ABDUCTED NUN FREED AFTER FIVE MONTHS IN BURKINA FASO
Marianite Sister Suellen Tennyson, who was kidnapped from the convent of her educational and medical mission in Yalgo, Burkina Faso, in early April, has been found alive and is safe after nearly five months of captivity, a congregational leader of the Marianites said August 30.
“She is safe,” Marianite Sister Ann Lacour said. “She is on American soil, but not in America. She is safe.” She said Sister Suellen was recovered August 29 and the sisters in the congregation have spoken to her. “She eventually will get back to the United States,” she added. (UCANews)
HOW EDUARDO VERÁSTEGUI’S LATEST FILM INSPIRED HIM TO FIGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Catholic actor Eduardo Verástegui has launched a national campaign in Mexico to combat human trafficking.
The producer and actor is currently touring 32 states in Mexico with his organization, Movimiento Viva Mexico, in an effort to partner with local government leaders, educators, law enforcement, and foundations to prevent child exploitation. In an interview shortly after the actor met with Pope Francis on September 1 in the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican Gardens for an event reflecting on hope and beauty, Verástegui said that it’s his goal to start a “movement to end child trafficking.” (CNA)
SOUTH KOREA’S 99-YEAR-OLD ARCHBISHOP KEEPS GOING STRONG
Some 24 South Korean bishops joined priests, religious, and laypeople to send good wishes in advance to Archbishop Victorinus Yoon Gong-hi, the former archbishop of Gwangju and the country’s eldest bishop, who turns 99 in November.
A special Mass and thanksgiving ceremony was held at Yeomju-dong Cathedral in Gwangju on August 27, reported Catholic Times of Korea.
Archbishop Hyginus Kim Hee-joong concelebrated the Mass at Yeomju-dong Cathedral in Gwangju. The participants thanked God for the life of Archbishop Yoon, prayed for his good health and promised to follow the great example of his life.
At the Mass, a video on the life of Archbishop Yoon was played that documented his life from an early age to today. (UCANews)
NEW CARDINALS AND POPE FRANCIS PAY VISIT TO POPE EMERITUS BENEDICT XVI
Pope Francis and the new cardinals he had just created visited Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI at the Mater Ecclesiae Monastery after the consistory held on August 27 at St. Peter’s Basilica.
In the brief but emotional meeting, Pope Francis greeted Benedict XVI with great affection and made the sign of the cross on his forehead. Then the new cardinals introduced themselves one by one to exchange brief messages.
The Holy See Press Office reported that “after having received their blessing, together with that of Pope Francis and having prayed the Salve Regina together, the new Cardinals went to the Apostolic Palace or the Paul VI Hall for courtesy visits.” (CNA)
VIETNAM’S FIRST NATIVE FEMALE ORDER MARKS 350 YEARS
Nuns from Vietnam’s first native female religious congregation founded by a French missionary bishop have marked their 350th anniversary with a gathering in Thailand this year.
The Lovers of the Holy Cross (LHC) nuns gathered from all over Thailand and other Asian countries at St. Joseph’s Church in Ayutthaya, a historic city north of the Thai capital Bangkok, on September 3 to celebrate the jubilee.
Following a synod in Ayutthaya in 1664, Bishop Pierre Lambert de la Motte established the diocesan congregation at Kiên Lao in northern Vietnam in 1672. The Vatican’s Congregation for the Propagation of Faith recognized the congregation on August 28, 1678.
The jubilee gathering was themed “Looking at the past with gratitude, living today with enthusiasm, going into the future with hope, and walking together in faith and love.”
Sister Siriporn Jankarn, a Thai member of the congregation, said the meeting was an opportunity for the members “to meditate on their charism, their origins, and the treasure given to them by the founding father.” (UCANews)
FRANCIS BEATIFIES JOHN PAUL I, POPE FOR 33 DAYS IN 1978
Pope Francis beatified John Paul I, who reigned as Pope for only 33 days, amid a thunderstorm in St. Peter’s Square on September 4.
In his homily for the rainy beatification Mass, Pope Francis said that John Paul I “embodied the poverty of a disciple” through his “victory over the temptation to put oneself at the center, to seek one’s own glory.”
