Pope condemns murder of Jesuit priests in Mexico
POPE FRANCIS has expressed his “sorrow and dismay” at the murder of two Jesuit priests and a lay person in the remote mountains of northern Mexico last week. Fr Javier Campos, 79, and Fr Joaquín Mora, 80, were reportedly shot inside the church in Cerocahui, in Chihuahua state, along with a tourist guide who was being pursued by an armed individual. The bodies were initially kept by the attacker, but later recovered, and the priests were buried in the churchyard on Sunday. The Pope said this week: “Once again, I repeat that violence does not solve problems but increases unnecessary suffering.”
US football coach is permitted to pray
A HIGH-SCHOOL football coach in the United States who knelt and prayed on the field after games was free to do so under the Constitution, the US Supreme Court ruled by six to three on Monday. Justice Neil Gorsuch, writing for the majority, ruled: “The Constitution and the best of our traditions counsel mutual respect and tolerance, not censorship and suppression, for religious and nonreligious views alike.” The minority of judges had argued that the prayers of the Bremerton (Washington) High School coach Joseph Kennedy had had a coercive effect on students. Mr Kennedy said that the strain of the seven-year dispute had been worth it. “This is just so awesome,” he said.
Visitation of Strasbourg archdiocese begins
POPE FRANCIS has ordered an Apostolic Visitation of the archdiocese of Strasbourg, which began on Monday, Crux Now reports. It is being conducted by Bishop Stanislas Lalanne of Pontoise, assisted by the secretary emeritus of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Clergy, Archbishop Joël Mercier. No official reason has been given, but reports suggest that it concerns, among other things, the management style of the Archbishop (since 2017), the Most Revd Luc Ravel. A press release from the papal embassy in France states: “This pontifical decision is the expression of the solicitude of the Pope Francis with regard to the particular Church of Strasbourg and aims to help it fulfil its mission of witnessing the Risen Lord.”
General Theological Seminary finds a partner
THE General Theological Seminary, in New York is to affiliate with and be governed by the Virginia Theological Seminary in Alexandria, while remaining a distinct institution, the Episcopal News Service (ENS) reports. Details of the plan, now in its final stage, were presented to an online meeting of the Agencies and Board committees of the 80th General Convention, last week (and have been reported in The Living Church). The change, first mooted in January 2021, relies on the Convention approval next month of a resolution to allow the seminary’s trustees to change its constitution. The Acting Dean and President of the General Theological Seminary, the Very Revd Dr Michael DeLashmutt, told ENS that the proposals were driven by financial necessity. “We absolutely needed to find some kind of partner. We can’t make it alone, as a stand-alone institution, which was difficult to realize but also not uncommon among theological schools.”
Presiding Bishop dismayed by NY gun ruling
THE Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States, the Most Revd Michael Curry, and the President of the General Convention’s House of Deputies, the Revd Gay Clark Jennings, have expressed grave concern at the rejection by the US Supreme Court of a 108-year-old New York gun law that requires gun owners seeking a concealed-carry permit to prove a special need to defend themselves. The case concerned two gun owners, Robert Nash and Brandon Koch, who had received licences to carry guns outside their homes for target-shooting and hunting, but were denied concealed-carry permits because they failed to show “proper cause” to defend themselves. They sued, and the court ruled by six to three in favour last week. In a joint statement, the church leaders said: “We fear this decision will lead to more firearms on our streets and in our communities.”