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.
Wednesday 16 March 2022
1- In the diocese of Essen, women to be ordinary ministers of baptism
2- Nuncio to Syria: After 11 years of war "we have fallen into obscurity"
3- President of the Nicaraguan bishops speaks out on the expulsion of the nuncio
4- The memorandum for the conclave circulating among the cardinals
5- Patriarch Sako: Canonization processes for Iraqi martyrs progressing
In the diocese of Essen, women to be ordinary ministers of baptism
The diocese of Essen in Germany announced on Monday that lay people, including women, will now be allowed to administer baptisms due to the lack of priests available. Bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck said the decision is a reaction to a "difficult pastoral situation" and has commissioned 17 pastoral and community officers to administer the sacrament. They will carry out the task for a limited period of three years and with an exceptional permission under Church law. Theresa Kohlmeyer, head of the Faith, Liturgy and Culture department in the diocese of Essen, said that "over the past 2,000 years, the Church has repeatedly reacted to external circumstances." She explains that in the baptismal journey, families today need to be accompanied and organized as closely as possible and the decreasing number of priests is an issue. (According to Church law in normal circumstances, a bishop, priest or deacon is the ordinary minister of the sacrament. However, in an emergency, the CCC notes that anyone can baptize a person who wants to be baptized; even a non-baptized person, with the required intention, can baptize, by using the Trinitarian baptismal formula.)
Nuncio to Syria: After 11 years of war "we have fallen into obscurity"
On March 15, 2011, the war in Syria began. Although it is spoken about little today with other news taking precedence, in 11 years this conflict has led to half a million deaths, 11.5 million displaced people and entire cities leveled to the ground. In an interview with the Holy See’s media outlet, Vatican News, Cardinal Mario Zenari, Apostolic Nuncio to Syria, pleads: “Don’t let hope die.” He highlights sadly the fact that the country has “disappeared from the media radar” in the last years and has been “falling into obscurity.” Cardinal Zenari explains Syria has been in a dire situation with many people emigrating, rampant food insecurity and a lack of economic rebuilding. He says that above all “it is important to remain close and be in solidarity.”
President of the Nicaraguan bishops speaks out on the expulsion of the nuncio
In an interview with Spanish media outlet, Alfa y Omega, Bishop Carlos Herrera, President of the Conference of Nicaraguan Bishops, comments on the sudden expulsion of the Apostolic Nuncio to Nicaragua by the government, which occurred at the beginning of the month. He says there was no “fluid communication” between the Nuncio and the Nicaraguan government. He confirms the government "did not like" that the Nuncio asked for "the release of political prisoners," a request also supported by the Conference of Bishops. The article explains relations have worsened since the bishops acted as mediators in a dialogue between President Ortega and opposition leaders, to try find a peaceful solution to the crisis the country has been experiencing since 2018. Cardinal Herrera denounces the "silence" and the "fear of speaking" that has been installed in Nicaragua but calls "not to lose hope."
The memorandum for the conclave circulating among the cardinals
The Vatican expert Sandro Magister publishes a vitriolic text that could have been written by an anonymous cardinal, or at least by a good connoisseur of the Vatican from the inside, under the pseudonym "Demos." The author of this critical charge against Pope Francis writes that "commentators of every school [...] agree that this pontificate is a disaster in many or most respects; a catastrophe." He reviews several points of contention, from the progressive drift of the German Synod, to "the active persecution of the Traditionalists and the contemplative convents," to what he calls "eccentric nominations" within the College of Cardinals, to the effacement of papal diplomacy in the defense of human rights in China, Venezuela, and currently Ukraine. The memorandum paints a disturbing picture of the Vatican's financial situation and sees Pope Francis' judicial reforms as sources of failure and confusion. It also calls for an apostolic visitation of the Society of Jesus, which is facing a "catastrophic moral decline." In order to avoid a schism, the next pope's priority will be above all to fight against "the spiritual and doctrinal threats facing the Church,” the author concludes.
Patriarch Sako: Canonization processes for Iraqi martyrs progressing
During a homily on March 24, Iraqi Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako said the process of canonization of the Chaldean Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho is proceeding "smoothly, and, God willing," the martyr Bishop will soon be declared blessed, along “with Father Raghiid Ganni, and his companions and Sister Cecilia of the Sacred Heart.” Cardinal Sako’s words are to reassure all those in Iraq and abroad who are waiting for these martyrs to be recognized, bringing to light the recent journey of the indigenous Christian communities of Mesopotamia. Then Archbishop of Mosul, Paulos Faraj Rahho was kidnapped by a group of armed men on Feb. 29, 2008, who also killed the three people accompanying him. After several days of negotiations his lifeless body was found on March 12. In 2016 the Synod of Chaldean bishops had already opened a process of canonization for Archbishop Rahho, along with that of Sister Cecilia Moshi Hanna, killed in 2002, and Father Raghiid Ganni and three deacons who all died in 2007. The diocesan phase of the process ended in 2019.
