Costumes of demons, witches, and the dead open the door to the devil, priest says

Father Javier Ortega, a priest of the Diocese of Alcalá de Henares in Spain, said that costumes of demons, witches, and the dead that are usually worn for Halloween are not recommended because “you are in some way tempting the devil.”

In a recent interview published by the diocese on its website, Ortega asked parents to not allow their children to participate in these celebrations and, if they do, “to dress up as saints or in costumes of beautiful and lovely things.”

Don’t let them “dress up as demons, dress up as witches, or dress up as dead people,” he said, “because in some way you are opening doors, you are in some way tempting the devil… In other words, it’s not something neutral.”

The priest also pointed out that behind the pagan festival of Halloween “there is the influence of evil.” In fact, he said that this is “the biggest day” for satanists. It’s a celebration that “has nothing to do, of course, with what the Christian faith is” and in which, he lamented, “we are being a bit complicit.”

“When you play with fire you can get burned, that’s clear; it’s not that you always get burned, but you can get burned. When you play with spirits, with elements of esotericism or occultism you are opening doors to the evil one,” he warned.

The priest also warned that the evil one “also makes use of ignorance and naïveté” and, although children are often unaware of this background, “in some way they are participating in a festival that has nothing good to do with it.”

“If you drink poison, even if you don’t know it, you are poisoning yourself,” he added.

Ortega also pointed out the danger behind esoteric or other types of practices such as Ouija, Reiki, New Age, or “yoga at certain levels” because, he added, “deep down you are invoking the evil one, you are pressing your luck.”

Cultivate beauty to combat Halloween

The priest reminded that “beauty will save the world” and that it’s very important to educate children in beauty: “We must care for children’s imagination, so that they have beautiful and lovely things in their imagination.”

He thus recommended that there shouldn’t be “ugly pictures” in the children’s rooms but images of the Virgin, the guardian angel, and “that children be blessed every night, that they hear words of blessing, words from heaven, words of hope.”

“We live in a world that is very harmful to children, where there are ugly things and things that truly attack purity of heart, the innocence of children… So we must fight against this with all our might,” he said.

Eco-protection ‘central to Christian identity’ says priest

Representatives of countries and institutions from all around the world are gathered in Colombia for the United Nations Biodiversity Summit, COP16 from October 21 to November 1. One of these organisations is the Columban Missionaries.

Fr Sean McDonagh, Columban priest and ecologist, said “The COP for biodiversity only takes place every two years, while the COP for climate change takes place every year. In fact, many will not even mention the COP for biodiversity, [which is] so very important,”

Amy Echeverria, Columban International Coordinator for Justice, Peace and Ecology is representing the order in the Summit. In a released statement, they explained: “The purpose of attending these international summits is to bear witness to the global community that people of faith are committed to advocating for the protection and restoration of biodiversity.”

The priest said it is important to emphasise the importance of biodiversity now, to ensure it is not destroyed. “Because once a species is gone, it’s gone forever…if we destroy them, we destroy the future of everyone, including human beings,” Fr McDonagh added.

Fr McDonagh said the involvement of the Church in biodiversity campaigns and eco-protection is “huge. The Church is concerned about life. This is about life, the continuation of life,” he added. “This is central to our Christian identity.”

“And if the religious people are not involved in that, what are they involved in? It’s so important for us, this is God’s creation…When it comes to biodiversity, the reality of who is causing the destruction of biodiversity [is] only one creature: humans.

Priest kidnapping in Nigeria seen as part of assault on Christian ‘soft targets’

Police in Nigeria have arrested two persons suspected of involvement in the kidnapping of Father Thomas Oyode, Rector of Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary School in the Diocese of Auchi, located in Edo State of the country’s embattled central-southern region.

While presenting the suspects to the media on Oct. 30, Edo state Police Commissioner Umoru Ozigi said the suspects were assisting the police in tracking down their accomplices.

He called on the population to volunteer any information that can lead to the arrest of criminals in a region where lawbreakers loom large.

Oyode was abducted Sunday evening at the seminary around 7:00 pm, during evening prayers and benediction, according to a statement by the Director of Communications for the diocese, Father Peter Egielewa.

He said the abductors initially took two seminarians, but the rector asked the kidnappers to release the students and take him instead.

“The institution’s Rector, Rev. Fr. Thomas Oyode, was abducted and led into the bush. However, the Vice Rector and all the seminarians have been accounted for and are safe and temporarily relocated to a safe area until security measures around the seminary are tightened. Unfortunately, no communication has been had with the abductors yet,” said Egielewa in a statement.

Unconfirmed reports say the kidnappers are asking for a ransom of nearly $122,000. Crux’s attempts to get confirmation from the diocese went unanswered.

The recent kidnapping highlights the growing threat to clergy and religious individuals in Nigeria, usually considered “soft targets”.

According to a report by the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, known as “Intersociety,” more than 150,000 religiously motivated civilian deaths have been recorded in Nigeria since 2009.

The report, published February 14, finds that some 14 million Christians have been uprooted and forced to flee their homes since 2009, and more than 800 Christian communities have been attacked.

The Director of Intersociety, Emeka Umeagbalassi, told Crux that the targeting of Catholic clergy and Christians is part of a larger plan to Islamize the country.

He accused the federal government of bias against Christians and described it as “a wing of Fulani killers,” a reference to a largely Muslim ethnic group widely dispersed across West Africa, including Nigeria.

“There are a lot of butcheries, abductions and disappearances going on in the country, and the security agencies are complicit in these crimes,” Emeka said.

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja said the security agencies “have been put to shame” by the continued killing and kidnapping of Christians.

“Our nation continues to be plagued by increased insecurity. Boko Haram insurgents, herdsmen militias, bandits, kidnappers, and the so-called ‘unknown gunmen’ persist in spreading terror across various regions,” Kaigama told Crux.

He squarely blamed the federal government for failing to protect the people, stating that it has lost the capacity to check the perpetrators of violence who now terrorize the people in different parts of the country at will.

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, “HURIWA,” has urged the federal government to take firmer action against attacks on priests, pastors and moderate Muslims who are increasingly falling prey to kidnappers, terrorists, bandits and Fulani herdsmen.

Last year, the outspoken Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mathew Hassan Kukah, said his diocese had spent over $37,200 to secure the release of pastoral agents.

