The Nicaraguan government announced on March 2  that it has seized the assets of two Catholic universities and of Caritas Nicaragua, and effectively shuttered their operations by rescinding their legal status in the country.
The announcement comes amid an ongoing push against the Church by Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega, which has included the expulsion of religious communities, priests, and a papal delegate from the country, and the imprisonment of Bishop Rolando Álvarez on charges of anti-government activity.
According to an official announcement both the Universidad Juan Pablo II and the Universidad Cristiana Autonoma de Nicaragua (UCAN) had failed to comply with financial and governance reporting laws, reportedly not filing with the government information about their boards of directors or financial position.
Fr. Rafael Aragón, a Spanish Dominican friar, lived for 40 years in Nicaragua, but was impeded in 2022 from reentering the country after a trip abroad.
Aragón told The Pillar that the move to close the universities is an attack on the Church because of its criticism of the Ortega administration.

A booklet arguing that “to abolish clericalism, we must abolish the clergy” has ignited controversy among Belgium’s Catholics.
Following the document’s publication, a petition opposing its thesis gathered more than 600 signatures in 48 hours, according to local media.
The almost 60-page text, entitled “Restore the Church to the People of God: To put an end to clericalism,” was written by nine people associated with the Diocese of Liège, drawing criticism from the local bishop.
The authors, who include two priests, wrote: “From our point of view, it is a false idea to think of ordaining women and/or married men. This idea is based on the need to have a clergy at all costs, even if it means changing the rules of access to the sacred. But this idea will in no way bring new life to the communities and to the Church. We are still in blind clericalism.”
“It is necessary to overturn this organization and these centuries-old practices to recover a community dynamic closer to the spirit of Jesus Christ.”
They added: “A well-known canonist in our diocese said that separating governance and priest-hood is nonsense… We affirm the opposite: it would be a service to the Church. We even think that, in order to abolish clericalism, we must abolish the clergy.”

The final assembly of the German Synodal Way took place in Frankfurt March 9-11, where 230 bishops and lay representatives discussed issues such as blessings for homosexual couples, the ordination of women, a relaxation of mandatory celibacy and greater church involvement for lay people.
The agenda, with 10 resolution texts, reflected the will of the local church to “arrive at visible changes,” the president of the German Bishops’ Conference, Bishop Georg Bätzing, said in Frankfurt March 9. “This church deserves that we do not leave it as it is,” the German news agency KNA reported him saying.
The president of the Central Committee of German Catholics, Irme Stetter-Karp, said that looking back on the process so far, “there were phases of disappointment, of anger and of despair, but also phases of euphoria and of successful cooperation. Now we have to prove that we were worthy of the trust so many people placed in us.”
On March 10, KNA reported, the assembly decided that in the near future, there will be blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples in the Catholic Church in Germany. It also said people who have divorced and then remarried in a civil partnership also should be able to have their relationships blessed in the Catholic Church.
Following a controversial debate, KNA wrote, the Synodal Path reform project adopted a corresponding text in Frankfurt on March 10, with a majority of over 90%. The paper recommends developing and introducing appropriate liturgical celebrations and ceremonies.
Of the 58 bishops who voted, 38 voted in favour, nine voted against and 11 abstained. Since abstentions in the vote on the Synodal Path are counted as votes not cast, the result was counted as a majority of just under 81% in favour. Twenty votes against would have been enough to reject the text, since according to the statutes, the bishops must approve decisions with a two-thirds majority.

A Dutch cardinal has said that he is pressing ahead with a plan to phase out Sunday Word and Communion services in the absence of a priest within his territory.
Cardinal Willem Eijk, the Archbishop of Utrecht, said in a Feb. 14 letter that he was committed to eliminating the priestless Sunday celebrations over the next five years, so that the Mass can “occupy its rightful central place” among local Catholics, despite protests from some members of the archdiocese.
In parts of Europe that have seen sharp declines in priestly vocations, Catholics routinely gather on weekdays for Celebrations of the Word and Communion, led by a permanent deacon or lay person. Scripture readings and the proclamation of the Gospel are followed by the distribution of Holy Communion, consecrated at a previous Mass.