Often called “the smiling Pope,” John Paul I died unexpectedly on September 28, 1978, a month after the conclave that elected him. (CNA)
CHRISTIANS WARY AS INDIAN STATE OUTLAWS CONVERSION
Archbishop Peter Machado of Bangalore had a guarded response a day after the provincial government in India’s southern state of Karnataka gave its final seal of approval to a law criminalizing religious conversions.
The state’s Legislative Council or upper house passed the contentious Karnataka Right to Freedom of Religion Bill with a majority vote on September 15.
The anti-conversion law was already in force after the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which rules the state, promulgated an ordinance on May 17 with the signature of the state governor after it failed to muster enough support in the Legislative Council, whose final sanction is a must for any law to come into force.
The law was passed by the state Legislative Assembly last December but the BJP was one seat short of a majority in the 75-member upper house. Having mustered up enough numbers now, it went ahead in what is perceived as a well-planned political strategy. (UCANews)
VIETNAM CATHOLICS OPEN NEW CHURCH AFTER TWO CENTURIES
On September 18, Archbishop Joseph Vu Van Thien of Hanoi and Bishop Joseph Chau Ngoc Tri of Lang Son Cao Bang concelebrated a special Mass to inaugurate St. Joseph Church in Hoang Ha parish based in Kim Dong district of Hung Yen province, a northern province of Vietnam. Some 100 priests joined the Mass attended by a thousand people.
“We are greatly delighted to enter this new church to meet God and one another and improve our faith life,” Archbishop Thien said, adding that the Gothic-style church has been a cherished dream of local people for a long time.
The prelate also announced the establishment of the new parish of Hoang Ha from the Hoang Ha sub-parish established over 200 years ago.
“This is a positive sign of the evangelization history of the local faithful community who are expected to be in harmony and united to foster their faith life and willingly tell Christ’s story to other people,” he said. (UCANews)
CARDINAL PRAYS AT QUEEN’S FUNERAL, SIGNALING CHARLES’ OPENNESS TO DIALOGUE
An English cardinal took part in the September 19 funeral of Queen Elizabeth II in an indication of openness of the British Royal family to ecumenical and interfaith dialogue.
Some observers believe the involvement of Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster represents the first time for possibly hundreds of years that a Catholic cardinal or bishop has taken a role in a royal funeral.
Cardinal Nichols, president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, was one of a number of nonAnglican Christian leaders asked to lead the congregation in prayers for the queen during the September 19 state funeral in Westminster Abbey.
The cardinal expressed thanks for the monarch’s “commitment to the Commonwealth throughout her reign” and prayed for a “spirit of mutual honor and respect” and that figures in authority “may promote justice and the common good.” (CNS)
EDITOR HINTS AT RENEWAL OF CHINA-VATICAN DEAL
In an editorial published September 22, Gianni Valente, who was appointed earlier in the month as editor of Fides News Agency, the news agency of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Evangelization, said the Vatican’s 2018 agreement with the communist Chinese government has been instrumental in allowing Catholics to practice their faith openly and in communion with the Church.
He also said recent statements by Pope Francis and Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, “hinted at a positive intention on the part of the Holy See to continue the process of negotiation.”
The 2-year 2018 agreement, he wrote, allowed Chinese Catholics to “experience the adventure of confession of faith in Christ in today’s China as it is, without privileges, without being pointed at and perceived as a foreign body, as exotic guests or representatives of distant cultures.” The agreement was renewed in 2020.
The provisional agreement, the text of which has never been made public, outlines procedures for ensuring Catholic bishops are elected by the Catholic community in China and approved by the Pope before their ordinations and installations, according to news reports at the time. (UCANews)
BELGIUM BISHOPS AUTHORIZE PRAYER FOR COMMITTED GAY COUPLES
The Flemish-speaking bishops of Belgium have appointed a contact person for ministry to and with gay Catholics and have authorized prayer for committed gay couples on the condition it is clear that it is not equivalent to a wedding blessing.
The document, “Being pastorally close to homosexual persons: For a welcoming church that excludes no one,” was dated September 20 and posted on the website of the Belgian bishops. The Flemish bishops include Cardinal Josef De Kesel of Mechelen-Brussels, Bishop Johan Bonny of Antwerp, Bishop Lodewijk Aerts of Bruges, Bishop Lode Van Hecke of Ghent and Bishop Patrick Hoogmartens of Hasselt. The Holy See has not yet commented on the document. (UCANews)
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