A Catholic priest in north Nigeria burned to death last Sunday after armed bandits set fire to his presbytery. Fr Isaac Aachi’s body was found on January 15, amid the charred remains of SS Peter and Paul Church in Kafin Koro, a village in Niger state.
A second priest, Fr Collins Omeh, escaped the presbytery but is being treated in hospital for gun wounds, according to the Catholic Diocese of Minna.
According to the Pope, one out of every seven Christians in the world is now experiencing persecution, even in countries where believers are not a minority.
Addressing the Vatican diplomatic corps last week, the 86-year-old pontiff also voiced concern about the “weakening of democracy” in many parts of the world, including Brazil and across the Americas, where he said political polarisation is fuelling social conflicts.
A six-day synod of the bishops of the Syro-Malabar Church in India last week failed to resolve a long-running liturgical dispute, which had led to violent scenes in the cathedral of the Church’s major archbishop.
The synod had hoped to find a compromise on the celebration of a uniform rite of the Holy Qurbana, the Syro-Malabar eucharistic rite, which the Archeparchy of Ernakulam-Angamaly refuses to accept.
The uniform rite, implemented in August 2021, requires the priest to face ad orientem for the Liturgy of the Eucharist, but the refusal of the archeparchy’s priests to comply led to public clashes between clergy and laity in December last year.
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the US bishops’ conference, is urging Catholics to continue the legacy of the civil rights leader, Dr Martin Luther King Jr.
Archbishop Broglio said, “Remembering that Dr. King was guided first by his faith also challenges us to personal conversion. Unjust structures exist because personal sin persists.”
Junta warplanes in Myanmar bombed a village church in Karen state last week, killing five people, including a child and two pastors, and forcing hundreds to flee. Religious minorities have faced increased military violence which has targeted churches, convents and other religious institutions across the predominately Christian regions of Kachin, Kayah, Karen, and Chin states.
An investigation into clergy sex abuse in Kansas has concluded with no charges being pressed against priests. The Kansas Bureau of Investigation identified 188 clergy in the state’s four Catholic diocese who were suspected of abusing minors in cases dating back to the 1950s.
Most of the accused appear to be now dead or else the statute of limitations has expired in the cases involved. Advocates for victims’ rights are urging the local legislature to lift the statute of limitations.
A Nigerian Catholic who survived an 11-day crossing to the Canary Islands balancing on the narrow rudder of an oil tanker is one of the first refugees to be helped by a Spanish Church initiative.
Henry is receiving aid from the“Hospitality Corridors” scheme run by the bishops of the Canary Islands and the Migrants’ Office of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference. The scheme aims to ease overcrowding in the Canary Islands, which received 15,682 refugees in 2022. The local Church is asking dioceses on mainland Spain to take refugees from the Canary Islands and offer them help.
In November, a Claretian priest visited Henry in hospital in Gran Canaria after he arrived from Lagos suffering from hypothermia and dehydration. Fr José Antonio Benítez offered Henry legal assistance and an opportunity to request asylum. The Church contacted the local government office and the High Commissioner for civic rights and civil liberties in the Spanish parliament on Henry’s behalf with the relevant paperwork.
Currently in a refugee camp on Gran Canaria, Henry and two other refugees are due to travel to Madrid soon to receive help from Caritas and the Migrants’ Office of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference in partnership with the Italian foundation, Cassa dello Spirito e delle Arte.
“God saved me, not my own strength,” Henry told the Spanish weekly newspaper, Alfa y Omega. “I really appreciate all the help I have received.”
Bishops in Illinois have praised a new law banning the sale or distribution of assault weapons. They said: “Too many times our state has witnessed the horror of mass shootings, and we hope this legislation will help to provide some peace in our communities.”
The ruling makes Illinois the ninth US state to adopt an assault weapons’ ban. However, the law may be thrown out by the conservative majority at the US Supreme Court, which has repeatedly vetoed previous laws restricting the use of arms.
Bishops in Peru have condemned the deaths of more than 40 people, some as young as 15, in protests in the wake of president Pedro Castillo’s removal from congress last December . The bishops called on the government to “stop as a matter of urgency the violence and the deaths, wherever they come from”.
The first March for Life in Washington since the overturning of America’s abortion laws last June will take place on Saturday, January 21. It will be the 50th March for Life since the Supreme Court’s decision in 1973 to legalise abortion based on the case of Roe vs Wade.
“We are overjoyed to welcome these inspiring pro-life leaders at this year’s 50th March for Life, the first in our post Roe nation,” said Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life Education and Defense Fund. “With Roe now behind us, we are empowered to save countless innocent American lives.”
For the first time, Frank Pavone, former director of Priests for Life will not address the event. Laicised by the Vatican last year for “blasphemous communications on social media” and “persistent disobedience of the lawful instructions of his diocesan bishop,” Pavone plans to hold a press conference
The Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II has declared that homosexual behaviour does not conform to the Bible and to the will of God. In a television interview last week, Pope Tawadros said programmes had been introduced in Coptic Church kindergartens and primary schools to protect children from theories not compliant with the Bible regarding relationships between the sexes and sexual orientation.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court has ordered the former president, Maithripala Sirisena, to pay compensation to the victims of the 2019 Easter bombings. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo has repeatedly criticised the government of Sri Lanka for its inadequate investigation into the Easter Sunday 2019 bombings churches and hotels which killed 279 people.
In India, Christian organisations are demanding an investigation into sectarian violence that has displaced more than 1,000 Christians. There have been 80 attacks in the last three months but police have not recorded a single incident. Houses of Christians have been demolished, their belongings stolen, and they are barred from access to local wells.
Justin Pallivadukkal, president of the United Christian Front, said: “We appeal to the provincial government to order a probe headed by a retired judge of the high court into the violence at Narayanpur and Kondagaon districts.”
St Anne’s Church in the Diocese of Penang has become the first basilica in Malaysia. Cardinal William Goh, the Archbishop of Singapore presided over a special Mass at the 176-year church in Penang Diocese last week. The 2,000-strong congregation included Bishop Sebastian Francis of Penang who described St Anne’s as “a shrine of harmony”.
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