Prominent Australians have paid tribute to Cardinal George Pell as local political leaders ruled out the possibility of a state funeral.
While former prime ministers of the country hailed Pell as a “great son” of Australia and an important figure in the nation’s intellectual and cultural life, the premiers of two Australian states — New South Wales and Victoria — said they would not be granting state funeral honours to Pell following the cardinal’s death in Rome on Jan. 10 at the age of 81.
In Victoria — which encompasses Melbourne, whose archdiocese Pell led from 1996 to 2001 — Premier Daniel Andrews confirmed that there would be no state memorial service and linked his announcement to the clerical abuse scandals of recent decades.
“I couldn’t think of anything that would be more distressing for victim-survivors than that,” he said Jan. 12, adding that he was unlikely to attend the cardinal’s memorial.
Some sections of Australian media and society have continued to link Pell’s legacy to his 2017 trial on charges of sexual abuse, despite the High Court acquitting him of all charges in 2020, after the cardinal had spent more than 400 days in solitary confinement.
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Cardinal Pell Rips ‘Toxic’ Synod of Francis
In a final message before his death, a conservative cardinal excoriates Pope Francis’ upcoming Synod on Synodality as a “toxic nightmare.”
The Spectator published Cdl. George Pell’s posthumous article, which is entitled ”The Catholic Church must free itself from this ‘toxic nightmare.’” As a member of the pontiff’s council of cardinals and the former Vatican prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Pell was a close associate of the holy father.
Pell, who died unexpectedly on January 10 quips, “The Catholic Synod of Bishops is now busy constructing what they think of as ‘God’s dream’ of synodality. Unfortunately this divine dream has developed into a toxic nightmare despite the bishops’ professed good intentions.”
He blasted the Vatican’s 45-page working document for the continental stage of the synod process and pleaded with faithful bishops to take action before it’s too late.
“With no sense of irony, the document is entitled ‘Enlarge the Space of Your Tent’, and the aim of doing so is to accommodate, not the newly baptised — those who have answered the call to repent and believe — but anyone who might be interested enough to listen,” Pell declares.
Filipinos live Christmas spirit with pre-dawn Masses
In the nine days leading to Christmas, Cristine Pascual goes to bed early as she needs to rise at around 2:30 am instead of 6:00 am like the rest of the year.
Pascual, 42, a Catholic mother of three children aged 14, 13, and 9, finishes her household chores quickly and rushes to the St. James the Great Church in Cavite in the southern part of the Philippine capital Manila.
Indian government asked to apologize for framing Stan Swamy
Catholic Church leaders have sought an “unconditional apology” from the Indian government for the custodial death of Father Stan Swamy after a US based digital forensic firm has found that the late Jesuit was falsely implicated in a sedition case.
“At least at this stage, the government and its probe agency should tender an unconditional apology to people for the unjust arrest, inhuman incarceration and custodial death of Father Swamy for no fault of his,” says Jesuit Father A Santhanam, convener of the National Lawyers Forum of Religious and Priests (NLFRP).
Earlier, the Arsenal Consulting, a digital forensic laboratory based in the United States, had found that Father Swamy was framed after hacking into his computer hard drive and planting incriminating documents as evidences to implicate him.
Pioneer of Claretian missions in India dies on Christmas day
The pioneer of the Claretians in India, Fr. George Vanchipurackal (79) died on December 25 after celebrating Christmas with his family members. His funeral will take place in Claret Bhavan, Kuravilangad at 2.30 pm on December 26.
Fr. George Vanchipurackal was a pioneering formator and mentor for the Claretian priests in India after he was ordained a Claretian priest in Rome in 1969. He was part of the second batch of students sent by the then Palai bishop Sebastian Vayalil to the Claretian seminary in Germany.
A ‘pure blood’ claim that discriminates among Indian Catholics
At 63, Biju Uthup is de-termined to continue litigat-ion stretching three decades seeking court intervention to stop his local Catholic diocese from discriminating against people based on “purity of blood.”
