German bishops’ news agency launches English edition

January 10, 2020 CNA Daily News News Briefs 4 Print

Bonn, Germany, Jan 10, 2020 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- A news agency owned by the Catholic Church in Germany has launched an English language service, which it says will provide objective news and information on the Catholic Church in Germany.

The new service, KNA International, will consist of translated versions of stories written by the German-language agency, KNA.

KNA is owned by medienhaus, a subsidiarity of the Verband der Diözesen Deutschlands, which is the corporate and operations arm of the German bishops’ conference. The agency says it is positioned to give objective information about the German Church to the English-speaking world.

The agency’s Jan. 7 press release noted that “there is intense interest within the Catholic Church around the world in the so-called Synodal Path, the project for reforms in the Catholic Church in Germany starting at the end of January with a three day synodal plenary assembly in Frankfurt.”

“Until now, coverage of the debates underway in the Catholic Church in Germany by English-language media, blogs and social media has often been polemical and rarely objective,” Lugwig Ring-Eifel, editor-in-chief of Katholische Nachrichten-Agentur, or KNA, said in the press release.

At the center of coverage surrounding the German Church has been Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the head of the German bishops’ conference, which owns KNA.

Marx has made headlines for controversial remarks regarding sexual morality, ministry to homosexual persons, and the possibility of changing Catholic doctrine.

The agency says it especially aims to provide accurate translations, ensure that readers will have a more objective and clear account of the activities of Marx, along with other members of the German bishops’ conference.

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Armenian leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh arrested by Azerbaijan

October 10, 2023 Catholic News Agency 1
A general view of the city of Stepanakert, known as Khankendi in Azerbaijani, in Azerbaijan’s controlled region of Nagorno-Karabakh on Oct. 5, 2023. / Credit: STRINGER/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Oct 10, 2023 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Several key ethnic Armenian leaders in Nagorno-Karabakh were arrested over the past week following a violent takeover by Azerbaijan.

Arayik Harutyunyan, recent president of the now defunct ethnic Armenian Republic of Artsakh, also known as Nagorno-Karabakh, was among those arrested by the Azeri military on Oct. 3. He has been imprisoned in the Azeri capital city of Baku and is currently being tried for his role in leading the separatist government and participating in military campaigns against Azerbaijan, according to the Azeri State Security Service.

The Azeri Times, a pro-Azeri government news source, reported that Harutyunyan is also being charged with “directing missile strikes” in 2020 “that led to the death of 100 Azerbaijani civilians and injured 416 others.”

Other key Armenian leaders who have been arrested by the Azeri military include Ruben Vardanyan, Bako Sahakyan, and Arkadi Ghukasyan, all former presidents of Artsakh.

All are being similarly charged with crimes related to “terrorism” and war crimes, according to the Azeri State Security Service.

Since their arrests, the Azeri Times has revealed pictures of the captured leaders and claimed that they are being treated humanely and have been able to make phone calls to relatives. Currently, their fates are unclear as Azeri authorities have not said what potential punishments they face.

These arrests follow a short but intense Azeri military offensive that put an end to ethnic Armenians’ self-sovereignty in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Until two weeks ago, the region was majority Armenian and Christian despite existing within the borders of Azerbaijan, a majority Muslim nation.

Claimed by both Armenia and Azerbaijan since 1991, the Azeri government seized Artsakh during the 2020 “Second Nagorno-Karabakh War.”

Though internationally recognized as part of Azerbaijan, ethnic Armenians in Artsakh continued to claim self-sovereignty until an Azeri attack on Sept. 19.

Following the attack, the Azeri government promised “full protection of the rights and freedoms of persons of Armenian nationality.” However, the vast majority of the Armenians in Nagorno-Karabakh have now fled for Armenia proper. 

According to several human rights advocates, the Armenian Christians of Nagorno-Karabakh fear cultural, religious, and ethnic persecution by the government of Azerbaijan.

According to the Armenian government, 100,632 ethnic Armenians — that is, more than 80% of the total 120,000 Nagorno-Karabakh population — have fled since the Azeri takeover.

Some experts fear that Azerbaijan, emboldened by its victory in Nagorno-Karabakh and backed by its ally Turkey, is planning to invade Armenia proper. 

“Let us be realistic,” Siobhan Nash-Marshall, a U.S.-based human rights advocate, told CNA last week. “Azerbaijan already has grabbed a part of the region … They are also firing on border villages and have been for a year. What, then, is the threat to Armenia? Invasion.”

France promises military aid to Armenia

On Oct. 3, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna announced France’s intention to send military equipment to Armenia. The announcement demonstrates an ongoing political shift by Armenia away from Russia and toward the West. 

Since Russian peacekeeping forces stationed by Nagorno-Karabakh failed to stop the Sept. 19 attack, Armenia has begun to back away from Russian influence. 

Armenia’s Parliament voted last week to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), which has an active arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin. This indicates that if Putin were to set foot in Armenia, authorities would be obliged to arrest him.

Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s prime minister, reportedly canceled his plans to attend an Oct. 10 summit in Kyrgyzstan at which Putin was also scheduled to attend.

[…]

4 Comments

  1. In his criticism of English news coverage, clearly the cardinal does not understand English culture. Too little appreciation of the five slapstick Marx Brothers alongside of whom he elevates himself into an equally-immortalized (theology!) sixth role–together with Chico, Harpo, Gummo, Zeppo and especially Groucho: writer, stage, film, radio and television star and one of America’s greatest comedians.

    The proto-schismatic cardinal fits right in as a witty Croucho double(?): “Please accept my resignation. I don’t want to belong to any club [read church] that will accept me as a member.”

    Let the comedy begin even now, new English megaphone and all, with this self-referential script about an “intense interest [!??] within the Catholic Church around the world [!??]” in the synodal path of Lutherania/Amazonia/Germania.

    Reply

  2. To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of an outrageous English language media polemical and rarely objective, Or to take arms with our own (The Prince of Denmark if he were Cdl Marx). Germany’s Hamlet Cardinal Reinhard Marx [too noble a valorous Prince of the Church to be likened to Groucho] rides Cardinal Carlo Martini’s steed Synodality into the Sunset. And Darkness. CNA Flash: “Marx has made headlines for controversial remarks regarding sexual morality, ministry to homosexual persons, and the possibility of changing Catholic doctrine. The agency says it especially aims to provide accurate translations, ensure that readers Yadda yadda yadda”. Our Pontiff casts a wary public eye. To be or not to be Roman Catholic is the question. We the faithful expect decisive action from the Vatican to halt the inevitable. Germany’s faithful deserve better.

    Reply

  3. The German Bishops should be honest and just leave the Catholic Church, since they do not believe what the Church teaches. No amount of propaganda and spin will change this.

    Reply

    • Those German Bishops Who do not believe what every Catholic must believe with Divine and Catholic Faith, like all Baptized Catholics who do not believe what every Catholic must believe with Divine and Catholic Faith, have already left The Catholic Faith, having denied The Holy Ghost and thus the fact “It is not possible to have Sacramental Communion without Ecclesial Communion”, due to The Unity Of The Holy Ghost.
      See Catholic Canon 750 in regards to being a member of and remaining in The Mystical Body Of Christ.

      https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/ad-tuendam-fidem-7949

      Reply

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