Slovenian bishops criticise judgement on artificial insemination

Slovenia's bishops have criticised the latest ruling by the Constitutional Court on artificial insemination. 

On Tuesday, the judges in Ljubljana overturned a ban on the option of artificial insemination for single people and women in same-sex relationships. 

Parliament must reform the relevant law within a year, the court ruled.

Slovenia's bishops expressed their "regret" about the decision on Wednesday. 

"We see this decision as a further step towards dismantling the ideal of the family as the cornerstone of our society," said a statement from the national bishops' conference. 

The reality is that not every child grows up in a traditional family. 

However, deliberately depriving children of a parent is not the right way forward for society.

The issue has been dividing the south-east European nation for some time. 

In 2020, liberal members of parliament pushed through a constitutional review of the ban on artificial insemination for single and lesbian women. 

With the ordered reform, "one of the greatest injustices will be corrected", the Left Party in Slovenia commented on the current judgement.

Standard for bishops – the synodal document as an ordinary magisterium

In the end, the Pope needed more than a speech and outstretched hands to sign the final document of the Synod on Synodality to recognise it unequivocally. 

Already in his closing address to the Synod Pope Francis announced that this time there would be no post-synodal letter from him. 

"What we have accepted is enough," he said - but it was not yet clear how these words were to be interpreted. Because there is actually no "we" in the synod between the Pope and the synod members: the Pope himself is the counterpart of the synod and its chairman, not its member.

Some - such as the German synod advisor Thomas Söding - saw the Synod strengthened by the immediate adoption of its final document. Others - such as the canon lawyer Norbert Lüdecke - pointed out that the colloquial "we" of the Pope does not necessarily mean the binding papal approval under canon law, which the synodal rules provide for in order to give the final document "a share in the ordinary teaching authority of the successor of Peter".

In the end, both sides were right: the final document is part of the ordinary magisterium, but only a formal and therefore unmistakable papal act of approval made this clear: On Monday Monday, the Vatican press office published an "accompanying note" from Pope Francis on the final document. 

In it, the Pope explicitly refers to Article 18 of the Synodal Constitution "Episcopal Constitutions", which he himself enacted. Synodal Constitution "Episcopalis communio", which he himself enacted and the procedure for papal approval provided for therein: "The final document is part of the ordinary magisterium of the Successor of Peter (cf. EC 18 § 1; CCC 892), and as such I ask that it be accepted."

Much more than just a request

The fact that the Pope speaks of a request is a form of politeness. In fact, the binding force of a papally approved final document is significantly higher than a mere request - and can even lead to penal consequences if the faithful refuse the request. 

Both the Synodal Order and the Catechism Article 892 cited by Pope Francis refer to the ordinary magisterium of the Pope. Although this magisterium does not require "consent of faith", it does require "religious obedience of mind and will", as it is called in the language of canon law (c. 752 CIC). This means that nobody has to believe what is written in the final document, as would be the case with dogmas, for example.

However, it must be "reverently recognised" and the positions "sincerely adhered to", as the Second Vatican Council stated in its Church Constitution "Lumen Gentium" (No. 25). The "Münster Commentary on the CIC" comments that this is not intended to eliminate reason and will, and that independent "reflection and enquiry" are expected. 

Ultimately, however, it is expected at this level of binding force that the doctrine presented by the highest authority of the Church is accepted. This obedience was so important to church legislators that "obstinate rejection" of such teachings is subject to ecclesiastical penalties - in particular loss of ministry. 

Pope Francis does not explicitly refer to these consequences. 

However, he at least hints at them in view of conservative criticism of the Synod on Synodality and its resolutions.

However, the actual effects of the final document remain vague for the time being. The fact that Pope Francis would approve the document unchanged was not foreseeable during the drafting process and was apparently not in view. 

In view of the previous synods of this and previous pontificates, it was also expected that there would be a post-synodal letter in which the Pope would comment on the proposals of the synod members.  

The Bishop of Passau, Stefan Oster said after the publication of the document, for example, that the synod had assumed when drafting the text that it would submit proposals to the Pope, from which he would then create a binding text. The final document is formulated accordingly: There are no ready-made measures and regulations that would become law one-to-one with the approbation, but instead requests and wishes. 

In his closing address, Francis himself emphasised that the document "is not strictly normative". 

He repeats this remark in the accompanying note.

Doctrinal development even without a dogmatic decision

The final document does not envisage any changes to the Church's doctrine anyway. Approval does not change this. 

However, the approval does have an effect on the interpretation and development of doctrine, particularly with regard to a particularly controversial topic: in the final document, the question of the ordination of deacons is discussed. question of the ordination of female deacons is described as open. 

Although the answer to this question is still uncertain, the fact that it is labelled as open nevertheless represents a dogmatic clarification.

In 1994, Pope John Paul II, in his letter "Ordinatio sacerdotalis" that the Church had no authority to ordain women as priests. The question of the ordination of women deacons remained open in the wording of the document - one side saw the ordination of women deacons by "Ordinatio sacerdotalis" as ruled out by the tripartite nature of the one sacrament of ordination, while the other side did not see it as such due to the lack of mention. 

By now counting the openness of the question to the magisterium, the open interpretation of "Ordinatio sacerdotalis" was confirmed at the same time - regardless of the equally controversial question of whether "Ordinatio sacerdotalis" is part of the infallible or only the ordinary magisterium of the Church.

It is still up to the Pope to decide what to make of this open question. He had already moderated this and other controversial questions away in working groups responsible for topics for which "time is needed to reach decisions that involve the whole Church" - Francis also quotes this section of the closing speech again. He now holds out the prospect that more working groups could be added to the current ten in order to discuss issues of such importance.

