Tom Heneghan

Paris

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Hamming it up at the Cathedral

Nov 11, 2024 | thetablet.co.uk | Tom Heneghan

A French cathedral that cures a gourmet local ham in a bell tower to finance the overhaul of its organ has won a first fight against heritage officials worried about pork fat dripping onto its medieval stones. St Peter’s in the central French town of Saint Flour began drying 30 Auvergne hams two years ago when the town, which owns the contents of the building, could not fund the organ’s upkeep.
Church in the World briefings

Nov 5, 2024 | thetablet.co.uk | Ellen Teague |Tom Heneghan

The charity Barnabas Aid reported that 95 Christians were arrested in River Nile State, Sudan by the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) in October. Jeremy Frith of Barnabas Aid alleged jihadists were targeting Christians with the connivance of the government. “While it may be argued that the constitution does not explicitly include Sharia as part of the legal constitution of the country, the criminal codes are based on sharia,” he told The Tablet.
Archdiocese refuses to charge admission for reopened Notre Dame

Oct 30, 2024 | thetablet.co.uk | Tom Heneghan

The Archdiocese of Paris rejected proposals by France’s Culture Minister Rachida Dati to charge tourists visiting the restored Notre-Dame du Paris to fund protection of religious heritage. Dati suggested France should copy other countries and charge admission to the cathedral, due to reopen on 8 December for the first time since a fire in 2019. With a €5 fee, Notre-Dame could raise €75 million annually that “would save all the churches of Paris and France.
German reformers see positive signs in Synod conclusion

Oct 29, 2024 | thetablet.co.uk | Tom Heneghan

German bishops and lay leaders said the conclusion of the Synod on Synodality left the door open for their once-controversial reform ideas, despite disappointment at its failure to approve women deacons. They were cautiously positive about the Synod’s final document. “Synodality for all levels of the Church is set and cannot be reversed,” said Bishop Felix Genn Münster. Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg, the president of the German bishops’ conference, said the text was “timid but irreversible”.
Vatican rebukes Swiss bishops for abuse case failures

Oct 24, 2024 | thetablet.co.uk | Tom Heneghan

The Dicastery for Bishops reprimanded several Swiss bishops for “not correctly” addressing accusations of clerical sexual abuse, but it did not find any evidence that would require a canonical trial. A statement by the Swiss bishops’ conference did not specify how many or which bishops received individual rebukes from the dicastery but said “three more letters will follow”. The Swiss Catholic news portal kath.ch named six.
Belgians demand ‘debaptism’ after Pope’s abortion remarks

Oct 21, 2024 | thetablet.co.uk | Tom Heneghan

More than 500 Belgian Catholics asked for “debaptism” from the Church in protest at Pope Francis’s description of doctors who perform abortions as “hitmen” and Belgium’s legalisation of the procedure a "murderous law.”“I am writing to inform you of my decision to no longer be bound in any way to the Catholic Church,” said a the letter addressed to the apostolic nuncio in Brussels and the seven dioceses in Belgium.
Holy Land Christians defy ‘hatred’ as violence deepens

Oct 18, 2024 | thetablet.co.uk | Tom Heneghan |Ellen Teague

The abbot of the Benedictine Abbey of the Dormition in Jerusalem said Christians faced more threat from hatred within the city than from rockets fired by Israel’s Islamist enemies. Fr Nikodemus Schnabel OSB reported that the abbey, just outside the Zion Gate into the walled old city, had to cancel its study year for foreign students, while the number of pilgrims visiting both in Jerusalem and at its monastery on the Sea of Galilee had fallen from thousands a day to a trickle.
Bishop’s death raises prospect of renewed SSPX schism

Oct 17, 2024 | thetablet.co.uk | Tom Heneghan

Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais, one of four leaders of the schismatic Society of St Pius X (SSPX) ordained bishops in 1988, died aged 79. The French-born Tissier de Mallerais “fell asleep in the Lord on 8 October 2024” at the group’s main seminary in Écône in southwestern Switzerland, the SSPX announced.
Belgians object to Pope’s conduct during visit

Oct 9, 2024 | thetablet.co.uk | Tom Heneghan

Belgium’s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo called the Pope Francis’ comments on abortion during his visit on 26-29 September “unacceptable”. The Pope’s conduct even led three Belgian bishops to question his approach to their country. During his flight from Brussels back to Rome, Pope Francis repeated his description of abortion doctors as “hitmen”.
Bätzing advocates patience at synod despite disappointments

Oct 9, 2024 | thetablet.co.uk | Tom Heneghan |Patrick Hudson

Bishop Georg Bätzing of Limburg said the Synod on Synodality should lead to reforms that can be anchored in Church law. “May God grant that this synod, with its tentative steps towards change, will in the long term contribute to appreciating diversity in the Church and promoting unity,” he said in a homily on 6 October.