Category: News

Pope Benedict XVI / Paul Badde/EWTN

CNA Newsroom, Jan 19, 2023 / 08:40 am (CNA).

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI has posthumously defended Christianity against claims of intolerance “in the name of tolerance.”

In a new book published in Italy, the late pontiff warns of a “radical manipulation of human beings” and “the distortion of the sexes by gender ideology” in the name of tolerance.

Rejecting the argument of a German theologian about monotheism being linked to intolerance, Benedict counters that “the authentic counterweight to every form of intolerance” is, in fact, Christ crucified.

The late pontiff’s contribution, dated December 2018, is published in a new collection of texts by the theologian pope, touted by the Italian publisher as a spiritual “quasi-testament.”

The 190-page volume is called “What is Christianity?” It contains 16 contributions, four of which were previously unpublished.

According to CNA Deutsch, CNA’s German-language news partner, all of the texts were written after Benedict’s resignation in 2013.

Apart from his reflection on monotheism and modern intolerance against Christianity, the texts cover several other theological topics, from intercommunion to the reform of the liturgy and the Church’s dialogue with Islam.

Several of these issues have triggered vehement responses from German bishops and theologians and put the Church in Germany at odds with the Vatican — and the late pontiff.

One such virulent topic is the question of intercommunion between Protestants and Catholics — which leading German bishops have pushed for, despite Vatican objections.

The late pontiff reflects on the sacrament of the Eucharist in his essay on intercommunion. He explains why real ecumenism needs to account for the differences between Protestants and Catholics, rather than papering over these.

Responses from German circles against such explanations and his own person in the past were one reason why — according to the publisher — the pope emeritus chose to publish posthumously, and in Italian first.

null / Tudoran Andrei/Shutterstock

Rome Newsroom, Jan 18, 2023 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

The persecution of Christians is at its highest point in three decades, according to the latest report from advocacy group Open Doors.

The World Watch List, released by Open Doors on Jan. 18, reported that, overall, the number of Christians facing persecution worldwide remained steady in 2022 at approximately 360 million.

In a list of the 50 countries with the most persecution, North Korea returned to the first spot in 2022. The year prior, Afghanistan had landed in the top ranking following the Taliban’s takeover of the country’s government.

Afghanistan ranks ninth in the latest list because the country’s Christians have either been killed, fled, or are in strict hiding, according to Open Doors’ Italian director Cristian Nani.

The few Christians who remain in Afghanistan are living like the early Church, Nani said at a Jan. 18 presentation of the World Watch List at Italy’s Chamber of Deputies. “They live the faith in secret because it’s the only way to live it in safety.”

Nani explained that today there is an increasing phenomenon of a “refugee” church, due to the number of Christians fleeing persecution.

The other countries classified as having “extreme” levels of Christian persecution this year are Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Iran, Sudan, and India.

In sub-Saharan Africa, anti-Christian violence has reached “unprecedented intensity,” the report said.

Nigeria continues to be the epicenter of massacres with 5,014 Christians killed in 2022, nearly 90% of the total number of Christians killed worldwide — 5,621.

Almost 90% of kidnappings carried out against Christians in 2022 also took place in Nigeria, where Nani said there is a kidnapping “business” taking place.

He said an all-too-common scenario is the kidnapping of a Christian man’s wife and daughters, who will frequently endure sexual violence and sex trafficking before they are released for a ransom.

In addition to its Watch List, Nani said Open Doors is working to find “radical solutions” to persecution and to help persecuted Christians find healing and forgiveness, and to “break the circle of violence.”

Andrea Benzo, special envoy for the protection of religious freedom in Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, called Christian persecution not just a lack of freedom of worship but a failure of society.

He noted the popularity of the subject of “rights” in Italy and other Western countries while the human right to religious liberty is ignored.

The World Watch List also underlined continuing Christian persecution in China, which is No. 16 on the list.

China, it said, “is forging an international alliance to redefine human rights,” while more countries adopt “the Chinese model of centralized control of the freedom of religion.”

A member of Italy’s Chamber of Deputies, Andrea Delmastro Della Vedove, said Italy needs to have the courage to propose the principles of religious liberty in countries where it is not properly respected.

