Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service

Josephine McKenna writes for Religion News Service.

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Vatican Calls for Release of Kidnapped Nigerian Girls

by Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service 05-08-2014

Rev. Federico Lombardi, issued an appeal for the release of kidnapped Nigerian schoolgirls. Photo: David Gibson/RNS

The Vatican issued an urgent appeal Thursday for the release of more than 200 Nigerian schoolgirls kidnapped by the Islamist militant group Boko Haram.

The abduction of the young girls three weeks ago was the latest instance of the “horrible forms of violence” for which the militant Islamic group has become known in Nigeria, said the Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi.

“The denial of any kind of respect for life and for the dignity of human beings, even the most innocent, vulnerable and defenseless, calls for the strongest condemnation,” Lombardi said.

He added that the kidnappings aroused the most heartfelt feelings of compassion for the victims and a sense of horror for the physical and spiritual suffering and the incredible humiliation they have suffered.

Nigerian Cardinal: Schoolgirls' Abduction Is Shameful

by Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service 05-08-2014

Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, the archbishop of Abuja, pictured in March 2013. Photo courtesy Mtande via Wikimedia Commons

The kidnapping of 300 teenage schoolgirls by the Islamist group Boko Haram has shamed Nigeria, Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan said Wednesday.

“We are all ashamed, terribly ashamed,” said Olorunfemi Onaiyekan, the archbishop of Abuja, in an interview aired on Vatican Radio. “The fact that, up until now, we are hearing practically nothing concrete on the issue, I think almost every Nigerian is taken aback. We cannot explain what is happening.”

Vatican Radio reported that at least 53 of the girls had escaped from their captors but 276 were still believed to be in captivity.

Vatican Defends Record on Sexual Abuse to UN Panel

by Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service 05-06-2014

Archbishop Silvano Tomasi at WIPO Treaty for the Blind conference in June 2013. Photo courtesy JRandomF, via Wikimedia Commons

The Vatican has effectively addressed the “worldwide scourge” of clerical sexual abuse over the past decade and promoted the reporting of allegations to both church and legal authorities, a United Nations panel heard on Tuesday.

The Vatican’s ambassador to U.N. agencies in Geneva, Archbishop Silvano Tomasi, said the Catholic Church had “crossed the threshold” in its approach to the issue of abuse, saying the church’s internal culture had changed.

Tomasi faced intense questioning from members of the U.N. committee investigating whether the church upholds the U.N. convention against torture beyond the walls of the world’s smallest country, the Vatican City state.

Vatican Could Face Flood of Torture-related Abuse Lawsuits

by Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service 05-05-2014

St. Peter’s Basilica in early morning light. Photo courtesy of Andreas Tille, via Wikimedia Commons.

The Vatican could face a wave of new sexual abuse claims dating back decades if a United Nations inquiry finds that the Roman Catholic Church has violated an international treaty against torture and inhuman treatment.

The Center for Constitutional Rights, on behalf of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said Monday that victims may look at fresh litigation since torture was not bound by the statute of limitations in many of the 155 countries that have endorsed or ratified the U.N. Convention against Torture, including the United States.

“For too long, sexual violence and acts of rape by the Catholic Church have been minimized,” said Katherine Gallagher, senior staff attorney at the New York-based CCR, after the U.N. panel that enforces the torture convention held hearings in Geneva.

Vatican Says Bureaucratic Reforms Won't Happen Until 2015

by Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service 04-29-2014

Cardinal George Pell in Rome, 2007. Photo courtesy of Gavin Scott [Public domain], from Wikimedia Commons.

Pope Francis and his council of eight cardinals are unlikely to complete a radical shakeup of the Holy See’s administration, or Curia, before 2015, the Vatican said Tuesday.

The council, which includes Australian Cardinal George Pell, head of the Vatican’s new economic secretariat, has been meeting in Rome for the past two days and also received input from the Vatican’s secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Francis joined the council’s discussions in between events on an intense appointment schedule that included an audience with King Juan Carlos of Spain after the historic double canonizations of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII on Sunday.

Pope Francis Broaches a Rare Topic: Abortion

by Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service 04-25-2014

Pope Francis leads Christmas Eve Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in 2013. Photo by Paul Haring, courtesy Catholic News Service/RNS

Pope Francis reiterated his strong opposition to abortion on Friday, saying it “compounds the grief of many women” already succumbing to what he called the “pressures of secular culture.”

The pope’s remarks, to a group of bishops from South Africa, Botswana, and Swaziland, represented a departure of sorts for Francis, who has kept a relative silence on the issue as he tries to redirect the church’s energies toward combating poverty and income inequality.

Francis expressed concern about the challenges the African bishops faced in their communities, from abortion and divorce to violence against women and children.

John Paul II and John XXIII: A Rush to Sainthood?

by Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service 04-22-2014

View down Via della Conciliazione to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Harris via Flickr

Hundreds of pilgrims wind their way around St. Peter’s Square as tour guides shout in multiple languages. Beggars have their hands outstretched amid warnings of an invasion of pickpockets from abroad.

Across Rome, hotels are full, streets are clean, and the cash registers in the souvenir stalls are singing as the faithful pour in to the Eternal City for the dual canonizations of Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII on Sunday.

Italian authorities are expecting at least a million pilgrims, including heads of state, prime ministers, and diplomats from 54 countries. One group of Polish pilgrims is making the 2,000-mile trek on horseback, dressed in medieval costumes, to celebrate Poland’s most famous native son.

Vatican to Broadcast John Paul II's Canonization in 3-D

by Josephine McKenna, Religion News Service 04-02-2014

View down Via della Conciliazione to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Photo courtesy of Jimmy Harris via Flickr

VATICAN CITY — While millions of pilgrims are expected to attend the Catholic Church’s first-ever double canonization at the end of April, the Vatican is preparing its most ambitious TV and social media campaign for the millions who don’t make it to Rome.

For the first time viewers will be able to watch the historic event live in 3-D movie theaters in 20 countries across North and South America and Europe through a deal between Vatican TV and Rupert Murdoch’s Sky TV network, Sony, and other partners. City officials are expecting more than 5 million people to attend the ceremony when Pope Francis declares his predecessors Pope John Paul II and Pope John XXIII saints in St Peter’s Square on April 27.