Prominent German magazine Der Spiegel has published a 19 page report criticising Pope Francis’s leadership of the Catholic Church and accusing him of ignoring abuse survivors in Argentina.

Their cover story, titled “Thou shalt not lie” and subtitled “The silence of the shepherds,” attacks the Pope’s handling of the abuse crisis and his attempted Church reforms.

“Pope Francis promised when he took office a renewed, cosmo- politan Catholicism,” the maga- zine says. “Five-and-a-half years and many abuse cases later, the Universal Church is divided as never before.”

The magazine, which is generally regarded as left-liberal, is considered one of the most influential in Europe.

According to LifeSiteNews, its report covers cases such as that of Fr Inzoli, a convicted abuser laicised by Benedict XVI but restored to the priestly state by Pope Francis. Francis later laicised him again. It also exami-

nes the ongoing McCarrick scan- dal, and the members of the C9 council of cardinals who have faced allegations of covering up abuse.

On his handling of issues such as Communion for Protestant spouses and Communion for the divorced and remarried, Der Spiegel notes that the Pope has been quoted as saying privately: “I may go down in history as the one who split the Church.”

The report most notably includes an interview with an abuse survivor from Argentina who says she was one of a group of victims who wrote to Francis shortly after his election, but never received a reply.

During an ecumenical prayer service in Latvia on Sept 24, Pope Francis warned Christians to not let the faith turn into another piece of history, but to keep it an active part of their lives and communities.

“This is a recurring danger for all of us,” the Pope said on Sept. 24. “We can take what gives us our very identity and turn it into a curio from the past, a tourist attraction, a museum piece that recalls the achievements of earlier ages. … The same thing can happen with faith.”

“We can stop feeling like ‘resident’ Christians and become tourists,” he continued. “We could even say that our whole Christian tradition can run the same risk: the risk of ending up as a museum piece, enclosed within the walls of our churches, and no longer giving out a tune capable of moving the hearts and inspiring the lives of those who hear it.”
Pope Francis spoke during an ecumenical

prayer meeting in the evangelical Lutheran cathedral in Riga, Latvia. The cathedral is one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks and houses a pipe organ considered among the best in the world.

Though the organ has been renovated and rebuilt several times over the years, it is also considered one of the oldest in Europe and was at one time the largest in the world.

During the prayer service, Francis referenced the organ, pointing out how it must have “accompanied the life, the creativity, the imagination and the devotion of all those who were moved by its sound.”

“It has been the instrument of God and of men, for lifting of eyes and hearts to heaven. Today it is a symbol of this city and its cathedral,” he said. “For those who live here, it is more than a monumental organ; it is part of the life, traditions and identity of this place.”

He said the organ can be a symbol of the Christian faith, which, as St Luke says, “is not to be hidden away, but to be made known and to resound in the various sectors of society.”

This is the story of Kainut, a brave 20- year-old girl who grew up a Muslim, with a Christian mother and a Muslim father, but she chose to become a Catholic. As a result, she and her family are suffering harassment, discrimination and worse. According to Islamic law, if someone leaves Islam, that person can be killed with impunity. Kainut, who is studying medicine, speaks about her life and the momentous choice she made:

“This is what happened to my mother: as a student, she was kidnapped by Muslims who forced her to accept Islam and compelled her marry my father. It is a very common practice in my province to forcefully convert Hindu and Christian girls to Islam. My mother admitted my father as her husband and started living a normal life with him. They had four children—there are two younger brothers and a sister. I am the eldest. Kainat (far right) with fellow students at university.

“However, my mother secretly went to church and I often went with her. She read the Bible in the home; it was clear that she didn’t embrace Islam; in her heart she was still a Christian. I also started reading the Bible and going to church regularly with my mother. Once I was in church and people were standing in line for taking Holy Communion; I joined the line, but someone told me I was not allowed to take Communion because I was not a Christian. That incident made me cry….

“Still, I went to church with my mother and asked a priest to baptize me; but he was not sure: ‘this is very risky; sorry, I am not in a position to baptize you.,’ he said; the priest was afraid that my relatives and other Muslim fanatics would kill us if they found out he baptized me; and he did not want to create a problem for his parishioners either. I told him: ‘Father, I am ready to die for Christ …

“Then came a summer vacation and we went to another province to visit my aunt, my mother’s sister; we went to church with her and, again, I met with a priest and told him of my wish to embrace Christianity. He was very nice and gave me some books for study. We spent three months at my aunt’s house, going to church every day. And, one Sunday, after Mass, the priest asked me: ‘child, are you ready for baptism?’ I was very happy and said yes. Finally, in 2013, my two brothers, my sister and I all received the Sacrament of Baptism. It was easier in that church as we were far from home.

“Yet, our problems aren’t over yet. In October of 2017, my Muslim relatives shot one of my brothers; the bullet wounded his lungs and ribs and he is still in the hospital, struggling for life. My family is facing threats to our lives and I don’t know what is going to happen with us in future—but our hope is in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Cardinal Joseph Zen Zekiun believes the provisional Vatican- China agreement on appointing bishops will allow the Chinese government to eliminate the underground church with the help of the Vatican. Quoting from a Hungarian theologian, the Hong Kong emeritus bishop said the agreement seems not to violate canon law on issues related to pontifical power but gives discretionary power to Beijing on bishop appointments. “This is an atheistic government which wants to suppress the church more than ever,” he told reporters invited to a meeting at Salesian House in Hong Kong on Sept. 26.

“The Chinese government will succeed in eliminating the underground church with the help of the Vatican. Now that it is strengthening its suppression of religions, how could you think this will lead to a good agreement? Just like St John the Baptist negotiated with King Harold, how could this be a good out- come? To say that the agreement is a good thing is very superficial.”

The Vatican has signed an agreement with China, giving the Beijing government a role in the appointment of new bishops.

Although the terms of the accord were not made public, informed sources at the Vatican have confirmed that under the agreement, the Beijing government will name candidates for episcopal office, with the Pope allowed a choice from among the government’s nominees.

In announcing the agreement on September 22, the Vatican said that the agreement is “provisional” and “foresees the possibility of periodic reviews of its application.”

In a statement explaining the accord—recorded in English, in a departure from his usual pattern—the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, stressed that “the objective of the Holy See is a pastoral one: the Holy See intends just to create the condition, or help to create the condition, of a greater freedom, autonomy, and organization” for the Catholic Church in China.