IN BRIEF

IN BRIEF

THE PERSECUTION OF CARDINAL ZEN: Cardinal Joseph Zen of Hong Kong is being tried by the Chinese Communist government for allegedly failing to register a non-profit that provided financial and legal support to protesters arrested during the 2019–20 Hong Kong demonstrations. Prosecutors made their case last week, and the trial will resume on October 26. The ninety-year-old Zen has become an international figure of resistance to the totalitarianism of the Chinese Communist Party, and a champion for democracy and religious freedom. This trial and a concurrent investigation are meant to silence him while the CCP negotiates with the Vatican over the second renewal of a secret 2018 agreement that gave the CCP control over the proposal of new bishops and legitimized seven regime-loyal bishops who had been ordained without Vatican approval. The Persecution of Cardinal Zen | Sean Nelson | First Things

VATICAN TO RE-SIGN CONTROVERSIAL AGREEMENT WITH CHINA OCTOBER 22: Amid increased controversy as a trial against a prominent Chinese cardinal continues to move forward in Hong Kong, the Vatican and China will for the second time renew their provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops. Speaking to Crux, a high-ranking Vatican official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the renewal publicly, said “the agreement with China is scheduled to be renewed on (the) 22nd of October 2022, with no changes to the terms.” The official stressed that this was not an official statement, and that a formal announcement would be made “in due time” by the Holy See Press Office. Though the terms of the agreement have never been made public, the deal, brokered in September 2018, is believed to be modeled after the Holy See’s agreement with Vietnam, allowing the Holy See to pick bishops from a selection of candidates proposed by the government. Vatican-China deal to be renewed, with no changes to terms | Crux (cruxnow.com)

PONTIFICAL ACADEMY FOR LIFE APPOINTS PRO-ABORTION ATHEIST MEMBER: Mariana Mazzucato joins a growing list of members who hold views antithetical to the Catholic Church. The Pontifical Academy for Life has appointed to its list of full members a highly influential atheist economist who supports legalized abortion and whose views on the economy have in part been praised by Pope Francis.  Mariana Mazzucato, who teaches the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London and is closely linked to the World Economic Forum, was appointed on Saturday by Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, president of the academy, and Msgr. Renzo Pegoraro, its chancellor.  A married mother of four, Mazzucato is one of 14 new ordinary members appointed to the academy. Pontifical Academy for Life Appoints Pro-Abortion Atheist Member| National Catholic Register (ncregister.com)

VATICAN BASILICA TO SHOWCASE KOREAN PRIEST-MARTYR: A statue of Saint Andrew Kim Tae-gon, Korea’s first priest-martyr, will be installed in a niche outside Saint Peter’s Basilica commemorating the 200th birth year of the saint, said Korean Church officials. The preparation of the statue has been underway since Pope Francis accepted the proposal from Archbishop Lazzaro Heung-sik You of Daejeon, who is also the prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Clergy. “The production cost is borne jointly by the Korean diocese, and it is in progress. It is a great honor for our Korean church,” said Bishop Mathias Lee Yong-hoon, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Korea. Prominent Korean sculptor Han Jin-seop will lead the production of the statue in Carrara marble. The statue is estimated to weigh around 40 tonnes post-production, the Catholic Peace Broadcasting Corporation reported on Oct. 13. Vatican to install first statue of Korean saint Andrew Kim – UCA News

10,000 PRIESTS PARTICIPATE IN STUDY OF PRIESTHOOD: WASHINGTON (CNS) — A study of U.S. priests released Oct. 19 details clerics’ “crisis of trust” toward their bishops as well as fear that if they were falsely accused of abuse, prelates would immediately throw them “under the bus” and not help them clear their name. The study “Well-being, Trust and Policy in a Time of Crisis” by The Catholic Project, written by Brandon Vaidyanathan, Christopher Jacobi and Chelsea Rae Kelly, of The Catholic University of America, paints a portrait of a majority of priests who feel abandoned by the men they are supposed to trust at the helm of their dioceses. And while the study says priests overwhelmingly support measures to combat sex abuse and enhance child safety, the majority, 82%, also said they regularly fear being falsely accused. Were that to happen, they feel they would face a “de facto policy” of guilty until proven innocent.. Study of priests shows distrust of bishops, fear of false abuse accusations. Published Oct. 19 2022. Nation. (thebostonpilot.com)

VATICAN NEWS TO FEATURE REPORTS FROM MEDIA STUDENTS IN PHILIPPINES AND INDIA. Vatican News, together with the Dicastery for Culture and Education’s Gravissimum Educationis Foundation, will feature special reports prepared by media students at Catholic universities in the Philippines and India. The project aims to allow students to share inspirational stories on their faith, the Church, and communion with the universal Church globally, while providing local news under the banner: “Good Makes Headlines!” The Dicastery for Communication and the Gravissimum Educationis Foundation, under the auspices of the Dicastery for Culture and Education, have joined together for an educational project giving a voice to Catholic university students specializing in media and communication. Vatican News to feature reports from media students in Philippines and India – Vatican News

POPE CHANGES ARCHIVES NAME TO VATICAN APOSTOLIC ARCHIVES – ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: NO TO EUTHANASIA, ASSISTED SUICIDE, YES TO PALLIATIVE CARE

POPE CHANGES ARCHIVES NAME TO VATICAN APOSTOLIC ARCHIVES

With an Apostolic Letter motu proprio dated October 22, 2019 and released today by the Vatican, Pope Francis has changed the name of the Vatican Secret Archives to the Vatican Apostolic Archives.

