‘God’s architect’ Antoni Gaudí declared venerable
BEFORE his death, the late Pope recognised a miracle attributed to a religious Sister from India, Eliswa of the Blessed Virgin; the martyrdom of an Italian missionary, Fr Nazareno Lanciotti; and the heroic virtues of Antoni Gaudí — known as “God’s architect” — and three priests: Peter Joseph Triest, Angelo Bughetti, and Agostino Cozzolino. Born in 1852, Antoni Gaudí i Cornet accepted the task of directing the project of the Basilica of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona in 1883. In an audience with the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, this month, the Pope authorised the promulgation of the decrees concerning these six people — moving them each one step on the path to canonisation, Vatican News reports.
Summit responds to reduced HIV resources
PEOPLE of faith should continue to support the eradication of HIV even as resources dry up, the World Council of Churches (WCC) has warned. The WCC was represented at a summit in Nairobi this month, at which leaders from 18 countries and more than 40 networks of people living with HIV worked on new strategies in response to the US funding freeze on foreign-aid projects. The meeting was urgently convened by the Global Network of People Living with HIV in partnership with the National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, to rally global HIV voices and protect progress. Some of the steps under consideration include mobilising domestic resources, integrating HIV services into primary health care, and safeguarding prevention and community-health systems programmes from neglect or political shifts.
Compass Rose Society expands membership
THE Anglican Communion Compass Rose Society (CRS), an evangelistic fund-raising organisation that provides financial support for the ministries of the Anglican Consultative Council (ACC), is expanding the scope of its membership so that seminarians, students, and dioceses across the Communion can join. Historically, its membership has been in the United States, Canada, and Hong Kong. CRS has groups, known as chapters, in different contexts. “In a historic milestone, we . . . celebrate the formation of our first Indigenous chapter in Aotearoa Tikanga of the Anglican Church of Aotearoa, New Zealand, and Polynesia,” a statement said. There are also now chapters in Central and South America, and southern India.
Charity concerned by violence in CAR
THE reported targeting of government officials and the UN Peacekeeping Mission in the Central African Republic (CAR) is deeply troubling, Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) has said. The charity reported growing violence and insecurity in Zemio Town in the Haut-Mbomou Prefecture of CAR, including a sharp increase in hate speech against Muslims and Fulani or Peul ethnic groups. Tensions reportedly arose in the area on 15 March, when two young men from the Fulani community travelled to Zemio to register to vote. After they left, they did not reach their homes and were later found dead, CSW said. On 28 March, UN peacekeepers were attacked outside Zemio, and a Kenyan peacekeeper died.
