While Francis and the mainstream press praise Nelson Mandela, many Catholic outlets have pointed out his role in causing South Africa to adopt the most liberal abortion laws in the world, but as far as looking at the totality of his work from a Catholic perspective, Marielena Montesino de Stuart's "The New World Order Descends on Johannesburg", probably paints the most complete picture. (The link goes to the romancatholicworld homepage, as there is no permalink to the article.)
Fr. Stefano Manelli, the founder of the Franciscans of the Immaculate, the monastic order that has been prohibited from saying the traditional Mass and is being completely destroyed and reorganized by the Vatican, is seriously ill and is believed to be dying. This post on The Eponymous Flower includes some inspiring background information on this holy man. In this CFN piece, Roberto de Mattei details the punishments that have been inflicted on the order. Here we discover the following details of Fr. Manelli's treatment: "then, after Founder Father Stefano Manelli was deposed as Superior General and exiled and even though he has met all instructions and guaranteed absolute obedience, even his closest relatives are forbidden to visit him, and it is forbidden to make phone or receive phone calls and any contact with the outside world is denied to him."
