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WASHINGTON — During an April 11 homily in Washington, Salvadoran Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas said the canonization of Blessed Oscar Romero will “probably” be in Rome and “probably” take place at end of October after a meeting of bishops.
He hedged his statement in an interview with Catholic News Service saying the final decision is up to Pope Francis. Read more »
QUEBEC CITY — The Catholic bishops of Quebec have discussed the possibility of ordaining married men to priesthood.
During a conference dedicated to the future of the Catholic Church in Quebec, Auxiliary Bishop Marc Pelchat of Quebec said consolidating parishes was not a solution to the lack of priests. Read more »
HUMBOLDT, Saskatchewan (CNS) — Crying, hugging and shaking their heads in grief, the people of Humboldt gathered at the local hockey arena April 8 for an interfaith service to mourn 15 people who died after the bus carrying the town’s junior hockey team collided with a truck.
“I don’t want to be here, but it’s good that we are,” said the Rev. Sean Brandow, the Humboldt Broncos team chaplain and pastor of Humboldt Bible Church.
Catholic News Service
DUBLIN — April 10 marks the 20th anniversary of the historic Good Friday Agreement, which brought peace to Northern Ireland. The peace deal effectively brought an end to “The Troubles,” which had cast a sectarian shadow over Northern Ireland for three decades and resulted in the deaths of more than 3,500, the majority of whom were civilians.
The Agreement saw the removal of British Army security checkpoints and watchtowers along the 310-mile border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, making cross-border travel much more accessible and increasing trade. Read more »
Catholic News Service
MEXICO CITY — A pair of passion plays were interrupted by gunfire on Good Friday as the violence convulsing Mexico continued claiming lives through the Holy Week holidays.
An annual procession in Acapulco was suspended March 30 after the sound of gunshots sent participants and spectators fleeing, according to local press reports. The Guerrero state government said police were chasing a trio of suspected car thieves, though local media say a conflict between criminal groups occurred and two people were killed. Read more »
Catholic News Service
SAO PAULO — A priest connected with the Brazilian bishops’ Pastoral Land Commission was arrested and charged with extortion and money laundering.
Father Jose Amaro Lopes de Souza was taken into custody by authorities March 27. He serves Santa Luzia of Anapu parish, in the northern Brazilian state of Para, and was a close friend and associate of the late U.S. missionary Sister Dorothy Stang, a member of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur who was killed by ranchers in February 2005.
Catholic News Service
SOUTHERN SHUNEH, Jordan — The United States has a responsibility to help Jordan as it struggles to support hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees and must actively seek to end Syria’s long civil war, American human rights advocate Kerry Kennedy told a conference on forced migration.
“Stop the violence that creates the refugee crisis,” Kennedy said March 24 to an audience that included Nobel laureates, global leaders and children concerned about child trafficking, trauma and abuse stemming from the violence. “We have not done what we should to stop that violence and we can do that more all over the world.”
Catholic News Service
WARSAW, Poland — Russia’s minority Catholic Church has pledged to help build a civil society after the nation’s March 18 election and called on President Vladimir Putin to “justify voters’ confidence” after his victory.
“Our church always stresses its readiness to work with the Russian Federation’s secular powers on important issues, such as building a civil society and forming healthy life patterns,” said Msgr. Igor Kovalevsky, secretary-general of the Russian bishops’ conference. “Although we don’t currently face any special barriers to our service on Russian territory, we suffer the same problems as the rest of society with bureaucracy, corruption and the ambiguous implementation of laws.”
Catholic News Service
UNITED NATIONS — Mely Lenario quietly described her harrowing journey from ambitious, naive rural girl trafficked to hopeless, drug-fueled urban prostitute, through slow rehabilitation to a new life as an outreach worker.
After she finished her story, hundreds of people in a U.N. conference room jumped to their feet in a sustained ovation.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — A Vatican tribunal found Archbishop Anthony S. Apuron of Agana, Guam, guilty of some of the accusations made against him, accusations which included the sexual abuse of minors.
After a canonical trial conducted by the apostolic tribunal of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Vatican judges imposed the following sanctions on the 72-year-old archbishop: the removal from office and a prohibition from residing in Guam. The archbishop can appeal.
