A Spanish nun who has participated in recent meetings of Pope Francis’s top advisory body has said that while women’s priestly ordination is currently off the table, the pontiff is supportive of the female diaconate.
Speaking to the news agency Europa Press, Spanish nun and theologian Linda Pocher said, “There is no reflection on the priestly ordination of women in the Catholic Church,” but the pope “is very much in favor of the female diaconate.”
Pocher was one of three women, including an Anglican bishop, who addressed the most recent meeting of the pope’s Council of Cardinals, a group of cardinals from around the world who advise the pope on matters of Church governance and reform.
For the past two sessions of his Council of Cardinals, called the “C9,” female theologians have been invited to offer input on the role of women in the church, which is among the primary issues the C9 is discussing which is also a key discussion point of the ongoing Synod of Bishops on Synodality, set to conclude this October.
During a Dec. 4-5 meeting of the C9, Pocher, a Salesian and professor of Christology and Mariology at the Pontifical Faculty of Education Auxilium run by her order, was joined by Lucia Vantini, a professor of theology, philosophy and religion, in addressing the council.
Father Luca Castiglioni, a professor of fundamental theology at the diocesan seminary of Milan, also participated in that meeting.
Pocher, Vantini, and Castiglioni published a book on January 24 titled, “Demasculinizing the Church? Critical comparisons on the ‘Principles’ of Hans Urs Von Balthasar,” the preface for which was written by Pope Francis.
At least 15 worshippers killed during mass in Burkina Faso church
“We bring to your attention a terrorist attack which the community of Essakane village was the victim of today, February 25, while they were gathered for Sunday prayer,” the vicar of the Dori diocese, Jean-Pierre Sawadogo, said in a statement sent to AFP.The provisional toll was 15 killed and two wounded, he added.
Calling for peace and security in Burkina Faso, Sawadogo denounced “those who continue to wreak death and desolation in our country”.
This is just the latest in a series of atrocities blamed on terrorist groups active in the region, some of which have targeted Christian churches while others have involved the abduction of clergy.
Burkina Faso is part of the vast Sahel region, which has been locked in a battle against rising violent extremism since Libya’s civil war in 2011, followed by an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012.
The jihadist insurgency spilled over into Burkina Faso and Niger from 2015.
When Captain Ibrahim Traore seized power in 2022, it was the country’s second coup in less than a year – both triggered in part by discontent at the government’s failures to quell the violence.
Religious Affairs Office now open to all religions
Indonesia’s Religious Affairs Office (Kantor Urusan Agama, KUA) is becoming more inclusive, offering its services to people all faiths, not only Muslims, Religious Affairs Minister Yaqut Cholil Qoumas announced last on February 26. Indonesia is the world most populous Muslim-majority country.
“We all agree in principle for a radical change in the (legal) status of the office,” Choumas said at a working meeting of the ministry’s Directorate General of Islamic Community Guidance.
The ministry’s decision is not surprising, since the head of the ministry comes from the country’s most moderate Islamic organisation, the Nahdlatul Ulama (NU). Before he was appointed by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo during the latter’s second term, Quomas headed the NU’s para-military wing, better known as Banser.
The minister also said that the KUA will be available to all Indonesian citizens, regardless of their religion. Hitherto, only Muslim couples could access their services to get married, register the marriage, or get divorced.
Now, “The KUA will also be the place where all couples could register their marriage certificates” whatever their faith.
Marriage in Indonesia is considered valid only if it is performed at a religious institution. For Catholics and other Christians, this means that marriages can take place only in a church, in front of a pastor or priest.
After the ceremony, the bride and groom must go to the Civil Registration Office (Kantor Cata-tan Sipil, KCS) to officially register their marriage.
The largest ammunition factory in South Asia
Adani Defence & Aerospace is set to build South Asia’s largest complex to manufacture missiles and ammunition, the first by a private company, owned by Gautan Adani, an oligarch close to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The complex will include two state-of-the-art production facilities, which were inaugurated today in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, in the presence of the State’s Chief Minister, Yogi Adityanath (a leading member of the Bharatiya Janata Party), the Chief of Staff of the Army Staff, General Manoj Pande, as well as other top military officials and poli-ticians.
The Adani Group will invest more 30 billion rupees (around US$ 362 million), claiming that it will create more than 4,000 jobs. The ammunition plant has already started rolling out small calibre ammunition, starting with 150 million rounds estimated at 25% of India’s annual require-ment.
