Archbishop Paul S. Coakley Cathedral soup kitchen feeds Seoul’s homeless
The Seoul archdiocese is helping homeless people with a soup kitchen run out of Myongdong Cathedral. The energy and chemicals division of SK Group, the third-largest conglomerate in South Korea, is sponsoring the programme by supporting 1,400 packed lunches each week.
Lunches are served to homeless people every Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, reported ucanews.com. “I hope that the soup kitchen will be a small yeast that changes the Church and the world into a world of warm love beyond Myongdong and the archdiocese,” said Fr Francis Kim Jeong-hwan, executive director of the archdiocese’s One Body One Spirit movement.
Quebec archdiocese reorganises 75% of parishes
The Archdiocese of Quebec announced its intention to reorganise its parishes to focus on local missionary activities. This move comes as human and material resources continue to diminish.
At least 75% of the parishes will be affected by this change, in both urban and rural areas.
But, he said, it is now clear that the parish system that had a strong impact on French Canadian society is not sustainable and needs to evolve. “We can no longer be satisfied with giving good pastoral services to the people who faithfully participate in our assemblies and movements,” said Cardinal Lacroix.
US bishops welcome census policy reversal
The leaders of two US bishops’ committees applauded President Joe Biden’s executive order reversing a policy of the previous administration that excluded unauthorised immigrants from the census count.
“We welcome this return to more than a century of American precedent that ensures all residents will be counted,” said Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman of the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, and Auxiliary Bishop Mario Dorsonville of Washington, chairman of the Committee on Migration.
“This return to our previous policy reflects the inalienable truth that all people matter,” they said in a joint statement January 22.
Polish Catholic patient at centre of UK court battle dies
A Polish Catholic patient at the centre of a UK court battle died last Tuesday despite last-minute efforts by bishops and government officials to bring him to Poland for treatment.
The Polish Press Agency reported that family members had confirmed that the middle-aged man, identified only as RS, died on January 26, after a hospital withdrew assisted nutrition and hydration for a final time following a series of legal challenges.
RS, a Polish citizen with strong pro-life views who lived for years in the UK, was hospitalised on Nov. 6, 2020, following a cardiac arrest during which his brain was deprived of oxygen for at least 45 minutes.
Green New Deals must respect diverse cultures, Vatican official says
With a number of nations considering some form of a “Green New Deal” for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, it is important that these efforts respect diverse cultures and economic policies, and avoid imposing a “uniform” model that ends up causing division, said Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s foreign minister.
Current political debates about the issue seem, on the one hand, “to lead to a discordance of opinions and, on the other, favour imposing that singular cultural model” that “unifies the world, but divides persons and nations,” he said January 23. It is important that promoting human and social development and well-being also includes “the defence and care of culture,” he said.