Holy Name of Jesus

Altar servers. / Credit: Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

CNA Newsroom, Jul 25, 2024 / 10:51 am (CNA).

A Catholic priest in Germany has barred an altar server and lector from his duties because he works for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party. According to a report by CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, the party has announced legal steps in response, but the archdiocese is backing the priest’s decision.

In early July, parish priest Father Ralf Dunker informed 20-year-old Julian-Bert Schäfer that he could no longer serve as an altar server, lector, and organist in the Parish of St. Francis of Assisi in Hamm in northwestern Germany. Dunker cited Schäfer’s active involvement with the AfD as incompatible with these volunteer duties.

While polling has shown the AfD as the second most popular party in Germany, the party is variously described in the media as a populist, right-wing, or far-right extremist outfit. 

The banned altar server, an AfD member for four years and office manager for the party in the Hamm city council, denounced the decision.

“It is outrageous that a priest arbitrarily decides, without consulting the pastoral team, which political convictions are compatible with participation in Church life,” Schäfer said in a statement on Facebook. He added: “This exclusion is not only a violation of my rights as a believer but also a betrayal of the principles of tolerance and respect that the Church preaches.”

CNA Deutsch reported that the AfD official has engaged a lawyer, reportedly an AfD federal Parliament member, to challenge the decision. The legal battle is expected to revolve around the interpretation of Article 3 of the German Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on political convictions.

Schäfer said the challenge would draw on the relevant article of the Basic Law, “which guarantees equality before the law.”

However, the Archdiocese of Paderborn is standing firmly behind Dunker’s decision. A spokesperson for the archdiocese stated, according to katholisch.de: “Based on the German Bishops’ Conference’s declaration ..., it is justified to inform an active AfD functionary that he cannot exercise a voluntary office in the Catholic parish.”

The German Bishops’ Conference has taken a clear stance against the AfD. In February, it issued a declaration on nationalism that said: “Right-wing extremist parties and those that are rampant on the fringes of this ideology ... cannot be a place of political activity for Christians and cannot be voted for.”

Pressure against Catholic members of AfD

The case of the dismissed altar server is not an isolated incident. In May, Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier upheld the dismissal of Christoph Schaufert, an AfD state parliamentarian, from a parish administrative council. Ackermann defended the decision, stating: “The exercise of political mandates for the AfD is incompatible with the exercise of the elected office in the administrative council of a parish in the Diocese of Trier.”

During protests against an AfD party congress in Essen in July, Klaus Pfeffer, vicar general of the Diocese of Essen, praised the event, according to CNA Deutsch.

However, the AfD’s popularity is rising, with recent polls showing it at about 20% nationally, making it the second-strongest political force behind the center-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU). In eastern German states, where crucial elections are set for 2024, the AfD is polling above 30% in Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg.

This rise reflects broader European trends, where parties critical of mass migration, Islam, and leftist ideologies have gained significant ground, such as Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France and Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom in the Netherlands. Analysts attribute this also to wider concerns over demographic decline, economic uncertainties, and disillusionment with mainstream politics and media.

For the Catholic Church in Germany, the AfD’s growing strength presents a complex challenge. Church leaders have unequivocally opposed the party but risk ignoring the reality that some Catholics support — and are members of — the AfD.

As Germany approaches its next federal election in 2025, and with critical state elections sooner, the Catholic Church’s approach to the AfD will likely remain contentious. The cases of Schäfer and Schaufert may presage further conflicts as the Church balances political pressures while struggling with a steep decline in relevance and influence.

German bishops have called for dialogue with AfD voters to understand their concerns, even as they assert that “right-wing extremist parties cannot be a place of political activity for Christians.”

Cathedral of Our Lady of Refuge in Matamoros, Mexico (left), and Our Lady of Guadalupe Church in Reynosa, Mexico, which will be a “co-cathedral.” / Credit: Michael Martin from Cypress, Texas, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons; Robox91, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 25, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The Diocese of Matamoros in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas on the border with the U.S. announced two changes in its pastoral government: Its name will change to the Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa and the Our Lady of Guadalupe church in Reynosa will be its co-cathedral.

In a statement shared Monday, the Mexican diocese said the changes will not be immediate. In the coming days the date will be announced when the new name will be official and a Mass will be celebrated at which time Our Lady of Guadalupe Church will be elevated to a co-cathedral.

