Ecumenical and Interreligious Ministry

Francis admits 'serious mistakes' in handling of Chile abuse cases Pope Francis has admitted making "serious mistakes" in his handling of clergy sexual abuse cases in Chile, telling the country's bishops in a lengthy letter that he feels "pain and shame" for the "crucified lives" of those who suffered abuse. Read more Turkish sources: US politicians ask to witness the trial against evangelical pastor Brunson Some US senators have sent the Turkish Ministry of Justice the request to be present at the upcoming trial against Andrew Craig Brunson, the US evangelical pastor detained in Turkey on charges of connivance with Hizmet, the organization of the Turkish Islamic preacher Fetullah Gulen, indicated by Ankara as the inspirer of the failed coup of 15 July 2016. Read more A "Continental Walk" to raise awareness on public policies for children "It will be a symbolic but strong action: we want to bring tenderness in the public sphere and influence public policies for children in the countries where we will pass". This is how Angel Morillo, a lay Catholic and father of two children, director of the "Centrality of Infancy" program of Celam (Latin American Episcopal Council), illustrates to Agenzia Fides the "Continental Walk for Children" entitled "Traces of Tenderness", which will travel Latin America and promote ecumenical and inter-religious initiatives for a whole year. Read more 'Greater Jerusalem means no churches and no mosques' 'There can never be peace until the Jerusalem file is satisfactorily resolved,' says chairman of Jerusalem Endowment. Palestinian interfaith officials have warned against monopolising the city of Jerusalem by the Israeli government and the effects that would have on Christianity and Islam. Read more Toronto joins other dioceses in withholding funds to Development and Peace At least 11 dioceses have suspended financial support to the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (D&P) following preliminary results of a probe that found some D&P partners are in conflict with Catholic moral and social teaching, particularly on abortion, contraception and gender theory. Read more Banjos and Ćevapi: New Serbian monastery coming to TN! We faithful Orthodox Christians in Tennessee are pleased to announce the formation of a New Serbian Orthodox Monastery! It will be called: “Mother of God, Joy of All Who Sorrow” Read more Supreme Court sides with immigrant facing deportation The Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that a law subjecting immigrants to deportation for crimes of violence is unconstitutionally vague, handing the Trump administration an early defeat. Read more Peacemaking initiative of Christian leaders in response to the situation in the Middle East Impelled by a sense of responsibility for the millions of Christians that God has entrusted to our spiritual care and for the wellbeing of the entire human family, which shares a common destiny, we join together to speak out at this time of heightened international tension. Read more Pope Francis does something impossible for Trump A news interlude dominated by speculation about “golden showers” and a graceless president who described his latest detractor as an “untruthful slime ball” invites us to search for higher moral ground. So it might be Providential that Pope Francis chose to make news last week in two ways. First, he did something that comes very hard to most public figures, and particularly to the current occupant of the White House: He apologized fervently for “grave errors.”  Read more                

Church leaders praise Hawking for contribution to science, dialogue The British-born theoretical physicist, cosmologist and popular author died March 14 at the age of 76. Read more The Transformative Promise of Pope Francis, Five Years On By some unexpected combination of character and conviction, Francis arrived on the scene with a relevance that the world grasped at once, perhaps recognizing this post-religious need in itself. Unlike his predecessors, the Argentine does not comes off as a throwback oddity, to be valued, if at all, like a gilded museum piece. Instead, for the past five years, he has taken full advantage of his position as the figurehead of what began as an incubator of Western culture, addressing that culture’s crisis by lifting up what made it precious in the first place. Read more Why the Catholic Church Remains So Eurocentric The election of the first Latin American pope was supposed to signal a turn toward a more global, less Eurocentric Catholicism. But, for reasons both ecclesial and geopolitical, this turn is taking much longer than expected. Read more Pope Francis Is Beloved. His Papacy Might Be at Disaster The conversation has become predictable. A friendly acquaintance - a neighbor, a fellow parent, our realtor - asks about my work. I say "I do not know so wonderful" or, "I must be an inspiring thing," or "I have a friend who would love to read it. "And then eventually I find myself saying, uncomfortably," To pause, puzzled and slightly crestfallen. "But you're writing about the nice pope?" Read more UN gets $100M in new funds for Palestinian aid after US cuts The United Nations received pledges Thursday of nearly $100 million in new funding for the U.N. relief agency for Palestinians after the U.S. slashed its aid, but it is still facing a nearly $350 million shortfall this year. Read more ‘One God, One Humanity’: Seeking to Build Bridges Between Muslims and Catholics Taking on the issue of religious prejudice, the National Muslim and Catholic Dialogue met for the third time at University of St. Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary 6-8 March. Read more UN agencies, NGOs, and World Council of Churches join to end violence against children Representatives of UN agencies such as the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have spoken of how religious communities and churches can play a key part in ending violence in early childhood. Read more Saudi Crown Prince 'commits to interfaith tolerance' in meeting with Anglican leader Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has met the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and promised to promote interfaith dialogue as part of his domestic reforms, the office of the spiritual head of the Anglican Communion says. Read more

