Catholic News

• Did Vatican decline Pope-Biden meeting? (CWN)
  US President Joe Biden sought to meet with Pope Francis on June 15, but the Vatican turned down the request, according to a report from Catholic News Agency (CNA).
• 'The poor you will always have with you': Pope Francis issues message for World Day of the Poor (CWN)
  Pope Francis called on the faithful to recognize the poor Christ in the poor, to embrace a lifestyle characterized by fraternal sharing rather than the accumulation of wealth, and to encounter the poor personally.
• Father Spadaro: Vatican is concerned about 'access to the Eucharist as a political weapon' (New York Times)
  In a New York Times article that offers a tendentious interpretation of Cardinal Luis Ladaria’s May 7 letter to Archbishop Jose Gomez, Father Antonio Spadaro, SJ, editor-in-chief of La Civiltà Cattolica, said that “the concern in the Vatican is not to use access to the Eucharist as a political weapon.”
• Nigeria, in grip of Islamist violence and banditry, is 'at war,' archbishop warns (Aid to the Church in Need)
  “Our country is at war because of religious fanatics, bandits, kidnappers, terrorists, armed herders and opportunists who are criminals in the true sense of the word,” Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso of Kaduna preached following the murder of a priest. “They kill and maim innocent Nigerians regardless of their religion, ethnicity or political orientation.”
• Tell Senators to oppose Equality Act, USCCB urges (USCCB)
  Emphasizing that “the Equality Act discriminates against people of faith and threatens unborn life,” the US Conference of Catholic Bishops issued an action alert calling on Catholics to urge their senators to oppose it. In a 224-206 vote, the House of Representatives passed the Equality Act in February.
• Poll shows US Catholics support 'Eucharistic coherence' (Catholic Vote)
  A new poll shows that most practicing Catholics in the US believe that the American bishops should challenge prominent Catholic politicians who support abortion, and agree that these politicians should not receive Communion. The survey by CRC Research found that 83% of respondents say Catholic politicians who defy Church teaching create confusion; 88% said such people are hypocritical, and 72% said the US bishops should discuss the issue. Only practicing Catholics were included in the survey. The respondents were almost equally divided between Democrats and Republicans, and a majority (56%) had voted for Biden.
• NIH head lauds Pope Francis as 'very helpful' on vaccination (National Catholic Reporter)
  Dr. Francis Collins, the head of the National Institutes for Health, has praised Pope Francis for promoting the Covid vaccine. “Having a leader in the Catholic Church who has been so outspoken and so willing to lay out the facts and not be dissuaded by a lot of the myths and even conspiracies has been really helpful,” Collins told the National Catholic Reporter. The Reporter article quoting Collins suggested that Bishop Joseph Strickland “openly defied the Vatican” by opposing the vaccine, and that the US bishops’ conference “fostered confusion” by (accurately) pointing out the use of fetal tissues in the development of vaccines.
• 'They've failed': CAFOD director criticizes G7 leaders following meeting (CWN)
  The director of the official aid agency of the Catholic Church in England and Wales offered strong criticism of G7 leaders following their three-day meeting in Cornwall.
• Order that staffed Kamloops residential school refuses to share records sought by families (CBC News)
  Following the recent discovery of the remains of 215 children at the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, British Columbia’s government has asked the Sisters of St. Ann to turn over records immediately. Sister Marie Zarowny responded that some documents have already been made public, but that others will not be shared, and still others need to have inaccuracies changed before they may be made public. (An anthropology professor who has conducted research on the schools has offered historical context on the deaths.)
• Federal court dismisses Planned Parenthood's challenge to sanctuary city for the unborn (CNS)
  On May 1, 62% of voters in Lubbock, Texas, backed an ordinance declaring the city of 250,000 a sanctuary city for the unborn.
• Argentine bishops' pastoral team rebukes president on country's origins (CNS)
  President Alberto Fernández of Argentina said that Mexicans came from the Indians, Brazilians from the jungle and we Argentines on ships … from Europe”—prompting criticism from the Argentine bishops’ National Aboriginal Pastoral Team.
• Another Vancouver-area parish vandalized (Tri-City News)
  A memorial to unborn children was toppled at a parish in Port Moody, a city of 30,000 in the Vancouver metropolitan area. The vandalism was discovered on June 13, on the same weekend in which a Vancouver parish was defaced.
• Deacon's defamation suit against Texas diocese dismissed (Religion Clause)
  “The deacon’s name was included on a published list of those against whom credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor have been raised,” according to the report. “The deacon contended that he was wrongly included on the list because the person accusing him was not a minor,” but a vulnerable adult.
• Young Christian man abducted, raped by group of Muslims in Faisalabad (AsiaNews)
  Faisalabad, a city of 3.5 million, is Pakistan’s third-largest city. “Danish Masih, 17, was drugged and held captive for five days,” according to the report. “The police acted late, and no one has been arrested.”
• In Bangladesh, Muslim students kill fellow Christian student over video game (AsiaNews)
  Savar, where the murder took place, is a city of 300,000. The South Asian nation of 163 million (map) is 89% Muslim and 9% Hindu.
• God works humbly in little things, Pope says as he warns against discouragement, doubt (Vatican Press Office)
  During his June 13 Sunday Angelus address, Pope Francis reflected on Mark 4:26-34, the Gospel reading of the day.
• Put priority on help for poor, Pope urges FAO (Vatican News)
  In a June 14 message to the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Pope Francis called for “dedication to a more just world, at the service of our defenseless and needy brothers and sisters.” He said that as the world economy opens up following the Covid lockdown, higher priority should be given to the poor. He mentioned in particularly the poor living in rural areas that depend on agriculture for income.
• Papal plea for 150 million victims of forced child labor (Vatican Press Office)
  “Yesterday, [the] World Day Against Child Labour was celebrated,” Pope Francis said on June 13. “It is not possible to close our eyes before the exploitation of children, deprived of the right to play, to study and to dream. According to the estimates of the International Labour Organization, more than 150 million children are exploited by labour: this is a tragedy! . . . Let us all together renew the effort to eliminate this slavery of our times.” (See related CWN article.)
• Pope demands food aid reach starving people of Tigray (AP)
  Ethiopian and Eritrean troops are fighting against the regional government and local rebels in the Tigray War, which began in November 2020. Pope Francis prayed for Tigray, and made his appeal, at the conclusion of his June 13 Sunday Angelus address.
• Vatican sets term limits for leaders of lay associations (CWN)
  The dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life has released a canonical decree that limits the terms of leaders of lay associations.
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