Uthup, a retired scientist from India’s Aeronautical Development Agency, began his struggle in 1989 when his diocese refused to recognize his marriage on the grounds that his grandmother belonged to the Latin rite.
His grandmother’s “impure blood” made him impure and hence, he cannot be a member of the diocese, he was told.
“It shocked me. But the Church leaders were not ready to change, forcing me to move civil court to fight this demonic idea,” Uthup said.
His archdiocese of Ko-ttayam, a diocese until 2005, was established in 1911 for an endogamous Catholic community within the Eastern rite Syro-Malabar Church. The group, known as the Knanaya community, would not accept those marrying from other Catholic dioceses, who they consider Catholics of impure blood.
Pakistani priests on a fearless mission in Balochistan
Each time Father Shehzad Anwar visits Catholics living scattered in Quetta city on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, having a Baloch or Pushto-speaking guide is as important as carrying the Mass kit or having a car with a tank full of petrol.
The 36-year-old diocesan priest has learned the essential lessons in his pastoral ministry in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province dominated by ethnic Baloch and Pashtun people.
The ethnic Punjabi priest serves as a parish priest of St. Francis of Assisi Church in Loralai, a district famed for marble quarries, about 154 kilometres east of Quetta.
The mission in the mineral-rich and sparsely populated province, bordering Iran and Afghanistan, is extremely challenging and threatening, Father Anwar says.
It is not just because of long-distance travel in the hilly, rugged terrain. For decades, the region has been a battlefield plagued by terrorism, a separatist insurgency and heavy-handed military operations. Deaths from shootings and bombings are routine affairs.
A local guide saves priests like Father Anwar from uncomfortable situations such as grilling from security forces and even gun-toting extremist groups.
When religion is business in Japan
What I will describe is a scandal of potentially huge proportions, which the Japanese media is failing to cover, and the news is mostly spreading via Twitter.
Police in the port city of Kobe recently detained a pastor on suspicion of using illegal drugs. Yasuhiko Mori, after a life in organized crime, founded the Kobe Disciple Church in 2010 — part of the Jesus Japan World Mission (started in 1995) — with many branches nationwide including Tokyo, where he currently serves as head pastor.
The 64-year-old former yakuza, whose resume includes criminal activities of all sorts, was ostensibly responsible for providing spiritual guidance and support to members of the church, as well as organizing services, delivering sermons and leading Bible studies.
As much as we would like to think this story came out of a script for a movie, this is not the case.
Salesian Alumni organise Christmas exhibition in Kolkata Cathedral, Chief Minister and Archbishop attend
Kolkata, December 25, 2022 — Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Member of Parliament Abhisek Banerjee attended the mid-night mass at Cathedral of The Most Holy Rosary Kolkata, presided over by Archbishop Thomas D’Souza of Kolkata, along with several civil and church dignitaries.
Other dignitaries present at the Christmas eve function were Vicar General Fr Dominic Gomes, ProVicar of the Cathedral Fr Franklin Menezes, and Kolkata Police Commissioner, Vineet Goyal.
Chief Minister inaugurated the crib and special exhibition on the life of Jesus curated by Don Bosco School Liluah Alumnus and Church Art Kolkata CEO Mr. Subrata Ganguly.
The 20 panels at the special exhibition, created by Church Art Kolkata, displayed in front of the Cathedral of the Most Holy Rosary, narrate the story of the announcement of the Birth of Jesus till his Resurrection and the glorification of his Mother Mary.
Indian tribal Christians protest social boycott, violence
Indigenous tribal Christians forced to abandon their homes and villages due to social boycotts and violence have urged authorities to take action against the instigators in the eastern Indian state of Chhattisgarh.
Some 1,000 aggrieved Christians camped outside the office of the district collector in Narayanpur on Dec. 18 demanding action against local political leaders influenced by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and other Hindu nationalist organizations.
Many among them including women and children showed their injuries sustained during the public beatings they were subjected to in the villages when they refused to give up Christianity
“At least 300 families from Narayanpur and Kondegaon districts in the Bastar region were driven out of their homes in the past two months,” Pastor Moses Logan, president of the Chhattisgarh State Christian Welfare Society, said.