U.S.

US bishops asked to hold new Synod on Synodality listening sessions

WASHINGTON — Dioceses across the U.S. are asked to hold additional listening sessions in the next few months, following a request from the Vatican’s Secretariat for the Synod of Bishops, which is preparing for the second session of the global Synod on Synodality in October. In a Jan. 2 letter (a copy of which OSV News obtained), Bishop Daniel E. Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, Texas, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ committee on doctrine and coordinates the U.S. bishops’ synod process, said his team is requesting “each diocese hold 2-3 listening sessions regarding the guiding questions” posed by the synod secretariat. The two guiding questions were phrased by Bishop Flores and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ synod team as follows: “Where have I seen or experienced successes — and distresses — within the Church’s structure(s)/organization/leadership/life that encourage or hinder the mission?” and “How can the structures and organization of the Church help all the baptized to respond to the call to proclaim the Gospel and to live as a community of love and mercy in Christ?” (OSV News)

Retired Missouri priest found guilty of sexual solicitation in confession

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A now-retired Missouri priest, Father Ignazio Medina, has been barred from hearing confessions after he had been declared guilty of sexually soliciting an adult during the sacrament of reconciliation, according to a Jan. 1 announcement from the Diocese of Jefferson City. The decision came after an administrative disciplinary process overseen by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, the diocese said. Effective immediately, Father Medina is “permanently deprived of the right to hold any ecclesiastical office (parish or diocesan) and of the faculty to hear confessions,” said the diocese. In addition, Father Medina — who will remain a diocesan priest and receive retirement benefits — “may not celebrate or concelebrate Mass except with his diocesan bishop’s explicit permission, which will not be granted except for extraordinary circumstances,” the statement said. Several months ago, diocesan tribunal judges also found Father Medina had abused his ecclesiastical office through financial misconduct. In the Diocese of Nashville, Father Juan Carlos Garcia was removed from public ministry as an allegation of sexual misconduct was investigated. (OSV News)

Vatican finds Abp. Nienstedt acted ‘imprudently’ but not criminally

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A multiyear investigation overseen by the Catholic Church into Archbishop John C. Nienstedt, who resigned from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, has ended with the Vatican finding he acted “imprudently” in several instances but not criminally under canon law, Archbishop Bernard A. Hebda said in a statement Jan. 5. “None of those instances, either standing alone or taken together, were determined to warrant any further investigation or penal sanctions,” Archbishop Hebda said, but Pope Francis determined several administrative actions “are justified.” Among them, Archbishop Nienstedt “may not exercise any public ministries” in the “Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis,” which covers Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota; “may not reside in the Province of St. Paul and Minneapolis”; and “may not exercise ministry in any way outside of his diocese of residence” without permission of the local bishop. Archbishop Nienstedt resigned after criminal and civil charges were brought against the archdiocese in June 2015 for failing to protect children from a former pastor convicted of sexually abusing three minors in his parish. (OSV News)

WORLD

U.S. officials: Relocation of Palestinians cannot be a solution to Gaza crisis

JERUSALEM — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has insisted that Palestinians must not be pressured into leaving Gaza and must be allowed to return to their homes once conditions allow. Blinken condemned statements by some Israeli ministers who called for the resettlement of Palestinians elsewhere. Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has called for Palestinians to leave Gaza and make way for Israelis who could “make the desert bloom.” Meanwhile, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, another far-right politician, issued a call Jan. 1 “to encourage the migration of Gaza residents” as a “solution” to the crisis. Christians in the Holy Land worry the Israeli statements may threaten other small communities in the Holy Land, including theirs. Earlier this year, the most influential Catholic cleric in the Holy Land, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, who is the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, warned that the region’s 2,000-year-old Christian community is coming under increased pressure. “The frequency of these attacks, the aggressions, has become something new,” Cardinal Pizzaballa told The Associated Press. (OSV News)

Hong Kong Catholic Jimmy Lai pleads not guilty in national security trial

HONG KONG— Prominent Hong Kong Catholic, philanthropist and media mogul Jimmy Lai pleaded not guilty to endangering national security in a trial that democracy advocates around the world said includes bogus charges. If convicted in the trial before three high court judges, Lai, 76, could face life in prison. His trial — which is expected to continue for months — is seen as a test of Hong Kong’s autonomy under a controversial national security law imposed by China in June 2020 to crush Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. Hong Kong authorities arrested Lai in 2020 during a crackdown on pro-democracy advocates. Apple Daily closed the following June after Hong Kong authorities used the security law to raid the paper’s newsroom, arrest six staff members and freeze assets. Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller said Catholics were praying for Lai. “The situation in Hong Kong is greatly concerning to Vancouver Catholics and in particular our Asian Catholic community,” Archbishop Miller said via a statement Jan. 3, the day after Lai pleaded not guilty to three charges of sedition and collusion with foreign countries. (OSV News)

Pope confirms election of new head of Syro-Malabar Catholic Church

VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis confirmed the election of the new head of the India-based Syro-Malabar Catholic Church. Bishop Raphael Thattil of Shamshabad, 67, was elected major archbishop of Ernakulam-Angamaly by the Syro-Malabar bishops’ synod Jan. 9. Pope Francis confirmed the election the same day, the Vatican announced Jan. 10. Archbishop Thattil succeeds Cardinal George Alencherry, 78, who retired Dec. 7. He had led the Syro-Malabar Church, the largest of the Eastern-rite Catholic Churches in India, since 2011. In a letter to Archbishop Thattil, Pope Francis wrote, “I pray that, after the example of your venerable predecessors, you may strive to offer a generous and fruitful pastoral ministry to the flock now entrusted to your care” and to remember the poor and those most in need. (CNS)