Pope Francis celebrates Mass with many thousands of people in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, on his first visit as pontiff to Africa.
CHR Comment: The segment and video on the changing demographics in Africa and Catholicism is helpful. You will find it near the end of the article. Otherwise, the report is about the enthusiasm of Africans for the Pope’s visit.
Source: Pope Francis celebrates rain-soaked Mass in Kenya – BBC News
Pope Francis is due in Kenya at the start of a three-nation visit to Africa, with thousands expected to come out to welcome him on his first visit to the continent.
CHR Comment: According to the article, the chief topics that Pope Francis will address are corruption, poverty, and religious conflict. In some of the nations he will visit, Muslims have attacked Christians (e.g., Kenya). African Catholics are gaining influence at the Vatican due to their increasing numbers. The article notes that one out of six Catholics lives in Africa.
Source: Pope Francis due in Kenya at start of African tour – BBC News
CHR Comment: The Pope recently visited a Lutheran congregation in Rome. According to Rev. Martin Junge, president of the Lutheran World Federation, the last three popes have made such visits and relations are mending between Lutherans and Catholics, working toward intercommunion. Expect significant develops around the time of the 2017 anniversary of the Reformation.
Source: Catholics, Lutherans preparing joint Reformation anniversary event
The remains of St. Maria Goretti, an 11-year-old girl said to have forgiven her attacker, are expected to draw thousands to St. Monica Catholic Church.
CHR Comment: The event illustrates the continued popularity of relics in the Catholic tradition. The article tells Maria’s story and the changed life of the man who abused her. Her remains is on display for the first time in the United States and at 54 places. The Texas Catholic (second link) reports that more than 13,500 people came to see the relic in Dallas.
Source: Dallas church to display remains of young saint killed in rape attempt | Dallas Morning News
http://www.texascatholic.com/2015/11/11/thousands-line-up-to-view-relics-of-st-maria-goretti/
An awkward, at times profane, exchange between comedy talk show host Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher reflects the conflation of Islam with terrorism – and the debate over how to respond to the terrorist attacks in Paris.
CHR Comment: Maher, a former Catholic, is openly hostile toward religion and blames religion for many of the troubles in the world today, such as terrorism. Colbert, on the other hand, is a sincere Catholic who called Maher to humble himself and return to the Lord during a live broadcast of his program, “The Late Show.”
Source: Awkward exchange: Stephen Colbert, Bill Maher on terrorism and religion – CSMonitor.com
CHR Comment: The link below takes you to a photo essay, which illustrates the feelings of the French people following the recent terror attacks. (Remember going to church services after 9/11?) The photos likewise give an excellent view of the great Paris cathedral.
via Mass Held in Homage to Paris Terror Attack Victims – NBC News.
British police on Tuesday said they had arrested a former soldier for the Bloody Sunday killings in Londonderry in 1972, one of the worst atrocities in Northern Ireland’s three decades of unrest.
CHR Comment: There is apparently no statute of limitations on this case since the events took place 43 years ago. Given the math, the former soldier arrested was 23 years old when the shooting took place. One wonders why it has take so long to provide a substantive investigation of the event, which resulted in the deaths of 13 Catholic protesters.
Source: Ex-soldier is first arrest in N.Ireland Bloody Sunday probe
CHR Comment: The article is specifically about urban religion but comments more broadly about mapping projects in religious studies. Focus thus far has been on Catholics, Jews, and African Americans (likely Protestants).
Source: Religion in American History: What the Map of Urban Religious Histories Shows Us
CHR Comment: Swami Chidananda Saraswati travelled to Rome with other religious leaders to participate in an interreligious general audience with Pope Francis on the fiftieth anniversary of the papal document that invited dialogue with other religions. Issues of concern mentioned peace between religions and averting terrorism.
Church attendance may be falling in Poland as elsewhere across Europe, but the victory of conservative opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party in Sunday’s election will likely advance the role of Roman Catholic values in public life and government.
CHR Comment: The comparisons are made with the high point in church attendance and Catholic piety in the 1980s. The changes are compelled by reactions to life issues such as in vetro fertilization, immigration, and materialism. A number of politically vocal priests are named.
Source: Polish vote marks resurgence of conservative Catholic values
church history review 