Cardinal Parolin: I am sad to see the loss of faith and reason in Europe

Cremona, Italy, Mar 15, 2020 / 09:58 am (CNA).- Seven priests have reportedly died in Italy of the COVID-19 coronavirus. They are the first priests known to have died from the virus, now a global pandemic which has struck Italy more gravely than nearly any other country in the world.

Among them Monsignor Vincenzo Rini was a priest of the Diocese of Cremona, close to Milan, and near Italy’s epicenter of the pandemic.

In addition to Rini, 6 priests in the Diocese of Bergamo have reportedly died of the coronavirus, according to bergamonews.it.

Bergamo’s Bishop Francesco Bechi told Italian journalists that in addition to six priests in his diocese who have died of the virus, 20 others have been hospitalized.

Bergamo, a city northest of Milan, has been identified as the region most afflicted by infections of coronavirus in the country.

Msgr. Rini ran Cremona’s diocesan newspaper for 30 years, and was at one time the president of the Italian bishops’ news agency. He was also a novelist, and a noted literary expert, who served as the Church’s liaison to the Cristina di Savoia Cultural Congresses, which aim to promote Christian culture in Italy.

In Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, journalistic colleagues of Rini wrote that the priest “represented an open window to hope, the virtue that had always characterized his life.”

He will be buried in the chapel of the diocesan cemetery in Cremona. Bishop Antonio Napolioni of Cremona, himself recovering from coronavirus, expressed his condolences to the family and friends of the priest.

More than 21,000 people in Italy have been infected with coronavirus, and nearly 1,500 have died.

Priests in other countries have also been afflicted with coronavirus. Earlier this month, a French priest was hospitalized with the virus, and last week a priest in Peru was among the first patients to be hospitalized for coronavirus in that country.

This story is developing and has been updated after publication.

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Rome Newsroom, Oct 30, 2020 / 12:01 pm (CNA).- Irish bishops met with the prime minister this week to petition the government to lift the current coronavirus restrictions on public worship as soon as possible.

“We have been doing everything possible to keep our church buildings safe, and there is no evidence that the church buildings and church worship have actually been a source of contagion or spreading the infection, so I have to say that I was disappointed and I said that to the Taoiseach,” Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh said in a radio interview Oct. 30, after the meeting.

Public worship has been suspended in the Republic of Ireland since Oct. 7 due to an Irish government decree that placed the entire country under “Level 3” restrictions as a result of an increase in coronavirus cases. It is the second time that public Masses in Ireland have been suspended this year.

Archbishop Martin, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin, Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam, Archbishop Kieran O’Reilly of Cashel and Emly, and Bishop Dermot Farrell of Ossory met with Taoiseach Micheál Martin Oct. 28 to express their “great desire to return to worship as soon as possible.”

“The Archbishops emphasised that they are fully supportive of the Public Health messages but highlighted that the coming together in prayer and worship, especially for Mass and the Sacraments, is fundamental to Christian tradition and a source of nourishment for the life and well-being of whole communities,” according to a statement from the Irish bishops’ conference.

In the meeting, the bishops also stressed the “mammoth effort that has been made by priests and volunteers at parish level to ensure that gatherings in Church are as safe as possible,” as well as the “importance of gathering for worship as a source of consolation and hope at Christmas time.”

“We were hopeful when we left,” Martin said in an interview with LMFM Radio Oct. 30. “I’m hopeful that the Taoiseach will now bring our message to the cabinet … and the further health authorities.”

The Irish government has yet to announce any changes to the coronavirus restrictions, which are currently at “Level 5”.

Bishops in France also met with their prime minister on the eve of France’s second lockdown to discuss security measures regarding the coronavirus as well as the attack on Notre-Dame de Nice.

Archbishop Éric de Moulins-Beaufort of Rhiems, president of the French bishops’ conference, and Archbishop Michel Aupetit of Paris met with Prime Minister Jean Castex in Paris Oct. 29.

Arcbhishop Moulins-Beaufort had written to French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this week requesting that public worship be allowed to continue during France’s lockdown and that Catholics would be allowed to visit cemeteries for All Souls’ Day.

The bishop also requested that the French government allow Catholic chaplaincies in hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons to continue to take place during the lockdown.

Other French bishops spoke out on social media. Bishop Marc Aillet of Bayonne wrote on Twitter Oct. 28: “It seems to me that freedom of worship is at stake, especially since schools remain open.”

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”fr” dir=”ltr”>Le Président n’a rien dit sur les lieux de culte, mais Mgr de Moulins Beaufort lui a écrit hier pour lui demander qu’en cas de confinement, les célébrations cultuelles demeurent. Il en va, me semble-t-il, de la liberté de culte, d’autant que les écoles restent ouvertes.</p>&mdash; Mgr Marc Aillet (@MgrMAillet) <a href=”https://twitter.com/MgrMAillet/status/1321573765797584896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>October 28, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

France’s lockdown went into effect Oct. 30 and will last until at least Dec. 1. Under the current restrictions, people are not permitted to go 1 kilometer beyond their homes, except for essential work or medical reasons. All non-essential businesses, including restaurants, are closed, but schools will remain open.

