Catholic News

• Pope Francis, at general audience, reflects on the spiritual combat of prayer (Vatican Press Office)
  In May 2020, Pope Francis began a series Wednesday general audiences on prayer; that series has continued in 2021.
• Pope formally institutes ministry of catechist (CWN)
  Pope Francis has formally instituted the office of catechist as a ministry within the Church.
• At ecumenical congress, leading German bishop rules out general 'cross-denominational' Communion (CNS)
  Bishop Georg Bätzing, president of the German bishops’ conference, said that he administers Holy Communion “if someone joins who believes what we Catholics believe and wants to receive the Body of the Lord in faith in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ.” His position, he said, is different from “cross-denominational Communion in the sense of a general mutual invitation to participate in the Eucharist and the Lord’s Supper.”
• New Vatican working group aims to excommunicate mafia members (Vatican News)
  The members of the working group, established by the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, are Vittorio V. Alberti, Rosy Bindi, Father Luigi Ciotti, Father Marcello Cozzi, Raffaele Grimaldi, Archbishop Michele Pennisi, Giuseppe Pignatone, and Ioan Alexandru Pop.
• Torzi, key figure in Vatican real-estate scandal, detained in London (AP)
  Gianluigi Torzi, a key figure in the London real-estate deal that triggered a Vatican scandal, has been detained in London. Torzi was arrested on a warrant issued by Italian prosecutors, who charge Torzi with money-laundering and tax evasion. He had been arrested by Vatican police last June, but released after 10 days. Vatican prosecutors still charge him with embezzlement, but have not formally indicted him.Vatican officials had sought to freeze Torzi’s assets in the United Kingdom, but a British judge released, saying that the Vatican had not shown sufficient evidence of wrongdoing. Torzi’s return to Rome, to face the charges made by Italian prosecutors, could shed more light on the Vatican’s financial scandal.
• 'Stop your tax dollars from paying for abortion': USCCB issues action alert (USCCB)
  “A serious effort is underway in Congress to force all taxpayers to pay for elective abortions,” notes the alert. “The Hyde Amendment and other similar laws have long protected taxpayers from funding elective abortions. Now, powerful members of Congress want to get rid of these laws, which have been supported by both Democrats and Republicans for 45 years.”
• Florida governor signs expanded school choice legislation (CBS47 Jacksonville)
  The legislation, which Gov. Ron DeSantis signed at a Catholic school, “allows a family of four earning less than $100,000 to receive full funding for K-12 education costs at a school of their choice,” according to the report.
• Latin Patriarchate laments Jerusalem violence (AsiaNews)
  The Patriarchate’s statement echoes an earlier statement by the patriarchs and heads of local churches in Jerusalem.
• Amid political crisis, Salvadoran bishops call for 'authentic democracy' (CNS)
  “Elections have consequences,” President Nayib Bukele said after the firing of five high court judges and the nation’s attorney general. “That’s not weakening democracy. That’s strengthening democracy.”
• Scores of German Catholic churches join in blessing same-sex unions (Wall Street Journal)
  About 100 Catholic churches across Germany joined in a nationwide event on May 10, offering church blessings to same-sex couples in direct defiance of the Vatican. At St. Benedict’s church in Munich, where about 30 gay and lesbian couples received blessings, Father Wolfgang Rothe said: “Heavens were open. All people were happy.” But the German initiative—coming as a challenge to the Vatican’s statement that Catholic churches cannot bless same-sex unions—escalated the threat of an open schism.
• British bishops express 'strong opposition' to aspects of government's immigration plan (CBCEW)
  The UN refugee agency has also criticized the plan to limit asylum claims.
• Top Vatican official cautions US bishops on denial of Communion (CWN)
  The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) has urged the US bishops to be cautious about any national policy regarding the reception of Communion by prominent Catholics who promote abortion and euthanasia.
• Leading Ukrainian prelate criticizes idea of state church (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
  “We absolutely do not share the idea of ​​the so-called state church,” said Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. “Why? Because then the Church loses her freedom.” The prelate also warned, “If society falls apart and the state and business start building relations without taking into account the interests of society, then it ends in corruption, in a merger of big business and state institutions.”
• San Francisco archbishop to high-profile Catholics: 'Please stop the killing' (The Tablet)
  Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone recently issued a pastoral letter on the dignity of the unborn, Holy Communion, and Catholic politicians
• Polish bishop ousted after Vos Estis investigation (CNA)
  Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Bishop Jan Tyrawa of Bydgoszcz, which was requested after a Vos Estis investigation found the Polish prelate negligent in handling sex-abuse complaints.
• In New Zealand, victim testifies that boys' home residents were prostituted to clergy (Stuff.co.NZ)
  The Royal Commission of Inquiry on Abuse in Care is examining “what happened to children, young people and vulnerable adults in State and faith-based care in Aotearoa New Zealand between the years 1950-99.
• Cardinal Gracias discusses Church's efforts to ease pandemic crisis (Vatican News)
  Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai (Bombay) is president of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India, a member of the Pope’s advisory Council of Cardinals, and former president of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.
• Pope Francis recalls assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II (Vatican News)
  After his regular public audience on May 12, Pope Francis reminded a group of Polish pilgrims that this week marks the 40th anniversary of the shooting of Pope John Paul II. The assassination attempt occurred on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, and beloved Polish Pontiff credited her with saving his life. “Let us place ourselves with trust under her maternal protection,” Pope Francis said.
• Young American Jews trend toward Orthodox (Washington Post)
  America’s Jewish population is becoming more Orthodox, a new Pew survey shows. The study found that 17% of Jews under the age of 30 are Orthodox, compared with only 3% of those over 65 and 7% of those between 50 and 64. The trend is largely attributable to higher birth rates among Orthodox Jews. At the same time, the Pew survey found that the number of non-religious Jews—who identify themselves as Jews but profess no faith—has risen from 22% to 27% in the past eight years.
• Cardinal Tobin speaks on 'synodality and the long game of Pope Francis,' takes swipe at former President Trump (La Croix)
  “In early 2013, we thought it was about institutional reform,” said the Archbishop of Newark. “In 2016, as Donald Trump, Rodrigo Duterte, and other demagogues strutted into power, we could see clearly that Pope Francis, a man who witnessed the horrors of Argentina’s Dirty War up close, could prophetically offer an alternative to this dark, brutalizing worldview.”
• More...