1. Vatican denies protecting Peruvian accused of sex crimes.
By Associated Press, June 6, 2018, 5:41 AM
The Vatican is denying it is protecting the founder of a Peru-based conservative Catholic community who is accused of sexual and psychological abuse against minors and is being sought by Peruvian prosecutors.
A letter from the Vatican’s office of religious orders acknowledged it had instructed Luis Figari to stay away from the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae community and required him to seek permission before leaving Rome, but said it never impeded his return to face charges.
2. Pope nixes German plan to allow Communion for non-Catholics.
By Associated Press, June 5, 2018, 4:32 PM
Pope Francis has told German bishops they can’t publish guidelines on whether non-Catholic spouses may receive Communion, saying the issue concerns the broader Catholic Church and is too important to be dealt with at the local level.
The decision appeared in a letter from the Vatican’s doctrine office that was published by the L’Espresso blog and was confirmed Tuesday in a report on the Vatican’s news portal.
A two-thirds majority of the German bishops’ conference adopted a proposal in February to allow Protestant spouses of Catholics to receive Communion under certain circumstances.
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Cardinal Reinhard Marx, head of the German bishops’ conference, said he was surprised by the letter given the Vatican’s previous request for dialogue.
3. UK says it won’t impose abortion reform on Northern Ireland.
By Jill Lawless, Associated Press, June 5, 2018, 12:57 PM
The British government is under mounting pressure to ease Northern Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws, but a Cabinet minister said Tuesday it would be wrong to impose change from London.
“Personally, I want to see reform in Northern Ireland, but it is a matter for the people of Northern Ireland,” Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Karen Bradley told lawmakers in the House of Commons.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the U.K. where abortion is illegal in all but exceptional cases. The neighboring Republic of Ireland voted last month to lift its abortion ban, putting pressure on the north to follow suit.
The sensitive issue is complicated because abortion rules are the responsibility of Northern Ireland’s Belfast-based administration, which has been suspended since January 2017 because of feuding between the main Catholic and Protestant political parties.
