VOLUME 1, ISSUE 27  •  JULY 4, 2015

Table of Contents

Copyright Notice

VATICAN NEWS

Pope officially paves the way for Saint Therese’s parents to be canonized

Catholics and Orthodox should meet, cooperate more often, Pope exhorts

Pope Francis creates new secretariat overseeing all Vatican communications

Pope Francis’ answer to ‘What is faith?’

Practice what you preach, Pope encourages new archbishops

Vatican’s communications secretariat prioritizes new media

Cuba, U.S. set to be a busy trip for Pope Francis

Francis wishes Benedict XVI a good summer in Castel Gandolfo

Chewed or brewed: A brief history of Popes and coca leaves

Human dignity must be center of political debate – Pope on Greek debt crisis

Pope’s encyclical forges unusual allies in fight for the environment

Vatican official says ‘it’s time to act’ on protecting the environment

A fourth saint for the Little Flower family?

Evangelizing evangelicals – why Pope Francis loves to meet with charismatic movements

WORLD NEWS

What does it look like to be gay – and a practicing Catholic?

These nuns are making the Pope’s vestments for Ecuador

Meet Father Salvatore, the young priest whose life moved the Pope

Why choose celibacy? A gay Catholic speaks out

Cuban bishops: prepare for Pope’s visit with works of mercy

Pontifical university plans to offer diploma in child protection by 2016

U.S. NEWS

Marriage has had its day at Court, but religious freedom could soon follow

‘The unthinkable is real,’ author warns about persecutions of Middle East Christians

Benedictine monks’ disputed role at Catholic university in Illinois at center of new lawsuit

FDA announces additional risks of Essure birth control device

Supreme Court upholds use of controversial lethal injection drug

Supreme Court protects Pennsylvania charities from HHS mandate

Supreme Court puts hold on Texas law regulating abortion clinics

Bishops expect Pope Francis’ visit to have profound impact on U.S.

Anti-Catholic history in U.S. shows Church has survived and will continue, historian says

Honestly funny – comedian Jim Gaffigan blends faith, humor in new TV show

CatholicVote says controversial video sparked outpouring of thanks

This 95-year-old Catholic couple died in each other’s arms

Bl. Junipero statue in the Capitol is safe – for now

FEATURES

We’ve been here before: Marriage and the Room of Tears

The American Dream

‘Terminator: Genisys’ showcases an underwhelming, convoluted plot

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • July 5, 2015

Monday • July 6, 2015

Tuesday • July 7, 2015

Wednesday • July 8, 2015

Thursday • July 9, 2015

Friday • July 10, 2015

Saturday • July 11, 2015

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Volume 1, Issue 27 • July 4, 2015

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope officially paves the way for Saint Therese’s parents to be canonized

by CNA/EWTN News • June 27, 2015

Blesseds Louis and Zelie Martin, who will be canonized Oct. 18, 2015. (CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis formally approved on Saturday the decrees necessary for Blesseds Louis and Zelie Martin – known for being the parents of St. Therese of Lisieux – to be declared saints later this year.

The two blesseds will be the first couple ever to be canonized at the same ceremony, which will be held Oct. 18 in the Vatican. The event will take place fewer than three weeks after the Oct. 1 feast of their daughter, and doctor of the Church, St. Therese of the Child Jesus.

The Roman Pontiff approved the decrees for the Martins’ canonization during a June 27 consistory of bishops at the Apostolic Palace.

On March 18, the Pope had recognized a miracle attributed to the couple.

Married in 1858 just three months after meeting each other, Bl. Louis and Zelie lived in celibacy for nearly a year, but eventually went on to have nine children. Four died in infancy, while the remaining five daughters entered religious life.

Zelie died from cancer in 1877, leaving Louis to care for their five young daughters: Marie, Pauline, Leonie, Celine, and Therese, who was only four at the time. Louis died in 1894 after suffering two strokes in 1889, followed by five years of serious drawn-out illness.

Louis and Zelie were beatified Oct. 19, 2008 by Benedict XVI.

The canonizations of the married couple will coincide with the Synod on the Family, to be held on Oct. 4-25. The three-week gathering of bishops 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.”

Pope Francis venerated the relics of Blesseds Louis and Zelie ahead of the 2014 Synod on the Family, along with those of another married couple: Blessed Luigi and Maria Beltrame Quattrocchi.

It was announced at Saturday’s consistory that Blessed Louis and Zelie Martin will be canonized alongside two others: Blessed Vincenzo Grossi, an Italian priest and founder of the Institute of the Daughters of the Oratory, and Bl. Maria of the Immaculate Conception, Spanish superior general of the Sisters of the Company of the Cross.

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VATICAN NEWS

Catholics and Orthodox should meet, cooperate more often, Pope exhorts

by CNA/EWTN News • June 27, 2015

Pope Francis addresses delegates of Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, at the Private Library of the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican, June 27, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Greeting a delegation of the leader of Eastern Orthodoxy on Saturday, Pope Francis voiced hope that Catholics and Eastern Orthodox would encounter each other more often, so as to overcome prejudices.

“I hope, therefore, that opportunities may increase for meeting each other, for exchange and cooperation among Catholic and Orthodox faithful, in such a way that as we deepen our knowledge and esteem for one another, we may be able to overcome any prejudice and misunderstanding that may remain as a result of our long separation,” the Bishop of Rome said June 27 at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace.

He was receiving representatives of Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, who are in Rome to observe the June 29 feast of Saints Peter and Paul, who were martyred in the city and who are the principal patrons of the Church of Rome.

“Your presence at the celebrations of our feast testifies once again to the deep relationship between the sister Churches of Rome and Constantinople, foreshadowed by the bond which unites the respective patron Saints of our Churches, the Apostles Peter and Andrew, brothers in blood and faith, united in apostolic service and martyrdom,” Francis told them.

He recalled his own visit to Constantinople and to Patriarch Bartholomew, for the feast of St. Andrew, that Church’s patron, saying, “The embrace of peace exchanged with His Holiness was an eloquent sign of that fraternal charity which encourages us along the path of reconciliation, and which will enable us one day to participate together at the altar of the Eucharist.”

“Attaining that goal, towards which we have set out together in trust, represents one of my main concerns, for which I do not cease to pray to God,” reflected the Bishop of Rome. “It is my desire that we may be able to face, in truth but also with a fraternal spirit, the difficulties which still exist.”

He mentioned his support for the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, adding that “the problems which we may encounter in the course of our theological dialogue must not lead us to discouragement or resignation.”

“The careful examination of how in the Church the principle of synodality and the service of the one who presides are articulated, will make a significant contribution to the progress of relations between our Churches.”

The Pope looked forward to the Pan-Orthodox Synod, assuring the delegates of his prayers “and that of many Catholics,” adding that “I trust also in your prayers for the Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops of the Catholic Church, on the theme of the family, which will take place here in the Vatican this coming October, at which we are looking forward also to the participation of a fraternal delegate from the Ecumenical Patriarchate.”

“I renew my gratitude for your presence and for your cordial expressions of closeness,” he concluded. “I ask you to convey my fraternal greeting to His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew and to the Holy Synod, together with my most heartfelt appreciation for having desired to send eminent representatives to share our joy.”

“Please pray for me and for my ministry.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis creates new secretariat overseeing all Vatican communications

by CNA/EWTN News • June 27, 2015

St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican flag. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — The Vatican’s nine communications offices will soon be consolidated under the authority of the newly-established Secretariat for Communications, per a Saturday directive of Pope Francis.

The Roman Pontiff instituted the new secretariat with a motu proprio titled The current communication context, promulgated June 27. The letter states that the new management body will take effect June 29.

“The current communication context, characterized by the presence and the development of digital media, by the factors of convergence and interactivity, requires a rethinking of the information system of the Holy See and dedication to a reorganization which … must proceed decisively towards integration and a unified management,” the Pope wrote.

“For these reasons, I desire that all organizations which, thus far have dealt with communications in different ways, be brought together in a new Dicastery of the Roman Curia … thus, the communication system of the Holy See will respond in an ever more efficacious manner to the needs of the mission of the Church.”

The new dicastery will oversee the all of the Vatican’s communications offices, including Vatican Radio, L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican Television Center, the Holy See Press Office, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Vatican Internet Service, the Vatican Typography, the Photograph Service, and the Vatican publishing house.

Pope Francis added these offices “must continue their own activities, in accordance, however, with the indications given by the Secretariat for Communications.”

The secretariat will also assume responsibility for the Vatican’s website, vatican.va, and the Pope’s Twitter account, @pontifex.

He writes also that he established the secretariat as a result of consultation with the Council of Cardinals, a group of nine cardinals tasked with advising the Roman Pontiff on reform of the Roman Curia.

The current head of Vatican Television, Msgr. Dario Edoardo Viganò, has been named prefect of the new dicastery, while Fr. Lucio Adrian Ruiz of the Vatican Internet Service, has been appointed its secretary.

The Roman Pontiff also named Paolo Nusiner, director of the Italian newspaper Avvenire, as director general. Giacomo Ghisani, head of Vatican Radio’s International Relations Office and Legal Affairs, is vice-director general.

The Secretariat for Communications will be temporarily headquartered on the premises of Vatican Radio.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis’ answer to ‘What is faith?’

by CNA/EWTN News • June 28, 2015

Pope Francis delivers an Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square, June 15, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — The Pope focused on the virtue of faith during his Sunday Angelus address, saying the whole gospel is written in its light.

“Faith is this: to touch Jesus and to draw from him the grace which saves,” Pope Francis explained June 28 at St. Peter’s Square, reflecting on the healing of a haemorrhaging woman in the day’s Gospel reading. She believed that if she could but touch Christ’s clothes, she would be healed.

“And so it is,” said Pope Francis. “The need to be freed drives her to dare, and faith ‘snatches’, so to speak, healing from the Lord.”

He waxed on the Gospel reading, saying that the Father, through Christ’s healing, in a sense, said “Daughter, you are not cursed, you are not excluded, rather, you are my daughter!”

“And every time Jesus comes to us, when we go to him with faith, we hear this from the Father: ‘You are my son, you are my daughter! You are healed, you are healed. I forgive all, all. I heal everyone and everything.’”

Pope Francis also discussed Christ’s raising of a 12 year old girl who had died, saying that in her father’s appeal to Jesus, we feel “the great faith which this man has in Jesus.”

Christ’s reaction – “Do not fear, only have faith” – give courage, the Pope said. “He says to us, so often: ‘Do not fear, only have faith!’”

“These two episodes – a healing and a raising from death – have a single center: faith. The message is clear, and can be summarized in one question: do we believe that Jesus can heal and can raise from the dead? The whole Gospel is written in the light of this faith: Jesus is risen, has conquered death, and because of this victory we too will be resurrected.”

Francis lamented that “this faith, which for the first Christians was secure, can tarnish and become uncertain, to the point that some confuse resurrection with reincarnation.”

“The word of God this Sunday invites us to live in the certainty of the resurrection: Jesus is the Lord, Jesus has power over evil and over death, and wants to take us to the Father’s house, where life reigns. And there we will meet all, all of us in this square today, we will meet in the Father’s house, in the life that Jesus gives us.”

He added that Christ’s resurrection “acts in history as a principle of renewal and of hope. Anyone who is desperate and weary unto death, if they rely on Jesus and on his love, can begin to live again … faith is a force of life, it gives fullness to our humanity; and who believes in Christ must be recognized precisely because they promote life in all situations, so that everyone, especially the weakest, can experience the love of God which frees and saves.”

Concluding, Pope Francis said, “We ask the Lord, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, the gift of a strong and courageous faith, which drives us to speakers of hope and of life among our brethren.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Practice what you preach, Pope encourages new archbishops

by CNA/EWTN News • June 29, 2015

Pope Francis celebrates Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul, June 29, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — During his Mass for the feast of Saints Peter and Paul on Monday, Pope Francis called on the Church’s new archbishops to be courageous witnesses who are not ashamed of Christ, and who are convinced by what they themselves teach.

“Kingdoms, peoples, cultures, nations, ideologies, powers have passed, but the Church, founded on Christ, notwithstanding the many storms and our many sins, remains ever faithful to the deposit of faith shown in service,” the Roman Pontiff said during the homily for his June 29 Mass, addressing the 46 new metropolitan archbishops installed over the past year.

During the Papal Mass for Saints Peter and Paul, the Bishop of Rome bestows a vestment known as a pallium on the archbishops who have been installed within the past year. The pallium, a white woolen vestment worn around the neck and above the chasuble, is a symbol of archbishops’ communion and close ties with the Church of Rome.

“Today there is no great need for masters, but for courageous witnesses, who are convinced and convincing; witnesses who are not ashamed of the name of Christ and of his cross; not before the roaring lions, nor before the powers of this world.”

The Pope added that, in being witnesses to the faith, archbishops should practice what they preach.

“The most effective and authentic witness is one that does not contradict, by behaviour and lifestyle, what is preached with the word and taught to others!”

Drawing from the reading from the Acts of the Apostles, which recounts St. Peter’s imprisonment, the Pope, not wishing “to dwell on these atrocious, inhuman and incomprehensible persecutions,” the likes of which still occur today, instead focused on the courage of the apostles and the early Christians.

“This courage carried forward the work of evangelisation, free of fear of death and martyrdom, within the social context of a pagan empire,” the Pope said.

Pope Francis centered his homily on three examples in the life of these early Christians and apostles – prayer, faith, and witness – which today’s Christians are called to follow.

First, the “call to prayer”: citing the account of St. Peter’s imprisonment, and the Church’s “earnest prayer for him,” the Roman Pontiff reflected on the importance of persistent prayer within the Christian community.

“The community of Peter and Paul teaches us that the Church at prayer is a Church on her feet, strong, moving forward! Indeed, a Christian who prays is a Christian who is protected, guarded and sustained, and above all, who is never alone.”

The Pope spoke of the angel rescuing St. Peter from prison, as recounted in Acts, and the “many times the Lord has heard our prayer and sent us an angel” during difficult times.

“Who comes to snatch us from the hands of death and from the evil one; who points out the wrong path; who rekindles in us the flame of hope; who gives us tender comfort; who consoles our broken hearts; who awakens us from our slumber to the world; or who simply tells us, ‘You are not alone’.”

“Prayer is the encounter with God, with God who never lets us down; with God who is faithful to his word; with God who does not abandon his children.”

Next, Pope Francis spoke on the “call to faith” demonstrated by the early Christians, turning to the day’s second reading in which St. Paul speaks of God rescuing him “from every evil.”

“How many forces in the course of history have tried, and still do, to destroy the Church, from without as well as within, but they themselves are destroyed and the Church remains alive and fruitful!”

Finally, Pope Francis spoke of how Saints Peter and Paul give Christians today the “call to witness” to the faith.

