Vatican City (CNS) — In addition to its annual report on church workers murdered during the year, the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples highlighted the sacrifice of pastoral workers who died of Ebola contracted while caring for others and reminded Catholics that the fates of five kidnapped priests remain unknown. Fides, the congregation’s news agency, reported Dec. 30 that 26 pastoral workers were killed in 2014, most during robbery attempts: 17 priests, one religious brother, six religious women, a seminarian and a layman. Even if most of the murders were committed during robberies, Fides said many of them were carried out with such “brutality and ferociousness” that they are signs of intolerance and “moral degradation” as well as “economic and cultural poverty.” But the agency also drew special attention to the four members Hospitallers of St. John of God, the religious sister and 13 lay workers who died at Catholic hospitals in Liberia and Sierra Leone after contracting Ebola. The 18 “gave their lives for others like Christ,” said Father Jesus Etayo, prior general of the order. For years, the Fides’ list focused only on priests and religious killed in the church’s mission territo-ries, but it now focuses on “all pastoral workers who died violently.” The agency said it does not refer to them as “martyrs,” which is a formal recognition by the church that the person was killed in hatred for the faith, but as “witnesses” to Christ.
Papal preacher takes to social media during Lent The cardinal accustomed to preaching to popes and officials of the Roman Curia is now taking his Gospel message directly to the faithful through social media.
Rule of law protects democracy, pope says in message If upholding a nation’s laws is dependent on the politics of those in power or on their opinion about who is and is not deserving of protection, then democracy and justice are threatened, Pope Francis said.
As CNS Washington closes, we reflect on more than 100 years of service Catholic News Service turned 100 years old in 2020. Unfortunately, our birthdate coincided with the start of a worldwide pandemic, and many of our celebration plans were canceled. A highlight, however, was Pope Francis meeting with the CNS Rome staff in February 2021 to mark the anniversary.