Catholic News
- Cardinal McElroy launches first criticism of Trump administration (Catholic Standard)
Cardinal Robert McElroy, newly installed as the Archbishop of Washington, DC, wasted no time issuing his first public criticism of the Trump administration, in an interview recorded before he took office. Cardinal McElroy object to classifying illegal immigrants as criminals, saying that the designation suggests “It is all right to treat them as lesser, as less human than us. That’s a very dangerous thing,” he told the Catholic Standard. The cardinal went on to say “that’s what I think is at the core of the danger we face as a country now.” Cardinal McElroy also voice opposition to the Trump administration’s mass layoffs of federal workers. He said that any staff cuts should reflect a clear judgment on what government work is necessary, and “it doesn’t seem to me that these firings are proceeding from a coherent sense of that.” - In the hospital, Pope celebrates anniversary of election with cake (CNS)
Pope Francis celebrated the 12th anniversary of his election with healthcare workers in Gemelli Hospital, according to the Vatican press office. The Pontiff, whose health has improved in recent days, has been taking part virtually in the Lenten spiritual exercises for the Roman Curia. Stating that the number 12 is a biblical number of completeness, Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap, who is preaching the retreat, said, “We can truly thank God because the gift of Pope Francis to the Church and the world is complete. And certainly, in these 12 years, he has had the opportunity to express himself in fullness.” - Cardinal Parolin celebrates Mass as Vatican diplomats pray for Pope (Vatican News)
Cardinal Pietro Parolin celebrated Mass in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace on March 14, as members of the Vatican diplomatic corps gathered to pray for the health of Pope Francis. In his homily the Secretary of State called attention to the 12th anniversary of the Pope’s election, which had fallen on the previous day. - Nigerian government welcomes leading prelate's criticisms (State House, Nigeria)
In a remarkably irenic statement, the Nigerian government welcomed an address in which the president of the bishops’ conference lamented widespread poverty and deplored corruption. “President Bola Tinubu deeply appreciates the constant interventions of the Catholic bishops in matters of governance in our country,” said Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president. “The Conference of Catholic Bishops’ patriotic fervor and commitment to national unity, peace, and stability are unassailable and deeply valued and respected by the government.” “While some of the governance challenges in the areas highlighted by the bishops remain, it is important to state categorically that our country has made tremendous progress in all areas since President Tinubu assumed office about 22 months ago,” Onanuga continued, as he listed actions taken by the Tinubu administration. The nation of 237 million (map), the most populous in Africa and sixth most populous in the world, is 47% Christian (11% Catholic), 46% Muslim, and 7% ethnic religionist. - USCCB appeals court decision on refugee funding (National Catholic Reporter)
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has appealed a federal judge’s decision on its lawsuit over the loss of refugee program funding. Last month, the bishops’ conference filed suit against the administration, challenging the suspension of funding for the bishops’ refugee-resettlement programs. The lawsuit seeks restoration of the funding and reimbursement for costs already incurred by the USCCB before funding was suspended. “We are reviewing our options to ensure that the newly arrived refugees and their families, who were assigned to our care by the State Department, are not deprived of assistance promised to them by the United States,” said USCCB spokeswoman Chieko Noguchi. - Curial officials hear meditations on eternity and 'living more' (CWN)
Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap, the Preacher of the Papal Household, devoted the seventh and eighth meditations of the Roman Curia’s Lenten retreat to the following themes: “Eternal, not immortal“ and “Live more.” - Seminarian killed in crossfire as Nigerian police rescue priest (PM News Nigeria)
As Nigerian police rescued an abducted priest, a seminarian who was kidnapped with him was killed in the crossfire. Father Philip Ekeli and the seminarian, Peter Andrew, were kidnapped on March 2 during an attack on a parish in Edo State (map). - Vatican diplomat on migration: 'Irregular status should not automatically be equated with criminality' (CWN)
