VOLUME 1, ISSUE 3  •  JANUARY 17, 2015

Table of Contents

Copyright Notice

VATICAN NEWS

Haitian welder turned amputee soccer star: ‘It’s the best life’

Pope Francis: Jesus’ baptism opened the heavens

Pope Francis baptizes babies, says God’s word helps faith grow

Pope tells diplomats to work for peace amid a world rife with conflict

For Pope Francis, loving concern for the poor is not communism

Pope Francis lauds first Sri Lankan saint’s undivided love for God

An environment encyclical in March? Pope Francis hopes so

Pope Francis to canonize evangelizer of the Wild West

Pope on Charlie Hebdo: Don’t kill in God’s name but don’t insult faith

Full transcript of Pope’s interview in-flight to Manila

Gift from heaven? Pope receives unexpected visit from St. Therese of Lisieux

WORLD NEWS

Among Christian refugees in Kurdistan, ‘no one is angry at God’

How a crucifix restoration in Rome offers hope to the poor

Nigerian bishop hopes for solidarity, as thousands already killed in the new year

Haiti’s hope is in its people five years after quake

Pope Francis: Sri Lankans can learn to live as one family

Amid schedule delays, Pope cancels meeting with Sri Lanka bishops

A warm Sri Lanka welcome – Pope greeted by 40 elephants

Don’t use religion as a weapon of war, Pope Francis insists

Sri Lankan cardinal credits papal trip for post-election peace

Availability and obedience: the intentions of Uruguay’s new cardinal

Farsi Catechism translation offers hope of dialogue in Iran

Venezuelan bishops condemn imposition of socialism

For refugees, Spanish bishops propose ‘a Church without borders’

Scottish archbishop credits God’s grace for healing process in diocese

Pope Francis’ full homily on Joseph Vaz, Sri Lanka’s first saint

At papal Mass in Sri Lanka, disabled man seeks ‘big blessing’

‘Mary forgave her son’s killers’: The Pope on healing in Sri Lanka

Francis makes impromptu visit to Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka

Twenty-one Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya

In Kurdish Iraq, new beginnings for exiled nuns and priests

Pope’s visit prompts release of more than 600 Sri Lankan prisoners

Cyclone menaces Pope’s trip to Philippines, Catholics join in prayer

Pope Francis bids farewell to Sri Lanka, Philippines up next

Overwhelming welcome for Pope Francis foreseen in Philippines

Malawi’s Bishop Joseph Zuza dies in car accident

Attendee of Philippines WYD 1995 to concelebrate papal Mass

Goans celebrate the canonization of their compatriot St. Joseph Vaz

Pope Francis: Philippines’ 500 years of Christianity can inspire more good

Pope’s full homily to Bishops, Priests, Religious and Seminarians in Manila

Pope Francis sees ‘powerful missionary potential’ in Philippines

‘Our faith makes us stand up again and again,’ Cardinal Tagle tells Pope

Twelve hours on a boat to tell Pope Francis ‘I love you’

Here’s what Pope Francis gave the president of the Philippines

What threatens families? Redefining marriage, Pope says

She died and came back to life 3 times; now she’s here to see the Pope

Paul VI was right to warn against contraception, Pope Francis says

Gay marriage is ‘ideological colonization,’ says Vatican spokesman

Pope’s visit will have a ‘huge impact’, Filipino ambassador believes

Ahead of Synod, UK Catholics to venerate relics of St Therese’s parents

Pope Francis’ heartfelt words for typhoon survivors: Jesus is there for you!

‘We will always be grateful,’ Filipino archbishop tells Pope Francis

Inbound typhoon cuts short Pope Francis’ visit to Leyte

Rain during papal Mass a small sacrifice compared to Typhoon Haiyan

What the Pope wasn’t able to say in the Philippines

A simple, intense encounter: Pope Francis and Manila’s street kids

Prayers asked for woman killed in freak accident at papal Mass

Pope Francis to Philippines cardinal: ‘this visit is really for me’

Here’s why Pope Francis goes off script

U.S. NEWS

One family under God: Archbishop Gomez addresses immigration reform

New Orleans receives a native son for new auxiliary bishop

Next Catholic Charities head is sister with a mission of compassion

Pro-life event designed with a California audience in mind

Which way to church? Supreme Court weighs directions for roadside signs

Nebraska monsignor appointed new Bishop of Grand Island

Archbishop Gomez: OneLife LA event affirms life near Roe v. Wade anniversary

Speakers withdraw from Catholic event fearing LGBT controversy

California bishops to Pope: Thanks for the new saint!

How to join the US bishops in 9 Days for Life

Brace yourselves: same-sex marriage ruling coming this Supreme Court term

As political leaders look abroad, bishops insist on religious liberty in U.S.

FEATURES

Facing the Bogus Burden

Study and Beauty in the Family and Consecrated Life: Part II

Movie Review: ‘American Sniper’

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • January 18, 2015

Monday • January 19, 2015

Tuesday • January 20, 2015

Wednesday • January 21, 2015

Thursday • January 22, 2015

Friday • January 23, 2015

Saturday • January 24, 2015

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Volume 1, Issue 3 • January 17, 2015

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VATICAN NEWS

Haitian welder turned amputee soccer star: ‘It’s the best life’

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

A member of Team Zaryen plays soccer. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — After losing a leg during Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake, Wilfrid Macena became a prosthetic technician and founded an amputee soccer team--and says his life can’t be topped years after the disaster.

“The process has really helped me because I was only welding before the earthquake. I never could have believed that I would be a technician making prosthetics and helping the children in Haiti,” Macena told CNA Jan. 9.

“Every time they came to check our prosthetics, I always asked them, can we make a soccer team? (And) when this came to be a reality, I was thinking ‘it’s the best life for us after the earthquake’.”

Macena was one of three Haitian amputees present in the Vatican on Jan. 10 for a conference that Pope Francis called together to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the massive, 7.0-magnitude quake that tore through the island nation on Jan. 12, 2010.

The earthquake destroyed much of the nation’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, and killed an estimated 230,000 people. It left more than 1.5 million people homeless.

After losing his leg in the earthquake, Macena was the first to receive a prosthetic limb through the “Healing Haiti’s Children” project. The program is sponsored by the Knights of Columbus in partnership with the University of Miami’s affiliate project Medishare.

“The first day I got my prosthetic, like five minutes after, (the technician) was trying to teach me how to use it but he couldn’t find me, (because) I was already outside talking to my friend with other patients,” Macena recalled.

“(I had) inspiration (to) let them know that life’s not over, that they can walk again and do everything that they were doing before with two legs.”

Through the project and with the help of the Knights of Columbus, the former welder was able to found a soccer team called “Team Zaryen.” The team is made up of other amputee athletes who now travel the world demonstrating their skills and teaching other amputees how to play on crutches.

Macena and two other team members, Mackenson Pierre and Sandy J.L. Louiseme, took part in the Vatican conference. They had the opportunity to meet with Pope Francis during a private audience held with other conference participants.

Macena said that to come all the way to Rome is “a long way to travel, (and) I’m still thinking ‘how did I get here?’” He added that it is “very, very exciting” to come all the way from Haiti to meet the Pope.

“I think it’s a once in a lifetime for us, because it’s not something easy to meet the Pope. We came a long way from Haiti, and I think it looks like we are even not handicapped,” he said.

“We have changed life for other people in Haiti. We are the ambassadors for Haiti, so not it’s not only exciting for us to be here, but for (everyone in) Haiti: we represent them here.”

The Vatican conference was titled “The Communion of the Church: Memory and Hope for Haiti Five Years after the Earthquake.” Its sponsors included the Pontifical Council Cor Unum and the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, was also present for the Vatican conference. He told CNA Jan. 9 that he was originally inspired to partner with Medishare to create the “Healing Haiti’s Children” program when delivering wheelchairs to Haiti shortly after the earthquake.

After talking with Medishare personnel on the ground, Anderson came to understand “that children are sometimes the last to get assistance” in situations of tragedy. He decided to partner with the medical organization to provide assistance to the children and adults who had lost limbs.

“We could fill a need that wasn’t being met, and we had a good partner that we knew would be effective,” Anderson said. At present, roughly 25,000 people, including 1,000 youth, have received assistance through the project.

He spoke of the resilient spirit of the Haitian people. Anderson said that to watch the project grow over the last five years and to see the creation of the soccer team has been a sign that “people can – even if they have very few material resources –make a real contribution with their spirit, their determination and their good will.”

Robert Gailey, a professor at the University of Miami and Director of Rehabilitation with Medishare in the “Healing Haiti’s Children” project, was also present in Rome for the Vatican’s conference. He spoke of the importance of teaching Haitians themselves how to help each other.

“One of the unique things about the program is that we have not just provided prostheses to fit folks and then they go back to the States or wherever they came from, (but) we’re teaching Haitians how to care for Haitians,” he told CNA Jan. 9.

Gailey pointed to Macena’s case as an example of someone who received help through the program, and then trained as a prosthetic technician, which is now his full-time job.

Another blessing of the project is that it has helped to break the cultural stigma surrounding those with disabilities, he said. Prior to the earthquake, amputees were viewed as bad people.

“They couldn’t go to school, they couldn’t get a job, and they were often times rejected by their family,” Gailey explained.

“But what we’ve done with Team Zaryen is demonstrate to the country that just because you have a disability doesn’t mean you are a castaway from society, but that you can be a productive member of society.”

The rehabilitation director noted that since the soccer team has started to become famous, even on an international level, the negative stigma surrounding those with disabilities in Haiti has slowly started to disappear.

“Not a lot of good things came out of the earthquake, but I think the changing of people’s minds and the perception of disability is huge.”

In addition to playing in the Paralympics, Team Zaryen has traveled across the United States. In a 2011 visit, players visited war veteran amputees from Iraq and Afghanistan and taught them how to play soccer on crutches.

Anderson explained that one of his greatest hopes for the continuation of the project is that it would become a model for other such programs in the future.

“The personal solidarity of people helping each other between countries, being united (and) the fact that non-profit activity can really be a multiplier” in terms of gathering, sustaining and multiplying resources are all major reasons the project can be a true model for the future.

Catholic charity, he said, “isn’t just the distribution of material goods, it really is an emphasis on the person, on interpersonal relationships and the fact that each of us have something to contribute.”

“So we contributed on the material level, and the Haitians contributed back with the gift of their determination, their spirituality, their faith and their hope.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis: Jesus’ baptism opened the heavens

by CNA/EWTN News • January 11, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in Saint Peter’s Square during his General Audience on Nov. 13, 2013. (Elise Harris/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis encouraged Christians to remember their baptism with “joy,” as he reflected on the role of Jesus Christ’s baptism by John the Baptist in God’s saving mission for humanity.

The Pope said the opening of the heavens when John the Baptist baptized Jesus “ended the time of the ‘closed heavens’ which indicate the separation between God and man, the consequence of sin.”

“The open heavens indicate that God gave his grace for the earth to bear fruit. So the earth has become the dwelling of God among men, and each of us has the opportunity to meet the Son of God, experiencing all his love and infinite mercy,” he told tens of thousands of people gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the Sunday Angelus Jan. 11.

“Sin alienates us from God and breaks the link between Earth and Heaven, thus determining our misery and failure of our lives,” he added.

Sunday marked the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Pope Francis reflected on the day’s Mass readings, which included a reading from the Gospel of Mark’s first chapter about Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River and the descent of the Holy Spirit.

When God’s voice proclaims “You are my beloved son, with you I am well pleased,” the Pope explained, “the Father’s voice proclaims the mystery that lurks in the Man baptized by John the Baptist.”

The descent of the Holy Spirit allows Jesus Christ to begin his mission of mankind’s salvation.

“Remember this: pray often to the Holy Spirit because he helps us, he gives us strength, he gives us inspiration and helps us move forward!” the Pope exhorted.

Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit encourages the spread of the Gospel “to the ends of the earth and of society.”

He lamented the existence of Christians and communities who are “deaf” to the voice of the Holy Spirit and are also becoming “mute.” He described them as those who “do not speak and do not evangelize.”

The Pope suggested that the Holy Spirit is “the Great Forgotten One in our prayers.” Christians often pray to Jesus and to God the Father, but not so frequently to the Holy Spirit.

“And we need to ask for his help, his strength, his inspiration. The Holy Spirit who animated entirely the life and ministry of Jesus is the same Spirit who now leads the Christian life.”

Pope Francis encouraged Christians to place their lives as Christians “under the action of the Holy Spirit” as well as to place under the Holy Spirit their baptismal mission to find “the apostolic courage necessary to overcome easy, worldly accommodations.”

He also stressed that Jesus is really present in the sacraments, especially the Eucharist.

“We can recognize him in the faces of our brothers, especially the poor, the sick, the imprisoned, the refugees: they are living flesh of the suffering Christ and the visible image of the invisible God.”

After the Angelus prayers, Pope Francis encouraged prayers for the imminent start of his latest apostolic voyages.

“This evening I will depart on an apostolic visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Thanks for your prayers in this shared endeavor, thanks very much! And I ask you please to accompany me with prayers and I also ask the Sri Lankans and Filipinos who are here at Rome who have specially prayed for me for this visit,” he said.

Pope Francis concluded by asking the faithful to “remember with joy” their baptism.

In a morning Mass at Vatican City’s Sistine Chapel, the Pope baptized 33 babies.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis baptizes babies, says God’s word helps faith grow

by CNA/EWTN News • January 11, 2015

Francis kisses a baby at a Pontifical Council for Health Care conference on autism Nov. 22, 2014. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis baptized 33 babies at the Sistine Chapel on Sunday, advising families to set an example for their children through reading the Gospels.

He said the Word of God is like a mother’s nourishing milk.

“God, like a good father and a good mother, wants to give good gifts to his children,” and wants to give his children “substantial food,” the Pope said in his homily at the Jan. 11 Sistine Chapel Mass.

“What is this substantial food that God gives us?” the Pope asked. “It is his Word. His Word makes us grow, makes us bear good fruit in life, as rain and snow are good for the earth and make it fruitful.”

At one point the Pope encouraged mothers to give their children milk, “even now, if they cry for hunger.”

“We thank the Lord for the gift of milk, and pray for those mothers--who are many, unfortunately--who are not in a position to give food to their children,” he said. “We pray and try to help these mothers.”

“What milk does to the body, the Word of God does for the spirit: the Word of God makes faith grow.”

He encouraged parents, godparents, grandparents, uncles and aunts, saying they will “help these children to grow well if you give them the Word of God, the gospel of Jesus.”

“And give them the example!” he exhorted. “Every day, get into the habit of reading a passage from the gospel, a little one, and always carry a small gospel in your pocket or purse to read it.”

“This will be an example to the children, to see dad, mom, godparents, grandfather, grandmother, uncles and aunts, read the Word of God.”

The Pope cited the words of St. John the Evangelist: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God.”

“In this faith, your children are baptized,” he said. “Today it is your faith, dear parents and godparents, and the faith of the Church, in which these children receive baptism. But tomorrow, with the grace of God, it will be their faith, their personal ‘yes’ to Jesus Christ, who gives us the Father’s love.”

Pope Francis said that Baptism integrates Christians into the body of the Church, into the holy people of God. He said the Christian faith is transmitted from generation to generation, beginning with the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph, the apostles and martyrs.

The Pope encouraged families to pass down to their children the “light of faith” which they take from Jesus.

“Teach your children that you cannot be a Christian outside the Church, you cannot follow Jesus Christ without the Church, because the Church is Mother, and makes us grow in love for Jesus Christ.”

“Dear parents, dear godfathers and godmothers, if you want your children to become true Christians, help them grow, ‘immersed’ in the Holy Spirit--that is, in the heat of the love of God.”

He encouraged daily prayer to the Holy Spirit, and all the persons of the Trinity, saying this helps children “grow up in the atmosphere of the Holy Trinity.”

Pope Francis especially recommended one short prayer: “Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope tells diplomats to work for peace amid a world rife with conflict

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 12, 2015

Pope Francis addresses the European Parliament in Strasbourg on Nov. 25, 2014. (Alan Holdre/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis told Vatican diplomats that peace – which is a communal responsibility – is the only solution to global issues like war, terrorism and social problems such as unemployment and slavery.

“Today I wish to repeat a word quite dear to us: peace!” the Pope told the diplomats on Jan. 12.

He said that peace is a common theme we think about during Christmas, but cautioned that the holiday also makes us think of “another tragic reality: that of rejection,” which is visible in Herod’s killing of the infants in Bethlehem as well as in Jesus’ ultimate death on the cross.

Rejection, the pontiff observed, is an attitude that we all share, and is one which refuses to see and accept others as brothers and sisters, but rather views them as unworthy, and as persons we can bend to our own will.

“This is the mind-set which fosters that ‘throwaway culture’ which spares nothing and no one: nature, human beings, even God himself,” the Bishop of Rome said, explaining that this attitude “gives rise to a humanity filled with pain and constantly torn by tensions and conflicts of every sort.”

He drew attention to last month’s Taliban attack on a military school in Pakistan – which killed more than 140 people, most of whom were children – as an example, and again offered his condolences to their families.

The personal aspect of rejection is inevitably attached to the social dimension, the Pope noted, explaining that this leads to “the breakdown of society and spawning violence and death,” which is evident in last week’s attack on a Paris newspaper which killed 12 people.

“Losing their freedom, people become enslaved, whether to the latest fads, or to power, money, or even deviant forms of religion,” he said, noting that all of these things stem from “a corrupt heart, a heart incapable of recognizing and doing good, of pursuing peace.”

Pope Francis then pointed to the numerous conflicts happening around the world, particularly in the Ukraine, the Middle East and the African countries of Nigeria, the Central Republic and the Congo.

With conflicts in the Middle East surrounding fundamentalist terrorist activities, the Roman Pontiff said that this phenomenon “is a consequence of the throwaway culture being applied to God.”

“Religious fundamentalism, even before it eliminates human beings by perpetrating horrendous killings, eliminates God himself, turning him into a mere ideological pretext,” he said, noting that a “unanimous response” is needed at the level of international law in order to bring about peace.

He urged the international community “not to remain indifferent in the face of this situation,” and expressed his closeness to the Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities who have been driven from their homes, saying that “a Middle East without Christians would be a marred and mutilated Middle East!”

“I express my hope that religious, political and intellectual leaders, especially those of the Muslim community, will condemn all fundamentalist and extremist interpretations of religion which attempt to justify such acts of violence.”

In addition to war and other conflicts, the pontiff also drew attention to “another horrendous crime, the crime of rape,” which is frequently used as war tactic and has both a personal and societal impact.

“This is a most grave offense against the dignity of women,” he said, noting that “sadly, even apart from situations of war, all too many women even today are victims of violence.”

Each conflict is a result of the “throwaway culture” mentality since the lives of the poor are often “crushed” by those in power, he continued. This attitude, he noted, also includes the “insidious” rejection of the elderly and sick.

Pope Francis then pointed to the more than 6,000 victims of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, which was most strongly felt in the nations of Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. He offered his thanks to the medical personnel, religious men and women, and volunteers for their efforts in caring for the sick.

“At the same time I renew my appeal to the entire international community to provide adequate humanitarian assistance to patients and to make concerted efforts to combat the disease.”

The Bishop of Rome then referred to how there are many “hidden exiles” within each of our own societies, which include the phenomenon of youth unemployment, illegal labor and the poor working conditions of many, especially children, “who are exploited out of greed.”

“All this is contrary to human dignity and the fruit of a mentality which is centered on money, benefits and economic profit, to the detriment of our fellow man,” the Pope observed.

However, in addition to current challenges, the Pope also pointed out numerous “gifts and blessings” of the past year, which include the strong visible signs of a fruitful interreligious dialogue in his trips to both Albania and Turkey, as well as from refugees in his journey to the Holy Land.

“One example close to my heart of how dialogue can build bridges comes from the recent decision of the United States of America and Cuba to end a lack of communication which has endured for more than half a century,” he said, and encouraged nations to continue walking the path of dialogue.

The Roman Pontiff concluded his address by offering a “hope-filled” prayer for the new year, during which the Post-2015 Development Agenda, with the adoption of Sustainable Development Goals, will be drawn up. A new Climate Change Agreement is also expected to be drafted in 2015.

“The indispensable presupposition of all these is peace, which, even more than an end to all wars, is the fruit of heartfelt conversion,” the Pope explained.

“With these sentiments, I once more offer to each of you, to your families and your peoples, my prayerful good wishes that this new year of 2015 will be one of hope and peace.”

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VATICAN NEWS

For Pope Francis, loving concern for the poor is not communism

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • January 12, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, Nov. 5, 2014. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — As Pope Francis stated in a recent interview that love for the poor is not communism, but the Gospel, one of the interview’s co-authors asks if the current economic system is “the best possible,” and encourages a discussion of the question.

Andrea Tornielli and Giacomo Galeazzi’s interview with Pope Francis was published at the end of their book “Papa Francesco: questa economia uccide” (‘Pope Francis: this economy kills’), recently released in Italian.

Tornielli is encouraging discussion of the issue because, he says, “raising the question does not mean being a communist.”

In the interview, Pope Francis is certain that his concern for the poor is not a novelty, but that “it stems from the Gospel and is documented even from the first centuries of Christianity.”

“If I repeated some passages from the homilies of the Church Fathers in the second or third century, about how we must treat the poor, some would accuse me of giving a Marxist homily,” Pope Francis stressed.

He went on to quote from St. Ambrose and St. John Chrysostom, demonstrating that concern for the poor stretched back to the Church of the first centuries.

“As we can see, this concern for the poor is in the Gospel, it is within the tradition of the Church; it is not an invention of communism and it must not be turned into an ideology, as has sometimes happened before in the course of history,” Pope Francis said.

The Pope also underscored that “the Church, when it invites us to overcome what I have called ‘the globalization of indifference’, is free from any political interest and any ideology. It is moved only by Jesus’ words, and wants to offer its contribution to build a world where we look after one another and care for each other.”

Asked if capitalism is an irreversible system, Pope Francis stated that “globalization has helped many people rise out of poverty, but it has also damned many others to starve to death. It is true that global wealth is growing in absolute terms, but inequalities have also grown, and new poverty arisen.”

Pope Francis stressed that he noticed “this system sustain itself through a culture of waste,” since “when money, instead of man, is at the center of the system, when money becomes an idol, men and women are reduced to simple instruments of a social and economic system, which is characterized, better yet dominated, by profound inequalities.”

Andrea Tornielli, who is the coordinator of La Stampa’s specialized web-site ‘Vatican Insider’ where portions of the interview are published, was attracted by Pope’s words on the culture of waste and idolatry of money, as he explained in an interview with CNA Jan. 11.

“Reading the Pope’s speeches, I became aware that there are really pages of the social teaching of the Church, which seem to be a little forgotten, and not very well known by Christians, especially those Christians who are entrusted with policy.”

In Tornielli’s view, the reason for this forgetting lies in history.

“In previous years, when Soviet communism still existed and the world was divided on two blocs, the focus was on other topics,” he stated.

On the other hand, he acknowledged that both St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI have “spoken out very clearly on globalization, poverty, and remedies to poverty.”

In his interview, Pope Francis stressed that the culture of waste “leads people to discard babies through abortion. The culture of waste also leads to a hidden euthanasia of older people, who are abandoned, instead of being considered as our memory, our link to our own past, and a source of wisdom for the present. Sometimes I ask myself what the next waste will be. We need to stop before it is too late. Let us stop, please!”

Pope Francis also addressed the accusation of being “pauperist,” and he describes pauperism as “a caricature of the Gospel and of poverty itself” – as it was perceived before St. Francis of Assisi came.

“St. Francis helped us discover the deep connection between poverty and the way of the Gospel. Jesus states that we cannot serve two masters, God and wealth. Is this pauperism? Jesus tells us what the ‘protocol’ is, on which we will be judged. It is the one we read in chapter 25 of Matthew’s Gospel: I was hungry, I was thirsty, I was in prison, I was sick, I was naked, and you helped me, clothed me, visited me, took care of me,” Pope Francis pointed out.

So, the Pope stressed, “whenever we do this to one of our brothers, we do this to Jesus. This is the touchstone. Is it pauperism? No, it is the Gospel.”

“Poverty takes us away from idolatry and from feeling self-sufficient. Zacchaeus, after he met Jesus’ merciful gaze, gave half of his fortune away to the poor. The Gospel’s message is for everyone, the Gospel does not condemn the wealthy, but the idolatry of wealth, the idolatry that makes people indifferent to the call of the poor,” said Pope Francis.

Andrea Tornielli hoped that “it would be interesting to raise a discussion within and outside the Catholic world, confronting ideas.”

Tornielli said: “My question is: the economic system we are living, is it a dogma? Is it the best system possible? I would say no. But saying it, raising the issue, does not mean to be revolutionary, or communists. It simply means to recover a not-well known patrimony, that is, the treasure of the social teaching of the Church, and to see how this may be applied to the world and to contemporary issues.”

In Pope Francis’ words, “I would say that we should not consider this state of things as irreversible. Let us not resign ourselves to it. Let us try and build a society and an economy where man and his welfare are at the center, instead of money.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis lauds first Sri Lankan saint’s undivided love for God

by CNA/EWTN News • January 13, 2015

A statue of St. Joseph Vaz at the Jan. 14 canonization Mass in Colombo, Sri Lanka. (EWTN)

Vatican City — Pope Francis on Wednesday canonized Joseph Vaz, Sri Lanka’s first saint, praising the 17th century priest’s love for the Sri Lankan people, his “missionary zeal” and his example for all Christians.

“Leaving behind his home, his family, the comfort of his familiar surroundings, he responded to the call to go forth, to speak of Christ wherever he was led,” the Pope said in his homily. “Saint Joseph knew how to offer the truth and the beauty of the Gospel in a multi-religious context, with respect, dedication, perseverance and humility. This is also the way for the followers of Jesus today.”

Pope Francis was the main celebrant of the Jan. 14 Mass held at the Galle Face Green in the national capital of Colombo. Hundreds of thousands of people attended the service, whose languages included English, Sinhalese, Tamil and Latin.

Saint Joseph Vaz (1651-1711) was an Indian-born priest of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. He founded the Oratory of the Holy Cross of Miracles in the Indian region of Goa, then journeyed to Sri Lanka at a time when Catholics were suffering persecution under the country’s Calvinist Dutch rulers.

Due to the threat of persecution, the priest dressed as a beggar and would visit secret meetings of Catholics, often at night, to bring them the Eucharist and other sacraments.

“His efforts provided spiritual and moral strength to the beleaguered Catholic population,” Pope Francis said, also praising the saint’s efforts to serve the ill during a smallpox epidemic.

Pope Francis said Joseph Vaz was “an exemplary priest” who showed “loving care for the Church of God.” He especially encouraged priests and vowed religious to look to the saint as a model.

“He teaches us how to go out to the peripheries, to make Jesus Christ everywhere known and loved,” he said.

“Like ourselves, Saint Joseph Vaz lived in a period of rapid and profound transformation; Catholics were a minority, and often divided within; there was occasional hostility, even persecution, from without,” Pope Francis added. “And yet, because he was constantly united with the crucified Lord in prayer, he could become for all people a living icon of God’s mercy and reconciling love.”

He said that St. Joseph showed the importance of “transcending religious divisions in the service of peace.”

“His undivided love for God opened him to love for his neighbor; he ministered to those in need, whoever and wherever they were,” the Pope said. “His example continues to inspire the Church in Sri Lanka today. She gladly and generously serves all members of society.”

Pope Francis said the Church only asks for the freedom to carry out her service.

“Religious freedom is a fundamental human right. Each individual must be free, alone or in association with others, to seek the truth, and to openly express his or her religious convictions, free from intimidation and external compulsion,” he said.

The Pope also denounced the abuse of religion, saying “genuine worship of God bears fruit not in discrimination, hatred and violence, but in respect for the sacredness of life, respect for the dignity and freedom of others, and loving commitment to the welfare of all.”

He prayed that St. Joseph’s example might confirm Christians in their faith and contribute to peace, justice and reconciliation in Sri Lanka.

Although Sri Lanka is a mostly Buddhist country, with Christians accounting for just eight percent of its 20.4 million people, Pope Francis is the third Pope to visit the country. Pope Paul VI made a visit in 1970. Pope St. John Paul II visited Sri Lanka 20 years ago and beatified Joseph Vaz during his January 1995 visit.

The Thursday Mass followed a Wednesday arrival ceremony involving a massive welcome for the pontiff. Military groups marched in formation for the welcome ceremony, while forty elephants and their riders were among the thousands of people who greeted the Pope as he was through the streets of Colombo.

After his arrival, Pope Francis canceled a scheduled meeting with the Sri Lankan bishops amid delays in arriving at the apostolic nunciature in the country.

After his Sri Lankan visit, the Pope will fly to the Philippines, which he will visit through Jan. 19.

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VATICAN NEWS

An environment encyclical in March? Pope Francis hopes so

by CNA/EWTN News • January 15, 2015

Pope Francis. (Elise Harris/CNA)

Aboard the papal plane — During an in-flight press conference on his way to the Philippines, Pope Francis said he plans to have his much-anticipated encyclical on man’s relationship with creation finished in March.

“At the end of March, I think it will be completed,” he told journalists aboard the papal plane Jan. 15. “I think that if the translations go well, in June or July, it could come out.”

A year ago this month, the Vatican had announced the Pope’s plans to write on the theme of “human ecology” – a phrase that was originally coined by retired pontiff Benedict XVI.

This expression, spokesman Father Federico Lombardi said at the time, describes not only how the faithful must respect the environment, but also how the nature of the person – masculine and feminine as created by God – must also be defended.

Pope Francis told journalists Thursday that the first draft of the encyclical was completed by Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana, head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

“Then I worked on it,” the Pope said. “Then some theologians worked on the third version.”

The document was then reviewed by the Vatican Secretary of State as well as the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. “Three weeks ago, I received the responses – some rather vague,” he added. “Now I’ll take a week out in March to look at it.”

Pope Francis’ first encyclical, entitled “Lumen Fidei,” or “Light of Faith,” was released in 2013. It was written by the pontiff as a completion of the work initiated by his predecessor, Benedict XVI, who resigned before the document was finished.

The Pope touched down in the Philippines Thursday where he will visit through Jan. 19, following his three-day visit to Sri Lanka. In stark contrast to Sri Lanka’s small Christian community, 86 percent of the Philippines’ 93.4 million people identify as Catholic. While the country has not known as much political unrest as Sri Lanka recently, the Philippines has been ravaged by several typhoons, earthquakes and other natural disasters in recent years.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis to canonize evangelizer of the Wild West

by Alan Holdren (CNA/EWTN News) • January 15, 2015

Pope Francis speaks with journalists on his flight from Sri Lanka to the Philippines on Jan. 15, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Vatican City — In a surprise addition to his fall 2015 trip to the U.S., Pope Francis is planning to canonize the founder of California’s first missions, Bl. Junipero Serra.

“In September, God willing, I will canonize Junipero Serra in the United States,” declared Pope Francis aboard Sri Lankan Air Flight UL4111 on the way to Manila.

Bl. Serra, a Franciscan priest, lived in what is now California in the 1700s. A Spanish-born missionary, he founded the first nine of 21 eventual missions in California. He worked tirelessly with the Native Americans, and is said to have baptized more than 6,000 people, and confirmed 5,000.

