Window at the top of the south façade of the Cathedral in Seville, Spain,. / Credit: o_andras/Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International via Wikimedia Commons
Madrid, Spain, Feb 26, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).
The Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience (OLRC, by its Spanish acronym) is calling on Spain’s Ministry of the Interior to strengthen security at the country’s cathedrals after a threat against the sacred structures was issued by the Islamic terrorist group Daesh (ISIS).
According to a recent report by Memri, a publication specializing in Islamist terrorism, a poster with the label “Let’s slaughter” is being disseminated online in which a terrorist armed with a knife and an image of a Spanish cathedral can be seen.
According to the Spanish newspaper La Razón, the poster is accompanied by the incitement to “make the next news yourself and show your anger at what is happening to Muslims. Follow in the footsteps of your brothers who preceded you and sowed fear in the hearts of unbelievers.”
These threats come as major events are being held in some Spanish cathedrals, for example in Madrid and Seville, to pray for the health of Pope Francis, where a large number of faithful are expected to attend.
In response to the threats, the OLRC has launched a petition to ask the minister of the interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, to increase security in the nation’s cathedrals.
The petition states that “jihadism is asking its ‘lone wolves’ to attack our churches. The security of Catholics is in danger. Have we forgotten that two years ago a jihadist murdered sacristan Diego Valencia in Algeciras and injured a priest?”
The organization, which advises the Spanish government’s Monitoring Commission for the Action Plan to Combat Hate Crimes, recalled that last New Year’s Eve “two jihadist minors planned to attack the basilica in Elche” and that in January threats were made against the Palencia cathedral via Telegram.
The president of the OLRC, María García, pointed out in a statement that “the safety of believers is in danger. We cannot ignore the threats of Daesh. We know what they are capable of, and we are seeing it these days in Europe.”
García also recalled that last year “a record number of arrests for jihadism in Spain were made.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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Cardinal Gerhard Müller (center) and Father Joseph Hamilton (at left), personal secretary to the late Cardinal George Pell, were among the priests celebrating the Jan. 10, 2024, Mass held on the first anniversary of the cardinal’s death. / Credit: Elizabeth Alva
Rome Newsroom, Jan 10, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).
A requiem Mass was held in Rome on Tuesday evening to mark the first anniversary of the death of Cardinal George Pell and to celebrate the cardinal’s illustrious ecclesiastical career.
The chapel of the Domus Australia was filled to capacity for the Mass, which was celebrated by Cardinal Gerhard Müller. In attendance were numerous cardinals and bishops, an array of priests from Rome, ambassadors to the Holy See, and faithful from Rome and abroad who came to pray for the beloved cardinal.
The chapel of the Domus Australia was filled to capacity for the Jan. 10, 2024, Mass, which was celebrated by Cardinal Gerhard Müller. Credit: Elizabeth Alva
Father Joseph Hamilton, rector of the Domus Australia and Pell’s former secretary, noted in an exclusive interview with EWTN: “I think His Eminence was very loved here in the city of Rome. His witness was very much appreciated and his loss was very unexpected.”
“I think that a beautiful Mass to commemorate his life, to pray for the repose of his soul, and to ask for his intercession here in the chapel, which he renovated and which he loved, I’m hoping will bring consolation and some degree of closure for those who have been grieving for the cardinal over the last year,” Hamilton added in his interview.
Pell died at the age of 81 on Jan. 10, 2023, after suffering a cardiac arrest following a scheduled hip replacement days prior at Rome’s Salvator Mundi hospital. He previously served as archbishop of Sydney and Melbourne before Pope Francis appointed him to head the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Economy in 2014, making him the most senior Australian prelate.
Cardinal Raymond Burke was among those at the Mass on the first anniversary of Cardinal George Pell’s death Jan. 10, 2024. Credit: Elizabeth Alva
During his homily, Müller reflected on the long illustrious life of the departed cardinal, noting that Pell and Pope Benedict — who passed away less than two weeks before the cardinal — were “role models of the true faith.”
Müller reflected on his early life, noting that the cardinal showed great “athletic abilities” and “high intellectual talent,” which would have brought him “a brilliant career in the world.” But, Müller continued, Pell eschewed worldly goals and opted to “follow Christ’s call to the priestly service.”
Cardinal Gerhard Müller at the requiem Mass on Jan. 10, 2024, marking the first anniversary of Cardinal George Pell’s death. Credit: Elizabeth Alva
Pell was renowned for his quick wit and towering stature. Müller, reflecting on his personal relationship with the late cardinal, highlighted Pell’s commitment to “marriage and family in the spirit of Christ, teachings against relativization by secularist-minded participants in the Synod of this topic.”
Müller also touched upon the darkest chapter of Pell’s life, which stands as “a great testimony of Christian patience.”
Cardinal George Pell gives an interview to EWTN News in Rome, Italy, on Dec. 9, 2020. Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.
Pell was convicted on Dec. 11, 2018, on five charges of sexual abuse while he served as archbishop of Melbourne in the late 1990s. After serving 404 days in solitary confinement, Australia’s high court unanimously overturned the convictions, based on reasonable doubt of the appellate proceedings, in April 2020.
