He said proclaiming the Gospel should "always be done with great respect and fraternal affection for all".

Fraternal living means "accepting one another and recognising each other as equals in our differences" Francis said.

It is important "in a world in which the tendency to divide, assert and provoke seems to be increasing".

Christian charity is necessary as it requires we get closer to one another, he said.

Evangelise with patience, Francis recommended.

Missionary work means accepting people's "dreams and desires for liberation and justice".

It means caring for people, supporting them and working with them, Francis explained. Including others in this work is necessary to "widen the net and the boundaries in a great, expanding dynamic of love".

"We need to let go of everything that stops us from getting in touch with those who are down and so lift them up and give them new hope" he said.

Indonesia

The Pope praised the Church in Indonesia for its fraternal tradition.

He said he could see the "openness with which it deals with the different realities that make it up and surround it, on a cultural, ethnic, social and religious level".

Papua New Guinea

In Papua New Guinea Francis heard of testimonies about the joy and difficulties catechists and clergy experience when evangelising people.

"Don't be discouraged by difficulties or misunderstandings, even when they arise in places where we especially do not want to encounter them" Francis said.

Among those who spoke was a woman who went to the Synod on Synodality last year.

Praising her, Francis said it is possible to show how beautiful it is to follow Jesus together and proclaim His gospel among people.

Sources

• UCA News
• english.katholisch.de

The apostolic visitation, which he described as "not fun," was conducted by delegates from the Vatican's Dicastery for Bishops, focusing on various aspects of the diocese's management and the bishop's social media usage.

Strickland (pictured) made the comments on the latest episode of his podcast, "Bishop Strickland Hour." Strickland addressed concerns surrounding the inquiry during the prerecorded show on July 25 via Virgin Most Powerful Internet Radio.

He compared the experience to being called to the principal's office and acknowledged that some may interpret the visitation as a sign of significant issues within the diocese.

"There have been some administrative issues, and I'm sure people are concerned," the bishop said. "I'm sure there are people saying that there must be something really bad, and something's really gone wrong for this apostolic visitation [to happen]."

"I've got nothing to hide," he said in a show excerpt posted to YouTube.

Apostolic visitations are formal investigations initiated by the Pope to examine and maintain sound doctrine and morals, and address possible abuses in institutions under the Church's authority.

In this instance, the Vatican's Dicastery for Bishops supervised the investigation, signalling potential disciplinary actions against Bishop Strickland

A polarising figure

The visitation reportedly involved interviews with diocesan clergy and laity, culminating in a meeting with Bishop Strickland. Among the topics explored were the bishop's social media activities and matters related to diocesan administration and management.

Bishop Strickland has garnered both popularity and controversy for his outspokenness and staunch defence of pro-life principles, traditional liturgy and Catholic orthodoxy.

With over 136,000 followers on Twitter, his social media presence has been a point of scrutiny, leading to criticism of some of his posts, particularly one in which he implied Pope Francis was undermining the deposit of faith.

In an interview in October 2020, Strickland described the church under Francis' leadership as "weak" and "not clear".

On Twitter, the bishop endorsed videos labelling the current pontiff as a "diabolically disordered clown." Strickland even dared the pope to remove him from his position.

Bishop Strickland said he thinks he was subject to the visitation "because I've been bold enough and loved the Lord enough and his Church, simply preaching the truth."

Under Bishop Strickland's leadership, the Diocese of Tyler has shown positive signs of spiritual and administrative well-being.

Despite its modest size with only 55,000 Catholics, the diocese boasts 21 men currently undergoing priestly formation, a higher rate of seminarians-per-Catholic than most other US dioceses. The diocese is also reportedly performing well financially.

However, some Twitter users commented "Bishop Strickland's on the way out." The bishop responded: "Maybe they're right."

Sources

Catholic News Agency

CathNews New Zealand

Among the comments, Strickland accused Pope Francis of undermining the Catholic faith.

