Catholic News

• Worldwide Catholic population increases slightly; number of priests, religious, and seminarians declines (Vatican Press Office)
  Between the end of 2016 and the end of 2017, the percentage of Catholics among the world’s population rose from 17.67% (1,299,059,000) to 17.73% (1,313,278,000), according to an October 19 Vatican press release. The number of priests fell by 387 to 414,582; the number of women religious plunged by 10,535 to 648,910. The number of major seminarians fell by 832 to 115,328. (The number of major seminarians worldwide rose from 63,882 in 1978, to 110,553 in 2000, and peaked at 120,616 in 2011.)
• Reports of small working groups presented at synod (Vatican News)
  Among the many themes of the reports of the working groups are “a Church for the poor and against all forms of violence,” a proposed International Ecclesial Observatory on Human Rights, “Church not an NGO [non-governmental organization], more ecumenical dialogue,” “ministries, laity and rejection of clericalism,” “women and the diaconate,” and the priestly ordination of married men “of good reputation, preferably indigenous chosen by the communities of origin, but under specific conditions.”
• 'Go and show love to everyone, because your life is a precious mission,' Pope preaches on World Mission Sunday (Vatican Press Office)
  On October 20, Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica (video, booklet) for World Mission Sunday, within the extraordinary missionary month.
• Witness to the Gospel and pray for missionaries, Pope tells pilgrims (Zenit)
  Pope Francis made his remarks during his Angelus address (video) on October 20, World Mission Sunday.
• Peruvian Jesuit cardinal: 'Even some indigenous communities do not want married priests' (America)
  Cardinal Pedro Barreto Jimeno, one of the synod’s president delegates, said that the majority of synod fathers favor the ordination of married men in the Amazon, though “Pope Francis is not going to change the law, he has never thought of changing the law on celibacy.” The cardinal sees the synod as ultimately about Laudato si’, the Pope’s second encyclical letter. Cardinal Barreto added that there are some “who do not accept the risk of walking,” but instead “want a static Church, a Church of doctrine, more than one of pastoral action. They want a Church that is different from the one Jesus wants, which is a Church of solidarity, a Church that really responds to the needs of people, and of nature itself.”
• Pope pays tribute to Vatican Ethnological Museum's openness to all cultures (Vatican Press Office)
  Now known as the Anima Mundi [soul of the world] Museum, the Ethnological Museum, one of the Vatican Museums, holds over 80,000 works of art. Pope Francis spoke as the museum inaugurated a new exhibition, “Mater Amazonia – The deep breath of the world.”
• Martyred missionary priest beatified in Myanmar (AsiaNews)
  Blessed Alfredo Cremonesi (1902-1953), a member from the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions, was slain by government troops in the largely Buddhist Southeast Asian nation (map).
• Cardinal Schönborn asks: Why so few permanent deacons in the Amazon region? (Vatican News)
  Cardinal Christoph Schönborn, who will help draft the Amazon synod’s final document, said that instead of discussing the ordination of married men to the priesthood, “Why not start with viri probati [approved men as] deacons in the villages? Prepare them as catechists, as deacons, before asking whether they can become priests?”
• Bombay high court strikes down legal force of Goa's Church marriage decisions (Hindustan Times)
  The southwestern Indian state of Goa (map) is 66% Hindu, 25% Christian, and 8% Muslim.
• Indigenous vow to stand with Pope Francis, with each other (CNS)
  After 40 indigenous persons met with the Pope, a Xucuru leader from northeastern Brazil told other North and South American indigenous leaders, “We have to walk with Pope Francis and not leave him alone. And we must all pray together because only together can we protect our mother earth.”
• US missionary bishop calls for 'preferential option for the Amazon' (CNS)
  “We have to say that this destruction of the Amazon and the violence against its peoples and defenders has to stop,” said Bishop Robert Flock of San Ignacio de Velasco, Bolivia. “The Church sides with them.”
• Vatican hosts seminar on cooperation between Church, international organizations in Amazon region (Vatican Press Office)
  The Joseph Ratzinger-Benedict XVI Vatican Foundation organized the seminar, which was entitled “The challenges of the Pan-Amazonian Region: necessary cooperation between International Organizations and the Catholic Church and ethical leadership.”
• Vatican backs dismissal of Indian nun who protested against bishop accused of rape (AsiaNews)
  Indian prosecutors have charged Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jalandhar with rape. Bishop Mulakkal has insisted that he is innocent.
• Data show mass exodus from Catholic Church in Amazon region (L'Espresso)
  Working with statistics furnished by the Vatican press office, Sandro Magister of L’Espresso finds that the Catholic proportion of the population in the Amazon region has plummeted in the years since 1970: “fully 46% of the 34 million inhabitants in the region have in recent decades abandoned the Catholic Church to switch to other religious denominations.”
• In US, decline of Christianity continues at rapid pace (CWN)
  A new study by the Pew Forum finds a steep decline in the number of Americans who identify themselves as Christians, and a similar drop in the number of Americans who identify themselves as Catholic.
• 40 indigenous persons meet with Pope (Vatican News)
  “They expressed their gratitude to the Holy Father for convoking the Synod, and asked for help in implementing their desire to ensure a peaceful and happy life for their peoples, caring for their land, and protecting its waters, for their descendants to enjoy,” said Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office.
• Financial Times examines 'Vatican's money trail to prime London property' (Financial Times)
  Domenico Giani, the head of the Vatican Gendarmerie, resigned recently in the wake of a stunning October 1 raid on the offices of the Vatican Secretariat of State and the Financial Information Authority.
• Multiple new abuse claims lodged against McCarrick (Washington Post)
  Former cardinal Theodore McCarrick has been accused of molesting at least seven underage boys over a period of years, the Washington Post reports.
• Brazilian bishop insists that the Amazon's indigenous people can understand celibacy (CNA)
  “It’s not the indigenous culture that finds insurmountable difficulties in understanding celibacy,” said Bishop José Luis Azcona, who led an Amazonian diocese for nearly 30 years. “For many reasons, there has been a transmission of the faith that was not transformed into culture, a faith that was not completely received, not thought out completely, not lived faithfully.”
• Algerian officials close 2 more Protestant churches (AsiaNews)
  The nation of 41.7 million (map) is 99% Muslim (predominantly Sunni), and Islam is the official religion.
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