Marianne Pohl-Henzen Female appointed as Swiss Catholic bishop’s delegate
Swiss Bishop Charles Morerod of Lausanne, Geneva and Friburg has appointed a woman theologian to succeed the present episcopal vicar.
Marianne Pohl-Henzen will succeed the present episcopal vicar for the German part of the diocese on August 1
Pohl-Henzen, 60, studied theology and philology, and for the past eight years has been the right hand of current episcopal-vicar of the German-speaking vicariate of Fribourg, Fr Pascal Marquard, who is moving to Zurich.
The diocese announced she will be “the person responsible in the vicariate/diocesan region in the bishop’s name”.
Tributes paid to religious brother in Bangladesh
Catholics in Bangladesh are mourning and paying tribute to a former provincial of the Holy Cross Brothers for his “outstanding contributions” to education, religious formation and human development. Harold Bijoy Rodrigues died in Dhaka, aged 62, after losing his fight with pancreatic cancer last weekend.
Br Rodrigues also served as secretary of the Bangladesh Catholic Education Board.
“He (Rodrigues) made outstanding contributions to our religious order and the Church,” said Holy Cross Brother provincial Subal Lawrence Rozario.
“He was a great man but led a simple life. He had a compassionate heart which forgave any wrongdoing easily.”
French court orders govt to lift religious service ban
The administrative court of France’s Council of State has ruled that freedom of worship is a fundamental right and has ordered the ban of religious services to be lifted.
Since May 11, the French government had imposed a ban on religious services as part of anti-coronavirus measures.
However, the court ruled last week that freedom of worship is a fundamental freedom which includes the right to participate collectively in religious ceremonies.
The court has given the government until June 2 to lift the ban.
Kenya bishops seek signatures for education petition
The Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) is seeking at least 10,000 online signatures to compel the country’s government to pull out from the Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) commitment.
The online campaign is a petition aimed against the Kenyan government’s commitment to comprehensive rights-based sexuality education starting from primary school.
“The Church and other stakeholders in education have tried in vain to object the introduction of the CSE,” said the KCCB in a statement last week.
“The future of our children through Value Based Education should be our business and our concern.”
Caritas Philippines relaunches environmental booklet
Caritas Philippines has published a guide to be distributed to local communities which aims to promote “practical actions” from an “ecological” point of view.
The guide features illustrated reflections and directives in accordance with the teachings outlined by Pope Francis.
Edwin Gariguez, executive secretary of Caritas Philippines, says the publication will help people “look at themselves” and evaluate “whether we are contributing or not” to solving the problem.
The booklet, he adds, is a reminder for communities of “small things we can do” to save the environment and promote “activities that promote ecological awareness”.