Here is a roundup of Catholic world news you might have missed this week:
Sri Lanka police arrest former top intelligence official over 2019 Easter suicide bombing
Sri Lanka’s Criminal Investigation Department has arrested Major General Suresh Sallay, the former director of military intelligence at the time of the 2019 Easter suicide bombings that targeted several churches.
Authorities said they detained Sallay for 72 hours for questioning under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, according to a Feb. 26 UCA News report, which said investigators are looking into whether Sallay was involved in “a broader conspiracy” or if he simply “failed to act on credible intelligence warnings that might have prevented the bombings.”
Sallay’s arrest follows years of setbacks in the investigation into the April 21, 2019, suicide bombings that targeted two Catholic churches, a Protestant church, four hotels, and a housing complex almost simultaneously during the middle of Easter Sunday services. The bombings killed more than 260 people and injured more than 500.
Irish journalist decries backlash over his Ash Wednesday ashes during TV appearance
Fionnán Sheahan of the Irish Independent called out critics of his Ash Wednesday ashes, which he bore during a TV appearance on Virgin Media’s “The Tonight Show” last week.
“My issue isn’t so much with the reaction, because that’s just the moron hurlers on the ditch on social media,” he said during a later appearance on “Newstalk Breakfast,” according to a Feb. 23 Newstalk report. “What I was surprised by was the sane and sensible people saying, ‘Oh, but you should expect to be slagged off in a situation like that.’”
Sheehan, who said during the media appearance that while he does not identify as a practicing Catholic, receiving ashes on Ash Wednesday is a tradition he likes to maintain from his late father. “In days gone by, the fellow reading the news used to have the ashes,” he said.
Indonesian Catholic leaders hold conference on formation in historic Sumatra region
Five bishops and 95 priests have been gathered in Padang for the past week for a conference on priestly formation with a focus on “renewal, unity, and mission.”
The Feb. 23–27 meeting opened with Mass at St. Theresia Cathedral, presided over by Bishop Vitus Rubianto Solichin, SX, of Padang, according to a Licas News report. The bishop encouraged priests in his homily to remember that “What we do for the least of our brothers and sisters, we truly do for the Lord himself.”
Solichin later presented the first session of the conference, titled “The Joy of the Priest Is Sustained by the People of God.” The bishop emphasized the joy of the priesthood, which he said flows from when priests remain in the presence of their people.
Myanmar opens new church as Catholics rebuild amid ongoing conflict
A new Catholic church dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus opened in the Archdiocese of Yangon in Myanmar.
Sacred Heart Parish in Sauk Wain Gyi Village was opened on Feb. 14 with a Mass attended by more than 800 people following a decree issued by Cardinal Charles Maung Bo on Jan. 1, a report from Licas News said.
The opening of the newest church comes as Catholics have sought to rebuild places of worship destroyed during violent attacks in recent years amid clashes between the reigning military junta and armed resistance groups.
Nigeria’s Catholic Bishops’ Conference elects new president
Archbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso of the Archdiocese of Kaduna in Nigeria has been elected president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), reported ACI Africa, the sister service of EWTN News in Africa.
In a Feb. 24 statement, officials of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria said Ndagoso was elected at this year’s first CBCN plenary assembly.
Born in Lot, Nigeria, in January 1960, Ndagoso was ordained a priest in 1986. Pope John Paul II appointed him bishop of the Diocese of Maiduguri in 2003. He was appointed archbishop of Kaduna in November 2007 by Pope Benedict XVI.
African bishops push action on water sustainability at Ethiopia summit
Members of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM) have called for faith-based engagement in advancing sustainable water availability and safe sanitation across the continent, ACI Africa reported.
During a keynote address at the event, hosted by SECAM in conjunction with the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Union (AU) Assembly, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development Cardinal Michael Czerny lamented that many poor people in Africa must go long distances to get water or pay high costs.
“Water and sanitation are intrinsically linked and are fundamental to full-fledged, integral human development. Reliable access to water and sanitation is a prerequisite for cooking, schooling, a healthy and productive life, hygiene, health care, and agriculture,” he said. Czerny further emphasized the Church’s important role in addressing the challenge.
