A number of the cardinal’s public statements on the liturgy and other topics reflected a pre-Vatican II traditionalist outlook that at times openly contrasted with the direction given by Pope Francis.
Africa
Posted inPolitics & Society, Short Take
Remembering Margaret Snyder, Catholic feminist pioneer
A prominent figure in United Nations efforts to help women in Africa escape poverty, Margaret Snyder was inspired by her parents and by Catholic mentors from her hometown.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Africa was winning the Covid-19 battle. Then came rising death rates (and waves of misinformation).
Leadership lapses and the spread of erroneous information and fear about possible treatments for the disease also threaten a successful Covid-19 response in Africa.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Were Orthodox Christians massacred in Ethiopia?
“It really does look like there was an atrocity and a massacre, but precisely the motivation and the details, I think we need to suspend judgment at the moment,” Laurie Nathan said.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Zimbabwe (still) has not reckoned with the 1980s genocide
As the government attempts reburial of victims of the genocide, family members and Catholic church officials charge that the government is attempting to prevent a thorough historical accounting.
Posted inPolitics & Society, Vantage Point
From 1993: The Flight to and from Thika
In this 1993 piece, James Martin reflects on the realities of refugees he met in Thika, Kenya.
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Zambia is first African country to default on debt during Covid. It may not be the last.
Jesuits in Africa are calling on the Catholic Church to press for better repayment terms on debt across the region.
Posted inExplainer, Faith
Explainer: What is the Zaire rite—and why is Pope Francis talking about it now?
Pope Francis has held up the Congolese liturgy as a model for similarly inculturated rites in other parts of the Catholic world.
Posted inFaith, GoodNews
Pope Francis meets with the missionary priest freed after two years of captivity
Recalling his abduction and two-year captivity, Father Maccalli told Vatican News that during that time, “tears were my bread for many days and were my prayer when I didn’t know what to say.”
Posted inDispatches, Politics & Society
Local priest: The Canary Islands are ‘turning into a prison’ for migrants
So far this year, over 16,760 migrants have survived clandestine voyages from Africa’s west coast to Spain’s Canary Islands, more than 5,500 arriving over just the last two weeks.