He said the Italian government should put pressure on the international community to promote religious pluralism.

Delmastro is the president of an inter-parliamentary group for the protection of the religious freedom of Christians formed in 2019 by the right-wing party Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy), part of the coalition now in power in Italy.

He asked people to consider what lands on the front pages of newspapers and asked: “What could our abandoned brothers and sisters in the Middle East and China think about that?”

Pope Francis asked for prayers for persecuted Christians after his weekly public audience on Jan. 18. He said he is praying for Father Isaac Achi, a Catholic priest who died after bandits set fire to his parish rectory in northern Nigeria on Sunday.

null / Shutterstock

Rome Newsroom, Jan 18, 2023 / 11:30 am (CNA).

The Italian Psychoanalytic Society (SPI) has sent a letter to Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni expressing “serious concerns” over the use of puberty blockers.

Sarantis Thanopulos, the president of the society, called for “rigorous scientific discussion” of gender issues in young people, noting that the “current experimentation” without careful scientific evaluation raises serious concerns.

In the letter published on the society’s website Jan. 12, Thanopulos outlined contraindications to the puberty-blocking drugs that should be seriously considered.

“The diagnosis of ‘gender dysphoria’ in prepubescent age is based on the statements of the individuals concerned and cannot be subjected to careful evaluation while sexual identity development is still in progress,” he said.

The psychoanalyst noted that “only a minority proportion of youths who state that they do not identify with their gender confirm this position in adolescence after puberty.”

Thanopulos argued that “suspending or preventing a person’s psychosexual development pending the maturation of a stable identity definition is contradictory to the fact that this development is a central factor in the process of definition.”

“Even in cases where the declared ‘gender dysphoria’ in prepubescence is confirmed in adolescence, the stalled development cannot result in a body that is sexually different from the original one,” he said.

The SPI president offered that the Italian Psychoanalytical Society will gladly contribute to future scientific discussion of the treatment of gender issues in young people.

The Italian Psychoanalytic Society was founded in 1925 and is a member of the International Psychoanalytical Association and of the European Federation of Psychoanalysis.

In 2020, the Italian Medicines Agency made hormone replacement therapy free of charge nationwide for people who received a diagnosis of “gender dysphoria.”

Maddalena Mosconi, a psychologist who works with minors in Rome, told Elle Magazine in December 2022 her clinic has seen a surge of cases of gender incongruence in kids in recent years.

“From 2018 to 2021 we had a 315% increase in the number of tracked cases,” Mosconi said.

“The pandemic and its consequences, such as lockdown and isolation, confronted many kids with the question of ‘Who am I?’, ‘Am I a boy or a girl?’ When they come to us, a journey begins that lasts at least six months with testing and an observation period. Only after that do they start hormone therapy, we are talking about 12- [to] 13-year-old youths, with whom adolescent puberty is paused for 2–3 years, in which we continue to work with psychotherapy sessions.”

According to 2017 data from the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights, a person had to be at least 18 to access transgender hormone therapy in Italy.

In other EU states, the children can access transgender hormone therapy at younger ages, such as at 12 years old in the Netherlands and at 15 years old in Denmark and Slovenia.

Dr. Alessandra Fisher, an endocrinologist in Florence, told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica in 2021 that according to the current guidelines in Italy hormone therapy can be started before the age of 16.

“Rather than indicating a chronological age to start hormone therapy, the guidelines recommend that sufficient cognitive maturity has been reached to understand that the effects of the treatment are only partially reversible. This maturity typically occurs at age 16 but can be reached later or earlier,” Fisher said.

null / Shutterstock

Denver, Colo., Jan 17, 2023 / 16:23 pm (CNA).

The Catholic bishops of Scotland have warned that a proposal to ban what critics characterize as gay or transgender “conversion therapy” would have “totalitarian” effects and in effect would ban mainstream religions such as Catholicism.  

Legislators, the bishops said, are in the process of drafting a bill that would “outlaw pastoral care, prayer, parental guidance and advice relating to sexual orientation, expression of sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression” except for what state officials believe is “affirmative care.” 