Stressing the need for self-reliance in missiles and ammunition, General Pande said that recent geopolitical events have shown the need for a reliable su-pply of ammunition from domestic sources to prepare for a protracted conflict.
It is no coincidence that the official inauguration took place today, the fifth anniversary of Operation Bandar, when the Indian Air Force (IAF) hit Islamic terrorist training camps in Pakistan in the aftermath of an attack in Pulwama (India) that left 40 people dead. India is the world’s largest arms importer, but it is trying to boost its defence manufacturing industry.
How Pope Francis is looking at ways to feminize the Church
When Pope Francis met members of the International Theological Commission last November, he wasted no time telling them what was on his mind.
“There’s something I don’t like about you, excuse my frankness,” he said as he entered the small lounge adjacent to the Paul VI Audience Hall. “One, two, three, four women – poor women! They are alone! Ah, sorry, five,” the pope said. “On this point, we must move forward! Women have a capacity for theological reflection different from that of men,” Francis insisted, as he began to address the theologians.
He could obviously sees the perplexed look on their faces, so he drove home the point. “You will wonder, where does this discourse lead? Not only to tell you that you need more women here – that’s one thing – but also to help you reflect. The Church as woman, the Church as a bride. And this is a task that I ask of you, please. Demasculinize the Church,” the elderly pope said.
With this task in mind, Francis then initiated reflection on the “feminine character” of the Church during meeting a week later (December 4) with his nine top advisors who make up the Council of Cardinals. He even invited three theologians who specialize in the role of women in the Church to come and speak to the C9, as the council is commonly called.
The pope has put two concepts that the late Swiss theologian Hans Urs von Balthasar (1905-1988) developed in the 1940s at the center of the reflections on women in the Church: the Petrine principle and the Marian principle. The former, referring to Saint Peter, the first of the Apostles, is linked to ministries in the Church. The latter is linked to the Virgin Mary.
“The pope wanted the question to be addressed from various perspectives,” said Linda Pocher, a Salesian sister and theologian who specializes in the Balthasar’s thought who was one of three scholars invited to address the C9.
The Moscow Patriarchate is imploding, says Russia expert
“We are witnessing the beginning of an implosion of the Moscow Patriarchate, even in countries historically linked to the Russian Orthodox Church,” says Antoine Nivière, author and professor of Russian history, religion, and culture at the University of Lorraine (France).
He says this is largely due to Patriarch Kirill’s staunch support of Vladimir Putin and the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Since the start of the war in Ukraine, despite the iron grip he maintains on his clergy in Russia, Kirill is losing ground across the board,” Nivière claims. “Could this lead to the emergence of new Orthodox Churches completely emancipated from Moscow in Eastern Europe? It’s hard to say at the moment, as the process is just beginning,” he adds.
Antoine Nivière said: “We are witnessing the be-ginning of an implosion of the Moscow Patriarchate, even in countries historically linked to the Russian Church. The bishops of Ukraine, who remained obedient to Moscow until 2022, have proclaimed their independence. The Church in Latvia has also done so, while the diocese of Lithuania wavers, as does Estonia’s.”
Kirill’s “authority is eroding, even as he displays loyalty and fidelity to their power.
Since becoming Patriarch in 2019, Kirill has supported ultra-nationalist and anti-Western positions. He is on the official line, so he probably won’t be sidelined, at least not immediately. But he risks leaving behind a greatly weakened and widely dis-credited Russian Church–both abroad and at home.”
Pakistani bishop hails court rejection of anti-Christian pogrom whitewash
The president of Pakistan’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference has welcomed a Supreme Court decision to reject a government report into the authorities’ response to attacks described by Church leaders as the “worst incident against Christians” in the nation’s history.
Bishop Samson Shukardin praised Pakistan’s highest court which threw out the government report on the attacks in Jaranwala where in a single day last August a mob torched more than 25 churches and up to 100 homes belonging to Christians.
Qazi Faez Isa, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, who headed the three-member bench of the Supreme Court, described the report, submitted by the Additional Advocate General of Punjab, as being worthy of “being thrown in the dustbin.”
The court alleged the report lacked relevant information, including details of arrests and court cases and that the investigation agencies lacked determination to bring the perpetrators to justice.
At a Supreme Court hearing about the report, a Punjab law officer stated that after 304 arrests only 22 cases had been registered, with just 18 charge sheets collected.
