VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2  •  JANUARY 10, 2015

Table of Contents

Copyright Notice

VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis’ new cardinals shed light on Church’s minorities

Will the appointment of new cardinals advance reform?

A cardinal’s hat for Archbishop Mamberti, new head of the Signatura

True models of conversion: wise men believed in love, not worldly power

Top Vatican Official: Washington, NYC likely stops on papal trip

Attentive, tireless, courageous – this is Christian life, Pope says on Epiphany

Pope Francis hails motherhood as the ‘antidote to individualism’

Pope Francis is all about the new evangelization, says expert

Pope urges prayers for victims, assailants of ‘cruel’ Paris attack

French imams, Vatican: ‘Without freedom of expression, the world is in danger’

Pope: Spend a lot of time looking in the mirror? You might be a narcissist

Vatican theologians reportedly recognize martyrdom of Oscar Romero

Religious extremism or fruit of nihilism? Vatican newspaper questions terrorism

Charity isn’t just helping others – it’s a way of life, Pope says

WORLD NEWS

‘No human invention’ – Marriage a divine plan, bishop says

Pope Francis casts into the deep to find two cardinals for Oceania

Preparing for Francis, Sri Lanka Church considers roadmap for peace

‘It’s like Jesus is coming to the Philippines’: Frenzy builds over Francis

Cardinal wowed by vocation surge at Rome’s American seminary

A cultural focus for Pope Francis’ Portuguese cardinal

Iraqi Christians say there’s no going home after rise of Islamic State

Official song for World Youth Day 2016 debuted in Krakow

Vatican condemns ‘horrible attack’ on French newspaper

French imams: Muslims must condemn ‘barbaric’ attack on newspaper

Mercy and compassion at heart of papal visit to the Philippines

In Jordan, Church works to assist refugees, protect youth from extremism

Vatican astronomers unlock the mysteries of the universe…sort of

Free braille Bibles help the blind poor around the world

Divine Word Missionaries contemplate ‘The Joy of the Gospel’ in peripheries

Head of drug war-torn Mexican diocese to become a cardinal

Haitian amputees lace-up soccer cleats on Roman sports field

The faith that has been in Iraq 2,000 years ‘cannot disappear so easily’

Chilean legislators vote to strip priest of honorary nationality

For Sri Lanka, Pope’s visit solidifies peace after brutal civil war

U.S. NEWS

Possible site of Jesus’ trial uncovered in the Holy Land

New US Congress reflects the Catholic swing vote

Cardinal George dropped from cancer drug trial, asks for prayers

Mario Cuomo, 1932-2015: His Controversial Legacy

Grisly Nativity scene vandalism draws prayerful response

Philly kicks off 2015 celebrating St John Neumann

Court protects Catholic-owned company from HHS mandate

100 million reasons for concern about anti-Christian persecution

FEATURES

Beauty in suffering: How one woman is fighting the stigma of therapy

Charism and Consecrated Life: Part I

The Beauty of Catholic Education: Literature and Poetry

Movie Review: ‘Selma’

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • January 11, 2015

Monday • January 12, 2015

Tuesday • January 13, 2015

Wednesday • January 14, 2015

Thursday • January 15, 2015

Friday • January 16, 2015

Saturday • January 17, 2015

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Volume 1, Issue 2 • January 10, 2015

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis’ new cardinals shed light on Church’s minorities

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 4, 2015

Cardinals pray together at the most recent consistory, held Feb. 22, 2014. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

Vatican City — In his Sunday Angelus address Pope Francis announced the names of the 15 bishops to be created cardinal electors in February, many of whom hail from small dioceses which have never before had a cardinal.

“As was already announced, next February 14 I will have the joy of holding a Consistory, during which I will name 15 new Cardinals who manifest the indissoluble links between the Church of Rome and the particular Churches present in the world,” the Roman Pontiff said on Jan. 4.

Speaking to the thousands of pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square after his recitation of the traditional Marian prayer, the Pope revealed that the 15 new cardinals to be created come from 14 countries and from every continent.

Announced in the fall, the consistory will take place on Feb. 14. Pope Francis has also called a Feb. 12-13 meeting with the entire college of cardinals ahead of the consistory to reflect on current proposals for the ongoing reformation of the Roman Curia.

The day following the consistory the Bishop of Rome and the 15 new cardinals will concelebrate a solemn Mass together in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Among the new cardinals under the age of 80 and therefore eligible to vote in the next conclave are five European bishops, three from the continent of Asia, three from Latin America, including Mexico, two from Africa and two from Oceania.

Cape Verde, Myanmar and Tonga are three of the countries represented by the new cardinals. Characterized by small ecclesial communities or as representing a minority presence, none of the dioceses has had a cardinal until now.

In a Jan. 4 statement to journalists regarding the announcement of the new cardinals, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi drew attention to the fact that Pope Francis selected bishops from these, as well as other small, minority populations, rather than larger dioceses which traditionally have a cardinal.

Calling the move “noteworthy,” the spokesman pointed out that the Roman Pontiff’s selections represent the universality of the Catholic Church, and are not bound to the traditional appointment of cardinals from “Cardinalatial Sees,” in which for “historical reasons…the Cardinalate was considered almost ‘automatically’ connected to such sees.”

The appointment of a cardinal from the diocese of Morelia, Mexico, was also recognized by the spokesman, who noted how the diocese is currently enmeshed in a state of ongoing violence.

The names of the new cardinals coming from Europe are: Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura; Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli of Ancona-Osimo (Italy); Archbishop Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento (Italy); Archbishop Ricardo Blázquez Pérez of Vallodolid (Spain) and Archbishiop Manuel José Macario do Nascimento Clemente, Patriarch of Lisbon (Portugal).

New cardinals representing Latin America and Mexico are: Archbishop Alberto Suàrez Inda of Morelia (Mexico); Archbishop Daniel Fernando Sturla Berhouet, S.D.B., of Montevideo (Uruguay) and Bishop José Luis Lacunza Maestrojuán, O.A.R., of David (Panamá).

Others, including from Africa and Asia, are: Archbishop Berhaneyesus Demerew Souraphiel, C.M., of Addis Abeba (Ethiopia); Archbishop Pierre Nguyên Van Nhon of Hà Nôi (Viêt Nam); Archbishop Charles Maung Bo, S.D.B., of Yangon (Myanmar); Archbishop Francis Xavier Kriengsak Kovithavanij of Bangkok (Thailand); Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado, of Santiago de Cabo Verde (Archipelago of Cape Verde); Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi of Tonga (Island of Tonga) and Archbishop John Atcherley Dew of Wellington (New Zealand).

In addition to the 15 cardinal electors, Pope Francis named 5 other bishops over the age of 80 who will be elevated due to their “pastoral charity in the service of the Holy See and of the Church.”

The names of the new non-elector cardinals are: José de Jesús Pimiento Rodriguez, Archbishop Emeritus of Manizales (Colombia); Archbishop Luigi De Magistris, Major Pro-Penitentiary Emeritus (Italy); Archbishop Karl-Joseph Rauber, Apostolic Nuncio (Germany); Luis Héctor Villaba, Archbishop Emeritus of Tucumán (Argentina) and Júlio Duarte Langa, Bishop Emeritus of Xai-Xai (Mozambique).

“They represent so many bishops who, with the same pastoral solicitude, have given witness of love for Christ and for the people of God in particular Churches, in the Roman Curia, and in the Diplomatic Service of the Holy See,” the Pope said.

He encouraged those present in St. Peter’s Square to pray for all of the newly appointed cardinals, asking that “they might be witnesses of His Gospel in the City of Rome and in the world, and with their pastoral experience they might support me more intensely in my apostolic service.”

In his address ahead of the traditional Angelus prayer, the Roman Pontiff drew attention to the World Day of Peace, which was celebrated on Jan. 1 and reflected on the theme of “No longer slaves, but brothers.”

The exploitation of the human person due to trafficking and slavery is a “social scourge” that disrupts interpersonal relationships and prevents the ability to live in a community founded on respect, justice and charity, he said.

“Every man and every people hunger and thirst for peace, therefore it is necessary and urgent to build peace!” the Pope explained, and encouraged pilgrims present to work for peace not only by ending wars, but also within their own families and local communities.

He concluded by asking for the intercession of Mary, who despite the difficulties she faced in her life, “never lost her peace of heart, (which was) a fruit of trusting abandonment to God’s mercy.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Will the appointment of new cardinals advance reform?

by Catholic News Agency’s Vatican Observer, Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • January 5, 2015

St. Peter’s Basilica. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — In creating 20 new cardinals – 15 of whom will be cardinal electors – Pope Francis has continued to set his sights on the world’s peripheries, and at the same time he began designing the College of Cardinals in order to push forward his reforms.

Among the new cardinal electors, only Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, hails from the Roman curia; he had previously served, since 2006, as the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States.

Most of the new red birettas hail from the peripheries of the world, and follow the rationale of “the universality of the Church,” as Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See press office, put it in a written note delivered Jan. 4.

With the Feb. 14-15 consistory at which the new cardinals are officially appointed, the weight of the curia will be diminished in the election of the next Bishop of Rome.

At the moment, there are 33 curial members among the 110 voting cardinals, that is, 30 percent of the conclave. After the consistory, there will be 34 voting cardinals from the curia, among 125, a reduction of three percent.

The new outline of the college of cardinals may be decisive for what concerns the Church reforms Pope Francis has in mind.

Pope Francis desires that the high ranks of the Church be committed to a continual dialogue and discussion, and for this purpose he is using consistories as a tool to foster an open discussion.

Pope Francis enlarged the agenda of October 2014 consistory – scheduled in order to vote for two canonizations – convoking the cardinals to discuss the situation in the Middle East.

It was the second time Pope Francis convoked a consistory to discuss a timely issue.

Earlier, Pope Francis had convoked a February 2014 consistory to discuss the family, opening the discussion which took place in the extraordinary synod. The consistory took place on the eve of Pope Francis’ first consistory to create new cardinals.

Likewise, Pope Francis has convoked an ordinary consistory to discuss curial reform Feb. 12-13, on the eve of the consistory to create new cardinals, scheduled for Feb. 14.

The consistory will take place after the seventh gathering of the Council of Cardinals, scheduled Feb. 9 -11.

A first draft of Curia reform was presented during the Pope’s regular meeting with the chief of Vatican dicasteries Nov. 24, 2014.

According to the draft, the Pontifical Councils for Justice and Peace, Migrants, Cor Unum, Health Care and the Pontifical Academy for Life would be merged into a new Congregation for Justice and Peace. A new Congregation for Laity and Family was intended to enroll the Pontifical Councils for Laity and for the Family.

The draft was widely discussed during the meeting, and was reviewed at the following meeting of the Council of Cardinals, held Dec. 9-11.

The Council of Cardinals will once again discuss the draft, taking into consideration some criticisms of the draft which emerged during the meetings, and then this draft will be discussed at the following consistory.

As the members of the Roman curia will have less weight, it is likely that the balance of the discussion will swing toward the residential archbishops, who may have a decisive word in advancing curial reform.

Despite some minor adjustments, the final decision on curial reform should not come out soon. In the interview granted Dec. 7, 2014 to ‘La Nacion’, Pope Francis stressed that “reforming the Curia will take a long time, this is the most complex part,” and anticipated that reform will not be ready within 2015.

The international and ‘peripheries’ sway of the College of Cardinals may help the Holy Father to speed up the process of curial reform, overcoming criticisms and internal resistance: this is how the next consistory could advance reforms.

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VATICAN NEWS

A cardinal’s hat for Archbishop Mamberti, new head of the Signatura

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • January 6, 2015

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, addresses the UN General Assembly. (UN Photo/Lou Rouse)

Vatican City — Months after being named to replace Cardinal Raymond Burke as head of the Apostolic Signatura, Archbishop Dominique Mamberti will be among those joining the College of Cardinals during February’s consistory.

The announcement that the French Moroccan archbishop would be created cardinal along with 19 other prelates from around the world came Jan. 4 during Pope Francis’ first Angelus address of the new year.

Archbishop Mamberti, 62, was appointed Nov. 8, 2014 as prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, where he will be charged with a reform of the process of annulment. Cardinal Burke, who had held the position since 2008, was moved to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, which he now serves as patron.

Born March 7, 1952 in Marrakesh, Dominique Mamberti was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Ajaccio, in France, in 1981. In 2002, he was appointed apostolic nuncio to Sudan and apostolic delegate to Somalia, and was consecrated a bishop. He also served as apostolic nuncio to Eritrea.

Following his posts as a Vatican ambassador, Archbishop Mamberti was, in 2006, appointed the Holy See’s Secretary for Relations with States, a position he held until his transfer to the Apostolic Signatura.

In July 2014, as Secretary for Relations with States, the archbishop issued a note to ambassadors accredited to the Holy See recalling Pope Francis’ appeals on behalf of Christians suffering in the Middle East, especially Iraq.

“Christian communities are suffering unjustly, they are scared and many Christians have been forced to emigrate,” Archbishop Mamberti wrote. “You must remember that Christians have been present in Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries since the beginning of Christianity and they have played a vital role in the development of society. They simply want to continue to be present as creators of peace and reconciliation.”

In a 2012 address to the United Nations General Assembly, Archbishop Mamberti stressed international law as being “solidly based upon the dignity and nature of humanity – in other words, upon the natural law.” During this speech, he called for “legislation at the international level” to be “marked by respect for the dignity of the human person, beginning with the centrality of the right to life and to freedom of religion.”

The following year, he addressed another United Nations meeting, on nuclear disarmament, saying the Holy See “joins in this concerted effort to give vigorous expression to the cry of humanity to be freed from the specter of nuclear warfare … we must emphasize anew that military doctrines based on nuclear arms, as instruments of security and defense of an elite group, in a show of power and supremacy, retard and jeopardize the process of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.”

During February’s consistory, Archbishop Mamberti will be created a cardinal alongside 19 other prelates, from Europe, Africa, South America, Asia, and Oceania.

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VATICAN NEWS

True models of conversion: wise men believed in love, not worldly power

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 6, 2015

Pope Francis celebrates mass for the solemnity of the Epiphany in St. Peter’s Basilica on Jan. 6, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — On the solemnity of the Epiphany, Pope Francis said that the journey of the three wise men reflects a path of conversion taken by each person, in which God breaks the norm of our human expectations.

“The crib points us to a different path from the one cherished by the thinking of this world: it is the path of God’s self-abasement, his glory concealed in the manger of Bethlehem, on the cross upon Calvary, in each of our suffering brothers and sisters,” the Pope told Mass attendees on Jan. 6.

On their journey to the manger where Jesus was laid, the wise men realized, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, that “God’s criteria are quite different from those of men,” the pontiff continued.

They understood that “God does not manifest himself in the power of this world, but speaks to us in the humbleness of his love …The wise men are thus models of conversion to the true faith, since they believed more in the goodness of God than in the apparent splendor of power.”

In his reflections for the Mass, which took place inside St. Peter’s Basilica, the Roman Pontiff noted how the Church celebrates the encounter between the Magi and the infant Jesus by honoring it with a solemnity – the highest ranking feast in the liturgical calendar.

By doing this the Church invites the faithful to pray and meditate on the journey of the three wise men, who initiated a search for the savior that still continues to this day.

Traditionally understood as sages or “observers of the heavens” who, in a cultural and historical context, believed that the stars had an impact human affairs, “the wise men represent men and woman who seek God in the world’s religions and philosophies: an unending quest,” the Pope observed.

When the Magi set out to follow the star, they were really seeking God, who is the true light, the pontiff said. He noted that it was the Holy Spirit who prompted them to begin their journey, which would ultimately end in a personal encounter with God.

Pope Francis pointed out how the Magi encountered many difficulties on their journey, the first being their visit to Herod’s palace when they entered Jerusalem, “for they thought it obvious that the new king would be born in the royal palace.”

“There they lost sight of the star and met with a temptation, placed there by the devil: it was the deception of Herod. King Herod was interested in the child, not to worship him but to eliminate him.”

As a powerful man Herod viewed others only as rivals, the pontiff noted, explaining that for the king, God was secretly the most dangerous rival of all.

He then observed that after a moment of “obscurity” and desolation, the wise men left Herod’s palace at the prompting of the Holy Spirit, and were filled with joy when the star came into sight again.

When the Magi reached Bethlehem and found the infant Jesus in the arms of Mary, they were faced with another great temptation, the Pope said, explaining that this one was a temptation “to reject this smallness.”

“But instead ‘they fell down and worshiped him,’ offering him their precious symbolic gifts,” he said, reiterating how it was by grace of the Holy Spirit that they were led to Jesus and were able to enter into his mystery.

In being face-to-face with Jesus, the wise men realize that the ways of God “are quite different from those of men,” and that God speaks through humility and love, rather than the “splendor of power.”

“The love of God is humble, so humble!” the Pope observed, and explained that the conversion of the Magi is a true example for those who genuinely seek God.

“So we can ask ourselves: what is the mystery in which God is hidden?” the pontiff said, and asked those present where we can find God when we see so many wars, the exploitation of children, torture, and trafficking of arms and persons around us.

In all these circumstances and in “the least of our brothers and sisters who are enduring these difficult situations, there is Jesus,” he said, explaining that the crib of Christ shows us a different path than that of the world, because God’s glory is masked by suffering.

The ability of the wise men to enter into this mystery and pass from their own human calculations to those of God “was their conversion,” the Bishop of Rome observed.

“And our own? Let us ask the Lord to let us undergo that same journey of conversion experienced by the wise men. Let us ask him to protect us and to set us free from the temptations which hide the star,” he said.

Pope Francis concluded his homily by praying all would find “the courage to be liberated from our illusions, our presumptions, our ‘lights,’ and to seek this courage in the humility of faith and in this way to encounter the Light, like the holy wise men.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Top Vatican Official: Washington, NYC likely stops on papal trip

by Alan Holdren and Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • January 6, 2015

Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin presides over the inauguration of the new wing at the Pontifical North American College in Rome on Jan. 6, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — Although it’s still not official, the Vatican’s Secretary of State confirmed today that Pope Francis will most likely visit Washington D.C. and New York during his visit to the United States.

“I think the Pope will go to United Nations, everybody is speaking about that… but no official announcement has been delivered,” Cardinal Parolin told CNA Jan. 6.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, spoke to American journalists at the end of the dedication ceremony for a new wing of the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

He added that “of course” a papal visit to the nation’s capital city of Washington, D.C. is possibly in the agenda, but he stressed that “no official confirmation has been made.”

Pope Francis announced his trip to the United States on Nov. 17 in an address to members of the “Humanum Conference.” During his visit, the pontiff will participate in the Sept. 22-27 World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia.

Although Cardinal Parolin hesitated to make an official confirmation, there has been speculation that the Roman Pontiff will make stops in both Washington D.C. and the headquarters of the United Nations in New York while he is in the U.S.

The Holy See’s permanent observer to the U.N. in New York, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, strongly hinted last fall that a visit to the United Nations would be added to his stop in Philadelphia.

Details of the Pope’s participation in the Philadelphia meeting of families will likely be set either this spring or summer, and then made public together with the overall schedule of the papal voyage to the United States.

Pope Francis’ visit comes after the restoration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, which was achieved thanks to the pontiff’s intervention, as acknowledged by both U.S. president Barack Obama and Cuban president Raul Castro.

Asked if the normalization of Cuba – U.S. relations points toward a new “golden age” of Vatican diplomacy, Cardinal Parolin said that “the president of the United States has already thanked the Pope for the support he has given to this important step,” and stressed that “Holy See diplomacy is always there, to help to build bridges.”

Cardinal Parolin also mentioned that perhaps the Holy See’s diplomacy “is now more active…(not only) waiting, but also proposing (solutions for peace), since there are so many conflicts.”

The Vatican’s Secretary of State also spoke of how there are no Americans among the new cardinals to be elevated during the Feb. 14 consistory. This, he said, must not be considered “a sign of less appreciation for any Church.”

“I think the Holy Father wants to give a broader sense of the universality of the Church, giving a privilege to places where traditionally there is not so much attention by the Church,” the cardinal said.

He added that “we have to change our mind a little bit, our interpretation, and consider that the Holy Father’s criteria (in picking new cardinals) are not against anybody.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Attentive, tireless, courageous – this is Christian life, Pope says on Epiphany

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • January 6, 2015

Pope Francis celebrates New Year’s Day Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God on Jan. 1, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — Like the Magi who followed the star from the East, Christians are called to follow the light of the Gospel attentively, tirelessly, and courageously, said Pope Francis during his Epiphany Angelus address.

“The experience of the Magi evokes the journey of every man toward Christ,” the Pope said on Jan. 6 to the thousands gathered in Saint Peter’s Square. Like that of the Magi, he said, our search for God also “means to walk … staring at the sky and seeing, within the visible sign of the star, the invisible God who speaks to our hearts.”

By coming to adore the Child Jesus, the Holy Father said, the Magi gave witness of His coming to earth “to save, not only one people, but all people.” For this reason, the feast of the Epiphany is an occasion for “our gaze to extend to the horizons of the entire world,” celebrating the “expression” of God’s love.

The Pope added that this love is for all, and not reserved for a few privileged persons.

“Even those who seem far from the Lord,” he said, “are followed – even ‘chased’ – by His impassioned love, by his faithful love” which is “also humble.”

Reflecting on the Gospel account of Magi coming from the East, the Pope observed their attentiveness to the signs which led them to their destination, as well as their tirelessness and their courage.

This is the Christian life, he said: “To walk attentively, tirelessly, and courageously.”

The star which guides “every man to Jesus,” Pope Francis said, is the Word of God – the “light which guides our journey, nourishes our faith, and renews it.”

