Bishop urges Nigerian government to unban Twitter
Bishop Lucius Ugorji of Umuahia has joined other Nigerians asking the federal government to unban Twitter.
In a homily June 13 at Mater Dei Cathedral in Umuahia, Bishop Ugorji said the nation’s economy would suffer a further slide as a result of the ban.
He also said the country gets socioeconomic benefits from the social media platform.
Bishop Ugorji said each day Twitter or Facebook is banned in the country, Nigerians are likely to lose over $2.4 million.
“The ban breached the constitution and deprives the people their fundamental rights to freely communicate and obtain information from across the globe,” he said.
Bolivian bishops detail role in 2019 elections
Bolivia’s Catholic bishops have released a comprehensive document detailing their role in ending public unrest after a disputed election in late 2019.
The document’s release comes amid accusations from the country’s then-ruling party that the Church was somehow complicit in its ousting and the installation of an interim government.
The 25-page document detailed the bishops’ actions in pacifying post-election protests that descended into violence. It also reiterated the bishops’ role as mediators – working alongside foreign diplomats and politicians – who did not make decisions on political matters.
“At no time did this group have a decision-making role,” read the document released June 15.
Polish priest guillotined by Nazis to be beatified
A Polish Catholic priest guillotined by the Nazis will be beatified in November.
Fr Jan Macha will be declared blessed at a Mass on November 20 in the Cathedral of Christ the King, Katowice, southern Poland.
The Mass will be celebrated by Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Causes of Saints.
Fr Macha, known as Hanik, was ordained a priest months before Nazi Germans invaded Poland in 1939. He was a member of an underground group codenamed “Konwalia” (Lily of the Valley).
He was executed by guillotine at a prison in Katowice at 12:15am on December 3, 1942.
Kenya: Police arrest fugitive charged with murdering priest
Police in Kenya arrested a suspect accused of brutally murdering a Catholic priest in 2019.
According to a June 15 report by Fides, the news agency of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples, police arrested Michael Muthini Mutunga, who was in hiding for more than a year after being released on bail.
He is accused of murdering Fr Michael Maingi Kyengo, 43. Fr Kyengo’s body was discovered after investigators found the then-25-year-old Mutunga with the priest’s cell phone, car and credit card; he then led investigators to the shallow grave where Fr Kyengo was buried.
Myanmar military arrest Catholic priest amid crackdown
A Burmese Catholic priest was arrested this week after the military raided his residence in the western part of the country.
Fr Michael Aung Ling and a student boarder were arrested in the small town of Kanpetlet, Chin State, June 16 on accusations of providing food to a civil resistance group, the Chinland Defense Force (CDF).
According to Vatican News, Fr Ling was questioned and made to sign a document promising not to support opposition forces, before he was released around 11 hours later.
The CDF is one of the resistance forces which has opposed the military coup in Burma.