The Diocese of Fada N’Gourma prayed a novena for peace from 10 October following a series of terrorist attacks in north-eastern Burkina Faso.
Aid to the Church in Need reported that at least 150 people died in the town of Manni after militants attacked on 6 October and returned several times to kill survivors. They also ambushed a military patrol, killing 17 soldiers. Bishop Pierre Claver Malgo of Fada N’Gourma described the attacks as “barbaric”.
“Any threat to the dignity of man and to his life must touch the very heart of the Church,” he said, and urged his diocese to engage in “a novena of prayer for peace to Our Lady of Perpetual Help”.
Since 2015, Burkina Faso has suffered attacks from Islamist groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State, which killed at least 400 people in the country’s worst terrorist atrocity at the end of August this year.
According to figures from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, at least 20,000 people have been killed in Burkina Faso since 2015, including 4,000 in 2024. The attacks have also led to the displacement of over 2 million people.
There were mass funerals in north-western Nigeria for more than 150 people who died after an overturned fuel tanker exploded on the night of 15 October. Many were killed as they collected petrol spillage, with most victims burned to death.
The accident in Jigawa state was the latest in a series of disasters in Nigeria – Africa’s largest oil producer – where tankers are the main source of transporting fuel across states on poorly maintained roads. More than 100 others were in hospitals with severe burns.
Soaring fuel prices have driven many people to desperate measures. Several times this year Nigeria’s bishops have called for economic policies to improve living standards for all citizens. President Bola Tinubu said last week he is committed to a “swift and comprehensive” review of fuel transportation safety protocols.
Police in Cameroon launched an investigation into the death of Fr Christophe Komla Badjougou, a Togolese origin serving in the Diocese of Yagoua in Cameroon’s Far North region.
The priest was shot at 7:30pm on 7 October in front of the gate of the Missionaries of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (CICM) house in the Mvolyé neighbourhood of Yaoundé, where he was to spend the night. Fr Komla was staying in the capital while travelling to Italy where he was to undertake a year of training.
Police Commissioner Francis Ekema, head of the Third District Police Station in Yaoundé, said in a statement that surveillance footage showed that the priest had arrived at the gate of the CICM in Mvolyé on a motorcycle taxi. While he was trying to pay for his ride, two assailants arrived on a motorcycle, shot the priest several times and stole his bag.
Bishop Barthélemy Yaouda Hourgo of Yagoua said he was “shocked and pained” by the killing. Mgr Paul Nyaga, the Secretary General of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon, told The Tablet that the murder was a grim reminder that “the proclamation of the Gospel goes along with suffering, with hatred, with persecution”.
Bishop Edouard Sinayobye of Cyangugu said the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which 800,000 people died, still divided the county.
Speaking during a Vatican briefing on 14 October, he said Rwanda the pain and anguish caused by the genocide was still present in people’s hearts. “Despite 30 years passing, the consequences of the genocide are as if it were yesterday. The pain, the divisions, linger,” Sinayobye said.
He said the Synod on Synodality was a Kairos moment that should help in the healing process. “We are called to accompany both the survivors and the perpetrators of the genocide,” he said. “In every parish, in every community, we are working to create spaces where people can find healing, where they can learn to forgive and to live together again.”
He continued: “We strive to lead a pastoral life that heals, that accompanies both the victims and the aggressors. It is not easy, but it is our mission.”
Sinayobye said the synod had given the Church in Rwanda “a framework to strengthen our pastoral life and to live a true spirit of synodality”. He explained: “In Rwanda, we live this synod as an opportunity to deepen our approaches to unity and reconciliation, helping our people walk together in fraternity and peace.”
He said the themes of the synod – particularly ideas of communion, unity and reconciliation – spoke to the hearts of the people of Rwanda, because those words were essential to the country’s national and spiritual healing.
Church leaders in Malawi said that a lack of financial resources was threatening their ability to train seminarians, even as vocations in the region increase.
Bishop Vincent Frederick Mwakhwawa, an auxiliary in the Diocese of Lilongwe, said that widespread economic hardship affected the Church’s mission to evangelise. “The escalation of prices of most things in Malawi is affecting our budget but also our contribution to the seminary,” he said. “
It is our duty as the Church to support these young men in seminaries because some of them come from poor families, which makes it not easy for them to pay fees,” said Bishop Mwakhwawa who also serves chair of the Pontifical Mission Societies.
“The number of seminarians in the seminaries is growing, which makes the budget [required] increase every year.”
Caritas Zimbabwe announced plans to change its fundraising model in response to international donor fatigue, as different global crises compete for financial support.
The aid agency set out a five-year plan in its Vision 2030 strategy, targeting the promotion of community development and self-reliance. Officials said it would be based on private sector engagement, localisation and social enterprise designed to promote community development and a reduction of reliance on external aid.
Caritas Zimbabwe said partnership with the private sector would encourage communities to create and manage their own development projects while harnessing local resources to promote economic growth.
The apostolic nuncio Archbishop Janusz Urbanczyk and Archbishop Alex Thomas of Bulawayo attended the agencies strategic planning workshop, alongside senior government officials and business leaders.
