VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6  •  FEBRUARY 7, 2015

Table of Contents

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VATICAN NEWS

Archbishops Chaput, Gomez confirmed participants in Synod on the Family

Humanity cannot exist without farmers, says Pope

Pope Francis announces June visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina

What the Roman Curia will be schooled on during Lent

Pope: the Gospel doesn’t oppress, but frees those enslaved to evil

Vatican judiciary report highlights increased international cooperation

Heroes amid a haunted past: Pope meets, praises Lithuania’s bishops

Consecrated life without sacrifice is a ‘caricature,’ Pope Francis says

The Gospel is more important than soap operas or gossip, Pope says

Oscar Romero to be beatified: Pope Francis recognizes martyrdom

Sunday will be the first International Day of Prayer against Human Trafficking

Pope Francis urges end to scandal of ‘fratricidal’ violence in Ukraine

The best thing parents can give their children? Wisdom, Pope says

Much remains to be done, but Vatican-China relations may be improving

Pope to Church leaders – ‘scourge’ of minor sex abuse must stop

Pope gives 300 umbrellas to Rome’s homeless amid downpour

Tech-savvy Pope shares laughter, advice with special needs kids

Archbishop Romero’s witness a ‘slap in the face’ to self-centered society

Pope Francis goes to Washington: will Congress listen?

Awaiting an ecology encyclical, everyone wants Pope Francis’ support

Modern martyrs are massacred by ‘corrupt people who hate Jesus,’ Pope says

Pope Francis backs traditional marriage as Slovakia vote looms

For Cardinal Baldisseri, consensus at the Synod of Bishops remains important

WORLD NEWS

Bishop urges youth of India to work for tolerance amid increase in violence

Vatican commission to oversee Catholic university in Jordan

Could Italy’s new president turn the spotlight on Catholic social teaching?

Faith under siege: fifth Catholic church vandalized in New Delhi over two months

Holy See to UN: stop ignoring attacks on Christian women, girls

Cape Verde, Africa is getting its first cardinal

Inspired by St Don Bosco, Indian Church prepares youth to be tomorrow’s leaders

Embryos with three parents? The risks are yet to come, critics warn

Political instability, war, and terrorism know no borders – Vatican official

After pilot’s heinous execution, Jordan’s Christians pray for religious harmony

Who are the two Polish priests martyred in Peru?

Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli: a talented preacher and soon-to-be cardinal

Pray – don’t speculate – about the Vatican family synod, say novena organizers

Killed by terrorists, named a martyr: the life of Fr. Alessandro Dordi

U.S. NEWS

Does ‘never again’ have any meaning? Human rights after the Holocaust

Colorado’s ‘death with dignity’ bill is a lie, bishop warns

Where progressives and Evangelicals agree – clarify IRS rules on political speech

Appeals court to hear EWTN contraception mandate case Feb. 4

Disability groups say Colorado ‘death with dignity’ bill discriminates against us

For Cardinal George, God’s grace is bigger than cancer

Palm Beach bishop recovering from brain surgery

EWTN to appeals court: religious freedom at stake in HHS mandate case

Controversial or consistent? San Fran archdiocese weighs in on teacher rules

The irony in anti-discrimination – why Catholic bishops won’t back ENDA

NASCAR, Obama, religious freedom: This year’s DC prayer breakfast

A heated debate: Is killing an acceptable end to human suffering?

FEATURES

Why Do Catholics Have So Many Kids?

A love stronger than death

Willful blindness

The Hundredth Anniversary of Thomas Merton’s Birth

The gift of not knowing

Boys and Girls Town and the Cristo Rey Schools

If God is good, why is there so much suffering in the world?

The Beauty of Catholic Education Part V: Teaching Troubled Children

Movie Review: ‘Jupiter Ascending’

Movie Review: ‘Project Almanac’

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • February 8, 2015

Monday • February 9, 2015

Tuesday • February 10, 2015

Wednesday • February 11, 2015

Thursday • February 12, 2015

Friday • February 13, 2015

Saturday • February 14, 2015

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Volume 1, Issue 6 • February 7, 2015

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VATICAN NEWS

Archbishops Chaput, Gomez confirmed participants in Synod on the Family

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • January 31, 2015

A Bishop reads a newspaper in the Vatican’s Synod Hall before the Friday session of the Synod on the Family Oct. 10, 2014. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — The Vatican has confirmed the participation of 48 delegates chosen by bishops’ conferences to take part in this year’s Synod on the Family.

Included on the list are all those elected by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB).

Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, the US’ largest archdiocese, and Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, where the upcoming World Meeting of Families will be held, will be among those taking part in October’s gathering, according to the Vatican document.

Other US delegates included are Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville and Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, USCCB president and secretary, respectively.

Released Jan. 31, this is the first of several documents listing the delegates elected by the various bishops’ conferences around the world who have been approved by the Vatican.

Delegates listed in the announcement included 7 from Africa; 3 from Asia; 3 from Oceana; 17 from Europe; and 10 from Central and South America.

Not every bishops’ conference was represented in Saturday’s list, as some still need to hold their general assemblies where they will select their candidates and substitutes before sending the names to the Vatican for approval. These subsequent ratifications will be announced at a later time.

Around 190 prelates worldwide participated in the 2014 Synod on the Family.

The names of other participants, such as auditors, experts and papal nominees, will also released at a later date in the lead up to the Synod on the Family.

This year’s Synod on the Family, to be held on Oct. 4-25, will be the second and larger of two such gatherings to take place in the course of a year. Like its 2014 precursor, the focus of the 2015 Synod of Bishops will be the family, this time with the theme: “The vocation and mission of the family in the church and the modern world.”

The list also confirmed the participation of alternates, Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco, head of the USCCB’s defense and promotion of marriage subcommittee.

A preparatory document for the Synod on the Family, formally known as the Lineamenta, was sent to bishops’ conference in Dec. 2014.

The list of all 48 elected delegates is included below:

AFRICA

Burundi

Delegate: Bishop Gervais BASHIMIYUBUSA, Bishop of Ngozi, president of the bishops’ conference.

Alternate: Bishop Joachim NTAHONDEREYE, Bishop Muyinga.

Ethiopia and Eritrea

Delegate: Bishop Tsegaye Keneni DERERA, Apostolic Vicar of Soddo, titular bishop of

Maximiana of Byzacena.

Alternate: Bishop Markos GEBREMEDHIN, C.M., Titular bishop of Gummi in Proconsolari, Apostolic Vicar of JimmaBonga (Ethiopia).

Ghana

Delegate: Archbishop of Gabriel Charles PALMERBUCKLE, Archbishop of Accra.

Alternate: Bishop Anthony Kwami ADANUTY, bishop of KetaAkatsi.

Kenya

Delegate: Cardinal John NJUE, Archbishop of Nairobi, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Bishop James Maria WAINAINA KUNGU, bishop of Muranga.

Alternate: Bishop Emanuel BARBARA, O.F.M. Cap., bishop of Malindi.

Madagascar

Delegate: Archbishop Désiré TSARAHAZANA, bishop di Toamasina, president of the bishops’ conference.

Alternate: Jean de Dieu RAOELISON, titular bishop of Corniculana, auxiliary of Antananarivo.

Rwanda

Delegate: Bishop Antoine KAMBANDA, bishop of Kibungo.

Alternate: Bishop Smaragde MBONYINTEGE, bishop of Kabgayi, president of the bishops’ conference.

THE AMERICAS

Argentina

Delegate: Bishop Pedro María LAXAGUE, titular bishop of Castra s\Severiana, and auxiliary of Bahía Blanca.

Delegate: Archbishop José María ARANCEDO, Archbishop of Santa Fe de la Vera Cruz, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Cardinal Mario Aurelio POLI, archbishop of Buenos Aires.

Alternate: Archbishop Andrés STANOVNIK, O.F.M. Cap., Archbishop of Corrientes.

Alternate: Héctor Rubén AGUER, Archbishop of La Plata.

Chile

Delegate: Bishop Bernardo Miguel BASTRES FLORENCE, S.D.B., bishop of Punta Arenas.

Delegate: Cardinal Ricardo EZZATI ANDRELLO, S.D.B., archbishop of Santiago de Chile, president of the bishops’ conference.

Alternate: Bishop Cristián CONTRERAS VILLARROEL, bishop of Melipilla, secretary general of the bishops’ conference.

Cuba

Delegate: Archbishop Juan de la Caridad GARCÍA RODRÍGUEZ, archbishop of Camagüey.

Alternate: Bishop Marcelo Arturo GONZÁLEZ AMADOR, bishop of Santa Clara.

Ecuador

Delegate: Archbishop Antonio ARREGUI YARZA, archbishop of Guayaquil.

Delegate: Archbishop Luis Gerardo CABRERA HERRERA, O.F.M., archbishop of Cuenca.

Alternate: Bishop Julio PARRILLA DÍAZ, bishop of Riobmba.

Alternate: Bishop Marcos Aurelio PÉREZ CAICEDO, bishop of Babahoyo, vice president of the bishops’ conference.

Honduras

Delegate: Bishop Luis SOLÉ FA, C.M., bishop of Trujillo.

Alternate: Bishop Ángel GARACHANA PÉREZ, C.M.F., bishop of San Pedro Sula.

Mexico

Delegate: Bishop AGUILAR MARTÍNEZ, bishop of Tehuacán.

Delegate: Cardinal Norberto RIVERA CARRERA, archbishop of México.

Delegate: Francisco Javier CHAVOLLA RAMOS, bishop of Toluca.

Delegate: Cardinal Francisco ROBLES ORTEGA, archbishop of Guadalajara, president of the bishops’ conferece.

Alternate: Bishop Alfonso Gerardo MIRANDA GUARDIOLA, titular bishop of Idrica, auxiliary of Monterrey.

Alternate: José Francisco GONZÁLEZ GONZÁLEZ, bishop of Campeche.

United States of America

Delegate: Archbishop Joseph Edward KURTZ, archbishop of Louisville, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Archbishop Charles Joseph CHAPUT, O.F.M. Cap., archbishop of Philadelphia.

Delegate: Cardinal Daniel N. DI NARDO, archbishop of GalvestonHouston, vicepresident of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Archbishop José Horacio GOacute;MEZ, archbishop of Los Angeles.

Alternate: Archbishop Blase J. CUPICH, archbishop of Chicago.

Alternate: Archbishop Salvatore Joseph CORDILEONE, archbishop of San Francisco.

Uruguay

Delegate: Bishop Jaime Rafael FUENTES MARTÍN, bishop of Minas.

Alternate: Bishop Rodolfo Pedro WIRZ KRAEMER, bishop of MaldonadoPunta del Este, president of the bishops’ conference.

ASIA

Pakistan

Delegate: Bishop Joseph ARSHAD, bishop of Faisalabad.

Alternate: Archbishop Sebastian Francis SHAW, archbishop of Lahore.

Vietnam

Delegate: Archbishop Paul BUgrave;I VN OC, archbishop of ThànhPhô Hô Chí Minh, Hôchiminh Ville, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Bishop Joseph INH ÚC AO, titular bishop of Gadiaufala, auxiliary of Xuân Lôc.

Alternate: Bishop Pierre NGUYÊN VAN KHAM, bishop of My Tho.

EUROPA

Albania

Delegate: Bishop George FRENDO, O.P., titular bishop of Butrinto, auxiliary of TiranëDurrës.

Alternate: Bishop Ottavio VITALE, R.C.I., Bishop of Lezhë, Lesh.

Austria

Delegate: Bishop of Benno ELBS, bishop of Feldkirch.

Alternate: Bishop Kalus KÜNG, bishop of Sankt Pölten.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Delegate: Bishop Tomo VUK_I, military bishop of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Alternate: Bishop Marko SEMREN, O.F.M., titular bishop of Abaradira, auxiliary of Banja Luka.

France

Delegate: Archbishop Georges PONTIER, archbishop ofMarseille, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Cardinal André VINGTTROIS, archbishop of Paris.

Delegate: Bishop JeanLuc BRUNIN, bishop of Le Havre.

Delegate: Bishop JeanPaul JAMES, bishop of Nantes.

Alternate: Bishop Olivier DE GERMAY, bishop of Ajaccio.

Alternate: Bishop Bruno FEILLET, titular bishop of Gaudiaba, auxiliary of Reims.

Great Britain (England and Wales)

Delegate: CardinalVincent Gerard NICHOLS, archbishop of Westminster, president of the episcopal conference.

Delegate: Peter John Haworth DOYLE, bishop of Northampton.

Alternate: Bishop Philip Anthony EGAN, bishop of Portsmouth.

Greece

Delegate: Bishop Fragkiskos PAPAMANOLIS, O.F.M. Cap., emeritus bishop of Syros, president of the bishops’ conference.

Alternate: Archbishop Nikolaos FOSKOLOS, archbishop emeritus of Athenai.

Ireland

Delegate: Archbishop Diarmuid MARTIN, archbishop of Dublin.

Delegate: Archbishop Eamon MARTIN, archbishop of Armagh, president of the bishops’ conference.

Alternate: Archbishop Kieran O’REILLY, S.M.A., Arcivescovo di Cashel.

Lithuania

Delegate: Cardinal Audrys Jouzas BAKIS, archbishop emeritus of Vilnius.

Alternate: Rimantas NORVILA, bishop of Vilkavi_kis.

Netherlands

Delegate: Cardinal Willem Jacobus EIJK, archbishop of Utrecht.

Alternate: Bishop Johannes Wilhelmus Maria LIESEN, bishop of Breda.

Spain

Delegate: Cardinal Ricardo BLÁZQUEZ PÉREZ, archbishop of Valladolid, president of the bishops’ conference.

Delegate: Bishop Mario ICETA GAVICAGOGEASCOA, bishop of Bilbao.

Delegate: Archbishop Carlos OSORO SIERRA, archbishop of Madrid.

Alternate: Bishop Juan Antonio REIG PLÁ, bishop of Alcalá de Henares.

OCEANIA

Australia

Delegate: Bishop Daniel Eugene HURLEY, bishop of Darwin.

Delegate: Bishop Mark Benedict COLERIDGE, archbishop of Brisbane.

Alternate: Archbishop Philip Edward WILSON, archbishop of Adelaide.

New Zealand

Delegate: Bishop Charles Edward DRENNAN, bishop of Palmerston North.

Alternate: Cardinal John Atcherley DEW, archbishop of Wellington, president of the bishops’ conference.

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VATICAN NEWS

Humanity cannot exist without farmers, says Pope

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • January 31, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square during the Wednesday general audience Nov. 19, 2014. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis told farmers on Saturday that in a world marked by wastefulness and extreme climate change, they have the important vocation of caring for the earth and providing for all of humanity.

“Care for the earth, making alliance with it, in order that it may continue to be, as God wants, the source of life for the entire human family,” the Pope said.

The Holy Father’s remarks were made in the Clementine Hall of the Papal Palace during a Jan. 31 audience with members of Italy’s National Federation of Farmers, who celebrate their 70th anniversary of their foundation this year.

The word cultivate, Pope Francis said in prepared remarks, “calls to mind the care which the farmer has for his land because it gives fruit, and this is shared.”

The Holy Father said that without farming, there is no humanity, and without good food, there is no life for “the men and women of every continent.”

He went on to describe farming as a true vocation which merits deserves to be recognized and valued, and warned against measures which penalize this “valuable activity” and dissuade new generations from taking an interest in this profession.

The Pope did note, however, that statistics indicate a growth in the number of students enrolling in agricultural studies.

Pope Francis went on to speak of two “critical areas” of reflection with regard to the farming profession: first, that of poverty and hunger which is still of interest to “a vast part of humanity.”

Noting how the Second Vatican Council “recalled the universal destination of the goods of the earth” (cfr Cost. past. Gaudium et spes, 69), Pope Francis said, “in reality the dominant economic system excludes much of their correct use.”

“The absolutizing of market rules, a throwaway culture” and food wastefulness of “unacceptable proportions, together with other factors, cause misery and suffering for many families,” he said.

In order to consider the second “critical area” of reflection on the farming profession, the Pope continued, it is important to remember “man’s call, not only to till the earth, but also to care for it.” (Gen. 2:15).

“Every farmer knows well how it becomes more difficult to till the land at a time of accelerated climate change”.

Pope Francis stressed the importance of acting swiftly to care for creation, calling on nations to collaborate with one another in this goal.

He then then invited those present in the audience to “rediscover love for the earth as ‘mother’ – as Saint Francis would say – from which we have taken and to which we are called to constantly return.”

Before bestowing his blessing on the participants, Pope Francis concluded by asking those present to pray for him.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis announces June visit to Bosnia-Herzegovina

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • February 1, 2015

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

Vatican City — During his Sunday Angelus address Pope Francis announced he will visit the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo in June, where WWI broke out in 1914 with the assassination of Austrian Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

“Dear brothers and sisters, I would like to announce that Saturday, June 6, God willing, I will go to Sarajevo, capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” the Pope told pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square Feb. 1.

“I ask you right now to pray that my visit to those dear people is one of encouragement for the Catholic faithful, fosters seeds of good and contributes to the consolidation of fraternity and peace.”

As part of his trip Pope Francis will be visiting the local Catholic community, but will also be entering a nation marked with vast ethnic and religious diversity, which served as a key factor in the country’s recent war.

Pope Francis’ visit to Sarajevo falls less than a year after the July 28 centenary of the start of WWI last year, as well as 20 years after the conclusion of the Bosnian War, which lasted from April 1992 until December 1995.

In a June 16-17 Oasis conference in Sarajevo discussing the temptation of violence among religions, the country’s archbishop, Cardinal Vinko Puljic, spoke with CNA about the ethnic and religious tensions that still linger in the country.

Cardinal Puljic told CNA June 17 that Catholics in Bosnia are “in a grave position.”

“There is no equality and this is a problem. There is no equality in the Serbian Republic, there is no equality in the federation, (and) where there is no equality, it isn’t possible to live in peace.”

Cardinal Puljic is the sixth and current Archbishop of the Vrhbosna diocese in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

It is a country, the cardinal said, in which Christians, including those from Orthodox and Catholic traditions, Muslims and Jews live together alongside one another.

With such diversity, Cardinal Puljic explained that “We want to create a paradigm for Europe where it is possible to live together with respect and human rights,” and noted that this “doesn’t depend only on communities of different religions.”

It is also the responsibility of “the international community and the local politics who need to create equality.”

Historically divided into three key ethnic groups, Bosnia-Herzegovina is composed of a majority of Muslim Bosniaks followed by a large percentage of mostly Orthodox Serbs and a great population of Croats, a majority of which are Catholic.

The current religious and ethnic situation is complex, Cardinal Puljic observed. The region has seen a series of wars, the most recent of which is the Bosnian War of 1992-1995 in which the country’s Serb population began a policy of ethnic “cleansing” in large areas of Bosnia inhabited by non-Serbs and Muslim, Croat and Serb populations who opposed their army.

With a diverse population of local Christians, Catholics in Bosnia form a minority whereas the Serbian Republic is mostly Orthodox and the Federation is a majority Muslim.

Cardinal Puljic said that there are currently “great tensions between Orthodox Christians and Muslims,” and observed that Catholics “are like catalysts between them. We want to create tranquility (and) a climate of dialogue.”

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VATICAN NEWS

What the Roman Curia will be schooled on during Lent

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • February 1, 2015

Pope Francis takes part in a penitential service at St. Peter’s Basilica, March 28, 2014. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

Vatican City — The Lenten spiritual exercises for the Roman curia will this year be preached by Fr. Bruno Secondin, a Carmelite, focused on the prophet Elijah and the prophetic role of the Church today.

The news of the Feb. 22-27 retreat, themed “Servants and prophets of the living God”, was announced in L’Osservatore Romano Jan. 30.

It will be held in the Casa Divin Maestro of Ariccia, a city bordering Albano Laziale and 16 miles outside Rome.

For the second consecutive year, Pope Francis wanted the curia’s spiritual exercises to be held outside of Rome, in order to foster the spiritual retreat and to avoid the temptation continue working. So all the head of Vatican dicasteries will move to Ariccia for five days.

The preacher, Fr. Secondin, is an Italian Carmelite born in 1940. He studied in Rome, Germany, and Jerusalem. He earned a doctorate in theology and has served as a professor of spiritual theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.

Fr. Secondin has written more than twenty books on spiritual issues, also dealing with the crisis of modern culture. He is also an expert on St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, and has written on Pope Francis’ favorite saint, Therese of Lisieux.

A long time commentator on the Sunday Gospel for Vatican Radio, Fr. Secondin was recently appointed consultor to the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and for Societies of Apostolic Life.

Currently, he serves in the Carmelite monastery of Santa Maria Traspontina, a few steps from St. Peter’s Square. The Carmelites also administer the parish of Santa Maria in Traspontina, which covers a vast block around the Vatican area. Fr. Secondin is there entrusted with holding lectio divina every second and fourth Friday of the month.

Fr. Secondin’s meditation will present a pastoral lecture on the prophet Elijah, giving two meditations per day, plus an opening reflection on the topic: “Exiting from our own ‘village’.”

Every day, Fr. Secondin will develop a specific topic: “Paths of authenticitiy” (on roots of faith and the courage to say no to any ambiguity); “Paths of freedom” (from vain idols to true mercy); “Let God surprise us” (the meeting with a God that is elsewhere and the acknowledgement of the poor, who evangelize us); Justice and intercession” (witness of justice and solidarity); and “Collecting from Elijah’s robe” (to be prophets of fraternity).

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope: the Gospel doesn’t oppress, but frees those enslaved to evil

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • February 1, 2015

Pope Francis meets with students in Paul VI audience hall on May 31, 2014. (Daniel Ibáñez/CNA)

Vatican City — In his Sunday Angelus address Pope Francis pointed to the authority with which Jesus preached, saying that his words in the Gospel aren’t aimed to limit, but rather liberate us from evil and worldly spirits.

“The Gospel is the word of life: it does not oppress people, (but) on the contrary it frees those who are enslaved by so many evil spirits in this world: vanity, the attachment to money, pride, sensuality,” the Pope told pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square Feb. 1.

What the Gospel does, he said, is it “changes the heart, the Gospel changes the heart! It changes life; it transforms the inclination to evil to resolutions of good.”

Pope Francis centered his reflection on the day’s Gospel reading from Mark, in which those present in the synagogue were “amazed” at the authority with which Jesus preached, as well as his act of freeing a man possessed by an evil spirit.

One of the first things Jesus does after entering Capernaum with his disciples is go to the synagogue, the Pope observed, noting how Jesus was more concerned with communicating the word of God than with taking care of the logistical organization of his community.

“And the people in the synagogue are struck, because Jesus ‘taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes,’” the Pope noted, and asked what it means for someone to speak with authority.

To speak with authority the way that Jesus did “means that in the human word of Jesus the strength of the Word of God was felt, the same authoritativeness of God was felt, inspirer of the Holy Scripture,” he said.

One of the key characteristics of God’s word is that it accomplishes what it says, because the word of God corresponds to his will, the Roman Pontiff explained.

While we often pronounce “empty words, without roots or superfluous words, words that do not correspond with the truth,” the word of God always corresponds to the truth, and is united to whatever he says and does, the Pope noted.

Jesus proves his authority when immediately after preaching he frees a man possessed by an evil spirit, he said, observing that it was precisely Jesus’ divine authority that brought on Satan’s reaction.

For his part, Jesus “immediately recognizes the voice of evil and rebuked him and said, ‘Quiet! Come out of him!’” the pontiff said, explaining that Jesus frees the man “with only the strength of His word.”

“The word of God astonishes us with that strength. It astonishes us well,” the Bishop of Rome said, noting that the Gospel doesn’t limit us, but rather frees us and has the capacity to change hearts.

It is therefore the “duty” of Christians to spread this redeeming power everywhere and to become true missionaries and preachers of God’s word, he said.

The day’s Gospel passage also closes with this missionary openness when it recounts how Jesus’ fame “spread everywhere” throughout Galilee, he noted, saying that this “new doctrine” taught by Jesus is what the Church brings to the world, along with the authoritative teaching of the Magisterium.

“Always remember that the Gospel has the power to change life! Do not forget this! That is the good news that transforms us only when we allow ourselves to be transformed by it,” the Pope said, and urged those present to read a passage of the Bible every day.

He then asked for the intercession of Mary in assisting all to be “assiduous listeners” of God’s Word, and led the faithful in the recitation of the traditional Marian prayer.

After praying the Angelus with the pilgrims gathered Pope Francis acknowledged how the same day Italy was celebrating the “Day for Life,” which had as its theme “Solidarity for life.”

“When we open ourselves to life and life is served, we come to believe once again in the revolutionary nature of love and tenderness,” he said, noting that this openness to life “beginning a new humanism: the humanism of solidarity.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Vatican judiciary report highlights increased international cooperation

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • February 2, 2015

St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, Jan. 25, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — The Vatican enhanced international cooperation following the reform of the state’s penal code and its anti-money laundering laws, according to a Jan. 31 report presented by Gian Piero Milano, Promoter of Justice at the Vatican tribunal.

The report was presented at the opening of the Vatican Tribunal’s new judicial year.

The Vatican’s public prosecutor underscored in his presentation that Vatican investigators made two arrests for child pornography; that two accounts of the Institute for Religious Works have been seized, while 200 financial operations have been verified; and that the Vatican has received 10 international requests from foreign judicial authorities, and accepted seven of them.

As eight out of the 10 requests came from Italy, Milano underscored in his report that the Vatican addressed an international request to Italy in 2013 in order to “receive international information on the accounts of an cleric tried in Italy for a series of crimes (fraud, money laundering, corruption) and investigated by the office of the Public Prosecutor.”

Milano refers to the case of Msgr. Nunzio Scarano, a former employee at the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See, who is being investigated for allegedly planning to smuggle 20 million euros ($26 million) from Switzerland to Italy aboard an Italian government airplane, and for supposedly laundering 560,000 euros ($744,000) that he took from his account at the Institute for Religious Works, the ‘Vatican bank’, to pay off the mortgage of a house in Salerno.

According to Milano, his Italian counterpart responded with “documents lacking essential elements” such as the transcripts of the interrogations of the defendant, his alleged accomplices, and people informed of the facts.

The Vatican public prosecutor also stressed that the documents “highlight a modus operandi” in getting evidence that “may be described as improper and which is not aligned with current international protocols.”

On the other hand, the Vatican has undergone a long path to conform its internal law to international standards, as the report shows.

The judicial overhaul of Vatican City State was started by Benedict XVI. The Vatican legal code dates back to 1929. In 1969, Bl. Paul VI made some modifications to update its penal legislation. However, they did not made the Vatican penal legislation applicable beyond Vatican territory. But still there was the need to further adjustments.

So, through three laws issued July 11, 2013, Vatican City State made its legal system more complete. It eliminated the possibility of life imprisonment as a sentence; it inserted in its legislation punishment for crimes against minors; and it strengthened the penalties for money-laundering and corruption.

All of these activities were considered crimes even before the reform, but the reform makes their definition as crimes more specific.

“Vatican City State, from a little enclave within Italy, has become part of an international community always more characterized by a globalization that involves not only customs, but also criminal activities,” Milano stressed.

Milano underscored that the Vatican’s anti-money laundering law is “very much more detailed than the law Italy has recently adopted.”

One of the first turning points was the 2010 anti money-laundering law, which was later improved and replaced by a modern and comprehensive law for financial issues in October 2013.

The law was in conformity with the monetary convention the Holy See signed with the European Union in 2009. Through that convention, the Holy See became part of the euro zone, albeit without being part of the European Union.

The anti money-laundering law represented a concrete sign that the Vatican’s borders are now with Europe, and the Authority for Financial Information has signed several Memoranda of Understanding with its counterparts to enhance international cooperation.

It is also noteworthy that last week the Authority has updated the List of Subjects that threaten International Peace and Security.

The Authority has received in the course of the last year five suspect transactions reports.

More in general, Milano noted that “crimes are increasing” in Vatican City State, and reported that in the last judicial year the public prosecutor ordered six arrests.

Though the prosecutor did not mention any names, three of the arrests are already known: that of Marcello Di Finizio, an Italian entrepreneur who spent ten days under arrest in the Vatican during Christmas time following his most recent attempt to climb St. Peter’s Dome; the ‘femen’ activist who had bared her breasts Dec. 26, 2014 in St. Peter’s Square and grabbed the baby Jesus of the Nativity; and the former nuncio to Dominican Republic, Jozef Wesolowski.

