German archdiocese criticizes carnival float associating Jesus with sex abuse crisis

Revellers gather for the 11:11 Fat Thursday (Weiberfastnacht) launch of the city’s carnival celebrations on Feb. 27, 2025, in Cologne, Germany. / Credit: Hesham Elsherif/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Feb 28, 2025 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

Here are some of the major stories of the Church around the world that you might have missed this past week:

German archdiocese criticizes carnival float

The Archdiocese of Cologne, Germany, has issued a statement of condemnation after a carnival float associating Jesus with the sex abuse crisis was premiered at a parade in the city. 

The float featured a cartoon of a young boy wearing altar server clothes standing outside a confessional. An arm sticking out from the curtain beckons the boy, who pulls away, while a sign outside the confessional reads, “Jesus Loves You.”

In a statement addressed to the festival committee, Frank Hüppelshäuser, head of office at the archdiocese, condemned the float as “tasteless,” pointing out that its imagery “directly associates Jesus, the Son of God, with abuse.” 

“It is suggested that Jesus himself is sitting in the confessional and wants to pull the altar boy into it with a wave of his hand; at the very least, Jesus is being instrumentalized here,” he continued. “If one assumes that the Son of God is partly responsible for the terrible acts of abuse that have also and especially occurred in the Catholic Church, a line has been crossed that cannot be justified for any reason in the world.”

Syria leaders host democratic conference

Syria’s new government put on a National Dialogue Conference this week with about 600 participants representing the diverse religious and social groups in Syria, including a number of priests and bishops of different Christian sects. Lebanese and Iraqi bishops and other academic Christian figures were also present, according to ACI MENA, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner. 

The conference became a subject of widespread criticism, however, after its conclusion, with many expressing doubts about the transition government’s commitment to fostering democratic and pluralistic values. 

Conference organizers faced particular criticism for not extending proper invitations to representatives of the Greek Orthodox Church, the country’s largest Christian community, which has typically held a privileged seat at the table for discussions. 

At the same time, ACI MENA reported that the Catholic Church in Syria seems to be taking the role of being the representative of Christianity as the country’s Latin bishop, Hanna Jallouf, continues to foster close ties with the new government. 

Vatican Cardinal Michael Czerny visits Lebanon

The prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, Cardinal Michael Czerny, visited Lebanon last week, sharing Pope Francis’ closeness with the Lebanese people and visiting communities affected by the war and by the deadly port explosion on Aug. 4, 2020, in Beirut that killed more than 220 people.

Czerny also met with youth leaders from the Leadership Academy for Peace, a Catholic organization in Lebanon dedicated to fostering peace through leadership training. His discussions there centered on the Church’s role in promoting stability in the country, social justice, and youth empowerment. 

Grand imam of Al-Azhar offers prayers for Pope Francis

The grand imam of Al-Azhar, who holds the highest seat in Sunni Islamic education, has offered up his prayers for Pope Francis as the Holy Father continues to recover in Gemelli Hospital in Rome from double pneumonia. 

“I pray to Allah to grant my dear brother Pope Francis a swift recovery and to bless him with health and well-being so that he continues his journey in serving humanity,” said Sheik Ahmed Al-Tayeb. 

Religious leaders there have a friendly relationship, co-authoring a declaration of “fraternity” in 2019 that was recently held up in a U.N. Security Council briefing as “a model for compassion and human solidarity.”

Bishop, priests in Democratic Republic of Congo ‘narrowly’ escape death

Two Catholic priests and a bishop in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) “narrowly escaped death” according to reports this week, as the central African country continues to experience waves of violence. 

According to a report from ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, Bishop Sébastien Joseph Muyengo Mulombe of the Diocese of Uvira, Father Bernard Kalolero, and Father Ricardo Mukinwa were robbed at gunpoint on the morning of Feb. 20 by suspected members of the Armed Forces of the Central African nation (FARDC). 

“They robbed us, taking money, phones, and other belongings,” Mukinwa stated, according to the report. “They then locked us in our rooms and threatened to kill us at the slightest gesture so that they could search the whole house.”

“Thank God, they left, and we are still alive. The Missionary Sisters of Jesus Emmanuel came to our house without knowing what happened, and this is the only way we can communicate the incident. We are currently unreachable on our mobile phones,” he added.

The incident comes as latest reports say over 7,000 people have been killed in the DRC, where members of the March 23 Movement (M23), an armed rebel group allegedly backed by neighboring Rwanda, has taken over major cities in both North and South Kivu, along with numerous mining towns, since January. 

On Thursday, gunfire and explosions at an M23 rally in the eastern city of Bukavu left at least 11 people killed and 60 wounded, according to BBC News. 

This comes as news of the bodies of 70 people were found slain inside a church building on Sunday in a village in North Kivu, with many reports attributing the massacre to the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an Islamist terror group. 

Church in Zimbabwe collaborates with government on prison programs

The Catholic Church in Zimbabwe has offered to collaborate with the government to build rehabilitation programs for prisoners and former death row inmates in the wake of a recent decision to abolish the death penalty in the country late last year. 

“We recommend that the Church and the government work together to offer support and counseling services to the families of the victims. This is in line with the conviction that we must hate sin but not the sinner,” the bishops’ conference said in a statement to Agenzia Fides. 

Court sentences terrorist to life in prison for 2020 attack in France

A criminal court in Paris on Wednesday sentenced the perpetrator behind a terrorist attack in 2020 at Notre Dame de l’Assomption, a basilica in the southeast city of Nice, to life in prison without parole, the harshest possible sentence in the French penal code.  

Brahim Aoussaoui, 25, a Tunisian migrant, was charged for brutally stabbing and killing Nadine Vincent, 60, Simone Barreto Silva, 44, the basilica’s sacristan Vincent Loques, 55, and for attempting to attack seven others. Aoussaaoui shouted “Allahu Akbar” during and after the attacks. 

Vincent was found almost completely decapitated, mirroring an attack that took place just 13 days prior in which a Islamist Chechen refugee beheaded a middle school history teacher, Samuel Paty. 

According to the French outlet Le Monde, the court stated after the ruling that it had made its decision based on the “absolute violence” of Aoussaoui’s attack in combination with his perceived lack of “desire to reintegrate or reform,” making him a threat to society. 

South Korea dioceses provide medical care for migrant children

Catholic dioceses in South Korea are banding together to help provide medical care for undocumented migrant children across the country in an initiative led by the Migrant Pastoral Committee of the Seoul Archdiocese. 

The project, also known as “Wings of Hope,” seeks to provide a national support system for medical costs for children of undocumented workers, according to UCA News. The project will continue until December of this year with the possibility of renewal in 2027.