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Caracas, Venezuela, Sep 5, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

"This year, in homage and gratitude to you, I am going to decree that the Christmas season [begins] on Oct. 1," declared Nicolás Maduro, leader of the ruling socialist regime in Venezuela, Sept. 2 on national television.

"For everyone, Christmas has arrived with peace, happiness, and security," Maduro added. According to the Spanish newspaper El Mundo, this is not the first time the socialist regime has done this, as in 2019, 2020, and 2021 it also decreed the "advance" of the Christmas season.

Maduro's announcement came just hours after the Venezuelan justice system issued an arrest warrant for Edmundo González Urrutia, who won the July 28 presidential elections by a wide margin, according to vote tallies published by the opposition. However, the National Electoral Council, controlled by the governing socialist party, declared Maduro the winner.

Through a statement posted on Instagram Sept. 3, the Venezuelan Bishops' Conference (CEV, by its Spanish acronym) reacted to Maduro's decree to move up the start of the Christmas season, stating that this Christian holy day "should not be used for propaganda or particular political purposes."

"Christmas is a celebration of a universal nature that commemorates the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The manner and time of its celebration are the responsibility of the ecclesiastical authority, which ensures that the true spirit and meaning of this event of spiritual and historical richness is maintained, as it marks the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ," the CEV emphasized.

The bishops also reaffirmed that Christmas is a time "of reflection, peace, and love, and must be respected as such."

The Venezuelan bishops recalled that Christmas begins Dec. 25 and ends on Jan. 6 with the Epiphany of the Lord.

"To prepare for Christmas, the liturgy offers us the time of Advent, which this year begins on Dec. 1. These celebrations are accompanied by traditional Christmas parties and Masses 'de aguinaldo' [the local custom of singing joyful hymns even though it is still the penitential season of Advent]," the bishops concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Jakarta, Indonesia, Sep 5, 2024 / 00:13 am (CNA).

Pope Francis visited the grounds of Southeast Asia's largest mosque on Wednesday for an interfaith meeting in Indonesia, where he signed a joint declaration condemning religious-based violence with Muslim leader Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar.

The Istiqlal Joint Declaration 2024 is titled "Fostering Religious Harmony for the Sake of Humanity." 

Named for Indonesia's national Istiqlal Mosque, the document calls for religious leaders to work together to promote human dignity, interreligious dialogue, and environmental protection.

"The values shared by our religious traditions should be effectively promoted in order to defeat  the culture of violence," the declaration says. 

"Our religious beliefs and rituals have a particular capacity to speak to the human heart and thus foster a deeper respect for human dignity."

Pope Francis became the first pope to visit the grounds of Jakarta's Istiqlal Mosque on Sept. 5. The massive mosque is among the largest in the world, accommodating up to 250,000 people at a time. John Paul II, who visited Indonesia in 1989, was the first pope to ever visit a mosque during his visit to Damascus in 2001. 

According to the mosque's grand imam, Istiqlal is second only in size to Mecca and Medina, and its influence extends to Indonesia's roughly 242 million Muslims.

The interfaith meeting sought to promote religious tolerance and moderation in Indonesia, which faces challenges with the rise of hardline Islamist groups and instances of violence against Christians.

Speaking to representatives of Indonesia's six officially recognized religions —  Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Confucianism, Catholicism, and Protestantism — Pope Francis articulated his vision for interreligious dialogue.

"Sometimes we think that a meeting between religions is a matter of seeking common ground between different religious doctrines and beliefs no matter the cost. Such an approach, however, may end up dividing us, because the doctrines and dogmas of each religious experience are different," the pope said.

"What really brings us closer is creating a connection in the midst of diversity, cultivating bonds of friendship, care and reciprocity."

Pope Francis added that when religious leaders cultivate bonds, it enables them "to move forward together in pursuit of the same goals: defense of human dignity, the fight against poverty and the promotion of peace."

Pope Francis arrived at the mosque through the Alfattah Gate, where Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar warmly greeted him. The two leaders then proceeded to the newly constructed "Tunnel of Friendship," an underground passage connecting the mosque to Jakarta's Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, built by the Indonesian government to foster dialogue and unity.

