On Brazil’s Amazon Day on 5 September, Cardinal Cláudio Hummes, president of the Amazonian Bishops’ Conference, urged celebration of the day, mindful of current rainforest destruction and engagement with the struggle to preserve and care for the unique rainforest environment. The day was organised by the Pan-Amazonian Ecclesial Network (Repam-Brazil) in collaboration with the Brazilian Bishops’ Conference and involved tree planting, special liturgies and training young people for advocacy work on deforestation, illegal mining and other threats to the region.
Bishop Rolando Álvarez of Matagalpa, Nicaragua, has called for investigation into the massacre of 13 indigenous people two weeks ago. He launched the appeal on 29 August after the group was killed by settlers invading their land. On 27 August, non-governmental organisations reported the killings in an area called Caribe Norte. Among the victims was a six-year-old boy.
A group of Papuan priests are supporting a district head who is being sued for revoking palm oil companies’ licences and returning land to indigenous people. The priests, from Manokwari-Sorong Diocese in West Papua, Indonesia, said they fully support Sorong district head Johny Kamuru, who revoked the permits of four palm oil companies “to save the forests and lands inherited by the Moi tribe”.
The mortal remains of Korea’s first three Catholic martyrs have been recovered more than two centuries after their deaths, the Diocese of Jeonju has announced. Bishop John Kim Son-Tae of Jeonju reported on 1 September that historical research and DNA tests confirmed that the remains are of Paul Yun Ji-chung and James Kwon Sang-yeon, both beheaded in 1791, and Yun’s brother Francis Yun Ji-heon, who was martyred in 1801, During his visit to South Korea in 2014, Pope Francis beatified the three along with 120 other martyrs.
The Archbishop of Panama has lamented that, “we have a corrupt society, and no one takes the first step to transform it” Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa urged Panamanians last week to tackle the “great problem” of corruption and to choose political leaders wisely. His plea followed a series of scandals linked to alleged acts of corruption, highlighted in the media.
The Salvadoran bishops’ conference has announced 22 January 2022 as the date for the Beatification of four Salvadoran martyrs: Jesuit priest Rutilio Grande, lay people Manuel Solórzano and Nelson Rutilio, and the Italian Franciscan Fray Cosme Spessotto.The bishops’ statement said Cardinal Gregorio Rosa Chávez will preside over the ceremony in the Cathedral of San Salvador. Fr Grande was assassinated on 12 March 1977 by death squads of the Salvadoran army, along with the two lay people with him in a jeep. Their funeral Mass was celebrated by St Oscar Romero – a close friend of Fr Grande – when he was archbishop of San Salvador. Fr Spessotto was shot dead in San Juan Nonualco on 14 June 1980, while praying before celebrating Mass.
The Holy Trinity (Surp Yerrortutyun) Armenian Church in Malatya, Turkey, has hosted its first religious service since the 1915 Armenian genocide. Now restored and functioning as a cultural and art centre, local officials said, “from now on, the Armenian sanctuary will serve as a cultural centre and the Armenian community will be allowed to hold liturgical, baptism and wedding ceremonies”. Armenians from across the country and local politicians attended the opening ceremony and service on 29 August, presided over by the Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople, Archbishop Sahak Masalyan.
A diocese in Catholic-majority Timor-Leste has officially suspended from priestly duties a cleric who intends to run for president next year. Bishop Dom Basilio do Nascimento of Baucau announced last week that he had terminated the sacramental services of diocesan priest Fr Martinho Germano da Silva Gusmao. Fr Gusmao said he wants to run for office "without being burdened by the rules imposed by the Church."
Myanmar’s military continues to target Catholic and Baptist churches in Chin state, a predominantly Christian area in the Buddhist-majority country. On 31 August, soldiers occupying St John Catholic Church in the village of Chat, Mindat township, opened a tabernacle, pulled out consecrated hosts and ransacked the building. Soldiers also destroyed Bibles and the generator at a Baptist church in Chat.
The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith concluded that allegations Brooklyn, New York Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio sexually molested two boys while serving as a priest in New Jersey “do not have the semblance of truth.”An investigation was conducted under the terms of Pope Francis’ 2019 motu proprio Vos estis lux mundiby New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan. The cardinal hired an independent law firm to conduct the investigation. A lawyer for the alleged victims dismissed the result, saying it was “biased because the investigators were controlled by and paid for by the Catholic Church”, and said his clients will continue to pursue civil charges against DiMarzio.
Mother Mary Paschal of the Lamb of God was elected abbess of the Our Lady of the Angels monastery in rural Alabama. The 38-year old nun grew up in Maryland and joined the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration during college. The monastery was founded by Mother Angelica, who also founded the Eternal Word Television Network.
The head of the Brussels-based commission representing the European Union's Catholic bishops has urged governments to “show humanity and determination” by setting up projects for people fleeing Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover. “It is time to show humanity amid the cruelty, to prove EU values are not just empty rhetoric but practical guiding principles that lead to action,” Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich said in a joint statement with Revd Christian Krieger, president of the non-Catholic Conference of European Churches.
A Catholic political prisoner has urged the Pope to help ease the “despair” felt by citizens of Belarus, by taking a stand “for goodness, truth and justice” in the former Soviet republic. “I am asking you to call on these terrible people who do not care about the lives of others and of hundreds of grief-stricken families to stop,” said Ihar Losik, a former journalist with Radio Liberty. The letter was published as two more protest leaders, Maria Kolesnikova and Maxim Znak, were given heavy jail terms on Monday for challenging President Alexander Lukashenko’s discredited August 2020 re-election after 26 years in power.
Police in Montenegro have used live rounds and teargas to disperse mass protests against a new Serbian Orthodox church leader, who was elected for the country last May despite widespread opposition. Local media said at least 1800 police had been deployed to Cetinje, Montenegro's ancient capital, for Sunday's enthronement of Metropolitan Joanikije Micovic, in succession to Metropolitan Amfilohije Radovic, who died of Covid-19 in autumn 2020. Meanwhile, the country’s Interior Ministry confirmed that police and civilians had been injured, when opponents of the current pro-Serbian government attempted to barricade entrances to the town, despite pleas by Orthodox leaders not to link the new metropolitan's installation to current political conflicts.
National governments in the former Yugoslavia have encouraged Orthodox communities to assert independence from the Serbian Orthodox church, despite claims its canonical rights still extend to neighbouring states. Metropolitan Joanikije’s inauguration was attended in Cetinje’s medieval Blessed Virgin monastery by Serbian and Russian Orthodox leaders.
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