Pope Francis encouraged the faithful, as he has done on previous occasions, to carry a copy of the Bible with them to read and meditate upon each day. In doing so, the Word of God may become “like a flame which we carry within us to illuminate our steps, as well as [the steps] of those walking beside us, who are perhaps struggling to find the path to Christ.”

The Pope extended his greeting to Eastern Christians, Catholic and Orthodox, many of whom celebrate Christmas on Jan. 7, the day after the Epiphany.

The Holy Father then recalled that Jan. 6 coincides the World Day of Missionary Childhood, and encouraged “educators to cultivate in little ones a missionary spirit, in order that there may arise from among them witnesses of God’s tenderness and proclaimers of the Gospel.”

Before leading the crowds in the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis concluded his address, calling on the Virgin Mary to grant “her protection on the universal Church,” in order that the Gospel, which is “the light of every people,” might spread throughout the whole world.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis hails motherhood as the ‘antidote to individualism’

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 7, 2015

Pope Francis prays before a statue of Mary in St. Peter’s Basilica on Nov. 30, 2013. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

Vatican City — During his general audience Pope Francis lamented how mothers are often under-appreciated in their family role, and said they are key players in fighting against an individualistic, self-centered society.

“To be a mother is a great treasure. Mothers, in their unconditional and sacrificial love for their children, are the antidote to individualism; they are the greatest enemies against war,” the pontiff told pilgrims during his Jan. 7 general audience address.

Mothers, he said, “are often exploited because of their availability. Not even the Christian community values them properly, despite the eminent example of the Mother of Jesus.”

The Roman Pontiff offered his words to those gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall for his first general audience after the Christmas holiday vacation.

He continued his catechesis on the family, which he initiated in December, by turning his gaze to the image of the Mother of Jesus at Christmas, who presents her son to the world.

Mary’s example provides an opportunity for the Church to reflect on the role of all mothers in society and the Church, the Pope explained, noting how despite all of the “symbolic glorification” we give to motherhood, it is still under-valued.

“All of us give credit to our mothers for life and many other things, but not always are they listened to or helped in everyday life…Their important contribution to the life of society, their daily sacrifices and their aspirations are not always properly appreciated,” he observed.

To be a mother is a gift, the Pope said, and explained that through their sacrifices, mothers assist in helping society to overcome its self-centered tendencies, as well as its lack of openness, generosity and concern for others.

“In this sense motherhood is more than childbearing; it is a life choice entailing sacrifice, respect for life, and commitment to passing on those human and religious values which are essential for a healthy society,” he said.

Pope Francis then drew attention to the phrase “martyrdom of mothers” coined by Archbishop Oscar Romero, who served as the archbishop of El Salvador and was shot and killed while saying Mass in 1980 for speaking out against social injustices committed by the government.

This maternal martyrdom, the pontiff noted, consists of a mother’s ability to offer herself in silence, prayer and total surrender, “without any fanfare,” to her motherly duties.

A mother’s sensitivity “to all that threatens human life and welfare is a source of enrichment for society and the Church,” he said, observing how it is common in moments of difficulty to encounter the tenderness, dedication and moral strength of our mothers.

“It is they, mothers, who often give the first roots of the faith, the ones that permeate deepest; without them not only would the faithful be lost, but also a good part of the deepest fire of our faith,” he explained.

Pope Francis then greeted pilgrims present from various countries around the world, including Ireland, Finland, Indonesia, Australia, the United States, Spain, Mexico and Argentina.

He concluded by asking those present to join him in thanking all mothers “for what they are and for all that they give to the Church and to our world,” and gave his blessing.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis is all about the new evangelization, says expert

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • January 8, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, Dec. 17, 2014. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — With a style that meets the need for a new missionary zeal, Pope Francis is representative of the new evangelization, says one theologian and guest speaker for the upcoming annual gathering of Ratzinger’s former students.

“The new style represented by Pope Francis is the first to merit the title of new evangelization,” said Msgr. Tomas Halik in an interview with CNA.

“If this progress, which has aroused so much hope in the Church – and outside [it] -- were to stop, it would have tragic consequences, both for the Church and for the world,” he said.

A Czech priest who was persecuted during the Communist era, Msgr. Halik has dedicated most of his theological research to the dialogue with non believers and faith seekers.

He was chosen as the ‘special guest’ lecturer for the next meeting of the Ratzinger Schuelerkreis, a circle of former Joseph Ratzinger’s students which gathers annually in August.

His speech for the meeting will be on the theme: “How to speak about God in the contemporary world.”

“Today, it is important to speak about God because there are many pretenders to God’s throne. To proclaim belief in God, and particularly an emphasis on the uniqueness of God, means refusing idolatry and attempts to proclaim relative values, such as the nation, prosperity, power, health, success and many others, as being absolute,” Msgr. Halik stressed.

The monsignor identified the roots of today’s spiritual crisis in “the failure of religious institutions: in fact, they are unable to inspire the lifestyle and thinking of people of today in a credible and intelligible fashion.”

Msgr. Halik explained that “there is a greater demand for spiritual life than in the past, but the offer on the part of the Church is often not enough to meet that demand.”

The “parochial” type of Christianity, he said, “is losing its social and cultural biosphere, and it will probably become weaker”. However, he added that “there are increasing numbers of ‘seekers’, and the future of Christianity (and in a sense, the future of our civilization) depends on the extent to which the Church will be capable of devoting itself to those ‘seekers’.

“It will not be a matter of missionary activity in the traditional sense of bringing ‘seekers’ into existing Church structures. It will be a ministry of ‘accompanying seekers’. More than pastors, the Church nowadays needs spiritual teachers (a role described in the Eastern Churches as starets or elder). More than preachers, it needs those who are capable of offering ‘spiritual exercises and fraternal conversation,” Msgr. Halik said.

A lecturer in many universities world-wide and well-known author, Msgr. Halik was awarded in 2014 with the Templeton Prize, an award given to those “who have contributed to elevate the world’s spiritual profile.”

Hailing from a country where 70 per cent of people are self-proclaimed atheists, the Czech priest said he would not “like to be a priest in a country where faith is taken for granted.” He underscored that “the most difficult sort of evangelization is in an environment where people think they already know everything, or almost everything, about God.”

Msgr. Halik explained that often “most of the people who consider themselves atheists are merely rejecting their own (or uncritically adopted) primitive conceptions of God, faith and the Church.” He added that such persons “are surprised when I tell them that, in a certain respect, I profoundly agree with them: namely, that the god they reject truly does not exist.”

“What worries me more is that many of those who regard themselves as believers truly do hold to such primitive concept,” Msgr. Halik stressed.

“Evangelization is the adventure of uncovering the unknown Jesus,” he continued, “and in that ‘atheists’ are much more interesting partners than traditional Christians.”

According to Msgr. Halik, the basis of evangelization is “inculturation, creatively embodying the message of the Gospel in a lived culture, in people’s way of life of thinking. Evangelization without a dialogue with culture is nothing but religious propaganda and indoctrination.”

“When I see people being manipulated in emotional religious mega-shows at stadiums, I repeat to myself the Word of the Bible: God was not in the whirlwind. The Gospel is a seed that must be sown deeply in good soil,” he said.

Msgr. Halik stressed that Church needs a new ecclesiology, a new self-perception” to rise again, commenting Pope Francis’ commitment to calling back those who have moved away from the Church.

“Many prodigal sons have the feeling that, if they return, they will not find the open arms of a generous and merciful father, but the wagging finger of the embittered elder brother. Thank God, Pope Francis is changing much of that image of the Church,” Msgr. Halik said.

Pope Francis’ moves toward reform “are reminiscent of the ‘cultural revolution’ of Francis of Assisi,” Msgr. Halik said.

“The important thing is, however, not simply to adore the Pope, but like him to take seriously God’s challenge to ‘Go and repair my house, which is failing into ruin.’“

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope urges prayers for victims, assailants of ‘cruel’ Paris attack

by CNA/EWTN News • January 8, 2015

Pope Francis says Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica, Jan. 6, 2014. (Kyle Burkhart/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis’ first words at Mass on Thursday were a prayer for the victims of yesterday’s attack on employees of a satirical newspaper in Paris, with a plea for the assailants’ conversion.

“The attack yesterday in Paris makes us think of so much cruelty – human cruelty – so much terrorism, both isolated terrorism and terrorism of the state. Of how much cruelty is man capable!” the Roman Pontiff lamented in his Jan. 8 homily.

He invited attendees to join him in praying during the Mass “for the victims of this cruelty. So many! And let us also pray for the cruel ones, that the Lord (may) change their hearts.”

Pope Francis addressed those present for Mass in the Vatican’s St. Martha Guesthouse chapel, which took place one day after the attack in Paris that left 12 dead. Gunmen had attacked the office of the Charlie Hebdo, a French satirical weekly that has published insulting cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed.

Pope Francis’ homily focused on the love of God.

“God is love! It is only on the path of love that you can know God,” he said, explaining that loving our neighbors is a concrete way of loving God, who is understood more by the heart than by the intellect.

The Roman Pontiff then drew attention to the two commandments Christ refers to in scripture as being the most important, the first of which is to love the Lord God with all of one’s heart, mind and soul. The second is to love one’s neighbor as oneself.

In order to get to the first “we must ascend the steps of the second: that means that through our love for our neighbor we can get to know God, who is love. Only through loving can we reach love,” he said.

Because love comes from God, the person loves knows him, while it is impossible to know him for those who do not love, the Bishop of Rome explained, noting that God’s love is not like that “of a soap opera,” but is rather strong and lasting.

This love is manifested in Christ, the Son of God who came to save us, he observed, explaining that to truly know and love God “we must walk through life in love, love for our neighbor, love for those who hate us, love for all.”

Pope Francis then noted how it is in the person of Christ that we can contemplate the love of God, and said that it is by following his example that we can ascend the steps of love and arrive at knowledge of God, who is love itself.

He then turned to the day’s Gospel reading from Luke, which recounts the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fish.

The people flocked to hear Christ, he said, “because they were like sheep without a shepherd, they had no orientation.”

Although there are many today who also lack a clear direction in their lives, the Lord is always there to accompany show us the way, just like he did with the disciples, who didn’t always understand what was going on, the Roman Pontiff observed.

“God’s love always awaits us; it always takes us by surprise. Our Father who loves us so much is always ready to forgive us. Always! Not once, always!”

The Roman Pontiff concluded his homily by praying that God would give all the grace to know one another, and to get to know God by advancing on the path of love.

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VATICAN NEWS

French imams, Vatican: ‘Without freedom of expression, the world is in danger’

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • January 8, 2015

(L-R) Tareq Oubrou, Bishop Michel Dubost of Evry-Corbeil-Essonnes, Djelloul Seddiki, Fr. Christophe Roucou, and Mohammed Moussaoui in Rome, Jan. 8, 2015. (Andrea Gagliarducci/CNA)

Vatican City — French imams visiting the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue released Thursday a joint communique condemning the attack on Charlie Hebdo and calling for freedom of expression.

“Without freedom of expression, the world is in danger,” the Jan 8. statement reads.

It also asked that the media provide information which is “respectful of religions.”

Signed by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, the release comes at the end of a two-day visit to the Vatican of a delegation of French imams, accompanied by representatives of the French bishops conference.

Cardinal Tauran and the imams write they are “shocked” by the attack on Charlie Hebdo, and back Pope Francis’ words, underscoring their “closeness and human and spiritual solidarity to the victims and their families.”

Considering the impact of media on public opinion, the Vatican and the imams also invited “responsible media to provide information that is respectful of religions, of their followers and of their practices, thus fostering a culture of encounter.”

The release also asked religious leaders to “always promote a culture of peace and hope, able to win over fear and to build bridges among men,” and stressed that interreligious dialogue “is the only path to walk together in order to dissipate prejudices.”

Before the meeting at the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, the four imams launched the idea of a mobilization of all religions in France to testify that “no religion is violent.”

Djellou Seddiki, director of the al Ghazzali Institute of the Mosque of Paris, told CNA Jan. 8 that his mosque has delivered an appeal to all the mosques,synagogues, and Catholic churches of France for this purpose.

“I lived the Charlie Hebdo attack as a double violence: I am stricken as a French citizen and as a Muslim, since the Muslim community is always on the dock,” Seddiki said.

Seddiki also asked for a renewed interreligious dialogue, as did Bishop Michel Dubost of Evry-Corbeil-Essonnes.

The bishop accompanied the imams during their Vatican visit, as he is president of the French bishops’ interreligious relations council.

Bishop Dubost explained to CNA that “the state of Christian-Muslim dialogue in France varies according to the area… but we have a lot of dialogue. Probably in France, like in many other countries, it is difficult to go and see the other. We should learn that dialogue is not ‘each each’, but ‘each other.”

The attack in Paris was stigmatized by Cardinal André Vingt-Trois of Paris, who issued a statement to express “horror” at the attacks and “deep compassion for the families and friends of the victims. With the Catholics of Paris, he condemns this act of barbarism and calls for people to work ever more diligently to build relationships of peace and mutual respect in our society.”

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, also sent on Pope’s behalf a telegram to Cardinal Ving-Trois, saying the Pope “joins prayer for the families” whose beloved are dead, and “condemns once again the violence that generates so much pain.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope: Spend a lot of time looking in the mirror? You might be a narcissist

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 9, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims during his Oct. 29, 2014 General Audience. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — In his homily Friday Pope Francis cautioned against the narcissism of those who close their hearts out of fear, insecurity or vanity, saying that only the Holy Spirit can make us docile and open to love.

“We have ‘mirror men and women’ (who are wedded to their own image in the mirror), who are closed in on themselves and are constantly looking at themselves, right? These religious narcissists, right?” the Pope told those present for his Jan. 9 daily Mass.

These people, he said, “have a hardened heart because they are closed in on themselves, they are not open. And they seek to defend themselves with these walls that they have created around themselves.”

Pope Francis spoke to those present in the chapel of the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse, centering his reflections on the day’s Gospel reading, which recounted how Jesus’ disciples were afraid when they saw him walking on the water.

The reason for their fear was that their hearts had been hardened, the Pope observed, explaining that a person’s heart can become like stone for various reasons, including a painful life experience.

However, there are those whose hearts become hard because they close in on themselves and refuse to go out, he said, noting that these people create “a world within oneself, all closed in. Closed within oneself, in one’s community or parish, but always closed in.”

Closure such as this can have many different roots, the Bishop of Rome explained, pointing out that pride, self-sufficiency, vanity and the tendency to think we are better than others are all common causes.

Other hearts harden due to problems of insecurity and fear, in which the person barricades themselves behind a wall of rules and regulations, the pontiff continued, noting that in reality these people create a prison for themselves in order to feel safe.

“When a heart becomes hardened, it’s not free, and if it’s not free it’s because that person isn’t capable of love,” he said, referring to the day’s first reading from the First Letter of John, in which the apostle declares that perfect love casts out all fear.

Love has no fear because fear anticipates some sort of punishment, the Roman Pontiff observed, explaining that a person who is fearful is not free, and doesn’t have this perfect love which the apostle spoke about.

Fearful people, he said, “are constantly afraid that something painful or sad will occur which will cause their life to go badly or will endanger their eternal salvation…What an (over-active) imagination, because he or she can’t love!”

Pope Francis then said that despite all of the different spirituality or study courses we take, it is only through the Holy Spirit that it is possible to learn how to love and to be open.

“You can follow thousands of catechism courses, thousands of spirituality courses, thousands of yoga or Zen courses and all these things. But none of this will be able to give you the freedom as a child (of God).”

“Only the Holy Spirit can prompt your heart to say ‘Father’” and break the hardness of heart so that it is free to love, the Pope explained.

He concluded by emphasizing that the Holy Spirit does not simply make our hearts “soft,” but rather makes them “docile…Docile toward the Lord; docile when it comes to the freedom to love.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Vatican theologians reportedly recognize martyrdom of Oscar Romero

by CNA/EWTN News • January 9, 2015

Archbishop Oscaro Romero of San Salvador. (Javier Hidalgo via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Vatican City — According to Italy’s daily Catholic newspaper, the commission of theologians at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints has recognized the 1980 assassination of Salvadoran archbishop Oscar Romero as a martyrdom.

“According to canonical practice, all that remains for the beatification is the judgement of the commission of bishops and cardinals and finally the approbation of the Pope, concluding the procedure that would soon lead to beatification” Avvenire’s Stefania Falasca wrote Jan. 8.

The theologians unanimously approved a finding that the archbishop was killed for hatred of the faith, and thus that his death was a martyrdom.

Oscar Romero y Galdamez was Archbishop of San Salvador from 1977 until March 24, 1980, when he was shot while saying Mass. He was a vocal critic of the human rights abuses of the repressive Salvadoran government, and he spoke out on behalf of the poor and the victims of the government.

No one has been prosecuted for his assassination, but right-wing death squads are suspected.

Archbishop Romero’s cause of canonization was opened in 1993, but was reportedly held up in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith from 2000 to 2005; as part of the inquiry in a cause of sainthood, the doctrinal dicastery is charged with reviewing the subject’s writings to ensure they are free of error.

Both Pope Francis and Benedict XVI hold Archbishop Romero in high regard.

En route to Brazil on May 9, 2007, Benedict told journalists that the Salvadoran “was certainly an important witness of the faith, a man of great Christian virtue who worked for peace and against the dictatorship, and was assassinated while celebrating Mass. Consequently, his death was truly ‘credible’, a witness of faith.”

“The problem,” he continued, “was that a political party wrongly wished to use him as their badge, as an emblematic figure. How can we shed light on his person in the right way and protect it from these attempts to exploit it?”

Archbishop Romero has been held up particularly by supporters of Marxism, because of his advocacy for the poor and his opposition to the Salvadoran military government.

Benedict continued: “This is the problem. It is under examination and I await confidently what the Congregation for the Causes of Saints will have to say on the matter.”

During his Jan. 7 General Audience address, Pope Francis quoted Archbishop Romero’s saying that mothers experience a “martyrdom of motherhood,” and went on to quote extensively from one of the archbishop’s homilies, for the funeral of a priest assassinated by death squads.

And while on his flight to South Korea on Aug. 18, 2014, Pope Francis said it is “very important” to “quickly” move forward Archbishop Romero’s cause, adding that “for me Romero is a man of God, but the process has to be followed, and the Lord too has to give his sign… If he wants to do it, he will do it.”

“What I would like is a clarification about martyrdom in odium fidei, whether it can occur either for having confessed the Creed or for having done the works which Jesus commands with regard to one’s neighbour. And this is a task for the theologians. They are studying it.”

With the latest news from the theologians of the congregations for saints’ causes, it seems the theologians have made the clarification they were asked for.

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VATICAN NEWS

Religious extremism or fruit of nihilism? Vatican newspaper questions terrorism

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • January 10, 2015

The then-remaining section of the World Trade Center surrounded by rubble, Sept. 27, 2001. (Bri Rodriguez/FEMA News Photo)

Vatican City — Following the attack on the French magazine ‘Charlie Hebdo’, the Vatican’s newspaper has commented that behind these ‘inhuman acts’ is an undeclared nihilism, which can be glimpsed through the exaltation of suicide and the evident drive to death.

“The totalitarian collectivism aim at the destruction of humanity and to its self-annihilation. A dark soul beats from the deep of this ideological hell, and there lies a sense of what we may think without a scope. We are still in front to nihilism, that some of philosophers have declared overcome and obsolete,” L’Osservatore Romano published in its Jan. 8 edition.

Dario Fertilio, the author of the article, stressed that “terroristic violence” may be described as inhuman, since “every totalitarian ideology hides a human inclination to dominate the other and to instrumentally use terror and violence for its own purpose.”

The author compares jihadism with Bolshevik communism or National Socialism, aiming to find an inner sense to the car-bombs in Iraq, to the beheadings perpetrated by the Islamic State, to al-Qaeda suicide attacks, and to slaughter of innocents by Boko Haram.

According to the Vatican newspaper, current explanation of the phenomenon may be reductive, or at least superficial.

Beyond the wish “to cause pain to the enemy to educate him,” or the attacks on education – “with a fury that is considered an outcome of a not well specified cultural backwardness,” the author identifies an “inflexible logic and even foreseeable” of any totalitarian system, that “may be assimilated to the action of a virus, of ideologic kind.”

The article stress that any totalitarianism needs to keep on expanding, although it might be able to use “skilled diplomatic and communicative strategies,” since “if it quits” expanding “it means it entered in a phase of regression, and this decline may mean his end.”

Despite jihadism being seemingly far from a regression or an end, the Vatican newspaper stress that since totalitarian ideology is unable to spread, it tends to attack itself, “targeting those that in theory” the ideology “should represent and protect.”

Hence, “the intimidation of dissidents, the doing-away of any opposition, the eruption of heterodoxies, the generalized internal terror against the ‘different’ and the ‘unfaithful’, the denouncing of plots or betrayal and so on.”

In the end, “terrorism and acts of ruthless violence may solely be masks of their true totalitarian nature,” that “like a parasite, uses every tool at its disposal – a sacred book, national pride, the worship of land, of blood, of social class belonging – only for instrumentalization, with the task to pursue the real hidden target of controlling power. And this control may be in turn only functional to perpetuate its system of dominating.”

These are the nihilist roots of the most recent events, according to the Vatican newspaper.

“Everybody, taken by the need to denounce the mass conformism and the modern forms of authoritarianism, have forgotten the heart of darkness, that is the totalitarian evil as the diabolical illness of power uniquely able to destroy,” L’Osservatore Romano reads.

The article concludes that, as this power goes beyond every limit, “it cannot be anything else than pure energy of overpowering, inexhaustible source of pain and death.”