Before entering the "Tunnel of Friendship," Pope Francis expressed his hope that it would become "a place of dialogue and encounter."

Pope Francis told the grand imam, "I hope that our communities may increasingly be open to interreligious dialogue and be symbols of the peaceful coexistence that characterizes Indonesia."

´The interfaith event took place in a red and white tent on the mosque grounds. It unfolded with a traditional Muslim welcome dance known as Marawis, followed by a brief chanting of a passage from the Quran by an Indonesian woman and a reading from the Gospel of Luke.

Representatives of the other four recognized religions stood in solidarity as the declaration was read aloud to participants in the tent.

The Istiqlal document identifies dehumanization and climate change as two serious crises facing the world today, emphasizing the shared responsibility of religious communities in tackling global challenges. It also affirms the need for interreligious dialogue to resolve "local, regional and international conflicts, especially those incited by the abuse of religion."

The joint declaration at the Indonesian mosque was reminiscent of the Abu Dhabi declaration on "Human Fraternity" that Pope Francis signed with Ahmed el-Tayeb, Grand Imam of al-Azhar in the United Arab Emirates, when he became the first pope to visit the Arabian Peninsula in 2019.

On Thursday, the Indonesian grand imam underlined the significance of the meeting, pointing to Istiqlal Mosque's influence across Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.

As Indonesia's only state mosque, the Istiqlal Mosque is "expected to provide guidance to more than one million mosques and prayer rooms scattered throughout the islands of the Republic of Indonesia," he explained.

"This mosque also seeks to promote religious tolerance and moderation in Indonesia," the Muslim leader underlined.

In a moving gesture of solidarity and friendship at the closing of the event, the imam kissed Pope Francis on the head, while the pope kissed the grand imam's hand and then touched it to his cheek.

Pope Francis will conclude the third day of his apostolic journey to Southeast Asia and Oceania by celebrating Holy Mass in Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta. On Friday he is expected to depart Indonesia for Papua New Guinea.Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

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Lima Newsroom, Sep 4, 2024 / 17:16 pm (CNA).

Lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina has reported that the dictatorship in Nicaragua of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, has deported a group of foreign priests and nuns who were working in the Central American country.

"There were two meetings. It seems they were summoned [to appear] from different congregations or from different parts of the country. All the priests and religious who attended were foreigners. During the time they were in that 'trap' they were shown an indoctrination video of the dictatorial couple," Molina explained in an interview with the Spanish-language edition of EWTN News.

The lawyer is the author of the report "Nicaragua: A Persecuted Church?", which in its fifth installment released Aug. 15 cites 870 attacks by the Nicaraguan dictatorship against the Catholic Church since 2018, the year there were widespread demonstrations against the authoritarian regime and its unpopular proposed reforms. 

Molina also explained that the religious men and women were threatened with imprisonment or deportation if they said or did anything that the dictatorship might consider hostile.

"I had information that some of the religious were deported from the country and were also prohibited from speaking out because there are some religious, from those same congregations who remain in the country and [can't say anything either]: They are under constant threat from the dictatorship," she reported.

Retirement fund for Catholic priests confiscated

Molina also referred to the regime's move to cancel 1,500 nonprofit organizations or nongovernmental organizations, including hundreds of Catholic and evangelical organizations, and even the priests' retirement fund that had existed for 24 years and that had been frozen by the dictatorship last year.

"This seriously harms sick and retired priests and also robs us laypeople and the Catholic Church, who had constantly contributed to this fund to later on [be able to] maintain their health and also give some assistance — which they well deserve — to retired priests," the researcher in exile explained to EWTN News.

"It's just the way the Sandinistas do things: They steal everything, they make everything disappear and use it for the party's own benefit, and also to continue using it for repression. This is something that the Church is not going to get back," she said.

In addition to the taxes on assets and charitable donations passed by the legislature on Aug. 22, and with the cancellation of the priests' retirement fund, "what the dictatorship is doing is suffocating, more and more, the Catholic Church, since, with all the attacks it has committed, it has not been able to make the Catholic faith and religion completely disappear from Nicaragua, which is what they want," Molina said.

