Rome & the World: Iranian Christians join protests • Church in Mexico 100 days after murdered priests

Wednesday 28 September 2022
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1. Iranian Christians in solidarity against the oppression of women
2. The Church in Mexico denounces impunity in the face of murdered priests
3. Caritas Algeria forced to end its activities
4. Cardinal Zuppi honors murdered anti-Mafia judge 
5. What to expect from the ad limina visit of the German bishops?
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1Iranian Christians in solidarity against the oppression of women

Iranian Christians have joined the movement denouncing the oppression of women in Iran. After the death of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman of Kurdish origin who died from her injuries after she was beaten while in custody of Iran’s morality police, Christians expressed their solidarity with her family in a statement reported on by Asia News. As protests grow – including beyond the country’s borders – Christians are demanding justice for her. They condemn the “systematic oppression of women and the widespread violation of human rights” in the country and call for “freedom, justice, and equal rights for all Iranians.” The Christians hail the “unparalleled courage” of the protests and criticize the mandatory requirement to wear a hijab, which they call an “obvious violation of human rights” that should therefore be removed, along with “other discriminatory laws.” Following the tragedy, popular protests spread to many countries in the Middle East, from Turkey to Iraq and Syria. There, women denounced police brutality, burning their hijabs and cutting their hair, a symbolic gesture of the uprising. However in Iran, the authorities are countering the upheaval by arresting many activists, journalists, lawyers and personalities at the forefront of the struggle for freedom of expression. 

Asia News, English 

2The Church in Mexico denounces impunity in the face of murdered priests

In Mexico, this September 28 marks 100 days since the assassination of Pedro Palma, a family man, and the Jesuit priests Javier Campos and Joaquín Mora. “The death of the righteous can never be sealed by the slab of impunity,” says an editorial published in Desde la Fe, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of Mexico, which calls for “their death to be always transformed into a call to justice and a ferment of peace, because their life cannot be forgotten.” The attack in Cerocahui, in the state of Chihuahua, is one of the latest among thousands of other violent deaths in Mexico, but it has generated particular outrage. The circumstances of this triple murder have shown a particularly desecrated character. A worker – a father and husband – tried to escape his executioner in a church, while two Jesuit priests tried to protect him and assist him sacramentally, before they too were shot. Their bodies fell between the altar and the tabernacle, while Father Joaquin was holding the holy oils. The attackers took the three bodies away in an attempt to make them disappear, but they were found, “something that unfortunately does not happen for thousands of families,” the author of the editorial stressed. This event arouses “a demand for justice on the part of the Mexican people in the face of violent deaths and impunity,” the text continues. “We have spent 100 days in tears, meetings, celebrations, actions, prayer, reflection, conversations and much research to build peace, which, as Pope Francis says, we know is laborious and artisanal (Fratelli Tutti 217),” the article says. At the end of the general audience on Wednesday, June 22, 2022, Pope Francis expressed his “pain” and “dismay” after the triple murder. “Violence does not solve problems, but increases unnecessary suffering,” hammered Francis, who visited Mexico in 2016. The newspaper of the Archdiocese of Mexico City therefore calls on the Church to remain mobilized: “After 100 days, we feel the call to continue to open the doors of our churches to welcome and console; we feel called to speak out, to unite and dialogue, to pray insistently for justice and peace,” insists the author of the text. 

Desde la Fe, Spanish  

The Algerian branch of the Catholic charity confederation has been forced to close its activities, announced the Archbishop Emeritus of Algiers, Paul Desfarges. This “complete and definitive” closure, ordered by the authorities, seems to be linked to the Algerian government’s desire to restrict the activities of foreign NGOs, explains the Fides press agency.

Fides, French

Yesterday, in the unusual setting of the Italian Supreme Court of Cassation’s Court of Honor, the president of the Italian episcopate celebrated a Mass in honor of Blessed Rosario Livatino (1952-1990), as September 21 marked the 32nd anniversary of his assassination by the Mafia. In 2021 the young magistrate was recognized as a martyr by the Catholic Church and beatified. 

L’Osservatore Romano, Italian

Next November the German episcopate is meant to visit Rome for their ad limina visits. The Pillar predicts a probably tense climate, due to the issues that have arisen from the German Synodal Way, which has opened the door to positions in deep contradiction with the Vatican, especially concerning governance and sexual morality.

The Pillar, English