‘I too kneel on Myanmar streets,’ says Pope
As security forces in Myanmar have increased their crackdown on civilians, with disappearances, detentions and the killing of peaceful protesters, Pope Francis appealed for an end to violence and the start of dialogue.
“Once again, and with much sorrow, I feel compelled to mention the tragic situation in Myanmar, where so many people, especially young people, are losing their lives for offering hope to their country,” the Pope said at the end of his weekly general audience March 17.
Without mentioning her name, the Pope recalled the iconic gestures of Sister Ann Nu Thawng, who made headlines when photographs were published of her kneeling before police seeking to shield peaceful protesters and of her extending her arms begging police not to shoot or hurt anyone.
“I, too, kneel on the streets of Myanmar and say, ‘Stop the violence,’” Pope Francis said. “I, too, spread wide my arms and say, ‘Make way for dialogue.’”
Bloodshed “resolves nothing”, he said, repeating his call for dialogue to begin.
Bishops and Catholic organisations have condemned the actions of the Myanmar military, which has continued to crack down on protesters since its February 1 coup.
At Vatican trial, ex-student says he was abused at minor seminary
A former student of the minor seminary located at the Vatican said he was sexually abused over a six-year period despite having told the rector that an older student was “bothering” him.
The former student, identified as LG, took the stand March 17 at a trial in the Vatican City State criminal court. He testified against Father Gabriele Martinelli, also a former student at the St Pius X Pre-Seminary, who is accused of sexually abusing LG between 2007 and 2012.
Although both were under the age of 18 when the abuse apparently began, the court accused the priest of continuing to abuse the younger student when Fr Martinelli, not yet a priest, was already 20. LG also said he was shunned by Msgr. Enrico Radice, the former rector of the seminary, when he tried to inform him of the abuse.
Msgr Radice’s reaction, he said, “left me shocked, it was very harsh”. According to LG, the former rector accused him of being jealous and threatened to call his parents and pastor, as well as kick him out of the minor seminary.
Pope requests study of worship congregation before new prefect
Before Pope Francis names a new prefect for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments, he has asked that an outside expert consult with the office’s staff and review its procedures.
The Pope in late February accepted the resignation of Guinean Cardinal Robert Sarah, who had reached the normal retirement age of 75 last June. The cardinal had been prefect since 2014.
A French website reported March 12 that it would be a “canonical visitation” carried out by Bishop Claudio Maniago of Castellaneta, president of the Italian bishops’ conference’s liturgical commission and a member of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments.
In response to questions from Catholic News Service, Archbishop Arthur Roche, who has served as secretary of the congregation since 2012, had an assistant reply that “this is not a canonical visitation. Rather it is more in the nature of the consultations a diocesan bishop would have with his vicar general and others when he is appointing a new parish priest. In such an instance, the idea is to get to know the needs of the parish, the actual situation.”