The following are the five strategic priorities for 2017-2020 set by the bishops of the US:
Evangelisation: Open wide the doors to Christ through missionary discipleship and personal encounter; Family and marriage: Encourage and heal families; inspire Catholics to embrace the sacrament of matrimony; Human life and dignity: Uphold the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death with special concern for the poor and vulnerable; Vocations and ongoing formation: Encourage vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, and provide meaningful ongoing formation to clergy, religious and lay ministers; Religious freedom: Promote and defend the freedom to serve, witness and worship, in the US and abroad. The priorities were approved with four dissenting votes out of a total of 234.
26 martyrs beatified
On November 21, Pope Francis beatified as martyrs 26 Capuchin Franciscan friars who were killed out of hatred for the faith in 1936 and 1937.
They were martyred during the Spanish civil war and the strong anti-Catholic persecution fuelled by Communists and their allies.
The Pope said they were priests, professed youth awaiting ordination and lay brothers. He added that Catholics should pray for their intercession for the “multitudes of our brothers and sisters who lamentably today, in various parts of the world, are persecuted because of their faith in Christ”.
Bishops warn against unconstitutional acts
The bishops of the Democratic Republic of the Congo called for respect for the Constitution amid concerns that President Joseph Kabila will seek an unconstitutional third term.
The bishops emphasised that all possible developments should be made in full respect of the constitutional and institutional framework in force. “To do otherwise would result in danger, with incalculable consequences for the nation,” they said.
Islamic State is satanic
Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, said Islamic State was a “satanic terrorist organisation”.
Koch was addressing an audience of 650 people taking part in an ecumenical celebration in Schwäbisch Gmünd, Germany.
Koch said that Christians’ lives are threatened in 25 nations and that it is an “odd phenomenon” that the media ignore this truth.
OSCE raps Vatican
The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe has criticised the Vatican for bringing criminal charges against journalists in connection with the publication of confidential documents in what is being described as the Vatileaks 2 scandal.
“Journalists must be free to report on issues of public interest and to protect their confidential sources,” argued OSCE spokesman Dunja Mijatovic. The OSCE called on the Vatican to withdraw charges against the journalists.
‘No Communion’
Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, president of the Polish Episcopal Conference, said those who have divorced and entered into a non-sacramental marriage should be treated with pastoral sensitivity and incorporated into the life of the Church but are not permitted to receive Communion.
Gadecki said the synod fathers called for more understandable language to be used in presenting Catholic teaching on marriage, better pastoral care during marriage preparation and the early years of marriage, and a recognition of families as evangelisers of other families.
(Compiled by Fr Joe Borg)