2, July 2017
The Holy Father Pope Francis replaces top conservative cardinal 0
Pope Francis has refused to extend the mandate of the head of the Vatican office that handles sex abuse cases, replacing the conservative cardinal who is said to have been “at odds” with the pontiff’s attempts to create a more inclusive Church. In a brief Vatican statement on Saturday, Pope Francis appointed the deputy of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), Archbishop Luis Francisco Ladaria Ferrer, as the new head of the office, declining to renew the five-year mandate of Cardinal Gerhard Ludwig Mueller, its former head.
The 69-year-old Mueller allegedly had frequent clashes with the Pope over key reform issues, criticizing the pontiff’s openness to allowing civilly remarried Catholics to receive Communion. The German cardinal had also censured parts of a 2016 papal treatise called “Amoris Laetitia” (The Joy of Love), a cornerstone document of Francis’ attempts to make the 1.2 billion-member Church more inclusive and less condemning, according to Reuters.
Mueller’s successor, the 73-year-old Ladaria from Spain had been appointed to the CDF by former Pope Benedict in 2008 and is said to be a soft-spoken person. “They (Ladaria and the Pope) speak the same language, and Ladaria is someone who is meek. He does not agitate the pope and does not threaten him,” said a priest who works in the Vatican and knows both Mueller and Ladaria, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Clearly, the Pope and Cardinal Mueller have not been on the same page for five years.”
The head of the CDF enjoys the most important position in the Vatican hierarchy after the Secretary of State, and most incumbents keep the post until they retire at the traditional age of 75. Mueller had been appointed to the powerful department by former Pope Benedict in 2012. In another major shakeup of the Vatican’s administration, the Pope granted a Vatican finance chief, Cardinal George Pell, a leave of absence from his position to return to his native Australia to face trial on sexual assault charges.
The Roman Catholic Church has been hit by numerous scandals in the past few years, involving allegations of covering up the sexual abuse of children by priests to protect pedophiles and the reputation of the Church. The issue of abuses being concealed by the Church has left many child rights defenders, including Christians, disgruntled by the Church and has put Church authorities on the defensive.
Pope Francis, who was appointed in 2013 with a plan to overhaul the Vatican, has warned that there will be “no privileges” for bishops when it comes to child sex offenses. The pontiff also promised more action in response to accusations of cover-up and excessive leniency by the Vatican.
Source: Presstv
2, July 2017
In swipe at Trump, Obama warns against ‘aggressive’ nationalism 0
Former US President Barack Obama warns against “aggressive” nationalism and President Donald Trump’s decision to leave the Paris climate agreement. Obama made the remarks on Saturday at the Fourth Congress of the Indonesian Diaspora in Jakarta while he and his family were there on holiday.
“We start seeing a rise in sectarian politics. We start seeing a rise in an aggressive kind of nationalism. We start seeing both in developed and developing countries an increased resentment about minority groups and the bad treatment of people who don’t look like us or practice the same faith as us.”
After taking office in January, Trump issued a travel ban against people from predominantly Muslim countries. The ban and its second version were both blocked by two federal judges. However, on Thursday the US Supreme Court allowed the ban to be enforced pending a full hearing in October.
Trump insists his ban is necessary for national security, but critics have called the ban discriminatory against Muslims. Obama also touched upon the Paris climate accord and the US withdrawal from it which provoked national and international criticism. “In Paris, we came together around the most ambitious agreement in history to fight climate change,” he said, adding the deal “will still give our children a fighting chance.”
He also talked about democracy and freedom of press amid Trump’s continuous barrage of criticism against US media. “If we don’t stand up for tolerance and moderation and respect for others, if we begin to doubt ourselves and all that we have accomplished, then much of the progress that we have made will not continue,” Obama said.
“What we will see is more and more people arguing against democracy, we will see more and more people who are looking to restrict freedom of the press, and we’ll see more intolerance, more tribal divisions, more ethnic divisions, and religious divisions and more violence,” he added.
Trump has recently criticized major US media outlets including CNN, ABC, The New York Times and The Washington Post. He has also launched a personal attack against two MSNBC hosts, Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough, which was condemned by both Democrats and Republicans alike.
Source: Presstv