In today’s weekly round up, we cover the news we missed from the 11th to the 16th October 2021
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Oct 11, 2021- The Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in downtown Denver was spray-painted with anti-Catholic slogans on Sunday, the latest in a series of vandalism incidents against Catholic buildings in Colorado.
Photos shared by local news reporters show slogans such as “Satan Lives Here,” “White Supremacists,” and “Child Rapists, LOL” written in bright red spray paint on the outside of the cathedral building, sidewalks, and on the base of a statue of St. John Paul II, who visited and stayed at the cathedral in 1993.
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Oct 12, 2021- The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that the Vatican cannot be sued in local courts for the actions of clerical abusers because it has sovereign immunity.
The international court that interprets the European Convention on Human Rights issued the ruling on Oct. 12. It is the first time that the court has considered a case touching on the Holy See’s immunity.
A Chamber of seven judges decided by six votes to one that courts in Belgium did not violate Article 6 § 1 of the convention, on the right of access to a court, when they declined jurisdiction in respect of the Vatican.
The case, known as J.C. and Others v. Belgium, was brought by 24 Belgian, French, and Dutch nationals against the Vatican, as well as Catholic leaders and associations in Belgium.
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Oct 13, 2021 – Pope Francis approved a miracle obtained through the intercession of Venerable María Berenice Duque Hencker, a Colombian nun described as an entrepreneurial figure with “great mettle.”
Mother María Berenice, as she was known, was the founder of the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Annunciation in Medellín, Colombia. She died in 1993 at the age of 94, and her congregation continues to be active in Colombia and Venezuela.
Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino, the late archbishop of Caracas, Venezuela, described her as having an “ardent apostolic zeal.”
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Oct 13, 2021 – Nearly 20% fewer candidates for the Catholic priesthood have enrolled in Poland’s seminaries this year, compared to 2020.
Fr. Piotr Kot, chairman of the Conference of Rectors of Major Seminaries, told the Polish Catholic news agency KAI on Oct. 12 that 356 seminarians began their studies in 2021.
Last year, he said, there were 441 candidates, meaning that “the number is lower by approximately 20%.” He explained that of the 356 candidates, 242 were training for the diocesan priesthood and 114 for religious orders.
There were 47 fewer seminarians in diocesan seminaries and 38 fewer candidates for religious orders compared with the previous year, he said.
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Oct 14, 2021 – Italy’s Supreme Court has overturned an arrest warrant against a broker wanted in Italy and the Vatican on allegations of financial crimes. Gianluigi Torzi is one of the key suspects in a significant finance trial being heard by the Vatican City State’s tribunal about the London property deal.
According to a statement from the lawyers of Torzi late Wednesday, a precautionary measure against the Italian businessman who brokered the final stage of the Vatican’s controversial purchase of a London property has been “annulled in its entirety.”
The case has been sent back to Rome’s Tribunal for Review. A written ruling explaining the reason for the annulment will be released by the Italian court within a month, according to the AP.
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Oct 14, 2021 – The White House has confirmed that President Joe Biden and his wife Jill will meet with Pope Francis on Oct. 29 at the Vatican.
According to a Thursday statement by White House press secretary Jen Psaki, the Bidens will discuss several issues with the pope, including “ending the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling the climate crisis, and caring for the poor.” The Oct. 29 event would mark the first meeting with the pope during Biden’s presidency.
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Oct 15, 2021 – Bishops in Argentina have welcomed the promulgation of a decree by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints that regards the martyrdom of Pedro Ortiz de Zárate and Juan Antonio Solinas, priests who were killed Oct. 27, 1683.
Fr. Ortiz de Zárate, a diocesan priest, and Fr. Solinas, a Jesuit, were evangelizing the indigenous populations of the Valle del Zenta in the Viceroyalty of Peru, now part of Argentina, when they were beheaded by members of the Toba and Mocoví peoples.
