Angelus News | July 2, 2021 | Vol. 6 No. 13

WORLD
Father Juan Antonio Orozco. | CNS/FACEBOOK
■ Mexican priest caught
in cartel crossfire
A young Mexican priest was gunned
down on his way back from ministering
in a rural Mexican village known for
drug cartel conflicts.
Father Juan Antonio Orozco, 33,
“entered the crossfire of two groups
fighting” along a highway in western
Durango, his bishop said. The Franciscan
priest known as “Padre Juanito”
had traveled to celebrate Mass in a
rural village.
At least 29 priests have been killed in
Mexico since 2012, according to the
Catholic Multimedia Center.
“We call on the civil authorities to
finally put a limit to the violence and
harassment of our communities,” read
a Facebook post shared by the village’s
parish. “There are now many victims
among our people and now our priest.
Who’s next?”
■ Pope tells German
cardinal to carry on after
resignation offer
German Cardinal Reinhard Marx
has stated he would “not simply
return to business as usual” following
Pope Francis’ refusal to accept his
resignation.
“The answer of the Holy Father
surprised me,” Cardinal Marx said
June 11. “I had not counted on him
responding so quickly, and I also had
not expected his decision that I should
continue on as archbishop of Munich
and Freising.”
Cardinal Marx announced his offer
of resignation June 4, stating that
bishops must accept responsibility for
institutional failures in handling the
clerical sexual abuse crisis. Pope Francis
responded June 10, confirming the
Church’s need to better respond to
the abuse crisis but asking Cardinal
Marx to continue as archbishop.
Following the pope’s response,
Cardinal Marx reiterated his belief
that bishops must bear both personal
and institutional responsibility for the
sexual abuse crisis, “particularly in
view of the victims, whose perspectives
must more strongly be taken into
account.”
■ Vatican mandates term
limits for leaders of lay
movements
The Vatican announced mandatory
term limits for lay leaders of ecclesial
movements and associations.
Under the new set of rules from the
Dicastery for Laity, the Family and
Life announced June 11, leaders
elected to a central governing body of
a lay movement will have a five-year
term, which can be renewed once
for a total of 10 years. After 10 years,
the leader must step down for at least
one full term before being eligible for
leadership again.
Founding leaders are exempt from
the term limits. Full members of
movements are to “have active voice,
direct or indirect,” in elections, the
Vatican decreed.
The decree, which goes into effect
in September, is widely seen as a
response to revelations of abuse by
charismatic lay leaders in recent years.
The law is meant to target “negative
experiences that have occurred in
the case of associations which have
retained the same people in government
positions for a long time,” wrote
canonist Father Ulrich Rhode, SJ, in
“L’Osservatore Romano.”
A river tradition — Egyptian Christians swim in the Nile River during a mirroring of the Holy Family’s “Flight
into Egypt” in Minya Governorate June 9. | CNS/HANAA HABIB, REUTERS
4 • ANGELUS • July 2, 2021