Pope Francis met with members of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments on February 8 morning to discuss the importance of liturgical re-form as a core feature of the broader “renewal of the Church.”
The address comes as the dicastery is meeting for its annual plenary assembly, which is addressing the “liturgical for-mation from Sacrosanctum Con-cilium to Desiderio Desideravi” for ordained ministers as well as “liturgical training courses for the people of God.”
The meeting will also seek to “provide bishops with practical suggestions for developing pastoral projects in their dioceses with the aim of putting into practice the reflections of the papal document,” a Feb. 5 press release from the dicastery stated.
Recalling that it has been 60 years since the promulgation of the Second Vatican Council’s seminal document on the liturgy, Sacrosanctum Concilium, the pope stressed in his Feb. 8 address that liturgical reform underscored the council fathers’ objective of renewing the Church’s “fundamental dimensions” such as “spiritual, pastoral, ecumenical, and missionary” work.
“Without liturgical reform there is no reform of the Church,” the pope said.
Survey finds most U.S. orders didn’t have a single member take perpetual vows in 2023
Of the 508 American religious communities which responded to a new survey on the number of men and women who professed perpetual vows in 2023, a total of 438, representing 87 percent, reported that they didn’t have a single member who did so, and only 23 reported that they had more than one.
That tally reinforces other recent data confirming declines in the number of men and women religious in the United States, including a recent projection from the U.S. bishops’ conference that the total will drop 50 percent over the next decade, from 33,000 in 2023 to approximately 17,000 in 2033.
According to a 2023 study by the National Religious Retirement Office, members of religious communities who are 70 or older outnumber those who are younger than 70 by nearly three to one. The data found that the average age of a female religious in the U.S. is 74.85, and 67.64 for men. In the U.S., 55 percent of women religious, and 25 percent of male religious, are over 80 years old.
Aside from declines, the new survey also profiles the new men and women making perpetual vows today.
Major superiors of those 508 religious institutes identified a total of 144 men and women who professed perpetual vows in 2023, including 68 women and 76 men. Of those 144 individuals, the surveyors got responses from 101 to compile further information about demographics, family background, education history, and occupational and ministerial experience.
The survey found that the average age of new religious professing perpetual vows is 36, with half of the responding individuals being age 33 or younger. In terms of race, two-thirds are Caucasian, European American, or White.
The most unanimous finding was that nearly all, or 99 percent, of those 101 men and women who were surveyed were raised by their biological parents during what the survey calls “the most formative part of their childhood.”
Savannakhet, anti-Christian persecutions: houses destroyed, Bibles burned
Christians still in the crosshairs in Laos: some village leaders and inhabitants in the south of the country broke into a private home to prevent several families who had gathered inside from holding a celebration on 4th Feb., as part of Sunday services. This is what Radio Free Asia (Rfa) reports , relaunching the stories of some witnesses. The incident is just the latest in a series of attacks and lawsuits in the one-party communist state with a predominantly Buddhist population, despite a national law that protects religious freedom at least on paper. “The village authorities came here and demolished our house around 10.30 on Sunday morning,” a person present at the services in the house church of Kaleum Vangke village, in Xonboury district, Savannakhet province, told Rfa Lao. Speaking on condition of anonymity, like other sources consulted and eyewitnesses who fear retaliation, the Christian continues: “The authorities, including the village head, security guards and senior members of the village, suddenly attacked us and our place of worship destroyed.” The crowd of attackers burned Bibles and documents: “They destroyed our house-says the source-because they don’t want our Christian brothers and sisters to venerate God” and, despite the complaint, so far the authorities have not intervened.
