NEWS BRIEFS

– Tej Francis

VATICAN CITY

THE HIGHEST HONOR IS TO SERVE GOD’S PEOPLE, FRANCIS TELLS NEW CARDINALS

(CNA/EWTN News) At a ceremony for the creation of 14 cardinals Thursday, Pope Francis said the best promotion a person can receive is to serve the person of Christ as seen in the least of his people.  “This is the highest honor that we can receive, the greatest promotion that can be awarded us: to serve Christ in God’s faithful people,” the pope said at an ordinary consistory in St. Peter’s Basilica June 28.

Speaking to the new and to the existing cardinals, he said credible authority stems from “sitting at the feet of others,” serving those “who are hungry, neglected, imprisoned, sick, suffering, addicted to drugs, cast aside… real people, each with his or her own life story and experiences, hopes and disappointments, hurts and wounds.”

He urged the cardinals to strive to always be ready to accompany and embrace their distressed brothers and sisters, and to avoid “useless wrangling about who is most important.”  Following his homily, Pope Francis gave the proclamation creating the new cardinals. Afterward, each received their red biretta and cardinal’s ring. They were then assigned a titular church, which ties them to Rome.

The new cardinals will also concelebrate Mass with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square June 29, the feast of Saints Peter and Paul, the patrons of Rome. At the Mass the Pope will also bestow the pallia on the new metropolitan archbishops appointed during the last year.

With the consistory, Pope Francis’ fifth, the College of Cardinals consists of 226 members, 125 of whom are below the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in a future papal conclave. Pope Francis has created 59 cardinals.

COLOGNE, GERMANY

AFTER CDF LETTER, GERMAN BISHOPS’ NEXT ASSEMBLY TO EXPLORE INTERCOMMUNION

(CNA/EWTN News) Following months of controversy, the German bishops’ conference have said they will further explore, in accordance with a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the topic of whether to allow Protestant spouses of Catholics to receive Communion.

“We would like to offer the Holy Father and the Roman Curia our assistance in this matter,” the permanent council of the German bishops’ conference said June 27. The council added that the topic of intercommunion will be taken up again at the September 2018 autumn plenary assembly of the German bishops’ conference.

The CDF letter provides “indications and a framework for interpretation,” the permanent council said, characterizing the letter as “an aid to orientation” for individual bishops.  The council stressed the importance of being on “an ecumenical quest to achieve a more profound understanding and even greater unity among Christians,” adding, “we consider ourselves to be obliged to stride forward in this matter courageously.”

In February Cardinal Marx of Munich and Freising, president of the German bishops’ conference, had said the German bishops’ conference would publish a pastoral handout that allows Protestant spouses of Catholics “in individual cases” and “under certain conditions” to receive Holy Communion, provided they “affirm the Catholic faith in the Eucharist.”

Seven German bishops questioned the proposal and asked the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith whether a bishops’ conference may decide the question or whether the matter requires “a decision of the Universal Church.”

When several bishops from Germany visited Rome May 3, an inconclusive meeting ended with the Vatican sending the German bishops back, saying Pope Francis wanted the bishops to come to an agreement among themselves. The pope later approved a May 25 letter from Archbishop Luis Ladaria S.J., prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to Cardinal Marx.

OTTAWA, CANADA

CHRISTIAN LAW SCHOOL LOSES RELIGIOUS FREEDOM CLAIM AT CANADIAN SUPREME COURT

(EWTN News/CNA) The Supreme Court of Canada ruled on Friday that law societies in the country could deny licensing to a proposed Christian law school because the school adheres to Biblical teaching on sexuality. ADF International, which represented multiple groups in the case, emphasized that religious schools should be granted freedom to operate according to the faith to which they adhere.

The case, which spread across various provinces and has been years in the making, involved Trinity Western University – an evangelical school in Langley which encourages its students to uphold biblical moral teachings on sexuality, reserving sexual relations for marriage between one man and one woman.

Trinity Western had proposed opening a law school in 2012 and was seeking to ensure accreditation, ultimately receiving approval from the Federation of Law Societies of Canada and the province’s Ministry of Advanced Education. However, law societies challenged the merits of the Christian university’s proposed law school and its accreditation, saying its position on sexual morality was discriminatory against the LGBT community.

The Supreme Court heard two appeals from Ontario and British Columbia, after a high court in British Columbia originally said Christian schools could not be denied accreditation merely based on its beliefs about sexual morality.

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled 7-2 that law societies could refuse to license graduates from Trinity Western University on the grounds that their views on sexuality are discriminatory to the LGBT community.