Rector of German Catholic seminary found dead

CNA Staff   By CNA Staff

June 13, 2022 Catholic News Agency News Briefs 1 Print

 

The Catholic Cathedral of Limburg in Hesse, Germany. / Mylius via Wikimedia (GFDL 1.2).

Limburg, Germany, Jun 13, 2022 / 11:30 am (CNA).

The rector of a German Catholic seminary was found dead last week in an apparent suicide.

Father Christof May had been removed the day before from all his offices by Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg.

Bätzing, the current chairman of the German bishops’ conference, reportedly took the step due to allegations of abusive behavior.

May’s death was first communicated internally within the Diocese of Limburg on June 9. CNA Deutsch, the Catholic News Agency’s German-language news partner, obtained a copy of the email.

It said: “We are devastated and full of grief. Christof May was questioned yesterday in a personal conversation about allegations of abusive behavior. Subsequently, Bishop Georg Bätzing had removed him from all offices in order to be able to review and investigate the allegations.”

“The death of Christof May affects us all. We have lost a committed and much-appreciated pastor.”

On June 10, the Limburg diocese publicly confirmed the death, but did not provide more details.

The German newspaper Frankfurter Neue Presse reported that the 49-year-old rector left a suicide note, which led to a search effort involving police, firefighters, and members of the German Red Cross. His body was found in a forest on the morning of June 9 after a police helicopter spotted his car nearby.

A senior prosecutor confirmed to the paper that there were “no indications of external causes or a criminal act that led to the death.”

Bishop Bätzing was recently criticized for promoting a priest who was accused of sexual misconduct by two women. Bätzing learned about the issue after he was made bishop of the Diocese of Limburg in 2016 and met with both victims.

“Bätzing made it unmistakably clear that he disapproved of the priest’s behavior,” the diocese said. “He issued a monitio, an admonition in written form.” It added that the priest “asked for forgiveness, and showed credible remorse.”

Bätzing made the priest a district dean in 2020, which eventually led to the two victims going public with their accusations. In response, the priest decided to step down from his position as district dean.

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St. Peter’s Basilica to hold monthly Eucharistic adoration on portico

March 9, 2023 Catholic News Agency 1
St. Peter’s Basilica. / feliks/Shutterstock.

Vatican City, Mar 9, 2023 / 11:00 am (CNA).

St. Peter’s Basilica will now host an hour of Eucharistic adoration on its front portico once a month.

Beginning March 14, adoration will take place every second Tuesday from 8-9 p.m. on the parvise in front of the Vatican basilica leading to St. Peter’s Square.

The holy hour, according to a press release, is part of the pastoral initiatives of the basilica.

The March 14 adoration will be led by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, OFM Conv., who is the archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica. The prayer will be offered for Pope Francis in light of his 10th anniversary as pope.

St. Peter’s Basilica is typically open every day from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the winter or 7 p.m. in the summer.

The Eucharist is also exposed in St. Peter’s Basilica for adoration in the Chapel of the Most Blessed Sacrament from approximately 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

A monthly Eucharistic holy hour in front of St. Peter’s Basilica is added to other initiatives started by Cardinal Gambetti after he was appointed archpriest in February 2021.

In October 2022, the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica was illuminated with a 3-D projection mapping of art from the Vatican Museums. The eight-minute light show, called “Follow Me: The Life of St. Peter,” played every night for two weeks.

Last year the Vatican also held the Stations of the Cross in the basilica every Friday during Lent. The prayer was accompanied by paintings of the Passion of Christ by the Italian artist Gaetano Previati (1852-1920).

During his tenure, Gambetti also enacted a ban on the celebration of private Masses at the altars in the upper part of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Though early morning Masses by groups “with particular and legitimate needs” may be allowed, in general, private Masses can now only be celebrated in the chapels in the Vatican crypt. Visitors to the basilica may also participate in regularly scheduled Italian language Masses in the basilica and priests may concelebrate.

The change was criticized by Cardinals Joseph Zen, Robert Sarah, Raymond Burke, Gerhard Müller, and Walter Brandmüller.

Pope Francis also led Eucharistic adoration and gave an extraordinary Urbi et Orbi blessing on the portico of St. Peter’s Basilica on March 27, 2020, to pray for an end to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The televised prayer took place before an empty square since Italy’s lockdown prevented attendance.

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