Greeks protest over railway security

MORE than 10,000 folks took half in an illustration in Athens on Sunday — two weeks after a practice crash wherein 57 folks died. The Greek authorities was accused of repeatedly ignoring calls by unions to enhance security; and a nationwide rail strike was on account of happen yesterday. A passenger practice and freight practice collided head-on within the northern metropolis of Larissa, within the Tempe Valley, on 28 February. A memorial service was led 9 days later on the website of the catastrophe by three metropolitans of the Greek Orthodox Church. Metropolitan Ieronymos of Larissa & Tyrnavos spoke of plans by the Thessaly area to erect a small church, in order that prayer for the souls of those that had died could be fixed, the Orthodox Times stories. 

Nicaragua suspends relations with Vatican

THE overseas ministry of Nicaragua has declared that the federal government intends to droop diplomatic relations with the Vatican. It has requested the Vatican to shut its respective diplomatic missions. The transfer marks a yr because the Apostolic Nuncio in Managua, Archbishop Waldemar Stanislaw Sommertag, was expelled from the nation. Pope Francis has expressed dismay on the state of church relations with the federal government there (News, 26 August 2022). The social and political state of affairs in Nicaragua has been marked in recent times by a development in arrests, expulsions, and violent responses to demonstrations. After being underneath home arrest since final August, the Bishop of Matagalpa, the Rt Revd Rolando Álvarez, is now in jail, sentenced to 26 years. No additional information has emerged (News, 17 February).

WCC requires Korean peace treaty

THE World Council of Churches (WCC) has known as on member Churches to assist the Korea Peace Appeal, to advertise a transition from the armistice settlement to a peace treaty for the Korean Peninsula. The seventieth anniversary of the armistice, which suspended combating of the Korean War, falls on 27 July. The WCC is backing efforts by the National Council of Churches, and says that “the unresolved state of war since 1953 has posed security risks, led to increased militarization, and incurred major political and economic costs for the people on the Korean Peninsula.” The WCC’s normal secretary, the Revd Professor Jerry Pillay, stated that this was “a crucial step towards achieving lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula and beyond”.

Irish bishops urge parishes to ‘return to nature’

THE Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference has requested parishes, by way of their pastoral councils and diocesan trusts, “to identify and care for 30 per cent of parish grounds as a haven for pollinators and biodiversity”, and to be loved by the entire neighborhood. This is one strand of labor being undertaken by its Laudato Si’ Working Group. The Bishops made their request throughout their spring 2023 normal assembly final week. In an announcement launched afterwards, they defined: “In embracing this initiative we encourage parishes to expand their circles of solidarity, to protect and care for biodiversity and recommend that, by 2030, 30 per cent of church grounds be returned to nature. The first goal of Laudato Si’ asks us to respond to the ‘Cry of the Earth’.” Other issues mentioned on the assembly included refugees, preparation for Lent, and plans for the twenty fifth anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement.

Pope Francis displays on religious structure

SACRED structure should search to rediscover “symbolic language and be able to interpret it”, Pope Francis has stated. He was reflecting on the theme of the twenty sixth Public Session of the Pontifical Academies on Tuesday. “To have lost the capacity to grasp the symbolic value of the body and of every creature renders the symbolic language of the Liturgy almost inaccessible to the modern mentality,” he stated. “And yet there can be no question of renouncing such language. It cannot be renounced because it is how the Holy Trinity chose to reach us through the flesh of the Word. It is rather a question of recovering the capacity to use and understand the symbols of the Liturgy.” Artistic and architectural creativity should draw inspiration from the liturgical lifetime of the Church, he stated, somewhat than from human preferences. Liturgy and artwork have to be free from “subjectivisms” and the “invasion of cultural elements”.

Bishop of LA christens Princess Lilibet

THE Episcopalian Bishop of Los Angeles, the Rt Revd John Harvey Taylor, baptised the daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Princess Lilibet Diana, final week. He wrote in a Facebook put up that the couple had initially requested the Presiding Bishop, the Most Revd Michael Curry, to manage the sacrament at their residence in LA, however that the Presiding Bishop had examined optimistic for Covid shortly beforehand. With the accession of their grandfather, the King, the Sussexes’ kids now, in response to conference, have acquired royal titles: the Princess’s brother is now Prince Archie.