Now a cardinal, Giovanni Angelo Becciu heads to congregation for saints’ causes

CNA Staff, May 1, 2020 / 09:00 am (CNA).- In a statement marking the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Vatican has condemned an increasing spate of attacks on churches, synagogues and mosques around the world.

Cardinal Miguel Ángel Ayuso Guixot, M.C.C.J., president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue said in the council’s “message for the month of Ramadan” on May 1 that “the context of recent attacks on churches, mosques and synagogues by wicked persons who seem to perceive the places of worship as a privileged target for their blind and senseless violence.”

He cited the 2019 joint statement of Pope Francis and the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar on human fraternity, which stated that such attacks are “a deviation from the teachings of religions as well as a clear violation of international law”.

Religious freedom advocates, including the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) have drawn attention to an increasing number of attacks on churches, synagogues, mosques, and other houses of worship in recent years.

USCIRF released a fact-sheet in October of 2019 that called on states to protect places of worship, emphasizing their “protected status during armed conflict” and saying that “an intentional attack” on a church, synagogue, or mosque “may be considered a war crime.”

The commission’s 2020 annual report noted an increase in attacks on houses of worship around the world in 2019.

In 2019, Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka targeted three churches as well as hotel resorts, killing more than 250 people. Shootings at mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, during Muslim Friday prayer, killed 51 people in March, 2019. Shootings at synagogues in the U.S. in October of 2018 and again in April of 2019 killed 12, and roughly 80 gravestones at a Jewish cemetery in France were vandalized with Nazi and anti-Semitic symbols.

Ramadan is a month in the Islamic calendar of fasting, prayer, and acts of service; it began on April 23.

“The month of Ramadan is so central in your religion and therefore dear to you at personal, familial and social levels. lt is a time for spiritual healing and growth, of sharing with the poor, of strengthening bonds with relatives and friends,” the Vatican’s statement read.

After extending good wishes, the Vatican stated that “[t]he thoughts we like to share with you this year following our cherished tradition are about the protection of the places of worship.”

Churches, synagogues, and mosques have historically been places of hospitality, the statement noted.

“While appreciating the efforts done by the international community at different levels for the protection of the places of worship worldwide, it is our hope that our mutual esteem, respect and cooperation will help strengthen the bonds of sincere friendship, and enable our communities to safeguard the places of worship to assure for coming generations the fundamental freedom to profess one’s own beliefs,” the statement said.

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CNA Staff, May 14, 2020 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- Papal basilicas are considering checking visitors’ temperatures as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus when public Masses resume, the Holy See press office said Thursday.

Representatives of the four major Roman basilicas — St. Peter’s, St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran and St. Paul Outside the Walls — met May 14 under the auspices of the Vatican Secretariat of State, the press office said.

They discussed which protocols to adopt in light of the “second phase” of Italy’s lockdown, when public liturgies will be permitted again from May 18 under strict conditions.

Churches in Italy will be required to limit the number of people present – ensuring a one-meter (three feet) distance – and congregants must wear face masks. The church must also be cleaned and disinfected between celebrations.

While St. Peter’s is situated in Vatican City, the three other major basilicas are located within Italy but have extraterritorial status under the terms of the Lateran Treaty of 1929, which means they are properties of the Holy See, itself a sovereign body in international law.

The press office statement said that officials talked about “the need to adopt the most appropriate measures to guarantee the safety of the faithful”, including taking the temperatures of visitors, at least during Sunday Masses and on other holy days of obligation.

Holy See Press Office Director Matteo Bruni told CNA that each basilica would adopt measures that reflected their “specific characteristics.”

He said: “For St. Peter’s Basilica, in particular, the Vatican Gendarmerie will provide for access restrictions in close collaboration with the Inspectorate for Public Security and will facilitate safe entry with the assistance of volunteers from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta.”

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Vatican City, Nov 5, 2017 / 11:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has reportedly said he will allow for debate as to whether married men could be ordained to the priesthood in the region during a 2019 Synod of Bishops focusing on the Church in the Am… […]