Its definition of “conversion therapy” is so vague, the bishops warned, that the proposed law would “create a chilling effect” and could even criminalize “advice or opinion given in good faith.”

“These proposals, if passed by the Scottish Parliament, would criminalize mainstream religious pastoral care, parental guidance, and medical or other professional intervention relating to sexual orientation, unless it was approved by the State as acceptable,” the bishops warned Jan. 16.

“Priests could be banned from working in Scotland, the Church could lose its charitable status, and classroom and pastoral teachers could lose their jobs,” they said. “There would be uncertainty about the future of Catholic schools and children could be taken away from their parents. As the first educators of their children, parents alone have the right to advise and guide their children in such matters.”

The bishops stressed the need to be “pastorally sensitive” to people who identify as homosexual and that they deserve “compassion and particular care and support in the challenges that come with all that life brings them.” The bishops also backed existing legislation protecting people from physical and verbal abuse.

The Scottish government, a coalition of the Scottish National Party and the Green Party, last year pledged to ban conversion therapy with legislation “that is as comprehensive as possible” if U.K. proposals do not go “far enough.”

It appointed a group of experts to make recommendations about possible legislation. The experts included the LGBT activist group Stonewall and Dr. Susan Brown, a minister with the Church of Scotland, a Presbyterian body that has broken with historic Christian teaching on several matters of sexual morality and marriage. 

The expert group’s proposal, titled “Ending Conversion Practices,” was published in October last year. It defined “conversion practices” as “any treatment, practice, or effort that aims to change, suppress, and/or eliminate a person’s sexual orientation, gender identity, and/or gender expression.” It argued for a broad legal definition to cover all practices. It insisted there should be no legal exceptions. It said a person cannot consent to such practices.

The proposal argued that “conversion therapy” infringes upon individual human rights, “in particular the victim’s freedom from discrimination and freedom from non-consensual medical treatment,” the Herald Scotland reported.

It recommended criminalizing those who practice these alleged activities as well as those who promote and advertise them. Health care professionals and faith leaders involved in the practice should lose their licenses and involved charities should also face penalties, it said. Parents who promote such activities to their children could lose custody.

The proposal suggested that individuals “suppress their own identity” out of desires “to be accepted and to fit into societal norms where family, faith, and community are integral parts of life and self-identity.”

“[A]nyone who proposes this teaching to someone with same-sex attraction or gender identity issues would face sanctions,” the bishops said. “This would apply even if the person with these issues wanted help to follow Church teaching, since this law would say they cannot consent to this teaching.”

The Scottish bishops cited Pope Francis’ Jan. 9 remarks to international diplomats at the Vatican: 

“There is a risk of drifting into what more and more appears as an ideological totalitarianism that promotes intolerance towards those who dissent from certain positions claimed to represent ‘progress,’ but in fact would appear to lead to an overall regression of humanity, with the violation of freedom of thought and freedom of conscience,” the pope said.

The expert committee’s proposal, according to the Scottish bishops, “seeks to extend the scope of such legislation in a way that is gravely concerning in regard to freedom of religion and expression.”

Another body critical of the proposed ban is The Christian Institute, a nondenominational Christian charity and advocacy group.

Simon Calvert, a deputy director at the Christian Institute, warned that the proposal, if legislated, would be “the most totalitarian conversion therapy ban in the world on the people of Scotland.”

“LGBT people are rightly protected from physical and verbal abuse by existing law just like anyone else. But these proposals go much, much further,” he said in a December 2022 statement.

King’s Counsel Aidan O’Neill, writing in a legal opinion for The Christian Institute, argued the expert group’s proposal “would have the undoubted effect of criminalizing much mainstream pastoral work of churches.” O’Neill said that any proposed legislation could be challenged on the grounds it is beyond the power of the Scottish Parliament.

Calvert said government leaders should follow O’Neill’s advice.

“They may not like what Christians have to say about sexuality, or what feminists have to say about gender identity, but they can’t just criminalize opinions they don’t like,” he said.

On Tuesday the U.K. government announced it intended to introduce a conversion therapy ban to Parliament.

