Bishop Rolf Steinhäuser, the Apostolic Administrator of the Cologne archdiocese during Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki’s leave of absence determined by Pope Francis, has asked Rome to look into the archdiocesan expense accounts. These show that the archdiocese spent £2.4 million on consultants between 2019 and 2021. Bishop Steinhäuser was alerted to possible irregularities by Gordon Sobbeck, the Cologne archdiocesan director of finance. In an interview for KNA, Mr Sobbeck explained that it was a case of investigating whether or not canon law 1277 CIC and the particular norm number 18 of the German bishops’ conference had been adhered to. For sums over 500 000 euros, both the “Vermögensrat” (asset council) and the cathedral chapter would have had to be consulted, and it was not obvious that they had been. Cardinal Woelki spent the £2.4m between 2019 and 2021 on financial experts, media lawyers and communications consultants. As soon as he was informed of these possible irregularities, Bishop Steinhäuser commissioned two canon lawyers to examine Cardinal Woelki’s and his vicar general Markus Hofmann’s expense accounts to see if they were in order. He also immediately informed the Vatican. The German bishops’ conference will scrutinise the result of the examination and decide whether Cardinal Woelki acted correctly or not.
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States, has called for seafarers’ rights to be upheld amidst growing concerns over violence at sea. He told the International Maritime Organisation in London on 7 December that many seafarers are still being denied shore leave and access to welfare services, as well as being vulnerable to violence and abuse at sea, including pirate attacks and slavery.
Bishop William Medley of Owensboro, Kentucky, asked for prayers and financial assistance for the people of his diocese after a series of strong tornadoes ripped through several towns. “Many of those injured in the Mayfield candle factory were parishioners, and others represented migrants and the marginalised in our communities,” Bishop Medley said of one of the towns in his diocese that was especially hard hit. The death total has exceeded 80 in Kentucky, with more fatalities expected. Pope Francis has sent a message of solidarity to those afflicted by the storms to Archbishop José Gomez, president of the US bishops’ conference.
Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon and President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Myanmar, said in his Advent message that “the repugnant violence over the last 10 months has offended the sensibilities of the world, yet we do not accept the evil of despair and hate”. He expressed concern for the young, “for just a year ago, they had their dreams”, and he urged them to “hold the truth; hold love; for there is always a nonviolent path, a peaceful solution.” Myanmar’s Catholic Bishops called for charitable works for those suffering since the February 2021 military coup in the country.
Bishop Felix Lian Khen Thang of Kalay Diocese called for Catholics to act as “good Samaritans” over Christmas. Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari was among those laying the foundation of the Kaduna Centre for the Study of Christian-Muslim Relations on 8 December. He welcomed the centre’s goal of improving interfaith relations in northern Nigeria and promised the government’s support.
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, sent a goodwill message commending the foresight of the founder and Secretary-General of the Anglican Communion Worldwide, Archbishop Josiah Idowu-Fearon, a former Archbishop of Kaduna, for promoting peace in Kaduna State. Cardinal John Onaiyekan, Archbishop Emeritus of Abuja, is the Catholic member of the board.
Accepting her Nobel Peace Prize on 10 December, Catholic Filipina journalist Maria Ressa attacked US tech giants, accusing them of fuelling a flood of “toxic sludge” on social media. The co-founder of Rappler, an investigative journalism website critical of criticised Facebook in particular. She noted that, “35 years after the People Power Revolt ousted Ferdinand Marcos and forced his family into exile, his son, Ferdinand Marcos Jr, is the frontrunner for president, and has built an extensive disinformation network on social media”.
Catholic Jimmy Lai has been convicted over a banned Tiananmen Square vigil in Hong Kong. On Monday, already behind bars, he was sentenced to another 13 months in jail. Seven others also received jail terms. Lai, 74, the owner of the now-shuttered pro-democracy Apple Daily newspaper, was found guilty of unlawful assembly at a June 2020 vigil, held to commemorate the victims of Beijing’s Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989.
The Vatican has released a liturgical rite and guidelines for the institution of men and women as catechists. Earlier this year, Pope Francis formally created the lay ministry. In a letter to bishops, Archbishop Arthur Roche, the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, explained that catechists are “co-responsible” with the clergy for the “proclamation and transmission of the faith”.
Catholic leaders have questioned migrants’ deaths in Chiapas, Mexico, after a truck packing in more than 150 migrants flipped over on 9 December, killing at least 55 of them and injuring dozens more. Most of the victims were from Guatemala. The Archdiocese of Tuxtla Gutiérrez highlighted “the terrible drama experienced by migrants in their passage through our country”, and said it also “exposes the corruption still prevalent around the issue of migration”.
Pope Francis on Saturday met participants in the plenary assembly of the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. “Everything we do is at the service of the Gospel, and you serve that ‘gospel’, which is consecrated life, so that it may be the gospel for the world today,” he said.
The Catholic social activist and founder of the Catholic Worker movement Dorothy Day is one step closer to canonisation with the conclusion of the diocesan stage of her cause. The cause was physically visible at a New York Mass on 8 December, marking the end of the local process, in the form of 137 archival boxes containing 50,000 pages of documents attesting to her holiness.
Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, head of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, last week consecrated Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral in Bahrain, describing it as “a living sign of God’s care for his flock”. Archbishop named Pope Francis has named Archbishop Jorge Carlos Patrón Wong as leader of the Archdiocese of Xalapa in his native Mexico, the Vatican announced. Wong has been serving in the Vatican’s Congregation for Clergy, where he was the secretary for seminaries, an influential position charged with the oversight of priestly formation around the world.
The theme for the 55th World Day of Peace, on 1 January 2022, will be, “education, work and dialogue between generations: tools for building lasting peace”. The Pope’s message will be an invitation “to read the signs of the times with the eyes of faith”.
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