La Croix has reported that the French Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin specified in a video conference with religious leaders Oct. 28 that churches will be allowed to remain open, however all religious ceremonies throughout the country, including public Masses, weddings, and funerals will be suspended from Nov. 2 until at least Dec. 1.

The French bishops’ conference and local dioceses have not made any official announcements, except to clarify that All Saints’ Day Masses will be allowed to take place.

Europe is currently experiencing a second wave of coronavirus cases which has led Italy and Spain to impose curfews and Germany to close all bars and restaurants for one month.

More than 1 million people have tested positive for COVID-19 in France, where 35,823 people have died after contracting the coronavirus, according to the John Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Following the Oct. 29 terrorist attack at Notre-Dame de Nice, a spokesperson for the French Bishops’ Conference, Vincent Neymon, argued for the importance of France’s churches to remain open for Christians.

“To close the churches would be to bend one’s knee in the face of this threat which seeks to sow anxiety among our compatriots,” Neymon said in a radio interview with RTL.

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Madrid, Spain, Oct 24, 2019 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- The prior of the Benedictine Abbey at the Valley of the Fallen, whence the body of Francisco Franco was exhumed Thursday, has written that the exhumation fails to respect the inviolability of the abbey as a sacred place.

Fr. Santiago Cantera, prior of the Abbey of the Holy Cross, sent a message to Pope Francis; the abbot of Solesmes Abbey; and Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid noting the violation.

Franco’s body was exhumed from the Basilica of the Holy Cross at the Valley of the Fallen Oct. 24. It was re-interred in Madrid’s El Pardo cemetery.

Franco was Spain’s head of state from 1939, at the end of the Spanish Civil War when the Nationalist forces he led defeated the Republican faction, until his death in 1975. During the war, Republicans martyred thousands of clerics, religious, and laity; of these, 11 have been canonized, and 1,915 beatified.

The Valley of the Fallen is a monumental complex near Madrid which includes an abbey and basilica, the construction of which Franco ordered to honor the fallen of both sides during the civil war. The bodies of more than 30,000 victims of the war are buried in the complex.

The prior of the Abbey of the Holy Cross also filed a complaint in a Spanish court over the “non-consensual” access by the Civil Guard to the church.

“We want it to be on record that the actions of the Security Forces and the workers have been and are totally incompatible with the principle of the inviolability of places of worship and the rights of this Benedictine community; which we have made known also to the ecclesiastical hierarchy,” according to a statement released Oct. 23 by the Benedictine community.

Europa Press said that the Benedictines have conveyed this complaint to the Archdiocese of Madrid, the Spanish bishops’ conference, Solesmes Abbey (their mother house), and the Holy See.

Fr. Cantera filed a complaint Oct. 21 with the Guardia de San Lorenzo Court of El Escorial for “preventing access by the monks” to the basilica.

In the statement the Benedictines said that since Oct. 11, after the agreement by the Council of Ministers which decreed the closure of the Valley of the Fallen, “the Civil Guard, without judicial authorization to allow it, accessed and wandered about the premises of the abbey and, what is more serious, accessed and wandered about the basilica.”

According to the religious, the Civil Guard “without any ecclesiastical authorization and occupying it 24 hours a day, violated thus both the right to the inviolability of domiciles and the right to religious freedom.”

The complaint also states that on Oct. 20 the passage of the monks was prevented, since “chains and padlocks were placed on the access door between the abbey and the basilica,” despite the fact that the monks are “the sole owners and custodians of the church.”

However, third parties in fact have been allowed to enter the basilica and abbey “without the least supervision,” and so the Benedictines said that they are not sure if these people have not contravened “the sacred character of the church, not knowing if actions incompatible with worship, piety, or religion have taken place.”

Of the members of the abbey, the government allowed only Fr. Cantera to be present at the exhumation.

The government of Pedro Sanchez, secretary-general of the Spanish Socialist Worker’s Party, had pledged to exhume Franco’s body.

It is spending some $70,000 on the exhumation and re-burial, the BBC reported.

About 100 supporters of Franco protested the exhumation outside El Pardo cemetery Thursday.

Franco’s grandson, Francisco Franco y Martinez-Bordiu, told Reuters that “I feel a great deal of rage because [the government] has used something as cowardly as digging up a corpse as propaganda, and political publicity to win a handful of votes before an election.”

Spain is due to hold a general election Nov. 10.

Franco’s family tried to block the exhumation in court, but lost its appeal. They also asked that if his body were re-interred, it be moved to Almudena Cathedral in Madrid, but this, too, was rejected.

Fr. Ramon Tejero said Mass at the Franco family mausolum in El Prado cemetery after the re-burial.

In January, Alessandro Gisotti, then-interim director of the Holy See press office, said that the exhumation of Franco is a “matter that concerns his family, the Spanish government, and the local Church.”

Bishop Luis Javier Argüello Garcia, Auxiliary Bishop of Valladolid and secretary general of the Spanish bishops’ conference, said on numerous occasions that the Church “is not opposed” to the exhumation of the remains of  Franco according to the ruling of the Supreme Court, but asked that the country “look forward” and not “reopen wounds.”

Numerous leftist groups have proposed demolishing the 150 meter high cross that presides over the Valley of the Fallen, to make it a “memorial.” Some have also called for the site to be deconsecrated and the abbey closed.

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