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Last Updated: 20 July 2015

CWN - The Melkite Greek Catholic archbishop of Bosra and Hauran, Syria, has confirmed that Father Antoine Boutros, pastor of a parish in Shahba, has been kidnapped along with his driver.

"I can confirm that Father Antoine Boutros and his collaborator Said Al-Abdun, who have been missing since last Sunday [July 12], were actually stopped and seized by one of the several armed rebel groups that are in the area," Archbishop Nicolas Antiba told the Fides news agency. "Since their disappearance we have not received any news or demands from the kidnappers."

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Last Updated: 20 July 2015

CWN - A bishop who ministers near Ukraine's border with Russia said in a recent lecture that "it will be a miracle if Russia doesn't decide on a total invasion."

"If it happens, and Russia attacks Ukraine, this will be a Europe-wide, if not worldwide, problem," said Bishop Jan Sobilo, the Latin-rite auxiliary bishop of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia.

"Millions of desperate refugees will have no prospect other than escape to the West," he added, according to theThe Tablet.

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Last Updated: 18 July 2015

Ottawa - The professors and staff of the Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky Institute of Eastern Christian Studies at Saint Paul University in Ottawa welcome with joy the Holy See’s announcement that Pope Francis yesterday recognized the heroic virtues of its patron, Andrey Sheptytsky. During this time of foreign aggression against Ukraine – as well as turmoil in so many other historically Eastern Christian lands – this recognition brings particular consolation. Archbishop Sheptytsky demonstrated saintly courage when he sheltered more than 160 Jews during the Nazi Holocaust. The Holy See’s recognition comes in the wake of similar initiatives by other authorities. On April 24, 2012, the Canadian House of Commons unanimously passed a resolution that concludes: “This House unite[s] in expressing Canada’s recognition of Andrey Sheptytsky’s courageous activities, compassion for his oppressed Jewish Ukrainian countrymen, and enduring example of commitment to fundamental human rights as humankind’s greatest obligation.”

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Last Updated: 18 July 2015

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday received in private audience His Eminence Cardinal Angelo Amato, S.D.B., the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. In the course of the audience, the Holy Father authorized the Congregation to promulgate the decrees regarding the heroic virtues:

 - of the Servant of God Andrey Sheptytsky (given name: Roman Alexander Maria), of the Order of Saint Basil the Great, Archbishop of Lviv of the Ukrainians and Metropolitan of Halych; born 29 July 1865 in Prylbychi (Ukraine), died in Lviv (Ukraine) 1 November 1944;

 - of the Servant of God Giuseepe Carraro, Bishop of Verona; born in Mira, Italy, on 26 June 1899 and died in Verona, Italy 30 December 1980;

 - of the Servant of God Agostino Ramírez Barba, Diocesan Priest, Founder of the Congregation of Sister Servants of the Lord of Mercy; born 27 August 1881 in San Miguel in Alto (Mexico) and died in Tepatitlán (Mexico) 4 July 1967;

 - of the Servant of God Simpliciano della Natività (given name: Aniello Francesco Saverio Maresco), Professed Priest of the Order of Friars Minor, Founder of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Heart; born in Meta di Sorrento (Italy) 11 May 1827 and died in Rome (Italy) 25 May 1898;

 - of the Servant of God Maria del Rifugio Aguilar y Torres, the widow of Cancino, Foundress of the Congregation of Mercedarian Sisters of the Most Holy Sacrament; born in San Miguel de Allende (Mexico) 21 September 1866 and died in Mexico City (Mexico) 24 April 1937;

 - of the Servant of God Maria Teresa Dupouy Bordes, Professed Relgious of the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Foundress of the Congregation of the Missionaries of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary; born in Saint Pierre d’Irube (France) 6 May 1873 and died in San Sebastán (Spain) 26 May 1953;

 - of the Servant of God Elisa Miceli, Foundress of the Institute of the Rural Catechist Sisters of the Sacred heart; born in Longobardi (Italy) 12 April 1904 and died in Frascati (Italy) 19 April 1976;

 - of the Servant of God Isabella Méndez Herrero (in religion: Isabella di Maria Immacolata), Professed Sister of the Congregation of the Servants of Saint Joseph; born in Castellanos de Moriscos (Spain) 30 August 1924 and died in Salamanca (Spain) 28 December 1953
(from Vatican Radio)

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Last Updated: 08 July 2015

CWN - Metropolitan Hilarion, the chairman of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, offered strong criticism of the US Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage.

“The people who are into ‘democracy the American way’ and trying to reconcile it with traditional values need to think hard after this decision,” he told the Interfax news agency.

“You might not be told that they want to force you to adopt such a godless and sinful thing as same-sex marriages,” he added. “Remember: in reality they want to take your right to live according to the faith, take your soul, take your opportunity to build the life of your society and your state according to the eternal and invariable God-given moral laws.”

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Last Updated: 08 July 2015

CWN - L’Osservatore Romano has published an Eastern Orthodox theologian’s reflection on Pope Francis’s second encyclical, Laudato Si’.

Father John Chryssavgis, who advises Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew on environmental issues, said that “if commitment to communion is what attracts Francis and Bartholomew to a joint witness in a world otherwise divided by political and economic tensions, as well as by religious and racial conflicts, responsibility for compassion is undoubtedly what impels them to a shared concern for the exploitation of people and of the planet as the body of Christ.”

In his reflection, which original appeared in First Things, Father Chryssavgis added:

I believe that it is indeed providential that these two bishops are leading their respective churches at this critical moment in time. And it is also a unique blessing that they relate so comfortably and confidently with each other. There is no doubt in my mind that the favorable reception—but at the same time I would also venture to add: the adverse reaction to and harsh criticism—of their advancing and advocating for the care of God’s creation is arguably the greatest testimony and evidence that they are most definitely on the right track. For this reason alone, they deserve our prayer and praise, while their enlightened example and instruction deserve our attention and promulgation.