Rome & the World: story of priest who survived Pentecost massacre • liturgical ‘I prefer this’ • & more …

The official media of the Holy See, Vatican News, interviews the perfect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the future Cardinal, Arthur Roche. He comments on the controversy that arose after the publication of the Motu proprio Traditionis custodes, restricting the possibility of celebrating Mass according to the 1962 Missal. "It's a tragedy that there is this controversy today, the so-called ‘battles’ over liturgy, because the Eucharist is, by its nature, the sacrament that unites the entire Church," he explains, while pointing to "the growth in individualism and in relativism, that ‘I prefer this,’” attitude, as one of the problems of our time. However, the perfect reminds us that "the celebration of the Mass is not something to be a matter of personal choice. We celebrate as a community, as the entire Church and the Church throughout the centuries, has always regulated the form of liturgy that it has come to believe is more pertinent for a particular age.” The Briton further assures that Pope Francis is not against the Latin Mass and that the post-conciliar liturgy does admit Latin. The Motu proprio actually wanted to regulate the use of the 1962 Missal and stop its promotion, "because it was clear that the Council, the Bishops of the Council, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were putting forward a new liturgy for the vital life of the Church, for its vitality. And that's really very important. And to resist that is, is something that is really quite serious, too.”

Vatican News, English

As the congregation of St. Francis Xavier parish in Owo, southern Nigeria, was saying the concluding prayers of the Pentecost Mass on June 5, unknown gunmen entered the church. Father Andrew Abayomi, who was presiding over the celebration, recounts the horrific incident to Spanish magazine Alfa y Omega. He said he did not initially understand what was happening and that the faithful managed to “bravely” close the front doors when the gunmen arrived. However, attackers managed to enter through a side door and continue their massacre. They were approaching the sacristy, where the priest and others had taken refuge, when the attacker’s gun jammed. When, 20 minutes later, a congregant who had managed to escape told them it was safe to leave, the priest and other faithful stepped out into a horrible scene, as their parish was filled with blood and bodies. They placed the wounded in various cars and made several trips to the hospital. "The persecution of Christians is very real" and "anyone who says otherwise is being dishonest," said the Bishop of Ondo, Jude Arogundade, about the situation in Nigeria. Father Abayomi compares their experience to the first persecuted Christians, saying that "God has saved us to tell the true story and to be the strength of the beaten families." 

Alfa y Omega, Spanish

After cancelling the Lebanon trip and the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan trip, will Pope Francis cancel his trip to Canada scheduled for July 24-30? This is the question asked by the Canadian media outlet Presence, which recalls that the Pope is suffering from his knee. "We have daily contact with the Vatican. We do not have any signals that the pace should be slowed down. We are preparing for the trip to take place," said the Archdiocese of Quebec's director of communications. "We are taking great care to ensure that the Holy Father has significant rest periods and that his participation in events is limited in time - about an hour in most cases," said Neil MacCarthy, senior communications manager for the papal visit to Canada. 

Presence, French

“It was the most dramatic and fast-paced upheaval of the social and architectural fabric in the history of this country.” This is how Jane Whitaker, professor of social and architectural history at Oxford University, describes the way British monks and nuns were expelled from their monasteries after King Henry VIII's decision to make an abrupt break with Rome in the 16th century. To summarize: in 1535, there were about 850 monastic houses across England and Wales. By 1540 there were none left! Today, less than a hundred monasteries have been preserved. Some surviving buildings have become cathedrals or colleges for universities, while others have fallen into ruin. These remains are like scars, reminiscent of that dark period. 

Crux, English   

On Saturday, June 18, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, will beatify 27 martyrs at the Cathedral of Seville in southern Spain. The beatification was decreed by Pope Francis in December 2019 but could not be celebrated beforehand due to the health restrictions from the pandemic. The group that will beatified is made up of 25 Dominican friars, martyred in the cities of Almagro and Almeira, one lay journalist killed in Almeria, and one Dominican nun who died in Huéscar, all between the summer of 1936 and the first months of 1937. “I have worked so hard and wished so much for the greatness of these martyr brothers of ours that for me this Saturday will be a happy day, a day that I have longed for so much and for many years,” said Dominican Friar Baldomero de Prado Álvarez who joined the congregation at 14 years old.

Leon Noticias, Spanish