Fasting is something common to almost all the religions of the world. It is connected often with asceticism — those practices which help the believer overcome the drives of the body and elevate the spirit to a higher reality. However, for members of monotheistic religions who believe in the one God — Judaism, Islam and Christianity — fasting plays a central and important role. Read more   Members of the Anglican Communion’s new Inter Faith Commission will gather for their first meeting next week, in Cairo, Egypt. The AIFC was requested by the Anglican Consultative Council when they met in Lusaka in 2016, and launched at the Primates’ Meeting in Canterbury last October. Its purpose is to “bring mutual understanding and build trust where there is ignorance, fear and hostility” between different faith groups. Read more   The central government of the Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Curia, is an enigmatic institution. It is more criticized than actually understood. Read more   How the Catholic Church could help lead a gun control movement Read more   The Rev. Billy Graham, a North Carolina farmer’s son who preached to millions in stadium events he called crusades, becoming a pastor to presidents and the nation’s best-known Christian evangelist for more than 60 years, died on Wednesday at his home in Montreat, N.C. He was 99. Read more   Social Justice, a ‘Call as Old as the Bible’ Read more   Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Committee on Pro-Life Activities, and Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, chair of the USCCB's Committee for Religious Liberty urge the faithful to flood Congress with emails and calls asking for enactment of the Conscience Protection Act as part of the 2018 funding bill and to pray for this outcome. Congress is currently considering whether to include the Conscience Protection Act in must-pass government funding legislation, and a decision on the Conscience Protection Act's inclusion will be made prior to March 23, 2018. Read more   Pontificate at Five: Intra-Catholic polarization and the divide between Francis and Trump Read more

Fr. Elias Mallon, SA writes about fasting in the three monotheistic religions in preparing for Christians' celebrating the Holy Season of Lent.  The Anglican Inter Faith Commission begins work with a meeting in Cairo.  The relations between the Holy See and the Church in China are once again in the news. Other Vatican news items deal with reform and the new Sex abuse Committee.   Cardinal Blase Cupich's lecture  St Edmund’s College, Cambridge. The Archbishop of Chicago speaking about Pope Francis' post-synodal exhortation on the family, Amoris Laetitia, as “a new paradigm of Catholicity”. His lecture sharply divided the audience and it has sharply divided commentators since. But to Cupich, it was not a purely academic exercise. The message of Amoris has touched him deeply.     Fasting in Judaism, Islam and Christianity http://www.cnewa.org/blog.aspx?ID=4093&pagetypeID=35&sitecode=HQ     New Anglican Inter Faith Commission begins work with meeting in Cairo http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2018/02/new-anglican-inter-faith-commission-begins-work-with-meeting-in-cairo.aspx     A different 'reform of the reform': Pope Francis and the Roman Curia https://international.la-croix.com/news/a-different-reform-of-the-reform-pope-francis-and-the-roman-curia/6871   Pope Francis Names New Sex Abuse Panel Amid Criticism https://ilsismografo.blogspot.com/2018/02/vaticano-pope-francis-names-new-sex.html   Mindong Diocese goes beyond Beijing and Vatican https://international.la-croix.com/news/mindong-diocese-goes-beyond-beijing-and-vatican/6866   Quebec still scarred, one year after deadly mosque shooting https://international.la-croix.com/news/quebec-still-scarred-one-year-after-deadly-mosque-shooting/6867   THE SHOCK OF THE NEW http://www.thetablet.co.uk/features/2/12445/the-shock-of-the-new     Gaza’s only power plant shuts down over fuel shortage https://www.timesofisrael.com/gazas-only-power-plant-shuts-down-over-fuel-shortage/     Other NewsGlobal response to Pope’s call to pray for South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo http://www.anglicannews.org/news/2018/02/global-response-to-popes-call-to-pray-for-south-sudan-and-the-democratic-republic-of-congo.aspx     Framing the sex abuse crisis in light of ecclesiology and church reform https://international.la-croix.com/news/framing-the-sex-abuse-crisis-in-light-of-ecclesiology-and-church-reform/6974  