“A Church or a Christian who does not give witness is sterile; like a dead person who thinks they are alive; like a dried up tree that produces no fruit; an empty well that offers no water!”

The Pope continued: “The Church has overcome evil thanks to the courageous, concrete and humble witness of her children.”

Pope Francis then turned to the archbishops, calling them to be “masters of prayer,” “masters of faith,” and “men of witness.”

He explained to them the significance of the palliums, saying: “It is a sign which represents the sheep that the shepherd carries on his shoulders as Christ the Good Shepherd does … a symbol of your pastoral mission.”

“I wish to entrust you with this call to prayer, to faith and to witness.”

Pope Francis blessed the archbishops’ palliums during Monday’s Mass; however, the archbishops will be officially imposed with the vestments in their respective dioceses by the local apostolic nuncio, rather than by the Pope in the Vatican.

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VATICAN NEWS

Vatican’s communications secretariat prioritizes new media

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • June 30, 2015

Vatican City papal flag in Sarajevo’s Kosevo Stadium in Bosnia-Herzegovina following Mass said by Pope Francis on June 6, 2015. (Andreas Duren/CNA)

Vatican City — Internet content and video production will assume a greater role in Vatican communications in the years to come, suggests the establishment and – particularly – the leadership of the newly established Secretariat for Communications.

At the same time, traditional media, such as the Vatican’s newspaper and radio, are likely to diminish in prominence.

On June 27, Pope Francis established the new secretariat via a motu proprio. From June 29, it will oversee the all of the Vatican’s communications offices, including Vatican Radio, L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican Television Center, the Holy See Press Office, the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, Vatican Internet Service, the Vatican Typography, the Photograph Service, and the Vatican publishing house.

Each of these offices “must continue their own activities, in accordance, however, with the indications given by the Secretariat for Communications.”

The current head of Vatican Television, Msgr. Dario Edoardo Viganò, has been named prefect of the new dicastery, while Fr. Lucio Adrian Ruiz of the Vatican Internet Service, has been appointed its secretary.

The Roman Pontiff also named Paolo Nusiner, director of the Italian newspaper Avvenire – a project of the Italian bishops, rather than the Vatican – as director general. Giacomo Ghisani, head of Vatican Radio’s International Relations Office and Legal Affairs and a member of the board of Vatican Television, is vice-director general.

The absences in the board are perhaps as noteworthy as the inclusions.

The leadershiop of the Secretariat for Communications has no place for Msgr. Paul Tighe, an official of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications, though he was a member of the committees and commissions established to evaluate and reform Vatican communications.

The Vatican’s publishing house is also poorly represented, and it had not been included in the previous committees beginning the communications reform.

On the other hand, Gian Maria Vian, editor of L’Osservatore Romano. was part of the committee chaired by Lord Patton, but was not included in the subsequent commission. The Vatican’s newspaper is expected to become more digital, and its content to be put under central coordination, which should affect Vatican Radio as well.

Vatican Radio is represented by Ghisani, who was also a member of the committee. Ghisani, however, is not a journalist – no members of the board have formation in journalism – and mostly deals with legal issues.

Vatican Television is likely to assume the bulk of the Vatican’s communications strategy. A source who works in Vatican communications told CNA June 27 that “Pope Francis is really aware of the power of images, and is constantly in touch with Msgr. Viganò in order to understand how images are delivered. This gives Vatican Television a prominent role among the Vatican media branches.”

It might be foreseen that the narration of the pontificate will be provided by images and a central management of contents, to be delivered via the Vatican internet platform, which would combine all the Vatican’s news content, centralized under a single editorial control.

Additional expenses will be cut step by step, though at the moment there are no plans to remove staff.

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VATICAN NEWS

Cuba, U.S. set to be a busy trip for Pope Francis

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • June 30, 2015

Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square during the Wednesday general audience on Nov. 26, 2014. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis’ itinerary while in Cuba and the United States confirms several highly anticipated events including a special U.N. Summit and the canonization of Bl. Junipero Serra. He is also set to meet with groups he frequently prioritizes: homeless, prisoners and migrants.

On June 30, the Vatican issued a final schedule for Pope Francis’ upcoming 10-day trip to both Cuba and the United States of America.

The schedule confirms that he will visit the small Caribbean Island Sept. 19-22, and will then travel to the U.S. Sept. 22-27, before landing in Rome the morning of the 28th.

Pope Francis recently played a key role in helping thaw icy relations between the two countries, which after more than 50 years of broken ties agreed in December to restore diplomatic relations.

Although news of the Pope’s plan to visit the U.S. in 2015 had been public for some time, his stop in Cuba beforehand was just announced in April.

After leaving from Rome’s Fiumicino airport the morning of Saturday, Sept. 19, Pope Francis will land in Havana that evening, where he will receive an official welcome. The next morning he will meet with Cuban president Raul Castro, before heading to Vespers with priests, religious and seminarians that evening.

He will travel to Holguín Sept. 21, where he will celebrate Mass and bless the city before flying to Santiago that evening. He departs from Santiago at 12:30 p.m. on the 22nd, and is scheduled to land in Washington D.C. at 4 p.m. local time.

While in the U.S. Pope Francis is scheduled to participate in several major events, including the canonization of Bl. Junípero Serra, considered a founding father of California, and meetings with the U.S. Congress as well as a special summit at the headquarters of the United Nations in New York.

Wasting no time, Pope Francis will canonize Bl. Junípero Serra at Washington D.C.’s National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception the day after he lands.

The next morning at 9:20, he will be the first religious leader to address a joint meeting of Congress, according to congressional historians. Francis will later meet with homeless before heading to New York.

Once in New York, the Pope will address the U.N. Special Summit on Sustainable Development the morning of Sept. 25. He will then participate in an interreligious encounter at the Ground Zero memorial, where Benedict XVI also stopped during his visit in 2008.

Francis will conclude the day by meeting with child and family migrants in Harlem, and then celebrating Mass in Madison Square Garden.

He leaves for Philadelphia the next morning, where he is set to participate in the World Meeting of Families.

After meeting with bishops, priests and religious the morning of the 26th, the Pope will participate in an encounter for Religious Freedom with the Hispanic community and other immigrants in Philadelphia’s Independence Mall. That evening he will attend a prayer vigil for the World Meeting of Families.

On his final day in the U.S. Pope Francis will meet with bishops present for the family gathering as well as prisoners in Philadelphia’s Curran-Fromhold correctional facility.

After celebrating Mass that afternoon the Pope will greet the organizers, volunteers and benefactors of his trip before departing for Rome. He is scheduled to land around 10 a.m. Sept. 28.

Please see below for the full schedule of the Pope’s visit:

Saturday, Sept. 19, 2015

10:15a.m. Departure by plane from Rome’s Fiumicino airport for Havana

4:00 p.m. Arrival at the International José Marti airport of Havana

4:05 p.m. Welcoming ceremony at airport of Havana

Sunday, Sept. 20, 2015

9:00a.m. Holy Mass in the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana

4 p.m. Courtesy visit to the president of the State Council and the Council of Ministries in the Palacio de la Revolución in Havana

5:15 p.m. Celebration of Vespers with priests, religious and seminarians in the Cathedral of Havana

6:30 p.m. Greeting to the youth in the Padre Félix Varela Cultural Center in Havana

Monday, Sept. 21, 2015

8:00a.m. Departure by plane for Holguín

9:20a.m. Arrival at the International Arrivo “Frank Pais” airport of Holguín

10:30a.m. Holy Mass in the Plaza de la Revolución in Holguín

3:45 p.m. Blessing of the City from the Loma de la Cruz in Holguín

4:40 p.m. Departure by plane for Santiago

5:30 p.m. Arrival at the international “Antonio Maceo” airport in Santiago

7:00 p.m. Meeting with bishops in the San Basilio Magno seminary in Santiago

7:45 p.m. Prayer to Our Lady of Charity, with the bishops and the papal entourage, in the minor basilica of “Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre” sanctuary in Santiago

Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2015

8:00a.m. Holy Mass at the minor basilica of “Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre” sanctuary in Santiago

11:00 a.m. Meeting with families in the Our Lady of the Assumption Cathedral in Santiago and blessing of the city outside the cathedral

12:15 p.m. Farewell ceremony at the airport

12:30 p.m. Departure from Santiago for Washington D.C.

4:00 p.m. Arrival to Andrews Air Force Base in Washington, D.C. and official welcoming ceremony

Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2015

9:15a.m. Welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn of the White House and courtesy visit to the president of the United States, Barack Obama

11:30a.m. Meeting with the bishops of the United States of America in St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

4:15 p.m. Holy Mass and the canonization of Bl. Fr. Junípero Serra in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington D.C.

Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015

9:20a.m. Visit to the United States Congress

11:15a.m. Visit to the Charitable Center of St. Patrick Parish and meeting with homeless

4:00 p.m. Departure by plane for New York

5:00 p.m. Arrival to the JFK airport in New York

6:45 p.m. Vespers with priests and religious in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York

Friday, Sept. 25, 2015

8:30a.m. Visit to the headquarters of the United Nations

11:30a.m. Interreligious encounter at the Ground Zero memorial in New York

4 p.m. Visit to “Our Lady, Queen of the Angels” school and meeting with child and family migrants in Harlem, New York

6 p.m. Holy Mass in Madison Square Garden

Saturday, Sept. 26, 2015

8:40a.m. Departure by plane for Philadelphia

9:30a.m. Arrival at the international airport of Philadelphia

10:30a.m. Holy Mass with the bishops, priests and religious of Philadelphia in the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul

4:45 p.m. Encounter for Religious Freedom with the Hispanic community and other immigrants in Philadelphia’s Independence Mall

7:30 p.m. Celebration of Families and prayer vigil for the World Meeting of Families at Benjamin Franklin Parkway

Sunday, Sept. 27, 2015

9:15a.m. Meeting with bishops present for the World Meeting of Families in the St. Charles Borromeo seminary

11:00a.m. Visit with prisoners at the Curran-Fromhold correctional facility in Philadelphia

4 p.m. Holy Mass concluding the World Meeting of Families at Benjamin Franklin Parkway

7:00 p.m. Greeting to the organizing committee, volunteers and benefactors at the international airport of Philadelphia

7:45 p.m. Farewell ceremony

8:00 p.m. Departure by plane for Rome’s Ciampino airport

Monday, Sept. 28, 2015

10:00a.m. Arrival to Rome’s Ciampino airport

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VATICAN NEWS

Francis wishes Benedict XVI a good summer in Castel Gandolfo

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • June 30, 2015

Pope Francis and Benedict XVI at the Monastery of Mater Ecclesiae in Vatican City on June 30, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Before heading out for his two-week stay at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo this summer, retired pontiff Benedict XVI received a 30 minute visit from Pope Francis, who wished him a pleasant stay.

Francis popped by Benedict’s residence at the Mater Ecclesiae ex-convent around 10 a.m. this morning to greet the retired pope before he leaves today. The meeting lasted half an hour.

Benedict will remain at the papal residence in the small Italian city for two-weeks, and is expected to return July 14, according to a June 30 communique from the Vatican.

The communique also noted that Pope Francis’ public audiences, including the weekly General Audience, will be suspended for the month of July with the exception of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal meeting in St. Peter’s Square July 3.

General audiences will resume in August and will be held in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall. Francis’ morning Masses will also be suspended for July-August, and will resume in September.

Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. revealed Benedict’s travel plans to journalists June 15, explaining that Pope Francis “invited Benedict XVI to spend some time in Castel Gandolfo in the month of July and Benedict accepted.”

Pope Francis is not expected to join his predecessor this summer, according to Fr. Lombardi.

Castel Gandolfo, which lies about 15 miles southeast of Rome, has not been officially used as a papal residence since Benedict XVI – who now goes by “Fr. Benedict” – spent just over two months there following his Feb. 28, 2013, resignation from the See of Peter. He currently lives in the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican Gardens.

In his first two summers as Pope, Francis has chosen to remain at the Vatican’s Santa Marta residence where he resides the rest of the year.

In addition to his time in Castel Gandolfo, Benedict XVI also has two public events on his summer schedule.

While in Castel Gandolfo July 3, Benedict XVI is set to receive an honorary doctorate from the Krakow, Poland-based Pontifical University of John Paul II and its music academy.

The honor specifically recognizes Benedict’s “great respect for musical tradition of the Church” and “special concern for the noble beauty of sacred music and its proper place in the celebration of the sacred liturgical rites of the Church,” according to a press release from the university.

Polish cardinal and former secretary to St. John Paul II Stanislaw Dziwisz will be present to confer the honor.

Back at the Vatican, Benedict XVI at the end of August will also take part in the inauguration of the “Joseph Ratzinger – Benedict XVI Roman Library” at the Pontifical Teutonic College Aug. 30.

The Ratzinger Foundation confirmed to CNA that he will first celebrate Mass at the College for this year’s meeting of his former theology students called the “Schulerkreis.” Following Mass, he will take part in an inauguration ceremony at the library.

The library section dedicated to his life and thought is currently in the process of being catalogued. It includes books by or about him and his studies, many donated by Benedict XVI himself.

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VATICAN NEWS

Chewed or brewed: A brief history of Popes and coca leaves

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • June 30, 2015

Coca leaves. (Naira Teixeira Dias via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Vatican City — Pope Francis might chew coca leaves – or maybe sip coca tea – during his visit to Bolivia next week, the Vatican has said.

Bolivian Culture Minister Marko Machicao told local media that Francis had asked to chew coca leaves in the country, one of several stops during his visit to South America July 5-13.

The coca leaf, whose daily use and cultural importance in the Andes region rivals that of coffee in the United States, is embroiled in controversy in the international community because of its use as the main ingredient in the addictive drug, cocaine.

In 1961, the U.N. convention on narcotic drugs declared coca an illegal substance, and tried to phase out its cultural use by 1989 – but the local coca culture refused to die.

Many indigenous Bolivians believe the coca leaf to be sacred, and people of all social classes can be found either drinking the plant’s tea or chewing its leaves throughout the country.

Bolivian President Evo Morales, a former coca farmer himself, has staunchly defended the plant as a cornerstone of his country’s culture and economy, fighting for the use of the plant in its natural form.

Morales has revived the natural coca economy, and Bolivia now turns out coca products ranging from flour to toothpaste, shampoo and lotions.

“This leaf,” Morales told a 2007 U.N. General Assembly, “represents … the hope of our people.”

A number of international studies, including one published by Harvard University, found raw coca leaves to be packed with nutrients including protein, calcium, iron and other vitamins. A 1995 World Health Organisation report said there were “no negative health effects” from coca use in leaf form.

In its natural form, coca leaves have a mild stimulant effect considered similar to coffee, and they can be chewed or brewed into tea to fight hunger, exhaustion or altitude sickness – likely the reason Pope Francis might partake of the plant upon his arrival in the country.

