Catholic News

• Catechesis requires creativity, Pope says (Vatican News)
  Speaking on September 17 to participants in a Vatican conference on catechesis, Pope Francis said that catechists are “people who tirelessly proclaim the Gospel of mercy.” He said that the work of catechists is not “abstract communication of theoretical knowledge,” but a process marked by listening. The formal office of catechist, which he created, requires creativity, the Pontiff said—not “the pre-packaged answers we carry in our briefcase.”
• USCCB: Act now to stop most extreme abortion bill ever (USCCB)
  “Congress is about to vote on the most radical abortion bill of all time,” the US bishops’ conference warns. “The so-called ‘Women’s Health Protection Act’ (H.R. 3755/S. 1975) would impose abortion on demand, at any stage of pregnancy.”“It would apply nationwide—even in states that don’t want it,” the USCCB continues. “Even modest and popular pro-life laws at every level of government—the federal, state, and local level—would be on the chopping block.”
• Belarus government faces new confrontation with Church (The Tablet)
  The official government newspaper in Belarus recently compared Catholic priests to Nazis, and the cathedral in Minsk, the nation’s capital, was raided in July. The Eastern European nation of 9.5 million (map) is 79% Christian (64% Orthodox, 12% Catholic).
• Most Catholics favor Communion for Biden, poll says (Pew Forum)
  A majority of American Catholics believe that President Biden should be allowed to receive Communion despite his abortion advocacy, according to a new Pew survey. Even among Catholics who attend Mass weekly, only 42% say that politicians who support abortion should be barred from Communion. The results of the Pew survey broke down along sharply partisan lines. Most Republicans (55%) said that Biden should not receive the Eucharist, but an overwhelming majority of Democrats (87%) said that he should.
• Supreme Court to hear case on religious schools barred from Maine choice program (CNS)
  “The justices are taking up a challenge by two sets of parents in Maine against a state education department rule that lets families who live in towns without public schools receive public tuition funds to send their children to another public or private school as long as it’s not a religious school,” according to the report.
• Tabernacle with Blessed Sacrament stolen from Denver parish (KDVR-TV)
  Using a crowbar, thieves broke into Cure d’Ars Catholic Church, a predominantly African-American parish, and stole the tabernacle and sacred vessels; they also stripped copper from pipes. Police characterized the theft as a “crime of opportunity,” and not a hate crime.
• Armenia is surrounded by enemies, Czech cardinal warns (Armenia News)
  Cardinal Dominik Duka spoke at the blessing of a monument to victims of the Armenian genocide.
• Oklahoma governor signs 9 pro-life laws (Gov. Kevin Stitt)
  Among the laws is a measure prohibiting abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected.
• Northern Ireland diocese charged with sheltering bombing suspect (CNA)
  The Diocese of Derry is a defendant in a lawsuit stemming from a terrorist bombing that killed nine people in 1972. A priest of the Derry diocese, Father James Chesney was suspected of organizing the bombing, as a key figure in the Irish Republic Army. Although Father Chesney (who died in 1980) was never charged with a crime, Church officials arranged to send him to a new assignment in another diocese.
• Ecumenical Patriarch announces trip to US (Orthodox Times)
  Born in 1940, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew was installed in 1991 as Archbishop of Constantinople. The Ecumenical Patriarch, who holds a primacy of honor among the Orthodox churches, will begin an 11-day trip to the US on October 23, during which he will visit Ground Zero and meet with President Biden.
• Irish president meets with Pope (Vatican News)
  Pope Francis met on September 17 with Ireland’s President Michael Higgins. A Vatican release said that their conversation focused on the environment and the coming UN conference on climate change. They also spoke about the Covid epidemic and the prospects for continued peace in Ireland.
• Cardinal Cupich reinstates pastor cleared of abuse allegations (Lake and McHenry County Scanner)
  Father David Ryan has “suffered, as you well know, but he has offered that suffering freely, convinced of the need for us as a Church to keep our word that the protection and safety of our children remain the priority,” the Archbishop of Chicago said in a letter to the priest’s parish.
• Ukrainian Christians begin 3 days of prayer to preserve traditional family values (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church)
  “In the contemporary world a family as an institution passes through tremendous attacks of new gender ideologies of a totalitarian type – ideologies which undermine the very existence of a family, minimize its sense and values, the core of what is respect for human dignity and human’s life from conception to their natural death,” the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches said in a statement. “These global challenges in Ukraine gain a form of systematic attacks directed at destruction of traditional values and roots of morality.”
• Pro-life group says Google engaging in censorship (Aleteia)
  “At the request of abortion activists, Google has just BANNED all of LiveAction ‘s pro-life ads, including those promoting the Abortion Pill Reversal treatment, a resource that has saved 2500 children to date,” tweeted Lila Rose of Live Action.
• 62 nuns at Manila convent test positive for Covid (Licas.news)
  In addition to the nuns, 50 lay people who work at the convent have tested positive.
• Miniature Vatican built of Legos (CNS)
  An Illinois man has created a painstakingly accurate scale model of the Vatican, using 67,000 Lego blocks. Rocco Buttliere spent three months on the project, working at home during the Covid lockdown.
• Mary's faith is 'journey, prophecy, and compassion,' Pope preaches at final Mass in Slovakia (Vatican Press Office)
  On September 15, the final day of the 34th apostolic journey of his pontificate, Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Sorrows in Sastin.Following a prayer of entrustment to Our Lady with Slovakia’s bishops, Pope Francis presided at an outdoor Mass (video). “May Mary Most Holy obtain for you the grace of a faith that ever sets out anew, is deeply prophetic and abounds in compassion,” he said at the conclusion of his homily.Following a farewell ceremony (video), the Pope returned to Rome and prayed at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. During his in-flight press conference, he discussed abortion and Catholic politicians who support it.
• Pope speaks on Communion for pro-abortion politicians (CWN)
  Pope Francis insisted that “abortion is murder,” but cautioned against disciplining politicians who support the practice, in an airplane exchange with reporters who accompanied him on his flight home from Slovakia on September 15.
• Pope, in Slovakia, preaches on the crucified Jesus, encourages young people to go to Confession (CWN)
  On September 14, the third day of the 34th apostolic journey of his pontificate, Pope Francis flew from Bratislava, Slovakia’s capital and largest city, to eastern Slovakia, where he spent the day in the nation’s second—and third-largest cities, Kosice and Presov (map).
• Pope warns movement leaders against desire for power, disloyalty (Vatican News)
  In an address to leaders of Catholic ecclesial movements, Pope Francis warned against two dangers. The “desire for power,” he said, comes when “someone wants to serve the Lord but also serves other things.” The second problem, “disloyalty,” arises “when we present ourselves to others as the sole interpreters of the charism.” Pope Francis said that these problems had caused crises in some ecclesial movements, creating “noisy” and “ugly” situations that required Vatican intervention to begin “difficult processes of rehabilitation.”
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