Though the Vatican public prosecutor did not make any specific mention of Wesolowski, the case of the former nuncio to Dominican Republic was the object of several parts of the report.

Wesolowski, the former apostolic nuncio who spent his career in Eastern Europe and then ended up as papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, was put under house arrest in the Vatican Set. 23, 2014 for alleged serious acts of abuse of minors and will be criminally charged by a Vatican penal court, after the tribunal of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith deemed him guilty in the first stage of the process. He had been laicized June 27, 2014.

As it had been suggested in some quarters that Wesolowski had been somehow shielded from civil jurisdiction, the Vatican public prosecutor has made it clear that “the investigators are working in full autonomy, and far from any interference,” while the investigation “aims at the most exact assessment of facts.”

Milano also mentioned that there had been “isolated attempts” to involve the Vatican in “international drug trafficking.” The attempts consisted in “three mailings” of packages of drugs to the Vatican, which have been monitored by the Vatican Gendarmes Corps.

Milano also lamented that “in one case, a media leak made vain the joint international police intervention,” since “no one has come to get” the envelope with the drugs.

The report also mentioned the case of Emanuela Orlandi, a Vatican citizen who disappeared in 1983. Orlandi was the daughter of a Vatican bank employee, and was 15 when she disappeared on her way to school on June 22.

Milano described the Orlandi case as “delicate case, with many unsolved issues, that aroused in the course of the years the attention of the media and public opinion.” Milano announced that “the Vatican tribunal has appointed a curator” of Emanuela Orlandi’s goods.

Milano also stressed the need to introduce in the Vatican penal code the crime of usury, which was not included in Italy’s 1889 code, the basis for much of the Vatican’s statutory law.

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VATICAN NEWS

Heroes amid a haunted past: Pope meets, praises Lithuania’s bishops

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • February 2, 2015

Hill of crosses, Lithuania. (TintedLens/Photo via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Vatican City — Pope Francis praised Lithuania’s bishops for their courage in a nation marked by both a history of persecution against the Church as well as modern threats of secularism and relativism.

“You are the heirs of this history, this patrimony of pastoral charity, and you demonstrate the energy of your action, the communion which you enliven, and the perseverance in pursuing the objectives which the Spirit shows you,” he said.

The bishops of Lithuania have been in Rome for their ad limina visit, during which they were received by the Holy Father on Feb. 2.

“You have come to Rome with your youth, but also with your courage,” Pope Francis said, noting the presence of those who had lived during the “sad period of persecution” of the former Soviet state.

The majority Catholic country was under Soviet rule until the early 1990s, during which the Church faced intense persecution. A second Soviet occupation in the 1940s saw some of the most severe oppression, with seizures of Church property, the deportation of over 150 priests, and the arrest, torture and execution of Telsiai bishop Vincentas Borisevicius.

Pope Francis acknowledged the “apostolic efforts” of the bishops in Lithuania amid this oppression against the Church by “regimes founded on ideologies contrary to human dignity and freedom,” and which today is marked by “other hidden dangers,” such as secularism and relativism.

In addition to proclaiming the Gospel and Christian values, the bishops were urged toward “constructive dialogue with all, even those who do not belong to the Church or are far from the religious experience.”

The Pope then encouraged them to care for the Christian communities, that “they may always be places of welcome, of open and constructive discussion, a stimulus for the whole society in pursuit of the common good.”

Pope Francis turned his address to the theme of the family, encouraging bishops to offer their “contribution in the great work of discernment, and above all in the pastoral care of the family.”

Within the European Union, of which Lithuania became a full member in 2004, the Pope noted the “influx if ideologies” which seek to destabilize families, the “fruit of a misunderstood sense of personal freedom.”

He reminded the bishops of their “age-old Lithuanian tradition” to aid them in responding to these challenges “according to reason and faith.”

The pontiff then turned to the topic of vocations to the priesthood and consecrated life, calling on the Lithuanian Church to “never tire” of “praying for vocations.”

He urged them to provide “adequate formation” for priests, religious and seminarians, especially in the areas of spiritual in moral life, and educating them in “evangelical poverty and the management of material goods according to the principles of the Church’s social doctrine.”

Despite the economic advancements in Lithuania, the Pope reminded the bishops to care for their neighbors who are “in need, unemployed, sick, abandoned.”

He concluded by calling on the Lithuanian bishops’ conference to give special attention to the youth, that “they may preserve the faith and religious traditions” of their country.

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VATICAN NEWS

Consecrated life without sacrifice is a ‘caricature,’ Pope Francis says

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • February 2, 2015

Pope Francis celebrates Mass for the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple in St. Peter’s Basilica, Feb. 2, 2015. (Daniel Ibáñez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis warned consecrated men and women against reducing their religious live to a “caricature,” calling them to instead embrace a life of obedience, which in turn leads to wisdom.

This was the central theme of the Pope’s homily for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord on Feb. 2, which coincides with the World Day for Consecrated Life.

Addressing the congregation gathered in Saint Peter’s Basilica on Monday evening, the Holy Father reflected on the Gospel account of Mary and Joseph presenting the Child Jesus in the temple.

Pope Francis described Mary’s arms as the “ladder of God’s condescension” upon which the Son of God “descended” becoming like us, “in order to ascend with us to the Father, making us like himself”, according to Vatican Radio’s translation.

Recalling the image of Mary entering the Temple with the Child Jesus, the Holy Father observed that “the Mother walks, yet it is the Child who goes before her. She carries him, yet he is leading her along the path of the God who comes to us so that we might go to him.”

“For us too, as consecrated men and women,” the Pope continued, Jesus “opened a path.”

Throughout his homily, Pope Francis emphasized the theme of obedience which reoccurs in the Gospel, and its significance for consecrated men and women.

“Jesus came not to do his own will, but the will of the Father”, he said. “In the same way, all those who follow Jesus must set out on the path of obedience, imitating as it were the Lord’s ‘condescension’ by humbling themselves and making their own the will of the Father, even to self-emptying and abasement” (cf. Phil 2:7-8).

Progress for a religious person means following the path of Jesus who “did not count equality with God something to be grasped”, the Holy Father continued: “to lower oneself, making oneself a servant, in order to serve.”

This path, which “takes the form of the rule” is “marked by the charism of the founder”, he said. “This path, then, takes the form of the rule, marked by the charism of the founder.”

“For all of us, the essential rule remains the Gospel, this abasement of Christ, yet the Holy Spirit, in his infinite creativity, also gives it expression in the various rules of the consecrated life, though all of these are born of that sequela Christi, from this path of self-abasement in service.”

The wisdom which consecrated persons attain through the law is “not an abstract attitude, but a work and a gift of the Holy Spirit, the sign and proof of which is joy.”

Turning to the Gospel account of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, Pope Francis said that this “wisdom is represented by two elderly persons, Simeon and Anna: persons docile to the Holy Spirit.”

Their wisdom, the Pope continued, was “the fruit of a long journey along the path of obedience to his law, an obedience which likewise humbles and abases – even as it also guards and guarantees hope – and now they are creative, for they are filled with the Holy Spirit.”

“The Lord turns obedience into wisdom by the working of his Holy Spirit,” he continued.

Obedience and docility are not theoretical, but “subject to the economy of the incarnation of the Word,” he said. Whether it be to the founder, to a “specific rule,” to “one’s superior,” or to the Church, docility and obedience are always concrete.

“The strengthening and renewal of consecrated life are the result of great love for the rule, and also the ability to look to and heed the elders of one’s congregation,” he said, adding that the “deposit” of the charism “is preserved by obedience and by wisdom, working together.”

In this way, the Pope said, consecrated men and women “are preserved from living our consecration lightly and in a disincarnate manner.” It would thereby become reduced to a “caricature” of the religious life: “without sacrifice, a prayer that is without encounter, a fraternal life that is without communion, an obedience without trust, a charity without transcendence.”

Pope Francis concluded his homily calling on consecrated men and women to “bring others to Jesus”, while allowing themselves to be led by him.

“This is what we should be: guides who themselves are guided.”

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VATICAN NEWS

The Gospel is more important than soap operas or gossip, Pope says

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • February 3, 2015

Pope Francis celebrates New Years Day Mass for the Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God on Jan. 1, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — In his homily Tuesday Pope Francis noted the importance of contemplating scripture, and urged faithful to read the Gospel for 10-15 minutes a day, rather than watching soap operas or exchanging gossip.

“At home, 15 minutes, pick up the Gospel, a small passage, imagine what happened and talk with Jesus about it,” the Pope told those present in the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse for his Feb. 3 daily Mass.

By reading the Bible every day, he said, “your gaze will be fixed on Jesus and not so much on a TV soap opera, for example. Your ears will be focused on the words of Jesus and not so much on your neighborhood gossip.”

Pope Francis launched his reflection by turning to the day’s first reading from St. Paul’s Letter to the Hebrews, in which the apostle stresses the importance of “keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus.”

By keeping our sight on the Lord we allow hope to increase in us, the Pope said, and spoke of the importance of praying every day, whether it is a rosary or talking to the Jesus, Mary and the Saints when we have a problem.

The pontiff then noted the importance of daily “contemplative prayer,” which can be done with the Gospel in hand.

He asked attendees how the day’s Gospel can be contemplated, saying that when he reads the text, “I see that Jesus was in the middle of the people, he was surrounded by a large crowd. Five times this passage uses the word ‘crowd’. Did Jesus ever rest?”

Jesus did rest once when he was sleeping on the boat, but then “the storm came and the disciples woke him. Jesus was constantly in the midst of the people,” the pontiff noted, explaining that one contemplates scripture by paying attention to the details which stand out.

The Bishop of Rome then turned to the day’s Gospel reading from Mark, in which Jesus heals both the daughter of a synagogue official who had died, as well as a woman with hemorrhages when she touched his cloak.

In the case of the synagogue official, the Pope noted how Jesus is informed of the girl’s illness, he leaves everything to take care of the man’s daughter. When Jesus arrives to find women crying at the girl’s death, Jesus tells them not to worry, and in turn they rebuke him.

This shows “the patience of Jesus,” he said, and noted that after Jesus heals the man’s daughter he immediately says “Please give her something to eat.” Jesus, the pontiff observed, “always thinks of the little things.”

The pontiff then noted that what he just did with the day’s Gospel “is a prayer of contemplation: take up the Gospel, read and imagine the scene, imagine what happens and talk to Jesus, from the heart.”

By doing this we allow hope to grow inside ourselves because our eyes are fixed on the Lord, he said, and encouraged those present to spend time they normally would watching TV or gossiping, by reading the Gospel instead.

Pope Francis concluded his homily by inviting those present to set aside concrete moments of prayer each day, telling them to “pray your prayers, pray the rosary, talk with the Lord, but also carry out this contemplative prayer keeping your gaze fixed on Jesus.”

“Today try for 10 minutes – 15, no more – to read the Gospel, picture it and say something to Jesus. And nothing more. And so your knowledge of Jesus will be bigger and your hope will grow.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Oscar Romero to be beatified: Pope Francis recognizes martyrdom

by CNA/EWTN News • February 3, 2015

Archbishop Oscar Romero. (Javier Hidalgo via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Vatican City — Pope Francis on Tuesday authorized the promulgation of decrees recognizing the martyrdom of Salvadoran archbishop Oscar Romero, paving the way for his beatification, as well as the martyrdom of three priests in Peru.

The decision was the fruit of a Feb. 3 audience between the Pope and Cardinal Angelo Amato, prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The theologians of the congregation for saints had unanimously recognized Archbishop Romero’s 1980 assassination as a martyrdom on Jan. 8.

The Pope’s approval was the last step needed before Archbishop Romero could be beatified.

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

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

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

Pope Francis also recognized the martyrdoms of Fr. Michal Tomaszek and Fr. Zbigniew Strazalkowski, both of whom were Conventual Fransicans; and of Fr. Alessandro Dordi, an Italian diocesan priest.

All three were martyred in Peru in 1991 by Shining Path, a Maoist guerilla insurgency officially known at the Communist Party of Peru.

The heroic virtues of Fr. Giovanni Bacile, an Italian priest who died in 1941, were also recognized.

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

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

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

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

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VATICAN NEWS

Sunday will be the first International Day of Prayer against Human Trafficking

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • February 3, 2015

(CC 1.0)

Vatican City — The Vatican has organized the first-ever international day of prayer and reflection against human trafficking, in hopes that the world will join forces in putting this “plague” to an end.

“Our awareness must expand and extend to the very depths of this evil and its farthest reaches – from awareness to prayer, from prayer to solidarity, and from solidarity to concerted action – until slavery and trafficking are no more,” Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told journalists at a Feb. 3 news conference.

Set to take place this Sunday, Feb. 8, the event, titled “Turn on a light against human trafficking”, also coincides with the feast day of former Sudanese slave St. Josephine Bakhita. Faithful who participate are invited to pray a special prayer given by the Vatican, and to light candles in remembrance of all who are affected by modern forms of slavery.

Organized by “Talitha Kum” – a network of women religious dedicated to fighting against human trafficking – the prayer initiative is also being sponsored by the International Unions of Men and Women Superiors General, the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.

In comments made to CNA, Cardinal Turkson said the international day of prayer and reflection is a “welcome initiative.”

The purpose of the event, he said, “is to draw attention on the feast of St. Bakhita to the message that it’s not over. The experience of Bakhita does not mean that this phenomenon doesn’t exist anymore.”

With the problem of human trafficking still a global phenomenon, Cardinal Turkson stressed the need to be aware of just how grave the problem currently is.

Those who work daily to rescue trafficking victims and help them recover “need for us to be aware of the problem, of the commitment we need to exercise and they need to do this all together in solidarity to try to get the world to overcome what the Holy Father calls a ‘plague’ in human society,” he said.

Sister Imelda Poole of the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Loreto, was also present at the conference announcing the prayer initiative.

In her address, St. Poole stressed the importance not just of praying and lighting a candle for the victims, but also to “do something” to counteract the phenomenon of human trafficking, which she believes is on the rise due to the current economic crisis.

In comments made to CNA, Sr. Imelda voiced concern that some countries are “slipping back” on their policies to fight trafficking due to “the issue of their own poverty.”

“Some countries are sinking financially, and as they sink financially they look at the most vulnerable frequently, to see how many they can bring back into their own money-boxes,” she said.

“There needs to be a stronger commitment” in putting more effective legislation into place to prevent human trafficking the sister noted, explaining that the current laws in many countries are “(not) strict enough at all.”

St. Josephine Bakhita was a Canossian Sister born in 1869 in the Darfur region of Sudan. While still a young child, she was kidnapped and subsequently sold into slavery.

After being sold a total of five times, Bakhita was purchased by Callisto Legnani, the Italian consul in Khartoum. After two years he took Bakhita to Italy to work as a nanny for his colleague, Augusto Michieli. Michieli, in turn, sent Bakhita to accompany his daughter to a school in Venice run by the Canossian Sisters.

While at the school, Bakhita felt called to learn more about the Church, and was eventually baptized with the name “Josephine Margaret.” In the meantime, Michieli wanted to take Josephine and his daughter back to Sudan, but Josephine refused to return.

The disagreement escalated and was taken to the Italian courts where it was ruled that Josephine could stay in Italy because she was a free woman. Slavery was not recognized in Italy, and it had also been illegal in Sudan since before Josephine had been born.

Josephine remained in Italy and decided to enter Canossians in 1893. She made her profession in 1896 and was sent to Northern Italy, where she dedicated her life to assisting her community and teaching others to love God.

She was known for her smile, gentleness and holiness. She even went on record saying, “If I were to meet the slave-traders who kidnapped me and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands, for if that did not happen, I would not be a Christian and Religious today.”

St. Josephine was beatified in 1992 and canonized shortly after in October 2000 by Pope John Paul II. She is the first person to be canonized from Sudan and is the patron saint of the country.

Please find below the prayer to be recited on Feb. 8, the International Day of Prayer and Reflection against Human Trafficking:

“O God, when we hear of children and adults

deceived and taken to unknown places for

purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labor, and

organ ‘harvesting’, our hearts are saddened and

our spirits angry that their dignity and rights are

ignored through threats, lies, and force.

We cry out against the evil practice of this modern

slavery, and pray with St. Bakhita for it to end.

Give us wisdom and courage to reach out and

stand with those whose bodies, hearts and spirits

have been so wounded, so that together we may

make real your promises to fill these sisters and

brothers with a love that is tender and good.

Send the exploiters away empty-handed to be

converted from this wickedness, and help us all to

claim the freedom that is your gift to your

children. Amen.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis urges end to scandal of ‘fratricidal’ violence in Ukraine

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

Francis prays with journalists on the papal flight en route to South Korea on Aug. 14, 2014. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Vatican City — As the number of deaths in Ukraine continue to rise amid escalating violence, Pope Francis has called the war “a scandal,” and urged the international community to “make every effort” for peace.

“My thoughts turn again to the beloved Ukrainian people. Unfortunately the situation is getting worse (as is) the grave opposition between parties,” the Pope told those present in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall for his Feb. 4 general audience.

He offered prayers for the victims of the increasing violence, “of which there are many civilians,” as well as their families, and prayed that “this horrible fratricidal violence will cease as soon as possible.”

Casualties have continued to increase as violence has escalated. Up to 16 new civilian lives were claimed and more were injured following shelling in Donetsk on Tuesday, BBC News reports.

U.N. figures show the death toll in Ukraine now exceeds 5,350 people, plus more than 12,000 others who have been wounded since fighting broke out last year. An exact number, however, is not confirmed.

Last February Ukraine’s former president was ousted following months of violent protest, and a new government appointed. In March, Ukraine’s eastern peninsula of Crimea was annexed by Russia and pro-Russian separatist rebels have since taken control of eastern portions of Ukraine, around Donetsk and Luhansk.

Persecution of both Roman and Greek Catholics has also been an increasing concern with the influx of Russian soldiers and pro-Russian separatists into the country.

In September the apostolic nuncio to Ukraine, Archbishop Thomas Gullikson, voiced concern that Russia’s expansion into the country has caused major instability and threatens a return to former political persecution.

He told CNA, “The danger of repression of the Greek-Catholic Church exists in whatever part of Ukraine Russia might establish its predominance or continue through acts of terrorism to push forward with its aggression.”

“There is no reason for excluding the possibility of another wholesale repression of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church as came about in 1946 with the complicity of the Orthodox brethren and the blessing of Moscow,” the nuncio said.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church was severely persecuted in the country while it was a part of the Soviet Union.

So far many Roman Catholic and Greek Catholic clergy have been forced to leave Crimea due to the conflict. Both Roman and Greek Catholics are facing difficulties in properly registering ownership of church property and in ensuring legal residency for their clergy.

In his audience address, Pope Francis renewed his “heartfelt appeal” for all parties involved “to make every effort, also on an international level, for the resumption of dialogue, which is the only possible way to restore peace and harmony in that tormented land.”

The pontiff revealed that whenever he hears the words “victory” or “defeat” in regards to the current conflict, he feels a “great pain, a great sadness” in his heart.

With no “right words” to describe the situation, the pontiff said the only word that is always right “is peace.”

“I think of you, Ukrainian brothers and sisters, but (also) think that this is a war between Christians! All of you have the same baptism! You are fighting among Christians. Think about this. This is a scandal,” he said.

According to the BBC, roughly 1.2 million have fled their homes since last April. Pro-Russian separatist leader Alexander Zakharchenko said rebels were aiming to boost their forces to 100,000 men.

With the Ukrainian government’s announced mobilization effort, which includes plans to bring the numbers in its armed forces to 200,000 by later this year, U.S. officials are also reported to be considering the option of sending defensive weapons and other aid to Ukraine’s armed forces.

Pope Francis closed his audience by encouraging all to pray together for an end to the Ukrainian conflict, “because prayer is our protest before God in times of war.”

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VATICAN NEWS

The best thing parents can give their children? Wisdom, Pope says

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

A couple snaps a selfie with Pope Francis at his Wednesday general audience on Feb. 4, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — In his Wednesday general audience, Pope Francis said the role of parents is to teach their children with patience, gentleness, firmness and encouragement.

“Every family needs a father. A father who doesn’t boast of having a child be like him, but is glad to learn righteousness and wisdom, which is the only thing that counts in life,” the Pope told pilgrims gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall for his Feb. 4 general audience.

This willingness to learn wisdom, he said, “is the best inheritance that can be transmitted to children, and you will feel filled with joy when you see that they have received and taken advantage of this inheritance.”

The Pope’s audience continued his catechesis on the family. For the past two weeks the Holy Father has particularly focused on the vocation of fatherhood.

During his Wednesday talk, Pope Francis turned to the passage in proverbs which speaks of the pride fathers feel as they watch their children mature in “wisdom and rectitude.” This verse sums up the demanding yet essential role fathers play in both their families and in society as a whole, he said.

“A good father teaches his children by giving a daily example of love and integrity,” the Pope observed. Fathers must constantly strive “to teach what the child does not yet know, correct the errors they don’t yet see, guide their heart (and) protect them in discouragement and difficulty.”

Fathers, he said, must discipline their own hearts in order to manage their children with patience throughout their growth and maturity.

It is the responsibility of fathers to guide their children with “closeness, with gentleness and with a firmness that doesn’t humiliate,” the Holy Father observed.

In a society where fathers are often absent, the Pope noted, it is essential that they fully participate in every aspect of family life.

“To be a good father, in first place, is to be present in the family, sharing the joys and sorrows with one’s wife, accompanying one’s children as they grow,” he said, and pointed to the parable of the prodigal son as an example.

In the parable, the father watches and waits for his son every day, the Bishop of Rome noted, saying that this father knows what it means to wait with patience, to forgive and also to correct.

“Also today’s children, returning home with their failures, need a father who waits for them, protects them, encourages them and teaches them how to follow the good path.”

While fathers sometimes have to chastise their children, they never do it with “a slap in the face,” he said, noting that while children often don’t want to admit it, they need this gentle chastisement.

Pope Francis concluded by expressing his hope that all fathers strive “to protect their children and to teach them wisdom, faith and integrity” like St. Joseph, and prayed that fathers would “always experience our gratitude, appreciation and support.”

He then offered personal greetings to pilgrims present from various countries around the world, including England, Wales, Finland, Sri Lanka and the United States.

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VATICAN NEWS

Much remains to be done, but Vatican-China relations may be improving

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

(Tomas Roggero via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Vatican City — Despite the recent death of a long-imprisoned Chinese bishop, there are mixed signals suggesting the People’s Republic of China wills an improved relationship with the Holy See.

The first of these was the response from the Chinese foreign ministry to the telegram sent by Pope Francis to Xi Jinpin — president of mainland China — during his flight from the Philippines to Rome, which crossed through Chinese airspace.

And a few days later, on Jan. 21, Hua Chunying, a spokesman of the foreign ministry, said the Chinese government is “willing to have constructive dialogue with the Vatican based on relevant principles.”

Hua has also added that “China is always sincere in improving ties with the Vatican, and has been making efforts to this end.”

Hua’s words proved once more the new religious policy put into action by Xi Jinping, who has been China’s president since March 2013.

A Vatican official involved in talks with China told CNA Feb. 4 that “when the Chinese want to change a policy, they usually start issuing declarations from the mid-ranks, in order to see what is the people’s reaction.”

This is why the official reads Hua’s words “as a sort of poll, in order to make the Chinese people confident in a new Chinese position on relations with the Holy See.”

Despite these openings, the moment when China and the Holy See will hold diplomatic ties remains distant.

The first concrete step toward these improved relations could be a sort of agreement between the Holy See and China on matters such as religious freedom and freedom of worship.

One of the guidelines of the Vatican diplomats is that to seek a “reasonable freedom.”

The Church in China is often described as divided, between an ‘official’ Church, the Patriotic Association, linked to the government; and an ‘underground’ Church, persecuted and whose episcopal appointments are frequently not acknowledged by Chinese authorities.

The Patriotic Association has for years appointed illicit bishops who were not approved by Rome. On the other hand, there are bishops appointed by the Vatican who are not acknowledged by the Chinese government.

The Chinese government has also arbitrarily cancelled some of the Chinese dioceses, and designed its own geography of dioceses of bishops which is not aligned with that in the Annuario Pontificio.

All of these issues must be raised in an eventual “Vatican-Chinese agreement.”

Another issue at stake is the treatment of the priests and bishops faithful to Rome.

The news broke Jan. 31 that Bishop Cosmas Shi Enxiang of Yixian had died after 14 years of imprisonment, wtihout charge, in a secret location. His family had been informed of his death the previous day, though no more information was given them. Bishop Shi was 94, and had first been arrested in 1954.

Now that Bishop Shi is dead, Bishop James Su Zhimin of Baoding is the only remaining underground bishop kept in secret detention. He has been held by the Chinese government since 1997.

Such imprisonments and deaths “have been kept under silence by the media mainstream, probably concerned not to damage relations with the economically powerful Chinese state,” the Vatican official opined. “But, as a matter of fact, this state of things must be addressed.”

The Holy See has committed to Catholics in China, intending to protect and help the country’s persecuted Christians, and relations between the Vatican and China have fluctuated.

After Benedict XVI’s 2007 letter to the Catholics of China, the relations seemed to improve, with episcopal appointments approved of by both the Vatican and the Chinese government.

Despite this, and the inauguration of Xi’s presidency, the episcopal consecration of Fr. Taddeo Ma Daqin in Shanghai showed that relations could cool again.

Bishop Ma had been part of the Patriotic Association, but after his consecration he announced he would leave the association, and he was confined by the government.

“Illicit ordinations follow a rationale that is hard to explain,” the Vatican official reflected. “They can also be decided at a local level, so I would not exclude that illicit ordinations are an internal response to Xi Jinping’s wish to improve relations. When a situation is consolidated, it is quite difficult to move people toward a new state of things.”

On the Vatican’s side, there is a certain openness to make further steps in order to reach full diplomatic relations, though the Holy See’s maintenance of a pontifical representative to the Republic of China – Taiwan – will remain a hurdle for mainland China.

However, steps forward will be made with a certain caution. Yet the Holy See and China seem to be a little closer now.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope to Church leaders – ‘scourge’ of minor sex abuse must stop

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • February 5, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square during the Wednesday general audience on May 28, 2014. (Daniel Ibáñez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis has sent a letter to religious superiors and presidents of episcopal conferences, asking for their full cooperation in ending the sexual abuse of minors, and making the Church a safe haven.

“Everything possible must be done to rid the Church of the scourge of the sexual abuse of minors and to open pathways of reconciliation and healing for those who were abused,” the Pope said in his Feb. 2 letter.

Addressed to the Presidents of Episcopal Conferences and Superiors of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, the letter was a plea asking for their complete cooperation with the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors.

First announced in December 2013, the commission was officially established by Pope Francis last March in order to explore various proposals and initiatives geared toward the improvement of norms and procedures for protecting children and vulnerable adults.

The commission, the Pope said, is “a new, important and effective means” of ensuring the protection at every level of the Church, including episcopal conferences, dioceses, institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life among others.

“Families need to know that the Church is making every effort to protect their children. They should also know that they have every right to turn to the Church with full confidence, for it is a safe and secure home,” he said.

Because of this, priority “must not be given to any other kind of concern, whatever its nature, such as the desire to avoid scandal, since there is absolutely no place in ministry for those who abuse minors.”

Pope Francis also pointed to the Circular Letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, saying that every effort must be made to ensure that the letter’s provisions are put into practice.

Published in May 2011, the letter lays out general guidelines and suggested procedures for handling cases of sexual abuse of minors perpetrated by clerics.

The Roman Pontiff also encouraged episcopal conferences to develop “practical means” of having periodic reviews of their norms and ensuring that they are being followed.

“It is the responsibility of Diocesan Bishops and Major Superiors to ascertain that the safety of minors and vulnerable adults is assured in parishes and other Church institutions,” he said, and urged recipients to respond to the needs of minors and vulnerable adults “with fairness and mercy.”

As a means of communicating the Lord’s compassion to victims of abuse and their families, the Pope encouraged dioceses, institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life to identify and offer programs for pastoral care which include both psychological and spiritual assistance.

“Pastors and those in charge of religious communities should be available to meet with victims and their loved ones,” he said.

These meetings, the pontiff noted, provide “valuable opportunities for listening to those have greatly suffered and for asking their forgiveness.”