And he’s following in his predecessor’s footsteps – Pope John Paul II drank tea made from coca leaves during his 1988 visit to Bolivia, and Pope Paul VI is reported to have drank the tea during a visit to the Andes region in 1968. Queen Sophia of Spain, and the British Princess Anne, are also said to have partaken in the plant in its natural form.

When asked if the Pope would have some coca leaves or tea in Bolivia, Vatican spokesperson Fr. Federico Lombardi said he couldn’t confirm what the Pope would do one way or another, though he acknowledged that Pope Francis likes to take part in local cultures.

“(I) wouldn’t be surprised because the Pope likes taking part in popular customs. The Pope will do as he sees fit. From what I know there are ways of dealing with the altitudes that form part of popular culture: some drink a sort of mate tea, others chew coca leaves. The Pope hasn’t talked to me about what he plans to do, we shall see. We’ll see if he follows local customs.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Human dignity must be center of political debate – Pope on Greek debt crisis

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • July 1, 2015

Pope Francis greets Greek pilgrims at a General Audience address in St. Peter’s Square, June 25, 2014. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis on Wednesday called for prayer for the people of Greece, shortly after the nation defaulted on a significant loan payment on its more than $300 billion debt.

“The news from Greece regarding the economic and social situation of the country is worrying,” Fr. Federico Lombardi, Holy See press officer, said in a July 1 statement. “Pope Francis invites all the faithful to unite in prayer for the good of the beloved Greek people.”

Greece faces a debate over the role of austerity measures, such as pension cuts and tax hikes, as it negotiates new financial bailouts with its creditors. The country’s unemployment rate is above 25 percent, and individuals are unable to remove more than $70 a day from ATMs.

The Vatican’s statement adds that “the dignity of the human person must remain at the centre of any political and technical debate, as well as in the taking of responsible decisions.”

“The Holy Father wishes to convey his closeness to all the Greek people, with a special thought for the many families gravely beset by such a complex and keenly felt human and social crisis.”

A June 30 deadline for Greece to make a roughly $1.7 billion payment to the International Monetary Fund came and went yesterday.

The country, which is part of the eurozone, has been in financial crisis for years. Economically the weakest nation in the eurozone, Greece was hit hard during the 2008 global financial crisis. Beginning in 2010, it began receiving financial bailouts, on the condition that it adopt austerity measures such as pension cuts, tax hikes, and public sector layoffs.

Greece’s unemployment rate is now around 25 percent and its banks have been closed, with ATM withdrawals limited to roughly $66 a day.

The current ruling party, Syriza, was elected in January on an anti-austerity platform. The next month, Greece negotiated an extension on repaying its debt, but yesterday’s default threatens a breakdown of the situation and raises fears of Greece leaving the eurozone.

Greece will hold a referendum July 5 whether or not to remain in the eurozone, and whether or not to support the terms offered by its creditors for a further, third bailout of some $32 billion lasting two years. Germany, the largest creditor to Greece, is strongly in favor of austerity measures in the Mediterranean country as a condition of another bailout.

Greece is also facing a July 20 payment deadline of more than $3.8 billion to the European Central Bank.

It is feared that without another bailout or an extension of Greece’s repayment deadlines, the nation’s crisis could affect the economic stability of the eurozone.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope’s encyclical forges unusual allies in fight for the environment

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • July 2, 2015

Cardinal Turkson, Naomi Klein at the People and Planet First conference at the Patristic Institute Augustinianum in Rome, Italy on July 2, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — The Vatican recently added the voice of self-described “secular Jewish feminist” Naomi Klein to their discussion on the climate, signaling a wider collaboration in the push for environmental protection.

“A new kind of climate movement is fast emerging” – one based on the “courageous truth” proclaimed in the encyclical that “our current economic system is both fueling the climate crisis and actively preventing us from taking the necessary actions to avert it,” Klein said July 1.

She pointed out how the encyclical places attention on the world’s most vulnerable regions, which have often been disregarded by international politics.

In her view, current challenges surrounding the environment provide the opportunity to tackle several issues at once, and creating a more stable climate and a fairer economy can be done “at the same time.”

“This growing understanding is why you are seeing some surprising and even unlikely alliances. Like, for instance, me at the Vatican.”

The Pope’s encyclical “Laudato Si,” meaning “Praise be to You,” was published on June 18. Its name is taken from St. Francis of Assisi’s medieval Italian prayer “Canticle of the Sun,” which praises God through elements of creation like Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and “our sister Mother Earth.”

In early 2014, the Vatican announced the Pope’s plans to write on the theme of “human ecology” – a phrase that was previously coined by retired pontiff Benedict XVI.

While the 184-page encyclical wades into controversial topics such as climate change, it also argues that it’s not possible to effectively care for the environment without first working to defend human life.

A progressive Canadian activist known for her harsh criticism of 21st century capitalism, Klein said that she herself was “surprised” to be invited to speak at the launch of a Vatican environmental summit.

Her comments came at the July 1 presentation of a two-day Vatican conference titled: “People and Planet First: the Imperative to Change Course.”

With concern for the climate on the rise, trade unions, indigenous, faith and environmental groups have been working more closely than ever before, she noted.

And while within these coalitions “we don’t agree on everything – not by a long shot – we understand that the stakes are so high, time is so short and the task is so large that we cannot afford to allow those differences to divide us.”

Set to take place in Rome July 2-3, the summit is being organized by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the department that prepared a first draft of Francis’ encyclical, along with the “Catholic International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity,” a network of 17 Catholic development agencies working together for global justice.

The meeting’s objective is to use Laudato Si to influence several major political gatherings throughout the year, including three key U.N. conferences. Among them are the Addis Ababa meeting on Finance and Development, the U.N. General Assembly to approve the new Sustainable Development Goals in September, and December’s COP 21 meeting in Paris to agree on a global climate deal.

Klein is set to co-chair the conference alongside the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace’s president, Cardinal Peter Turkson of Ghana.

Originally scheduled to participate in the Wednesday news conference, Turkson was still on his way back from New York, where he addressed a U.N. conference on climate change Tuesday.

Both Church leaders and scientists will gather for the conference, which will also draw participants such as Mary Robinson, the current U.N. Special Envoy for Climate Change, and the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

The Vatican’s decision to include Klein in the climate discussion is not the first time they have chosen include a perspective considered controversial, and divergent from their own stance on issues.

At last month’s Rome unveiling of Laudato Si Prof. John Schellnhuber, a scientist who studies climate change and who is also an atheist, was present. He had just been appointed to the Pontifical Academy for the Sciences the day before.

Jeffrey Sachs, the director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University and a special adviser to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, is a member of the academy and an adviser on the encyclical, and is known to promote population control.

At an April 28 Rome summit on the environment, Cardinal Turkson addressed critics who find issue with the Vatican’s partnership with organizations such as the U.N. that promote population control as a means of combating climate change.

In response to the criticism, the cardinal recalled the Second Vatican Council’s emphasis on inviting the Church to find “new ways” of ministering to the world.

These new methods of engagement don’t mean running away from the world, he said, but rather establishing a dialogue that works toward “an effective solidarity” with others.

In comments read aloud on his behalf at the July 1 news conference, the cardinal noted that “the climate is a common good, belonging to all and meant for all.”

He said that important points made in Laudato Si await “the pledges and the will” of the global community during September’s U.N. General Assembly, as well as in other major political gatherings.

“The single biggest obstacle to the imperative to change course is not economic, scientific or even technological, but rather within our minds and hearts,” he said.

Klein in her address said that Pope Francis’ September visit to the United States, during which he will address the U.N. assembly, “could not be better timed.”

She criticized those who say that the Pope should leave economics and policy to the experts, saying that many of these experts “have failed us badly” by wielding power and placing “scandalously little value” on human life.

Addressing leaders preparing their pledges for COP 21 in Paris, Klein said that to those “getting out the lipstick and heels to dress up another lousy deal, I have this to say: Read the actual encyclical – not the summaries, the whole thing.”

“Read it and let it into your hearts,” she said, keeping in mind both “the grief at what we have already lost, and the celebration of what we can still protect and help to thrive.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Vatican official says ‘it’s time to act’ on protecting the environment

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

(Unsplash)

Vatican City — Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, has expressed his hope that Pope Francis’ recent environmental encyclical will have a strong impact on the United Nations’ three major gatherings this year, and will inspire global powers not only to talk, but to act.

The cardinal spoke to CNA July 2, saying he hopes the effect of the encyclical on the U.N. meetings “will be especially concrete in climate change impact.”

“We have discussed a lot about the problem of climate change; now it is time to act. I think this is exactly what the Pope is requesting from us, to act and to start to change our lifestyle to preserve our common house which is the earth.”

The cardinal answered reporters’ questions before addressing a Vatican conference titled: “People and Planet First: the Imperative to Change Course.”

Taking place in Rome July 2-3, the summit was organized by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, which prepared a first draft of Francis’ encyclical, alongside the Catholic International Cooperation for Development and Solidarity, a network of 17 Catholic development agencies working together for global justice.

The goal of the conference is to use Laudato Si to influence several major political gatherings set to happen this year, including key U.N. conferences.

Among them are the July 13-16 Addis Ababa meeting on Finance and Development, the U.N. General Assembly to approve Sustainable Development Goals in September, and December’s COP 21 meeting in Paris to agree on a global climate deal.

Cardinal Parolin spoke on the importance of Laudato Si for the Church and the world specifically in light of 2015’s major political events, but also the impact it will have on the future.

He said that while the encyclical will certainly have an effect on this year’s events, “its breadth and depth go well beyond its context in time.”

The environment, the earth and the climate “are a common and collective good” which belong to the whole of humanity, and as such are “the responsibility of everyone,” the cardinal observed.

He said both the technological and operative basis for promoting a more human and integral progress are “already available or within our reach, and that the international community must seize this great opportunity” to move forward with development.

At the heart of this progress lay the key objectives of allowing human dignity to flourish, helping to eradicate poverty, and countering environmental decay, the cardinal continued.

He then turned to the national and local sphere of the climate discussion, saying that frequently there are “too many special interests, and economic interests (too) easily end up trumping the common good and manipulating information so that their own plans will not be affected.”

Awareness among organizations must be increased, he said, explaining that this is where the Church’s social doctrine comes in as a point of reference on both the dignity of the human person and the promotion of the common good.

The cardinal then reiterated what Pope Francis said in his encyclical about the role of the Church in the discussion, saying she “does not presume to settle scientific questions or to replace politics,” but rather brings awareness of the need to “question the meaning and purpose of all human activity.”

He said that when we think of what kind of world we want to leave behind, it’s no longer enough to simply express concern for future generations, but there is also a need to see “that what is at stake is our own dignity.”

Our responsibility is to be “responsible for the responsibility of the other,” the cardinal stated, adding that our human vocation to be protectors of the earth and the environment “is not something optional.”

In his comments to CNA, Cardinal Parolin also spoke about the Pope’s objectives for his July 5-13 trip to the South American nations of Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay.

“As in all trips, the Pope goes to meet the Catholic community. This is his ministry as pastor of the universal Church, inserting himself inside the pastoral and catechetical paths that each (local) Church is pursuing,” he said.

The cardinal also addressed the concern of those who say the Pope will use the trip to dip into local politics, such as the debate surrounding Bolivia’s access to the sea.

Distinguishing between “party goals” and “political goals,” Cardinal Parolin said that for Pope Francis, political interests in his trips are understood in the sense of “the construction of the social and political community.”

“On the part of Christians there is truly an action and contribution to help solve problems that they find in that regard,” he said, explaining that the Pope isn’t going to support any specific person, but rather to promote peace, reconciliation, and material and spiritual development.

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VATICAN NEWS

A fourth saint for the Little Flower family?

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

St. Therese of Lisieux and her sister, Leonia Guerin. (Public domain photographs)

Vatican City — With a sister who is a Doctor of the Church and parents set to be canonized in October, Leonia Martin could be the fourth member of her family declared a saint as her own cause for canonization officially opens.

Leonia is the sister of St. Therese of Lisieux and the third daughter of Blessed Louis and Zelia Martin, who are set to be the first couple ever to be canonized at the same ceremony, which will be held Oct. 18 in the Vatican.

The event will take place fewer than three weeks after the Oct. 1 feast of their daughter, and doctor of the Church, St. Therese of the Child Jesus.

Yesterday at 9:30a.m. Leonia’s cause was officially opened by Bishop Jean-Claude Boulanger of Bayeux-Lisieux in the chapel of the Visitation Monastery at Caen, where Leonia spent the majority of her life and where she died. Mass was celebrated after.

The intention to open her cause was originally announced January 24, according to French daily La Croix. On April 25 a “recognition” of her body was made – a process which included opening her tomb to check the state of her remains.

With the opening of her cause, Leonia has now received the title “Servant of God” and is on the path toward beatification, the step in the sainthood process which precedes canonization.

The July 2 step comes at the conclusion of the initial phase of gathering all the historical documents related to her life.

The official opening of her cause signals that Bishop Boulanger has obtained the needed nihil obstat, the official approval of the Catholic Church from the moral and doctrinal point of view granted by the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints, which as of February was still being waited on.

In statements made to CNA in February, Carmelite Father Antonio Sangalli, Leonia’s postulator, said that the fact that St. Therese’s “difficult” sister is on the path toward sainthood is a reminder that holiness is call for everyone.

“Although she was expelled three times from the convent, she achieved her goal of becoming a religious, which shows that if we persevere, it is possible to do God’s will,” he said.

“Leonia’s difficulties were primarily due to her order’s strict rules, which were very difficult to follow in those times. However, this did not lead her to bury the one talent she received and that she used fruitfully to fully live out her vocation.”

He noted that even before her cause was opened Leonia was revered for her holiness and that her crypt at the Monastery of the Visitation in Caen is frequently visited by pilgrims from all over the world.

“They come to pray. They ask her for favors and they find spiritual help in her. Their faith is strengthened by the example of this humble sister of the Visitation, and many letters testify to graces received,” the priest said.

Leonia, who took the name Sister Francisca-Teresa, also suffered from physical problems as a child.

“She did not have the human qualities of her other sisters, but she knew how to abandon herself to God, who calls us all regardless of our qualities. No one is excluded from the call to holiness,” Fr. Sangalli said.

Leonia also had a close relationship with St. Therese, and the two often exchanged letters. After her saintly sister died, Leonia decided to try to enter the convent again, following the “little way” traced out by St. Therese, with trust and abandonment to God.

Fr. Sangalli said she ultimately was admitted to the convent, which “shows that Therese’s doctrine is not only meant for the Carmelites but for everyone – with the little way, Leonia became a better sister of the Visitation, always remaining in the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales and St. Frances de Chantal, the founders of the Order of the Visitation.”

