The Vietnamese government has permitted a Vatican diplomat to be permanently based in the country, almost 50 years after it expelled the apostolic delegate in 1975.
The agreement was announced on 27 July during a visit to the Vatican by Vietnamese President Vo Van Thuong, who met with Pope Francis and the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin. The two parties “expressed high appreciation for the noteworthy progress in the relations between Vietnam and the Holy See, and the positive contributions by the Catholic community of Vietnam thus far” in a joint communiqué after the meeting.
The Holy See said the representative would “provide support to the Vietnamese Catholic community in their undertakings in the spirit of the law and always inspired by the magisterium of the Church to fulfil the vocation of accompanying the nation and to be good Catholics and good citizens, contributing to the development of the country”.
There are an estimated 6.5 million Catholics in Vietnam. The Vietnamese bishops’ conference said after the announcement that “the regular presence of the apostolic vicar will help the people of God in Vietnam feel in communion with the Holy Father more concretely, and to live and bear witness to the Gospel among the people more actively”.
The agreement still falls short of full diplomatic relations, but marks an advance on the permission for a non-resident papal representative granted by the Vietnamese government in 2011. A Vietnam-Holy See working group had its latest meeting at the Vatican in March.
Archbishop Gilbert Garcera of Lipa in the Philippines has provided aid to victims and affected families after 27 passengers died in Languna de Bay, near Manila, when a ferry sank in stormy weather caused by a retreating typhoon on 27 July. Another 43 passengers were rescued.
The archbishop said that “more than Church aid we hope that truth and justice shall prevail”. The Philippines coast guard has blamed the disaster on overcrowding, since the ferry was carrying double the number of recommended passengers. It foundered 150 feet from shore when it was hit by a strong wave.
Syriac Catholic leaders have told a member of the Italian government that the economic sanctions against Syria are crushing the country’s Christian community and must be relaxed.
The Syrian archbishops and members of Aid to the Church in Need met Italy’s undersecretary of state Alfredo Mantovano on 24 July. He responded that sanctions should not hinder humanitarian aid and that the Italian government will discuss this problem with its allies.
Archbishop Jacques Mourad of Homs said the difficulty of transferring funds and importing goods into Syria makes humanitarian assistance almost impossible. Although sanctions officially permit humanitarian aid, this does not always work in practice because bank transfers to Syria are blocked.
Archbishop Antoine Chahda of Aleppo highlighted the extreme poverty in country, while Bishop Rami Al-Kabalan of Aretusa described the struggles of maintaining the Catholic education system.
Franciszek Blachnicki, the Polish priest who founded the international Oasis or Light-Life youth movement, has been posthumously awarded his country's highest honour, four months after confirmation that he was murdered by communist agents in 1987.
President Andrzej Duda had given the White Eagle to Blachnicki in recognition of his “remarkable services” to Poland “in times of peace and war”. Blachnicki, an Auschwitz survivor, converted to Catholicism after his 1942 guillotine sentence was commuted to hard labour under Nazi occupation.
He was placed under tight surveillance by Poland's post-war communist rulers following his 1950 ordination. Despite constant harassment, he founded a nationwide Catholic Temperance Crusade in 1957 while serving as parish priest, as well as Light-Life, which promoted renewal after the 1962-45 Second Vatican Council.
After Poland's Solidarity union was crushed by martial law in December 1981, he avoided arrest and stayed in West Germany where he set up a Marian institute at Carlsberg, as well as a Christian Service for the Liberation of Nations, but died suddenly in mysterious circumstances on 27 February 1987. Official confirmation in March that this was an assassination by communist agents led to renewed calls for his beatification as a martyr.
The Portuguese artist Bordalo II placed a walkway of fake 500-euro notes, dubbed “the Path of Shame”, on the steps of the altar to be used for World Youth Day in Lisbon, in protest at the government money spent on the event.
“In a secular state, at a time when many people are struggling to keep their homes, their jobs and their dignity, it has been decided to invest millions of public money to promote the tour of the Italian multinational. Habemus pasta,” he said. The cost of the event has provoked controversy and the city council’s bill was reduced from €4.2 million to €2.9 million.
Defenders of the event argue that the income from pilgrims and visitors will outweigh the cost. In response to the artist’s action, the mayor of Lisbon, Carlos Moeda, arranged for a huge mat bearing the word “Welcome” in several languages to be placed on the altar steps.
World Youth Day takes place 1-6 August in Lisbon and is expected to attract over a million people. Ahead of Francis’ arrival for the event, protest slogans like “Fewer Popes, More Houses” have appeared on walls in Lisbon.
Others refer to the number of clerical sexual abuse cases identified by an independent commission in Portugal: “4,800 abuses are not easy to erase.” A protest meeting is planned for 4 August in the centre of Lisbon.
The Brazilian Bishops’ Conference’s Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI) has expressed disappointment with progress under President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after six months in office. Catholics in Brazil hoped his election would end the destruction of rainforest and attacks on Indigenous rights under former President Jair Bolsonaro.
“In Indigenous communities all over the country, famine and vulnerability are evident and land disputes are a continuous problem,” said Roberto Liebgott, a regional coordinator of CIMI.
