Catholic News

Catholic News will return on Monday, May 23 after a two-day break. Thank you for listening, and as always you can check out catholicnewsagency.com for the latest news.

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Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun is scheduled to appear in court May 24, according to a report by the British daily The Guardian. Cardinal Zen, the archbishop emeritus of Hong Kong, was arrested May 11 under China’s national security law with at least four others for his role as a trustee of a pro-democracy fund. He was released on bail later that day. Cardinal Zen, who was Bishop of Hong Kong from 2002 to 2009, has long advocated for underground Catholics in mainland China.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251274/cardinal-zen-may-be-in-hong-kong-court-next-week

A Michigan state judge said Tuesday that Michigan’s longstanding law against abortion cannot be enforced if the US Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade. Michigan had in 1931 adopted a law criminalizing abortion as a felony, except when necessary to save the life of the mother. The law has not been enforced since the US Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v Wade decision, but the Michigan Court of Appeals found in 1997 that there is no right to abortion in the state constitution. Planned Parenthood of Michigan, represented by the ACLU of Michigan, had filed a lawsuit against Michigan’s attorney general seeking an injunction against the law. Right to Life Michigan and the Michigan Catholic Conference are considering what llegal options they can pursue.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251276/in-michigan-rogue-decision-blocks-longtime-state-abortion-law

A senior German priest has announced that he is no longer Catholic, citing his disappointment over a lack of “reforms” in the Church and admitting to having broken his promise of celibacy. Andreas Sturm, the former vicar general of the Diocese of Speyer in southwestern Germany, made the announcement on May 13. The former vicar general described the ordination of women to the priesthood, as well as issues surrounding celibacy, sexual morality, and LGBT issues as the most important topics that he believed were not being addressed.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251262/senior-german-priest-quits-catholic-church

Today, the Church celebrates Saint John the first, a martyr for the faith, imprisoned and starved to death by a heretical Germanic king during the sixth century. He was a friend of the renowned Christian philosopher Boethius, who died in a similar manner.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-john-i-pope-241

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The US Catholic bishops appealed on Monday for “an honest dialogue rooted in Christ” about the “persistent evil of racism” after two mass shootings. The bishops spoke out after a gunman killed 10 people and injured three others on May 14 at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, and a shooter killed one person and wounded five others on May 15 at a church in Laguna Woods, California. Authorities called the mass shooting in Buffalo a racially motivated hate crime and said that the gunman specifically targeted the store because it is located in a predominantly Black neighborhood.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251260/us-catholic-bishops-call-for-honest-dialogue-on-persistent-evil-of-racism-after-mass-shootings

The two branches of the Catholic charity, Caritas, in Ukraine say they have helped almost 1.5 million people since Russia’s full-scale invasion. Caritas Ukraine, which offers humanitarian assistance through the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, oversees an office in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol where seven people were killed under Russian tank fire. The country’s other Caritas organization is Caritas-Spes, the charitable mission of Ukraine’s Latin Rite bishops.Caritas groups are also active in neighboring countries, where more than six million Ukrainians have fled since February 24. In Poland, which has welcomed over three million Ukrainian refugees, Caritas’ diocesan network has delivered over 1.5 million meals to more than 500,000 people.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251253/this-is-going-to-be-a-long-haul-caritas-groups-help-almost-15-million-ukrainians-amid-war

Christian leaders of the Holy Land on Monday condemned recent violence at the funeral of Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, saying the “tragic episode” has “deeply wounded” the Christian community. Abu Akleh was a Melkite Greek Catholic and a Palestinian American who was killed while covering an Israeli raid on a refugee camp in the West Bank May 11. The BBC reported that during her funeral procession on May 13, Abu Akleh’s coffin “almost fell” as police waded into the crowd brandishing batons and using stun grenades. The Christian leaders called the police’ actions at the funeral, which took place in the parking compound of St. Joseph’s Hospital in Jerusalem, a “violent intrusion.” On May 12, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem called “for a thorough and urgent investigation of all the circumstances of Abu Akleh’s killing and for bringing those responsible to justice.”