“He was relentlessly pursued by a bloodthirsty mob and made himself a victim of justice by anti-Catholic agitators in the media and the police apparatus,” Müller remarked regarding the vilification of the late cardinal in mainstream media.
Auxiliary Bishop Richard Umbers of the Archdiocese of Sydney spoke with EWTN after the Mass, noting that the evening was an opportunity to mark “the anniversary of a man who was a lion in the Church. I think it’s giving due recognition to someone who’s been very important in the life of Australia, if not in fact the whole world.”
While recognizing that Pell was a “lightning rod for the Church,” Umbers explained that he was a man “of great strength and tremendous courage.”
Pell’s legacy is not just limited to his theological acumen or reforms of the Vatican’s handling of financial affairs, but it is most tangibly seen in the revitalization of the Church in Sydney.
“I think the impact of Cardinal Pell is very visible in Sydney,” Umbers said. “He was a big man with great vision, and the last 20 years in the Archdiocese of Sydney have seen real growth and leadership amongst a number of young Catholics.”
“You find an environment there which is quite extraordinary. A lot of life, especially in the area of university chaplaincy. He [Pell] invested heavily in that area and took great interest in the next generation of leaders,” Umbers added.
According to Father Hamilton, one of the hallmarks of Pell’s legacy will be his example of strength and unity for the Church as it is going through a period marked by division and is mired in crises.
“We are one Catholic Church, we have one faith, we have one pope, we’re one people. If we stand together, we’re strong. If we’re divided, we’re weak, and I think that his [Pell’s] witness to us and his legacy to the Church is that it is one, holy, catholic, apostolic Church that he was proud to serve and that he was proud, in a very humble way, to be a confessor of. I think that that leaves us an astonishing and shining example,” he said.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 6, 2022 / 02:00 am (CNA).
A photo of an unidentified man hugging a life-size crucifix in Ukraine went viral across social media platforms as Russia began its full-scale invasion … […]
Paris, France, Jan 11, 2020 / 06:01 am (CNA).- A leading architect in France has urged that the roof of Notre-Dame de Paris be reconstructed out of wood, for the sake of the building’s structural integrity.
Eric Wirth of the Guild of French Architects, expressed at a French parliamentary hearing Jan. 8 that rebuilding the roof with concrete or metal would be a mistake.
“We have to be sceptical of seemingly brilliant solutions” involving metal or concrete rafters he said, according to AFP.
“The most modern and ecological material today is wood,” Wirth said.
He said the cathedral is still at risk of collapse after a fire struck the cathedral in April, destroying the roof and spire and damaging the windows and vaults. He said alternative materials to wood might have resulted in further damage to the cathedral.
“The cathedral has been there for 800 years. Had it been built in concrete or steel it would not still be there,” he further added.
“Even with all the (chemical) protection treatments, given the intensity of the blaze… the steel would have held for half an hour and then it would have twisted, pulling on the walls and everything would have collapsed.”
He said that even if metal or concrete roofs were lightweight, the building’s structure is built for a heavy roof, and that such Gothic cathedrals “stand up structurally because there is a large mass on the vaulted ceiling … they only work because the roof is heavy.”
“We are lucky to have all the information we need to rebuild an identical roof.”
The comments came after Jean-Louis Georgelin, army general in charge of the restoration, said the call for an oak roof is just “lobbying” by wood industries. He said all options will be analyzed before anything is put in place.
“There will be a study, and all possible options will be examined,” said Georgelin, according to AFP.
In November, Georgelin had disagreed over whether the cathedral’s new spire should look modern or medieval. Georgelin, who supports a “contemporary” spire, reportedly told the architect Philippe Villeneuve that he should “shut his mouth” over the spire’s design.
The French parliament over the summer passed a bill declaring that Notre-Dame must be rebuilt exactly the way it was prior to the fire
Since the adoption of the 1905 law on separation of church and state, which formalized laïcité, a strict form of public secularism, religious buildings in France have been property of the state.
In December, the cathedral’s rector expressed concern that the Church is still at risk of destruction and may not be able to be reconstructed safely.
The church “is not out of danger,” Monsignor Patrick Chauvet said to the Associated Press Dec. 24. “It will be out of danger when we take out the remaining scaffolding.”
“Today we can say that there is maybe a 50% chance (the cathedral) will be saved,” said Chauvet. “There is also (a) 50% chance of scaffolding falling onto the three vaults, so as you can see, the building is still very fragile,” he added.
The scaffolding, present at the time of the fire on April 15, had melted together, and there are still about 551 tons of metal still present on top of the cathedral.
He said that after the scaffolding has been removed, the team will be able to better assess the state of the cathedral and begin the restoration. He said the scaffold will not likely be removed until 2021 and does not think the cathedral will be completed in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, as French president Emmanuel Macron has vowed.
Spain has created its own problems with allowing unfettered immigration. There will come a point when Spanish culture, including Catholicism, will be no more.
Spain has created its own problems with allowing unfettered immigration. There will come a point when Spanish culture, including Catholicism, will be no more.