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‘Uncharted territory’ for Church as Vatican, bishops respond to coronavirus…
Vatican tourists wearing protective masks take a selfie Thursday in front of St. Peter’s Basilica. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) | Mar. 5, 2020 ‘Uncharted Territory’ for Church as Vatican, Italian Bishops Respond to Coronavirus Weekday Masses are suspended in some northern regions, and elsewhere the exchange at the sign of peace is being dropped and stoups have been emptied. VATICAN CITY — As fears grow that the new coronavirus is turning into a worldwide pandemic and emergency, the Church in Italy is working with government officials on coordinating measures to prevent contagion in what Vatican officials are describing as “uncharted territory” for the Church in the modern era. In a statement issued March 5, the Italian bishops’ conference continu...
The start of the New Exodus: 2nd Sunday of Lent…
This Sunday we are only eleven days into Lent, still very early along on our Lenten pilgrimage. The readings share the theme of beginning the journey of faith, even while giving us a glimpse of our final destination. In all three years of the lectionary cycle (A, B, C), the readings for the Second Sunday of Lent always pair a key pericope from the Abraham narrative (Gen 12-22) with an account of the Transfiguration from one of the Synoptic Gospels. This is because, in all the Gospels, the Transfiguration marks “the beginning of the end” of Jesus’ earthly life. After the Transfiguration, Jesus “sets his face toward Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51) and begins the “death march” toward the Holy City that will culminate in Passion Week and his crucifixion. The Readings pair the b...
Theologians say there is ‘doubt’ of sacramentality in marriages between ‘baptized non-believers’…
Vatican City, Mar 5, 2020 / 01:58 pm (CNA).- The International Theological Commission this week published a study into the question of whether two “baptized non-believers” can contract sacramental marriage or whether the absence of faith impedes the intent of the spouses. The commission concluded that an absence of faith can “compromise the intention to celebrate a marriage that includes some of the goods of marriage,” and “there is reason to doubt” that a sacrament takes place in such marriages, though it concedes that is far from a given, and depends on additional circumstances. Noting that this problem has been a question under consideration during the last three pontificates, the group of 30 Catholic theologians proposes a solution which, they say, rejects two extremes: “absolute sacra...
Preventing pandemic: Vatican takes steps to stop spread of coronavirus…
ROME — The month of March is usually when tourists flock to the Eternal City after the cold winter months and pilgrims come to pray at many holy sites during the Lenten season. With news of the growing number of people infected with the novel coronavirus, increasing travel restrictions and the Italian government’s order to close all schools, universities and institutes until March 15, places like the Milan cathedral, known as the “Duomo,” and the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican are eerily empty. As of March 4, more than 2,700 people in Italy have contracted the virus, known as COVID-19, while at least 107 people have died since the outbreak began in northern Italy, the Italian health ministry said. Nevertheless, the delicate balancing act of preventing others from being contaminated while no...
What would a truly Catholic politician look like?
With the rise of Uncle Joe Biden the American public is being presented yet again with a Catholic politician who professes to keep his faith private, while exploiting his Catholic faith whenever he and his PR professionals think it expedient. Joe Biden seems like one of the old school “Kennedy Catholics” who go to church on Sunday and cut deals with the mafia on Monday, hobnob with the Bishops in smoky rooms on Tuesdays and schmooze lobbyists to get their family members cushy jobs on Wednesday. On Thursday they figure out what element of tricky Catholic teaching they can jettison to get a few more votes and on Friday eat fish at a swanky seafood restaurant because they’re Catholic. On Saturday they hang out with some top end billionaires and on Sunday they go to Mass at the parish of one o...
Autism and Communion: Textbook social-media clash between parents, press and church…
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Pope names Savannah’s Bishop Gregory Hartmayer as Archbishop of Atlanta…
Vatican City, Mar 5, 2020 / 04:09 am (CNA).- Pope Francis Thursday appointed Bishop Gregory Hartmayer of Savannah to be the next archbishop of Atlanta, Georgia. Hartmayer is a member of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual and has been bishop of Savannah since 2011. In Atlanta, Hartmayer follows Archbishop Wilton Gregory, who was appointed to head the Archdiocese of Washington in early 2019, after leading the Georgia archdiocese for almost 15 years. The Archdiocese of Atlanta covers 21,445 square miles in the northern half of Georgia. The archdiocese has over 100 parishes and serves around 1.2 million Catholics, according to 2018 stats. It is also the metropolitan see of the province of Atlanta, which encompasses the suffragan dioceses of Savannah, Georgia; Charleston, South Carolina; and ...
