Catholic News

• Seek silence amid noisy world, Pope tells Capuchin sisters (CNS)
  On September 26, Pope Francis received participants in the general chapter of the Capuchin Tertiary Sisters of the Holy Family, a community founded in 1885 by Father Luis Amigó, OFM Cap. “Dear sisters, be prophets of listening, first of all listening to the voice of God, who calls to you to love all without distinction, to love creation as a gift, to see its greatness in all, as Saint Francis teaches us in his Canticle of the creatures,” Pope Francis said in his address. “It is precisely from this silence, from this silent listening to God, this silence in which man encounters God, that we can pass from cacophony to symphony.”
• Cardinal Arinze criticizes Belgian bishops' liturgical service for same-sex unions (CNA)
  “Human beings have no power to change the order established by God the Creator,” Cardinal Francis Arinze said after the bishops published a liturgical service for same-sex unions. “Even if the aim is to be pastorally helpful to homosexual couples, this is an error on the part of the bishops.” The prelate, now 89, was Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments from 2002 to 2008.
• Vatican calls for 'sustainable' tourism (Fides)
  In a message for World Tourism Day, September 27, the Vatican’s Dicastery for Integral Human Development said that tourism “must be carried out according to principles of equity and social transformation.” The message—signed by Cardinal Michael Czerny, the prefect of the dicastery—said that the tourism industry should encourage respect for the environment as well as for the people involved, promoting social justice and development. Thus “tourism is also called to embrace the perspective of integral ecology.” The message began with an acknowledgment that tourism has set back severely by the covid crisis—which, the Vatican document said, is not over. However, “it can now become one of the engines of the reconstruction of a more just, sustainable, and integral world.”
• Vatican foreign minister lauds work of IAEA (Vatican Press Office)
  At an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conference, Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States and International Organizations, said that “the Holy See reiterates its sincere gratitude and affirms its unwavering support for the IAEA’s many contributions to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, as well as to the safe, secure, and peaceful use of nuclear technology.”
• Pro-life Catholic clinic in Denver area vandalized, suspect quickly arrested (CNA)
  Since May 2020, there have been at least 164 acts of vandalism, arson, and other destruction at parishes and other Catholic sites in the United States.
• Vatican opens canonical investigation of retired Australian bishop (Catholic Leader (Brisbane))
  A year after the resignation of Bishop Christopher Saunders of Broome, Australia, the Vatican has begun a canonical investigation and ordered him to live outside his former diocese. The prelate has been accused accused of sexual misconduct. A police investigation recently concluded with a decision not to file charges.
• Catholic charities ousted from Algeria (Fides)
  Caritas Algeria has announced the “complete and definitive” closing of its operations in Algeria, in response to a government directive. The Caritas announcement did not elaborate on the reasons for the shutdown, but said the Church “remains true to its charitable mission at the service of brotherhood.” Local Church sources told the Fides new agency that the government’s move was not aimed specifically at Catholic charities, but part of a general policy of restricting all foreign relief organizations. Caritas Algeria had been providing humanitarian aid to the poor and to migrants, in a country that is 97% Muslim.
• Cuba approves same-sex marriage in unusual referendum (AP)
  In a rare referendum, voters in Cuba approved a government-backed proposal to approve same-sex marriage. 67% of voters approved the measure, according to the official results announced by the Communist regime.
• President Biden issues Rosh Hashanah greetings (White House)
  “With the piercing sound of the shofar and the sweetness of apples dipped in honey, the Jewish New Year ushers in a sacred time of reflection, repentance, and renewal,” said President Joe Biden. “During these Days of Awe, we have the opportunity to ask what kind of person we want to be and how we have measured up.”
• Canadian bishops' president issues annual report (CCCB)
  Bishop Raymond Poisson’s annual report emphasized “walking together with the indigenous peoples in Canada”; other highlights included “family and life” and an update on the synodal process.
• 18-year-old leads fight to protect children from transgender surgeries (CNA)
  Chloe Cole, 18, is “a self-described ‘former trans kid’ who de-transitioned after undergoing years of puberty blockers and an irreversible double mastectomy at the age of 15,” according to the report.
