Rome & the World: words’ weight in Kyiv • Guadalupe’s mission • & more …

In an interview with Famiglia Cristiana, Bishop Vitalii Kryvytskyi of Kyiv thanked Pope Francis for his prayers for peace. He warns: "Some of the news about the situation here is false and causes damage to the country.” In particular, he explains that they are causing investors to withdraw their money from his country, leading to a devaluation of the currency and an increase in prices. "Many people are considering emigrating," he said. He therefore asks politicians and journalists not to forget "that every word has a weight and a consequence."

Famiglia Cristiana, Italian.

A collective of nine Catholic groups launched a campaign denouncing the Church in Italy for “institutional failure” in confronting clergy sexual abuse, and called for an independent national inquiry. The campaign is called “Beyond the Great Silence” and is accompanied by the hashtag, #ItalyChurchToo, inspired by the #MeToo movement against sexual harassment. The groups reject the assertion from some Italian Catholic leaders that the Church has the resources to investigate itself. "Only independent investigations (elsewhere) have overcome the Church's resistance to recognise its own institutional failure," said anti-abuse advocate Ludovica Eugenio. Italian bishops should decide in May if an inquiry will be held and what form it will take. 

Reuters, English

The Archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, spoke out against what he believes is the wrongful arrest of a Sri Lankan activist, Shehan Malaka Gamage, who questioned whether politicians used the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings to force a change of govenrment. The archbishop says the government is targeting those who criticize its failure to properly investigate this attack and called the arrest an “indecent and thuggish act” that resembled “an abduction.” Gamage was forcibly taken away from his home on February 14 and was then released on bail the following day, some hours after Cardinal Ranjith spoke.

AP, English  

The Jubilee of 2031 will mark 500 years since the apparitions of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico. Speaking to Rome Reports, Rodrigo Guerra López, Secretary for the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, says that the legacy of Guadalupe will help reestablish social cohesion in the Americas. He explains how Mary of Guadalupe “helped reconcile two peoples in conflict with each other,” the Spanish and the Indigenous Peoples, and that model could still be useful today. “Mary of Guadalupe is not only a devotion for private life, but a blueprint to rebuild the social fabric and to promote a sincere Christian conversion that will allow us to prevent violence among our societies,” the Secretary explains. He insists that now is the time for the Church in Latin America to begin this journey of unity to prepare for the Jubilee ahead.

Rome Reports, English

Bishop Dominic Hoang Tien Dat was ordained bishop of the diocese of Hung Hoa on Monday, February 14, 2022, the day of St. Valentine, martyr and saint of love. He took as his motto the words "Unity and Love." "Unity in Christianity is being one with Christ through the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Love is the essence of our God, God is love. Unity and love are inseparable," explained Bishop Alphonso Nguyen Huu Long of the Diocese of Vinh, who presided over the episcopal ordination Mass. With more than 300,000 faithful in more than 10 provinces, the diocese of Hung Hoa, which the new bishop will lead, has a great history and has been trying to build communities of solid faith and fervent worship for 25 years. Aware of the task ahead, Bishop Hoang Tien Dat said that "although man is imperfect, weak, God chooses us and calls each one of us with love and I know that he will guide each step of my vocation."

Fides, English