Explaining the Pope’s soft touch on the survival of Middle Eastern Christianity…
ROME – Say “Christianity” and “Middle East” to people who’ve been paying attention to events in the region, the and next word that would automatically come to mind for most probably would be “extinction.” By now, the statistics on the collapse of the Christian population in the Middle East are wearily familiar. The situation is worse in the war-torn nations of Iraq and Syria, for obvious reasons, than in historic Christian strongholds such as Egypt and Lebanon, but there too the pressures are strong and the trendlines alarming. Though there are promising pockets of resilience, such as the effort by Christians on Iraq’s Nineveh Plains to rebuild villages all but wiped out under ISIS occupation, most observers agree that the rise of anti-Christian violence fueled by jihadist intolerance has ...
Despite staying home, Pope’s vibe still will be felt during Lenten retreat…
ROME – Pope Francis was supposed to depart Sunday for his annual weeklong Lenten retreat with senior members of the Roman Curia. As has been custom since 2015, the get-away is being staged at a retreat center in the nearby hill town of Ariccia, about 45 minutes by car outside Rome. As it turns out, however, the pope announced during his Sunday Angelus address that he wouldn’t make the trip this year but will follow it from Rome due to a cold with which he’s been struggling for several days. Yet one could make the argument that Francis doesn’t actually have to be in Ariccia or its Casa Divin Maestro (“House of the Divine Master”), because in many ways the experience already carries a distinctly Francis “vibe.” To begin with, the preacher for this year’s retreat is a fellow Jesuit, Italian F...
The unreal dream of a “Church of the Ruthenians” — a clarifying letter…..
> Italiano> English> Español> Français> All the articles of Settimo Cielo in English * (s.m.) The previous post on the “strange shufflings” at the top of the Vatican congregation for the Oriental Churches has aroused considerable interest, in particular regarding the hypothetical creation of a “Church of the Ruthenians” in the sub-Carpathian region at the junction of Slovakia, Hungary, and Ukraine. Alessandro Milani, a scholar well versed in religion and politics in Eastern Europe, has written us to challenge this hypothesis, but above all to illustrate the many ethnic and liturgical particularities of that region, which cannot be compressed under a single banner. Milani is “maître de conférences” and “docteur associé” of the GSRL (Groupe Sociétés, Religions, Laïcités), whic...
God’s law is personal and loving…
In Monday’s first reading (Monday of the First Week of Lent) there is a recitation of the law that features the refrain “I am the Lord.” What does this expression mean and why is it appended to each command? When we think of God’s law, there is a danger that we might think of it as we do of any secular law: as a sort of impersonal code written by nameless legislators or bureaucrats. We have not met them; we do not love, trust, or even know them. They are an abstraction we call “the government,” or just “they,” as in, “They don’t let you park here,” or “They’ll arrest you for that.” If we have faith, God’s Law is personal, for it is given by someone we do love, trust, and know. Further, we believe that He loves us and wants what is best for us. God’s law is not the equivalent of a no-parkin...
Vatican opens archives of 2 million documents from Pius XII era…
Documents on the pontificate of Pope Pius XII are seen at the Vatican Secret Archives on Feb. 27 in Vatican City. On March 2, the Vatican Apostolic Library opened the Holy See’s wartime archives on the pontificate of Pope Pius XII between the years 1939 to 1958. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images) Most attention has focused on what they might reveal about the Pope’s actions and attitudes toward the Jews during World War II, but a Vatican conference ahead of today’s opening highlighted other areas of interest. VATICAN CITY — The Vatican today opened archives relating to Pope Pius XII’s pontificate, and as historians and researchers begin to scour some 2 million documents for information, most attention will be paid to what they reveal about Pius’ actions and attitudes toward the Jews and the Nazi...