“There are genuine fears that these abductions amount to targeted persecution of the Christian faith, but the financial motive appears to overshadow these concerns,” HURIWA stated in a report last year.

It said the failure of the government to address the issue of priest abductions and killings has emboldened other criminals to commit similar acts.

Franklyne Ogbunwezeh, a senior researcher for Sub-Saharan Africa at Christian Solidarity International, notes that while criminal gangs may be driven by money to kidnap clergy, jihadist elements have a different motive: To establish an Islamic caliphate by uprooting Christians from their communities, particularly in the Middle Belt of Nigeria.

“They kidnap and murder Christian leaders who have a high standing in their communities, sometimes even killing them after ransoms have been paid. This is to detach the community from its center, making it easier to destroy those Christian communities,” he said.

Vatican union sceptical about cuts to cardinals' salaries

The Vatican trade union ADLV fears that the reduction in the salaries of curia cardinals is just a pretext to prepare further cuts for all Vatican employees. 

In a statement published on its website on Wednesday, the "Associazione Dipendenti Laici Vaticani" demanded that all austerity measures taken by the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy must fulfil the principles of solidarity, proportionality and fairness: "The cuts must be proportional to everyone's means and must not affect the families of employees."

Last week, a letter from the head of the Vatican's Secretariat for the Economy became public, according to which the salaries of curia cardinals will be reduced by several hundred euros in order to support the Holy See's austerity measures. 

The Vatican trade union reacted sceptically to the announcement: Curia cardinals earn little compared to other executives anyway. 

In addition, the savings for the 30 or so cardinals affected are comparatively small. There are therefore questions among the lay employees: "Is this a preparatory measure for further cuts to our salaries to cover the Holy See's budget deficit, which is clearly not being curbed by the economic reform?"

Increased workload and poor pay

The last cuts to salaries in the Papal States had already hit employees hard. The two-year zero round from 2021 means a loss of 20,000 euros over the entire working life, and the cut will also affect the pension scheme. 

According to the union, the fact that some managers were not affected by the cuts caused dissatisfaction: "A form of reverse pay equity."

In addition, the workload had increased, upcoming promotions had not materialised despite those affected having greater areas of responsibility, and overtime was poorly paid. Salary increases have not been able to keep pace with inflation.

The ADLV claims to have around 700 members and represents the laity among Vatican employees; it has been recognised as a trade union by the Holy See since 1993. In recent years, the ADLV has become increasingly dissatisfied with working conditions at the Vatican. 

In September, Paola Monaco, who works in the Pontifical Committee for the Eucharistic World Congresses, was elected as the union's new General Secretary. 

Following her election, she announced a "new era": "The voice of the workers can no longer be ignored; it is anachronistic to make decisions unilaterally and impose them from above."

Reparation for abuse ‘never enough’ says Madrid archbishop

The Archbishop of Madrid told survivors of clergy abuse that “whatever we do in reparation for what happened to you will never be enough”.

At a service of reparation for abuse on 21 October, Cardinal José Cobo said the “tears and wounds” of survivors had opened the Church’s “eyes” and acknowledged the Church had “not cared for victims”.

He said: “We have resisted understanding you when you most needed us to do so. We are deeply sorry.”

Testimonies from survivors were read aloud during the service which began at the doors of Madrid’s Cathedral of Our Lady of Almudena.

A sign outside the cathedral said: “Whatever you did the least of these, you did to me.” Participants planted an olive tree nearby, as a symbol acknowledging abuse.

Fr José Luis Segovia, pastoral vicar for the archdiocese, said the Church in Madrid wanted “to accept the guilt that is ours”.

Cobo described the ceremony as “a recognition there have been abusers within the Church”.

“It’s cost us to recognise that,” he continued, describing abusers as “the opposite” of what the Church claimed to believe and enact. “That there may be abusers elsewhere is no consolation,” he said.

Cobo thanked survivors for their “tenacity and courage” saying this had “pressed” the Church “to purify our style of relating both inside and outside the Church”.

He added: “We need to continue to mature in order to put into place a way of functioning as Church that is less clerical, more synodal and co-responsible.”

Those present included members of the team of the national ombudsmen Ángel Gabilondo. In October 2023, he published the results of a government inquiry into abuse in the Catholic Church in Spain.

This included a sample survey of 8,013 people which found that 1.13 per cent were affected by abuse in the Church, with just over half of it perpetrated by clergy or Religious. 

In May this year, Archbishop Jesús Sanz Montes of Oviedo accused the Spanish government of claiming “only the Catholic Church” was guilty of harbouring sexual abuse. He said the government’s focus on sexual abuse in the Church was “a kind of obsessive mantra”.

UOC Bishops: Our church is independent, Moscow must respect Ukraine’s territorial integrity

A significant development in the relationship between the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (UOC) and the Moscow Patriarchate unfolded on Thursday afternoon.

Specifically, several Bishops of the UOC expressed strong opposition to decisions made last week by the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church concerning UOC dioceses located in Russian-occupied territories.

On October 24, the Russian Church’s Synod resolved to dismiss Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk and Mariupol from his position overseeing this UOC Metropolis.

Previously, the Russian Synod had similarly removed UOC Metropolitans from other occupied regions in Ukraine. According to orthodoxtimes.com, numerous Bishops of the UOC—reportedly led by Metropolitan Agathangelos of Odessa—condemned these actions through social media posts. 

They highlighted that these measures “were taken unilaterally, without any prior consultation with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, which has been canonically independent since the Tomos issued by Patriarch Alexy on October 27, 1990, and reaffirmed by the Holy Synod of the UOC on May 27, 2022.”

In a joint statement posted on their personal social media accounts, the UOC Bishops declared: “We, the Bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, vehemently condemn this decision as uncanonical, as ecclesiastical law governs the proper relationships between Orthodox Churches.”

The statement continues: “The Second Canon of the Second Ecumenical Council underscores the necessity of respecting jurisdictional boundaries and warns against any attempt by one Church to seize control of another territory.

The Eighth Canon of the Third Ecumenical Council explicitly prohibits any Bishop from intervening in the jurisdiction of another. Furthermore, this decision aims to undermine Ukraine’s independence and jeopardize the very existence of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, especially under the dire circumstances of ongoing military conflict on Ukrainian soil.”