Leonia died June 17, 1941, at the age of 78 in the monastery where she lived. Her tomb has become a refuge for parents concerned about raising their children, who find in her an example and an inspiration.

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VATICAN NEWS

Evangelizing evangelicals – why Pope Francis loves to meet with charismatic movements

by CNA Vatican Observer Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • July 3, 2015

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square for the Wednesday general audience on June 17, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis’ attendance for the second consecutive year at the Catholic charismatic movement’s Renewal with the Spirit convocation shows his attention to charismatic movements as means to foster ecumenical path.

Not by chance, Renewal with the Spirit styled the convocation to be heavily ecumenical.

During the meeting with Pope Francis’ in St. Peter’s Square, prayers were raised by Cardinals Kurt Koch and Leonardo Sandri, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity and Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches; the Anglican Archbishop David Moxon, who represents the Archbishop of Canterbury toward the Holy See; and Msgr. Barnaba El Soryani, Coptic-Orthodox Bishop, as a delegate of Theodore II, Patriarch of Alexandria.

Also present were Msgr. Athanasisu Matti Shaba Matoka, Syriac-Catholic archbishop emeritus of Baghdad; His Eminence Polycarpus Eugenio Aydin, vicar of the Syriac-Orthodox diocese of the Netherlands; Rev. Louie Giglio, from the Passion City Church of Atlanta; Jonas Jonsoon, from the Lutheran Church of Sweden; and Giovanni Traettino, president of the Evangelical Church for Reconciliation in Italy.

This varied presence aligns with Pope Francis’ commitment to ecumenism. Beyond the recently opened dialogue with Orthodox and Anglican Churches, the Evangelical world is a big challenge for ecumenism, and perhaps one of the most important ones.

Dialogue with evangelical groups, especially Pentecostals, has been called “the fourth ecumenism” by several authors, including the Catholic sociologist Massimo Introvigne, an international authority on religious sects.

According to Introvigne, the fourth ecumenism – that of the new Protestant sects born at the beginning of the 20th century – is perhaps the most fruitful ground for ecumenical dialogue.

Attempts at such dialogue have limits: for example, a search for parties to represent the Pentecostals. Although they make up three-quarters of Protestants in some parts of the world and as much as one-third of all Christians, Pentecostals are very fragmented. The diversity within the group presents difficulties for dialogue.

This might be why Pope Francis has chosen to foster dialogue specifically with individuals and small groups.

On July 28, 2014, the Pope paid a private visit to the evangelical pastor Giovanni Traettino’s Church in Caserta. The two had met in 2006 and have maintained good relations ever since.

That meeting came at the end of a series of meetings Pope Francis had with evangelical leaders in 2014.

Televangelist Joel Osteel, pastor Tim Timmons and president of the Evangelical Westmont College Gayle D. Beebe visited Pope Francis June 4, 2014.

Pope Francis then met June 24 of that year with the televangelists James Robins and Kenneth Copeland, with the bishop Anthony Palmer of the Communion Evangelical Episcopal Churches, with the spouses John and Carol Arnott from Toronto and – among others – with Geoff Tunnicliffe and Brian C. Stiller, respectively general secretary and ambassador of the World Evangelical Alliance.

According to the prominent Italian vaticanista Sandro Magister, through these meetings Pope Francis is putting into action a broad effort to “win the favor of the worldwide leaders of those ‘evangelical’ and Pentecostal movements which especially in Latin America are the most fearsome competitor of the Catholic Church, from which they are snatching enormous masses of the faithful.”

Attending the Renewal with the Spirit convocation is part of this effort. Pope Francis himself acknowledged – during his trip back from World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro – that he used to look at charismatic movements with suspicion, and that he later changed his mind, and now he believes that “this movement does much good for the Church overall.”

Renewal with the Spirit president Salvatore Martinez, an academic of music and musician, who has been committed to the movement since his youth, had the occasion to meet with Pope Francis at the very beginning of the pontificate, after the Mass the Pope celebrated in the Vatican parish Sant’Anna March 17, 2013, four days after his election.

After that, Martinez had a private meeting with Pope Francis in September 2013, and there the invitation to the 2014 annual convocation was forwarded directly to the Pope, who accepted, probably considering it as a part of his ecumenical commitment.

Speaking in front of the convocation June 1, 2014, the Pope voiced hope that both evangelical and Catholic charismatic groups, gathered in the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, would share the same office as a sign of ecumenism. They did it.

Meeting with them Oct. 31, 2014, the Pope praised the decision, and stressed that “unity is not uniformity … it does not mean doing everything together, nor thinking the same way, nor losing identity.”

Pope Francis went further. Last May 23, he sent a video message to the participants of the Day of Dialogue and Prayer organized by the Diocese of Phoenix, which gathered Catholics and evangelical Pentecostal pastors. In the message, the Pope asked them to pray “together for the grace of unity,” that unity that “is flourishing among us, and begins with the only Baptism all of us received.”

All of these signals suggest that Pope Francis has indeed changed his mind and, starting from an initial skepticism, he later found in charismatic movements a privileged path to seek ecumenism.

There could be another pressing factor in the Pope’s enthusiasm for such meetings – a wave of conversions, particularly in Latin America, where it is estimated that100 million Catholics have converted to evangelical Christianity. Now, it appears that Pope Francis would like to evangelize the evangelicals.

His spiritual ecumenism, putting prayer at the center, and even making it a diplomatic tool, represents the most logical meeting point with the Protestant world.

Attending a large Catholic charismatic event could be the bridge the Pope needs to reach his final goal, to turn the evangelicals from rival to allies and push ecumenical efforts forward.

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WORLD NEWS

What does it look like to be gay – and a practicing Catholic?

by Kerri Lenartowick (CNA/EWTN News) • June 30, 2015

In prayer. (Rachel Titiriga via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Rome, Italy — More than 10 years ago, Joseph Prever found himself scouring the internet for anything that might help him: he was gay, Catholic, and confused. Resources were scarce for a man struggling with homosexuality and trying to remain faithful to the Church’s teaching.

In the intervening years, Catholics experiencing same-sex attraction have become a more vocal presence in the Church.

Google the words “gay Catholic” and one of the top sites to appear will be Prever's own blog, a blog with the tagline: “Catholic, Gay, and Feeling Fine.” There, the 32-year-old writer considers his own experiences as a man struggling with same-sex attraction and trying to live out the virtue of chastity.

What follows is an edited version of a conversation about everything from homosexuality and Batman to poetry and football. The interview is published in two parts.

Part One

Can you introduce yourself and your blog?

I’m Joe Prever. I used to blog under the pseudonym Steve Gershom. I’ve been doing that for 2 or 3 years now. The blog is about what it’s like to be a gay Catholic – a gay Catholic who is of course, celibate – and I say ‘of course’ because that seems to me like the only option if you’re going to be both gay and Catholic. On the blog I try to stay away from abstract discourse about spirituality and sexuality in general and more towards lived experience: that’s what I see as my niche.

Why did you start writing a blog?

I honestly don’t remember the thought process that led me to it, but I do remember wishing at one point that there was somebody blogging like that, and in fact these days there are just a whole lot of people in my situation who are blogging, and that’s really great. It seems liked it’s very much exploded in the last 2-3 years. My friends and I joke that there’s a gay Catholic renaissance on, or actually a gay Christian renaissance on, and we’re proud to be at the forefront of it – or at least we tell ourselves that we’re at the forefront.

Did those other people read your blog before they started theirs?

Some of them did, yes. In fact, a couple of them have said to me that I was someone who helped to inspire them to start, so I’m very proud of that.

This was 2 or 3 years ago. Even at that time there were a fair amount of resources, in the sense that there were people who were writing about it, and you could find various testimonials online if you googled hard enough, but there were very few people who, on a day to day basis were like, ‘here’s what this is like, here’s how you deal with that,’ etc.

And so you decided you were going to be that resource?

Yes. Because at that time, I was sort of starting to feel for the first time that things were very much manageable, and I think back to this very specific moment in college when I was 18 or 19, and googling this kind of stuff, just to see if there was anybody out there who I could relate to and who would have some wisdom to share about it, and I did in fact find some stuff. It was remembering the feeling of how good it was to find that made me want to pass that along.

You blogged pseudonymously for years and then you ‘came out,’ so to speak, last summer. Why did you decide to do that?

It was one of those decisions where by the time you make it, you realize that you’ve already made it, if you see what I mean. It was hard in the sense that I’d actually always said that people shouldn’t be public about being gay, because it was not anybody’s business and I felt that it would lend legitimacy to this idea that being gay is a sort of a single way to identify yourself: I actually still sort of hold that position – kind of. (Laughs).

It’s hard to describe: I don’t think that being gay is as essential of a way to identify yourself as say, being male is, or being Catholic, or being human. I guess my position right now is that if the cultural atmosphere were different from what it is, then I don’t know whether I would have gone public.

The real reason I did is because of the blog, and talking about these things in general, and the cultural conversation in general that’s happening right now – all of these things have become such a big part of my life … it wasn’t really a question of honesty. It’s just that when something is so much a part of your life, people ask you, ‘oh, so what’ve you got going on?’ or ‘what are you doing these days?’ and I felt really lame saying, ‘oh, you know, programming computers. Watching movies. Hanging out. Stuff.’

So honestly, it was largely a vanity thing. It’s like the scene in Batman Begins where Bruce Wayne is doing this, ‘I’m a rich celebrity playboy’ thing, and he’s bathing in fountains and buying hotels and so forth, and Katie Holmes’ (character) is upset with him for being such a wastrel. (Laughs) And I felt like I wanted to be publicly Batman: strictly for vanity-related reasons. I wanted everyone to know how awesome I am.

I’m trying not to laugh …

Well, it’s perfectly true. And I suppose there are other reasons, like I want to be a public witness and things like that, but I suspect that it’s mostly vanity.

What response did you get when you ‘came out’? When people began to associate you with this gay guy who writes a blog?

On the day that I made public the post where I came out, I received just piles and piles of comments and emails and text messages. Most were from people I didn’t know, except for the text messages, obviously, but a very large portion of them were from people who had known me for a long time and who just wanted to say how pleased they were that I had done this and how proud they were of me to have taken this stance, and how courageous they thought I was and how honored they were to be my friend, and all of this stuff. In other words, I can’t think of a single friend, family member, or acquaintance who did not greet this revelation with support.

I think I would have had a very, very different response were I not celibate. When I get negative feedback, which I occasionally do from people who disagree with what the Church teaches, they say that I am being made a poster boy and that I’m being used – which is to say, conservative Christians are super happy to have somebody to point to whom they can say, ‘well look, here’s one person who agrees with us.’

Do you think being accused of being a ‘poster boy’ means that people are people angered by your celibacy?

That’s an interesting question. I think some people are angered on my behalf for what they perceive to be a sort of ‘Stockholm syndrome,’ and I’ve actually heard that phrase thrown around more than once. People see me defending the Church’s teachings on marriage, and on sexuality, and what they see is somebody who’s been taught to suppress his own nature for so long that he’s actually come to believe the things he’s been told about himself – that’s what they see.

What’s really there?

I can’t sum myself up, but the point is that if any of the people who accuse me of being the poster boy or of having ‘Stockholm syndrome’ or anything like that were actually to read the things I’ve said, they would see that, number one, I don’t sort of unquestioningly accept whatever I’m told about sexuality, but I always bring it back to my own experience. And number two, I very much admit the difficulties inherent in the life I live and I don’t pretend that they don’t exist. And I don’t think I would do either of those things if I had ‘Stockholm syndrome.’

Your blog header is, ‘Catholic, Gay, and Feeling Fine,’ and you’ve been using the word ‘gay’ throughout our conversation so far. Do you have any thoughts on that word, as opposed to ‘same-sex attraction’ or other terms?

Absolutely. That is another hard question, and it’s a question about which my position has been continually shifting, so I don’t feel as though I’ve found solid ground yet.

I’ve always used the word. It used to be that I would use the word in writing, but sort of in my interior monologue and in private conversation I would say ‘same-sex attracted.’ I used to joke that the only reason I used the word gay was so that I would tend to show up more on Google, which is only partially a joke, because you know if you’re going to use the tools of technology to evangelize, then you have to be savvy about what Google is going to find and what it isn’t.

But I guess the shift mainly happened as I began to approach being more public about it, because as I became more public I also came into contact more openly with people who identified as gay or who struggled with same-sex attraction, or whatever. And what I found was that a lot of them had a lot of resentment towards people who insisted on not using the word gay.

Why did they have resentment?

For a few reasons. It’s a really complicated topic, and I’m not sure how to distill what is offensive about it. One, is that it’s offensive to be told what you ought to be allowed to call yourself. And in fact, I rarely feel strongly about whether I should use the word gay or not, but the one time I do feel strongly about it is when somebody starts upbraiding me for it. Because it feels incredibly intrusive.

This is a topic that gets very political very fast. It’s the sort of thing where people feel, and I think rightly, that they have been constrained to keep silent for most of their lives – and a lot of people have, whether it’s constrained by actual explicit homophobia among the people that they love and/or are related to, or whether it’s just sort of a general culture understanding that you don’t talk about this sort of thing. So you have a set of people who have felt this way for most of their lives, and then you have people saying ‘oh, well it’s sort of cool now if you talk about that, but just be sure you talk about it in this or that way.’ This is frustrating and comes across as very patronizing because these are people who don’t have any insight into the experience of what it is to be gay telling you what it is or is not ok to talk about, and what it is and is not ok to call yourself.

Would you also apply that criticism to the Church who never uses the word ‘gay’ in her documents?

I understand why She (the Church) doesn’t. I don’t know if that will continue to be the case. I don’t have any bitterness towards the Church as a whole in that way.

This is reason that I haven’t yet come to a solid opinion on this question – because the problem is that secular people and Christian people mean two different things by the word ‘gay.’

Could you explain that a little more?

It’s really hard to distill. But you know what’s at the heart of it?

When I told my roommate I was gay, the first thing that he said to me was, ‘do you mean same-sex attracted?’ And that was actually the precisely wrong thing to say, and I don’t hold it against him. (Laughs) But the heart of it is that I was telling him this incredibly personal thing, and he was instructing me in the right way to feel about it, immediately, from the get-go.

Now I think that one reason Christians tend to dislike the word ‘gay’ is because if somebody says that they are gay, then they are usually implying that it is an unchangeable aspect of their personality. Whereas the sort of default position among a lot of Christians is that homosexuality is changeable. The unspoken implication is that if you identify yourself as ‘gay,’ then you’re probably not trying hard enough to be straight. And I believe that this why it is so offensive to be told that they shouldn’t use the word gay.

