Vatican bans tattoos for cathedral staff
According to Reuters, the Vatican has banned visible tattoos and body piercings for St. Peter’s Basilica staff to maintain “decency.” The new rules, announced over the weekend, apply to 170 lay staff at the Fabbrica di San Pietro. Communications director Father Enzo Fortunato told Reuters on Monday that the new rules formalize standards that “were previously enforced in different ways.” They also state that staff must “have exemplary religious and moral behavior, including in their private and family life, in accordance with the teachings of the Church.” “Tattoos should not be feared, but they should not be exaggerated. Rather, they should be a topic of conversation and an opportunity to discuss what they mean,” Pope Francis said in a pre-synodal meeting in 2018.
Sculpture of the Virgin Mary giving birth beheaded
A statue of the Virgin Mary giving birth to Jesus has been decapitated in an act of vandalism at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Linz, Austria, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Linz said. The criticised statue was part of an art installation on the themes of women’s roles, family imagery and gender equality. The incident, which happened on Monday, was reported to police. The diocese’s vicar for education, arts and culture, the Rev. Johann Hintermeyer, said: “We were aware of the controversial nature of the installation. We are sorry if it has offended people’s religious feelings, but we strongly condemn this violent act of vandalism, this refusal to dialogue and this attack on artistic freedom.”
Widow of Christian murdered in Pakistan dies
Allah Rakhi Bibi, the 72-year-old widow of Pakistani Christian Razaar (Nazir) Masih, died of cardiac arrest last Friday, reports Church in Chains. Masih died in hospital on June 3, a week after being violently attacked by a mob of extremists (News, June 7). Accused of burning pages of the Quran in the trash, Masih and his son were attacked by a mob that set fire to their shop and home (News, May 31). Family members said this week that Bibi had complained of chest pains and called a government ambulance, but “the paramedics told us that the pain was probably due to stress.” Meanwhile, Ehsan Shan, a young Pakistani Christian, was sentenced to death by Special Judge Ziaullah Khan of the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Sahiwal for allegedly disseminating blasphemous content on TikTok that incited riots in Jaranwala.
Christian children arrested in Eritrea
According to a report by Release International, more than 200 Christians have been arrested in Eritrea in the past 12 months, some with their children. The charity estimates that around 400 Christians are currently being imprisoned indefinitely without trial or charge for their faith, with 110 arrested between January and May. “The majority have been taken from their homes, some at 3am,” said Dr Berhane Asmelash, a former prisoner and partner with Release. “We are extremely concerned for the mental and physical wellbeing of the children, some of whom are as young as two years old. This is completely unacceptable and we strongly condemn this inhumane act by the Eritrean government.”
Network seeks religious freedom in Cuba
The Cuban Christian Alliance (ACC), an independent network of 60 religious leaders created in 2022, called on the Cuban government to improve the human rights situation, including reforms to protect freedom of religion or belief (FoRB). In a statement issued after its second annual meeting in Las Tunas last week, the group condemned the continued violation of Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and called for a new legal framework that would allow for the registration of religious organizations and allow legal action in the event of a violation of the FoRB. The statement further demands the release of all political prisoners and prisoners of conscience, and calls on the government to immediately halt “pre-criminal” legal procedures used to try individuals suspected of committing future crimes.
Marcelo Schneider/WCCEyes of faith: Members of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Commission on Education and Ecumenical Formation visited the Odusan Unification Observatory near Seoul last Thursday. This was their first face-to-face meeting since the WCC’s 11th General Assembly in 2022.