Citing an international treaty on refugees (full text), a leading Vatican diplomat stated on March 12 that “whilst it is both a legitimate right and a duty to defend oneself and ensure the safety of the community from those who have committed violent or serious crimes, irregular status should not automatically be equated with criminality.” - Ukrainian Philadelphia archbishop discusses Trump-Zelensky meeting, Major Archbishop's visit (The Ukrainian Weekly)
In an interview with The Ukrainian Weekly, the Ukrainian Catholic archbishop of Philadelphia discussed President Volodymyr Zelensky’s recent meeting with President Donald Trump, as well as Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk’s recent visit to the United States and Canada. Archbishop Borys Gudziak said he reacted to the Trump-Zelensky meeting with “sadness and shame” and described a meeting with Ukrainian-Americans that evening as “like a mutual therapy session.” Archbishop Gudziak also said that the recent visit of the Major Archbishop to his cathedral attracted record crowds. “There were 2,000 people in the cathedral that sits 1,200,” he said, and 15 priests heard approximately 1,000 confessions. - First plaintiff in sex-abuse scandal killed in Louisiana (The Guardian)
Scott Anthony Gastal, whose testimony in a sex-abuse lawsuit marked the first step toward the eruption of the clerical sex-abuse scandal in the US, has died of injuries after a severe beating. In the 1980s, Gastal testified that he had been raped, when he was 11 years old, by Gilbert Gauthe, who was then a priest of the Lafayette diocese. His family refused to accept a confidential settlement from the diocese—as several other Gauthe victims had done—and won a $1 million award. His case began the unraveling of how Church officials had covered up abuse. Gastal said that trauma caused by the rape was responsible for a enduring troubles, in a life marked by psychological difficulties, irregular employment, and crime. He was 50 when he died. Police have charged his alleged assailant with 2nd-degree murder. Gauthe, who once admitted to molesting as many as 300 boys, eventually served 10 years of a 20-year sentence. He then moved to Texas, where he entered a guilty plea to a new abuse charge. He now lives in Texas. - New lighting to illumine dome of St. Peter's (Vatican News)
St. Peter’s basilica will soon present a more striking image as night, as a state-of-the-art lighting system is being installed around the giant dome. The night lights will provide a brighter and more even illumination for the basilica. - Indonesian cardinal opposes blasphemy conviction of transgender activist (Crux)
Cardinal Ignatius Suharyo Hardjoatmodjo of Jakarta has called for the release of a transgender activist who was convicted of blasphemy for an irreverent TikTok post about Jesus. Rata Thalisa was sentenced to 2 years and 10 months in prison, after several Protestant pastors filed a blasphemy complaint. The cardinal said lamented the conviction, saying “we have to have a sense of humor.” “Not everything is to be taken very seriously. Jesus would laugh if he heard the suggestion to cut his hair,” the cardinal said. (Actually Thalisa had suggested that Jesus should cut “her” hair.) - Prelate takes issue with Reporter's critique of Bishop Barron (National Catholic Reporter)
Bishop William Byrne of Springfield, Massachusetts, has taken issue with a National Catholic Reporter editor’s criticism of Bishop Robert Barron’s reflections on President Trump’s recent address to Congress. “Ad hominem attacks peddling in misinformation only serve to wound the Body of Christ,” Bishop Byrne said of John Grosso’s column, which he described as “misleading” and lacking “in charity and clarity.” “Misinformed opinion that fails to consider all the available evidence fails the test of responsible journalism,” Bishop Byrne added. - Former Archbishop of Canterbury decries wave of anti-Semitism (Jerusalem Post)
Lord Rowan Williams, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, warned against the “resurgence of anti-Semitic rhetoric” in a speech honoring the late Lord Jonathan Sacks, who had been Chief Rabbi of the UK from 1991 to 2013. Lord Williams, who was the worldwide leader of the Anglican communion from 2002 to 2012, spoke about the anti-Semitic sentiments that emerged after the October 7 massacre of of Israelis by Hamas terrorists. He said: “The desperate plight of the hostages is a bitterly vivid symbol of the way that so many lives—Jewish and non-Jewish—are held hostage by a climate of terror.” - Syrian Christians tense as killing spreads (The Spectator)
