Catholic News
- Pope Francis in Iraq: recap (CWN)
Pope Francis returned to Rome on March 8 after a historic 4-day visit to Iraq, which was highlighted by an inter-religious ceremony at Ur, the birthplace of the patriarch Abraham. - Archbishop Gomez, 7 committee chairmen warn against abortion funding in Covid relief bill (USCCB)
“For 45 years, the United States Congress – whether controlled by Democrats or Republicans – has maintained that taxpayers should not be forced against their conscience to pay for abortions,” the bishops said in their March 5 statement. “Abandoning this compromise in a time of national emergency only serves to divide people in the very moment we should be united.” - Pope intervenes to ask Bose founder to pack his bags (Crux)
The Bose Monastic Community is an Italian ecumenical monastery founded in 1965 by Enzo Biafanchi, a Catholic layman. On March 4, Pope Francis met with Father Amedeo Cencini, the pontifical delegate to the community. - In airplane interview, Pope acknowledges risks of inter-religious statements (Vatican News)
Speaking with reporters on his return trip from Iraq on March 8, Pope Francis said that he realized some Catholics think he is “one step away from heresy” in his statements on inter-religious harmony. But he said he feels a “restless for fraternity” with non-Christians, and always prays before issuing such statements. The Pope praised Ayatollah al-Sistani as “a beacon,” adding that “wise men are everywhere because God’s wisdom has been scattered all over the world.” - Former Buffalo bishops must pay their own lawyers (Buffalo News)
A federal bankruptcy-court judge has ruled that Bishops Richard Malone and Edward Grosz—the former Bishop of Buffalo and a retired auxiliary—must pay for their own lawyers in suits charging that they neglected sex-abuse complaints. The court ruled that the Buffalo diocese has “no obligation” to pay lawyers for the accused prelates. - Massachusetts high court: no anti-discrimination protection for Christian college (New Boston Post)
By a unanimous vote, the highest court of Massachusetts has ruled that a Christian college cannot remove a homosexual activist from its faculty. The state’s Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a professor at Gordon College was “expected and required to be a Christian teacher and scholar, but not a minister.” Therefore, the court ruled, the college could not lawfully discriminate against the teacher on the basis of her advocacy. - 'Our heart must be cleansed' to be missionary disciples, Pope preaches at final Mass in Iraq (AsiaNews)
After arriving in Iraq on March 5, Pope Francis met with Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and took part in an interreligious gathering in Ur on March 6. The following day, he prayed for victims of war in Mosul (which ISIS occupied from 2014-17) and addressed the faithful in Qaraqosh, which ISIS also had ravaged. - Washington's state supreme court rejects challenge to discrimination exemption for non-profits (Religion Clause)
A volunteer who disclosed he was in a same-sex relationship sued Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission after he was not hired for the staff attorney position. - Remains of Father Kapuan, heroic Korean war chaplain, identified (NBC)
US military officials have announced the discovery of the remains of Father Emil Kapuan, a military chaplain who died in 1951. Father Kapuan, who received the Medal of Honor posthumously, and is a candidate for beatification, died of pneumonia while in a North Korean prison camp, after he was captured while tended to wounded soldiers. - Arriving in Iraq, Pope offers a message of solidarity, renewed hope (CWN)
Pope Francis arrived in Iraq on March 5, beginning a historic four-day visit with a plea for peace, inter-religious harmony, and “an end to acts of violence an extremism, factions and intolerance.” - Pope names Cardinal Tobin to Congregation for Bishops (CWN)
Pope Francis has appointed Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark to the Congregation for Bishops, the Vatican body that advises the Pontiff on the appointment of new bishops. - Sri Lanka Catholics mark 'Black Sunday' for Easter victims (AP)
The 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombings killed 269 people and injured over 500. - Returning from Iraq, Pope offers prayers of thanks to Our Lady (Vatican News)
Returning to Rome on March 8 after a 4-day visit to Iraq, Pope Francis followed his usual practice by visiting the basilica of St. Mary Major to offer a prayer of thanksgiving before the icon of Maria Salus Populi Romani. The Pontiff placed a bouquet of flowers, brought from Iraq, before the beloved image. - Texas justices affirm dismissal of suit claiming deacon's relationship with man's wife led to divorce (Southeast Texas Record)
A Texas court dismissed a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston, in which a man alleged that a deacon’s relationship with his wife led to the couple’s divorce. - Repeated threats made against Colombian bishop (Fides)
Bishop Jaramillo Montoya’s brother bishops lamented “drug trafficking, [an] increasing number of armed groups, corruption, extortion, loss of faith and values, inefficiency of large public and private sectors, as well as the ill-treatment inflicted on the common home.” - As virus spreads in Tanzania, 25 priests, 60 sisters die in 2 months (Fides)
The East African nation of 58.6 million (map) is 57% Christian (28% Protesant, 27% Catholic), 31% Muslim, and 11% ethnic religionist. - Indonesian prelate warns against use of 'black magic' (UCANews)
Archbishop Agustinus Agus of Pontianak ministers in West Kalimantan province (map). - Congo's bishops say diplomat's death drew attention to insecurity (The Catholic Universe)
Pope Francis expressed condolences following the murder of Italian Ambassador Luca Attanasio, who was killed while taking part in a humanitarian convoy. - Colorado Senate passes bill easing abuse lawsuits (AP)
Colorado has no criminal statute of limitations on child sexual abuse. The state’s senate has unanimously passed legislation that would lift the civil statute of limitations as well. - Canadian bishops call out governments over unfair treatment in Covid regulations (Catholic Register)
“As Quebec movie theatres welcome up to 250 patrons as pandemic protocols begin to loosen, churches remain limited to only 10 people — including the presiding priest — at worship services,” the report begins. - More...