Cardinal Pietro Parolin Archives

Priest says Egypt’s Christians feel they could be martyrs at any time
- Catholic News Service, Global Church
- May 28, 2017
After several deadly terrorist attacks on Coptic Christians and others in Egypt, the people there are feeling like any one of them could become a martyr at any time. ISIS has promised to step up its targeting of Christians in the country.
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Pope Francis calls Egypt attack on Christians, killing 28, “barbaric”
- Associated Press, Global Church
- May 26, 2017
A bus packed with Coptic Christians in Egypt, including many children, was traveling on a side road in the desert to the remote monastery of Saint Samuel the Confessor in Maghagha when it was attacked, presumably by Islamic terrorists. At least 26 people were killed, and 25 more were wounded.
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Church leaders urge calm in Venezuela, Brazil
- Global Church
- May 26, 2017
Two pacesetter Catholic nations in Latin America, Brazil and Venezuela, are both currently gripped by dramatic cycles of civil unrest, and in both cases the Catholic bishops are emerging as primary forces in favor of democracy, accountability, and an end to the bloodshed — and also in both cases, what the bishops have to say isn’t always pleasing to the government.
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Venezuelan president accuses bishops of ignoring Pope Francis

Nicolas Maduro, the successor to Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, has accused his country’s bishops of ignoring Pope Francis’s call for dialogue by refusing to take part in an effort to rewrite the national constitution. Maduro himself, however, appears to be ignoring a call from the pope’s top aide to permit new elections.

Vatican launches Belgium euthanasia investigation

The Vatican is formally investigating a group of psychiatric care centers in Belgium run by a Catholic religious order which has enforced that doctors in the facilities perform euthanasia. Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, will be overseeing the situation himself.