The Bishop of Rome then asked presidents of episcopal conferences and superiors of institutes of consecrated life and societies of apostolic life for their “close and complete cooperation” with the commission for minors.

Having met with victims of sexual abuse by priests last July, the Pope closed his letter by praying that Mary would help the Church to “humbly acknowledge and repair past injustices and to remain ever faithful in the work of protecting those closest to the heart of Jesus.”

Headed by Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors is composed of 17 members from all over the world, including American priest Mons. Robert W. Oliver.

Mons. Oliver worked extensively with Cardinal O’Malley in handling cases of sexual abuse of minors by priests during the 2002 abuse crisis in the Boston archdiocese.

Several professors and experts in psychology, law, and aid offered to those victimized by sexual abuse are among those working on the commission.

With 8 new members added last December, the complete commission will meet for the first time Feb. 6-8 in Rome, where it is expected that they will approve the draft of their statues.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope gives 300 umbrellas to Rome’s homeless amid downpour

by CNA/EWTN News • February 5, 2015

Pilgrims wait in the rain in St. Peter’s Square March 13, 2013 to see what color smoke will come out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel. (Jeffrey Bruno/CNA)

Vatican City — After several days of rain and dreary weather that has not yet cleared, the Vatican’s papal almoner has distributed 300 umbrellas to homeless persons around Rome on behalf of Pope Francis.

Italian news agency ANSA reports that the almoner, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, handed out the umbrellas to homeless persons who gravitate toward the Vatican, as well as various other areas around Rome.

As papal almoner, the Polish bishop is charged with the dual responsibility of carrying out acts of charity for the poor and raising the money to fund them. When the archbishop was appointed, Pope Francis urged him not to stay at his desk but rather to be an active worker for the benefit of the poor.

In November, at the archbishop’s request, construction started on new showers for the homeless in the public bathrooms in St. Peter’s Square, which had already been scheduled for renovation for some time.

Vatican Insider reports that Archbishop Krajewski received his inspiration for the showers after taking a homeless man to dinner in order to celebrate his birthday. The man, who turned 50, told the archbishop that finding food in the city is easy, but staying clean is not.

Also included in the renovated bathrooms is the space for a barber, where the homeless will be able to go to get a haircut and keep themselves tidy.

The difficulty that homeless persons face in washing themselves, the archbishop noted, can be a cause for others to reject them – or causes them to fear rejection.

Another reason for offering the showers and haircuts is to promote health and help reduce the risk of disease, he added.

Many barbers have volunteered for the service with enthusiasm, including two barbers from the national Italian organization that transports the sick to Lourdes, France and other international shrines. Other volunteers are finishing their final year in barber school.

The barber service will be open on Mondays, when barber shops in Italy are traditionally closed. It is scheduled to open in several weeks.

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VATICAN NEWS

Tech-savvy Pope shares laughter, advice with special needs kids

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • February 5, 2015

Pope Francis speaks with children through Google Hangouts, Feb. 5, 2015. (CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis virtually joined seven young people with disabilities and special needs in his second Google Hangout as pontiff, sharing jokes, advice and encouragement.

“Each one of us has a treasure inside,” the Pope told the young people during his Feb. 5 Google Hangout.

He said that when “we share our own treasure with others, it multiples along with the treasures that come from the others we meet.”

“What I want to say is don’t hide the treasure that each one of you has. Sometimes we find it right away. Sometimes you have to do a little game of treasure hunt. But once you find it, share it, because when you share it you receive from others and it multiplies.”

He encouraged the youth to continue moving forward, saying that what they are doing “helps all of us to understand that life is a beautiful treasure, but it only makes sense if we give it.”

The seven young people who participated in the hangout session with Pope Francis hail from all corners of the world, including Spain, India, Brazil and the United States.

Among the four participants from Spain were Isabel, 13, who is blind; Bautista, 12, who has autism; and 17-year-old Alicia and Elvira, who both have Down syndrome.

Other participants included 13-year-old Manosh from India, who is deaf; Pedro from Brazil, who has a congenital malformation; and Isaiah from the United States, who has a type of growth disorder which affects his motor skills.

Each participant had the opportunity to speak spontaneously to the Pope without a text, telling him about themselves and how they use technology to help them with their disabilities.

Pope Francis, in turn, responded to each one personally, and spoke briefly after they had all finished about treasure each one of them possesses.

The conversation included serious advice, but also moments of lighthearted banter.

When asked by Alicia if he liked to take pictures and download them onto the computer, Pope Francis responded with a jest, saying “to tell you the truth, I’m like a dummy with the machine. I don’t know how to work the computer. How embarrassing, eh?”

Isaiah, who joined in from Nebraska, asked the Pope what he does when he faces something difficult. The Pope responded by saying that “first of all I try not to get angry. (I try) to be calm.”

“Afterward I try to look for a way to overcome it. And if I can’t overcome, I endure it until I see a way of overcoming it,” he said.

“We must never be afraid. We are all capable of overcoming (difficult situations). We only need time to understand, intelligence to look for the way and courage to go forward. But never be afraid.”

The hangout session was organized by the educational foundation Scholas Occurentes during their Feb. 2-5 global congress in Rome.

Scholas was founded by Pope Francis while he was still archbishop of Buenos Aires as an initiative to encourage social integration and the culture of encounter through technology, arts and sports.

With just a few youth involved at its beginning, the foundation now consists of a worldwide network of 400,000 state and religious schools, which are organized by Argentinian school headmasters Enrique Palmeyro and José María del Corral.

Marking the pontiff’s second hangout session since becoming pope, today’s encounter was organized in partnership with Google, Microsoft, IBM and technology development company Globant.

Pope Francis held his first Google Hangout with high school students last September in order to promote the “Scholas Social” website, which is dedicated to raising funds for educational projects that promote interaction between schools with various social challenges.

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VATICAN NEWS

Archbishop Romero’s witness a ‘slap in the face’ to self-centered society

by CNA/EWTN News • February 5, 2015

Archbishop Oscaro Romero with young people in El Salvador in this undated file photo. (Arzobispado de San Salvador/Oficina de la Causa de Canonizacion)

Vatican City — Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, the postulator of Archbishop Oscar Romero’s cause for beatification, said the martyr’s life was a chastisement of modern societies in which individuals focus on themselves.

“He was a bishop who dedicated his episcopal ministry, rather, his own life, to helping, relieving and defending those who are poorest and who are weakest, and (it’s) like a slap in the face to a contemporary society folded in on itself, each individual interested in their own well-being,” Archbishop Paglia, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, told CNA Feb. 4.

Archbishop Paglia had just participated in a press briefing which was held the day after Pope Francis authorized the promulgation of decrees recognizing the martyrdom of the Salvadoran archbishop, who was assassinated in 1980 while saying Mass.

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

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

“Romero’s witness of martyrdom starting from Latin America, through Pope Francis, can help the whole of America, the whole of Europe,” Archbishop Paglia said.

Archbishop Romero showed that “if you don’t go to the outskirts of the cities, our peripheries become places of violence and inevitable terrorism, because it’s only integration and agreement that can save us from a violence that would otherwise remain without medicine,” he said.

“Romero, welcoming martyrdom upon himself, emptied the violence of its venom. They wanted to shut him up, (but) he responded with love. Others have disappeared, (while) Romero continues to speak to all of us.”

Archbishop Paglia referred to his pectoral cross – a sign of his episcopal dignity – saying that “for me it means everyday ‘remember that also you have to give your life for others.’”

During the press briefing, Archbishop Paglia said it is “an extraordinary gift for all of the Church at the beginning of this millennium to see rise to the altar a pastor who gave his life for his people.”

“Gratitude is also due to Benedict XVI, who followed the cause from the very beginning and on 20 December 2012 – just over a month before his resignation – decided to unblock the process to enable it to follow the regular itinerary,” he reflected.

He said the work of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints had been “careful and attentive” and that the congregation’s commissions of cardinals and theologians had both unanimously confirmed his killing was done in hatred of the faith.

Archbishop Romero’s death, he said, “was not only politically motivated, but due also to hatred for a faith that, combined with charity, would not stay silent when faced with the injustices that implacably and cruelly afflicted the poor and their defenders.”

“The martyrdom of Romero has given meaning and strength to many Salvadoran families who lost relatives and friends during the civil war. His memory immediately became the memory of other victims, perhaps less illustrious, of the violence.”

In the 20th century, El Salvador was marked by extreme economic inequality, with an increase in protests and rebellions in the 1970s, which were met with government repression through death squads and forced disappearances. A civil war between military-led governments and left-wing guerilla groups began in 1979, and was not concluded until 1992.

Before Archbishop Romero’s martyrdom, in the Archdiocese of San Salvador 30 priests were lost to murder or expulsion, Archbishop Paglia said, adding that “the death squads killed scores of catechists from the base communities, and many faithful disappeared from these communities.”

“The Church was the main target of accusation and therefore the hardest hit. Romero resisted and accepted giving his life to defend his people.”

The postulator of the cause said Archbishop Romero “believed in his role as a bishop” and “became the defender of the poor in the face of cruel repression.” He “considered himself responsible for the population, especially the poorest.”

“Therefore, he took upon himself the bloodshed, pain and violence, denouncing their causes in his charismatic Sunday preaching that was listened to on the radio by the entire nation … he transformed himself into a ‘defensor civitatis’ following the tradition of the ancient Fathers of the Church, defending the persecuted clergy, protecting the poor, and affirming human rights.”

According to Archbishop Paglia, Archbishop Romero “was not partisan, although to some he appeared that way; rather, he was a pastor who sought the common good of all, starting however with the poor. He never ceased to seek out the way for the pacification of the country.”

He concluded saying that Archbishop Romero was “a man of God, a man of prayer, of obedience and love for the people.”

“There is something providential in the fact that Romero will be declared blessed by the first Pope from South America, a Pope who asks for a poor Church for the poor, which is what Romero lived for to the point of shedding his blood.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis goes to Washington: will Congress listen?

by CNA/EWTN News • February 5, 2015

Pope Francis arrives at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, Nov. 25, 2014. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis’ address to a joint session of Congress during his U.S. visit in September will be a “wonderful opportunity,” Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia has said.

“It’s an opportunity for him to call our Congressmen to work for the common good and to work for the support of the dignity of every individual,” Archbishop Chaput told CNA in Rome Feb. 5.

He said the invitation to Pope Francis is “a sign of how much Pope Francis is appreciated as a world leader.”

Speaker of the House John Boehner (R-Ohio) announced the visit on Thursday.

“We’re humbled that the Holy Father has accepted our invitation and certainly look forward to receiving his message on behalf of the American people,” Boehner told reporters, according to the Associated Press.

“In a time of global upheaval, the Holy Father’s message of compassion and human dignity has moved people of all faiths and backgrounds,” he added in a statement. “His teachings, prayers, and very example bring us back to the blessings of simple things and our obligations to one another.”

President Barack Obama mentioned the papal visit in his Feb. 5 remarks to the National Prayer Breakfast, saying, “like millions of Americans, I am very much looking forward to welcoming Pope Francis to the United States later this year.”

The Pope will address Congress on Sept. 24.

In November, Pope Francis announced his intention to visit Philadelphia in conjunction with the World Meeting of Families, held in Philadelphia Sept. 22-27.

The gathering is a global Catholic event that seeks to support and strengthen families.

Archbishop Chaput, who will host the meeting, spoke with Pope Francis on Thursday morning.

“He seemed to be very much into coming and very happy about the opportunity, his first visit to the United States,” the archbishop said. “Of course, it’s going to be wonderful for us.”

Pope Francis “was curious about the life of the local Church as well as the World Meeting of Families.”

“He talked more about Philadelphia than he did about the world meeting,” Archbishop Chaput said.

The archbishop and Pope Francis had “a very relaxed and fraternal conversation” during the formal visit at the library of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City.

“It was a wonderful blessing for me personally,” Archbishop Chaput said.

The conversation was “more questions about what I thought about things” than the Pope “offering his own opinion,” the archbishop reported, saying this was similar to his meetings with St. John Paul II.

Archbishop Chaput said more work is to be done to prepare for the Eighth World Meeting of Families.

“We don’t have any definitive plans, but I’m sure there’ll be more meetings in Rome. There always are.”

“We still have eight months to go, so there’s quite a bit of time,” he added.

The Pope could visit the White House and the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

A potential New York City visit would include a visit to the United Nations and perhaps St. Patrick’s Cathedral, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Holy See’s observer to the UN in New York and a member of the organizing committee for Pope Francis’ upcoming visit to the U.S., told CNA in January.

New York City’s Madison Square Garden is a potential venue for a papal Mass. The Pope could visit Ground Zero, the site of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, as well as take part in an interethnic meeting with representatives of various communities.

However, a spokesperson for the Philadelphia archdiocese stressed that the official schedule has not been finalized.

Archbishop Auza said that an organizational visit from a Vatican delegation will take place at the end of February.

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VATICAN NEWS

Awaiting an ecology encyclical, everyone wants Pope Francis’ support

by Catholic News Agency’s Vatican Observer, Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • February 6, 2015

(CC0 1.0)

Vatican City — In view of the much anticipated encyclical on ecology, countries, agencies, and even industries are seeking papal support in advance of the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference, being held in Paris in December.

During his Jan. 15 in-flight press conference from Sri Lanka to the Philippines, Pope Francis said, “I will take a week of March, an entire week, to complete it. I believe that by the end of March it will be finished and sent out for translation. I think that if the work of translation goes well … it can come out in June or July. The important thing is that there be a bit of time between the issuing of the encyclical and the meeting in Paris, so that it can make a contribution.”

While one of the restricted meetings that usually take place before any UN conference is being held in Geneva, Anote Tong, president of Kiribati, a Micronesian nation, met with Pope Francis on Thursday.

Kiribati consists of more than 30 atolls, and Tong is very concerned about his country’s future, as it becomes uninhabitable because of a shortage of potable water and disappearing land due to climate change.

According to the Holy See press office, Tong and Pope Francis discussed “the importance of the safeguard of the environment and the issue of climate change, the effects of which are worrying.”

Tong also met with officials of the Vatican Secretariat of State.

Papal support has also been sought by the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA administrator Gina McCarthy came to meet Vatican officials Jan. 31 with the aim of showing how aligned US president Barack Obama and Pope Francis are on climate change. McCarthy shared in a press conference that global warming is a public threat, but also a chance for economic opportunity.

According to a source involved in the preparation of the meetings, the talk between McCarthy and Vatican officials dealt with a wide range of issues, included that of the Holy See’s policy at the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference, which is expected to be crucial.

The Holy See’s position is likely to be focused on two key topics: the need for a sustainable development, and the duty to protect.

“This latter may be defined as the duty to protect populations from war or the duty to protect creation from exploitation,” a Vatican official expert in environmental issues explained to CNA Feb. 5.

These two issues should be the pillars of the Holy See’s position at the 2015 Paris conference.

During the Jan. 15 press conference, Pope Francis said that the last such conference, held in Peru, “was nothing great. I was disappointed by the lack of courage; things came to a stop at a certain point. Let’s hope that in Paris the delegates will be more courageous and will move forward with this.”

According to insiders, the document drafted in Lima was almost interlocutory, filled with “notions that needed further clarification.”

“For example, an issue at stake is that of the intended national determined contribution – the effort each country undertakes to contribute to the common effort of combating climate change,” the source maintained. “But who will decide whether this effort is compliant or not? Who will control how financial support is being managed to meet the goals? And who will ask the parties to foster or increase their commitment?”

The Holy See’s opinion on the task may be crucial to switch the balance of discussions to one side or on the other, and this is the main reason why Pope Francis’ encyclical is so much awaited.

The first draft of the encyclical was prepared by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace; Cardinal Turkson, the pontifical council’s president, delivered a collection of opinions gathered from its internal and external advisors.

The Vatican source maintained that the draft was then reviewed by a restricted commission which included officials of the Second Section of the State Secretariat, members of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, and a top representative of the Pontifical Academy for Sciences.

Pope Francis said during his in-flight interview that together with theologians he made a third draft, sending a copy to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the State Secretariat, and the Theologian of the Papal Household, and that he had received their responses.

The final draft of the encyclical is reportedly now in the Pope’s hands.

The encyclical’s main themes will likely be based on the twin pillars of a duty to protect and sustainable development.

The encyclical should also deal with the issues of land seizures and of the universal destination of goods, a struggle the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace has been carrying forward for years.

To this end, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace will release the document “Earth and Food” by the beginning of March.

The document will be divided in three parts. The first part addresses some of the most important issues, such as the unmet right to food and the unsustainable use of natural resources; the second will propose Church teaching on creation; and the third will provide guidelines to address the issues.

“It is likely that most of these reflections will be part of Pope Francis’ encyclical on ecology,” the Vatican source concluded.

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VATICAN NEWS

Modern martyrs are massacred by ‘corrupt people who hate Jesus,’ Pope says

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

Pope Francis celebrates Thanksgiving Mass for Canadian Saints François of Laval and Marie of the Incarnation on Oct. 12, 2014. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

Vatican City — In his homily on Friday Pope Francis said that he is moved whenever he thinks of the many Christians killed for their faith, and encouraged faithful to remember them and their courageous witness.

“I think of our martyrs, the martyrs of our times, men, women, children who are being persecuted, hated, driven out of their homes, tortured, massacred,” the Pope told attendees of his Feb. 6 Mass, held in the chapel of the Vatican’s Saint Martha guesthouse.

This martyrdom, he said, “is not a thing of the past: this is happening right now. Our martyrs, who are meeting their end under the authority of corrupt people who hate Jesus Christ.”

Friday also marked the feast of Japanese martyr St. Paul Miki and his 25 companions, who were killed in hatred of the faith in Nagasaki on Feb. 5, 1597.

On the feast commemorating their sacrifice, the Pope said that it would do the Church well to think about martyrs. While Paul Miki and his companions were an essential witness of their time, the pontiff urged attendees to “think of our present-day ones! Of 2015.”

Pope Francis also recalled the death of John the Baptist in the day’s first reading, who was beheaded after speaking out against Herod’s marriage to his brother’s wife.

Although John the Baptist is referred to in scripture as “the greatest man born of woman,” at the end of his life he becomes “so very small” through his imprisonment and death at the hands of a king “both fascinated and puzzled” by him.

“That perplexed king becomes capable of making a decision, not because his heart was converted, but because the wine gave him courage,” the Roman Pontiff observed.

“So John ends his life under the authority of a mediocre, drunk and corrupt king, at the whim of a dancer and the vindictive hatred of an adulteress. That’s how the Great Man ends his life, the greatest man born of woman.”

The Pope confessed that “I get emotional” when reading the passage because it reminds him of all those who give their life for the faith.

Pope Francis said that John the Baptist’s final days before his death, during which he suffered doubts that Jesus was truly the one for whom he prepared the way, makes him think of the road we all take, and “where we will all end up.”

“This makes me think of myself: I too will meet my end. We all will. No one can ‘buy’ their life,” he said.

He concluded his homily by noting how each person is traveling on the road of “the existential annihilation of life” faced by both John the Baptist and Jesus on the cross, and prayed “that this annihilation is as similar as possible to that of Jesus Christ.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis backs traditional marriage as Slovakia vote looms

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

A couple newly married by Pope Francis receives communion in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sept. 14, 2014. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

Vatican City — With Slovaks set to hit the polls on tomorrow’s referendum on marriage, Pope Francis used this week’s general audience as a chance to encourage voters in defending the sacrament’s traditional definition.

“I greet the pilgrims from Slovakia and, through them, I wish to express my appreciation to the entire Slovak Church, encouraging everyone to continue their efforts in defense of the family, the vital cell of society,” the Pope told pilgrims in his Feb. 4 general audience.

The Pope’s declaration in defense of the family falls just days before Slovakians will vote for the third time on whether or not same-sex unions should be legalized in the country.

After the Slovakian parliament inserted the definition of traditional marriage into their constitution last year, more than 400,000 Slovaks signed a petition calling for a national vote, Reuters news reports.

Saturday’s referendum poses three questions to voters: whether marriage can only be a union between a man and a woman, whether children should be adopted by same-sex couples, and whether or not children can skip classes that educate on sex and euthanasia.

Gay unions of any type are currently illegal in Slovakia, and two attempts to push them through parliament have failed in the past, Reuters reports.

The country’s bishops have urged widespread support for campaigns to keep the traditional definition of marriage, and the Slovakian Episcopal Conference issued a pastoral letter on the topic that was read aloud in a televised Mass Feb. 1.

Speaking of St. Joseph’s immediate defense of the child Jesus when informed by an angel that Herod was seeking to kill him after his birth, the bishops encouraged all parents and grandparents to go to the polls and defend young lives and families.

In the face of those who want to distort children’s personality and sexuality to the extent that their future marital relationships will be affected, the bishops said that parents cannot remain “impassive.”

Pope Francis in October warned members of the German Schoenstatt movement that the sacrament of marriage today has been reduced to an association, and encouraged them to be faithful witnesses in a secular world.

“The family is being hit, the family is being struck and the family is being bastardized … you can call everything family, right?” he asked.

“What is being proposed is not marriage, it’s an association. But it’s not marriage! It’s necessary to say these things very clearly and we have to say it!”

Pope Francis also lamented the fact that there are so many “new forms” of unions that are “totally destructive and limiting the greatness of the love of marriage.”

He encouraged Catholics to engage in “close combat” with these destructive unions, particularly in the area of pastoral care, saying that it is the key to defending the sanctity of the sacrament.

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VATICAN NEWS

For Cardinal Baldisseri, consensus at the Synod of Bishops remains important

by Catholic News Agency’s Vatican Observer, Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • February 7, 2015

A cardinal peruses the news in the Vatican’s Synod Hall during the Extraordinary Synod on the Family, Oct. 10, 2014. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Even though the 2014 Synod on the Family’s final report included three paragraphs that failed to gain a consensus among the synod fathers, the secretary general of the Synod of Bishop maintains that the principle of consensus remains valid.

Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri recently granted an interview to “La Settimana,” a Italian weekly magazine specialized in religion. In the interview, Cardinal Baldisseri spoke about the renewal of the Synod of Bishop and the main issues the discussion at the last synod zeroed in on.

He identified the “doctrinal framework on the marriage, the foundation of the family” as one of the points of strength of the recent synod’s final report.

The 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family was held in October, and served as a preparation for an Ordinary Synod on the Family which will be held this autumn.

“I would also add the announcement of the Gospel of the Family, and the push for marriage preparation in a social framework that has completely changed since St. John Paul II’s Familiaris consortio was written,” Cardinal Baldisseri underscored.

St. John Paul II promulgated Familiaris consortio in 1981.

All the issues presented by Cardinal Baldisseri were included synod’s final report, as a result of a lively discussion among the synod fathers.

After discussion in small groups, many synod fathers criticized the midterm report, and asked the synod to focus more on the positive examples of Christian families; to rewrite the introduction and to more often refer to the Gospel of the Family; and also that it adopt a more prudent approach concerning the issues of the divorced and remarried, and homosexuals, in order not to produce confusion among the faithful about Church teaching.

For example, the third English-speaking group, chaired by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, said that “we strongly felt that the tone of the entire document should express our confidence in marriage.”

And the second English-speaking group, headed by Cardinal Wilfrid Napier of Durban, said the midterm report placed “too much emphasis on the problems facing the family,” and urged that the final report “provide an enthusiastic message which would encourage and inspire hope.”

All of these issues were welcomed by Cardinal Baldisseri as points of strength of the synod’s final report.

Cardinal Baldisseri did not identify points of weakness in the synod’s final report, but rather spoke of “a path of renewal of the institution (of the Synod) that has just begun, and that perhaps aroused some reaction in some.”

“There was not a lack of transparency in the development of the synod’s discussion. It was rather the contrary,” Cardinal Baldisseri claimed.

The 2014 synod has been criticized in some circles for a lack of transparency, because in previous synods the interventions, or speeches, of the participants were made public. The 2014 synod, overseen by Cardinal Baldisseri, did not publicly release the texts of the interventions.

The secretary general of the synod said the real news of the final report “is that the Holy Father chose to publish it immediately it in its entirety, including the paragraphs that did not reach the supermajority of two-thirds of the votes.”

According to the synod’s regulations, paragraphs that do not receive a supermajority of two-thirds have not gained a consensus, and thus customarily are not published in the final report.

At the 2014 synod, two contentious paragraphs on the divorced and remarried, and one about homosexuals, failed to garner two-thirds of votes – though they did receive a simple majority.

Cardinal Baldisseri stated that “the norm regarding a supermajority were inserted in the synod regulations only about 10 years ago. The principle that consensus, or at least the wider and qualifying adhesion (to each paragraph), remains valid.”

The lively discussions during the synod are described by Cardinal Baldisseri as an expression of “the spirit of communion, with great respect for the diverse positions, although the positions were contrasting in some issues.”

The secretary general of the synod stressed that the work of the small groups was “fundamental, serious, and rich in ideas,” so that their “changes or contributions were inserted into the framework of the mid-term report” to create the final report.

The cardinal also recounted that “there was a lively exchange of opinions” regarding the publication of the small groups’ reports, while many synod fathers did not even consider it opportune to publish the mid-term report.

Cardinal Baldisseri stated that “there are new situations that must be faced, not avoided … some of these situations never occurred before; they need a doctrinal deepening and pastoral courage to find proper solutions, always respecting truth and charity.”

He affirmed that there are “attacks on and radical critics of the family, especially in the western world,” and stressed that “the Church is on the front line to respond (to these attacks) and to defend the institution of the family as a foundation of society and – for Christians – as the domestic Church.”

Cardinal Baldisseri also recounted that the synod’s discussion “very much zeroed in on the need for more knowledge of Church teaching on marriage and the family, and – at the same time – on the need to give an adequate formation for marriage to young people.”

Another issue at stake was that of “the streamlining of the procedures for declarations of nullity” and of “the Christian education of families,” since it is from families that “Christian faith arises, and there one should find the primary and determining reference point for Christian education.”

In conclusion, Cardinal Baldisseri said that “Pope Francis desires that the synod fathers, bishops from all over the world, and the faithful be involved. In his speech at the end of the synod, the Pope said that we have one year we can use to bring ideas and proposals to maturation with true discernment, and find solutions.”

“The Pope is clear with these words. There must not be any reticence, recession of thought, or fear in carrying forward the work of deepening (the synod’s issues). The Church is driven by the Holy Spirit.”

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Bishop urges youth of India to work for tolerance amid increase in violence

by Antonio Anup Gonsalves (CNA/EWTN News) • January 31, 2015

Women on the street of Jaipur, India, March 2009. (Bo Nielsen via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)

Bellary, India — The head of the Indian Catholic Youth Movement, Bishop Hendry D’Souza of Bellary, has raised his voice about the necessity of religious tolerance and interreligious dialouge in India.

“Social amity should not be the responsibility of the government alone, rather all citizens of the country have a bounden duty to consciously stand for such fundamental rights and ensure all communities enjoy them without discrimination, especially the minorities and weaker sections,” Bishop D’Souza told CNA Jan. 29.

He was reflecting on US president Barack Obama’s address to the people of India, delivered two days earlier in New Delhi. Obama said the US and India can be “best partners” and encouraged the dreams of youth. He also professed the importance of freedom of religion in both nations, and unity across religious divides.

Bishop D’Souza praised the address, and noted its warm reception by Indian youths. The Indian Catholic Youth Movement, which he chairs, has a membership of more than 50,000.

“Religious leaders have an added duty to form to their fellow believers to treat all religions with due respect and shun all forms of intolerance,” Bishop D’Souza said. “Without considering each other as enemies, religious followers must fight common enemies such as poverty, disease, the dehumanizing caste system, sex-selective abortion, violence against women, and the degradation of the environment.

Tolerance of religions is important in the Hindu-majority India because of a recent rise in attacks by Hindu radicals against members of minority religions.

An estimated 80 percent of the population is Hindu, while 13 percent are Muslim. There are also notable minorities of Christians (two percent), Sikhs (two percent), and Buddhists (one percent).

Since the May election of Narendra Modi, a Hindu nationalist, as prime minister, the already common threat of religious violence has increased. Around 600 cases of physical and structural violence against Muslims and Christians have been reported since the election, as well as forced conversions to Hinduism.

“Promotion of interreligious interactions and interreligious dialogue are the need of the hour,” Bishop D’Souza reflected. “They need to be promoted at various levels, both informally and formally. With a nationwide large network of educational institutions and youth associations, the Catholic Church is in a position to sensitize children and youth to the demands of such a task. Interreligious outlook and values are being inculcated through formal and informal education.”