According to the statement, the Vatican Dicastery for Bishops approved the changes, which had been requested by the bishop of Matamoros, Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía, considering that “Reynosa, which is part of the territory of the Diocese of Matamoros, is the municipality with the largest population in the state of Tamaulipas and its ecclesial life is very solid.”

The city of Reynosa is located in the country’s northeast, also in the state of Tamaulipas, and borders Hidalgo County, Texas. It has a population of 704,767 inhabitants, according to 2020 data from the Mexican government’s Ministry of Economy, whereas Matamoros has a population of 118,337. In the area served by the Catholic Church in ​​Reynosa alone there are 34 churches.

The episcopal seat of what will be the Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa will remain in Matamoros, where the cathedral of Our Lady of Refuge and the offices of the diocesan curia are located. However, “some liturgical celebrations and diocesan services will take place in the new co-cathedral,” which is located in downtown Reynosa.

The Royal Spanish Academy defines co-cathedral as “a church with the dignity of a cathedral, united to that of the historical seat of the same diocese.”

With the addition of the one in Reynosa, there will be five co-cathedrals in Mexico. Currently they are the Co-Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary in Chilapa, in the Diocese of Chilpancingo-Chilapa, Guerrero state; the Co-Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Chetumal, of the Diocese of Cancún-Chetumal, Quintana Roo state; the Co-Cathedral of St. Peter in Madera, in the Diocese of Cuauhtémoc-Madera, Chihuahua state; and the Co-Cathedral of the Sweet Name of Mary in Sisoguichi, in the Diocese of Tarahumara, also in Chihuahua.

Father José Luis Cerra Luna, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe, shared a message on Facebook expressing his joy at the Vatican’s decision.

“God calls us to feel even more closely united to our bishop, Eugenio Andrés Lira Rugarcía, but also to the entire diocesan community. Being a co-cathedral is a vocation to unity, not only within our parish but for the entire Diocese of Matamoros-Reynosa,” Cerra said.

According to the website of the Diocese of Matamoros, its territory covers the towns of Matamoros, Reynosa, Valle Hermoso, Río Bravo, Camargo, Díaz Ordaz, San Fernando, and Méndez, all in northern Tamaulipas.

The diocesan territory has an area of ​​about 7,500 square miles with a population of approximately 1.5 million.

The diocese has 76 churches and a presbyterate made up of 125 diocesan priests as well as various religious communities, lay organizations, educational institutions, and social works.

The Diocese of Matamoros was created by Pope Pius XII on Feb. 16, 1958, and is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Monterrey.

This story was first publishedby ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

After traveling to Istanbul on July 25, 1967, for a celebration at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, the pope visited the Orthodox patriarchal Church of St. George with the ecumenical patriarch, Athenagoras I, Orthodox archbishop of Constantinople, three years after exchanging a kiss of peace together during a pilgrimage and peace tour of the Holy Land. / Credit: Marius Pelletier

ACI MENA, Jul 25, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

On July 25, 1967, Pope Paul VI set foot on Turkish soil — the first papal visit to the city of Istanbul since it was called Constantinople. 

After traveling to Istanbul for a celebration at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, the pope visited the Orthodox Patriarchal Church of St. George with the Ecumenical Patriarch, Athenagoras I, Orthodox archbishop of Constantinople, three years after exchanging a kiss of peace together during a pilgrimage and peace tour of the Holy Land. Jerusalem was the only place in the world where the heads of the Eastern and Western churches could meet 910 years after the Church split in 1054.

On the first day of his two-day visit, July 25, Paul VI also met the Armenian patriarch and the leaders of the Muslim and Jewish communities as well as the Turkish authorities, who welcomed his visit in a warm and cordial manner. He also met then-president of the Turkish republic Cevdet Sunay, with whom he discussed problems in the Middle East and Cyprus. Sunay underlined the Holy Father’s efforts in favor of peace.

The following day, after celebrating Mass at the Basilica of St. Anthony in Istanbul, the pope’s journey continued to Smyrna (Izmir), where he first met with authorities, the local population, and the faithful before moving on to Ephesus, where he visited the house of the Virgin Mary, addressing the faithful of Ephesus as well as representatives of the Eastern Orthodox churches. It is noteworthy that Mary is mentioned some 50 times in the Koran and is also venerated by Muslims.

A celebration at St. John’s Cathedral in Izmir brought the official trip to a close. The only blemish on the trip was Paul VI’s prayer at the Hagia Sophia museum — the first official prayer there by a Christian leader since 1453. The Muslim world was taken aback, and the act was described as a “gaffe.”