Dear Readers Each month Pope Francis shares his prayer intentions.  The intention is to say “No” to corruption. Next Sunday many of us will be watching the Super Bowl. The Archbishops of Boston and Philadelphia made friendly wagers on the game. Putin congratulated Patriarch of Russia on his anniversary and Pope Francis visited the Ukrainians in Rome last Sunday. Vatican diplomat speaks out about nukes and Trump’s migrant rhetoric. Last week the world remembered the Holocaust in a time of rising hatred. Vatican and China relations are in the news again. Palestinian’s’ humanitarian crisis once again is brought to our attention. These and other news items you will find in today’s report. Brother Bill Martyn, SA   Praying in Jerusalem for Christian unity http://www.custodia.org/default.asp?id=779&id_n=34477   Pope Francis’ prayer intention for February: Say “No” to Corruption http://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2018-02/pope-francis-prayer-intention-february-corruption.html#play   Philadelphia, Boston bishops make friendly wager on Super Bowl http://catholicphilly.com/2018/01/news/local-news/philadelphia-boston-bishops-make-friendly-wager-on-super-bowl/   Putin to congratulate Patriarch Kirill on anniversary of his enthronement on Thursday http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=14195   Visiting Ukrainians, Pope Praises Women of Faith, Prays for Peace http://www.cnewa.org/blog.aspx?ID=1238&pagetypeID=34&sitecode=HQ&pageno=1   Vatican diplomat calls Pope ‘prudent’ on nukes, Trump migrant rhetoric ‘not Christian’ https://cruxnow.com/church-in-the-usa/2018/01/29/vatican-diplomat-calls-pope-prudent-nukes-trump-migrant-rhetoric-not-christian/   World remembers Holocaust in a time of rising hatred http://www.ecumenicalnews.com/article/world-remembers-holocaust-in-a-time-of-rising-hatred/60492.htm   Pope: Responsibility and common memory against indifference and anti-Semitism http://www.asianews.it/notizie-it/Papa:-Responsabilit%C3%A0-e-memoria-comune-contro-l%E2%80%99indifferenza-e-l%E2%80%99anti-semitismo-42956.html   Pope Attacks Antisemitism: Indifference is ‘Dangerously Contagious Virus’ that Is the Root of Hatred https://zenit.org/articles/pope-on-antisemitism-indifference-is-dangerously-contagious-virus-that-is-the-root-of-hatred/   Pope sends Maltese archbishop to investigate Chilean bishop in abuse cover up case https://www.ncronline.org/news/accountability/pope-sends-maltese-archbishop-investigate-chilean-bishop-abuse-cover-case   ECUMENICAL PATRIARCH DECLARES BACKING FOR TURKEY CAMPAIGN IN SYRIA http://www.thetablet.co.uk/news/8481/ecumenical-patriarch-declares-backing-for-turkey-campaign-in-syria   Vatican accused of ‘selling out’ Catholic Church to China https://ilsismografo.blogspot.com/2018/01/vaticano-vatican-accused-of-selling-out.html   There’s a lack of trust between China and the Vatican https://international.la-croix.com/news/there-s-a-lack-of-trust-between-china-and-the-vatican/6823   Catholic Bishops' Pro-Life Chairman Calls Senate Failure to Pass Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act "Appalling" https://ilsismografo.blogspot.com/2018/01/stati-uniti-catholic-bishops-pro-life_30.html  

One hundred ten years ago tomorrow (18 January 1908) the first Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was observed.

Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton, Presiding Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America speaks out about President Donald Trump's remarks concerning immigration.

By Br. Bill Martyn, SA Pope to mark inaugural World Day of the Poor on Sunday

By Br. Bill Martyn, SA USCCB arose out of national crisis

By Br. Bill Martyn, SA French bishops reform, plan for the future