Today
2. Sudan's violence concerns the Holy See
3. 4 million people in Spain receive social aid from 100,000 Catholics
4. Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Are Not Absolute Values
5. Experiencing Christianity with your nose
6. Archbishop Gomez warns against rise of ‘new political religions’
1Pope Francis pays tribute to the priest who baptized him
Religion Digital, Spanish.
Religion Digital publishes the preface written by Pope Francis of the book "I made the Pope Christian : Don Enrico Pozzoli the Salesian missionary who baptized Pope Francis”. The book is a biography of Don Enrico Pozzoli who baptized Pope Francis and sustained his journey to finding his vocation. The Pope writes that the first person he told about deciding to become a priest was Father Pozzoli, who was very supportive and did not push him to join the Salesian order rather than the Jesuits. It is authored by Ferruccio Pallavera and will be presented in various Italian cities in the coming days.
2The Holy See is concerned about the repression in Sudan
Vatican News, French.
On November 5, 2021 Mgr John Putzer, chargé d'affaires ad interim of the Permanent Mission of the Holy See in Geneva, expressed the Vatican’s concern for the current situation in Sudan during the 32nd special session of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in Geneva. Mgr Putzer called for the respect of human dignity and condemned the use of violence, after a military coup on 25 October resulted in violence and tensions in the country.
3Diocesan Church in Spain: 4 million people receive social aid from more than 100,000 Catholics
Religion en Libertad, Spanish.
The Spanish Episcopal Conference launched on November 7 the annual Diocesan Church Day to remind Catholics that each active parish contributes to creating “one big family” that is the Church in the country. In light of this event they released some numbers detailing the charity work of parishes and the impact the Church has on helping those in need.
4Bishop Barron: Equity, Diversity, and Inclusivity Are Not Absolute Values
Word on Fire, English
None of the three great secular values --equity, diversity, and inclusivity-- are in fact of absolute value. In point of fact, the supreme value that positions every other value, the unsurpassable moral good in which all subordinate goods participate, can be clearly named. It is love, which is willing the good of the other as other, which indeed is the very nature and essence of God. Are equity, diversity, and inclusivity valuable? Yes, precisely in the measure that they are expressions of love; no, in the measure that they stand athwart love.
5Room scents for churches: "Experiencing Christianity with your nose, too”
Katholisch.de, German.
The Bochum Center for Applied Pastoral Research in Germany has created four special room scents for churches. The idea is to approach faith and the church through the sense of smell. Katholisch.de interviews the religious educator who has accompanied the project.
"For us, it's not about a church just smelling different, but also about how you can experience being a Christian with your nose," emphasizes Christopher Pilz.
6Archbishop Gomez warns against rise of ‘new political religions’
Angelus News, English
In a wide-ranging talk on racial inequality and new social justice movements in America, Archbishop José H. Gomez, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, cautioned against the rise of what he described as new political religions.
“With the breakdown of the Judeo-Christian worldview and the rise of secularism, political belief systems based on social justice or personal identity have come to fill the space that Christian belief and practice once occupied,” Gomez said. The new social justice movements, according to Archbishop Gomez, are best understood as “pseudo-religions” and “dangerous substitutes for true religion.”
