Chaldean Archbishop Moussa St John Paul II relic stolen in Italian church robberies
A relic of St Pope John Paul II has been stolen from a cathedral in central Italy, while a church in Sicily was also robbed and the Eucharist desecrated.
A gold reliquary with a relic of the blood of St John Paul II was discovered to be missing from a chapel of the Cathedral Basilica of Spoleto on the evening of September 23, according to the Italian daily L’Avvenire.
In a video message, the archbishop of Spoleto said he received the news of the theft with sorrow.
Archbishop Renato Boccardo asked the perpetrator to “return and restore the relic to the cathedral. What I am asking is a gesture of responsibility and seriousness.”
Scare showed the importance of connections, Cardinal says
After two weeks of quarantine and a test indicating he no longer is positive for the Covid-19 virus, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle said he had experienced first-hand the importance of feeling connected to God, to others and to creation. “Your existence depends on a rediscovery of the reality that you are not alone, you are always connected,” he said.
It was a time of “fear” and “anxieties,” he said, although he was asymptomatic the entire time. “But getting out of the quarantine, I realised that, really, for you to survive, you need a deep, deep sense of interconnectedness,” he said. “Your enemy will be that you are isolated, that you are a threat now” to the health of others.
English and Welsh bishops say use conscience on Covid-19 vaccine
The bishops of England and Wales have made a U-turn on the morality of using a Covid-19 vaccine derived from aborted foetuses, telling Catholics it is now a matter for their own consciences.
A document published on the website of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales qualifies an initial instruction issued July 30, which had strongly suggested that Catholics could not conscientiously object to using such a vaccine.
The July instruction said the Church “regards Catholics as having a prima facie duty to be vaccinated, not only for the sake of their own health but also out of solidarity with others, especially the most vulnerable”.
The statement was signed by Auxiliary Bishop John Sherrington of Westminster, lead bishop for life issues, and Bishop Paul Mason of the military diocese, lead bishop for health care.
Iraqi archbishop who saved ancient manuscripts nominated for EU prize
An Iraqi archbishop who helped save hundreds of ancient manuscripts from being destroyed by Islamic State militants was among the nominees for the European Parliament’s Sakharov Prize.
In a statement released on September 17, the European Parliament announced that Chaldean Archbishop Najib Mikhael Moussa of Mosul [pictured] was nominated for the 2020 Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, which is awarded annually “to honour exceptional individuals and organisations defending human rights and fundamental freedoms”.
Archbishop Moussa, who has led the archdiocese of Mosul since 2019, “safeguarded more than 800 historic manuscripts dating from the 13th to the 19th Century”, the parliament said.
“These manuscripts were later digitised and exhibited in France and Italy. Since 1990, he has contributed to safeguarding 8,000 more manuscripts and 35,000 documents from the Eastern Church,” the statement added.