The Bishops’ statement further emphasizes: “The uncanonical removal of Metropolitan Hilarion of Donetsk, who is of Ukrainian origin, and the appointment of a Russian Bishop in his place, reveal Moscow’s intent to annex the canonical territory of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, threatening its autonomy and independence.”

Finally, the UOC Bishops conclude: “We do not accept this decision and demand its immediate revocation. We call for an end to aggressive ecclesiastical policies against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and its suffering flock, as well as respect for the UOC’s jurisdictional boundaries, Ukraine’s sovereignty, and territorial integrity.”

The statement ends with the Bishops’ signatures, notably excluding that of Metropolitan Onufriy.

Bishop reacts as vicar banned over grooming claims

The Bishop of Chelmsford has said lessons "must be learned" after a vicar was struck off over sexual abuse allegations.

David Tudor, who was team rector for the Parish of Canvey in Essex, had been suspended for the last five years but was banned for life by the Church of England at a tribunal hearing this week.

The panel heard he formed sexual relationships with two girls - including one under the age of 16 - between 1982 and 1989.

The Right Reverend Dr Guli Francis-Deqhani welcomed the decision to "prohibit him from ministry for life".

“I am deeply sorry for the profound hurt and harm David Tudor’s behaviour has caused," said Dr Francis-Deqhani.

“There will be important lessons that must be learned about how this matter has been handled over many years and I welcome the fact that there will now be a national independent safeguarding practice review.”

Diaries destroyed

The tribunal determined that Mr Tudor's behaviour - which occurred when he was a priest in the Diocese of Southwark - was "an abuse of trust" which amounted to "grooming".

Mr Tudor told the two-day tribunal that he had no recollection of the incidents with the two girls - who were identified as X and Y - but he accepted that sexual acts took place between himself and Y, and did not challenge X's account of what happened.

The tribunal heard how the former vicar tried to keep the relationship with X - which started when she was 15 years old - a secret, demanding she destroyed her diaries.

He offered a full apology to both X and Y.

Surrey Police said it investigated a report in 2019 of “non-recent indecent assault offences” against a man in his 60s from Canvey Island - which were alleged to have taken place in Reigate - but the Crown Prosecution Service determined there was insufficient evidence to take the matter to court.

“As with all closed cases, if any new or compelling evidence is reported to us, we will look at the possibility of reopening the investigation," a spokesperson for the force added.

Mr Tudor was also accused but acquitted of indecent assault against a 16-year-old girl - identified as Z - in January 1988, the tribunal heard.

He was sentenced to six months in prison in 1988 for indecent assault in relation to three other complainants, but this conviction was later quashed by the Court of Appeal.

After serving a five-year suspension, he returned to ministry in the 1990s and was appointed team vicar of Canvey Island in 1997 and team rector in 2000.

Mr Tudor was later suspended in 2005 by the Diocese of Chelmsford after a complaint was made about his conduct relating to a time prior to his ordination in the 1970s, which did not involve either X or Y.

The tribunal heard there were no criminal proceedings and he was permitted to return to his position at Canvey Island.

The Rt Reverend Christopher Chessun, Bishop of Southwark, said that Mr Tudor’s behaviour was “a serious and damaging breach of his pastoral and professional obligations as a priest”.

Mr Tudor’s victims were being offered full support, Reverend Chessun added, saying he was “deeply grateful” for their courage in sharing their experiences and engaging “with this long and difficult process”.

Priest accused of slashing ex-partner's tires pleads guilty to trespassing

An Episcopal priest accused of slashing a former partner’s tires at a downtown parking garage in January pleaded guilty to trespassing on Thursday.

Michael Greene, the 50-year-old rector of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Albany, agreed to plead guilty to the violation just days before his trial for alleged criminal mischief was to begin in city court, Greene's attorney, Gregory Finkell, wrote in a text message.

Judge John Reilly imposed no fine but ordered Greene to pay $644 to the woman who accused him of vandalizing her car, Finkell wrote. The offense carries a maximum penalty of a $250 fine and 15 days in jail.

"Father Mike and I were prepared for trial and ready to convince a jury that he was not guilty. But in the 11th hour, the prosecution called me and offered to resolve the case with a plea offer to a non-criminal law violation: namely, simple trespass," his message said.

Court officials confirmed Friday that Greene pleaded guilty and was sentenced Thursday for the violation. Greene was ordered to stay away from the woman, court officials said.

An Albany Police Department arrest report said Greene allegedly slashed the front tires of the victim’s car “with an unknown cutting instrument” between 10 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. Jan. 11 at the parking garage at 111 N. Pearl St. 

The case proved problematic for the Albany County district attorney's office. In the spring, Reilly rejected the defense's request that the case be thrown out. The judge ruled prosecutors met their burden to comply with discovery, but noted some issues with evidence related to the case. Video surveillance footage of the alleged Jan. 11 incident from the garage at 111 North Pearl St. was incomplete.

Police initially received some video evidence from security cameras but when investigators went back to retrieve more they learned that the system that records video for the parking lot does not store data beyond l4 days, and, consequently, the video footage was lost by the time investigators returned, the judge wrote in his May ruling.

The Times Union reviewed four separate video clips that show Greene walking up a ramp in the garage at 1:55 p.m. and then approaching the car at 2 p.m. A camera, aimed at the car's passenger side, shows Greene walking around to the driver’s side. It is not clear how long Greene was near the car, but by 2:03 video shows him appearing to leave the garage, walking down stairs and ramps.

The alleged victim, a woman in her 40s, said that Greene slashed her tires but Finkell said his client went to the alleged victim’s car to drop off a note from a floral arrangement that she had asked for and that he was beside the car for no more than four seconds.

In the arrest report, police said the priest crouched next to the front tires and slashed both with an unknown object. Finkell said that there was no cutting instrument and it is not clear from video reviewed by the Times Union that Greene had anything in his hand as he approached the car.

The woman alleged the vandalism followed a volatile romantic relationship that began almost immediately after Greene hired her to do administrative work at the church. 

The Episcopal Diocese of Albany placed Greene on administrative leave while it carried out its own investigation. Officials from the diocese could not be reached for immediate comment. 

The website for St. Paul's Church listed Greene as on administrative leave Friday morning.

County Roscommon resident invited by Vatican to help with global study on children of priests

A Lisacul resident has described an invitation he received from the Vatican to help with global research on children of priests as “a huge day for human rights and for children’s rights”.