“Destructive and self-destructive, in an attempt to replace God, perhaps we are now facing the nihilism” denounced by the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky and later theorized as a “vital force” by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzche.

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VATICAN NEWS

Charity isn’t just helping others – it’s a way of life, Pope says

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 10, 2015

Pope Francis greets faithful before mass outside of Istanbul’s Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis told an audience of Haiti earthquake survivors and relief agencies that restoration is only possible when communities unite in charity, tearing down walls of individualism and focusing on others.

“Charity is even yet more authentic and more incisive when it is lived in communion,” the Pope told audience attendees Jan. 10.

Communion, he said, “shows that charity is not merely about helping others, but is a dimension that permeates the whole of life and breaks down all those barriers of individualism which prevent us from encountering one another.”

The Roman Pontiff offered his words to participants of a Jan. 10 conference he called for in the Vatican to commemorate the earthquake that devastated Haiti five years ago, and to draw attention to the restoration that both has been done, and still needs to be done.

Organized by the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum” as well as the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, the conference was entitled “The Communion of the Church: Memory and Hope for Haiti Five Years after the Earthquake.”

A massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake ripped through the island of Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, destroying much of the nation’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. The quake killed an estimated 230,000 people, and left more than 1.5 million people without shelter.

Three young men who lost a leg as a result of the quake were also present for the Vatican encounter.

After receiving prosthetics with the help of the Knights of Columbus in partnership with the University of Miami’s affiliate project Medishare, the young men have gone on to play soccer on a national team of amputees called “Team Zaryen.”

In his address to the conference participants, Pope Francis noted how a community can only be rebuilt when the human person, in all of their integral components, is at the center of activities and initiatives.

No country can be fully restored unless each individual is also rebuilt in “his or her totality,” he said, explaining that this means “ensuring that the material needs of every person be met, and that they be able to be free to assume their responsibilities and to further their own spiritual and religious lives.”

Because of the transcendental nature of the human being, humanitarian and pastoral initiatives do not conflict with one another, but complement each other, the pontiff observed, noting that a combination of the two helps persons to mature and be able to devote themselves to helping others.

Ecclesial communion is another essential aspect of reconstructing a society, the Bishop of Rome observed, pointing out how much charitable work has been carried out by various dioceses, religious institutes and charitable organizations, as well as many lay men and women.

“This variety of agencies is a positive factor, since it is a sign of the vitality of the Church and of the generosity of so many,” he said, and thanked God for their witness of living the “law of charity,” which he said resides at the core of the Gospel message.

Charity composes the innermost life of the Church and is shown though the joint efforts of many, he said, noting that it is Christ who shows us the true path of service to others.

“It would be a contradiction to live charity apart from one another!” the Pope explained, and invited those present to “strengthen every possible means of working together.”

Pope Francis concluded his address by drawing attention to the importance of the local church, saying that it is there that the Christian life is “made tangible.”

He encouraged the bishops and priests of Haiti to increase their zeal, so that the faithful of their dioceses and parishes would be inspired to renew efforts in Christian formation and evangelization, thus rendering the Church in the country “more alive and fruitful.”

“The witness of evangelical charity is effective when it is sustained by personal relationship with Jesus in prayer, in listening to the word of God, and in the reception of the Sacraments. This is the true ‘strength’ of the local Church,” the pontiff observed.

The Pope closed his address by thanking those present for their efforts in helping to rebuild the destruction of Haiti, and prayed for the fruitful continuation of their work.

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WORLD NEWS

‘No human invention’ – Marriage a divine plan, bishop says

by CNA/EWTN News • January 5, 2015

(scribbletaylor via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Shrewsbury, England — Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury has responded to Pope Francis’ call for renewed commitment to the “Gospel of the Family” by releasing a pastoral letter on the special vocation and mission of the family.

The pastoral letter was read at Mass in all the churches and chapels of the Shrewsbury diocese Dec. 28, the feast of the Holy Family, and reminded the faithful of the Church’s constant and unchangeable teaching regarding human sexuality, marriage, and the family.

“I write to you today in the light of the Child born for us, the Saviour who was given to us within the love and unity of a human family,” Bishop Davies said. “On this Feast of the Holy Family of Nazareth, as we celebrate the holiness of family life and begin a ‘Year for Vocations’ in the Diocese, I want to reflect on the ‘Vocation and Mission of the Family.’“

This, he noted, is “the title Pope Francis has given to the Synod of Bishops to take place in the New Year. It will be a year for Catholics across the world to reaffirm our faith in God’s plan for the family, and to do so amidst the many challenges confronting the holiness of marriage and the life of the family. In a few, simple words I want to affirm what the Church has always believed about marriage and the family.”

Bishop Davies wrote that marriage is “no human invention” but is part of God’s plan, which has existed since the union of Adam and Eve in Eden, and was raised to the dignity of a sacrament by Christ.

“To the astonishment of a people who practised divorce, Jesus reaffirmed that the union of marriage is indissoluble. ‘What God has united,’ Our Lord tells us in the Gospel, ‘man must not divide’ (Mt. 19:6). We believe that this unbreakable union of man and woman provides both the foundation of the family and becomes for all the image of the unfailing love of God. This is no small claim to make! St. Paul declares this to be ‘a great mystery … in reference to Christ and the Church’ (Eph. 5: 32).”

He added that the union of a husband and wife “must always be open to new life, to the children God may entrust to the couple” and that “we are all called to chastity according to our state in life. Indeed, it is by living the beautiful virtue of chastity that we ensure we use this gift of sexuality in accord with God’s purpose.”

This chastity can be lived in both marriage and consecrated life, and these vocations support each other: “let us be filled with wonder and gratitude for God’s plan and purpose in marriage and family life; in the beauty of chastity; in the joy of consecrated virginity and apostolic celibacy. It is God’s grace that makes it possible for us to live these vocations faithfully; and if we fall short that same God-given grace heals us, making it possible to set out once again on the path of conversion.”

In preparation for October’s ordinary synod on the family – a gathering of the world’s bishops in Rome to discuss pastoral issues surrounding the family – Bishop Davies said that “Pope Francis invites us all to make a ‘true, spiritual discernment’ in the light of our Catholic faith. To ‘discern’ means to make a right judgment.”

He reminded everyone, “Pope Francis has made it clear, contrary to many stories circulating in the media, that the Church does not function like a parliament, nor can truth be determined by opinion polls. The Church seeks to live subject to God’s Word, certain that the light and beauty of truth – despite our fallen nature – can be recognised by the conscience of every man and woman.”

The bishop pointed to a pamphlet produced by the English and Welsh bishops conference, “The Call, the Journey and the Mission,” inviting the people in reading it “to write and share the fruits of your own reflection on how we are called to give witness to the Gospel of the Family. This will contribute to the wider discernment within the Church in the year ahead.”

“May the New Year, 2015, lead us to give renewed witness to the Gospel of the Family,” Bishop Davies concluded. “I send this message with my blessing for you and for your family.”

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WORLD NEWS

Pope Francis casts into the deep to find two cardinals for Oceania

by Antonio Anup Gonsalves (CNA/EWTN News) • January 5, 2015

Consistory of cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica, Nov. 4, 2014. (Lewis Ashton Glancy/CNA)

Wellington, New Zealand — At his Angelus address on Jan. 4 Pope Francis announced the appointment of 20 cardinals, among whom are two representatives from Oceania: Archbishop John Dew of Wellington, and Bishop Soane Mafi of Tonga.

They will be made cardinals at a consistory held in the Vatican Feb. 14.

“We are in the vacation season celebrating the joy of Christmas and the appointment of Archbishop John Dew of Wellington (as cardinal) is a proud moment and has brought us great joy,” Dame Lyndsay Freer, head of social communications at the Archdiocese of Auckland, told CNA Jan. 5.

Hearing the announcement, Archbishop Dew said, “I’m honoured and humbled to be given this new task in my priestly vocation and in representing the people of Aotearoa New Zealand and the region in the global Church.”

“Although we are geographically far from much of the world, Pope Francis has gone to the periphery of the world to name new cardinals.”

The archbishop also noted that “this news is recognition of the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand and the contribution it makes to the global Catholic family.”

Further congratulating Bishop Mafi, the archbishop added, “I’m delighted to hear that Bishop Soane Mafi of Tonga has also been named in the list; together it is not only great news for New Zealand and Tonga, but for the Oceania region.”

Bishop Patrick Dunn of Auckland commented that “it is a great blessing for the people of Aotearoa New Zealand, and for the people of Tonga and our Tongan community that Bishop Soane Mafi is to be their new cardinal.”

“As we congratulate Cardinal John and Cardinal Soane, let us keep them in our prayers that they will be richly blessed in the new responsibilities to which they have been called.”

Fr. Line Folaumoeloa, chaplain for the ethnic Tongan community in Auckland, told CNA Jan. 5, “it is a tremendous joy and honor for us in the small remote South Pacific of Oceania to have a first Tongan cardinal.”

“We thank Pope Francis for acknowledging the universality and diversity in the Church, and for the gift of two cardinals from Oceania.”

Fr. Line described that the Tongan community has been very active in the apostolate mission of the Church and has given large number of missionary vocations who are serving in the different parts of the world.

Bishop Soane Patita Paini Mafi was born in 1961 in Nuku’alofa, the capital of Tonga, a Polynesian island nation located northeast of New Zealand. He studied philosophy and theology at the Pacific Regional Seminary in Fiji.

He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Tonga in 1991, where he served in parishes and as vicar general. He studied psychology at Loyola College in Baltimore, and served as a professor, formator, and vice rector of Fiji’s Pacific Regional Seminary.

He was consecrated a bishop in 2007, serving as the Tonga diocese’s coadjutor. He succeeded as its ordinary in 2008. He is president of the Pacific bishops conference, and took part in the extraordinary Synod on the Family in 2014.

He told Catholic San Francisco when he was appointed a coadjutor bishop that “It’s exciting. I’m the bishop now, the shepherd … it makes me a little uneasy at the same time, because I want to be myself. It’s kind of a mixed feeling, excited but at the same time overwhelming. Now I belong to everybody.”

Archbishop John Atcherly Dew was born in Waipawa in 1948, and was educated at St Joseph’s School, Waipukurau. He completed his ecclesiastical studies at Holy Name Seminary at Christchurch and Holy Cross National Seminary of Mosgiel.

He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Wellington in 1976, serving in parishes as well as being the archdiocesan youth minister and a chaplain to the Maori community. He also studied at the St. Anselm Institute in England.

In 1995 he was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Wellington Archdiocese, and in 2004 was appointed its coadjutor. He succeeded as ordinary in 2005, and was the same year appointed bishop of New Zealand’s military ordinariate, as well.

He is president of the New Zealand bishops conference and of the Federation of Catholic Bishops Conferences of Oceania.

Archbishop Dew told New Zealand journalists Katie Chapman and Michael Field Jan. 5 that “my main responsibility is as the Archbishop of Wellington and … that won’t change.” He added that he became a priest because “I needed to be doing something that would make a difference to the lives of others … the call of the gospel was the only way that made sense for me.”

During the 2005 Synod on the Eucharist, Archbishop Dew gave an intervention on Oct. 4 suggesting that the divorced and remarried could be admitted to Communion.

He also participated in 2014’s Synod on the Family; he told Vatican Radio Oct. 10 that “overall there is a great sense of hope not that things are going to change immediately, but that at least we can talk about some of these issues that in the past we haven’t been able to talk about,” adding that “nine years ago at the Synod on the Eucharist I talked about the possibility of communion for the divorced and remarried and got a lot of criticism. Now at this Synod its being talked about openly by many, many people.”

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Preparing for Francis, Sri Lanka Church considers roadmap for peace

by Reinhard Backes (Aid to the Church in Need) • January 6, 2015

Sri Lankan Catholic students. (Aid to the Church in Need)

New York City, N.Y. — Deep wounds have barely begun healing. Only few years have passed since Sri Lanka’s civil war ended in May 2009. It is estimated that more than 100,000 people died in the conflict, most of them in the final months of the war.

In 2010, a reconciliation commission was established to deal with atrocities committed by government troops in the northern and eastern parts of the island nation. But little has been done so far, reported a Sri Lankan Roman Catholic bishop.

There are doubts whether the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa even wishes to deal with the painful past. Following the army’s defeat of the Tamil rebellion, a new Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalist ideology has taken hold in Sri Lanka, explained Bishop Joseph Rayappu of Manar in northwestern Sri Lanka.

“Leaving the past behind and wanting to forget is consistent with a certain Buddhist mentality. This, of course, makes it difficult” to bring about national reconciliation, he told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need in a recent interview.

Bishop Rayappu argues that reconciliation is a necessary condition for bringing about a lasting peace between the Sinhalese and Tamil. Already, new tensions have arisen.

The bishop has high hopes for the visit of Pope Francis, who is due to visit Sri Lanka Jan. 12-15, 2014. On that score, President Rajapaksa’s decision to schedule the presidential elections to Jan. 8, 2014 has upset Church leaders. They petitioned the government to not schedule the vote so close to the papal visit – but to no avail.

Bishop Rayappu referred to the Sri Lankan bishops’ December 2013 pastoral letter, “Towards Reconciliation and Rebuilding of our Nation,” as a roadmap for the country. In their letter, the country’s 15 bishops insisted that the reconciliation commission’s call for “the gradual integration of the different communities in the country as a whole, and in the North and East in particular, should be taken seriously.”

In addition to a call for the implementation of a tri-lingual system – Sinhala, Tamil, and English – in schools and universities, the bishops recommend close cooperation among the various ethnic and religious groups of the country, while also expressing a need for courage in dealing with the dark sides of the civil war.

Around 70 percent of the population of 21 million Sri Lankans are Buddhist; 12 percent are Hindu; about 10 percent are Muslim; and some 8 percent Christian, the bulk of them Catholics. Ethnically, the country is less diverse: 75 percent are Sinhalese, about 15 percent Tamil; and about 10 percent are referred to as Moors, who are mostly Muslim.

Even though the Catholic Church only represents a minority of the population, it has taken on a key role: it is the only religious denomination that counts members from all the various ethnic groups among its faithful.

In their pastoral letter the bishops, emphasized that “man’s unending dignity stems from the fact that he was created by God” and that “each human being is more important and valuable than all the rest of creation. This dignity, he carries within himself, irrespective of all differences.”

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‘It’s like Jesus is coming to the Philippines’: Frenzy builds over Francis

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 6, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square after Vespers on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, 2014. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Rome, Italy — A priest on the papal flight for Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to the Philippines said the country is anxiously awaiting the pontiff and is anticipating his paternal closeness with those who suffer.

“For us Filipinos, (the Pope) is really the representative of Jesus on earth, so it’s like Jesus (is) coming to the Philippines,” Father Gregory Gaston told CNA Dec. 9.

Local faithful truly view the Pope “as a father, so it’s like a father visiting his children,” he said. “The people will listen to him, the people will try to see him as much as they can and experience his message of mercy and compassion.”

Fr. Gaston, who currently serves as rector for the Pontifical Filipino College, will accompany Pope Francis on his flights to and from his Jan. 12-19 visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines as a media correspondent for the Philippine Catholic radio station “Radyo Veritas.”

The priest currently speaks with the station on a weekly basis for their nationwide broadcast.

With many people in the Philippines currently suffering in either a material, financial or physical way, the Pope’s visit promises to be “an uplifting of their spiritual perspective,” Fr. Gaston said.

He referred to how Pope Francis, in addition to his time in the Philippine capital of Manila, will visit the eastern city of Tacloban, which has been devastated by two hurricanes since last year.

Super typhoon Yolanda ravaged the country just over a year ago, in November 2013, claiming the lives of around 6,000 people, while another typhoon, Hagupit, tore through the eastern islands of the Philippines this past December, causing even more devastation.

In his Jan. 17 visit to Tacloban, the Pope will celebrate mass after arriving, and will then have lunch with survivors of typhoon Yolanda. Afterward he will go on to bless the city’s “Pope Francis Center for the Poor” and will hold mass for priests, religious, seminarians and families of the typhoon survivors.

Fr. Gaston observed how Pope Francis is also slated to meet with victims of recent earthquakes in the surrounding areas, and referred to the encounters as “symbolic.”

Although Pope Francis will only be visiting “a specific island, he’ll actually be visiting everyone, all those (who are) suffering,” the priest said. He noted how during certain meetings, people representing cities from all over the country will have the opportunity to meet and visit with the Pope.

“The theme of the visit is ‘Mercy and Compassion,’ so people will be experiencing and will try to experience this mercy of God, compassion of God, especially since many Filipinos are suffering in one way or another.”

As his second trip to Asia in six months, Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines is also a sign of the continent’s potential in terms of faith and Christianity, Fr. Gaston said. The majority of Asia’s Catholic population, he added, live in the Philippines.

He pointed out how the mayor of Manila, Joseph Estrada, declared a 5-day, non-working holiday for the duration of the Pope’s visit due to safety and security concerns with the large number of pilgrims expected to come.

The move has also been credited in part as being made in order to allow Catholics to participate in the papal activities.

The institution of the holiday, Fr. Gaston said, shows “how much we appreciate the Pope himself.” Although the holidays were primarily declared for logistical purposes, “it also shows how high our regard, our esteem for the Holy Father is.”

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Cardinal wowed by vocation surge at Rome’s American seminary

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 6, 2015

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, blesses a new building at the North American College in Rome on Jan. 6, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Rome, Italy — The Vatican’s Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin voiced enthusiasm at seeing the high number of American seminarians studying in Rome – calling it a sign that vocations are on the rise.

“What strikes me is the number of seminarians who are studying here in this college, which means that at least in some areas vocations are growing,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin told American journalists Jan. 6.

Cardinal Parolin made his comments at the end of the dedication ceremony for a new addition to the Pontifical North American College in Rome, over which he presided.

After starting on the terrace, the cardinal worked his way down, blessing every floor with prayer and holy water. He was accompanied by seminarians who sang and processed with him throughout the celebration.

Inaugurated by Bl. Pius IX in 1859, the seminary has spent the last four years at housing capacity, following a several year lull of incoming vocations. The new space was added to meet the needs of a growing community at the college and to enhance their current program for priestly formation.

The new addition contains 36,000 square feet spread out across 10 floors. It includes a bishop’s lounge with two guest suites, classrooms, a Mass teaching classroom with an altar at the front and a raised ceiling, new offices and a conference room.

A private chapel, named after St. John Paul II, was also added to give seminarians a place for secluded prayer.

The chapel contains a relic of the saint, as well as stained glass windows of Venerable Michael McGivney, founder of the Knights of Columbus; Venerable Fulton Sheen; St. John Paul II; Blessed Teresa of Calcutta; Mary; and Christ.

“I am very, very happy to be here and my joy has increased after the ceremony of the blessing of the new building,” Cardinal Parolin said, and emphasized that the large number of seminarians at the college is “very encouraging news.”

He expressed his hope that in addition to the rise in the number of vocations, “the quality of vocations” would also increase. Especially, he said, “the missionary vocation, as Pope Francis has asked of the priests, the ministers of the Church, and all of the Church.”

This missionary call, the cardinal observed, means placing oneself entirely at the service of the evangelization of the world, and especially at the service of the poor and most vulnerable of society.

For a seminarian to study and receive their priestly formation in Rome is important in terms of understanding the universality of the Church, he explained, saying that to experience the “catholicity” of the Church in this way is perhaps the biggest gift the seminarians receive.

The cardinal also pointed out that being in such close proximity to the Holy Father “is not taking anything from the local Churches, but is giving them more strength and more energy in the task they are performing.”

Americans, he said, offer the universal Church something unique in terms of “their sense of organization,” and lauded the way the seminarians at the college “are really, really giving their life to the Church.”

Editor’s note, January 7: The original version of this article incorrectly identified the inauguration of the North American College as having taken place in 1959 rather than 1859; Fr. McGivney’s first name as Arthur rather than Michael; and Fulton Sheen as a Servant of God rather than Venerable. It has since been corrected.

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A cultural focus for Pope Francis’ Portuguese cardinal

by CNA/EWTN News • January 7, 2015

Lisbon, Portugal — Pope Francis’ selection of Patriarch Manuel Macario do Nascimento Clemente of Lisbon as a new cardinal will bring to the College of Cardinals a churchman active in academics, culture and communications.

Patriarch Clemente was born in Torres Vedras, a municipality north of Lisbon, on July 16, 1948. He was ordained a priest of the Patriarchate of Lisbon in 1979, and consecrated as an auxiliary bishop of the patriarchate in 2000. In 2007, Benedict XVI named him Bishop of Porto, the second-largest city in Portugal.

Pope Francis appointed him Patriarch of Lisbon in May 2013, and he was installed in July of that year.

He has authored several books on Church history, theology, and the Church in the contemporary world, and he has also worked with several television and radio programs.

The cardinal-designate served on the Portuguese bishops’ committee on culture and social communications; he was vice-president of the Portuguese bishops’ conference from 2011 to 2013, and was elected president of the conference in 2013. He has been a member of the Pontifical Council on Social Communications since 2011.

In a May 2013 speech at a European Union meeting with religious leaders, Patriarch Clemente spoke of Europe’s “great diversity” and pluralism, while also discussing “the Christian foundation of Europe” as giving Europe a “fundamental” and “innovative” feature that distinguishes between the political and religious fields.

“This principle gives freedom to the state and freedom to religious belief, while acknowledging the specific order of each, as well as the desirable mutual collaboration in all that respects and serves the dignity of the citizens, believers or not,” he said, according to the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Community.