Biagio Conte, a lay missionary based in Palermo, is seen doing a pilgrimage in a almost deserted street on March 20, 2020, in Palermo, Italy. Conte died Jan. 12, 2023, and his Jan. 17, 2023, funeral in Palermo was attended by thousands. / Photo by Tullio Puglia/Getty Images

CNA Newsroom, Jan 17, 2023 / 15:30 pm (CNA).

Thousands of people attended the Jan. 17 funeral of Biagio Conte, the lay missionary founder of the Hope and Charity Mission who was also known as a “modern-day St. Francis.”

Corrado Lorefice, archbishop of Palermo, Italy, and primate of Sicily, was the main celebrant of the Mass, which was concelebrated by numerous bishops and priests.

The funeral was held in the Palermo cathedral, which was filled to capacity.

According to official figures, approximately 1,500 faithful were present inside the church, and at least 9,000 followed the ceremony on giant screens placed outside and around the cathedral.

In his homily, Archbishop Lorefice stressed that Conte “prayed with trust in God, who was the compass, the North Star of his existence.”

Conte, 59, died Jan. 12 from colon cancer, according to Italian religious news outlet SIR-Agenzia d’informazione.

Lorefice thanked God for the gift of Conte “to the city of Palermo, to the Church, and to the world,” because “he was a faithful lay Christian, a brother who believed in the Word of God to the end.”

The archbishop noted that Conte’s life was a “simple and powerful testimony of his clear love for the Gospel” and he fought peacefully with fasting to demonstrate that “it’s possible to combat all forms of violence, all mafia structures and forms, and not be violent.”

Father Giuseppe Vitrano highlighted the witness of Conte, who lived in Palermo, the capital of Sicily, “a land martyred by the Mafia,” adding that “the Mafia can be defeated with the sanctity of life.”

In the wake of Conte’s death, Lorefice invited people to pray and to “make concrete gestures of charity, reconciliation, and peace.”

Brief biography

Biagio Conte was born in Palermo in 1963.

At age 16, he began working at a construction company owned by his family.

He later moved to Florence and then lived as a hermit in the mountains of inland Sicily.

Later, he made a pilgrimage on foot to Assisi and his story spread throughout the media in all of Italy.

Before going to live in Africa as a missionary, Conte stopped by Palermo to say goodbye to his relatives, but when he saw the situation of the poor people in the city, he decided to stay, and in 1993 he created the Hope and Charity Mission.

From that moment on, various homes for the city’s poor were built, including a shelter for women where at least a thousand women over time have found a place to live with a roof over their heads.

Conte, often referred to as “Brother Biagio,” wore a brown robe and carried a staff and was also noted for his hunger strikes and protests asking the civil authorities to provide greater care for those in need.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Cardinal Joseph Zen, former bishop of Hong Hong, attends the funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Jan. 5, 2023, in St. Peter's Square. / Credit: Diane Montagna

Rome, Italy, Jan 17, 2023 / 07:21 am (CNA).

Cardinal Joseph Zen has said that he is “very concerned” about what could happen with the ongoing Synod on Synodality and that he is praying that “our pope will have greater wisdom.”

In an interview with the Italian newspaper Il Giornale published on Jan. 17, Zen said he hopes the synod will change from its current course.

“I fear that the synod is repeating the same mistake of the Dutch Church 50 years ago when the bishops backtracked and accepted the faithful to lead the Church; then their number decreased,” he said.

The retired bishop of Hong Kong was likely referring to the Pastoral Council of Noordwijkerhout held in the Netherlands between 1966 and 1970, which called for Church authority to be carried out in dialogue, for women to assume ecclesial roles, and for priestly celibacy to be optional in the Church.

The council followed the publication of the “Dutch Catechism,” a text so controversial that Pope Paul VI asked a commission of cardinals to examine its presentation of Catholic teaching. 

In the interview, Cardinal Zen also reflected on his private meeting with Pope Francis when he was allowed to travel to Rome for the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI earlier this month, calling it “a wonderful meeting, very warm.”

“I thanked the pope for the good bishop appointed to Hong Kong in 2021,” Zen said, referring to Hong Kong Bishop Stephen Chow.

