Archbishop calls for prayers for Myanmar
Archbishop Marco Tin Win of Mandalay has urged Catholics in Myanmar to hold special prayers for the nation facing “the crisis of Covid-19, hunger, civil wars and torture.”
Ucanews.com reported the prelate has designated every Saturday evening for one hour of eucharistic adoration and the first Sunday of every month for Mass with the intention of peace.
Archbishop Tin Win is the only Catholic leader to openly lend moral support to pro-democracy protesters; he stood with them on a street in Mandalay after the February 2021 coup.
The archbishop has called on Catholics to not lose hope and to have a deep faith in God amid the fear, anxiety and hopelessness gripping their nation, ucanews.com reported.
Pope’s music library contains nearly 2,000 CDs
Pope Francis’ music library contains nearly 2,000 CDs and 19 vinyl records, according to the Vatican cardinal who is curating the collection.
While it is mostly made up of classical music, it also includes: an old album of Édith Piaf’s greatest hits; Argentine tango tunes, especially by Astor Piazzolla; and a 25-disc collection of Elvis Presley’s Gospel songs, said Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, president of the Pontifical Council for Culture.
In an interview with the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, Cardinal Ravasi said he was not at all surprised when he saw images of Pope Francis walking out of a Rome music store with an album tucked under his arm.
“In fact, I can’t wait to find out what it is. I hope he sends it to me soon,” the cardinal said.
Austria’s Catholic Church reports decline in membership
The Catholic Church in Austria reported a decline in membership and a rise in income.
New statistics published January 12 showed that the number of Catholics in Austria fell in 2021 by around 1.6%, from 4.91 million in 2020 to 4.83 million on December 31, 2021.
The Central European country, located to the south of Germany, has an overall population of almost 9 million.
A total of 72,055 people formally left the Church in Austria in 2021, compared to 58,727 in 2020 and 67,794 in 2019.
CNA Deutsch reported that the Church also released financial figures for the year 2020.
They showed that Austrian dioceses received €484 million from the obligatory Church Contribution in 2020, compared to €481 million in 2019.
Registered Catholics in Austria pay around 1.1% of their taxable income to their local diocese, amounting to 75% of the Church’s annual revenue
Vatican sends condolences for death of European Parliament president
Pope Francis has sent condolences for the death of European Parliament President David Sassoli, who died last week at the age of 65.
Mr Sassoli, a former Italian television journalist who became a member of the European Parliament in 2009, died in a hospital in Aviano, Italy on the morning of January 11, according to his spokesman, Roberto Cuillo.
He had been hospitalised in Italy since December 26 due to “a disfunction of the immune system,” Mr Cuillo wrote.
A Vatican message addressed to Mr Sassoli’s wife, Alessandra Vittorini, expressed the Pope’s spiritual closeness to the family, mentioning the parliamentarian’s two children, Livia and Giulio, by name.