It might be true that some people can change to some extent, but it’s extremely offensive to assume that the only reason somebody hasn’t changed is because they haven’t tried. And even though very few people would have the chutzpah to make that explicit, I do believe that that’s the belief that’s behind it.

What do you think we should be doing as a Church, as a Christian community, to be helping people who struggle with homosexuality?

That’s a really good question! I’ll start first by saying that I’m extremely grateful for the organization People Can Change, which is an organization founded precisely on the idea that radical change with respect to homosexuality is possible. I’m grateful for them not because they ‘made me straight’ or something, but because they gave me a space in which to work out some of my issues, many of which turned out not to be related precisely to homosexuality in particular, but were just sort of emotional issues that needed dealing with.

I think a lot of gay men and women do have emotional issues that aren’t going to be dealt with if they’re told that everything is already ok. But on the other hand, this is dangerous because you have a lot of Christian people already assuming from the get-go that if somebody is homosexual, then they must have various and many emotional issues that need working on, and that’s not necessarily the case. (Laughs) So you see why this is difficult!

If the understanding in the Christian world is that homosexuality is a “disorder,” and homosexual activity is a sin, then logically it would seem like as Christians, we would want to help our fellow Christians who are “dis-ordered” to be “ordered.” Do you think there’s a problem with that logic?

I think there’s a problem with that phraseology. There’s a subtle but importance difference in saying that somebody has a disordered inclination and saying that somebody is disordered.

The Church has to be clear with respect to ‘what is the nature of homosexuality itself,’ but can’t make a pronouncement on whether it is a mental disorder, for example. Many people assume that when the Church says ‘homosexuality consists of a disordered inclination,’ they take that word ‘disorder’ and assume that She means ‘mental disorder.’ But I think the Catechism has purposely phrased it in such a way that you can’t actually conclude that if you’re reading carefully. But it takes careful reading.

The Church never changes her underlying principles, but when something new happens, it’s always a question of, ‘well, what do the underlying principles dictate in this particular situation?’ And a lot of the times it turns out that it doesn’t dictate what we thought it did but it takes a while to figure that out.

What do you think the underlying principles are that are dictating what the Church is saying about homosexuality?

That men are men, and women are women, and the two are not the same.

Do you want to expound on that at all?

Nooooo. (Laughs).

Well, what I think is that one, at the bottom of it, men and women are different. Number two, that eros is different from friendship, and number three, that physical acts have spiritual meanings.

I think those things are the fundamental axioms that we have to work with here. And I think those things are precisely the things that are being argued about. I don’t think the Church is arguing about them, and I don’t think She should, because as far as I’m concerned, those things are absolutely essential to what the Church believes about people. But those things are very much being debated in the broader culture.

I’ll tell you how I see myself and what I do, which is not only with respect to homosexuality but with how I try to live the Catholic faith in general. I try to live my life by those principles that make sense to me as a human being, and are consonant with what I know about human nature and with what the world at large has discovered about human nature. However, I also believe that if anything is true, it is Christian: that every truth is a Christian truth, and that there can be no truth about human nature which is not consonant with what the Church teaches about human nature.

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These nuns are making the Pope’s vestments for Ecuador

by Maria Ximena Rondon (CNA/EWTN News) • June 30, 2015

Carmelite Sisters of St. Dominic of Tsachilas with vestments for Pope Francis’ visit to Ecuador. (Carlos Perez, El Comercio, Ecuador)

Quito, Ecuador — Within the walls of the convent in Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas, Ecuador, the Carmelite nuns are busy making liturgical cloths and the vestments for Pope Francis’ July 6-7 visit to the country.

“For me it is a great grace because it means to clothe Our Lord Jesus Christ in the person of the pope. It’s a feeling of joy I can’t express,” Sister María Beatriz de la Dolorosa, one of the nuns who is working on the project, told CNA.

“The bishop called us more than a month ago to see if we would be able to do the work. It was a joy for us and a grace for us to be chosen, because we live in such a small, far away location,” she said.

Pope Francis will be in Ecuador July 6-7 as part of a trip to South America July 5-13. He will also visit Bolivia and Paraguay.

Four out of the 20 nuns who live in the Carmelite convent are working on the vestments and other liturgical cloths for the visit: Sisters María Lorena de Jesús Crucificado, Analía de Jesús, Sarita de Santa Teresa y María Beatriz de la Dolorosa.

“We want to point out that all the nuns had a hand in making the albs. Our desire is that the pope uses vestments made by all of us,” Sister María Beatriz said.

She explained that a separate group of artisans in Cuenca is already planning to make the vestments that the Pope will wear at the major Mass on July 7 in Quito. The vestments made by the nuns will be given to the Holy Father as a gift, so that he can use them at future Masses.

According to statements made in the Ecuadorian newspaper El Comercio, the sisters have worked for a month to make two albs, two stoles, two cinctures, two chasubles, and two miters.

“The alb and stoles were embroidered by hand, and the rest of the pieces were done by machine,” Sister María Beatriz told CNA.

She added that the vestments feature Ecuadorian themes such as Saint Narcisa de Jesús, born in Nobol, as well as a white lily, symbol of Saint Mariana de Jesús, the first Ecuadorian saint, and the Sacred Heart of Jesus because Ecuador is consecrated to him.

The main apostolate of the convent is prayer, and so the nuns combine their work on the papal vestments with the Divine Office. They work from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and again from 4 to 5:30 p.m.

Sister María Beatriz explained that the vocation of cloistered nuns is to be “the lungs of the Church. They hold up in prayer and help spiritually sustain the priests, consecrated and lay people.”

The nuns have been sewing vestments and other items for 17 years. The initiative was begun under their foundress, Sister María Elena del Corazón de Jesús, who is currently 82 years old, as a way of generating income for the convent.

Besides making liturgical vestments, the nuns make candles, altar cloths, palls, humeral veils, wine, hosts, purificators, and other products that are used during Catholic liturgies.

The majority of the sisters that entered the convent did not have any sewing skills, so the foundress spent time teaching them.

Sister María Beatriz de la Dolorosa said the nuns are very happy and enthusiastic about the pope’s upcoming visit to Ecuador.

“I believe this is a visit God himself is making to all the Ecuadorians. I hope that we all reflect, and feel ourselves loved by God. Because it is God himself in person who comes to visit us,” she said.

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Meet Father Salvatore, the young priest whose life moved the Pope

by CNA/EWTN News • July 1, 2015

Fr. Salvatore Mellone says Mass on the day of his priestly ordination, April 16, 2015. (Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie)

Trani, Italy — The life of Father Salvatore Mellone, who died on Monday, was moving to thousands of people. He was to have at least two more years of seminary when he was diagnosed with terminal cancer, but by special permission and the blessing of Pope Francis, he was ordained nevertheless.

Fr. Mellone, who died June 29 at the age of 38, had been a priest of the Archdiocese of Trani-Barletta-Bisceglie for two and a half months. With his failing health, he was able to say Mass daily, baptize a child, and console the other sick persons at his hospital.

Two days before his April 16 ordination Fr. Mellone received a phone call from Pope Francis. “The first blessing that you’ll give as a priest, you’ll give to me. Salvatore, I’m with you. You’ll be ordained and you’ll celebrate Mass,” the Pope assured him over the phone.

At his ordination, Fr. Mellone said, “Today I feel myself carried on the shoulders of Christ; and as a priest I’ll wear the stole with Christ, for the salvation of the world. Moreover, to celebrate just one Eucharist, for me will be a real participation in the priesthood of Christ.”

Fr. Mellone’s funeral Mass was said June 30 by Archbishop Giovanni Battista Pichierri of Trani at Most Holy Cross parish, where the priest was ordained.

A statement from the Trani archdiocese shortly after the priest’s death noted that he had a recurrent expression for “the many people who came to visit him over the last few months: ‘to be a priest is beautiful.’”

“Despite his illness, he always warmly embraced everyone who came to see him. He listened to what everyone had to say. He consoled everyone.”

According to the archdiocese’s statement, Fr. Mellone was born in Barletta, fewer than nine miles from Trani, on March 9, 1977. Both are located in Italy’s Apulia province, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea.

He came from an observant family, and was deeply involved in the life of the Church as a youth, entering seminary in 2011.

“Within the community he became a man of prayer, of deep spirituality, and of great cultural openness,” the archdiocese recounted. “During the last year Father Salvatore spent a lot of time in hospitals and despite his heartbreaking pain, he always found the time and the right words to encourage and inspire hope.”

“During the last days of his life, when his sight was going bad, he said that he had learned to pray with nature. With his weak voice, he constantly prayed to the rhythm of life that came into his room from the balcony,” the statement concluded.

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Why choose celibacy? A gay Catholic speaks out

by Kerri Lenartowick (CNA/EWTN News) • July 1, 2015

Hands in prayer at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Denver, Jan. 17, 2015. (Catholic Charities/Jeffrey Bruno CC BY 2.0)

Rome, Italy — More than 10 years ago, Joseph Prever found himself scouring the internet for anything that might help him: he was gay, Catholic, and confused. Resources were scarce for a man struggling with homosexuality and trying to remain faithful to the Church’s teaching.

In the intervening years, Catholics experiencing same-sex attraction have become a more vocal presence in the Church.

Google the words “gay Catholic” and one of the top sites to appear will be Prever's own blog, a blog with the tagline: “Catholic, Gay, and Feeling Fine.” There, the 32-year-old writer considers his own experiences as a man struggling with same-sex attraction and trying to live out the virtue of chastity.

What follows is an edited version of a conversation about everything from homosexuality and Batman to poetry and football. The interview is published in two parts.

Part Two

Why do you live celibately?

I think the act of so-called ‘gay sex’ is immoral. I think it’s immoral, for one reason, because it is intrinsically closed to life and thereby distorts what the sexual act is meant to be.

Where it gets tricky is where we talk about the emotional reality of homosexuality, because some people ask me, ‘well, that’s fine if you think that gay sex is wrong, but what about gay romance?’ For example, some people say, ‘do you think it would be appropriate for two men who are orthodox Catholics to be in a committed romantic relationship which was celibate?’ And my answer would have to be no. There is an intrinsic connection between romance and sex, and you don’t want to start what you can’t finish.

This raises a further question, which is, ‘ok, if it’s not ok for two men to have sex and it’s not ok for two men to have a romantic relationship without sex, is it ok for a man to feel romantically towards another man?’ I think I have to answer yes and no. It’s ok in the sense that it’s something that some people can’t help it sometimes, so you can’t be culpable for feeling that way. But I think it’s not ok, in the sense that it is deeply and intrinsically inappropriate. And I don’t mean inappropriate in the sense of, ‘oh that’s gross, we shouldn’t talk about it,’ I mean inappropriate in that it does not correspond to reality.

What do you mean by not corresponding to reality?

I think for a man to feel romantically towards another man is based on a kind of misapprehension of what that man is and can be.

This is where we get into the really hard stuff – which is also the really important stuff!

I think it’s really hard for a lot of people to understand how a deep love can exist between two men and not be sexual. And I think this is at the heart of the misunderstanding of homosexuality that’s going around. The fact of the matter is when my male straight friend X says ‘I really love our mutual friend,’ who is also male and straight, Y, I don’t think there is any sexual component to the love between X and Y. In fact, I think that is the ideal toward which I should strive in all of my friendships with other men: to be able to have love for them, and in fact to expunge any sexual component.

To return to my earlier question, then, what do you think we as Christian community can be doing to help people who struggle with this?

Somebody said recently that it would be wonderful if there were a branch of Courage in every diocese, and I think that’s absolutely true. It’s a shame that somebody should have to travel far and wide to find help.

The first problem is silence. And the specific problem of silence is that if you grow up Catholic and gay, or at least if you did a few years ago when I was growing up, or before that, then the overwhelming impression you get is not so much that you’re bad or evil, but it’s that you’re absolutely not allowed to talk about this. That it is beyond the pale of what is open for discussion. Now the question is where that impression comes from and what can be done to correct it.

The difficulty is: how can we overcome and correct that, without, at the same time, giving ground on the morality of homosexual actions? I think conservatives in general are more concerned about the latter, and liberals in general are more concerned about the former. And I think the liberals are right.

Ok, so what would you do to help people deal with these issues?

For me to do things is different than for someone who’s not gay to do things. What I actually have done is to write about it and be open about it, because that gives people an example of ‘oh, well, this guy isn’t embarrassed, so maybe I don’t have to be, either.’ That’s what I can do, but of course not everybody can do that.

The question is where does this intersect other people’s lives. Obviously one place it intersects the lives of someone who isn’t gay is if your friend tells you they are gay. Then what do you do?

Yes – what do you do when a friend tells you he is gay?

Well, the absolutely primary thing is to let that person know that your relationship with them is not going to be diminished because of this, or made weird. Because what I was most afraid of in telling people was not that anybody would reject me or call me a sinner, because I don’t know any Catholics who would do that. But I was afraid that people would start to distance themselves from me in small ways. I was afraid that my male friends would not treat me like one of the guys anymore, because they would be worried that I would be attracted to them, or that they would think that I was somehow not like them.

So one of two things is going to be going through the head of someone who is revealing themselves in this way. One is that they will be judged, and two is that they would be treated as weird or odd. I think those two things are distinct, but I think what anyone can do to immediately diffuse those worries is the most helpful thing.

And what do you think we can do more practically, for instance, in parishes?

There has to be a positive element to the message. A lot of young gay Catholics know they shouldn’t do gay things, but they don’t know what they should do.

What should they do?

They should start by telling somebody about it, preferably a priest who is willing to talk with them and help them.

So you think pastors and others should do a better job of being aware of what people are going through in regards to homosexuality?

Like the Catechism says, the number of people with deep-seated homosexual tendencies is not negligible: this is a large segment of the population we’re talking about, and it’s not a matter of a few ‘edge’ cases.

The other day, I was joking with someone about smoking crack, like you do because people make jokes about using hard drugs with the understanding that, ‘oh, nobody I know deals with that.’ And then literally the day after I made that joke, I found out that somebody who I’ve known for a very long time has been smoking crack for months and months.

And that is exactly the sort of situation I dealt with growing up, which is where it was sort of standard to make jokes, ‘ha ha, gay people’ because nobody we know is gay – and of course if you hear that sort of thing all the time, you begin to think of yourself as outside of the realm of normal human experience.

Is that how you felt growing up?

Absolutely.

Do you think that that actually pushed you more outside ‘the realm of normal human experience,’ because you perceived it to be that way?

Very much so. It sounds cliché to say it, but your perception really does become your reality. If you believe yourself to be of such a nature that you don’t actually belong in society with most other people, then you begin to interpret small thoughtlessnesses as large exclusions, and so you become less able to interact with your actual peers. And then they see you beginning to draw back, and start to think of you as someone who doesn’t really want to be part of their group anyway.

How have you managed to overcome that in adulthood?

