News Briefing: Church in the World

The last Christian minister in the besieged city of El Fasher fled his church after militia forces attacked it. The Rev’d Daramali Abudigin had remained in the capital of Sudan’s North Darfur state since the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) began fighting government troops in April 2023, keeping the St Matthew Episcopal Church open even after the RSF surrounded and blockaded the city in May 2024. 

The last Catholic priest in the city, Fr Luka Jomo, was shot dead in June. RSF gunmen attacked Abudigin’s church on 16 September, killing two people and injuring others. Three days later, an RSF drone strike on a mosque in El Fasher killed 85 people. Abudigin told the Religion News Service last week that he was sheltering on the outskirts of the city with more than 40 other people seeking an escape.

The Anglican Bishop of Busoga urged the Ugandan government to listen to teachers and address their demands instead of intimidating or ignoring them. He warned that continued neglect could trigger a national education disaster. 

Speaking at Kamuli Girls Boarding Primary School on 24 September, Bishop Samson Paul Moses Naimanhye described current teacher discontent as “appalling, demoralising, pathetic and deplorable”, predicting that poor handling of teachers’ grievances would lead to pupils’ worst exam performance in history. 

“We may ignore teachers’ plight, but its effects are going to be glaring. No one should blame schools when the results come back worst because it is going to be a national disaster and time bomb,” he said. 

The Uganda National Teachers’ Union announced a nationwide strike in mid-September, demanding salary increases. Since then, government-aided schools across the country have been closed.

A bishop in Tanzania warned priests and Religious not to intervene in politics ahead of crucial elections in October. 

Bishop Wolfgang Pisa of Lindi, president of the Tanzania Episcopal Conference, made the comments on 25 September after reports emerged that a group of nuns had expressed their public support for President Samia Suluhu Hassan – the country’s first female president. She succeeded President John Mugafuli, who died in office in 2021.  The nuns said they endorsed her because they were in support of female leadership. 

However, Bishop Pisa said “it is forbidden for a priest, it is forbidden for a nun, it is forbidden for you seminarians, to be seen in political campaigns”. It is “a great prohibition. We are not supposed to be seen there,” he said, referring to priests and nuns attending political rallies, adding that canon law was clear on the matter.

Catholic bishops in Malawi congratulated Arthur Peter Mutharika, the 85-year-old former president, who won the general election on 16 September after defeating the sitting president Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera with 57 per cent of the vote. Mutharika previously served as president from 2014 to 2020. 

Bishop Martin Anwel Mtumbuka of Karonga, the president of the Malawi Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the bishops looked forward to working with the elected leadership to advance the common good. 

“Now, as a nation, we move from campaigning to governing, as we rejoice in our ability to transition peacefully from one government to the next,” said the bishop in a statement on 25 September. More than 3.6 million of Malawi’s 21 million people in Malawi are Catholics. 

Bishop Mtumbuka said the Church and bishop’s conference were not aligned with any political party. “As Christians and as Malawians, we have the duty to treat one another with charity, respect, and civility, even when we differ on matters of public policy,” he said. 

Observers praised the peaceful elections and the acceptance of results by the two opponents as an example for other African states where election outcomes often ignite violence or face challenges in the courts.

Bishop Martín Lasarte Topolansky of Lwena voiced alarm at “the felling of precious trees and the disappearance of animals that are part of our environmental heritage” along Angola’s border with Zambia. 

“We are witnessing a true plunder of what belongs to the Angolan people,” he told ACI Africa agency. “Angola’s biodiversity was destroyed before our eyes.” Much of the illegal exploitation of Angola’s forests is carried out by “foreign citizens crossing the border”, he claimed. “What we are seeing is devastating. Rare trees cut, timber smuggled, and wildlife disappearing.”

The bishop said he saw “centenary Mussivi trees cut down, fresh tracks from tractors and trucks clearly coming from Zambia. On the Angolan side, there are no roads for these vehicles. It is obvious where they come from.” 

Data from Global Forest Watch show that Angola lost 4.23 million hectares of trees between 2001 and 2024, equivalent to 7.7 per cent of the forest it had in 2000. This loss released around 1.4 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the air.

A congregation in southern Nigeria dismissed a Religious Sister who broadcast allegations of sexual exploitation by priests in a viral video. 

Sr Kinse Shako Anastasia of the Congregation of Mother of Perpetual Help of the Archangels (MOPHAS) accused clergy of treating nuns as their “wives” in a video posted on social media in August. She also said superiors “wield authority as a weapon” and leave Sisters “vulnerable to predators”. 

In a further post last week, she said that on 24 September she received a letter dismissing her, dated 21 July, along with ₦100,000 (£50). “When I got to the convent [in Auchi] … my belongings were already packed outside the room I stayed in, and the religious habits were taken away.” 

The MOPHAS superior general Sr Mary Ann Ogowkhadmhe confirmed to The Tablet that the congregation had dismissed Sr Anastasia.