The China News Service (CNS) (chinanews.com.cn) describes the Catholic community of Yanjing as an “oasis of coexistence” between religions and a “place of encounter” between cultures Catholic community in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The second largest news agency of the People’s Republic of China, which disseminates news in Chinese and English, recently posted a detailed report on the “Tibetan community” online. The agency points out that the church building’s architectural features also combine Tibetan and Gothic elements, representing a fusion of different cultural traditions. But above all, the details and news collected in the report convey a vivid and evocative image of the small church community that profess faith in Jesus on the Roof of the world, where even Christian liturgical celebrations become an occasion for fraternal coexistence with fellow countrymen, the majority of whom are Buddhists.
The focus of the article is around the figure of Magdalene, the consecrated lay woman who for the past 26 years has de facto custody of the church. Magdalene rings the bells each day, leads the community’s daily prayer, recited in the Tibetan language, and also acts as a “tour guide” for visitors from outside when necessary. Magdalene also assists with devotion and concern the priests who come from Yunnan or other provinces to celebrate masses especially on the occasion of liturgical solemnities since there is no longer a permanent presence of a priest in the parish.
The story of Magdalene is not limited to describing the unique way in which the bond of fraternity that binds Tibetan Catholics to their fellow Buddhists is manifested. At Christmas, the more than 520 baptized of the 70 Catholic families who attend the parish also involve the rest of the population in the celebrations for the birth of Jesus. In the morning, after the solemn liturgical celebration, everyone gathers to eat the local cuisine. In the afternoon, Buddhists also help decorate the church with Christmas decorations.

Islamic religious leaders have backed an all-Muslim presidential ticket as a political “jihad” ahead of the Feb. 25 elections.
Nigeria’s Christian leaders are calling for both full engage-ment in the country’s democratic process, and faith in the viability of the country’s future, ahead of elections scheduled for Feb. 25, after Islamic religious leaders ha-ve backed an all-Muslim presi-dential ticket on religious grou-nds.
The country’s upcoming ele-ction took on religious signifi-cance after the governing All Pro-gressive Congress party decided to field an all-Muslim ticket for president and vice president, in a departure from the country’s customary electoral practice, which sees parties pairing a Muslim and a Christian.
The APC ticket has drawn support from prominent Islamic clerics in Nigeria, who have called on the country’s Muslims to vote along religious lines, fueling national tensions amid an ongoing series of mass attacks on Christian communities.

During a February 2 meeting with Congolese Jesuits (LaCivilta Cattolica.com, February 16), Francis said that “when they proposed me to be auxiliary bishop of San Miguel, I did not accept.”
He was also asked to become bishop of an area in Corrientes, northern Argentina. The nuncio encouraged him to accept saying that there were the ruins of the Jesuit past there.
Bergoglio replied that he did not want to be a “guardian of ruins” and refused, not caring about the people of these peripheries. But when he was offered Buenos Aires “with the authorisation signed by the Superior General, Fr Kolvenbach” [which was not needed], he accepted – humorous quote – “in a spirit of obedience.”
In The Dictator Pope, Henry Sire writes that Kolvenbach gave a negative evaluation of Bergoglio in an unsuccessful attempt to thwart his promotion.
Francis told the Jesuits that a pope should not resign because the papacy is for life and that he had no plans to resign.

