News Brief
Vatican: Rumors Concerning Some Nominations
Cardinal Francis Arinze, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, aged 76, might soon be replaced by Cardinal Antonio Canizares Llovera, archbishop of Toledo, and Primate of Spain. According to some Vatican observers, the secretary of the dicastery, Archbishop Albert Malcom Ranjith, might be appointed archbishop of Colombo in Sri Lanka, his native country, and be replaced by Msgr Nicolas Bux, consultant for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the faith, or by the undersecretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Dominican Joseph Augustine di Noia. (Source: imedia)
Vatican: Concerning Some Beatifications
To “avoid unjust forms of pressure” for the beatification of popes, Cardinal José Saraiva Martins, emeritus prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, proposed to wait longer than the five years foreseen by Canon Law after the death of a person to open his (her) cause. In an interview granted to the monthly 30 Giorni, he mentioned the cause of beatification of Pius XII (1939-1958), stating that the congregation had “done an excellent job.” “For his part, the pope has asked that we research more deeply certain aspects. We confidently await further developments.” Lastly, the cardinal denied “the unjust accusations” of anti-Semitism leveled at Father Léon Dehon (1843-1925), whose cause for beatification has been adjourned sine die. (Sources: apic/imedia)
Anglicanism: A Feminine Clergy
According to official statistics from the High Church of England, in 2007, 552 new “full-time” (sic) and “part-time” (re-sic) priests were ordained, which means an increase of 15% compared with the preceding year. About half of these newly ordained “priests” were women. The Church of England anticipates that, if the present tendency continues, women will hold about a fourth of all the full-time charges by 2012. According to Christina Rees, president of Watch, an association created in 1996 to promote women’s ministry in the Anglican Church, half of the clergy will be feminine by 2018. -- The other issue which troubles the Anglican community is the episcopal consecration of homosexuals.
On September 18, 1896, in the Apostolic Bull Apostolicæ Curæ, Pope Leo XIII declared ordinations performed according to the Anglican rite “absolutely null and void.” (Sources ENI/Apic)
Germany: Protestants Constantly on the Decrease
For the first time in several decades, the number of Protestants is inferior to 25 million in Germany. At the end of 2007, the national Evangelical Churches had taken a census of their members. They numbered 24.83 million, which meant 269,000 fewer faithful than the preceding year. In 1997, there were approximately 27.4 million Protestants in Germany. -- Presently, the Catholic Church, whose faithful are diminishing as regularly, numbers 25.6 million faithful. Thus 31% of the German are Roman Catholic and 30.2% are Protestants. (Sources: Apic/KNA)
Belgium: Is the University of Louvain Still Catholic?
Should the adjective Catholic be removed or not from the title of the University of Louvain? Such was the debate which took place by means of various articles published in La libre Belgique. A retired professor, who had signed the petition in favor of a neutral denomination, wrote: “The character of openness and universality, linked, since the Middle Ages, to the institution of the university, seems to me entitled to override the restrictive and less tolerant image which might be associated with the adjective Catholic, in certain social circles.” The Belgian bishops expressed their attachment to the Catholic reference, which “respects the history of our universities and expresses the spirit which leads them,” but for the time being they would rather leave the university community to discuss the matter publicly without interfering… Yet the Archbishop of Malines-Brussels, Cardinal Godfried Danneels, is Grand Chancellor of the Catholic University of Louvain. (Sources: Libre Belgique/Apic)
Vatican: Receiving the “Conciliar Vision” in the Footsteps of John Paul II
On the occasion of the international Congress organized in Rome on the theme “Vatican II in the Pontificate of John Paul II,” on October 28, Benedict XVI sent a message in which we can read: “In practically all his documents, and especially in his decisions and his behaviour as Pontiff, John Paul II accepted the fundamental petitions of the Second Vatican Council, thus becoming a qualified interpreter and coherent witness of it.” In his eyes the “constant concern” of John Paul II “was to make known to all the advantages that could stem from acceptance of the Conciliar vision, not only for the good of the Church but also for that of civil society itself and of the people working in it.”
“We are all truly indebted to him for this extraordinary ecclesial event,” esteemed Benedict XVI. “The multiple doctrinal legacy that we find in its Dogmatic Constitutions, Declarations and Decrees still stimulates us to deepen our knowledge of the Word of God in order to apply it to the Church in the present day, keeping clearly in mind the many needs of the men and women of the contemporary world.”
