Rome & the World: The world’s take on German synod

Every day, Aleteia offers a selection of articles written by the international press about the Church and the major issues that concern Catholics around the world. The opinions and views expressed in these articles are not those of the editors.

Thursday 8 December 2022
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1. An interesting survey on the German Synodal Way 
2. A home for Ukrainian refugees and their children after the horrors of war
3. The Catechism of the Catholic Church celebrates its 30th anniversary
4. Coup d’état in Peru: it is time to look for what unites us, says Cardinal Barretto
5. A documentary on the misuse of Marian piety by the Sicilian mafia
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1An interesting survey on the German Synodal Way

The German bishops commissioned a Catholic research institute to conduct a statistical survey on how the proposals of the German Synodal Way are viewed in the rest of the universal Church. The survey focused on the four main themes of the German Synod: the distribution of power in the Church, the priesthood, the place of women in the Church, and the place of divorced and remarried couples and homosexuals. The survey received 499 responses from around the world, and seemed to want to show that German reformist impulses are being echoed in the rest of the world. Given the low turnout, these numbers should be taken with caution. However, they do show some polarization on these issues within the Church. The issue of clericalism seems to have the greatest resonance: 62.9% of Catholics believe that there should be a better distribution of power in the Church. Concerning the celibacy of priests, 43.6% are in favor of exceptions. 42% agree with the idea of giving ordained ministry to women. 50% think that the Catholic Church should change its approach to homosexuality.

DBK, German

2A home for Ukrainian refugees and their children after the horrors of war

In Przemyśl, a Polish town close to the Ukrainian border, a home run by Caritas hosts a group of Ukrainian mothers and their children who have escaped from the war plaguing their country of origin. Tatiana, sick with cancer and mother of two children, aged 7 and 14, is one of the women who lives in this residence. When Vatican News journalist Salvatore Cernuzio asks her what her hopes for her country are, she says “victory,” but not a military victory. “The victory of a civilized, democratic world. A victory of civilization and not of cruelty,” she explains. After running away from Zaporizhzhia where her house was destroyed by a bomb, Tatiana is now continuing her cancer treatment while living in the “Mother-Child House” in Przemyśl as her husband is fighting in the war. In total there are 22 people, 7 families, who live in 4 big rooms divided on 2 floors. They come from all over Ukraine and are of different faiths. In this home the families are offered professional courses and psychological help. The children range from 1 to 16 year olds. Cernuzio explains that the group of journalists who visited the residence on December 6 brought the children chocolate, so “to keep the traditional feast of St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, from being swallowed up by the horror of war as well.”

Vatican News, English

The text was published by St. John Paul II after a commission coordinated by then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger worked on it for six years. In 2018 Pope Francis added an amendment on the inadmissibility of the death penalty.

Vatican News, Italian

Cardinal Pedro Barreto had been severely criticized by the political elite and even by the ecclesiastical sectors a month ago for having asked the then president, Pedro Castillo, to leave office for the common good. Today, he invites Peruvians to look to the future and to seek what unites them to resolve the serious institutional crisis.

Religion Digital, Spanish

This impressive film deciphers the troubled relationship that Italian organized crime has had with the Church and some of its pastors. 

Le Figaro, French