U.S.

Indianapolis priest named director of USCCB’s Institute on the Catechism

WASHINGTON — The recently formed Institute on the Catechism will carry out the U.S. bishops’ vision of the importance of “connecting evangelization and catechesis,” according to Father Daniel J. Mahan, an Indianapolis archdiocesan priest just named as the institute’s director. Father Michael J.K. Fuller, USCCB general secretary, appointed the Indianapolis archdiocesan priest Feb. 27 to head the institute, effective July 1. This “evangelizing catechesis” aims to teach the beliefs of the Catholic faith in a “compelling and inviting” way to help young Catholics foster a “deeper relationship with the Lord and help them see their place within the body of Christ, the Church, and in turn, reach out to others to share the Good News,” Father Mahan said. Through the institute, catechetical publishers and developers of catechetical content will work directly with the USCCB’s Subcommittee on the Catechism to pass on the faith and aiming to reach a more diverse Church. (OSV News)

Judge orders release of redacted report on child sex abuse in Baltimore

BALTIMORE — Baltimore Circuit Court Judge Robert Taylor Jr. ruled Feb. 24 that a redacted version of the Maryland Attorney General Office’s report on child sexual abuse in the Archdiocese of Baltimore must be released publicly. The judge ordered the attorney general’s office to redact more than 200 names from the report and submit it to the court by mid-March. Christian Kendzierski, archdiocesan spokesman, said in a written statement issued in response to Taylor’s ruling, “As we said publicly last year, we respect the court’s decisions in this matter and will continue to cooperate with the court and the Maryland attorney general’s office. The archdiocese continues to pray this report brings some measure of healing of the deep wounds caused by the scourge of child sexual abuse in the life of the Church.” The report investigates 80 years of allegations of sexual abuse and the response by the archdiocese to those allegations. (OSV News)

WORLD

Pope Francis will travel to Hungary at end of April

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis will travel to Hungary April 28-30 where he will meet with government officials, refugees, academic scholars and young people in Budapest, the Vatican announced Feb. 27. The pope will arrive in Budapest April 28 and will meet with Katalin Novák, president of Hungary, and the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, as well as local bishops, priests and other members of Hungary’s Catholic community. Novák, who is Hungary’s first female head of state, invited Pope Francis to visit Hungary during her visit to the Vatican Aug. 26, 2022. The pope will only spend one full day in the country April 29, during which he will meet privately with children from a local school, speak with refugees and people in need, address young people in Hungary and meet with the local Jesuit community. Before returning to Rome late afternoon April 30, he will celebrate Mass before the Hungarian Parliament building and meet with scholars from Budapest’s Pázmány Péter Catholic University. (CNS)

Spanish Church vows to resist new ‘anti-life laws’

MADRID — Catholic bishops in Spain have bitterly criticized new laws liberalizing abortion and gender reassignments in their latest clash with the Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. “We are not doing well — indeed, we are following a path of ruin for the person and society,” Bishop Demetrio Fernández of Córdoba said in a Feb. 26 letter to the faithful. “It is as if all the demons had been unleashed, and we see lies, violence, human rights violations and evil in all its forms emerging everywhere. We cannot confront such evil with a political program — the demons can only be expelled with prayer and fasting.” The bishop made the comments as new laws were enforced allowing 16-year-olds to obtain abortions up to 14 weeks without informing their parents, and to re-register their gender without medical or legal procedures. Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Vatican’s nuncio to Spain, told a Feb. 21 conference at Madrid’s Catholic Francisco de Vitoria University the Sanchez government was “focused too much on objectives the Church does not share.” (OSV News)

Six sainthood candidates, including two lay women, closer to canonization

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis has moved six candidates for sainthood closer to canonization. In a meeting with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the pope signed decrees Feb. 23 recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of an Italian religious sister and the heroic virtues of five others: two laywomen, two priests and a religious woman. The process for being proclaimed a saint includes a study of the candidate’s life and writings to determine whether he or she lived the Christian virtues in a heroic way. A miracle attributed to the candidate’s intercession is required for beatification and another miracle is needed for canonization. With the pope’s recognition of a miracle through her intercession, a beatification ceremony can be planned for Sister Elisabetta Martinez, founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Mary of Leuca. The Italian, who lived 1905-91, founded the congregation to care for young children and single mothers. (CNS)