1. Pope Francis: Thank you, Benedict, for praying for church, By Frances D’Emilio, Associated Press, June 29, 2021, 8:08 AM
Pope Francis on Tuesday offered an affectionate, public thank-you to Benedict XVI, whose retirement from the papacy in 2103 shocked the Roman Catholic Church and the world.
Addressing tourists and Romans in St. Peter’s Square, Francis triggered applause when he recalled that it was the 70th anniversary of Benedict’s ordination to the priesthood in his native Germany.
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Benedict, now 94 and frail, is devoting his remaining years to prayer in a monastery in Vatican City. Francis said: “To you, Benedict, dear father and brother, goes our affection, our gratitude and our closeness.”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/pope-francis-thank-you-benedict-for-praying-for-church/2021/06/29/b27febf8-d8d2-11eb-8c87-ad6f27918c78_story.html
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2. Charter on religious freedom rights released ahead of international summit, By Catholic News Service, June 29, 2021
Religious freedom advocates released a charter declaring the right of every person around the world to freely believe — or not believe — religious tenets and join with others in a religious community and for believers and religious communities to live peacefully in society.
Titled “A Charter of Religious Freedom,” the document was released in advance of the International Religious Freedom Summit planned for the nation’s capital and online July 13-15.
The three-day summit will feature prominent religious leaders and religious freedom advocates in a series of speeches, discussions and programs focusing on the vital need to protect religious freedom globally.
https://cruxnow.com/uncategorized/2021/06/charter-on-religious-freedom-rights-released-ahead-of-international-summit/
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3. Catholic Church in Poland reports hundreds of new abuse allegations, By Catholic News Agency, June 29, 2021, 4:00 AM
The Catholic Church in Poland announced Monday that it had received 368 allegations of clerical abuse in the past two and a half years.
The claims relate to abuse reportedly committed by 292 priests and religious between 1958 and 2020.
A report released June 28 by the Institute of Statistics of the Catholic Church said that the allegations were made between July 1, 2018, and Dec. 31, 2020.
https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/248175/catholic-church-in-poland-reports-hundreds-of-new-abuse-allegations
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4. Top Biden aide praises ‘strong leadership’ of pope after Vatican meeting, By Elise Ann Allen, Crux, June 28, 2021
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken enjoyed a private visit to the Sistine Chapel before sitting down to a closed-door meeting with Pope Francis as part of a broader tour of Europe.
Speaking to the journalists during a June 28 press conference alongside Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio, Blinken spoke of his 40-minute meeting with Francis, saying, “let me just say on a personal level what an honor it was.”
The meeting, he said, “was very warm and extremely wide ranging. We covered a lot of ground, and I certainly don’t want to speak for His Holiness, but just speaking for myself, speaking for the United States, I was very gratified.”
https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2021/06/top-biden-aide-praises-strong-leadership-of-pope-after-vatican-meeting/
___________________________________________________________TCA Media Monitoring provides a snapshot from national newspapers and major Catholic press outlets of coverage regarding significant Catholic Church news and current issues with which the Catholic Church is traditionally or prominently engaged. The opinions and views expressed in the articles do not necessarily reflect the views of The Catholic Association. |
