July 2019

VATICAN (CNS): The objective of the upcoming Synod of Bishops for the Amazon is to highlight the need for religious, political and social leaders to come together and defend the dignity of indigenous men, women and children and an ecosystem that is crucial to the environment, said Pedro Cardinal Barreto Jimeno of Huancayo, Peru.
 
In an essay published on July 18 by La Civilta Cattolica, the Jesuit journal, Cardinal Barreto said the synod as well as the Church...

WASHINGTON (CNS): Seventy people accused of blasphemy in Pakistan have been murdered in extrajudicial actions by mobs however, the government itself has not executed anyone found guilty at trial according to Peter Jacob, executive director of the Centre for Social Justice based in Lahore, Pakistan.
 
“The lethality of the law is not only tested by the law but by the people,” Jacob said during a mid-July interview.
 
Jacob was in Washington DC,...

A passage about Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42) often brings displeasure and a frown to the faces of the hardworking people. Some cite it to demonstrate the superiority of the contemplative over active life.
 
It says that the sisters and the monks—who in the peace of their cloisters spend their lives reciting prayers—have chosen the better part.
 
They say that diocesan priests instead absorbed by the many activities of a parish...

HONG KONG (SE): John Cardinal Tong Hon, the apostolic administrator of Hong Kong, celebrated a special Mass at St. Francis of Assisi Church, Shek Kip Mei at 8.00pm on July 11, to express his closeness and pastoral accompaniment with the people disturbed and upset over the incidents related to the government’s now-suspended extradition bill. Held on the Feast of St. Benedict, it was organised by the Catholic Ad Hoc Group set up by the diocesan chancery to provide support for those...