This investigation, known as an apostolic visitation, was confirmed by Elizabeth Slaten, the Diocese of Tyler, Texas communications director.

Slaten revealed that the visitation took place over several days the previous week.

Still, she refrained from disclosing further details regarding the purpose of the visitation or the individuals responsible for conducting it.

"I'm not free to speak on behalf of Mother Church and the nuncio," Slaten commented.

The Apostolic Nunciature in Washington DC, the Vatican's embassy in the United States, has not responded to inquiries regarding the investigation.

Francis a "diabolically disordered clown"

In an interview in October 2020, Strickland described the church under Francis' leadership as "weak" and "not clear".

Strickland even dared the pope to remove him from his position.

On Twitter, the bishop endorsed videos labelling the current pontiff as a "diabolically disordered clown."

With a Twitter following of nearly 124,000, Strickland has utilised his social media platform to disseminate anti-vaccine messages during the COVID-19 pandemic and to undermine other bishops by expressing support for priests disciplined by their respective dioceses.

Additionally, Strickland has taken firm partisan political positions, labelling President Joseph Biden - an abortion rights-supporting Catholic - as an "evil president".

In 2020, Strickland endorsed a contentious video by reactionary priest Fr James Altman, which asserted that Catholics could not vote for Democrats in political elections.

Strickland participated in a rally organised by former President Donald Trump supporters, who sought to overturn Biden's election victory.

Private resolution fails

In 2021, Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Vatican's representative in the United States, personally rebuked Strickland regarding his Twitter activity.

However, attempts to address the issue through private conversations were unsuccessful. Instead, the bishop's remarks have become more provocative.

The investigation launched by the Vatican reflects growing concerns regarding Strickland's controversial remarks and actions.

Strickland, appointed as the fourth bishop of the Tyler diocese by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, has garnered attention in recent years for his outspoken and confrontational approach, publicly challenging Pope Francis' leadership and criticising his fellow bishops.

Strickland's scepticism regarding Pope Francis' fidelity to the Catholic faith was evident in a tweet on May 12, where he affirmed his belief in Pope Francis' papacy but expressed his rejection of the pontiff's alleged undermining of the Deposit of Faith.

As the apostolic visitation progresses, its findings may have significant implications for the diocese and the bishop's future role.

Sources

National Catholic Reporter

Religion News Service

CathNews New Zealand

The archdiocese said that the pope's apostolic visitors would evaluate "possible mistakes" made by its leader, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki.

"During the first half of June, the Holy See's envoys will visit the archdiocese to get a comprehensive picture of the complex pastoral situation in the archdiocese," the statement said.

It added that the visitors would also examine possible errors committed by Archbishop Stefan Hesse of Hamburg, who was Cologne archdiocese's vicar general from 2012 to 2015, and the Cologne auxiliaries Bishop Dominikus Schwaderlapp and Bishop Ansgar Puff.

Woelki welcomed the apostolic visitation saying, "I welcome the fact that with the apostolic visitation the pope wants to get his own picture of the independent investigation and its consequences."

The apostolic visitors will be Cardinal Anders Arborelius of Stockholm and Bishop Johannes van den Hende of Rotterdam, president of the Dutch bishops' conference, reported CNA Deutsch.

"I will support Cardinal Arborelius and Bishop van den Hende in their work with full conviction. I welcome every measure that will help to ensure accountability."

The 64-year-old cardinal announced in December 2020 that he had asked Pope Francis to review the decisions he took regarding an accused priest 'Pastor O' in 2015.

Woeki, who was appointed archbishop of Cologne in 2014, has faced calls to resign since the archdiocese controversially declined to publish a report by the Munich law firm Westphal Spilker Wastl.

In January 2019, the archdiocese commissioned the law firm to examine relevant personnel files from 1975 onwards. Their brief was to determine "which personal, systemic or structural deficits were responsible in the past for incidents of sexual abuse being covered up or not being punished consistently."