Synodality as an attitude at the centre

The ten working groups to date already cover a wide range of critical topics: the relationship between the Eastern Catholic Churches and the Latin Church, poverty, mission in the digital world, the reform of the priestly training regulations, fundamental issues relating to ecclesial ministry (the question of women deacons was also discussed here), the relationship between bishops, religious orders and ecclesial associations, the episcopal office and its exercise, the role of papal nuncios, methods for dealing with controversial doctrinal issues and ecumenism. 

As these groups continue to work, it will also be difficult to identify clear guidelines with regard to the German synodal path: That which that leads to tensions in the world church was deliberately kept out of the synod discussion as far as possible.

For the Pope, synodality as a fundamental method of how the Church lives and works seems to be more important than specific questions: According to Francis, the results of the Synod should now provide the Church with "authoritative guidance for its life and mission", while certainly already producing concrete results: the local churches are already obliged to make decisions in the spirit of the final document and implement the indications "through the processes of discernment and decision-making provided for by the law and by the document itself".

The individual local churches and their bishops in particular are thus faced with the task of discerning what is already possible within the framework of the law. 

Although the final document provides for a strengthening of the bishops' conferences, most of this is likely to be implemented at the level of the individual dioceses: The fact that bishops' conferences have hardly any decision-making powers of their own has been recognised since the Second Vatican Council and also by Pope Francis himself. Pope Francis himself Pope Francis himself - but the Pope, as the competent legislator, has so far hardly given them any new competences. 

At the Synod on Synodality, however, it was repeatedly hinted more or less openly that work on reforms to canon law was already underway without it being known what was planned.

During the ad limina visit, there is an obligation to report on synodality

In many cases, however, the Pope is concerned with effectively implementing what the law already authorises. 

Particularly with regard to the greater participation of lay people, the very different practices in different local churches show the range that is already possible today - the German dioceses are pioneers here. 

 German dioceses are pioneers herewhich make particularly strong use of the possibilities offered by the law - in some cases with special Roman authorisation.

There is more room for manoeuvre below the legal structures. Here, the Pope calls for "a synodal discernment and the creative activation of new forms of ministry and missionary action within the framework of the possibilities indicated by the final document". Experimentation is expressly encouraged.

The responsibility for implementation lies primarily with the respective diocesan bishop. In his accompanying note, the Pope places particular responsibility on him: in future ad limina visits, during which the bishops make a pilgrimage to Rome and give an account of their ministry to the Pope, the bishops must explain in their report what decisions they have made with regard to the final document, what difficulties they have encountered and what fruit they have been able to reap as a result.

This should now also characterise the further handling of the final document: All development and planning in the local churches will in future be measured against the criteria developed in the final document. 

All believers can use the results of the Synod as a yardstick for their bishop - and, in view of the accountability of bishops, which is emphasised in the final document, can also demand answers, at least with moral authority. 

In future, those who do not implement the synod's proposals will be held accountable, not those who go ahead and experiment. However, nothing will actually change in a legally binding way until Pope Francis himself takes action. 

 Because despite all the synodal rhetoric of "we": in the end, it is the Pope who decides, and no one else.

Washington auxiliary bishop leads efforts to identify unmarked graves

To describe the breadth of the task of finding the unmarked graves of enslaved people in the Archdiocese of Washington, Bishop Roy Campbell reminded that the 500+ year old remains of English King Richard III weren’t found until 2012.

“Things can get lost, even for kings,” Campbell, an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Washington told Crux. “So for people in their lifetime who weren’t considered human and weren’t considered deserving of any respect – why would those who enslave them show any due respect in burying them?”

In recent years, Campbell has led efforts in the Archdiocese of Washington to identify unmarked graves of enslaved people, and honor them. Now, before the end of the year Campbell said he and a team he’s been working with will submit a proposal for approval to the archdiocese that will detail how they plan to find and address unmarked graves first across the archdiocese, and then across the rest of Maryland.

It’s an effort that Campbell said will take time, but is necessary “to help correct a wrong that nobody today is guilty of, but is our responsibility as Christians and Catholics to correct as best we can for the honor of those who are buried there and for their descendants.”

“This is significant in trying to rectify a wrong as much as possible for those who were enslaved, who were buried, and no one knows who they are or where they are, and also it’s for those who have come after them,” Campbell explained. “This is what the project is trying to do.”

Efforts to identify and honor unmarked graves of enslaved people in the Archdiocese of Washington dates back to about 2018, when Cardinal Donald Wuerl, then-archbishop of Washington, provided Catholic cemeteries in the archdiocese markers to honor the unknown enslaved men, women, and children.

At the time, Wuerl said “in this simple gesture … we make a visible and permanent declaration that, in ground made holy by their remains as a temple of the Holy Spirit, we mark and remember them.”

Fast forward to December 2022, and a landscaper contracted by Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Bowie, Maryland, noticed stones laid out in a pattern in the areas he was clearing. He notified the pastor. The pastor contacted an archeologist, who through imaging concluded that the sites were likely human graves, specifically those of enslaved people because they were unmarked.

From the mid-18th Century into the 19th Century that area was a part of the Jesuit owned White Marsh Plantation. After the archeologist’s find, an investigation determined there might have been between 200 and 500 unmarked graves at different sites on the property. Sacred Heart then established a cemetery committee and expanded its work, and has since discovered that there are over 2,000 sites of unmarked graves on the property, according to Campbell.

Cardinal Wilton Gregory blessed the site in February 2023, acknowledging “there is a lot of work that needs to be done so that the lives and the identity and the dignity of the people who were once in shackles will be held in honor by those of us who remain.”

Sacred Heart is but one example. Campbell said they know there are a number of other sites. Gregory, who blessed many other parish cemeteries for the same reason, has also acknowledged that there are “thousands of people who rest unidentified” in Archdiocese of Washington cemeteries.