“He was the evangelizer of the west in the United States,” Pope Francis beamed.

Bl. Serra’s canonization will be the latest in a systematic action from Pope Francis to give a boost to evangelization efforts throughout the world.

Yesterday, he gave Sri Lanka its first saint in the Indian-born Joseph Vaz, who lived from 1651 to 1711. Pope Francis applauded Vaz for his tireless missionary work and his ability to evangelize in difficult terrain.

“We are called to go forth with the same zeal, the same courage, of Saint Joseph, but also with his sensitivity, his reverence for others, his desire to share with them that word of grace which has the power to build them up,” Pope Francis said at Mass.

As he has with others, Pope Francis forewent the requirement for the verification of a miracle to advance St. Vaz’ cause for sainthood, canonizing him to the cheers of more than 500,000 people on the Colombo beachfront.

Italy’s St. Angela di Foligno, France’s St. Peter Faber, Brazil’s St. Jose Anchieta, and Canada’s St. François de Laval and Marie of the Incarnation have all been canonized similarly in the last two years for being evangelizers of their times, said the Pope.

This method of “equipollent” canonization - that is, without the verification of a miracle and by express order of the Pope - is used when, “in practice, this person is venerated as a saint,” said Pope Francis.

“Thus, the miracle process is not carried out. These are people who for centuries, perhaps, are in this way,” he explained to the press corps on the flight.

“These are people who did a lot of evangelization and who are in keeping with the spirality and theology of ‘Evangelii Gaudium.’ That’s the reason I chose them.”

Pope Francis did not specify the date for the canonization Mass in September or where it will take place.

The dates are not yet official for his stay in the U.S., but he has said that he will be in Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families. Organizers are expecting him for the final Mass on Sept. 27 and say he could be there for events from Sept. 25-27.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State told reporters Jan. 6 that stops in New York City and Washington, D.C., though also not confirmed, are being examined.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope on Charlie Hebdo: Don’t kill in God’s name but don’t insult faith

by Alan Holdren (CNA/EWTN News) • January 15, 2015

Francis speaks to journalists on his flight from Sri Lanka to the Philippines on Jan. 15, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Aboard the papal plane — During an in-flight press conference Pope Francis spoke on the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, saying that freedom of expression has limits but no one has the right to kill in the name of God.

“Let’s go to Paris. Let’s speak clearly,” said Pope Francis in reference to the Charlie Hebdo killings. He was asked by a French journalist if he saw freedom of expression as a fundamental human right.

“You cannot provoke. You cannot insult the faith of others. You cannot make fun of the faith,” Pope Francis said during a Jan. 15 press conference held en-route to the Philippines. If you do, he said, you “can expect a punch.”

On Jan.7 Muslim extremists entered the headquarters of French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 people. They claimed the attacks avenged the cartoons printed in the publication that depicted offensive images of the Prophet Mohammed.

The Pope said that while the Paris attack “astonishes us,” in world history wars and atrocities like the Catholic-led massacre “St. Bartholomew’s night” incident in France have also come from those who profess religions.

“Also we were sinners in this,” he added. “But you cannot kill in the name of God, This is an aberration. Killing in the name of God is an aberration against God. I think this is the main thing with freedom of religion. You can practice with freedom but without imposing or killing.”

He said that every person has not just the freedom or right, but also an obligation “to say what he thinks” to build the common good. “We have the obligation to freely have this liberty, but without offending.”

Just yesterday at Mass in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Pope Francis categorized the freedom of religion as a fundamental human right. During the airborne press conference called both freedom of religion and expression “fundamental human rights,” but said there are limits to the freedoms.

“You cannot offend or make war, kill in the name of your religion, that is in the name of God,” the Pope told journalists.

But if the freedom of expression is used to offend, he said, one can expect a reaction.

He used the example of Dr. Alberto Gasbarri, the organizer of papal trips, who was standing beside him during the in-flight press conference.

“It’s true that you cannot react violently. But, if Dr. Gasbarri, my great friend, says something against my mother, he can expect a punch. It’s normal.”

Those who “giocatalizzano,” or “make a plaything out of the religion of others … are provoking,” he went on. “And, what can happen is what I said about Dr. Gasbarri if he says something about my mother. There’s a limit.”

“Every religion has dignity, every religion that respects human life and the human person and I cannot make fun of it. And this is a limit,” he added.

About freedom of religion, he said “You cannot hide the truth. Everyone has the right to practice their religion, their own religion without offending, freely. And that’s what we do, what we all want to do.”

Referencing rumors that the terrorist group ISIS might be planning a targeted attack on him, Pope Francis answered by saying that he’s not worried, and that the best way to react is always with a “meek (and) humble” attitude “without making aggression. I am feeling that there are some who do not understand this.”

“This worries me, no? It worries me enough. I have fear but I have an effect, a good dose of unawareness. I am unaware of these things.”

However the Pope did express concern for the faithful who might be present if an attack did occur, and said that he has already spoken with the Vatican’s security, who are “charged with solving this.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Full transcript of Pope’s interview in-flight to Manila

by Alan Holdren and Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • January 15, 2015

Pope Francis speaks with journalists aboard the plane to Manila, Jan. 15, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Aboard the papal plane — Speaking to journalists aboard the Jan. 15 flight from Sri Lanka to the Philippines, Pope Francis discussed his trip, his recent canonizations, the upcoming encyclical on ecology, and reasonable limits to freedom of expression.

Below is a full transcript of the discussion between Pope Francis and journalist’s during Thursday’s flight:

Fr. Lombardi: Holy Father, welcome and thanks for being here with us in this intermediate voyage. As you see, we are all ready to listen to your words. Compliments for the first part of the trip, which was accomplished so brilliantly. Now we will ask you a number of questions, as usual. When you are tired and want to stop, you will tell us and go. Are you already tired? (laughs). To start with, I know that there is something very close to your heart that you wish to say to us regarding the significance of this canonization of Saint Joseph Vaz. Please tell us right away, so that we can receive this important message. Then we will go to the questions. We have various people already on the list.

Pope Francis: First of all, good morning, and also a doubt for Carolina. It’s true, I did receive the image of the Madonna of Lujan. Many thanks.

These canonization were carried with a methodology called – it is previewed by Church law - equipollent in Church law. It is called equipollent canonization. That is, it is used when over many years a man or a woman is blessed, and is venerated by the People of God, and in practice this person is venerated as a saint, thus the miracle process is not carried out. These are people who for centuries, perhaps, are in this way. For this reason I carried out a process that I inherited: (first) Angela of Foligno … and then I chose to do this with people who were great evangelizers (men and women). That is, first Peter Faber, who was an evangelizer of Europe. You can say he died in the street. He traveled while evangelizing, at 40 years of age.

And then evangelizers of Canada, Francisco della Valle, Maria of the Incarnation. These two were practically the founders of the Church in Canada, he as a bishop and she as a nun, with all the apostolate they performed there.

The other, Joseph Anchieta in Brazil, the founder of Sao Paolo, who had been blessed for a very long time. A saint, Joseph Vaz, here as the evangelizer of Sri Lanka. Now in September, God willing, I will canonize Junipero Serra in the United States. He was the evangelizer of the West in the United States. These are people who did a lot of evangelization and who are in line with the spirituality and theology of ‘Evangelii Gaudium’, that is the reason why I chose them.

Gerry O’Connell (America): First of all, Holy Father, I agree with Fr. Lombardi: compliments for the success of the visit to Sri Lanka. My question is on behalf of the English group. We agreed on a ‘bridge question’, which links the visit to Sri Lanka with the visit to Philippines. We have seen in Sri Lanka the beauty of nature, but even in the end the vulnerability of that island to climate change, etc. We are going to the Philippines, you are going to visit the (hurricane)-stricken area. It is more than one year that you are studying the issue of ecology, of the cure of creation, etc. My question has three aspects: first, is climate change an outcome of the work of man, of man’s lack of care of nature? Second: when will your encyclical be released? Third: you insist – as we have seen in Sri Lanka – very much on cooperation among religions: are you going to invite other religions to gather together to discuss this issue? Thank you.

Pope Francis: The first question, you had said a word that requires a clarification: mostly. I don’t know if it’s all, but mostly, for a large part, man ‘slaps’ nature, continually, but we have taken hold of nature, of mother Earth. I remember – you already heard this – what an old peasant once told me: God always forgives, we men sometimes forgive, nature never forgives. If you slap it, it will always slap you back. Then, we exploited nature too much, with deforestations, for example. I remember (the 2007 meeting of Latin American bishops at) Aparecida; at that time, I did not understand this issue so much; when I listened to Brazilian bishops speaking about the deforestation of the Amazon, I never understood it in depth. The Amazon is the lung of world. Five years ago, with a human rights commission, I appealed to the Supreme Court of Argentina to stop, at least temporarily, a terrible deforestation in Northern Argentina, in the Norte de Salta area. This is one issue.

Then – I will say another one – the one-crop system – I will give two or three (examples): Farmers know that if you make a cultivation of corn for three years, you have to stop, and then cultivate a different crop for one or two years, in order – I don’t know how to say it, nitrogenizar is the Spanish word for it – to regenerate the soil. Nowadays, for instance, there is the exclusive cultivation of soy; you take everything, you make soy until the soil is exhausted; not everyone does it, it is an example; many others don’t.

I think that man has gone overboard. Thank God, today there are voices and many people speaking out about this. But I would like in this moment to remember my beloved brother (Patriarch) Bartholomew, who has been speaking out about this for years. I read many things of his to prepare this encyclical. I can speak again about that, but I don’t want to be too long. Because (Romano) Guardini – I add just this – has one word that already says enough. The word that reads that “the second way of culture is the bad one, the first is the culture we receive with creation, but when you seize of too much and you go beyond, that culture goes against you … just think about Hiroshima – and so an in-culture is established, that is the second one.”

The encyclical. The first draft was sketched by Cardinal Turkson with his staff, then I took over the draft with the help of some people and worked on it, then I made a third draft with some theologians and I sent this draft to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, to the Second Section of the State Secretariat, and to the Theologian of the Pontifical Household, so that they could study it, and find if I had said some foolishness. Three weeks ago I received the responses, some of them this big, but all of them constructive. Now I will take a whole week in March to complete it, so at the end of March it should be completed, and will then be translated. I think that, if the work of translation goes well – Msgr. Becciu is listening to me, he has to help in this – if it goes well, in June or July it will be released. It is just important that there is some time between the release of the encyclical and the meeting in Paris (on climate change), so that it may be brought there; because the meeting in Peru was not that much, it disappointed me, the lack of courage; they stopped at one point; let’s hope that in Paris representatives will be more courageous.

The third (question). I believe that dialogue among religions is important; this issue is felt by other religions as well, on this issue there is a common feeling. I have spoken with some representatives of other religions on the issue, and I know that Cardinal Turkson has as well, and two theologians also; this was the path: it will not be a common declaration, meetings will come after.

Pia, Filipino journalist: Holy Father, the Philippines will be very very happy to welcome you in a few hours. My question is: what is your message to those thousands of people who did not and will not be able to meet you in person, even if they wanted to? I am sorry I cannot speak Italian.

Pope Francis: My response to this question risks being overly simple. I will say a word. The central message of this trip will be the poor, the poor who want to carry on; the poor who suffered from Typhoon Yolanda and who are still suffering the consequences; the poor who have faith and hope. The people of God, the poor, even the exploited poor, those who suffer many injustices, material, spiritual and existential. I’ll think of them when I’m in the Philippines. The other day, in our house, in Santa Marta, there was a celebration of the Nativity by Eastern Churches. There were some Ethiopians, and also Filipinos there. And they had a party, the Ethiopians invited all the employees, there were about 50 of them, for lunch. I stayed with them and I looked at the Filipino employees, how they left their county to look for a better life, leaving behind mother, father, and children. The poor will be the focus.

Juan Vicente Boo (ABC): Holy Father, first of all I must say that for someone who is tired, you look well. I want to ask you on behalf of the Spanish group, about the history of Sri Lanka and contemporary history. During the years of the war in Sri Lanka, there were over 300 suicide attacks, by men, women and young boys and girls. Now we are seeing suicide attacks on the part of young men and women and even children. What do you think of this method of waging war?

Pope Francis: Maybe I am being disrespectful, but I feel that behind every suicide attack there is something unbalanced, a lack of human equilibrium. I am not sure if it is mental, but it is human. Something that is wrong with that person, who does not have true equilibrium regarding the meaning of his own life and that of others. He fights, he gives his life, but he does not give it well. Many people who work – for example missionaries – give their lives, but to build. Here life is given to self-destruct and to destroy. There is something not right, no? I advised on a thesis on Japanese kamikaze pilots written by an Alitalia pilot. I checked the part about methodology, but it is not understandable. This is not something that happens only in the East. There are investigations going on right now on a proposal which arrived during the Second World War in Italy, a proposal to the fascists in Italy. There is no proof, but there is an investigation, there is something there which is very connected to totalitarian systems, it is very linked. The totalitarian system kills, if not life then possibilities, kills the future, many things. This problem is not over, and it is not only a problem in the East. It is important. I cannot really say anything else. The use of children: children are exploited for many things. They are exploited for work, as slaves, also sexually abused. Some years ago, with some members of the Argentine senate, we wanted to run a campaign in the most important hotels, to publicly say that children must not be exploited to serve tourists, but we could not do it. There are hidden resistences. I don’t know whether these things are faced or not, it was a preventive measure; then, other things: when I was in Germany and saw newspapers, I read about tourism in southeast Asia, and there was sex tourism, and there were children … children are exploited, the slave work of children is terrible, they are exploited for this, too. I can’t say more.

Ignazio Ingrao (Panorama): Holiness, there is much worry in the world for your safety. According to Israeli and American security services, The Vatican may be even a target of Islamic terrorists. On fundamentalist web sites the Muslim flag has been depicted flying from St. Peter’s. There are worries for your security when you go abroad.. We know that you don’t want to lose contact with the people. At this point, is it necessary to change something in your behaviour, in your plans? Is there also fear for the security of faithful who take part to your celebrations. Are you worried about this? And more in general, what is the best way to respond to this threat of fundamentalist Muslims?

Pope Francis: “The best way to respond is always meekness -- being meek, humble. Like bread, no? Without being aggressive – I feel this way. There are some who do not understand this. And I am concerned for the faithful, truly. I have spoken with Vatican security about this: here on flight there is (the chief of Vatican police) Mr. Giani who is charged with solving this, he is updated about this problem. This concerns me, no? It concerns me enough. I have fear, but I you know I have a defect, a good dose of unawareness. I am unaware of these things.

Some times I ask myself: what if it happened to me? I have said to the Lord, ‘I only want to ask you one grace. Don’t let me come to harm, because I am not courageous in the face of pain, I am very, very fearful’ … But they can take security measures that are prudent, but secure. Then, we will see.

Christoph (Germany): Holy Father, good morning. Could you tell us about your time at the Buddhist temple yesterday, which was a big surprise? Which was your motivation for such a spontaneous visit? And then, are you inspired by this religion? We know that Christian missionaries had the conviction until the 20th century that Buddhism was a fake and a religion of the devil. The third (question), what could be the relevance of Buddhism for the future of Asia?

Pope Francis: How was the visit and why did I go? The head of this Buddhist temple was able to get himself invited by the government to go to the airport and there - he is a very good friend of Cardinal Ranjith - he greeted me and asked me to visit the temple, also he told Ranjith to take me there. And then speaking with the cardinal - there was a bit of time because when I arrived I had to cancel the meeting with the bishops because I wasn’t feeling well, I was tired from the 29 kilometers of greeting people. I was worn out. And there wasn’t time; and yesterday returning from Madhu there was the possibility, and we called and went. In that temple, there are the relics of some disciples of Buddha, of two of them. They are very important to them, and these relics were in England and they were able to have them given back. This is how: he came to visit me at the airport, and I went to visit him at his home.

Yesterday, I saw something that I would have never imagined in Madhu. They weren’t all Catholics, not even the majority. There were Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, and all of them go there to pray and they say that they receive graces. There is in the people, who never err, something that unites them; and if they are so naturally united so as to go together and pray in a church, which is Christian but it is more than Christian because everyone wants it. How could I not go to the temple of the Buddhists to greet them, no? And this testimony yesterday in Madhu was very important. It makes us understand the sense of inter-religiosity that is lived in Sri Lanka. Respect among them. There are fundamentalist groups, but they are not with the people. They are ideological elites, but they are not with the people.

Then, (the question) that they will go to Hell. But people said the same of Protestants, when I was a child. At that time, 70 years ago, all of the Protestants were going to Hell, all of them – that’s what we were told. But then, I remember the first experience I had of ecumenism. And I told this the other day to the heads of the Salvation Army. I was 4 or 5 years old but I remember and I can still see it. I remember I was walking down the street with my grandma hand-in-hand and on the other sidewalk, two women from the Salvation Army were coming down the street with those big hats on that they used to wear with the ribbon. It was a special thing, but now they don’t wear them anymore. But, I asked my grandma, but tell me are they sisters? And she told me this: “No, they are Protestants but they are good people. That was the first time that I heard someone speak well of someone from another religion, of Protestants. At that time, in catechesis they told us that everyone was going to Hell. But I think that the Church has grown so much in its awareness, in respect - as I told them in the religious meeting there in Colombo - in values - when we read what the Second Vatican Council says to us about the values in the other religions. The respect of the Church has grown a lot in this respect, no? And, yes, there are dark times in the history of the Church. We need to say so without embarrassment because also we are on a path of continuous conversion always from sin to grace. And, this inter-religiosity as brothers always respecting each other is a grace.

Sebastien Maynard (La Croix): Holy Father, yesterday during Mass, you spoke about religious liberty as a fundamental human right. With respect to other religions, how far can the freedom of expression extend, since this latter is a fundamental human right, too?

Pope Francis: Thanks for the question, that is smart, it is good. I think that both are fundamental human rights, religious liberty and liberty of expression. You can’t … Let’s think, are you French? Let’s go to Paris. Let’s speak clearly. You cannot hide a truth. Everyone has the right to practice their religion, their own religion without offending, freely. And that’s what we do, what we all want to do.

Secondly, you cannot offend or make war, kill in the name of your religion, in the name of God. What has happened now astonishes us. But always, let’s think to our history, how many religious wars we have had. Think of St Bartholomew’s night (when Catholics massacred Huguenots during the French wars of religion in 1572, editors note). How can we understand this? Also we were sinners in this. But you cannot kill in the name of God, this is an aberration. Killing in the name of God is an aberration against God. I think this is the main thing with freedom of religion. You can practice with freedom without offending but without imposing or killing.

The freedom of expression… Every one of us has not just the freedom, the right, but also the obligation to say what he thinks to help build the common good. The obligation. If we think of a congressman, a senator, if he doesn’t say what he thinks is the true path, he doesn’t collaborate in the common good. We have the obligation to freely have this liberty, but without offending. It’s true that you cannot react violently. But, if Dr. Gasbarri, my great friend, says something against my mother, he can expect a punch. It’s normal. It’s normal. You cannot provoke, you cannot insult the faith of others, you cannot make fun of the faith. Pope Benedict, in a speech, I don’t remember which, he spoke of this post-positivist mentality, of the post-positivist metaphysics that brought people to believe that religions or religious expressions are a type of lower culture: that they are tolerated but that there’s not much to them, that they are in not part of an enlightened culture. And this is a lecacy of the Enlightenment. So many people speak against others’ religions. They make fun of them. Let’s say they “giocatalizzano” (make a playng out of) the religion of others. But they are provoking, and what can happen is what I said about Dr. Gasbarri if he says something about my mother. There is a limit. Every religion has dignity; I cannot mock a religion that respects human life and the human person. And this is a limit. I’ve used this example of the limit to say that in the freedom of expression there are limits, like the example I gave of my mother. I don’t know if I was able to respond to the question. Thanks.

Josh McElwee: Holy Father, thanks again for the time. You have spoken many times against religious extremism. Do you have some concrete idea for how to involve other religious leaders to combat this problem, maybe a meeting in Assisi like Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI had?

Pope Francis: Thanks. This proposal has already been made. I know that some are working on this. And I have spoken with Cardinal Tauran, who is in the interreligious dialogue, and he is aware of it. I know that the attitude -- but it does not only come from us, it comes from the others more, it comes from the other religions of the area. I don’t know how if something is being organized yet.

Ludmila Avaros, Filipino journalist: His Holiness, you have made a call for truth and reconlication in Sri Lanka. Would you support a commission for truth in Sri Lanka and in other nations with internal conflicts?

Pope Francis: I don’t really know what these commissions are like in Sri Lanka. I know the one in Argentina in its time, after the military dictatorship. I supported that one, it was on the right path. I can’t speak concretely (about other commissions), because I really don’t know them in concrete terms, but yes, I support efforts to find the truth, balance efforts; not those in search of vindication, but balanced efforts to help to reach an agreement.

I heard something from the President of Sri Lanka – I don’t want this to be interpreted as a political comment, it is only phenomenological: I repeat what I heard and I agree with. He said he wants to move ahead with the work of peace, reconciliation. Then he used another word, he said we must create harmony in the people. That’s something more than peace, more than reconciliation, and it’s beautiful, it’s musical, too. Then he used another word. He said harmony brings happiness and joy. I was amazed. I said: I like hearing this, but it’s not easy. He said yes, we must touch people’s hearts. That’s what I thought of in answering your question, only by touching the hearts of people who know what suffering is, what injustice is; who had suffered many things from war, so many things. Only by touching hearts can people forgive, can we find the right path, without incorrect compromises to go forward. The commissions, investigations for the truth, are one element that can help, but we have to get to peace, reconciliation, harmony, happiness and joy. That’s what I wanted to say, but using the words of the president.

The Pope is given of a portrait of St. Therese of Lisieux.

Fr. Lombardi: Today, Ansa press agency, the main Italian press agency, celebrates its 70th anniversary. We have a journalist from Ansa always with us, today Giovanna Chirri is here. May you greet Ansa for its 70th birthday?

Pope Francis: I came to know of Ansa for the first time when I first met Francesca Ambrogetti in Buenos Aires. Francesca was the president of the group of foreign journalists in Buenos Aires and I got to know Ansa through her. Ansa in Buenos Aires was well represented. I wish you the best: 70 years is no joke – to persevere in service is a huge merit. I wish you always the best.

I have the habit, when I don’t know how things will go, of asking St Therese Lisieux to to help me and to show up in the shape of a rose. I asked for it for this trip, too: this time she came to me in person. St Therese of Lisieux came to visit me in person, thanks to Carolina.

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VATICAN NEWS

Gift from heaven? Pope receives unexpected visit from St. Therese of Lisieux

by Elise Harris and Alan Holdren (CNA/EWTN News) • January 15, 2015

Pope Francis receives an image of St. Therese of Lisieux from journalist aboard the papal plane. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Aboard the papal plane — During his flight to the Philippines, Pope Francis thanked a French journalist who gave him an image of St. Therese, saying that instead of giving the usual rose when he asked for help, St. Therese came to him herself.

“I have the habit of, when I don’t know how things will go, to ask of St Therese the little child, St Therese of Jesus, to ask her if she takes a problem in hand, some thing, that she send me a rose,” the Pope told journalists during his Jan. 15 in-flight press conference from Sri Lanka to the Philippines.

“I asked also for this trip that, she’d take it in hand and that she would send me a rose. But instead of a rose she came herself to greet me.”

The image of the St. Therese, which was given to the Pope by Paris Match’s journalist Caroline Pigozzi, was a bas-relief, or carving, that appeared to be in silver.

After the Pope received the framed image, he thanked Pigozzi for the gift, saying “Thanks to Caroline and thanks to little Therese and to (all of) you.”

Born in Alençon, France in 1873, St. Therese is frequently referred to as “The Little Flower” or “Therese of the Child Jesus.”

A Carmelite nun, St. Therese entered her convent at the age of 15 and dedicated herself to living a simple life of holiness, doing all things with love and childlike trust in God.

Although Therese struggled with life in the convent, she committed herself to making the effort to be charitable to everyone, especially those she didn’t like.

The saint performed small acts of charity throughout each day, and made little sacrifices regardless of how unimportant they seemed. These acts helped her come to a deeper understanding of her vocation.

She died of tuberculosis at the age of 24, and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church by Pope John Paul II in 1997 – 100 years after her death. She was the third woman ever to receive title, following in the steps of St. Catherine of Siena and St. Teresa of Avila.

Since her death, millions have been inspired by St. Therese’s ‘little way’ of loving God and neighbor.

Many miracles have been attributed to her intercession, which coincides with the prediction she made during her earthly life that “My Heaven will be spent doing good on Earth.”

In one of her writings, the saint explained that “You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.”

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WORLD NEWS

Among Christian refugees in Kurdistan, ‘no one is angry at God’

by Oliver Maksan (Aid to the Church in Need) • January 11, 2015

Christian refugees in Mar Elia parish centre in the Christian neighbourhood of Ankawa in Erbil, Iraq. (Aid to the Church in Need)

Erbil, Iraq — “Thank you, thank you, thank you:” Suheila, an elderly Christian woman from Mosul was effusive in expressing her gratitude to a group of European visitors. “May God make things easy for you in your lives.”

Home for Suheila is the Sports Club Center in Ankawa, where more than 200 Christian families from Bakhdida (Qaraqosh) have found shelter in mobile homes: “This is really a big improvement. I’m grateful for it. But in general, of course, this is no life. We’ve lost everything. The worst thing is that we don’t know when or whether we will be able to return to our homeland.”

Suheila has been on the run since June. She ran for her life twice, along with thousands of others. When the Islamic State overran Mosul in early June, thousands of Christian fled.

“First we went to Qaraqosh. But when ISIS advanced there in August, we had to flee again. Now we have been here in Ankawa for four months. But none of us is angry at God. Fortunately we are all still alive,” the woman proclaimed.

Last summer left indelible memories when tens of thousands of Christians fleeing the Islamic State flooded the towns of Kurdistan in scorching August heat. Given the lack of suitable accommodations, they often slept on the bare ground under the open sky, even in Ankawa, the Christian district of Erbil, the capital of the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq. The people lay on the pavements and under bushes.

The local Church has been doing what it can. “When the people arrived here they were totally traumatised,” Father Daniel told international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.

The young priest works in the Chaldean Mar Elia refugee camp in Ankawa. More than 800 Christians are living in only some five dozen tents.

“It wasn’t easy for the people to cope with the fact that they suddenly had nothing and had to live in tents,” the priest said. “After all, previously they had been used to having their own houses. And they also mistrusted one another.”

“The children in particular were suffering under the situation. They saw their mothers crying and their fathers yelling. Then we began to structure the everyday routine to give the children something different to think about.”

Games as well as dancing and singing competitions put a little joy back into their lives. “Today,” Father Daniel said, “the children are a lot calmer. And the adults, who were completely apathetic at the beginning, are now also trying to get a grip on their lives again. Many have jobs in restaurants or on building sites in Erbil.”

Camp life makes a positive impression. There’s no garbage lying around. Laundry is hanging tidily on washing lines strung between the tents. Even so, Father Daniel knows full well things can’t go on like this indefinitely.

“Sure, we can improve the camp facilities by installing electricity and washrooms. That’s important and necessary. But the crucial thing is that the people be able to think beyond the present day again.”

Father Douglas Bazi, who manages the Mar Elia Camp, agreed, saying “the people won’t go along with it forever. Many want to leave Iraq. The desired destinations are Australia, America or Europe. They’ve lost all faith in a future here in Iraq. We can’t force the people to stay, and neither do we want to. Others in turn want to stay. Some of them want to return to their houses on the Nineveh Plain after it has been liberated.”

“Others want to set up a new life here in Kurdistan. But it’s really important that we don’t lose the next generation. The crucial thing is therefore to enable the children to go to school again.”

It was therefore a big leap forward when, in the middle of December in Ankawa, the first school for Christian refugee children welcomed students to classes. Seven other schools spread throughout Iraqi Kurdistan will open their doors soon. More than 7,000 children will thus be able to attend school regularly again, starting this month.

Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda, the Chaldean Archbishop of Erbil, is grateful.

“This is an important contribution towards giving our refugees new perspectives. We want to thank all benefactors for their generosity.”

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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WORLD NEWS

How a crucifix restoration in Rome offers hope to the poor

by Elise Harris(CNA/EWTN News) • January 11, 2015

newly restored crucifix in Rome’s Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, Jan. 9, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Rome, Italy — After receiving inspiration from an aged crucifix, Cardinal James Stafford commissioned it to be restored as a sign of compassion for Rome’s suffering poor and unemployed population.

Cardinal Stafford told CNA Jan. 9 that the cross has been restored “out of a hermeneutics of compassion and to rediscover compassion, to help the poor rediscover the fact that there is a compassionate world (out) there.”

The restoration of the crucifix and the opening of the chapel in which it now sits for veneration are also a sign that “the Church can in some ways share that compassion with (the poor) by opening up this chapel in a way that was more accessible,” he said.

Originally from Baltimore, Cardinal Stafford is now retired, but previously served as Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary. He is cardinal-priest of San Pietro in Montorio.

Located in Rome since 1997, the cardinal lives in an apartment that sits beside the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere, one of Rome’s oldest churches.

He explained that since the church sits so close to his residence, he would often go inside to pray. It is there that he discovered a side chapel that contained a large, aged, worn crucifix dating back to the 1300s.

The crucifix was accompanied in its chapel by an image of Our Lady of Sorrows, which art restorers estimate came from the school of renowned Italian artist Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the 1600s.

“When I first came I went to the chapel and prayed before the crucifix … but as I looked upon it, even in the very dark color that it had assumed through centuries, it did not have the appeal that I felt was obvious beneath the color of black,” the cardinal recalled.

It was the body of Christ on the crucifix that first caught the cardinal’s attention, which he said was “so expressive in its beauty.”

“I was deeply moved when I looked upon it; even in the darkness of the paint that had covered it, there was a beauty to the body that spoke of love that came through giving of himself for others, on behalf of us.”

After gazing at the crucifix, Cardinal Stafford recalled how he began to think of the poor people outside the church, and felt an immense desire to draw closer to the image and to show others “this truth, this goodness, and this beauty of Christ that was portrayed in his suffering body.”

He then spoke to the priest in charge of the basilica, Don Marco Gnavi, about raising the funds to have the crucifix and the image of Our Lady of Sorrows restored.

Most of the area’s poor are not those who live in homes and who suffer due to a lack of food or financial strain, but are rather what the Italians refer to as those “senza tetti,” meaning those “without a roof” over their head.

“Young and old, men and women, artisans and unskilled persons, all formerly employed but unemployed now, mentally ill persons who unfortunately are on their own without any great help from the state” are all included among those suffering in the area.

These are the people “whom I perceived as having the need of this crucifix (to be) seen and readily available, accessible to them,” Cardinal Stafford explained.

Begun in 2013, the restoration of the crucifix and the image of Our Lady of Sorrows took roughly a year.

Cardinal Stafford pointed out how visits to the small chapel have increased since the artwork was restored, uncovering the eyes, wounds, blood and facial expressions of Christ which were previously masked by the buildup of dust over the centuries.

For the cardinal, the crucifix and its restoration “is really a discovery of the desire to deepen profoundly our sense of compassion, the compassionate God and the compassion that his disciples should show to one another.”