Catholic schools affected

In this wave of closures of nonprofit organizations, "countless religious schools belonging to different orders were also affected … These schools, since 2020, have had their savings accounts confiscated, frozen by the dictatorship," Molina denounced.

An egregious example, the Central American University (UCA) of the Jesuits, was confiscated in 2023 and hasn't been operational again to this day as the Nicaraguan dictatorship doesn't know "what it's going to do with all these schools, which are close to being confiscated, because they won't be able to administer them."

"For the moment," Molina pointed out, "they have the nuns, the brothers in charge of the schools, but they have threatened them, telling them that all the money they get from paying tuition will go to the coffers of the Sandinista Front and also that they will have permanent surveillance regarding education."

"To date they have not taken the schools from them, but it is in fact in the law that all those assets will go to the state," she warned.

The decision to cancel the 1,500 organizations was announced through ministerial agreement 38-2024-OSFL, published on Aug. 19 in the official government newspaper La Gaceta and signed by the head of the Ministry of the Interior of Nicaragua, María Amelia Coronel Kinloch.

The text states that the attorney general's office must transfer the liquid and fixed assets of all these organizations "to the title of the State of Nicaragua."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 4, 2024 / 18:27 pm (CNA).

Former President Donald Trump's 2024 campaign on Sept. 4 launched the Catholics for Trump coalition, which emphasizes the defense of religious liberty, traditional values, and the sanctity of human life as priorities of the Republican nominee's agenda.

The coalition, which intends to rally Catholic support behind the former president, seeks to show a contrast between Trump and his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, on key issues that are important to Catholics.

According to the coalition's mission statement, Catholics for Trump commits "to safeguarding the vital principles of religious liberty and the sanctity of life that President Donald J. Trump has ardently championed."

"Under President Trump's leadership, our nation witnessed unprecedented support for religious freedoms, with significant victories both domestically and globally," the mission statement read. "President Trump restored protections for faith-based organizations and bolstered the rights of religious institutions against governmental overreach."

The mission statement added that Trump "has stood unwaveringly in defense of traditional values and the sanctity of human life" and that the coalition "stands with President Trump to continue building a nation where the rights of every individual to practice their faith freely is protected."

Matt Schlapp, the president of The American Conservative Union, and his wife, Mercedes Schlapp, who served in the Trump administration, said in a joint statement that Trump "will continue to defend our religious freedoms and our values enshrined in faith and family."

"We have watched Kamala Harris attack President Trump's Catholic judicial nominees who had to face her hostile and unfair questions when she was a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee," the statement read. "She was especially bigoted to anyone associated with the Knights of Columbus. Harris also was complicit in the FBI's fascist infiltration of Catholic parishes that say Latin Mass."

Matt and Mercedes Schlapp, who are both Catholic, were also involved in the 2020 Catholics for Trump coalition.

During his 2024 presidential campaign, Trump has been trying to appeal to Catholic and other Christian voters. In July, the former president accused Harris and the Democratic Party of being "after Catholics," adding "somebody doesn't like Catholics in that administration."

Trump nominated three of the six Supreme Court justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, which had prevented states from imposing restrictions on abortion for nearly 50 years. Following the Supreme Court's decision, about two dozen states imposed restrictions on abortion.

Since then, Trump has moderated his stance on abortion, announcing that he opposes federal restrictions and supports states adopting their own rules. In contrast, Harris has campaigned on codifying the abortion standards previously held in Roe v. Wade, which would override pro-life laws in more than 20 states.

Last week, Trump announced he would vote against a proposed constitutional amendment in Florida that would enshrine a right to abortion in the state's constitution. The former president had previously signaled support for the amendment.

Harris has also launched a Catholics for Harris-Walz coalition to rally Catholic support behind her campaign. The campaign scheduled a virtual event for the coalition three weeks ago, but it was abruptly canceled.

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CNA Staff, Sep 4, 2024 / 13:32 pm (CNA).