For the work of finding and identifying these sites, Campbell said the Jesuits – who have acknowledged their history of slave ownership nationwide – have worked hand and hand with the archdiocese. He said he and the team have also worked closely with descendants, as well as the Archdiocese of Baltimore and Diocese of Wilmington, which also have footprints in Maryland.

“We think that this is something not just in the Washington, D.C., area, but is something statewide,” Campbell said. “We know that this could be anywhere and maybe almost everywhere in parishes that have Catholic Cemeteries.”

Campbell said the biggest challenge before them is figuring out where the unmarked graves are. He said one place he knows they’ll look is the cemetery of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, which is the Jesuit run church at Georgetown University. He also said Sacred Heart, which was established in 1729 on the White Marsh Plantation, kept “very good records,” which they’re going to use to try and find leads to identify other grave sites, and parishioners.

As for a timeline, Campbell noted that the Sacred Heart cemetery committee is developing a five year plan for what they’re going to do going forward, and they’ve already been at it for two years. That reality, he said, shows that it will “take some time” to go through the whole state of Maryland.

“We really don’t have any idea of how many graves there might be and where to locate them, but we’re going to work methodically to try and identify them,” Campbell said. “We’ll find out. A lot of it is identifying disruptions in the ground that could be graves.”

Looking further ahead, Campbell said he hopes to see these kinds of efforts nationwide.

“The same thing applies in other areas, looking at it as your diocese taking initiative for a task force or whatever you want to call it to search and see what’s going on,” he explained. “It’s not just going to be the Catholic dioceses in these areas … I think the states and local jurisdictions have an interest in this too, and I think we can work with them and we can all work together for the same common goal.”

Pope to open Holy Year with full schedule of Christmas liturgies

With the opening of the Holy Year 2025, Pope Francis’ schedule of liturgies in December and January has expanded.

The pope, who will celebrate his 88th birthday Dec. 17, is not planning to skip any of his normal Christmastime Masses and prayer services but will add an early morning Mass Dec. 29 at Rome’s Rebibbia prison to open a Holy Door there.

Archbishop Diego Ravelli, master of papal liturgical ceremonies, published a list of the pope’s Christmas season liturgies Nov. 25. 

With papal services already listed on the Vatican website, the papal liturgies for December and January include (times listed are local time in Rome):

— Dec. 7, consistory for the creation of new cardinals at 4 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.

— Dec. 8, Mass with the new cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica at 9:30 a.m. and act of veneration for the feast of the Immaculate Conception near the Spanish steps in Rome at 4 p.m.

— Dec. 12, Mass for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe in St. Peter’s Basilica at 6 p.m.

— Dec. 15, papal trip to Ajaccio, Corsica, including an open-air Mass in the afternoon.

— Dec. 24, opening of Holy Door of St. Peter’s Basilica at 7 p.m., following by the celebration of the Christmas “Mass during the night.”

— Dec. 25, Christmas message and blessing “urbi et orbi” (to the city and the world) at noon from the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

— Dec. 26, opening of the Holy Door and Mass for the feast of St. Stephen at Rome’s Rebibbia prison at 9 a.m.

— Dec. 31, evening prayer and “Te Deum” in thanksgiving for the past year in St. Peter’s Basilica at 5 p.m.

— Jan. 1, Mass at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica for the feast of Mary, Mother of God, and the World Day of Peace.

— Jan. 6, Mass on the feast of the Epiphany at 10 a.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica.

— Jan. 12, Mass for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and the baptism of infants at 9:30 a.m. in the Sistine Chapel.

Cardinal Müller attacks Pope’s plans for synodality

A prominent German cardinal has attacked the plans of Pope Francis to impose “synodality” on the Catholic Church as “a sin against the Holy Spirit”.

Cardinal Gerhard Müller said that moves to replace a hierarchical system of governance with that of a democratic process which allows even for regional variations of doctrine was a “sin against the Holy Spirit”.

The remarks of the cardinal, who served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith between 2012 and 2017, coincide with Pope Francis announcing that the new system of synodality will be enforced throughout the Catholic Church globally.

Cardinal Müller said: “Factions with ulterior motives have hijacked the traditional principle of synodality, meaning the collaboration between bishops (collegiality) and between all believers and shepherds of the Church (based on the common priesthood of all those baptised into the faith), to further their progressive agenda.

“By executing a 180-degree turn, the doctrine, liturgy and morality of the Catholic Church is to be made compatible with a neo-gnostic woke ideology,” he wrote in First Things.

Cardinal Müller said supporters of the Vatican’s three-year Synod on Synodality, the final session of which was completed in October, often invoked an alleged “direct communication between the Holy Spirit and Synod participants” when attacking or undermining Catholic doctrine.

But he warned readers that “anyone who, by appealing to personal and collective inspiration from the Holy Spirit, seeks to reconcile the teaching of the Church with an ideology hostile to revelation and with the tyranny of relativism is guilty in various ways of a ‘sin against the Holy Spirit’.”

He said the most contemporary sin against the Holy Spirit “is when the supernatural origin and character of Christianity is denied in order to subordinate the Church of the Triune God to the goals and purposes of a worldly salvation project, be it eco-socialist climate neutrality or Agenda 2030 of the globalist elite”.

He said it was a sin against the Holy Spirit to reinterpret “the history of Christian dogma as an evolution of revelation, reflected in advancing levels of consciousness in the collective Church, instead of confessing the unsurpassable fullness of grace and truth in Jesus Christ, the Word of God made flesh”.

He also said it was a sin against the Holy Spirit “when the unity of the Church in the teaching of the faith is handed over to the arbitrariness and ignorance of local bishops’ conferences (who allegedly develop doctrinally at different paces) under the pretext of so-called decentralisation”.