Church leaders welcomed an initiative by the Indian government to hold peace talks in the state of Manipur to end sectarian strife between tribal Christians and Hindus.
“It is a positive sign that the federal government has taken the initiative,” said a senior church leader based in the state, who could not be named for security reasons. “There is no other way for peace but a dialogue with all stakeholders.”
However, when representatives of the tribal Kuki-Zo and majority-Hindu Meitei peoples attended the peace talks in New Delhi on 15 October there was deadlock as the Kuki-Zo maintained their demand for a separate administration for the hilly districts where tribal Christians live, which the federal government has already ruled out. The government asked warring factions “to shun violence to prevent further loss of lives”.
Violence first broke out in May 2023 when tribal Christians protested against a court order that suggested conferring “scheduled tribe” status on the Meiteis in Manipur, granting them reservation benefits. Violence since then has killed 230 people, displaced over 60,000 others, and destroyed over 350 churches, church schools and presbyteries.
Church leaders in Bangladesh wrote to the government to say “Easter should become a national holiday”.
The letter, signed by Archbishop Bejoy N. D’Cruze of Dhaka, President of the Bishops’ Conference and the United Forum of Churches of Bangladesh, was addressed to the head of the country’s transitional government, Muhammad Yunus.
It assured the government of the prayers of the Christian community and emphasised that Easter “is one of the most important celebrations of Christianity”. It said that “although the Christian population is not very large, we are an integral part of this country and make a significant contribution to development through our community services”, especially “in the areas of education, medical care, poverty alleviation and other development programmes”.
Requests to previous governments have not been successful, and “as a result, many Catholics cannot attend religious services and Holy Mass [at Easter], thus violating their religious obligations”.
Cardinal Joseph Zen, the 92-year-old former Bishop of Hong Kong, warned that the Holy See’s authority over the Church was being undermined, as the Vatican renewed its agreement with the Chinese government on the appointment of bishops and the Synod on Synodality discussed the role of the epicsopate.
In a blog post published on 18 October, Zen cautioned against granting individual bishops’ conferences independent authority. “If this idea succeeds, we will no longer be the Catholic Church,” he said.
Bishop Vincent Zhan Silu of Xiapu and Bishop Joseph Yang Yongqiang of Hangzhou attended the synod assembly in Rome from the People’s Republic of China.
Yang, the vice president of the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association, recently remarked of the Church in China: “We follow the evangelical spirit of ‘becoming all things to all people’. We effectively adapt to society, serve it, adhere to the direction of the sinicisation of Catholicism, and preach the good news.”
Cardinal-elect Carlos Castillo, the Archbishop of Lima, called for the abolition of the lay-led Peruvian group Sodalitium Vitae Christianae (SCV). He said the SCV – or Sodality of Christian Life – had “destroyed people”, adding: “There is nothing Christian about that.”
Writing in the Spanish daily El País, he outlined a personal “hypothesis” that the movement had a political aim “to resurrect fascism in Latin America, artfully using the Church via sectarian means”. He claimed the Sodality “experimented” with members to see “how strong” they were and, in a bid to forge character, obliging members “to sleep chest downwards on stairs”.
He added: “In other words, this is pure Pelagian ascetism, all leading towards the mental control of individuals who end up turning into an army of robots who conquer and dominate.”
In August, the Vatican expelled Luis Figari, founder of the SCV who been accused of sexual abuse. A further 10 members were ejected on Vatican orders last month.
Bishops in Haiti objected to immigration measures introduced by the newly elected-president of the Dominican Republic, after he announced plans to repatriate up to 10,000 illegal Haitian immigrants per week.
They acknowledged the country’s right to protect “security and economic systems” but said “the principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights do not authorise any state to mistreat foreigners.”
The bishops also addressed factors driving migration from Haiti and urged its authorities to create “safe living conditions through responsible and committed governance so that our fellow citizens can feel at peace, in harmony, in security, and with the hope of a better life.”
Haiti, the poorest country in Latin America and the Caribbean, has suffer widespread violence for months.
Earlier this month, the Dominican Bishops’ Conference said nations have a right to apply their immigration laws and policies but that migrants must be treated “with justice and respect for human dignity”. They called for the Dominican government to avoid unfair treatment, arbitrary deportations, and the separation of families.
President Luis Abinader has said the plans aim to “reduce the excess of migrant population that can be seen in Dominican communities”. Haiti and the Dominican Republic share the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest diocese in the United States with 4.4 million Catholics, announced an agreement to pay victims of clergy sex abuse $880 million.
The money will be distributed among 1,353 litigants on top of the $740 million the archdiocese had paid in previous settlements with other claimants. In all, more than 300 priests in the archdiocese have been accused in public records of sexually abusing minors.
In 2019, the California extended the statute of limitations, permitting victims more time to file claims and allowing hundreds of new allegations which were filed throughout the state. Several Californian dioceses have entered bankruptcy proceedings.
“I am sorry for every one of these incidents, from the bottom of my heart,” said Archbishop José Gómez. “My hope is that this settlement will provide some measure of healing for what these men and women have suffered. I believe that we have come to a resolution of these claims that will provide just compensation to the survivor-victims of these past abuses.”