• Washington Post columnist rips Catholic health care institutions (Washington Post)
  Treatment in a Catholic health care institution means “no tubal ligations for contraceptive purposes,” writes columnist Kate Cohen. “It would also mean no abortions, vasectomies, IUDs or in vitro fertilization. It would most likely constrain choices in end-of-life care and end gender-affirming care ... I still live in the Commonwealth of Religious Deference, where rules can be broken and citizens can be denied basic services as long as someone has decided that’s the way God wants it.”
• Pope Francis: The Eucharist teaches us to adore God rather than ourselves (Vatican News)
  On September 25, Pope Francis made a pastoral visit to Matera, Italy, for the conclusion of the 27th National Eucharistic Congress. During Mass there, the Pope also called on Italians to welcome migrants and have more children. “I’d like to ask Italy: More births, more children,” he said extemporaneously.
• Say 'yes to a world united among peoples,' Cardinal Parolin tells UN (UN News)
  Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Holy See’s Secretary of State, addressed the United Nations General Assembly on September 24. During his address, the prelate discussed ideological colonization, the climate, Ukraine, migration, and the importance of the UN.
• Report: Patriarch Kirill says dying in war against Ukraine 'cleanses away all sins' (Ukrainska Pravda)
  “We know that many today are dying in the fields of internecine battle,” said the head of the Russian Orthodox Church, according to the report. “The Church is praying that this battle will end as soon as possible, that as few brothers as possible will kill each other in this fratricidal war.” “And at the same time, the Church realizes that if someone, driven by a sense of duty and the need to honor his oath, stays loyal to his vocation and dies while carrying out his military duty, then he is, without any doubt, doing a deed that is equal to sacrifice,” Patriarch Kirill added, according to the report. “He is sacrificing himself for others. And, therefore, we believe that this sacrifice cleanses away all of that person’s sins.”
• Trial of Cardinal Zen begins in Hong Kong (CNA)
  The criminal trial of Cardinal Joseph Zen began on September 26, after a delay due to the illness of the trial judge. The 90-year-old cardinal and five co-defendants are charged with failure to register a group that raised funds for the legal defense of pro-democracy activists. All of the defendants have entered not-guilty pleas.
• Cardinal Müller discusses new world order (Catholic World Report)
  “The establishment of a New World Order has sprung from a diabolic-destructive and not a theological way of thinking,” Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, who served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2012 to 2017, said in a recent interview. “The program of a New World Order under the condition of a total economization of man, in which self-appointed financial and political elites remain as the thinking and controlling subject, comes at the price of the depersonalization of the masses,” he continued. “The human being is merely the biological raw product, which is upgraded to a computer in a total network of information. There will no longer be any person then, no immortality of the soul, no living being with heart and mind, spirit and free will.”
• Pope appeals to the young to save the planet, find peace (AFP)
  The Economy of Francesco is an organization of young economists and entrepreneurs who seek to foster a Catholic vision of economic life. During a September 24 visit to Assisi for an event organized by the Economy of Francesco, Pope Francis said, “Like St. Francis, [the] economy must embrace the poor.” “Human beings, created in the image and likeness of God, are seekers of meaning before being seekers of material goods,” he added. “That is why the first capital of any society is spiritual capital.”
• Pro-life activist arrested in SWAT team raid (CNA)
  An FBI SWAT team burst into the home of a Pennsylvania pro-life activist on September 23, terrifying his family while arresting him on a charge that had already been dismissed by local courts. Mark Houck, who prays regularly at an abortion clinic outside Philadelphia, was accused of assaulting a clinic escort last October. Houck said he pushed away the man, who was harassing his young son. The incident was captured on videotape. Local authorities declined to press charges. In July, however, federal prosecutors told Houck that he could face charges for violating the Freedom of Access to Clinics Act. Houck sought to speak with the prosecutors about the case, but had no reply before the SWAT team raid.
• Pope praises Shalom community's approach to evangelization (Vatican News)
  In an address to members of the Shalom community, a Brazil-based movement aimed at evangelizing the young, Pope Francis praised the group’s focus on the fundamentals of sacramental life. “You have put the Eucharistic celebration, adoration, and confession at the center,” the Pope said. This, he added, promises “an inexhaustible wealth that is found in the Church and from which we must always draw.” The Shalom movement, founded in Brazil in 1982, now involves over 10,000 missionaries, working in 33 countries.
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