In a direct challenge to the authority of the Pope to make such changes, the cardinal said the petrine teaching office “is not above the word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on”.

In a possible reference to the Pope’s removal of critical prelates such as Bishop Joseph Strickland of Tyler, Texas, Cardinal Müller added: “It is a sin against the Holy Spirit, who, through the sacrament of Holy Orders, has appointed bishops and priests as pastors of the Church of God, to depose them, or even secularise them, purely at personal discretion, without a canonical process.”

He continued: “It is a sin against the Holy Spirit when the political and ideological division of society since the European Enlightenment and the French Revolution is incorporated into a restorative or revolutionary philosophy of history and when the one, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church is thereby paralysed by internally pitting ‘progressive’ against ‘conservative’ factions.”

He said: “Anyone who really wants to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church will not rely on spiritualistic inspirations and woke-ideological platitudes, but will place all their trust, in life and death, solely in Jesus, the Son of the Father and the Anointed One of the Holy Spirit.”

Just days earlier, Pope Francis had released a 900-word statement in which he committed the Catholic Church to an ongoing synodal process.

It would include a duty on the world’s bishops to explain and demonstrate in a report, ahead of their five-yearly ad limina visits to Rome, how they have implemented the final document of the Synod on Synodality in their dioceses.

The Pope explained that the final document will give room for local interpretation of doctrine by individual bishops through a synodal process, citing his statement in Amoris Laetitia in 2016 that “not all discussions of doctrinal, moral or pastoral issues need to be settled by interventions of the magisterium”.

“Unity of teaching and practice is certainly necessary in the Church, but this does not preclude various ways of interpreting some aspects of that teaching or drawing certain consequences from it,” the Pope said in a note published on the Solemnity of Christ the King on 24 November.

“This will always be the case as the Spirit guides us towards the entire truth…Each country or region, moreover, can seek solutions better suited to its culture and sensitive to its traditions and local needs.”

The synod’s final document, asserted the Pope, will form part “of the ordinary Magisterium of the Successor of Peter…and as such I ask that it be accepted”.

“It represents a form of exercise of the authentic teaching of the Bishop of Rome, with some novel features,” he said.

“Synodality is the appropriate interpretative framework for understanding the hierarchical ministry.”

The text, the Pope explained, was “not strictly normative” but would “require several forms of mediation” in its application.

“This does not mean that it does not commit the Churches as of now to make decisions coherent with its indications,” Francis said.

“The local Churches and Church groupings are now required to implement, in the various contexts, the authoritative indications contained in the document, through processes of discernment and decision-making envisaged by law and by the document itself.”

The first of 10 study groups established by the Synod will report next year on several contentious issues, such as the ordination of women to the diaconate and the selection of bishops. Other topics may be added later.

The intervention of Cardinal Müller represents the second time in three months that he has severely criticised the synodal process.

On the eve of the October session of the synod, he denounced a “penitential celebration” at the Vatican because it allegedly reinvented sin as a checklist of offences against “woke and gender ideology”, “newly invented by humans”, and which promoted “un-Catholic ideologies”.

It emerged later, however, that the list of sins and the prayers offered in atonement for them were written personally by Pope Francis.

Among the sins God was asked to forgive were “sin against creation”, the “sin against migrants”, the “sin of using doctrine as stones to be hurled” and the “sin against synodality – the lack of listening, communion and participation against all”.

In an article for Kath.net, a German Catholic website, Cardinal Müller said: “There is also no sin against a form of synodality that is used as a brainwashing tool to discredit so-called conservatives as yesterday’s men and disguised pharisees, and to make us believe that the progressive ideologies that led to the decline of the Churches in the West in the 1970s are the completion of the reforms of Vatican II that were supposedly stopped by John Paul II and Benedict XVI.”

Mount Melleray and two other abbeys closing in effort to save Cistercian life in Ireland

The Irish abbey of Mount Melleray will be closing in January along with two other abbeys, with their respective monks transferred to another location on an interim basis.

The tough decision comes after “much reflection and soul searching” and as part of consolidation efforts to ensure a future for Cistercian life in Ireland.

“We have been confronted with these difficult decisions as we address the reality of falling numbers and ageing communities; issues which other similar communities are also addressing at this time,” says Dom Rufus Pound, Superior ad nutum at the Abbey of Our Lady of Silence, where the monks from the three closing abbeys will coalesce for the time being.

Noting that the decision comes after “much reflection and soul searching as an order”, Fr Rufus explains:

“We will be continuing our presence in Ireland into the future, but to achieve this, regretfully, we must consolidate in accordance with the restrictions of our present resources.” 

Regarding the future of Mount Melleray, in County Waterford, and the other vacated abbeys, Fr Rufus said: “No final decisions have been taken at this stage regarding any of the properties, which may be vacated in the near future, however as decisions are made further announcements will be forthcoming.

“This is a difficult time for all the members of our new Community as we strive to meet the challenge of our present day realities. It is especially difficult for those who have spent their entire lives in a specific monastery and must now adjust to these changed circumstances.”

The order have decided that with effect from 26 January 2025 three of their communities – Mount Melleray, Mellifont and Mount St Joseph (both of which since 3 November, the Feast of St Malachy, have already merged as one new single community) – will be based temporarily at Roscrea in County Tipperary.

This new community has been given the name of “The Abbey of Our Lady of Silence” as part of the interim measures. The order’s Abbeys at Moone (Co. Kildare) and at Portglenone (Co. Antrim) will not be affected by this decision and will continue as autonomous communities.

“Our new community of Our Lady of Silence currently consists of 26 members, three of whom are novices, and already interest has been expressed from others wishing to join us,” Fr Rufus says.