catholicnewsagency.com/news/251256/christian-leaders-condemn-violence-at-funeral-of-palestinian-journalist-shireen-abu-akleh

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Pascal Baylon, a 16th-century lay brother amongst the Franciscan friars of the Alcantarine Reform. His charity to the poor and afflicted, and his unfailing courtesy were remarkable. Although poorly educated, his counsel was sought for by people of every station in life, and he was on terms of closest friendship with personages of eminent sanctity.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-pascal-baylon-240

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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Breaking:

The US Supreme Court has overturned Roe v Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

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Ten people were killed and three others injured Saturday when a teenage gunman opened fire with an assault rifle at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York. Authorities are calling the mass shooting a racially motivated hate crime and say the gunman specifically targeted the store because it is located in a predominantly Black neighborhood. The shooter is in custody. Bishop Michael Fisher of the Diocese of Buffalo said in a statement: “The scourge of senseless gun violence that has taken the lives of so many across our nation and changed the lives of countless innocent men, women and children must come to an end.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251244/bishop-condemns-abhorrently-evil-slaying-of-10-at-buffalo-supermarket

Pope Francis on Sunday recognized 10 new saints of the Catholic Church during a canonization Mass in St. Peter’s Square. It was the Church’s first canonization since that of St. John Henry Newman and four others in October 2019. For a full list of all the new saints, who include religious men and women, priests, and a lay man, go to Catholic New Agency dot com.

https://www.​​catholicnewsagency.com/news/251242/pope-francis-canonizes-10-new-saints-of-the-catholic-church

A mob has attacked a Catholic cathedral in Nigeria amid protests demanding the release of two suspects in the killing of a Christian student. The Diocese of Sokoto said in a statement that youths targeted Holy Family Catholic Cathedral in Sokoto, north-west Nigeria, after police arrested two students in connection with the murder of Deborah Samuel. Samuel, a student at Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, was beaten and burned on May 11 after being accused of posting “blasphemous” statements about Islam in a WhatsApp group. Christians in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, have suffered growing insecurity in recent years amid attacks by the Islamist organization Boko Haram and the Fulani Militia, a nomadic, predominantly Muslim group.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251241/catholic-cathedral-attacked-in-nigeria-after-arrests-over-blasphemy-killing

The arrest last week of Cardinal Joseph Zen, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong, continues to attract international condemnation, with the US bishops calling the situation “alarming.” Cardinal Zen was arrested May 11 under China’s national security law with at least four others for his role as a trustee of a pro-democracy fund. Zen, who was Archbishop of Hong Kong from 2002 to 2009, has long advocated for underground Catholics in mainland China.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251239/international-community-laments-cardinal-zens-precarious-position

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Andrew Bobola, a Polish-born martyr who served a Jesuit priest in Lithuania. There he worked extensively with the sick including during a plague outbreak, but he is best known as a successful missionary to Orthodox Christians. It was said that over 20 years of preaching along the roads, he converted whole villages to Catholicism.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-andrew-bobola-475

The Church also celebrates Saint Simon Stock, a twelfth and thirteenth century Carmelite monk whose vision of the Virgin Mary is the source of the Brown Scapular devotion.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-simon-stock-702

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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The Vatican confirmed on Friday that Pope Francis will visit three cities in Canada during the last week of July. The pope will travel to Edmonton, Quebec City, and Iqaluit on July 24-30. The pope had announced last month that he planned to meet indigenous peoples in Canada this summer for the feast of Saint Anne on July 26. In Canada, Francis is expected to issue an apology on behalf of the Catholic Church for abuses committed against Indigenous students in Catholic-run residential schools. The pope’s full schedule in Canada will be published in the coming weeks.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251225/vatican-confirms-pope-francis-will-visit-3-cities-in-canada-in-july

