Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople expressed his deep sorrow on Monday for the victims of the presumed terrorist explosion in Istanbul on Sunday that claimed the lives of six people and injured 81 in the Taksim Square shopping district, writes James Roberts. A suspect – a Syrian woman – has been arrested. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the “vile attack” and said “the smell of terror” was in the air. Patriarch Krill of Moscow also sent condolences to President Erdogan, as did the United States. However Interior Minister Süleyman Soylu rejected the US condolences. “I emphasise once again that we do not accept, and reject the condolences of the US Embassy,” Soylu said, according to state media publication Anadolu Agency. He said the US statement was like “a killer being first to show up at a crime scene.”
Opposition to a planned biblical reading about marriage at a girls’ school graduation mass shows society is becoming “increasingly hostile to Christian beliefs”, according to Tasmania’s Catholic archbishop, Julian Porteous of Hobart. Archbishop Porteous changed the reading from Ephesians 5:21-24 which includes the words “as the Church is subject to Christ, so should wives be to their husbands”, after complaints from parents, teachers and pupils of St Mary’s Catholic College, Hobart, but then used a Sunday homily to criticise those who had opposed the reading.
The Vatican’s first auditor general and his deputy have sued the Holy See for €9.3 million (£8.2 million) for wrongful dismissal. In a lawsuit made public last week, Libero Milone and his deputy, Ferruccio Panicco, alleged that Vatican gendarmes essentially extorted them by forcing them to resign in 2017 or risk arrest and prosecution for their work investigating and auditing the Holy See’s finances. In the lawsuit filed with the Vatican tribunal, the auditors said they uncovered astonishing financial malpractice in the “viper’s nest” of the Vatican and believe they were forced out because certain cardinals and monsignors “felt threatened by the investigations and simple requests for clarification.” The Vatican spokesman’s office declined to comment.
Pope Francis on Monday last week met with Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church, in the Vatican. Major Archbishop Shevchuk was visiting the Vatican for a week of meetings, to bring attention to the plight of the Ukrainian people since Russia invaded in February.
Speaking at the Sunday Angelus in St Peter’s Square, after Russia pulled its forces out of the city of Kherson and evacuated some 130,000 citizens, said: “Let us always remain close to our brothers and sisters in martyred Ukraine: close in prayer and in concrete solidarity. Peace is possible! Let us not resign ourselves to war.”
The Staten Island ferry, which carries commuters from the residential borough to downtown Manhattan, christened its newest ship the “Dorothy Day,” the co-founder of the Catholic Worker Movement whose cause for sainthood has been introduced. Day lived on Staten Island, was received into the Catholic faith there, and is buried on the island. “Dorothy Day represents so much of what is great about New Yorkers,” said New York Mayor Eric Adams.”
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, led a Mass for the souls of those who died trying to cross the Rio Grande River at a temporary altar built over the river’s waters. According to border authorities, 853 persons died trying to enter the US this year. Seitz was joined by Bishop José Guadalupe Torres Campos of Ciudad Juárez and Peter Baldacchino of Las Cruces.
Brazil’s National Eucharistic Congress opened on Friday 11 November in Olinda, in the northeastern state of Pernambuco. The theme is “Bread on all tables”. The papal legate, Cardinal António Augusto dos Santos Marto, emeritus bishop of the diocese of Leiria-Fátima (Portugal), stressed that “this event cannot be merely devotional and inward-looking… it is also an appeal to us to be convinced and courageous witnesses to the joy of the Gospel, to the fraternity, justice and peace that Jesus brings to the world.”
Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI will give evidence in court against a civil claim that he was negligent in his handling of a clerical abuse case in Germany. A former Archbishop of Munich and Freising, he is expected to submit a written testimony in defence of his treatment of Fr Peter Hullerman, a priest who continued to abuse boys after Church authorities received complaints about him. Lawyers representing a man who says he was abused by the priest as a 12-year-old say the Archdiocese of Munich allowed Hullerman to transfer from a diocese in the north west of Germany even though it was alerted to allegations that he had sexually assaulted an 11-year-old boy there. The transfer dates to the period when the future Pope Benedict was archbishop. On his arrival in Munich, Hullerman went on to commit sexual offences against other boys.