The motu proprio starts: “Historical experience teaches that every human institution, even born with the greatest care and with vigorous and well-founded hopes of progress, fatally touched by time and yet, wanting to remain faithful to itself and to the aims of its nature, feels the need, not to change its proper appearance, but rather to bring its inspiring values into different eras and cultures and to make those updates that are convenient and sometimes necessary.”

The Apostolic Letter then outlines a history of the Vatican library, the archives, their mission and purpose and the priceless service both have given to the Church over the centuries:

“This long service rendered to the Church, to culture and to scholars all over the world has always earned the Vatican Secret Archives esteem and gratitude, growing all the more growing from Leo XIII to our day, and because of the progressive ‘openings’ of the documentation made available to the consultation (which from next March 2, 2020, at my disposal, will extend until the end of the pontificate of Pius XII), both because of the increase in researchers who are admitted to the Archive on a daily basis and helped in every way in their research.”

Pope Francis then writes: “However, there is one aspect that I think may still be useful to update, reaffirming the ecclesial and cultural goals of the Archive’s mission. This aspect concerns the very name of the institute: Vatican Secret Archives.

“Born, as mentioned, from the Bibliotheca secreta of the Roman Pontiff, or rather from the part of codes and scriptures more particularly owned and under the direct jurisdiction of the Pope, the Archive was first titled Archivum novum, then Archivum Apostolicum, then Archivum Secretum (the first attestations of the term date back to around 1646).

“The term Secretum, which came to form the proper denomination of the institution, prevailed in the last few centuries and was justified because it indicated that the new Archive, wanted by my predecessor Paul V around 1610-1612, was none other than the private archive, separate, reserved by the Pope. So this is how Popes wanted to define it and scholars today still call it, without any difficulty. This definition, moreover, was widespread, with a similar meaning, in the courts of the sovereigns and princes, whose archives were properly defined as secret.”

Thus, writes the Holy Father, “Solicited in recent years by some esteemed prelates, as well as by my closest collaborators, I also heard the opinion of the Superiors of the same Vatican Secret Archive, (and) with this my Motu Proprio, I decide that: from now on the current Vatican Secret Archives, while changing nothing in its identity, its structure and its mission, is called the Vatican Apostolic Archives.”

Francis closes the Apostolic Letter by noting that, “the new name highlights the close link of the Roman See with the Archive, an indispensable tool of the Petrine ministry, and at the same time underlines its immediate dependence on the Roman Pontiff, thus as already happens in parallel for the name of the Vatican Apostolic Library.”

ABRAHAMIC RELIGIONS: NO TO EUTHANASIA, ASSISTED SUICIDE, YES TO PALLIATIVE CARE

Representatives of the Abrahamic monotheistic religions condemn euthanasia and assisted suicide, and encourage palliative care everywhere and for everyone.

By Robin Gomes (vatiannews)

“We oppose any form of euthanasia – that is the direct, deliberate and intentional act of taking life – as well as physician-assisted suicide – that is the direct, deliberate and intentional support of committing suicide -because they fundamentally contradict the inalienable value of human life, and therefore are inherently and consequentially morally and religiously wrong, and should be forbidden without exceptions.”

Representatives of the Abrahamic religions made the statement in a position paper that they signed and released in the Vatican on Monday regarding end-of-life issues, such as euthanasia, assisted suicide and palliative care.

The term, Abrahamic monotheistic religions, derives from the Old Testament biblical figure Abraham who is recognized by Jews, Christians, Muslims and others.

Euthanasia, physician-assisted suicide – morally and religiously wrong
“Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide,” they declared, “are inherently and consequentially morally and religiously wrong and should be forbidden with no exceptions.” As such, they categorically condemned any pressure upon dying patients to end their lives by active and deliberate actions.

They wrote, “Care for the dying, is both part of our stewardship of the Divine gift of life when a cure is no longer possible, as well as our human and ethical responsibility toward the dying (and often) suffering patient.”

“Holistic and respectful care of the person,” they said, “must recognize the uniquely human, spiritual and religious dimension of dying as a fundamental objective.”

The person behind the declaration is Rabbi Avraham Steinberg of Israel who proposed the idea to Pope Francis, who in turn entrusted it to the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy for Life. Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the president of the Academy, involved and coordinated a mixed inter-faith group to draft the declaration.

After the release of the position paper, the 30 signatories were received in audience by Pope Francis in the Vatican. Among them were some cardinals, rabbis, including David Rosen and Syamsul Anwar of Indonesia’s second-largest Islamic organization, Muhammadiyah.

Palliative care for all
The Abrahamic religions encouraged and expressed support for qualified palliative care everywhere and for everyone. “Even when efforts to continue staving off death seems unreasonably burdensome,” they wrote, “we are morally and religiously duty-bound to provide comfort, effective pain and symptoms relief, companionship, care and spiritual assistance to the dying patient and to her/his family.”

While calling for laws and policies that protect the rights and the dignity of the dying patient to avoid euthanasia and promote palliative care, they committed themselves to involve other religions and all people of goodwill.

Archbishop Paglia stressed the importance of the ecumenical and interreligious dimension of the joint initiative. He said it allowed them to discover areas of convergence and bring fruits of communion in order to render a service to all people in whom “we all see sons and daughters of God”.