The court ordered that a fresh report be submitted within two weeks, warning the authorities they may face suspension if they fail to carry out their investigations thoroughly.
Bishop Shukardin, who heads the Diocese of Hyderabad, in Sindh Province, described the Supreme Court’s reaction to the government report on Jaranwala as “very positive for us as Christians.
“This is the first time the Government and especially the Supreme Court has taken this issue so seriously,” he told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN),
His comments come amid reports of widespread breakdown in trust between the police and the Christian community and others in Jaranwala and elsewhere.
Church leaders have described how people are disillusioned about delays in bringing perpetrators to justice and fears that police are not committed to protecting Christians and other minorities at risk of attack.
Harmonising Sharia and Malaysia’s constitution by the end of the year
The Malaysian government has set 31 December as the dead-line for individual states to harmonise Sharia (Syariah, Islamic law) with the constitution to iron out the differences between Quranic rules and the country’s constitutional framework.
For many observers, the deadline is too short, but it has reignited a debate over the place of secular and Islamic law in a country deeply divided along ethnic and social lines.
On Sunday, Islamic Affairs Minister Mohd Na’im Mokhtar pledged to address the matter before the end of the year to ensure a more orderly relationship between the two forms of law.
He plans to do so in cooperation with Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah of Selangor, who chairs the National Council of Islamic Religious Affairs.
A special committee headed by a former chief justice is also taking part in the process, which began last year, with the aim of assessing how to extend legislative powers in this sensitive area.
This is the more pressing since Malaysia’s Supreme Court invalidated 16 laws adopted by the north-western state of Kelantan, covering various offences punishable under Sharia, such as sodomy, sexual abuse, possession of false information, drug and alcohol addiction, as well as how courts should apply the laws.
According to the court, the state cannot make Islamic laws in areas that come under Malaysian federal law even though state legislatures can adapt it to reflect local religious views.
While the minister’s statement started a debate over the timing to achieve the goal, others note that such a topic raises questions about the very identity of the country.
Inauguration of the new St Joseph major seminary in Hanoi
The Archdiocese of Hanoi held the inauguration ceremony of its new major seminary named after St Joseph in Hoàng Nguyên parish, on February 26.
Built in just one year, the five-storey building covers a total area of 10,000 square metres and is home to some 40 seminarians who moved in after the start of the new year, another sign of the great vitality of the Vietnamese Church.
The inauguration Mass – held in the nearby parish – was attended by many faithful, some of whom followed the service in a large tensile structure set up outside the church.
In his address, Archbishop Giuse (Joseph) Vi Vãn Thiên of Hanoi explained that this new seminary will serve the dioceses of northern Vietnam, those where vocations to the priesthood are most numerous, and inspire anyone who wants to return to the source of their faith.
“May this place be truly a holy and exemplary training ground to prepare skilled harvesters to work in the Lord’s fields,” said Archbishop Vi, who thanked all the people who generously contributed to the construction.
In his homily, Bishop Giuse (Joseph) Ð× Quang Khang of B¯c Ninh, stressed the importance of the new seminary where future priests “will be followed by a team of educators with an approach to the faith that is not only academic, but also attentive to teaching the values necessary to face the challenges of today’s world.”
Husband’s cancer leads Japanese woman to faith By Mariko Terada
Junko Kusanagi found support in the form of the priests and laity at her local parish as she deepened her bonds with them.
Junko Kusanagi, 49, lives in Tokyo with her Catholic husband, 53, and nine-year-old son . She says that her husband’s illness led her to faith, and that it has been “the start of our real life as a family.”
Although she studied at a Catholic high school and university Junko says she had no experience of being led to faith at the time.
As time passed, and she was preparing to marry, her husband-to-be told her, “I’m a Catholic,” as was his entire family.
“If I hadn’t been exposed to Catholicism at all, I might have had a negative reaction, but having been exposed to Catholicism it was easy to accept,” she said.
At the age of 39, Junko had a son. When her husband told her, “I want to have the baby baptized,” she could not make up her mind. So she asked her husband’s sister, “What do you think of infant baptism?”
Her sister-in-law, who was baptized as an infant, said that from an early age, she always had a strong feeling that “God is always there.”
Hearing that, Junko thought, “In that case, okay,” and was ready to agree to her son’s baptism.
Her son is an only child, and Junko recalls that her husband was relieved and happy that, “even if we parents were to die early, it would be okay because God is with him.”