The Supreme Court this week declined to stop the Biden administration from stripping the state of Oklahoma of millions of dollars in federal funding in a dispute over an abortion directive from the federal government. 

The state had filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) in November 2023 claiming the Biden administration suspended millions of dollars in federal Title X funding over the state's refusal to provide referrals for abortion as part of its family planning services. 

The Title X Family Planning Program, enacted in 1970, distributes federal grants to community clinics and health departments to provide contraception services and other family planning and health services. Federal law forbids Title X funding from being used to directly procure abortions. 

Oklahoma said the federal government had unlawfully stripped the state of about $4.5 million in funds after state officials would "not commit to providing referrals for abortion" in Oklahoma's Title X programming.

A U.S. district court rejected the state's request for an injunction against HHS. In a July decision, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit upheld the lower court's decision, agreeing that the government's requirements did not violate the spending power of Congress.

On Tuesday the Supreme Court likewise declined Oklahoma's request for an injunction. The unsigned order from the high court gave no reason for the rejection, though it noted that Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the application. 

Phil Bacharach, a spokesman for the state attorney general's office, told CNA that the decision was "obviously disappointing" but that state Attorney General Gentner Drummond was "pleased that three Supreme Court justices were willing to step in and stop the Biden administration's lawless overreach at this preliminary juncture." 

"We will be exploring our options moving forward," Bacharach said.

Drummond said last year that the Biden administration was "intent on punishing Oklahoma because we do not share its liberal philosophy."

"It is patently discriminatory to deny Oklahoma these critical funds, particularly when federal law makes it clear that Title X cannot be used for abortion," he said at the time.

"I will continue to fight against federal overreach in all forms," the prosecutor added.

Oklahoma's lawsuit had argued that the state "administered the Title X family planning program in Oklahoma for more than 40 years," using the grants to "disperse funds through 68 county health departments, who provide critical public health services to rural and urban Oklahoma communities."

Tennessee launched a similar lawsuit against the federal government last year; the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals similarly ruled against the state last month in that dispute.

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CNA Staff, Sep 4, 2024 / 14:46 pm (CNA).

Morrissey, the mononymous frontman of the legendary '80s British rock band the Smiths, has sent Pope Francis a letter imploring the pontiff to condemn what the singer calls the "atrocity" of bullfighting and help bring an end to the violent sport.

Numerous activists have recently called on the pope to take a stand against bullfighting. The spectator sport has long been associated with Catholic observances in countries with Catholic majorities.

The town of Valladolid, Spain, for instance, hosts numerous bullfights as part of its annual San Pedro Regalado Fair, while the Feria de Pâques celebration in France includes bullfighting as part of its festivities.

Activists with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) recently disrupted Pope Francis' general audience with a protest against bullfighting. And Father Terry Martin, a Catholic priest from West Sussex, England, partnered this past summer with PETA in an advertisement for the Tablet denouncing bullfighting, with the priest calling for Francis to condemn it. 

In his recent letter to the pope, meanwhile, Morrissey urged the Holy Father to "condemn the sinful spectacle of bullfighting." 

"You chose the name of St. Francis — patron saint of animals and the environment — because you wish to make nature protection your legacy, but the torture, torment, and killing of bulls for sport flies in the face of his teachings and yours," Morrissey, who was raised Catholic, wrote to the pope. 

"You can never be a protector of animals while bullfighting and Catholicism are bedfellows," the singer argued.

Morrissey pointed to Pope Pius V's 1567 edict that prohibited bullfighting under the threat of excommunication. The ban was eventually relaxed, though Morrissey noted that bullfighting's popularity "has plummeted" in recent years, including in both Spain and Mexico.

Noting that the vast majority of young people are against bullfighting in Spain, the singer argued in his letter: "If the Church won't condemn this atrocity, it won't only be bulls slowly hemorrhaging but also Catholicism's relevance among young people."

Quoting his 2014 song "The Bullfighter Dies" in which he sang "We all want the bull to survive," Morrissey wrote to the pope: "Please show mercy and kindness to these animals and condemn bullfighting."