Partly through therapy; partly through the group, People Can Change; partly through friendship; and partly through my spiritual director.

Is that the general path you would recommend for a young version of yourself who’s out there right now?

Yes, very much.

I was actually very frustrated recently by an email I got from a reader. He had sent me an email when he was at a low state. He was clearly extremely depressed, and so I replied with various comforting things and tried to be as practical as I could for what he might do the next time he felt like that, or what he might do right then, and I asked whether he had a therapist, or a spiritual director, or anybody with whom he could regularly talk about these things.

He emailed me back apologizing for being so dramatic, and saying it wasn’t usually all that bad, and then what he said about therapy was that he preferred to rely solely on the power of the sacraments. And I thought that was just the most horrendous nonsense!

The reason I say that is not because I think it’s nonsense to rely on the power of the sacraments, but I do think it’s nonsense to rely on the power of the sacraments for things that the sacraments weren’t actually designed to do. For example, it would be absurd to say that you weren’t going to go to the doctor to fix your broken arm because you preferred to go to confession. Within human society, there exist certain solutions to certain human problems, and if we don’t take advantage of them, then we’re being very stupid.

But the problem is, actually – and this is something somewhat practical – I think there exists within Catholic culture, this unspoken belief that therapy is for heathens, or that therapy is for people that don’t really take their faith that seriously.

Do you think the same is true for medication in mental health, which you also write about on your blog? And do you think it’s related to the idea you mentioned earlier – people assuming that you are just not trying hard enough?

Oh definitely. I think there’s a stigma in the population in general for getting therapy and for getting medication for mental health issues, but I think that stigma within the Christian and Catholic community is exponentially larger.

Although, I think this might be a bigger problem in the Evangelical community than in the Catholic one. I only say that because I’m thinking of a particular Evangelical friend of mine who constantly has to deal with – he’s gay, but believes basically what the Catholic Church teaches about homosexuality – he has to deal constantly with people telling him that for him to call himself gay is for him to be embracing a sin. These are people who don’t, in fact, distinguish between the inclination and the action. These are people who say, ‘well, I might go around experiencing temptations to adultery, but I don’t go around identifying myself as an “adulterous Christian,” so why are you going around identifying yourself as a “gay Christian?”’

And what is your response to that?

My response to that is that while it’s true that homosexuality means that a particular kind of temptation is prevalent in someone’s life, it also means a lot more than that. Since sexuality itself is so deeply tied to so many aspects of our personality, and our experience as human beings, then homosexuality has very wide-reaching effects into almost every aspect of our lives, or at least as many aspects of our lives as sexuality effects.

In America, stereotypes on many levels associate gay men with being effeminate. Are those legitimate stereotypes? Or is there some way in which you feel like being gay affects your masculinity?

There is some legitimacy to the stereotypes in the sense that there is some legitimacy to every stereotype. Stereotypes don’t arise out of nothing. It’s also true that either many or most, or possibly all of gay men I’ve ever known have experienced some difficulty fitting in with other men, and very many of them have experienced what they feel is a lack of masculinity in themselves.

I believe that among gay men in general there is a higher incidence of personality traits which are generally not considered to be as masculine. For example, most of the gay men I know are more sensitive than most men. Most of them are more artistic than most men; most of them are more introverted than most men.

So the fact is that being artistic and sensitive and introverted are not un-masculine traits, but in culture as it exists right now, those traits are more associated with femininity than with masculinity. (But) those things are not un-masculine, and are in fact, quite masculine.

I spent many years in (a place that was) a bulwark of ideas about traditional masculinity and what it ought to be, and a lot of those ideas are extremely simplistic, damaging, and wrong. But the problem is, people feel like if they start to question or abandon those ideas, then they are giving too much ground and betraying their faith, somehow. People identify the cultural idea of gender with what the Catholic faith holds about gender.

It does seem to me that our perception of masculinity as a country is changing. And I actually think that is a very good thing, and maybe that is indicative of something larger taking place under the surface. I just think that if a man doesn’t express interest in the things that have traditionally been considered masculine, he’s less open to ridicule than he would have been 10 years ago. Like I think it’s more acceptable to not like football, for example. (Laughs).

So what do you think we can do to help men who struggle with homosexuality not squelch their natural tendencies toward good things, like being talented in the arts or sensitive toward others?

The reason the question is hard to answer is that it is not really about homosexuality at all. It’s about how men are perceived in our culture, and how women are, and people worship, and how people relate to each other. It’s just about what it means to be a human. That’s what all of this is about. The odd thing, or the frustrating thing actually, is that there is, culturally, this huge storm going on about homosexuality. What frustrates me is that no one seems to realize that it isn’t about homosexuality at all. It’s about what it is to be human.

How so?

Well, anytime you start talking about sex, you start talking about what it is to be human. I think the reason people are so interested in homosexuality at all is because people are profoundly interested in how human beings relate to one another, and what sex has to do with any of that – and nobody is really clear about any of those things right now. But suddenly, the question of homosexuality requires us to think clearly about those things, and a lot of us are finding out that we have no idea.

Really, everything is condensing into this one, huge weather system – I don’t even know what’s going to happen. But there’s a big hurricane brewing.

(The challenge is that) you almost can’t say anything else other than men are men and women are women and the two are not the same.

Physical differences are not just physical differences, because physicality is not just physicality. It all comes down to the fact that you can’t paraphrase the poem. That is to say, if you have a poem which says something beautiful and true, you can’t say sum it up by saying, ‘ok, and what the poet meant to say is this syllogism.’ And in the same way, the only way to describe what masculinity and femininity are is to say: ‘here are men, they are manly. Here are women, they are womanly.’ That’s literally the only way to do it, because our bodies are poems. They are poems that express the ‘masculinity’ of God and the ‘femininity’ of God and we have to take them seriously, which doesn’t mean we can pin down (exactly) what the poems are saying.

So you think a lot of the cultural conversation going on is not precisely about homosexuality, but about humanity? Have you seen this in your own experience?

I’m extremely happy that everyone is talking about homosexuality, not because I think that homosexuality is in itself very important. I think it’s incredibly unimportant, actually, in and of itself. I think it’s incredibly uninteresting, in and of itself. What I do think is incredibly interesting is the questions of what men and women are; what gender is; what eros is and what friendship is; how human beings relate to each other; and what sex has to do with any of that.

The reason I’m glad that everyone is talking about homosexuality is that we are being forced to confront all of these questions which we’ve needed to do for a very long time.

Part of me had imagined that after I came out, then there would be lots of people lining up to talk about my gayness, and that we would be talking about it all the time, and that everyone would talk about it. And of course part of me was attracted by that idea because of course everyone wants to talk about themselves. However, what I found to be the case was that my friends and I generally talk about the same things we’ve always talked about. And usually homosexuality does not come up. Which on the whole I’m extremely pleased about because on the relatively rare occasions when it does come up, no one’s surprised to hear me talk about it. Which is really all that I wanted, actually.

You do run into gay people who just want to talk about being gay and it’s just tremendously boring and narcissistic.

I went to a party once where there was this gay couple, and one or two hours in, everybody was clustered in around the gay guys, listening to them talk about being gay. And it was weird and gross, but there are at least two reasons why this happened. One is that it’s a great feeling to be talking openly about something that for a long time you thought you could never talk about. And two, when you see a gay guy at a party, a lot of people, consciously or unconsciously, see an opportunity to demonstrate how open minded they are. It’s like if you saw a black man at a party in the sixties. You’re going to want to, especially if you’re a liberal, go over and talk to him and make a thing about how, ‘look, I’m talking to this black guy.’ And it’s understandable. But what it does, obviously, is that it objectifies that person. What my friends did was absolutely not that.

What do you wish average Catholics and other Christians knew about people who are struggling with homosexuality and are living in the Christian church?

Number one, you almost certainly know some. Number two, most of us have probably felt excluded from ordinary society for a very long time and in a very deep way. Number three, many of us have devoted a lot of effort to getting rid of our homosexuality, and have failed, already. And number four, which is the final number, (laughs) well, number four is more particular to me, maybe: but to me, friendship is one of the most important things in the world, and so the greatest thing that somebody could do for me is to be my friend, regardless of anything.

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Cuban bishops: prepare for Pope’s visit with works of mercy

by CNA/EWTN News • July 2, 2015

General audience with Pope Francis on March 18, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Havana, Cuba — In preparation for Pope Francis’ visit to Cuba this fall, the bishops of the island nation are asking the faithful to perform acts of mercy during the first Fridays of July, August and September.

“Pope Francis never stops talking about mercy,” the bishops said in a June 29 message. “The first Sunday after his election, he mentioned it 13 times. And he just recently called for the celebration of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy which will begin December 8 this year and conclude November 20, 2016.”

Mercy “is nothing less than ‘reaching out with our heart’ to others,” the bishops continued. “Sometimes it seems we live in a heartless world. Everywhere we come across moral, spiritual, social, intellectual, physical and material poverty … and we also find people who have hardened their hearts in the face of human suffering.”

In light of this situation, and to prepare for the Pope’s Sept. 19-22 visit, the Cuban bishops asked people to perform works of mercy for those in need on the first Fridays of the next three months. They also requested “special times of prayer and fasting,” as well as community prayer vigils Sept. 17-18.

The goal of these initiatives is “to ask for God’s help so that he would dispose the hearts of all Cubans so they would listen to and receive the message of hope and mercy that Pope Francis will bring to us,” they stated.

Pope Francis “wants to show us his closeness at a moment when, thanks to his mediation, hope has been breathed into our national life by the new possibilities of dialogue that are taking place between the United States and Cuba,” the bishops continued. “What he is doing is very great and important, as the universal pastor of the Church, in searching for reconciliation and peace among all the peoples of the earth.”

Recalling visits to Cuba by Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, the prelates voiced excitement for the Pope’s visit as a “Missionary of Mercy.”

“We, the bishops of Cuba, are praying that the teachings that Pope Francis will give us will move all of us to grow in faith and hope, so we may be able to learn to have a heart full of mercy for everyone.”

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Pontifical university plans to offer diploma in child protection by 2016

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • July 2, 2015

The Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, which will offer a diploma course in minor protection in 2016. (Luigi Santoro via Wikimedia Commons)

Rome, Italy — Beginning in the spring of 2016, Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University will begin offering an intensive one-semester diploma program on the safeguarding of minors and the prevention of sex abuse by clergy.

A new one semester diploma course in the protection of minors is being offered by the Center for Child Protection in Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, and is set to welcome its first round of applicants in February, 2016.

“There are not courses like this diploma in pontifical universities in Rome. Certainly programs in secular universities and in UK have them, but (this is a) first in pontifical and Catholic universities,” Fr. Hans Zollner, SJ said at the June 24 announcement of the course.

Fr. Zollner is the president of the Pontifical Gregorian University’s Center for Child Protection (CCP) and is a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, created by Pope Francis last autumn.

He was present alongside three other panelists for a press conference at the conclusion of the center’s June 21-24 annual Anglophone Conference, during which the diploma course was announced.

The diploma will be awarded at the close of a one-semester residential course on the safeguarding of minors. The program aims to form persons who will eventually become child protection officers for dioceses, religious congregations, and similar organizations, as well as advisors and trainers in the field of safeguarding.

Broken down into six two-week seminars, the first course is set to run from February – June 2016. Seminars will delve into topics including terms and definitions surrounding the protection of minors, child rights, development and safety, safeguarding and prevention, theology, truth and justice, and care for those who have been abused.

Comprised of 30 credits, the course will welcome between 15 and 18 applicants. The diploma will be awarded by the Institute of Psychology of the Pontifical Gregorian University, which founded the CCP in 2012.

Fr. Zollner emphasized that the program is “not meant mostly for America or Canada, but is flexible enough to take in a cultural component,” due to the different concept of boundaries in particular cultures.

He expressed his hope that participants would come not just from Western nations where policies are already in place, but especially “from countries where there are no or very little such initiatives, especially in Africa, Asia and South America.”

In addition to exploring the psychological, pastoral, canonical, and practical approaches to safeguarding minors, the course will also address a systematic theological approach to the topic.

The spiritual and theological approach to child protection was the theme of the CCP’s conference, and is a topic Fr. Zollner noted has “not been substantially reflected upon” since the full gravity of the clerical abuse crisis began to surface 40 years ago.

In an interview with CNA, Fr. Zollner said that “strangely enough,” no theologian has really taken on the task of developing a theological understanding of the issue, and that while preparing for last week’s conference none of the five speakers were able to find a single study on it.

“We have spiritual literature, pastoral literature, psycho-pastoral literature, we have practical theological literature and a little bit on moral theological literature, but theological, Christological, ecclesiological, almost nothing. And this is really a surprise,” he said.

The CCP began exploring the theological perspective after Cardinal Joseph Levada, prefect emeritus of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, pointed out that it was missing from the center’s preparations for their first conference in 2012.

“Whereas we have done much on the therapeutic and prevention side, and we’ve tried to come up with new judicial norms, strangely enough (the theological) side seemed, at least to me, split off, and you don’t find literature in this field,” Fr. Zollner reflected.

So this year’s conference “was an attempt to really set the stage” for further development of this perspective.

Since resources on the theological take on child protection are slim outside of a few writings on moral theology, each of the conference’s speakers were invited to make their own study on the topic and to present their reflections.

Among the speakers were Sr. Sara Butler, president of the Academy of Catholic Theology in Washington D.C. and Fr. James Corkery, SJ, professor of Systematic Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University. Both were present at the conference alongside Fr. Zellner and Bishop Edward Burns of Juneau, who was recently appointed chairman of the US bishops’ child and youth protection committee.

Other speakers included Fr. Robert J. Geisinger SJ, Promoter of Justice for the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and acclaimed American author Fr. Robert Barron.

Topics covered in the speeches included the biblical framework of how God himself deals with offenders and offenses. The topic of mercy and justice was also brought up, particularly in how it extends to offenders and those who cover up offenses, such as in cases of bishops’ accountability.

The sacramental structure of the priesthood was also touched on, as well as the theme of salvation as it applies to victims of abuse, particularly in terms of the whole and happy life they are called to live, and Christ’s closeness to them, being himself an innocent victim who suffered violence.

Fr. Zollner also referred to a reflection from Sr. Sara on an 11th century practice of accountability for abuse put into place by St. Peter Damian, a process that involved not only priests, bishops, and the Pope, but also the laity.

This emphasis on the role of the laity in the reform of the Church at that time was a very interesting point, Fr. Zollner said, explaining that both clergy and the laity have the responsibility within their communities of helping to create a safe environment.

He revealed that since there is no literature on the theological approach to safeguarding children, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors has created working groups studying the various theological and spiritual implications of the topic.

“There are different aspects: spirituality, prayer life, and also theological reflections,” he said, explaining that currently the working group for theology “is more probably on the modeled theological side.”