He said Pope Francis replied: “'I know it well, he is a Jesuit!’”

The cardinal, who turned 91 last week, also told the pope about how he has dedicated his time over the past decade to prison ministry in Hong Kong and has baptized several prisoners: “Francis said that he was very happy for my ministry.”

Zen himself was arrested last year under Hong Kong’s national security law. He said that Catholics in China are living in a difficult situation and “we must never forget to pray in these difficult times.”

“Many faithful bear witness to their faith conscientiously but we know that when the situation becomes difficult, some think only of their own interests. We continue to uphold truth, justice, and charity. Darkness will not win over the light,” he said.

Pilot Raúl Ruiz. / Credit: Raúl Ruiz

ACI Prensa Staff, Jan 16, 2023 / 04:00 am (CNA).

Passengers are used to the pilot getting on the intercom to give them flight information, but during a recent flight to Rome, Spanish pilot Raúl Ruiz, 50, took to the microphone to pay tribute to Pope Benedict XVI, speaking of his great legacy to the surprise and then applause of those aboard.

Born in Madrid, Ruiz explained he has a “Granadian” heart — he used to live in Otívar, Granada — but has lived in Seville for 15 years with his wife and three children.

He entered the General Air Academy in San Javier, in the Murcia region of Spain, in 1992, where he was greatly influenced by the priests of the Military Archdiocese. The pilot prays the rosary before going to the airport. However, he inherited his faith from his parents, he noted, who were “both catechists and blessed examples of Christian life.” 

Asked by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister news agency, about his courageous gesture, Ruiz replied that for him “those who are persecuted for their faith in many parts of the world, where they give and offer their own lives, they are courageous.”

They are “strong, without doubting, for Christ and for us. It’s easy here,” the pilot said.

‘I had to do something’

Ruiz explained that “in the afternoon of the previous day, listening to the radio, and at night, reading press articles about Benedict XVI, various things said stayed with me that made me meditate.”

The following day, Jan. 5, he was scheduled to fly the plane from Seville to Rome, the same day as Benedict XVI’s funeral.

“I was also thinking about the coincidence of flying to Rome for the funeral of Benedict XVI, since I had the great fortune of being one of the pilots who took Their Majesties the King and Queen of Spain to the funeral of St. John Paul II."

“This was a sign,” the pilot thought. “I was moved to see how so many people went to Rome to say farewell, spending their savings and even their vacation days, they were doing something and I wasn’t doing anything.”

After “soaking in” the wisdom “of such a clear pope, so simple and at the same time so direct, so courageous that he even decided to resign out of his own conviction,” he felt the need to dedicate something to him “and share it with all the people who accompanied us on the flight.”

The pilot wanted to show them that “they were not alone; I also wanted to be there, a humble servant who accompanied them with my heart.”

“Although later I realized that the only one who was alone was me, and that somehow I would ‘hide’ in their suitcases to bid farewell to Benedict XVI.”

‘Everyone’s words’

Ruiz told ACI Prensa that “it has been incredible, I have received a multitude of messages, even from people I don’t even know but who in one way or another have gotten my phone number.”

“I never thought that my words would be heard by so many people and that someone would thank me for listening to it, which is what is most moving for me.”

“Knowing that we are so many soldiers,” he continued, “who are not heard but who are there, that we form the most powerful army in the world with an invincible weapon, prayer,” he added.

Later Ruiz stressed that “the words I said were everyone’s, I just had the chance to hold the microphone.”

Evangelize by example

In addition, the pilot said that he wasn’t afraid of possible reprisals, since “if someone has to be afraid, it must be evil, seeing so many people praying.”

“When you speak well of a person as exemplary and good as Benedict XVI, no one can be offended, I don’t think anyone was offended,” he explained.

Thus he invited “people who don’t believe to meditate on the existence of God, to think that our civilization is governed by the commandments he gave us and without realizing it, they also accept and defend the Christian life, which is what we live out.”

“Believing in something gives you an advantage over not believing in anything. It is easier to fight for an objective, which is your faith,” he pointed out.

Regarding the apostolate, Raúl assured that “we all evangelize in our work, in our ordinary life. Being good people and good professionals, good friends, good parents.”