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) declared its solidarity with the Church in Africa, promising support for Christian communities facing persecution and humanitarian crises. 

“In 2025, millions of our brothers and sisters on the African continent have been displaced from their homes and communities, forced to flee due to conflict, religious and ethnic persecution, economic hardship and environmental crises,” the bishops said in a statement on 24 September signed by Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Los Angeles, chairman of the USCCB Committee on International Justice and Peace.  

“Cycles of deadly violence and resulting humanitarian crises continue to claim thousands of innocent lives in Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and throughout the Sahel region.”

Several bishops criticised Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago for making an award to Illinois Senator Richard Durbin for his advocacy on behalf of migrants. Durbin is also a long-time supporter of abortion rights. 

Writing in the journal First Things, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, Illinois said the decision “threatens to scandalise the faithful and injure the bonds of ecclesial communion” and that Durbin’s “appalling record on the foundational issue of unborn human life renders him unfit to receive the proposed award or any Catholic honour”.

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco and Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska voiced support for Paprocki on social media. 

Cardinal Cupich responded: “At the heart of the consistent ethic of life is the recognition that Catholic teaching on life and dignity cannot be reduced to a single issue, even an issue as important as abortion.

“The annual celebration of immigrants, Keep Hope Alive, will recognise all the critically important contributions Senator Durbin has taken to advance Catholic social teaching in the areas of immigration, the care of the poor, Laudato Si’ and world peace”. 

He said the award was especially timely because migrants are “subjected to terror and harm”.

Parishes in the Philippines’ Bicol region, south of Metro Manila, opened their doors to evacuees as Typhoon Bualoi ravaged parts of the country last week.  

The Bishop of Sorsogon Jose Alan Dialogo encouraged parishes to open their doors, saying the Church should serve both as “a sanctuary and a service centre in this time of trial”. The Bishop of Daet Herman Abcede said: “Let us transform this difficult moment into an opportunity for solidarity and faith.” 

In the Diocese of Virac, Bishop Luisito Occiano issued an oratio imperata, an obligatory prayer for the entire local church to recite. “Prayer is our most powerful weapon,” said a statement from the diocese. “In these uncertain times, it is crucial that we turn to God and implore His mercy and protection.” 

Around 20 storms hit the Philippines each year. Bualoi and two storms preceding it killed at least 27 people over two weeks.

The organisers of World Youth Day Seoul in 2027 invited entries for a competition to write its official song, based on its theme “Take Courage! I have Overcome the World” (John 16:33). The words proclaim “Christ’s victory and peace anew” during a time when the world is “marked by anxiety, division, and rapid change”, said a WYD statement. 

Participants may submit up to three original compositions, written in any of the official World Youth Day languages: Korean, English, Italian, Spanish, French or Portuguese. The organisers said the winning song would “accompany millions of young people” at the event, which will begin on 3 August 2027 and ends on 8 August.  

They added: “At every WYD, the theme song plays a vital role”, saying that the song helped “young people connect with one another and with the heart of the event.” They continued: “Long after WYD concludes, the song continues to live on, carrying with it the memory of joy, hope, and unity.” The closing date for entries is 30 November 2025.

More than 50 bishops and Church leaders from the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences met in Bangkok last week, discussing the deepening of synodality in the Church and engagement with the poor and other faiths.

Archbishop Anthony Weradet Chaiseri of Thare and Nonseng, vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Thailand, said the meeting reflected “the growing desire among Churches in Asia to deepen synodality, strengthen communion, embrace the path of synodality within the Church, and walk in closer unity with the Universal Church under the guidance of Pope Leo XIV”.

The people of Rakhine State are “just trying to survive”, a bishop said, condemning the displacement, hunger and death caused by four years of fighting between Myanmar’s junta and rebel groups.

Bishop Peter Tin Wai of Pyay – whose diocese covers most of the state in western Myanmar – said young people were “forced into enlisting and fighting”. He decried a junta airstrike on 12 September which hit two schools in the town of Kyauktaw, killing 20 young people.

Caritas Pakistan distributed thousands of dry food packages and shelter, cooking and hygiene kits in the Punjab region to support families whose lands and homes were submerged in recent flooding.  

“This effort not only gave physical relief but also brought hope and encouragement to the affected community,” said Caritas of its work with the Diocese of Multan. It also organised animal vaccination drives in flood-affected areas, designed to safeguard livestock from potential disease outbreaks, playing “a vital role in protecting livelihoods and strengthening community resilience”. 

Alongside these programmes, UN agencies delivered safe water, alongside health and nutrition supplies, and setting up temporary learning centres for children. Monsoon floods affected 4.7million people across 28 districts in Punjab.

Addressing the United Nations Security Council in New York last week, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organisations called for a moratorium on lethal autonomous weapons and greater international cooperation on artificial intelligence.  

Archbishop Paul Gallagher warned that the deployment of lethal autonomous weapon systems raised “grave legal, security, humanitarian, and ethical concerns for the international community, because they lack the unique human capacity for moral judgment and ethical decision-making”. 

