Catholic News

• Prelate: Supreme Court’s Trinity Lutheran decision is ‘landmark victory for religious freedom’
  Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the US bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty, welcomed the Supreme Court’s 7-2 decision in Trinity Lutheran Church v. Comer as a “landmark victory for religious freedom.”
• Pope greets delegation from Ecumenical Patriarch
  Pope Francis received a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on June 27, as is customary in the days around the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29), patrons of Rome.
• Nuncio encourages Christians to return to Iraq
  Archbishop Alberto Ortega Martín, the apostolic nuncio to Iraq, has encouraged Christians who have fled Iraq to return to their native land, in order to be “the presence of Christ” there.
• Congo’s bishops decry violence, call for elections
  The bishops of the Democratic Republic of the Congo called upon President Joseph Kabila to respect a December agreement with opposition leaders to hold elections in 2017.
• English cardinal addresses Lithuanian parliament
  Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster addressed the Lithuanian parliament on June 26 in his capacity as president of the Santa Marta Group.
• Cardinal commemorates Avignon papacy
  Cardinal Paul Poupard, the 86-year-old president emeritus of the Pontifical Council for Culture, was the Pope’s special envoy at a Mass commemorating the 700th anniversary of the Avignon papacy.
• Portuguese bishops announce national hymnal
  The president of the Commission for the Liturgy and Spirituality of the Portuguese Bishops’ Conference has announced that a “national songbook” is being prepared.
• Pope Francis: the Christian must expect rejection, persecution
  Reflecting on the day’s Gospel reading (Mt. 10:24-33), Pope Francis said in his June 25 Angelus address that the disciple must expect rejection and persecution.
• Many await the joyful proclamation of the Resurrection, Pope tells Resurrectionists
  Pope Francis met with participants in the general chapter of the Congregation of the Resurrection on June 24 and reflected on the theme of their meeting, “Witnesses of the Presence of the Risen Lord: from Community to the World.”
• Vatican: ‘grave concern’ over detained Chinese bishop
  The Holy See has expressed “grave concern” over the plight of Bishop Peter Shao Zhumin of Wenzhou. The prelate, whose ministry is recognized by the Holy See but not by the Chinese government, has been detained by Communist officials, and his whereabouts are unknown.
• Lithuanian bishop beatified as martyr
  Archbishop Teofilius Matulionis (1873-1962), who suffered intense persecution from the Soviet regime during his 33 years as a bishop, was beatified as a martyr at the cathedral in Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, on June 25.
• Caring for the sick is of inestimable value, Pope tells anti-cancer organization
  In a June 26 audience with the Italian League for the Fight against Tumors, Pope Francis praised the efforts of the organization to foster a culture of cancer prevention and to promote volunteer efforts to help families.
• Supreme Court to hear Colorado baker’s plea in gay-wedding cake
  The US Supreme Court has agree to hear the appeal of a Colorado court’s ruling that a baker violated the state’s anti-discrimination law by declining to prepare a cake for the wedding of a homosexual couple.
• British doctors protest move to decriminalize abortion
  Nearly 1,500 doctors and medical students have signed an open letter protesting a move to put the British Medical Association (BMA) on record in favor of decriminalizing abortion.
• Schedule announced for papal trip to Colombia
  The Holy See Press Office has announced the schedule for Pope Francis’s apostolic journey to Colombia.
• Pontiff greets Italian swimmers, speaks about water, baptism
  Pope Francis received participants in an Italian swimming competition on June 24 and reflected on water and values associated with athletics.
• Cardinal Turkson issues statement for UN Day against Drug Abuse
  In a statement issued for the UN’s International Day Against Drug Abuse, Cardinal Peter Turkson argues that giving young people a “spiritual vision of existence” is the best way to combat the lure of recreational drug use.
• Al Azhar university proposes legislation to bar use of religion inciting violence
  The Islamic faculty of Al Azhar University has made a proposal for legislation that would counteract the use of religious rhetoric to justify violence.
• Indonesian parishes reschedule Masses to accommodate Muslim holiday
  Catholic churches in Indonesia altered their Mass schedule on June 25, to ease traffic congestion as Muslims marked their feast of Eid al Fitr.
• Did Venezuelan bishops ask for papal silence on their country’s crisis?
  Writing for Crux, Father Raymond de Souza makes the observation that since the Venezuelan bishops sent a delegation to speak with Pope Francis about the crisis in their country, the Vatican has made no new policy statements on the situation there—only repeating previous statements.
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