Although he does not go the church every day, Cardinal Stafford said that he stops by frequently, and that whenever he does, he pauses to pray in front of the newly restored crucifix and the image of Christ’s sorrowful mother.

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WORLD NEWS

Nigerian bishop hopes for solidarity, as thousands already killed in the new year

by CNA/EWTN News • January 12, 2015

A church in Mubi, Adamawa state, destroyed by Boko Haram in November, 2014. (Aid to the Church in Need)

Jos, Nigeria — Boko Haram having killed as many as 2,000 in an attack on the town of Baga last week, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos hopes that Nigeria will see demonstrations of solidarity and unity in the face of such violence.

“I am thinking about the big demonstration which took place in Paris against the killings in France,” Archbishop Kaigama told Fides Jan. 12. “I hope even here a great demonstration of national unity will take place, to say no to violence and find a solution to the problems plaguing Nigeria.”

He also told the BBC the same day that the international community must show Nigeria the same spirit and resolve as it had following the attacks in France, charging that the West has ignored Boko Haram’s threat to Nigeria.

“We need that spirit to be spread around. Not just when (an attack) happens in Europe, but when it happens in Nigeria, in Niger, in Cameroon.”

The radical Islamist group Boko Haram launched an attack on Baga, an isolated town on the shore of Lake Chad in Borno, Nigeria’s northeasternmost state, on Jan. 3. The following day, multinational troops abandoned a military base there, and thousands of residents fled for Chad.

Boko Haram launched a second assault on Baga Jan. 7, burning down nearly the entire town and raiding nearby villages.

Musa Alhaji Bukar, a senior government official in Borno, suggested that some 2,000 were killed in the attacks, while other reports estimated deaths in the hundreds.

“Baga … was the last town in the Borno North area under government control,” according to the BBC. Boko Haram control an estimated 70 percent of Borno state.

In Maiduguri, the capital of Borno, three female suicide bombers killed around 20 on Jan. 10. One of the bombers was reputed to be 10 years old. The following day, two female suicide bombers killed four and injured 40 in Potiskum.

Over the weekend, Boko Haram attacks on a Cameroonian military base and on Damaturu, capital of Nigeria’s Yobe state, were repelled.

Baga had been attacked by Boko Haram in August, 2014, at which time 26 were killed, and 50 kidnapped. It was also the scene of an April, 2013 massacre in which some 200 villagers were killed and 2,000 homes and businesses destroyed. Villagers claimed that the massacre was carried out by the Nigerian military, while the Nigerian military in turn blamed Boko Haram.

Baga’s multinational military base formerly hosted troops from Niger and Chad, as well as Nigeria. Niger withdrew its force in October, after a nearby town was captured by Boko Haram.

Boko Haram, which means “Western education is sinful,” launched an uprising in 2009 and hopes to impose sharia law on Nigeria. It has targeted security forces, politicians, Christian minorities, and moderate Muslims in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north.

Boko Haram’s attacks have killed thousands since 2009, and displaced more than 1.5 million from their homes.

The U.S. recognized Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organization in November 2013, after a lengthy advocacy effort from human rights and Christian groups.

On Jan. 1, days before the assault on Baga, the Diocese of Maiduguri – of which Baga is a part – posted this message on its Facebook page: “Despite the violence, despite the hatred, in spite of the blood, sweat, and tears shed last year, we are still standing. Whatever this new year may bring: good or bad, our faith will stand. We will survive everything the devil and his minions throw at us as a diocese, for the battle is not ours it is the Lord’s.”

“May he take control of our destiny, may he wipe our tears, may he give us relief from oppression, may he make the seeds -planted by the blood of so many- grow. This year, May God arise and let his enemies be scattered! May he establish his reign of peace and justice. We pray for this with all our hearts. We pray for patience to carry on, keeping in mind that it always seems darkest shortly before dawn. May this year bring about a turning point in our good fortunes.”

“On this world day of peace, that elusive quality and great good that we all need, may our blessed mother, the Queen of Peace intercede for us and our beloved diocese. Happy New year to you all.”

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WORLD NEWS

Haiti’s hope is in its people five years after quake

by Kate Veik (CNA/EWTN News) • January 12, 2015

The pediatric ward of St. Francois de Sales Hospital collapsed onto the maternity ward during the earthquake. Today there is a new two-story outpatient building. (Catholic Relief Services)

Port au Prince, Haiti — Five years ago today, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake decimated St. Francois de Sales Hospital in the heart of Port-au-Prince.

Now, the more than 100-year-old hospital is preparing to reopen its doors for the first time since the disaster – thanks, in part, to the work of Catholic Relief Services.

Catholic Relief Services partnered with the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince and the Catholic Health Association to rebuild the historic 125,000 square foot hospital. The finished project will also serve as a state-of-the-art university teaching hospital.

However, for Catholic Relief Services, success doesn’t lie in the reconstruction of the hospital – but in the empowerment of the local Catholic Church and the Haitian community as a whole.

“It’s Haitians empowering Haitians,” said Darren Hercyck, director of Catholic Relief Services’ work in the nation. “We are there really to strengthen the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince to run this hospital. Our goal is for Haitians to see Haitians providing quality service.”

Haiti is continuing to pick up the pieces after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck on January 12, 2010. The United Nations estimates the quake killed more than 200,000 Haitians and destroyed the homes of more than 2 million.

The effects of the quake continue to reverberate today.

“The earthquake affected the entire country in a profound way, and it still is, I would say,” said Kim Lamberty, senior advisor for CRS Haiti, in an interview with CNA/EWTN News. “It’s hard to fathom that more than 200,000 people died in a matter of minutes.”

“I have such deep admiration for the strength and the resilience of the Haitian people.”

Besides rebuilding St. Francois de Sales Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Catholic Relief Services is also working to transform the structure of Catholic education in Haiti.

The Haitian Ministry of Education estimates at least 23 percent of schools in Haiti were affected by the 2010 earthquake. Instead of rebuilding structures, Catholic Relief Services has turned their attention to the education system in Haiti.

Through a partnership with Notre Dame University, CRS conducted a massive study of the more than 2,300 Catholic schools in the nation.

“The decision by the Church … was really to focus on quality education,” Hercyck said. “The report didn’t say that there were vacancies in the schools, the report didn’t say we needed more schools. But, really, the quality of education – that was the piece that really came out.”

Now, 1,000 teachers are going through the Haitian government’s teacher certification program. Catholic Relief Services registered another 1,000 teachers this year. The teachers represent six of Haiti’s ten dioceses, and Hercyck said CRS hopes to put all Catholic school teachers in Haiti through the certification process.

For Hercyck, the teacher certification program is CRS’ most “dignified” programs because it is empowering Haitians to direct the future of their nation.

“(Haitians) are not seeing this hope coming from the airport, their seeing hope coming from within Haiti,” he said.

To see more before and after photos courtesy of Catholic Relief Services, visit our blog at:  catholicnewsagency.com/blog/haiti-five-years-later-in-pictures/

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WORLD NEWS

Pope Francis: Sri Lankans can learn to live as one family

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • January 12, 2015

Pope Francis arrives in Sri Lanka Jan. 13. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — Pope Francis has begun his visit to Sri Lanka, voicing hopes for “days of friendship, dialogue and solidarity.”

“It is my hope that Sri Lanka’s political, religious and cultural leaders, by measuring their every word and action by the good and the healing it will bring, will make a lasting contribution to the material and spiritual progress of the Sri Lankan people,” the Pope said during a welcoming ceremony at the Bandaranaike International Airport on the morning of Jan. 13.

The Holy Father was greeted by the newly-elected Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Columbo, and other officials. The ceremony included traditional Sri Lankan songs and dances.

In his opening remarks at the ceremony, Pope Francis said that Sri Lanka’s “natural beauty” has made it known as “the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.”

“Even more importantly, this island is known for the warmth of its people and the rich diversity of their cultural and religious traditions,” he continued.

He said he was visiting for pastoral reasons: to help a country ravaged by civil war for a quarter century rebuild and regain peace.

“It is no easy task to overcome the bitter legacy of injustices, hostility and mistrust left by the conflict. It can only be done by overcoming evil with good and by cultivating those virtues which foster reconciliation, solidarity and peace,” the Pope said.

Although Sri Lanka is a mostly Buddhist country, with Christians accounting for just eight percent of its 20.4 million people, Pope Francis is the third Pope to visit the country. Pope Paul VI made a visit in 1970, and Pope St. John Paul II visited exactly 20 years ago in 1995.

Pope John Paul II tried to establish interfaith connections in the country during his visit, but was boycotted by the nation’s Buddhist leaders.

In his remarks at the welcoming ceremony, Pope Francis said the process of healing and rebuilding is the duty of everyone, with an “essential role” for the followers of all religious traditions.

“Most importantly, they must be prepared to accept one another, to respect legitimate diversities, and learn to live as one family,” he said. “Whenever people listen to one another humbly and openly, their shared values and aspirations become all the more apparent. Diversity is no longer seen as a threat, but as a source of enrichment.”

Pope Francis’ visit is expected to bridge divides between the Tamil minority and Sinhalese majority populations, who had been at war for a quarter of a century before the fighting ended in 2009.

Rebuilding efforts should not only focus on infrastructure and material needs, Pope Francis said, but also on the dignity of each person in the country.

“In this sense, the great work of rebuilding must embrace improving infrastructures and meeting material needs, but also, and even more importantly, promoting human dignity, respect for human rights, and the full inclusion of each member of society,” he said.

On the Pope’s schedule is a visit to the shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary in the Tamil region of the country, where he will greet the faithful and pray. The visit could send a strong message of peace and solidarity for the country, the Associated Press reports.

After the ceremony, the Pope’s schedule for the day included an interreligious encounter in the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall, which is expected to include two moderate Buddhist leaders.

Pope Francis is also expected to canonize Blessed Joseph Vaz on the morning of Jan. 14th in Colombo. Blessed Joseph, who was a priest in Sri Lanka during the mid-1600s, often had to disguise himself as a priest in order to carry out his ministry due to the strong Calvinist presence in the country at the time.

After his Sri Lankan visit, the Pope will fly to the Philippines, where he will visit through Jan. 19. In stark contrast to Sri Lanka, 86 percent of the Philippines’ 93.4 million people identify as Catholic. While the country has not known as much political unrest as Sri Lanka recently, the Philippines has been ravaged by several typhoons, earthquakes and other natural disasters in recent years.

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WORLD NEWS

Amid schedule delays, Pope cancels meeting with Sri Lanka bishops

by CNA/EWTN News • January 13, 2015

Pope Francis arrives at the airport in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Jan. 13, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — Pope Francis decided to forego a scheduled meeting with the bishops of Sri Lanka Jan. 13 after delays in arriving at the apostolic nunciature in the country.

Media representatives on the papal trip told CNA that traveling from the airport to the nunciature took longer than expected. The Holy Father greeted many people along the way, and the trip fell behind schedule.

Therefore, the Pope decided to stay at the nunciature and celebrate Mass. It is likely that he will also take the opportunity to freshen up, which he had not yet been able to do, a media representative explained, noting the intense heat in the country.

It was not clear whether the meeting with the bishops would be rescheduled.

Later in the day, the Pope is scheduled to pay a courtesy visit to the Sri Lankan president, and then to take part in an interreligious meeting at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo.

Pope Francis is in Sri Lanka Jan. 13-15 and will then travel to the Philippines later this week.

Upon arriving in Sri Lanka, the Pope delivered a welcoming speech in which he encouraged the people of the nation to “live as one family.”

“Whenever people listen to one another humbly and openly, their shared values and aspirations become all the more apparent,” he said.

For complete coverage of Pope Francis’ trip to Sri Lanka, visit:  catholicnewsagency.com/srilanka-philippines15/

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WORLD NEWS

A warm Sri Lanka welcome – Pope greeted by 40 elephants

by CNA/EWTN News • January 13, 2015

Pope Francis was greeted by 40 elephants upon his arrival in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Jan. 13, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — In all, there were 40 elephants that the Sri Lankan authorities decided to include in Pope Francis’ welcome ceremony upon his first visit to the Asian nation.

The elephants came from the Buddhist temples of Colombo, where they were extravagantly dressed up for the occasion and were among the first to greet the Pope when he came out of the open-air Pope Mobile.

Elephants have been an important part of the Sri Lankan armory for the last 2,000 years and the tradition was even continued during the nearly 150 years of British Colonial rule.

Elephants hold an important role in the religious practices of the Sri Lankan people. They are often seen in Buddhist temples or in pictorial expressions of faith.

The Sri Lankan Elephant is the largest of the three subspecies of Asian elephants, reaching more than 11 feet in height and up to 12,000 pounds in weight.

During his opening speech in the mainly Buddhist country, the Pope stressed the importance of building peace and respect among religions.

“Whenever people listen to one another humbly and openly, their shared values and aspirations become all the more apparent,” he said.

For complete coverage of Pope Francis’ trip to Sri Lanka, visit:  catholicnewsagency.com/srilanka-philippines15/

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WORLD NEWS

Don’t use religion as a weapon of war, Pope Francis insists

by CNA/EWTN News • January 13, 2015

Pope Francis addresses interreligious faith leaders in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Jan. 13, 2015. (CNA)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — In an oft-repeated message to interreligious groups, Pope Francis stressed again that believers must unite in condemning violence and insist that religion never be used to justify warfare.

“For the sake of peace, religious beliefs must never be allowed to be abused in the cause of violence and war,” the Pope told Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic and Christian leaders during his Jan. 12-15 trip to Sri Lanka.

“We must be clear and unequivocal in challenging our communities to live fully the tenets of peace and coexistence found in each religion, and to denounce acts of violence when they are committed.”

The Pope made his remarks to a group of interreligious leaders on the first day of his apostolic visit to Sri Lanka. He arrives 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.

Although Sri Lanka is a mostly Buddhist country – with Christians accounting for just eight percent of its 20.4 million people – Pope Francis is the third pontiff to visit the country. Pope Paul VI made a visit in 1970, and Pope St. John Paul II visited 20 years ago in 1995.

Tuesday’s event included remarks by several religious leaders, expressing their hope for peace in Sri Lanka and throughout the world.

A local bishop offered a prayer that the nation may “be united as one family,” living up to its calling from God.

A leading Sri Lankan imam referenced the recent attacks by Muslim terrorists in both France and Pakistan.

“Islam has no relationship with regard to such practices and evil conduct and deeds,” he said, adding that terrorists and extremists “have used many religions as a shelter” for their evil deeds throughout the years.

During his remarks to the religious leaders, Pope Francis voiced his desire to reaffirm the Catholic Church’s “sincere respect for you, your traditions and beliefs.”

“I hope,” he added, “that my visit will help to encourage and deepen the various forms of interreligious and ecumenical cooperation which have been undertaken in recent years.”

These developments take on “a particular significance and urgency in Sri Lanka,” he said.

“For too many years the men and women of this country have been victims of civil strife and violence. What is needed now is healing and unity, not further conflict and division.”

“It is my hope that interreligious and ecumenical cooperation will demonstrate that men and women do not have to forsake their identity, whether ethnic or religious, in order to live in harmony with their brothers and sisters.”

“Above all, at this moment of your nation’s history, how many people of good will are seeking to rebuild the moral foundations of society as a whole?” Pope Francis asked.

“May the growing spirit of cooperation between the leaders of the various religious communities find expression in a commitment to put reconciliation among all Sri Lankans at the heart of every effort to renew society and its institutions.”

After his Sri Lankan visit, the Pope will fly to the Philippines, where he will visit through Jan. 19. In stark contrast to Sri Lanka, 86 percent of the Philippines’ 93.4 million people identify as Catholic. While the country has not known as much political unrest as Sri Lanka recently, the Philippines has been ravaged by several typhoons, earthquakes and other natural disasters in recent years.

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WORLD NEWS

Sri Lankan cardinal credits papal trip for post-election peace

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 13, 2015

Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith outside his residence in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Jan. 13, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — After tense elections yielded a new president just days before Pope Francis’ arrival in Sri Lanka, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith said that the “miracle” of a smooth transition is due in large part to the Pope’s visit.

“Before the elections there was a lot of pressure on the bishops to try and stop the Holy Father, to tell him not to come or to postpone (his visit),” Cardinal Ranjith told CNA Jan. 13.

“But we acted in good faith believing in God, that in these matters if we have faith everything succeeds…and it would seem that the miracle was worked out, that the elections went smoothly and that the transfer of power took place very, very smoothly,” he said.

Cardinal Ranjith, who was elevated to the rank of cardinal by Benedict XVI in 2010, had been waiting for the arrival of Pope Francis on Tuesday in the Archdiocese of Colombo ahead of an encounter with bishops. The pontiff never made it to the encounter, due to time strains in his schedule.

Last week Sri Lanka received a new president, Maithripala Sirisena, who was formerly the country’s health minister. He defeated former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who had led the nation for nearly a decade.

Five years ago Rajapaksa was able to bring about an end to a nearly 30-year civil war Sinhala nationalists and Tamil separatists which claimed at least 60,000 lives.

However, despite bringing the war to a close, the former president had remained unpopular among the island nation’s ethnic and religious minorities, and tensions were running high ahead of last Thursday’s close-race election.

The “surprising” calm and transition of authority was due in large part to the presence of Pope Francis so soon after the elections took place, Cardinal Ranjith said.

In spite of receiving pressure to cancel the visit and reschedule it, as well as numerous personal attacks, the cardinal explained that “we went ahead with (the visit) courageously,” and were able to “welcome the Holy Father in the best way we wanted.”

Because of this it was evident, he said, that concerns regarding the timing of the visit were “very much unfounded.”

He expressed his own personal joy and enthusiasm in welcoming the pontiff to Sri Lanka, saying that “we are very happy that he came here because our people are so fond of him, across the religious differences.”

The widespread acceptance of the Pope – regardless of religion – was clearly visible in the thousands of citizens who packed the streets and cheered for him as he made his way along the 23 kilometer route from the airport, the cardinal observed.

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.

The fact that only a few small patches along the road were sparse with pilgrims “shows how much Sri Lanka appreciated (the Pope), and so it’s a great thing that he came.”

Cardinal Ranjith also expressed gratitude for the pontiff’s “sacrifice” in coming in the middle of the country’s hot season, when the sun is particularly fierce.

In reference to a meeting with interreligious leaders that the Pope will have later this afternoon, the cardinal said that there are no specific expectations.

As a religious minority on the continent of Asia, it is the “daily bread and butter” for Christians to live alongside and interact closely with non-Christians, he explained, noting that the Christian faith in Sri Lanka is “very much influenced” by non-Christian beliefs.

“So in this context we learn from them and we are enriched by whatever is in their faiths, and they are enriched by whatever we believe in,” the cardinal said.

This attitude, he noted, “is mutual and this helps to evangelize the continent if not in a direct way, in an indirect and passive way, and it will bear fruits in the years to come.”

Alan Holdren contributed to this piece.

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Availability and obedience: the intentions of Uruguay’s new cardinal

by David Ramos (CNA/EWTN News) • January 13, 2015

Archbishop Daniel Sturla Berhouet of Montevideo with Pope Francis.. (Conferencia Episcopal del Uruguay)

Montevideo, Uruguay — Archbishop Daniel Sturla Berhouet of Montevideo, one of the 20 men to be made a cardinal at next month’s consistory, has said his response to the appointment is one of both availability and obedience to the Pope.

Asked how he plans to respond to the new responsibilities Francis has given him, Archbishop Sturla told CNA Jan 11.: “Above all, a sense of availability and obedience to the Holy Father.”

“I have loved the Pope since I was a child, because that was what my family taught me. After that, I am a Salesian, and for Salesians fidelity to the successor of Peter is one of the essential elements that Don Bosco left … I shall do my best to contribute to the good of the Church and concretely to my archdiocese and the Church in Uruguay through this call to greater love and service,” the archbishop said.

He explained that he learned of his appointment as a cardinal when a priest friend telephoned him: “I said it was impossible, that no one had said anything to me.”

“But then I got two more messages from other Uruguayans who were at St. Peter’s. So I said, ‘well, it must be true.’”

The archbishop said his first reaction was shock. “And afterwards – I was going to my office – I went instead to the chapel to pray for a while, and that’s where the Lord began slowly filling me with peace.”

His selection by Pope, he said, “is recognition for the Church in Uruguay, a Church that in the context of Latin America is a poor and free Church that has learned to proclaim Jesus Christ in the context of a secular society, remaining faithful to its Catholic identity and having a missionary spirit.”

According to Latinobarometro, between 1995 and 2013 self-identified Catholics in Uruguay fell from 60 to 41 percent of the total population.

Widespread secularization in Uruguay is a great challenge, he said, reflecting that “in this plural and secular reality, we are called to joyfully proclaim Jesus Christ. Our invitation is to go out to our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the practice of the faith or to those who are indifferent to God, which is so common in our society.”

Archbishop Sturla was born in Montevideo in 1959, and studied at the St. John the Baptist College of the Brothers of the Holy Family, followed by the Salesians’ John XXIII Institute, the Miguel Rua Institute, and the Theological Institute of Uruguay.

He entered the Salesians of St. John Bosco as a novice in 1979, and he took his first vows in the institute the following year; he was ordained a priest of the order in 1987. He served as a guidance counselor; a formator of novices; and director of the John XXIII Institute.

Archbishop Sturla also served as the Salesians inspector in Uruguay, and as president of the nation’s Conference of Religious.

In 2011 he was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Montevideo, and Pope Francis appointed him as archbishop of that local Church on Feb. 11, 2014.

He teaches the history of the Church in Uruguay, and has authored books on the secularization of the country’s calendar and on the separation of Church and state enshrined in the 1917 Uruguayan constitution.

Archbishop Sturla will be the first Uruguayan cardinal since the death of Cardinal Antonio Barbieri, who was himself Archbishop of Montevideo from 1940 to 1976.

The Uruguayan bishops conference welcomed Archbishop Sturla’s appointment, saying Jan. 5 that they “greet with all affection the brother who has been called to that high service in the Church.”

“We express our thanks to Pope Francis for this gesture of benevolence for the pilgrim Church in Uruguay. He knows us well; he knows our strengths and weaknesses. With this nomination we are renewed in our commitment to live and to bring ‘the joy of the Gospel’ into our encounters, proclamations, and service to all our Uruguayan people, with respect to the plurality which characterizes our society.”

Speaking at his cathedral on the day of the announcement, Archbishop Sturla told journalists he “was and still am shocked” by the news, adding that he is “a servant of Christ and of the Church” and that he hopes his appointment will help him “to better love and serve.”

Archbishop Sturla said, “I am only very recently the Archbishop of Montevideo, so I see this as a distinction for the Church in Uruguay rather than me. Pope Francis had deference for the Uruguayan Church, which undoubtedly has had pastors very worthy of this, more so than I, with many more years of work and of experience.”

He will be made a cardinal at a consistory held at the Vatican on Feb. 14. At the age of 55, he will be among 15 new voting cardinals. Pope Francis will also raise five men over the age of 80, and thus unable to vote in the next conclave, to the dignity of cardinal.

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Farsi Catechism translation offers hope of dialogue in Iran

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • January 13, 2015

Book Market in Qom, Iran. (Casey Hugelfink via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0)

Rome, Italy — The publication of the Farsi language edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church may foster further interreligious dialogue in Iran, although this will depend on the commitment of local communities, a Vatican official said.

Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, Secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, stressed Jan. 12 that “time will tell if this translation into Farsi of the Catechism of the Catholic Church will help to foster the culture of the encounter, (which is) so close to the Pope’s heart.”

However, he added that “much will depend on the availability and openness of local communities, first of all of Christian Churches,” that will have the opportunity to use this Farsi edition of the Catechism “to present, in a balanced and unequivocal way, the contents of faith to members of other religious traditions, especially to representatives of the diverse Islamic world of Iran.”

The Farsi edition of the Catechism of Catholic Church was presented Jan. 12 at the Gregorian University in Rome. It includes a foreword by Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Sponsored by the University of Religions and Denominations of Qom, Iran, the idea behind the translation of Catholic texts into Farsi arose in a context of increased interreligious dialogue carried forward by Shi’ite Islam.

“That Iran and Iranian religious authorities have decided to translate many texts proves that they are opening to the Western world and to Christianity, and especially to Catholic Christianity,” Fr. Samir Khalil Samir, S.J., expert on Islamic studies, told CNA Jan. 13.

This is why “many texts of Catholic tradition, including ‘City of God’ by St. Augustine, have been translated into Farsi,” recounted Fr. Khalil.

Shi’ites make up some 15 percent of Muslims in the world, and the city of Qom is one of the ‘holy centers’ for this Muslim confession.

The shrine of Qom, where the corpse of the eighth shi’ite imam’s wife is buried, is visited by 15 million people per year. More than 100 studies centers are established in Qom, and there are between 50 and 60 thousand scholars of Quran and Islam, out of 1 million inhabitants. Two thousand of these scholars are committed to studying other religious, as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism and Hinduism.

Presenting the new translation, Hojjat ol Eslam va ol Moslemin Sayyed Abolhassan Navvab, rector of the University of Religions and Denominations, explained that “many steps have been made to promote better relations between Islam and Christianity.”

However, he also cautioned that some “dialogues are merely (being) held for their own sake and not for being influential, reducing disbelief.”

“I ask for Catholic cooperation to build fruitful dialogue,” he concluded.

Professor Ahmad Reza Meftah directed the project of translation. The professor explained that the English edition of the Catechism was the “reference edition,” but the translation was then refined and polished by an Italian Catholic who speaks Farsi fluently, and who also compared the translation with the original version in Latin.

According to Roberto Catalano, director of the Interreligious Dialogue department of the Focolari movement, the Farsi edition of the Catechism “will help to bypass some difficulties in fostering interreligious dialogue.”

The biggest of these difficulties is that “Farsi is the official language in Iran, but it cannot be officially used by the Church in Iran. Christians in Iran are allowed to use, according to Iranian law, Armenian, Chaldean, Latin, English and Italian, but not Farsi, in order to avoid the possibility of any proselytism,” Catalano shared with CNA Jan. 10.

As the Farsi edition of Catechism has been published, now the scholars of Qom will be able to study Christianity from an original text.

As Fr. Ayuso put it, “dialogue is possible if we strain to understand the others, and – even before – if we strain to understand ourselves, beyond schemes and stereotypes that push us to engage in conflict.”

He then added that “hermeneutic is a tool that applies human reason to God’s saying, not in order to manipulate or bias it, but in order to shed light to its inner sense.”

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Venezuelan bishops condemn imposition of socialism

by CNA/EWTN News • January 13, 2015

Protestors are met by riot police, Feb. 15, 2014 in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital. (andresAzp via Flickr CC BY-ND 2.0)

Caracas, Venezuela — The Venezuelan bishops conference issued a pastoral exhortation on Monday calling on authorities and citizens alike to an ethical and spiritual renewal in order to come out of the current economic and social crisis facing the nation.

The Jan. 12 letter warned that “Marxist socialism is an erroneous path, and therefore should not be instituted.”

The bishops began their letter by recalling the events that took place at the beginning of 2014, when political upheaval lead to 43 deaths and hundreds injured.

“That grave crisis showed the need for dialogue among government leaders, the opposition, and other sectors. Thanks to the exhortations of Pope Francis and the participation of the apostoli cuncio Archbishop Aldo Giordano, among other things, a dialogue was launched that unfortunately never continued beyond the first few meetings,” the bishops said.

In recent months, the situation has worsened due to a growing economic crisis rooted in massive external debt, uncontrolled inflation, the devaluation of the currency, and shortages of basic necessities, they explained.

Adding to this widespread corruption, the drop in oil prices, and government inefficiency, the main problem and cause of this crisis is “the politico-economic system of a socialist, Marxist or communist nature,” the bishops wrote.

“This system is totalitarian and centralist, it establishes control of the state over all aspects of the lives of the citizens and public and private institutions. It also threatens freedom and the rights of persons and associations and has led to oppression and ruin in every country where it has been tried,” the bishops said.

The response to this situation should be “sincere and effective dialogue aimed at bringing about changes and agreements for the good of all,” and in which the National Assembly must take the lead.

“The reestablishing of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States after 53 years of confrontation, brought about through the mediation of Pope Francis, reveals that intransigent and radical positions are fruitless and should ultimately give way to encounter and dialogue,” they continued.

The bishops exhorted the government and all leaders to assume their responsibility for solving the country’s problems, “remembering that God and the homeland will judge and punish those who commit any injustice and violate their oath to act properly.”

“The military establishment must act with the impartiality set forth in the Constitution. The political forces and the Venezuelan people in general must reject all forms of violence. If we act with non-violence, we will be able to rebuild a peaceful society, constitutional order and internal peace in the Republic.”

On the other hand, they noted, “the economic system being imposed by the government is obviously ineffective.” The government must “set aside rigid and failed ideologies, as well as the desire to control everything, and enact reforms to break the logjam in production, stop inflation and solve the shortages of basic items.”

At the root of all this social renewal is the unity of the family, the bishops stressed, “as the family is the fundamental nucleus of society.”

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For refugees, Spanish bishops propose ‘a Church without borders’

by Blanca Ruiz (CNA/EWTN News) • January 13, 2015

Survivors and family members of African migrants who perished in a 2013 shipwreck near Lampedusa in the Mediterranean sea leave an audience with the Pope, Oct. 1, 2014. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Albacete, Spain — The Spanish bishops have released a message for their nation’s Day of the Immigrant and Refugee, which will be held Jan. 18, entitled “A Church without borders, a Mother for all.”

Bishop Ciriaco Benavente Mateos of Albacete told CNA, “Today there is much talk about borders, and sometimes immigration is seen almost as an attack, but the theme of the day sums up the spirit of a Church without borders, a Church that is Mother and embraces all people, as did Jesus.”

Bishop Benavente is president of the Spanish bishops’ migration committee, and he noted that the flow of immigrants and how to regulate them are difficult problems to solve because “on the one hand entrance has to be regulated as a right of the state, but we need to understand that when immigration occurs because of a situation of profound need, it is not a whim.”

Those who come “fleeing from the hunger that knows nor borders or limits” should be welcomed, he added.

Fr. Jose Luis Pinilla, S.J., director of the migration committee, said today’s immigrants are more like refugees, and require greater assistance.

Spain is has the fifth largest number of illegal immigrants in Europe, he noted, and they need to be integrated and made a part of Spanish society.

In their statement, the bishops pointed to the “stimulating, luminous and prophetic” message that Pope Francis has sent to the Church inviting everyone to “contemplate Jesus” by reaching out “to the vulnerable and excluded and to recognize his suffering face in the victims of the new forms of poverty and slavery, to embrace his clear and forceful words: ‘I was a stranger and you welcomed me’.”

The phenomenon of immigration must be met “with the globalization of charity and cooperation,” the bishops said, which entails “greater effort to create more humane living conditions in their countries of origin and a progressive lessening of the causes that lead to migration, which demand action.”

To this end, “A more just and equitable economic and financial order must be developed worldwide,” they stated.

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Scottish archbishop credits God’s grace for healing process in diocese

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • January 13, 2015

Archbishop Leo Cushley of St. Andrews and Edinburgh. (Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh)

Edinburgh, Scotland — Following the 2013 resignation of Cardinal Keith O’Brien as Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, his successor acknowledges the healing process for the diocese is continuing by God’s grace, but will take time.

