The Catholic Church in Latin America must recognize and appreciate the role of women and end the practice of using them solely as submissive labourers in the parish, said members of a pontifical commission.

In addition, at the end of their plenary meeting March 6-9 at the Vatican, members of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America proposed that the church hold a Synod of Bishops “on the theme of the woman in the life and mission of the church.”

“There still exist ‘macho,’ bossy clerics who try to use women as servants within their parish, almost like submissive clients of worship and manual labour for what is needed. All of this has to end,” said the final document from the meeting.

L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, reported April 11 that the theme of the four-day meeting, “The woman: pillar in building the church and society in Latin America,” was chosen by Pope Francis.

In addition to 17 cardinals and seven bishops who are members of the commission, the Pope asked that some leading Latin American women also be invited; eight laywomen and six women religious participated in the four- day meeting and in drafting its pastoral recommendations, the newspaper said.

St Matthew Monastery, a Syriac Orthodox monastery overlooking the Nineveh Plains towns of Bashiqa and Bartella, in between the Kurdistan Region and Iraq. Christians in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East are being wiped out on an unprecedented scale due to ethnic cleansing campaigns by the likes of the so-called Islamic State (IS), the Gatestone Institute reports on its website.

It said the IS has killed over 1,130 Christians and destroyed 125 of their churches in recent times, with many of the murders apparently going unreported in Western mainstream media.

Eighty-one percentage of Iraq’s Christians have now disappeared from the war-torn country, according to a new report from the Iraqi Human Rights Society.

The society described the status quo as a “slow genocide” with minorities including Christians, Yazidis and Shabaks facing alarming levels of religious and ethnic persecution.

The Gatestone Institute quoted French Chief Rabbi Haim Korsia as likening the situation to the Holocaust as he appealed to Europe and other Western countries to defend non-Muslims in the region.

Research conducted for the Church of England suggests that almost three quarters of unmarried adults under the age of 35 still dream of getting married. The figure is taken from a survey conducted by 9 Dot-Research for the C of E’s Life Events team. It would appear to contradict statistics for the actual number of weddings which show a continuing decline in both absolute numbers and in the rate: figures for opposite-sex marriage in 2015 show that there were 21.7 marriages per thousand unmarried men and 19.8 marriages per thousand unmarried women – the lowest rate on record.

The research company surveyed 1,085 unmarried people between the ages of 18 and 35 on 14th and 15th November 2017. Just 07% of this initial sample said that they “had no intention of ever being married.” They were excluded from the latter part of the survey on factors that would influence their wedding plans, giving a sample size of 1,012. Almost six in 10 (59%) said that they would like to marry at some point. Just over one in 10 (12%) said they were engaged and planning their upcoming nuptials. Significantly, the survey also suggests that millennials – a nickname given to people reaching young adulthood in the early 21st century – attach a special importance to church weddings, with more young people preferring to marry in a church or chapel (47%) than a register office or town hall (34%).

Those who would consider a church wedding were asked why it appealed to them from a list of options. Almost a third said that it felt like a “proper” wedding (31%). Marry- ing before God or receiving a blessing, was also in the top 10 (the seventh most chosen option). Millennials were also strongly drawn to “traditional / conventional” wedding venues (72%).

The research shows that for those considering marriage, almost one in six (17%) said that faith or religion had influenced their wedding ideas. The survey also shows that of those hoping to marry, just under half (43%) had thought about their wedding day by the time they reached 16. Women were more likely to have envisioned their wedding by that age (54%) than men (32%).

In a letter to the bishops of Chile, Pope Francis apologized for under- estimating the seriousness of the sexual abuse crisis in the country following a recent investigation into allegations concerning Bishop
Juan Barros of Osorno.

The pope said he made “serious mistakes in the assessment and perception of the situation, especially due to a lack of truthful and balanced information.”

Andrew Infanger went to Mass every Sunday, studied at parochial schools and spent part of several summers at a camp run by Benedictine monks. He earned his bachelor’s degree in theology at a small Catholic university.

Still, he never really considered himself a model Christian or pious enough to become a member of the clergy. He made other career plans. “I sometimes think I was the last person you would’ve expected to become a priest,” he said.

Yet today, Infanger is less than two months shy of ordination. Sitting in the chapel at St. Francis de Sales Seminary, the deacon is dressed in all black, except for a white clerical collar. Next to him sits his father, Peter. The two have an easy rapport and smile frequently at each other while they speak. When one pauses, the other often finishes the sentence. It’s clear they are close.

And there’s more than that. Peter Infanger is completing his fourth year at Mundelein Seminary just outside Chicago. In another year, he will be a deacon, and then — “God willing” — he expects to follow his son into the priesthood.

The Infangers know of only one other similar situation in the United States. Father Henry Wertin was ordained in 2016 in Pueblo, Colo., 12 years after the death of his wife in a car accident. He has 10 children, two of whom are also priests.