(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 05.30.2023).- How is it possible that the human capacity for cruelty is so huge?” Pope Francis asks with horror at the beginning of this month’s Pope Video. The Holy Father’s new prayer intention for June, which is entrusted to the entire Catholic Church through the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, is an appeal for the abolition of torture in all of its forms throughout the world.

History, past and present

“Torture is not past history”, explains Pope Francis in the video. “Unfortunately, it’s part of our history today.” In the words accompanying his prayer intention, he also underlines that, in addition to “extremely violent forms of torture, “other more sophisticated” methods are used in the world today, “such as degrading someone, dulling the senses, or mass detentions in conditions so inhumane that they take away the dignity of the person.”

The timing of his condemnation of the practice, and the prayer intention itself, is not accidental. This upcoming 26th of June is the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, for it was on this date in 1987 that the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment went into effect. The convention was ratified by 162 countries after its adoption in 1984.

Ecce homo (Behold the man)

Images of prisoners in inhumane conditions – tied to a chair, hooded, hands bound – open the Pope Video this month, which reconstructs places and current practices of torture in various parts of the world. Buckets containing rags, cords, batteries, pliers, hammers, machetes…. This disturbing inventory of an imaginary torture chamber accompanies Pope Francis’s words, in order to emphasize that whoever tries to reduce a person to a “thing” loses his or her own humanity first of all. This is what also happened to those who tortured Jesus, when they scourged him, beat him, mocked him. Jesus experienced torture during his Passion, and died bearing the signs of that torture: the wounds of the thorns and the whips, the bruises from the punches, the welts of the ropes that bound his writs. The video contains closeups of the image of the Ecce homo in the shrine of Mesoraca with this same name, located in Crotone, Italy. These images are impressive because of how real they are.

A prohibited practice that remains in the shadows of international law

Torture is a practice dating back to antiquity. In the 18th and 19th centuries, western countries officially abolished its official use through the judicial system. Today, it is entirely prohibited by international law. Nevertheless, it continues to be practiced in many countries. Since 1981, the United Nations Fund for Victims of Torture has assisted an average of 50,000 victims of torture each year, in countries in every corner of the globe. Of course, torture tends to occur in conflict zones. Such is the case with Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, where there have been reports of acts of torture perpetrated by Russian soldiers against Ukrainian military and civilians. In addition, and in part due to the advent of new technologies, the use of certain non-physical forms of torture, such as psychological torture, has increased. Moreover, aggravating the issue is the persistent lack of accountability for torture and ill-treatment on a global scale, partly caused by systemic denial, the obstruction and the deliberate evasion of responsibility on the part of public authorities which makes it difficult to document and estimate the number of victims.

Pope Francis’s appeal

This, then, is the Pope’s appeal to the entire international community, that it “commit itself concretely to abolish torture, guaranteeing support to victims and their families.” Pope Francis, in a discourse given in 2014, had already pointed out that “these abuses can only be stopped with the firm commitment of the international community to recognize […] the dignity of the human person above everything else.”

Jesus Christ, tortured and crucified 

Father Frédéric Fornos S.J., International Director of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, commented on this intention: “No matter what the reasons are, torture can never be justified. Pope Francis has said this clearly many times. For example: ‘Torturing a person is a mortal sin! Christian communities must commit themselves to helping victims of torture’ (Tweet from 26 June 2018). For Christians, Jesus Christ is the face of God. Throughout history, he has drawn near to all victims of torture through his own Passion. Because of this, as Pope Francis says in Fratelli tutti: ‘Every act of violence committed against a human being is a wound in humanity’s flesh’ (FT 227). This month of prayer and action for the abolition of every form of torture, whether of detainees, prisoners, or abducted persons, is also an appeal to guarantee the ‘support of the victims and their families.’”

(ZENIT News / Las Vegas, 05.30.2023).- Pope Francis has created the Ecclesiastical Province of Las Vegas, comprised of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Las Vegas, and the suffragan dioceses of Reno and Salt Lake City. At the same time, he named Most Reverend George Leo Thomas, as the first Metropolitan Archbishop of Las Vegas.

The establishment of the new province and the appointment of the metropolitan archbishop was publicized in Washington, D.C. on May 30, 2023, by Archbishop Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

An ecclesiastical province is a territory consisting of at least one archdiocese (known as the “metropolitan see”) and includes several dioceses (known as “suffragan sees”). The metropolitan archbishop is the head of his archdiocese, and while he has no direct power of governance over the suffragan dioceses in his province, through canon law (Church law), he supports them in matters of faith and discipline and provides fraternal pastoral care to his brother bishops. In this newly created province, the Archdiocese of Las Vegas is the metropolitan see, and the Diocese of Reno and the Diocese of Salt Lake City are the suffragan sees.

Archbishop Thomas was appointed the third bishop of Las Vegas on February 28, 2018, and has now been named the archbishop of the newly created province. His full biography may be read here.

The Archdiocese of Las Vegas is comprised of 39,088 square miles in the State of Nevada and has a total population of 2,322,280, of which 620,000 are Catholic.