The patriarch holds a doctorate in theology from the Catholic University of Portugal, where he taught as a professor and served as a member of the university’s scientific society. He was director of the Center of Studies of Religious History at the university, and he has also served as rector of Christ the King Diocesan Seminary at Olivais in Lisbon.

Pope Francis will make Patriarch Clemente a cardinal at the 2015 consistory, held Feb. 14-15 at Vatican City. He will be among 20 new cardinals, and is one of the 15 new cardinals eligible to vote in a papal conclave.

While the Pope named several cardinals from dioceses which have never before had a cardinal, the Patriarch of Lisbon is traditionally made a cardinal. Patriarch Clemente’s predecessor, Jose Policarpo, was made a cardinal in 2001, and died last year at the age of 78.

The Lisbon diocese was established in the fourth century, and in 1716 was elevated to the status of a patriarchate by Clement XI.

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Iraqi Christians say there’s no going home after rise of Islamic State

by Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • January 7, 2015

Maan George Hanna, an Iraqi Christian refugee at a church shelter in Jordan. (Kim Pozniak/CRS)

Amman, Jordan — Christians lived in Iraq for nearly two thousand years, but the violent rise of the Islamic State has convinced many Christian refugees they must forever leave their homeland.

“No, we will never go back,” Taif Hanna, an engineer from Mosul, told reporters in Amman Oct. 28.

“ISIS tried to kill us,” he said. The militant group offered three choices: conversion to Islam, payment of an extortionate tax, or death.

“So we all fled Iraq,” Taif said.

The Islamic State, called Daesh by its Arabic-speaking opponents, surged across Iraq in 2014. In June it captured Mosul, a historic center of Iraqi Christianity on the Tigris River, near where the ancient city of Nineveh once stood.

Taif Hanna is one of about 47 Iraqi Christians who have taken shelter at a converted building on the grounds of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Naour, a district on the west side of Amman.

The shelter is lined with partitions eight feet tall to create small rooms. Near the entrance, a whiteboard bears an inscription, written in Arabic: “Blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.”

Next to the whiteboard are posters of two photos. One photo shows a statue of the Virgin Mary’s face. The cheeks beneath her eyes are stained, as if she has been crying blood.

It is captioned, “Your tears in every place are a purification, a bible of love, compassion and light.”

The other picture shows a large cross in silhouette. Behind the cross is a bright sunrise – or a sunset.

Taif’s 52-year-old father, Maan George Hanna, also does not think he will return home.

“I will leave all my history there. Because of the terrorism,” he lamented. “We have no trust in the government or anything. Never, forever.”

Hanna said his grandfather was “the servant of the oldest church in Mosul.”

The church was started in 360, he said. “More than 1,600 years ago.”

“We left all of that. We left all our history. We don’t want to go back. We are wanting peace.”

Hanna, his wife and children are all engineers from Mosul, where his father taught English. As a student, Hanna studied in Romania, Italy, and Spain. A polyglot, he speaks all three countries’ languages, in addition to English and Arabic.

Hanna and his family fled Mosul early on June 10, when they learned that “terrorists” were crossing the Tigris only 10 to 15 minutes away from their home.

“We left with these clothes,” Hanna said, pulling at his own shirt. “We left our home, we left our car, we left all the memories of the children. My own home.”

They escaped to Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan, and joined 30 other displaced persons in a small apartment. They didn’t have enough money for tickets out of the country.

Catholic groups such as Caritas Jordan helped fund Hanna and some of his family to travel to Jordan in mid-September.

However, his father, his mother, his brother and his family could not come because they didn’t have their passports.

“My father and mother are old, more than 75 years. They haven’t had to think about travel or leaving their house.”

As of late October, Hanna’s family in Iraq was seeking help from the French embassy.

“We don’t know the future. We are hoping now for the future of our children, only. Not for us.”

Hanna said his family had previously been forced to leave their homes several times in 2008 and 2009 due to fears of violence. Iraqi Christians had suffered problems for decades.

The beginning of the Iran-Iraq War in 1980 marked a turning point for the worse, he said.

“We were as prisoners in our own country,” he said of Iraqis. “Especially the Christians.”

He recounted that when one of his sons was in school, his Muslim classmates would cite his father’s middle name George – a Christian name – and laugh derisively that it was not a Muslim name.

“Will we go back? No,” Hanna said.

There were 1.6 to 1.8 million Christians in Iraq before the 2005 execution of Saddam Hussein. Now there are only an estimated 400,000 to 450,000.

Another of the Iraqi Christians in Jordan is Maitham Najib, a 36-year-old mechanic from Bakhdida, a largely Christian city 20 miles from Mosul which Islamic State seized on Aug. 7.

Najib was staying at a shelter at St. Ephriam Syriac Orthodox Church in the Amman area.

“Until now, we didn’t suffer as Jesus Christ,” he said. “This is nothing compared to what he did for us, to suffer for us.”

Najib, his wife, and his three children now live in cramped conditions at with dozens of other refugees at the church shelter, converted with the help of Catholic Relief Services. The shelter’s television played the U.S. show NCIS, subtitled in Arabic, as Najib’s children played the card game Uno at a table outside.

Najib’s father, his mother, and two sisters are still in Baghdad. But returning to Iraq is not an option for him.

“We don’t want to.”

Even before the rise of Islamic State, he was a victim of the violence which followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

Najib was living in Baghdad in 2005, when he was kidnapped and held for eight days by unknown attackers.

They released him, but robbed him and stabbed him at least ten times. He still has the scars.

Najib is pessimistic.

“We are thankful for the Jordanian government and for Caritas, what they are doing for us … but the situation is not good. They can’t give you everything.”

“It’s done for us, at this age,” he said. “We want to guarantee our children’s future: education, everything, for them. Especially for them.”

The pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church, a Latin Rite church in Amman, reflected on the refugees’ situation.

“They are suffering because they are Christians,” said Father Rifat Bader, who is also the general director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media.

“Faith is the main treasure that we have. When you see that these people, these families, found a way to escape without money, without gold, without their passport even, this means that the faith is more important than money, than gold, than everything.”

“Really they are teachers,” the priest said of the refugees.

“They are normal people, very kind people, people full of pride because they kept their faith. They could become (Muslims), in one moment, but they refused.” This was not “because they hate all Muslims or Islam,” he explained, but rather “they want to keep their faith because it is part of their identity.”

“They wanted to stay firm in their faith. It is very important, and it is a great lesson for all of us.”

In Jordan, Fr. Bader said, the refugees “feel the freedom, they feel a part of the Church, when they read the gospel or the readings in the Mass.”

“Their accent is full of sadness, but also full of hope.”

He particularly remembered a Christian girl from Mosul who said the Mass reading after her arrival.

”Who separates us from the love of Christ?” was the reading, from Romans 8.

“Not the death, nor persecution, nor Daesh is separating us,” Fr. Bader added.

He suggested that what the refugees did in keeping their faith is “a heroic part of the history of the Church.”

“People will be proud that these Christians left their country, but they kept their faith. This is greatness for the future.”

The priest acknowledged that the Christian refugees do not want to return to Iraq.

“To us, it is very sad to hear this,” he said.

While Palestinian refugees still dream of returning home 60 years after being displaced by Israel, he said, “the Iraqi man and woman feels sadness because something died in his heart. He doesn’t want to go home. He loves his homeland, his country, but what happened really injured him in the most deep inside his heart.”

He suggested this is because many refugees were forced out not by military occupation, but by their fellow citizens.

Fr. Bader said that King Abdullah II of Jordan and some other Arab leaders are speaking out against the persecution of Christians, and both Christian and Muslim Jordanians have worked to help Christian refugees fleeing Islamic State, though the priest said more opposition to the violence is needed.

The refugees’ sufferings have been a major contrast for Jordanian Christians, who have lived in peace.

“Sometimes we feel that our faith is without real political problems. It’s good. We have all that we need. Thank God for this, thanks for the leadership,” the priest said.

“But we have to learn from these people, that you have to be ready for any new ways of the Cross.”

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WORLD NEWS

Official song for World Youth Day 2016 debuted in Krakow

by CNA/EWTN News • January 7, 2015

(World Youth Day Krakow 2016)

Krakow, Poland — The official song for World Youth Day Krakow 2016, inspired by the theme “Blessed are the merciful,” was premiered in the Polish capital on Tuesday.

The official debuting of the song took place at the conclusion of the traditional procession of the Magi to mark the Solemnity of the Epiphany.

According to the WYD 2016 website, the song was composed by Jakub Blycharz, “a lawyer by education, a musician by passion.” He is the author of other liturgical compositions, including Dobry jest Pan (Good is the Lord), Bonum est praestolari (It is Good to Wait), Uczta Baranka (The Feast of the Lamb), ?wi?ta Dziewico (Oh, Holy Virgin), Amen, Godzien (Worthy) and Nie umr? (I Will Not Die).

Scheduled July 25 – Aug. 1, 2016, the upcoming World Youth Day is expected to attract swarms of pilgrims from around the globe.

The song for the gathering begins with words from Psalm 121 which convey “the certainty that our Merciful Lord watches over us and will fulfill his promise to be with us ‘now and forever.’ Already in the first verse – based on the words of the Old Testament – God is defined as merciful,” the website explains.

The second verse refers to the parable of the lost sheep in the Gospel of Luke, “giving us the hope that God does not tire of seeking to bring man to the fullness of life. In this parable Jesus assures us that a sinner’s conversion brings great joy to heaven.”

Reflecting the fifth Beatitude, the chorus picks up the theme of World Youth Day 2016: “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.” This is the message of World Youth Day Krakow, the city from which St. Faustina Kowalska spread the Divine Mercy devotion.

The third verse is inspired by Psalm 130: “If you should mark our sins, Lord, who could stand? But in you is found forgiveness, that you may be revered.”

The fourth verse speaks about salvation in Christ and the need to accept him as Redeemer and Lord, and the bridge is an invitation to have faith and trust in the Lord, who has truly risen.

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow was present for the performance, along with Blycharz. The initial version of the song is sung by Katarzyna Bogusz, Alexandra Maciejewska and Przemek Kleczkowski, with a 50-voice choir and an orchestra led by Hubert Kowalski.

To hear the song, click here: youtube.com/watch?v=eZRsoPmeZXk

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Vatican condemns ‘horrible attack’ on French newspaper

by Kevin J. Jones and Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • January 7, 2015

A still image from an amateur video posted on YouTube shows a moment of the assault on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, Jan. 7, 2015. (YouTube)

Paris, France — Pope Francis has voiced his “strongest condemnation” of the “horrible attack” on a French satirical newspaper that published insulting cartoons of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, and he urged opposition to all hatred and violence.

“Whatever may be the motivation, homicidal violence is abominable. It is never justified: the life and dignity of all must be firmly guaranteed and guarded; any instigation to hate refuted; and respect for the other cultivated,” Holy See press office director Father Federico Lombardi said Jan. 7.

He said Pope Francis “joins the prayers of the suffering and wounded, and of the families of the dead.” The Pope also expressed his closeness, spiritual solidarity and support for all those who “continue their constant efforts for peace, justice and law” in order to “heal in their depth the sources and causes of hate.”

The Pope “exhorts everyone to oppose, with every means, the spread of hatred and of every kind of violence, both physical and moral, with destroys human life, violates the dignity of the person, and radically undermines the strong foundation of peaceful coexistence among persons and peoples, notwithstanding differences of nationality, of religion, and of culture,” Fr. Lombardi said.

On Wednesday gunmen armed with a Kalashnikov and a rocket launcher attacked the Paris office of the newspaper Charlie Hebdo. They killed at least 12, including two police officers, and critically wounded four.

The attackers hijacked a car and sped away, shooting at police and running over a pedestrian, Agence France Presse reports.

According to police, witnesses said the attackers shouted phrases including “we have avenged the prophet” and “Allahu akbar,” an Arabic phrase meaning “God is greatest.”

The newspaper has a history of publishing provocative cartoons about Mohammed. In February 2006 it reprinted cartoons from the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten that provoked outrage among many Muslims; the newspaper’s offices were firebombed in November 2011 after publishing one cartoon of Mohammed.

In September 2012 the newspaper published cartoons showing Mohammed naked. The cartoon came at a time of violent protests over a low-budget film made in the U.S. that was insulting towards the founder of Islam.

The latest edition of Charlie Hebdo featured a front-page story on French author Michel Houellebecq, whose controversial new novel “Submission” portrays a France ruled by an Islamic government.

One of the victims, Stephane Charbonnier, Charlie Hebdo’s editor, had been the target of death threats and was living under police protection.

French officials have placed Paris on the highest security alert status in the wake of the attack.

Fr. Lombardi said the attack “ravaged the city of Paris” and was “sowing death, throwing consternation into the whole of French society” and “profoundly disturbing all peace-loving persons, well beyond the borders of France.”

French Catholic leaders also condemned the terrorist act.

“This is obviously unspeakable terror. Nothing can justify such violence,” the French bishops’ conference said. “The barbarism expressed in these killings hurts us all.”

“It affects more than freedom of expression, a fundamental element of our society,” the bishops said, adding that French society consists of “diversity of all kinds” and “must continually work to build peace and brotherhood.”

By coincidence, four French imams were at the Vatican for a two-day visit organized by the French bishops’ conference. The attack took place while they were at Pope Francis’ general audience at Vatican City’s Paul VI Hall.

Two of the imams spoke to the French media outlets La Croix and I-Media, condemning the attack as a “hijacking” of Islam. They called on French Muslims to denounce the attacks and hold public demonstrations against them. The imams warned that the attacks could split society and harm the assimilation and integration of Muslims into French society.

The French bishops expressed “deep emotion and horror” at the attack and voiced their concern for the victims’ families and friends. They expressed their “great sadness” for the editors and team of Charlie Hebdo.

They also warned that in such a situation anger “can overcome us” and people in France “need more than ever” to work to “strengthen peace.”

Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois of Paris expressed his “horror” and “deep compassion for the families and friends of the victims.”

“With the Catholics of Paris, he condemns this act of barbarism and called more than ever to work to build relationships of peace and mutual respect in our society,” a spokesman for the cardinal said.

U.S. leaders also reacted to the attacks. President Barack Obama said he “strongly” condemned the “horrific shooting.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims of this terrorist attack and the people of France at this difficult time,” he said. “Time and again, the French people have stood up for the universal values that generations of our people have defended. France, and the great city of Paris where this outrageous attack took place, offer the world a timeless example that will endure well beyond the hateful vision of these killers.”

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that free expression and a free press are “universal values” that can never be eradicated “because brave and decent people around the world will never give in to the intimidation and the terror that those seeking to destroy those values employ.”

Niwad Awad, national executive director of the U.S.-based Council on American-Islamic Relations condemned the “brutal and cowardly attack” and repudiated any “assault on freedom of speech, even speech that mocks faiths and religious figures.”

“The proper response to such attacks on the freedoms we hold dear is not to vilify any faith, but instead to marginalize extremists of all backgrounds who seek to stifle freedom and to create or widen societal divisions.”

Awad offered his condolences to the families and loved ones of the attack’s victims.

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French imams: Muslims must condemn ‘barbaric’ attack on newspaper

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • January 7, 2015

French flag. (Francois Schnell via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Vatican City — Two French imams visiting the Vatican have called on Muslims to respond to the deadly attack on the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo by rising up to express their disgust at the criminals who have “hijacked” their religion.

“Muslims are shocked and tired… the silent majority of them feel as if they are taken hostage,” Tareq Oubrou, director of the Mosque of Bordeaux, said Jan. 7.

Muslims need to demonstrate in public squares to “express their disgust” at the attack, he said, adding that the criminal action strikes “Islam and French Muslims.”

Mohammed Moussaoui, president of the Union of the French Mosque, emphasized that he was “frightened and shocked” by news of the attack, since he had just prayed with Pope Francis “for peace and brotherhood capable to consolidate and strengthen the world,” with a special intention for Christians in the Middle East.

“If extremists keep on doubling their effort and intensifying their actions, violence and atrocities, Muslims must intensify their reaction to these barbaric acts, sometimes unfortunately perpetuated in the name of Islam,” Moussaoui said.

The two religious leaders were among a delegation of four French imams making a two-day visit to the Vatican organized by the French bishops’ conference’s office for relations with Islam.

The Paris attack took place while the four imams were attending Pope Francis’ general audience in Vatican City’s Paul VI Hall. Oubrou and Mossaoui spoke about the attacks to the French news outlets La Croix and I-Media.

On Wednesday gunmen armed with a Kalashnikov and a rocket launcher attacked the Paris office of the newspaper Charlie Hebdo. They killed at least 12, including two police officers, and critically wounded four.

The attackers hijacked a car and sped away, shooting at police and running over a pedestrian, Agence France Presse reports.

According to police, witnesses said the attackers shouted phrases like “we have avenged the prophet” and “Allahu akbar,” an Arabic phrase meaning “God is greatest.”

The newspaper has a history of publishing provocative cartoons about Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, as well as obscene cartoons about Popes and Catholic nuns. Its latest edition featured a front-page story on French author Michel Houellebecq, whose controversial new novel “Submission” portrays a France ruled by an Islamic government.

French officials placed Paris on the highest security alert status in the wake of the attack.

Oubrou worried about the attack’s effects on France and on the French Muslim community.

“This act may split society and slow down the assimilation and integration of Muslims in French Society. Who benefits from this crime? Neither Islam, nor Muslims. Religions are made to unite people, and every act that would in the end split humanity is not a religious act,” he said.

He said the Muslim community must “rise up” to express “disgust” for the hijacking of Islam by madmen.

Moussaoui similarly said Muslims need to react against what he characterized as criminals’ instrumentalization of Islam.

Moussaoui said that French Muslims are “victims twice over” since on one side their religion is “exploited by criminals” and on the other they face “the populist attempt to take advantage from these criminal actions in order to worsen and reignite French society’s splits and fears.”

The French imams’ delegation to the Vatican also met with members of the French Seminary in Rome and visited the Pontifical Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies in Rome.

The attack on the newspaper office drew worldwide condemnation.

Pope Francis voiced his “strongest condemnation” of the “horrible attack,” Holy See Press Office director Father Federico Lombardi said Jan. 7. Fr. Lombardi expressed both the Pope’s prayers for the victims and their families and his closeness to those who work for peace and justice in order to “heal in their depth the sources and causes of hate.”

The French Bishops Conference also issued a statement condemning the attacks.

“This is obviously unspeakable terror. Nothing can justify such violence,” the French bishops’ conference said. “The barbarism expressed in these killings hurts us all.”

“It affects more than freedom of expression, a fundamental element of our society,” the bishops said, adding that French society consists of “diversity of all kinds” and “must continually work to build peace and brotherhood.”

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Mercy and compassion at heart of papal visit to the Philippines

by CNA/EWTN News • January 7, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square during his Wednesday general audience on June 18, 2014. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — “Mercy and compassion” will be the theme of Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines, where devastation from Typhoon Haiyan is still being felt more than a year later, along with the earthquake that hit the region of Visayas one month earlier.

The theme of the Jan. 15-19 visit refers to Matthew 9:36, where Jesus, after “seeing the people, felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd.”

The official website for the papal visit states that the pontiff’s message is a challenge “to imitate Christ, the Good Shepherd, who is Mercy and Compassion.”

It also cites Evangelii Gaudium, in which Pope Francis wrote, “The Church must be a place of mercy freely given, where everyone can feel welcomed, loved, forgiven and encouraged to live the good life of the Gospel.”

“Our compassionate shepherd comes to show his deep concern for our people who have gone through devastating calamities, especially in the Visayas. He comes to confirm us in our faith as we face the challenges of witnessing the Joy of the Gospel in the midst of our trials. This is an eloquent way of showing mercy and compassion,” said the president of the Filipino Bishops’ Conference, Archbishop Socrates Villegas.

Filipinos are invited to see the visit as a time to re-learn and live the spiritual and corporal acts of mercy and to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

“Let us make mercy our national identity. Trust in God’s mercy is part and parcel of our traditional Filipino Christian culture. Let us make the practice of mercy our gift to the pope when he comes to visit us,” Archbishop Socrates said.

More information on the visit can be found at: papalvisit.ph/the-theme-mercy-and-compassion/

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In Jordan, Church works to assist refugees, protect youth from extremism

by Reinhard Backes (Aid to the Church in Need) • January 8, 2015

Christian refugees from Iraq and Syria in Jordan. (Maria Lozano/Aid to the Church in Need)

Amman, Jordan — For years the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan has been a haven for refugees from Iraq. However, a critical limit is in view as the country is also forced to accommodate a huge, and growing, influx of refugees fleeing ongoing war and violence in Syria.

Along with Lebanon, the country is threatened by chaos, as the hundreds of thousands of Christians and Muslims from both Syria and Iraq may swampt Jordan’s capacity to cope with the newcomers.

“Many Christians have lost everything but they have not given up their faith,” said Father Rifat Bader. The Catholic priest works as a pastor in Jordan, but doubles as media and public relations official on behalf of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, whose jurisdiction comprises Israel, Jordan, Palestine, and Cyprus.

“In my parish in Naour, we live and pray with 40 refugees every day. The future is bleak at the moment. The Christians from Iraq do not want to return to their homes; they just want to escape to other countries. Jordan may be safe, but they will not be allowed to remain here,” the priest told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

Fr. Bader has set up a media center in Amman, Jordan’s capital, and launched the Arab- and English-language website abouna.org. The media projects must “don’t favor one religion at the cost of others, but promote a dialogue, especially among Christians and Muslims,” he emphasized.

He added: “we would like to see that it is possible to coexist peacefully and for Christians to remain in the Middle East. If the United Nations helps with schools, with housing, with work— then why shouldn’t the Christians stay?”