“Time is a great healer, and that is certainly helping us. But there is also the grace of God assisting us in moving on from any difficulties we might have had in the past,” Archbishop Leo Cushley of St. Andrews and Edinburgh told CNA in an interview on Monday.

His predecessor resigned shortly before the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis, amid allegations that he made inappropriate sexual advances toward three priests in the 1980s. The cardinal later admitted the allegations to be true.

The new archbishop had a heavy burden ahead of him but promised “reconciliation and healing” for the archdiocese, and acknowledged the healing process is a “delicate” one.

“It’s something that I’ve spent a lot of time on, and a lot of effort on, but it’s also been done I think discreetly; it’s got to be done quietly, it’s got to be done with great patience, and with great gentleness,” Archbishop Cushley said. “Because there are still people on both sides of this argument who are hurting. And who are looking for answers.”

The archbishop also shared how Scotland has been faring since its Sept. 18 referendum on independence, noted how a new marriage preparation program in his diocese is becoming a model for the rest of Scotland, and explained the differing personalities of Pope Francis and Benedict XVI, which he learned during his time as a diplomat for the Holy See.

As Scottish citizens voted on the all-important question of independence from the United Kingdom this past September, the country was an exemplar of civility and unity, he said.

“There was a huge turnout, it was a robust but a friendly and a democratic debate. It went very well indeed. Many, many people participated,” he said.

“Many countries tear themselves to shreds on this very subject. But we managed to do this without a civil war. In fact, even better than that, we managed to do it without anything close to that.”

“A few eggs were thrown,” he quipped.

Ahead of the ordinary Synod on the Family being held in October, the archdiocese has also created a new marriage preparation program for couples – a coincidence, Archbishop Cushley said. The new program was needed right away.

“What happened was there had been a Catholic marriage service for the whole of Scotland, and it had gradually become independent. And it was being part funded by the state, and so it was no longer Catholic.”

“One day we woke up and discovered it was no longer serving our purposes.”

“We’re still tweaking it,” he said. “There are one or two things about it that I’d like to make stronger.”

Another diocese is already taking notice, though. “We all now need it in Scotland,” he affirmed.

Before his appointment as Edinburgh’s archbishop, Cushley served as a diplomat for the Holy See in places as disparate as New York City and Burundi. From his time as a diplomat under both Benedict and Pope Francis, he came to know the popes’ differing personalities and had some anecdotes to share about Pope Francis.

“I’ve compared them again and again in my head, and there was only one thing on the list that set them apart from each other,” he said. “And that was that Pope Benedict was a Bavarian gentleman who was very courteous to people, very correct, and a little bit reserved. He liked people, but he was reserved. Whereas Pope Francis is a much more – the Italians would say a solar personality. He’s much sunnier, he’s much more open.”

Each is a “man of prayer,” he noted. “The thing is one is introverted and one is extroverted, and that for me was almost the most important thing in the day-to-day that I could see between the two.”

Pope Francis now walks daily from his residence at Casa Santa Marta to the apostolic palace, the archbishop said from what he has heard since he left Rome in the summer of 2013.

He included anecdotes of Francis from his brief time working under the Holy Father before his promotion.

“I can remember going into the library where he meets his guests, and he had disappeared this morning. He wasn’t there,” Cushley noted.

“And then I noticed the curtain twitching, and he came from the other side of the curtain. And he said ‘I’m here, it’s okay.’ And he had the rosary in his hand. And he said ‘I was just praying for the people out in the square, I could see them out in St. Peter’s Square.’ And if they had looked up, they would have seen the pope looking up at them, and just telling his beads and saying a prayer for them. And it was just the loveliest, simplest thing to do.”

And what will Francis see when he visits the U.S. next September?

“I am sure that the American Church will give him the warmest of welcomes,” the archbishop said. “And I’m just hoping that he’ll speak a bit of English. That would be nice.”

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Pope Francis’ full homily on Joseph Vaz, Sri Lanka’s first saint

by (CNA) • January 13, 2015

Pope Francis at the canonization Mass of Joseph Vaz in Sri Lanka. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — Pope Francis on Jan. 14 canonized the 17th century priest Joseph Vaz during Mass at the Galle Face Green in Sri Lanka’s capital of Colombo. St. Joseph Vaz is the first canonized saint from Sri Lanka.

The full text of the Pope’s homily follows.

Homily of the Holy Father

“All the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God” (Is 52:10)

This is the magnificent prophecy which we heard in today’s first reading. Isaiah foretells the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the ends of the earth. This prophecy has a special meaning for us, as we celebrate the canonization of a great missionary of the Gospel, Saint Joseph Vaz. Like countless other missionaries in the history of the Church, he responded to the Risen Lord’s command to make disciples of every nation (cf. Mt 28:19). By his words, but more importantly, by the example of his life, he led the people of this country to the faith which gives us “an inheritance among all God’s holy ones” (cf. Acts 20:32).

In Saint Joseph we see a powerful sign of God’s goodness and love for the people of Sri Lanka. But we also see in him a challenge to persevere in the paths of the Gospel, to grow in holiness ourselves, and to testify to the Gospel message of reconciliation to which he dedicated his life.

A priest of the Oratory in his native Goa, Saint Joseph Vaz came to this country inspired by missionary zeal and a great love of its people. Because of religious persecution, he dressed as a beggar, performing his priestly duties in secret meetings of the faithful, often at night. His efforts provided spiritual and moral strength to the beleaguered Catholic population. He had a particular desire to serve the ill and suffering. His ministry to the sick was so appreciated by the king during a smallpox epidemic in Kandy that he was allowed greater freedom to minister. From Kandy, he could reach out to other parts of the island. He spent himself in missionary work and died, exhausted, at the age of fifty-nine, revered for his holiness.

Saint Joseph Vaz continues to be an example and a teacher for many reasons, but I would like to focus on three. First, he was an exemplary priest. Here today with us are many priests and religious, both men and women, who, like Joseph Vaz, are consecrated to the service of God and neighbour. I encourage each of you to look to Saint Joseph as a sure guide. He teaches us how to go out to the peripheries, to make Jesus Christ everywhere known and loved. He is also an example of patient suffering in the cause of the Gospel, of obedience to our superiors, of loving care for the Church of God (cf. Acts 20:28). Like ourselves, Saint Joseph Vaz lived in a period of rapid and profound transformation; Catholics were a minority, and often divided within; there was occasional hostility, even persecution, from without. And yet, because he was constantly united with the crucified Lord in prayer, he could become for all people a living icon of God’s mercy and reconciling love.

Second, Saint Joseph shows us the importance of transcending religious divisions in the service of peace. His undivided love for God opened him to love for his neighbor; he ministered to those in need, whoever and wherever they were. His example continues to inspire the Church in Sri Lanka today. She gladly and generously serves all members of society. She makes no distinction of race, creed, tribe, status or religion in the service she provides through her schools, hospitals, clinics, and many other charitable works. All she asks in return is the freedom to carry out this mission. Religious freedom is a fundamental human right. Each individual must be free, alone or in association with others, to seek the truth, and to openly express his or her religious convictions, free from intimidation and external compulsion. As the life of Saint Joseph Vaz teaches us, genuine worship of God bears fruit not in discrimination, hatred and violence, but in respect for the sacredness of life, respect for the dignity and freedom of others, and loving commitment to the welfare of all.

Finally, Saint Joseph gives us an example of missionary zeal. Though he came to Ceylon to minister to the Catholic community, in his evangelical charity he reached out to everyone. Leaving behind his home, his family, the comfort of his familiar surroundings, he responded to the call to go forth, to speak of Christ wherever he was led. Saint Joseph knew how to offer the truth and the beauty of the Gospel in a multi-religious context, with respect, dedication, perseverance and humility. This is also the way for the followers of Jesus today. We are called to go forth with the same zeal, the same courage, of Saint Joseph, but also with his sensitivity, his reverence for others, his desire to share with them that word of grace (cf. Acts 20:32) which has the power to build them up. We are called to be missionary disciples.

Dear brothers and sisters, I pray that, following the example of Saint Joseph Vaz, the Christians of this country may be confirmed in their faith and make an ever greater contribution to peace, justice and reconciliation in Sri Lankan society. This is what Christ asks of you. This is what Saint Joseph teaches you. This is what the Church needs of you. I commend all of you to the prayers of our new saint, so that, in union with the Church throughout the world, you may sing a new song to the Lord and declare his glory to all the ends of the earth. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised (cf. Ps 96: 1-4)! Amen.

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At papal Mass in Sri Lanka, disabled man seeks ‘big blessing’

by Alan Holdren and Kevin Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • January 13, 2015

Romello Dias and family at the papal Mass in Colombo Jan 14. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — Among the attendees at the papal Mass in Sri Lanka on Wednesday was Romello Dias, a 20-year-old man who has been suffering major health problems for five years.

“I want a big blessing for my son, (so) that he will be okay,” Dias’ father told CNA Jan. 14.

Dias started having health problems after he finished ninth grade. Doctors do not know what is wrong with him.

Dias’ parents brought their son to the canonization Mass and laid him on a cot about 15 rows back from the altar. They arrived very early, at 11 p.m. the night before the 8:30 a.m. Mass. The family is from the large Colombo suburb of Wattala.

Pope Francis met and blessed several people with disabilities before the Mass began in Colombo’s Galle Face Green.

At the Mass the Pope canonized the first Sri Lankan saint, the 17th century priest Joseph Vaz. The pontiff praised the saint’s “particular desire to serve the ill and suffering.”

“I encourage each of you to look to Saint Joseph as a sure guide,” the Pope said. “He teaches us how to go out to the peripheries, to make Jesus Christ everywhere known and loved.”

Some of those gathered for the Mass worked together to hold up people in wheelchairs so that they could see over the crowd of hundreds of thousands.

Pope Francis will leave Colombo for the Philippines on Thursday.

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‘Mary forgave her son’s killers’: The Pope on healing in Sri Lanka

by CNA/EWTN News • January 14, 2015

Pope Francis speaks at the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary at Madhu in Sri Lanka, Jan. 14, 2015. (EWTN)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — At a Marian shine during his three-day trip to Sri Lanka, Pope Francis touched on the country’s brutal decades-long civil war and pointed to the Mother of God as the ultimate witness of forgiveness.

“In this difficult effort to forgive and find peace, Mary is always here to encourage us, to guide us, to lead us,” the Pope said Jan. 14 at the Our Lady of Madhu shrine in Sri Lanka’s Mannar district.

“Just as she forgave her son’s killers at the foot of his cross, then held his lifeless body in her hands, so now she wants to guide Sri Lankans to greater reconciliation, so that the balm of God’s pardon and mercy may bring true healing to all.”

Pope Francis lands in Sri Lanka 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.

Although Sri Lanka is a mostly Buddhist country – with Christians accounting for just eight percent of its 20.4 million people – Pope Francis is the third pontiff to visit the country. Pope Paul VI made a visit in 1970, and Pope St. John Paul II visited 20 years ago in 1995.

Bishop Joseph Rayappu of Mannar greeted the Pope at the shrine Wednesday, thanking the Holy Father for the witness of his “admirable love for the poor and the suffering.”

“You are visiting our country – Sri Lanka – as a messenger of Peace based on Truth, Justice and Reconciliation,” the bishop said.

He noted that Mannar is the location of the first martyrdom in Asia, as some 600 believers gave their lives for the faith in 1544. “The blood of the Martyrs of Mannar has become the seed of the faith in the entire North and eventually in the whole country,” Bishop Rayappu reflected.

He also pointed to the significance of the shrine itself, with 400 years of history.

“This shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary had fostered the faith and the devotion of all our dear people from all over the country regardless of all differences of race, religion or language for the last four centuries,” he said. “It still remains the privileged Marian Shrine of fostering priestly and religious vocations in our dioceses.”

During his remarks, Pope Francis acknowledged the “families here today which suffered greatly in the long conflict which tore open the heart of Sri Lanka. Many people, from north and south alike, were killed in the terrible violence and bloodshed of those years.”

“But Our Lady remained always with you,” he said. “Mary never forgot her children on this resplendent island. Just as she never left the side of her Son on the Cross, so she never left the side of her suffering Sri Lankan children.”

“In the wake of so much hatred, violence and destruction, we want to thank her for continuing to bring us Jesus, who alone has the power to heal open wounds and to restore peace to broken hearts,” the Pope added.

“But we also want to ask her to implore for us the grace of God’s mercy. We ask also for the grace to make reparation for our sins and for all the evil which this land has known.”

“It is not easy to do this,” he emphasized. “Yet only when we come to understand, in the light of the cross, the evil we are capable of, and have even been a part of, can we experience true remorse and true repentance.”

After his Sri Lankan visit, the Pope will fly to the Philippines, where he will visit through Jan. 19. In stark contrast to Sri Lanka, 86 percent of the Philippines’ 93.4 million people identify as Catholic. While the country has not known as much political unrest as Sri Lanka recently, the Philippines has been ravaged by several typhoons, earthquakes and other natural disasters in recent years.

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Francis makes impromptu visit to Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka

by CNA/EWTN News • January 14, 2015

Sri Lankans fill the street awaiting Pope Francis’ arrival in Colombo, Jan. 13, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — On Wednesday evening following his scheduled events, Pope Francis made a brief, unplanned visit to a Buddhist temple in Sri Lanka in a gesture of interreligious dialogue, the Holy See press officer has said.

Fr. Federico Lombardi explained Jan. 14 that after his visit to the Marian shrine at Madhu, Pope Francis met political leaders at the nunciature in Colombo, and then went to archbishop’s rectory hoping to meet the Sri Lankan bishops since he missed them due to scheduling delays the day prior.

The bishops, however, had not yet arrived, and so Pope Francis went to Mahabodhi Viharaya, a nearby Buddhist temple to which he had been invited, Fr. Lombardi recounted. He saw a statue of the Buddha and two other Buddhist holy men, and he was invited by the monks to see the temple’s stupa, a bell containing relics. The stupa is opened only once a year, but a concession was made for the Pope, and he was allowed to see inside the bell. The monks sang a prayer as it was opened, and Pope Francis “was listening with great respect.”

Francis was only able to stay at the temple for some 20 minutes “because the Pope had to to back to meet the bishops,” Fr. Lombardi explained, adding that it was “a great occasion to continue and to foster dialogue with the Buddhists.”

Fr. Cyril Garmeni Fernando, a local priest, said that it is a common occurrence in Sri Lanka for Catholics to visit Buddhist temples: “There are many temples around, many temples per parish. We go to their celebrations when invited, they come to ours when invited.”

Some 70 percent of Sri Lankans are Buddhists, while Christians account for seven percent of the population.

Pope Francis’ gesture, he added, is “a strong message for our people – not only for Catholics – which will show his good will toward other religions. Therefore we are grateful for this, also, this nice, and very strong gesture.”

Fr. Lombardi put the impromptu visit in the context of recent papacies: “I have seen that to visit a mosque or a synagogue was not normal for the Popes until a certain time; now it’s still not normal, but it happens.”

“It means that interreligious dialogue is going on … practices of this are developing, and also this visit is one of them.”

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Twenty-one Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya

by CNA/EWTN News • January 14, 2015

An anti-Christian slogan graffitied on a Coptic church in Egypt. (Aid to the Church in Need.)

Misrata, Libya — A Libyan affiliate of the Islamic State claimed the abduction of 21 Coptic Christians on Monday, releasing pictures of those they had captured.

“State of Tripoli”, Islamic State’s affiliate in Libya, published three pictures Jan. 12 of the kidnapped Copts with the caption “Soldiers of the Islamic State captured 21 Christian Crusaders,” according to the New York Times.

Family members of some of the abductees from Egypt’s Minya province have reportedly identified them.

The Egyptian foreign ministry has confirmed the abductions of 20 Egyptians in the Libyan city of Sirte, located 150 miles southeast of Misrata. The coastal city has been the base of Islamic State training camps for at least several months, according to The Guardian.

An Egyptian spokesperson has reported the foreign ministry is following the case with “extreme caution” and is “operating without stop” to clarify reports of the abductions.

Many Egyptians, including Copts, travel to Libya seeking employment opportunities.

A timeframe for the abductions remains unclear, though the foreign ministry suggests the men were seized at different times in two groups. On Jan. 3, more than 12 Copts were reported to have been abducted by Islamic militants, and seven more were kidnapped days before.

An eyewitness told the AP that attackers entered a residential building, separating out Muslim workers from Christians, handcuffing and kidnapping the Christians.

The men may have been targeted for both sectarian and political reasons. Islamist militants in Libya are reportedly fighting a rival coalition that is backed in part by the Egyptian government.

This is not the first time Egyptian Christians have been targeted in Libya. Last month, an Egyptian Christian teen and her parents were found dead in Sirte.

Libyan authorities discovered the bodies of seven Egyptian Christians last February near militant-held parts of Benghazi.

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In Kurdish Iraq, new beginnings for exiled nuns and priests

by Oliver Maksan (Aid to the Church in Need) • January 14, 2015

Sister Sanaa Hana, who was forced from her convent in Mosul by the Islamic State, is seen in Erbil with children in front of a house where she has found refuge. (Aid to the Church in Need)

Erbil, Iraq — n 2014, more than 120,000 Christians in Iraq, among them dozens of priests and religious, had to flee from the Islamic State. Many have found refuge in the autonomous Kurdish regions of Iraq after having lost everything, among them Sister Sanaa Hana.

The nun is mother superior of a community of Sacred Heart Sisters.

“ISIS blew up our convent in Mosul on Nov. 24. They first tried to blow up the four crosses on the roof. Then they destroyed the entire building. We don’t know why exactly,” she said.

“This made us very sad. It was a critical moment for our community. After all, it had been our spiritual home for many years. I joined our community there in 1985. We had an active pastoral care program in Mosul. Among other things, we maintained a home for old people there.”

However, the sisters’ suffering began months before the explosion that destroyed the convent. At the time, Sister Sanaa was not in the city. Returning from a journey, she wanted to get back to her fellow sisters at all costs.

However, all access routes had been blocked since early June.

“Days before the city completely fell into the hands of ISIS, fierce battles raged between the army and the jihadists. Our convent lay right in between. There was constant heavy fire. The sisters were very scared and thus left the convent and went to another house in Mosul. They were able to flee just before ISIS took over the city. It was truly at the very last minute,” she reported.

“Our sisters were just able to consume the Blessed Sacrament before they fled. They did not want it to fall into the hands of the jihadists. However, they unfortunately had to leave the tabernacle itself behind. There wasn’t enough room in the car.”

The community of nuns then fled to Tall Kayf, a partially Christian city near Mosul. The sisters ran a printing company for liturgical books there. However, they soon had to flee once more. Islamic State had also conquered Tall Kayf.

Sister Sanaa nevertheless plucked up the courage three more times after the fall of Mosul to return to the city now in the hands of the terrorist militia.

“After all, we had been forced to leave our entire archive behind. As mother superior of the convent, I considered it my duty to save it. After all, it contains important documents representing a century of our community’s memory.”

Volunteers joined her on this extremely dangerous journey.

“I did not want to make anyone go with me. It was very dangerous, after all. Other nuns have been kidnapped by ISIS.”

She managed to pass through checkpoints guarded by bearded Islamic State fighters, who were flanked by the black flag of the caliphate, three times. The archive was saved.

Today, Sister Sanaa lives in Ankawa, a Christian suburb of the Kurdish regional capital of Erbil.

Along with 20 other sisters, she has made a fresh start, thanks to support from Catholic agencies from abroad. In addition, a temporary school is being set up for the children of Christian refugees. The sisters will teach there, thus earning a salary from the state. This will help them secure their future.

A machine for the production of altar breads contributes further to their livelihood. The sisters also sew cassocks and liturgical vestments. These supply members of the clergy who, just like them, had to leave everything behind as they fled from Islamic State.

One of them is Father Janan. The Syriac Catholic monk currently lives with his fellow brothers in a settlement near Erbil. The church has rented numerous apartments there with the help of relief funding.

“We fled from Bakhdida on Aug. 6. We even left our identity cards behind because everything had to go so quickly. We thought that the Kurdish fighters would protect us. However, when they suddenly pulled out, we dropped everything and fled.”

Liturgical instruments, books and robes: they were not able to take anything with them.

“Our fellow monks have given us liturgical vestments and books so that we can celebrate the liturgy. We are trying to continue our monastic life here as best as we can,” he said, showing a visitor the temporary chapel that they have set up on the ground floor of the terraced house.

“The Liturgy of the Hours morning, noon and night provides structure to our day. And of course we celebrate Holy Mass.”

Mass is held in a tent that serves as a church for the refugees.

Plastic chairs are set up under a white canvas. Dozens of women have gathered to pray the rosary. The only adornments are an icon of the Redeemer and the Mother of God.

“We celebrate Holy Mass here. We have also baptized children here already. It is important that this refugee settlement has a spiritual heart. We may have lost our homes, but God is with us everywhere.”

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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Pope’s visit prompts release of more than 600 Sri Lankan prisoners

by Ann Schneible and Alan Holdren (CNA/EWTN News) • January 14, 2015

Signs posted across Colombo welcome Pope Francis, Jan. 13, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — Prompted by Pope Francis’ visit and in keeping with the ongoing theme of reconciliation, more than 600 men and women were released from prisons throughout the island nation of Sri Lanka on Wednesday.

The released prisoners “were minor offenders and those above the age of 75,” prisons spokesman Thushara Upuldeniya said Jan. 14.

Of the 612 prisoners released from 28 prisons, 575 were men and 37 were women.

Upuldeniya noted that they were released under a “special presidential pardon” to mark the Holy Father’s visit.

The prisoners’ release coincides with the theme of reconciliation, which has been at the center of Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to Sri Lanka, which still healing from nearly three decades of civil war.

“The Pope is coming at an auspicious time,” said Andrew Mann, charge d’affaires at the US embassy in Sri Lanka, speaking with CNA on Jan. 14 at the canonization of Saint Joseph Vaz.

“He’s bringing a message of peace and reconciliation,” Mann added, remarking on “the hundreds of thousands of people from all religious groups and ethnic groups, here to celebrate the Pope’s message.”

One of the key events on the Pope’s agenda, more than half a million people attended the canonization Mass for the 17th century missionary said at Galle Face Green in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s largest city.

Pope Francis’ visit to the island nation comes less than six years after the end of an ethnic conflict which claimed the lives of an estimated 80,000-100,000 people. From 1983-2009, the island was gripped by intermittent war between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers, who sought an independent Tamil state in the northeast of the country. Tensions between the country’s two largest ethnic groups, the Tamils and Sinhalese, played a significant role in the conflict.

In his homily for the canonization, Pope Francis reiterated the theme of reconciliation, calling the nation’s Christians to “be confirmed in their faith and make an ever greater contribution to peace, justice and reconciliation in Sri Lankan society.”

“This is what Christ asks of you. This is what Saint Joseph teaches you. This is what the Church needs of you,” the Pope said.

This theme of reconciliation extended beyond the words of the Holy Father. The vestments for the Mass, for instance, were made by widows of the soldiers who died during the civil war.

After Mass, Pope Francis traveled by helicopter to the north of the country to visit the Sanctuary of Our Lady of the Rosary in Madhu. Greeted by 500,000 pilgrims, the Holy Father reflected on the need for healing, looking to Mary as an example of forgiveness.

By visiting both the north and south of Sri Lanka, Fr. Shamindra Jayawardena, O.S.B. said, the Pope “has already joined both the south and the north, both communities, together.”

The 17th century Marian shrine, established amid the Dutch invasion and persecution of the Catholic Church, is a main pilgrimage site for Catholics in Sri Lanka and is a symbol of reconciliation.

Fr. Jayawardena noted that both Sinhalese and Tamils frequent the shrine, “coming to join hand in hand.”

“Madhu has been a place for all Sri Lankans, all groups, all ethnic groups,” he said. “It is place of reconciliation, because Our Blessed Mother brings all her children together, and the one shepherd Who is Jesus Christ.”

Over the course of his visit, beginning on the evening of Jan. 12, Pope Francis has met with various pilgrims and political officials, and took part in an inter-religious gathering. Weather permitting, the Holy Father will conclude his visit to Sri Lanka Jan. 15, at which point he will depart for the Philippines.

Sr. Prumelie Fernando of the Sisters of Our Lady of Perpetual Help stressed that the people of Sri Lanka, both northern and southern, are still in need of reconciliation.

“People are ready to reconcile themselves,” she said. “They are ready to accept these challenges.”

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Cyclone menaces Pope’s trip to Philippines, Catholics join in prayer

by CNA/EWTN News • January 14, 2015

Filipino children pray during a March of Saints. (Prayer Warriors of the Holy Souls)

Manila, Philippines — With Pope Francis arriving in the Philippines on Thursday, the Archbishop of Manila is asking that the faithful pray for favorable weather, as a tropical storm is heading for Tacloban, where the Pope will visit on Saturday.

Tropical Storm Amang is expected to have maximum sustained winds of 40 mph, and gusts up to 80 mph.

“Our beloved Pope Francis will be with us soon,” Cardinal Luis Tagle of Manila said Jan. 14. “On Saturday he will be in Tacloban, Leyte on a very special mission of mercy and compassion. Unfortunately during the past days heavy rains have poured over the island because of a low pressure area in the seas near it.”

“Let us turn to prayer for good weather for the visit of the Holy Father. Let us implore the God of creation to clear the skies when Pope Francis arrives and stays in Tacloban so that all who are there will experience comfort as they welcome and listen to his message.”

Pope Francis will visit Tacloban, one of the areas hardest-hit by 2013’s Typhoon Yolanda, on Saturday, saying Mass and then lunching with survivors of the typhoon. He will also bless a local center for the poor, and address priests, religious, seminarians, and families of typhoon survivors.

Cardinal Tagle offered this prayer to ask for favorable weather during Pope Francis’ visit:

Almighty Father, we raise our hearts to you in gratitude for the wonders of creation, for your providence in sustaining us in our needs, and for your wisdom that guides the course of the universe.

God our Father, we pray to you for good weather and clear skies when our beloved Pope Francis lands on our shores. We pray especially that when he encounters the people of Tacloban it will be under fair and comfortable situations, so that all may experience fully the warmth of his presence.

We know that nothing is impossible to you and we ask this of you with humble and contrite hearts, but confident always of your solicitude and providence.

We ask this through Your Son Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, now and forever. Amen.

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Pope Francis bids farewell to Sri Lanka, Philippines up next

by CNA/EWTN News • January 14, 2015

Sri Lankan children line the path to the papal plane at the airport in Colombo, Jan. 15. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — Pope Francis departed Sri Lanka for the Philippines on Thursday morning after an eventful trip to the island country.

The Pope walked down the red carpet at the International Airport of Colombo, saying farewell to Catholic bishops and Sri Lankan officials.

As is Pope Francis’ tradition on his trips, he carried his own bag.

The path to the papal plane was lined by an honor guard of Sri Lankans in traditional dress bearing shields. Ahead of the Pope’s arrival, dozens of children gathered to wave the flags of Sri Lanka and of the Holy See.

The Pope did not make any remarks.

Pope Francis’ last stop before the airport was at the Benedict XVI Cultural Institute in Bolawalana, where he blessed the Chapel of Our Lady of Lanka.

Pope Francis was welcomed at the instiute by Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo and Father Mahamalge Quintus Fernando, the institute’s rector. Among the thousands of people gathered were about 250 construction workers who helped build the institute, some local fishermen and a choir.

Cardinal Ranjith launched the project to create the Benedict XVI Institute in 2011. The institute aims to collaborate with the agencies of Sri Lanka to rebuild the nation after 30 years of civil war. The institutes will have departments in interreligious dialogue and cooperation, foreign languages, and higher studies. The higher studies department will focus on areas like theology, philosophy, economics and business.

Pope Francis’ Sri Lankan trip began Jan. 12. It included meetings with religious leaders in the majority Buddhist country and the canonization of St. Joseph Vaz, a 17th century priest who is now the first recognized Sri Lankan saint.

“His undivided love for God opened him to love for his neighbor; he ministered to those in need, whoever and wherever they were,” the Pope said at St. Joseph Vaz’s canonization Mass in Colombo Jan. 14. “His example continues to inspire the Church in Sri Lanka today. She gladly and generously serves all members of society.”

Pope Francis will be in the Philippines until Jan. 19. He could draw over 5 million Mass attendees in the strongly Catholic country.

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Overwhelming welcome for Pope Francis foreseen in Philippines

by Alan Holdren (CNA/EWTN News) • January 14, 2015

Father Gregory Gaston departing for the Philippines, Jan. 15. (Alan Holdren/CNA.)

Colombo, Sri Lanka — Pope Francis can expect a warm and enthusiastic welcome in the Philippines, say two natives of the country who work in media.

“People are starting to line up from the airport to the apostolic nunciature,” Father Gregory Gaston, rector of Rome’s Pontifical Collegio Filippino, told CNA Jan. 15.

“I am sure that the Pope will be happy when he meets the people because they have really been preparing for quite some time,” he said at Sri Lanka’s Colombo International Airport before the Pope departed for Manila.

Father Gaston, who also serves as a correspondent for the Philippine Catholic radio station Radyo Veritas, said several Philippines TV channels have had short segments about the Pope’s upcoming trip for quite some time now.

Starting Jan. 15, Pope Francis begins his five-day visit to the Philippines, a country where 86 percent of its 98.4 million people identify as Catholic.

“I am sure this will be a great occasion of grace, not only for people gathering together, but really of grace being showered by the Lord upon us,” the priest said.

Lynda Jumilla Abalos, a journalist with the Philippines’ ABS CBN News, said the Pope is a very popular man in the country.

“I hope the Pope will see how much the Filipino Catholics love him, and will see how overwhelmingly popular he is in the Philippines,” she said.

The Philippines’ people love the Pope so much, in fact, that Father Gaston said their excitement is probably the biggest security concern of the trip at this point.

“…people here really love the Pope, and they might just (overwhelm) him or stand too close to him, and make the security people nervous,” he said, laughing.

As many as 6 million people are expected to attend Sunday Mass with Pope Francis in Manila.

Signs of an eager welcome were evident on social media Thursday morning, when the phrase “Welcome to the Philippines Pope Francis” was trending on Twitter worldwide and in the Philippines.

Often called the “Pope of the poor,” the Holy Father’s care and concern for the disadvantaged has truly resonated with many people in the Philippines, particularly the victims of the disastrous Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Typhoon Yolanda). The December 2013 storm killed thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands homeless.

“The words of the Pope the morning after the typhoon struck got to the people right away, and they know his concern for the poor and the victims,” Abalos said. “The middle class admire him for his determination to introduce reforms in the Church, and the elite have always looked up to the leaders of the Catholic Church… every social class is looking forward to the visit.”

Father Gaston said he is also personally looking forward to going home.

“This is a very great blessing for me,” he said. “It’s always good to go home, it’s been a while because I’m based in Rome. So this is an opportunity for me to visit my home as well as accompany the Pope.”

There is a tropical storm that may hit the Philippines during Pope Francis’ visit, but Father Gaston said the Holy Father is prepared for the possibility of rain.

The Philippines visit is the second leg of Pope Francis’ latest trip. He departed Sri Lanka on Thursday morning after a three-day visit.