A Haitian priest has said a border wall being built by the Dominican Republic to stop Haitian emigration “is not the solution” to the problem. Father Pénès Célestin, a priest of the Diocese of Jérémie, said he invites Dominicans and Haitians to build bridges. Haiti has seen a surge of violence in recent years. There were as many as 1,200 kidnappings last year, and President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated in July 2021. Haiti shares the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic, whose economy is among the fastest growing in the region. The situation has led many Haitians to seek a better future in the neighboring country, in many cases illegally.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251221/haitian-priest-denounces-dominican-republics-border-fence

Chinese Catholics on the mainland have reacted strongly to the arrest of Cardinal Joseph Zen, the bishop emeritus of Hong Kong. After being arrested by Chinese authorities, apparently for his involvement in a pro-democracy nonprofit, the cardinal was released on bail on May 11. The 90 year old Zen is an outspoken advocate of democracy and critic of the 2018 Vatican-China deal on the appointment of bishops. Anonymous Chinese Catholics told Catholic News Agency that his arrest is a way for China to keep people in fear, and that Catholics in Hong Kong fear that religious freedom could be suppressed in Hong Kong in the future.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251219/it-s-a-way-to-keep-people-in-fear-chinese-catholics-react-to-cardinal-zen-s-arrest

Today, the Church honors Our Lady of Fatima. May 13 is the anniversary of the apparition of Our Lady to three shepherd children in the small village of Fatima in Portugal in 1917. She appeared six times to Lucia and her cousins Francisco and his sister Jacinta between May 13, 1917 and October 13, 1917. The messages that Mary imparted during the apparitions to the children concerned the violent trials that would afflict the world by means of war, starvation, and the persecution of the Church and the Holy Father in the twentieth century if the world did not make reparation for sins. She exhorted the Church to pray and offer sacrifices to God in order that peace may come upon the world, and that the trials may be averted. Our Lady of Fatima also revealed three prophetic “secrets.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/our-lady-of-fatima-485

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

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A Catholic archdiocese in Nigeria on Wednesday announced the death of a priest who was kidnapped in March. The Archdiocese of Kaduna said on May 11 that Father Joseph Akete Bako died more than a month after he was seized on March 8. The 48 year old Bako was kidnapped by bandits following an attack on St. John’s Catholic Parish, where he served as pastor. The archdiocesan chancellor asked all people to “Kindly continue to pray for his peaceful repose, and for the consolation of the bereaved Christian community in the Archdiocese of Kaduna.”

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251215/catholic-archdiocese-announces-death-of-kidnapped-priest-in-nigeria

Cardinal Joseph Zen, an outspoken advocate for Catholics in Hong Kong, has been released on bail after his arrest by Chinese authorities yesterday. Zen, the former bishop of Hong Kong, was arrested on May 11 and released on bail hours later from Chai Wan Police Station on Hong Kong island. Zen is believed to have been detained in his role as a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, which helped pro-democracy protesters to pay their legal fees. The Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong said in a statement on Thursday that it was “extremely concerned” about “Cardinal Joseph Zen’s incident.” The Vatican also issued a brief statement on May 11 expressing concern at the reports of Zen’s arrest.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251213/catholic-diocese-of-hong-kong-extremely-concerned-about-cardinal-joseph-zen-s-incident

An expansive abortion bill that would declare abortion a human right, undercut existing state pro-life laws, and force objecting doctors to perform abortions, again failed to pass the US Senate on Wednesday. The Women’s Health Protection Act failed by a 49-51 largely party line vote. While leading Catholic bishops have called on Congress to stop pushing abortion, President Joe Biden called on voters to support candidates in favor of abortion rights in upcoming Senate races and pledged to sign the bill into law.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251211/us-senate-again-refuses-to-to-pass-federal-abortion-law-bishops-relieved-biden-adamant

Today, the Church celebrates Saints Nereus and Achilleus, as well as Saint Pancras. Nereus and Achilleus were Roman soldiers and bodyguards of the emperor who were martyred at the end of the first century after becoming Christian and leaving their military posts. They were said to have been baptized by Saint Peter himself. Saint Pancras, or Pancratius, was a Syrian boy of pagan origin who went to Rome and was converted to Christianity. He was beheaded in 304 at the age of 14 during the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/sts-nereus-and-achilleus-st-pancras-458