According to Fr. Bader, there are some 180,000 Jordanian Christians in their homeland, with another 70,000 living abroad. The local Christian community now must find ways to welcome thousands of Christian refugees, while extending charity to Muslim exiles as well.

“Many Christians are waiting for visas to be able to leave the country for third countries. We help them, but at the same time want to give them more than just food, namely a sense of dignity, and ways to strengthen their Christian identity.”

Upon arrival, refugees are first housed in refugee centers; the Church currently maintains seven of these. But that is not enough. “We need more centres, because, unfortunately, many more refugees will be coming,” Fr. Bader said.

The priest explained that the younger generations face particularly grave challenges. He believes that Jordan’s future absolutely depends on taking the needs of young people much more seriously: “we have entered into a dialogue with Muslim leaders. We meet each other at conferences at five-star hotels. However, we also have to be ready to answer questions about what actually comes out of these encounters.”

“Young people make up 70 percent of the Jordanian population. We cannot ignore their concerns. We have to reach out to them more,” he added.

Fr. Bader said extremists use the lack of work prospects and the serious social problems within the country for propaganda purposes – making shrewd use of the internet and other means to appeal to young people.

He stressed: “we must not leave (the extremists) a clear field. This is why young people should be allowed to have their say. We want to bring Muslims and Christians of various denominations together, open doors and look for solutions. We want to take to the streets and go to the peripheries, as Pope Francis said.”

Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy See, providing assistance to the suffering and persecuted Church in more than 140 countries. Websites: churchinneed.org (USA); acnuk.org (UK); aidtochurch.org (AUS); acnireland.org (IRL); acn-aed-ca.org (CAN); acnmalta.org (Malta)

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Vatican astronomers unlock the mysteries of the universe…sort of

by Katherine Veik (CNA) • January 8, 2015

(Burkhardt Studio, Inc.)

Rome, Italy — Vatican astronomer Brother Guy Consolmagno was 30 years old and just starting his career as an astronomer when he faced a personal crisis.

“I couldn’t justify my life,” he told CNA in a recent interview. “I said ‘Why am I doing astronomy when people are starving in the world?’”

Br. Consolmagno promptly quit his job and joined the Peace Corp to “do something good for people.”

But when he arrived in Africa, he discovered he couldn’t exactly leave astronomy behind.

“When I got to Africa, the people in Africa asked me about astronomy,” he said. “They wanted to look through my telescope. They were fascinated with space. I think that it’s part of the human hunger, that hunger that’s not for bread alone, that makes us want to know who we are and why there is something instead of nothing.”

“Ultimately, it’s a religious search.”

Br. Consolmagno takes up this religious search in his new book “Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?” (Image, 2014) which he co-authored with Fr. Paul Mueller of the Vatican Observatory.

The 293-page book reads as a dialogue between Br. Consolmagno and Fr. Mueller as they tackle six of the most common questions they face in their line of work.

“They tend to be questions that presuppose some kind of conflict between science and faith,” Fr. Mueller told CNA. “What we wanted to do in the book was start with those questions, try and peel back some of the presuppositions, and maybe shift the questions sideways a little bit to questions that maybe don’t presuppose a conflict and can go a little deeper.”

For example, the book’s fourth chapter addresses the Star of Bethlehem. Was there really a Star? Was it a miracle, or can it be explained by science? What does the star mean – what does it signify?

The two men gradually rule out theories that the Star could have been a supernova or even a comet. They offer a theory of planetary alignment by retired Rutgers University astronomer Michael Molnar as a possible key to the mystery of the Star.

But, proving the scientific credibility of the Star of Bethlehem is not the goal for Br. Consolmagno and Fr. Mueller. Instead, they believe a deeper question about miracles is at stake.

“It’s not hard to explain naturally that something happened,” Fr. Mueller said. “What’s miraculous about (the Star of Bethlehem) from our point of view is not that there’s some kind of violation of the laws of science, but that God gave a great sign.”

Fr. Mueller clarified that miracles are not, by definition, violations of the law of science because “science comes around long after miracles are around.”

“Miracles are fundamentally some great sign of the Kingdom of God,” Fr. Mueller said. “Whether they happen to be a violation of the laws or not. That’s a secondary question.”

Br. Consolmagno and Fr. Mueller address all six questions in this way. And the book’s format as a dialogue offers a sort of blueprint that readers can adopt in their own conversations about faith and science. The dialogue format also aims to echo the dialogue of faith and science.

“(Science) is not a big book of facts, it’s a dialogue, a conversation about the facts,” Br. Consolmagno said. “That’s what religion is. It’s not a big book of rules, it’s a conversation that we have in our Church, among ourselves, and with God.”

“And so if we want to show how science works, how religion works, and how they work together – we have to show the dialogue.”

The book’s humor is also inescapable and Br. Consolmagno told CNA that this aspect is key.

“It emphasizes a really important point that we want to make; none of us has all the answers,” he said. “And if you can’t laugh at yourself and at the hubris of even thinking we have answers, then you’re going to come up with answers that are wrong, but you’re wedded to them far too deeply.”

“One of the joys of science and philosophy is learning how to live and enjoy a mystery.”

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Free braille Bibles help the blind poor around the world

by CNA/EWTN News • January 8, 2015

Reading braille. (Jason Pearce via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

London, England — Close your eyes. Now try to go about your regular life without your vision. What challenges would you face at work? What about in your personal life? What about in your relationship with God?

Of the 285 million people in the world with severe visual impairments, the majority live in developing countries with few opportunities for education or escaping poverty. That’s where United Bible Societies is hoping to make a difference.

The England-based Christian organization is the largest translator, publisher, and distributor of the Bible in the world. It also teaches braille, a reading language for the visually impaired. It distributes braille Bibles to the visually impaired throughout the world, transforming not only their faith but their daily life as well.

“Learning to read braille turned my life around. It made me independent and I realized I could do something with my life,” one blind woman from Burkina Faso told United Bible Societies.

Producing braille Bibles is a tall order – literally. Because braille is printed on thicker paper and takes up more room than standard printed text, a full Braille Bible is typically made up of a stack of at least 40 volumes, weighing nearly 90 pounds altogether.

It’s also an expensive endeavor – it costs about $600 to print a full Braille Bible, around 50 times the cost of a standard printed Bible. United Bible Societies relies on donations in order to provide the braille Bibles free of charge, as the majority of the people who need them are among the poorest people in the world.

Audio versions of the Bible for people with visual impairments are readily available in multiple places. So why go through the expensive process of printed Braille editions?

“Reading is something personal. There’s a huge difference between listening to someone reading the Bible and reading it yourself,” said Edson, a Brazilian reader of the Braille Bible.

Currently there are active braille ministries through United Bible Societies in over 50 countries around the world, with the full Braille Bible available in over 40 languages. Partial braille versions of the Christian scriptures are available in over 200 languages.

Expanding the languages in which the Braille Bible is available is a goal of the Bible societies, though it faces two difficulties. First of all, the needs of the blind in the Church are often misunderstood or overlooked, and many languages have yet to develop a braille version.

Besides the Bible, United Bible Societies also provides braille scripture booklets covering topics such as HIV or loneliness. Their ministries reach tens of thousands of people with visual impairments every year.

United Bible Societies also prints and distributes the standard text Bible in over 200 countries, in addition to work with AIDS prevention and disaster relief. They are an inter-confessional group, meaning they will work with any Christian faith and many international non-governmental organizations.

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Divine Word Missionaries contemplate ‘The Joy of the Gospel’ in peripheries

by Antonio Anup Gonsalves (CNA/EWTN News) • January 9, 2015

Divine Word Missionaries gathered in Papua New Guinea’s Madang province for their assembly being held Jan. 5-10, 2015. (Fr. Victor Roche, SVD)

Madang, Papua New Guinea — Observing the Year of Consecrated Life convoked by Pope Francis, the members of the Society of the Divine Word serving in Papua New Guinea are gathered to study the Pope’s 2013 apostolic exhortation on the proclamation of the Gospel in today’s world.

More than 60 Divine Word Missionaries from across the Melanesian nation are in Alexishafen, 10 miles north of Madang, Jan. 5-10, to share their experiences of missionary life and to study Evangelii Gaudium as a beacon for evangelization on the Pacific islands.

According to Fr. Victor Roche, SVD, general secretary of the Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands bishops conference, “this the only second assembly in the 119 year-history of the SVD.”

“The first assembly was held in January 2003,” Fr. Roche told CNA Jan 8.

Addressing the participants, Fr. Joe Maciolek, superior for the Papua New Guinea province of the Society of the Divine Word said, “the purpose of the assembly is to share and experience the ‘Joy of the Gospel’ as Divine Word Missionaries in Papua New Guinea.”

Fr. Maciolek in particular noted that “it is a good opportunity to share what the Pope says in his apostolic exhortation ‘The Joy of the Gospel’ … as the assembly coincides with the ‘Year of the Consecrated Life’ declared by Pope Francis.”

Explaining the objectives of the assembly, Fr. Giovanni Bustos, team leader of the organizing committee, told the participants, “The four day assembly focuses on the sharing of experiences, and of being together as SVD missionaries in Papua New Guinea.”

He further added, “this is not a body to make decisions nor evaluations or planning.”

Fr. Bustos explained that the assembly activities includes scripture reading, presentations on Evangelii Gaudium, group discussions, personal sharing about the joys and challenges of being a missionary, and thanksgiving celebrations as “missionaries with grateful hearts.”

The first Divine Word Missionaries in Papua New Guinea arrived at Alexishafen on Aug. 13, 1896, and from there moved to Tumleo Island, near Aitape, to begin their mission work.

Fr. Roche noted that “this is one of the reasons to have this assembly in Alexishafen, where it all began.”

The Society of the Divine Word was instrumental in the evangelization of Papua New Guinea in the early 19th century, with members from Germany and the US, including Fr. Wilhelm Ross, Fr. Wilhelm Tropper, Br. Eugene Frank, Fr. Alphonse Schafer, and Fr. Henry Auefnanger, setting out from Wilya together with 72 indigenous helpers to evangelize New Guinea’s Highlands, eventually branching out and founding different missions.

Many of the pioneer missionaries were martyred, and then during World War II, missionaries faced persecution from Japanese occupiers. American missionaries were exiled to Australia, and German missionaries faced restrictions.

More than 100 Divine Word Missionaries who were taken prisoner were martyred on the ships Akikaze and Yorishime Maru; at least 60 Catholics were martyred on the Akikaze on March 18, 1943.

Fr. Roche said that today, there are 102 Divine Word Missionaries from 21 countries serving in eight of the dioceses of Papua New Guinea. The order was founded in the Netherlands by St. Arnold Janssen in 1875, and now has more than 6,000 members.

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Head of drug war-torn Mexican diocese to become a cardinal

by CNA/EWTN News • January 9, 2015

Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda of Morelia, who will be made a cardinal during the Feb. 14 consistory. (CEM)

Morelia, Mexico — Pope Francis announced Jan. 4 that among the 20 men who will be named cardinals at the next consistory is Archbishop Alberto Suarez Inda of Morelia, who has worked for peace amid the ongoing drug war in Mexico.

Since 1995, Archbishop Suarez has led the Archdiocese of Morelia, the capital of Michoacan state in central Mexico. The state has seen much violence and tension in recent years due to the role of drug cartels; nine died Jan. 6 during fighting between government soldier and local gunmen in Apatzingan, located 110 miles from Morelia.

Archbishop Suarez was born in 1939 in Celaya, in Mexico’s Guanajuato state. He began studies at Morelia’s seminary in 1953, and in 1958 travelled to Rome to study philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. He was ordained a priest of the Morelia archdiocese in 1964.

In 1985, he was consecrated as Bishop of Tacambaro, and in 1995 was transferred to the Archdiocese of Morelia. He is currently 75, and will celebrate his 76th birthday on Jan. 30.

Archbishop Suarez responded to Pope Francis’ decision to “look upon my poor person, to call me to form part of the College of Cardinals of the Roman Church” in a Jan. 7 column at Mi Morelia.

“Truly it is something that on the one side overwhelms me, scares me, but I have also found that it encourages me greatly, through the love, the joy of the people who have congratulated me. Thousands of persons have greeted me by various means, on the streets, in the churches, through emails and phone calls, messages; so I also feel very comforted to be a cardinal, I understand that it is more than an honor, rather it is a dignity, truly it is a responsibility, a task the bishop must fulfil in full communion with the Bishop of Rome.”

The archbishop added that his primary service will remain that offered for the Archdiocese of Morelia.

He told the Mexico City daily Excelsior Jan. 5 that his nomination as a cardinal “can be seen as a sign of the Pope’s affection for this region of Mexico, for the Diocese of Morelia, as a sign of confidence in his servant, but most of all as a new phase in the Christian life of each of us.”

Archbishop Suarez’ niece, Rosa Maria Suarez de Mendoza, told the publication that her uncle’s nomination “made us very happy; the whole family has come to greet him, to hug him, because this is great news for all of us, knowing that my uncle will be a cardinal,” adding that it is like a crown upon his “great background as a pastor and a leader in the Church.”

Cardinal Norberto Rivera Carrera of Mexico thanked Pope Francis for naming a fellow Mexican as cardinal, and the Mexican bishops conference called the appointment “a gesture of love and closeness with our country.”

“We congratulate the Archdiocese of Morelia for this distinction and ask Holy Mary of Guadalupe to intercede for our new cardinal, whose generous pastoral work we recognize with gratitude.”

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Haitian amputees lace-up soccer cleats on Roman sports field

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 9, 2015

Amputee soccer players from Haiti known as Team Zaryen take part in a match in 2011. (Knights of Columbus)

Rome, Italy — Five years after the island of Haiti was devastated by a massive earthquake, three young amputees will have the opportunity to play soccer in Rome through the help of the Knights of Columbus.

Wilfrid Macena, Mackenson Pierre and Sandy J.L. Louiseme each lost a leg in the 2010 earthquake that tore through the island nation, and will be present in the Vatican for a Jan. 10 conference called by Pope Francis to observe the fifth anniversary of the disaster.

The young athletes were able to receive assistance through the “Healing Haiti’s Children” project, which is a program sponsored by the Knights of Columbus in partnership with the University of Miami’s affiliate project Medishare.

A massive 7.0-magnitude earthquake ripped through Haiti on Jan. 12, 2010, destroying much of the nation’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. The quake killed an estimated 230,000 people, and left more than 1.5 million people without shelter.

After the earthquake, the Knights of Columbus donated $1.7 million in aid funding, while their partner organization Medishare offered medical assistance. The combined project offered free prosthetics and rehabilitation to children who lost a limb in the devastating event.

So far more than 1,000 children have received prosthetic limbs through the “Healing Haiti’s Children” project, which has also served as a training program that teaches Haitians how to continue their work.

According to a Jan. 6 press release from the Knights of Columbus, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson will be present during the Vatican’s Jan. 10 conference, along with representatives of the Medishare project.

As a sign of “hope and healing,” the Haitian amputee-athletes will also have the opportunity to give conference participants a demonstration of amputee soccer at a Knights of Columbus soccer field in Rome.

A Jan. 5 statement from the Vatican revealed that Pope Francis called the conference in order to keep alive the world’s attention on the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, and to assure the Haitian people of the Church’s closeness.

Organized by the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and the Pontifical Council “Cor Unum,” the conference will last all day, and will include a presentation by Anderson.

In addition to the three young men who will participate in the Vatican conference, a few of the other Haitian amputees have also gone on to play soccer, and have become members of Team Zaryen, which is a soccer team composed of amputee athletes from Port au Prince and its neighboring villages.

Macena, Pierre and Louiseme are also members of this team, which traveled to the U.S. in 2011 in order to introduce amputee soccer to soldiers who lost limbs in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Knights of Columbus have also produced a documentary on the project, entitled “Unbreakable: A Story of Hope and Healing in Haiti,” which was given the “Most Inspirational Documentary Award” at the DocMiami International Film Festival’s Florida Documentary Film Festival last September.

The film recounts the formation of the amputee soccer team Zaryen – meaning tarantula – which was named after a spider who became known for growing in its determination after losing a leg. The film will be aired by several PBS affiliates in various markets this month.

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The faith that has been in Iraq 2,000 years ‘cannot disappear so easily’

by Blanca Ruiz (CNA/EWTN News) • January 9, 2015

The Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, Emil Nona, who was forced from his eparchy by the Islamic State in 2014. (Aid to the Church in Need)

Erbil, Iraq — Archbishop Emil Nona is the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, the Iraqi city overrun by the Islamic State last summer. Since then, he has brought the voice of the Christians of Iraq to the West.

“For us the faith is everything. It is our life, our identity, our history and our way of life. We can’t separate ourselves from our faith in any way,” Archbishop Nona told CNA. “Our faith, which has been in this land for more than 2,000 years, cannot come to an end so easily.”

He speaks with the clarity of someone who knows that without international help soon, more of the region will become territory of the Islamic State. Christians will have to abandon Iraq for good in order to save their lives and escape persecution and they will leave behind a land where Catholics have been present for more than 2,000 years.

The Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul said, “Most Christians plan to leave Iraq because they thought the crisis would be short-lived and after we would return to our homes, but this has not been the case. There have been no positive signs in the last six months that our land will be liberated. The Islamic State is becoming increasingly stronger.”

No plans for liberation

Although shortages are widespread in Iraq, thanks to Aid to the Church in Need shelter is being provided for more than 120,000 displaced Christians in northern Iraq. There temperatures in the winter drop to single digits, and so large tents have been set up so families can come together and stay warm. Space is limited but the people are grateful not to be exposed to the elements.

In addition, help from Aid to the Church in Need made it possible for thousands of refugee children to receive a Christmas present, and plans are underway to set up schools so that children can continue studying until the situation becomes normal again.

The shortages are widespread, but what this group of Christians lacks most isn’t material things, but hope, as there are no signs things will improve.

“They have lost faith in their land, where they have lived for thousands of years. They have lost faith in Muslim society because they helped loot our homes. Now they live in waiting, not knowing what is going to happen. The only thing they haven’t lost is their Christian faith. We are proud because none of the 120,000 people in this area has converted to Islam,” the archbishop explained.

Faced with the choice of converting to Islam or death, the Christians of Mosul have preferred to die rather than deny the faith.

In this desperate situation, Christians there do not complain or cry out to God for justice. “When something like this happens, we in the East thank God for everything. Because we know well that man is the cause of this problem, not God. In this situation, the existence of God is more necessary than ever, the presence of God is more powerful,” Archbishop Nona said.

“When there is such brutal violence on the part of man, the presence of God is even stronger, because He is good. We believe even more, because it is more necessary than ever to believe amidst a situation as extreme as this one.”

The question of where is God in this persecution is a question “only you in the West pose. In the East we never ask that question. For us faith is enmeshed with our identity and the faith cannot be separated from our identity.”

These martyrs of the faith only ask that the rest of the world not forget about them, about their suffering, about the injustice they have endured each day for more than six months. For this reason, whenever they receive help it means much more than just a solution to the lack of shelter or food.

“This aid is not only material but also shows that other Christians have not forgotten about us and experience the needs of Christians in Iraq as their own. We cannot ask them to stay in their land suffering if we do not help,” Archbishop Nona said.

“We can’t know what will happen but up to now we have not seen any positive signs that our land and peoples will be liberated. Islamic militants are in the city of Mosul, on the Nineveh plain, in much of Iraq, but the Iraqi army does nothing to liberate these lands. We do not know the exact reason why we are not liberated and why there are only air raids. Up to now we haven’t seen any region liberated, much less any plans for liberation,” Archbishop Nona said.

Radicalization in Iraq since 2003

Since the fall of the Hussein regime in 2003, the reconstruction of Iraq “has been based on errors,” he stated.

“After 2003 Iraq was divided. The main problem confronting the country is not political but social, because before the fall of Saddam’s regime nobody questioned whether you were Shiite, Christian or Muslim. Afterwards, each ethic group retreated to its origins and become closed in. And it will take dozens of years to resolve this situation.”

The radicalization of Islam has been progressive but fierce, and for this reason Archbishop Nona has said the suffering being experienced in Iraq “is the prelude to what Christians and Europeans in the West will suffer in the near future.”

Powerful and sobering words, but Archbishop Nona is not afraid to speak out.

“The main problem is not fundamental Islamic groups but Islamic societies. Day by day Muslims are becoming more radical, traditional and closing themselves off,” he said.

“Muslims think that their way of defending the faith is going back to how things were before. There is a conflict in the Islamic region between modernity and faith. Most think that righteous faith is against modernity and therefore wherever there are Muslims the danger that they will rebel against modernity exists.”

Archbishop Nona pointed to the case of the agents from Saddam Hussein’s secret service who are now part of the inner circle of the Islamic State caliph, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. “They were all laymen, they did not profess any faith when they worked for Hussein. But they radicalized later because they were afraid of fundamentalist groups.”

For this reason, he warned, “Muslims who are in the West can one day become fundamentalists. Among the ranks of the Islamic State fighters in Iraq are people from Europe, Canada and America. When the Islamic State wants to carry out a suicide attack, the suicide bombers are from Germany, England, France; they are not from Muslim countries, but instead were born in Europe. They were educated in the West and later came to Iraq.”

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WORLD NEWS

Chilean legislators vote to strip priest of honorary nationality

by CNA/EWTN News • January 9, 2015

(CNA)

Santiago, Chile — The House of Representatives in Chile has passed a resolution stripping Father John O’Reilly, of the Legion of Christ of his honorary Chilean nationality by a vote of 96-5 after he was sentenced to four years of house arrest for sexual abuse.

The measure will now go before the Chilean Senate for final approval.

The Chilean congress grants honorary nationality to individuals through a legislative action, and can use the same mechanism to rescind it.