Despite that, the visit truly marked the renewal of ecumenical relations between the Catholic world and the Orthodox Patriarchate of Constantinople — a fundamental step toward unity between the two churches.

The “Charter of the Unity of the Churches of the East and West,” a basic ecumenical document, was read out in Istanbul’s Holy Spirit Cathedral on July 25 in the presence of the pope and Patriarch Athenagoras.

Now, decades later, Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew I, the archbishop of Constantinople and ecumenical patriarch, have been working in a committed fashion toward unity, as evidenced by their numerous meetings since 2013 (in Jerusalem and Rome), followed by the patriarch’s invitation to Francis to attend the feast of St. Andrew in Istanbul in 2014.

In addition, on the occasion of the 1,700th anniversary of the Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, which will be celebrated in 2025, Bartholomew I has once again invited Francis to the historic celebration. At the end of June, Francis declared: “This is a trip I wish to make with all my heart.”

This story was first published by ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Reading 1 2 Cor 4:7-15

Responsorial Psalm Ps 126:1bc-2ab, 2cd-3, 4-5, 6

Alleluia See Jn 15:16

Gospel Mt 20:20-28

Lectionary for Mass for Use in the Dioceses of the United States, second typical edition, Copyright © 2001, 1998, 1997, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine; Psalm refrain © 1968, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved. Neither this work nor any part of it may be reproduced, distributed, performed or displayed in any medium, including electronic or digital, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

The community of Discalced Carmelites of Lucena in Spain is being forced to leave after the order’s presence of more than 400 years in the city due to lack of vocations. / Credit: Diocese of Córdoba, Spain

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 24, 2024 / 18:30 pm (CNA).

The community of Discalced Carmelites of San José monastery in Lucena in Spain’s Córdoba province, to whom Pope Francis sent several messages because of his friendship with a former prioress, is being forced to leave after the order’s presence of more than 400 years in the city due to lack of vocations.

Mother Mary Magdalene of St. John of the Cross, prioress of the small community, explained in a statement that “with great pain and great sadness, because there are only three nuns left, the scarcity of vocations and being requested by another Carmel in need, we saw that it is God’s will that our mission here had concluded,” reported the Iglesia en Córdoba (The Church in Córdoba), a weekly newspaper of the Spanish diocese.

Thus the 412-year uninterrupted presence of the Discalced Carmelites in the Lucena monastery will end. The nuns arrived there in 1612 from the city of Cabra, where the community was founded in 1603.

According to the newspaper ABC, the death of the former prioress, Mother Adriana of Jesus Crucified, in September 2023 left the community below the minimum number of five nuns. However, the community was granted a special status that had the support of Pope Francis and the bishop of Córdoba, Demetrio Fernández.

With the recent departure of another sister, the future of the community was sealed. The three nuns will soon move to a community located in the Diocese of Salamanca to which they are joined by a “long and close relationship of sisterhood.”

The community’s ties with Pope Francis

This community of Discalced Carmelites became more known in recent years due to the friendship that their prioress at the time, Mother Adriana of Jesus Crucified, maintained with Pope Francis when he was auxiliary bishop of Buenos Aires. Two other Argentine nuns in the congregation had also known Francis.

On Dec. 31, 2013, the pontiff called the nuns and left a New Year’s message of encouragement, hope, and joy on their answering machine. Hours later, he was finally able to converse with them for 15 minutes.

According to Iglesia en Córdoba, when Mother Adriana’s death was imminent, Pope Francis “comforted the nun in her last moments of life” and, after her passing, “recontacted the monastery to convey condolences to the rest of the community of nuns.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attends an NCAA championship teams celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on July 22, 2024, in Washington, D.C. U.S. President Joe Biden abandoned his campaign for a second term after weeks of pressure from fellow Democrats to withdraw and just months ahead of the November election, throwing his support behind Harris. / Credit: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jul 24, 2024 / 18:00 pm (CNA).

With President Joe Biden bowing out of the 2024 presidential race following intense pressure from within his own party, Vice President Kamala Harris is the likely Democratic nominee to face former president Donald Trump in November’s general election.

Harris was raised by a Christian father and a Hindu mother and attended both Hindu and Christian services as a child. As an adult, Harris was a member of a Black Baptist church. Her husband, Douglas Emhoff, is Jewish and attended a Reform Synagogue growing up.

