Catholic News

• Bishop declares: 'The dirty game in Nicaragua is over!' (Fides)
  “The peace we are looking for is not the peace of cemeteries, nor that of subjugated slaves,” said the bishop who serves as spokesman for Church-brokered talks between the government and opposition in Nicaragua. Daniel Ortega—the leftist Sandinista leader who overthrew the Somoza regime in 1979, and subsequently led Nicaragua from 1979-1990, and again since 2007—now faces significant student protests against his own repressive regime.
• Venezuelan bishops demand justice for tortured prisoners (Breitbart)
  Click here for the Spanish-language text of the statement. In its front-page coverage of developments in Venezuela, L’Osservatore Romano (5/23 Italian edition) highlighted President Trump’s new executive order and the condemnation of the recent Venezuelan election by 13 Latin American nations.
• Report: Pope concerned that Chilean bishops may have entrusted seminaries to 'priests suspected of active homosexuality' (L'Espresso)
  At the conclusion of the Pope’s meetings with Chilean bishops last week, the Vatican released a brief letter to Chile’s bishops. Il Sismografo—whose editorial director is a Chilean journalist who once worked for Vatican Radio—has published what purports to be the full text of a May 15 letter from the Pope to Chile’s bishops. In footnote 25, Pope Francis reportedly referred to “serious accusations against some bishops or superiors who are believed to have entrusted these educational institutions to priests suspected of active homosexuality.”
• Persecution of Church in China continues despite talk of a thaw (MercatorNet)
  “China is reluctant to sign an agreement with the Holy See on the selection and appointment of Catholic bishops,” said Father Bernardo Cervellera, editor of AsiaNews. “I do not consider this agreement as positive for the Church, because the regime would select the candidates. However, some in China regard it as dangerous for the government too ... The optimism transmitted to the media was part of a Vatican campaign aimed at persuading the Chinese side to sign the agreement.”
• Venezuela's Maduro expels US diplomats; EU ponders new sanctions (Agence France-Presse)
  L’Osservatore Romano (5/24 Italian edition) devoted prominent front-page coverage to this story.
• Pope to meet more survivors of Chile's most infamous abuser priest (Crux)
  On June 1-3, Pope Francis will meet with seven priests and two laymen who were abused by Father Fernando Karadima.
• Pope prays for China, Ukraine (Vatican Press Office)
  “Dearest disciples of the Lord in China, the universal Church prays with you and for you, so that even amid difficulties you may continue to entrust yourselves to the will of God,” the Pope said at his May 23 general audience. “The help of Our Lady will not be lacking, and she will protect you with her mother’s love.” The Pope also told pilgrims, “I pray to the Lord ceaselessly that He may heal the wounds inflicted by war and bestow His peace upon the dear Ukrainian land.”
• Organization calls for Church role to protect human rights of Venezuelan detainees (Human Rights Watch)
  “Regional and European leaders should strongly press the Maduro government to allow independent figures, including Catholic Church representatives, to visit intelligence services detainees,” Human Rights Watch stated. “Detainees, who include many political prisoners, told relatives they were barricading themselves in a section of cellblocks and requesting mediation by independent figures, including the Catholic Church.”
• Juan Carlos Cruz: Pope Francis' words about gay Catholics are a model of welcome (America)
  Juan Carlos Cruz, who was abused by a priest, said in earlier remarks that the Pope had affirmed him in his homosexual identity.
• Indian cabinet minister responds to Delhi archbishop: minorities are not discriminated against (AsiaNews)
  Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi has asked Catholics to pray and fast on Fridays until next spring’s elections. “We are witnessing a turbulent political atmosphere which poses a threat to the democratic principles enshrined in our constitution and the secular fabric of our nation,” he said.
• Report: Pope toned down recent comments on Venezuela (L'Espresso)
  Sandro Magister reported that the Pope’s comments on Venezuela during his Sunday Regina Coeli address were more tame than the text provided to journalists beforehand.
• Chilean abuse victim: Pope said I should be happy as a homosexual (CNA)
  A Chilean sex-abuse victim has told the Italian media that Pope Francis affirmed him in his homosexual identity. Juan Carlos Cruz quoted the Pontiff as saying: “God made you like that and he loves you like that and I do not care.” The Pope said that “you have to be happy with who you are,” Cruz told reporters. The Vatican has not issued any statement to confirm or deny the report. Cruz said that the Pontiff made his remarks during a private meeting.
• Australian archbishop steps down following conviction for concealing abuse (Australian Catholic Bishops Conference)
  In 2002, at the high point of the clerical abuse crisis in the United States, Archbishop Philip Wilson spoke with US bishops for three hours at their Dallas meeting. The US bishops’ spokesman at the time described the Australian prelate as “wise in matters of faith, skilled in diocesan leadership, and experienced in dealing with the scandal and the pain and misfortune that clerical crimes bring upon bishops, the people, and the Church.” Archbishop Wilson later served as president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference from 2006 to 2012.
• Pope Francis grants indulgences for World Meeting of Families (Vatican News)
  The World Meeting of Families will take place in Dublin from August 21 to 26.
• All 31 active Chilean bishops join in mass resignation (CWN)
  All 31 active members of the Chilean Catholic bishops’ conference have submitted their resignations to Pope Francis.
• Catholic, Protestant leaders mark anniversary of Northern Ireland's Good Friday agreement (Vatican News)
  The Good Friday Agreement (April 10, 1998), approved in a May 1998 referendum, was a milestone in the peace process in Northern Ireland.
• Serbian Orthodox patriarch says Eastern Catholics are 'tearing apart the robe of Christ' (Moscow Patriarchate)
  Patriarch Irinej, 87, has led the Serbian Orthodox Church since 2010. In addition to criticizing “Uniates” (Eastern Catholics), he strongly criticized Ukrainian Orthodox Christians who are not in communion with the Moscow Patriarchate.
• Resignations and appointments (5/24) (Vatican Press Office)
  Pope Francis appointed an apostolic administrator for a Melkite eparchy (diocese) in Brazil.
• Catholics protest land grab for Vietnam project (UCANews)
  Government officials have evicted 50,000 people from their homes in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) to make way for a trade and financial center. The city’s oldest parish is also threatened with closure.
• Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church begins 'missionary decade' (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
  “Every day, all of us have to read and listen to the Word of God, as well as pray for the missionary work of our Church,” said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk. “St. John Paul II used to say: if [the] Church ceases being a missionary one ... then [the] Church stops being a Church.”
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