Though raised in the Church, Morrissey has described himself as a "seriously lapsed Catholic." He dressed up in mock priest attire for the music video of the 2004 song "I Have Forgiven You Jesus." In a 2018 interview, meanwhile, he argued that animal rights "must come before religion."

PETA U.K. promoted Morrissey's letter on its website, with the group saying it was "putting our faith in Pope Francis to condemn the despicable practice."

The group quoted Francis' influential 2015 environmental encyclical Laudato Si', in which the Holy Father observed that "every act of cruelty toward any creature" is "contrary to human dignity."

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Vatican City, Sep 4, 2024 / 15:16 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis praised the high birth rate of Indonesia during his first official meeting with the country's leaders on Wednesday, calling public attention to global demographics and sustainable growth policies in the Asian region.

Addressing Indonesian President Joko Widodo and civil leaders at the Istana Negara Presidential Palace Hall, the 87-year-old pontiff said the diverse nation's high fertility rate should be an example for other countries around the world. 

"Your nation has a high birth rate and please continue in this; you offer an example of this to other countries," he said candidly, deviating from his prepared speech.  

"This might make one laugh, but there are some families that seem to prefer to have a cat or dog, but this, this doesn't work," he added.

In May, Pope Francis repeated his particular concern for the "demographic winter" affecting Europe and other industrialized nations at the General State of the Birth Rate conference in Italy, warning politicians and business leaders that declining fertility rates will have dire consequences for the future.

While World Bank statistics show Indonesia's birth rates have also steadily declined from 5.5 births per woman in 1960 to 2.2 births in 2002 — reflecting the wider global trend of declining national birth rates — the Asian nation is still above the 2.1 replacement level rate of fertility required for a country to maintain its population.

Pope Francis' praise for Indonesian leaders' "work of craftsmanship" for the country's growth and development is similar to the esteem he expressed for Mongolian leaders one year ago during a visit to that country on his 43rd apostolic journey.

Last September, the pope commended the "political foresight" of Mongolian leaders to be "at the service of a common development" for the people of the country.

According to a 2015 Demographic Research article, Mongolia experienced a marked "historical fertility change" during the 1960s and 1970s due to the country's improved social and economic development and, in part, to strong pronatal government policies — which support motherhood and child health and education — implemented after World War II. 

World Bank data currently shows Mongolia has a birth rate of 2.8. Family-friendly policies, including the "Order of Maternal Glory" award that provides additional government support for mothers with four or more children, have been in effect in Mongolia since 1957. 

Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has called on world leaders and policymakers to introduce laws that prioritize the needs of families, youth, and future generations.

Following his morning engagement with Indonesia's political leaders, Pope Francis attended a gathering with the young people of Scholas Occurrentes at the Centre of Graha Pemuda in Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon.   

"We are from different religions but we only have one God," the pope said to the children before saying a prayer at the end of the meeting. "A blessing is always a universal gesture of love — God bless each one of you. Bless all your desires. Bless your families. And bless your present and also your future." 

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 4, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis delved into the perennially fraught issue of immigration policy last week when he criticized "those who systematically work by all means to drive away migrants," saying that "this, when done knowingly and deliberately, is a grave sin."

The Holy Father has often spoken out about the plight of millions of migrants across the globe. Though his most recent remarks specifically involved the migrant situation in the Mediterranean, his words were also seen as controversial in the U.S. because of their severity and because of their timing in the middle of an American presidential election in which the issue looms large.

CNA spoke with several of the country's leading Catholic immigration experts and advocates to get their reactions. Here's what they had to say.

The bottom line: 'We need to create legal pathways'

The pope said: "We can all agree on one thing: Migrants should not be in those seas and in those lethal deserts."

U.S. Catholic immigration experts and advocates on all sides of the political spectrum agree that the current legal landscape endangers both migrants and border communities. Experts also agree that the U.S. needs to prioritize fixing the situation by creating legal pathways for migrants hoping to enter the country.

"The crucial part of what the pope said is that we need to create lawful pathways so that people don't have to undertake these dangerous journeys, and with respect to that, I concur," Andrew Arthur, a former U.S. immigration judge, told CNA.

