Mexico City, Mexico, Jun 11, 2020 / 12:55 am (CNA).- Abortion clinics in Mexico City are reporting decreases in abortion by as much as 40% due to the coronavirus lockdown.
The Mexican daily El Universal reported June 7 that measures implemented by the… […]
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 10, 2020 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- As public Masses remain suspended in New York City, per public health orders, the city health department has issued advice to residents on how to have “safe sex” with strangers duri… […]
CNA Staff, Jun 10, 2020 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- An anonymous alleged sexual abuse victim of former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick says he and other alleged victims have been working with the Vatican to fact-check the comprehensive dossier on McCarrick’s … […]
CNA Staff, Jun 10, 2020 / 02:42 pm (CNA).- Ongoing American conversation on race and history focused on cinema Wednesday, when streaming service HBO Max announced it would pull “Gone with the Wind” from its rotation of movies, adding inform… […]
CNA Staff, Jun 10, 2020 / 02:25 pm (CNA).- The Vatican has intervened to halt a controversial plan to reorganize a German diocese.
Bishop Stephan Ackermann of Trier met with the heads of the Congregation for Clergy and the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts in Rome June 5 to discuss the diocesan plans to restructure several hundred parishes into 35 “XXL parishes.”
On June 6, the diocese confirmed that the meeting took place between Ackermann and diocesan officials, and Cardinal Beniamino Stella and Archbishop Filippo Iannone, who lead the two curial departments. While the meeting was held in a “positive atmosphere,” CNA Deutsch reported Tuesday that the diocesan plans may not be implemented in their current form.
According to a statement from the diocese, “the Congregation for Clergy, like the Pontifical Council for Legislative Texts, has concerns about the proposed reform of the parishes, as described in the law on the implementation of the results of the diocesan synod.”
The diocese said that the concerns were “in particular as regards the role of the pastor in the leadership team of the parish, the service of other priests, the conception of the parish bodies, the size of the future parishes and the speed of implementation.”
The restructuring program was formally adopted by the diocese in October last year, following a three-year diocesan synod aimed at addressing declining Mass attendance, a shortage of vocations, and other challenges facing the Church in Germany.
After Bishop Ackermann announced the Law for the Implementation of the Results of the Diocesan Synod (2013-2016), several local Catholics, including some priests, voiced concerns about its provisions, and in November last year the Congregation for Clergy and PCLT asked that the plan be delayed while it was studied in Rome.
The plans included the merger of all of the diocese’s 887 parishes into 35 larger parishes, led by “pastoral teams” of laypeople and priest. Under the plans, a local lay group said, “the specific transmission of the preaching, especially the homily, to volunteers/lay people will lose the specific nature of the priestly office.” Other concerns included the centralization of parishes, meaning Catholics in some parts of the diocese would have to travel up to 50 miles for Mass.
Following the meeting in Rome last week, the diocese released a statement saying that “during the conversation, the bishop made it clear what challenges the diocese of Trier is currently facing.”
“In particular, these include: the reduction in the faithful’s commitment to church life over [several] years, the decline in [local] church involvement and the tremors caused by the discovery of sexual abuse by clerics in the people of God.”
“In addition,” the diocese said, “demographic change, declining financial resources and the lack of priests are limiting pastoral opportunities in the diocese.”
The diocese said that Bishop Ackermann would now work with staff and members of his diocesan curia to form a new plan that respects the “mandate” of the three-year diocesan synod and addresses Rome’s concerns.
CNA Staff, Jun 10, 2020 / 12:10 pm (CNA).- The U.S. ambassador for religious freedom warned on Wednesday that some governments might close houses of worship for good after the coronavirus pandemic subsides.
Addressing the closure of churches, mosques,… […]
Rome, Italy, Jun 10, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- Italian bishops have raised concerns over proposed legislation against homophobia in Italy, claiming changes to the law are unnecessary and have the potential to infringe on the civil liberties of those… […]
Vatican City, Jun 10, 2020 / 06:15 am (CNA).- Pope Francis named Fr. Bruce Lewandowski as an auxiliary bishop of Baltimore Wednesday.
The Redemptorist priest currently serves as pastor of the Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish in Baltimore, Maryland.
… […]
Vatican City, Jun 10, 2020 / 05:15 am (CNA).- Pope Francis appointed Wednesday Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski to lead the Metropolitan Archdiocese of St. Louis.
Rozanski, 61, is the current Bishop of Springfield, Massachusetts, where he has served since 2014. He succeeds Archbishop Robert Carlson, who presented his resignation to Pope Francis at the age of 75.
“I am confident in the future of God’s strong Church in St. Louis with Archbishop-elect Rozanski as its shepherd,” Archbishop Carlson wrote on Twitter following the announcement on June 10.
A Baltimore native, Rozanski was born in 1958, and attended Catholic schools in the city. He attended seminary at the Catholic University of America, and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Baltimore in 1984. He served in parish ministry, the archdiocesan curia, and with its seminary, and was named a monsignor in 2003.
Pope John Paul II appointed Rozanski as auxiliary bishop of Baltimore in 2004. He oversaw one of Baltimore archdiocese’s geographical vicariates while parishes were merged, and served as vicar for Hispanics. He was vocal in supporting Maryland’s DREAM act, allowing some undocumented immigrants to receive in-state college tuition.
At the time of his episcopal consecration, Rozanski was the youngest bishop in the United States. He went on to serve as chair of the U.S. bishops’ conference committee for Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs and as a consultant to the National Association for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities.
A Polish-American, Rozanski has co-chaired the Polish National Catholic – Roman Catholic Dialogue. The Polish National Catholic Church is an ecclesial community founded in the U.S. in the late 19th-century by Polish-American immigrants.
He is a member of the Knights of Columbus and a Knight Commander of the Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
As Metropolitan Archbishop of St. Louis, Rozanski will oversee the largest city in Missouri, with a population of 2.25 million people across the archdiocese, 509,280 of which are Catholic.
The title of “metropolitan bishop” refers to the diocesan bishop or archbishop of a metropolis, namely, the primary city of an ecclesiastical province or regional capital.
Archbishop Robert Carlson led the Archdiocese of St. Louis since 2009.
“I am honored to have served as leader of the Archdiocese of St. Louis for more than a decade,” Carlson said following Rozanaki’s appointment.
“This large and generous community of faithful Catholics will continue to encourage me in my faith journey, and I know that Bishop Rozanski will cherish his new ministry.”
Pope Francis also appointed Fr. Bruce Lewandowski as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Baltimore June 10.
Vatican City, Jun 10, 2020 / 04:30 am (CNA).- In our darkest moments God awaits us and is ready to transform us, Pope Francis said at his general audience Wednesday.
Reflecting on Jacob’s struggle with an angel described in the Book of Genesis, … […]
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