Trump’s vice-president choice is new convert to Catholicism
Donald Trump, newly confirmed as the Republican presidential candidate, has announced that the Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, aged 39, will be his running mate. According to the Religion News Service, Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019 and his wife is from the Hindu tradition. If elected, he would be the second Catholic vice president in US history, after Joe Biden. RNS quotes an academic suggesting Vance is tied to “Catholic integralism”, believing his role is to act as an adviser to a corrupt liberal order.
Trump has continued in public life, despite the assassination attempt at the weekend. Social media is awash with views that God saved him from death. Meanwhile faith leaders have called on God to protect politicians and offered for prayers for the country, saying there is no place for violence.
Less attention is being paid to audience member Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old man from Butler, Pennsylvania, who was killed with a bullet from the same gun. It transpires that he was a committed Christian who attended church every Sunday, the father of two daughters and a former fire chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, who died a hero after throwing himself over his family to protect them. The Democrat governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro, told a press conference: “He was the very best of men. May his memory be a blessing”.
CofE bishops’ appointments deadlocked by internal disagreement
Deadlock in the Crown Appointments Commission over the appointment of bishops has prevented a decision on the next Bishop of Ely, months after a similar impasse over the next Bishop of Carlise. The failure to agree has led to suggestions that this is because of disagreements over same sex blessings. The makeup of the group selecting bishops includes local delegates and six representatives of the general synod – and four of these, according to a report in the Church Times , voted against prayers of blessing. A decision on a new bishop requires two thirds majority of the whole group to go through. The deadlock means that in each case, the selection process cannot re-commence for a number of months, leaving others to shoulder responsibilities. A statement from the Archbishop of Canterbury says: “Together with the Archbishop of York and others, there will also need to be a period of reflection on the implications of this decision on the Church of England more generally”. But he made clear that the matter had already been reviewed by this synod, which is elected for a five-year term, and no other formal review was planned.
Irish politician refused communion over vote legalising abortion
The Fine Gael member of parliament and minister of state, Colm Burke, was refused the eucharist at a funeral mass for a fellow party member in Blarney, County Cork, reports the BBC. The politician is said to have been “taken aback” by the decision. He was told this was because he had been “excommunicated” over his “support for abortion”, according to the Irish broadcaster RTE . Mr Burke had voted in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment, a process which led to the legalisation of abortion in Ireland in a clear vote – 66.4 per cent to 33.6 per cent – a landslide win for the repeal side. The Eighth Amendment granted an equal right to life to the mother and the unborn child. Mr Burke contacted the diocese about the matter and was told the bishop would contact him this week. The refusal of communion has been condemned by the Association of Catholic Priests.
Cartoon Jewish superhero Sabra turned into a Russian spy
The comic book giants Marvel have stripped the “Jewish superhero Sabra of her Israeli identity” and turned the character into a Russian spy, in the forthcoming film Captain America: Brave New World, according to the Jewish Chronicle. The Sabra character first appeared in the Marvel comics in 1980 and is set to return to the big screen in the new Marvel action film, set to come out next February. The superhero, who will be played by Israeli actress, Shira Haas, is known as the agent for Israel’s spy agency, Mossad. But in the film, Marvel Studios have made significant changes to the character’s identity in response, the JC claims, to anti-Israel criticism following the war in Gaza. Since the franchise announced the actress’s involvement, the JC says it has faced a backlash from supporters of the Palestinian lobby movement the BDS and other campaigners urging them to drop her. In response to criticism, Marvel Studios said that it would take a “new approach” to the Sabra character. It said: “While our characters and stories are inspired by the comics, they are always freshly imagined for the screen and today’s audience.”
Pope says future of religious congregations at risk from dwindling numbers
The Independent carries a plea from Pope Francis, urging religious orders to work and pray harder for new priests and nuns as he acknowledged that the future of congregations are at risk with the numbers of men and women entering Catholic religious life plummeting in parts of the world. The Pope asked representatives of religious orders celebrating assemblies in Rome how many people they each had training to be priests or nuns. Audience members responded saying 8, 12 and 17, with new members coming from Asia, Africa and Latin America. “The future is there, it’s true,” Francis told them. “We have to double these numbers!” For over a decade, the overall number of Catholic priests and nuns from Europe and parts of the Americas has been in a free fall. According to the article, Vatican statistics indicate that the new priests in the Global South have limited the overall global decline, with a total of 407,872 priests recorded in 2021 compared to 413,418 in 2011. But the drop has been much more precipitous in female religious orders, which on a global scale have been shedding around 10,000 members per year to death and desertions for over a decade “with some orders having stopped accepting new members because their futures aren’t assured”.
Coptic Catholics in Egypt start rebuilding churches
The Independent Catholic News reports that the Egyptian government has lifted the restrictions on the building of churches, allowing the Coptic Catholic community to start restoring St George’s Cathedral in Luxor which was destroyed by a fire in 2016. They will be allowed to make plans for building more places of worship in the country, according to Coptic Catholic Patriarch Ibrahim Sidrak of Alexandria. He told Aid to the Church in Need that Islamist movements like the Muslim Brotherhood are unlikely to “fully disappear, but the current government is taking this threat very seriously, and they no longer dominate Egyptian society : “When they held full power, between 2012 and 2013, it was very risky for a Christian to go out alone. Our churches were under constant threat, hundreds of them were burned. Now we live in relative safety. There are fanatics and terrorists, as happens everywhere, but they are restrained.” The patriarch said churches were difficult to get to for many Christians, with those who live further away spending around a quarter of their salary to get their families to the nearest church for Sunday services by bus.
Is Catholicism dying among Hispanics?
The Catholic News Agency poses the question in a headline “Is Catholicism dying out among USA Hispanics?”. ’The article quotes statistics from the Pew Research Centre which found that found that 43 per cent of Hispanics in America are Catholic, a major decline from 67 per cent in 2010. The largest religious group — 49 per cent — of Hispanics ages 18–29 is religiously unaffiliated, a category often referred to as the “nones.” Thus, the average young Hispanic in America today is more likely to identify as a “none” than as either a Catholic or an evangelical. The website quotes a recent article in The Free Press touting that narrative, claiming that Latinos are flocking to evangelical Christianity, but other stats suggest that most under the age of 25 are leaving the church. Six years ago, Catholic bishops agreed a deal to minister to Hispanic Catholics to try to stem the tide away from the church.
Archbishop of York waiting for England call-up
The Church Times has collated the reaction of the CofE’s leading clergymen to the England men’s team defeat against Spain in the Euro 24 final. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby wrote on social media after the match that he was praying for the England manager, Gareth Southgate, and the whole team: “Despite the result, you have won something no one can take away: our deepest admiration, and a place in the history books. Congratulations to Spain, on your victory and a wonderful tournament.” The Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell joined in the commiserations with the view that the England team “can rightly be proud of all they’ve achieved and in the way they have lifted the hearts of the nation, reaching their second Euros final in a row”. The Bishop of Sheffield, Dr Pete Wilcox, congratulated Spain, saying that he was happy for their fans, and that they were “definitely the best team in the tournament” — a position on which most pundits agreed. Archbishop Stephen Cottrell, meanwhile, admitted: “I spend far too much of my life thinking about football, watching football, dreaming about football, still hoping for a call up myself.”