Vincent Doyle, who is the son of a priest, received a letter from the Vatican last week inviting him to participate in a worldwide study. 

Research was originally established by Pope Francis a decade ago in relation to the protection of minors, but is now including adults.

Vincent said that it had taken ten years to get this stage and while “exhausted”, he is extremely happy to be asked to contribute to a body of research that will recognise the thousands who are the children of priests and the religious.

“I’ve been dialoguing with the Vatican since 2014, pressing them and pushing them to look at this issue. Initially there was some hesitancy. It took them a while to do this. I'm privileged and honoured to get an invitation at this level – it is phenomenal,” he said.

“It’s the first time ever this has been done and to be able to contribute is humbling - it’s amazing, you know, for a guy who lives in Lisacul. I’ll be contributing to a body of knowledge that will be in the Vatican archives until the end of time.” Discovering that he was the son of a priest at age 28 has brought the Lisacul resident on a decade long global journey aimed at supporting thousands of people just like himself.

Before the life-changing discovery about his biological father Vincent had just known the priest as his godfather. He was 12 years old when he died in 1995.

The Longford native moved to Lisacul seven years ago from Galway and works as a psychotherapist with clients at his home and online, around the world. He lives there with his wife and young son.

Ten years ago, Vincent established Coping International, a voluntary mental health organisation that promotes the well-being of children of Catholic priests and religious, as well as their parents worldwide.

He has dedicated years to researching the mental health related effects of imposed secrecy and stigma upon these children, and their parents and families.

The Vatican letter he received last week has been a huge moment for him. “It's the first time that the Vatican and the Church are openly acknowledging ‘Yes, we have children. Yes, we acknowledge that these people are vulnerable and yes, we acknowledge that there's a problem.

“It’s the first time in history under the authority of the Pope, they are holding their hands up and saying ‘Mea Culpa’, we’re wrong, we have kids and we have to do something about it.” Vincent explained that the Vatican was undertaking a global study across 175 countries. “That's the reach of Coping: 175 countries, 275,000 people in 26 languages, so far.

“The timing of this prestigious invitation is notable, since we are mid-Synod, which means ‘walking together’ and in typical Francis style, he has gone beyond the margins of any Pope before him, building on the work Benedict XVI began in 2009,” he said.

Vincent said that he had informed the Catholic bishops and various other religious authorities across the world of the Vatican correspondence, and wanted to thank the bishops for their continued support.

Pope Francis: Confirmation is the ‘sacrament of witness,’ not the ‘sacrament of goodbye’

Pope Francis addressed thousands of international pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Wednesday, urging them not to turn the sacrament of confirmation into their “last rites” as Catholics but to use it as “the beginning of an active participation in the Church.”

Continuing his catechetical series on the Holy Spirit and the Church, the Holy Father during his Wednesday general audience said confirmation is a “gift of God” and a “milestone” that should not mark a departure from the Church for Catholics.

“People say that it is the ‘sacrament of goodbye’ because once young people have done it they leave,” he said. “They come back for weddings. That’s what people say.”

The pope suggested that lay faithful “who have had a personal encounter with Christ and have had some experience of the Spirit” could reignite their own faith by helping other Catholics to better prepare for confirmation, which is the sacrament of the Holy Spirit “par excellence.”  

Reflecting on the accounts of the confirmation of the first Christians, recorded in the Acts of the Apostles and in St. Paul’s second letter to the Corinthians, Pope Francis said it is God himself who anoints believers.

“He has put his seal upon us and given the Spirit in our hearts,” he told the crowds present in St. Peter’s Square. “The theme of the Holy Spirit as the royal seal with which Christ marks his sheep is at the basis of the doctrine of the indelible character conferred by this rite.”

“Confirmation is for all the faithful what Pentacost was for the entire Church. It strengthens the baptismal incorporation into Christ and the Church, and the royal consecration to the prophetic, royal, and priestly mission,” he added.

During the Wednesday audience, the Holy Father expressed his desire that Catholics will “remove the ashes of habit and disengagement” to become “bearers of the flame of the Spirit” in the upcoming 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

Drawing attention to the solemnity of All Saints’ Day, celebrated on Nov. 1, the pope reminded his listeners that those who have gone before, who now enjoy “heavenly glory” and are “by the Father’s side,” wish to also be in communion with us and to guide us in our journey toward heaven.

Prayers for the Spirit’s gift of peace in the world

After greeting pilgrims belonging to different language groups — including Arabic, English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish — and expressing his closeness with the young, sick, elderly, and newlyweds, the pope exhorted all people to continue to pray for peace in the world.

“We pray for peace. War is continuing to grow,” he said. “Let us think of the countries that are suffering so much: tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Myanmar, North Kivu [in Congo], and so many other countries that are suffering from war.”

“Peace is a gift of the Spirit and war is always a defeat. Nobody wins in war, everybody loses. Let’s pray for peace, brothers and sisters.”

Pope Francis Accepts Retirement of Bishop of Farafangana Diocese in Madagascar, Appoints Successor

Pope Francis has accepted the retirement of Bishop Gaetano Di Pierro of the Catholic Diocese of Farafangana in Madagascar and appointed Bishop Marcellin Randriamamonjy of the country’s Fenoarivo Atsinanana Diocese as his successor.

The latest administrative changes in the Indian Ocean Island nation were made public on Thursday, October 31 and published by the Holy See Press Office.

Catholic Bishops are expected to submit their respective letters of retirement at the age of 75. Compelling reasons such as “ill-health or other grave problems” justify a request in writing to resign. 

Bishop Di Pierro, a member of the Congregation of the Priests of the Sacred Heart (SCI/Dehonians) will turn 76 on December 1. He had been at the helm of Farafangana Diocese since his installation in April 2018 following his transfer from Madagascar’s Catholic Diocese of Moramanga.

His newly appointed successor, Bishop Randriamamonjy, was born on 12 April 1963 in Sandrandahy in the Catholic Diocese of Ambositra in Madagascar.

He was ordained a Priest for the Diocese of Ambositra on 30 August 1992. He had his initial pastoral ministry in two districts of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Fianarantsoa.

He obtained a Licentiate in Theology in Ambatoroka, Antananarivo and a degree in Theology from Lyon in France.