“We are optimistic that this now has the potential to become a vibrant community wherever we finally decide that it will be located.

“We will now take time to consider how this new community will develop and where it will ultimately reside on a permanent basis. In the context of our decision we must rationalise our use of the three properties formerly associated with the three pre-existing communities, in line with our present day needs and resources.”

The Cistercians were first established in Ireland in 1142, initially at Mellifont Abbey through the efforts of St Malachy. 

Mount Mellaray was founded on 30 May 1832 at Scrahan, Cappoquin, by a colony of Irish and English monks that had been expelled from the abbey of Melleray after the French Revolution of 1830, and who came to Ireland under the leadership of Fr Vincent de Paul Ryan.

In 1833, on the feast of St Bernard, the foundation stone of the new monastery was blessed by the bishop of Waterford and Lismore.

“We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our staff, some of whom have been with us and supported us for decades, and the many other loyal volunteers and friends who will be affected by these developments,” Fr Rufus says.

“None of the previous three abbeys would have survived over the centuries without the support and friendship of those in the locality, but also many others associated with them in different ways.

“We recognise and acknowledge the often profound attachment all these have towards our monasteries and we deeply regret that we will not be able to maintain our presence at all three locations, as we embark on this new beginning.

“Our gratitude and prayers will continue to be with those who have shared our journey in so many rich and varied ways here in Ireland over the years.”

Society and its prisoners need methods of ‘restorative justice’, urge bishops

The bishops of England and Wales have called for the value of “restorative justice” to be better recognised in society, citing the contribution that Catholic social teaching has to make on questions of crime, punishment and rehabilitation.

Restorative justice is defined as a process that addresses the offence and its implications, aiming to meet the needs of victims, offenders and the wider community.

Bishop Richard Moth, chair of the department for social justice for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales as well as its liaison bishop for prisons, argues that this type of justice “can be an effective path to both healing for the victims of crime and rehabilitation for offenders”.

His comment is made in the foreword of Remember Me: A Catholic Approach to Criminal Justice, the new document from the bishops’ conference.

The document looks at how chronic problems of sentence inflation, prison overcrowding and stubborn reoffending rates are continuing to corrode the British criminal justice system.

According to recent data, the UK has a prison population of approximately 97,700 people, with the majority (87,900 prisoners) in England and Wales.

“Concern for victims, fear of crime, lack of concern about conditions in prisons and their ineffectiveness as well as unease around rehabilitation continue to shape public discussion and political decision-making,” the document says.

“Rather than succumb to vengeance or concede to the chaos of crime, the Catholic understanding of criminal justice calls us to pursue both justice and mercy through a proportionate balance between just punishment, rehabilitation and redemption,” it continues.

In his introduction, Moth said the document offers “clear calls to action” for the Catholic community, wider civil society and the UK Government and its criminal justice agencies.

“There is a call, too, for the whole community to remember and accept the opportunities to enable those leaving our prisons to be resettled and reintegrated into society in the hope of finding, perhaps for the first time, a healthy sense of belonging, community and self-esteem,” he said.

The Remember Me document highlights: “Research shows that restorative justice can reduce re-offending, help victims and increase public trust in the criminal justice system, though challenges remain in its implementation.

“The compatibility of justice and mercy lies at the heart of the understanding of the criminal justice process as a journey of redemption.

“Care for the victim, dispensation of just punishment, rehabilitation of the offender and restoration of right relationships involve both the external administration of justice and the internal acceptance of the transformative power of mercy to heal the wounds of crime and division.”

It notes that Pope Francis “highlights the dangers of viewing punishment vindictively and stresses the need for rehabilitation and reintegration of ex-offenders into society”.

The contribution of Catholic social teaching to questions on crime, punishment and rehabilitation “is particularly distinctive in the placing of the primacy of human dignity as the animating principle for the decisions of the legislature, judiciary and the wider community”, the document explains.

“Moreover, the Catholic social teaching principle of solidarity urges the treatment of criminal justice, from care for victims to support for the reintegration of ex-offenders, as a matter of right relationship for the wider community, rather than simply transactional exercises of crime and punishment.

“The principle of subsidiarity highlights the value of local responses to such matters, rooted in the knowledge and understanding dispersed across families, charities and local communities.”

The bishops acknowledge how faithful Catholics can reasonably disagree on the many prudential matters facing the criminal justice process, from the use of custodial sentences to the practice of restorative justice.

“Nevertheless, any approach to these matters must involve state and civil society working in tandem to seek the common good at every level of society to support victims, rehabilitate offenders and witness to the redemptive power of mercy,” the document says.

“Given the many pressures on our courts, prisons and probation services, there is an open window of opportunity for civil society to better support the state in the practice of criminal justice,” it adds.

In his introduction, Moth said prison conditions in the UK are not currently conducive to rehabilitation.

“Effective rehabilitation is important not just for those serving sentences but also for the benefit of the wider community,” the bishop said.

“The condition of our prison estate continues to demand attention, for it is very difficult to discover dignity and purpose in conditions that are, in some cases, not fit for purpose.”

14th-century English church suffers extensive vandalism

A church warden has said her faith in people has been "ruined" after the building was damaged by vandals, for the second time in a month.

The organ was smashed up during the break-in at St Margaret's Church in Bowers Gifford, near Basildon, at about 13:10 GMT on Sunday.

Two boys, aged 15 and 16, were arrested on suspicion of burglary and criminal damage.

The pair were released on bail while inquiries continued, Essex Police said.

Nikki Dilorenzo has been church warden for almost a year and a long-standing member of the congregation.

The 43-year-old said there were "tears, anger and frustration" at the discovery of a broken stained glass window, smashed vases and a broken lectern.

