Pope Francis and U.S. President Joe Biden spoke by phone on October 22 afternoon to discuss “the latest developments in Israel and Gaza,” according to a statement from the White House.
The Holy See Press Office said earlier the phone call lasted about 20 minutes and focused on “conflict situations in the world and the need to identify paths to peace.”
“The president condemned the barbarous attack by Hamas against Israeli civilians and affirmed the need to protect civilians in Gaza,” the White House statement said. The two also talked about Biden’s trip to Israel last week and his efforts at humanitarian assistance in the region.
The pope and the president also discussed “the need to prevent escalation in the region and to work toward a durable peace in the Middle East,” the White House said.
Earlier in the day, Pope Francis in his Sunday Angelus appealed for peace in the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict, which is entering its third week.
Census records 30% drop in Hungary’s Catholic population
A recent official census of religious identity in Hungary offered bad news for those concerned with the future of Christianity in central Europe.
For the first time, a majority of Hungarians (56.6%) failed to declare membership of a faith tradition, with 16.5% declaring “no religion” and a further 40.1% choosing not to answer the question at all.
While all the country’s main denominations were hit badly, results for the Roman Catholic Church, historically the nation’s majority tradition, were worst of all — a drop of 1.1 million (nearly 30%), compared to 2011. The numbers went from an estimated 3.69 million people identifying as Catholics in 2011 to 2.6 million today.
Combined with a smaller loss between 2001 and 2011, Hungary’s Catholic population has shrunk an astounding 50% this century, to just 27.5% of the population.
These facts contrast starkly with the rhetoric of Viktor Orbán, Hungary’s far-right prime minister, who has described ”Christian Hungary” as a supposed bulwark against immigration of Muslims and other religious minorities into Europe.
Pope Francis on women deacons: ‘Holy orders is reserved for men’
Pope Francis reaffirmed the impossibility of women becoming priests, or even modern Church deacons, in an interview for a book released October 24 in Italy.
The question of whether some women in the early Church were “deaconesses” or another kind of collaborator with the bishops is “not irrelevant, because holy orders is reserved for men,” the pope said.
The pope’s answers to questions about women’s roles in the Church were included in a book published in June in Spanish as “El Pastor: Desafíos, razones y reflexiones sobre su pontificado.”
The book, whose title means in English “The Shepherd: Struggles, Reasons, and Thoughts on His Papacy,” was released in Italian on Oct. 24. The Italian edition is titled “Non Sei Solo: Sfide, Risposte, Speranze,” or “You Are Not Alone: Challenges, Answers, Hopes.”
About the possibility of women deacons, Francis pointed out that the diaconate “is the first degree of holy orders in the Catholic Church, followed by the priesthood and finally the episcopate.”
He said he formed commissions in 2016 and 2020 to study the question further, after a study in the 1980s by the International Theological Commission established that the role of deaconesses in the early Church “was comparable to the benedictions of abbesses.”
In response to a question about why he is “against female priesthood,” Francis told Argentine journalist Sergio Rubin and Italian journalist Francesca Ambrogetti, the authors of the book, that it is “a theological problem.”
“I think we would undermine the essence of the Church if we considered only the priestly ministry, that is, the ministerial way,” he said, pointing out that women mirror Jesus’ bride the Church.
“The fact that the woman does not access ministerial life is not a deprivation, because her place is much more important,” he said. “I think we err in our catechesis in explaining these things, and ultimately we fall back on an administrative criterion that does not work in the long run.”
World Day of Migrants celebrated in New Delhi
The Church in India has celebrated the 109th World Day of Migrants and Refugees in the national capital with more than 300 Burmese Catholic refugees and People who have fled the ethnic violence in Manipur.
The World Day of Migrants and Refugees is celebrated on the last Sunday of September. This year it fell on September 24.
Pope, Indian Church leaders mourn Cardinal Toppo’s death
Pope Francis joined those mourning the death of Cardinal Emeritus, Telesphore Placidus Toppo, who brought global recognition for India’s tribal Church.
On October 5, the Pope sent a telegram of condolences to Archbishop Felix Toppo of Ranchi, saying he has learned with sadness of the death of Cardinal Toppo’s passing away.
In his message, the Pope says he commends the Cardinal Emeritus’ “noble soul to the infinite mercies of God, our Heavenly Father.”
German congregation’s 50 years presence in India celebrated
The Medical Sisters of St Francis of Assisi celebrated their 50 years of presence in India on October 7 at their first Indian house at Pithora in Raipur archdiocese of Chhattisgarh.
Thanking for their presence and services, Archbishop Victor Henry Thakur of Raipur, the main celebrant of their Golden Jubilee celebrations, remarked, “Pithora is your Bethlehem, your birthplace… We can see the church’s and the people’s development due to you presence… 50 years is not our accomplishment, but God’s… It is not accomplished, but accomplishing.”
Manipur gets new archbishop
Pope Francis on October 6 appointed Father Linus Neli as Archbishop of Imphal that covers the entire northeastern Indian state of Manipur.
The 66-year-old archbishop-elect is currently the judicial vicar of the archdiocese.
Lockdown in Nepalese city to prevent Hindu-Muslim clashes
Authorities in Nepal have imposed a lockdown and heightened security in a south-western city bordering India amid escalating tensions between local Hindu and Muslim communities.
An indefinite curfew was declared on Oct. 3 in Nepalgunj, a sub-metropolis in Banke district, about 400 kilometres from the national capital Kathmandu, officials said.
People were urged not to leave their homes or gather in groups as security personnel including from the Nepal Army patrolled the streets. Nepalgunj has the largest Muslim population among Nepal’s cities and leaders of the community organized a protest at the office of the chief district officer on Oct. 1. The Hindus held a rally in response on the next day, defying authorities who refused them permission. This heightened tensions and led to a violent clash between groups that left 13 people including three security personnel injured.
Apathy worsens suffering of Pakistan’s climate-vulnerable poor
As Pakistan grapples with the increasingly dire consequences of climate change, the suffering of the nation’s millions of poor people worsens due to glaring negligence from the state.
August was the second driest month in 63 years due to a staggering 66 % drop in average rainfall, the Pakistan Meteorological Department announced recently.
Between June and August last year, heavy rain and flooding left more than 1,700 dead and displaced abou
About 37 % of Pakistan’s more than 231 million people lived below the poverty line in 2021, according to the World Bank. The COVID-19 pandemic, a failing economy, staggering inflation and ongoing political upheavals have made millions of new poor.
Hope Society launches movement to help homeless through volunteerism
The Hope Society, a Bengaluru based organization, has launched an initiative to build homes for the homeless each month with people’s participation.
The new movement on housing called ‘Project Shelter’ was initiated by Claretian Father George Kannanthanam on October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
“Humanity is best made visible and practical when we help our needy citizens to have their basic needs,” said Justice Santhosh Hegde, a former Supreme Court judge and Lokayukta who inaugurated the project. He lauded people’s participation and volunteerism in the project.
Bishop Sebastian Edayanthrath of Mandya opened a new house and handed over the key to John Bhaskar, a person on wheelchair due to his disability, to mark the symbolic beginning of the Project Shelter.
Bishop Edayanthrath recalled that the Claretian priest has already constructed 1,500 houses for the homeless in his 30 years of service to the leprosy patients, drug dependents, disabled and the victims of disasters.
He said such programs can be implemented with the cooperation of generous people in society.
John Bhaskar said that he would never have been able to build a house without the support from Project Shelter.