U.S.

Complaints filed after report alleges immigrants subjected to hysterectomies

WASHINGTON — Groups that support immigrants have lodged a complaint with the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General saying that a nurse has come forward with detailed allegations of mass hysterectomies she said have been performed on immigrant women in detention in a Georgia facility. The groups say a nurse who worked at the Irwin County Detention Center in Ocilla, Georgia, said the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, run by the private prison company LaSalle South Corrections, was the setting for the procedures she alleges took place and that the women, who spoke little or no English, may not have understood what was happening to them. Various news agencies have identified Dawn Wooten as the nurse, who also publicly spoke of negligent conditions to deal with COVID-19 at the facility, in the complaint filed Sept. 14 by the Government Accountability Project and Project South. Other local groups backing her included the Georgia Latino Alliance for Human Rights, South Georgia Immigrant Support Network and Georgia Detention Watch, who also have joined the complaint. ICE has said that it does not comment on matters pending before the inspector general.

Pope names three auxiliary bishops for Chicago

WASHINGTON — Pope Francis has named as auxiliary bishops for the Archdiocese of Chicago two archdiocesan priests and a Franciscan friar who has been serving in the archdiocese since 2005. The priests are Father Jeffrey S. Grob, 61, who is vicar for canonical affairs and an expert on the rite of exorcism; Father Kevin M. Birmingham, 48, who is director of the archdiocese’s Department of Parish Vitality and Mission; and Father Robert J. Lombardo, 63, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal, who was invited by Cardinal Francis E. George to minister in Chicago and to set up a mission outreach to the poor on Chicago’s West Side. The appointments were announced Sept. 11 in Washington by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican nuncio to the United States.

WORLD

Cardinal to bishops: Facilitate Mass in person as soon as conditions permit

VATICAN CITY — Church services and Mass online cannot compare to or replace the in-person participation of the faithful, the head of the Vatican’s office for divine worship told the world’s bishops. “As soon as circumstances permit, however, it is necessary and urgent to return to the normality of Christian life, which has the church building as its home and the celebration of the liturgy, especially the Eucharist,” wrote Cardinal Robert Sarah. “Once the concrete measures that can be taken to reduce the spread of the virus to a minimum have been identified and adopted, it is necessary that all resume their place in the assembly of brothers and sisters,” he wrote. The letter by the cardinal, prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, was sent to the presidents of national bishops’ conferences worldwide. Pope Francis approved the publication of the letter during an audience with the cardinal Sept. 3, according to Vatican News, which then provided excerpts from the message Sept. 12.

Pope names Maltese bishop secretary-general of Synod of Bishops

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of Italian Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri as secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops and appointed in his place its current pro-secretary-general, Maltese Bishop Mario Grech. The Vatican made the announcement Sept. 16. Cardinal Baldisseri, who had been the secretary-general since 2013, was to celebrate his 80th birthday Sept. 29. Bishop Grech, the 63-year-old former bishop of Gozo, Malta, was meant to succeed the Italian cardinal when the pope named him pro-secretary-general in October 2019.

Salvadoran university welcomes conviction for 1989 Jesuit murders

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — The Jesuit-run Central American University welcomed the verdict of a Spanish court, which convicted a former Salvadoran colonel for the murder of five Jesuit priests in 1989. The verdict was “an extraordinary service to the truth” from a conflict in which many atrocities have gone unpunished, the university statement said. It expressed some sadness, however, that justice had not occurred in El Salvador, where the slayings occurred during the country’s civil war. The trial, the statement continued, “clearly showed the armed forces … operated as a criminal and cover-up machine.” In a Sept. 11 ruling, former Col. Inocente Orlando Montano, 77, was found to have planned and ordered the murders of the five Jesuits priests — all Spanish nationals — Nov. 16, 1989, at their residence on the Central American University campus.

Rebels release sisters captured in Mozambique

ROME — Two missionary sisters captured by rebels in northern Mozambique were released unharmed after 24 days, according to their congregation, the Sisters of St. Joseph of Chambery. Sister Maria Inez Leite Ramos and Sister Eliane Costa Santana, both originally from Brazil, were reported missing Aug. 11 after rebels claiming to belong to the Islamic State group captured the port town of Mocimboa da Praia. The sisters were released Sept. 6. “The sisters are now staying outside of the Cabo Delgado area. They are resting and being attended to by medical personal,” their congregation said.

— Catholic News Service