How to accomplish that goal is where the disagreement begins.

Arthur, currently a resident fellow in law and policy at the Center for Immigration Studies, believes that "if the intention is to recognize the humanity in those people, but at the same time, in the course of doing so, to ameliorate the harm that they are suffering, simply opening the doors and letting them all in isn't the answer."

He noted that "as anybody who actually knows anything about the subject will tell you," the trek to arrive at the U.S. southern border, for example, is "deadly in every way you can imagine." 

"A majority of people who are smuggled to the southwest border are abused physically in some way; just fewer than a third of all women coming illegally are sexually abused," he said. "So, it's incumbent on governments, including this one, not to create an 'attractive nuisance' that encourages people to undertake a deadly trek to this country."

"Pope Francis here is really saying: If you attempt to repel these people, you're going to make them suffer, you're going to make it more likely that they're going to die. And there is logic to that argument," Arthur went on. "So together with our international or regional partners, it's incumbent upon the United States to craft a policy to ensure the people are safe but also to ensure that the laws are enforced."

"The United States has the right, as a sovereign nation, to put restrictions on the number of people and which people it allows in each year, and nobody would dispute that. And I don't think the pope and his statements are disputing them," Arthur said. 

Message to U.S. Border Patrol agents: 'You're doing good work'

In the view of Paul Hunker, a former ICE counsel turned immigration attorney in Dallas, the U.S. currently "does not allow enough legal immigration."

"One of the points Pope Francis has been making, and I totally agree with it, is that welcoming the stranger is not only something in justice and charity we should do, but it's good for our country," Hunker said.

"Our system needs a big reform of its immigration laws to facilitate a lot more legal immigration," Hunker told CNA.

"Our immigration laws can make it really hard for someone who may have a small immigration violation to get their green card, even if they've been married many years, even if they have a lot of kids. Sometimes they can't get it at all because of past illegal entrance or immigration problems," he explained.

However, Hunker said he did not think the pope was making "a categorical statement about border protection and border walls in general." 

"I would tell my friends in Border Patrol that you're doing good, noble work, and I don't think Pope Francis would say otherwise," he said. "I think what the pope is saying is something that I've written and talked about: We need a system that allows people to present their claims … This doesn't mean everyone should be let into the country, but we need to have a system to allow people to make those claims and claim protection."

The pope's message was a 'Gospel-based cry for humanity'

Dylan Corbett, executive director of an El-Paso-based Catholic nonprofit the Hope Border Institute, called the pope's message a "deep, Gospel-based cry for humanity and compassion for people who need to migrate."

"This is the voice of Peter, calling the world's attention to God present in those who are displaced because of poverty, war, and violence," Corbett said.

Corbett said he recently accompanied several bishops from North and Central America and the Caribbean to visit the Darien Gap, a key crossing point for migrants from Central America traveling northward.

"I was inspired by the commitment and moral urgency of the bishops, who were clearly transformed by the humanity and hope of people migrating there. These are people who have been completely abandoned by governments and the international community," Corbett said. 

"As a faith community, our response to migration in our day is part of how we live the Gospel of Jesus Christ, God who calls us to compassion, and to build a world worthy of his love for the poor," he said. "For those with the privilege and responsibility to vote, we bring the demands of the Gospel when we go to the voting booth, we bring the suffering of the poor, the needs of families and the unborn, and we bring our hopes and aspirations for a more just world."

Not so black and white

Edward Feser, a Catholic philosopher and professor at Pasadena City College, told CNA that the pope's comments "must be read in light of the long-standing teaching of the Church."

"As St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas taught, though we have duties to all our fellow human beings, our strongest and most immediate obligations are to those who are closest to us, such as our own families and countrymen," he said. "Hence, when nations enforce their immigration laws, there is nothing in this that is necessarily at odds with Catholic teaching. On the contrary, the catechism backs them up on this."

Feser explained that the catechism states that nations are obliged to take in immigrants "to the extent they are able" and that nations may put "juridical conditions" on immigration. 

However, Feser said there are sometimes "cases where a nation should forgo its right to deport those who enter it illegally," such as in cases that would break up families or return migrants to dangerous conditions in their home countries.