(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 05.30.2023).- On Friday May 26th, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors and  the Dicastery for Clergy signed An Agreement on Collaboration and Exchange of  Information, the second such agreement between the Commission and a Curial institution  since Pope Francis’ reform of the Roman Curia with the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate  Evangelium.

The Agreement, signed on behalf of the Dicastery by the Prefect Cardinal Lazarus  You Heung-Sik and by the Commission President, Cardinal Sean O’ Malley OFM Cap.,  identified three main areas of shared interest:

First – in service to victims – working to create spaces and structures within the  competence of the Dicastery for welcoming and hearing survivors and for those seeking to  report instances of abuse.

Second – in service to the local churches – cooperating on those aspects pertaining  to safeguarding contained in the Ratio nationalis, a document developed and adopted by  each particular church, governing all aspects of priestly formation, as customized to the  local cultural context.

Third – in service of priest formation – facilitating the promotion of an initial and  ongoing formation of the clergy, that is ever more sensitive to the Church’s safeguarding  ministry.

The collaboration between the entities of the Roman Curia will provide information  for the Commission’s Annual Report, as requested by the Holy Father, in his April 2022  Private Audience with the PCPM, and reiterated again, in his May 2023 Private Audience.

Cardinal O’Malley said: “This second Collaboration Agreement marks another  encouraging milestone for the Commission in its new position within the Curia. This agreement with the Dicastery for Clergy is allows us to open important communication  channels with the office at the service of the formation of our priests worldwide. Priests and  deacons are, perhaps, the most visible face of the daily life of the Church so ensuring that  their life and ministry is subjected to good policies and procedures concerning the  safeguarding of children and vulnerable persons is essential.”

The Prefect of the Dicastery for Clergy, Korean Cardinal Lazarus You Heung-Sik  welcomed increased collaboration: “Our commitment to this difficult area of the Church’s  ministry is further expressed in today’s collaboration agreement. We hope, through our  common effort, to deepen our understanding of the impact of abuse on victims and  survivors and how to best accompany them, and also offer good practices in prevention and  assistance to our priests who are called, as the Pope Francis has said, to become “Apostles  of Safeguarding” for their communities.”

Rafael Manuel Tovar

The majority of parents and adolescents share religious identity. Americans between the ages of 13 and 17 have the same faith as their parents or legal tutors. Teenagers with Protestant parents  identify with their parents’ religion as do Catholic teenagers with that of theirs. The great majority of parents without religious affiliation have atheist or agnostic adolescents or children who don’t believe “in anything in particular,” according to studies carried out by the Pew Research Center in 2015.

A Pew survey in 2022 showed that the majority of parents transmit their religious and political orientation in the same proportion and impact. 

It seems that parents give priority to the transmission of their religious vision above that of their political view. However, the 2022 survey showed that 35% of American parents considered it highly important  that their children share their faith, and only 16% gave that much importance to the political. View. Nevertheless, they regarded these two values as more decisive than transmitting honesty, dedication to work or personal success. 

In 2019 adolescents were interviewed together with one of their parents. One way of answering a question was to contrast teenagers’ answers with that of their parents. When comparing them, it was found that the majority of people who are raised in one religion, be it by both parents or only one of them, keep that religion. Eight out of ten of those raised Protestant continued to be Protestant. Six out of ten Catholics continued to be Catholics in adolescence and a similar proportion existed in those who were raised without religious affiliation and lacked a defined faith. 

People of some religious beliefs give strong priority to educating their children in the same faith: 70% of Evangelical parents placed extreme value on their children having a similar faith, as compared with only 8% of parents with no faith. 

The survey reveals that the step from interest to the result in American parents, on the transmission of their religious and political affiliation to their children, is that the great majority obtain the political loyalty of the teenagers. The transmission of religion is also effective, as the 2019 survey showed that 82% of Protestant parents had teenagers with the same faith; 81% of Catholic parents had Catholic adolescents and 86% of parents without faith had teenage children with no faith. 

The comparison of achievement in the transmission of the faith between Protestants and Catholics had a similar result, at least up to 17 years of age, although Evangelicals give more importance to transmitting the faith.

It’s known that many people change their faith or abandon religion altogether between the age of 18 to 29. To measure the transmission of religion, the results were compared between the 2022 survey and that of 2015. Observed was that there was greater abandonment in 25% of Americans adults educated in inter-religious homes. Among those raised by one Protestant parent and the other unaffiliated, the Protestant identity was strong, as 56% identified as Protestant once the years passed, whereas 34% were not affiliated, 3% Catholic and 7% belonged to other religions.

Among those raised by one Catholic parent and the other non-affiliated, 42% were not affiliated in adulthood,  32% were Catholic, 20% Protestant and 5% changed their religion.

Those educated by one Protestant parent and the other Catholic, as adults 38% declared themselves Protestant, 29% Catholic, 26% without affiliation and 7% belonged to other religions. 

There are marked differences between the broad category of Protestants. Eight out of ten parents that belong to an Evangelical Confession have a teenager who also identifies himself as an Evangelical Protestant. 55% of traditional Protestants of the United Methodist Church, the Episcopal Church and the Presbyterian Church have an adolescent with the same identification and 24% of adolescents didn’t share their parents’ faith.