Voting in Pakistan Bishop Shukardin: ‘Christians without representation’
Pakistan goes to the polls to-morrow for very delicate general elections. Today’s election eve was also marked by serious violence, with two attacks in which 28 people died and at least 40 others were injured in Pishin and Qila Saifullah, in the province of Baluchistan. While from prison, former Prime Minister Imran Khan had his followers spread a pre-recorded message inviting followers of his party to go and vote. In such a tense context, what do these elections represent for Pakistan’s Christians? AsiaNews asked Msgr. Samson Shukardin, bishop of the diocese of Hyderabad and president of the Episcopal Conference of Pakistan:
“Due to the way the electoral system works, even the parliamentarians who are supposed to represent minorities are chosen by the political parties and not by the community. Many voters, then, do not have access to the vote because they have not been registered, otherwise in some constituencies Christians would have a very high number of voters. We too must improve so that all the faithful are aware of their rights and duties as citizens. ”
“We need good candidates who can serve our community. Already today in at least 20 constituencies in the country Christian voters are a significant number and we could win general seats, but everything is left to the choice of each party.”
New Report Details Communist Party Takeover Of Religion in Hong Kong
The Committee for Free-dom in Hong Kong (CFHK) Foundation has today (30th January 2024) launched a ma-jor new report detailing the collapse of religious freedom in Hong Kong.
The report, titled “Hostile Takeover: The CCP and Hong Kong’s Religious Communi-ties”, authored by the CFHK Foundation’s Policy and Advocacy Coordinator Frances Hui, is now available to read in full on our website.
The paper delves into the systematic breaking of promises made under the “One Country, Two Systems” arrangement, as outlined in the Basic Law and the Sino-British Joint Declaration.
This study details the efforts of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to assert control over Hong Kong’s religious sphere, signaling a bleak future for religious freedoms in the region.
Some of the main abuses of religious freedom, and its consequences, detailed in the report, are as follows:
• Orchestrated CCP Takeover: The CCP is actively taking control of Hong Kong’s religious institutions, as seen through various initiatives and efforts to influence religious groups.
• Strategic Importance of Religion: A recent Chinese Bluebook emphasizes the strategic importance of Hong Kong’s religions for China, linking religious groups with accusations of involvement in “violent protests” and collusion with foreign organizations.
• Politicization of Religious Organizations: The CCP is politicizing religious organizations to advance its agenda. Ominously, the CCP is rallying Muslim governments to downplay human rights violations against the Uyghur population in Xinjiang….
Indonesia: On the eve of the presidential vote Widodo changes the name of Christian festivals
On the eve of the presidential and parliamentary vote in Indonesia – the most populous Muslim nation in the world – in a climate marked by protests over the “interventionism” of the outgoing leader Joko Widodo in favour of Prabowo Subianto, there is a small but significant change for Christians.
In fact, with presidential decree 8/2024 regarding public holidays, the head of state last week decided to officially change the name of the anniversaries, moving from the previous Islamic name to the Christian term. From this month of February, therefore, the term “Isa al Masih” will no longer be used, but the more appropriate “Jesus Christ” will be used.
Jokowi’s decision will concern, in particular, the naming of four holidays present in the country’s calendar: Christmas, which from today will be called “Day of the Birth of Jesus Christ”; Good Friday, which is the “Day of the Death of Jesus Christ”; Easter, now “Day of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ” and the ascension to heaven, from “Isa al Masih” to “Jesus Christ”. The choice was based on Jokowi’s desire to show the increasingly plural face of the country in terms of religious faith and confessional harmony.
The possibility of changing the name of the Christian holidays had been discussed for two years, since the Minister for Religious Affairs Yaqut Cholil Qoumas had proposed it during a meeting with the Indonesian bishops in the Moluccas in April 2022. A choice linked to the request of groups of faithful who asked to make the terminology more “Christian”, compared to using the Islamic denomination.
Beijing and the Holy See: Positive signs tempered by heavy silence
As I write the Chinese New Year, the high point of the year, is being celebrated at home and overseas. It is the year of the dragon, which among the twelve animals of the horoscope is the strongest and most loved: it is to be believed that many Chinese women will want to have a child in this year, considered the most fortunate of all.
Today’s celebration catapults me into thinking about the Catholic faith in China, the fundamental theme of my life dedicated to the mission. From what we can know, 2024 should be a decisive year for dialogue between China and the Holy See: the 2018 agreement, renewed twice, will have to be permanently ratified or abandoned.
