“Infrastructure has been severely damaged, as have institutions and businesses,” Archbishop Pinder said. Though the official death count was 30 on Sept. 6, “we are assured the death toll is bound to increase.”
The synod requires some delicate diplomacy for the Vatican, which under this pontificate has made numerous efforts to strengthen relations with Russia, notably signing a joint declaration with Patriarch Kirill of Moscow during Pope Francis’ February 2016 visit to Havana.
A yearlong investigation by Seton Hall University confirmed that Theodore McCarrick, the laicized cardinal who had been archbishop of Newark from 1986 to 2000, had sexually harassed seminarians during his tenure as head of the archdiocese.