The financial crisis is a direct result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, which has caused chaos in Colombia's healthcare system.

Rueda says "three months of zero income and 100 per cent of expenses" will cause diocesan finances to explode.

Rueda says some bishops are trying to fundraise amongst wealthy parishes to avoid bankruptcy. However, the Church's problems are compounded by Colombia's economic crisis.

The International Monetary Fund has lowered Colombia's economic growth projection for this year to -7.8 per cent from April's figure of -2.4 per cent. This is the worst crash in the modern history of Colombia.

The local Church's potential collapse has serious social consequences for poor Colombians. The country's estimated 5,000 churches lead 50,000 to 80,000 charitable initiatives and social institutions. These include soup kitchens, schools and care homes.

The Church in Colombia doesn't receive any financial support from the state, leaving it reliant on collections at Mass. Because of the pandemic, however, Mass has been suspended since mid-March.

As a result of having 90 percent of parish income cut off, dioceses have been using savings and liquid assets to pay debts and wages.
Rueda says this money is likely to run out in the near future.

While Rueda does not support the resumption of Mass, he says Church organisations will probably stop paying salaries in August, unless the situation changes. So far, there have been 77,000 positive COVID-19 cases in Colombia and 2,491 deaths. The number of those infected is continuing to grow.

The Colombian Bishop of Quibdó has raised the alarm over the precarious state of the Colombian healthcare system, which he says is "collapsing". He also blamed those who broke lockdown restrictions for the further spread of the virus in his region, Chocó.

He joins an array of Church figures currently appealing for international support to be sent to Colombia, given the economic disruption and social problems the pandemic has caused there.

Source

• The Tablet
• Crux Now

Father Hernando Fajid Alvarez Yacub, chaplain of Saint Michael's Cemetery in Santa Marta, was given the car a year ago as a gesture of gratitude for caring for his three younger siblings after their parents died.

But after the Pope told seminarians that "It hurts my heart when I see a priest with the latest model car", Father Alvarez Yacub decided to give up his Mercedes.

The priest told reporters that the money he gets from selling the car — valued at $NZ80,500 — will be given to members of his family.

He said he's ridden a burro, a horse, a bicycle and a bus, to say nothing of walking on foot around his town of Santa Marta. In his words, "I have no problem with that."

Father Alvarez Yacub's decision was applauded in Colombia, which is predominantly Catholic.

The president of Colombia's Catholic Bishops Conference, Cardinal Ruben Salazar, said that the Catholic Church in Latin America has always embraced austerity.

He said the estimated 10,000 Colombian priests in the country each receive the equivalent of about $NZ794 a month.

"We priests undoubtedly have to be very conscious that we have to live with our people, in the conditions in which our people live," he said.

This is not the first time Father Alvarez Yacub has made headlines. Recently, he came up with the idea of "virtual funerals" for family members unable to attend the funerals of their loved ones in other cities, allowing them to follow the ceremony via webcam.

The priest also installed a cell phone blocker in his parish to prevent calls from interrupting Mass.

"The issue of cell phones during Mass is a real problem," he said at the time. "Some people have those special ringtones….That's why I bought this blocker."

Sources:

Associated Press

Catholic News Agency

Image: MSN

"I want to highlight in particular the fact that the Church is the Church of all peoples, so she speaks in the various cultures of the different continents," the Pope said during the hour-long service in St Peter's Basilica, Rome.

"Amid the polyphony of the various voices, she raises a single harmonious song to the living God."

He added: "What makes the Church catholic is the fact that Christ in his saving mission embraces all humanity."

The six new cardinals from four different continents represented two Eastern Catholic Churches as well as the Latin rite.

They were: United States Archbishop James M. Harvey, 63, former prefect of the papal household; Lebanon's Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, 72; Indian Archbishop Baselio Cleemis Thottunkal, 53, head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church; Nigerian Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, 68, of Abuja; Colombian Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez, 70, of Bogota; and Philippine Archbishop Luis Tagle, 55, of Manila.

The new Eastern Catholic cardinals received modified versions of the biretta, consistent with the distinctive clerical garb of their churches. Cardinal Rai received the turban-like Maronite tabieh, and Cardinal Cleemis a head covering in a shape reminiscent of an onion dome.

The consistory increased the College of Cardinals to 211 members, 120 of whom are under the age of 80 and thus eligible to vote in a conclave to elect a new pope.

Though fewer than 24 per cent of the world's Catholic live in Europe, 52 per cent of the voting cardinals still come from that continent, with 23 per cent from Italy.

Sources:

Catholic News Service

Catholic News Agency

Vatican Information Service

Image: The Hindu