Catholic News
- Pope, at audience, speaks on patience (Vatican Press Office)
Continuing his series of talks on the virtues, Pope Francis spoke about patience at his weekly public audience on March 27. During Holy Week, the Pope remarked, the faithful are reminded of the patience that Jesus displayed in accepting humiliation and suffering. He pointed out that “Jesus’ patience does not consist of a stoical resistance to suffering, but is the fruit of a greater love.” “There is no better witness to the love of Jesus than encountering a patient Christian,” the Pope continued. He told the crowd that patience “is not only a need; it is a calling.” The Wednesday audience, originally scheduled to take place in St. Peter’s Square, was moved into the Paul VI auditorium because of rain. The Pope walked into the auditorium on his own, with the help of a cane, and delivered his own remarks. Earlier he had made a brief tour of St. Peter’s Square in his wheelchair to greet pilgrims. - Russian Orthodox repudiate Fiducia Supplicans (Fides)
“The ideas expressed in the declaration Fiducia Supplicans represent a significant departure from Christian moral teaching,” according to a statement from the leadership of the Russian Orthodox Church. The statement—prepared by a Biblical-Theological Commission at the request of Patriarch Kirill—said that “God’s love for Man cannot be the basis for blessing couples in sinful coexistence.” - Vatican 'foreign minister' speaks on Ukraine, Gaza (Vatican News)
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, reflected on the warfare in Ukraine and in Gaza during an interview with the Italian RAI television network. The archbishop said that the current conflicts are “the result of a dissolution of an order that we thought we had established after the two world wars, after the Cold War where states resolved their conflicts by negotiating with each other, speaking, treating, and dialoguing.” Speaking about a controversial talk in which Pope Francis had urged Ukraine to negotiate, Archbishop Gallagher said that “the Pope wanted to encourage the Ukrainian side to dialogue for the good of the country.” He added that “the Holy See has always been very clear with the Russian side, asking that they too send signals in this direction.” The archbishop expressed horror at the terrorist attack in Moscow, and voiced his concern: “A country that suffers a trauma like this can also react very strongly, as Israel did after October 7th.” Regarding the “catastrophic” situation in Gaza, the archbishop said that Hamas “has no future as a political entity.” He said that Palestinian leaders must “renounce the destruction of the State of Israel.” - Pope writes meditations for Via Crucis at Colosseum, Vatican says (CNS)
The Vatican press office has announced that for the first time in his pontificate, Pope Francis will write his own meditations for the annual Good Friday evening Way of the Cross at the Colosseum. The theme of the Pope’s meditations is “in prayer with Jesus on the way of the cross.” Beginning in 1985, Pope St. John Paul II entrusted the writing of the Good Friday evening meditations to others, though in 2000, he wrote his own meditations. - Papal message of solidarity to Catholics in Holy Land (Vatican Press Office)
In a letter to Catholics living in the Holy Land, Pope Francis said, “allow me to tell you once more that you are not alone; we will never leave you alone.” The Pope acknowledged that “this Easter that for you is so overshadowed by the Passion and, as yet, so little by the Resurrection.” But he assured the Catholic community in the Holy Land that their fellow Catholics have them in their prayers. The Pontiff also thanked them for bearing steady witness to the faith in the land where Jesus walked. He wrote: The history of salvation, and indeed its geography, would not exist apart from the land in which you have dwelt for centuries. There you want to remain, and there it is good that you should remain. - Supreme Court hears abortion-drug case (AP)
The Supreme Court heard oral arguments in two related cases challenging the FDA’s approval of looser requirements—including mail-order prescriptions— for the abortion drug mifepristone. “In nearly 90 minutes of arguments, a consensus appeared to emerge that the abortion opponents who challenged the FDA’s approval of the medication, mifepristone, and subsequent actions to ease access to it, lack the legal right or standing to sue,” the Associated Press reported. Noting that “chemical abortions are now the most common form of abortion in the United States,” the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for daily prayer until June, when the Court will decide the case. - French Catholic dioceses report jump in adult baptisms (Catholic Herald)
The French Catholic bishops’ conference has announced that 7,135 adults will be baptized at the Easter vigil this year—up from 5,463 last year. The increase reflects a growing trend. The number of adult baptisms in France rose by 21% in 2022, 21% in 2023, and now has reached 30% for 2024. This year’s figure nearly doubles the number for 2021. - Pope greets Israeli, Palestinian fathers who mourn children together (Vatican News)
At the conclusion of his public audience on March 27, Pope Francis met with two men—one Palestinian, the other Israeli—who had formed a bond of friendship after both lost young daughters in the war in the Holy Land. He praised the two men for their ability to “look beyond the enmity of war.” - Ukrainian Catholic churches sealed off in Donetsk (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
The Donetsk People’s Republic, an eastern Ukrainian region seized by separatists in 2014 and annexed by Russia in 2022, has sealed off all Ukrainian Greek Catholic churches. “Greek Catholic believers are unable to access their churches or conduct services,” according to the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. “Prior to these events, priests who performed services in these churches were expelled from the occupied territories.” - Amid lawsuits, nation's first state-funded Catholic school opens applications (Crux)
Some 120 students have applied for admission to St. Isidore of Seville Virtual Catholic School, a charter school in Oklahoma founded by the state’s two dioceses. Charter schools are public schools that are operated by independent boards of directors. The school, approved by Oklahoma school officials in 2023, faces legal challenges; Bishop Thomas Daly, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on Education, has said that he is “very suspicious about this idea.” - Vatican cardinal, Polish president mark 80th anniversary of Ulma family's martyrdom (Vatican News)
Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, traveled to Markowa, Poland, to celebrate a Mass commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Ulma family’s martyrdom. Józef and Wiktoria Ulma, along with their seven children, were slain by Nazis for sheltering Jews. They were beatified last September. Polish President Andrzej Duda, who attended the Mass, said that “in silence, they offered a testimony of humanity.” He added, “How many of us would dare to risk our own lives and those of our family members to save another human being?” - Rising violence against Christians in India (CNA)
The United Christian Forum (UCF) has reported 161 incidents of violence against Christians in India already this year. The group adds that the number almost certainly underestimates the violence, since it is based on complaints registered with a telephone hotline. The reports include 15 cases of forced “reconversion” to Hinduism, and 71 arrests by police. The number of incidents reported to date this year exceeds the total number for 2014, the UCF noted. The number of incidents has risen fairly steadily in the past decade, reaching 505 in 2021, 599 in 2022, and 731 in 2023. At the current rate it would approach 800 for 2024. - Nigerian prelate implores government to increase security (Aid to the Church in Need)
Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna visited Adama Dutse, a Christian village attacked by gunmen in February (video), and implored the government of President Bola Tinubu to increase security. The Catholic mission church in the village was burned to the ground, and 11 people were killed. “You promised Nigerians that you are going to make the country better,” Archbishop Ndagoso said. “Therefore, do whatever it takes to make it better. It has been said time and time again that if you are there and you can’t do it, you know the honorable thing to do. But if you remain there, you must do whatever it takes to protect our lives and make the country better.” - Belgian church with lay-led liturgies loses parish status (Pillar)
The Brussels archdiocese has removed the ‘parish’ status from a community where—according to a statement from the archdiocese—“the Eucharist is led by lay women, among others.” The community at Don Bosco parish, long known for liturgical experimentation, will “now function as an independent religious community or organization,” the archdiocese said. - Church in Latin America marks 'World Day of Hope,' in commemoration of Pope's pandemic prayer (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
The Episcopal Conference of Latin America (CELAM) and other ecclesial bodies in Latin America, along with the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication, are marking March 27 as the Día Mundial de la Esperanza (World Day of Hope). The day commemorates Pope Francis’s extraordinary moment of prayer in St. Peter’s Square on March 27, 2020, during the COVID pandemic and attendant lockdowns. The World Day of Hope, according to its organizers, “finds us not only going through the dystopian processes of past years, but also facing new and painful wars such as the one in the Middle East,” the Vatican newspaper reported. “It would seem that the values of the agreements for a possible peace, the calls for solidarity and inclusive humanity, and the urgent alarms on planetary disasters have fallen into disuse or gone unnoticed.” “Therefore it is necessary to renew, relive and reaffirm” the Pope’s prayer on 27 March 2020, L’Osservatore Romano added. - UN criticizes Cuba's imprisonment of pastor (Christian Solidarity Worldwide)
The United Nations’ Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has declared that the Cuban Communist regime’s detention of a Protestant pastor violates the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Lorenzo Rosales Fajardo was arrested in 2021 while taking part in a peaceful protest. According to the US Commission on International Religious Freedom, the pastor has been tortured. - UK group asks inquiry into lockdown effects on religion (Catholic Herald)
The Catholic Union, a group founded in 1870 to promote Catholic principles in the UK, has asked that an official investigation into the impact of the Covid lockdown should include a serious study of the effects on religious worship. In a study last year, the Catholic Union found that 91% of those polled believed that religious services should have been classified as “essential” and exempt from lockdown. A clear majority of 61% said that the closing of churches had adversely influenced their mental or physical health. - Usher accused of embezzling from large Charlotte parish (WSOC-TV)
An usher at St. Matthew’s Church in Charlotte, North Carolina—sometimes described as the largest parish in the nation—faces three felony embezzlement charges as police investigate the theft of $3,700. “The church’s accounting team discovered what happened when they went to count the collection and found one of their bank deposit bags was missing,” a local television station reported. - Vatican cardinal says Synod should build a 'rainbow' Church (Pillar)
The secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops has said that the Synod on Synodality should promote “unity in difference” within the Church. “When we speak of unity, of communion, we are not referring to uniformity of thought,” said Cardinal Mario Grech. “I always imagine the Church as a rainbow, with the colors that are not excluded but, together, create harmony.” - German bishops to proceed with Synodal Committee (Katholisch)
After a meeting with Vatican officials, the leaders of the German bishops’ conference still plan to forge ahead with plans to form a “Synodal Committee” in which lay people would join with bishops in forming Church policies. Bishop Georg Bätzing, the president of the episcopal conference, co-signed a letter with Irme Stetter-Karp, the head of the Central Committee of German Catholics, to assure supporters that their work would proceed. The letter reveals that the German bishops assured Vatican officials that “the proposal complies with the Church’s guidelines,” and “agreed that there will be feedback with the Curia during the further process of designing the Synodal Council.” The Vatican has expressed grave reservations about the Synodal Committee, warning the German hierarchy that the authority of bishops cannot be shared with lay people. - More...