Friday 8 April 2022
1 – Kyiv bishop’s plea to Russian soldiers: “I speak the same language as you, stop!”
2 – La Civiltà Cattolica: Is the world economy moving towards “de-globalization”?
3 – Pope encourages Spanish bishops to continue fighting abuse
4 – The mess over the papal visit mirrors Lebanese confusion
5 – London building trial: what about the others who are not accused?
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1Kyiv bishop’s plea to Russian soldiers: “I speak the same language as you, stop!”
“I come from the south of Ukraine from a Russian-speaking family. It is not by razing Russian-speaking cities to the ground that you increase the love for Russia but rather you destroy it : think about it and stop,” said the Catholic latin-rite Bishop of Kyiv, Vitaliy Kryvytskyi, to Italian outlet Quotidiano.net. He expressed his shock at seeing the harrowing images coming from the Ukrainian city of Bucha after the retreat of Russian troops. “These atrocities cannot go unpunished, we need an independent international commission to do justice,” Bishop Kryvytskyi said. He also confessed that in this situation it is increasingly hard “to find words of consolation for the families and friends of the innocent victims.” “There is no justification for this hatred towards the entire Ukrainian people,” the Catholic prelate stated.
Quotidiano.net, Italian
The magazine of the Italian Jesuits, linked to the Holy See and considered to provide some keys to reading Pope Francis’ geopolitical vision, published an in-depth analysis of the current economic upheavals, which seem to be opening the way to “de-globalization”. Indeed, the Covid-19 pandemic has slowed down trade with Asia and is jeopardizing the supply of semiconductors. The Russian offensive in Ukraine, in addition to causing a surge in energy prices, is upsetting the grain market and destabilizing the food supply of importing countries, including China itself. “The previous world order is in the process of being blown up,” he says, and no region of the world is immune to the worsening crisis. Regionalization and regulation of supply chains is necessary to avoid a breakdown. The social doctrine of the Church is not foreign to these debates: “John Paul II and Benedict XVI had already made us note that globalization will be what we ourselves will make of it, expressing an urgent call to govern it,” recalls Fernando de la Iglesia Viguiristi, the economist author of this article and professor at the Gregorian University of Rome.
La Civiltà Cattolica, Italian
3Pope encourages Spanish bishops to continue fighting abuse
“He encouraged us to continue on this path of listening, accompanying and caring for the victims who are at the center of everything,” said Juan José Omella, Cardinal Archbishop of Barcelona and President of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, after his audience with Pope Francis. He was accompanied by Cardinals Carlos Osoro (vice-president) and Bishop Luis Argüello (general secretary). The three prelates shared with Pope Francis how the crisis of sexual abuse in the Church is now being addressed in Spain. The law firm “Cremades & Calvo Sotelo” was commissioned to conduct an audit on the abuse crisis. The Pope was interested in the methods used by the firm. “He listened with interest and contributed in a positive way,” explained Cardinal Omella. The Archbishop of Barcelona also mentioned a potential papal trip this summer to Spain, indicating that the pontiff “continues to think about it and meditate.”
Vida Nueva Digital, Spanish
4The mess over the papal visit mirrors Lebanese confusion
On April 5, a tweet from the official account of the Presidency of the Lebanese Republic announced – by mistake – that Pope Francis would visit the country in June 2022. For Fady Noun, the author of the article published by Asia News, this error is “typical of a superficial way of doing things.” The Presidency of the Republic was accused of having departed from protocol by releasing information that was supposed to remain confidential until the official announcement from the Holy See. The head of state and his collaborators were accused of having exploited this announcement for mere electoral purposes, in order to take credit for having obtained from the Holy Father the concession of a visit to Lebanon. However, the trip does not appear to be in jeopardy and the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, has clarified the Lebanese error by stating that the Pope’s trip remains a “possibility being studied”.
Asia News, English
5London building trial: what about the others who are not accused?
Since the beginning of the interrogations, several names of unindicted officials have come up in the various testimonies. Among them, the name of the Substitute and successor to Cardinal Angelo Becciu, Bishop Edgar Peña Parra, who is still in office today. Both René Brülhart and Msgr. Mauro Carlino, when questioned in recent days, denied any responsibility and pushed it onto the Venezuelan prelate. Brülhart even affirmed that Peña Parra had short-circuited a legal action against Gianluigi Torzi in order to avoid negative repercussions on the Holy See’s reputation, even if this meant paying what seemed to be an extortion. The other name that keeps coming up is that of Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, who seems to be a key witness in the investigation conducted by the promoter of justice Alessandro Diddi. A possible immunity could have been guaranteed to him “in exchange for his cooperation”, says the American Vatican expert Ed Condon on his website, The Pillar. And finally, the role of Pope Francis himself has been repeatedly raised. The defendants claimed that the Pope “knew” everything they were doing and gave his tacit approval. The question, notes Ed Condon, is whether “Francis is willing to reveal the cases in which he may have been deceived by those close to him,” a condition sine qua non for the judges to do their job, but one that would risk causing “unforeseeable damage” to the reputation of the Holy See.
The Pillar, English
And today we celebrate...