Report names five European nations with increasing anti-Christian violence (CNS) Catholics are facing soaring levels of discrimination in some of the most influential countries in Europe, a new report said. The Vienna-based Observatory on Intolerance Against Christians in Europe identified the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain and Sweden as the five countries most affected by a “rising phenomenon” of harassment and violence toward Christians…
Pope visits Marian shrine in Rome before dawn (CNS) An hour before sunrise, Pope Francis set a basket of white roses at the base of a statue of the Immaculate Conception in the center of Rome, praying Mary would help all who suffer. “While it was still night,” the Vatican press office said Dec. 8, the pope prayed to Mary, “asking her for the miracle of a cure for the many people who are sick, for healing for people who are suffering so much because of wars and the climate crisis, and for conversion so that she would melt the stony hearts of those who build walls to keep the pain of others away…”
California aims to be a “sanctuary” for abortion (The New York Times) Political leaders in California said on Wednesday that they would work to make the state a sanctuary for women seeking abortions if a Supreme Court ruling allows the procedure to be banned in more conservative parts of the country. The proposal, which was released with the backing of Gov. Gavin Newsom and the leaders of California’s two legislative chambers, calls for increasing funding for abortion providers and dozens of other measures to make it easier for clients to access abortion services and providers to get paid. It also includes a recommendation to fund the procedure for low-income women who come to California for abortion services…
Diocese of Marquette: transgender people must repent before they can be baptized (The Washington Post) A Catholic diocese in Michigan has instructed its pastors to deny baptism, confirmation and other sacraments to transgender and nonbinary people unless they have “repented” — possibly the first diocese in the United States to issue such a sweeping policy about those who identify with a gender other than their sex assigned at birth. The guidance issued by the Diocese of Marquette also stipulates that transgender people may not receive Communion…
Pope thanks New Ways Ministry in correspondence (NCR) In two letters to New Ways Ministry this year, Pope Francis commended the organization for its outreach to the LGBTQ community and referred to one of its co-founders, Loretto Sr. Jeannine Gramick, as “a valiant woman” who had suffered much for her ministry. Written in Spanish on official Vatican stationary, Francis’ letters mention that the pope is aware that New Ways Ministry’s “history has not been an easy one,” but that loving one’s neighbor is still the second commandment, tied “necessarily” to the first commandment to love God…
Barred from priesthood, women find other roles in Church (AP) Women aspiring to leadership in the Catholic church have long come to terms with the glass ceiling that exists in the male-dominated institution, but Pope Francis’ spate of female appointments in the Vatican hierarchy suggests that change, however modest, is underway. A growing number of women hold consequential positions in the church and at the Vatican. But it’s the roles women occupy at the grassroots level — in parishes, dioceses and universities — that suggest to female Catholics that despite the institution’s slowness to change, women are taking the lead, making new demands and inspiring new perspectives…