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Malawi’s Bishop Joseph Zuza dies in car accident

by Antonio Anup Gonsalves (CNA/EWTN News) • January 15, 2015

Bishop Zuza of Mzuzu, who died Jan. 15 in a car accident in Malawi. (Catholic Bishops Conference Malawi)

Mzuzu, Malawi — Catholics in Malawi are mourning the death of Bishop Joseph Mukasa Zuza of Mzuzu, who died in a car crash on Thursday at the age of 59.

The communications secretary of the Malawi bishops conference, Fr. Andrew Kaufa, confirmed the death to CNA on Jan. 15.

The bishop was driving himself along the Chikangawa-Nthungwa road, returning to Mzuzu, and his car rolled several times. He was rushed to the hospital in Mzuzu, where he died.

Bishop Zuza’s diocese had been split in 2010, partly out of a desire to ease transportation risks in the area.

When the Diocese of Karonga was erected that year from territory of the Mzuzu diocese, Bishop Zuza told CNA the split was “necessary, because it is quite taxing to travel to some places from headquarters.” He described difficult travel on poor roads in all-terrain vehicles to parishes as far as 250 miles away.

Bishop Zuza was born in 1955 in Malembo, and in 1982 was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Mzuzu. St. John Paul II appointed him Bishop of Mzuzu in 1995.

In addition to having been Bishop of Mzuzu, in Malawi’s north, Bishop Zuza had been president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Malawi since 2011.

Steering the Malawi bishops conference, Bishop Zuza spoke out for justice and upliftment of the marginalized, slamming the roots of the socio-economic problems of Malawi, which had attracted criticism from political corners.

Bishop Zuza participated in the extraordinary Synod on Family that concluded last October, where he spoke up for Catholic teaching on family sought to uphold the sanctity of the Sacrament of marriage.

A promoter of culture and traditions, the African prelate had expressed concerns over Western influence affecting African culture, particularly on the issues of homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

During the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Mzuzu diocese,Archbishop Nicola Girasoli, then Apostolic Nuncio to Zambia and Malawi, lauded Bishop Zuza’s pastoral initiatives for the faithful, saying that “during these years of visiting Mzuzu, the diocese has been very well managed and very well organized.”

The Prefecture Apostolic of Northern Malawi was erected in 1947, and was elevated to the status of the Diocese of Mzuzu in 1961. It currently holds a Catholic population of 400,000.

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Attendee of Philippines WYD 1995 to concelebrate papal Mass

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 15, 2015

Fr. Marcello Pondoc outside Manila’s cathedral, Jan. 15, 2015. (Elise Harris/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Fr. Marcello Pondoc attended the Philippines World Youth Day with St. John Paul II in 1995, and 20 years later will participate in Pope Francis’ visit as a concelebrating priest at Friday’s papal Mass.

“(The visit of Pope Francis) is a great blessing, just like the visit of St. John Paul II in 1995. That was for World Youth Day. I was there, and now I am very lucky to be one of the concelebrants of this Mass tomorrow in the Manila cathedral,” Fr. Pondoc told CNA Jan. 15.

Currently serving in the Diocese of Butuan, which is located in the southern part of the Philippine Islands, Fr. Pondoc arrived in Manila two days ago and is assisting in preparations ahead of tomorrow’s Mass with the country’s bishops, priests and religious at Manila’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Pope Francis’ Jan. 15-19 trip to the Philippines holds the theme “Mercy and Compassion,” and falls just after a two day visit to Sri Lanka, during which he encouraged locals to work for peace and reconciliation, and voiced his opposition to using religion as a “weapon of war.”

Fr. Pondoc explained that the Pope’s visit “is very meaningful for us religious and priests – our encounter with the Pope is like encountering Christ, since he is the Vicar of Christ.”

The words and actions of the Pope will have a nationwide impact he said, explaining that the trip, particularly tomorrow’s Mass with the country’s bishops, priests and religious, will also help him to deepen in his vocation to the priesthood.

Pope Francis’ presence, he said, “helps to deepen our faith in Christ, (and) also myself as a priest, (with) a vocation to the priesthood and the service and ministry of the priesthood for the Church and for the people.”

As one of the many concelebrating priests at tomorrow’s Mass, Fr. Pondoc will have the opportunity to meet Pope Francis personally, and offer him a brief greeting.

“To encounter and meet the Vicar of Christ is a symbol of our unity in the Catholic Church,” the priest observed, saying that it serves as a particular sign of the unity between the Church in the Philippines and the Church of Rome.

“I’m excited to see and meet the Pope, and concelebrate the Mass in Latin.”

Pope Francis is the third Roman Pontiff to visit the Philippines, the first being Bl. Paul VI in 1970, who was followed by St. John Paul II in both 1981 and in 1995.

As the only majority Christian nation in the far east, the Philippines is an important place for popes to come, the priest noted, explaining that “it is a very meaningful and historic event for us to have the Pope visit here.”

Since the time for the papal voyage’s theme of “Mercy and Compassion” was announced the country has been preparing spiritually, he said, noting that this preparation has included an emphasis on the poor.

A main goal has been “to show our compassion and mercy especially to the least, the most poor and less fortunate in our society,” Fr. Pondoc observed, saying that the Pope’s presence in Tacloban, which has been ravaged by two typhoons in the last year, “is also important.”

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Goans celebrate the canonization of their compatriot St. Joseph Vaz

by Antonio Anup Gonsalves (CNA/EWTN News) • January 15, 2015

A statue of St. Joseph Vaz at his Mass of Canonization, Jan. 14, 2014. (CNA)

Panjim, India — Bells pealed out at Catholic churches and chapels throughout the Archdiocese of Goa on Wednesday, calling the faithful to prayer and thanksgiving following the canonization of one of their own, St. Joseph Vaz.

The Indian-born saint known as the “Apostle to Sri Lanka” was canonized at a Mass in Colombo by Pope Francis on Jan. 14.

“The canonization is a sign of the maturity level attained by the Church in Goa to be able to transmit to others the faith received there, by becoming a mission oriented Church,” Fr. Mario Saturnino Dias, director of the archdiocese’s center for missions, told CNA Jan. 15.

“It is an opportunity not only to thank God for the gift received, but also to pray that many more young people be blessed by similar vocations.”

St. Joseph Vaz was born in 1651 in Benaulim, a village of Goa. He became a priest of the Congregation of the Oratory, founding an oratory in Goa before travelling to Sri Lanka, where Catholics were suffering persecution under the island’s Dutch Calvinist rulers.

When the Goan’s canonization was official, local churches rang bells and set off firecrackers to celebrate. More than 1,000 people from the Archdiocese of Goa travelled to Sri Lanka to attend the ceremony itself.

“We the Canons of the Cathedral Chapter in Se Cathedral celebrated this joy of the Church in a solemn thanksgiving Mass … it is an an occasion to pray for many more vocations for missionary life and to revitalize the fervor of proclaiming the Gospel,” Fr. Dias said.

He said the Mass of Thanksgiving in Goa’s Se Cathedral, built in the 1500s, and explained that “the faithful had the rare experience of hearing the pealing of all five bells of Se Cathedral, which have the distinct musical sound notes of Do, Re, Mi, Fa, Sol.”

Fr. Dias described that there is a special reason for the canons of Se Cathedral to celebrate, because “it was at Se Cathedral in Old Goa that the young Fr. Joseph Vaz heard about the plight of the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka, from a canon of the Goa Cathedral Chapter.”

“The canon had accidentally landed at Colombo while returning from a visit to Macau, and had experienced the spiritual hunger and thirst of the Lankan Catholics to be fed by the Word of God and by the sacraments, of which they had been deprived for over 30 years.”

Fr. Dias further noted, “this was because the ruling Dutch Calvinist government had expelled all the Catholic priests from the island. Fr Joseph Vaz’s heart was afire and he decided to go and help the Catholics of the island.”

During his homily, Fr. Dias recounted the life and missionary zeal of St. Joseph Vaz, who was instrumental in maintaining the Church in Sri Lanka.

“Discipleship is not ruled by power, authority and jurisdiction but by love of the faithful and concern for their overall well-being,” Fr. Dias reflected, urging the faithful to “re-energize your faith within the families, so that children can appreciate their faith, and pass it on.”

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Pope Francis: Philippines’ 500 years of Christianity can inspire more good

by CNA/EWTN News • January 15, 2015

Francis addresses Philippines offiicals and diplomats at the Presidential Palace in Manila Jan. 16. (CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Pope Francis praised Philippines Catholics’ strong faith and challenged them to continue to let the Christian message bear fruit, noting the upcoming 500th anniversary of Christianity’s arrival in Philippines.

“It is my hope that this important anniversary will point to its continuing fruitfulness and its potential to inspire a society worthy of the goodness, dignity and aspirations of the Filipino people,” he said Jan. 16.

Pope Francis travelled to the Philippines Jan. 15 after spending three days in Sri Lanka as part of his second Asian pilgrimage as pope. Catholic influence is strong in the Philippines, where 86 percent of its 98.4 million people identify as Catholic.

Philippines President Benigno Aquino, in office since 2010, met with Pope Francis for about an hour before the Pope’s public remarks to a large crowd of diplomats, public authorities and others gathered at the Presidential Palace in Manila.

The Holy Father said he admired the virtues of “heroic strength, faith and resilience” that Filipinos displayed in the aftermath of the disastrous Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda. The storm killed thousands of people and left hundreds of thousands homeless in December 2013.

“Those virtues, rooted not least in the hope and solidarity instilled by Christian faith, gave rise to an outpouring of goodness and generosity, especially on the part of so many of the young,” he said. “At great sacrifice, they gave of their time and resources, creating networks of mutual help and working for the common good.”

Pope Francis encouraged the people to extend their care of the poor, so prominent after the storm, into their social structures as well, especially as the Bishops of the Philippines have declared 2015 “The Year of the Poor.”

“I hope that this prophetic summons will challenge everyone, at all levels of society, to reject every form of corruption which diverts resources from the poor, and to make concerted efforts to ensure the inclusion of every man and woman and child in the life of the community,” he said.

The solidarity and hard worked poured into rebuilding efforts should also be used to build a society respectful of authentic human values, Pope Francis continued.

“As many voices in your nation have pointed out, it is now, more than ever, necessary that political leaders be outstanding for honesty, integrity and commitment to the common good,” he said. “In this way they will help preserve the rich human and natural resources with which God has blessed this country.”

The Catholic Church in the Philippines is very politically and socially active and played a key role in the peaceful 1986 ouster of dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

The Church was also an active opponent of President Aquino’s advocacy of a controversial “reproductive health” bill, which passed in 2012 despite heavy Catholic opposition. The legislation mandated government-sanctioned sex education for adults, middle school and high school students, as well as a population control program that includes fully subsidized contraceptives under government health insurance.

Last year the Supreme Court of the Philippines struck down portions of the bill including provisions allowing minors access to birth control without parental consent and requirements that infringed on the religious freedom of institutions and individuals that objected to providing information about contraceptives.

While Pope Francis did not address the legislation directly, he stressed the importance of the family’s role in passing on Christian values and renewing society.

“We know how difficult it is for our democracies today to preserve and defend such basic human values as respect for the inviolable dignity of each human person, respect for the rights of conscience and religious freedom, and respect for the inalienable right to life, beginning with that of the unborn and extending to that of the elderly and infirm,” he said.

President Aquino addressed the crowd before Pope Francis, noting the Catholic Church’s history in the Philippines and its shift from being an ally of a colonial government to a social presence that challenges the “status quo.”

“The Gospel challenges each member of the Church to go beyond almsgiving and mere charity and be concerned with injustice in temporal matters,” President Aquino said.

While the president claimed he had been the object of some excessive criticism from Catholic clergy, he also voiced his appreciation and respect for Pope Francis and his advocacy “on behalf of the oppressed and marginalized.”

Pope Francis, following his prepared remarks, praised President Aquino and the country of the Philippines for “fostering understanding and cooperation among the countries of Asia.” He encouraged the country to continue to use its strong religious heritage as a force for the common good.

“May the deepest spiritual values of the Filipino people continue to find expression in your efforts to provide your fellow citizens with an integral human development.”

The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will give a present to President Aquino: facsimile of a medieval nautical atlas from the Vatican Library. The atlas’ maps show the world as it was known to Europeans in the 16th century.

Christianity first arrived in the Philippines in 1521 through a Spanish expedition led by Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

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Pope’s full homily to Bishops, Priests, Religious and Seminarians in Manila

by CNA/EWTN News • January 15, 2015

Francis at Manila’s Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral Jan. 16, 2015. (CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Pope Francis’ Homily at Manila’s Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral during Holy Mass for Bishops, Priests, Religious and Seminarians Jan. 16:

“Do you love me?… Tend my sheep” (Jn 21:15-17). Jesus’ words to Peter in today’s Gospel are the first words I speak to you, dear brother bishops and priests, men and women religious, and young seminarians. These words remind us of something essential. All pastoral ministry is born of love. All consecrated life is a sign of Christ’s reconciling love. Like Saint Therese, in the variety of our vocations, each of us is called, in some way, to be love in the heart of the Church.

I greet all of you with great affection. And I ask you to bring my affection to all your elderly and infirm brothers and sisters, and to all those who cannot join us today. As the Church in the Philippines looks to the fifth centenary of its evangelization, we feel gratitude for the legacy left by so many bishops, priests and religious of past generations. They labored not only to preach the Gospel and build up the Church in this country, but also to forge a society inspired by the Gospel message of charity, forgiveness and solidarity in the service of the common good. Today you carry on that work of love. Like them, you are called to build bridges, to pasture Christ’s flock, and to prepare fresh paths for the Gospel in Asia at the dawn of a new age.

“The love of Christ impels us” (2 Cor 5:14). In today’s first reading Saint Paul tells us that the love we are called to proclaim is a reconciling love, flowing from the heart of the crucified Savior. We are called to be “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Cor 5:20). Ours is a ministry of reconciliation. We proclaim the Good News of God’s infinite love, mercy and compassion. We proclaim the joy of the Gospel. For the Gospel is the promise of God’s grace, which alone can bring wholeness and healing to our broken world. It can inspire the building of a truly just and redeemed social order.

To be an ambassador for Christ means above all to invite everyone to a renewed personal encounter with the Lord Jesus (Evangelii Gaudium, 3). This invitation must be at the core of your commemoration of the evangelization of the Philippines. But the Gospel is also a summons to conversion, to an examination of our consciences, as individuals and as a people. As the Bishops of the Philippines have rightly taught, the Church in the Philippines is called to acknowledge and combat the causes of the deeply rooted inequality and injustice which mar the face of Filipino society, plainly contradicting the teaching of Christ. The Gospel calls individual Christians to live lives of honesty, integrity and concern for the common good. But it also calls Christian communities to create “circles of integrity”, networks of solidarity which can expand to embrace and transform society by their prophetic witness.

As ambassadors for Christ, we, bishops, priests and religious, ought to be the first to welcome his reconciling grace into our hearts. Saint Paul makes clear what this means. It means rejecting worldly perspectives and seeing all things anew in the light of Christ. It means being the first to examine our consciences, to acknowledge our failings and sins, and to embrace the path of constant conversion. How can we proclaim the newness and liberating power of the Cross to others, if we ourselves refuse to allow the word of God to shake our complacency, our fear of change, our petty compromises with the ways of this world, our “spiritual worldliness” (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 93)?

For us priests and consecrated persons, conversion to the newness of the Gospel entails a daily encounter with the Lord in prayer. The saints teach us that this is the source of all apostolic zeal! For religious, living the newness of the Gospel also means finding ever anew in community life and community apostolates the incentive for an ever closer union with the Lord in perfect charity. For all of us, it means living lives that reflect the poverty of Christ, whose entire life was focused on doing the will of the Father and serving others. The great danger to this, of course, is a certain materialism which can creep into our lives and compromise the witness we offer. Only by becoming poor ourselves, by stripping away our complacency, will we be able to identify with the least of our brothers and sisters. We will see things in a new light and thus respond with honesty and integrity to the challenge of proclaiming the radicalism of the Gospel in a society which has grown comfortable with social exclusion, polarization and scandalous inequality.

Here I would like to address a special word to the young priests, religious and seminarians among us. I ask you to share the joy and enthusiasm of your love for Christ and the Church with everyone, but especially with your peers. Be present to young people who may be confused and despondent, yet continue to see the Church as their friend on the journey and a source of hope. Be present to those who, living in the midst of a society burdened by poverty and corruption, are broken in spirit, tempted to give up, to leave school and to live on the streets. Proclaim the beauty and truth of the Christian message to a society which is tempted by confusing presentations of sexuality, marriage and the family. As you know, these realities are increasingly under attack from powerful forces which threaten to disfigure God’s plan for creation and betray the very values which have inspired and shaped all that is best in your culture.

Filipino culture has, in fact, been shaped by the imagination of faith. Filipinos everywhere are known for their love of God, their fervent piety and their warm devotion to Our Lady and her rosary. This great heritage contains a powerful missionary potential. It is the way in which your people has inculturated the Gospel and continues to embrace its message (cf. Evangelii Gaudium, 122). In your efforts to prepare for the fifth centenary, build on this solid foundation.

Christ died for all so that, having died in him, we might live no longer for ourselves but for him (cf. 2 Cor 5:15). Dear brother bishops, priests and religious: I ask Mary, Mother of the Church, to obtain for all of you an outpouring of zeal, so that you may spend yourselves in selfless service to our brothers and sisters. In this way, may the reconciling love of Christ penetrate ever more fully into the fabric of Filipino society and, through you, to the farthest reaches of the world.

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Pope Francis sees ‘powerful missionary potential’ in Philippines

by CNA/EWTN News • January 15, 2015

Francis laughs during his Jan. 16 homily at Manila’s Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. (CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Pope Francis on Friday repeated his praise for the Philippines’ Christians as he encouraged bishops, clergy, vowed religious and seminarians to proclaim the Gospel, identify with the poor and help the “broken in spirit.”

“Filipino culture has, in fact, been shaped by the imagination of faith. Filipinos everywhere are known for their love of God, their fervent piety and their warm devotion to Our Lady and her rosary,” he said in his homily at a Jan. 16 Mass. “This great heritage contains a powerful missionary potential.”

The Pope celebrated Mass for clergy, religious and seminarians at Manila’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. His homily called his congregation to self-examination and to reach out to all parts of society.

“We proclaim the Good News of God’s infinite love, mercy and compassion,” he said. “We proclaim the joy of the Gospel. For the Gospel is the promise of God’s grace, which alone can bring wholeness and healing to our broken world. It can inspire the building of a truly just and redeemed social order.”

The Church in the Philippines is “called to acknowledge and combat the causes of the deeply rooted inequality and injustice which mar the face of Filipino society, plainly contradicting the teaching of Christ,” the Pope said.

He said individual Christians must follow the Gospel and “live lives of honesty, integrity and concern for the common good.” He also emphasized the need to create “circles of integrity” and “networks of solidarity” that can expand to “embrace and transform society by their prophetic witness.”

The Pope exhorted bishops, priests and religious to welcome God’s “reconciling grace.” Citing St. Paul, he said this means “rejecting worldly perspectives and seeing all things anew in the light of Christ.” This means “being the first to examine our consciences, to acknowledge our failings and sins, and to embrace the path of constant conversion.”

“How can we proclaim the newness and liberating power of the Cross to others, if we ourselves refuse to allow the word of God to shake our complacency, our fear of change, our petty compromises with the ways of this world, our ‘spiritual worldliness’?” Pope Francis asked.

He stressed the need to encounter the Lord in daily prayer and to find in community life “the incentive for an ever closer union with the Lord in perfect charity.”

Conversion also means “means living lives that reflect the poverty of Christ, whose entire life was focused on doing the will of the Father and serving others.”

He warned of the need to avoid materialism and to avoid complacency. This can be done “by becoming poor ourselves” and becoming able to identify with “the least of our brothers and sisters.”

“We will see things in a new light and thus respond with honesty and integrity to the challenge of proclaiming the radicalism of the Gospel in a society which has grown comfortable with social exclusion, polarization and scandalous inequality.”

The Pope especially encouraged young priests, young religious and young seminarians “to share the joy and enthusiasm of your love for Christ and the Church with everyone, but especially with your peers.”

He said they should make themselves present to those who are “confused and despondent,” who are “broken in spirit” and “tempted to give up, to leave school and to live on the streets.”

“Proclaim the beauty and truth of the Christian message to a society which is tempted by confusing presentations of sexuality, marriage and the family. As you know, these realities are increasingly under attack from powerful forces which threaten to disfigure God’s plan for creation and betray the very values which have inspired and shaped all that is best in your culture,” he told the young men and women present.

Pope Francis noted the upcoming 500th centenary of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines, which will take place in 2021. He voiced “gratitude for the legacy left by so many bishops, priests and religious of past generations.”

“They labored not only to preach the Gospel and build up the Church in this country, but also to forge a society inspired by the Gospel message of charity, forgiveness and solidarity in the service of the common good,” he said.

Later on Friday Pope Francis was scheduled to meet with families at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila. He will depart the Philippines on Monday.

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‘Our faith makes us stand up again and again,’ Cardinal Tagle tells Pope

by CNA/EWTN News • January 15, 2015

Pope Francis and Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle embrace at the close of Mass Jan. 16 in Manila. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Seven cathedrals of Manila have been destroyed, but the eighth remains strong like the Philippines’ people, Cardinal Luis Tagle of Manila said in an invigorating speech to Pope Francis Friday.

“This cathedral has been razed to the ground many times, but it refuses to vanish,” the 57-year-old cardinal said at the close of a Mass with Pope Francis Jan. 16. “It boldly rises from the ruins – just like the Filipino people.”

“Yes, Holy Father, we bishops, priests and religious men and women have seen and lived the suffering and determination of our people,” he said, citing St. Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians: “We are afflicted in every way possible, but we are not crushed.”

Pope Francis celebrated Mass at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception in Manila for bishops, clergy, vowed religious and seminarians as part of his papal visit to the Philippines.

Manila’s first cathedral was destroyed by fire in the sixteenth century, while the next five were either partially damaged or destroyed by earthquakes, Cardinal Tagle explained. An 1863 quake buried the members of the cathedral chapter, the choir and the lay faithful.

The seventh cathedral was “mercilessly bombed” during the liberation of the Philippines from Japanese occupation in 1945.

Cardinal Tagle credited the Filipinos’ resilience to their music and faith.

“Our melodies make our spirits soar above the tragedies of life,” he said. “Our faith makes us stand up again and again after deadly fires, earthquakes, typhoons and wars.”

The Philippines has again suffered deadly typhoons and earthquakes in recent years.

“We are filled with joy for you are with us,” Cardinal Tagle told Pope Francis. “You bring fire not to destroy, but to purify. You bring an earthquake not to shatter, but to awaken. You bring weapons, not to kill, but to assure.”

“Indeed,” the cardinal said, citing the Gospel of Matthew, “you are Peter, the Rock upon which Jesus builds His Church.”

“You are Peter, who comes ‘to strengthen your brothers and sisters in faith.”

“We welcome you, successor of Peter, to this blessed land of untiring hope, of infinite music and of joyful faith,” Cardinal Tagle said. “With your visit, we know Jesus will renew and rebuild His Church in the Philippines.”

Pope Francis in his homily at the Mass said Filipino culture has been “shaped by the imagination of faith.” He praised Filipinos’ love of God and their devotion to the Virgin Mary, saying that their “great heritage” has “a powerful missionary potential.”

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Twelve hours on a boat to tell Pope Francis ‘I love you’

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 16, 2015

Sister and brother, Dolorosa and Joay, traveled 12 hours by boat from their home province of Aklan to Manila to see Pope Francis, Jan. 15, 2015. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Dolorosa and Joay traveled on a 12-hour boat trip from their home province in the Philippines to Manila, where they hope to see “the image of Jesus” – Pope Francis – and tell him that they love him.

“We want to see the Pope, the image of Jesus. I’m so happy now, because I see in Pope Francis the image of Jesus … I can’t explain my emotions. I’m so happy,” Dolorosa told CNA Jan. 15.

The siblings – who were on their way to line up so they could greet the Pope on his route into the city – said that if they had the opportunity to tell him something they would only say one very simple thing: “I love you.”

Dolorosa and her brother made their way by ship from their home province of Aklan to Manila in order to participate in the events surrounding Pope Francis’ Jan. 15-19 visit to the Philippines. The pontiff is slated to visit the island of Tacloban, which has been ravaged by two typhoons in the last year.

With the theme “Mercy and Compassion,” the Pope’s trip to the Philippines falls just after a two day visit to Sri Lanka, during which he encouraged locals to work for peace and reconciliation, and voiced his opposition to using religion as a “weapon of war.”

“For us we are very, very excited that the face of Christ will come here to the Philippines,” Joay told CNA, explaining that the Philippines has always been a popular place for popes to visit because “most all Filipinos are religious and Catholic.”

“We are also special, because he chose this country (and) the Pope always visits here. So we are very happy.”

Dolorosa was also present for the visit of St. John Paul II to the Philippines for World Youth Day in 1995. To have seen him, she said, is exciting, “because (he) is already a saint.”

The most prominent message she remembers from the saint’s visit is one of renewal, she said, as well as his desire to bring people closer to God. “So it’s a privilege for me that I saw John Paul II, who is already a saint. And I love Pope Francis so much.”

Also serving as a lector at her home parish in Aklan, Dolorosa said that she attends Mass everyday, always going to the first one, which begins at 5:00 a.m.

She expressed her desire to spread Pope Francis’ message to her hometown once she goes back, saying that “I will bring the visit of the Pope to my province and say that he is compassionate (and) loving…I see Jesus if I see the face of the Pope.”

“I am so happy because the image of the Pope is Christ.”

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Here’s what Pope Francis gave the president of the Philippines

by CNA/EWTN News • January 16, 2015

Pope Francis presented this 16th century atlas from the Vatican Library to the President of the Philippines on Jan. 16, 2015. (Holy See Press Office)

Manila, Philippines — During his first full day in the Philippines, Pope Francis met with President Benigno Aquino and other officials at the presidential palace, encouraging them to use the country’s strong religious heritage as a force for good.

“It is my hope that this important anniversary will point to its continuing fruitfulness and its potential to inspire a society worthy of the goodness, dignity and aspirations of the Filipino people,” he said in an address at the palace Jan. 16.

The Philippines is also about to mark the 500th anniversary of the proclamation of the Gospel on Philippine shores, which is likely why Pope Francis gifted President Aquino with a copy of an atlas from the Vatican Library mapping the world as Europeans knew it in the 16th century.

One of only 50 copies of the original atlas in the world, the volume contains 14 nautical maps in color on parchment. The original atlas can be dated to 1562 and was purchased by the Vatican Library in 1657. It is attributed to the mapmaker Bartolomé Oliva, from the Mediterranean island of Majorca.

Pope Francis arrived in the Philippines Jan. 15 after spending three days in Sri Lanka during his second Asian pilgrimage as pope. Pope Francis has expressed his solidarity with those who have suffered at the hands of natural disasters in the Philippines, including the recent Typhoon Haiyan which killed thousands and left hundreds of thousands homeless in December 2013.

Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos have turned out to see Pope Francis during his trip thus far, and a whopping 86 percent of the country’s 98.4 million people identify as Catholic.

When Pope St. John Paul II visited the Philippines in 1995, an estimated 4 or 5 million people attended, thought to be the largest crowd in history to ever attend a papal event. Pope Francis is scheduled to celebrate an outdoor Mass in Manila on Jan. 18, where the crowds may break this previous record.

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What threatens families? Redefining marriage, Pope says

by CNA/EWTN News • January 16, 2015

Pope Francis at the Encounter with Families in Manila, Jan. 16, 2015. (EWTN)

Manila, Philippines — Warning that “every threat to the family is a threat to society itself,” Pope Francis called on the people of the Philippines to be a prophetic witness in a world facing attacks on marriage and life.

“The family is also threatened by growing efforts on the part of some to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life,” warned Pope Francis, speaking Friday to families gathered at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila during his Jan. 15-19 visit to the Philippines.

His comments on the threats to family come in the wake of Philippines president Benigno Aquino’s signing a highly controversial reproductive health bill in 2013 that drew strong protest from local bishops and members of the faith.

The legislation requires government-sanctioned sex education for adults, middle school and high school students, as well as a population control program that includes fully subsidized contraceptives under government health insurance.

Pointing to numerous obstacles facing the Philippines and greater society, the Pope highlighted the need for “good and strong families to overcome these threats.”

“God calls upon us to recognize the dangers threatening our own families and to protect them from harm,” he said, emphasizing the importance of living out the vocation of family.

“Be sanctuaries of respect for life, proclaiming the sacredness of every human life from conception to natural death,” he urged.

Huge crowds have turned out for the Pope’s Masses and public events in the Philippines, where 86 percent of the population identifies as Catholic. In recent years, the island country has struggled with the effects of several typhoons, earthquakes and other natural disasters.

In his address, Pope Francis first noted the importance of resting in the Lord. He observed that God revealed his will to St. Joseph through dreams as he slept.

“In this moment of rest in the Lord, as we pause from our many daily obligations and activities, God is also speaking to us. He speaks to us in the reading we have just heard, in our prayer and witness, and in the quiet of our hearts.”

Resting is important not only for physical and mental health, but for spiritual health, the pontiff said, so that we can hear God’s voice and understand his will for our lives.

Pope Francis encouraged those present to spend time in prayer every day. Weighed down by the burden of daily work and chores, he said, we must remember that if we do not make time for prayer, we will lose sight of God’s will for our lives.

“And for all our activity, our busy-ness, without prayer we will accomplish very little.”

Resting in prayer is particularly necessary for families, he added, because family is where we learn to know God and be part of his Church, and to love, forgive and be virtuous.

“That is why families are so important in God’s plan for the Church!” he said, calling on the nation to see families as “your country’s greatest treasure.”

Once we have heard God’s voice, Pope Francis continued, we must rise from our sleep and act. He stressed the need for “holy and loving families to protect the beauty and truth of the family in God’s plan and to be a support and example for other families.”

“The pressures on family life today are many,” Pope Francis acknowledged, pointing to the continued effects of natural disasters, economic difficulties, unemployment and migration.

“While all too many people live in dire poverty, others are caught up in materialism and lifestyles which are destructive of family life and the most basic demands of Christian morality,” he said.

In response to these numerous challenges, he stressed, we have a “Christian duty to be prophetic voices in the midst of our communities.”

“When families bring children into the world, train them in faith and sound values, and teach them to contribute to society, they become a blessing in our world,” he said. “God’s love becomes present and active by the way we love and by the good works that we do.”

Noting that the Filipino bishops have called a Year of the Poor, the Holy Father also asked families to care for those who are in need, and “especially to show concern for those who do not have a family of their own, in particular those who are elderly and children without parents.”

“Never let them feel isolated, alone and abandoned, but help them to know that God has not forgotten them,” he said. “You may be poor yourselves in material ways, but you have an abundance of gifts to offer when you offer Christ and the community of his Church. Do not hide your faith, do not hide Jesus, but carry him into the world and offer the witness of your family life!”

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She died and came back to life 3 times; now she’s here to see the Pope

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 16, 2015

, 82, waited in her wheelchair outside of Manila’s Cathedral overnight to see Pope Francis on Jan. 16, 2015. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Eighty-two year-old Natividad camped out in Manila overnight to see Pope Francis – despite a health history of clinically dying and coming back to life three times, according to her sister Sinida.