Throughout her career — as vice president, senator, and attorney general of California — Harris has taken a variety of stances that could pose problems for Catholic voters, a key voting bloc. 

Harris has consistently promoted abortion, scrutinized Catholic judicial nominees, and opposed pro-life pregnancy centers and activists. She has also embraced gender ideology as well as transgender and contraception mandates that have, at times, jeopardized religious freedom.

Leading Biden administration’s pro-abortion efforts

As vice president, Harris has taken the lead on many of the Biden-Harris administration’s efforts to promote abortion, including the effort to codify Roe v. Wade’s abortion standards into federal law.

In September of last year, the vice president embarked on a tour stopping at various college campuses called the “Fight for Our Freedoms College Tour” to promote abortion and other aspects of the administration’s agenda. 

At the beginning of 2024, she launched another speaking tour to promote abortion called “Fight for Reproductive Freedoms.” During this tour, Harris became the first sitting vice president to visit an abortion clinic in March when she toured a Planned Parenthood facility in Minneapolis. At the event, she praised abortionists and chastised pro-life lawmakers who voted to put limits on abortion.

In an interview with ABC in 2023, Harris criticized states that adopted pro-life laws and urged Congress to pass legislation that would establish federal abortion standards that prevent states from enforcing pro-life laws. In 2022, the vice president claimed that religious Americans can support abortion without abandoning their faith.

As a senator, Harris co-sponsored legislation that would have prevented states from passing abortion restrictions, and she voted against a bill that would have required doctors to provide medical care to a child who is born after a failed abortion attempt.

Scrutinizing judicial nominees’ Knights of Columbus memberships

As a senator, Harris pressed three judicial nominees about their affiliations with the Knights of Columbus: Brian Buescher, Paul Matey, and Peter Phipps. Her questions suggested that the nominees’ ties to the Catholic fraternal organization could make them biased because the group adheres to Church teachings about life and marriage. 

In written questions to Buescher, for example, Harris asked the nominee whether he knew “that the Knights of Columbus opposed a woman’s right to choose when [he] joined the organization.” She questioned whether he agreed with then-Supreme Knight Carl Anderson that abortion is “the killing of the innocent on a massive scale.” She asked him whether he knew “that the Knights of Columbus opposed marriage equality when [he] joined the organization.”

Buescher, responding to Harris, informed her that “the Knights of Columbus is a Roman Catholic service organization with approximately 2 million members worldwide.”  

“The organization has a religious and charitable purpose,” he continued. “I joined the Knights of Columbus when I was 18 years old and have been a member ever since. My membership has involved participation in charitable and community events in local Catholic parishes.”

Raiding pro-life activist’s home

In 2016, as California attorney general, Harris’ office launched a raid on the pro-life activist David Daleiden’s home.

The raid was in response to Daleiden’s undercover investigation of Planned Parenthood, which showed organization officials discussing costs for fetal tissue and body parts. It is illegal to sell fetal tissue and body parts.

Harris claimed that Daleiden broke several laws when obtaining videos of Planned Parenthood officials. He was charged with 15 felonies related to allegations of falsification of identity and invasion of privacy. He pleaded not guilty, but the case is still ongoing. 

As attorney general, she never launched an investigation into the allegations against Planned Parenthood. She received thousands of dollars in campaign funds from Planned Parenthood.

Regulating the speech of pro-life pregnancy centers

As California’s attorney general, Harris co-sponsored and promoted the Reproductive FACT Act, which required pro-life pregnancy centers to post notices that provided information on where to obtain abortions.

Pro-life pregnancy centers sued the attorney general’s office, arguing that the law violated their First Amendment rights. In 2018, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the law violated the right to free speech because it compelled speech. 

The legislation served as a model for lawmakers in other states, such as Vermont and Illinois, who tried to regulate the speech of pro-life pregnancy centers. 

Opposing religious liberty, embracing gender ideology

Throughout her career, Harris has been against strong protections for religious freedom and has supported gender ideology.

In 2014, Harris was one of 14 state attorneys general to file an amicus brief with the Supreme Court that asked the court to force Hobby Lobby to cover contraception — which included potentially abortifacient drugs — in its health insurance policies despite the ownership’s religious opposition. 

As a senator, Harris went further, co-sponsoring the Do No Harm Act and the Equality Act. The former would have ended religious exemptions for certain government mandates, such as laws that prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and rules that force insurance coverage of abortion and sex change surgeries. The latter would have prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. 