The Church also honors Saint Epiphanius of Salamis, an early monk, bishop and Church Father known for his extensive learning and defense of Catholic teachings in the fourth century.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-epiphanius-of-salamis-691

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

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A Catholic charity announced this week that it would fund the restoration of a Ukrainian seminary looted by Russian forces. Aid to the Church in Need said on May 9 that it planned to cover the costs of building repairs and replacing stolen furniture and equipment at the Catholic seminary in Vorzel, 18 miles from the capital Kyiv. Priests and students evacuated the seminary after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. They found refuge in a neighboring diocese. The pontifical foundation’s support should enable the Major Theological Seminary of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to reopen in September, seven months after 25 seminarians were forced to flee the Russian advance in northern Ukraine.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251199/ukraine-war-catholic-charity-to-fund-restoration-of-looted-seminary

In response to threats of violence from pro-abortion activists, the US bishops’ conference is inviting Catholics around the country to join in fasting and praying the rosary on Friday, May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, president of the conference, urged Catholics to pray for the conversion of the hearts and minds of those who advocate for abortion, as well as for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion nationwide. Those in favor of legal abortion have staged demonstrations following the May 2 revelation of a leaked draft opinion from the U.S. Supreme Court, suggesting that the court is poised to overturn Roe v Wade and Planned Parenthood v Casey. If the court’s final ruling does overturn Roe and Casey, the question of abortion legalization will return to the states, and more than a dozen states will largely curtail abortion, or outlaw it altogether.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251196/us-bishops-urge-fasting-and-prayer-in-response-to-pro-abortion-threats

Breaking:

Cardinal Joseph Zen has been arrested by the authorities in Hong Kong, according to local media reports. The 90-year-old former Catholic bishop of Hong Kong was reportedly detained on May 11 in his role as a trustee of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, a now disbanded group which helped pro-democracy protesters to pay their legal fees. Zen, who stood down as Hong Kong’s Catholic bishop in 2009, is an outspoken supporter of the pro-democracy movement.

Visit catholic news agency dot com for the latest on this story.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251201/report-former-hong-kong-bishop-cardinal-zen-arrested

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Ignatius of Laconi, a Capuchin Friar known for his hard work and piety. He was particularly well loved by the poor and by children, and was often given alms by those who barely had anything to give. He refused them from the very poor, saying that it was better for them to keep it for themselves. He tended to the sick and to street children everyday on his rounds through town, and many miracles of healing were said to have occurred through his intercession.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-ignatius-of-laconi-457

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

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This weekend, Pope Francis will preside over the canonizations of ten people, the first canonizations to be held in more than two years. Among them are some relatively well-known figures, like Charles de Foucauld, Titus Brandsma, and Devasahayam Pillai. Also being canonized are four Catholic female leaders, all of whom founded religious orders which have grown worldwide and made a lasting impact on the Church. All ten of the holy men and women will be officially recognized as saints by the Catholic Church on May 15.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251190/who-are-the-4-women-being-canonized-as-saints-this-weekend

More criminal acts targeting Catholic churches and pro-life advocates were reported Monday, after a Mother’s Day weekend marked by unrest in multiple locations in the US, tied to anger over a possible Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v Wade.

In another incident, a Catholic church in northern Colorado known for its active pro-life ministry was vandalized with pro-abortion graffiti over the weekend.

The offices of Oregon Right to Life in Keizer, Oregon, were set on fire late Sunday night, the organization announced Monday. The fire was small and as the office was vacant at the time, no one was hurt.

