Angelus News | January 26, 2024 | Vol. 9 No. 2

WORLD
■ Lebanon: Bishops warn of larger war ‘time bomb’
As Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza continues, Lebanon’s Maronite Catholic
bishops are sounding the alarm about the risk of a larger war in the region.
National and international authorities must “take serious steps and adopt the
necessary diplomatic and political measures to free Lebanon from this burden that
weighs on its demography, its economy, and its balance,” wrote the bishops in a
nine-point statement Jan. 3.
The bishops focused primarily on conflicts along the Israel-Lebanese border, exacerbated
by Israel’s ongoing war with Hamas, citing casualties and injuries in the
region. They called on Israel to announce “a final ceasefire,” and for negotiations
for a two-state solution in its ongoing war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The bishops also warned about a yet-unfelt threat from Syrian refugees in the
country.
“The searches carried out by the military and security forces have shown that the
displaced people are in possession of ammunition and sophisticated weapons,”
the statement said. “This is a time bomb that poses a real threat to the Lebanese
people.”
A nation’s hunger — People displaced by fighting between the Syrian Democratic Forces and Islamic State
militants are pictured in a file photo carrying boxes of food aid given by the United Nations World Food Program
at a refugee camp in Ain Issa. The U.N. said it would end its main food assistance program in January across
war-torn Syria, where more than 12 million people lack regular access to sufficient food. | OSV NEWS/ERIK DE
CASTRO, REUTERS
■ African bishops say no
to new blessing rules, with
Rome’s thumbs up
The bishops of Africa announced they
would not permit blessings for homosexual
couples within the continent, in
response to the Dec. 18 Vatican declaration
allowing priests to bless couples
in irregular marriages.
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of the
Democratic Republic of Congo, president
of the Symposium of Episcopal
Conferences of Africa and Madagascar,
issued a Jan. 11 letter which described
itself as a synthesis of all the African
bishops’ opinions.
He said that, while the bishops “have
strongly reaffirmed their communion
with Pope Francis,” they believe
enabling the blessings proposed by
the Vatican “cannot be carried out in
Africa without exposing themselves to
scandals.”
“The African Bishops’ Conferences
emphasize that people with homosexual
tendencies must be treated with
respect and dignity, while reminding
them that unions of persons of the
same-sex are contrary to the will of
God and therefore cannot receive the
blessing of the Church,” the letter read.
Ambongo told Catholic News Agency
that the letter “received the agreement”
of Pope Francis and Cardinal Victor
Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery
for the Doctrine of the Faith.
■ Knights to help renovate
Rome’s most famous canopy
After almost 400 years, the famous 100-foot-tall canopy
standing over the main altar of St. Peter’s will be getting
some much-needed repairs.
Known as a baldachin, Baroque master Gian Lorenzo
Bernini’s 17th-century masterpiece will be covered in scaffolding
for an estimated 10 months.
The project is estimated to cost 700,000 euros ($766,000)
and will be entirely funded by the Knights of Columbus,
which has funded 17 other Vatican restoration projects.
“We’re in union with the Holy See, with the successor of
St. Peter, and so these kinds of projects are very much in
keeping with who we are and our mission,” Patrick Kelly,
supreme knight, told Catholic News Service.
Bernini’s baldacchino in St. Peter’s Basilica. | CNS/LOLO GOMEZ
4 • ANGELUS • January 26, 2024