As vice president, Harris has further promoted gender ideology. She has criticized Republican states for prohibiting doctors from performing sex-change surgeries on minors, restricting female sports to only biological women and girls, and preventing teachers from pushing gender ideology onto students. 

St. Peter’s Basilica. / Credit: Thoom/Shutterstock

Vatican City, Jul 24, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

The Vatican on July 24 approved the “spiritual experience” connected to the Sanctuary of Maccio located in Italy, making it the fifth public announcement of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) since the office published its norms for the discernment of “alleged supernatural phenomena” on May 17.

The DDF recognized the “action of the Holy Spirit” in the mystical experiences and spiritual writings of Italian father and music teacher Gioacchino Genovese, which highlight the centrality of the Holy Trinity as the “source of mercy.”

In 2000, Genovese reportedly had mystical experiences during times of prayer in which he perceived the love of the Holy Trinity through the merciful gaze of Jesus Christ. Initially keeping his intellection visions to himself, he later began to open up about his prayer life with others. Devotion among Catholics around his “intellectual visions” began to spread throughout the Diocese of Como.

“The Church is called to rediscover more and more in the gestures of Christ that infinite mercy of the triune God, who in the writings of Mr. Genovese is called by the name ‘Trinity Mercy,’” reads the letter signed by DDF prefect Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.

“This is the center of all the messages because, ultimately, it is the center of revelation: ‘And the heart of revelation is this: God, trinity of love, one God, gift that gives himself in our humanity, in Jesus walks with us.’”

Fernández granted the sanctuary a “nulla osta,” meaning the spiritual experiences connected to the sanctuary “do not contain theological or moral elements contrary to the doctrine of the Church.”

In the letter addressed to Cardinal Oscar Cantoni, bishop of Como, Fernández also outlined further considerations regarding specific “expressions” contained within Genovese’s writings that have the potential to cause confusion or be “interpreted in a way contrary to the Catholic faith.”

Before the Genovese’s texts can be published and further disseminated, they must first be granted a “nihil obstat” (“no objection”) by the Holy See.

Since 2005, Genovese’s writings have inspired local Catholic faithful to pray at the Sanctuary of Maccio, located in the Diocese of Como, and contemplate the Church’s teachings on the Trinitarian God, whose mercy is made manifest through the incarnation, passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Citing the words and works of both St. John Paul II and Pope Francis on the theological and spiritual significance of mercy for the Church, the DDF stated: “Mr. Genovese’s spiritual experience is in line with the rediscovery of the centrality of the Most Holy Trinity for the faith and Christian life that occurred in the last century.

St. John Paul II, also known as the “mercy pope,” wrote his second encyclical letter titled Dives in Misericordia (Rich in Mercy) in 1980. He also instituted Divine Mercy Sunday, celebrated on the second Sunday of Easter, and canonized St. Faustina Kowalska on the same day on April 30, 2000. 

In 2015, Pope Francis opened the extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy to “point out the path that we [in the life of the Church] are called to follow in the future.” In Misericordiae Vultus, the papal bull announcing the holy year, the Holy Father wrote: “With our eyes fixed on Jesus and his merciful gaze, we experience the love of the Most Holy Trinity. The mission Jesus received from the Father was that of revealing the mystery of divine love in its fullness.”

To date, the Vatican has made public declarations on five cases of supernatural phenomena that have taken place in different countries in Europe. Three of the five cases, which have taken place in Italy — including the shrine dedicated to “Our Lady of the Rock” in a village in Calabria — have been given the seal of approval by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

St. Joseph’s Cathedral in Dunedin, New Zealand. / Credit:  James Dignan via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0)

CNA Staff, Jul 24, 2024 / 16:32 pm (CNA).

As part of a six-year investigation into decades of abuse and neglect in the country, New Zealand pointed to the Catholic Church among other institutions for what it said was the Church’s role in perpetuating abuse.

New Zealand’s abuse commission, Abuse in Care: Royal Commission of Inquiry, focused on uncovering abuse and neglect in state and faith-based care institutions from 1950 to 1999 in a final report released on Wednesday. 

The report found abuse and neglect of 200,000 survivors in New Zealand state and faith-based institutions, and pointed to the Catholic Church and Catholic institutions in particular for enabling abusers.

“If this injustice is not addressed, it will remain as a stain on our national character forever,” Arrun Soma, chief adviser of the commission, said in a video statement.