Lawyers advising the archdiocese raised concerns about "methodological deficiencies" in the law firm's study. Woelki then commissioned Cologne-based criminal law expert Professor Björn Gercke to write a new report.

The Gercke document, more than 800 pages in length, covers the period from 1975 to 2018 with the goal of identifying any legal missteps or violations, as well as those responsible.

Specifically, the Report refers to 314 victims of sexual abuse, all but one of them minors, and 202 aggressors, nearly two-thirds of whom are clergy.

Sources

Catholic News Agency

Vatican news

Last week, two archbishops were sent to Memphis on a three-day fact-finding mission.

The archbishops' visit (called an "Apostolic Visitation)," involved them meeting with clergy and parishioners. They will develop a report of their findings and recommendations then send it to the Vatican.

The investigation is said to have been organised by the Apostolic Nuncio, who is the Vatican's diplomatic representative in Washington.

The subject of the investigation is Martin Holley, who was appointed as bishop to the diocese in August 2016. His reassignment of the majority of the active priests in the diocese's 42 parishes by June 2017 is of particular interest to the investigation.

"You don't move 74 percent of the priests in the first few months of your administration," Rev. Jim Danner wrote in June 2017 to Archbishop Christophe Pierre, the Apostolic Nuncio.

"Especially if they only have one year before retirement or only have under two years in their present assignment. This is unfair to the priests and their faithful service and the People of God in the Diocese."

Protesting their priest's reassignment, one parishioner explained during the priest's two-year tenure, the parish was growing, "participation in masses and charitable ministries increased, donations to our debt went up exponentially, tithing was up and people were coming in from all other churches to hear his homilies."

Many parishioners have left their home churches and moved to others, or just left. One parishioner says it seems as if there are about 25 percent fewer people at Mass.

"It's sad that people have left because of the transfers of priests," the parishioner says.

"I do believe many people don't know the bishop. He is new. They haven't given him a chance."

Holley supporters say he is "a holy and thoughtful man." Reassigning priests is normal and some of the transfers were overdue, they say.

Source

• Commercial Appeal
• Local Memphis
• Image: The Commercial Appeal

This follows an apostolic visitation of women's religious orders in the US several years ago.

The Sisters of Mercy's US communications director confirmed the request to visit Rome, but said there would be no further comment at this point.

The Vatican's congregation for religious life is contacting about 15 orders of Catholic women in the US to clarify "some points".

The congregation's prefect said the conversations involve "listening to what they say in a transparent way, without fear, without judging".

Continue reading

This comes after the 2014 final report on a Vatican apostolic visitation of US orders of religious women.

Last week, it was reported that the superior of the Sisters of Loretto had been summoned to Rome.

Now, another order being asked to provide the Vatican with further clarifications has been identified.

Sr Teri Hadro, president of the Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, said her community received a letter from the Vatican in early April asking for a written response to continued concern over the order's "public dissent of Church teaching".

Sr Hadro said the letter was friendly.

"It's just that I think they tend to interpret things as dissent that really aren't dissent," she said.

She noted that the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has spent the last decade making abortion its primary cause.

Meanwhile, US women religious have focused on issues like food, water and shelter for marginalised populations.

"Because we focus on those issues and not on right to life from conception forward, our silence is being interpreted as dissent," Sr Hadro said.

"I don't think that's the understanding that women religious have. We probably have the same top 10 values and priorities as the bishops, but in different order.

"And it seems to me that there's some beauty in that, because our role in the Church is different from that of the bishops."

Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, the prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, said the conversations with the orders involve "listening to what they say in a transparent way, without fear, without judging".

"What I have liked most is that the climate of this dialogue is very serene," Cardinal Braz de Aviz said.

"There is listening on both sides. There is a rapport."

Sources

• Global Sisters Report
• National Catholic Reporter
• Catholic Herald
• Image: Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Vatican's congregation for religious life issued the requirement to the Sisters of Loretto.

The order will be asked to explain alleged "ambiguity" in its adherence to Church teaching and its way of living religious life.