This education, he said, “should start in the families and continue through formal education in schools and colleges,” saying that “no one disputes the need of social harmony for the progress of a country. It is of paramount importance.”

He said many of India’s youth are “open, democratic and inclusive. However, there is a fringe element which is vocal and vociferous, vulnerable to extremist tendencies. They are victims of religious and social prejudices, gender biases and superstitious beliefs.”

Bishop D’Souz lamented that e”xplicit political will to contain all forms of violence emanating from religious fanaticism is yet to be seen.”

“The Church in India is serving the people of India irrespective of their religious affiliation, in the fields of education, social development, and health care. Its services are substantial and widely lauded, especially for the physically challenged and the aged.”

“Through education, the Church has contributed immensely to break the barriers of prejudices and stereotypes through formal and informal education and women empowerment programmes,” the bishop said.

He added, however, that “more needs to be done in the area of caste discrimination and indignity of women.”

The Indian Catholic Youth Movement and other groups, such as Young Christian Students and Young Students’ Movement, Bishop D’Souza said “are helping the youth to be interreligious in their outlook, to respect all humans in all stages and forms, to be pro-life and to protect the environment. All these activities are profoundly inspired by the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, promoting universal brotherhood and sisterhood of all people.”

He said that “though Christians are accused of ‘proselytizing and converting’, the Catholic Church sincerely avoids all forms of unethical and unlawful evangelism. While the Church is contributing its bit, nay it’s very best, to build a more humane and a harmonious society, a fanatical, even sinister section of society is bent upon causing disruption and discord. That’s where the law-enforcing state should intervene firmly and impartially, nipping such tendencies in the bud, before it becomes a communal inferno, disrupting the nation’s progress.”

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Vatican commission to oversee Catholic university in Jordan

by CNA/EWTN News • February 2, 2015

The American University of Madaba, located in Jordan. (Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem)

Amman, Jordan — The Vatican Secretariat of State has established an ad hoc commission to oversee the American University of Madaba, a Catholic university in Jordan, to examine its financial stability, its governance, and its academics.

The commission “will work in full collaboration with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, the promoter of the project and owner of the university, and will be reporting directly to the Secretary of State,” read a Jan. 15 statement from the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.

Patriarch Fouad Twal of Jerusalem “gladly accepted the initiative of the Secretariat of State,” the release added.

The commission aims to “assure the optimum development of the university,” the patriarchate said.

The university was established by the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It opened in October 2011, intending to reach a capacity of 8,000 students. It follows an American style of higher education with four-year university instruction, and classes in English.

The university is located in Madaba, a city located 25 miles southwest of Amman and which is Patriarch Twal’s hometown.

The ad hoc commission began its work in November 2014. It will oversee three aspect of the university: its financial stability, viability and probity; its governance and administrative structures; and its academic planning.

The commission will have full autonomy to accomplish its tasks, with respect to Jordanian law.

Agostino Borromeo, Governor General of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, was asked to form the commission and coordinate it.

Archbishop Giorgio Lingua, Apostolic Nuncio to Jordan and to Iraq, has been appointed head of the commission’s Committee of Administration. The committee will monitor and coordinate the university’s work until July 2015, when more permanent arrangements are intended to be set up.

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Could Italy’s new president turn the spotlight on Catholic social teaching?

by Catholic News Agency’s Vatican Observer, Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • February 2, 2015

Sergio Mattarella, who was elected president of Italy Jan. 31, 2015. (Presidenza della Repubblica)

Rome, Italy — Saturday’s election of Sergio Mattarella as Italy’s president is an affirmation of the social commitment of Catholics in public policy, according Fr. Bartolomeo Sorge, S.J., who has long been close to Mattarella.

“Mattarella and Pope Francis have many things in common in terms of contents of political action,” Fr. Sorge told CNA Feb. 2.

The role of Italy’s president is largely ceremonial, though he does appoint the prime minister. Mattarella, 73, is an independent and has most recently served as a constitutional court judge. He was nominated by prime minister Matteo Renzi, and was elected by Italy’s parliament on Jan. 31; he will take office Feb. 3.

Mattarella’s elder brother, Piersanti, was governor of Sicily and was killed by the Mafia in 1980. Mattarella entered politics among the ranks of Christian Democracy.

Christian Democracy was founded in 1943, and inherited the legacy of the Italian People’s Party, which was founded by Fr. Luigi Sturzo – the party offered a solid Catholic point of reference, and attracted those formed in Catholic associations.

The party came to an end in 1994 with the Tangentopoli scandal, an investigation of nationwide investigation into political corruption.

Catholics are now said to be increasingly irrelevant in the Italian political landscape, but the election of a Catholic president shows that the Catholic experience in policy may still have an impact.

A former editor of the Italian Jesuit-run magazine “Aggiornamenti Sociali,” Fr. Sorge stressed that “Pope Francis’ exhortation Evangelii Gaudium dedicates 10 paragraphs to good politics, which have not been taken into much consideration.”

Fr. Sorge commented that “almost unaware of it, Pope Francis makes current again Fr. Sturzo’s intuition. Like Fr. Sturzo, the Pope does not address only Catholics, but both believers and non- believers, and tells them which are the foundations of the good politics, which is the foundation of Fr. Sturzo’s thought, reviewed and updated.”

This is why “the election of Mattarella awards Fr. Sturzo’s intuition of a strong lay commitment to Christian values in politics.”

As Christian Democracy was composed of a huge platform, it was generally divided in wings, and Mattarella was part of the leftist wing of the party.

Though all the wings preserved their Catholic identity, each was characterized by a particular way to act in politics. The so called “left DC” was well known for its social commitment, which also brought it to some merging of interests with Italy’s socialist and communist parties.

In his younger years, Mattarella was an active member of Azione Cattolica. As he had no intention to undertake a political career, he started a promising career as a law professor.

His political career started when his brother Piersanti was killed in Palermo by the mafia.

In Palermo, Sergio Mattarella established ties and friendships with Cardinal Salvatore Pappalardo, who is considered a symbol of anti-mafia activism.

Mattarella also became acquainted with the social work of the Jesuits of the “Center Pedro Arrupe” in Palermo, especially with Fathers Ennio Pintacuda and Bartolomeo Sorge.

These latter were the minds behind the “Palermo spring”: members of the Church and civil society rose up against bad government and the mafia.

Fr. Sorge recounted that he and Mattarella “have been very close in difficult years. I got to Palermo after Piersanti Mattarella was killed, and Sergio Mattarella started working behind the curtain to create a new political season in Sicily, which was later called the ‘Palermo spring’.”

According to Fr. Sorge, it was thanks to Mattarella that “Christian Democracy agreed not to follow the national and usual criteria for candidacies to the elections and to back the Leoluca Orlando administration, who was elected as mayor of Palermo and governed with a ‘strange’ coalition that included many parties.”

“Though the party was hesitating, he was able with his reasoning to convince the party’s top officials that a new way had to be followed in Palermo,” Fr. Sorge said.

In that period, Ciriaco De Mita was the general secretary of Christian Democracy. As expression of the ‘Left DC’, he was able to unify all the DC wings.

During those years, the DC-led government was in the process of revision of the “Concordate”, a pact signed between the Italian government and the Vatican to regulate their mutual relationship.

Giuliano Amato – who represented the Italian side – and Monsignor Achille Silvestrini – who represented the Vatican – played a prominent role in the negotiations.

During his years as a member of parliament, three time minister (for defense, for education, and for relations with parliament), and deputy president of the Italian Council, Mattarella had frequent contact with Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, now prefect emeritus of the Congregation of Bishops, who managed most of the connections between the Holy See and Italian Catholic politicians, thanks to his role in the process of revision of the Concordate.

After Christian Democracy’s collapse, Catholics politicians were scattered among several political parties.

Mattarella remained on the center-left, and served from 1998 to 1999 as deputy premier for the first ever Italian administration run by a former member of the communist party, the D’Alema government.

However, his profile of faithful servant of the state has never been brought under discussion. As a juridical expert, he will not take ideological stances when he will have to sign laws. He will most likely look at the juridical framework, and will then deem if this is accurate or not.

“More than a leader, he is a hidden persuader, a moral persuader” said Fr. Sorge.

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Faith under siege: fifth Catholic church vandalized in New Delhi over two months

by Antonio Anup Gonsalves (CNA/EWTN News) • February 3, 2015

desecrated the tabernacle of St. Alphonsa’s church, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi, Feb. 2, 2015. (Fr. Savarimuthu Sakar)

New Delhi, India — Unidentified persons broke into St. Alphonsa parish in the Indian capital New Delhi during the early hours of Monday morning, scattering reserved Hosts and desecrating the sanctuary.

The incident was the fifth of its kind in the Delhi area since Dec. 2.

“Some miscreants in the morning hours broke the main door of the church, entered the sacristy, ransacked it and opened the tabernacle and desecrated the holy Hosts and took away the monstrance, ciborium, and a chalice,” Fr. Savarimuthu Sankar, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Delhi, told CNA Feb. 2.

St. Alphonsa’s is located in the Vasant Kunj neighborhood of New Delhi, and is named for a Franciscan nun who died in 1946 and is the first Indian woman to be canonized, and well as the first member of the Syro-Malabar Church to be canonized.

Archbishop Anil Couto of Delhi issued a statement expressing his profound anguish, saying: “Another act of vandalism and targeted attack on our churches in Delhi is nothing but a reflection of hate campaign and false propaganda by groups whose sole aim is to break the religious harmony and social peace of this great nation.”

Over the past two months five Catholic churches in the capital have come under attacks of vandalism. The local Catholic community believes that sluggish investigation by law enforcement has also boosted the morale of the perpetrators to meticulously attack the places of worship.

The prelate slammed the government’s turning a blind eye to these attacks on the minority community, and the lack of security at the places of worship.

“The attack within a week after celebration of Republic Day reflects a lot on the government and its failure to give protection to minorities and their religious structures,” Bishop Couto said. “The central government must act swiftly and ensure that proper law and order is maintained in the national capital and religious harmony and social peace are upheld.”

The prelate also explained that the Christian community is known for “peace and non-violence.”

“As a minuscule minority we focus on serving the poor and the nation at large. But the growing number of attacks on churches and personnel in different parts of the country is aimed at creating a fear psychosis and tension among different communities,” said Bishop Couto.

Across India, Christians account for an estimated 2.3 percent of the population, which has a 81 percent Hindu majority. In the Archdiocese of Delhi, 0.4 percent of the population is Catholic.

The local police have insisted the act was a robbery, and not vandalism.

However, the faithful allege that it is an orchestrated move to bring communal disharmony and disturb peace in the political sphere.

Fr. Sankar speculated that “if the motive was theft, why they did not break open the collection boxes? They have only targeted the sacred items.”

Police and forensic teams have visited St. Alphonsa’s, taking fingerprints and beginning enquiry and investigation in the case.

The Ministry of Home Affairs, India’s analogue to the US Department of Homeland Security or Department of Justice, has intervened with the Delhi Police Commissioner, requesting a detailed report of police action in the issue, and on security at churches.

Archbishop Couto concluded that the attacks on churches in Delhi certainly would cause “irreparable damage to the country’s reputation in the world, as India is known for religious tolerance and unity in diversity.”

During these few months the attacks on Catholic churches have increased, but the faithful are being asked to keep calm and to pray.

The first attack in the past two months was an arson at St. Sebastian church, Dilshad Garden, on Dec. 2. Then stones were thrown at Our Lady of Fatima, a Syro-Malabar parish in Jasola, during Mass on Dec. 7. A crib was found charred on the premises of the Church of the Resurrection in Rohini Jan. 4, and a Marian statue was destroyed at the grotto of Our Lady of Graces in Vikaspuri on Jan. 14.

Two men have been arrested in the connection with alleged vandalism.

The frequent attacks in recent weeks have raised alarms about poor security at churches, and has hurt the religious sentiment of people of all religions in the area.

However, New Delhi is preparing for Assembly elections, which will be held this weekend. The favored candidates are Arvind Kejriwal of the Aam Aadmi party and Kiran Bedi of the Bharatiya Janata Party, a Hindu nationalist party.

Since BJP won national elections in March, a wave of religious discrimination has ensued, including forced “conversions” of Muslims to Hinduism.

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Holy See to UN: stop ignoring attacks on Christian women, girls

by CNA/EWTN News • February 3, 2015

Young women walk along a street in Bangalore, India. (Hillary Mast/CNA)

New York City, N.Y. — The Holy See’s delegation to the United Nations has warned that Christians face “extinction” in some regions of armed conflict, with Christian women and girls particularly vulnerable.

Monsignor Janusz Urbanczyk, the Chargé d’Affaires of the Holy See’s Permanent Observer Mission to the United Nations, voiced concern about the “continued lack of attention” given to protecting women and girls who are “targeted and attacked purely because of the faith they profess.”

“The lack of focus and priority for protecting them is troubling when Christians face extinction in some regions of the world and in other regions Christian schools for girls are targeted and attacked,” he told the U.N. Security Council Jan. 30.

“This is a shared reality of members of all faiths and therefore requires the shared commitment of members of all faiths and governments strongly to condemn and confront such violence.”

The U.N.’s top decision-making body was holding an open debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict and post-conflict situations, with a special focus on protecting women and girls.

While Msgr. Urbanczy did not name specific areas where Christians are vulnerable, many thousands of Christians have been targeted for violence in Iraq by the Islamic State group and other forces. In Nigeria, the Islamic extremist group Boko Haram kidnapped several hundred girls from a Christian school last year, drawing attention to another violent conflict.

The monsignor voiced the Vatican’s opposition to using armed conflict “as a mean of solving disputes.” He stressed that armed conflict affects the family, forcing families to flee and causing stable communities to disintegrate.

“Ripped from their land and rich history families and entire communities are vulnerable and exploited as outsiders in foreign lands,” Msgr. Urbanczy said.

War also means that men primarily are called to fight, leaving their wives and daughters particularly vulnerable to exploitation and “gross human rights violations.”

The monsignor lamented increases in “brutal and horrific” crimes against women including sexual slavery, rape and trafficking. Sexual violence against women “tears at the very fabric of society,” he said.

Kidnapping and trafficking is “an abominable trade that must come to an end,” Msgr. Urbanczy continued.

He echoed Pope Francis’ call to reject the “culture of enslavement,” saying this must be replaced with “a culture of life and peace in which governments and the international community fulfill their fundamental responsibility to protect all people.”

Msgr. Urbanczy stressed the help that the Catholic Church is providing to women and girls victimized by war and conflict.

“The Catholic Church through her institutions and agencies around the world is providing assistance, care and support to thousands of survivors of sexual violence in situations of armed conflict,” he said. “These institutions and their courageous individuals sacrifice themselves on a daily basis and many of these have paid dearly for their endeavors.”

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Cape Verde, Africa is getting its first cardinal

by CNA/EWTN News • February 3, 2015

A Cardinal’s biretta rests on an empty chair. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Praia, Cape Verde — At the beginning of the year, Pope Francis announced that among the 20 men he would make cardinal on Feb. 14 is Bishop Arlindo Gomes Furtado of Santiago de Cabo Verde, whose episcopal motto is “Jesus, the Good Shepherd.”

Bishop Gomes will be the first cardinal from Cape Verde, a small island nation of Africa located 350 miles off the coast of Senegal, though the Church was formally established there in 1533 by Portuguese explorers.

Arlindo Gomes was born in 1949 in Figueira das Naus, Cape Verde, the fourth child of Ernesto Robalo and Maria Furtado, and he was baptized in August 1951.

He attended Sao Jose Seminary for secondary school, and then studied at the seminary of Coimbra, in Portugal. In 1976 he returned to Cape Verde, and was ordained a priest of the Santiago diocese.

Fr. Gomes served in several parishes, and from 1978 to 1986 was rector of Sao Jose Seminary. He then spent four years in Rome studying at the Biblical Institute, after which he returned briefly to Cape Verde.

From 1991 to 1995 he taught at the Higher Institute of Theological Studies in Coimbra, and helped in parishes as well. Then he returned to Cape Verde, where he was a pastor, a member of the National Board of Education, a professor at the National Police Training School, and vicar general of the Santiago diocese.

He has served as a professor of Scripture and of English, Greek, and Hebrew.

When the Diocese of Mindelo was erected in 2003 from the territory of the Santiago diocese, Fr. Gomes was appointed its first bishop. He served there until 2009, when Santiago’s bishop retired and he was transferred back, to be bishop of his home diocese.

According to Vatican Radio, Bishop Gomes “is praised not only for his pastoral zeal but also for taking a keen interest in the pastoral welfare of Cape Verdean communities in the diaspora.”

Bishop Gomes will be made a cardinal during a Feb. 14 consistory at the Vatican. At age 65, he is one of the 15 new cardinals who will be eligible to vote in a papal conclave.

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Inspired by St Don Bosco, Indian Church prepares youth to be tomorrow’s leaders

by Antonio Anup Gonsalves (CNA/EWTN News) • February 4, 2015

Bishop George Pallipparambil (2R) with pilgrim students at the Light of the World Cathedral in Miao, India. (Fr. Felix Anthony)

Miao, India — In the north-easternmost reaches of India, the Diocese of Miao is celebrating the bicentennial of St. John Bosco’s birth by continuing his legacy of educating impoverished youth and preparing them for leadership.

“We have given a special emphasis to prepare the youth to be leaders for tomorrow, for it is the youth of the nation who can bring a transformation and social change,” Fr. Felix Anthony, the Miao diocese’s head of social communications, told CNA Feb. 3.

St. John Bosco, founder of the Salesians, was born Aug. 16, 1815, and his feast day is celebrated Jan. 31. He dedicated himself to the betterment of the youth in Turin, and there founded the Salesian order to educate the young poor and to prepare them for an occupation.

Celebrating the feast of St. Don Bosco on Saturday, the Diocese of Miao held pilgrimages, a Bible quiz, and a variety of cultural events.

“Celebrating the bicentenary anniversary of St. Don Bosco, Salesian communities all over the world have organized various events,” Fr. Anthony explained.

The Bishop of Miao, George Pallipparambil, is himself a Salesian. He expressed his own joy at accompanying the youth in a pilgrimage to Light of the World Cathedral, and thanked the Salesian priests and other religious carrying out missions work in the fields of education and skill-building for the tribal population of the diocese, located in a mountainous and remote area of the state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Arunachal Pradesh is home to more than 100 distinct tribes; the state’s remote and mountainous terrain has led to challenges of poverty, underemployment, and a lack of infrastructure for its people.

Priests and religious have come from distant parts of India to serve the local population of indigenous tribes.

Beginning the celebrations at Light of the World School in Miao, Sr. Reena George, the principal, said that “St. Don Bosco dedicated his entire life for the youth … so we dedicate this cultural programme for all the Salesians working in East Arunachal Pradesh.”

Several schools, including the Newman School in Neotan, celebrated the feast of Don Bosco with Bible quizzes and a cultural program themed on the saint. St. George School in Deomali made a pilgrimage to Christ the Light Shrine, accompanied by Fr. Linus and Fr. Johannes.

Catholic schools in the diocese work for promoting moral education among the youth, as well as interreligious harmony and indigenous culture. They also work for protection of local flora and fauna – in Arunachal Pradesh, known as India’s “orchid state”, these are a primary resource in the livelihood of the local artisans, and others.

Fr. Anthony also noted, however, the challenges plaguing local youth, including an increasing number of drug abuse victims and a lack of leadership examples. “We need to make them leaders so that the younger generation will have examples to follow,” he said.

He pointed out that the Miao diocese has particularly emphasized youth formation in the face of these challenges, and that last year a youth convention was held for the first time, with the theme “Youth for Social Transformation.”

The convention “was very significant to bring all the youth from different tribes to instill in them the spirit of unity, equality, and brotherhood,” Fr. Anthony said. “This event is visioned as a possible way to build strong leaders for tomorrow who will make the transformation that their society stands in need of.”

Fr. Anthony explained that about 1,300 youth delegates participated from the seven districts of the Diocese of Miao. There are some 30,000 Catholic youth in the diocese, out of a total of 150,000.

“Drawing inspiration from St. John Bosco and relating to the challenges of modern times, there will be many more such events held in the Diocese of Miao to honor the great saint,” Fr. Anthony concluded.

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Embryos with three parents? The risks are yet to come, critics warn

by CNA/EWTN News • February 4, 2015

Human Embryo. (Firstbrook Just Click 100 via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

London, England — Despite warnings from religious leaders and scientists, British lawmakers have voted to allow a version of in-vitro fertilization that uses the DNA of three different people to conceive a baby.

“Since this is uncharted territory and the children born from this technology would have heritable genetic changes, there are also significant unknown risks to future generations,” Dr. Paul Knoepfler, an associate professor at the University of California-Davis, told the British newspaper The Telegraph.

He said the move to legalize two procedures could be an “historic mistake” that poses “serious medical risks” to the people conceived in the procedures. These risks could include developmental defects or increased rates of aging and cancer, he warned.

On Tuesday the House of Commons voted 382-128 to approve a bill allowing the embryo-modification techniques.

One focus of the techniques is mitochondrial disease, in which a woman’s eggs have faulty mitochondria, which normally convert food into energy that the body can use. Diseased mitochondria can lead to brain damage, muscle wasting, heart failure and blindness, BBC News reports.

The techniques are intended to replace the mother’s mitochondria with those from a donor.

The regulations allow two techniques: pronuclear transfer, in which two human embryos are destroyed in the process of creating a modified embryo with donor mitochondria; and an “egg repair” method called maternal spindle transfer in which the mother’s genetic material is inserted into a donor egg with good mitochondria, after which the egg is fertilized in vitro.

Ahead of the Feb. 3 vote, the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales said there are “serious ethical objections” to the procedures, noting that one technique involves “the destruction of embryos as part of the process.”

“The human embryo is a new human life, and it should be respected and protected from the moment of conception,” said Bishop John Sherrington of the bishops’ conference Department for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship.

“This is a further step in commodification of the human embryo and a failure to respect new individual human lives,” the Bishops of England and Wales said.

The bill now faces a vote in the House of Lords. Member of Parliament Fiona Bruce was among those who voted against the procedure. She cited concerns about the genetic modification of human beings, saying “the implications of this simply cannot be predicted.”

“But one thing is for sure, once this alteration has taken place, as someone has said, once the gene is out of the bottle, once these procedures that we’re asked to authorize today go ahead, there will be no going back for society.”

U.K. Public Health Minister Jane Ellison supported the bill, saying it is “a considered and informed step.”

“This is world leading science within a highly respected regulatory regime,” she said, according to the BBC. “And for the many families affected, this is light at the end of a very dark tunnel.”

The Catholic bishops noted that there have been no clinical trials of the techniques proposed for approval. A clinical trial of the technique could be legally problematic under the European Commission’s 2001 directive barring clinical trials of gene therapy that modifies a subject’s “germ line,” that is, their sex cells which pass on inheritable genetic characteristics.

Dr. Trevor Stammers, Program Director in Bioethics and Medical Law at St. Mary’s University, said that even if babies conceived through the technique are born, “they will have to be monitored all their lives, and their children will have to be as well.”

“We do not yet know the interaction between the mitochondria and nuclear DNA. To say that it is the same as changing a battery is facile. It’s an extremely complex thing,” he said, according to The Telegraph.

Rev. Brendan McCarthy, national adviser on medical ethics for the Church of England, said that changing the human germline “represents an ethical watershed” and proposals about the techniques deserve caution and “comprehensive debate and degree of consensus.”

In a Jan. 30 statement, he said the Church of England’s position is that the law should not be changed without further scientific study and debate about the techniques’ efficacy and safety.

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Political instability, war, and terrorism know no borders – Vatican official

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • February 4, 2015

Migrants at Lampedusa, who flee such situations as the instability in Libya and war and terror in Iraq and Syria. (Antonello Mangano)

Monaco — As the Vatican’s Secretary of State addressed the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean on Monday regarding the shared challenge of migration, Italy’s Red Cross announced it is awarding the people of Lampedusa for their commitment to welcoming African emigrants.

Lampedusa is a small Italian island, closer to Tunisia than it is to Sicily. The island is the primary destination for immigrants to Europe who are fleeing conflict and political instability in Africa and the Middle East, and since 1988, nearly 20,000 people have died in the Mediterranean trying to reach it.

It was the site of Pope Francis’ first official visit outside Rome, and he gave a nod to the island by nominating Archbishop Francesco Montenegro of Agrigento – in whose territory Lampedusa is – for the cardinalate.

The Italian Red Cross has said that it chose to award the people of Lampedusa because of their “generosity, refusal of prejudice, wish to alleviate human sufferings, grand spirit of brotherhood” which have made them “an example of humanity and collective responsibility” for all of Italy.

The many challenges faced by the Mediterranean region, Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Feb. 2 to the Mediterranean parliamentary assembly in Monaco, “are not confined within any one national border, indeed they are both transnational and transregional in character. No country can remain unaffected by conditions in other countries and, similarly, the Mediterranean region, affected by crises within, is not immune to the effects of crises in neighbouring regions, such as Sub-Saharan Africa and the Middle East.”

“This is a reality that all of you already know, however, it is important to restate it to remind ourselves of the important objective of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and why it was instituted.”

The assembly was founded in 2005 to help Mediterranean states work together and guarantee regional security and stability, and promote peace. The Holy See has observer status, and the cardinal described the assembly’s primary goal as “the promotion of political dialogue that is based on principles that are common to all traditions and cultures.”

Cardinal Parolin said the political instability in Libya, and war and terrorism in Iraq and Syria, “present huge challenges to the Mediterranean region and we have all too sadly witnessed the immense cost of human suffering.”

These have caused many “to risk their lives to the merciless and unscrupulous acts of people traffickers and clandestine migration.”

“Since the beginning of his pontificate Pope Francis has raised his concern on numerous occasions regarding this particular scourge,” the cardinal reminded the parliamentary representatives.

He first quoted the Pope’s Nov. 25 address to European Parliament, in which he called for “a united response to the question of migration.”

Cardinal Parolin said that “this united response necessarily involves the cooperation of Countries from both sides of the Mediterranean to address the fundamental causes of migration and thus the Holy Father urged the adoption of ‘fair, courageous and realistic policies which can assist the countries of origin in their own social and political development and in their efforts to resolve internal conflicts — the principal cause of this phenomenon.’”

Cardinal Parolin then turned to Pope Francis’ Jan. 12 address to ambassadors to the Holy See, in which he “forcefully returned again to the human tragedy of people obliged to flee their homelands because of war and political strife.”

The Syrian civil war, Cardinal Parolin said, continues “to scar the Mediterranean region, not least through the arrival of refugees who are fleeing those conflicts, but also in ways that touch on the values and principles on which the societies which share the Mediterranean region are founded.”

He cited the rise last year of “Islamic extremism and terrorism”, and said that “such ideological fundamentalism knows no borders and makes victims of all, without regard to ethnicity or religious affiliation.”

Cardinal Parolin noted that “The Holy See is particularly concerned for the survival of the Christian minorities in the Middle East, because they and other religious groups suffer disproportionately the effects of Islamic extremism … at the same time, however, the Holy See recognises that Muslims, too, continue to suffer at the hands of those who justify violence and butchery in the name of God.”

“It is regrettable that it needs to be said that violence in God’s name can never be justified. However, each and every such act needs to be condemned unequivocally.”

The Vatican Secretary of State then reiterated Pope Francis’ call for religious leaders – especially Muslims – to condemn such groups as Islamic State.

The Mediterranean has long been “the meeting place of cultures and peoples,” Cardinal Parolin reminded the parliamentarians, adding that “the challenge remains for the Mediterranean to renew itself as a place of encounter, mutual respect and peaceful coexistence … a brighter future is always possible through openness to others, dialogue and working for the common good.”

He concluded, conveying Pope Francis’ “hope that the discussions and reflections of this Assembly may contribute to a new culture of encounter among all the peoples of the Mediterranean region.”

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After pilot’s heinous execution, Jordan’s Christians pray for religious harmony

by Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • February 4, 2015

(colonoeljohnbritt via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Amman, Jordan — Christians in Jordan have responded to the Islamic State’s gruesome execution of a captured Jordanian pilot with sorrow, calling for prayer and religious and national unity.