‘Benedict filled the void of St. John Paul II’

On the person of Benedict XVI, Ruiz said that “being from the generation of the ’70s, St. John Paul II was a great example for me, so his successor would have it more difficult, there also being less media coverage.”

“This aspect of Benedict XVI, on the other hand, was what most caught my attention. He was direct, clear, serious.”

“For me, Benedict XVI was the pope who achieved the difficult task of filling and overcoming the huge void that St. John Paul II left us,” he concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Police officers attend the scene of a shooting by St. Aloysius Roman Catholic Church on Jan. 14, 2023, in London, England. / Carl Court/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 15, 2023 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

A parish priest of a Catholic church in London where six people —including two children — were injured in a drive-by shooting Saturday described the panic that ensued after the attack.

Father Jeremy Trood said he heard the gunshots Saturday shortly after mourners left St. Aloysius Church in Euston, North London, to release doves following a memorial service for a young woman and her mother who died within a month of one another in November.

“I was inside the church and suddenly there was an enormous bang and people rushed back into the church screaming and saying shots had been fired,” the Catholic priest said, according to Sky News.

“There are no words that can describe what had happened and I can’t imagine why anybody could possibly do such a thing. There were hundreds of people in the church coming out. It was pandemonium.” Shouting and sounds of panic can be heard on a video taken from inside the church.

Shots were fired from a vehicle driving past the church on Saturday at about 1:30 p.m. local time. A funeral Mass for 20-year-old Sara Sanchez and her mother, Fresia Calderon, who died within a month of one another in November, had just ended inside the church.

One of the shooting victims, a 7-year-old girl, was reported to be in stable but life-threatening condition, while a 48-year-old woman was said to have potentially life-changing injuries.

“It was a shocking incident. People came here to attend a funeral to be with friends and loved ones and mourn together. Instead, they were the victims of a senseless act of violence,” Superintendent Jack Rowlands of the Met Police said during a news conference Saturday.

“We have a significant number of specialist detectives and local officers working around the clock. But we also need the public’s help. We want to hear from anyone who witnessed the incident or has information about it. Your information could be vitally important, no matter how insignificant you think it is,” he said.

“We believe the suspects discharged a shotgun from a moving vehicle, which was a black Toyota C-HR, likely a 2019 model or similar,” Rowlands said.

null / Credit: Shutterstock

CNA Newsroom, Jan 12, 2023 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

The Christian Lawyers Foundation in Spain has begun an online petition calling for the cancellation of “Scandal, Story of an Obsession,” a television series that portrays the relationship between a 42-year-old woman and a 15-year-old boy.

For Christian Lawyers, the series promotes “the most absolute whitewashing of pedophilia," which “crosses the unhealthy line” of sexual attraction towards children.

“Scandal, Story of an Obsession” is a Mediaset España production that began being broadcast on Telecinco Jan. 11.

Christian Lawyers warned that this series will show scenes of explicit content “between an adult and a minor.”

The jurists charged that this production is a “disgusting normalization that minors can enjoy these relationships in which their will is annulled and their vulnerable position is abused.”

In addition, the foundation encouraged people not to tolerate “sexual violence against children being encouraged,” adding that “this abuse is sold as a romantic story to viewers.”

Christian Lawyers emphasized that to make this new series, “they have chosen a woman taking advantage of a boy because they know that society would resist accepting the story of a man abusing a girl.”

Through the signature campaign addressed to Cani Fernández Vicién, president of the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), the foundation asked the Spanish lawyers “to intervene and immediately cancel the broadcast of the ‘Scandal’” series.

According to its website, the CNMC is a public agency independent of the executive branch but subject to the legislature “that promotes and preserves the proper functioning of all markets in the interest of consumers and companies.”

The Christian Lawyers Foundation explained that Fernández must intervene because the series violates the CNMC’s section on content control.

This section “prohibits the broadcast of audiovisual content that could seriously harm the physical, mental, or moral development of minors.”

The same section censors programs “that include scenes of pornography or gratuitous violence.”

Last September, Spain’s minister of equality, Irene Montero, stated that minors “have the right to know that they can love or have sexual relations with whoever they want. Based, of course, on consent.”