“While many Indigenous people still feel glad to know that Lula is the president and that he has a pro-Indigenous agenda, some activists are already feeling pessimistic about the lack of change,” he added.
Bishop José Ionilton de Oliveira of the Amazon prelature of Itacoatiara said popular organisations need to maintain pressure on the government. “Lula’s agenda includes the poor and the Indigenous peoples, but we cannot think that we will receive what we need from the government without fighting.”
Lula’s plans have been undermined by Congress, dominated by conservatives, but he has succeeded in reducing the number of illegal miners in Indigenous areas and slowing deforestation.
A young priest in Mobile, Alabama was suspended after he deserted his parish and left the country with an 18-year old girl who had recently graduated from a Catholic high school.
The Archbishop of Mobile Thomas Rodi said he had informed Fr Alex Crow, aged 30, that he “may no longer exercise ministry as a priest, nor to tell people he is a priest, nor to dress as a priest”. The archbishop’s statement also indicated that the district attorney had been contacted in case. Archbishop Rodi said that Crow’s behaviour “is totally unbecoming of a priest”.
Crow, who was ordained in 2021, left a letter informing the archdiocese that he never planned to return to America.
Local media reported that the priest had spoken to the pupils at the school about demonology and that he and the young woman fled in search of an exorcism. A few days after the suspension was announced, authorities said they had located the pair in Italy.
“It appeared they were staying in separate bedrooms,” Sheriff Paul Burch told AL.com, “and the young woman insisted there was no intimate relationship. The investigation is still open and we are still checking into a few matters, however, there does not appear to be any [grounds for] criminal charges.”
More than 3,000 participants from 80 dioceses across the US attended the thirteenth National Black Catholic Congress in Maryland, near Washington DC.
“You’ve got to poke the flame and stir it up. We can’t let the fire go out,” urged Bishop Emeritus John Huston Ricard of Pensacola-Tallahassee at the concluding Mass on 23 July. He encouraged participants to engage with social issues, like the large proportion of racial minorities in the prison population.
The main celebrant of the Mass was Bishop Roy Edward Campbell Jr, a Washington auxiliary and president of the congress. Portraits of six US black Catholics being considered for sainthood were displayed on banners behind the altar. The four-day programme included a visit to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
Former US Vice-President Mike Pence, who is seeking the presidency in 2024, spoke at the annual Napa Conference, a gathering of affluent conservative Catholics known for its cigar and wine receptions.
Pence told the group, “God is not done with America yet” and urged them to use their influence to “boldly live out their faith in the public square”.
Pence was raised Catholic but left the Church as a teenager. He later became an evangelical Christian. He is trailing his former boss, Donald Trump, in the polls for the Republican candidacy, with Trump hovering near 50 per cent and Pence in single digits.
Aid to the Church in Need reports that vocations in Burundi are on the rise but face obstructions.
According to a report compiled by Maxime Francois-Marsal, church officials have been forced to reduce the number of young men and women permitted to enter the religious life and regulate enrolment, after a boom in vocations left them with a large and increasing number of applications for seminaries.
The number enrolled in the major seminaries has been pinned at 13 due to a lack of resources to accommodate all the applicants.
The Association of Catholic Women in Malawi celebrated its fiftieth anniversary on 22 July, with the theme “Women are the pillar of the Church”. Women from across the country attended an event at Civo Stadium in Lilongwe alongside nuns, priests and five bishops.
Speaking on behalf of the World Union of Catholic Women Organisations, Eveline Mtenga urged women to continue making significant contributions to their country. The president of Tanzania’s Catholic Women Association said that “whatever we are capable of doing, let’s do it in a positive way to contribute to the development of Malawi”.
Bishop Martin Anwel Mtumbuka of Karonga urged Catholic women “to choose the Malawi you want”. He continued: “Malawi is grappling with various challenges, primarily stemming from poor economic conditions, and you need to utilise your influence to elect leaders capable of addressing these issues.”
Archbishop George Desmond Tambala of Lilongwe said that “the works you do contribute significantly to the development of the Church and the nation.”
A new documentary on the Turin Shroud will employ the style of a “true crime” investigation to explore its authenticity and origin. According to its website, The Shroud Face to Face reconstructs “the actual crime scene surrounding Jesus’ crucifixion” to present “mind-blowing fusion of faith and science for the first time.”
The film-maker Robert Orlando has interviewed experts on both sides of the debate for the documentary, due for release in November. There are more details at www.theshroudfilm.com.
International Catholic groups tackling human trafficking marked the UN World Day Against Trafficking on 30 July. At the Angelus last Sunday, Pope Francis said, “God bless those who work to fight against trafficking.”
Salesian Missions, which operates in over 130 countries, highlighted its Tijuana Project which provides educational and work opportunities to migrants and poor youth living on Mexico’s border with the US. In Sierra Leone, a Girls Shelter provides support for underage girls who were forced into prostitution.
Catholic sisters’ work includes Talitha Kum, the global anti-trafficking network, which has 6,000 members in over 90 countries, and RENATE Europe, which held an online prayer pilgrimage ahead of the day.
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