebrating its 50th year this week, “Mass For You at Home” is produced by the Diocese of Wollongong with the Australian Catholic Bishops’ Conference. Bishop Brian Gregory Mascord of Wollongong, said it is a service “for people who are homebound, without internet, or in prison, aged care facilities and hospitals, as well as those flicking through the channels on a Sunday morning.”
Argentine Catholic Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta will go on trial on sexual abuse charges on 12-15 October, the public prosecutor’s office of Salta province announced on 6 August. Zanchetta, 57, was given a Vatican post by Pope Francis after he resigned as bishop of Orán, northwest Argentina, in 2017. He is charged with simple sexual abuse, aggravated by being committed by an officially recognised minister of religion, against two men identified as G.G.F.L. and C.M. Meanwhile Argentina is getting ready to change the death certificate of a Catholic bishop recognised by Pope Francis as a martyr to note that he didn’t die in an accident, but was murdered by the country’s military regime. The official death certificate of Bishop Enrique Angelelli notes that he died August 4, 1976, of natural causes after a car accident. However, Argentina’s justice system has acknowledged that he was murdered, and convicted those responsible.
The Vatican's nuncio in Bosnia-Herzegovinahas urged young people to show "testimony and courage" at the end of a international prayer meeting at Medjugorje, attended by more than 300 priests, as well as bishops from across Europe. "The whole Church, with all the pastors gathered here, entrusts you to the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary, as we ask her to hear our prayers and rescue us in our needs", said Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, the Sarajevo-based nuncio, who earlier delivered a message from Pope Francis. The nuncio made the appeal at the close of the week-long festival, marking the fortieth anniversary of the hilltop sanctuary, where a Church ban on organised pilgrimages was lifted under a May 2019 papal decree.
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