Vatican and Russian Orthodox Church strengthen links
The Russian Orthodox Church has announced plans to strengthen cooperation with the Vatican in the area of monitoring Christian persecution in the Middle East and other areas.
The announcement came ahead of a meeting in Havana, Cuba, on February 12 between Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Metropolitan Hilarion, the Russian Orthodox chairman of the Department of External Church Relations.
Speaking before that meeting, the Metropolitan said: “We keep in touch on this issue, and I believe during the talks with Cardinal Koch we will try to institutionalise the joint work we are doing already on the monitoring of the issue of Christians’ persecutions in the Middle East and other regions. I believe it is the most important thing we can do together right now. And we will try to better organise the basis of this work.”
The Havana meeting came exactly one year after the historic meeting between Pope Francis and Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill in the same city, the first such encounter between leaders of the Churches in 1,000 years. During that meeting, the leaders had joined in calling on the international community to defend the persecuted Christians of Syria and Iraq.
Vatican appoints Cardinal Burke to Guam trial
The Vatican has sent Cardinal Raymond Burke to the island nation of Guam to serve as a judge at the canonical trial of Archbishop Anthony Apuron, the prelate removed from office in the wake of allegations in 2016 of child abuse.
The appointment of Cardinal Burke, a leading canon lawyer and a former prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura, was made by Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Müller, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
The dispatching of so senior a Vatican figure, and one who has been identified in quarters as an ‘opponent’ to Pope Francis – given his links to both the Amoris Latitia dubia and the recent row within the Order of Malta – quickly prompted media speculation as to the reasons lying behind the choosing of Cardinal Burke for the Guam mission.
The cardinal himself has been quick to dampen rumours, stressing in an interview before his departure that he does not view his mission as a “punishment by the Pope”.
“I’m certainly not experiencing it as a punishment! It’s normal for a cardinal, depending on his preparation and availability, to receive special assignments for the good of the Church.
“I wasn’t surprised by the request of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and I accepted it, conscious of the grave responsibility it implied, but without any thought of other motivations on the part of Pope Francis or the congregation.”
Pope willing to mediate in Venezuelan crisis
Pope Francis has “expressed his availability” to mediate between political opponents in the ongoing Venezuelan crisis.
As the Latin American country continues to struggle under mounting economic woes and a seemingly intractable divide between the administration of President Nicolas Maduro and opposition figures, Archbishop Aldo Giordano, the apostolic nuncio in Caracas said that “The Pope has expressed his availability, if [both parties] consider it useful”.
Previous talks between the sides broke down in December when Mr Maduro’s government failed to abide by the agreed terms, specifically in relation to the release of political prisoners.