News Briefing: The Church in the World

Tabs kept on cardinals

Cardinals living in Rome should inform Pope Francis when they leave the city and provide him with an address when they are abroad, a leaked letter has revealed. The request was contained in a letter sent by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Dean of the College of Cardinals, who reminded the prelates that it is a “noble tradition” for them to keep both the Pope and the Holy See’s Secretariat of State updated about their movements. “Pope Francis has recently requested of the Dean of the Cardinalatial College to fraternally remind each single Cardinal the opportunity of keeping that practice, even more so in the case of an extended absence from Rome,” the letter dated 31 May and revealed this week by the Wall Street Journal said.

Cardinals that live in Rome are in charge of Vatican departments, but many of them are frequent travellers who cross the world giving talks and attending church summits. The latest reminder is intended to give Pope Francis advance warning about any important speech or intervention from a cardinal, particularly from those who are his critics.   

The head of Russia’s Orthodox church has praised a new “intensification” of ties with Catholics, as thousands of Russians braved nine-hour queues to see relics of St Nicholas (above), loaned by the Catholic Church in Bari. “My talks with Pope Francis last year helped constructive dialogue between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches – our bilateral relations have since intensified,” Patriarch Kirill of Moscow said, while addressing foreign ambassadors in Moscow about his meeting with the Pope in February 2016 in Havana. The meeting produced a joint declaration that said Catholic and Orthodox Christians shared “the same conception of the family” concerning cohabitation, same-sex unions, abortion and euthanasia.

Meanwhile, the Patriarch’s spokesman, Alexander Volkov, said more than half-a-million Russians, including President Vladimir Putin, had viewed the relics of St Nicholas in the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow in the two weeks since their arrival from Italy. He said the loan of the relics, which have been housed at Bari’s papal basilica since 1087, was one of several matters agreed in Havana. In July, the relics will move to St Petersburg.

Police hunt relic thief
Two weeks have passed since a relic of St Don Bosco was stolen in Turin. Police set up roadblocks in northern Italy after a thief posing as a pilgrim stole tiny fragments of the brain of Don Bosco, the founder of the Salesians and one of Italy’s most revered saints. The thief entered the church, named after the nineteenth-century saint in Castelnuovo, near Turin, and left with a glass reliquary containing the brain fragments. Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia of Turin described the theft as news “that you would never want to hear”.

Sermon salutes the bicycle
In his Sunday sermon on 11 June, which was published in full on domradio.de, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne deplored US President Donald Trump’s decision to drop out of the Paris Climate Agreement. The cardinal’s sermon was devoted to the 200th anniversary of the invention of the bicycle by German Baron Karl von Drais in 1817. “Every time we get on a bicycle, we protect the environment. I wonder if Donald Trump uses one?” the cardinal said.

Bishop misses ordinations
Four priests have been ordained in China’s Shanghai diocese, although the diocesan bishop, Thaddeus Ma Daqin (above), remains under house arrest and was not present at the ceremony. The priests were ordained on 7 June in St Peter’s Church, Shanghai City, by Bishop Giuseppe Shen Bin of Haimen, who is recognised by both the Chinese Government and the Holy See. From a neighbouring diocese, he is vice-president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, the state-sponsored Church. Only a third of the Shanghai diocesan clergy attended the ordination. Bishop Ma has been under house arrest since his episcopal ordination on 7 July 2012, when he enraged government officials by announcing his resignation from the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association. Despite recanting these views in 2016, he has not been allowed to resume public ministry.

A senior Egyptian politician has advised Christians in the country to reduce their visits to churches and monasteries because of security concerns. Interior Minister Magdi Abdel Ghaffar gave his advice on 8 June, during a meeting with security officials in Egyptian provinces where the risk is greatest of Islamist violence against the civilian population, the military and the police.

Last month, 28 Copts were killed as they travelled to visit a monastery in Minya Province. President Abdel Fatah al-Sissi and the Egyptian cabinet have adopted a broader set of powers to tackle terrorism. However, the new advice to Christians suggests that the situation is far from under control.

A Philippines bishop has expressed concern over the fate of Filipinos in Qatar, after Saudi-led moves to isolate the emirate over its alleged funding of terrorism and links to Shia Iran. Bishop Ruperto Cruz Santos of Balanga, chairman of the Philippines bishops’ commission for the pastoral care of migrants, urged Filipino workers to “closely monitor their situation, and coordinate with Philippines authorities”. There are 141,000 documented Filipino workers in Qatar, but the total number could surpass 200,000 if those without proper documents are included. The bishop spoke after reports that Filipinos in Qatar were “panic-buying”. The land border with Saudi Arabia, through which 40 per cent of Qatar’s food comes, has been closed since 5 June.

The Catholic Theological Society of America has bestowed its highest award, the John Courtney Murray Award for distinguished theological achievement, on Fr Francis Xavier Clooney SJ, an expert in comparative theology and the religions of South Asia, especially Hinduism.

Sister of Mercy Margaret Farley (above), retired professor at Yale Divinity School, received the Ann O’Hara Graff Award, given annually to a female theologian who advances scholarship and “liberating action” on behalf of women.

Compiled by James Roberts