The worst part was finding the organ "just destroyed", she added.

"There was stonework thrown at it. The pipes have been removed. We've still not located those and the altar has just been vandalised," she said.

"Every footstep you make you're just walking on broken glass.

"It's just soul-destroying. To see this damage, it has ruined my faith, my faith in people, and children, and that's upsetting.

"We don't want to feel like this, we want to forgive them, but that will be difficult."

Jeanette Mudd, a member of the congregation for 17 years, said local children had helped with the clean-up and people who had already raised funds following the first break-in.

"Our congregation isn't the largest but still, the church is the centre of this community," said the 70-year-old, who is also secretary to the parochial church council.

Ms Mudd said the clear-up would take time as the place was "full of hazards" with shards of glass embedded in pews, so would need deep-cleaning.

She described the destruction of the organ as akin to "destroying music".

"Music is one of the finer things in life and it's terrible to see that and to see any piece of history destroyed."

The Anglican church dates back to 1450.

The break-in occurred a couple of hours after the Sunday morning service.

Essex Police said items believed to be stolen from the church had been located and some £15,000 of damage was caused during the break-in.

Pope Francis confirms plans to visit Turkey for historic Nicaea council anniversary

Pope Francis told a group of theologians on Thursday he plans to visit Turkey for the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea in 2025.

Bartholomew I, the Eastern Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, anticipated that Francis would be making the trip in comments to reporters in May. 

In September, he confirmed that the joint trip is expected to happen at the end of May 2025.

The Council of Nicaea took place in the ancient city of Nicaea in 325 A.D. in the former Roman Empire, which is now the present-day city of İznik, in northwestern Turkey, about 70 miles from Istanbul.

“I plan to go there,” Pope Francis told members of the International Theological Commission on Nov. 28.

The Council of Nicaea, he said, “constitutes a milestone in the journey of the Church and also of all humanity, because faith in Jesus, the Son of God made flesh for us and for our salvation, was formulated and professed as a light that illuminates the meaning of reality and the destiny of all history.”

Pope Francis met with the International Theological Commission during their plenary gathering at the Vatican. He noted it is important that the commission’s meeting includes drafting a document about “the current meaning of the faith professed at Nicaea.”

“Such a document may be valuable, in the course of the Jubilee year, to nourish and deepen the faith of believers and, starting from the figure of Jesus, also offer insights and reflections useful for a new cultural and social paradigm, inspired precisely by the humanity of Christ,” the pope said.

The Council of Nicaea was the first ecumenical council in the Church. It is accepted by the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, and other Christian communities that accept the validity of early church councils.

It predates the Chalcedonian Schism — which separated the Oriental Orthodox communion from Rome — by more than 100 years and predates the Great Schism — which separated the Eastern Orthodox Church from Rome — by more than 700 years.

During the council, the bishops condemned the heresy of Arianism, which asserted that the Son was created by the Father. Arius, a priest who faced excommunication for propagating the heresy, did not accept that the Son was coeternal with the Father.

Pope Francis said during a meeting with a delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in June that he wished “wholeheartedly” to make the journey to Nicaea to mark the important anniversary with Bartholomew I.

If he travels to Turkey, a trip that has yet to be confirmed by the Vatican, it will take place amid a busy Jubilee Year for the pontiff.

“The Council of Nicaea, in affirming that the Son is of the same substance as the Father, highlights something essential: in Jesus we can know the face of God and, at the same time, also the face of man, discovering ourselves sons in the Son and brothers among ourselves,” Francis said on Thursday. “A fraternity, one rooted in Christ, that becomes a fundamental ethical task for us.”

“Today, in fact, in a complex and often polarized world, tragically marked by conflict and violence, the love of God that is revealed in Christ and given to us in the Spirit becomes an appeal to everyone to learn to walk in fraternity and to be builders of justice and peace,” he added.

In his speech to the theologians of the international commission, the pope also emphasized the importance of synodality.

“I would say that the time has come to take a courageous step: to develop a theology of synodality, a theological reflection that helps, encourages, and accompanies the synodal process, for a new, more creative and bold missionary stage that is inspired by the kerygma and involves all components of the Church,” he said.

North Koreans in contact with Christians are sent to prison

North Koreans who are repatriated from China and who have had contact with Christians are sent to North Korean political prisoner camps, according to the latest report on religious freedom by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

“Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2022-24” was published this month during Red Week and is an initiative by ACN to draw attention to religious persecution around the world. The 2024 edition addresses the situation in 18 key countries, including North Korea.

North Korea is a communist nation ruled since 1948 by the Kim dynasty, and although “gauging the true number of Christians or the extent of their faith in North Korea is exceedingly difficult,” says ACN, “they are estimated to comprise around 0.38 percent of the population, which equates to just over 98,000 people.”

However, despite the small number of believers, Christianity is considered a threat to the state, which is why Christians are forced to go underground.

According to the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), the entire population is forced to follow Juche, “an ideology of Marxist ‘self-reliance’ created by the country’s founder, Kim Il-Sung.” 

To escape the country, North Koreans often use the extensive 880 mile border with China. If they manage to get past the tightly controlled border, the fugitives must reach a third border undetected, mostly Thailand, and seek asylum in the South Korean embassy, ​​which will send them to South Korea.

However, those who are apprehended by the Chinese authorities are repatriated to North Korea. According to Human Rights Watch, in April the Beijing government deported some 60 North Koreans.

In its report, ACN refers to the defectors who were repatriated in October 2023 and said there is cause for concern for those “who had interacted with Christians while they were outside the country. They were all sent to political prisoner camps, known for the harsh treatment of inmates there.”

The report notes that while many served reduced sentences, “those who came into contact with Christianity” were interned “in political prisoner camps, which is in fact a life sentence without parole.”