As a Priest, he also served as an educator, a teacher, and Prefect of the Interdiocesan Major Seminary of Vohitsoa, Fianarantsoa, and Rector of the same Seminary.

When installed, the Catholic Church leader who has been at the helm of Fenoarivo Atsinanana Diocese since he started his Episcopal Ministry in May 2009 will become the sixth Local Ordinary of Farafangana Diocese.

The Malagasy Diocese that is among the four Suffragan Dioceses of Fianarantsoa Ecclesiastical Province was erected in April 1957 as the Diocese of Fort-Dauphin before it was renamed Farafangana Diocese in June 1969.

The Diocese that measures 23,176 Kilometers has a population of 194,600 Catholics representing 13.1 percent of the total population, according to the 2021 statistics.

Priest kidnapped in Nigeria after saving two seminarians Priest kidnapped in Nigeria after saving two seminarians | ZENIT - English

A priest was kidnapped from the minor seminary where he worked last Sunday October 27th, and taken by armed bandits into the bush. 

Armed gunmen woven into the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, in the Diocese of Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria, at about 19h on Sunday evening and fired shots into the air, causing panic among students and staff, according to a diocesan statement sent to Aid to the Church in Need. 

The bandits made their way to the courtyard of the minority seminary and abducted two students, who are intended to take as hostages. 

However, in the confusion, Fr Thomas Oyode, the rector of the minor seminary, went out and bravely confronted the bandits. Realizing that help would not arrive in time to save the two students from being abducted, the priestly proceeded to offer to take a ped with the boys. 

The bandits accepted and made their way back to the bush with the priest in tow. The diocese was initially published in a statement explaining the facts and stating that all other students and staff at the seminary were well, and had been removed to a safer location, but adding that the criminals had not yet made contact with the Church authorities. 

The Nigerian press is indicating that a ransom has been already requested for the release of Fr Thomas. 

Nigeria has become one of the most dangerous countries for priestess in the world, over past years, as a combination of religious persecution and banditry has turned them into targets for kidnappings in what has become a criminal industry. 

Auchi diocese is located in the south of Nigeria, which is mostly Christian, meaning that it is most likely that the kidnappers were acting for small financial gain, rather than motivated by anti-Christian bias, but there is little information in this regard. 

In 2023, a total of 25 priests, seminarians and religious were kidnapped in Nigeria, one of whom was later killed. 

A further three priests were killed in the country in the same year.

As Poles remember murdered priest, Catholic researchers’ work on communism’s martyrs continues

 On Warsaw’s Narbutta Street, amid a carpet of autumn leaves, a neoclassical building stands between bare birches, fronted by a solitary statue of the Virgin Mary.

In late October, while thousands gathered across the Polish capital to commemorate the 1984 kidnapping and brutal murder of Solidarity chaplain Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko, patient work continued at the Jesuit order’s archive in Warsaw to document the fate of other communist-era victims.

“Since the files were collected from various Jesuit centers, around half have been inventoried — the rest still need sorting for historians,” explained Jesuit Father Krzysztof Dorosz, the archive’s director.

“In today’s fast-moving technological world, it’s sometimes hard to tell truth from fiction. But it’s also important to remember not everything is on the internet. Though archival work can be arduous, it can also throw up significant discoveries,” he said.

Blessed Popieluszko, 37, was killed by secret police agents enraged by his defiant human rights homilies, and he was beatified as a martyr in June 2010.

Though famed worldwide, however, the priest was only one of many who died for the faith under communism.

Another, Jesuit Father Wladyslaw Gurgacz (1914-1949), was even younger when, branded a “bandit priest,” he was shot at Kraków’s Montelupich prison after serving as chaplain to one of the partisan groups resisting the postwar communist takeover.

Father Gurgacz’s letters and notes, rescued by a fellow Jesuit, are being readied for publication at the archive, in cooperation with Poland’s official Institute of National Remembrance, known by its Polish acronym IPN.

“He belonged to a tragic young generation who, not realizing the hopelessness of their situation, utterly rejected communist power and counted on holding out until a new Poland emerged,” Father Dorosz told OSV News.

“Like Father Popiesluzko, he was a pastor of personality and charisma who, despite poor health, drew people to the church, speaking simply and directly.”

Father Gurgacz joined the Jesuits at age 17 and was ordained in 1942 at Poland’s Jasna Gora national sanctuary, working as a hospital priest and chaplain to the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate. After the tragedy of World War II, like millions of Poles, he hoped to breathe the air of freedom — only to fall under murderous repression of communist rule that lasted for the next 50 years.

After the war, the priest enlisted with the Polish Underground Independence Army, operating in the hills around Krynica.

He was arrested in July 1949 after a manhunt by the paramilitary Urzad Bezpieczenstwa, the notorious Security Office UB.

Plans to broadcast a military show trial on state radio were dropped when the Jesuit refused to ask for mercy, insisting his actions were “in line with what millions of Poles are thinking.”

Witnesses testified that the priest, sentenced to death with two Underground Army comrades, was killed by two shots to the head in the prison courtyard on Sept. 14, 1949.

Posthumously exonerated in 1992, Father Gurgacz was reburied with state honors in September 2021 at a Kraków burial ground reserved for Poland’s “doomed soldiers,” who had continued resisting communist rule until the 1960s.

The Jesuit archive where Father Gurgacz’s dramatic story is documented is one of many church collections still being cataloged.

“To establish definitively what happened in many cases, we’d need access to Soviet archives in Moscow, and these remain closed,” Rafal Latka, a historian at Warsaw’s Cardinal Wyszynski University, told OSV News. “But these church archives are supremely important, and we hope more will be opened up, enabling research to progress.”

Communist rule lasted from 1917 to 1991 in the Soviet Union and enslaved Eastern Europe after World War II, unleashing the greatest wave of persecution since the first Christian centuries — a reality some Catholics think the church has been slow in acknowledging.

Barely a hundred communist-era martyrs have so far been beatified, compared to more than 2,000 from the 1936-1939 Spanish Civil War and hundreds more from other modern anti-church campaigns.

In Poland, where another murdered priest, Father Michal Rapacz (1904-1946), was honored this way on June 15, the church is seeking the beatification of dozens of communist-era victims.
The church also hopes for the canonization of Blessed Popieluszko. The Oct. 19 anniversary of his murder was marked by a National Remembrance Day for Steadfast Clergy, and a memorial march and Mass with an address by President Andrzej Duda.

