Catholic News
- Millions meant for residential school survivors spent on Church lawyers, administration: documents (CBC News)
In the 2006 Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, 47 Canadian Catholic entities agreed to pay $29 million in cash, to provide $25 million in “in-kind services,” and to attempt to raise an additional $25 million (less than $4 million of which has been raised).A 2015 Canadian government document obtained by CBC News (the Canadian public broadcasting agency) alleged that the Church in Canada “breached its obligations in the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.” $5 million of the $29M in cash was reportedly used for Church attorneys and administrative costs, and $8M was reportedly deducted for funds paid to survivors prior to the agreement. - Vaccine acceptance particularly high among Catholics, survey finds (Public Religion Research Institute)
67% of Americans surveyed by the Public Religion Research Institute have received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine. 15% of Americans are “vaccine hesitant,” and 14% are “vaccine refusers.”Vaccine acceptance is highest among Jews (85%), Hispanic Catholics (80%), and white Catholics (79%). It is lowest among Hispanic Protestants (56%), white evangelical Protestants (56%), and Mormons (65%). - Confession must be part of talks on worthiness to receive Communion, nuncio says (CNA)
Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States, made his remarks during a panel discussion on the US bishops’ upcoming Eucharistic document. - Manitoba archbishop bars priest from preaching following homily on residential schools (CBC News)
Archbishop Albert LeGatt of Saint Boniface (Manitoba) has barred Father Rhéal Forest from preaching after the priest spoke about residential school abuse settlements in a homily. “If they wanted extra money, from the money that was given to them, they had to lie sometimes — lie that they were abused sexually and, oop, another $50,000,” Forest preached. “It’s kind of hard if you’re poor not to lie.” - Vatican newspaper draws renewed attention to jihadist violence in Mozambique (L'Osservatore Romano (Italian))
On July 29, L’Osservatore Romano devoted its most prominent front-page article to a crisis that has received scant media attention: the brutal jihadist insurgency in Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado province that has caused 800,000 people, 70% of them women and children, to flee their homes.The newspaper also highlighted the efforts of the Community of Sant’Egidio, Aid to the Church in Need, and others to draw attention to the crisis and assist the refugees. Pope Francis referred to Cabo Delgado in three of his most prominent addresses over the past year: his Christmas and Easter Urbi et Orbi addresses, and address to the diplomatic corps. - Zambian bishops denounce pre-election violence (Vatican News)
The southern African nation of 17.4 million (map) is 51% Protestant and 34% Catholic, with 11% adhering to ethnic religions. President Edgar Lungu has been accused of “using repressive tactics to win another term” in the August 12 general election, the Associated Press reported. - Nigerian state hands over 6 schools to diocese (The Sun (Lagos))
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State (map) cited the increasing moral decadence of society as a reason for his decision. - Newark archdiocese says it has requested but not yet received data, analysis of hookup app use (CNS)
The Pillar has reported that “ a review of commercially available app signal data showed patterns of location-based hookup app use at more than 10 archdiocesan rectories and clerical residences during 2018, 2019 and 2020.” - Ecclesiastical law is not confirmed unless received, Cardinal Brandmüller says of Pope's Latin Mass document (Inside the Vatican)
Contrasting “purely ecclesiastical laws” with “those based on divine or natural law,” Cardinal Walter Brandmüller has published a reflection on the Pope’s apostolic letter on the traditional Latin Mass. The German prelate, now 92, is the retired president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences.“Reference can also be made to the possibility provided for by customary law, according to which a justified objection against a law of the universal Church has, at least initially, a suspensive effect,” he writes. “This means, however, that the law need not be obeyed until the objection has been clarified. It should also be remembered that, if there is a doubt as to whether a law is binding, it is not binding.” - From Delhi to Odisha, India's Catholics hold day of solidarity in memory of Father Swamy (AsiaNews)
Less than a month after the death of the 84-year-old imprisoned Jesuit, Catholics throughout India observed July 28 as a day in his honor.The priest’s death “sparked outrage across the country,” preached Archbishop John Barwa, the leading prelate in Odisha (map), the site of a 2008 anti-Christian pogrom. “Father Stan raised a new generation of people with a deeper sensitivity for the poor.” - McCarrick faces criminal charge for assault on minor (AP)
Disgraced former cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been charged with a sexual assault on a teenage boy. The charge involves an incident that allegedly took place in Massachusetts in 1974. Because McCarrick was not a Massachusetts resident, and left the state shortly after the alleged incident, the statute of limitations has not expired and a criminal charge can be pursued. McCarrick was laicized in 2019 because of his sexual misconduct and abuse of the confessional. - French Cardinal Vanhoye, Biblical scholar, dead at 98 (Vatican Press Office)
Cardinal Albert Vanhoye died in Rome on July 29 at the age of 98. He had been the oldest living member of the College of Cardinals. A former rector of the Pontifical Biblical Institute—where he had taught for decades—the Jesuit scholar received his red hat from Pope Benedict XVI in 2006. At the time he was already too old to participate in a papal conclave; he received his new rank as a tribute to his years of work as a “great exegete.” With the death of Cardinal Vanhoye there are now 220 living cardinals, of how 123 are under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a papal election. - Federal court dismisses challenge to Illinois Covid orders (Religion Clause)
Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church and Logos Baptist Ministries challenged Gov. Jay Pritzker’s lockdown regulations of churches; the regulations are no longer in force. Judge Robert Gettleman, named to the bench by President Clinton in 1994, dismissed the challenge, ruling that “it is absolutely clear that the alleged wrongful behavior— restrictions on religion due to the COVID-19 pandemic— are not reasonably expected to recur.” - In Scotland, probe launched into massive blaze at Catholic parish (Glasgow Live)
The church, St. Simon’s Parish, is located in Partick, and area of Glasgow. - Vatican unveils official image for World Meeting of Families (Vatican News)
In December 2020, Pope Francis announced a year of reflection on his 2016 apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), devoted to joy in the family. The year began on March 19, the fifth anniversary of the document’s publication, and will conclude on June 26, 2022, at the Tenth World Meeting of Families in Rome. - US bishops' Eucharist document should unite, not divide, the Church, panelists advise (CNS)
Panelists at the discussion, hosted by the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University, included Archbishop Christophe Pierre (the apostolic nuncio), Bishop Kevin Rhoades (who will oversee the drafting of the document), and Cardinal Joseph Tobin (a critic of the document).Georgetown has posted the video of the discussion. - Filipino priests issue stark lockdown poverty warnings (UCANews)
As President Rodrigo Duterte contemplates another lockdown, Father Rodel Enverga of the Archdiocese of Jaro warned that if businesses “close, where will [parents] get money to buy food and spend on educating their children? - Catholic priests banned from rebel-held territory in Ukraine (Forum 18)
Since 2014, over 10,000 people have been killed in the War in Donbass. Pro-Russian belligerents rule the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic. - Indian lawmaker: 'Get Christian missionaries out of India' (AsiaNews)
The lawmaker, Rakesh Sinha, is a member of the upper house of India’s Parliament. - British Columbia headed toward another record year for euthanasia deaths (The B.C. Catholic)
In the first six months of 2021, there were 923 assisted-suicide deaths in the Canadian province, according to the report. - More...