Every day, Aleteia offers a selection of articles written by the international press about the Church and the major issues that concern Catholics around the world. The opinions and views expressed in these articles are not those of the editors.
1Victim and executioner together: the scandal of peace at the Via Crucis
Two women, Albina and Irina, one Russian, the other Ukrainian, will carry the cross on Good Friday at the Colosseum -- an image that has caused scandal in recent days, but that Father Antonio Spadaro, Jesuit director of La Civiltà Cattolica and close to Pope Francis, defends. "This is not the first time that the aggressor and the aggressed have been immersed by Pope Francis in the same prayer," he stresses, referring to the consecration of Ukraine and Russia to the immaculate heart of Mary on March 25. "The Argentine pontiff is not a politician, he is a pastor," he insists. These "two friends that the war has labeled as enemies," will not say "a single word." "Not even a request for forgiveness, or anything like that. Nothing," They will be content to be "under the cross to carry it, scandalously together," continues Spadaro. For the Jesuit Father, this is "a prophetic sign in a time of thick darkness. It is terrible and scandalous, but this is what preaching the Gospel is all about."
Il manifesto, Italian
2Ukraine: a symptom of the defeat of Christianity, according to Andrea Riccardi
In a long interview granted to the Spanish Catholic website Religion Digital, the founder of Sant'Egidio, Andrea Riccardi, comments on the conflict in Ukraine as a "fratricide" that sounds like a defeat for Christianity. "In Europe, nationalism has spread, which in each country has different characteristics, but always makes the other feel like a usurper and oneself as a victim," he laments. The professor of history analyzes this failure as part of the more widespread decline of Christianity, which he sees symbolically represented in the burning of the Cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris in 2019. Today, he considers, the crisis comes from "within," as the world is "less anti-Christian than in the past." A sign for him that the Church must "profoundly rethink itself" by becoming more inclusive, synodal and supportive.
Religion Digital, Spanish
3Holy Week in Iraq a sign that Christians are slowly returning to their homes
The celebration of Palm Sunday took on special significance in Iraq this year, particularly in the Christian city of Qaraqosh, where thousands were able to take part in the procession. The Easter Triduum rites are also expected to draw large crowds to other Christian villages in the Nineveh Plain, which was occupied by Daesh between 2014 and 2017. Interviewed by Crux, Iraqi priest Naim Shoshandy, who currently resides in Spain, explains that he had to flee the country during the terrorist campaign, as his brother was murdered. “I carry suffering in my heart, I was born in war. But I thank God because what we saw on Sunday shows us that Christianity is alive in Iraq, and not only in Qaraqosh, but in the whole Nineveh Plain, in Mosul, in Baghdad," he explains, seeing this rebirth of the Christian faith as a fruit of Pope Francis' visit to the country in 2021.
Crux, English
4The world's oldest Salesian dies in São Paulo
"It is with great sadness that I announce the death of our dear brother, Father Ladislau Klinicki. May God grant him the reward of the faithful servant." This is how Father José Adilson Morgado, director of the Salesian Community of Santa Terezinha of São Paulo, announced the death of the oldest Salesian in the world. Father Ladislau Klinicki, born in Kursk, then the Russian Empire, in 1914, died at the age of 107. He was ordained a priest in Warsaw in 1943. In his memoirs, he recounted his arrest in Rome when the city was occupied by the Nazis and he was staying in a Salesian house. After interrogations and thanks to the mercy of God, the Germans themselves came to the conclusion that the accusations against him were false. He arrived in Brazil in 1968 and after having held several positions in different churches and religious institutions he went to live at the Community of Santa Terezinha in 1990, at the age of 76. Driven by the power of divine mercy, he always said: "Jesus, I trust in you."
Vatican News, Portuguese
Archbishop of Canterbury backs removal of slave trader memorial at Jesus College, Cambridge University
The leader of the Anglican Church, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, has intervened for a second time over a contested memorial in the chapel at Jesus College, Cambridge University. “Memorials to slave traders do not belong in places of worship,” Welby said, commenting on the legal battle over a memorial plaque to Tobias Rustat, a 17th-century benefactor who invested in slavery. According to The Guardian the Archbishop “gave his unequivocal support to those seeking its removal and suggested the Church of England still had a long way to go on its journey towards racial justice.” Jesus College submitted a petition to the local diocese requesting the removal of the memorial from the chapel saying its presence was having a negative impact on the mission and ministry of the church. However, last month a church court denied the petition saying that it was based on a “false narrative.” Earlier this year Welby had already questioned why it was proving to be so difficult to remove the memorial.
The Guardian, English