To date, however, there’s no word as to when more martyrs might be recognized, or how much support will be given to researching their inspirational stories.

Back at Nabutta Street, work on the archives nevertheless continues.

Father Dorosz’s Jesuit order is no stranger to suffering.

At least 10 members served as chaplains in the bloody 1944 Warsaw Uprising, many leaving letters and diaries, as did Polish Jesuits incarcerated at Nazi concentration camps, while Father Adam Sztark (1907-1942) was shot by the German Gestapo and posthumously honored by Israel for sheltering Jews.

In the worst case of all, 16 Jesuit priests and lay brethren were massacred with 14 other Poles when Waffen-SS troops locked them in a tiny monastery basement on Warsaw’s Rakowiecka Street and tossed in hand grenades in August 1944.

Witness accounts from the few who escaped are also housed in the archive, along with letters and testimonies from other priests active under communism — such as Father Stefan Miecznikowski (1921-2004), who ran a help center for families of interned Solidarity members.

“Father Gurgacz was murdered at the height of repression, when physical violence was used against priests, whereas Father Popieluszko died in very different circumstances, when communists were making a show of goodwill towards the church,” said professor Latka, the Catholic historian.

“But we should remember three other opposition-linked priests were murdered as late as 1989, the year democracy returned. All such pastors were denounced as engaging in politics by communist propagandists, whereas they were really struggling for truth, justice and freedom,” he said.

Exorcist priest reveals the two items he takes on every job to banish demons

An exorcist has revealed his essentials for battling demons. 

The exorcist explained which items are most despised by the dark entities on the Shawn Ryan Show on Youtube.

Father Dan Reehil disclosed the tools he carries in his line of duty, and some of the items may surprise you.

The Roman Catholic priest, serving as the exorcist for the Diocese of Nashville, mentioned that aside from having a couple of bodyguards, he relies on a set of specific holy objects.

While some of his gear might be expected, Father Reehil surprised listeners by mentioning he also brings along a few relics to his exorcisms.

Brandishing his rosary, he declared, "This is the weapon, the rosary," calling it "my number one weapon".

He then revealed his most treasured tool for tackling possessions is a piece of the cross Christ died on.

"I take a piece of the true cross, that Christ died on," he admitted.

When asked about the relic, Father Reehil explained he received it from a bishop in Rome over twenty years ago, noting such an item would be nearly impossible to acquire today.

"It is almost impossible to get, unless you're a bishop," he remarked, adding, "But I had a bishop that took a liking to me.", reports the Daily Star.

He then shared how he employs his collection of unique relics, which also includes an artefact from the Cave of St Michael.

"So I have those items and exorcism salt and the holy water," he explained.

"The salt is like throwing burning oil on a demon. They can't take it, it's just pure pain. And so you put that in the holy water and it bolsters the holy water up to a high octane."

 He noted that properly prepared, this mixture causes someone possessed to "scream as though they're being burned".

Calls to widen inquiry into historical sexual abuse in schools to include Corporal Punishment

Victims and survivors of alleged physical abuse in schools have called on the Government to widen the statutory inquiry into historical sexual abuse in schools to include corporal punishment.

In September, the Government announced a Commission of Investigation following the Scoping Inquiry.

It has since emerged that some of those who contacted the Scoping Inquiry team about the alleged physical abuse they endured were informed that their complaints fell outside the terms of reference.

Many turned to RTÉ's Liveline to highlight their stories.

An RTÉ documentary 'Leathered', which will be aired tonight, focuses on the use of corporal punishment in Irish schools from the middle of the 20th Century.

The documentary examines how alleged abuses in religious and lay schools impacted former pupils nationwide.

'Leathered’ raises questions about the treatment of children at schools and the significant under-reporting of physical abuse experienced by generations.

Peter Kane from Navan in Co Meath is among those who features in the documentary.

He recalls the fear and anxiety he experienced going to school as a 12-year-old and the alleged abuse he endured.

"I didn't cry, that in itself was a signal for him to carry on beating you and he done so, and bounced my head off the blackboard, bounced my body around the room, knocked me up against his desk, and at one stage, I collapsed and fell on the ground because he done something to my back," he said.

"Then he dragged me up, proceeded to beat me, I was in a lot of pain and I was basically sore all over. It took me a number of weeks to recover."

Eoin Costello explained the impact of being punched in the face.

"I saw this shadow on the glass door at the entrance to the room," said Mr Costello.

"He marched literally with closed fists, punched and then punched… and then turned on his heel and walked out... It never went away.

"Forty years. It's never gone away the impact of that punch in the face."

Figures released by the Department of Education to RTÉ’s Documentary team show that between 1962 and 1982, 108 allegations involving physical abuse by teachers were recorded by the Department.

Only 13 of these allegations related solely to physical abuse. 95 included allegations of other forms of abuse.

A total of 87 of the allegations were primary level (where children as young as four attended school), while 21 were at second level.

During the same period, millions of students went through the State education system.

For example, in 1962, there were 570,380 students enrolled at primary and secondary schools funded by the State.

By 1982 - after free secondary education was introduced in 1966 - that figure had risen to 766,864.

In 1982, corporal punishment in schools was banned by way of Ministerial instrument.

Up until then, under Department of Education rules only certain nominated teachers were permitted to physically chastise their pupils at primary and secondary level.

In practice, many other teachers regularly used violence to enforce discipline at school and often went much further than the school rules allowed.

Small number of recorded allegations reflect culture at time

In the five years following the introduction of the 1982 ban, nine allegations were recorded, which suggests that physical violence in schools did not end with the implementation of the ban.

Experts interviewed in the programme say the small number of recorded allegations reflected the culture at the time and poor record keeping by the State.

Former Independent Senator Jillian van Turnhout, who led the campaign to have corporal punishment banned in the home in 2015, said: "Maybe nobody saw it as important enough to take a record, to file a report when it was received by (the) Department of Education.

"We have seen, for example, in the 2009 Ryan Report, that clearly showed us there was twice the incidence of physical abuse versus sexual abuse when it came to industrial schools.

"So why don't we see similar levels when it comes to school reporting of physical punishment?"

Contributors to the documentary have called on the Government to include physical abuse as part of the terms of reference of the Statutory Inquiry which will be established to examine historical sexual abuse in day and boarding schools run by religious orders.

