U.S.

Parishioners, Knights knock on doors, check on senior citizens after Irma

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. — The nation watched in sadness and outrage at the deaths of eight elderly people in Hollywood without air conditioning and electricity following the historic passing of Hurricane Irma. Members of nearby St. Edward Parish in Pembroke Pines and the local Knights of Columbus council, hearing the call to be good neighbors, prepared hot meals and set out to knock on doors and check in on senior citizen residents four days after the storm. The group was given permission to go door to door with hot meals and water supplies at the Century Village Pembroke Pines housing development in western Broward County Sept. 14. Residents there reportedly had been without electricity and air conditioning for days, although power was being restored.

D.C. summit to highlight hardships facing Middle East Christians

WASHINGTON — Instability, lack of basic needs, terror attacks on places of worship and genocide are among the hardships faced by Christians and other ancient minority groups in the Middle East, said a Washington-based advocacy organization seeking to help. The organization, In Defense of Christians, will highlight such hardships at an Oct. 24-26 summit in Washington in an effort to sway U.S. government and other public officials to do more to protect and preserve the region's Christian minority communities targeted by extremists, said Andrew Doran, IDC's senior policy adviser. Although the goal behind the creation of the organization three years ago had been to expose and mitigate the dangers that the Islamic State group posed to Middle Eastern Christians, it has become clear that eradicating the extremist Muslim group and other similar networks would not be sufficient, he told reporters at IDC's Washington headquarters Sept. 19.

WORLD

Pope expands scope of John Paul II institute on marriage, family

VATICAN CITY — To better prepare priests and pastoral workers to help meet the challenges families face today, Pope Francis is strengthening the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family and changing its name to the Pontifical John Paul II Theological Institute for the Sciences of Marriage and Family. The new institution is to expand and deepen the types of courses offered as well as take "an analytical and diversified approach" that allows students to study all aspects and concerns of today's families while remaining "faithful to the teaching of Christ," the pope wrote.

Philippine priest, kidnapped in May, freed

MANILA, Philippines — A senior Philippine priest taken hostage by Islamic State-inspired militants in the southern city of Marawi has been freed after almost four months of captivity. Father Teresito Soganub, vicar general of the Prelature of Marawi, said that he was doing as well as could be expected following his ordeal, reported ucanews.com. "I am physically strong and sound," Father Soganub said at Camp Aguinaldo, the national military headquarters. He asked Filipinos to pray for other remaining hostages. A local Maute terror group linked to Islamic State captured Father Soganub and other church workers at Marawi cathedral May 23, the first day of fighting in the Islamic city.

Church leaders condemn possible massacre of indigenous in Amazon

LIMA, Peru — Catholic leaders condemned reports of a possible massacre of isolated indigenous people by illegal gold miners in a remote area of the Brazilian Amazon. The Brazilian government is investigating reports that illegal miners killed as many as 20 indigenous people in early August. Little is known about the indigenous group, which lives in the Vale do Javari indigenous territory and avoids contact with wider Brazilian society. Church leaders expressed "pain, indignation and strong condemnation" at the reports. In a statement from the Pan-Amazonian Church Network (REPAM), which includes Church leaders and pastoral workers from throughout the Amazon, they called for authorities to "quickly clarify the circumstances in which this act of profound violence allegedly occurred and implement immediate measures to protect the life and territory of the indigenous peoples of Vale do Javari."

Pope, Bolivian bishops talk about 'parallel' churches

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis urged the bishops of Bolivia to faithfully guide their flocks as breakaway groups comprised of former priests and seminarians are gaining ground in the country. "They are schismatic groups that have arisen within the church and are not in communion with the pope or the bishops. Clearly, it is a challenge. The pope reiterated that it is a problem we must confront," Archbishop Oscar Aparicio Cespedes of Cochabamba told Catholic News Service. Archbishop Aparicio, vice president of the Bolivian bishops' conference, said the 31 bishops making their "ad limina" visits to the Vatican spent more than two hours talking with Pope Francis Sept. 18. The visits are a combination of a pilgrimage to the tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul and meetings with the main Vatican offices to exchange information, insights and ideas. The problematic groups in Bolivia, also known as "parallel churches," are made of priests who have been suspended from their ministry and "seminarians who have claimed autonomy and distance from the Church," the archbishop said.

— Catholic News Service