Angelus News | June 30, 2023 | Vol. 8 No 13

WORLD
■ Jesuits dismiss disgraced artist
The Society of Jesus formally expelled Father Marko Rupnik,
a famous artist accused of sexual and spiritual abuse of
women.
Rupnik, whose mosaics decorate important churches and
chapels around the world, had been ordered to restricted
ministry after media reports made the public aware of the
allegations against him and that he had been briefly excommunicated
by the Vatican for hearing the confession of
a sexual partner. As part of his restrictions, he was not to celebrate
Mass in public, participate in any public artistic work,
or leave central Italy.
The Slovenian priest reportedly broke these restrictions
multiple times, including a March 5 public Mass at a basilica
in Rome and a June visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina to work
on art projects.
“Faced with Marko Rupnik’s repeated refusal to obey this
mandate, we were unfortunately left with only one solution:
dismissal from the Society of Jesus,” read a June 15 statement
from the Jesuits.
Everyone’s favorite patient — Pope Francis smiles and waves to people as he
leaves Rome’s Gemelli Hospital early June 16, nine days after undergoing abdominal
surgery. “I’m still alive,” he answered, smiling when asked by well-wisher
journalists about his health. | CNS/VATICAN MEDIA
Some 2,000 people attended the June 11 Consecration Mass. | AL SUNU
DIRGANTORIO/KEVIN MEYDIO, WALTER ARYA
■ Indonesia: A church
26 years in the making
The Pinang subdistrict of Indonesia’s Banten province
finally has a Catholic church after more than a quarter
century of opposition.
St. Bernadette’s Church started in 1992 with a weekly Mass
celebrated at a Catholic school in the neighboring Ciledug
subdistrict. Attempts to get a permit to build a local church
were continuously blocked by radical Muslim opponents.
In 2013, the parish obtained a site to build its church, but
a massive protest led to the site being padlocked and the
building permit temporarily suspended. Construction on the
church was completed in February, with Cardinal Ignatius
Suharyp, Archbishop of Jakarta, consecrating it June 11.
“This long history of struggle reflects our endurance,” the
cardinal said at the Consecration Mass.
■ Can AI preach a sermon?
Four digital avatars led more than 300 people in an experimental
Lutheran service June 9 that was created almost
exclusively by ChatGPT, a language processing tool driven
by artificial intelligence (AI).
The service was connected to a biennial convention
of Protestants for prayer and discussion of global issues,
including the rise of artificial intelligence tools.
“I had actually imagined it to be worse,” Marc Jansen, a
Lutheran pastor from Troisdorf, told the Associated Press
(AP). “But I was positively surprised how well it worked.
Also the language of the AI worked well, even though it
was still a bit bumpy at times.”
“There was no heart and no soul,” said Heiderose
Schmidt, an IT worker also interviewed by AP. “The avatars
showed no emotions at all. … But maybe it is different
for the younger generation who grew up with all of this.”
6 • ANGELUS • June 30, 2023