Last month Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, a former papal ambassador who in recent months gained global fame for publishing a statement asking Pope Francis to resign, lost a civil lawsuit against his brother over a family estate.
International News
Italian Church to Create National Anti-Abuse Center
Italian bishops have concluded their Nov. 12-14 extraordinary assembly. New guidelines on the question of clerical sexual abuse were discussed and presented, with the creation of a National Advisory Center to aid bishops and the promise to make a “more radical evangelical choice” in terms of prevention.
Jesuit Priest and Teacher Killed in South Sudan
A Jesuit priest from Kenya was reported killed in central South Sudan. Father Victor Luke Odhiambo, 62, who directed a Church-run training center for teachers, died Nov. 14 when armed men stormed a church compound where he lived.
UN Body Seeks To Define Abortion and Assisted Suicide as a ‘Human Right’
An advanced, unedited version of a ‘general comment’ on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by the United Nations Human Rights Committee wants to define abortion and assisted suicide as a human right.
Theologian Says Postponing Sex Abuse Norms Shows Francis-US Church ‘Tensions’
“Clearly, the relationship between [Pope] Francis and the U.S. Church started with some tensions from the very beginning,” says theologian Massimo Faggioli, “… and it has become more tumultuous since then.”
Pope’s Battle to Persuade Europe on Immigration
So far, Pope Francis’ agenda on immigration has not proved powerful enough to withstand Europe’s new political reality, where opinion and votes are more easily driven by buzzwords such as “crisis” and “invasion.”
Pope Names Archbishop Scicluna Adjunct Secretary of CDF
Pope Francis named Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, arguably the Catholic Church’s most respected abuse investigator, to be adjunct secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Ethiopian Bishops Welcome Nation’s First Female President
Ethiopia’s bishops welcomed the election of the nation’s first female president, Sahle-Work Zewde, and said they were pleased that women “are getting their rightful place in the development of the country.”
Archival Discovery at Catholic U. Leads to Kristallnacht Remembrance
Jews worldwide will remember the 80th anniversary of Kristallnacht. In a direct German translation, it means “Crystal Night,” but it is more commonly thought of as “Night of Broken Glass,” as Nazis and their sympathizers rampaged through Nazi Germany — which by this time had absorbed Austria and the Sudetenland — the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938.
UK Envoy to Vatican Impressed by Women’s Leadership in Church
Sally Axworthy, the British ambassador to the Holy See and a supporter of women in leadership, has said she believes the Vatican is making progress and finds the Catholic Church, particularly women religious, to be a key partner in fighting plagues such as slavery and human trafficking.