HazteOir.org (CitizenGo) called for an urgent protest demanding the resignation of Montero for defending pedophilia. However, Montero, a psychologist and a former congresswoman for the leftist Podemos (We Can) political party, remains in office. 

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The bishops' call for adherence to Catholic "rules" follows an internet controversy over a August 2022 video of a laywoman who seemed to concelebrate Mass with priests. / Katholisches Medienzentrum YouTube screenshot

Denver, Colo., Jan 12, 2023 / 10:10 am (CNA).

Only ordained priests may preside at Mass, and the liturgy should not be “a testing ground for personal projects,” three Swiss bishops have said. Their intervention follows internet controversy over a video of a laywoman who seemed to concelebrate Mass with priests.

“You all know that only the priest validly presides at the Eucharist, grants sacramental reconciliation, and anoints the sick. This is precisely why he is ordained. This rule of the Roman Catholic faith must be respected without restriction in our dioceses,” Bishops Joseph Bonnemain of Chur, Felix Gmür of Basel, and Markus Büchel of Sankt Gallen said in a Jan. 5 letter to people active in pastoral care, the French Catholic newspaper La Croix reported.

Their three dioceses are the predominantly German-speaking dioceses of Switzerland.

The bishops acknowledged people’s desire to participate in the liturgy but said the Catholic liturgy has a universal character, and this especially concerns celebrations of the sacraments.

“Common witness requires common forms and rules. We bishops regularly receive requests and worried reactions: the faithful have a right to religious services that respect the rules and forms of the Church,” their letter said.

Their letter came after controversy over an August 2022 Mass in the Diocese of Chur at which a longtime de facto parish administrator, Zurich resident Monika Schmid, appeared to concelebrate the Eucharist to mark her retirement.

Bishop Bonnemain quickly opened a preliminary canonical investigation into the action on the grounds of alleged liturgical abuse. Canon 907 of the Catholic Church’s canon law bars Catholic deacons and Catholic laity from offering the eucharistic prayer and from performing actions “proper to the celebrating priest.”

Schmid has denied her actions constituted an attempt to concelebrate Mass or to be provocative, the Swiss Catholic internet news portal Cath.ch reported. Schmid acknowledged that as a woman she can’t validly celebrate the Eucharist as ordained Catholic priests do. She said the controversy was based on a video clip uploaded to the internet without the knowledge of all the participants.

“And some are already seeing red when they see a woman at the altar in a photo,” she said.

According to Cath.ch, the video of the Mass “clearly shows her, in civilian clothes, at the altar, surrounded by two priests and pronouncing with them, extending her arms, the text of the consecration of bread and wine and of the eucharistic prayer.”

The text of the eucharistic prayer had been “extensively revised,” La Croix reported in September.

In their letter, the bishops of German-speaking Switzerland said they are aware that some have argued that women participate in the liturgy.

“We hear the requests of many people to be able to participate in the liturgy in other ways, for example as women,” they said. “However, we urge you to not make the sign of unity that is the liturgy into a testing ground for personal projects. It is precisely in the worldwide celebration of the same liturgy that we are Catholic and in solidarity with one another.”

The bishops rejected any claim that they were defending “patriarchal clericalism.” Rather, they said, “priests, in the service and execution of the sacraments, make visible that Jesus Christ himself acts in and through the sacraments.” Priests “keep open, as it were, space for God’s action in the liturgy.”

Schmid, the pastoral worker whose retirement Mass sparked the controversy, was critical of the bishops’ letter. She advocated a liturgical celebration that, in her view, “reaches out to people in their daily lives, in their language and in their understanding of themselves,” Cath.ch reported.

The bishops referred to Pope Francis’ June 2022 apostolic letter Desiderio desideravi. It insists on the quality of liturgies, the careful attention to every aspect of liturgical celebration, and the observance of every rubric.

According to La Croix, the German bishops invited Catholics to use “the diversity of forms for liturgical celebrations that the Church offers … and to use places in the liturgy, such as reflection, preaching, meditation, intercessions, songs, music, and silence, so that you can be part of it personally.”