Father Rifat Bader, general director of the Jordan-based Catholic Center for Studies and Media, said the Christian churches of Jordan conveyed their “deep sorrow and sadness” over Lt. Muath al-Kaseasbeh’s execution, which Fr. Bader characterized as a “martyrdom” and a “heinous crime against humanity.”

He said the churches called for all their bells to be rung at noon on Wednesday, and for special Masses and prayers at 6 p.m.

“The churches will hold prayers as well in the first week of February for harmony among religions, so that religions will constitute a factor conducive for peace, harmony and unity among the people rather than a factor leading to division, killing, oppression and dispute,” the priest said in a Feb. 4 statement.

Islamic State militants had captured the 26-year-old pilot in December, when his F-16 crashed in Syria during a U.S.-led air raid on Islamic State forces.

On Tuesday militants released a video of his execution; he was burned alive in a cage.

While the Islamic State had appeared to be negotiating a prisoner release with the Jordanian government in the last week, the execution of the pilot may have taken place as early as Jan. 3.

Many leading Muslim authorities and Arab political leaders have condemned the execution.

Fr. Bader voiced condolences to the pilot’s family and tribe. He thanked Jordan’s security services for keeping Jordan “as strong as ever in the face of extremism, violence and isolation.” He called for national unity under Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

“The churches also convey condolences to all humanity which is suffering from extremism, bigotry and terrorism.”

The Jordanian government responded to al-Kaseasbeh’s death by executing two prisoners linked to al-Qaeda: a woman who was a failed suicide bomber in an attack that killed 60 people in 2005; and a man sentenced to death in 2008 for planning terrorist attacks on Jordanians in Iraq, the Associated Press reports.

The Catholic Center for Studies and Media commented also on Jordan’s execution of the terrorists.

Acknowledging that Catholics “don’t admit the death penalty as legal in the normal situation,” the center said the execution was not “in the same cruel way” as the Islamic State’s execution of the al-Kaseasbeh.

The prisoners executed by Jordan were asked about their final wishes and had their bodies placed in the hospital, the Catholic Center for Studies and Media told CNA Feb. 4.

“We hope that this bad event will encourage our Jordanian society to look forward and to plan for more national unity and collaboration for the good of all citizens in the spirit of citizenship and legal equality,” the center concluded.

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Who are the two Polish priests martyred in Peru?

by CNA/EWTN News • February 5, 2015

Fr. Miguel Tomaszek and Fr. Zbigniew Strzalkowski. (CNA)

Lima, Peru — Two Polish priest killed by a Communist group in Peru were among those recognized as martyrs by Pope Francis on Feb. 3.

Father Michele Tomaszek and Father Zbigneo Strzalkowski of the Conventual Friars Minor, were killed Aug. 9, 1991, by the “Shining Path” terrorist group in Peru. At the time of their death, they were 31 and 33 years old, respectively.

Both Franciscan priests worked in the town of Pariacoto in the Peruvian Andes, where they lived for 11 years. At the time, the region was struggling to climb out of an economic slump, while terrorists from the Shining Path killed thousands of civilians and local government leaders in an effort to bring a Communist regime to power.

The work carried out by the two Polish priests to help the poor in Pariacoto was considered a threat by the terrorists, who saw their efforts to recruit new members thwarted.

The priests were undaunted by the continuous threats against them and continued their work. On Aug. 9, 1991, members of the terrorist group covered the walls of Pariacoto’s central square with graffiti and later that evening kidnapped the mayor.

At the same time, Fr. Strzalkowski exposed the Blessed Sacrament at their parish while awaiting his brother priest for the celebration of the Eucharist. Once Mass ended, they closed the church. Shortly after, a few men wearing ski masks knocked on the door and demanded to speak with the priests.

When the two priests came to the door, the masked men bound their hands and threw them into a pickup truck. Along with the mayor, they were taken to the nearby town of Pueblo Viejo. Along the way, they subjected the priests to an interrogation and accused them of “deceiving the people” and “infecting people by distributing food from the imperialist Caritas.” They also accused the priests of thwarting their revolution by preaching peace. Upon arriving at the local cemetery, the three men were executed.

The Peruvian Bishops’ Conference denounced the killing of the two missionaries saying, “Once again committed to the creation of the Civilization of Love in our nation, the Church strongly condemns this bloody disgrace that leads to no way out of the critical situation Peru is facing.”

Upon learning of the news, Pope John Paul II called the friars “the new martyrs of Peru.”

The Conventual Franciscans of Spain in a blog post noted the words of a nun who worked with the Polish priests. A few days after the murder, she said the whole experience felt like a dream.

“I am amazed once again by Fr. Michele and Fr. Zbigniew’s fidelity to the Lord and to this Andean town, their will to live what they preached. I remember their enthusiasm for their Franciscan and missionary vocation and their willingness to serve, despite being tired so often,” she said.

“They stayed there until the end. This is not something you improvise; it’s a gift,” the nun reflected. “I saw Fr. Zbigniew a few days before his martyrdom, and I asked him if they were being threatened, he smiled and said, ‘We cannot abandon the people. One never knows, but if they kill us, bury us here’.”

“I saw Fr. Michele one month before, he was living as if there was nothing wrong, as always abandoned to God. Both men of God perhaps lived thinking their time had not yet come. However, it was God’s time,” she said.

The martyrdom of the two Polish priests was recognized this Tuesday by Pope Francis, along with the martyrdom of Italian priest Father Alessandro Dordi, who was killed by the Shining Path 16 days later, and Salvadoran archbishop Oscar Romero, who was shot while saying Mass in San Salvador in 1980.

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Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli: a talented preacher and soon-to-be cardinal

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • February 6, 2015

Pope Francis greets Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli of Ancona-Osimo, who will be made a cardinal Feb. 14, at the Vatican on Jan. 4, 2015. (ANSA)

Ancona, Italy — When he learned in January Pope Francis would make him a cardinal, Archbishop Edoardo Menichelli of Ancona-Osimo did not want to comment. He had turned 75 in October, presenting his resignation to the Pope.

But now that he will have a cardinal’s biretta, many in his archdiocese are sure he will remain their ordinary for some time more, despite having reached retirement age.

Archbishop Menichelli is of the three Italians who will be made cardinal at the Feb. 14 consistory.

Born in the small town of Serripola – 14 miles northeast of Camerino – in 1939, Archbishop Menichelli was ordained a priest of the Diocese of San Severino in 1965. He had attended the seminaries of San Severino and Fano, and the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome, where he attained a licentiate in pastoral theology.

While he spent much of his ecclesial career in Rome, Archbishop Menichelli has maintained strong connections with his hometown, where he spent the beginning years of his priesthood as a parochial vicar and a religion teacher in secondary schools.

From 1968 until 1991, he was an official of the Apostolic Signatura, the Church’s supreme tribunal and a part of the Roman Curia, and then from 1992 to 1994 was on the staff of the Congregation for the Oriental Churches, where he was secretary to the prefect, Cardinal Achille Silvestrini.

During his years in Rome, he also assisted in family ministry at a parish, served as chaplain at a hospital, and taught ethics to nurses at the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic.

In 1994 he was appointed Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto.

He remained in Chieti-Vasto until 2004, when he was appointed Archbishop of Ancona-Osimo, thus sending him back to his home region of Marche.

As Archbishop of Ancona-Osimo, he organized the 2011 Eucharistic Congress in Ancona, which gathered hundreds of thousands of faithful and concluded with a Mass said Benedict XVI and a Eucharistic procession. He is known to have promoted both Corpus Christi processions and Eucharistic adoration.

Archbishop Menichelli is currently secretary of the Italian bishops’ Commission for the Family.

He participated in the 2014 Synod on the Family at the will of Pope Francis, and he served there as relator of one of the Italian language groups.

“It is the first time I have taken part in a synod,” he told Vatican Radio Oct. 14, “and I have been interiorly delighted from the way we have welcomed Pope Francis’ invitation to speak with frankness and listen to one another with humility. I had the impression that a sense of communion regarding a common pastoral interest on family has increased during these days.”

Archbishop Menichelli commented that the Church must listen more: “We live in a world so complex that we cannot, as the Church, pigeonhole everything in certain terms or certain precise concepts which we have had the habit of using.”

He lamented that Familiaris consortio, St. John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation following the 1980 Synod on the Family, has not been well-implemented, regarding preparation for marriage: “On this point I believe that the Church should ask pardon for a kind of ‘unwilled’, yet ‘realized’, disobedience. In St. John Paul II’s Familiaris consortio, he spoke in fact of remote, proximate, and immediate marriage preparation. In reality, now it is limited only to the immediate, and engaged couples come to the altar with a lack of faith and infected by the culture. It does not take only a handful of meetings.”

He stressed that for him, the question of the divorced and remarried was not whether or not they should receive Communion, but whether there had been a marriage in the first place: “reducing everything to ‘Communion yes, Communion no’ seems too little.”

During the synod, Archbishop Menichelli also emphasized the importance of pastoral accompaniment of those who had divorced, and said that for three years, he has met monthly with a group of 80-90 divorced persons. “They know that the path of conversion is neither easy nor hasty,” he said.

Regarding homosexuality, he affirmed that persons with homosexual orientations do, as persons, have something to offer the Church; but that “the problem is what these persons call a right does not correspond to the plan of God contained in the Bible,” and that while the Church cannot enter into one’s conscience, it is called “to accompany and to educate.”

Archbishop Menichelli is well known as a preacher of great impact, and he was entrusted with guiding catechesis during World Youth Days by the Italian bishops conference. He is also known for his pastoral solicitude for the youth, having founded the Loreto Cross pilgrimages.

According to Il Messaggero, an Italian daily, he has also “always fought for the defense of the marginalized and the poor.”

The Ancona diocese was once considered a cardinal see, but the last Cardinal Bishop of Ancona – until Archbishop Menichelli receives the red hat – was Cardinal Achille Manara, who died in 1906.

Archbishop Menichelli is one of 20 men who will be made a cardinal at this month’s consistory, and one of the 15 who, being under the age of 80, would be able to vote in a papal conclave.

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Pray – don’t speculate – about the Vatican family synod, say novena organizers

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

Eucharistic Adoration. (Elisa Pires via JMJ Rio 2013/Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Rome, Italy — Amid concern over whether or not October’s Synod on the Family will protect the Church’s teaching on marriage, one lay initiative is calling upon Catholics to put their words to better use – and pray.

Beginning Feb. 5, Catholics worldwide are being invited to respond to Pope Francis’ call to pray for the Synod on the Family by taking part in a nine-month novena of Eucharistic Adoration.

The novena, which will take place on the first Thursday of every month until Oct. 1, is being organized by Eucharistic Adoration Society for the Synod on the Family 2015, an initiative founded by two laywomen in Rome.

The inspiration for the novena came after many Catholics expressed concern in the aftermath of last year’s Synod on the Family, during which the question of admitting divorced and civilly remarried couples to Communion seemed to take center stage, especially in Western media.

The 2014 synod on the family last October, which served as a precursor to the gathering later this year “made people feel that not only was marriage seeming to be under attack, but also the sacrament of the Eucharist,” said Christine McCarthy, the initiative’s co-founder, in an interview with CNA.

Observing that last year’s gathering “presented some very interesting perspectives,” McCarthy said, any “positive aspects” it had tended to be overshadowed by its “negative aspects.”

“I had curial officials … many priests, seminarians saying to me: What is going on? Where is the church going?”

Much of the concern was rooted in the suggestion made by some prelates that civilly remarried couples, living together as husband wife, could in certain circumstances be admitted to receive the Blessed Sacrament without having received an annulment.

McCarthy echoed the Church’s teaching that parishes should welcome persons living in such situations, but said “we also understand as Catholics, as just ordinary Catholics sitting in the pew, that that acceptance does not mean they can receive communion.

“The circumstances are such – as they always have been – that they (must be) in the state of grace.”

In response to the concerns expressed by those she encountered about the future of the family, resulting from uncertainties raised during the synod, McCarthy – who is also the author of a book of prayers and meditations, “I the Lord Am With You Always” – turned to prayer.

“In the end,” she said, “we can talk, even gossip about this, make a lot of statements about what we or they should and should not be doing. But, in the final conclusion, the only thing that is going to help is prayer.”

With the help of co-founder, Diane Montagna, a lay American journalist based in Rome, the initiative began with “three preparatory days to pray for Christian marriage and family life” as well as for Pope Francis, in the lead-up to the 2015 Synod.

McCarthy went on to explain the significance of the novena concluding on Oct. 1, the feast of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, the patron saint of the Novena.

“She had a great devotion to the Lord in the Eucharist, she also as we all know has her little way of using the little things in life to bring one to perfection.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming Synod on the Family, McCarthy expressed her hope October’s gathering will be different from the last.

“I’m hoping a lot of this dissatisfaction has filtered through to those who are responsible for making decisions in that synod, the hierarchy and the Holy Father. And that those who were said to be manipulating what was coming out of that synod will – if we pray them into it – will hopefully make some different decisions.”

“It’s a very simple thing, Adoration, and yet it has such a tremendous power,” she said. “We are all praying as the Holy Father has asked us to do for this next synod.”

More information can be found at the novena’s website and Facebook page. Participants are also invited to use the Twitter handle @Adore4Synod2015.

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Killed by terrorists, named a martyr: the life of Fr. Alessandro Dordi

by CNA/EWTN News • February 6, 2015

Fr. Alessandro Dordi. (Diocese of Bergamo/diocesibg.it)

Lima, Peru — On Feb. 3, Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of Father Alessandro Dordi, an Italian priest whose work of evangelization with the poor cost him his life at the hands of a Communist terror group in Peru.

Fr. Sandro, as he was known, came to Peru in 1980, the year in which the Shining Path launched its violent campaign to bring Communism to power in the country, killing thousands. At the time, Peru was also experiencing a severe economic crisis.

Born in 1931 and ordained in the Italian city of Bergamo at the age of 23, Fr. Sandro fell in love with the people of Santa in Peru. He set about working to increase literacy, defend the dignity of women, teach catechesis and build chapels and parish buildings. His work drew the ire of the Shining Path, which relied upon hatred and discord among the people in order to recruit and maintain power.

In August 1991, Fr. Sandro learned of the killing of the Polish priests in a nearby town. In a letter to a priest friend, the future blessed wrote, “We are particularly anxious and concerned these days. You have certainly learned that the Shining Path killed two priests of the Diocese of Chimbote on August 9. They were two Polish Franciscans who worked in a valley like mine.”

“You can imagine the anxiety we are experiencing. There are threats of more killings. The Shining Path, which seeks to gain power through terror, has set its sights on the Church. … The situation in Peru is troubling. Each day we ask ourselves: Whose turn is it today?”

Fr. Sandro apparently sensed that he would be next. “Goodbye. I am going back now and they will kill me,” he wrote.

On Aug. 25, he was riding in a pickup with two seminarians on his way to celebrate Mass when masked men from the Shining Path surrounded the vehicle and forced the two seminarians to get out. Fr. Sandro was shot three times and died.

Bishop Francesco Beschi of Bergamo thanked Pope Francis for recognizing Fr. Sandro’s martyrdom.

“He gave the supreme testimony: that of shedding his blood and dying a martyr,” the bishop said.

The martyrdom of Fr. Alessandro Dordi was recognized this Tuesday by Pope Francis, along with the martyrdom of the two Polish priests who were also killed by the Shining Path in 1991, and Salvadoran archbishop Oscar Romero, who was shot while saying Mass in San Salvador in 1980.

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Does ‘never again’ have any meaning? Human rights after the Holocaust

by Adelaide Mena (CNA/EWTN News) • February 1, 2015

Holocaust Memorial, Berlin on Sept. 21, 2014. (Paul Weber via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Washington, D.C. — Even though it ended seventy years ago, the Holocaust still gives a stark and relevant warning on dehumanization and persecution today, say leaders on human rights and Holocaust history.

The fight to protect human dignity can “never rest,” Katrina Lantos-Swett told CNA Jan. 27, the commemoration of International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

“It requires this constant vigilance. It requires this vigilance to not rest in the face of evil,” she said. “This duty not to forget is a moral duty.”

Swett serves as the Chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and President of the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice. Her father, Congressman Tom Lantos (D-Calif.) was the only Holocaust survivor to serve in the United States Congress.

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is commemorated by the United Nations on Jan. 27, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau. The 2015 commemoration marked the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the camp in 1945.

During World War II, more than six million European Jews and at least five million non-Jewish Poles, Slavs, Romani Gypsies, Soviets, Catholics, homosexuals, disabled persons, political and religious dissidents at the hands of Nazi troops. The Nazi party justified its persecution and treatment of its victims by calling them subhuman and inferior “lives unworthy of life.”

This rejection of the “inherent dignity of every human being” and the sheer “effort that was made to dehumanize the other,” Swett said, formed the “underlying ideology” of the Holocaust.

In turn, this dehumanization coupled with an oftentimes bureaucratic operation, she continued, led to a system that showcased the “banality of evil.” She noted that many of the crimes of Auschwitz and other camps had been told to the public through escaped prisoners, yet there was a “relative lack of outrage” until months after the liberation of Auschwitz and other camps.

However, the Holocaust did teach the international community a valuable lesson about the “vulnerable” nature of human rights. In the months and years after the Holocaust, a “worldwide revulsion” to the crimes that occurred lead to the codification and safeguarding of human rights, such as in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the classification of genocide and other crimes against humanity, Swett explained.

However, she continued, these lessons must be remembered by subsequent generations. “A lesson learned once doesn’t mean it is mastered forever,” Swett noted, pointing to the persecution of communities around the world such as the Yazidi, Rohynga Muslims, and religious minorities in Sudan and elsewhere.

“In practice we know that there continue to be genocides,” the commissioner said, warning that the lesson of the Holocaust “is only effective in protecting people when there is the political will.”

This emphasis on ending genocide was apparent in the political and religious statements made by world leaders on the legacy of the Holocaust.

“Honoring the victims and survivors begins with our renewed recognition of the value and dignity of each person,” stated United States President Barack Obama. “It demands from us the courage to protect the persecuted and speak out against bigotry and hatred,” adding that such an atrocity “must never happen again.”

“Auschwitz cries out with the pain of immense suffering and pleads for a future of respect, peace and encounter among peoples.” Pope Francis said via Twitter.

Steven Luckert, curator of the permanent exhibition at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum told CNA that looking into the past and the questions surrounding the Holocaust can help shed light on similar contemporary examples of genocide and persecution.

Society keeps asking “how did this happen?” particularly in a “a society that is very well educated, very well read, well-advanced,” Luckert said. Looking to the rise of the Nazi party and the implementation of the Holocaust, he explained, “what you see is a triumph of an extremist political party dedicated to very radical, extremist goals that were imbued with racism and anti-Semitism.”

Today, he said, “we know that other genocides have happened, and persecution still exists,” but there are some safeguards against horrors to the extent of what occurred in World War II.

While there has been a “spread of intolerance” and anti-Semitism in Europe as well as other “potent” examples of discrimination and persecution around the world, there have been concrete changes in international law, Luckert explained. “There’s more of an international concern and effort to do something about it.”

The remaining Holocaust survivors also help to keep “this history alive” and serve as a testament for the need to stop the violation of persecuted peoples.

These witnesses, Luckert said, show “the importance of speaking out about racism, about anti-Semitism, about contemporary genocide, that ‘never again’ really can mean ‘never again.’”

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Colorado’s ‘death with dignity’ bill is a lie, bishop warns

by CNA/EWTN News • February 2, 2015

(Brian Gaid via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Denver, CO — While the notion of ‘death with dignity’ may seem appealing on the surface, the push to legalize assisted suicide in Colorado is based on a lie that yields devastating consequences, said Bishop James Conley.

“(I)t is a battle where life hangs in the very balance. The culture of death is the work of dark demonic forces that whisper in people’s ears, ‘life has no meaning, no value, no dignity’,” he said.

Bishop Conley heads the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska. From 2008-2012, he served as auxiliary bishop in Denver, Colorado.

The bishop delivered the homily at the Beacon of Hope Gala Mass in Denver, Colorado on Jan. 31.

He spoke about the recent “Colorado Death with Dignity Act” that was introduced to the state’s House of Representatives earlier in the week, pointing to the dangers of promoting physician assisted suicide and the threat it brings to human life in general.

This bill, HB 1135, would allow physicians to prescribe deadly pharmaceuticals to terminally ill patients in order to end their lives.

On Jan. 30, the “Colorado Death with Dignity Act” was fast tracked and will be heard in committee on Feb. 6, less than two weeks after its introduction to the House. California is also considering an assisted suicide bill. Similar measures have already been legalized in Oregon, Montana, Washington, New Jersey, and Vermont.

“Assisted suicide is yet another lie of the culture of death. The culture of death believes that life is only meaningful when life is productive, and pleasurable, and painless,” Bishop Conley stated, stressing that HB 1135 would drastically threaten the elderly, disabled, and poor.

“Real dignity is the consequence of being made in the image of God. Dignity is part of the gift of God’s divine love. Dying with dignity means knowing the meaning of life, even in the face of death – realizing that we’re made to know, love and serve God,” he went on to say.

Bishop Conley cautioned that legalizing assisted suicide could soon lead to pressure on society’s most vulnerable members to kill themselves.

“One wonders how long it might be before the disabled or chronically ill, or the poor and elderly are encouraged to ‘die with dignity,’ rather than living as a ‘burden’ to their families and communities. One wonders how long those who receive Medicaid or Medicare might be encouraged to think of the ‘common good,’ and choose death over life,” he questioned.

“Today, the elderly, disabled, and poor face real threats from the culture of death. The Gospel of Life proclaims the dignity of all human life, from conception to natural death, and every moment in between,” the bishop noted, urging the faithful to defend dignity with the authority of Christ in the Gospel.

“We’re called to be prophets,” Bishop Conley stated, saying that the ill, elderly, disabled and poor need a prophetic witness to rebuke the culture of death.

“Please fight the onslaught of the culture of death – abortion, assisted suicide, and euthanasia,” he said. “And please, continue to give witness to the light and hope and freedom and joy of the Gospel of Life, proclaimed by Our Lord, Jesus Christ.”

The Archdiocese of Denver is offering more information on physician assisted suicide, and the Colorado Catholic Conference has information on how to contact state lawmakers about the bill.

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Where progressives and Evangelicals agree – clarify IRS rules on political speech

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • February 3, 2015

A U.S. flag hangs outside the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore on Oct. 24, 2014. (Kevin Jones/CNA)

Washington D.C. — An unlikely combination of political progressives and Evangelicals came together last week to demand more clarity in IRS regulations of political speech for churches and non-profits.

“The vagueness of the [IRS] regulations” has put churches in “limbo,” argued Erik Stanley of Alliance Defending Freedom at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 28.

“Take a pastor’s sermon from the pulpit – no pastor really understands what’s allowed and what’s not under the current IRS rules,” he explained to CNA. Consequently, many ministers avoid politics in their sermons altogether which results in a “self-censorship” of sorts, he said.

So while the IRS can go after churches for unlawful political speech, “it just doesn’t have to,” he explained, adding that the rules enable “pervasive monitoring of sermons by the IRS,” which amounts to “the state intruding into the realm of the sovereignty of the church.”

Stanley was part of a panel of Evangelicals and progressives all pushing for more clarity on IRS regulations, at the National Press Club on Jan. 28. Also on the panel were members of the Evangelical Council on Financial Accountability, the Center for American Progress and Public Citizen.

The progressive groups argued that 501(c)(4)s and non-profits need clear oversight to reveal who their political donors are and establish a boundary of unlawful political action. The Evangelical organizations said that unclear regulations leave churches and nonprofit groups unsure of what they can and cannot do without fear of punishment.

Current IRS regulations prohibit “churches and religious organizations” from “directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.”

In addition, religious ministers cannot endorse or oppose a political candidate at official church functions, in official church publications, or “on behalf of the organization.” Any endorsement they make must be private and made outside of the church.

But outside of direct endorsements or statements of opposition, the definition of unlawful political speech becomes murky for church leaders, to the point where many avoid politics altogether.

The IRS is allowed to audit churches, but “they never finalized those procedures” by which they may do so, Stanley said. Thus, “we’re kind of left in this limbo where the law says you can’t do it, the IRS never enforces it, but then there are advocacy groups that come out and say you shouldn’t do it,” he continued, “and it’s just a big mess.”

Future IRS regulations must not be vague or arbitrary, he insisted, but should instead allow pastors to “speak freely from the pulpit” about politics.

“The bright line that we’re advocating for is let the pastors speak freely from the pulpit,” he said. “There should be no restrictions on what they can and cannot say from the pulpit.”

With this in place, “there’s no added cost to the organizational benefit, it’s just done in the normal course of business as a part of their religious faith,” he explained. If attendees are taken aback by what is preached, “they vote with their feet, which happens all the time.”

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Appeals court to hear EWTN contraception mandate case Feb. 4

by CNA/EWTN News • February 3, 2015

Michael P. Warsaw, Chairman of the Board and CEO of Eternal Word Television Network speaks with the press in this undated file photo. (EWTN)

Atlanta, GA — On Wednesday, Feb. 4, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta will hear oral arguments in a case brought by EWTN Global Catholic Network against the federal contraception mandate.

“EWTN looks forward to being able to make our case against the government’s contraceptive services mandate,” said EWTN Chairman and CEO Michael Warsaw.

“As we have said repeatedly throughout this process, contraception, abortion-inducing drugs and voluntary sterilization are not health care and the government should not force EWTN to provide them as part of our employer-sponsored health plan.”

The EWTN lawsuit challenges the federal HHS mandate, which requires most employers to either provide or facilitate employee insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions.

More than 300 plaintiffs have filed lawsuits across the country charging that the mandate violates federal and constitutional protections of religious freedom.

EWTN initially filed a lawsuit against the regulation in 2012. However, that suit was dismissed on technical grounds in March 2013. The current lawsuit was filed in October 2013.

In June 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Callie V.S. Granade of Mobile, Ala., ruled against EWTN, and the network filed an appeal. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals then issued a temporary injunction protecting EWTN from the mandate while the case continued in the court system, protecting the network from penalties of $35,000 per day during that time.

The U.S. Supreme Court in June 2014 ruled against the mandate as it applied to Hobby Lobby, a closely-held corporation whose owners also had religious objections to some of the mandate’s requirements.

Noting the Hobby Lobby decision, Warsaw noted, “the Supreme Court made it clear that the government has an obligation to use the least restrictive means of accomplishing its goals.”

EWTN has raised similar arguments in application to its own case, he said.

“The government should not be allowed to hijack EWTN’s health plan for its own purposes. We are confident that the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals will recognize that the government should not be able to force us to act contrary to our beliefs.”

Established 34 years ago, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world, reaching over 230 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories.

The network includes television, radio and a publishing arm, along with a website and both electronic and print news services. Catholic News Agency is a service of EWTN.

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Disability groups say Colorado ‘death with dignity’ bill discriminates against us

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • February 3, 2015

(ashley rose, via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Denver, CO — In many ways, Kari Ann Lucas is living the American Dream. She runs a law practice, has four kids, and is involved in her community.

Lucas also has a progressive neuro-muscular disease and relies on a ventilator for breathing.

“Without the medical equipment, my life expectancy is measured in hours,” she said. “Not days, not weeks, not months.”

Regardless, Lucas believes, “I have a good life.”

That’s why Lucas is alarmed by the recently proposed “Colorado Death with Dignity Act” introduced to the state’s House of Representatives earlier in the week. This bill, HB 1135, would allow physicians to prescribe deadly pharmaceuticals to terminally ill patients in order to end their lives.

Lucas serves on the Board of Directors for Not Dead Yet, a national grassroots disability rights group that opposes legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia. She also often represents parents of children with disabilities in the courtroom. Lucas believes HB 1135 would gravely endanger the disability community.

If Lucas becomes depressed at some point in her life, she’d like to think she could go to the doctor for help. If HB 1135 were law, however, Lucas’ technically terminal diagnosis means that instead of suicide prevention, her doctor could write her a prescription to end her life without screening her for depression.

“If you didn’t have [terminal] disability, then you get suicide prevention,” she said. “But for anybody that could say that you’re terminal within six months, which encompasses a great number of people with severe disabilities, suicide is offered.”

Julie Reifkin, executive director of the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, is equally concerned. Her group, which does not weigh in on the morality of physician-assisted suicide, was approached by lawmakers lobbying for HB 1135. They asked the board of directors what safeguards they could put in place to make the bill acceptable to them.