The proposal to rescind the Irish-born priest’s honorary nationality was brought before the floor of the Congress Nov. 12, after he was sentenced to four years of house arrest for sexually abusing a minor.

The case against Fr. O’Reilly, who has maintained his innocence from the beginning, began July 24, 2012, when a lawyer representing the Cumbres School filed a complaint with the Legionaries of Christ. Fr. O’Reilly turned himself in to authorities, and the school also filed charges with civil authorities.

The following day, the Legionaries opened a canonical investigation into the case.

Before the Legionaries concluded their investigation, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith asked that the case be turned over to an outside priest, who finished his investigation in September 2013.

While the case is currently under study in Rome, Fr. O’Reilly is not allowed to exercise any public ministry.

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WORLD NEWS

For Sri Lanka, Pope’s visit solidifies peace after brutal civil war

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 9, 2015

Sri Lankans participate in healing prayers for a day of the sick in August, 2014. (Roshan Fernando/Archdiocese of Colombo)

Rome, Italy — Falling just five years after the end of Sri Lanka’s civil war, Pope Francis’ visit to the country is seen as a sign of reconciliation, a message expected to be shown through his gestures more than his words.

“We are going to have (Pope Francis) in an atmosphere in which we have finished a war – a civil war for 30 long years – and we are in need of a real process of reconciliation; spiritually, materially, politically,” Fr. Prasad Harshan, a priest of the Archdiocese of Colombo, told CNA Jan. 8.

“More than his words, we are waiting to see his gestures and postures, his spontaneity, how he will go out of his way to do certain things. Those things will speak a thousand times louder than his words.”

Fr. Harshan currently lives in Rome and is in his final year of studies at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce. He also helps to look after the spiritual needs of Rome’s Sri Lankan community.

He noted how the Pope’s Jan. 12-14 visit to Sri Lanka, which will reflect on the theme “Remain in Love,” lands just five years after the country concluded a nearly 30 year civil war between Sinhala nationalists and Tamil separatists which claimed at least 60,000 lives.

Over 70 percent of the 20.4 million people in Sri Lanka are Buddhists, and Christians make up an estimated eight percent of the population.

Pope Francis has always been a person who represents peace and reconciliation, so to have him come to Sri Lanka at this time is a “privilege,” Fr. Harshan observed, adding, “we are immensely blessed to have this visit.”

The priest then pointed out how despite the brevity of the Roman Pontiff’s trip, he will not only stay in the capital city of Colombo, but will also go to the areas of the country that were most heavily impacted by the war.

“Nobody loved the war, everybody felt very sorry for this. So even the majority group, they are not against the Pope visiting that area,” the priest said.

“There is no negative ideas about his visit to the war zone areas. (Sri Lankans) not only love it, but appreciate it and encourage it.”

This, Fr. Harshan noted, will be a symbolic and welcome move for all of Sri Lanka, since “non-violence is the basic principle” in a country where some 70 percent of the people are Buddhist, and the Christian minority is around eight percent.

He also noted how the Pope’s trip will fall just one week after the country’s presidential elections, which took place Jan. 8

Out of three papal visits to the country, Pope Francis’ trip will be the second time a Pope will be welcomed by one government after being invited by another. The first to have this happen was St. John Paul II during a visit in 1995.

The Pope was invited to Sri Lanka by Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had been president of the nation since 2005. Rajapaksa was defeated in the election by Maithripala Sirisena, who was sworn into office Jan. 9.

Although the election results are “crucial” for Sri Lanka’s continued process of recovery and reconciliation after the war, they are “not against the Pope,” Fr. Harshan stressed, and assured that they will pose no direct problems to the Pope’s visit.

Amid all of the organizational preparations for the papal visit, including the composition of a song “that everyone knows by now” based on the trip’s theme, the priest noted that the country’s spiritual preparation has emerged as even more important.

This visit, in which the first Sri Lankan saint, Blessed Joseph Vaz, will be canonized, is not just any other visit, he said, noting how dioceses have increased access to Confession in order to “make this visit a spiritual journey, not so much a materialistic (one.)”

Pope Francis’ visit “is one of hope … the Vicar of Christ is visiting us, so that should make some changes in our lives,” the priest observed.

“So the spiritual preparation is done because he’s not just coming to see the country and go. He’s coming to canonize the first saint in Sri Lanka, and that’s very, very, very important for us.”

As a religious minority in Sri Lanka, Catholics have a strong devotion to Bl. Joseph Vaz, who traveled there from India as a young priest in order help maintain the faith during the Dutch persecutions, Fr. Harshan noted.

“He came to the island, learned the two languages, walked all over the country irrespective of religious or ethnic groups (and) had a very good rapport with all other religious groups, with politicians, the king, etc. So to give him back to us in the context of this nature is a wonderful sign for us.”

Fr. Harshan also noted the high number of vocations in Sri Lanka, who currently have around 1,000 priests on the small island, more than 400 of whom serve the 1 million Catholics present in the Archdiocese of Colombo.

With 12 dioceses in the country, 16 bishops, 13 minor seminaries for secular priests and more than 10 additional ones for religious congregations, there are “a lot of vocations,” he noted, adding that each year there are some 50-60 priestly ordinations.

“So although the Church in Sri Lanka is small in numbers, it’s a vibrant Church, a very effective Church, and a growing Church … I’m sure these two days are going to be unforgettable not only for Catholics, but for all Sri Lankans.”

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U.S. NEWS

Possible site of Jesus’ trial uncovered in the Holy Land

by CNA/EWTN News • January 5, 2015

Tower of David. (Ricardo Tulio Gandelman via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Washington, D.C. — Archeologists believe they may have discovered the place where Jesus’ trial before Pontius Pilate took place in Jerusalem.

In an effort to expand The Tower of David Museum, archeologists began excavating an adjacent, abandoned prison building, the Washington Post reports. As they stripped away layers of the prison floor, they realized they were likely uncovering a missing link in the puzzle of the Holy Land’s history.

Although the discovery began over a decade ago, the site is just now being opened to the public for the millions of religious pilgrims that flock to the area every year.

“For those Christians who care about accuracy in regards to historical facts, this is very forceful,” Yisca Harani, an expert on Christianity and pilgrimage to the Holy Land, told the Washington Post (link to original article). “For others, however, those who come for the general mental exercise of being in Jerusalem, they don’t care as long as [their journey] ends in Golgotha — the site of the Crucifixion.”

Most Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land walk the path of the Stations of the Cross, known as the Via Dolorosa (Latin for “Way of Sorrows”), which currently does not include the Tower of David Museum or the trial site. Although it may not be added to the path right away, museum workers hope it becomes a standard stop for visiting Christians.

Scholars and theologians cannot say with certainty whether this site is where the trial took place, but it seems to check out in many ways. According to the Gospels, Jesus was tried before Pilate in the “praetorium,” a Latin term for a general’s tent within a Roman encampment. Some believe this praetorium would rather be on the site of the former Roman military barracks.

But others, such as archaeology professor Shimon Gibson with the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, are almost certain the trial would have occurred somewhere within Herod’s palace compound located in the western part of the city, which is where the Tower of David museum and the abandoned prison are located.

The new site also fits a detail in the Gospel of John which describe the trial as taking place on The Pavement, or in Hebrew, Gab’batha (John 19:13), as well as a description in Mark 15:16, which describe Jesus as being led away inside the palace.

“There is, of course, no inscription stating it happened here, but everything – archaeological, historical and gospel accounts – all falls into place and makes sense,” Gibson told the Washington Post.

The Rev. David Pileggi, minister of Christ Church, an Anglican congregation near the museum, told the publication that the discovery fits “what everyone expected all along, that the trial took place near the Tower of David.”

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U.S. NEWS

New US Congress reflects the Catholic swing vote

by Matt Hadro (CNA) • January 6, 2015

U.S. Capitol. (CNA)

Washington, D.C. — The overwhelming majority of federal lawmakers in the U.S. are Christian, according to a new report, which also found that Catholics in the legislative branch are split between parties, reflecting a split in the U.S. population.

More than 90 percent of the 114th Congress identifies as Christian – about 20 percent higher than the average among adult Americans – said the Pew Research Religion and Public Life Project.

“Protestants and Catholics continue to make up a greater percentage of the members of Congress than of all U.S. adults,” the report stated, adding that “despite the sea change in party control,” those numbers had not shifted significantly from the previous Congress.

Two-thirds of Republicans are Protestant and about a quarter are Catholic, according to the report. In contrast, only 44 percent of Democrats identify as Protestant, but 35 percent say they are Catholic. In the U.S. Senate where Republicans picked up nine seats this past election cycle, still more Democrats are Catholic than Republicans.

Of the rest of the members, most are either Jewish or Mormon with only one member “unaffiliated” with any religion.

The fact that almost every member of Congress identifies with a religion reflects a long-standing political trend, said Dr. Matthew Green, a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

“It has long been politically risky for elected officials at the national level to be unaffiliated with a particular religion or church,” he told CNA, noting that candidates “who are spiritual or religious risk being seen as suspect in an election campaign if they do not identify with a specific religious faith or church.”

Although the House is overwhelmingly Republican and the Senate is majority Republican, the number of Catholics in both parties is split almost evenly in the House, and is majority Democrat in the Senate. Catholics have become a critical swing vote in election cycles, Dr. Green said, and the numbers in Congress reflect this.

“[I]f the number of Catholics in the House is now close to 50-50, that’s an important development -- and a very strong sign of the extent to which the Catholic vote has become the ‘swing’ vote in American politics, and politically ambitious Catholics can find avenues for success in either party,” he told CNA.

The fact that more members of Congress identify as Christian than the American populace might be explained by demographics, he added.

“There may be political reasons that some incumbents identify as Christian,” Dr. Green acknowledged, but he added that the rise of “unaffiliated” Americans is a recent phenomenon.

“I would not be surprised if the disproportionate number of the religiously unaffiliated are younger Americans, as opposed to the mostly-older people who run for, and get elected to, the House and Senate,” he said.

However, “for many years, atheism has been called the ‘last taboo’ in American politics,” he noted, pointing to another Pew Research study from May showing atheism as the top negative quality that voters see in a potential 2016 presidential candidate.

Fifty-three percent of respondents said they would be “less likely” to vote for an atheist candidate, compared to 41 percent who said it “wouldn’t matter” and five percent who said they would be “more likely” to vote for the candidate.

For comparison, 35 percent of respondents said they would be “less likely” to vote for a candidate who had an extramarital affair, 18 percent less than the 53 percent who were “less likely” to support an atheist candidate.

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U.S. NEWS

Cardinal George dropped from cancer drug trial, asks for prayers

by CNA/EWTN News • January 6, 2015

Francis George of Chicago, at a press conference at the NAC on Feb. 27, 2013. (Paolo Tiranti/CNA)

Chicago, IL — Cardinal Francis George has asked for continued prayers after being dropped from a cancer drug’s clinical trial, which was determined to be ineffective for him.

“He is at peace, but he counts on everyone’s prayers that he might be of service to the Lord and His Church in the time left to him,” the Archdiocese of Chicago said Dec. 31.

“Cardinal George would like to thank all those who have been praying for him, and asks them to continue to do so. You and those you love are remembered in his prayers as well.”

The 77-year-old cardinal and archbishop emeritus of Chicago had been taking part in a clinical trial conducted by University of Chicago Medicine, while also being cared for by Loyola University Hospital.

The drug, from the pharmaceutical company Genentech, is designed with the intention of helping the human body’s immune system recognize and attack cancerous cells, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Tests indicated that the drug has not been effective for the cardinal.

The archdiocese said the physicians and others overseeing the treatment of the cardinal have assured him that the information gathered in the clinical trial will help benefit others.

Cardinal George will meet with his doctors to discuss how to address his cancer’s side effects. His cancer at present has not spread to any vital organs.

The cardinal was first diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2006. He then underwent a five-hour operation at age 69 to remove his bladder, prostate gland and sections of his ureters, the tubes which connect the kidneys to the bladder.

In August 2012, doctors discovered that cancerous cells had returned to his kidney and to a nodule in his liver.

Last year, the cardinal said that the cancer “will most probably eventually be the cause of my death.”

Cardinal George headed the Archdiocese of Chicago from 1997 to 2014, when he was succeeded by Archbishop Blase Cupich. The cardinal was the first Chicago native to become the city’s archbishop.

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U.S. NEWS

Mario Cuomo, 1932-2015: His Controversial Legacy

by Joan Desmond (National Catholic Register) • January 6, 2015

Former New York State Governor Mario Cuomo, Oct. 22, 2012. (Metropolitan Transportation Authority/Patrick Cashin via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

New York City, N.Y. — Mario Cuomo, the three-time governor of New York who sought to justify Catholic lawmakers’ tolerance of abortion rights, died on Jan. 1; he was 82.

A self-identified Catholic who quoted Thomas Aquinas, challenged Ronald Reagan’s optimistic vision of economic opportunity in America and cited Church moral doctrine as he vetoed legislation enacting the death penalty, Cuomo’s policy positions and rhetoric often resonated with his fellow believers.

Cuomo served as the governor of New York from 1983 to 1995 and emerged as the standard bearer of his party’s liberal wing. But he resisted efforts to make him a candidate for president and also turned down President Bill Clinton’s proposal that he be nominated for a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Yet, even as the New York governor inspired intense loyalty from the Democratic Party base, he also drew criticism from Catholic and pro-life leaders for his stance on abortion, articulated in a landmark 1984 speech at the University of Notre Dame.

“Approval or rejection of legal restrictions on abortion should not be the exclusive litmus test of Catholic loyalty,” Cuomo stated in his address at Notre Dame.

“We should understand that whether abortion is outlawed or not, our work has barely begun: the work of creating a society where the right to life doesn’t end at the moment of birth; where an infant isn’t helped into a world that doesn’t care if it’s fed properly, housed decently, educated adequately.”

Marking the news of Cuomo’s death, Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York set aside his controversial record on abortion and offered heartfelt condolences to his family.

“Although he was governor of New York long before I arrived here as archbishop, I had the pleasure of meeting and corresponding with Mario Cuomo on numerous occasions and always found him to be a keen observer of the issues facing our city, state and country,” said Cardinal Dolan in the statement released after Cuomo’s death was announced.

“My prayerful condolences go out to his loving wife, Matilda, and the family. We thank them for sharing their husband and father with the city, state and nation, and we praise God for the 82 years we had him.”

The 1984 Abortion Comments

But Cuomo’s death did not discourage criticism of his fateful decision to justify support for abortion rights.

Cuomo’s 1984 Notre Dame speech was “the single most influential statement about abortion by any Catholic figure since Roe v. Wade,” R.R. “Rusty” Reno, editor of First Things, told the Register.

“With a reputation as a serious Catholic, Cuomo’s justification for abortion rights effectively ended the debate about abortion in the Democratic Party. His speech implied that no thinking Catholic concerned about the common good would object to unrestricted legal access to abortion.”

Reno also suggested that Cuomo’s argument “empowered abortion-rights advocates to silence what remained of Catholic dissent in the Democratic Party. Bob Casey could be prohibited from speaking to the 1992 Democratic convention in large part because Cuomo had provided the ‘official’ Catholic Democratic pro-abortion position.”

Cuomo defended his tolerance for legal abortion, in part, by arguing that Roe v. Wade secured a new consensus, and, consequently, he felt could not impose his religious beliefs on nonbelievers in clear violation of the constitutional principles he had sworn to uphold.

This moral reformulation was articulated by a compelling public speaker who sought to lead his party on matters of economic justice.

“He was a tenacious debater and a spellbinding speaker at a time when political oratory seemed to be shrinking to the size of the television set,” noted Cuomo’s obituary in The New York Times, which cited Cuomo’s riposte to President Reagan’s “description of America as ‘a shining city on a hill.’”

“Mr. President,” said Cuomo during his keynote address at the 1984 Democratic Party Convention, “you ought to know that this nation is more a ‘tale of two cities’ than it is just a ‘shining city on a hill.’”

Catholic Criticism

But Cuomo’s detractors argued that the governor had adopted a selective, morally inconsistent, approach to hot-button social issues. He opposed capital punishment, despite strong support for the practice among his constituents in New York state; yet he still insisted that respect for public consensus had led him to accommodate legal abortion.

Msgr. William Smith, the late moral theologian who taught at St. Joseph’s Seminary in the New York Archdiocese, identified the logical deficiency at the heart of Cuomo’s reasoning.

“Human rights do not rest on consensus. Respect for the human rights of blacks, Jewish people — any minority — does not rest on consensus,” stated Msgr. Smith.

“This is why we call them inalienable rights. He relied on the 15-year-old rhetoric of Planned Parenthood [that] we’re trying to impose our morality on others. The Supreme Court didn’t establish a consensus; it destroyed one.”

In 1984, then-Archbishop John O’Connor of New York challenged Cuomo’s stance.

“You have to uphold the law, the Constitution says,” said Archbishop O’Connor. “It does not say that you must agree with the law or that you cannot work to change the law.”

Msgr. Smith and Archbishop O’Connor’s critiques are cited in an article by George Marlin, “John Cardinal O’Connor, Mario Cuomo, Religion v. Politics,” published in the fall 2014 issue of The Human Life Review, a leading pro-life journal.

Maria Maffucci, the editor of The Human Life Review, expressed a measure of unease that the journal’s print issue, with Marlin’s article, was released at the time of Cuomo’s death, though the article was posted online in September 2014.

“I don’t wish him ill at all,” Maffucci told the Register.

“But his legacy in this area has been a dangerous one” for the unborn.

Different Strategy Today

Marlin’s article concludes with the observation that the head-turning exchange between Cuomo and Archbishop O’Connor was less likely to be repeated today, with Church officials often choosing a different strategy for responding to statements by self-identified Catholic politicians who back abortion rights.

Last year, for example, when Mario Cuomo’s son, Andrew Cuomo, the present New York governor, attacked pro-lifers during a radio interview as “extreme conservatives” who “have no place in New York state,” Cardinal Dolan chose to respond indirectly.

The passionate, but respectful, debate between Mario Cuomo and Cardinal O’Connor is “almost quaint,” compared with the contemporary low standard of discourse in the public square, said The Human Life Review’s Maffucci, who observed that Andrew Cuomo chose to demonize the pro-life community rather than engage its arguments.

In truth, Mario Cuomo’s brand of public Catholicism marked the growing chasm between Church doctrine and cultural values in American society. And perhaps for that reason Catholic leaders see his 1984 address at Notre Dame as a critical moment in the history of Catholicism in the United States.

If Cuomo, as the liberal standard bearer of his party, had made the defense of the unborn intrinsic to his vision of social justice, the partisan divide on abortion might well be different.

But Catholic thinkers also acknowledge that the logic of Cuomo’s “personally opposed, but” argument was anchored in the legacy of the nation’s first Catholic president, John F. Kennedy, who vowed in a campaign speech that he would not allow his faith to dictate his policy positions.

“The Kennedy compromise seemed to work pretty well, as long as the ‘religious pressures’ faced by Catholic elected officials involved issues like divorce, federal aid to Catholic schools or diplomatic relations with the Holy See,” observed then-Archbishop Charles Chaput of Denver in a 2004 column. “Each of these issues was important, surely, but none involved life and death. None was jugular.”

Roe v. Wade introduced a new reality that forced Catholic lawmakers to navigate American politics more cautiously, with repercussions for the politicians and their party.

Summarizing the message of the “Kennedy-Cuomo legacy,” Archbishop Chaput explained it this way: “It’s okay to be Catholic in public service as long as you’re willing to jettison what’s inconveniently ‘Catholic.’”

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U.S. NEWS

Grisly Nativity scene vandalism draws prayerful response

by CNA/EWTN News • January 6, 2015

(Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Boston, MA — A vandal’s placement of a decapitated pig’s head at a Nativity scene at a Catholic church in Massachusetts shocked locals, but they committed themselves to pray for and to forgive the perpetrator.

“When it comes to who did this, or why did they do it? That’s something for the police to figure out,” Bishop Robert Hennessey, an Auxiliary Bishop of Boston, said at a Dec. 27 Mass at Sacred Hearts Parish in Haverhill.

“They know how to confront crime, but we know how to confront evil. That’s why we gather as a Church, together, to pray.”

On Christmas morning, the parish’s parochial vicar, Fr. Benjamin LeTran, discovered that the Nativity scene’s statue of the Infant Jesus had been stolen and replaced by a recently decapitated black pig’s head, the Boston Pilot reports.

A woman from Haverhill, which is located 35 miles north of Boston, brought another statute of the infant Jesus to replace the stolen statue.

Fr. John Delaney, Sacred Hearts’ pastor, said the woman’s action was “a sign of hope” on a day of “sadness and hurt.” He said that congregants at the church came “full of love, full of forgiveness.”

Fr. LeTran said he saw the Nativity scene as “a great message” of “God’s love for us, the message that Jesus brings into this world.”

Bishop Hennessey said the Dec. 27 Mass, then blessed the Nativity scene. Churchgoers then sang “Silent Night.” The bishop expressed support from the Boston archdiocese and Cardinal Sean O’Malley.

The vandalism drew condemnation from many.

Haverhill mayor James Fiorentini said the vandalism was “an outrage” and contended it had “all the elements of a hate crime,” the Boston Globe reports.

“I want to state in the strongest possible way that this does not reflect our community,” said the mayor, who is a former parishioner of the church.

Ibrahim Hooper, national communications director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said Dec. 26 that American Muslims “stand with the Christian community in condemning this desecration of a religious display and against anyone who would target a house of worship in such an apparently hate-filled manner.”