“When Natividad was dying I kept on praying to the Lord, and after a few minutes she was alive. That’s a very big miracle, so I am very thankful. And I keep on praying,” Sinida Auzela told CNA Jan. 16, saying that out of all the miracles she has seen in her life, that has been the biggest.

Sinida, 77, and her older sister waited in the grass-covered space outside of Manila’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception overnight in order have a good spot for his Jan. 16 Mass with bishops, priests and religious from the Philippines.

Arriving at 9:45 p.m. last night, the sisters remained in their position until the Pope’s Mass at 11:15 today local time.

If given the opportunity, Sinida said that “I will ask the Pope to ask the Lord to pray for us, and then to heal my sister…she can’t walk (well) – she walks very slowly. She can kind of move a little bit, and she can kind of talk.”

“(But) I’m happy she is still alive. Three times she was dead. That’s a miracle,” she said, explaining that her sister was given the name “Natividad” because she was born on Sept. 8, which is the Feast of the Nativity of Mary.

The pontiff’s Mass took place as part of his Jan. 15-19 visit to the Philippines, which follows the theme “Mercy and Compassion.” The voyage falls directly after the Pope’s two-day trip to Sri Lanka.

For Sinida, to have the Pope visit the Philippines is “really a peace. He brings peace to every country. That’s what we keep on praying (for).”

A former English Grammar teacher, Sinida and her sister come from the Philippine city of Lipa Batangas, where the two have lived for 50 years.

The two sisters currently live on their own, with no other relatives. With no source of income, Sinida said that they are dependent on the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development for financial assistance, adding that they “are so nice – they are helping us thanks to God.”

Pope Francis’ constant attention to the elderly, sick and poor has brought a lot of hope, she said, explaining that “it’s going to happen to us. The Lord is going to touch those people who are going to help us. Without the Lord’s touch there would be no help at all.”

In reference to Pope Francis’ September encounter with the elderly and grandparents in the Vatican entitled “The Blessing of a Long Life,” Sinida said that she grateful for reaching the age she has, and that her life has been more blessed as time has gone on.

The Pope’s affirmation of the elderly and the importance of their role in the Church is important, and sends the message to “always have faith in the Lord. Don’t lose hope.”

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Paul VI was right to warn against contraception, Pope Francis says

by CNA/EWTN News • January 16, 2015

Pope Francis speaks with journalists aboard the papal plane Jan. 12, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Pope Francis took the opportunity during an address to families in the Philippines to praise Blessed Pope Paul VI’s encyclical opposing contraception and affirming Church teaching on sexuality and human life.

The Pope spoke Friday to families gathered at the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila during his Jan. 15-19 visit to the Philippines.

After discussing various threats to the family, including “a lack of openness to life,” he deviated briefly from his prepared remarks, transitioning from English to his native Spanish in order to speak from the heart about the subject.

“I think of Blessed Paul VI,” he said. “In a moment of that challenge of the growth of populations, he had the strength to defend openness to life.”

In 1968, Pope Paul VI released the encyclical Humanae Vitae, which upheld Catholic teaching on sexuality and the immorality of artificial contraception, predicting the negative consequences that would result from a cultural acceptance of birth control.

“He knew the difficulties that families experience, and that’s why in his encyclical, he expressed compassion for particular cases. And he taught professors to be particularly compassionate with particular cases,” Pope Francis said.

“But he went further. He looked to the peoples beyond. He saw the lack and the problem that it could cause families in the future. Paul VI was courageous. He was a good pastor, and he warned his sheep about the wolves that were approaching, and from the heavens he blesses us today.”

Pope Francis’ comments come in the wake of Philippines president Benigno Aquino’s signing a highly controversial reproductive health bill in 2013 that drew strong protest from local bishops and members of the faith.

The legislation requires government-sanctioned sex education for adults, middle school and high school students, as well as a population control program that includes fully subsidized contraceptives under government health insurance. The nation’s bishops spoke out strongly against the measure.

Elsewhere in Pope Francis’ address, he spoke about the threats to family posed by natural disasters, poverty, migration, and a redefinition of marriage.

He called for “good and strong families to overcome these threats.”

“Be sanctuaries of respect for life, proclaiming the sacredness of every human life from conception to natural death,” he urged.

The Pope encouraged regular family prayer to hear and understand the will of God, as well as action to be prophetic witnesses in the world.

He deviated from the text of his remarks on several other occasions as well, speaking about his love for St. Joseph and the importance of dreaming within a family.

“When you lose this capacity to dream, you lose the capacity to love, and this energy to love is lost,” he said.

In addition, Pope Francis warned against an “ideological colonization” that does not originate with God, but that tries to destroy the family.

The Pope asked Christians to pray to St. Joseph for the wisdom to identify and reject ideas and initiatives that are driven by these false ideologies and threaten the family.

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Gay marriage is ‘ideological colonization,’ says Vatican spokesman

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • January 16, 2015

Pope Francis speaks with Holy See press officer Fr. Federico Lombardi during their flight to Sri Lanka, Jan. 12, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Remarking on Pope Francis’ strong words against the threats which “ideological colonization” poses to the family, the Vatican’s spokesman told journalists Friday that same-sex marriage falls within this category.

In an address to more than 1,000 Filipino families in Manila on Jan. 16, Pope Francis decried the “new ideological colonization that tries to destroy the family.”

The Pope also warned against increasing efforts “to redefine the very institution of marriage, by relativism, by the culture of the ephemeral, by a lack of openness to life.”

The Holy Father made similar statements in defense of marriage earlier in the day, as he said Mass in Manila’s cathedral: “Proclaim the beauty and truth of the Christian message to a society which is tempted by confusing presentations of sexuality, marriage and the family.”

He then warned the faithful against “powerful forces which threaten to disfigure God’s plan for creation and betray the very values which have inspired and shaped all that is best in your culture.”

The Jan. 16 Mass in Manila’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, followed by the encounter families in Manila’s main sports arena, were among the key events on the agenda of Pope Francis’ tour of Sri Lanka and the Philippines, which runs Jan. 12-19.

During a press briefing later that evening the head of the Holy See press office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, confirmed to journalists that this “colonization” of which Pope Francis spoke refers in part to gay marriage.

“I think that it is well-known that the perspective of the Church about the family is that the family is based on the union of the marriage of a man and a woman.”

For Catholics, the family is “the union of the man and the woman, and the children that come from this union,” the spokesman added. “If there are persons that desire to have community in other ways… this is not for us a family.”

Cardinal Luis Tagle of Manila, who was on the panel at the press briefing, cited concerns raised during last October’s Synod on the Family by bishops and laypeople, particularly from Africa, about the attempt to use foreign aid to impose Western views of marriage and sexuality.

According to these bishops, foreign aid is “oftentimes is linked to some measures that the receiving country is somehow forced to accept,” the cardinal said. “Some of the conditions for the aid seem to be an acceptance or a welcoming of some views regarding marriage, or sexuality, or what, which could be alien to the vision of the receiving country or culture.”

Citing Pope Francis’ statement listing the “lack of openness to life” as one of the threats against the family, Cardinal Tagle addressed the Church’s efforts with regard to the Philippines’ recent legislation on contraception.

Signed in 2013 by the Philippine’s president Benigno Aquino, the reproductive health law requires government-sanctioned sex education for adults, middle school and high school students.

The law also requires fully subsidized contraceptives under government health insurance. The Filipino bishops have been vocal opponents of the law.

“We will continue preaching what the Church teaches,” Cardinal Tagle told journalists. “With or without the law, we continue our mission.”

The cardinal added that the criteria applied to contraception could carry through in addressing the problem of divorced and remarried Catholics during this year’s Synod of Bishops on the Family.

There was widespread media attention during last year’s Synod on the Family, a precursor to the upcoming gathering this year on the same theme, regarding the pastoral care for divorced and remarried couples.

Much of the speculation centered on whether civilly remarried couples could be admitted to Communion without having received an annulment.

The cardinal noted that during last October’s gathering, which dealt with a broad range of issues relating to the family, the bishops “were given a wider picture of the various cases, particular contexts, of marriage”.

Looking at the pastoral response in the context of Church teaching, Cardinal Tagle added that, in this year’s Synod on the family, the Church’s approach to contraception “can be carried through to other concerns or other questions regarding the family.”

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Pope’s visit will have a ‘huge impact’, Filipino ambassador believes

by Antonio Anup Gonsalves (CNA/EWTN News) • January 16, 2015

Crowds outside the Manila cathedral, where Pope Francis said Mass Jan. 16, 2015. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Mercedes Arrastia Tuason, the Philippines’ ambassador to the Holy See, told CNA’s Antonio Gonsalves in a Jan. 15 interview she expects Pope Francis’ visit this week to her nation “will make a huge impact on the Filipino people,” and explained why Pope Francis is known there as “Lolo Kiko.” The full text of the interview follows.

CNA: How important is Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to the Philippines in bolstering the ethical, moral, and inspiring traditions of faith in the region?

Tuason: The visit of Pope Francis will be a major, historic event in the Philippines. His presence is certainly a much needed booster shot that will make a huge impact on the Filipino people. It will touch their spirits in a deeply profound way. In a way, we have become calloused and have lost the sense of what is a serious offense against moral principles, and in part the country is besieged with confusion regarding faith and moral values, in discerning what is right and wrong.

Sparked by the enthusiasm surrounding his arrival, we expect to see a renewal of faith, bolstering ethical and moral traditions in the region. However true, our Holy Father asks us not focus on him, but rather to shift our focus to Jesus Christ and the life that he leads.

There is a great fervor, with January 15, 16 and 19 declared to be special non-working holidays for Metro Manila during the visit of Pope Francis.

CNA: How does Pope Francis connect to the world, and especially to Filipinos?

Tuason: The simplicity, humility and compassion of Pope Francis gives him an immediate nearness to people, and so he is able to connect in a very personal manner to everyone. By his manner of being, he gives us an example of how we, the laity and the rest of the ecclesial community, can go to the peripheries to bring the Gospel. This has been his incessant message right from the very beginning of his pontificate. “Mercy and Compassion” is the core of his message, which reflects in the theme logo that highlights Pope Francis’ visit to the Philippines.

I am truly grateful, and so are the rest of the Filipino people, for the pastoral care and concern that Pope Francis showed to the Philippines during the natural calamities which beset the country in past years, namely the earthquake in Bohol and Cebu, Typhoon Haiyan which hit Tacloban and other islands of the Visayas, and recently Typhoon Hagupit.

We never felt alone during these difficult moments since we knew that Pope Francis was praying for us and was asking the whole Church to pray for and help the Philippines.

CNA: What is the basis of Filipinos fondly calling Pope Francis - “Lolo Kiko”?

Tuason: On a personal basis, let me tell you an anecdote which clearly illustrates Pope Francis’ charism of connecting with people. In a private audience with a group of Filipinos, he said: “I like the way the Filipinos take care of their elderly. You keep them in your homes and you take care of them yourselves. You call them ‘lolo’ (which comes from the Spanish term “abuelo” or grandfather.” Someone in the group said: “In the Philippines, we call those whose name is Francesco -- Kiko.” Pope laughed and said: “And so I am Lolo Kiko.” From that moment on, Pope Francis to us is “Lolo Kiko,” for in the native Tagalog language the word “lolo” means grandfather, and “Kiko,” a nickname for Filipinos named Francisco.

CNA: How do you foresee this visit boosting religious devotions in the family apostolate and invigorating religious vocations?

Tuason: Certainly, even the young are enthused to go to the churches and rediscover their faith. Seminarians too have borne witness that Pope Francis has inspired them to deepen and strengthen their beliefs and vocations. Devotion, most especially to our Mother Mama Mary, has increased and pilgrimage sites have proliferated.

Today many are inspired to re-examine their consciences and re-direct their lives thanks to Pope Francis’ pastoral approach and his advocating for reaching out to the peripheries.

However, vocation is an answer to God’s call in helping him spread his love and mercy. The Pope can certainly inspire more vocations for the Church, however the quality and sustainability of a vocation rests not solely on the Pope’s shoulders, but rather those of the entire community.

We must encourage our priests and strongly support the work that they do, pray for more vocations as a community, and speak about vocations in schools and our homes so that it comes to the fore of our minds.

CNA: Pope Francis’ kindness and his pastoral approach of reaching out to the peripheries, to the marginalized, has been at his heart of his teaching. During this apostolic visit to Philippines he has stressed his priority of solidarity and compassion in meeting his flock, especially those suffering from natural calamities.

Tuason: As I said before, the Filipinos are looking forward to the visit of the Holy Father Pope Francis whom Filipinos fondly call “Lolo Kiko.”

The Pope is not only the supreme pontiff on earth, rather he symbolizes hope itself. For people who have been devastated by natural calamities, the Pope will undoubtedly be able to console them and give them peace and bring a new ray of hope and spiritual bliss. Also, in one of message after Typhoon Haiyan hit the country, the Holy Father encouraged the Filipino population not to fear, but rather to ask God a question, “Why, Why,” like children. We do not even need an answer, but we ask “Why” to attract the attention of the Father. Today, Filipinos will remain most grateful for this visit and this particular attention from our Holy Father.

CNA: Pope Francis will be also meeting religious leaders at the University of Santo Tomas. How do you think this dialogue could serve to promote peace in the pocket areas of Philippines?

Tuason: Indeed, we are all hoping for a new era of peace. We are all praying too for the Fifth Marian Dogma to be proclaimed at this most crucial time in our history, that we may be spared from degeneration, further disaster, and war.

Pope Francis’ visit is going to be earth–shattering in many ways, but it is not a cure-all. The problems of the region are deeply rooted in Asia’s culture, if not mankind’s nature itself – greed, corruption, poverty of the mind and the spirit. We do not expect the Pope’s visit to solve all these, but his presence alone will certainly make a positive impact with long lasting effects for generations to come.

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Ahead of Synod, UK Catholics to venerate relics of St Therese’s parents

by CNA/EWTN News • January 16, 2015

Relics of Blesseds Louis and Zelie Martin, parents of St. Therese of Lisieux, in a reliquary at St. Patrick’s, Columbus. (Nheyob via Wikimedia CC BY-SA 4.0)

Portsmouth, England — Catholics in the Diocese of Portsmouth will have an invaluable opportunity this May to venerate the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux’s parents, a saintly married couple, ahead of the upcoming Synod on the Family.

“To focus our prayers in the lead-up to the Synod, I have invited to the Diocese the relics of Blessed Louis and Blessed Zélie Martin, one of the first married couples ever to be beatified,” wrote Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth in a pastoral letter that will be read at parishes this weekend.

“May the prayers of this saintly married couple…renew us with the joy of the Gospel,” he wrote.

The relics of Blesseds Louis and Zélie Martin will be in Portsmouth May 20-22. The relics have a special connection to the upcoming Synod on the Family because they were also available for veneration at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family last October.

The relics of Blesseds Louis and Zélie Martin will also visit the Diocese of Plymouth in May.

In his pastoral letter, Bishop Egan of Portsmouth lamented that fatherhood and marriage are in crisis.

The bishop wrote that in the U.K., 42 percent of marriages end in divorce and nearly half of the children are born outside of marriage. The majority of children live in single-parent homes that are disproportionately led by single mothers.

“Over a million children now grow up without contact with their fathers,” he wrote. “Yet, as Pope Francis says, every child has a fundamental human right to be brought up by both a father and a mother. Every child has the right to grow up in a family capable of creating a good environment for their emotional development.”

“The abandonment of the traditional religious culture of family and marriage – a loving, monogamous, covenantal relationship of one man and one woman with the procreative purpose of raising children – has resulted in revolution, Francis adds, that has brought “spiritual and material devastation to countless human beings, especially the poorest and most vulnerable.””

“In other words, the ‘gender wars’ are causing poverty,” Bishop Egan wrote. “We need a new human ecology.”

Bishop Egan encouraged faithful in the Diocese of Portsmouth to intercede to Blesseds Louis and Zélie Martin on behalf of the upcoming Synod on the Family.

“Please pray for its success, for our families and married couples, and for those in difficulty,” he wrote. “Pray too that the Synod will help us all receive afresh the Good News of Christ on the complementarity of being male and female, on the vocation to marriage and on the joy of Christian family life.”

“May it inspire us to find new means of witnessing to the ‘natural way of life’,” Bishop Egan wrote.

The bishop also offered Saint Joseph as a model of fatherhood.

“St. Joseph played a key part in all the events of Christmas … But this fine husband, Guardian of the Incarnate Word, also played a key role in the hidden years of Jesus’ home life in Nazareth: His childhood, His upbringing, His human development.”

“In Joseph, the self-sacrificing father-son relationship would surely have run so deep, that in this profoundly good man, Jesus would have recognised a beautiful icon of His heavenly Father.”

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Pope Francis’ heartfelt words for typhoon survivors: Jesus is there for you!

by CNA/EWTN News • January 16, 2015

Francis says Mass at Tacloban in the Philippines Jan. 17. (CTV)

Manila, Philippines — Pope Francis on Saturday spoke to survivors of Typhoon Haiyan in an impromptu homily, voicing compassion for their plight and encouraging them to look to the love of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

“I’m here to be with you,” he said. “A little bit late, I have to say. But I’m here. I’ve come to tell you that Jesus is Lord. That Jesus never lets us down.”

The Pope acknowledged the plight and the trauma of the typhoon survivors.

“‘Father’, you might say to me, ‘I was let down because I’ve lost so many things: my house, my livelihood’,” the Pope said.

“It’s true, if you would say that, and I respect those sentiments,” Pope Francis continued. “But Jesus is there nailed to the Cross, and from there, he does not let us down. There, he experienced all calamities that we experience. Jesus is Lord, the Lord from the Cross, he is there for you!”

“And I walk with you all with my silent heart.”

Pope Francis celebrated Mass for hundreds of thousands of people on a windy, rainy morning at the airport near Tacloban, a provincial capital located on the central eastern Philippines island of Leyte. The area suffered severely from the December 2013 Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda. The powerful storm killed over 6,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless nationwide.

The Pope set aside his prepared homily. He told the crowd that Christians have in Jesus a Lord who is “capable of crying with us, capable of walking with us, in the most difficult moments of life.”

“We have the security of knowing that we are not going to weaken in our faith, because Jesus has been there before us… In his passion, he assumed all our pain,” he added.

“So many of you have lost everything… I don’t know what to say to you. But the Lord does know what to say to you. Some of you have lost part of your families. All I can do is keep silent.”

He encouraged the congregation to look to the maternal care of the Virgin Mary.

“In the moments where we have so much pain, where we no longer understand anything, all we can do is grab hold of her hand firmly. And say ‘Mom,’ as a child does to a mother, when he or she feels fear.

“It is perhaps the only word that we can say in such difficult times: Mother.”

The Pope led the congregation in a moment of silence, asking them to look to Christ on the Cross and to say to the Virgin Mary the word “Mother.”

“Let us know that we have Mother Mary, and our older brother, Jesus. We are not alone.”

The Pope explained that he decided to visit the Philippines after witnessing the “catastrophe” of the typhoon.

“This is what comes from my heart, and forgive me if I have no other words to express this,” his homily concluded. “But please know, Jesus never lets you down. Please know that the love and tenderness of Mother Mary never lets you down.”

“And holding onto her mantle, and with the love of Jesus on the Cross, let us move forward, always forward, and walk together as brothers and sisters in the Lord. Forward!”

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‘We will always be grateful,’ Filipino archbishop tells Pope Francis

by CNA/EWTN News • January 16, 2015

Pope Francis and Archbishop John Du embrace at a Mass in Tacloban Jan. 17. (CTV)

Manila, Philippines — Although Tacloban was “ground zero” of the Typhoon Haiyan disaster that brought fear, suffering, and death, a Philippines bishop has told Pope Francis that the Christian faith and the papal visit have consoled the Filipino people.

“Your visit strengthens and consoles us; may your humble presence among the poor and among us who have suffered the tragedy of a Super Typhoon ever lead us to the restful waters of God’s mercy and love,” Archbishop John F. Du of Palo told Pope Francis at the close of a Jan. 17 Mass.

“We will always be grateful! For indeed, as the Psalmist says ‘…the Lord will not abandon His People nor will He forsake His inheritance.’” (Ps.94:14)

Tacloban is still recovering from one of the strongest storms ever recorded in history, Super Typhoon Haiyan. The 2013 storm had 195 mph winds and torrential rains. Water in some places reached 23 feet in depth. Over 6,000 people died as a result of the typhoon and many survivors today are still coping in the aftermath of the devastation.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass Saturday near the Tacloban airport on a windy, rainy day for hundreds of thousands of people, many of whom survived the brunt of the storm. Archbishop Du, whose archdiocese includes Tacloban, reflected on Haiyan, known in the Philippines as Yolanda.

The Archbishop of Palo said “we are on Yolanda ground zero here – where the storm surge caused so much destruction and a massive loss of life.”

Archbishop Du described the Pope’s presence as inspiration to praise God, “who, out of untold catastrophe has gifted us with this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to come as one with you in joyful thanksgiving.”

The archbishop went on to express the country’s deep appreciation for the Holy Father’s presence, saying his gratitude could not be expressed with words.

“We are deeply filled with joy and consolation that you have celebrated this Eucharist with us – this great act of thanksgiving to God which is a constant source of strength and fount of hope in our Christian life,” the archbishop noted, adding: “you have been with us all this time, and your coming here culminates the great outpouring of spiritual and material assistance from the Church for us.”

Highlighting the Holy Father’s compassion and loving concern, Archbishop Du described Pope Francis as a shepherd of the Lord’s flock who has brought the Filipino people closer to God.

In his impromptu homily, the Pope told the faithful that when he saw the catastrophe of Typhoon Haiyan, he decided to go to the Philippines.

“I’d like to tell you something close to my heart: When I saw from Rome the catastrophe, I felt that I had to be here. Those very days, I decided to come here. I am here to be with you,” Pope Francis stated, adding “a little bit late, I have to say. But I am here.”

“I’ve come to tell you that Jesus is Lord. That Jesus never lets us down,” he said.

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Inbound typhoon cuts short Pope Francis’ visit to Leyte

by CNA/EWTN News • January 16, 2015

Pope Francis at the cathedral of the Philippines’ Archdiocese of Palo, Jan. 17. (CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Pope Francis regretfully announced his early departure from the Philippines island of Leyte, leading people in prayers for protection against an inbound typhoon.

“I apologize to you all,” the Pope said Jan. 17 at Palo’s Cathedral of Our Lord’s Transfiguration. “I am truly saddened because I had something prepared especially for you.”

He led the congregation in praying an Our Father and a Hail Mary before departing for Manila, where he may take part in unscheduled events.

The Pope had been scheduled to spend more time on Leyte after the Mass near the Tacloban airport. He fulfilled his scheduled appointment for lunch with 30 survivors of Typhoon Haiyan and also met with a fisherman and his family.

Pope Francis gave the whole family a blessing, papal spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi told journalists Jan. 17.

The Pope had been scheduled to bless the Pope Francis Center for the Poor. Due to the accelerated schedule, he blessed the center from the Popemobile as he drove past en route to the airport.

The Pope was also scheduled to meet with priests, religious, seminarians and survivors of the disastrous 2013 Typhoon Haiyan. While he met with them briefly, he was not able to deliver his prepared remarks, due to his early departure.

Pope Francis gave a gift to the Palo cathedral: a mosaic of the Madonna del Popolo, the Madonna of the People. The Pope was also presented with a gift: a statue of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception created from the debris from the typhoon-damaged Palo cathedral.

At the cathedral, he encouraged the congregation to sing “Happy Birthday” to a cardinal.

The second grade typhoon has sustained winds of 80 mph, CNN reports. The Pope’s schedule was moved up 45 minutes to avoid the storm.

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Rain during papal Mass a small sacrifice compared to Typhoon Haiyan

by Alan Holdren and Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • January 16, 2015

Karen Papellero at the papal Mass in Tacloban, Jan. 17. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — Hundreds of thousands of people put up with the rain and the wind to attend an outdoor Mass with Pope Francis on Jan. 17 on the Philippine island of Leyte--”ground zero” of the 2013 Typhoon Haiyan disaster.

Nearly all in attendance, including the Pope, sported yellow ponchos. Some wiped tears as the Holy Father expressed his heartfelt desire to be close to the survivors of the storm.

“I’m here to be with you,” he said in an impromptu homily. “A little bit late, I have to say. But I’m here. I’ve come to tell you that Jesus is Lord. That Jesus never lets us down.”

Karen Papellero, from the Philippines island of Cebu, travelled about two hours by boat in order to be with Pope Francis near the Tacloban airport on Saturday.

“We have braved the rain, and all the elements, just to be here, not only to see the Pope but to be here with the Church, and with the community of the faithful to experience that expression of faith,” she told CNA.

“We want to be with him!” she said of the Holy Father.

Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Typhoon Yolanda, struck the Philippines in December 2013. Its strong winds and heavy rains killed over 6,000 people and left hundreds of thousands homeless across the country.

Papellero was at home when the storm hit and followed storm updates on the news.

“The storm was pretty bad during even in Cebu, even though we were not in the eye of the storm we felt its strength,” she said.

She said the rain during the Mass was almost fitting, considering the audience and the location.

“It’s like deja vu – it’s raining, we are experiencing just a little of what the survivors of Yolanda experienced, it’s just a little sacrifice if we think of what they have undergone, what they went through during that time,” she said.

One Haiyan survivor, Buena Guarino, travelled over four hours to attend the Mass for survivors on Saturday.

“We wanted to witness, to see our beloved Pope Francis,” he said. “We are one of the victims of the storm. We were greatly affected. Our houses were washed out, our properties, everything that we owned, vanished.”

After the Mass Pope Francis had lunch with about 30 survivors of the storm. He was then scheduled to address survivors and religious of the Archdiocese of Palo in Leyte, but he flew back to Manila due to an incoming typhoon.

The Pope did meet with a fisherman and his family to hear of their experiences during the storm. He gave the whole family a blessing, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi told journalists.

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What the Pope wasn’t able to say in the Philippines

by CNA/EWTN News • January 17, 2015

Ensemble Tropical Rainfall Potential Map for Mekkhala passing over the Philippines. (NOAA)

Manila, Philippines — On Jan. 17, Pope Francis visited the Philippine city of Tacloban, which is still recovering from the devastating effects of 2013’s Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda. More than 7,000 people died in that storm, and an estimated 1 million people remain homeless.

Among the Pope’s scheduled activities was an address to priests, religious, seminarians and families at the Cathedral of Our Lord’s Transfiguration in nearby Palo. However, the Pope’s schedule was cut short by Typhoon Mekkhala, which brought heavy rains and winds of up to 80 miles per hour to the island nation.

The prepared remarks of the Pope’s message is below. The Vatican press office confirmed that the text is a valid part of the papal trip, despite the fact that the Holy Father was unable to deliver the remarks at the cathedral.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

I greet all of you with great affection in the Lord. I am happy that we are able to meet in this Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord. This house of prayer, along with many others, has been repaired thanks to the remarkable generosity of many people. It stands as an eloquent sign of the immense effort of rebuilding which you and your neighbors have undertaken in the wake of the devastation caused by Typhoon Yolanda. It is also a concrete reminder to all of us that, even amid disaster and suffering, our God is constantly at work, making all things new.

Many of you have suffered greatly, not only from the destruction caused by the storm, but from the loss of family members and friends. Today let us commend to God’s mercy all those who have died, and invoke his consolation and peace upon all who still grieve. May we remember in a particular way those among us whose pain makes it hard to see the way forward. At the same time, let us thank the Lord for all those who have labored in these months to clear away the rubble, to visit the sick and dying, to comfort the grieving and to bury the dead. Their goodness, and the generous aid which came from so many people throughout the world, are a real sign that God never abandons us!

Here, in a special way, I would like to thank the many priests and religious who responded with such overwhelming generosity to the desperate needs of the people of the areas hardest hit. By your presence and your charity, you bore witness to the beauty and truth of the Gospel. You made the Church present as a source of hope, healing and mercy. Together with so many of your neighbors, you also demonstrated the deep faith and the resilience of the Filipino people. The many stories of goodness and self-sacrifice which emerged from these dark days need to be remembered and passed down for future generations.

A few moments ago, I blessed the new Center for the Poor, which stands as another sign of the Church’s care and concern for our brothers and sisters in need. (Editor’s note: Due to the accelerated schedule, Pope Francis blessed the center from the Popemobile as he drove past en route to the airport.) How many they are! And how much our Lord loves them! Today, from this place which has known such profound suffering and human need, I ask that even more be done for the poor. Above all, I ask that the poor throughout this country be treated fairly – that their dignity be respected, that political and economic policies be just and inclusive, that opportunities for employment and education be developed, and that obstacles to the delivery of social services be removed. Our treatment of the poor is the criterion on which each of us will be judged (cf. Mt 25:40, 45). I ask all of you, and all responsible for the good of society, to renew your commitment to social justice and the betterment of the poor, both here and in the Philippines as a whole.

Finally, I would like to say a word of sincere thanks to the young people present, including the seminarians and young religious. Many of you showed heroic generosity in the aftermath of the typhoon. I hope that you will always realize that true happiness comes from helping others, giving ourselves to them in self-sacrifice, mercy and compassion. In this way you will be a powerful force for the renewal of society, not only in the work of restoring buildings but more importantly, in building up God’s kingdom of holiness, justice and peace in your native land.

Dear priests and religious, dear families and friends, in this Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Lord let us ask that our lives continue to be sustained and transfigured by the power of his resurrection. I commend all of you to the loving protection of Mary, Mother of the Church. May she obtain for you, and for all the beloved people of these lands, the Lord’s blessings of comfort, joy and peace. God bless you all!

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A simple, intense encounter: Pope Francis and Manila’s street kids

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 17, 2015

Manila, Philippines — Deviating from his schedule of events in the Philippines, Pope Francis had a brief but emotionally intense encounter with former street kids in Manila yesterday.

“I saw a sense of paternity from the Pope, also physically in his embrace, his caress, his affection that the kids immediately noticed. So all of them wanted to be in contact with him,” Father Antonio Spadaro S.J. told CNA on Jan. 16.

“It was a very simple encounter…But there was a great intensity and emotion.”

The encounter took place directly after Pope Francis’ Jan. 16 Mass with bishops, priests and religious in Manila’s Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

Fr. Spadaro, who had concelebrated Mass with the Pope, said that after changing, the pontiff walked “very simply” outside the main doors by himself, and turned toward the left side of the cathedral, and into the courtyard of a house, where the group of street children was waiting.

The kids, who numbered around 250, “were street children, scavenger children, children in slums and mentally challenged youth. Some of them have been abused, even sexually,” the priest explained, recalling how the Pope “was welcomed by the kids on the street, even before he entered.”

Founded by a Jesuit, the house was in fact a home center for youth run by the Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation, which has been assisting street children in Manila since 1998. The foundation has several houses for boys and girls throughout Manila, and the one the Pope visited was for girls.

When the Pope entered the home, Fr. Spadaro recounted how the children immediately “started to sing and to embrace him…so there was a lot of excitement.”

The brief encounter was “very simple” and lasted no more than 20 minutes he noted, recalling how the Pope had no prepared speech, but rather said a few “small words” in Spanish, which were then translated into Filipino by Cardinal Antonio Luis Tagle, archbishop of Manila.