Dermot Flynn told the documentary that when the Scoping Inquiry was announced he filled in the questionnaire and communicated with the Inquiry team through email.

"And then I get the bombshell from them that you know you weren’t sexually abused, we don’t really want to know about your case.

"So that made me feel that physical abuse wasn’t that important, even though it had impacted my whole life."

Survivors and experts feel there is a pressing need to establish the true scale and impact of all forms of abuse in Irish schools.

Leathered - Violence in Irish Schools will be broadcast tonight at 9.35pm on RTÉ One and on the RTÉ Player.

‘Forty years and that punch in the face has never gone away’ – corporal punishment survivors tell of abuse they suffered in schools

Just 108 allegations of physical abuse by teachers against pupils were recorded by the Department of Education between 1962 and 1982, according to a new documentary.

Survivors have spoken about corporal punishment in the RTÉ documentary Leathered: Violence in Irish Schools, which is on RTÉ One tonight at 9.35pm.

The programme questions the level of official record-keeping in schools during those two decades.

Figures released to RTÉ show that between 1962 and 1982, 108 allegations involving physical abuse by teachers against pupils were recorded by the department.

More than three-quarters of those also included allegations of other forms of abuse.

There were 87 allegations recorded at primary level, where children as young as four attended school, while 21 were at second level.

RTÉ said millions of students went through the state education system during those two decades.

The department also told RTÉ that it holds a further nine allegations for the five years after the introduction of the 1982 ban on corporal punishment in schools.

That brings to 117 the total number of allegations involving physical abuse recorded between 1962 and 1987.

RTÉ said this “suggests that allegations of physical violence in schools did not disappear after the 1982 ban”, and that “teachers in Irish schools remained immune from prosecution for ‘physical chastisement’ until 1997”.

Peter Kane, from Navan, Co Meath, told the documentary makers of being a 12-year-old who went to school every day feeling “there was an element of fear”.

Mr Kane described being given “clatters around the head, my face”.

“I think maybe six or 12 slaps I got off him with a leather strap,” he said.

“I didn’t cry, that in itself was a signal for him to carry on beating you and he done so, and bounced my head off the blackboard, bounced my body around the room, knocked me up against his desk, and at one stage I collapsed and fell on the ground because he done something to my back.

“Then he dragged me up, proceeded to beat me, I was in a lot of pain and I was basically sore all over. It took me a number of weeks to recover.”

Poet and author Theo Dorgan attended a school in Co Cork. He said school, for him, had meant “predator and prey”.

“If you looked at a teacher the wrong way, you would get a slap. We had a gradation of soft slaps to vicious slaps,” he said.

Mr Dorgan’s friend and former schoolmate, Mick Hannigan, added: “It was not so much a daily occurrence, but an hourly occurrence, class after class. If you got a sum wrong, if you got some difficult Irish poem wrong, then you were punished.”

Eoin Costello attended a school in Co Kilkenny. He described one incident in his classroom.

“I saw this shadow on the glass door at the entrance to the room. He marched... punched and then punched, and then turned on his heel and walked out.

“It never went away. Forty years, it’s never gone away, the impact of that punch in the face.”

Corporal punishment was banned in schools in 1982.

RTÉ said until then, under Department of Education rules, “only certain nominated teachers were permitted to physically chastise their pupils at primary and secondary level”.

Former Independent senator Jillian Van Turnhout, who led the campaign to have corporal punishment banned in homes in 2015, said: “Maybe nobody saw it as important enough to take a record, to file a report when it was received by the Department of Education.

“We have seen, for example, in the 2009 Ryan Report, that clearly showed us there was twice the incidence of physical abuse versus sexual abuse when it came to industrial schools.

“So why don’t we see similar levels when it comes to school reporting of physical punishment?”

Although the Government announced plans for the establishment of a full state inquiry into historical sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders, some of those who contacted the inquiry team, stating they had suffered physical assaults, were told their abuse fell outside its scope, the documentary found.

A Department of Education spokesperson outlined a range of measures that have been taken to protect children from abuse and neglect over the years.

They said “there is a very strong culture of child protection across the school sector”.

“The department takes child protection very seriously and considers that the protection and welfare of children is a fundamental responsibility of all involved in the care and education of children,” they said.

Irish woman who resigned from Vatican abuse panel says new report 'not an objective view'

AN IRISH WOMEN who resigned from a Vatican Commission on protecting minors due to lack of cooperation from Church officials has questioned the methodology of its pilot annual report.

Marie Collins was a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors but resigned in 2017 over what she described as a “shameful” lack of cooperation.

Collins is a child sexual abuse survivor and brought the priest who abused her in the 1960s to justice in 1997.

She is a founder Trustee of the Marie Collins Foundation and has campaigned for the protection of children and justice for survivors of clerical sexual abuse.

“I may have resigned from the Commission,” said O’Malley, “but I’ve always wished it well because I want to see things improve.

“There’s a lot of good plans in the report and it’s certainly better than having nothing at all,” she added.

The Commission presented its first annual report this morning and at a press conference launching the report, Cardinal Sean O’Malley was asked about Collins’s resignation.

He said “Marie Collins was one of our most beloved and valuable members of the Commission” and that he was “sorry when she decided to step away”.

“We understood the reasons and all of us have felt that frustration of the slowness of change coming about, but we believe that the change is taking place, even though it’s often an uphill climb,” said O’Malley.

‘Resented our independence’

Pope Francis established the Commission, consisting of an independent panel of experts, in December 2014, amid pressure for more action to tackle clerical child sex abuse.

Marie Collins resigned from the Commission in 2017 “because there was so much resistance within the Roman Curia its work because it was independent of the Curia”.

Speaking to The Journal, Collins said: “The Roman Curia wouldn’t cooperate with us because they resented our independence and wanted to be in control of the Commission.

“Those in the Vatican who had always been doing it their way did not want an independent group bringing in new policies and documents.

“So that was one of the reasons I left, because everything we proposed and that the Pope agreed to, the department refused to actually implement, so it was going nowhere.”

Collins added: “When I was on the Commission, the attitude you got was, ‘well, this is way we’ve done it for 100 years, it doesn’t need to be changed’.

“And if you’re a woman, of course there was even less chance that you would be listened to.

“But they seem to have improved in that respect, they’ve moved on, and this report could be very valuable.”