“Our board of directors decided … that there is no way to have enough safeguards to not make this a disaster and very, very dangerous for people with disabilities,” Reifkin said. “There’s just no way to make it ok.”

Like Lucas, the coalition has worked with many people who were once given a “terminal” diagnosis, and then went on to enjoy 20 or more years of life.

“Terminal isn’t always terminal,” she said.

It is normal for people to be initially depressed upon receiving a terminal diagnosis, Reifkin said. But the vast majority of people end up adjusting, and get more out of life with a disability than they ever thought they could.

“People say, ‘I couldn’t stand it if I couldn’t … go to the bathroom myself or take a shower or dress myself,’ and anyone who is non-disabled feels that way,” she said. “And then you acquire a disability and you deal with it, most people deal with it.”

She’s also concerned that the bill does not require doctors to screen for mental health issues before writing the lethal prescription.

“We asked (lawmakers): shouldn’t everyone see a psychiatrist, get mental health care, or get an assessment to make sure you’re not doing this out of depression?” she said.

“We’re told … we just don’t have enough psychiatrists out there to do that. And that’s true.”

“But that’s pretty scary to me,” she said. “When someone is depressed and they say they’re going to end their life, we intervene and we give them help, sometimes against their will even. We don’t say as a society that it’s ok to kill yourself if you’re depressed about something; we say if you’re feeling that way then you need help. And so why is this different?”

Another disturbing part of this bill, Lucas said, is that the lethal prescription is picked up at a pharmacy and taken home by the patient to take themselves. There is no requirement for a doctor to be present, no way to stop the pills from changing hands, and a wide margin for error.

“There’s not a mandatory system for addressing control of these prescriptions, nor what happens when they’re not used,” she said. “So there’s nothing preventing, say, grandpa’s grandson who just broke up with his girlfriend from raiding the medicine cabinet and getting a hold of the prescription and committing suicide.”

“We’ve seen that happen in Oregon where the drugs have changed hands, so those are all grave concerns to the disability community.”

Reifkin added that the end of life can be a stressful time for an entire family, which could create undue pressure on the ill person to kill themselves and relieve their families.

“Who’s to say that you might have changed your mind, but a family member who stands to inherit isn’t going to grind them up in your applesauce?” she said.

“I don’t think there’s this big evil conspiracy to knock off dying people, I’m not saying that, but I’m just saying that situations that are stressful don’t always bring out the best in people, so why are we putting (lethal prescriptions) out there?”

Not only would the act discriminate against the disabled and the dying, but it would also discriminate against people with low incomes, Lucas noted.

“In Oregon we have people with cancer who are being denied chemotherapy treatment, but instead are offered lethal prescriptions,” she said.

Reifkin also expressed concern for lower-income folks on Medicaid, and said she doesn’t want to see what’s happened in Oregon come to pass in Colorado.

“Whenever times are rough on Medicaid, they always look at those of us who are expensive to keep alive, and that’s scary.”

Disability groups in the United States are also looking to Europe, where physician-assisted suicide has been legal in most countries for years, to see how blurred the lines can become, and how dangerous life for the disabled is in those countries.

“They’ve moved from a system of assisted suicide to involuntary euthanasia, where someone else is making the decision to kill somebody because the value of a disabled life is so low,” Lucas said. “There are even instances where parents are choosing to kill their disabled children.”

Both Lucas and Reifkin said they believe that hospice and palliative care are under-utilized end-of-life options that render the option of physician-assisted suicide unnecessary.

“Nobody wants to suffer, no one wants to watch their loved ones suffer in pain at the time of death,” Lucas said. “That’s why in every state in this country people can receive palliative sedation … at whatever level of medication is necessary to relieve their pain. Even if that level ends up rendering them unconscious and hastens their death, then that is absolutely permitted under the law in every state in the country.”

Reifkin said that if Colorado governor John Hickenlooper is so concerned about mistaken deaths from the death penalty that he has put all executions on hold, he should equally err on the side of caution when it comes to ‘Death with Dignity.’

“We don’t need to have the government involved in ending people’s lives, and that’s the issue,” she said.

“We need to be erring on the side of life, not erring on the side of death.”

HB 1135 will go to committee on Friday, Feb. 6. If the bill makes it out of committee, it will move on to a vote on the House floor.

The Archdiocese of Denver is offering more information on physician assisted suicide, and the Colorado Catholic Conference has information on how to contact state lawmakers about the bill.

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For Cardinal George, God’s grace is bigger than cancer

by Michelle Bauman (CNA/EWTN News) • February 3, 2015

Cardinal Francis George, Emeritus Archbishop of Chicago, delivers his acceptance speech after receiving the Gaudium et Spes Award, Jan. 30, 2015. (Knights of Columbus)

Chicago, IL — Despite the uncertainty that comes with cancer, Cardinal Francis George, the retired Archbishop of Chicago, says his days are filled with gratitude and efforts to build physical strength.

“I’m in the hands of God, as we all are,” the cardinal reflected at a Jan. 30 press conference.

The cardinal spoke to members of the media at the Four Seasons Hotel in Chicago shortly after receiving the Gaudium et Spes Award, the highest honor granted by the Knights of Columbus.

Cardinal George led the Archdiocese of Chicago for more than 15 years. He in retired in 2014 amid a battle with cancer, and was succeeded by Archbishop Blase Cupich.

The 78-year-old cardinal took part in a clinical trial conducted by University of Chicago Medicine, but ended the trial when it proved ineffective.

Cardinal George said that the transition into retirement has gone well. He is still informed about things going on in the archdiocese and able to pray for the people, even though he is no longer in a decision-making role. In addition, he still regularly hears confessions at the cathedral.

The cardinal voiced gratitude for his life and ability to generally maintain a schedule, although it often revolves around doctor appointments.

“Much of my life is now determined by my state of health,” he said, adding that when he does have to cancel an event, people are understanding.

Still, there is much uncertainty about his future, particularly regarding the progression of his cancer. With treatments proving ineffective and no known cure, “they’ve run out of tricks in the bag,” he said with a small laugh.

Asked about his current use of crutches to walk, he explained that his legs have been weak for all his adult life, because he contracted polio as a young teenager and never fully recovered. His recent rounds of chemo prevented him from exercising, and his muscles atrophied as a result.

However, he does physical therapy daily and is working to regain strength in his legs.

The cardinal also revealed that he has written several letters to Pope Francis, the most recent being about two weeks ago.

These letters usually contain a general update, he said, noting that the Pope wrote him a note on Oct. 4, the feast day of St. Francis, whose name they share.

Regarding the upcoming consistory – a gathering of cardinals in Rome being held in mid-February – Cardinal George said his attendance will be determined by his health.

“I intend to go. I want to go,” he said. However, he acknowledged that “Rome is a difficult city for those who are disabled.”

Ultimately, the decision will be based on his physical stamina and strength.

“If I feel that I will be too sick to contribute, I won’t go.”

Cardinal George is the 11th person to receive the Knights of Columbus’ Gaudium et Spes Award, named after the Second Vatican Council’s pastoral constitution on the Church in the modern world.

The cardinal thanked the Knights for all the work that they do in his archdiocese and across the world.

As part of the honor, he was given a $100,000 award, which he plans to give to Catholic Charities in the archdiocese, as well as local Catholic schools.

Former recipients of the award include Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Cardinal John O’Connor of New York.

With 1.8 million members around the globe, the Knights of Columbus is world’s largest Catholic fraternal organization.

Founded in 1882 by the Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, the Knights donated more than $170 million and 70 million hours of service to charitable causes last year.

Both Cardinal George and Archbishop Cupich have been members of the Knights of Columbus for decades. Archbishop Cupich gave the invocation at the award ceremony, and Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, Supreme Chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, read the award’s citation.

Supreme Knight Carl Anderson reflected on the awarding of the Knights’ highest honor to Cardinal George.

“The Cities of Yakima, Portland and Chicago were blessed to have Cardinal George as their bishop and spiritual leader,” he said. “And his leadership has benefited not only those cities in which he served, but the Knights of Columbus and Catholics across the United States.”

“Both in his brilliant speeches, homilies, letters and books, and in the brave witness to the faith that he has shown to the world – in sickness and in health – Cardinal George has proven over and over again one of the leading voices in the Catholic Church in the United States, and the Knights of Columbus is pleased to be able to honor him in this way for the great work he has done for so long,” Anderson stated.

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Palm Beach bishop recovering from brain surgery

by CNA/EWTN News • February 4, 2015

Bishop Gerald Barbarito. (Diocese of Palm Beach)

Palm Beach, FL — Bishop Gerald M. Barbarito of the Palm Beach Diocese is currently recovering from a seven-hour surgery that successfully removed a benign brain tumor, according to the diocese.

“To make a long story short, because of a brief period of vertigo episodes in November, I was sent for a whole series of tests of the inner ear which proved negative. My doctor then sent me for an MRI of the brain just to be safe and rule out any other possibility for the vertigo,” Bishop Barbarito stated in the Palm Beach Post.

The MRI revealed a large benign brain tumor. After consulting other doctors about the diagnosis, Bishop Barbarito was advised to remove the tumor before a more serious problem might occur.

The bishop was admitted for surgery in Miami and began the removal procedure on Monday, Feb. 2. The Diocese of Palm Beach later announced that the surgery was a success.

“Bishop Barbarito is out of surgery and is resting in the recovery room at the hospital. He underwent a difficult and long, seven-hour surgery this afternoon but we are pleased to report that the surgery was a success,” announced the diocese in a press release.

The Diocese of Palm Beach covers five counties with 53 parishes and ministers to more than 267,000 Catholics in area. Bishop Barbarito has been at the Palm Beach Diocese since 2003 and is planning to continue his work there.

“I feel fine and look forward to continuing that way after this brief ‘vacation,’” he stated. “While this does present an inconvenience, I am fortunate and consider it providential that the meningioma was found when it was! Thanks again for your prayers.”

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EWTN to appeals court: religious freedom at stake in HHS mandate case

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • February 4, 2015

Michael Warsaw, Chairman of the Board and CEO of EWTN, leaves the 11 Circuit Court of Appeals building in Atlanta, Feb. 4, 2015. (Matt Hadro/CNA)

Atlanta, GA — A federal appeals court heard oral arguments Wednesday over whether the EWTN Global Catholic Network should be required to abide by the federal contraception mandate in violation of its religious convictions.

“This is about the broader issue of religious freedom,” said Michael Warsaw, chairman and CEO of EWTN, after the hearing.

“We have a right to be able to bring our faith to bear on everything we do, on every aspect of our lives,” he told CNA Feb. 4. “And I think that’s what’s at stake here.”

Founded by Franciscan nun Mother Mary Angelica, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world, reaching over 230 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories.

The network includes television, radio and a publishing arm, along with a website and both electronic and print news services, including Catholic News Agency.

EWTN is challenging the federal HHS mandate, which requires most employers to either provide or facilitate employee insurance coverage for contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions.

More than 300 plaintiffs have filed lawsuits across the country charging that the mandate violates federal and constitutional protections of religious freedom. As a Catholic network, EWTN abides by the Catholic Church’s teaching against contraceptives, abortifacients, and sterilizations. It says it cannot cooperate with such practices.

EWTN initially filed a lawsuit against the regulation in 2012. However, that suit was dismissed on technical grounds in March 2013. The current lawsuit was filed in October 2013.

In June 2014, U.S. District Court Judge Callie V.S. Granade of Mobile, Ala., ruled against EWTN, and the network filed an appeal. The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals then issued a temporary injunction protecting EWTN from the mandate while the case continued in the court system, protecting the network from penalties of $35,000 per day during that time.

The Feb. 4 oral arguments were heard by appellate court judges Jill A. Pryor, Gerald Bard Tjoflat, and R. Lanier Anderson.

EWTN made the argument that the government is being arbitrary in its granting of religious exemptions to the mandate.

“What the government is saying is that EWTN isn’t religious enough, it’s not entitled to the same religious freedom as the Catholic Church which it serves,” Lori Windham, the lead attorney for EWTN in the case, argued before the court. Windham serves as senior counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

The U.S. Supreme Court in June 2014 ruled against the mandate as it applied to Hobby Lobby, a closely-held corporation whose owners also had religious objections to some of the mandate’s requirements.

While the Hobby Lobby case may offer a helpful precedent, Warsaw explained that EWTN’s situation is somewhat different.

The Hobby Lobby decision specifically dealt with “closely-held” for-profit businesses, while EWTN is a non-profit plaintiff. As a result, it relies upon the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

Under that law, the government may not place a “substantial burden” on the free exercise of religion, unless doing so is the “least restrictive means” of furthering a “compelling government interest.”

In the oral arguments, Windham said the mandate violated the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

The mandate violates EWTN’s “sincere religious belief” and puts a “substantial burden” on the company with over $12 million per year in fines, she argued.

Warsaw also emphasized that point.

“That is a substantial penalty, no matter the size of your organization,” he said. “For EWTN, a $12 million fine is really a crippling fine. I’ve described (it) in other circumstances as really being a death penalty for businesses, and that’s really what the government, I think, has intended.”

During the oral arguments, Judge Anderson questioned Windham about the government establishing a “compelling interest” for the mandate and using the “least restrictive means” to further that interest.

The judge remarked that “the crux of the case” is around those two burdens of proof on the part of the federal government.

Windham noted that even if the government establishes a “compelling interest” for a contraception mandate, it could still achieve its goals in a way that is less restrictive on religious exercise, by adjusting its regulations to accommodate religious companies like EWTN.

“This is a Catholic media network,” she said. “Sharing the faith is what they do.”

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Controversial or consistent? San Fran archdiocese weighs in on teacher rules

by CNA/EWTN News • February 4, 2015

Empty Classroom. (Dystopos via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

San Francisco, CA — The Archdiocese of San Francisco says that far from being condemnatory, the morality clauses in its new teacher handbook are meant to help Catholic educators understand the richness and coherence of Church teaching – and follow it.

“Because we live in a very secular society, the truth as revealed by God gets overshadowed by popular ideology,” Maureen Huntington, superintendent of the archdiocese’s Catholic schools, said Feb. 3.

Huntington said the additions and clarifications were made “in order to remain faithful to God’s revelations and the Church’s teachings” and to articulate “specific fundamental truths, which are not understood or accepted within our secular society.”

Detailed statements of Catholic teaching on sexual morality and religious practice will be added to the faculty and staff handbooks of the four archdiocesan high schools for the 2015-2016 school year, though these statements are not part of the contract. The statements are taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The archdiocese said the changes to the handbook and the contract proposals do not contain anything new but are intended to “clarify existing expectations that Catholic teachers in their professional and public lives uphold Catholic teaching.”

San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone sent a February letter to teachers stressing that the effort does not intend to target teachers for dismissal, “nor does it introduce anything essentially new into the contract or the faculty handbook.”

The handbook additions state that individual teachers are not required to believe each stated item of Catholic doctrine. Archbishop Cordileone said this recognizes that some Catholic teachers and non-Catholic teachers might not agree with everything the Catholic Church teaches, the archdiocese’s newspaper Catholic San Francisco reported.

The handbook requires that high school staff and teachers do not contradict Catholic teachings in a school environment or in public actions.

Archbishop Cordileone said confusion is prevalent about the Church’s stance on sexual morality and religious practice, which is why the faculty handbook additions focus on these areas. This focus “does not imply lesser importance to Catholic teachings on social justice,” he said.

The faculty handbook additions include Catholic teaching on the authority of the Church and the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist. They also address moral topics like abortion, “gay marriage,” artificial contraception and artificially assisted reproduction.

According to the archdiocese, over 300 Catholic high school teachers belong to the teacher’s union, Local 2240 of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.

The archdiocese and the union are negotiating a contract, which will take effect Aug. 1.

Lisa Dole, president of Local 2240 and a teacher at Marin Catholic High School, told Catholic San Francisco that the union was “pleased” that the contract acknowledges that many Catholics “struggle with their adherence to some of the teachings of the church.”

Dole said there are “concerns with the proposed language” and other issues “that the union and archbishop are hopeful that we will be able to work out.”

The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed religious schools’ freedom to set standards for their teachers in the 2012 decision EEOC v. Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School.

Some Catholic schools’ disciplinary actions to hold teachers and school administrators to Catholic standards have brought lawsuits and controversy, sometimes fueled by media coverage and activist groups which oppose Catholic teaching.

In the last ten years in various states, Catholic school teachers and administrators have been fired over conflict with Church teaching on issues such as cohabitation, in-vitro fertilization, living in a same-sex relationship, or having a history of volunteering at an abortion clinic.

While employment decisions can always be controversial, political pressures on Catholic schools have also increased.

The internet activism site Faithful America, among its other projects criticizing U.S. Catholicism, publicizes petitions against morals clauses for Catholic school teachers and administrators as well as petitions against efforts to hold Catholic personnel to these standards.

The Faithful America project has also been involved in San Francisco. In June 2014 it launched a petition to protest Archbishop Cordileone’s participation in the March for Marriage. Faithful America’s executive director Michael Sherrard joined over 70 California politicians and other individuals in signing a letter protesting the archbishop’s action.

The Citizen Engagement Lab, which operates the Faithful America project, is based in Berkeley, Calif. The funders of the organization include the Arcus Foundation, a wealthy LGBT advocacy foundation which donated $75,000 to the center in 2014 to “promote greater media visibility for Christians who denounce the abuse of religious-freedom arguments to oppose full equality for LGBT persons.”

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The irony in anti-discrimination – why Catholic bishops won’t back ENDA

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • February 5, 2015

U.S. Capitol building. (Phil Roeder via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Washington D.C. — Even with religious freedom provisions added, LGBT discrimination laws are unlikely to draw support from Catholic bishops because they could in fact lead to discrimination against religious groups, analysts explained.

The idea of adding religious freedom protections to such laws “might seem to work in principle” but “would be extremely difficult, I think, to make work in practice,” said Matthew Franck of the Witherspoon Institute, a research center in Princeton, New Jersey.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed the Senate in 2013. The bill would prohibit employers from hiring or firing people based on their “actual or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity.”

By protecting LGBT persons as a special, separate class akin to race, laws like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) could enable anti-discrimination lawsuits against businesses and social service organizations that conscientiously object to performing certain services.

For instance, Franck said, a baker in Colorado refused to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, citing his Christian beliefs. He was then ordered by the state’s civil rights commission to change his policies and undergo anti-discrimination training. Business owners like the baker, Jack Phillips, might have no legal recourse to conscience protections if laws on the books recognize LGBT persons as a separate protected class.

This would leave room for just a “narrow” religious exemption for churches and houses of worship, and not hospitals, orphanages, or businesses, Franck told CNA.

“I just don’t know how you actually write meaningful non-discrimination law and still maintain meaningful religious liberty protection in this area,” he said.

“Catholic leaders have at their core a conviction about the inviolable dignity of every human being,” noted Dr. Chad Pecknold, a professor of historical and systematic theology at the The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

“Anti-discrimination laws can manifest this same conviction. But they can also be discriminatory,” he said, adding that ENDA is an example of one such “discriminatory” law.

“[ENDA] actively discriminates against the Church’s understanding of key aspects of human nature – most especially the nature of the family and the education of children,” Pecknold stated.

“When the Church is being mandated to teach, in word and deed, something contrary to the perennial teaching of the Church, then all citizens should see that this law is a threat to religious liberty – the liberty on which all our other liberties depend.”

Last week, leaders of the Church of Latter Day Saints endorsed anti-discrimination protections for LGBT persons “in such areas as housing, employment and public accommodation in hotels, restaurants and transportation,” if such measures were to include religious freedom exemptions for religious communities, families, and business owners.

“With understanding and goodwill, including some give and take, none of these rights guaranteed to people of faith will encroach on the rights of gay men and women who wish to live their lives according to their own rights and principles,” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland stated.

But while a balance of ENDA and religious freedom may sound appealing, multiple religious freedom experts said that it is unlikely to be achieved in practice, and efforts in this area would likely backfire, leading to religious groups being forced to violate their beliefs.

This potential for the sabotage of efforts to protect religious liberty could be one reason that leaders like the U.S. Bishops and the Southern Baptist Convention continue to oppose laws like ENDA.

“I know the Mormon leaders are standing strong on marriage. They’re supporting conjugal marriage, marriage of one man and one woman, as a principle not only in their church but in public policy,” Franck said.

“But they’ve just made it harder for themselves to maintain that position, and I’m afraid, harder for the rest of us.”

Dr. David Crawford, the associate dean for academic affairs at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and the Family in Washington, D.C., said that the U.S. bishops and Southern Baptists offered a “much fuller, better-rounded” response in opposing ENDA that the Mormon leaders did in offering their proposal.

“What they [the bishops] are objecting to is that it [ENDA] would entrench within society more completely by law a kind of a worldview and an outlook that isn’t simply about unjust discrimination but is about legitimizing culturally and socially a whole lifestyle and a way of acting and a way of being that goes way beyond simply recognizing that some people may be attracted to people of the opposite sex and that obviously they need to be treated with respect and with dignity,” he explained.

Once this lifestyle is officially recognized, very few citizens could religiously object to performing certain services and be protected by law, he added.

Another concern that critics have raised about ENDA is that it fails to distinguish between unjust discrimination and an employer rightfully considering sexual behavior when making hiring and firing decisions. It also fails to differentiate between same-sex attraction and same-sex conduct, prompting fears over the religious liberty of groups that hold moral teachings against homosexual behavior while respecting homosexual persons.

“We and the Catholic Bishops have stood together against legislation along the lines of ENDA because such legislation would not protect those employers who have conscientious reasons for taking into account sexual behavior in their hiring,” said Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.

Crawford pointed to the example of a Catholic school run by lay persons who have established a Catholic code of conduct. Under ENDA-type legislation, the school could be forced to hire employees who do not abide by the sexual ethics included in the code of conduct.

In addition, some critics are worried that the wording of the bill treats “gender” as being divorced from physical sex, and uses the terms “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” to describe both behaviors as well as identities.

Finally, critics charged, bills like ENDA could lead to the nationwide legalization of same-sex “marriage.”

Once laws like ENDA are enacted, “same-sex marriage … looks like an irresistible next step,” explained Franck.

“The pressure for ENDA will be much stronger if the Supreme Court goes for same-sex marriage this June. If people just sort of concede on issues like ENDA now, we actually make it harder to keep arguing for marriage of one man and one woman.”

Ultimately, current religious freedom exemptions in anti-discrimination proposals will fall short of their stated goal, the analysts said.

“These religious liberty carve-outs in this sort of environment just don’t last very long,” Moore said, adding that they “often have a great deal of devil in the details when the regulatory apparatus starts to work.”

“I don’t honestly expect people who are pressing for new non-discrimination laws, or anti-discrimination laws concerning sexual orientation and gender identity, I don’t expect them to agree to meaningful protections of religious freedom,” said Franck.

“The most I expect them to concede is some very narrow protection for religious institutions themselves, the kind of protection that costs them nothing to promise because it is already guaranteed by the Constitution, by the First Amendment of the Constitution.”

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NASCAR, Obama, religious freedom: This year’s DC prayer breakfast

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • February 5, 2015

NASCAR August Race Week at Bristol Motor Speedway. (Bristol Motor Speedway via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Washington, D.C. — Thursday’s National Prayer Breakfast brought together representatives of varied faith backgrounds in the nation’s capital to pray and hear testimonies on the importance of faith.

The event included a NASCAR driver’s harrowing story of conversion after a near-death experience, as well as remarks by U.S. President Barack Obama on ISIS and religious freedom, and a greeting sent from the Pope.

Former NASCAR driver Darrell Waltrip served as keynote speaker at the event, sharing his personal story of downfall and redemption through faith.

“The hardest thing to do is to look back and see how you were. My personal life was a mess,” Waltrip said of his youth, noting that he was universally despised among racing fans and drivers for his arrogance and that he was a heavy drinker with no close friends.

After an almost-fatal crash caused him to ponder life after death, he converted to Christianity and said his life has not been the same since.

“[God] was there all the time. I just didn’t know it or acknowledge it,” he said of his pre-conversation life. “You don’t have to walk alone. You don’t have to carry all those burdens, like it’s you against the world … get off your high horse, get on your knees, and ask forgiveness.”

Waltrip is a NASCAR hall-of-famer and is tied for fourth all-time in wins. On Feb. 5, he addressed the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., an annual gathering of political and religious leaders since 1953.

Pope Francis sent a personal message to the gathering, which was attended by the Papal Nuncio to the United States, as well as the Dalai Lama, Ebola survivor and medical missionary Dr. Kent Brantly, and other guests.

“I send prayerful good wishes for you, for the fruitfulness of your work,” Pope Francis stated. “I ask you to pray for me, and to join me in praying for our brothers and sisters throughout the world who experience persecution and death for their faith.”

In his keynote address, Waltrip described his pre-conversion life: he was so despised that racing fans would boo him during introductions, and famous driver Richard Petty once voiced surprise that he could keep a sponsor, given his unpopularity.

Waltrip’s life changed when he was involved in a near-fatal crash. “It knocked me conscious,” he admitted.

“I thought I was a pretty good guy. But folks, let me tell you something. Good guys go to hell. If you don’t know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, if you don’t have a relationship, if He’s not the master of your life, if you’ve never gotten on your knees and asked Him to forgive you of your sins, you’re just a pretty good guy or a pretty good gal.”

Waltrip started attending church services regularly and meeting with a pastor, Dr. Cortez Cooper. One day, Waltrip asked God to come into his life and forgive his sins.

“That was the greatest day of my life,” he reflected. “When the Lord comes into your life, you’re going to be different. You have to be different,” and he added if nothing changes, “you better try it again.”

“I still had wrecks. I still had problems,” he said afterward, but what changed was “I wasn’t in it alone. Where I’d felt like I was always in it by myself, now I had somebody to pray with, talk with, to guide me, direct me. The wisdom of the Lord.”

President Obama also spoke at the prayer breakfast. Condemning violence and acts of terror, he said faith has been used “both as an instrument of great good, but also twisted and misused in the name of evil.”

He explicitly condemned the Islamic State group as “a brutal, vicious death cult that, in the name of religion, carries out unspeakable acts of barbarism.”

“We see sectarian war in Syria, the murder of Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, religious war in the Central African Republic, a rising tide of anti-Semitism and hate crimes in Europe, so often perpetrated in the name of religion,” the president said.

Obama also praised freedom of religion as “a value we will continue to protect here at home and stand up for around the world, and is one that we guard vigilantly here in the United States.”

“Our government does not sponsor a religion, nor does it pressure anyone to practice a particular faith, or any faith at all. And the result is a culture where people of all backgrounds and beliefs can freely and proudly worship, without fear, or coercion,” he said.

Alluding to Islamic militants’ January attack on the French newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which published insulting photos of Islam’s Prophet Mohammed, he said that if a society defends “the legal right of a person to insult another’s religion,” then society is “equally obligated to use our free speech to condemn such insults, “and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with religious communities, particularly religious minorities who are the targets of such attacks.”

Religious freedom has become a contentious issue in the U.S. during Obama’s presidency. More than 300 plaintiffs have filed religious freedom lawsuits against the administration over a federal mandate requiring employers to offer health insurance for contraception and related products, even if they have religious or moral objections to doing so.

Other religious liberty concerns that have been raised include and laws considering objections to “gay marriage” to be illegal discrimination, as well as state immigration laws that could prevent charitable outreach and pastoral care to undocumented immigrants, and pressure on Catholic medical personnel and others who object to abortion.

The president also noted that he is “very much looking forward to welcoming Pope Francis to the United States later this year.” The Pope is planning to visit Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia in September.

Obama praised the Pope’s “loving message,” saying he has been touched by Francis’ “call to relieve suffering, and to show justice and mercy and compassion to the most vulnerable.”

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A heated debate: Is killing an acceptable end to human suffering?

by Maggie Lawson (CNA/EWTN News) • February 5, 2015

(NikonGirl1969 via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Boulder, CO — Two worlds collided when scholars with opposite viewpoints met in Boulder, Colorado to debate the legalization of physician-assisted suicide.

“We have a right to look at the proper response to someone who wants to commit suicide. We aren’t talking about general morality – we are talking about society and public policy protecting the general welfare,” stated Wesley Smith, a lawyer, author, and senior fellow at the Discovery Institute’s Center on Human Exceptionalism.

The Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought, an intellectual arm of ministry on the campus of The University of Colorado Boulder sponsored the Feb. 4 event – their eighth annual in the ‘Great Debate’ series. The topic in question was “Should the U.S. legalize doctor-assisted suicide?”

The debate of this issue was particularly timely given Colorado’s HB 1135 bill, known as the ‘Colorado Death with Dignity Act,’ that would allow physicians to prescribe lethal pharmaceuticals to terminally ill patients in order to end their lives. The proposed legislation will be heard in committee on Feb. 6.

California is also considering an assisted suicide bill. Similar measures have already been legalized in Oregon, Montana, Washington, New Jersey, and Vermont.

The measures have sparked controversy, drawing opposition from disability rights groups who claim that they would discriminate against those with disabilities and dangerously fail to screen for and treat depression, instead sending patients home with lethal drugs. In addition, critics including the Catholic Church warn that such legislation would send the message to society that suicide is an acceptable way to deal with suffering.

Smith, who serves as a consultant for the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide as well as the Center for Bioethics and Culture, also voiced opposition to the legalization of assisted suicide, while Dr. Michael Tooley, an author and philosophy professor at CU Boulder, known for his works on causation and ethics, argued in defense of such measures.

“There are cases when a person is better off dead than alive, a view that should be determined by the actual person – a life that he or she would want to live or not, and it should not be a spur of the moment decision,” argued Tooley.

He said that physician-assisted suicide may be in the best interest of a terminally ill person when this decision to end the patient’s life does not violate the rights of the patient or anyone else, and when it would benefit – rather than harm – the person involved.

On the other hand, Smith held that the legalization of physician-assisted suicide would make a strong statement about the quality and worth of humanity in general, creating a slippery slope.

“When we say that someone is killable – which is what we are saying when we point to certain categories of people in physician-assisted suicide – we are creating a profound inequality of life,” Smith stated, arguing that if a terminally ill patient can be killed, than anyone who is suffering from back pain, depression, or chronic pain could have that same “right.”

In fact, Smith argued, physician-assisted suicide is not really about patients suffering from a terminal disease.

“This is not an issue that is about terminal illness at all. In fact, the concept of terminal illness is a kind of hide-the-ball circumstance, a false flag game to get people’s minds off of what’s really involved in this issue,” he said.

According to Smith, the bottom line behind physician-assisted suicide, euthanasia and related procedures is the premise that killing is an acceptable end to human suffering.

“Why now?” he questioned “When 100 years ago, at the time when people died in agony from a burst appendix, they weren’t talking about suicide and euthanasia. Now, when we don’t have to die in agony, we are talking about euthanasia?”

When society sees the elimination of suffering as the foundational purpose of society, he said, this mindset will spread to other circles – including those who suffer from depression, mental illness, and disabilities – giving them the green light to end their lives as well.

“There are a lot of people who suffer far more extremely than the terminally ill and for far longer periods,” he charged.

Even if physician-assisted suicide is initially legalized for only the terminally ill, it will eventually broaden to include the legal killing of those who are not terminally ill, Smith said, point to the examples of Belgium and the Netherlands.

Countering this belief, Tooley maintained that a person should be allowed to make the decision to die on the condition that they are terminal and have a good reason to end their life.

Although there may be dangers associated with legalizing assisted suicide, the professor argued that similar dangers are also presented when it is not legal.

“The rights of individuals are more likely to be violated when physician-assisted suicide is not legal rather than when it is permitted,” he said, and it is more likely for people to die from passive euthanasia if there are not laws mitigating choice in the matter.

“It should be up to the individual if his or her life is worth living,” Tooley maintained, because choice has a fundamental role in the issue, especially when this choice does not violate anyone’s rights, interfere with the patient’s obligations, or make the world a worse place.

“It does make for a far worse world because it’s not a choice,” rebutted Smith, “it’s the end of choice.”

“We should say no to their killing and yes to their caring,” Smith stressed, because the lives of people with sickness, disease, and disability matter.

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Why Do Catholics Have So Many Kids?

by Jenny Uebbing • February 1, 2015

“Wow, you’ve sure got your hands full.”

No matter how many times I hear this and no matter how well intentioned the speaker, it always rubs me the wrong way. And I’m guessing, with baby number four just starting to make him or herself known when I make the wrong wardrobe choice in the morning, I’m going to start getting it a whole lot more frequently.

One time in the grocery store I did actually lift my hands from the cart loaded down with toddlers and held them up in the air whilst the baby dangled from the carrier across my midsection and loudly announced that “NOT RIGHT NOW I DON’T!” which sent the kindly fifty-something woman sharing the bread aisle with me scooting backward, nervously laughing out of confusion and fear.

But yes, I suppose my hands are full. I just feel like I’m in some kind of bizarre, narrative-driven ABC family drama when complete strangers announce it to me over and over again. Can you imagine yelling to a man walking his dog down the street “wow, you must pick up crap all day long!” or maybe suggesting to a person in a wheelchair “Man, I bet your arms are always tired!”

Maybe true, but is it helpful? And are you telling that person something complimentary or useful with your unoriginal commentary on their daily existence.

Moving on.

Catholics do, in fact, tend to have larger than average families, though that number is sadly diminishing, at least among the variety who don’t actually practice what the Church preaches.

(This is emphatically NOT a jab at smaller Catholic families who are for whatever reason unable to have children. Nope, not at all.)

But why do we have more children than the average family? Ding ding ding, I’ll take patriarchal oppression and denied access to contraception for a thousand, Alex.

Oh, wait, nope, that’s actually not the reason. Want to know the real reason Catholics have more kids?

Come close.

Closer.

Okay, are you ready for this?

…

It’s because we like them.

Like we actually full on appreciate small humans and think the world would be a better place with more of them around. Isn’t that bizarre?

And it’s also because we practice realistic sex: sex as it actually exists in reality, in nature, in all it’s messy and impressive and inscrutable design.

Because in reality, sex is where babies come from, when everything is in proper working order.

Did you get that? Catholics have more babies because babies are sometimes the result of having sex. And since we believe that sex is good, true, beautiful, and perfectly designed by a God who loves us and wants us to be happy, we accept it on His terms, embracing the mystery and honestly, sometimes, the suffering inherent in our fertility.

Now, just a little PSA as an aside, because I’m kind of embarrassed by this as a female member of the species but did you know that you can’t actually get pregnant save for a small (or large, in my case) window each month during a woman’s cycle? Apparently something close to 90% of adult women have no idea how their bodies actually work in this capacity, and that saddens me. And, it seems a little bit the opposite of empowered and independent and free choice-y. But I digress.

Back to the babies. Oh, those babies. See, the reason we keep having them isn’t, contrary to popular belief, because we haven’t figured out what causes that, or because we don’t have a television. The reason they keep showing up is because, frankly, they’re kind of the best thing about being human, and having them is an incredible privilege and it’s hard as hell and yes, self denial and self obliteration on a daily basis but … it’s so worth it.

And since we’re not supposed to be using contraception, we actually have to discuss the possibility during seasons of fertility (i.e. months where the woman has a regular cycle) of whether or not it would be prudent to have another child at this juncture. And then, if the mutually discerned and prayed for answer is “go for it,” then we go for it.

But seriously, do you know what kind of freedom that can bring into a marriage? And how selfless you have the potential to become become when you have to be to ask these kinds of questions over and over again? And yes, you realize how incredibly incapable you are of handling yet another little responsibility bearing your last name, but then they get here and you can’t imagine having said “no,” and slowly your grinchy little heart begins to grow and you actually become a better, more productive, and - please God - holier member of the human race.

It’s a wild ride. And it’s not a “one and done” or “two and through” momentary phase of marriage. For some couples, depending upon the age at which they said “I do, “it’s a decades-long discernment process. And through it we grow, we stretch, and we discover we are capable of so much more than the world would have us believe. And that our waistlines are, too.

But seriously, we’re just in it for the sweet retirement party. And for the moment when we can whip out our iPhone 27s in the grocery store and torture innocent bystanders with holograms of our 8 children and 34 grandchildren because finally, our hands are empty and we can work the keypad in peace.

Jenny Uebbing is the content director of our marriage and family life channel, where her blog Mama Needs Coffee will be permanently hosted. She lives in Denver, CO with her family, where she writes and speaks on Church teachings on marriage, contraception, NFP and bioethics.

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A love stronger than death

by Jenny Uebbing • February 2, 2015

(Jason Pohlmeier)

Have you heard of the Coakley family? Maybe you read something on social media over the past month about their story, about the sudden diagnosis of aggressive testicular cancer, just before Christmas. About the beautiful back story involving infertility, miscarriage, and then finally, joy of joys, adoption and conception.

Maybe you clicked on a picture of Paul, grinning magnetically in a bright pink shirt, and followed the link to one of dozens of blog posts popping up all over social media, extolling his otherworldly thirst for adventure and his outrageous sense of humor.

Maybe you checked Facebook dozens of times each hour, one cold week late in January, holding a kind of cyber vigil over the span of a couple days, your heart seizing with an indescribable ache when you happened upon the picture of Paul and Ann holding hands as he labored for breath in his hospital bed, hers clad in latex to protect their unborn baby from the chemo drugs poisoning his system in a heroic effort to halt the terrible march of cancer through his ravaged body, now his lungs, his brain.

Maybe your babies woke you up all night the day before he went to the Father’s house, forcing you to count your blessings and hold them, quieting their whimpers and offering midnight prayers for a family you never met, a couple whose love story inspired you and terrified you by turns.

And perhaps that next morning you read Ann’s updates with a lump in your throat and real tears trickling down your face as she announced bravely that her beloved had raised his arms (after 12 unresponsive hours of suffering) and gone to meet his Savior. And then maybe your 4-year-old scrambled into your lap and ask what was wrong, and then cracked the dam of sorrow open wide with his innocent, joyful observation that “Heaven has a new saint, Mr. Paul is with Jesus now!”

Such sweet sorrow, this family’s story. And it’s the story of a wider community rallying around his widow and their 4 precious children, one still in the womb.

The week following his death has to be one of Franciscan University of Steubenville’s finest, as alumi and students from decades past and present rallied around this grieving family, offering support, prayers, food, money, and finally, literally lowering Paul’s coffin into his grave with their bare hands, the bonds of Brotherhood evident in an indescribable and unforgettable photo.

We live in a culture both saturated with and utterly terrified of death. It isn’t understood, it isn’t revered, and it certainly isn’t discussed.

These past few weeks the Coakleys showed us in an unforgettable way that this life is but the beginning, and that the point of our time here on earth is to love fiercely, to live bravely, and to seek His will above all else. Thank you, Paul and Ann, for your living tutelage of what it means to “do” marriage. You have offered us a glimpse of heaven, of the Father’s heart, and of what it means to be Christian.

For ways to support the Coakley family, and to meet Annie and the children, visit LoveLikePaul.com.

Paul Coakley, pray for us.

Jenny Uebbing is the content director of our marriage and family life channel, where her blog Mama Needs Coffee will be permanently hosted. She lives in Denver, CO with her family, where she writes and speaks on Church teachings on marriage, contraception, NFP and bioethics.

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Willful blindness

by Alice von Hildebrand • February 2, 2015

One of the episodes in the Gospel that always moved me particularly is the story of the blind man of Jericho: upon hearing that Christ had just arrived in town, he cried loudly: ‘Lord have pity on me.’ He was told to keep quiet, but he cried all the louder. Christ came to him, and asked him what he wanted: the answer was clear; “that I may see.” He was healed.

A blind man knows that he is blind; he is aware that he has a serious deficiency. Those who dedicate their lives to helping the blind will tell you how soon they become aware that they are victims of a severe shortcoming. At first, the blind finds his way by hearing and touching: it is amazing how guided by these two senses, they manage to gain some independence. These two senses will become particularly sharp and acute. But inevitably one day they will realize that blindness not only is an obstacle to safe motion but that moreover there is a whole world of beauty not available to them. If someone exclaims: “look at this magnificent sunset” neither hearing nor touching can give them any information. The world of colors is closed to them.

Because the blind person is aware that the incredible gift of sight has been denied him justifies the poignant cry of the man of Jericho: “ Lord. that I may see.” No blind man wishes to remain blind and no blind man will accuse those who praise the beauty of a sunset of “hallucinating.”

Radically different are people who suffer from “blindness” while totally unaware of it, or those who choose blindness and then “honestly” deny that there is something to be seen. Let us briefly examine the following cases.

We all know wives whose husbands are unfaithful: it is common knowledge, but the one person who “does not know” is the betrayed wife. I am thinking of a particular case of a marriage that started as a great love-marriage: marital faithfulness was a “given,” but alas, in the course of time, it was sullied by unfaithfulness. The husband, for whatever reason (flattered by the attention of a very young girl, or wishing to “rejuvenate” himself) broke the solemn promise that he made on his marriage day. Women are perceptive, and the person I am referring to suspected danger. But fearing the terrible pain that her husband’s betrayal would cause her, she decided to close her eyes and found ways and means of interpreting “symptoms” in a positive light: “better not know that face a reality that would break my heart.”

How many loving parents refuse to acknowledge that their son is a pervert, and had fallen into the nasty snares threatening teenagers? They refuse to believe because they dread to know the sad truth. By contrast we have the admirable example of Saint Monica who had the loving courage to “see,” and therefore prayed ardently for “the son causing her so many tears,” her beloved Augustine. Her prayers were heard.

Similar is the case of a loving mother whose beloved child is afflicted by some serious defect. Gabriel Marcel – endowed with an amazing sensitivity for others’ sufferings - refers to the story of such a mother whose child is not normal, and who spent her whole life convincing herself that she is in fact perfectly healthy; it is only wicked and ignorant doctors, nasty people, who dare challenge it: they are all liars. We will all sympathize with her willful blindness.

While Hitler was gaining more and more power in Germany, many citizens could have suspected that he was an evil man whose philosophy was totalitarian and atheistic, and therefore a threat to the welfare of the country. But while struggling to recover from the economic disaster following their defeat in 1918, they chose to close their eyes. To “protect” themselves, they declared that those accusing him of being an evil man were Cassandras, bad patriots: had not Hitler promised to restore the greatness of the German Reich? Deutschland ueber alles.”

But one day they had to face the terrible fact that he was in full control of the country, and as could have been predicted, he immediately introduced a reign of terror. Now the alternative was to prudently keep a low profile or to fight. But to fight meant to face torture and death, not only for oneself, but also for one’s loved ones. The virtue called “prudence” – the one virtue canonized by cowards - taught them to keep quiet and wait patiently until the tempest had run its course.

Dietrich von Hildebrand, animated by his love of truth and his hatred of evil, chose to fight, fully aware that he risked persecution, poverty and possibly death. HE DARED SEE, when “seeing” necessarily implied a moral obligation to risk everything in order to fight evil. Emulated by Gregory VII, like him born in Tuscany, sharing with him the name: Hildebrand, he chose to fight. This great pope died in exile with the words: “I have loved justice and hated iniquity: therefore I die in exile.” So did Dietrich von Hildebrand.

The willingness to “see” and with it the fearful moral obligation to ACT, is so dangerous that many are those - including members of the clergy - who chose to close their eyes and their ears, and thereby justify their cowardice. This is the history of the world: it was true in the past; it was true in Germany in the twenties and is true of the USA today: Evil breeds evil. Roe versus Wade should have sounded the alarm; it should have rallied all men of good will to go on the bastions and proclaim loudly: NO. Once the sluice protecting

us from a devastating flood was opened, it was inevitable that it would be followed in close succession with a justification of homosexuality (already strongly condemned by Plato in the IV century BC) and then by the “moral destruction” of marriage as being the union of one man and one woman and the legalization of a diabolical invention called “homo sexual marriages.”

How many are those in position of authority who identify “holy prudence” with “worldly safety.” The blind leading the blind is and yet ever a young story. Names might change: but today as before, we must choose between the swastika and the cross. Which one of us can be sure that, of course, he would embrace the latter? We are all potential heroes when there is no danger.

The words “principiis obsta” are crucial: to diagnose an illness from the start gives one a fair chance of healing it. Once in an advanced stage, it is too late. This is why when one goes to a wise Doctor he will ask : how long ago did you notice this change? One of the great dangers which menaces of us is the refusal to see.

This fear is pervasive throughout our human life and this applies very particularly to the domain of self knowledge where blindness is endemic. Our vision is directed outward, and this is one of the reasons why we are so sharp sighted toward the physical and moral flaws of others and so “blind” toward our own, but it is not the main one. To have a clear perception of our imperfections is almost impossible without humility – a virtue definitely not needed to perceive the sins of others. Pride in fact makes us particularly sharp sighted toward their faults: but it is so “unpleasant” to see one’s own that we much prefer not to look closely: as a matter of fact, in many cases, it is almost impossible to see one’s sins and grave flaws unless one has begged God for the grace of humility, and how much we are in need of redemption. This is why self knowledge is so difficult to attain. Only saints have it, and this explains why they are so humble. Purgatory is the place where we shall be given a chance to see who we truly are. Once this purifying knowledge is given us, we will be ripe for heaven. When we perceive how tarnished our soul is, we shall inevitably hear the call: “you ought change, we must be reborn.” This was the message of Christ to Nicodemus, which the latter took literally. But the awareness that one is seriously stained and to perceive that we must change is neither easy nor pleasant. All the more remarkable are the words that Plato ascribes to Socrates who said to his interlocutor: “If you can prove me to be wrong, I will call you the greatest of my benefactors.” (Gorgias) How many of our “scholars” would gladly accept to be refuted? Vanity often oozes out of the pores of many “big shots.” Some fifty years ago, a famous physicist gave a talk. A friend of mine was attending. She told me that when he stepped on the podium he said to the audience: Ladies and Gentlemen: from now, until the end of my talk you need not do any thinking: I shall do all the thinking for you.” Had someone told him that his hearers were not impressed by his humility, he most probably would have been shocked and surprised.

One learns much from one’s students. I recall one who challenged every argument I brought in defense of “sensitive” truths such as the existence of God, and the objectivity of moral values.” At one point he said arrogantly: “You have not succeeded in convincing me.” With Latin speed, I replied: “You misunderstood me: I never tried to convince you. I just tried to give you convincing arguments. You must judge for yourself if it wise to reject them because you do not like the conclusion.” I recall another one clearly upset by my defense of the immortality of the soul. At one point, he exclaimed: “The worst thing that could happen to me would be if you could convince me that I have an immortal soul. Then one day I will be held responsible for my life style.” It was tragically honest. When one dreads a truth, inevitably one will fight tooth and nail against it. How many of us pray: “Lord, grant me the grace to overcome my fear to see?”

We desperately need divine help. How tempting it is to choose not to see rather than face the spiritual work that lays ahead of us, and cannot be achieved without grace. How meaningful that seven times a day, Benedictine monks pray: “Come to my help O Lord; hasten to succor me.” Like the man in Jericho who knew that he was blind, we should realize that all of us are blind in various degrees and cry: “Lord, that I may see.”

It is a fact that our enemies (if unfortunately we have some) are remarkably sharp sighted toward our faults, mistakes and sins. When they feel driven to tell us to our faces what they think about us, they will probably hit the bull’s eye, but unfortunately these critiques being poisoned by “hatred” will be discarded for this very reason, and far from being a help, will strike us as gravely staining the soul of the sharp shooter. Any criticism should be an expression of real, loving concern for the person criticized and whenever the good of the person challenged is not even considered, this very censure will stain the soul of the person satisfying the urge to spit venom in his enemy’s face. They do so with malice and animated by a clear drive by to wound. Their unloving motivation is all that we shall register: the rightness of their criticism will escape us for this very reason.

Those who truly love us are those who – while keeping fully alive the beauty that God has put in every single one of His creatures at the moment of their creation - also see that, alas, this beauty has been sullied and tarnished by our innumerable “sins, offenses and negligences” lovingly warn us are our friends indeed.

May God put such friends on our path and may we daily beg for the grace of sight: “Lord, that I may see.”

Alice von Hildebrand is a lecturer and an author, whose works include: The Privilege of Being a Woman (2002) and The Soul of a Lion: The Life of Dietrich von Hildebrand (2000), a biography of her late husband. She was made a Dame Grand Cross of the Equestrian Order of St. Gregory by Pope Francis in 2013.

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The Hundredth Anniversary of Thomas Merton’s Birth

by Very Rev. Robert Barron • February 3, 2015

I write these words on the one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Thomas Merton, one of the greatest spiritual writers of the 20th century and a man who had a decisive influence on me and my vocation to the priesthood. I first encountered Merton’s writing in a peculiar way. My brother and I were both working at a bookstore in the Chicago suburbs. One afternoon, he tossed to me a tattered paperback with a torn cover that the manager had decided to discard. My brother said, “You might like this; it’s written by a Trappist monk.” I replied, with the blithe confidence of a sixteen year old, “I don’t want to read a book by some Buddhist.” With exquisite sensitivity, he responded, “Trappists are Catholics, you idiot.”

The book in question was The Seven Storey Mountain, Thomas Merton’s passionate, articulate, smart, and deeply moving account of his journey from worldling to Trappist monk. Though much of the philosophy and theology was, at that time, over my head, I became completely caught up in the drama and romance of Merton’s story, which is essentially the tale of how a man fell in love with God. The book is extraordinarily well written, funny, adventurous, and spiritually wise. In one of the blurbs written for the first edition, Fulton Sheen referred to it as a contemporary version of St. Augustine’s Confessions, and it was fulsomely praised by both Evelyn Waugh and Graham Greene. Moreover, it contributed massively to the startling influx of young men into monasteries and religious communities across the United States in the postwar era.

I was so thrilled by my first encounter with Merton that I dove headlong into his body of writing. The Sign of Jonas, a journal that Merton kept in the years leading up to his priestly ordination, became a particular favorite. That work concludes with an essay called “Firewatch: July 4, 1952,” which Jacques Maritain referred to as the greatest piece of spiritual writing in the twentieth century. In this powerful meditation, Merton uses the mundane monastic task of walking through the monastery checking for fires as a metaphor for a Dantesque examination of the soul. The Sign of Jonas is marked by Merton’s playful and ironic sense of humor, but it also gives evidence of the enormous range of his reading and intellectual interests. To devour that book as a nineteen year old, as I did, was to receive an unparalleled cultural education. For many people of my generation, Merton opened the door to the wealth of the Catholic spiritual tradition: I first learned about John of the Cross, Meister Eckhart, Teresa of Avila, Bernard of Clairvaux, Odo of Cluny, the Victorines, Origen, Thérèse of Lisieux, and Hans Urs von Balthasar from him.

Perhaps the central theme of all of Merton’s writings is contemplation. What he stressed over and again in regard to this crucial practice is that it is not the exclusive preserve of spiritual athletes, but rather something that belongs to all the baptized and that stands at the heart of Christian life. For contemplation is, in his language, “to find the place in you where you are here and now being created by God.” It is consciously to discover a new center in God and hence at the same time to discover the point of connection to everyone and everything else in the cosmos. Following the French spiritual masters, Merton called this le point vierge, the virginal point, or to put it in the language of the fourth Gospel, “water bubbling up in you to eternal life.” In his famous epiphanic experience at the corner of 4th and Walnut in downtown Louisville, Merton felt, through le point vierge, a connection to the ordinary passersby so powerful it compelled him to exclaim, “There is no way of telling people that they are all walking around shining like the sun.”

Sadly, for many younger Catholics today, Merton, if he is known at all, is viewed with a certain suspicion, and this for two reasons. First, when he was a man of fifty-one, he fell in love with a young nurse who cared for him after back surgery. Though it is almost certain that this was exclusively an affair of the heart, it was certainly, to say the very least, unseemly for a middle-aged monk and priest to have been so infatuated with a much younger woman. At the same time, Merton worked through this confusing period and returned to his vowed monastic life. And the journal that he kept during that year is so spiritually alert and illuminating that I often recommend it to brother priests who are wrestling with the promise of celibacy. To dismiss Merton out of hand because of this admittedly inappropriate relationship strikes me as disproportionate.

The second reason that some younger Catholics are wary of Merton is his interest, in the last roughly ten years of his life, in Eastern religions, especially Buddhism. They see this as an indication of a religious relativism or a vague syncretism. Nothing could be further from the truth. Merton was indeed fascinated by the Eastern religions and felt that Christians could benefit from a greater understanding of their theory and practice, but he never for a moment felt that all the religions were the same or that Christians should move to some space “beyond” Christianity. In order to verify this, all one has to do is read the prefaces to his major books on Zen and Buddhism. About ten years ago, I had the privilege of giving a retreat to the monks at Merton’s monastery of Gethsemani in Kentucky. Just after the retreat ended, Merton’s secretary, Br. Patrick Hart, took me in a jeep out to see the hermitage that Merton occupied the last few years of his life. While we were sitting on the front porch of the small house, he looked at me intently and said, “Could you tell anyone that’s interested that Thomas Merton died a monk of Gethsemani Abbey and a priest of the Catholic Church?” He was as bothered as I am by the silly suggestion that Merton, at the end of his life, was on the verge of leaving the priesthood or abandoning the Catholic faith.

Thomas Merton was not perfect, and he might not have been a saint. But he was indeed a master of the spiritual life, and his life and work had a profound effect on me and an army of others around the world. I offer this birthday tribute as a small token of gratitude.

Father Robert Barron is the founder of the global ministry, Word on Fire (wordonfire.org), and the Rector/President of Mundelein Seminary. He is the creator of the award winning documentary series, “Catholicism” and “Catholicism:The New Evangelization.”

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The gift of not knowing

by Jenny Uebbing • February 4, 2015

Our youngest child, our sweet daughter, has been a bit of an enigma wrapped in a mystery since she first graced us with her presence.

Even in utero, her short little legs were confounding ultrasound techs and raising eyebrows about the accuracy of my charts (NFP: 1 Radiology: 0, BTW). Then she arrived and all was well, if not petite.

And that’s pretty much been her story for the past 13 months. She’s darling, and not just in an every baby sort of way, but in a stunner-who-stops-traffic kinda way. I can say that because I’m her mom, and because I have 2 other kids who, while good looking, never got us the kind of attention this girl has.

She’s teeny tiny. Doll-like. The proportions of a wee American Girl doll, clad in 9 month clothing still at month 13, but perfectly balanced in terms of length vs. weight. And, every month or so since last October, we dutifully truck her down to our local children’s hospital for another round of testing, bumping from one department to another. First nutrition, than orthopedics, now endocrinology.

She’s had more people poke and prod her in her first year of life than most people do in a lifetime, I’d wager. But to no avail. At least, to no apparent avail.

She’s teeny, she’s stubbornly “alternatively mobile” (translation: no walking, standing or crawling, but girlfriend has a mean scoot), and she’s utterly charming in her willingness to allow complete strangers to pick her up.

And we don’t have any idea why she is the way she is.

It’s been confounding and enlightening, at turns, as a parent to have no idea what is wrong, or even whether something is, in fact, actually “wrong” with her.

And it’s been a humbling exercise in “what ifs” in terms of the much bigger and much scarier situations that other parents really are facing.

There’s a delicate balance in motherhood between anxiety and surrender. Sometimes it really is on us to keep worrying when everyone else says to relax.

But other times, maybe more times than not, relaxing and releasing is the right way to go.

I’m naturally high strung and extremely anxious. I have grand delusions about what and whether I can manage, and I have a ludicrously inflated sense of control.

The antidote to all this, for me, has been motherhood.

No other experience thus far has come close to the gut wrenching, soul-shaking reality of recognizing my true impotence and insignificance. And I don’t mean that in a self deprecating way, but in a reality-recognizing way.

Motherhood has unveiled reality to me; I’m not in control, I never was in control, and even with ready access to arguably the best medical care on the planet … there’s still no guarantee of control.

Now, I can put truckloads of faith into modern medicine and research journals (and I do) while simultaneously barking up alternative trees for innovative ideas (woof, woof), but I still can’t summon a diagnosis for my daughter by the force of my will.

And that has been incredibly freeing for me. To be able to truly exercise the old adage to work as if everything depended on me, and to pray as if everything depends on God. It’s at once taking responsibility for what one can control while simultaneously releasing my inflated and, honestly, egomaniacal sense of control.

So efficient, Lord. I see what you did there.

And even if this latest round of blood work turns up with a big fat question mark like all the rest have, we’ll be able to sleep at night knowing that we asked the questions and made the appointments, and that, if nothing else, she’ll be a champion blood donor some day with nary a needle phobia to be found.