The New Zealand commission said the Catholic Church and Catholic entities responded inadequately to complaints of abuse and neglect, appointed abusers to schools, and prioritized forgiveness over safeguarding and accountability.

The report reveals that up to 42% of those in faith-based care run by all denominations were abused in New Zealand during that time period. A 2020 briefing from the Catholic Church previously noted abuse accusations against 14% of its New Zealand clergy during those decades. 

The report details different forms of abuse occurring in a variety of institutions, including physical, emotional, mental, and sexual, as well as cultural neglect and racism against the indigenous Māori of New Zealand. 

The commission found that the Catholic Church relied “heavily on psychiatrists’ opinions, leading to transferring abusers to other areas of ministry where they re-offended.” In addition, it also found the Church at fault for prioritizing its “reputation over safety” and the creation of a “power imbalance between clergy and parishioners.”

The commission noted that there was a “lack of resources and investment in those caring for children and vulnerable individuals” in Catholic institutions. 

“Faith-based institutions had some unique factors that contributed to abuse and neglect in their care,” Soma said. “The assumed moral authority and trustworthiness of clergy and religious leaders allowed abusers in faith-based institutions to perpetrate abuse and neglect with impunity.”

“Religious beliefs were often used to justify the abuse and neglect, and to silence survivors,” he continued. “Hierarchical and opaque decision-making processes impeded scrutiny and making complaints.”

From the more than 2,300 survivors who spoke with investigators, there was “a higher proportion of survivors in faith settings than in state care [who] were sexually abused,” the report read. Investigators found that “the highest reported levels of sexual abuse” were at Dilworth School in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, an Anglican institution, as well as Marylands School in Ōtautahi Christchurch, a Catholic institute, and “at Catholic institutions in general.”

“In faith-based care settings, abuse was treated as a religious transgression that required survivors to forgive, let go of anger and blame, and instead embrace those who had sinned against them; and abusers to merely repent,” Soma noted. “Many abusers were relocated and went on to continue abusing people in care.”

The New Zealand Conference of Catholic Bishops thanked the commission for its report in a July 24 statement and promised to take action following its review of the findings.

“We hope this report and the work that flows from it will result in a better society and a safer environment for all people,” read the statement by Bishop Steve Lowe, head of the bishops. “Abuse is not only historical, nor confined to one part of society or another. The inquiry’s report and the material that we heard from victims and survivors make that crystal clear.”

“Over the past 30 years, the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand has made significant progress in responding to reports of abuse and safeguarding,” the bishops continued. “We must continue to work to ensure that progress continues and that our church communities are places where people are safe.”

The commission recommended that New Zealand seek apologies from state and Church leaders, including Pope Francis. The report also called for an investigation into Catholic priests who were transferred to Papua New Guinea after abuse allegations. 

The New Zealand investigation is notably the most wide-ranging investigation into abuse and neglect undertaken worldwide, according to its leadership. The investigation looked into abuse in faith-based care, state institutions, foster care, schools, and medical settings, and interviewed nearly 2,500 survivors. 

“We thank and send aroha [love] to all survivors, your whanau [extended family] and communities who came forward,” said Andrew Erueti, commissioner of the report. “You helped us uncover the horrifying scale, nature, and impact of abuse and neglect in this country. You told us about your darkest days, years, and now decades. Your so-called protectors became perpetrators. We want you to know that we have heard you and believe you.” 

null / Credit: Ascannio/Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Jul 24, 2024 / 14:48 pm (CNA).

A former Catholic parish employee in Alabama this week pleaded guilty to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from her church in order to send money to TikTok content creators. 

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Alabama announced on Tuesday that 35-year-old Kristen Marie Battocletti had been charged with, and agreed to plead guilty to, embezzling funds from St. Francis of Assisi University Parish in Tuscaloosa. 

Battocletti officially pleaded guilty to the charges in court on Tuesday, according to media reports.  

The prosecutor’s office said Battocletti engaged in the fraud scheme from April–October 2023. She “stole approximately $300,000 from St. Francis, using the funds to purchase more than $220,000 in TikTok Coins and to pay personal expenses.”  

TikTok “coins” are “virtual items that can be purchased by users” of the social media site in order to “activate or access other virtual items or services,” according to the social media website. 

“Battocletti used the TikTok Coins to send digital gifts to TikTok content creators,” the U.S. attorney’s office said. 

The former parish worker faces 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and $250,000 in fines, according to the prosecutor. 