Loretto sisters' president Sr Pearl McGivney announced her summoning to Rome in a short June 1 letter to her order's members.

The Vatican congregation has made use of material gathered during an apostolic visitation to various US religious communities of apostolic life, started in 2008.

This inquiry concluded with a 2014 report on the state of religious life in the US.

Sr McGivney wrote that she has been asked to visit the Vatican on October 18 to discuss five "areas of concern" identified by the congregation for religious life.

Among these are "a certain ambiguity regarding the congregation's adherence to some areas of Church doctrine and morality".

Also of concern to the Vatican is the sisters' "policy regarding members of the community who are known to hold positions of dissent from the Church's moral teaching or approved liturgical practice".

A further issue for the Vatican is the Loretto sisters' way of allowing laypeople to join the community as "co-members".

Sr McGivney said her order was one of about 90 in the US that was personally visited in 2010 as part of the apostolic visitation.

She said that during that inquiry, four members of other congregations interviewed about 90 Loretto sisters.

"The visitors seemed warm and genuinely interested in our lives," stated the president.

"They did not inquire about these 'areas of concern' with our elected leadership during this visitation, and we had no expectation that six years later we would find ourselves being asked to come to Rome to address any outstanding issues."

Yet, Sr McGivney added: "We are glad to accept this opportunity for conversation."

Sources

• Global Sisters Report
• Image: The Record

Bishop Finn was the first Catholic prelate in the United States to be found criminally guilty of shielding a guilty priest in the sex abuse crisis.

Canadian Archbishop Terrence Prendergast of Ottawa visited Kansas City-St Joseph last week, and spoke with about a dozen people, the National Catholic Reporter stated.

The main question he asked was reportedly "Do you think [Finn] is fit to be a leader?"

One priest who spoke with the archbishop didn't recall the question being quite that "bold".

Archbishop Prendergast was carrying out the visitation on behalf of the Congregation for Bishops.

Bishop Finn, who has led the Kansas City diocese since 2005, has come under sustained criticism.

He was convicted in 2012 of a misdemeanour count of failing to report suspected child abuse in the case of a now-former priest, Fr Shawn Ratigan, who was producing child pornography.

Ratigan, now laicised, received a 50 year jail sentence last year.

In November 2011, Bishop Finn avoided misdemeanour charges by agreeing to give prosecutors immediate oversight of the diocese's sexual abuse reporting procedures.

The Kansas City diocese has also been facing several lawsuits for sexual abuse claims and has made a number of large financial settlements in recent years.

Bishop Finn hiked the payments by parishes to the diocese to cover expenses and the number of Catholics in the diocese has declined by nearly a quarter in 10 years.

The NCR reported that one person who spoke with Archbishop Prendergast didn't think Bishop Finn is fit to be a leader.

"I told the archbishop I thought [Finn] was holy but didn't have the organisational skills for the diocese," the source reportedly said.

A spokesperson for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests said that investigations of complicit Church officials should not start with one whose guilt has already been proven.

The headquarters of the NCR are located in Bishop Finn's dioceses and there have been skirmishes between the paper and the bishop over the role of Catholic media.

In 2013, NCR columnist Bill Tammeus published an open letter to Pope Francis calling on Bishop Finn to resign.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• Kansas City Star
• LifesiteNews
• Bill Tammeus (NCR)
• Image: CNN

Though no word has come from the Vatican, the newspaper said a priest who accused the resigned Cardinal Keith O'Brien of homosexual conduct was told there would be an investigation in a meeting with Archbishop Antonio Mennini, the apostolic nuncio to Great Britain.

A successor to Cardinal O'Brien, who resigned from the archdiocese of Edinburgh and St Andrews in February, has not yet been named.

Continue reading

The investigation comes just two weeks after the report of the Apostolic Visitation that described "widespread dissent" from traditional Catholic teaching by priests, religious and lay people.

It is believed Flannery, an author and retreat director, is under investigation from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for some of what he has published, and in particular his opposition to the Church's ban on contraception and his support for the ordination of women.

