New allegations against David Haas prompt publisher to cut ties with composer
A top publisher of hymns will stop publishing works by David Haas after receiving additional allegations of sexual misconduct against the embattled Catholic composer.
“We have suspended our publishing and sponsorship relationship with Mr Haas and have also removed his music, books, and recordings from our catalogue and website,” said a letter from Alec Harris, president of GIA Publications.
The letter was sent to each diocese in late July. Portions of the letter were made public on August 2.
Mr Harris said he was “deeply heartbroken” when scores of women accused Haas of varying degrees of sexual misconduct last year.
Argentine diocese apologises for prayer to Pachamama
The Diocese of Venado Tuerto’s Caritas branch apologised last Tuesday for having posted on its social media a prayer to Pachamama, an Andean deity.
“The pachamama is a symbol of fertility, of the earth and the sacredness of life. It is a myth full of spiritual meaning (that) can be used to advantage,” said the now-deleted August 1 post.
Pachamama Day is celebrated annually on August 1 in Quechua and Aymara communities in the Andes mountains of Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru in honour of the Andean deity.
The posting of the prayer drew massive pushback on social media, leading to its deletion.
Australian catechist’s book introduces theology of the body to children
Sydney catechist Caroline Fisher says writing a successful book for Catholic children has helped her spread a message of true love “too good” to keep to herself.
The mother of three who is also a naturopath and wellness speaker said her picture book Jesus Had a Body Like Me: A Theology of the Body for Babies and Little Ones is aimed not just at children but at those who read to them.
“God doesn’t make mistakes, and each of us matters to God and has been ‘fearfully and wonderfully’ made in his image and likeness for a purpose only we can fulfil, and nobody else,” Ms Fisher told The Catholic Weekly, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Sydney.
Vatican announces launch of Catholic ‘global compact’ on the family
The Vatican is launching a research project on the family to be carried out by Catholic universities around the world.
The results of the project, called the Catholic Global Compact on the Family, will be presented at an event held before the World Meeting of Families in Rome in June 2022.
The global compact was launched to create “a shared program of actions for promoting the family throughout the world in light of the social doctrine of the Church,” an August 6 press release said.
The Dicastery for the Laity, Family, and Life and the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences are organising the Catholic Global Compact on the Family with cooperation from the International Centre of Family Studies in Milan, Italy.
The project is part of the Amoris Laetitia Family Year, which began on March 19 to mark the fifth anniversary of the publication of Pope Francis’ 2016 apostolic exhortation on the family.