The pastor a Catholic church in Katy, Texas, reported on May 9 that the tabernacle had been stolen from the church overnight, though it was not immediately clear if the theft was related to the pro-abortion protests.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251185/tabernacle-stolen-catholic-church-defaced-pregnancy-clinic-vandalized

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Damien of Molokai, a Belgian priest who sacrificed his life and health to become a spiritual father to the victims of leprosy quarantined on a Hawaiian island.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-damien-of-molokai-456

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

www.catholicnewsagency.com

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Pope Francis said on Saturday that the Catholic liturgy should not be “a battleground” for “outdated issues.” Speaking at an audience with the Pontifical Liturgical Institute in the apostolic palace, the pope said that he believes that “every reform creates resistance.” “It’s not possible to worship God while making the liturgy a battleground for issues that are not essential, indeed, outdated issues, and to take sides starting with the liturgy, with ideologies that divide the Church,” the pope said, speaking to the Pontifical Liturgical Institute.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251170/pope-francis-it-s-not-possible-to-worship-god-while-making-the-liturgy-a-battleground

Several protesters dressed in "huge hats" and "red hooded gowns," disrupted a Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles Sunday morning. The costumes resembled those worn by members of the pro-abortion group Ruth Sent Us, which threatened to disrupt Catholic Masses on Sunday, Mother's Day, in response to a leaked draft opinion suggesting that the Supreme Court may be ready to overturn the landmark abortion decision Roe v Wade. While there were a handful of reported incidents of anger, violence, and provocation directed at Catholics and pro-life groups over the Mother's Day weekend, the demonstration in Los Angeles appeared to be the only one similar to the protests Ruth Sent Us has conducted in the past. The headquarters of Wisconsin Family Action, a pro-life organization in Madison, was set on fire in an apparent arson attack. The fire, which appeared to be started by a Molotov cocktail, was quickly put out by the Madison Fire Department. No one was hurt, police said.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251176/costumed-protesters-disrupt-los-angeles-mass

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251174/threats-to-catholic-masses-mothers-day

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251175/wisconsin-pro-life-groups-hq-set-ablaze-by-apparent-arson-attack

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Pachomius, the founder of cenobitic monasticism, or monks who live in community. Pachomius first started out as a hermit in the desert, like many of the other men and women in the third and fourth centuries who sought the most radical expression of Christian life. His hermit friend, Palemon, helped him to build a monastery and Pachomius insisted that his fellow monks were to aspire to the austerity of the hermits.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-pachomius-454

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts.

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A Catholic diocese in Nigeria has announced “with joy” the release of a priest held captive for 40 days. The Diocese of Zaria in Kaduna State, northern Nigeria, said that Father Felix Zakari Fidson was released on May 3. Father Fidson had been abducted shortly after he left his residence at Saint Ann’s Zango Tama II on his way to the diocesan headquarters on Thursday, March 24, 2022. Nigeria has been experiencing insecurity since 2009, when a Boko Haram insurgency began with the aim of establishing an Islamic state. In 2021 alone, at least 25 Catholic priests and pastors in Nigeria were either killed or abducted.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251154/catholic-priest-in-nigeria-released-40-days-after-abduction

At the Vatican’s finance trial on Thursday, Cardinal Angelo Becciu said that Pope Francis had allowed the spending up to 1 million euros toward the liberation of a missionary nun abducted in Mali. Sister Gloria Cecilia Narváez Argoti was kidnapped in February 2017 and held until her October 9, 2021 release. Becciu, who was the second-ranking official in the Secretariat of State from 2011 to 2018, said a security consultant advised the pope that she could work with a British intelligence firm, The Inkerman Group, to secure the nun’s release. The trial in which this information came out is still ongoing.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/251156/pope-francis-permitted-spending-dollar-1m-to-free-nun-kidnapped-in-mali-cardinal-says

Today, the Church celebrates Saint Evodius of Antioch, one of the 72 disciples of Christ. Catholic tradition has always held that he was the first bishop of Antioch after Saint Peter. As bishop of Antioch, he was the first to coin the word “Christian” to refer to the disciples of Jesus. He probably died between the years 64-67, when he was then succeeded by Saint Ignatius of Antioch.

https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-evodius-of-antioch-468