The Commission has since been embedded within the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which is a department of the Roman Curia in charge of the religious discipline of the Catholic Church.

Cardinal Sean O’Malley today the “permanent status” granted to the Commission “will be very helpful to our work”.

‘Marking your own homework’

While Collins described the report as “comprehensive”, she said a “problem” is that the Commission “gets its information from a questionnaire that’s given to the bishops when they come to the Vatican on their ‘ad limina’ visit”.

Ad limina visits to the Vatican are undertaken every five years by bishops of the various Episcopal Conferences and include submitting a written report to the pope.

As part of the ad limina process during the Commission’s reporting period during last year, the Commission developed a series of “statistical and descriptive questions regarding the diocesan safeguarding program that it sends to bishops preparing for the ad limina visit”.

There are 114 episcopal conferences worldwide and the Commission plans to review 15 to 20 each year, with the aim of covering each of them every five to six years.

“The report is based on what the bishops are saying is happening in their local church and to me, that’s not an outside, objective view of what is actually happening,” said Collins.

“It’s a bit like marking your own homework and that’s a difficulty I would have with the report.”

She added: “If you’re just depending on what you’re told, it would not be the normal way of auditing or investigating the practices in any particular area.

“So it’s not as if they’re going in and looking into the files in a particular church, they’re just getting the church to report on what it’s doing.

She added: “I’m sure that if you went back 30 years and asked the bishop if everything was fine in his diocese as far as the protection of children was concerned, he’d say ‘yes’, and we know that wasn’t the case.

“I’m sure most bishops will be forthcoming in the reality of whatever is happening but I think there should be an outside, objective view and that survivors in the same areas should be asked for their comments during the reporting period.”

The Commission’s report acknowledged that this ad limina process and questionnaire is “incomplete as a means of finding the truth.”

The report also said it’s vital that victims and survivors can provide feedback and that “focus groups could be invited to comment directly on aspects of the Annual Report and/or the Annual Report process”.

Delays in processing cases

The first “challenge” highlighted by the Commission is delays in processing abuse cases at the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith within the Vatican.

Collins told The Journal: “When I resigned seven years ago, the Dicastery was two or three years behind in its work.

“In other words, if my case had gone to them, I could wait years before I found out what was happening to the priest who’d abused me.

“They have said they have brought in more staff and more money, but yet it is the first item on the challenges, so they haven’t improved on that, and justice delayed is justice denied.”

Reputation over survivor support

Another challenge listed is the prioritisation of the Church’s reputation over victim/survivor support.

Collins noted that the Murphy report also “said the Church in Dublin had put the reputation of the Church before the safety of children”.

The Murphy Report was a Commission of Investigation into sexual abuse scandals the archdiocese of Dublin.

“And here we are in 2024,” said Collins, “and this is still the case, according to this report, in many places.”

Collins also called for more statistics about how many abuse cases are being reported and on how many priests are removed.

“They would be statistics you could judge on as the next report comes out and you’d have a very definite criteria to judge if things are improving,” said Collins.

The Commission noted that the pilot report is “not intended as an audit of the incidence of abuse within Church contexts”.

It pointed to “time and capacity constraints”, as well as a “lack of reliable data in some countries”.

However, the Commission expressed hope that future reports “will address the incidence of abuse, including the question of progress in reducing and preventing abuse”.

The Commission also pointed to a Memorandum of Understanding implemented by Pope Francis last year which requires Episcopal conferences to provide statistics on abuse reports received, victim/survivor accompaniment services delivered, and the provision of safeguarding courses.

The report notes: “In time, the Memorare Initiative will provide an important and reliable source of data from victims/survivors within a local Church.”

Church of England accused of 'virtue-signalling' after laying into small parish for not meeting 'bureaucratic' Net Zero demands

The Church of England has been blasted after it reprimanded a small Newcastle parish for buying gas heaters rather than a Net Zero-compliant boiler.

The Consistory Court of the Diocese of Newcastle said the Holy Cross church in Fenham, in the city's West End, was "embarrassing" over the eco-fracas - with the CofE pushing for net zero carbon emissions by 2030.

Back in February, Holy Cross's governing committee made the move to swap out their old gas heating system for a new one worth some £33,000 - which the Consistory Court heard would be "more cost-effective [and] modern".

The small church then put down a £17,000 deposit on the heaters - before applying for the diocese's permission - which the court's chancellor Judge Simon Wood said shouldn't have happened.

Wood said Holy Cross had failed "to consider Net Zero" - and should have installed electric heaters worth between £59,000 and £86,000 instead.

The judge later admitted the heating system chosen "appears to be the only realistic one" - though has ordered Holy Cross to enter into a "carbon offsetting scheme" to make it comply with Net Zero.

"This has been an embarrassing episode in the governance of Holy Cross which it is hoped will not be repeated," he said.

But several high-profile Anglicans have lashed out at the controversy, speaking to The Telegraph.

The Rev Dr Ian Paul, a member of both the General Synod and the Archbishops’ Council, told the newspaper that the case "illustrates the real problem of virtue-signalling by those who are far removed from the realities of parish life.

"The comments of the judge show a complete failure to understand the challenges of ministry in local churches on the ground - and it also points to the failure of General Synod to properly think through the consequences of their motion on Net Zero.

"The biggest challenge to the environment comes from the growth in China's use of energy - and our purchase of Chinese goods - and not what one parish had done to maintain its weekly worship in its historic building!"

While the Rev Daniel French, the vicar of Salcombe in Devon, and co-host of Christian podcast Irreverend, said: "Non-adherence to the 2030 Net Zero target is in danger of becoming the new unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost.

"As a vicar, this case says everything about the widening gulf between the heavy-handed green idealism of church bureaucracy and the reality of parish life on the ground.

"Most congregations really want to try to do their best for the environment but have to weigh this up against the daunting practicalities of running large, ancient buildings on terrifyingly tight budgets.

"If this sort of judgment becomes the norm, many of the hard-working volunteers who keep our parishes going will throw their hands up and walk. There has to be a better way forward."

A Church of England spokesman did not comment on the ruling, but said more generally: "The Net Zero programme is making funding available through dioceses to support parishes, including specialist advice and grant schemes, in their work to cut carbon emissions.

"In many cases this work is helping parishes save thousands of pounds in energy bills, therefore helping them to remain viable over the long term."