He spoke during a debate on AI and international peace and security. Gallagher warned of the danger of AI being incorporated into nuclear command and control structures. “This introduces new unknown risks that extend far beyond the already fragile and morally troubling logic of nuclear deterrence,” he said.  

Pax Christi International joined hundreds of organisations in a joint appeal presented to the UN on 26 September, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons. 

“On this important day, I call on states that possess nuclear weapons to lift this shadow hanging over humanity. Honour your disarmament obligations and commit to the total elimination of nuclear weapons,” said the UN secretary general António Guterres. 

Pax Christi members marked the international Catholic Nonviolence Days of Action beginning on 21 September, with students in the Philippines organising a schools’ virtual exhibit, “Youth’s Voices on Building a Nonviolent, Sustainable and Equitable World”, and Pax Christi in Australia supporting a “Raising Peace” festival.

The Church in Luxembourg reiterated its opposition to abortion after criticism of Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich when he said he was against including a right to the procedure into the constitution. Citing anti-abortion movements in the United States and France’s decision to include abortion in its constitution, several politicians have called for such a change to the duchy’s basic law. 

In a televised interview, Hollerich observed that abortion was already legal in Luxembourg and protected by an article on human dignity. A constitutional amendment, he said, would amount to “imposing an opinion on the people” and could “push people toward right-wing extremism”. 

The abortion initiative by left-wing deputy Marc Baum has been approved by the State Council, which advises the government and legislature, and is supported by several political parties. A Church statement said the law cannot decide whether the right to life or the right to self-determination has precedence, and that writing abortion into the constitution, either as a right or a freedom, decides the issue in favour of the latter option. 

“A unilateral legal ‘solution’ to abortion resolves neither the individual pregnancy conflict nor the societal controversies,” it said. “The constitution should, as far as possible, be an expression of social consensus regarding the rights it seeks to guarantee.”

A 45-year-old canon of Toledo Cathedral was arrested after Spanish police found 10 packets of drugs on his person, including pink cocaine. Further investigation of the flat where Fr Carlos Loriente was staying while holidaying in Torremolinos led to the discovery of sex toys.  

The Archdiocese of Toledo said Loriente had been suspended from his duties while it carries out an internal investigation. Until 15 September, he was its episcopal vicar for clergy.  

Archbishop Francisco Cerro Chaves subsequently wrote to every priest in the archdiocese urging them to conduct a “review” of their lives. “We are living through a very painful situation,” wrote Cerro. “May this pain be an opportunity to welcome the call for conversion the Lord makes to each one of us and our diocese.”  

He added that “no one was free from falling” and asked priests not to fear asking for help in times of fragility. Groups of priests were gathering to pray in response to the crisis, he added. 

Two years ago, Loriente was the subject of a formal complaint to the Dicastery for Clergy from a victim of abuse who accused the priest of defamation in a WhatsApp message to clergy.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Slovakia agreed to abolish its public holiday on 15 September, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. Supporters included the governing coalition of Prime Minister Robert Fico, pushing measures to consolidate national debt, but also members of the opposition Progresivne Slovensko (PS) despite discussions with its partner in opposition the Christian-Democratic Movement. 

Pope Paul VI declared Maria Dolorosa the main patron of Slovakia in 1966. The Slovak bishops welcomed other constitutional amendments passed on Friday about family law and national identity, including “that the Slovak Republic recognises only the sexes male and female which are given biologically”. The Archbishop of Košice Bernard Bober said this was a signal that the government was to “strengthen a society which is based on values of truth, liberty, justice and human dignity”.

Parliamentarians in Italy’s lower house voted to reinstate the feast of St Francis of Assisi as a national holiday. The Chamber of Deputies approved the bill, which is backed by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s governing coalition, by 247-2 with eight abstentions on 23 September, advancing it to the Senate. 

Lorenzo Fontana, president of the Chamber of Deputies, said recognising Italy’s patron saint with a holiday “also means rediscovering his message of peace, which is more relevant than ever”.

Cardinal Lucian Mureşan, the head of the Romanian Greek Catholic Church, died aged 94 in Blaj, Transylvania, on 25 September.

One of 12 children, he was obliged to abandon his secondary schooling and train as a carpenter after the Communist government of Romania abolished the Greek Catholic Church in 1948. In 1955, he entered the seminary of Alba Iulia but was expelled in his fourth year of studies by the State Department of Religious Affairs.  

While under police surveillance, he worked in road and bridge maintenance, pursuing theological studies in secret. In December 1964, he was ordained a priest and ministered for more than 20 years in hiding. In 1986, he became the secret leader of the Eparchy of Maramur.  

After the fall of Communism in 1990, John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Maramures, and in 1994 he became Metropolitan Archbishop of Făgăraş and Alba Iulia. Benedict XVI made him a cardinal in 2012 and a member of the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.

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