Citing a source in North Korea who spoke anonymously for security reasons to Daily NK, the ACN report said that “North Korean state security departments base their interrogations of repatriated defectors on files provided by the Chinese police.”

“If anything related to religion is mentioned in the files, the defectors will be inexorably interned in camps” no matter what they say concerning what happened, the report notes.

Believers are considered 'a hostile class'

The pontifical foundation states that in North Korea, “considered the worst country in the world to be a Christian,” people are classified according to their loyalty to the state and “believers are automatically considered a ‘hostile class’ and subjected to relentless persecution.”

“Although there are widespread violations of human rights throughout the country and religious oppression affecting all areas of life and all religious groups, according to the U.S. State Department, Christians and followers of Mugyo (a shamanic religion) are the most persecuted,” the report explains.

Illyong Ju, a North Korean defector who is now a Christian, told ACN that repatriated defectors are being forced to confess anything they may know about the 1,000 people who have not yet been repatriated to North Korea before they actually arrive in the country.

However, Illyong Ju emphasized that among the defectors “there will be people who believe in Jesus and who will spread the Gospel wherever they go. Like Sister Kim, who works with me and who evangelized eight people while she was in a North Korean prison due to her forced repatriation.”

“Therefore, we have faith that those forcibly returned to North Korea will become amazing members of God’s People who will rise up against the oppression of the North Korean regime,” he said.

Ex-NI primary school headmaster ‘may die in prison’ after 10-year sentence for historical sex offences

A Christian Brother and former school principal is expected to die in prison after being sentenced to a further 10 years in jail for historical child sex abuse.

Paul Dunleavy, with an address at Glen Road in Belfast, was found guilty of 36 charges against former pupils in September.

The offences were committed on dates between 1964 and 1991 while the 89-year-old worked at four schools in Belfast, Newry and Armagh.

He is already serving a prison sentence having been previously convicted on two separate occasions of sexual offences against children in his care.

He will begin serving his latest sentence in May 2026 when his current sentence ends.

In total, he has been convicted of 72 counts involving 18 victims across three trials.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Det Ch Supt Fisher said that "there is no doubt that Dunleavy’s victims were let down by those who should have protected him".

"There is only one place for Dunleavy and that is behind bars. He will die in prison."

Dunleavy is still a Christian Brother despite his convictions.

The Christian Brothers is a Roman Catholic lay organisation formed more than 200 years ago for the purpose of educating Catholic boys.

BBC News NI asked the organisation if they had a response to his victims' calls for both an apology and clarity from them on what they knew about his offending, and when.

The organisation has declined to comment, but said: "The congregation cannot comment on matters that are the subject of ongoing proceedings."

'A career littered with shattered psyches'

Judge Patrick Lynch said Dunleavy had consistently denied responsibility for his crimes.

The judge said he could only attribute those denials to "a malign stubbornness and an unwillingness to admit to such persons as may have believed in him that he is a child molester".

“Most notably, perhaps, members of his family whom I’m told are still supportive of him," he added.

The judge said the world would have been a better place had he "not served a lifetime in religious and public service".

“His teaching career has been littered with the shattered psyches of his victims.”

Judge Lynch said Dunleavy, who the court heard has a life expectancy of about four years, felt he could conduct his predatory behaviour with impunity.

He praised the nine victims in the case for their bravery in coming forward, adding that he hoped their actions would deter those tempted to commit similar crimes and "save children, in the future, from having to undergo what you have suffered".

'Lasting psychological damage'

Speaking outside court, PSNI Det Ch Supt Lindsay Fisher said Dunleavy "used his trusted position as a respected and influential member of the community to carry out his offending".

"He abused young boys in school, home and other public spaces. We now know that Dunleavy’s abuse has even involved multiple children within the same family, causing untold, lasting psychological damage," she added.

She added that police believe there may be more victims "who have not yet had the confidence to speak to us".

"It doesn’t matter when the abuse happened. We will still investigate and work to bring abusers before the courts as we have done today," she added.

'Calculating predator'

In a statement after the sentencing, acting head of the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) Serious Crime Unit Catherine Kierans, who prosecuted the case, said Dunleavy is a "calculating predator".

"He is now an elderly man, but when he committed these offences, he was a dominant and intimidating figure who instilled fear in his victims.

"He exerted control in the most despicable ways over young boys with whose care he had been entrusted as a teacher and a school principal."

Ms Kierans paid tribute to the courage and dignity of Dunleavy's victims.

Two of them have shared their stories with BBC News NI. Both wanted to remain anonymous.

'You realise the monster is in school'

James, not his real name, was abused while at St Aidan's Primary School in west Belfast.

It was the 1970s and the Troubles were raging on the streets outside the school, but the danger, he said, lay inside.

"As I described school for me, it was a horror movie outside.

"You were running in as they do, and all the kids run upstairs and lock the doors and then realise the monster is in there."

James said school should have been an escape from the "madness" outside.

He said for years he tried to bury the abuse but struggled to cope.

"Was that the reason why I'm like this? Full of addictions, the amount of jobs I've had over my lifetime you could run a list of them all, always being good at the start then self-destruct happened," he said.

'Robbed me of any childhood memories'

Dennis, not his real name, was abused while at the Abbey Primary School in Newry.

He said he still suffers from serious mental health issues, including self-harm and suicidal thoughts.

He hasn't told many people about what happened to him, not even close family members.

"I grew up hating my name, how I looked, basically I just hated everything about myself," Dennis said.

He has blanked a lot out.

"What it has done is basically rob me of any childhood memories.

"I've flashes. My sister would talk to me, and say do you remember this, do you remember that? I can remember the beatings, I can remember the slaps."