And if God sees fit to send us a label to enable us to know Evie a little better? We’ll take that into consideration, too. But it won’t define her, not in any real sense. Sure, it’ll simplify my Google searches. But it won’t change the way I have to love her, nurture her, and let God fill in for the ever-growing list of all the things about motherhood that are far above my pay grade.

Jenny Uebbing is the content director of our marriage and family life channel, where her blog Mama Needs Coffee will be permanently hosted. She lives in Denver, CO with her family, where she writes and speaks on Church teachings on marriage, contraception, NFP and bioethics.

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Boys and Girls Town and the Cristo Rey Schools

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. • February 4, 2015

Catholic education begins with the early Church which took Jesus as its exemplar. Not only was he a rabbi, a person of the book and the beneficiary of Jewish study and scholarship but also the divine teacher, “the truth,” and “the wisdom of God” (Jn 14:7; 1 Cor 1:24; Matt 28:19-20). He gave the disciples the mandate “to go and teach all nations.” Here the Church exercises its divine mandate and mission “which entitles it to precedence over all other agencies regarding final decisions about educational means and ends” (V.P. Lannie, “Catholic Education II, New Catholic Encyclopedia 5:168). With the family and state, the Church shares in the responsibility for educating youth. Thus, the continuous striving for academic excellence integrated with social responsibility and fidelity to Catholic faith.

Boys and Girls Town: Saving Our Youth and Healing Their Families

In 1921, the Irish-born Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town for abandoned and abused boys. His motto has become famous: “There is no such thing as a bad boy, only a bad environment, bad training, bad example, and bad thinking.” At first, only a few boys needed rescuing and rehabilitation. The numbers only increased. Father Flanagan had to find funds to build an entire town of homeless boys, later including homeless girls.

The statistics about homeless youth are appalling. 80% of Boys and Girls Town children come from single-parent homes. Over half of all the girls and 30% of the boys have been sexually abused. One in five has considered suicide. 63% have mental health problems severe enough to be diagnosable.

Education and Spiritual Development

At the main campus near Omaha, Nebraska, there is a fully-accredited non-sectarian school with teachers for the middle and high school levels where the boys and girls are educated. The goal is to have them grow into responsible and productive members of society. The high school is organized around a seven-period day without study halls, and academics, social skills, and employable skills are emphasized. Boys and Girls Town has its own sports team, band, choir, student newspaper, and a self-governing body with its own mayor. Father Flanagan respected the faith traditions of every child, adding that “every boy must learn to pray. How he prays is up to him.”

Costs

The cost of maintaining a child at Boys and Girls Town is close to $50,000 a year. Of that, two-thirds is privately supported through donations and a trust fund established by Father Flanagan in 1941. The remainder is funded by social services, juvenile justice, and educational agencies. On the Omaha campus, there are 400-600 youth. The boys and girls live in family-style homes with four to six of them assigned to families, mothers and fathers with their own children. These adults serve as counselors to the residents. The transformation at Boys and Girls Town is nothing short of amazing. Almost 83% of its residents graduate from high school or earn a GED, and administrators continue to monitor the progress of the alumni after graduation.

Expansion

Today, Boys and Girls Town has more than eleven locations nationwide and growing in number. The mission at Omaha has flourished but has assumed a new and improved approach. Instead of removing young people from their troubled families, counselors visit them in their own environments and try to heal the family unit. About 30,000 of these young people receive this attention as do their families.

At-risk children and the family are given outside support to overcome their circumstances, and through healing, find their way to the future and realize their potential. Since the start of Boys Town in 1921, almost 1.6 million boys and girls have been influenced by the vision of Father Flanagan. This mission has succeeded in transforming the lives of young people.

Spencer Tracy and Boys Town

In 1938, the film, Boys Town, became one of Hollywood’s biggest hits even though it lacked sensational effects. It was nominated for five Oscars, and Spencer Tracy received one for best actor. In his acceptance speech, he praised the founder of Boys Town, Father Edward Flanagan. Though Tracy kept his Oscar, he had one made for the priest, with the inscription on it: “To Father Flanagan, whose great humanity, kindly simplicity, and inspiring courage were strong enough to shine through my humble effort. Spencer Tracy.”

Honoring Father Flanagan

In 1986, the United States Postal Service issued a four-cent Great American series postage stamp honoring Father Flanagan. The cause for his canonization has begun with the title, “Servant of God,” the first of three titles bestowed before canonization as a Catholic saint. This great humanitarian ‘rescued boys from the dark streets of this country and gave them hope for their future.’

Cristo Rey Schools (Christ the King): Educating Our Youth and Their Families

In the mid-nineties, Cristo Rey, a Catholic college-prep school serving low-income students, took shape as the creation of Father John O. Foley, S.J. and a few other Jesuits in Chicago.

The scriptural text that inspired the Cristo Rey vision was that from Acts 9:6: “[Paul], get up and go into the city where you will be told what you must do.” Like the Apostle, the Jesuits went into the streets, but of Chicago’s Pilsen district and asked the residents how they (the Jesuits) could best respond to the unserved needs of the Mexican and Latino immigrants living there. The response was unanimous. They wanted their children to attend a college-prep high school that would educate them for a better future. In August 1996, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School in Chicago was born.

Every Cristo Rey school is permeated with Catholic faith and values with biblical and Catholic social teaching forming the centerpiece of the celebration of Mass, retreat experiences, and community service. It is Christ the King who leads the way.

Genius of Cristo Rey: High School and Business at Fourteen

The parents of Cristo Rey schools cannot afford large tuition bills, but herein lies the genius of the Cristo Rey plan. The schools function as a vast work-study agency in which clusters of five students each rotate working as an intern one day a week at a job in a business like Pfizer and American Express. Part-time salaries cover a portion of each student’s tuition. Parents pay approximately $1,000 a year to defray some of cost of that tuition. Here they are, young people, beginning to build their resumes at age fourteen. Business ‘boot camp’ calls for wearing suitable attire, learning telephone etiquette and skills, team work, precision, accountability, technical skills, and how to conduct oneself in business. The other four days of the week, students are immersed in a rigorous course of academic studies.

In this way, study and work are integrated, and tuition is covered. Students gain exposure to the corporate world while receiving a first-class education in a thoroughly Catholic environment. Of the 9,000 students enrolled in Cristo Rey schools across the country, 40% of them are not Catholic and need not become Catholic.

Enterprising Sponsors

In addition to the Jesuits, many religious groups endorse and run Cristo Rey schools. Each is independently owned, each is explicitly Catholic in mission, and each has received official Church approbation. From the endorsing group to the president, principal, and teachers, down to the youngest freshman, a common four-fold mission is actively promoted: (1) commitment to the Catholic character of the school, a character that permeates the curriculum, (2) admitting only students from lower income families, (3) using a college-prep curriculum, (4) work-study.

Currently, there are approximately twenty-eight schools in the Cristo Rey Network, but new schools are in the planning. Empty buildings are being bought up and renovated for the 400-600 students who will study there and from there go to business one day a week as an intern. The Cristo Rey Network based in Chicago ascertains that all the schools are adhering to the four-fold mission.

Course of Studies

Students in Cristo Rey schools have a longer school day and year. What course of studies do the students follow? Across the United States, the college-prep, academic curriculum is rigorous experience. Most students take four years each of English, mathematics, religion, and science, three years each of a foreign language and history, two plus years in health and physical education, at least one year of the arts, and computer science. Cristo Rey schools are transforming urban education through Catholic values through Catholic values, rigorous study and student-internships. By 2001, Cristo Rey’s education model became known to educators and community leaders throughout the country. As of 2014, twenty-eight Cristo Rey schools have enrolled 9,000 low-income students, and every year, every student is accepted into college.

The primary long-range goal of Cristo Rey schools is to have their students enter and graduate from college. Eight goals emerge from Cristo Rey schools:

1. Academic excellence and lifelong learning are essential. As important keys, they unlock doors to a meaningful future for the students.

2. Importance of well-trained teachers equipped to engage their students. As leaders, they must be committed to the Catholic vision.

3. Character is developed largely through faith experiences.

4. All-in. Every person is committed to the program.

5. Belief in every student that he or she has the ability to enter and graduate from college. This attitude prompts students to believe in themselves.

6. The importance of community with students and parents.

7. Importance of data. Test scores are used by the schools themselves to improve their programs and by outside groups to assess the impact of Cristo Rey education.

8. Cristo Rey pursues a culture of high expectations of everyone. (Adapted from Megan Sweas: “How a Jesuit Network Is Transforming Urban Education”).

Conclusion

Catholic education gives human persons a vision of the transcendent as well as an appreciation of their lives on earth. Thus, they can realize their destiny in the life to come. A Catholic education that attempts to achieve less than this is an incomplete Catholic education and short-changes those students enrolled in a particular Catholic school.

The Latin poet Virgil saw most deeply how we are wrapped in history’s tools, how quickly we as individuals pass, how necessary it is to build institutions to live on. Boys and Girls Town and the Cristo Rey schools are two cherished institutions of the American Catholic Church. They are leading young men and women to fulfill their potential as God’s masterpieces, God’s works of art.

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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If God is good, why is there so much suffering in the world?

by Msgr. M. Francis Mannion • February 5, 2015

Of all the agonized questions posed to me over the years, none is more difficult to answer than the problem of suffering. Here is my attempt at an answer.

According to the Book of Genesis, the world God created was the perfect world of paradise. But with the sin of Adam and Eve, the world fell from its original perfection, and the whole order which God created unraveled. Human history, both at the human and natural levels, has since then experienced suffering, evil, and tragedy.

In his saving ministry, Jesus came to reverse the world of Adam and to restore humanity and creation to their original order of blessedness. Jesus did this through his death and resurrection, when he broke the chains of death and opened the way for the ascent of humanity and history toward the new creation.

Humanity and the world live now in the “in between,” between the original paradise and the new creation of God’s Kingdom. Though evil and suffering continue in the world, they no longer have the ultimate word and are not the final chapter of human history. Human life does not end in the grave, and human history is not a tragedy; it has a glorious ending.

Thus, we live today in an imperfect world in which creation is unfinished and incomplete. Suffering is part and parcel of creation groaning toward perfection. If God were to intervene in the processes of nature, he would short-cut the whole course of history, and he has chosen not to do that. This causes many to lose faith. The Christian can only conclude that God has his own good reasons for allowing suffering, and that in time we will fully understand God’s mysterious ways.

If we cannot answer the question of why God allows suffering, we can answer the question of where God is in the face of suffering. People often ask: Why has God abandoned me? Why does he let me and those I love suffer? The truth is that God is with humanity in the midst of suffering. When people suffer, the Son of God suffers. (A number of modern theologians have spoken of “the suffering God.”)

We should not see Christ only in heaven at the right hand of the Father; we should see him in the pains of suffering humanity. The philosopher Blasé Pascal could say that “Christ suffers until the end of the world.” Thus, we should not separate God and human suffering. They belong together and will as long as history continues.

We can never forget that in Jesus Christ, God has taken suffering to himself. Calvary continues through history. But if Calvary leads to the resurrection, then the end of the world will be a glorious one in which all suffering will be overcome.

That is why the image of Christ on the Cross is so crucial to Christians. Christ is not disconnected from human suffering, but is permanently in the midst of it.

When all is said and done, what those who suffer need most is not a theological explanation about the role of God in human suffering. What they need is the solidarity of their fellow men and women. That is why the Christian response to suffering is not the provision of a theory, but the practice of charity, solidarity, and the practical alleviation of the pain of those in need. Christians are called to be the face and hands of God in times of suffering.

Msgr. Mannion is pastor emeritus of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Salt Lake City. He holds a Ph.D in sacramental theology from The Catholic University of America. He was founding president of The Society for Catholic Liturgy in 1995 and the founding editor of the Society’s journal, Antiphon. At the invitation of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago he founded the Mundelein Liturgical Institute in 2000.

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The Beauty of Catholic Education Part V: Teaching Troubled Children

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. • February 6, 2015

It is a little-known fact that Beethoven came from a dysfunctional family. Even music historians skim over this fact to focus their attention on the many aspects of the composer’s musical genius. Nonetheless, family life placed undue burdens on the young man with a large, illustrious, and consequential future ahead of him.

Beethoven’s father Johann was a musician and a member of the electoral chapel choir until 1789 when he was dismissed from his position, presumably because of his affinity for alcohol. His drunkenness brought degradation on the family. His nineteen-year old son was forced to take charge of the family with a sickly mother and two younger brothers to support and guide. His father had begun to teach him music but was a harsh task master who wanted to see in his son another Mozart. It was not to be.

Beethoven’s Education

At the age of fifteen, Beethoven approached the thirty-year old Mozart hoping to study with him. But before he could return to Vienna in 1791, Mozart was already in the grave. It was Haydn’s turn to receive Beethoven, but the elder composer was ruffled by the young man’s volcanic temperament. There were other teachers as well. In the final analysis, Beethoven grew up trusting no one and felt excluded from the world. He was self-taught and remained uneducable all his life. He never learned the mechanics of spelling, and his handwriting was illegible all his life.

Teaching Troubled Children

Children who come from troubled families, enter school largely unaware that they are crying out for help all the day long. Many cannot concentrate; they are restless and uncooperative. Others are listless and withdrawn as if in another world.

A number of years ago, I taught in a town where a large mental institution preoccupied its people and gripped their collective psyche. Most families had at least one member working in the dreaded place. Children of these families were enrolled in our school; I had about sixty of them in my fifth-grade class.

One afternoon early in the term, I wrote on the board a variety of words: happy, family, mystery, danger, ugly, fear, play, beautiful. For our art lesson, I asked the class to select from their crayon box two or three colors. I asked them to choose one word and depict it with the colors and a ruler. The results were as remarkable as they were enlightening.

Children whose family lives seemed happy drew houses with flower boxes, hearts, with mother, father, and children standing together, holding hands, smiling. They had chosen bright colors.

Children whose family lives I knew to be troubled chose dark colors — purple, black, brown. They used the ruler to draw angular crisscrossing lines that had no focus, no center. I could see that these children had not simply drawn with the crayons but had dug the crayons into the paper as though in anger and frustration. Not just ugly but frightening, all the more so because the activity was spontaneous!

In that same class, some children found it difficult to listen to classical music. At the beginning of the semester, when it came time for music period, one boy, whose parents worked at the mental institution, would disrupt the peaceful atmosphere. He pounded on the desk, placed his fingers in his ears, and shuffled his feet. He wouldn’t listen to such “junk.” I took on the challenge of ‘converting’ him. By the end of the semester, he was checking up on me to make certain that we didn’t skip a music lesson, especially if it was Beethoven.

The Long View Needed

In volatile situations, it may be nearly impossible to take the high road and think of the ultimate destiny of a troubled child. But sooner or later, the Catholic educator is brought face with the fact that this child living with this set of difficulties is a child who remains in God’s loving embrace. The child is in great pain but doesn’t know why. And yet, some of these children may be quite talented, even gifted, awaiting someone to befriend them.

Befriending Children

We will never know how Beethoven would have fared without such a forceful, determined personality and his remarkable talent. If Catholic educators firmly believe that every child is a unique person with unique abilities and talents, then our approach in dealing with each child must also take on a unique and creative character.

This was the conviction of St. John Bosco (d 1888) who lived in the early nineteenth century. His father died when he was an infant, and his family lived in poverty for years. As a priest, he gathered about him orphans to teach them the catechism. He is known as a champion of uniting the spiritual development of boys with their study, work, and play. He insisted that boys be taught trades, and for this, he became the pioneer and patron of modern vocational training. John Bosco (d 1888) founded the Salesian Order of priests and sisters to befriend homeless boys and girls.

The Power of One

Some years ago, before my cousin Peter chose an architect’s profession, he taught boys in three of New York City’s trade and technical high schools, two of them located in the ghetto. The boys, who came from lower income families, were mostly African American. One thread linked them together: There was no sign of fathers anywhere in their lives. The worst Friday in the year for the boys was anticipating the upcoming Fathers’ Day. Without their fathers, they were like orphans.

In the eighteenth century, Victor Hugo observed that “he who opens a school door closes a prison.” Today, 83% of youth in prison have been born to unwed mothers.

The boys’ mothers were the bread winners; grandmothers raised the children. When a boy was absent from class, in most cases, he was caring for a sick grandmother. Mothers couldn’t afford to get sick.

My cousin taught his students the basics of trade, architecture and building construction, drawing, drafting, and reading blueprints, but more importantly, they learned from him self-discipline and self-respect. My cousin loved his boys with a firm yet understanding heart, gave them direction for the future, and often served as in loco parentis. Here was a model of a dedicated public school teacher.

Our educators in Catholic schools and in public schools need more apostles of youth like my cousin to persuade them to live virtuous, productive, and meaningful lives.

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: ‘Jupiter Ascending’

by Carl Kozlowski • February 6, 2015

Ever since unleashing the groundbreaking first “Matrix” movie on the world in 1999, Lana and Andy Wachowski have been two of the luckiest filmmakers alive. After all, since that smash hit, they have managed to crank out some of the biggest misfires of the past decade — two bad “Matrix” sequels, a live-action version of “Speed Racer” and the confusing 2012 anomaly “Cloud Atlas”— while still managing to draw an enormous budget for their latest travesty, “Jupiter Ascending.”

Perhaps Warner Bros. needed a big tax write-off this year, because that is the only way to explain its reported $175 million budget. There is simply no way that this movie will earn decent money past opening night, if that, as it drove even this reviewer out of the room and into a screening of the far more competent and much less expensive “Project Almanac” after 45 minutes of mind-numbing confusion.

In “Jupiter Ascending,” Mila Kunis stars as a woman named Jupiter whose father was inexplicably killed by Russian gangsters while she was still in the womb. Her mom abandons her after childbirth to other Russians, who raise her in Chicago to be a cleaning lady.

For reasons that take forever to be explained and then remain painfully obtuse, Jupiter gets caught in the middle of a fast and furious attempt by ugly aliens and their human-looking leaders on Jupiter to kill her. The only one who can save her is a bounty hunter named Caine (Channing Tatum), a half-wolf and half human-looking being who also comes from our solar system’s largest planet.

Why they want her is a mystery to Jupiter, and will likely be so for anyone watching this film. Nearly every line in the opening hour is a jumbled mess of exposition in which an endless series of weird names are introduced and weirder words from the planet’s vocabulary are explained to the confused earthling.

Even more annoying were the endless and confusing action scenes, in which constant jump cuts and an over-reliance on lasers rendered everything an explosion of colors. The result is a mess of flying bodies and spaceships that are hard to distinguish from one another and even harder to care about.

While a science-fiction movie should induce awe and wonder in a crowd, the only thing that “Jupiter” seemed to make people wonder about is how such big stars agreed to make such a terrible film. Beyond Tatum and Kunis’ embarrassing performances, in which Tatum just mumbles a lot and Kunis constantly looks like she is trying not to laugh at her lines — it’s shocking to see British actor Eddie Redmayne caught up in this trash.

Redmayne is currently up for a Best Actor Oscar for his remarkable performance as Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything,” but this movie could prove to be his “Norbit.” That 2006 debacle starred Eddie Murphy and was released right in the middle of Oscar voting — just as “Jupiter” is now — and is widely believed to be so bad that it led voters to deny Murphy a richly deserved Oscar for “Dreamgirls.”

Those audience members who didn’t join this reviewer in fleeing the theater guffawed loudly at Redmayne’s bizarre line readings throughout. And if you don’t believe it could be this bad, consider that audience members walked out in droves at the free screening at the Sundance film festival last week, while those who remained refused to applaud, even as Tatum and Kunis were known to be in the theater.

I realize that I can’t account for everything immoral that takes place in “Jupiter,” due to the fact I left early. But its rated PG-13, and from what I saw, it was mostly rated R for violence, and that was mostly ofth laser-fighting, spaceship-chasing variety, with plenty of wonton destruction of both Jupiter the planet and Chicago. There are few bad words in it, mostly because everyone’s constantly speaking in space slang from Jupiter, or in Russian, both of which have to be explained but barely are. Finally, the one scene of sexual content I noticed consisted of an evil Jupter roay getting groped by a bunch of female creatures while his shirt’s off, insinuating an orgy but again, the scene is so confusingly written and poorly shot like the rest of the movie and therefor its just more creepy than salacious.

Basically, my advice to you, regardless of how immoral this movie is or not, just do not see it. It’s bad on every imaginable level. You’ll thank me for sparing you the money.

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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FEATURES

Movie Review: ‘Project Almanac’

by Carl Kozlowski • February 6, 2015

Feeling the need to restore my faith in filmmaking, and curious to compare how a sci-fi film with a much lower budgeted would compare, this reviewer actually paid to see the week-old release “Project Almanac” rather than suffer one second more for free with “Jupiter Ascending.” “Almanac” has no recognizable stars, and at $12 million cost far less than one-tenth of the budget for the Wachowski tragedy.

The lack of recognizable faces plays in the favor of “Almanac,” which is the latest in the found-footage school of movies started by “The Blair Witch Project.” It’s about a group of science-whiz teens led by David, who gets accepted to MIT but needs to come up with an amazing science project to win a scholarship to the notoriously expensive school.

He and his best friends find plans for a time-travel machine that his dad — a long-dead scientist — created secretly many years ago. With his sister Christina filming their efforts on a video camera to document everything for MIT’s scholarship committee, the gang goes through a series of fun near-misses on the device before finding they have succeeded.

Using their newfound ability, they first do fun things like get revenge on a bully, attend a Lollapalooza concert they had missed, and find winning lottery numbers they then use to get rich beyond their imagination. However, as David keeps pushing it, trouble starts to brew and they find they have to undo the dramatic changes they have unwittingly caused by altering events.

“Almanac” is a fairly innocent movie, with one possible yet unclear “F” word, occasional “S” words and some fairly mild sexual innuendos spoken throughout but not constantly. The filmmakers wisely keep the focus on the science and the aforementioned escapades the kids get into while traveling time. There is also a scene that implies a teen boy and girl just had sex, but it’s not discussed or actually shown.

Sure, these kids are sneaking around and therefore duplicitous, and they break into the school science lab at one point to steal hydrogen for their machine’s engine, but that shouldn’t matter to parents or anyone, frankly. If a movie about making a time-travel machine isn’t a fantasy that kids can’t replicate bad behavior from, what is? Basically, it’s the intensity of the scares as they risk death to travel that makes the movie too much for younger children and earns it a PG13. This is perfectly acceptable fare for teens and adults.

That said, “Almanac” isn’t perfect filmmaking either, and is often more interesting than exciting to watch. But the young cast and filmmakers put the Wachowskis and their big stars to shame. All in all, even “Almanac” isn’t worth $15, so this is a great weekend to catch up on an Oscar-nominated movie you’ve missed, or read a book, or do your laundry.

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 • FEBRUARY 8, 2015

Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Jb 7:1-4, 6-7; NRSVCE)

Job said,

Do not human beings have a hard service on earth,

and are not their days like the days of a laborer?

Like a slave who longs for the shadow,

and like laborers who look for their wages,

so I am allotted months of emptiness,

and nights of misery are apportioned to me.

When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I rise?’

But the night is long,

and I am full of tossing until dawn.

My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle,

and come to their end without hope.

“Remember that my life is a breath;

my eye will never again see good.

Second Reading (1 Cor 9:16-19, 22-23; NRSVCE)

If I proclaim the gospel, this gives me no ground for boasting, for an obligation is laid on me, and woe to me if I do not proclaim the gospel! For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission. What then is my reward? Just this: that in my proclamation I may make the gospel free of charge, so as not to make full use of my rights in the gospel.

For though I am free with respect to all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I might win more of them. To the weak I became weak, so that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that I might by all means save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, so that I may share in its blessings.

Gospel Reading (Mk 1:29-39; NRSVCE)

As soon as they left the synagogue, Jesus entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. Now Simon’s mother-in-law was in bed with a fever, and they told him about her at once. He came and took her by the hand and lifted her up. Then the fever left her, and she began to serve them.

That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons. And the whole city was gathered around the door. And he cured many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed. And Simon and his companions hunted for him. When they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is searching for you.” He answered, “Let us go on to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim the message there also; for that is what I came out to do.” And he went throughout Galilee, proclaiming the message in their synagogues and casting out demons.

MONDAY • FEBRUARY 9, 2015

Monday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gn 1:1-19; NRSVCE)

In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.

And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.

And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights — the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night — and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.

Gospel Reading (Mk 6:53-56; NRSVCE)

When they had crossed over, Jesus and his disciples came to land at Gennesaret and moored the boat. When they got out of the boat, people at once recognized him, and rushed about that whole region and began to bring the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. And wherever he went, into villages or cities or farms, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

TUESDAY • FEBRUARY 10, 2015

Memorial of Saint Scholastica

First Reading (Gn 1:20 — 2:4a; NRSVCE)

And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.

And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.

Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”

So God created humankind in his image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

Gospel Reading (Mk 7:1-13; NRSVCE)

Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus, they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. (For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands, thus observing the tradition of the elders; and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it; and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” He said to them, “Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,

‘This people honors me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from me;

in vain do they worship me,

teaching human precepts as doctrines.’

You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.”

Then he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever speaks evil of father or mother must surely die.’ But you say that if anyone tells father or mother, ‘Whatever support you might have had from me is Corban’ (that is, an offering to God) — then you no longer permit doing anything for a father or mother, thus making void the word of God through your tradition that you have handed on. And you do many things like this.”

WEDNESDAY • FEBRUARY 11, 2015

Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gn 2:4b-9, 15-17; NRSVCE)

In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up — for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground — then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. Out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

Gospel Reading (Mk 7:14-23; NRSVCE)

Then Jesus called the crowd again and said to them, “Listen to me, all of you, and understand: there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.”

When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. He said to them, “Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

THURSDAY • FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gn 2:18-25; NRSVCE)

Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man there was not found a helper as his partner. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

this one shall be called Woman,

for out of Man this one was taken.”

Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

Gospel Reading (Mk 7:24-30; NRSVCE)

From there Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there. Yet he could not escape notice, but a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” Then he said to her, “For saying that, you may go — the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

FRIDAY • FEBRUARY 13, 2015

Friday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gn 3:1-8; NRSVCE)

Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God say, ‘You shall not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden, nor shall you touch it, or you shall die.’” But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die; for God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loincloths for themselves.

They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

Gospel Reading (Mk 7:31-37; NRSVCE)

Then Jesus returned from the region of Tyre, and went by way of Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. They brought to him a deaf man who had an impediment in his speech; and they begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him aside in private, away from the crowd, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spat and touched his tongue. Then looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” And immediately his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. Then Jesus ordered them to tell no one; but the more he ordered them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. They were astounded beyond measure, saying, “He has done everything well; he even makes the deaf to hear and the mute to speak.”

SATURDAY • FEBRUARY 14, 2015

Memorial of Saints Cyril and Methodius

First Reading (Gn 3:9-24; NRSVCE)

But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent tricked me, and I ate.” The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

cursed are you among all animals

and among all wild creatures;

upon your belly you shall go,

and dust you shall eat

all the days of your life.

I will put enmity between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and hers;

he will strike your head,

and you will strike his heel.”

To the woman he said,

“I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing;

in pain you shall bring forth children,

yet your desire shall be for your husband,

and he shall rule over you.”

And to the man he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife,

and have eaten of the tree

about which I commanded you,

‘You shall not eat of it,’

cursed is the ground because of you;

in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life;

thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;

and you shall eat the plants of the field.

By the sweat of your face

you shall eat bread

until you return to the ground,

for out of it you were taken;

you are dust,

and to dust you shall return.”

The man named his wife Eve, because she was the mother of all living. And the Lord God made garments of skins for the man and for his wife, and clothed them.

Then the Lord God said, “See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life.

Gospel Reading (Mk 8:1-10; NRSVCE)

In those days when there was again a great crowd without anything to eat, Jesus called his disciples and said to them, “I have compassion for the crowd, because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat. If I send them away hungry to their homes, they will faint on the way — and some of them have come from a great distance.” His disciples replied, “How can one feed these people with bread here in the desert?” He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?” They said, “Seven.” Then he ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground; and he took the seven loaves, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to his disciples to distribute; and they distributed them to the crowd. They had also a few small fish; and after blessing them, he ordered that these too should be distributed. They ate and were filled; and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. Now there were about four thousand people. And he sent them away. And immediately he got into the boat with his disciples and went to the district of Dalmanutha.