Although the Pope’s words were brief and simple, they were “words of affection, of sympathy,” the priest explained. The encounter concluded when the children sand a song for the Pope on his way out.

Despite not being written into the original schedule of events, the encounter had obviously been planned ahead of time, Fr. Spadaro said, because the kids themselves had to be organized and go outside.

The event “was kept silent and not written into the regular schedule,” he said, recalling how the priest in charge of the foundation also gave a short introductory speech in English, and partly in French at the end, presenting the kids to the Pope and explaining their reality.

Pope Francis “evidently needed to encounter some reality of the marginalized, of the poor. He had just said it in his homily at Mass: if you take away the poor from the Gospel you take the heart of the Gospel, the Gospel itself,” the priest observed.

“So he really felt the need to see these people, to touch them. It was wonderful. So it was not a symbolic encounter, but a real one, absolutely real, even if it was a private encounter.

Surprised himself by the encounter, Fr. Spadaro said that he didn’t know what was going on at first, and just followed the Pope and other people out of the cathedral, and realized once they arrived at the center across the street.

He said that he was particularly moved when “a boy with a blue shirt arrived and hugged the Pope on the leg.”

Cardinal Luis Tagle told journalists in a Jan. 16 news conference that “it was a beautiful, beautiful encounter. You could see the Holy Father in his element.”

“You could see his eyes getting cloudy and beginning to fill with tears. You could see that he was trying to show his affection to the children but at the same time trying to fathom these deep wounds and pain,” the cardinal added.

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Prayers asked for woman killed in freak accident at papal Mass

by CNA/EWTN News • January 17, 2015

Fr. Federico Lombardi speaks at a press conference, Feb. 11, 2013. (Stephen Driscoll/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — A local woman was killed at an airport near Tacloban, Philippines where Pope Francis had just celebrated Mass for thousands of people amid strong winds and rain brought on by Tropical Storm Amang.

“The Pope has been informed about the death of our young friend” when he returned to the nunciature, said head of the Holy See Press office, Fr. Federico Lombardi, during a press briefing on Jan. 17 a few hours after the incident.

Fr. Lombardi added that the Holy Father requested additional information on the family so he could demonstrate his “participation in their suffering.”

During the briefing, prayers were asked for the soul of the 21-year-old woman who died shortly after the Mass with Pope Francis when the scaffolding of a speaker near the alter fell on her.

Between 200-300,000 people braved harsh weather conditions to attend the open air Mass on Saturday morning with the Pope, who is there as part of his Jan. 12-19 tour of Sri Lanka and the Philippines.

Director of social communications for the Palo archdiocese, Fr. Amadeo Alvero, told reporters earlier in the day that the crowds of people had nothing to do with the incident, adding: “We are sorry that this had to happen.”

Weather concerns forced Pope Francis to cut short his visit by four hours to Letye island, where Tacloban is the largest city.

The Pope was in Letye to meet personally with survivors of super typhoon Haiyan, which devastated the Philippines in 2013, and other disasters which have struck the region.

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WORLD NEWS

Pope Francis to Philippines cardinal: ‘this visit is really for me’

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 17, 2015

Pope Francis prays with journalists on the papal flight en route to South Korea on Aug. 14, 2014. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — On his return flight from the Philippine city of Tacloban to Manila, where he met with and shared in the suffering of typhoon survivors, Pope Francis was moved, and said the trip was really intended for him.

“When we had already boarded the plane I asked him ‘How is it Your Holiness? Are you tired? Are you afraid because this is your first typhoon?’ But he said, “This visit is really for me. This is for me. I’m learning. This visit is for me,’” Cardinal Antonio Luis Tagle told journalists on Jan 17.

“That’s how to be a pastor…It was an intense day and I feel tired, but my eyes were really fixed on him,” the cardinal noted, saying that “What I am really curious about is how he will be affected by our people and the suffering that they conveyed to him.”

Pope Francis traveled to the city of Tacloban, which has been ravaged by two typhoons in the past year, as part of his Jan. 15-19 visit to the Philippines. Scheduled to spend a full day in the city, the pontiff had to cut his visit short due to a new, inbound typhoon.

All of the Pope’s scheduled events took place, but had been shortened due to the time constraints.

The cardinal, who spoke to journalists during a press briefing after the day’s events, explained that the pontiff was particularly moved by the day’s lunch with 30 typhoon survivors.

Although shortened to 30 minutes, the lunch was “an intimate encounter,” the cardinal observed, noting how the survivors present had all lost loved ones, relatives, property and even parts of their bodies.

When the Pope entered, he went around and greeted each one personally, and afterward had the opportunity to hear a few brief words from each of them about their losses in the typhoons.

“I’ll never forget the face of the Holy Father listening to each one,” Cardinal Tagle said, visibly moved, when the people told the Pope that “‘I lost my parents and a brother, I lost everything,’ and one woman who said ‘I lost my husband, I lost my son and I lost five daughters.”

“You could see the Holy Father just shaking his head” and making audible groans as the people were speaking because “he was suffering,” the cardinal noted.

He said that when he asked the Pope if he wanted to make some remarks to those gathered before they left, Pope Francis responded by saying “what can we say?” and remained silent.

“I thought he would repeat the central message of his homily, but before these 30 people he himself was reduced to silence,” the cardinal observed, saying that this was the silence of someone present in front of the mystery of suffering.

When one of the survivors asked the Pope to pray for all of their departed loved ones, the pontiff responded by saying that he had offered Mass for all of those affected by the typhoon when he first heard about it two years ago.

Pope Francis then told them that tomorrow afternoon’s Mass in Manila’s Rizal Park will be offered for all of their deceased, and asked for their prayers.

The cardinal also recounted how the pontiff had shown his pastoral heart from the beginning of the trip by tossing aside his prepared homily during Mass, and speaking “from the heart.”

He also shared his solidarity with the pilgrims gathered in the rain and intense wind for his morning Mass by choosing not to leave in a closed car, despite the increasingly bad weather, Cardinal Tagle recalled.

Donning a raincoat himself, the Pope said “I’m here to show solidarity, so if the people have waited in sun, and now the rain and wind, why not the pastor?”

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WORLD NEWS

Here’s why Pope Francis goes off script

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • January 17, 2015

Pope Francis laughs during his Jan. 16 homily at Manila’s Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception Cathedral. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Manila, Philippines — In a press briefing with journalists in the Philippines, Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi ventured to explain the reason why Pope Francis so frequently deviates from his prepared speeches.

“Every time that we are in a particularly intense situation, the Pope desires to speak from the heart,” the spokesman told journalists during the Jan. 17 briefing.

“Sometimes maybe he is tired or he feels (he is) not able to find the right word and then he reads the speech, but if he feels that the emotion and the strength is there to express his heart more spontaneously, then he does this.”

The press briefing took place after Pope Francis’ half-day trip to the Philippine island of Leyte, which was scheduled to last all day but was cut short due to adverse weather caused by an inbound typhoon.

Fr. Lombardi said that so far this papal trip has been “a paradigmatic situation” because the pontiff made a great effort beforehand to prepare with English texts so that people would understand him, yet has still gone off script.

“Sometimes he feels that he can express still better what he has in the heart through spontaneous expression in Spanish, sometimes in Italian,” the spokesman explained, noting that today’s morning Mass in Tacloban was “wonderful” because there was a translator available.

“I think this mix is really very good…this morning it was not possible to have a longer time, (but) then the Pope did a synthesis from his heart and that was sufficient for the people present,” he said.

One journalist also brought into question what makes so many people begin to cry when they see the Pope, saying that he saw many burst into tears that didn’t seem like the “usual tears of joy.”

Fr. Lombardi responded by saying that there are times when “we are very profoundly moved, until the roots of our hearts, of our being, and it happens that we are a little confused and it’s not easy to explain what we are experiencing.”

When we feel something moving us that deeply it’s normal to express it in tears, noting that in our faith, we are called to announce consolation to those who are experiencing intense suffering or conversion.

“In this sense the Christian faith has to announce that ‘Christ is with you,’ and this is the message that the Pope has given: even if you are profoundly moved and suffering, you are not alone.”

Manila archbishop Cardinal Antonio Luis Tagle was also present at the press briefing, and also responded to the question by explaining that in the Christian tradition there is something called “the gift of tears.”

“It’s a gift because it comes when there is a profound experience, especially a deep human experience that also reveals to you something of the divine – and it is so profound and you know you are before it and your body responds to it in a very physical way, and one of those ways is tears” he said.

Although some who cry in front of the Pope don’t seem to be crying out of happiness, the cardinal assured that if they were to be asked, they would say that they are, in fact, crying tears of joy.

They are, he said, “tears of joy and at the same time tears of consolation or just being considered important, or just tears of realizing I matter, I was approached, I was seen, etc. You could see that.”

Once Pope Francis returned to Manila after his visit to Tacloban ended earlier than expected, he spent the day resting, rather than making any other visits.

Cardinal Tagle and Fr. Lombardi also spoke about the Pope’s energy on the trip, noting that although standing for long periods of time and meeting so many people do wear him out, he recovers very quickly.

“Our experience is that he has an incredible energy and a good capacity to recuperate his energy with 2 hours of rest,” Fr. Lombardi observed, noting that once in a while the Pope cancels something in Rome when he feels too tired to “do a good service to the Church.”

However, after canceling, the pontiff rests for a while and then starts again, the spokesman explained.

Pope Francis “can be well again so soon – we are always surprised that a man of his age can do what he is doing, at home and abroad,” he said, noting how the Pope himself refers to this unusual energy as “the grace of office,” in which God gives whatever is needed for the mission he assigns.

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One family under God: Archbishop Gomez addresses immigration reform

by CNA/EWTN News • January 10, 2015

Crowds turned up for a town hall meeting in Los Angeles at which Archbishop Jose Gomez spoke on immigration reform, Jan. 14, 2014. (Victor Aleman/vida-nueva.com)

Los Angeles, CA — For Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, if the Church is a family, then the faithful are all brothers and sisters.

This familial attitude is especially true when it comes to migration, Archbishop Gomez notes in his Jan. 9 column for Angelus News.

“We are all family. And family has to stick together and help one another. If one member of the family is suffering, we are called to help,” the archbishop stated.

Highlighting the issues of a broken immigration system, Archbishop Gomez touched on the topics of torn families, injustice, and deportation protection as part of the new year’s goal to face the unfinished business of immigration reform.

For more than 25 years, the US bishops have recognized the first week of each new year as National Migration Week. The theme for this year is “We are one family under God.”

“This is the basic teaching of the Scriptures and the Catechism – that the Church is the family of God,” the archbishop noted, saying the faithful are called to live what they believe – and “God is expecting nothing less from us.”

Archbishop Gomez believes that part of the immigration problem is that America is forgetting its roots in immigration, an essential part of the beauty, genius, and cultural heritage of the country.

He believes that another part of the problem is not seeing immigrants as part of one family in Christ.

“Too many families are being torn apart by deportations, uncertainty about their ‘status’ and delays in our visa process that can take years, even decades,” he noted, saying that millions of families are being exploited within the workplace without any rights or benefits.

Although some well-intentioned efforts have tried to tackle the many facets of the current immigration system, the Archbishop believes that these measures will provide only temporary relief to a recurring problem.

“Our system is broken and needs to be modernized to meet the realities of a global economy,” the Archbishop pointed out, saying that a more comprehensive approach needs to be implemented.

While immigration offers various political challenges, Archbishop Gomez pointed out that this issue also poses a special moral challenge, especially to Catholics.

“In God’s eyes, people do not cease to be our brothers and sisters just because they have an irregular immigration status,” Archbishop Gomez stated, saying “there is no excuse for indifference or for treating someone else with less respect or love.”

“We are called to love and love cannot be divided. We can’t close our hearts to any of our brothers and sisters without closing our hearts to God,” he continued, saying Catholics have a responsibility for others, even people they don’t know and will probably never see.

In facing the solution to a comprehensive immigration reform, the archbishop recommended a deeper understanding and more familial attitude towards immigrants.

“I think we need a change of heart, a deepening of our perspective – so that we can understand the urgency of our task,” Archbishop Gomez suggested, saying that if we truly believed that the people affected by immigration were members of our family, we would be more inclined to act.

Moving forward, the Archbishop suggested to pray for each other and for world leaders, so that everyone may grow in love and experience a new sense of solidarity with the brothers and sisters who are suffering and vulnerable.

“And let us ask our Blessed Mother Mary to guide our leaders to walk the path of cooperation as they seek to enact the immigration reforms that our nation needs,” he concluded.

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New Orleans receives a native son for new auxiliary bishop

by CNA/EWTN News • January 12, 2015

Fr. Fernand Cheri, O.F.M., newly appointed auxiliary bishop of New Orleans, speaks at a Jan. 12 press conference announcing his nomination. (Frank Methe, Jr./Clarion Herald)

New Orleans, LA — Fr. Fernand Joseph Cheri III, O.F.M., was appointed on Monday by Pope Francis as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, his hometown.

“I look forward to just, working with the people of New Orleans again,” Fr. Cheri said Jan. 12 at a press conference announcing his appointment.

“I never left New Orleans, it’s always a part of me: wherever I go, I bring New Orleans, so it’s gonna be great to be back in the city, and re-connect, re-invigorate, all the ways I grew up in the Church and was excited about everything I learned.”

At the same press conference, Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans welcomed Fr. Cheri and affirmed his great respect for the Franciscan priest, and his work in the African-American community. The archbishop then added jokingly, “Just to remind you, there’s a lot of work to do.”

Fr. Cheri was born in 1952 in New Orleans, and attended St. John Vianney Preparatory Seminary there. He then attended St. Joseph Seminary College and Notre Dame Seminary, and was ordained a priest of the New Orleans archdiocese in 1978.

He then served in several parishes, and obtained a master’s degree in theology from Xavier University’s Institute for Black Catholic Studies.

As a priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, Fr. Cheri worked a lot with the black community, and he said at his press conference, “a lot of my support back then was from religious communities.”

He therefore entered the novitiate of the Order of Friars Minor in 1992, and professed solemn vows in the order in 1996.

As a Franciscan, he has served as a chaplain and teacher and high schools; director of the Office of Friar Life; vocation minister; and university chaplain.

He has written several articles and books on Black Catholic liturgy, and is nationally renowned as an archivist of Black religious music, according to the New Orleans archdiocese.

At the time of his episcopal appointment, he was serving as director of campus ministry at Quincy University. He noted that while at Quincy University in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, he has made a point of bringing students to New Orleans for mission work annually; “as someone who loves the city, it was very difficult,” he said, to see the loss of lives and homes in the storm.

His episcopal consecration will take place at New Orleans’ St. Louis Cathedral on March 23.

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Next Catholic Charities head is sister with a mission of compassion

by CNA/EWTN News • January 13, 2015

Sr. Donna Markham, O.P., President of Catholic Charities USA. (CCUSA)

Washington, D.C. — Catholic Charities USA has named its next president: Sister Donna Markham, O.P., a trained clinical psychologist with a background in nonprofit leadership and a deep commitment to helping the poor.

“I am both honored and humbled to engage in this enormously important ministry,” Sr. Markham said Jan. 12. “There can be no greater call than to serve and advocate on behalf of persons who struggle to get by in a world where they are all-too-frequently relegated to the margins of society and where they long for dignity, hope and compassion.”

Catholic Charities USA is the national office for Catholic Charities agencies in the U.S. Together, they help more than 9 million people from all backgrounds each year.

Sr. Markham is an Adrian Dominican. She is a certified clinical psychologist and presently heads the Behavioral Health Institute for the Ohio-based Catholic health system Mercy Health. For 10 years, she headed the Southdown Institute, an Ontario, Canada-based center that treats religious and clergy with addictions and mental health issues.

She is a past prioress of the Adrian Dominican Congregation. Sr. Markham is also a past member of the Catholic Charities USA Board of Trustees, which she served for eight years, including two years as chair of the board.

She earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Detroit and is a fellow of the American Association of Clinical Psychologists.

Sr. Markham will take over as Catholic Charities USA president on June 1. She will be the first woman to head the 105-year-old national agency.

“I feel blessed to walk among the many dedicated Catholic Charities workers across the country who daily make the Gospel come alive through their care for their sisters and brothers in need,” Sr. Markham said.

Sr. Linda Yankoski, chair of Catholic Charities USA’s Board of Trustees, said Sr. Markham was chosen “based on her extensive relevant experience, her demonstrated leadership skills and her deep sense of commitment to the poor.”

Sr. Yankoski cited Sr. Markham’s service in national and local Catholic nonprofit organizations, praising her “breadth of creativity, perspective and experience.”

Bishop David A. Zubik of Pittsburgh, the episcopal liaison to the Catholic Charities USA Board of Trustees, welcomed Sr. Markham’s appointment and pledged his support for her in response to the “growing needs of the underprivileged.”

He said he looked forward to working with Sr. Markham to advance the “strong ties” that already exist between the charitable agency and the U.S. bishops’ conference.

Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. praised Sr. Markham’s experience.

“Catholic Charities USA will certainly benefit from this mingling of compassionate care for those in need and managerial expertise in providing such care that characterizes Sister Donna Markham and her dedication to mission.”

Sr. Carol Keehan, DC, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association, said she has known Sr. Markham for many years and she praised her professional accomplishments. Sr. Keehan said her association, the national leadership organization for over 1,200 Catholic health care systems, facilities and related groups, “looks forward to continuing our strong relationship” with the national Catholic Charities body.

Bishop Zubik praised the “outstanding leadership” of outgoing Catholic Charities USA president Father Larry Snyder, who has headed the agency since 2005. Fr. Snyder will be returning to the Archdiocese of Minneapolis-St. Paul, his home diocese.

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U.S. NEWS

Pro-life event designed with a California audience in mind

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • January 13, 2015

(OneLife LA)

Los Angeles, CA — It’s not going to be sunny and 70 degrees in many places in the United States on Saturday, Jan. 17, but it will be in Los Angeles.

That’s why the first-of-its-kind OneLife event will be taking place outside, beginning with a walk for life and ending with a gathering in the park complete with food trucks, talks from both local and national speakers, and a concert.

The event, meant to be a family-friendly celebration of the dignity of the human person and the culture of life, is the brainchild of Archbishop Jose Gomez, who realized the Archdiocese did not have any large-scale pro-life events.

“He said, ‘Why do people have to travel to a different city to be pro-life? Why can’t they be pro-life here in L.A.?’” said Kathleen Domingo, the Life Coordinator in the Archdiocesan office of Life, Justice and Peace.

“We decided to make a family-friendly event that would embody what we mean by saying we’re pro-life and that would help build a culture of life,” she added.

The speakers and entertainers at the event will include local folks as well as some nationally known people, including: Eduardo Verastegui, actor and founder of Metanoia films, Eduardo Verastegui National Director of 40 Days for Life, Karyme Lozano, the co-star of For Greater Glory, Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, the first Superior General of the Sisters of Life, and Christian singer and song-writer Josh Garrels.

“We have entertainers, we have food trucks, we have balloon artists and face painting for the kids, I mean our point is really to make this a celebration of the dignity of every human life,” Domingo said.

The speakers, particularly the local speakers talking about their daily struggles to choose a culture of life, are what Domingo called the “meat” of the event.

“They are going to be telling their stories about overcoming great obstacles in their lives, times when they had a choice – do I make a choice for life? Or do I make a choice for something else?” she said.

“So we want people to come out and have a good time, but to leave with the sense that this is what it looks like when we are pro-life together and build a culture of life together.”

While there will be some talks at the event that focus on how to end abortion, Domingo said the event will also cover other pro-life topics such as human trafficking, foster care and end-of-life issues, which a culture of life encompasses.

“What we’re focusing on is the dignity of every human life,” she said. “What we want to do is encourage people that being pro-life isn’t just an activity for political or faith leaders, it’s an activity of every single person and it involves daily commitment and daily activity, and it really begins in the family. That’s the most important place to start being pro-life.”

When asked why the event didn’t take the typical conference-style approach, Domingo said the Archdiocese is hoping to show that building a culture of life should be an inspiring and joyful thing.

“We’re trying to say this in a new, kind of a different way,” she explained. “This is L.A., in a sense this is missionary territory. We have to be very cognizant that people here in California and L.A. are very aware of, ‘How do these things look? How do they appear? Is this something I want to be part of, is this a winner?’”

“So part of what we’re doing is putting out there as: this is what it means to be pro-life! We should be happy doing it! We should feel loved and leave inspired,” she said.

Domingo said it is the goal of the conference that everyone comes away with a clear sense of what it means to be pro-life, and a strong call to do something about it.

“Being pro-life means saying to someone, ‘I recognize your dignity,’ and we’re Christians here so what we’re really saying is, ‘I recognize Christ in you and I’m going to treat you accordingly,’” she said.

“And as a result we’re creating a culture of life.”

Free registration and more information about the OneLife event can be found at:  onelifela.org/register/

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U.S. NEWS

Which way to church? Supreme Court weighs directions for roadside signs

by CNA/EWTN News • January 14, 2015

United States Supreme Court, January 12, 2015. (Penn State via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court is scrutinizing an Arizona town’s restrictions on church signs that critics say intentionally discriminate against houses of worship.

“I never dreamed my small church signs would be a topic for the Supreme Court,” Clyde Reed, the 82-year-old pastor of Good News Community Church in Gilbert, Ariz., said in a press conference outside of the U.S. Supreme Court Jan. 12.

“All we wanted to do was use temporary signs to welcome and invite the community to our Sunday morning services. We saw many different kinds of signs, like political and real estate signs, all over Gilbert all year long, so we did not think it would be a problem to place church invitation signs,” Reed added. “But much to our surprise, we soon found out that Gilbert’s code requires our church signs to be much smaller and up for a far shorter period of time than many other types of signs.”

By law, signs that promote or stand by houses of worship must be 60 percent smaller than “ideological signs” and 81 percent smaller than political signs, which may be 32 square feet in size.

Signs for houses of worship that are “directional,” giving directions to the house of worship, are limited to small signs two-by-three feet in area. They must be taken down after fourteen hours, while other noncommercial signs are allowed to be larger and may stand for months.

The town has said the regulations help with traffic safety and aesthetics. Violators face criminal fines and jail time.

Good News Community Church is small and new to the community and lacks a permanent location. The church’s backers say the rules particularly affect churches like it.

In oral arguments that began Monday, David Cortman, Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel who is representing the church, noted that the town laws are not as strict for directional signs to homebuilders’ sales events or for homeowners’ association event signs.

“The town’s code discriminates on its face by treating certain signs differently based solely on what they say,” he said before the court.

Philip Savrin, the attorney representing the town, cited the need to limit the number and duration of signs. Otherwise, he said, the signs would have to be “all large enough to accommodate the largest message that needs to be communicated.” He warned that towns would adopt a “one size fits all” rule if the court makes a strict decision.

Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan pressed Savrin on the “level of scrutiny” the town gave to different kinds of signs.

Savrin said that the town’s distinctions are permissible under constitutional law “without relation to the content or in terms of favoring or censoring certain viewpoints or ideas.”

Pastor Reed said the town laws mean that church signs stand for only 14 hours. For the Good News Community Church, this means “placing them in the dark of night the evening before our services.”

“This whole experience has been shocking to me – our signs inviting people to church are very important yet are treated as second-class speech,” he said.

Cortman said the Supreme Court has a history of treating all speech in “a content-neutral manner.”

“No one’s speech is safe if the government is allowed to pick free-speech winners and losers based on the types of speech government officials prefer,” he said at the press conference.

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Nebraska monsignor appointed new Bishop of Grand Island

by CNA/EWTN News • January 14, 2015

Monsignor Joseph Hanefeldt speaks at a press conference announcing his appointment as Bishop of Grand Island, Jan. 14, 2015. (Mary Parlin/West Nebraska Register)

Grand Island, NE — Pope Francis on Wednesday appointed Monsignor Joseph Hanefeldt, a priest of the Omaha archdiocese and a Nebraska native, as the eighth Bishop of Grand Island, which serves Catholics in central and western Nebraska.

“In appointing Monsignor Hanefeldt as Bishop of the Diocese of Grand Island, Pope Francis is sending the diocese an experienced pastor and a respected spiritual guide,” Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha said Jan. 14.

“As the priests and people of the diocese come to know their new bishop, they will appreciate his many gifts and generous spirit, as we already do in the Archdiocese of Omaha.”

Msgr. Hanefeldt was born in Creighton, Nebraska, a town of nearly 1,200 located 130 miles northeast of Grand Island, in 1958.

He attended St. John Vianney College Seminary in St. Paul, Minnesota, to study philosophy, and studied theology and sacramental theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the University of St. Anselm in Rome; he was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Omaha in 1984.

Msgr. Hanefeldt has served in several parishes of the archdiocese, most recently Christ the King in Omaha. He has also been moederator of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, and head of the Pro-Life Office.

He has also served at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he was a spiritual director from 2007 to 2009, and director of spiritual formation from 2009 to 2012. It was while serving at the NAC that he was named a monsignor.

He is known for his concern for priestly vocations.

Msgr. Hanefeldt will be consecrated a bishop and installed during a Mass held March 19 at Grand Island’s Cathedral of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

As Bishop of Grand Island, Msgr. Hanefeldt will be charged with the care of 54,000 Catholics in a diocese that covers 42,000 square miles. The diocese has 76 parishes and missions; 10 schools; 71 priests, both active and retired; two hospitals; and two Newman centers.

Msgr. Hanefeldt succeeds Bishop William Dendinger, who celebrated his 75th birthday in May, as Bishop of Grand Island. Bishop Dendinger had also been a priest of the Omaha archdiocese.

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Archbishop Gomez: OneLife LA event affirms life near Roe v. Wade anniversary

by CNA/EWTN News • January 15, 2015

OneLife LA logo. (OneLife LA)

Los Angeles, CA — Less than a week before the 42 anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, which legalized abortion in the United States, Los Angeles will host its first large-scale pro-life event.

The event, OneLife LA, is meant to be a family-friendly celebration of the beauty and dignity of every human life from conception to natural death. Beginning with a walk for life in downtown L.A., the event culminates with a gathering at Grand Park, where there will be pro-life speakers and a concert with Christian musicians.

Archbishop Jose Gomez, who spearheaded the event, wrote in a column that he wanted a local pro-life event for the people of southern California where they could stand together to defend life near the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, which continues to have a profound impact on society.

“America was founded on the great truth that all men and women are created equal and that God gives everyone basic rights that no one can deny or take away,” he said.

“Roe v. Wade turned this beautiful truth inside out.”

He also recalled the words of Pope Francis, who said that abortion contributes to a “culture of waste” where life is seen as expendable.

“So I hope you will join me in standing up for life t his Saturday at OneLife LA,” he writes.

We’ve included the full text of his column below:

I am looking forward to Saturday’s OneLife LA celebration.

This will be a day of family and friendship in celebration of the beauty and dignity of every human life — from conception to natural death.

People are coming from all over Southern California. I will be joined by my brother bishops here in Los Angeles and by bishops and representatives from our neighboring dioceses of Fresno, San Bernardino, San Diego and Orange.

The day will begin with prayer and a short procession from La Placita on Olvera Street to Grand Park. There we will be joined by community advocates and religious leaders, celebrities, athletes and entertainers — all gathered to celebrate with us the God-given truth that every life matters and every life is beautiful!

I hope that you will be able to join me.

OneLife LA is part of our local participation in the U.S. Bishops call for “9 Days For Life” — a period of prayer, penance and pilgrimage to call for an end to abortion and the legal protection of unborn children. In addition to OneLife LA on Jan. 17, I’ll be celebrating our annual Requiem Mass for the Unborn on Jan. 24 at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.

With these events, we are remembering a tragic day in our nation’s history — Jan. 22, 1973, the day the U.S. Supreme Court legalized abortion in its Roe v. Wade decision.

Roe v. Wade continues to shape American consciousness and public life. At the political level, from debates in state legislatures to federal questions about health insurance, our country is clearly still divided over whether to allow abortion and what limits should be imposed on its practice.

For me, granting permission to take innocent life challenges the very foundation of our society — because it goes to the heart of our idea of human rights.

America was founded on the great truth that all men and women are created equal and that God gives everyone basic rights that no one can deny or take away.

Roe v. Wade turned this beautiful truth inside out.

In granting a legal right for some people to take the lives of others, the Supreme Court in effect decided that human rights are granted by government — not by God. That gives the government the final say — not only in defining what is right and wrong, but also in deciding who gets to live and who does not.

There are many injustices in our society, but the most fundamental is the one our society rarely acknowledges — the routine taking of innocent human life every day through abortion.

The injustice of abortion includes the millions who have been killed before they had a chance to come into the world. Even more than that, the acceptance of abortion also sends the signal throughout society that human life is disposable and that some lives are not even worth protecting. Legalized abortion has also misled our leaders into thinking they can solve problems in our society by taking lives or preventing lives from being born.

This is what Pope Francis has been emphasizing. In an interview just published last weekhe linked abortion, euthanasia and birth control to a “culture of waste” that leads us to value human life only according to material standards.

Pope Francis said: “We discard whatever is not useful to this logic; it is this attitude that … leads people to discard babies through abortion. I am shocked by the low birth rates here in Italy. This is how we lose our link to the future. The culture of waste also leads to a hidden euthanasia of older people, who are abandoned. … We need to stop before it is too late.”

Popes and saints such as Blessed Mother Teresa have long seen this connection between abortion and other forms of violence and injustice in society.

And as Catholics we are all called to witness to the Gospel of life.

That means we need to stand with all those who are suffering in our society, beginning with those who are most innocent and vulnerable, the unborn and the elderly. We need to defend them against every aggression — including the false compassion that suggests they would be better off dead than they would be if they were alive, loved and cared for.

So I hope you will join me in standing up for life t his Saturday at OneLife LA.

Let’s keep praying for each other this week — and let’s pray for our country.

Let’s ask our Blessed Mother Mary to help our neighbors to see that life is beautiful and that every life matters — and that the right to life is the foundation of every other right and the true foundation of justice and peace in our society.

For information about OneLife LA, visit our website:  onelifela.org.

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U.S. NEWS

Speakers withdraw from Catholic event fearing LGBT controversy

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • January 15, 2015

Legatus logo. (CNA)

Washington D.C. — Everyone must be free to proclaim their religious beliefs, a Catholic group has said after prominent speakers spurned its summit because of the group’s stance on homosexuality.

“At its core, this issue is about the freedom of Legatus members — in fact all Catholics, and by extension people of any religion — to have the freedom to exercise their religious beliefs, which includes the ability to gather together and discuss their faith,” the Catholic group Legatus said in a statement released Thursday.

Earlier this week, the speakers – FOX News anchor Bret Baier, actor Gary Sinise, and Molson Coors chair Pete Coors – withdrew their slots at the upcoming Legatus 2015 Summit. They expressed concerns over the group’s stance on homosexuality, which is in support of the Catholic Church’s teaching.

Legatus is a Catholic group of business leaders that seeks to “integrate the three key areas of a Catholic business leader’s life – faith, family, and business.”

“We have great respect for Bret Baier, Peter Coors, and Gary Sinise and regret that our members will not have the opportunity to hear about all the good work they are doing,” Legatus said.