The jury at this most recent trial was told Paul Dunleavy was already in prison for similar offences.

There were reporting restrictions around the earlier trials.

The first file relating to allegations against him was submitted to the PPS in 2011.

'Priests and brothers got away with it'

Dunleavy's denial of the offences was "devastating" for James.

"It's as if we're still telling lies, because he denied it.

He says he has forgiven Dunleavy but it is a constant process.

"To forgive him was the only way to get rid of it, it's the only way for me to carry on.

"But it comes back, it doesn't last - you can forgive him in the morning and want to kill him in the afternoon. It's a thing I have to deal with day in and day out."

James says he believes there are people who suffered at the hands of Dunleavy who haven't come forward yet. And others who haven't made it.

"l have got friends in the graveyard over this, that didn't get the chance, that weren't able to cope with the mental load and buried themselves in drugs and alcohol and weren't able to get through it."

Dennis said he wishes he could have done more to stop Dunleavy.

"There's a lot of guilt there because you did not speak up and it's only now you're finding out about the amount of people that's come after you," Dennis said.

"You've that guilt there and it lives with you every day, that if you had have opened your mouth and said something maybe it would have been nipped in the bud."

"Back in them days priests, brothers, all of it, they could do whatever they wanted, they got away with it.

"It's only now people are finding out what they were really like."

Notre Dame’s altar will have relics from these 5 modern saints

When Notre-Dame de Paris reopens its doors on December 7 and 8, it won't just be priests, faithful, and visitors who will be returning to a restored and magnificent cathedral. Five saints will also enter the immaculate nave. Or rather, their relics will!

The Church inserts a small “tomb” inside every permanent altar. In this sealed container are the remains of people who have lived not according to worldly standards, but according to the Gospel: people who gave their life to God in imitation of Christ, whose sacrifice is actualized at every Eucharist.

For this reason, the relics in the altar recall the source and purpose of all Christian life and of the sacrament of charity. They also manifest the prayer of the Church triumphant in the communion of saints.

Five saints were chosen for the new altar of Notre Dame -- five, like the wounds of Christ, like the five crosses used to consecrate the altar and offer incense at the dedication ceremony. They are five personalities who have marked the life of the diocese of Paris: three women and two men who demonstrate five ways of responding to the Father's call, proof that every vocation is infinitely personal.

St. Madeleine-Sophie Barat

First, there's St. Madeleine-Sophie Barat (1779-1865), educator and foundress of the Society of the Sacred Heart, who received their Jesuit-inspired constitutions in 1815. Dedicated to the daughters of the aristocracy and bourgeoisie, the Burgundian woman wanted to “open up and liberate souls” through education, as she herself had suffered under the authoritarianism of her older brother.

The congregation had its motherhouse in Paris, in what is now the Rodin Museum. Since 2009, her body has been laid to rest in the Sacred Heart chapel of the Church of St. Francis Xavier church, opposite the Lycée Duruy, which was a school run by the Society until 1904. Her incorrupt body is in a reliquary with glass windows that allow viewing and veneration.

St. Marie-Eugénie Milleret

Another educator will have her relics in the cathedral of the Diocese of Paris: St. Marie-Eugénie Milleret (1817-1898), canonized in 2007. A woman from a good family from Lorraine, she experienced separation from her parents and loneliness, at the same time as worldly comforts, before hearing Fr. Lacordaire speak at a Lenten conference -- at Notre-Dame, in fact, in 1836. 

She found God at the same time as her vocation: the education of young girls, especially those from privileged, often materialistic backgrounds. A “servant of the poor,” she became a friend of Fr. Emmanuel d'Alzon. The two encouraged each other to found the Sisters of the Assumption for her, and the Augustinians and Oblates of the Assumption for him. 

St. Catherine Labouré

The third woman to see her remains under the altar of Notre-Dame: St. Catherine Labouré (1806-1876). From humble beginnings, Catherine started taking care of others at the age of 12. After her mother's death and her older sister's entry into religion, she became a housekeeper.

Coming to Paris as a servant, she discovered the misery that reigned there. She became a Daughter of Charity in 1830, despite her father's concerns.

While studying at the motherhouse on rue du Bac, she had her first vision of the Mother of God on July 18, followed by another on November 27, 1830. Our Lady was surrounded by the phrase “O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” She asked that a medal (the famous “Miraculous Medal”) be struck so that all may dare to ask for the Virgin's intercession.

Discreet and humble, St. Catherine died after 45 years in the service of the poor at the hospice in Enghien, leaving behind an account of her visions, which she had opened only to her spiritual director. Her body is now in the chapel on rue du Bac.

St. Charles de Foucauld

The relics of men under the altar of Notre Dame will be those of two priests. One is well known. St. Charles de Foucauld (1858-1916), a native of Strasbourg, was converted in the church of St. Augustin, Paris, during a conversation with Fr. Huvelin that turned into a confession. 

Abandoning his licentious and luxurious life, and anxious to live hidden like Jesus in Nazareth, he became the “universal brother” of Tamanrasset, an apostle of Christ in the middle of the Atlas mountains. He was canonized in 2022 by Pope Francis.

Blessed Vladimir Ghika

Vladimir Ghika (1873-1954) was a priest of the Diocese of Paris, ordained at the age of 50. Romanian and Orthodox, he became a Catholic at the age of 29, and is known for his concern for Christian unity, a precursor of ecumenism.

Authorized to celebrate in the Latin and Byzantine rites, he was a friend of the intellectuals Jacques Maritain and Paul Claudel, and at the same time lived in a shantytown in Villejuif. As a diplomat for the Holy See, he returned to Bucharest during the Second World War. It was here that he was arrested in 1952 for his links with the Vatican. Tortured, he died two years later and was declared Blessed in 2013.