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.
Rome & the World: Hungarian defends rosary • bring back Blood • martyred by Nazis 80 years ago
Credit: Kara Gebhardt | Shutterstock
While Catholic Twitter went wild over a recent article in The Atlantic claiming that the Rosary has become a symbol of violent right-wing extremism in the United States, Hungary's ambassador to the Holy See, Eduard Habsburg, also defended the devotion. "The Rosary is a weapon, not a political weapon, certainly, but one of the most powerful weapons of spiritual combat that exists," he told ACI Prensa. "We know that the devil fears it, because it is humble and simple," said the ambassador, who does not hide his faith on social networks. The diplomat said that he always carries a rosary in his pocket and prays it daily with his family. The Vatican scholar also referred to Colonel Graf, head of the Swiss Guards, talking about the “Combat Rosary” and encouraging his soldiers to pray it during their shifts. Meanwhile, many Internet users supported this Marian prayer, ironically declaring themselves "rosary extremists."
ACI Prensa, Spanish
After COVID, it's time to bring back receiving Communion from the chalice
"(A)fter two years … I fear we are forgetting what is so precious about Christ’s blood and the reception of Communion in both forms," worries theologian Terence Sweeney. In this article, he expresses his belief that "the time has come to reconsider this sacramental restriction and recommit to the preciousness of receiving (Communion) from the chalice of salvation," after the restrictions of COVID-19. According to him, receiving Communion “under both kinds is a deeper understanding of the Eucharistic sign." He emphasizes the "symbolic importance of the wine," which expresses "the rejuvenating joy of communion in Christ. Wine is excessive, just as God's love for us is," adds Sweeney. In these times "of scandal and anger, of anxiety and grief, we need the joy of reception again. We need to remember what is most precious," he insists. For the University of Pennsylvania professor, drinking from the chalice would help with “Eucharistic renewal, societal renewal and ecclesial renewal.”
America Magazine, English
Fr. Reinisch executed by the Nazis 80 years ago
Franz Reinisch was reportedly the only priest who refused to take an oath of allegiance to Hitler. Nearly 80 years after the execution of this Austrian priest on August 21, 1942, the Spanish-language Catholic media outlet Omnes chose to retrace the life of this man recognized as a martyr of conscience. The article highlights the fact that only a small number of the 18 million soldiers in the Wehrmacht chose to reject the oath of allegiance to Hitler. “Along with Franz Jägerstätter and Josef Mayr-Nusser, beatified in 2007 and 2017 respectively, the best known of them is Franz Reinisch, whose beatification process has already passed the diocesan phase,” Omnes reports. In 1939, the Austrian, born in 1903 and ordained in 1928, said about the oath: "It is a sin, because it would be like taking an oath to a criminal... Our conscience forbids us to follow an authority that brings to the world only crimes and murders for the sake of conquest.”Forbidden to preach in September 1940, he was called up for military service, but declared that he would not take the oath. He was taken to prison and sentenced to death.
Omnes, Spanish