Police on Dec. 30 arrested a 54-year-old homeless woman who allegedly wrote the number “666” 15 times on another Haverhill church, La Iglesia Biblica Bautista. The Boston CBS affiliate WBIZ reports that she was carrying a large metal crucifix. She tried to hit an arresting officer with the crucifix, which police say came from Sacred Hearts Church’s Nativity scene.

The woman denied placing the pig’s head in the Nativity scene, but admitted vandalizing the other church.

A police detective familiar with the woman has said he believes she may have an “altered mental state” at times, according to the Boston Herald.

Police are still investigating whether the woman was involved with the vandalism at the Catholic church. The woman has been ordered to undergo a 20-day psychiatric evaluation before her next court appearance.

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U.S. NEWS

Philly kicks off 2015 celebrating St John Neumann

by CNA/EWTN News • January 7, 2015

Bishop John McIntyre, an auxiliary bishop of Philadelphia, says Mass for the feast of St. John Neumann, Jan. 5, 2015. (Sabina Louise Pierce/CNA)

Philadelphia, PA — The Archdiocese of Philadelphia observed the feast of St. John Neumann on Monday, and celebrated the year that the city will welcome Pope Francis for the upcoming World Meeting of Families.

“St. John Neumann was a humble man of God whose focus on bringing immigrant families to the Church is as important and salient today as it was in the 1850s,” Bishop John McIntyre, Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, said during his homily at the Jan. 5 Mass, said at the saint’s shrine.

Bishop McIntyre said Mass and blessed the new atrium and time capsule of the National Shrine in North Philadelphia. During the celebration an Italian Christmas carol, ‘Tu Scendi Dalle Stelle’, was performed in honor of the Holy Father’s upcoming visit to the city.

Drawing the connection between St. John Neumann and the World Meeting of Families, Bishop McIntyre noted in his homily the similarities between the saint’s legacy of Catholic education and immigration ministry with the mission of the family.

“As we prepare for the World Meeting of Families, it is appropriate that St. John Neumann’s home – Philadelphia – serve as host, especially as the issues of immigration and the manifestation of faith in global cultures remain critical to families around the world,” the Bishop stated, saying that the spirit of St. John Neumann would continue to inspire the work in planning for the event.

“The Holy Father embodies St. John Neumann’s inviting message to pilgrims just as the World Meeting of Families does,” Bishop McIntyre stated, saying “we look forward to welcoming upwards of 1.5 million people from various cultures and faiths to share in this faithful gathering, which will be a once-in-a-generation event for our Archdiocese, our city, and our state.”

Following the celebration of Mass, Mayor Michael Nutter joined Bishop McIntyre for the blessing of the new atrium, which was read in English, Spanish, and Italian to honor the immigrant ministry of St. John Neumann.

Together, the mayor and Bishop placed the flags of the U.S., Vatican City, Pennsylvania, and Argentina; students from St. Peter the Apostle School added flags from the countries whence their families had emigrated.

The World Meeting of Families started in 1994 as a triennial global event, aimed to strengthen the family and emphasize the value they bring to society. Sponsored by the Pontifical Council for the Family, the World Meeting of Families has previously been held in Rome, Rio de Janerio, Manila, Valencia, Mexico City, and Milan.

This year, Philadelphia will host the event in the United States for the first time, Sept. 22-27, with an official theme for the 2015 World Meeting of Families being “Love is our mission: the family fully alive.”

More than 10,000 delegates from 150 countries are expected to attend the Congress of the World Meeting of Families at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. Pope Francis’ visit from Sept. 26-27 could draw over 2 million people.

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U.S. NEWS

Court protects Catholic-owned company from HHS mandate

by CNA/EWTN News • January 7, 2015

Stand Up for Religious Freedom rally in Washington D.C., June 2012. (CNA)

Grand Rapids, MI — The federal government cannot force a Catholic-owned Michigan company to provide insurance coverage for sterilization, contraceptives, and drugs that could cause abortion, a court ruled Jan. 5.

“Coercing citizens to violate their conscientious religious beliefs makes a mockery of the very notion of religious freedom,” Tom Brejcha, president and chief counsel of the Chicago-based Thomas More Society.

He said the ruling “sets another strong precedent for the free exercise of religious faith on the part of all American citizens.”

John Kennedy, CEO of Autocam Medical, LLC, and other family members who own the company, had filed a legal challenge to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ mandate that companies must cover drugs and procedures that violate Catholic religious and ethical principles.

Before the mandate was implemented, the company had designed an insurance plan with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Michigan that did not violate the Kennedy family’s Catholic beliefs.

The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan revisited its three-year-old ruling against the company.

Judge Robert J. Jonker, who had previously ruled against Autocam Medical, said that according to the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2014 ruling Burwell vs. Hobby Lobby, the government may not require the family business “to provide its employees with health coverage for contraceptive methods, sterilization procedures, and related patient education and counseling to which plaintiff objects on religious grounds.”

Brejcha said the decision protected the company’s rights under the First Amendment and the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Ave Maria Law School professor Patrick T. Gillen served as special counsel in the case for the Thomas More Society and helped draft a petition for U.S. Supreme Court review.

Had the Supreme Court decision not issued its 2014 ruling, many business owners could have faced the prospect of paying steep fines or agreeing to a health plan that violated their religious beliefs. More than 300 plaintiffs throughout the U.S. have filed lawsuits challenging the mandate.

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U.S. NEWS

100 million reasons for concern about anti-Christian persecution

by CNA/EWTN News • January 8, 2015

A Christian refugee family lights a candle at Mary, Mother of the Church parish in Amman, Jordan. (Maria Lozano/Aid to the Church in Need)

Denver, CO — The number of persecuted Christians in the world has topped 100 million, according to a new report that says even non-violent persecution of Christians has increased, amid continuing violence.

“Even Christian-majority states are experiencing unprecedented levels of exclusion, discrimination and violence,” David Curry, president of the California-based Open Doors USA, said Jan. 7.

Curry’s organization has worked to help persecuted Christians for over 60 years. It was founded by a Dutchman known as Brother Andrew. He smuggled Bibles into Eastern Europe, whose communist regimes severely restricted Christianity and other religions.

He said Open Doors USA’s 2015 World Watch List shows “a staggering number of Christians are becoming victims of intolerance and violence because of their faith.”

The list ranks the 50 countries where it is most dangerous and difficult to be a Christian. It defines persecution as “any hostility experienced as a result of one’s identification with Christ.” These can include imprisonment, torture, beheadings, rape, and loss of home and assets.

Christians can face ostracism from their family, job loss or rejection by a community.

Curry said some Christians “are being forced to be more secretive about their faith.”

North Korea continues to be the worst country for anti-Christian persecution, where an estimated 70,000 Christians are imprisoned for their faith. The rapid rise of persecution in Africa and continued problems with violent Islamic extremism are also causes for concern.

Somalia, which has no functioning government, ranks second-worst. Iraq, where the rise of the Islamic State has added to the suffering of Iraqi Christians, ranks third. Syria, the site of an intense civil war whose factions include Islamic extremists, ranks fourth.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have also witnessed an increase in persecution, ranking fifth and eighth respectively. Iran ranks seventh, while Sudan and Eritrea have returned to the top ten countries where Christians face the worst persecution. Nigeria, where the government has been unable to contain the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, is in the top 10 list for the first time.

Open Doors USA noted problems in Uzbekistan, Vietnam, and India. Christians in India, which ranks 21st on the report, face persecution from both Islamic extremism and Hindu fundamentalism.

Kenya jumped from 43 to 19 on the list due to radical Somali Muslim groups and militants crossing the border, other Islamic militant groups, and “an unbalanced secularist agenda” on the part of the Kenyan government.

In the Western hemisphere, Colombia ranks worst on the list, at 35. Christians can be victimized by organized crime and corruption, especially those who are prominent in social or political life. Rural indigenous people who are Christian also experience hostilities, many Christians have been displaced from their land, and violence against Christian women is increasing. Church sermons are also monitored.

Mexico ranked 38th on the list, mainly due to organized crime and drug cartels targeting Christians for extortion and for their work in rehabilitating drug addicts and alcoholics. Indigenous communities in Mexico’s southern states also force all members of their community to follow the same way of life, burdening those who accept a different religion.

The researchers who compiled the report ranked each country’s Christians’ degree of freedom in living their faith in the private sphere as well as the spheres of family, community, national and church life. They also ranked the severity of violence Christians face.

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Beauty in suffering: How one woman is fighting the stigma of therapy

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • January 4, 2015

Maura Byrne, founder of Made in His Image. (Photo courtesy of Maura Byrne)

San Diego, CA — Maura Byrne was terrified to go to therapy for the first time.

She knew something was wrong, and she knew she needed help. But she didn’t know if she wanted to revisit the ghosts of her past, particularly with a therapist.

“I was very reluctant to do it, there’s just such a stigma associated with therapy, and I didn’t know if I wanted to open up to someone,” she told CNA.

A young woman from northern New Jersey, Byrne experienced her share of trauma in the past, including abuse, an eating disorder and a diagnosis of depression in college. After visiting the Institute of the Psychological Sciences in Arlington, Virginia, she was further diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and chronic post-traumatic stress disorder.

“Them diagnosing me with those things was both hurtful but very helpful, because I knew something was wrong with me, but I didn’t know what it was, and I didn’t know how to fix it,” Byrne said.

Once she reached out for help, Byrne realized she needed to continue with therapy, which she did for the next two years. And that was when the hard work, healing – and inspiration – began.

She found a Catholic psychologist in Nashville, Tennessee, and within a matter of weeks transplanted her entire life from her home on the East Coast to the southern state in order to continue with counseling.

It wasn’t easy.

“I worked really hard, because therapy was really expensive and I was working as a baker and so I didn’t have health insurance, and so at times I worked up to three jobs to pay for the care that I needed,” she said.

But the healing she experienced from her Catholic doctor was unlike any other doctor she had encountered.

“He really challenged me to see beauty in my suffering, and therapy was very, very difficult, but at the same time very beautiful,” she said.

“And when I was done with therapy, he said to me: ‘Everyone suffers, but it’s what someone does with that suffering that makes them a saint.’”

That’s when the idea for Made in His Image was born.

“He inspired me to start a ministry for women who have suffered the way I have, and to teach them about their dignity as daughters of God,” Byrne said.

That was in September 2011. Byrne started travelling and speaking to high school and college aged women about their inherent beauty and dignity and daughters of God, and she started reaching out to them through a blog and social media, writing about how much God loves them as Father despite anything they’ve been through.

Currently, the Made in His Image Facebook page has over 26,000 likes. The website includes testimonials from women who have experienced healing through the ministry, as well as blog posts from various contributors on topics such as forgiveness, modesty, chastity, and recovery from various traumas like abortion and abuse.

Byrne has even taken her testimony overseas, to Belize and Uganda, to help women there learn of God as a loving Father.

“That’s three years of really hard work in the making,” she said. Getting started, she had no background in social media, and picked the brains of various friends who had wisdom to share.

“The ultimate goal for Made in His Image is to be the first Catholic medical center in the world for girls suffering from eating disorders and abuse,” Byrne said. “There are Christian centers, but none that are Catholic, that’s the ultimate goal.”

It’s a tall order for just one person. Byrne is hoping to expand her ministry staff to include at least a few more people, in order to field the thousands of e-mails she gets from women who have found Made in His Image.

Those e-mails of women reaching out for help are also why Byrne recently quit her job as a baker to pursue this ministry full-time.

One e-mail in particular made her realize she had a full-time task on her hands.

“I received an e-mail from a young woman who… had planned on taking her life that night, but for some reason – she didn’t say the reason – she was just Googling around online and she found Made in His Image,” Byrne said.

“She read all of our blog posts, and she said the reason she didn’t take her life was because of all the posts that she read, and she was told that she was loved on the blog posts.”

In order to make the ministry sustainable after quitting her job, and to help Made in His Image reach its ultimate goal, Byrne launched a Go Fund Me campaign last month.

“It was definitely a leap of faith,” Byrne said, “and I just live like month-to-month with my finances, which is not ideal at all, and to just to make this sustainable is really important.”

Byrne said one of the biggest lies she wants to bust for women and girls is that they are not enough – not enough to seek the help they truly need, not enough to experience healing, not enough to believe they are beautiful and loved.

“I want them to know about God the Father’s love, and how incredibly worthy they are, how incredibly enough that they are, and how God delights in them,” Byrne said. “Ultimately I want them to develop a personal relationship with God as Father, and to learn about their dignity as daughters of God.”

Nearly every post on the website ends with a simple but loving: P.S. You’re enough.

Byrne also tries to help young women get over the stigma of seeking out therapy and counseling.

“I tell them, you know I think everyone should be in therapy at some point in their life, it’s so helpful,” she said. “If you were sick, you would go to the doctor, and you know, when we have things that we need to deal with, it’s so helpful to go and talk to someone who has that knowledge just like a medical doctor.”

She also tells them that if they don’t like therapy the first time, they don’t have to go back. But almost always, once a woman starts counseling, she recognizes its value.

“They know it’s really, really hard, but they really actually do like it.”

Another thing she tries to help women and girls with is forgiveness and freedom from their past. Often, abuse comes from a family member, which can be very difficult to process.

“Something that was really helpful to me to recognize and learn about was how we all have free will,” Byrne said. “I think it’s really easy when something traumatic or horrible happens, we think ‘If God loved us, he wouldn’t allow this to happen.’”

“But if we know that person had free will, and God gives each of us free will, and we can either sin or do good with our free will, and the person who hurt them chose to do evil with their free will - it’s just really helpful to work through that process.”

In situations of abuse, Byrne stressed that it is important for women to seek separation from the situation and holistic healing for themselves before considering reaching out to a family member who has been abusive. When the time comes, Byrne says it is essential to pray for the grace to forgive.

“When you fail to forgive, you’re holding yourself hostage, and when you forgive them, you’re really setting yourself free, and it really comes down to that,” she said. “Ultimately, we are called to love like Christ, and when Christ hung on the cross, he loved those who were persecuting him.”

The testimonials on Made in His Image’s website speak volumes for what the ministry has done for girls and women already:

“I hadn’t eaten in weeks. Then I read your blog and it gave me the resolve to fight again. Thank you.”

“I listened to one of your live talks and it changed my life. Your passion is inspiring. I never knew going to therapy was okay, before you told me. Thank you for what you’ve done for me. Made in His Image is an amazing ministry, it saved my life.”

“You are so honest and real and there’s so much hope in the way you write. I’m so happy to have found it. I’m amazed at what you’re doing. Your posts bring me a lot of comfort and hope. I’ve been struggling lately with so much … but today is the Triumph of the Cross…and it’s so perfect that I found your blog today. I’ll pray for you today. Thanks for everything you’re doing!”

Byrne said that through the Holy Spirit, she hopes her ministry will continue to change hearts and save lives.

“I just want to expose them to genuine, authentic love, and that is the love of God as Father,” she said, “and I really think the Holy Spirit will take over from there, and I really think their lives will be transformed.”

To visit the Made in His Image website, click here: madeinhisimage.org

To support Made in His Image ministries, click here: gofundme.com/mihimage

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Charism and Consecrated Life: Part I

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. • January 7, 2015

In popular jargon, the word charisma is used to describe a person with dazzling gifts of charm or grace. Charismatic individuals form part of every walk of life—stage, screen, sports, and faith-traditions.

Charism and the Married Vocation

In the vocation of marriage, a woman wishes to marry a man not for what he earns but for the person he is. She doesn’t fall in love with a career but with a man whose strong identity and values harmonize with hers. He attracts her through his attitude toward life and the way he lives his life. What he does may very well emerge from his identity, but this is secondary. The same may be said of a man about a woman. As the two live out their married vocation, professional options may change, but their personal identities remain fundamentally the same.

Charism in Consecrated Life

2015 has been designated as the Year of Consecrated Life which is essentially rooted in the founder’s spirit and special purpose. Since the 1960s, Vatican documents have exhorted consecrated men and women to revitalize the spirit of their respective founders.

With a religious charism, God singles out individuals with an experience of intense love, unearned, unexpected, indelible, and unforgettable. With eyes of faith, they see Jesus Christ from a particular aspect of his life, his poor life or preaching, his sufferings, solitary prayer with his Father, itinerant ministry. The particular charism given to an individual is shaped by the historical times, a person’s own history, culture, temperament, gifts and limitations. Though one person receives the charism, the gift belongs to the entire Church, as St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12. A charism is given not for the glory or satisfaction of the recipient but as a responsibility to benefit others. Every institute is founded with a particular spirit to address a particular need in the Church. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, graced individuals who received special charisms are: Moses, Ruth, Esther, Judith, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Mary of Nazareth, and St. Paul.

“I Thirst”

In 1946, while traveling on a train from Calcutta to the Loretto convent in Darjeeling, Sister Teresa, the future Mother Teresa of Calcutta, heard the words from the crucified Lord, “I thirst.” She was to quench his thirst in serving the most destitute, the scum of society. Following this charism, she and her Missionary Sisters of Charity serve the most destitute, the most unwanted and dying of humankind throughout the world. Their charism, “I thirst,” answers the question, ‘who we are—what our root vision is.’ Their mission emanates from their charism; action follows being.

Schools of Spirituality of Large Religious Orders

The Benedictines, Franciscans, Dominicans and Jesuits have well-defined charisms, each with a unique identity out of which a special mission has emerged. A word about each.

The Benedictine Charism: Ora et Labora (Work and Pray, Balance and Moderation)

The monastic charism of the Benedictine Order bears witness to Jesus’s mandate to pray always. For those men and women who follow the Rule of St. Benedict, their primary mission is to live out this mandate. In addition to the traditional three vows, monastics take the vow of stability, that is, the vow to live all their lives in one particular monastery instead of moving about from one place to another. They chant in common the Liturgy of the Hours and listen to the lectio divina, the continuous reading of Sacred Scripture and patristic literature. Round the clock they pray: in the very early hours of the morning, during the day at appointed hours, and finally before retiring. Carthusians chant the three-hour Night Office beginning around Midnight.

The apostolic work of monastics is performed on or near the premises of the monastery or abbey. These include: education, writing and publishing books, farming, raising cattle, growing herb gardens, making wines, liqueurs, and jams, baking breads, making vestments and other handmade crafts, training dogs, offering hospitality to guests. These works are secondary to the primary mission, that of the choral praying the Liturgy of the Hours.

Monastic Institutes

Most monastic orders, which are more or less cloistered, follow the sixth-century Rule of St. Benedict. Some of these groups maintain indirect contact with the world, but the Carthusian Order of men and women is the most separated of all. Apart from a rugged silence, prayer and rigorous fasting, they write and publish spiritual books, but anonymously. The Carthusians at La Grande Chartreuse in France make the famous liqueur, Chartreuse.

The Dominican Charism (12th Century)

St Dominic’s charism is largely indebted to the Rule of St. Augustine which espouses God as perfect beauty, truth, and goodness. Like the Benedictines, the Dominicans engage in the choral celebration of the Hours, prayer, and contemplation. Their studies are oriented to preaching about the Word Incarnate and, by extension, about the Mother of God. Defending the Church is their main approach in preaching. They are quite successful in applying the principles of St. Thomas Aquinas to contemporary situations.

In the twelfth century, thanks to the Dominicans, 150 Our Fathers were given to an illiterate laity to pray as a substitute for the 150 psalms that were prayed by the monks and nuns. Later, the prayer became 150 Hail Marys, the rosary as we know it. Dominican women are of two groups: cloistered and non-cloistered.

The Franciscan Charism: “Francis, Go and Repair My Church”

In the thirteenth century, a rudderless dandy heard the words of Jesus, “Francis, go and repair my church.” At first, Francis of Assisi, later known as “Il Poverello,” took the words literally and began to repair some churches. Then, he saw that the great need in the Church was to repair it spiritually. Today, Franciscans work to rebuild and repair the Church through parish work, preaching and the vast world-wide evangelization program of the Eternal Word television network. It was founded by Mother Angelica, a Poor Clare cloistered nun. The Poor Clares are among the many sister-institutes of the Franciscan family.

Franciscans enjoy a close bond with the laity. They are known and revered for their love of creation and the environment, for their devotion to the humanity of Jesus both in his birth and sufferings, and in the Eucharist. These qualities endear them far beyond the Catholic faith-tradition. Their approach is sweet, consoling, and even rhapsodic, a fact borne out by the Christmas crèche which has been immortalized through them.

The Ignatian Charism: “For the Greater Glory of God” (The More)

The Spiritual Exercises, the heart of the Ignatian charism, are a gift to the entire Church. Through St. Ignatius of Loyola and his early Companions, the Exercises brought to the sixteenth-century Church a new, fresh, and vital approach to the gospel message.

In their rich and versatile way, the Exercises encompass all of salvation history and every approach to prayer. Ignatian spirituality integrates contemplative prayer with service. Prayer is apostolic prayer, prayer done for the sake of the mission, and the mission sends the Ignatian person back to prayer. One is done for the sake of the other. The prayer for finding God in all things, the daily examen, is essential, the sine qua non, of the Ignatian charism. It is a restful prayer when a person examines and evaluates the hours of one’s day in the light of faith. If, during the day, one has failed to pray or failed to respond to the mission, the examen will reveal the reason why. ‘Never skip the daily examen,’ admonished Ignatius to busy Jesuit scholastics.

In the Ignatian mindset, nothing is profane because the human is wedded to the divine–from work to play. In the Ignatian charism, one is at home everywhere and at home nowhere—the definition of a pilgrim. The Jesuit priest and poet, Daniel Berrigan, entitles an early work, A World for a Wedding Ring. The Jesuit priest and scientist, Teilhard de Chardin, sums it up: “By virtue of creation, and still more, of the Incarnation, nothing is profane for those who know how to see” (The Divine Milieu, 65-66). Accordingly, the daily examen keeps one poised in the world—spiritually balanced to live a discerning secularity lest the individual be swallowed up by the –ism of the day.