This is not the only theft of U.S. church funds prosecuted by authorities in recent days. 

Earlier this month a priest in Missouri pleaded guilty to stealing $300,000 from a church at which he was pastor for nearly a decade.

A Pennsylvania priest, meanwhile, was arrested in April after police say he misused tens of thousands of dollars in parish funds to purchase video games.

The UCF meeting with the key minister in the Hindu nationalist BJP-led government came a week after the entire leadership of CBCI led by president Archbishop Andrews Thazhath and secretary general Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 12, 2024, about the ongoing atrocities against Christians in the country. / Credit: CBCI

Bangalore, India, Jul 24, 2024 / 13:47 pm (CNA).

As anti-Christian violence continues in India, Christian leadership there, including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), has been putting pressure on the national government to address violence against Christians from Hindu nationalists as well as other concerns.

A delegation under the ecumenical United Christian Forum (UCF) on July 20 called on Kiren Rijiju, minister for minority affairs, to curb “targeted violence and atrocities against Christians.”

The UCF meeting with the key minister in the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led government came a week after the entire leadership of CBCI — led by its president, Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, and secretary-general, Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi — met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on July 12.

“It is with heavy hearts that we express our anguish over the growing attacks on Christians and their institutions by antisocial elements in different parts of India,” the CBCI leadership told Modi, who assumed the office of prime minister for the third in time early June.

“There have been several instances of harassment and attacks under false allegations of forced conversions and the misuse of anti-conversion laws. We wish to clarify that the Church firmly opposes forced conversions,” the CBCI pointed out.

The ecumenical UCF, which had been consistently monitoring and documenting anti-Christian violence, was more graphic in its memorandum presented to the minister for minority affairs.

“As of June 2024, a staggering 361 incidents targeting Christians or against persons with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ have been recorded [in 2024],” the UCF pointed out. “The primary reason for these attacks has been allegations of fraudulent conversions. Chattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh [both states ruled by BJP] are the leading states with 96 and 92 incidents [of atrocities].”

The UCF recorded 733 incidents of violence against Christians in 2023, which has steadily increased since the BJP came to power in 2014.

“The minister [Rijiju] assured us that the government will look into the concerns we have raised and talk to states where most of the incidents have been reported,” UCF coordinator A.C. Michael told CNA on July 23.

“Since December 2022, there have been a series of attacks displacing Adivasi [tribal] Christians in Chhattisgarh who are threatened to denounce their Christian faith and convert to the Hindu religion,” said the memorandum elaborating on several incidents, including the June 24 murder of a young woman named Bindu Sodhi in the Dantewada district.

“Villagers and some of her close relatives had been preventing her from plowing their field because of her faith in Christianity. Some villagers armed with bows and arrows, axes, and knives attacked, during which Sodhi was caught and killed on the spot by having her throat slit.” 

The Hindu villagers did not even permit her body to be buried in the village. “But the police only registered the case as a “land dispute rather than persecution,” UCF report pointed out.

Amid the recurrence of such cases, the CBCI leadership brought to Modi’s attention another crucial concern about how the legitimate rights of Christians are being ignored. 

“We would like to bring to your attention that the Christian representation in National Commission for Minorities has been significantly absent for the last several years. Kindly ensure this be rectified,” the CBCI pleaded. 

The National Commission for Minorities is a government-appointed watchdog group that monitors the rights of religious minorities with members from all six religious minorities. However, the BJP government has not appointed a Christian representative to the commission for more than four years.

The Catholic bishops reminded Modi, who has not set foot in Manipur, a northeastern state that has experienced intense Christian persecution, for 14 months: “In solidarity with the people of Manipur we urge you to intervene earnestly to bring peace and harmony in the state.”

However, Father Robinson Rodrigues, CBCI spokesperson, told CNA that they have not received any response from the prime minister.

Since May 2023, Manipur has been suffering a protracted violent clash between the majority Meiteis (most of them Hindus) and the minority Kukis (all of them Christians), which has left more than 230 dead. 

More than 50,000 Kuki Christians have been chased out from Manipur’s Imphal valley along with over 10,000 Meiteis, who were driven out from Kuki strongholds.

“The situation in Manipur is really grim. Even ethnic Kuki churches and buildings are being occupied by the Meiteis,” Glady Hunjan from Manipur, a member of the UCF delegation, told CNA. 

“I told the minister about it. We hope the government will start serious action to restore peace in Manipur,” Hunjan said.