The recent rescript approved by Francis and the Prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Roche, continues to arouse reactions. The new document, which reinforces the motu proprio Traditinis custodes, establishes that the use of a parish church or the erection of a personal parish for the celebration of the Eucharist according to the 1962 Missale Romanum and the granting of the license to priests ordained after the publication of the Motu proprio Traditionis custodes to celebrate according to the Missale Romanum of 1962, will be the responsibility of Rome. InfoVaticana contacted Cardinal Müller to find out his opinion on this decision by the Pope and Cardinal Roche. The former prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith replied that “Pope Benedict XVI has given the papacy a great reputation, even among agnostics far from the Church (Paolo Flores D’Arcais, Jürgen Habermas, Piergiorgio Odifreddi) thanks to his high theological competence and intellectual honesty”. Alluding to Benedict, Müller argues that “it was not necessary for him to insist on formal obedience in an authoritarian way, because even the obedience of faith to God, which is decisive for salvation, does not require blind servility, but a devotion to God Trinity with reason and free will, that is, an obesequium rationabile (Vatican II, Your word 5)”.
On the other hand, the German cardinal states that “when it comes to obedience to ecclesiastical authority, one must distinguish between religious obedience, which refers to the authoritative submission of revealed faith, and willingness to willingly follow the Pope and the bishops even concerning the discipline of ecclesiastical organization and the order of the liturgy”. “We distinguish between the substance of the sacraments, over which the Pope and the bishops have no power of disposition, and the liturgical rite, which has historically developed into the various legitimate rites within the single Catholic Church”, adds the cardinal.
Müller assures that “Pope Benedict overcame the tensions that had arisen in a theologically competent and pastorally sensitive way, distinguishing between the ordinary and extraordinary form of the Latin rite”. Cardinal Müller describes this decision as a “brutal intolerance” against those who prefer the traditional Mass. He adds that it is a “pastorally counterproductive” decision and “a frightening example of theological incompetence in distinguishing between the unavailable substance of the sacrament and the richness of the forms of liturgical rites”.

Around the world, Pope Francis’s Synod on Synodality is moving full steam ahead as bishops gather at the continental level to discuss the concerns and priorities of their local churches, ahead of a major gathering in Rome later this year.
Formally opened by Pope Francis in October 2021, the Synod of Bishops on Synodality is officially titled, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission,” and is a multi-stage process that will culminate in two Rome-based gatherings in October 2023 and October 2024.
After an initial consultation with laypeople at the diocesan level, reports summarizing the conclusions were sent to national bishops’ conferences, and bishops are now discussing the contents of those reports in a continental synod phase that is set to close in March.
From Oct. 4-29, bishops and select delegates, including laypeople, will gather in Rome for the first of a two-part discussion, which will close with a similar gathering in October 2024. According to organizers, the exercise is aimed at making the church a more open and welcoming place, driven less by a clerical power-structure and more on collaborative leadership.

After the release of a group of Egyptian Christians abducted in Libya, a leading human rights organization said that “Christians from sub-Saharan Africa face a toxic mix of racism and religious hostility” in the North African country.
The six men, all from the village of Alharja South in the southern Egyptian region of Suhag, had travelled to Libya for work. They were illegally taken at a checkpoint on Feb. 6 and transported to an unknown destination. They were released on Feb. 18.
Reports say they were tortured and were treated even worse once their abductors discovered they were Christians.
In a report, Christian Solidarity Worldwide said they were held in a small, crowded room with an exposed toilet, and were only released after a ransom $15,000 was paid.
CSW has welcomed the release but insists that it has nothing to do with a willingness on the part of the Libyan government to show tolerance towards Christians, or foreign nationals.
“It’s important to note that the men were released following the payment of a ransom. However, we consider raising awareness of the case, an important part of our advocacy, alongside calling for the action that would prevent this from happening again to anyone else,” said Kiri Kankhwende, CSW’s press officer.
She noted that Libya has become “a divided and lawless failed state which remains unsafe for its own citizens, and even more unsafe for foreign nationals, who are viewed by criminal elements as a source of illicit income.
Kankhwende said the security situation in the country has led some western governments like the U.S. and the UK to advise their citizens against travelling to Libya “due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict.”