News in Brief
Retired Pope Benedict follows his brother's funeral virtually
REGENSBURG, Germany (CNS)-Retired Pope Benedict XVI followed the funeral of his brother, Georg Ratzinger, via livestreaming, reported the German Catholic news agency KNA. Bishop Rudolf Voder- holzer of Regensburg said Pope Benedict, 93, was con- nected to the Mass taking place for his older brother July 8 in the Regensburg Cathedral. Msgr. Georg Ratzinger died on July 1 at age 96. During the Mass, the Regensburg bishop recalled the surprise June 18-22 visit Pope Benedict paid to the sickbed of his dying brother. "This sign of human- ity touched many people. So all the more do we share in your mourning," he said in words addressed to the retired pope. The retired pope had written to his deceased brother a letter, which was read out loud at the ceremony by Archbishop Georg Ganswein, Pope Benedict's private secretary.
New report says Iraqi Christians could face extinction
NEW YORK (CNS)-With- out immediate action from the international commu- nity, Christians in northern Iraq could be endangered with extinction, warns a new report from the pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need. The report, Life after ISIS: New Chal- lenges for Christianity in Iraq," is based on a survey of Christians in the liberated Ninevah Plains. With anticipated emigration, ACN says the re- gion's Christian population could plummet to 23,000 within four years. That is a reduction of 80% from the months before the 2014 Islamic State invasion and would move the Christian community from the category of "vulnerable" to the critical category of "endangered with extinction," the report states. ACN's survey indicates that security and political reasons remain the primary driver of emigration.
(CNS photo/Ed Wilkinson, The Tablet)
First Responders Supporters March
Demonstrators in the Brooklyn borough of New York City march in support of police July 11.
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FRIDAY JULY 17, 2020
The Observer
(CNS photo/courtesy Aid to the Church in Need)
Father Andrzej Halemba is seen in a 2017 file photo carrying a crucifix during a procession of the Christians in Qaraqosh, Iraq.
(CNS photo/courtesy Pope John XXIII hospital)
Staffat the Pope John XXIII hospital in Bergamo, Italy
Nation/World
Italian Hospital Has No More COVID-19 Patients in ICU
Conjoined Twins Separated At Vatican-Owned Hospital
ROME (CNS)-Staff at the Pope John XXIII hospital in Bergamo - once the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy - announced they had no more patients with coronavirus in their intensive care unit. After 137 days of trying to keep critically ill patients alive, staffgathered July 8 for a mo- ment of silence to remember those who passed away in their wards, followed by applause for the more than 400 hospital workers in the department. Maria Beatrice Stasi, director general of the hospital, told re- porters they had discharged the last patient to recover from CO- VID-19, marking a moment of great emotion and relief as the intensive care unit can now ac- commodate other patients and staffcan return to their regular uniforms. At the worst point of the cri- sis, which began with their first patient being admitted Feb. 23, the ICU had more than 100 pa- tients intubated. Luca Lorini, head of the in- tensive care and reanimation department, told reporters July 8 that the exceptional effort and teamwork by staffled them to the great result of having no more COVID-19 patients in their unit. VATICAN CITY (CNS)- After more than a year of pre- liminary studies and three dicult operations, a medi- cal team at the Vatican-owned pediatric hospital successfully separated conjoined twin girls. Born with an extremely rare condition of being joined at the back of the cranium, the 2-year- old girls, Ervina and Prefina, had recovered well from their last procedure June 5 and were expected to continue thriving, staffat the Bambino Gesu pe- diatric hospital said at a news conference July 7, according to Vatican News. The girls were born on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, June 29, 2018, in Mbaiki, Cen- tral African Republic, and tak- en to the capital, Bangui, to the children's hospital Pope Francis had visited in 2015 and contin- ued to support with donations and assistance afterward. Mariella Enoc, president of Bambino Gesu in Rome, was in the Bangui hospital to oversee the ongoing support and, after seeing the infant twins, she proposed they go to Rome to see if they could be separated.
(CNS photo/Uwe Moosburger, Bistum Regensburg via Reuters)
A photo is seen near the casket of Msgr. Georg Ratzinger at his funeral Mass July 8.
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(CNS photo/courtesy Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesu via Reuters)
Ervina and Prefina are pictured with their mother, Ermine, at the Bambino Gesu hospital in Rome in this photo released July 8.
(CNS photo/courtesy Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesu)
Ervina and Prefina are seen be- fore their separation surgery.
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