Priest punched during Sunday Mass in Berlin

August 31, 2020 CNA Daily News News Briefs 6 Print

CNA Staff, Aug 31, 2020 / 04:30 am (CNA).- An unknown assailant punched a priest during Sunday Mass in Berlin, Germany.

The assault took place Aug. 30 in St. Joseph’s Church in the district of Wedding, reported CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German language news partner.

According to witnesses, at around 10:30 a.m. a man who had been “quietly seated” at Mass stood up and spat on the ground. He is said to have “walked purposefully” towards the sanctuary of the church on Müllerstraße in Berlin-Mitte, while uttering anti-religious statements. He punched the 61-year-old priest, knocking him to the ground.

Berlin police said: “Immediately afterwards, the stranger took the Bible and tore out several pages from it. [The priest’s] 56-year-old brother rushed to the aid of the stricken man. The attacker knocked him down with the Bible and fled the church unrecognized. The knocked-down and slightly injured priest and his brother, who was also only slightly injured, were treated by the alerted emergency services on site.”

The crime is being investigated by the department for political offenses of the State Criminal Police Office.

St. Joseph’s Church is currently hosting the liturgical ministries of St. Hedwig’s Cathedral, the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Berlin, which is closed for renovation.

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The Dispatch

Cardinal Zen ‘very concerned’ about Synod on Synodality

January 17, 2023 Catholic News Agency 5
Cardinal Joseph Zen, former bishop of Hong Hong, attends the funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Jan. 5, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square. / Credit: Diane Montagna

Rome, Italy, Jan 17, 2023 / 07:21 am (CNA).

Cardinal Joseph Zen has said that he is “very concerned” about what could happen with the ongoing Synod on Synodality and that he is praying that “our pope will have greater wisdom.”

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Giornale published on Jan. 17, Zen said he hopes the synod will change from its current course.

“I fear that the synod is repeating the same mistake of the Dutch Church 50 years ago when the bishops backtracked and accepted the faithful to lead the Church; then their number decreased,” he said.

The retired bishop of Hong Kong was likely referring to the Pastoral Council of Noordwijkerhout held in the Netherlands between 1966 and 1970, which called for Church authority to be carried out in dialogue, for women to assume ecclesial roles, and for priestly celibacy to be optional in the Church.

The council followed the publication of the “Dutch Catechism,” a text so controversial that Pope Paul VI asked a commission of cardinals to examine its presentation of Catholic teaching. 

In the interview, Cardinal Zen also reflected on his private meeting with Pope Francis when he was allowed to travel to Rome for the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI earlier this month, calling it “a wonderful meeting, very warm.”

“I thanked the pope for the good bishop appointed to Hong Kong in 2021,” Zen said, referring to Hong Kong Bishop Stephen Chow.

He said Pope Francis replied: “’I know it well, he is a Jesuit!’”

The cardinal, who turned 91 last week, also told the pope about how he has dedicated his time over the past decade to prison ministry in Hong Kong and has baptized several prisoners: “Francis said that he was very happy for my ministry.”

Zen himself was arrested last year under Hong Kong’s national security law. He said that Catholics in China are living in a difficult situation and “we must never forget to pray in these difficult times.”

“Many faithful bear witness to their faith conscientiously but we know that when the situation becomes difficult, some think only of their own interests. We continue to uphold truth, justice, and charity. Darkness will not win over the light,” he said.

[…]

4 Comments

  1. Yaawn. This is no longer news. This is simply what happens. The attacker was not confronted. The priest, except for his brothers help, Was on his own. Isn’t that special? Isn’t that the end result of the German bishops way of doing business?

    Reply

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