Flannery writes a monthly column in Reality Magazine, and or the first time in 14 years, Flannery's column has not appeared Redemptorist publication.

The Irish Catholic reports that Flannery provoked dismay when he publicly backed Ireland's Prime Minister, Enda Kenny's attack on the Vatican.

In the course of his attack, Kenny misquoted Pope Benedict and accused the Vatican of trying to thwart abuse inquiries in the Cloyne diocese.

Kenny has still not substantiated the allegation despite a request to do so from Dublin Archbishop, Diarmuid Martin.

The Association of Catholic Priests is a forum for priests who wish to reflect, discuss and comment on issues affecting the Irish Church and society today.

Among its objectives is the full implementation of the vision and teaching of Vatican II, giving special emphasis to

• the primacy of the individual conscience
• the status and active participation of all the baptised
• the task of establishing a Church where all believers will be treated equal.

The Association seeks to restructure the governing system of the Church, basing it on service rather than power.

A Redemptorist, The Irish Catholic believes Flannery continues to enjoy the support of his religious superiors.

Sources

• The Irish Catholic
• Image: Reality Magazine

Martin was commenting on the time it was going to take to release the findings of the Visitation of the Catholic Church in Ireland.

"I can say that I am impatient to learn about the path that the Apostolic Visitation will set out for renewal for the Irish Church so that our renewal will move forward decisively," Martin said.

"This is not a criticism of the Holy Father. It is an appeal to his collaborators."

"The pace of the change in Irish religious culture is such that the longer the delay in advancing the fruits of the Apostolic Visitation, the greater the danger of false expectations and the greater the encouragement to those who prefer immobilism to reform, and the greater the threat to the effectiveness of this immense gift of the Holy Father to the Irish Church."

"Many outside of Ireland still believe that Ireland is a bastion of traditional Catholicism," he told delegates involved in preparations for the 2012 International Eucharistic Congress to be held in Dublin.

According to Martin the Catholic Church is a shadow of its former self

• some Dublin parishes have only 5% of Catholics coming to Mass
• on any particular Sunday about 18% of the Catholic population in the Archdiocese of Dublin attends Mass
• for the second time since he became Archbishop of Dublin there will be no ordination to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Dublin
• the coming years indicate only a tiny trickle of new vocations

Martin's major concern is the growing rift between the Church and young people.

"We have bright, intelligent, generous and idealistic young people. Most will have been educated for most of their time in school in Catholic schools. However from a relatively early age they drift away from any regular contact with the Church and especially from Sunday Mass.

He admitted that Sunday Mass attendance is not the only statistic which indicates an affiliation with the Church and with the mission of Jesus Christ. But observed it is hardly possible to remain truly a Christian if one has no contact over years with the Eucharist.

Martin said, "Too often the renewal agenda of Irish Catholics is driven by an inward-looking agenda of reform of Church structures. Such an agenda will have very little appeal to those who have really lost contact with the Church and regard such reform as interesting but of little relevance to their lives, indeed it might lead them only to further alienation."

"For me the great difficulty is that the Church in Ireland too often is trying to address the challenges of today with the pastoral structures which served well yesterday. Many of our pastoral structures and strategies are no longer fit-for-purpose. They presume that the country is driven by a culture of mass-Catholicism while this can no longer be presumed."

"What has happened and is happening in Ireland is painful. I am not just talking about the horrors of abuse. I am talking about our failure in passing on the faith to the coming generation. Part of that failure is a failure of believers to witness their faith in coherent forms of service relevant to the current cultural situation."

"The Holy Father initiated a process of support for the Irish Church which is set out in his Letter to the Catholics of Ireland. His commitment to the Irish Church is remarkable. I have experienced only support from him in my mission through his teaching and his personal support ... I think that you can see from my reflection just how much I look forward to the Eucharistic Congress as a vital element in the reform agenda of the Irish Church."

Source

• Address to Eucharistic Congress