Archbishop Ramon Arguelles of Lipa, The Philippines, plans to inform voters which political candidates the archdiocese favours in the country’s May 13 elections.
He said people were asking for guidance. This will not be given in the form of endorsements from the pulpits but through the distribution of sample ballots, with the names of the acceptable candidates marked.
The Archbishop said lay leaders were consulted before the list was drawn. The candidates are ranked for their stand on abortion, divorce and the country’s new reproductive health law, as well as for their opposition to mining and logging efforts seen as threats to the local environment.
Will the Vatican open its WWII archives?
Will the Vatican open its World War II archives and possibly put to rest the controversy about Pope Pius XII’s position regarding the Jews?
The subject was raised in a 2010 conversation between the future Pope Francis and the rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary, which is reproduced in the book On Heaven and Earth: Pope Francis on Faith, Family, and the Church in the 21st Century.
The future Pope is quoted saying: “What you said about opening the archives relating to the Shoah seems perfect to me. They should open them and clarify everything. Then it can be seen if they could have done something, to what extent it could have been done, and if we were wrong in something we will be able to say: ‘We were wrong in this.’ We do not have to be afraid of that. The objective has to be the truth.”
Kidnapped Jesuit’s sister criticises Pope
Gracielo Yorio, the sister of Fr Orlando Yorio, SJ, an activist priest who was kidnapped by Argentina’s military dictatorship in 1976, said her brother had been abandoned by Church leaders. She said Fr Jorge Bergoglio, then the Jesuit provincial in Argentina, and now Pope Francis, had failed to protect the priest.
Fr Yorio was kidnapped along with fellow Jesuit, Fr Franz Jalics, and held for five months. In testimony given before an Argentinian investigation the future Pontiff said he had worked quietly but constantly to secure the release of the two imprisoned Jesuits.
Bad homilies can kill
Antonio Incandela, an Italian, is facing murder charges after beating a Catholic priest to death. Incandela told the police he had beaten the elderly priest because he could not stand his bad homilies. He said he did not intend to kill the priest, only to “teach him a lesson”.
This is probably the first case when a priest was killed because of his homilies.
‘Bizarre’ vote in New Zealand Parliament
The Catholic bishops of New Zealand have described as “bizarre” the recent decision of their country’s Parliament to approve a same-sex marriage law.
“We find it bizarre that what has been discarded is an understanding of marriage that has its origins in human nature and common to every culture, and that almost all references to husband and wife will be removed from legislation referencing marriage. We know many New Zealanders stand with us in this,” said Archbishop John Dew of Wellington, president of the New Zealand Catholic Bishops’ Conference.
Archbishop Dew said he had wanted a strong, animated and respectful debate prior to the vote. “From our point of view, we do believe there has been a respectful listening to each other,” he added.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)