Church teaching on homosexuality is about unconditional love and dialogue, contrary to accusations leveled by critics, the group added.

“Legatus embraces all that the Catholic Church teaches – nothing more, nothing less. Of course, at the core of all that the Church teaches is Christ’s unconditional love for every man and woman.”

“Church teachings on same-sex attractions are not intended to marginalize the individuals who experience them. On the contrary, the Church wants to reach out to these individuals — as well as all who will enter into dialogue about its teachings — and help them to understand why the Church teaches what it does.”

Baier is the anchor of FOX News’ Special Report, Pete Coors is chair of the Molson Coors brewing company, and Gary Sinise is an actor who has starred in the TV series CSI: New York as well as the movies Apollo 13, Forrest Gump, and The Green Mile.

In a statement earlier this week, Sinise explained that he had wanted to avoid controversy in his mission of serving the troops.

“For me, faith has been a catalyst for my mission to honor the men and women who serve in our nation’s military,” Sinise stated. “I don’t want my mission – which is designed to be unifying – to be disrupted by these, or any controversies,” he added, citing “controversy surrounding some of the (summit) participants.”

Baier withdrew because of “the controversy surrounding some editorial stances in the organization’s magazine,” according to a FOX News spokesperson.

Legatus explained that its support of Church teaching should not be controversial.

“LBGT groups should not feel threatened by our organization, whose mission is to study, live and spread our faith according to the teachings of the Catholic Church,” the group said.

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U.S. NEWS

California bishops to Pope: Thanks for the new saint!

by CNA/EWTN News • January 16, 2015

Blessed Junípero Serra. (CNA)

Los Angeles, CA — Two California bishops have voiced elation and gratitude at Pope Francis’ announcement that he will canonize Blessed Junípero Serra, OFM, when he comes to the United States next September.

“This is great news and I am very happy about it,” said Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles. “We are grateful to our Holy Father Pope Francis for this gift to California and the Americas.”

“It’s wonderful to think that this new saint once walked the road that is now the Hollywood Freeway and called it El Camino Real, ‘The King’s Highway’,” the archbishop said in a Jan. 15 statement.

“I believe Padre Serra’s canonization will help the Church’s new evangelization. It will remind us that our state and our country and all the Americas, are built on Christian foundations.”

Pope Francis made the surprise announcement of the canonization Jan. 15 during a press conference aboard the papal flight from Sri Lanka to the Philippines.

“In September, God willing, I will canonize Junipero Serra in the United States,” he said.

Bl. Serra, a Franciscan priest, lived in what is now California in the 1700s. A Spanish-born missionary, he founded the first nine of 21 eventual missions in California. He worked tirelessly with the Native Americans, and is said to have baptized more than 6,000 people, and confirmed 5,000.

Pope Francis praised him as “the evangelizer of the west in the United States.”

The previous day, Pope Francis had canonized Sri Lanka’s first saint, Indian-born Joseph Vaz, who lived from 1651 to 1711. The Pope applauded Vaz for his tireless missionary work and his ability to evangelize in difficult terrain.

The date and location of the canonization have not been specified. However, Pope Francis will be in the United States in September to attend the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia. Organizers are expecting him for the final Mass on Sept. 27 and say he could be there for events from Sept. 25-27.

Stops in New York and Washington, D.C., are also being considered, but have not been confirmed, said the Vatican Secretary of State in early January.

While there are not currently any official plans for the Pope to visit California, Archbishop Gomez said, “we are excited to hear more details from our Holy Father about his plans for this canonization.”

He noted that Blessed Serra is one of his own spiritual heroes and a major figure in the evangelization of the New World, as a founder of California with special ties to Los Angeles, where he founded two missions.

“(W)e thank God today for this special moment of grace,” the archbishop stated. “We rejoice with the universal Church, with the Franciscan religious order that Father Serra belonged to, and with the Catholic faithful in the two parishes and high schools that we have named for our new saint, Blessed Junípero Serra.”

Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco also voiced gratitude and joy at the sainthood announcement.

“We are all elated at the news of the canonization of Blessed Junipero Serra,” he said in a Jan. 15 video online, referring to the future saint as “the great apostle here in California.”

He noted his own personal connection with Bl. Serra, growing up three miles from the first mission founded by the friar, later living at the parish house of a church established by him in San Diego, and now shepherding the archdiocese of San Francisco, another of the missions founded by Bl. Serra.

The archbishop pointed to Bl. Serra’s “great sanctity, his heroic virtue, using his tremendous gifts of intellect, of strength, of perseverance and endurance of trials.” He offered prayers “that we all might be blessed likewise to imitate those great heroic virtues for the good of the Gospel of Jesus Christ here in California.”

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How to join the US bishops in 9 Days for Life

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • January 16, 2015

9 Days for Life. (CNA)

Washington D.C. — The U.S. bishops hope a new pro-life prayer campaign will unite Catholics against not only abortion, but other threats to human fulfilment and life as well.

“Pope Francis reminds us constantly of the loving concern Christians have for all people at any stage of life who’ve been cast aside or forgotten by society,” stated Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, the chair of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.

“The 9 Days for Life novena offers a chance to join in prayer and solidarity with the unborn, victims of violence, those suffering from addiction, and those whose hearts ache to be part of a family.”

The novena bookends the 41st annual March for Life, and runs from Saturday, Jan. 17 through Sunday, Jan. 25. Through “prayer, penance, and pilgrimage,” Catholics can join in solidarity with all victims of abortion, domestic abuse, addiction, and other evils.

The message is about being pro-life for all ages, including the unborn.

There are multiple ways Catholics can take part in the novena. Daily prayers and meditations can be sent through e-mail and text message updates, a downloadable app, or distributed print materials. In addition, parishes and local groups can meet to pray for reparation for abortion and for all those affected by it.

The novena is sorely needed with the prevalence of violence in the U.S., said Anne McGuire, the assistant director for education and outreach for the Committee on Pro-Life Activities, in an interview with CNA.

“An increasing number of states are considering doctor-assisted suicide,” McGuire noted. “75 percent of Americans are reported to know a victim of domestic violence. There have been over 56 million abortions since Roe v. Wade, and massive numbers of mothers and fathers suffer the aftermath of those abortions, along with siblings, grandparents, those who work in the abortion industry and others.”

McGuire hopes that the novena will ignite year-round prayer and awareness for these problems.

“We do hope that this novena increases the awareness of each person to be recognized as someone made in the image and likeness of God,” she said, pointing to the theme “each person is a masterpiece of God’s creation.”

“We know that God hears our prayers and we hope that many graces are given in response to our petitions,” she continued.

The website 9daysforlife.com presents a myriad of resources to participants, as does the program’s app. Leaders of prayer groups can access pro-life prayer intentions and print promotional material for their parish. Daily meditations can be shared through social media. Pro-life articles can be printed for distribution.

The whole novena is a “digital pilgrimage,” the Bishops’ Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities insists. Even though “we can’t trek 30 miles per day, we can still undertake a pilgrimage,” stated a message from the secretariat, “a prayerful and sacrificial journey for a special intention.”

“One important aspect of pilgrimages is that the participant grows spiritually and perhaps even develops some resolutions by the pilgrimage’s completion,” the message added.

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U.S. NEWS

Brace yourselves: same-sex marriage ruling coming this Supreme Court term

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • January 16, 2015

Participants in the 2014 March for Marriage stand outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., June 19, 2014. (Addie Mena/CNA)

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court will decide this term if same-sex couples have the right to marry nationwide, the judicial body announce Friday, a move welcomed by advocates of marriage such as the National Organization of Marriage.

“It is time for the 50 million Americans who stood for marriage in 30 states to have their day in court,” said Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage.

Brown referred to the 30 states that defined marriage as between one man and one woman via popular vote.

Until the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld traditional marriage amendments in four states in November 2014, similar amendments in other states had a string of defeats at the federal court level.

When five such cases were appealed to the Supreme Court in October, the Court had declined to review them.

Traditional marriage advocates were stung and aggrieved that the court would not take up the matter. Two leading bishops on marriage called the refusal “extremely disappointing and surprising.”

Now, however, the court will hear arguments as to whether, under the 14th Amendment, states must issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples or recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other states.

“We are very pleased that the Supreme Court has chosen to review the 6th Circuit’s ruling that found in favor of voters’ right to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman,” Brown responded to the decision.

“We will be watching this case closely and anticipate an eventual victory for the democratic process, religious liberty, and the cherished institution of marriage which forms the very bedrock of our society.”

The 6th Circuit Court upheld amendments in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. In the majority opinion issued by Judge Jeffrey Sutton, the judges stated that the question of marriage should be left up to the states and that the right of same-sex couples to marry is not in the Constitution.

“It is not society’s laws or for that matter any one religion’s laws, but nature’s laws (that men and women complement each other biologically), that created the policy imperative,” the judges upheld the marriage amendments.

The judges did leave the door open for change, but through political processes over judicial ones.

“Better in this instance, we think, to allow change through the customary political processes, in which the people, gay and straight alike, become the heroes of their own stories by meeting each other not as adversaries in a court system but as fellow citizens seeking to resolve a new social issue in a fair-minded way,” the opinion concluded.

The oral arguments are expected to take place in late April, according to SCOTUSBlog.

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As political leaders look abroad, bishops insist on religious liberty in U.S.

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • January 16, 2015

Supporters hold ‘Women for Religious Freedom’ signs outside the Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C., March 25, 2014. (Addie Mena/CNA)

Washington, D.C. — Religious and political leaders insisted that religious freedom is necessary for service and peace worldwide on Jan. 16, observed as National Religious Freedom Day in the US.

“On National Religious Freedom Day, we pray for the freedom to bear witness to the truth in love by our service to others,” the U.S. Bishops’ Conference stated on Friday.

Every year since 1993, the President of the United States has declared Jan. 16 Religious Freedom Day. The date commemorates the passage of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom, authored by Thomas Jefferson and considered by him to be one of his greatest achievements.

The statute disestablished the Anglican Church as the official religion of Virginia, and granted the freedom of citizens to “profess, and by argument to maintain, their opinion in matters of religion.”

Pope Francis called religious freedom a “fundamental human right” at the Jan. 14 canonization mass for the first saint from Sri Lanka, Joseph Vaz.

“Religious freedom is a fundamental human right. Each individual must be free, alone or in association with others, to seek the truth, and to openly express his or her religious convictions, free from intimidation and external compulsion,” he said.

In his proclamation on Religious Freedom Day, President Obama stated that the First Amendment extends protection to all those practicing their faith, changing their faith, or choosing not to practice at all, “free from persecution and fear.”

“In every country, individuals should be free to choose and live their faith based upon the persuasion of the mind -- and of the heart and soul,” the President stated.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) joined him in calling for religious freedom worldwide. Smith cited the recent terror attacks in Paris and Nigeria as further evidence of such a need.

“There is mounting evidence showing that countries which restrict religious freedom experience higher levels of religious extremism and persecution,” Rep. Smith stated. “The U.S. government must do more to stop religious-related violence, the daily persecution of Christians and so many other religious groups, and a growing and ugly resurgence of anti-Semitism.”

In their statement praying for “freedom to bear witness to the truth in love by our service to others,” the USCCB combined the themes of the 2014 Fortnight for Freedom, “Freedom to Serve,” with that of the upcoming fortnight, “Freedom to Bear Witness.”

Archbishop Lori explained to CNA last June that religious freedom is necessary for the Church’s ability to serve the poor, since charitable ministries must be allowed to operate in accord with Church teaching. Current threats to such freedom include the HHS mandate that charitable organizations must cover their employees’ birth control regardless of their religious beliefs, he noted.

“People are tending to say religious freedom is limited to freedom of worship, but then when you begin to serve the common good and the poor and the marginalized with charitable and social services, then you sort of have to check your convictions at the Church door and you have to sort of play by secular rules,” he said.

“And we say wait a minute, we have real difficulty with contraception and sterilization, and we certainly believe in traditional marriage as a matter of faith. And those people are saying to us well in that case, maybe you shouldn’t be out in the public square serving the needs of other people.”

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Facing the Bogus Burden

by Halee Cross • January 13, 2015

I once knew about a single women’s group that had started in my diocese.

I heard about it at parish mass announcements, during a phase in my life when my idea of happiness correlated with the number of drinks that I was able to get guys to buy for me.

At first it was easy to avoid the idea that joining these women would be good in both a present and eternal reality. It became more difficult when I recognized that their cars were filing onto the streets only two away from my own each Monday night. I looked away for as long as I could, but each time I noticed them there, I had to face the guilt of the life I was leading.

With the conviction that there was indeed truth at the center of the Catholic faith in which I was raised, I still made it to mass each Sunday. Whether or not I was in any state to understand or participate was another question. But when I would see the cars of the women gathering at the neighbor’s house, I reminded myself (under the nasty influence of Satan’s lies) that I wasn’t good enough to be there. In any event, I wasn’t convinced that I was missing much. Work and my social life were exhausting enough as it was - I certainly could not afford to be spending a couple hours sitting around sharing what little was left of my faith.

I can hardly begin to count the number of times that I have groaned in the anticipation of doing something that was good and true. How difficult it sometimes seems after a long day away from the house, joyful or otherwise, to make a serious moment for prayer before crashing onto my pillow. Other times, God has asked things of me that seemed more jarring. I remember the confusion I felt when I was prompted to be more generous in my tithe during the exact moment when my college boss cut one third of my hours.

In the face God’s call, I have often been worried by the burden of what He will ask of me, or even too attached to my own burdens to lay them down and go to Him.

However, John declares in his first epistle that the love of God is “that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” How countercultural. How worth repeating. God’s love and His commandments are not burdensome.

The world is telling us that we should be free to act as we please, while at the same time crushing us with its expectations. Yet, a cursory glance at the world reveals hearts burdened by bills and busy schedules. We’re struck with addiction and slavery to our sin.

Women can fall prey to many distinct burdens. We feel the pressure to be composed, super women in every facet of our lives, even in the practice of our faith. We’re also pained by the people who are not able to love us perfectly.

To what, then, do we owe our allusion? Why can it be so difficult to stop and to meet our Lord in prayer? Why was it so difficult for me to finally show up at the doorstep of my neighbor’s house, which in turn, led to the radical conversion of my life?

The irony of these situations is that we are not running any risk in revealing our love to God. He loved us first! Or much more profoundly, He both sustains our breath and shares in the pain of every weight we carry. The problem isn’t so much that our opportunity to respond is a burden - because the raw truth is, it isn’t. While I cannot think of any woman who is currently dreaming of extra pressure on her life, I can think of plenty of moments when we would rather try to fix our problem than take the time to approach God. Thus, we begin to idolize our burdens over our trust in God’s will.

He knows this about us. The unique situations that we face in the world are new in their presentation, but this cycle certainly isn’t. Since the fall “man, tempted by the devil, let his trust in his Creator die in his heart” (Catechism 397). Fortunately, our God has just come to us as a child. Even as we leave this season of Christmas, God in His infinity is always available to us in His infancy. As we draw near to him, He cares so little about how much of a sinner we are. The baby is delighted to see all those who come to love him. In His company, let us look to our hearts and be generous to reveal whatever we have been holding back from Him.

No one is more excited to have us know Christ than His mother. May she, whose response to God is always one of trust, be our strength as we come to trust Him more fully with our lives and every concern that burdens them. Neither her love nor His will be outdone in generosity. Let us set aside our excuses and move forward in living out the beauty of our call as Catholic women.

Halee is a native of Texas, where she graduated from West Texas A&M University with a degree in English and mysteriously acquired a Wisconsin accent. She is a recent alumnus of Christ in the City where through service to the homeless, she first began to learn to live the integral faith of mind, heart, and action. Through trust that this is where God wants her to be, Colorado is starting to feel a little bit like home.

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Study and Beauty in the Family and Consecrated Life: Part II

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. • January 14, 2015

The Catholic Church has a long, deep, and abiding respect for the habits of the minds and for the pursuit of beauty. One could say that the Church’s vocation is to show the world that faith and reason are inseparable friends and that beauty is a stepping stone to God.

The Catholic family is ‘the domestic church,’ where a love of learning is fostered and where beauty is lived from day to day. Children learn from exposure to learning and beauty. If their parents read, most likely, they will read. If beauty is a part of the home, they will choose beauty. Children can bring joy to the family by reciting poetry, singing and dancing, playing musical instruments, or dramatizing mini-plays. In this way, habits of learning and of making things beautiful can become part of their lives. In this way, the family “shines in use.”

In consecrated life, the love of learning and the pursuit of beauty are carried on in a more public, extensive and universal way. Benedictine beauty, piety, and learning are their legendary attributes. The Dominican spirit is encapsulated in the motto, “To praise. To bless. To preach.” Their studies are directed to the service of others proclaiming Truth in beauty. The Poor Clare nuns are committed to making something beautiful out of their poverty. Then there is the Franciscan charism, highly visible, for example, at Milwaukee’s Alverno College, conducted by the School Sisters of St. Francis. There, progressive learning is celebrated and made all the richer by the splendid epiphany of beauty, in music, painting, sculpture, dance, drama, and poetry. Franciscan warmth permeates the academic atmosphere in joy and optimism, in a love of nature, and in an intuitive mysticism that beckons, ‘come and see.’

Study and Learning

Study is a spiritual activity. The love of learning throughout one’s life is a way to God, for it prompts the realization that the mind is a uniquely human gift. Pope Paul VI was inspired by The Intellectual Life, a miniature classic written by the French Dominican priest Antonin Sertillanges. Since its revision in 1920, it has been reprinted and translated many times. Though it develops a spirituality of intellectual work for the serious writer, it guides those who desire to integrate their love of learning with a life of holiness.

Study is the raw material for growth in interiority, in prayer, and other religious activities. Study, reading, memorizing and enjoying poetry enlighten the mind and quicken the soul. They are a power that enriches one’s service to others. “The mind governs everything; it begins, accomplishes, perseveres, finally achieves,” writes Sertillanges.

The love of learning consists not just in knowing how to learn and find resources. It takes an idea, works it out in the best way possible as yeast is kneaded into the dough, and then makes it available to others through teaching, writing, lecturing, or preaching. When preparing his speeches, the late Mario Cuomo followed this habit all his public life. They were sparkling pearls.

A person who loves learning is curious about the world. One’s broad interests nurture enthusiasm, energy, and openness to others that is universal, a word whose root is the Latin, unio versus alia, one turned to others.

Contemplating God’s Love

The wise person sees all things as gift. The parable of the talents implies our cooperation with God in bringing about a peaceful world by developing our own gifts. Thus, all things are sacred, for God lives within them. The wiser we become, the more we see that God is providentially at work laboring in all things. Study makes it possible to find God always and everywhere.

Even in suffering, it is possible to find God, hidden behind the pain! The recent massacres in Paris press us onward to bring good out of evil, however daunting the challenge.

Leisure Needed for Beauty

The love of learning can lead to wonder, and the truly great people of the world are the guardians of beauty. To experience beauty, one needs leisure time, a time to relax, however brief or prolonged. While parents of young families may find leisure almost out of reach, some still find time for a weekly date night.

Leisure is self-authenticating, a value in itself. Leisure is characterized by certain universal similarities, bringing freedom from external constraint, joy and meaning to life. Sunday worship, taking a walk, gardening, attending or playing a ball game, enjoying a fine movie, reading a book, enjoying or memorizing poetry are qualitatively the same: they refresh and enrich a person for the return to routine of work.

Ceaseless work and overwork destroy the spirit’s inclination to beauty because, in practice, they tend to view men and women as machines. Acedia and ennui, states of listlessness and boredom respectively, dull the sense of wonder, a thought implicit in the psalm verse: “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps 46:10). Without periodic rest to restore the soul, acedia and ennui afflict one’s overall well-being that weaken the taste for God and spiritual activities. As if to confirm the need for leisure, Jesus tells us: “Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).

The Catholic Church and Beauty

The Catholic Church is the crucible of beauty. Its vocation is to show beauty to the world. The family and those in consecrated life are an integral part of this mandate to promote beauty wherever possible. Catholic Christianity has exercised a powerful and formative influence on the daily lives of the faithful and those not of the Catholic faith. “Anyone who has ever experienced the transforming power of great liturgy, great art, great music, will know this,” writes Benedict XVI.

Beauty is proper to the Church’s sacred arts because, with the sacramental signs, they represent the primary way in which the mystery of the Incarnation continues to be effective in the world. Catholic Christianity is a religion of beauty—beauty of our dogmas, the presence of God’s majesty, the wonder Providence unveiling itself, the exalted vision of the human person as a replica of God, the majesty of the arts, wonderfully made. Habits of beauty in prayer and devotion jog our memories. Such actions like making the sign of the cross with or without holy water have religious meaning even without conscious reflection because they operate at a deeper level of the psyche.

Ugliness is darkness. Jesus, the light of the world, signals the presence of beauty. It is as if he were telling us: “Whoever sneers at beauty as if she were the ornament of a bourgeois past … can no longer pray and soon will no longer be able to love.” (Hans Urs von Balthasar, The Glory of the Lord I, 18). Learning is the wellspring of truth, and truth is a hymn to beauty.

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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Movie Review: “American Sniper”

by Carl Kozlowski • January 16, 2015

In the more than 20 years since Clint Eastwood won Best Picture and Best Director for “Unforgiven,” he has been making numerous films that have shared that Western’s theme of the tragic consequences of violence. He has openly acknowledged that movies like “Gran Torino” and “Million Dollar Baby” were responses to the cinematic havoc he reaped a fortune from in spaghetti Westerns and Dirty Harry-style movies from the ‘60s through the ‘80s.

That seismic shift in his cinematic philosophy has been a fascinating one to watch, but unfortunately Eastwood has had a few duds in the last few years as well – including last summer’s blasé attempt to bring the Tony-winning Broadway musical “Jersey Boys” to the screen. But with his powerful latest film, “American Sniper,” Eastwood at age 83 has created a masterpiece - with six Oscar nominations, including Best Picture - that combines his skill directing bang-up action with harrowing quiet moments that show the devastating psychological results.

Both ends of the spectrum – the macho and the mentally shaken – are expertly portrayed by Oscar-nominated Bradley Cooper, who brings the real-life Navy SEAL Chris Kyle to life in a performance that is nothing less than a reshaping of his entire career and persona. Kyle became the greatest sniper in US military history. Killing 160 enemy combatants and sympathizers during four tours of duty in Iraq, with another 95 that he shot without official confirmation, Kyle was constantly praised by his peers but tormented by demons from his first kill – a young boy who was sent by his mother to hurl an explosive at an American tank.

The movie expertly moves between flashbacks of Kyle’s childhood, where his father taught him how to hunt masterfully with guns, and his adulthood, where prior to 9/11, he was just a well-meaning yokel without much of a direction in life. But when the World Trade Centers and Pentagon were hit, Kyle was one of the many patriots nationwide who immediately enlisted to fight back for his country.

At the same time, he was beginning a romance with Taya (Sienna Miller, in a performance that should have been Oscar-nominated) that quickly led to marriage and kids. The heart of the movie comes from the interplay between his action-packed, tension-riddled battle scenes overseas and the more subtle battles he suffers with his guilty conscience – and the impact it has on him as a husband and father – when he’s stateside. In fact, the movie’s strongest scene is a jaw-dropping stunner, alternating in rapid-fire fashion between Kyle racing through Iraqi streets to escape an enemy ambush and Taya listening in on the other end of the line from back home, utterly horrified and wondering if she is about to hear her husband die before her ears.

Throughout, it is impossible for viewers to take their eyes off of Cooper, whose career exploded in 2009 with “The Hangover,” a raunchy R-rated comedy that could have typecast him as a dirty-minded yuppie. But Cooper is clearly a far deeper and more ambitious actor than the “Hangover” trilogy, and he seems to literally leave his own body behind and fully immerse himself as Kyle, packing on pounds of muscle and effecting his no-nonsense, America-do-or-die attitude as the hero he portrays.

“American Sniper” is undeniably on the side of America’s soldiers and in favor of the war it depicts in Iraq. It does feature a lot of profanity, especially the F-word, but adults who have seen modern-made war movies likely know to expect that by now. There are also some jokes involving discussion of sex, but Eastwood and his team keeps such moments fairly limited, and “American Sniper’ has such a positive message about heroism, the military, America and the value of family that it would be a shame if the language dissuades people from seeing it.

The violence is frequent and the suspense involved in the many chases and battle scenes is intense, but Eastwood mostly uses tasteful restraint to limit the amount of blood found within. There is no nudity, and the only questionable scene of sexuality comes in a quick foreplay scene in which Taya strips down to lingerie and is led by Kyle into the bedroom in a scene depicting their life before marriage. Yet the movie’s strong emphasis on the value of family and married life helping Kyle keep his mind together is a much stronger focus in the film than anything illicit.

Overall, “American Sniper” is perfectly fine viewing for any adult who can handle the tension of war horrors, and is possibly even great viewing for older teens who could likely use a dose of reality about sacrifices our heroic troops go through in the name of keeping us all safe. Hollywood should certainly get all the encouragement possible, through financial success, to keep making positive films about our nation and military.

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 18, 2015

Second Sunday of Ordinary Time

First Reading (1 Sm 3:3b-10, 19; NRSVCE)

Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. Then the Lord called, “Samuel! Samuel!” and he said, “Here I am!” and ran to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down. The Lord called again, “Samuel!” Samuel got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. The Lord called Samuel again, a third time. And he got up and went to Eli, and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Now the Lord came and stood there, calling as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.

Second Reading (1 Cor 6:13c-15a, 17-20; NRSVCE)

The body is meant not for fornication but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us by his power. Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him. Shun fornication! Every sin that a person commits is outside the body; but the fornicator sins against the body itself. Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

Gospel Reading (Jn 1:35-42; NRSVCE)

The next day John again was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he exclaimed, “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and saw them following, he said to them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi” (which translated means Teacher), “where are you staying?” He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where he was staying, and they remained with him that day. It was about four o’clock in the afternoon. One of the two who heard John speak and followed him was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first found his brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which is translated Anointed). He brought Simon to Jesus, who looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John. You are to be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).

MONDAY • JANUARY 19, 2015

Monday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Heb 5:1-10; NRSVCE)

Every high priest chosen from among mortals is put in charge of things pertaining to God on their behalf, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. He is able to deal gently with the ignorant and wayward, since he himself is subject to weakness; and because of this he must offer sacrifice for his own sins as well as for those of the people. And one does not presume to take this honor, but takes it only when called by God, just as Aaron was.

So also Christ did not glorify himself in becoming a high priest, but was appointed by the one who said to him,

“You are my Son,

today I have begotten you”;

as he says also in another place,

“You are a priest forever,

according to the order of Melchizedek.”

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to the one who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a Son, he learned obedience through what he suffered; and having been made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him, having been designated by God a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek.

Gospel Reading (Mk 2:18-22; NRSVCE)

Now John’s disciples and the Pharisees were fasting; and people came and said to Jesus, “Why do John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?” Jesus said to them, “The wedding guests cannot fast while the bridegroom is with them, can they? As long as they have the bridegroom with them, they cannot fast. The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast on that day.

“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old cloak; otherwise, the patch pulls away from it, the new from the old, and a worse tear is made. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and the wine is lost, and so are the skins; but one puts new wine into fresh wineskins.”

TUESDAY • JANUARY 20, 2015

Tuesday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Heb 6:10-20; NRSVCE)

For God is not unjust; he will not overlook your work and the love that you showed for his sake in serving the saints, as you still do. And we want each one of you to show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope to the very end, so that you may not become sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

When God made a promise to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and multiply you.” And thus Abraham, having patiently endured, obtained the promise. Human beings, of course, swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath given as confirmation puts an end to all dispute. In the same way, when God desired to show even more clearly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it by an oath, so that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible that God would prove false, we who have taken refuge might be strongly encouraged to seize the hope set before us. We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Gospel Reading (Mk 2:23-28; NRSVCE)

One sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields; and as they made their way his disciples began to pluck heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the sabbath?” And he said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need of food? He entered the house of God, when Abiathar was high priest, and ate the bread of the Presence, which it is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and he gave some to his companions.” Then he said to them, “The sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath; so the Son of Man is lord even of the sabbath.”

WEDNESDAY • JANUARY 21, 2015

Memorial of Saint Agnes

First Reading (Heb 7:1-3, 15-17; NRSVCE)

This “King Melchizedek of Salem, priest of the Most High God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him”; and to him Abraham apportioned “one-tenth of everything.” His name, in the first place, means “king of righteousness”; next he is also king of Salem, that is, “king of peace.” Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but resembling the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.

It is even more obvious when another priest arises, resembling Melchizedek, one who has become a priest, not through a legal requirement concerning physical descent, but through the power of an indestructible life. For it is attested of him,

“You are a priest forever,

according to the order of Melchizedek.”

Gospel Reading (Mk 3:1-6; NRSVCE)

Again Jesus entered the synagogue, and a man was there who had a withered hand. They watched him to see whether he would cure him on the sabbath, so that they might accuse him. And he said to the man who had the withered hand, “Come forward.” Then he said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the sabbath, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. He looked around at them with anger; he was grieved at their hardness of heart and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. The Pharisees went out and immediately conspired with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

THURSDAY • JANUARY 22, 2015

Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children

First Reading (Heb 7:25—8:6; NRSVCE)

Consequently Jesus is able for all time to save those who approach God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

For it was fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, blameless, undefiled, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he has no need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for those of the people; this he did once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests those who are subject to weakness, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Now the main point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and the true tent that the Lord, and not any mortal, has set up. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; hence it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They offer worship in a sanctuary that is a sketch and shadow of the heavenly one; for Moses, when he was about to erect the tent, was warned, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” But Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises.

Gospel Reading (Mk 3:7-12; NRSVCE)

Jesus departed with his disciples to the sea, and a great multitude from Galilee followed him; hearing all that he was doing, they came to him in great numbers from Judea, Jerusalem, Idumea, beyond the Jordan, and the region around Tyre and Sidon. He told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not crush him; for he had cured many, so that all who had diseases pressed upon him to touch him. Whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and shouted, “You are the Son of God!” But he sternly ordered them not to make him known.

FRIDAY • JANUARY 23, 2015

Friday of the Second Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Heb 8:6-13; NRSVCE)

But Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry, and to that degree he is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted through better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need to look for a second one.

God finds fault with them when he says:

“The days are surely coming, says the Lord,

when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah;

not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors,

on the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt;

for they did not continue in my covenant,

and so I had no concern for them, says the Lord.

This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, says the Lord:

I will put my laws in their minds,

and write them on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

And they shall not teach one another

or say to each other, ‘Know the Lord,’

for they shall all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest.

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,

and I will remember their sins no more.”

In speaking of “a new covenant,” he has made the first one obsolete. And what is obsolete and growing old will soon disappear.

Gospel Reading (Mk 3:13-19; NRSVCE)

He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons. So he appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); James son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

SATURDAY • JANUARY 24, 2015

Memorial of Saint Francis de Sales

First Reading (Heb 9:2-3, 11-14; NRSVCE)

For a tent was constructed, the first one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the Presence; this is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a tent called the Holy of Holies.

But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to worship the living God!

Gospel Reading (Mk 3:20-21; NRSVCE)

Then Jesus went home; and the crowd came together again, so that they could not even eat. When his family heard it, they went out to restrain him, for people were saying, “He has gone out of his mind.”