In recent days, news has arrived which has rightly been commented on positively by observers: three new bishops have been ordained, with the approval of both parties, in compliance with the agreement. 2023 had been an annus horribilis for the Holy See, with the sensational transfer to Shanghai of Bishop Shen Bin.
It was the second unilateral act by China which had ousted the Holy See from any consultation. The Vatican protested. It went on to accept what had happened, but requested it not reoccur.
The last three agreed ordinations, accompanied by the recognition by the Holy See of the establishment of a new diocese (Weifang, in the province of Shandong, with borders redrawn by the Chinese authorities) have given the impression that there is, on the Chinese side, the will not to break with Rome and to permanently ratify the agreement.
It should be remembered that this ‘good’ news must be contextualised: if it is true that the Pope appoints the bishops, they are not chosen by him but by an autonomous process led by the Chinese authorities, the details of which are not known, as the text of the agreement remains secret.
Those elected in China are therefore Catholic bishops, but at the same time certainly appreciated by the authorities.
Half a million Catholics in India petition government for better living conditions
Hundreds of thousands of Indian Catholics are petitioning the government to improve living conditions there.
The Syro-Malabar Catholic Congress presented Kerala state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with the petition late last month after a major signature campaign, one meant to address what the congress described as “unprecedented crises” facing the Christian community there.
Vijayan “was very concerned and assured to consider our demands,” Catholic Congress President Biju Parayannilam told this month.
“Around half a million Catholics” in Kerala signed the petition, UCA News said.
“Ordinary people are struggling to eke out a living and we want the government to focus its attention on their problems,” Father Philip Kaviyil, director of the Catholic Congress’ global committee, told the news outlet.
Among the demands presented to the government was the timely delivery of social security payments. Elderly citizens in the state are given the equivalent of about $20 per month from the government, but they “are not getting it on time, making their life miserable,” the priest said.
Farmers are also reportedly struggling to make ends meet while also dealing with wild animal attacks.
Parayannilam said the activists were “hopeful that the government will make some positive announcement regarding our demands in the current budget session of the state assembly.”
Church-run schools in India told to remove Christian symbols
A Hindu group has given an ultimatum to Christian schools in India’s north-eastern Assam state to rid themselves of all Christian symbols including religious habits and cassocks.
Satya Ranjan Borah, president of the Hindu outfit Kutumba Surakshya Parishad (family safety council) said the move aims to stop Christian missionaries from using schools for conversion activities.
“Christian Missionaries are converting schools and educational institutes into religious institutes. We will not allow it,” he said at a press conference in Guwahati on Feb. 7
Assam is ruled by the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The group wants the idols or photographs of Jesus and Mary removed and has set a 15-day deadline for Christian schools to comply, failing which they warned of dire consequences.
Borah said they also want priests, nuns and brothers serving in Christian schools to stop wearing cassocks and religious habits on school campuses.
He accused them of promoting Christianity in schools through the display of such Christian symbols.
Archbishop John Moolachi-ra of Guwahati said all the alle-gations “are baseless.”
“We are aware of the threat and I do not understand why is this happening,” he told on February 9.
Christians have been actively involved in imparting education for several decades in Assam’s remote areas where poor tribal people dwell.
India’s bishops: ‘Attacks on Christians now common’
A body bringing together India’s Latin Catholic, Syro-Malabar, and Syro-Malankara bishops deplored Wednesday increasing attacks on the country’s Christian minority.
In a six-page statement issued Feb. 7, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) ex-pressed alarm at rising intolerance in Indian society and political life.
It said: “Attacks on Christians continue to increase in different parts of India. Destruction of homes and churches, harassment of personnel serving in orphanages, hostels, educational and healthcare institutions on false allegations of conversion have become common.”
Christians account for around 2.3% of India’s population, forming the country’s third-largest religious group, after Muslims (14.2%), and Hindus (79.8%).
Roughly a third of Indian Christians – more than 20 million people – are Catholic. They belong to three autonomous particular churches: the Latin Church, the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, and the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church.
Since 2014, India has been led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). In April and May this year, India is scheduled to hold general elections, in which Modi will seek a third term in power.
In January, the advocacy group Open Doors listed India as the world’s 11th worst country in which to be a Christian.