Writing in The Spectator, Father Benedict Kiely reports that the situation facing Christians in Syria is “very tense” as a rash of killings continues. Most of the 3,000 people killed in recent days have been members of the Alawite religious minority. But Father Kiely remarks, “as the old Syrian phrase has it, ‘first the Alawites, then the Christians.’” - Wall Street Journal op-ed touts St. John Paul II as 'feminist Pope' (Wall Street Journal)
The Wall Street Journal has published an op-ed by Erika Bachiochi, a mother of seven and fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, contrasting the teaching of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and Pope St. John Paul II with what she calls the “alternative magisterium” of Catholic podcasts. “Rather than the Church’s reflection on the sexes’ equal dignity,” young Catholics “often find something more akin to the far right’s misogynistic views, which have emerged from dark corners of the web,” writes Bachiochi, who said she is “an outspoken critic of a radical feminist ideology that treats transgenderism and elective abortion as core elements of ‘gender equality.’” “John Paul II would beg to differ” with the “alternative magisterium,” she added. “Thirty years ago he called on women to ‘promote a ‘new feminism’ and thereby transform ‘culture so that it supports life.’” Bachiochi cited Mulieris Dignitatem, John Paul’s 1988 letter on the dignity and vocation of women, as well as his 1995 Letter to Women. - Former Vatican editor: election of Pope Francis resulted from long-term campaign (I Media- French)
The former editor of the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano says that the election of Pope Francis twelve years ago “was the result of extensive preparation.” In an interview with the Roman news agency I Media, Giovanni Maria Vian said that a campaign to elect Cardinal Bergoglio, “encouraged by progressive cardinals,” began as early as 2001. Vian commented on the “anti-Western resentment” that he has seen in the current pontificate, and remarked that the concern Pope Francis shows for the environment matches the ecological priorities of the Peronist movement in Argentina. Vian also says that although Pope Francis had a cordial relationship with the late Pope Benedict XVI, “it is artificial and false to attempt to present them as close.” - Syrian Carmelites say 'true genocide' occurring (CatholicVote)
The Carmelite nuns of Aleppo report a “true genocide” is taking place in Syria, with massacres aimed primarily at the Alawite religious minority, but spreading to include Christians as well. “We beg you: Pray, and do whatever is in your power to help stop this inhuman slaughter,” the Carmelites said. - Vatican diplomat encourages wealthy nations to forgive financial debts, address 'ecological debt' (Holy See Mission)
During a UN dialogue on indebtedness, a leading Vatican diplomat encouraged wealthy nations to “cancel or substantially reduce” the debts owed by poorer nations during the jubilee year. Archbishop Ettore Balestrero, apostolic nuncio and Permanent Observer to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva, Switzerland, said that the Holy See “expresses its concern that global public debt reached $97 trillion in 2023, placing a significant burden on highly indebted countries.” “It is also alarming that developing countries spent 13 times more on external debt repayments than on combating climate change,” the prelate added. “While developing countries grapple with unsustainable levels of financial debt, the international community should recognize another form of debt: ecological debt, which refers to the responsibility of those countries that contributed disproportionately to climate change.” - Russian Orthodox Church decries killings in Syria (Moscow Patriarchate)
The Moscow Patriarchate has denounced the recent killing of hundreds of Alawites and Christians in Syria. “The terror has been unleashed based on accusations of their disloyalty and of them posing a threat to the new Syrian authorities,” stated the Synodal Department for Church’s Relations with Society and Mass Media. “Such arguments, however, lose their credibility amidst numerous reports of the killings of unarmed people, including children and the elderly.” “There is every reason to believe that the persecution is being waged on religious and ethnic grounds,” the Patriarchate added. - More...