"Governments should take account of this when formulating and enforcing policy," he said. "But that doesn't mean that deportation as such is wrong, but only that governments must be careful about the manner in which it is carried out.

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Budapest, Hungary, Sep 4, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The historic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer, in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France, was ravaged by arson on the night of Sept. 2.

The suspect, a multi-recidivist who has attempted to set fire to numerous places of worship in the past, was apprehended a few hours after the blaze was brought under control.

According to local authorities, the fire started at around 4 a.m. It then spread to the side and central aisles, then to the roof and bell tower, which rapidly collapsed. The fire was contained by 7:15 a.m. thanks to the efforts of 120 firefighters.

While no injuries were reported, some 60 local residents living near the building were evacuated as a precaution.

The initial investigation revealed that a 39-year-old individual allegedly broke into the premises, smashing a stained-glass window. Arrested and taken into police custody on the evening of Sept. 2, the suspect, identified as Joël Vigoureux, is said to have been convicted on numerous occasions of similar acts of destruction by fire in recent years.

While the images released by the media showed only the metal skeleton of the church steeple and the exact extent of the damage has yet to be determined, the intervention of the parish priest, Father Sébastien Roussel, enabled the rescue of the Blessed Sacrament and some 20 other religious artifacts, including the reliquary bust of St. Corneille.

"With the authorization and under the supervision of the firefighters, I was able to enter the church when the fire was under control to take what is most important, namely the ciborium in the tabernacle at first, then several statues and elements of the liturgical furniture," he told CNA. 

In another interview, Roussel added that "the stained-glass windows, particularly the beautiful ones in the choir, dedicated to Mary, are not too damaged."

Of neo-Gothic inspiration, the church was completed in 1859 and was completely renovated by the municipality in 2018 at a cost of 5 million euros. 

Quoted in Le Figaro, the president of the Hauts de France region, Xavier Bertrand, assured that his administration "will be at the side of the town of Saint-Omer for the reconstruction, to see this heritage brought back to life."

The French outlet also reported that a meeting was held Tuesday at the town hall and attended by the architect who coordinated the renovation and prefectural officials to rapidly envisage the reconstruction, which is nevertheless expected to take several years.

A time of prayer in front of the church will be held Wednesday followed by a Mass celebrated by the bishop of Arras, Olivier Leborgne, at the Basilica of Notre-Dame-des-Miracles in Saint-Omer.

The images of the flames devouring the roof and steeple of the monument that has turned into an open-air church continue to generate anger and consternation on social media, not least because of their over-familiarity.

In recent years numerous iconic Catholic structures in France — including Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris — have been severely damaged by fire. On July 11, the spire of Rouen Cathedral also caught fire, with firefighters quickly bringing the blaze under control.

On July 12, the Observatoire du Patrimoine Religieux, an association working to preserve and promote France's religious heritage, told AFP that 27 churches had been burnt down in 2023 and 12 in the first six months of 2024. Attacks on religious monuments in recent years account for approximately 90% of the 1,000 or so anti-Christian acts recorded annually by the country's Ministry of Interior.

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Jakarta, Indonesia, Sep 4, 2024 / 09:37 am (CNA).

Pope Francis met with Indonesian bishops, priests, and members of the Catholic community on Wednesday at Jakarta's Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption, urging them always to share "the joy of encountering Christ" with respect for the country's great ethnic and cultural diversity.

"Proclaiming the Gospel does not mean imposing our faith or placing it in opposition to that of others … but giving and sharing the joy of encountering Christ always with great respect and fraternal affection for everyone," the pope said on Sept. 4.

"I invite you always to keep yourselves open and friendly to all … 'hand-in-hand' as … prophets of communion, in a world where the tendency to divide, impose, and provoke each other seems to be constantly increasing."

Pope Francis expressed hope that more of the teachings of the Catholic Church will be translated into Bahasa Indonesia, the official language of Indonesia, to "make them accessible to as many people as possible."