The Ignatian charism is based on the motto, “for the greater glory of God,” (ad maiorem Dei gloriam, the More, Magis). If one admits the comparative degree, then there is always something more and better to do. Magis translates into restlessness for the sake of the mission, the first and primary concern. The mission can be a person or groups of persons, place, event or situation. The Ignatian person stops and drops everything to respond to the mission.

Aggiornamento of Male Religious Orders

To a large extent, the charisms of these male religious institutes have remained robust. In the early 1970s however, the Jesuits re-examined the manner in which the Spiritual Exercises were presented. For years, they had been preached to large groups, a practice which St. Ignatius would not have recognized. A wide-scale program was undertaken to update them. Instead of being preached, they were given to laity and religious on a one-to-one basis—tailor made, as St. Ignatius intended. To sum up: The charisms of male religious orders are clearly distinguished, one from the other. No one would confuse the Jesuit scent of sanctity from that of the Benedictine, Dominican, or Franciscan. Their differences have spawned an industry of jokes for the ages to enjoy—even in heaven.

Aggiornamento in Women’s Institutes

Vatican II mandated that religious communities of women update their stance in the modern world. Most religious institutes responded, some moving at a slower pace than others or on a superficial level. When we speak of schools of spirituality, many women’s religious institutes don’t fall into neat categories as do the men’s orders unless they are the sister-institutes of the male orders.

All consecrated institutes embrace the Gospel and the evangelical counsels. Women’s groups must place their unique imprint on them. Ignatian women’s communities have a special emphasis on the gospel message, influenced by their founders. Basically, they have four characteristics of the Society of Jesus: (1) reliance on Ignatian texts in the formation of their own original constitutions, (2) influence by individual Jesuits, (3) modeling certain internal structures on those of the Society of Jesus, and (4) drawing inspiration drawn from the Ignatian apostolates (Mary Milligan, RSHM, “What Is an ‘Ignatian Congregation?’” Way Supplement 70). No one has done more to advance the Ignatian charism than has Sr. Mary Milligan (d 2011), an outstanding American religious woman and scholar devoted to her institute and to its charism.

According to one study, there are about fifteen Ignatian institutes of women. The Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Congregation of Jesus (IBVM, CJ), both founded by Mary Ward in the seventeenth century, actively promote the Ignatian charism in their schools. The opening sentence of the mission statement of the Faithful Companions begins: “Ignatian spirituality is at the root of the FCJ way of life.” The Religious of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (RSCJ) profess that the charism of St. Madeleine Sophie Barat and the Ignatian Exercises are at the core of their spirituality. The Religious of the Cenacle give retreats and are committed to offer the Spiritual Exercises as part of their mission.

Other institutes, Ignatian or not, define their charisms by what they do. And many do the same thing. Still other institutes have altogether abandoned their heritage, adopting an ideology that is not a charism. Promoting justice and caring for the environment are important ministries but emerge from a charism. Mention of the Catholic Church is often missing. Marketing experts tell us that tampering with an identity—a brand, a restaurant, a cola, or any other consumer product can be a risky business. Those religious groups that have reinvented or discarded their identity are in peril. Those with a revitalized identity and mission appear to be in a strong position to survive.

Dying and Rising

Over the centuries, it was a bitter experience for the Church to witness the demise of religious institutes, but the essence of consecrated life has never died. After each crisis, it recovered and showed signs of internal strength and a remarkable ability to adapt to the needs of every age. Not all institutions die because of persecution.

Today in many institutes, decline has set in. Numbers are plummeting. No large corporation or small business would permit losses without a realistic analysis of facts, without a corporate examination of conscience. Religious are in denial and refuse to face the losses. Instead of discussing them with honesty, both intellectual and emotional, they defend, even glorify, a way of life that is fast ebbing away. Smaller institutes have already succumbed. A few have merged with larger ones. Religious communities are facing extinction because of internal reasons: deconstruction of their charism and divisiveness over it, laxity, and fashionable ideologies.

Increase of Vocations

In the past thirty years, vocations to some groups have increased. The Benedictine community at Our Lady of Clear Creek Abbey in Oklahoma, the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, and the Sisters of Life are growing by leaps and bounds with their large number of applicants. The cloistered Benedictine Abbey of Regina Laudis in Bethlehem, CT has a waiting list of aspirants. Every nun has brought with her a professional background and a practical skill. At the Abbey, Gregorian chant flourishes as do other arts. Theirs is a vibrant presence in Bethlehem. Mother Margaret Georgina Patton, O.S.B., the granddaughter of Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., and the former Hollywood actress, Dolores Hart, now Mother Dolores Hart, O.S.B., are two of many nuns who live in this cloistered and gifted community.

Young women and men interested in religious life are avoiding institutes in decline. Instead, they are seeking groups with fiery vision to build the future, “all ablaze with God springing up everywhere” (Teilhard de Chardin, Letters to Léontine Zanta, 41).

… To be continued.

Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, Brentwood, NY, holds degrees in philosophy (Ph.L), musicology (Ph.D.), theology (M.A.), and liturgical studies (Ph.D). She has taught at all levels of Catholic education and writes with a particular focus on a theology of beauty and the sacred arts. Her e-mail address is jroccasalvo@optonline.net.

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The Beauty of Catholic Education: Literature and Poetry

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. • January 9, 2015

In his homily for New Year’s Eve, Pope Francis spoke about the importance of time and the way we use it. He urged that we make a daily examination of our attitudes, activities, and our behavior—how we use time. As our students advance from grade to grade, we see how time affects them in all aspects of their development.

The Gift of Time

Some years ago in one of my college music classes, I had a student, a bright, beautiful young woman, conscientious about her work, a fine athlete, poised to apply to graduate school. She loved the class, and her face would light up at the sound of the music. On a given test, I had mistakenly awarded her two credits for a wrong answer. She could have pocketed the error without my ever discovering it. Instead, she came to me on a Friday afternoon prepared to forfeit the credits. I told her to keep them; her honesty was so refreshing.

The following Monday, I trembled at the tragic news; I wept, incredulous at the narrative. Over the weekend, the young lady had been killed by a driver, recklessly jumping the curb at the corner where she was standing, ready to cross to the other side. For months, her parents were inconsolable. Later, they told me that she had a maturity far beyond her short span of twenty years. I of course knew this.

The Scriptures and writings from Early Christianity to the present exhort the followers of Christ to live in present moment. The spiritual director, Jean-Pierre Caussade, S.J., writes that life is really all about the “sacrament of the present moment.”

Educating Our Children through Literature and Poetry

Our students are our first priority. This concern begins with the neediest, the most vulnerable and at-risk children. Reading books that inspire and uplift, and memorizing classic poetry are the raw materials of a first-class education. They contribute mightily to building students’ self-confidence. When I taught in dangerous and depressed neighborhoods, my classes of sixty ethnically-diverse children came from difficult backgrounds. But they were eager to learn because we educators believed in their future. Catholic education was the key to their success. They relished those hours of diagramming sentences and playing grammar games, giving oral topics on any topic, but especially about their future. They cultivated the habit of reading and writing well. Most of all they loved reciting poetry. Learning was fun!

Our students should be encouraged to make solid and uplifting books their close and constant companions. Reading and memorizing poetry jog the mind. Reading frames our thoughts and values. It makes our world grow larger. Children should begin reading the classics at their own level. When they are in the early grades, children in Italy read a simplified version of Dante’s Divine Comedy. As they mature, they read Dante in the original.

Memorizing poetry, presented in an attractive way, can be enjoyable as well as intellectually stimulating. I recommend reading an article in the New York Times (August 3, 2014) entitled, “The Case for Bribing Kids to Memorize Poetry” by Kate Haas. She remains unapologetic for bribing her young son to memorize the classics—Shakespeare, Keats, Tennyson, and many other poets. The author ends her essay on this note: “Educators and writers still make the case for memorizing poetry: It teaches rhythm, improves vocabulary and instills a sense of ownership in kids.”

Educating for Wonder and Beauty

Recently David Brooks of the New York Times wrote a fine article entitled, “The Subtle Sensations of Faith” (Dec 22, 2014). His central point is this. When people say that they have no religious impulse whatsoever, they should be asked if they have ever had an experience of wonder.

Religion is “the means of making these moments part of your life rather than merely radical intrusions …” writes Brooks’ friend, Christian Wiman. “Religion is what you do with these moments of over-mastery in your life.” We can wonder at the beautiful person of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, St. Joseph, wonder at the lives of the saints. They help us to answer the all-important question of life: What does it all mean? Ours is a beautiful faith filled with wonder and joy. Apparently, the 26,000,000 Catholics who have left the faith in recent years would disagree, or they would not have severed their relationship with the Church.

We Catholic educators owe our students opportunities for wonder, beginning with the arts: enjoying classical music, singing, dancing, painting or drawing, dramatizing the scriptures and becoming part of the scripture stories. All these offer them opportunities for celebrating the beauty of a faith that celebrates the arts.

New Year’s Resolution

Commitment to fine literature and beautiful poetry, so easy to memorize and to love—this is a lofty resolution for 2015. Now and again, one hears television journalists recite parts of the classics and poetry when they speak on public platforms. Gov. Mario Cuomo who died last week rarely gave a speech without quoting poetry, not to mention great thinkers like Plato, Aristotle, Lincoln, and Churchill. He was educated in Catholic schools. He became a Renaissance Man. As for writing his speeches, his son Andrew said this at his Mass of the Resurrection: “At his core, my father was a philosopher and poet. Every sentence, every word was arranged like fine pearls, each chosen for its individual beauty but also placed just so with the one that came before and the one that followed in a seamless flow of logic and emotion …”

Maria Bartiromo, the Wall Street analyst, is fond of reciting Rudyard Kipling’s “If” whenever she delivers a commencement address. The poem is printed below.

President John F. Kennedy and Mrs. Kennedy supported the arts with splendid enthusiasm. One month before his tragic death, Mr. Kennedy received an Honorary Doctorate at Amherst College. In his speech, he describes the role of an artist in society, noting Robert Frost’s many contributions to American arts and culture. This is what he said:

… I look forward to an America which will not be afraid of grace and beauty, which will protect the beauty of our natural environment, which will preserve the great old American houses and squares and parks of our natural past, and which will build handsome and balanced cities for our future.

… I look forward to an America which will reward achievement in the arts as we reward achievement in business and statecraft. I look forward to an America which will steadily raise the standards of artistic accomplishment and which will steadily enlarge cultural opportunities for all our citizens. And I look forward to an America which commands respect throughout the world not only for its strength but for its civilization as well.

THE WELL OF BEAUTY

by Eileen Lomasney, C.S.J.

A canticle of color,

A symphony of sound,

Asks the eager-hearted

“Where is beauty found?”

The liturgy of seasons,

The rhythm of the skies,

Reads like Wisdom’s Primer

Furnishing replies.

We marry moods to beauty

Early in our youth

And find our spirit tutored

In goodness and in truth.

We search our inner being,

Our birth, our life and death,

To learn we are dependent

On beauty’s very breath.

All syllabled creation

Spelleth last and first,

“The Word is Beauty’s Well-Spring,

O come, all ye that thirst.”

SWIFT THINGS ARE BEAUTIFUL

by Elizabeth Coatsworth

Swift things are beautiful:

Swallows and deer

And lightning that falls

Bright-veined and clear,

River and meteors,

Wind in the wheat,

The strong-withered horse,

The runner’s sure feet.

And slow things are beautiful:

The closing of day,

The pause of the wave

That curves downward to spray,

The ember that crumbles,

The opening flower,

And the ox that moves on

In the quiet of power.

BARTER

by Sara Teasdale

Life has loveliness to sell.

All beautiful and splendid things,

Blue waves whitened on a cliff,

Soaring fire that sways and sings,

And children’s faces looking up

Holding wonders like a cup.

Life has loveliness to sell,

Music like a curve of gold,

Scent of pine trees in the rain,

Eyes that love you, arms that hold,

And for your spirit’s dear delight,

Holy thoughts that star the night.

Spend all you have for loveliness,

Buy it and never count the cost;

For one, white, singing hour of peace

Count many a year of strife well lost;

And for a breath of ecstasy

Give all you have been, or could be.

IF

by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you

But make allowance for their doubting too,

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master,

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breath a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: “Hold on!”

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with kings--nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;

If all men count with you, but none too much,

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, Brentwood, NY, holds degrees in philosophy (Ph.L), musicology (Ph.D.), theology (M.A.), and liturgical studies (Ph.D). She has taught at all levels of Catholic education and writes with a particular focus on a theology of beauty and the sacred arts. Her e-mail address is jroccasalvo@optonline.net.

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FEATURES

Movie Review: “Selma”

by Carl Kozlowski (CNA/EWTN News) • January 10, 2015

It may be hard to believe, but there has never a movie about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He’s been the subject of several TV movies and miniseries over the years, but it’s pretty amazing to consider that the greatest civil rights leader in American history went without a grand cinematic portrayal a full 22 years after the far more controversial activist Malcolm X was graced with a movie by Spike Lee.

That all changes this weekend with the release of “Selma,” a rousingly powerful depiction of King’s quest to lead a peaceful march for civil rights from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, and the powerful authoritarian forces that attempted to stop him. Stunningly directed by Ava DuVernay, “Selma” is far from a staid and dated portrayal of a historic figure, but rather a vibrant and fully alive work that speaks directly to our still-troubled race relations and the often-contentious relationship between police and the African-American community.

Starring British actor David Oyelowo as King, the movie opens with a stirring example of the contradictions the icon dealt with on a constant basis. He’s shown accepting the Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, Norway, while back home in the states four young African-American girls were killed when a bomb devastated their church in Selma.

It is immediately clear that King has to make Selma ground zero in the battle for immediate voting rights. But as he moves into town, King is under pressure from constant mysterious surveillance by the FBI – including their attempts to destroy his marriage by playing audio tapes of his marital infidelities to his wife, Coretta – as well as vicious hatred from much of the local white community and even backlash from some young black activists who are resentful that he will overshadow their own efforts.

King is also in frequent contact with President Lyndon Johnson (Tom Wilkinson), who wants to help King achieve his goals but is trying to take a few years, rather than immediate action, in order to face less resistance from the nation’s bigots. Ultimately, King settles upon the idea of the 10-mile march to Montgomery as a dramatic way to show thousands of black citizens observing nonviolent protests for the right to vote.

It is in the attempt to march that DuVernay and her incredible cast succeed in creating a horrifying and indelible record of the absolute evil the protesters were subjected to. King isn’t along on the first attempt, when everything from bullets to horseback policemen wielding whips were unleashed on the crowd, but when he leads them back a second time with a much bigger and racially mixed crowd from around the nation, the world is watching and the movie becomes a vital example to current protesters of racial injustice.

Some former Johnson associates, as well as scholars, have criticized “Selma” for its portrayal of President Johnson, claiming that it portrays him as more of a villain than he actually was. They believe the film portrays him as being the driving force behind the FBI’s attempts to discredit King and that the movie doesn’t give him credit for the idea of the marches.

Yet others say that such credit is questionable, and the overall tone of the movie seems to respect Johnson and show him as a man caught between a rock and a hard place as the nation was facing horrible divisions. The final impression is one of a leader who went with the forces of change when they could no longer be denied, rather than violently obstructing them.

Led by Oyewolo’s commanding and emotionally eclectic performance and infused with a riveting sense of time and place that will make now-distant history seem fully alive and of the moment, “Selma” is one of the most important movies of the past year and could serve as a vital reminder amid our current protests that the best way to demand change from authorities is not to kill them or fight back with violence. It lies in the strength that faith provides, and the knowledge that if enough evil is met with a noble response, the hearts of society will demand change.

Carl Kozlowski has been a professional film critic and essayist for the past five years at Pasadena Weekly, in addition to the Christian movie site Movieguide.org, the conservative pop culture site Breitbart.coms Big Hollywood, the Christian pop culture magazine Relevant and New City newspaper in Chicago. He also writes in-depth celebrity interviews for Esquire.com and The Progressive. He is owner of the podcasting site radiotitans.com, which was named one of the Frontier Fifty in 2013 as one of the 50 best talk-radio outlets in the nation by talkers.com and will be relaunching it in January 2014 after a five-month sabbatical. He lives in Los Angeles.

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SUNDAY • JANUARY 11, 2015

The Baptism of the Lord

First Reading (Is 42:1-4, 6-7; NRSV)

Here is my servant, whom I uphold,

my chosen, in whom my soul delights;

I have put my spirit upon him;

he will bring forth justice to the nations.

He will not cry or lift up his voice,

or make it heard in the street;

a bruised reed he will not break,

and a dimly burning wick he will not quench;

he will faithfully bring forth justice.

He will not grow faint or be crushed

until he has established justice in the earth;

and the coastlands wait for his teaching.

I am the Lord, I have called you in righteousness,

I have taken you by the hand and kept you;

I have given you as a covenant to the people,

a light to the nations,

to open the eyes that are blind,

to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon,

from the prison those who sit in darkness.

Second Reading (Acts 10:34-38; NRSV)

Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ—he is Lord of all. That message spread throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John announced: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Gospel Reading (Mk 1:7-11; NRSV)

John the Baptist proclaimed, “The one who is more powerful than I is coming after me; I am not worthy to stoop down and untie the thong of his sandals. I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased.”

MONDAY • JANUARY 12, 2015

Monday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Heb 1:1-6; NRSV)

Long ago God spoke to our ancestors in many and various ways by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by a Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom he also created the worlds. He is the reflection of God’s glory and the exact imprint of God’s very being, and he sustains all things by his powerful word. When he had made purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

For to which of the angels did God ever say,

“You are my Son;

today I have begotten you”?

Or again,

“I will be his Father,

and he will be my Son”?

And again, when he brings the firstborn into the world, he says,

“Let all God’s angels worship him.”

Gospel Reading (Mk 1:14-20; NRSV)

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

As Jesus passed along the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the sea—for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fish for people.” And immediately they left their nets and followed him. As he went a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John, who were in their boat mending the nets. Immediately he called them; and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men, and followed him.

TUESDAY • JANUARY 13, 2015

Tuesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Heb 2:5-12; NRSV)

Now God did not subject the coming world, about which we are speaking, to angels. But someone has testified somewhere,

“What are human beings that you are mindful of them,

or mortals, that you care for them?

You have made them for a little while lower than the angels;

you have crowned them with glory and honor,

subjecting all things under their feet.”

Now in subjecting all things to them, God left nothing outside their control. As it is, we do not yet see everything in subjection to them, but we do see Jesus, who for a little while was made lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.

It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father. For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, saying,

“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,

in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”

Gospel Reading (Mk 1:21-28; NRSV)

They went to Capernaum; and when the sabbath came, he entered the synagogue and taught. They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him. They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching—with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” At once his fame began to spread throughout the surrounding region of Galilee.

WEDNESDAY • JANUARY 14, 2015

Wednesday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Heb 2:14-18; NRSV)

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of death. For it is clear that he did not come to help angels, but the descendants of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make a sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself was tested by what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested.

Gospel Reading (Mk 1:29-39; NRSV)

As soon as they left the synagogue, they entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

THURSDAY • JANUARY 15, 2015

Thursday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Heb 3:7-14; NRSV)

Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says,

“Today, if you hear his voice,

do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

as on the day of testing in the wilderness,

where your ancestors put me to the test,

though they had seen my works for forty years.

Therefore I was angry with that generation,

and I said, ‘They always go astray in their hearts,

and they have not known my ways.’

As in my anger I swore,

‘They will not enter my rest.’”

Take care, brothers and sisters, that none of you may have an evil, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” so that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have become partners of Christ, if only we hold our first confidence firm to the end.

Gospel Reading (Mk 1:40-45; NRSV)

A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.

FRIDAY • JANUARY 16, 2015

Friday of the First Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Heb 4:1-5, 11; NRSV)

Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest is still open, let us take care that none of you should seem to have failed to reach it. For indeed the good news came to us just as to them; but the message they heard did not benefit them, because they were not united by faith with those who listened. For we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said,

“As in my anger I swore,

‘They shall not enter my rest,’”

though his works were finished at the foundation of the world. For in one place it speaks about the seventh day as follows, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works.” And again in this place it says, “They shall not enter my rest.”

Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall through such disobedience as theirs.

Gospel Reading (Mk 2:1-12; NRSV)

When he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. So many gathered around that there was no longer room for them, not even in front of the door; and he was speaking the word to them. Then some people came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. And when they could not bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him; and after having dug through it, they let down the mat on which the paralytic lay. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, “Why does this fellow speak in this way? It is blasphemy! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” At once Jesus perceived in his spirit that they were discussing these questions among themselves; and he said to them, “Why do you raise such questions in your hearts? Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Stand up and take your mat and walk’? But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— “I say to you, stand up, take your mat and go to your home.” And he stood up, and immediately took the mat and went out before all of them; so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We have never seen anything like this!”

SATURDAY • JANUARY 17, 2015

Memorial of Saint Anthony

First Reading (Heb 4:12-16; NRSV)

Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And before him no creature is hidden, but all are naked and laid bare to the eyes of the one to whom we must render an account.

Since, then, we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who in every respect has been tested as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore approach the throne of grace with boldness, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Gospel Reading (Mk 2:13-17; NRSV)

Jesus went out again beside the sea; the whole crowd gathered around him, and he taught them. As he was walking along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he got up and followed him.

And as he sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples—for there were many who followed him. When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, they said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard this, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick; I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”