A working group within the commission dedicated to organizing a day of prayer for abuse survivors has also been formed.

“I hope this is a starting point for something new,” he said, and noted that though there are no plans as of yet, a future hope of the commission is to invite doctoral students to work on the theme.

“Theologians should really reflect on how God acts in this, what the Church is, what the life of the Church and the faithful is in this,” no matter how difficult the task may be, the priest continued.

He said that one short-term goal in developing this new perspective could be for the commission to invite theologians to come and speak about the topic. He also said that some publications could be made and handed out to dioceses and religious congregations.

“What we have learned here is that if the leaders are convinced it could also come down to those who work with children in parishes, in schools, in orphanages, etc., (so) that they are motivated not only because the law obliges you, but because you are convinced that this a part of the mission of the Church,” Fr. Zollner reflected.

The fact that the Church acts on this issue not out of legal binding but out of conviction in her mission is something Fr. Zollner said he believes is “not really appreciated or even understood.”

“Whatever we can do for the poor and the little ones is part of the mission of Jesus Christ … the first step is to realize that Jesus has come, as he says, for the sick, for those who are in need, not for the healthy,” he said.

“The mission of the Church is precisely this: to represent this to the world, and especially to those who are most wounded.”

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U.S. NEWS

Marriage has had its day at Court, but religious freedom could soon follow

by Matt Hadro and Adelaide Mena (CNA/EWTN News) • June 27, 2015

Religious liberty supporters outside the Supreme Court building in Washington D.C., June 26, 2015. (Addie Mena/CNA)

Washington, D.C. — Friday’s Supreme Court ruling against the traditional understanding of marriage may pose huge obstacles to the free exercise of religion and conscience across the US, the nation’s bishops have said in response to the decision.

“The free exercise of religion means that we have a right not only to debate it openly in the public square, but to operate our ministries and to live our lives in accordance to the truth about marriage without violence, or being penalized, or losing our tax exemption, or losing our ability to serve the common good through our social services and through education,” Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore, chair of the U.S. bishops conference’s Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty, told EWTN News Nightly June 26.

“The Church and its religious organizations serve millions of people with love and attention,” the archbishop said, adding that “it would be a shame to see that jeopardized. It would be a shame to see free exercise swallowed up in this decision.”

In a 5-4 decision on Friday, the Supreme Court ruled on Obergefell v. Hodges, deciding that states must grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples, and recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other states.

The ruling was granted under the Fourteenth Amendment, which protects the rights of all citizens to “life, liberty, or property” under due process, and guarantees them equal protection of the laws in the states.

In this case, the Court ruled that the state laws defining marriage as between one man and one woman deprived same-sex couples of their right to legally marry.

The ruling overturned a November decision by the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals that upheld traditional marriage laws in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee. Same-sex marriage is now legal in all fifty states. States must also recognize one another’s marriage licenses regardless of the partners’ sexes.

Military chaplains will be protected by the First Amendment, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services told CNA.

“In general, chaplains enjoy the First Amendment rights that all of us enjoy. And so they are forbidden to do anything that their endorser – or in this case, for Catholic priests, that would be me – forbids them to do, and they must the ability to do the things that the endorser requires of them. So at least on the legal level, they are protected.”

What is less clear is the other consequences the decision brings upon the military archdiocese, Archbishop Broglio said, conceding that problems previously unseen will now manifest themselves.

Though it is also unclear how the ruling will specifically affect Catholic individuals, families, businesses, and ministries, it is clearly far-reaching, Archbishop Lori said. It will affect a myriad of marriage laws and regulations at the state and local levels.

“Today’s ruling does not just affect one law, but in fact hundreds if not thousands of federal, state, and local laws and regulations that implicate marriage, spouses, and so forth,” he said. People of faith who believe in the traditional understanding of marriage “ may very well see a difficult road ahead.”

Anthony Picarello, general counsel for the U.S. bishops conference, addressed some specific areas where controversies might arise, such as tax exemptions, employee benefits, employment, and school accreditation.

“We’ve seen already many of these disputes emerge in states that have already recognized same-sex marriage. We’ve seen them in states that have aggressive sexual orientation, gender identity, and anti-discrimination laws,” he commented.

There will likely be social consequences for supporters of the traditional understanding of marriage, Picarello added.

The Supreme Court’s decision “makes a nod in the direction of religious liberty but not enough of one,” Archbishop Lori said.

While it grants the right of religions to teach and advocate about marriage, the majority opinion says nothing of the free exercise of religion that is central to the First Amendment – and this is extremely problematic, the archbishop explained.

The free exercise of religion means the ability for people to live their religious beliefs while “interacting with the broader society,” Archbishop Lori continued. For the majority of the court to omit this in its discussion of religious freedom could “give rise to a lot of legal controversies,” he warned.

Catholics must vigorously defend this right of free exercise, while respecting the beliefs of opponents, he added.

“To put a label on people as a way of closing off the debate, or as a way of vilifying those who disagree, really runs counter to what the First Amendment intends,” Archbishop Lori said.

“As believers, we should be prepared, whatever the cost is, to bear witness to our faith. To do it lovingly, but also to do it truthfully and to do it persistently.”

Catholics should take heart that this is not the first time they have faced the prospect of persecution in the U.S., Archbishop Broglio added.

“This wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve experienced ostracism for our beliefs. All you have to do is go back to the 19th century with the Know Nothings and the reactions there,” he said.

“So we survived that. We’ll survive this.”

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‘The unthinkable is real,’ author warns about persecutions of Middle East Christians

by Gabrielle Cubera (CNA/EWTN News) • June 27, 2015

The remains of St. Mary’s Syrian Orthodox parish in Homs, Syria. (Syrian Orthodox Diocese of Homs/Aid to the Church in Need)

New York City, N.Y. — Growing unrest in the Middle East is causing great concern for the Christian community around the world, and author George J. Marlin is hoping to enlighten Western Christians on how seriously matters are progressing, as their brethren in the Middle East continue to undergo persecution.

His latest book, Christian Persecutions in the Middle East: A 21st Century Tragedy, was published earlier this month by St. Augustine’s Press, and details the rise of radical Islamism and its impact on Christians throughout the Middle East.

“Western civilization was built on Christianity which, sadly enough, is being forgotten for Western Europe, and even in this nation here,” Marlin told CNA.

“I think the Church’s job is to remind the West that its civilization was based on the concept that man is a creature made in the image and likeness of God, and therefore is entitled by his very nature … basic rights, including the freedom to practice one’s religion.”

Marlin is chairman of Aid to the Church in Need USA, a Catholic charity under the guidance of the Pope that supports and aids the persecuted and suffering Church around the world. Last year, Aid to the Church in Need raised $100 million internationally.

As chairman, Marlin is given information daily about struggling Christians around the world, particularly in the Middle East.

“I’ve been able to see and speak firsthand to bishops and archbishops in the area, and other people who are often persecuted in the area,” Marlin said.

Marlin says that for the Christians, their “most daunting task is to survive.”

“They’re concerned about survival, they’re concerned about getting three meals a day, they’re hoping they can educate their kids someday. They’re hoping they can come back to their home.”

“More importantly, we have to keep in mind that these Christians are beginning to feel abandoned by the Christian world because, although the Pope has come out and made some statements, Cardinal Dolan of New York has made some statements … in the Western media, a lot of this is being ignored,” Marlin stated.

The book examines the history of both Christianity and Islam in the Middle East; followed by an in-depth look at eight countries in the region where Christians are particularly persecuted; it then includes perspectives of various experts from the region.

“It’s eye-opening for me as I am talking right now to so many other Americans that they’re shocked to learn that there are Christians in the Middle East,” Marlin stated. “So I thought it was important to take this data and put together a story of what exactly is happening in Middle East at this point in time.”

He added that Christians can often regard only Europe as historically Christians, and “sometimes forget that the first center [of the Church] was in Antioch, Syria before St Peter moved it to Rome, and so the apostles and early martyrs of the Church were in the Middle East.”

Marlin said that it is important for people to realize that even before the Islamic State “came on the scene two years ago,” the 21st century has continually experienced “systemic persecution of Christians.”

Marlin’s hope is that the book, as well as the work of Aid to the Church in Need, “jolts the conscience of the West, because too many people in Europe and in the United States have their head in the sand trying to ignore this problem here.”

Marlin emphasized that persecution isn’t restricted to the brutal, attention-grabbing ways the Islamic State uses to execute its captives. Christians in the Middle East are also persecuted through pressure to convert, employment and education discrimination, church bombings, murder, destruction of homes and businesses, kidnapping, and being treated as second-class citizens.

Middle Eastern Christians are suffering from persecution by being treated as second-class citizens, forced conversions, job and education discrimination, bombing of churches, murdering of priests and bishops, destruction of Catholic homes and businesses, capital punishment for practicing religion in public, and kidnapping of children.

Documents and manuscripts dating back thousands of years have also been destroyed. “We have Christians being driven out, they may never come back,” Marlin stated. “We have the institutional Church being destroyed, and we have the patrimony of the Church being destroyed.”

“These same tactics are used in these countries and are profiled in this book,” Marlin said. “It’s going on every day and it has been going on throughout this century and obviously centuries before this. It’s time, I’m hoping, that people begin to catch on, particularly the Christians in the United States.”

An example he gave was the Chaldean Archeparchy of Mosul: in 2004, a year after the US invasion of Iraq, it had 20,600 members. By 2013 the number had dropped to 14,100, and last summer, most of the remaining Christians in the city and its environs fled before the Islamic State.

In January, its bishop, Amel Nona, was transferred to the Chaldean eparchy for Australia, leaving the Mosul archeparchy vacant, perhaps fated to become a titular see.

Marlin suggested that in light of the scale of persecution faced by many Christians in the Middle East, “the President of the United States to appoint a special Middle East envoy just to deal with these Christian persecutions.” He also raised the possibility of economic sanctions, and denying foreign aid to countries who persecute their citizens.

He said that the only way groups such as the Islamic State “are going to be put out of business is if modern Islam stands up and says ‘this is wrong’. These radical groups, if they are not tamed, if they are not destroyed or eliminated, they may destroy the Christian presence in the Middle East.”

Marlin’s book concludes with an epilogue and an appendix that provides important documents pertaining to the persecution of Christians, including addresses from Pope Francis, Benedict XVI, and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

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Benedictine monks’ disputed role at Catholic university in Illinois at center of new lawsuit

by Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • June 28, 2015

(Saint Procopius Abbey)

Chicago, IL — Seven monks of St. Procopius Abbey in Lisle, Ill. have filed suit against the leadership of Illinois’ Benedictine University, saying that the leadership has denied them their rights to help govern the university their abbey founded.

Abbot Austin Murphy, who is also the university’s chancellor and a member of the board of trustees, said the dispute “goes to the very heart of maintaining the Catholic identity” of the university because of the monks’ oversight role in ensuring “that the university remains Catholic and Benedictine.”

“They are surely not the only ones who contribute to the Catholic identity of Benedictine University, but they make an important contribution,” the abbot told CNA June 24.

“So, if you take the monks of St. Procopius Abbey out of the picture, you are taking away an important contributing factor to the Catholic nature of Benedictine University.”

The university said the charges in the monks’ lawsuit are misleading and do not represent the facts.

University spokesman Elliot Peppers rejected as “simply untrue” any claim that the monks are out of the picture.

“The university has had a positive, respectful and unified partnership with the Abbey for decades and through its commitment to the mission, vision and values of its founders, has brought a high-quality Catholic and Benedictine education to a growing number of students around the world,” he told CNA.

He added that the university “proudly and consistently represents a Catholic university in the Benedictine traditions.”

The lawsuit, filed in the 18th Judicial Circuit Court in DuPage County, alleges that the university’s board of trustees and outgoing president William J. Carroll have denied the monks their rights under the university bylaws. The monks say they are seeking to secure their right to approve trustee elections, to amend and approve parts of the bylaws, the right to approve the president, and the right to have trustees disclose conflicts of interest.

On June 10 the trustees announced the selection of Michael A. Brophy, president of Marymount California University, as their next president.

The monks’ lawsuit alleges that they were prevented from interviewing candidates in the selection of a president.

“Although for more than three years, we have tried in good faith to resolve these issues, the present impasse leaves no viable option other than to resolve these ongoing disputes with this legal action,” the Abbot Murphy said in a June 22 statement.

He said he did not object to Dr. Brophy’s selection as a next president, “but we do strongly object to the process by which he was chosen.”

“The Board of Trustees is trying to portray the problems as originating with new leadership at the abbey,” he told CNA. “The trustees are operating contrary to the By-Laws.”

He said that when Carroll, the outgoing president, was elected 20 years ago, the monks who were members of the board interviewed the candidates and voted to approve the selections.

Peppers countered that the abbot and another monk had been part of the presidential search process and said that the abbot had voted to approve Brophy.

“Why the abbot has chosen to make this a public matter involving statements that are both misleading and not included in the court filing is not clear to the university at this time,” Peppers said. “Nor does the University understand why the Abbey has decided to open a private, ecclesiastical debate to the civil courts.”

The university said that the bylaws were approved by the abbey’s then-acting abbot in 2002.

The monastic community has 25 men. The monastic community founded the university in Chicago in 1887 with the name St. Procopius College. It later moved to the suburb of Lisle and changed its name.

The university said the bylaws have been “non-controversial” with prior abbots.

“The only change in recent years has been that of leadership within St. Procopius Abbey and a different interpretation of the by-laws by that leadership,” Peppers said.

He told CNA the university is facing a common problem of maintaining a Catholic institution’s identity when the number of clergy is in decline.

He said the university has worked to “affirm and strengthen” its Catholic identity through its Center for Mission and Identity, its theology department, and its collaboration with trustees. He said the university also works for this purpose with organizations such as the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities and the Association of Benedictine Colleges and Universities.

The university also partners with groups such as Interfaith Youth Core to help welcome and give voice to other religions and believes in its community.

“Our founding monks and their successors knew this day would come when there would be few religious and many lay people,” Peppers said. “To prepare for that day, they trained and taught the lay people well.”

Abbot Murphy said that if the monks lack the power to approve trustees, “we wouldn’t be able to ensure that the Trustees understand and are willing to promote the Catholic, Benedictine mission.” The power to approve the president also ensures that the president will promote the university’s mission.

“Clearly, the monks have a special interest in this, given that we founded the school,” the abbot said. “Also, we are men who have dedicated our lives to Christ, the Church, and the Benedictine way of life. So, this makes us very interested in the school being Catholic and Benedictine.”

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FDA announces additional risks of Essure birth control device

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • June 28, 2015

(Unsplash CC0 1.0)

Denver, CO — After receiving thousands of complaints about the adverse effects of the birth control implant Essure, the FDA announced late Wednesday that it has updated the list of risks and complications associated with the device, and that a public hearing would be held Sept. 24 to evaluate the product.