Hundreds of religious sisters packed inside the cathedral joyfully cheered as Pope Francis arrived inside. Sister Aurelia, who entered religious life five years ago in Indonesia with the Sisters of Notre Dame congregation, told CNA that she could die happy if she got the chance to meet the pope.

"I'm very excited. … I want to cry actually," the sister said. "If I meet him … Jesus, you can call me now."

In the cathedral, a priest, a nun, and two catechists shared testimonies with the pope, reflecting on the joys and difficulties of serving in a diverse country where Catholics represent only a small minority.

Sister Rina Rosalina spoke to the pope about the challenge of ministering in a country where more than 700 languages are spoken. 

"Unfortunately, due to distance and language barriers, sometimes we have difficulties studying the documents issued from Rome. Despite the efforts of our bishops, translations can take a long time and even when they are completed, approval for those translations take their time in Rome," the sister said.

"We bring this to your attention, Holy Father, so that we in this distant country can be more perfectly united and in harmony with the universal Church."

The 87-year-old pope appeared full of energy as he joyfully joked and responded to each of the testimonies on his first day of public appearances in his 11-day tour of four countries across Southeast Asia and Oceania.

"The long journey must have been tiring, but we are joyful that you are here with us," Bishop Antonius Franciskus Subianto Bunyamin, president of the Indonesian Bishops' Conference, told the pope.

"Your presence brings hope not only for the Indonesian Catholic community … but also for the diverse Indonesian nation consisting of approximately 1,300 ethnic groups and peoples."

In his speech, Pope Francis praised the local Church's charitable efforts and spoke about the importance of having compassion for one's neighbors.

"Compassion does not cloud the true vision of life. On the contrary, it makes us see things better, in the light of love," he said.

The Sisters of Notre Dame congregation, which runs schools, hospitals, and orphanages across Indonesia's many islands, brought more than 100 members to Jakarta to see the pope.

As eager Catholics stood outside the cathedral waiting for hours to greet the pope, the sound of the Muslim call to prayer could be heard issuing from the Istiqlal Mosque located across the street, where Pope Francis will take part in an interfaith meeting with the Grand Imam Nasaruddin Umar on Thursday in the country that is home to 242 million Muslims.

Baso Darmawan, a Catholic from Bogor, Indonesia, told CNA that living alongside his Muslim neighbors can also be an everyday reminder of faith.

"With the Muslims praying five times a day, sometimes I use their prayer call as a reminder for me to pray the Angelus or the Office of the Hours because the time is similar to our times to pray," Darmawan said.

The Catholic Church in Indonesia, while a minority representing about 3% of the population, still has 8.3 million members. According to the latest Vatican statistics, the Church is supported by 5,903 priests, 50 bishops, 9,658 religious sisters, and 14,724 lay missionaries. Additionally, the Church is nurturing its future leaders, with 4,024 major seminarians and 3,945 minor seminarians currently in training.

Father Thomas Ulun Ismoyo, deputy secretary for the Archdiocese of Jakarta, described the Catholic Church in Indonesia as vibrant.

"If you come and visit Indonesia's Catholic churches on Sunday, the Church is packed. People are coming to the Church not only on Sunday," he said, but also are very involved in religious activities in their parishes.

Pope Francis' meeting at the cathedral concluded with a prayer of the Hail Mary followed by the pope imparting his blessing on the congregation. Before leaving, Pope Francis briefly visited the square adjacent to the cathedral, where he offered a blessing to the faithful gathered there.

As his day in Jakarta comes to a close, the 87-year-old pope will also take time to meet with young people involved in Scholas Occurrentes before returning to the Apostolic Nunciature to rest.

"Dear brothers and sisters, I would like to conclude these reflections by repeating what St. John Paul II said when addressing bishops, clergy, and religious during his visit here several decades ago," Pope Francis told the local Catholics.

Francis noted how John Paul II had quoted Psalm 96, "Let the many islands rejoice," during his 1989 visit and invited Indonesian Catholics to put it into practice by "'bearing witness to the joy of the Resurrection and in giving your life so that even the most distant islands may 'rejoice' at hearing the Gospel, of which you are authentic preachers, teachers, and witnesses.'"

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