The archdiocese said the money would come from archdiocesan investments, reserves, and other assets, as well as contributions from religious orders that were included in the settlement.
Catholic churches and organisations in Florida reported their communities were traumatised by Hurricanes Milton and Helene. Parishes in the Diocese of St Petersburg, encompassing much of the Tampa area, and the more southerly Diocese of Venice, bore the brunt of Hurricane Milton.
Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice called for prayer and action after many parishes suffered damage. The diocese set up distribution points for water, ice, and food, while Catholic Charities USA launched a relief fund to help victims of both hurricanes, providing shelter, food, and other humanitarian aid.
The Cathedral of St Jude the Apostle in St Petersburg suffered significant damage in the storms.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops announced the agenda its plenary meeting in Baltimore in November.
The bishops will hear a report on the 2021-2024 synodal process as well as a report on their Eucharistic revival initiative and National Eucharistic Congress.
They will also receive “an update on the resources being developed in a collaborative effort among several USCCB committees for Dignitas Infinita; an update on the interim implementation of Antiquum Ministerium (on the ministry of the catechist); a discussion on the pastoral implementation of integral ecology and Laudato si’”, among other items.
The bishops will be selecting a new treasurer-elect as well as chairmen-elect for five conference committees, including the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, the Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, the Committee on Liturgy, the Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family, Life and Youth, and the Committee on Migration.
More than 500 Belgian Catholics asked for “debaptism” from the Church in protest at Pope Francis’ description of doctors who perform abortions as “hitmen” and Belgium’s legalisation of the procedure a “murderous law”.
In a letter addressed to the apostolic nuncio and the seven dioceses in Belgium, the 524 signatories declared their “decision no longer to be bound in any way to the Catholic Church”, adding: “Please consider this letter my formal act of departure from the Church.”
They also denounced “the lukewarm response to the [violence] committed by certain members of the clergy against children and women, and the absence of concrete measures to support and compensate the victims”.
On 29 September, the Pope made the “hitmen” remark – not the first time he has used the term – while speaking on his flight back to Rome after visiting Luxembourg and Belgium.
Cardinal Willem Eijk of Utrecht said that secularisation in the Netherlands was such that only 2.5 per cent of Catholics regularly attend Sunday Mass. Speaking to the German Catholic journal Communio, he said only round 100,000 Catholics attend Sunday Mass, compared to 250,000 a decade ago.
“Secularisation began with increasing prosperity. It allowed people to live individually, detached from the community. Individuals put themselves at the centre and become their own pope, so to speak,” he said. “In the Netherlands, this happened quickly, especially in the 1960s, when prosperity increased at an unprecedented rate.”
He added that the Covid pandemic also cut attendance numbers. Dutch parishes were turning to missionary projects like British-style Alpha courses to confront this trend, he said.
Asked if he ever despaired, the cardinal replied: “Sitting before you is not a despairing man.” He warned German Catholics not to be as complacent about secularisation as their Dutch counterparts were.
Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, the Pope’s “peace envoy”, met Russian state and Church officials, including Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during a visit to Moscow on 14-16 October. A statement from the Holy See said Zuppi’s visit “provided an opportunity to examine some prospects for continuing humanitarian collaboration and opening paths toward the much-desired peace”.
Fr Giuseppe Adobati Carrara was elected the new Superior General of the Passionists, at the forty-eighth general chapter Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ in Rome. Carrara was formerly Provincial Superior of the Province of MAPRAES (governing the Passionists of Italy, France, Portugal and missions). Born in 1969, he made his first professions of vow in 1991 and was ordained on 1 June 1996.
The Education Commission of the International Union of Superiors General and Union of Superiors General, representing female and male religious respectively, announced the subject of their annual three-day Educator Training Seminar for religious in November would be “Artificial Intelligence, an Educational Challenge”.
The online seminar was offered “to those responsible for education of our institutions and to people with a significant role in the promotion and coordination of our mission.” Congregations can participate with a group of between five and eight people. Topics include “Understanding Artificial Intelligence” and “How Artificial Intelligence transforms education”.
Statistics released for World Mission Sunday on 20 October showed that while the Catholic population worldwide grew in 2022, the number of baptisms had declined over a 25-year period.
There were 17,932,891 baptisms in 1998 and 13,327,037 in 2022. The number of religious, seminarians, and priests continued to decline, especially in Europe, the with the total number of women religious falling from 814,779 to 559,228 in 25 years.
The number of Catholics worldwide stood at 1.389 billion, around one fifth of the world’s population. Only Europe saw a fall in the number of Catholics, and it was also the site of the sharpest decline in numbers of priests.
The number of seminarians worldwide decreased to 108,481, down from 109,895 the previous year, with Africans accounting for almost one in three seminarians.
The statistics, published by the Vatican’s Fides news agency, recorded 74,322 kindergartens, 102,189 primary schools and 50,851 secondary schools run by the Church, while its healthcare facilities included 5,420 hospitals, 14,205 dispensaries, 525 care homes for people with Leprosy and 15,476 homes for the elderly, chronically ill and disabled.
Loading ...
