The European Commission has reportedly proposed sanctions against the head of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia is among 58 figures earmarked for sanctions related to the Russia-Ukraine war, Agence France-Presse reported on May 4.
The news agency said it had seen a document describing the patriarch as “a long-time ally of President Vladimir Putin, who has become one of the main supporters of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine.”
The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union, a political and economic union of 27 member states. The EU has imposed sanctions against more than 1,000 individuals in connection with the Ukraine war, consisting of asset freezes and travel restrictions. Sanctions against the 58 new figures would require EU member states’ approval.
A spokesman for the Russian Orthodox Church dismissed reports last month that Patriarch Kirill could face sanctions.

The Holy See announced on April 27  that Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Archbishop George Stack of Cardiff, Wales, appointing Bishop Mark O’Toole of the Diocese of Plymouth, England, to succeed him. At the same time, O’Toole has also been named the Bp of Menevia, the neighbouring Welsh diocese, which has had no bishop since 2019. The pope united the sees in persona episcopi, unifying them in the person of the bishop who oversees them both, even while they remain juridically separate. While the move is historically unusual, it has become increasingly common under Pope Francis, and could signal the eventual merger of dioceses in countries across the West, including the United States, in the face of declining numbers of clergy and Mass-going Catholics.

Next time, Jesus would like to be a villain. That is a role one of the two actors portraying Christ in the Oberammergau Passion Play in Germany would be interested in playing.
Frederik Mayet will play Jesus for a second time when the world-famous Passion Play begins its 2022 season May 14. The play will run five days every week until Oct. 2, during which Mayet will alternate in the role of Jesus with 25-year-old Rochus Rückel.
Mayet, who was born in Oberammergau, will be taking part for the third time. In 2010, he played Jesus for the first time; in 2000, he portrayed St. John.
Interviewed in German by video from Oberammergau, the father of two said the role of Jesus is demanding.
“Physically, the scenes with the scourging and the Way of the Cross, and hanging on the cross for 20 minutes, are quite exhausting,” he said. It is necessary to find distance from the role offstage, he noted. “It’s import-ant at the end of the evening to leave that role behind, and chat with friends about football or whatever over a beer. In the context of acting in the play, one shouldn’t over identify with Jesus, but see it as a role which one tries to interpret as well as possible.”
Mayet said a person grows into that role. “You try to just play your part well and do it justice, because you know there are people coming from all over the world to see the play. So that gives you a ‘positive stress,’ which carries you. I concentrate on playing my role well and on speaking clearly.”
To get the role of Jesus, “you must have some acting talent, and a good voice. There’s also the physical appearance — to play Jesus, you must have a certain look, and be of the right age, between your mid-20s and early 40s. I’m now 41,” Mayet said.
Since almost all cast members are amateur actors, it might have helped that Mayet has a professional theatre background — he is an art director and media officer at the Münchner Volkstheater in Munich. “But we also per-form stage plays in years in Oberammergau when there are no Passion Plays, so people get to know one another, and the director gets a sense of who is capable of what.”
Every role is cast with two actors, who perform on alternate days. Initially, there may be some disappointments with the casting decisions, Mayet said.
Yet soon there is unity in purpose. “When it comes to the time when we prepare for the play and perform it, everybody sticks together. It’s the Passion year, and everybody puts their differences to one side in order to concentrate on the common goal: to stage a great Passion Play,” Mayet said.
Many friendships are built in that process, also across generations, he noted.
“The youngest of our actors is 8 years old, and the oldest is 80. People across the generations are sitting together, get to know one another, and share in a mutual experi-ence. That is precious.”

Pope Francis is reorganizing the Vatican Curia — the church’s administrators and his senior staff — and may name new cardinals in June.  Francis’ new apostolic constitution, “Praedicate Evangelium” (“Preach the Gospel”), issued last month, noted that the heads of dicasteries and other offices that manage the church need not be ordained. This highlighted Francis’ stated aim to give “more space” to women in the church.
Most of the important dicasteries are as a matter of fact headed by cardinals. But if any Catholic can head a curial office, the question becomes, does the title come with the job? More importantly, is the title needed to do the job?
If the main duty of a cardinal is to be an adviser to the pope, and there is no ordination required, it could make sense to restart the tradition of lay cardinals and to include women in the mix. Since the 16th century, cardinals have come mostly from the ranks of priests and bishops, but this has not always been the case. Some Spanish and Italian royals were created cardinals in the medieval church. More recently, Pope Pius IX named the curial lawyer Teodolfo Mertel a cardinal, two months before ordaining him deacon in 1858.
Mertel was not exactly a lay cardinal — he received clerical tonsure, a rite just short of ordination, in his late 30s — but he remained a cardinal deacon for the rest of his life. As auditor of the papal treasury, he oversaw a good part of the Vatican’s money.
There is even historical evidence of female deacons doing much the same. A sixth-century inscription recalls the Deacon Anna, who, with her brother, appears to have served as the treasurer of Rome.