Hong Kong’s Catholic bishop, Stephen Chow Sau-yan, 63, has called on Beijing to make the “red lines” of the national security law clearer for Hongkongers in order to heal fractures in society and move forward. The leader of the city’s 400,000 Catholics said various groups cared only about their own interests, but everyone had a role in reconciling a society wounded deeply by the anti-government protests in 2019. Bishop Chow, installed as head of the Catholic Diocese last December, shared his views in an interview with an alumni publication of Jesuit Wah Yan College, Kowloon.
Pope Francis received Fr James Martin, SJ, in a private audience in the apostolic palace inside the Vatican on Friday. In a tweet published afterwards, Fr Martin wrote he was “deeply grateful to meet with Pope Francis in the Apostolic Palace this morning for 45 minutes.” The conversation covered “the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties, of LGBTQ Catholics”.
The Armenian Catholic Patriarch has criticised Azerbaijan’s attacks on several Armenian villages in September and the “complete indifference” of international politicians to the attacks. Speaking at the inauguration of an Armenian parish centre in Hungary on 2 November, Patriarch Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian felt that, “no nation or world power has any interest in the Armenian people right now.” He complained about “forces attacking us, violating our borders; everyone knows what is going on, and, still, they let them destroy us.” He reported, “a real hatred towards Christians in the region.” The new Armenian parish centre in Budapest, which has been renovated with funds from the Hungarian government, will host educational and cultural projects, as well as the archives of the Hungarian-Armenian community.
Opposition to a planned biblical reading about marriage at a girls' school graduation mass shows society is becoming “increasingly hostile to Christian beliefs”, according to Tasmania's Catholic archbishop. Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart changed the reading after complaints from parents, teachers and pupils of Hobart Catholic school St Mary's College, but then used a Sunday homily to criticise those who had opposed the reading from Ephesians 5: 21-24 which includes: “as the Church is subject to Christ, so should wives be to their husbands”. Archbishop Porteous felt it was “not unusual for the teaching of sacred scripture to be at variance with the attitudes and ethos of our age”.
Pope Francis has insisted “lives must be saved” as the new Italian government cracks down on refugees. He was speaking on 6 November in response to the struggle of four rescue boats to secure Italian government authorisation to dock in a port and disembark more than 1,000 migrants they had rescued from the Mediterranean. He did praise the Italian government for allowing the most vulnerable passengers - women, children and the sick - to disembark in Sicily from one boat. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who took office last month, had said her government will tighten immigration requirements, increase deportations and rebuff rescue ships. Pope Francis has urged the European Union to “take in hand a policy of collaboration and help”, saying it cannot leave the responsibility for migrants to the countries where most arrive by sea.
Millions of people displaced by conflict and persecution in the Middle East face “extreme hardship” this winter, warns the UN refugee agency UNHCR. At risk are 3.4 million displaced Syrians and Iraqis, while the most critical situation is in Lebanon, where Cardinal Bechara Rai has repeatedly warned of escalating economic, financial and social crises.
Bishop Luka Sylvester Gopep, auxiliary in Minna, Nigeria, has said next year’s elections represent an important opportunity to try to elect “people who care about the common good and who will not pillage our common inheritance to satisfy themselves, their families, patrons and friends.” He felt, “people want change in Nigeria.” Presidential and other elections are scheduled for 25 February 2023. At the close of the Nigerian Catholic Church’s third pastoral congress on 8-11 November in Benin City, affirmed the importance of listening and dialogue in the context of the synod on synodality.
Pope Francis has blessed a new sculpture in St Peter’s Square to highlight the World Day of the Poor on 13 November. The new sculpture is a life-sized depiction of a homeless man lying on the ground while a dove in flight pulls a blanket over the naked figure. On the actual day, poor people were special guests in St Peter's Basilica where Pope Francis celebrated a special Mass. Afterwards, following a two-year gap because of Covid, Pope Francis shared a “convivial” lunch with vulnerable people and volunteers. The health clinic in St Peter’s Square provided free health screenings and medical care. Catholic Churches globally renewed promises to support people in need and pursue justice for the poor.
Catholic bishops of Democratic Republic of Congo are urging prayer and fasting, plus support for a peace march on 4 December, to urge improved security as violence across the country has led to thousands of people being displaced. Caritas Congo reports that more than 2,600 refugees, including many children, have fled to neighbouring Congo-Brazzaville and are living in precarious conditions.
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