The interior of the San Gabriel Mission is seen in the aftermath of a fire in San Gabriel, California. Photo: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP Man charged in 2020 arson at Californian church
Authorities announced charges against a suspected arsonist who investigators believe ignited an overnight fire that gutted much of Mission San Gabriel last July.
Officials charged John David Corey Jr, 57, with a number of felony counts of arson, as well as possession of flammable material and first-degree residential burglary.
Mr Corey was arrested last year for another “unrelated” arson attack in the San Gabriel Valley that occurred days after the July 11, 2020, fire at the famed mission.
“It was during this separate incident that investigators deemed Mr Corey a person of interest in the Mission San Gabriel case,” the San Gabriel Fire Department said in a statement. “After a thorough investigation, investigators determined that Corey was responsible for the fire at the Mission San Gabriel.”
Church cares for pandemic-hit poor in eastern India
An archdiocese in the eastern Indian state of Jharkhand has launched a free lunch service for relatives of Covid-19 patients hospitalised in the state capital’s biggest hospital.
The Archdiocese of Ranchi started the humanitarian initiative on May 4 outside the Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS). More than 300 people receive a free lunch every day and the number will gradually increase in size, Auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Ranchi told UCA News on May 5.
“Our Heavenly Father has been good to us and this goodness needs to be shared with the less fortunate, especially at this difficult moment,” Archbishop Felix Toppo of Ranchi said during a speech inaugurating the food stalls near RIMS.
The free lunch consists of rice, lentils, chicken and vegetables with bottles of mineral water.
Indian court takes up jailed Jesuit’s bail plea
The High Court of western India’s Maharashtra state has asked for the response of a federal anti-terrorism agency to a bail application by an elderly Jesuit priest, seven months after it arrested and jailed him.
The court sought the response of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on May 4 after accepting the application of 84-year-old Father Stan Swamy, who pleaded for his release on bail from a prison in state capital Mumbai.
The priest, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease and other age-related illnesses, was arrested on Oct. 8 on charges of conspiring with the outlawed Maoist rebels against the Indian government. He was jailed on October 9.
A special NIA court has denied him bail twice — one sought on health grounds and the other on a regular basis.
Ecuadorian bishops: corruption claims ‘without foundation’
The Ecuadorian bishops have rejected claims that corruption was behind the unusual simultaneous resignation of a bishop and his presumptive successor. They said “false rumours” about the resignations aimed to discredit the Catholic Church’s pastoral work.
In reality, they said, Bishop Julio Parrilla Díaz of Riobamba resigned because of health reasons and because he had turned 75, the age established by canon law for bishops to submit their resignation.
For his part, Coadjutor Bishop-designate Fr Gerardo Nieves Loja, 57, resigned for personal reasons, the Ecuadorian Bishops’ Conference said in an April 28 statement titled “Debunking Falsehoods”.
The conference said that on March 25, Bishop Parrilla submitted his resignation to the Pope, citing his age limit and health problems.