Archdiocesan Catholics who responded to a survey preparing for the 2023 worldwide Synod of Bishops on synodality called for some big changes in the church. The German Catholic news agency KNA reported that a statement on the archdiocese’s website noted a majority of respondents called for the faithful to be given greater self-determination and demanded major curbs on the power of the church leadership and priests. Offices, ministries and functions should be assigned on a temporary basis, they said. In addition, church members should have a democratic say in matters such as the election of bishops.
The Archdiocese of Cologne has just under 1.9 million Catholics, KNA reported. More than 1,700 people — about .09 percent of archdiocesan Catholics — took part in the non-representative online survey, “Tell the pope — what should the future of the church look like?” They submitted more than 5,400 contributions and 1,200 comments.
The survey results were summarized by an agency in accordance with social science standards. The findings showed that respondents favoured a “separation of powers as in democracies” instead of “priest-center-edness.” In addition, people of all sexual orientations and those who had been married several times should feel fully accepted in the faith community, respondents said.

A Catholic priest was expelled from Russia without explanation, amid fears for the well-being of other clergy ministering in the country.
Father Fernando Vera, a Mexican member of Opus Dei, left Russia in mid-April after being told his residence permit was revoked.
Father Kirill Gorbunov, spokesman for the Russian bishops’ conference, told Catholic News Service April 21 no reason had been given for the priest’s expulsion, adding that the Catholic Church had “no reason” to believe it was connected with the conflict in Ukraine.
“All he did was relay to people what our bishops had already said – there’s no indication he went beyond that,” Gorbunov told. “The letter he received states that a person has the right to appeal, so we hope he’ll reapply for a visa and have a chance to resume his service here.”
“Although I haven’t listened to his church homilies, I know him personally as a balanced, reasonable person, who wouldn’t take radical positions. …Most priests and religious order members here are foreigners, and their superiors abroad are growing worried about them, with some suggesting they should consider leaving Russia for their own safety.”

New study reveals that people who spent much of their lives volunteering, giving to charity, or helping others have higher levels of oxytocin
Seniors really are kinder than younger generations thanks to the “love hormone” released in older people’s brains, according to new re-search. People who release more of the neurochemical oxytocin are kinder to others and tend to be more satisfied with their lives, say scientists.
The amount of oxytocin released in the brain increases with age, showing that on average, people are more caring as they get older, researchers say. Experts reveal that these findings are consistent with many religious philosophies, where satisfaction with one’s life is enhanced by helping others.
Oxytocin is a neurochemical widely known for its role in social attachment, inter-personal trust, and generosity. It’s also known as the “love hormone.” “The findings of our study are consistent with many religions and philosophies, where satisfaction with one’s life is enhanced by helping others,” says study first author Dr. Paul J. Zak of Claremont Graduate University in California, in a statement. “Participants in our study who released the most oxytocin were more generous to charity when given the opportunity and performed many other helping behaviours. The change in oxytocin was also positively related to participants’ empathy, religious participation, and gratitude.”
Dr. Zak and his colleagues wanted to understand if the release of oxytocin changed with age, as is found with some other neurochemicals that influence feelings and behaviors.
“We have previously shown a link between how kind and generous people are, known as prosocial behaviours, and the rel-ease of oxytocin,” he adds. “Seniors spend more time volunteering and donate a larger propor-tion of their income to charity than do younger people, so we wanted to see if there was a neurochemical basis for these behaviours.”

The fast-food chain Burger King in Spain has with-drawn and apologized for an offensive ad campaign that sparked outrage among Catholics during Holy Week.
“We apologize to all those who have felt offended by our campaign aimed at promoting our vegetable products during Holy Week. Our intention has never been to offend anyone and the immediate withdrawal of the campaign has already been requested,” Burger King announced Easter Sunday on its official Twitter account.

Emilio Stanley Mwai Kibaki, who served as president of Kenya from 2002 to 2012, died April 22. He was 90. President Uhuru Kenyatta declared a national mourning period for Kibaki, a Catholic. Details of his funeral were not announced immediately.
“As we mourn this immeasurable loss, we recall with eternal gratitude President Kibaki’s patriotic journey in the service of his country, which can be traced way back in Kenya’s fight for liberation,” said Kenyatta, describing Kibaki as a gentleman of Kenyan politics, a brilliant debater whose eloquence, wit and charm won the day.

The International Union of Superiors General (UISG) is scheduled to meet in Rome May 2-6 for its 22nd Plenary Assembly which will bring together some 700 religious of 71 different nationalities.
As many as 521 superiors general are expected to attend in person to discuss the theme: “Embracing Vulnerability in the Synodal Journey”.
Ten key speakers will lead reflections on the focus theme of synodality from five perspectives: vulnerability, synodal process, religious life and synodality, peripheries, and calls to transformation.
The event will be presented at 12,00 pm on April 29 at the Press Office of the Holy See by Sister Jolanta Kafka, UISG president, Sister Patricia Murray, executive secretary, Sister Franca Zonta, superior general of the Marianist Sisters, and Sister Roxanne Schares, superior general of the School Sisters of Notre Dame.
A space for listening and research
“There are many ways to make synodality visible: our assembly, with its contents and methods, is an experience of synodality of female religious life and we truly hope to experience a privileged space of listening and research accompanied by the Holy Spirit,” Sister Jolanta explains. “We will discuss how we are contributing to the synodal process of the Church, how we can encourage deep listening in a synodal style, and how to enter into a dynamic of common discernment as a Church by recognizing vulnerability as a typically human feature”.
The UISG was founded in 1965 as a global forum for superiors general of institutions of Catholic women religious. Its members include some 1,900 superiors, whose general houses are distributed in 97 countries around the globe: 25 European countries; 16 Asian countries, 30 American countries, 22 countries in Africa, and 4 countries in Oceania.