Essure is a permanent type of birth control in the form of tiny metal coils inserted into women’s Fallopian tubes. When the coils are implanted they are supposed to stay in the Fallopian tubes, where they create a chronic infection that will cause scar tissue to form around the coils, effectively closing the tubes and rendering the woman sterile.

Until this week, possible side effects of Essure listed on the product’s website included: “mild to moderate pain and/or cramping, vaginal bleeding, and pelvic or back discomfort for a few days. Some women experienced nausea and/or vomiting or fainting. In rare instances, an Essure insert may be expelled from the body.”

Angela Desa-Lynch, an administrator for the Facebook group “Essure Problems”, which protests the device, told CNA in February that the thousands of women in the group had experienced these problems to the extreme.

“Whatever they’ve put on the label, multiply it by 200,” she told CNA in February.

At least five deaths of women, and five deaths of fetuses in women who’ve been implanted with Essure, have been reported. Other side effects many of the “Essure Problems” women have experienced include perforated organs, coils lodged in colons, fetal disfigurement due to nickel poisoning, chronic pain, exhaustion, bouts of depression, and suicidal thoughts.

The group, which grew from about 14,000 to over 18,000 just since February, seeks to inform and save every woman they can from getting Essure implants. In a statement on their website, the group said they feel encouraged by the FDA’s announcement.

“We feel like the FDA has really been listening to us, to our group, and is taking some steps in the right direction to address the serious complications and problems with this device,” it reads.

“Having a large government agency paying attention to a group of women harmed by a medical device, and making arrangements to review information and allowing our voices to be heard, is huge,” the group said.

“We plan to bring with us as many of the original clinical trial participants as we can get there, along with our supporting physicians. We need every women harmed by Essure to get to this meeting. We need every media outlet there. All are welcome. Let’s fill the room and pour into the hallways. Let your faces be seen, and let your pain serve a purpose. Not one more woman harmed by Essure.”

The device was first manufactured by the group Conceptus and was pre-approved by the FDA before hitting the markets in 2002. In June 2014, Conceptus was bought by Bayer, which has continued to manufacture and distribute Essure.

In a statement released Thursday, Bayer said: “Patient safety is Bayer’s top priority. Given there has been a great deal of interest in the safety of Essure among some patients, we welcome this open dialogue with healthcare providers, patients, researchers, representatives from professional societies, and other members of the public to review and discuss available data regarding the benefits and risks associated with Essure.”

“Bayer is strongly committed to women having access to safe and effective birth control options. The only FDA-approved non-surgical option for women who have completed their families and want permanent contraception, Essure is supported by more than a decade of science and real world clinical experience.”

The announcement by the FDA and the promise of the September meeting is a step forward for the Essure Problems group, which has enlisted the help of environmental lawyer Erin Brockovich (yes, that one) in a few pending lawsuits to get Essure taken off the market.

The end of the statement from the group, which refers to their fellow members as “E-sisters”, reads: “Bound by pain, we will never stop until Essure is off the market.”

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Supreme Court upholds use of controversial lethal injection drug

by CNA/EWTN News • June 29, 2015

(CDC/Debora Cartagena)

Washington, D.C. — The Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the continued use of a drug that has been accused of causing excruciating pain in several controversial state executions.

The 5-4 ruling in Glossip v. Gross was announced June 29. The majority opinion said that “because some risk of pain is inherent in any method of execution, we have held that the Constitution does not require the avoidance of all risk of pain.”

The court ruled that those arguing against the use of the drug had “failed to establish that any risk of harm was substantial when compared to a known and available alternative method of execution.”

Lawyers for three death-row inmates in Oklahoma had argued before the court that the state’s three-drug protocol for executions violated constitutional bans on cruel and unusual punishment.

The execution protocol includes the sedative midazolam. The drug’s effectiveness was recently called into question when it was used in several unusually prolonged executions in Ohio, Arizona and Oklahoma in which inmates appeared to suffer significantly during their deaths.

In the 2014 execution of Oklahoma inmate Clayton Lockett, the sedated man’s body writhed and he breathed heavily for more than 40 minutes until he died of a heart attack.

Oklahoma officials had argued that the protocol was consistent with the Supreme Court’s previous lethal injection ruling. In 2008 the court had said that that the first drug used in any three-drug execution protocol must prevent inmates from experiencing intense pain. That ruling approved a protocol that used the drug sodium thiopental rather than midazolam.

During arguments in May, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan had pressed Oklahoma officials defending the law on how a drug with unknown effects could be justified for use in an execution.

Justice Samuel Alito suggested that states have been forced to use the drug because death penalty opponents have pressured drug companies not to produce or sell more reliable drugs.

Controversy over the drug had led some states to revisit execution methods such as the electric chair and firing squad.

In January, the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee chair Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston had prayed that the court’s review of death penalty protocols would “lead to the recognition that institutionalized practices of violence against any person erode reverence for the sanctity of every human life.”

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City on May 1 told CNA that there are non-lethal ways “to ensure justice and protect society.”

In the U.S., 32 states and the federal government allow the use of the death penalty.

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Supreme Court protects Pennsylvania charities from HHS mandate

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • June 30, 2015

U.S. Supreme Court building. (CNA)

Washington, D.C. — The U.S. Supreme Court has issued an order protecting a group of Pennsylvania religious institutions from being required by the federal contraception mandate to violate their faith.

“Doesn’t our government have something better to do than fight charities serving the poor?” said Eric Rassbach, deputy general counsel of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in a statement after the July 29 court order.

The Pennsylvania-based religious groups are among hundreds of plaintiffs challenging the federal HHS mandate, which requires employers to offer coverage of sterilization, contraception, and some drugs that can cause early abortions.

The organizations say they cannot provide the coverage, or otherwise facilitate it, without violating their religious beliefs.

With the stay from the Supreme Court, a lower court’s previous ruling is held back. In February, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals ruled against the religious service organizations. The plaintiffs applied for an interim stay on the ruling, which was granted by the Supreme Court in April.

Now, longer-term relief has been granted while the case moves forward in the courts, temporarily absolving the religious groups from having to provide contraceptives and related products for employees if they notify the Department of Health and Human Services of their exemption. The government must ensure that the employees receive coverage for the products and procedures in the meantime.

The high court has yet to say if it will review the merits of the case in its next term.

The grant comes only days after the Supreme Court ruled that states must grant marriage licenses to same-sex couples and recognize same-sex marriages conducted in other states. The 5-4 decision for Obergefell v. Hodges overturned other lower-court rulings that defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman. With the ruling came a wave of concern over its implications on religious freedom.

Rassbach stressed that forcing religious employers to violate their deeply-held beliefs is unnecessary, adding that the legal precedent is on the side of the religious groups.

“The government has lots of ways to achieve its goals without penalizing religious groups who serve those in need,” he said. “Every time a religious ministry has taken this issue to the Supreme Court, the government has lost and the religious plaintiffs have been granted relief.”

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Supreme Court puts hold on Texas law regulating abortion clinics

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • June 30, 2015

Participants walk past the Supreme Court building during the March for Life in Washington, D.C., Jan. 22, 2015. (Addie Mena/CNA)

Washington, D.C. — On Monday afternoon the Supreme Court of the United States temporarily halted Texas’ regulations on abortion clinics, which were upheld by an appellate court earlier in the month.

By a 5-4 margin, the justices on June 29 blocked the law from going into effect until it is asked to hear the case; and if the court consents to hear the case, until it issues its decision.

The 2013 law increased safety regulations for abortion clinics and physicians who perform abortions, requiring all abortion clinics in the state to follow surgical facility standards for their building, equipment, and staffing. Physicians at the clinics must have admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles, and a 24-hour hotline for patients experiencing post-abortive complications.

On June 9, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the law to be applied across most of Texas. It recognized as legitimate the legislature’s stated purpose for the law. In the court’s words, the law aimed “to provide the highest quality of care to women seeking abortions and to protect the health and welfare of women seeking abortion.”

The appeals court did grant one exemption to the requirement that doctors who perform abortions have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, in the case of a doctor who performs abortions in McAllen, Texas, on the grounds that in this case the requirement would create an unconstitutional burden on women seeking abortions there.

The appellate court’s ruling would have had the law go into effect July 1.

The Supreme Court justices granted a stay on the appellate court’s ruling, pending a “timely filing” of a writ of certiorari, which asks the Supreme Court to hear the case. If the request is denied, the stay will terminate automatically and the law will take effect. If the request is granted, then the stay will continue until the court issues a judgement.

The five justices who voted for a stay were Anthony Kennedy, Stephen Breyer, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonya Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. The four justices who would deny the stay were John Roberts, Antonin Scalia, Clarence Thomas, and Samuel Alito.

Some backers of the law cited the case of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who in 2013 was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter as a result of negligent practices. The grand jury report in the case said that surgical facility standards for Gosnell’s clinic, like wider hallways for paramedic access, could have saved the life of one young woman who died.

Because some abortion clinics cannot afford upgrades to meet the stronger safety standards, the law could mean that as many as 13 clinics will close. That would leave eight abortion providers in the state, the New York Times reports.

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Bishops expect Pope Francis’ visit to have profound impact on U.S.

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • June 30, 2015

Pope Francis aboard the papal plane en route to Sri Lanka, Jan. 12, 2015. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Washington, D.C. — Looking forward to Pope Francis’ September visit to the U.S., the nation’s bishops were exuberant on Tuesday, as the itinerary for the apostolic voyage was released.

Fewer than three months before the scheduled visit, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, president of the U.S. bishops conference, called it a “source of joy and gratitude for U.S. Catholics” in a June 30 statement.

After visiting Cuba, the Pope will visit three major cities on the U.S. east coast – Washington, D.C., New York, and Philadelphia – and the respective bishops of those cities were indeed jubilant.

“I am very, very excited,” Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C. told CNA.

The trip will be “the visit of our spiritual father,” he told reporters at a press conference at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in downtown Washington, D.C.

“I am confident that his presence here among us will have a profound and lasting impact on all New Yorkers,” said Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

In a whirlwind nine-day trip, Pope Francis will first meet with Cuban political leaders and pray with the country’s priests and seminarians from Sept. 19-22. Then from Sept. 23-27, he will tour the United States east coast, culminating with a papal mass in Philadelphia to close the World Meeting of Families. Up to 2 million are expected to attend the papal events there.

“It is an itinerary that says, ‘I walk with you – and so does the Lord’,” stated Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia. “It says, ‘Embrace your faith and embrace one another as children of God.’ It says, ‘God forgives.’ And it says ‘Come together in celebration.’”

Archbishop Chaput added, “I am confident we will leave a positive and lasting impression upon Pope Francis and keep the spirit of his visit in our hearts as we seek constantly to build a better society.”

After his Cuba visit, Pope Francis will arrive in Washington, D.C. on the evening of Sept. 22. Cardinal Wuerl emphasized the spiritual nature of the visit. “He’s reminding all of us that there’s a spiritual dimension to our life,” he told reporters.

Francis will meet with President Obama at the White House the following morning. Then he will address around 300 to 350 bishops at St. Matthew’s Cathedral at a mid-day prayer gathering, Monsignor Ronald Jameson, the cathedral’s rector, confirmed to CNA.

The overall theme of the Pope’s visit will be hope, and this could be expressed to the bishops through encouragement, he explained.

“If we look around the country today, dioceses are having their problems,” he said, among these being poverty, immigration, and a lack of priestly vocations.

“I think that the Holy Father will encourage the bishops, I think to action. We say we can’t just complain about it,” he said, “but we have that big hope that is Jesus Christ. And with him being our light, he can lead us on.”

Later in the afternoon, Pope Francis will celebrate the canonization Mass for Bl. Junipero Serra at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Mass will be a ticketed event – around 25,000 is the current attendance estimate – and it will be said in Spanish, Cardinal Wuerl told reporters.

Spanish is fast becoming the “universally recognized second language,” Cardinal Wuerl explained, and the Hispanic community is “so significant in the United States.” Plus, as the basilica’s rector Monsignor Walter Rossi told CNA, Blessed Junipero Serra evangelized the Spanish missions on America’s west coast and himself spoke Spanish.

The Mass will be unique in more ways than one, Cardinal Wuerl noted.

“First of all, it’s the first canonization of a saint in the New World. Secondly, it’s a Pope from the New World. And this Mass and the canonization is going to be in Spanish, to highlight the origins of a large portion of faith in the New World but also the growing number of Spanish-speaking people in our country,” Cardinal Wuerl explained to CNA.

A large portion of tickets will be available to the Hispanic Catholic community, he said, and will be distributed through individual parishes. The portion of tickets not already reserved for seminarians, Catholic Charities, and delegations from California will be available to the laity through the parishes, and it will be the majority of the tickets he confirmed.

Cardinal Wuerl expects that at the Mass, the Pope will focus on the “work that is done on behalf of and in response to the needs of the poor.”

The next morning the Pope will address a joint session of Congress on Capitol Hill, and he will do so as a spiritual leader and not a political leader, Cardinal Wuerl insisted.

He will be “simply speaking to the hearts of people,” the cardinal said, focusing on their relationships with God and with each other.

Lastly, the Pope will visit the archdiocese’s Catholic Charities branch where he will meet with homeless persons attending the charity’s weekly St. Maria’s Meals program, blessing the food.

The Catholic Charities visit will come last, just before the Pope leaves for New York, and this is significant, Cardinal Wuerl said.

“I think that’s his way of saying ‘don’t lose sight of the poor’,” Cardinal Wuerl told reporters.

“I’m looking for a renewal of hope,” said Monsignor Jameson of the papal visit.

“Because I think Pope Francis has shown that hope to so many people already, especially the way he has taught us let’s get back to the fundamentals. Let’s get back and how do we, first of all, build that relationship with the Lord Jesus? How do we encounter the Lord in prayer, how do we encounter the Lord in our daily lives, how do we encounter him especially in the poor, those who are in need, those who are suffering? Pope Francis has been a real model for that.”

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Anti-Catholic history in U.S. shows Church has survived and will continue, historian says

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • July 1, 2015

Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, Denver, Colorado. (Pascal Pollei via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Washington, D.C. — As bishops warn of current threats to religious liberty in the United States, Catholics can take heart that such challenges have faced them before, and they have persevered, one Church historian says.

“It’s okay to realize that other people have gone on this same journey, a journey that’s involved persecution, a journey that’s involved a Catholic minority and a non-Catholic majority, and sometimes friction with governments,” said Fr. David Endres, assistant professor of Church history and historical theology at The Athenaeum of Ohio, in an interview with CNA.

“I think it’s important to remember the history, if nothing more than to realize that this is ground that has already been tread by our forefathers,” he added.

“Now is the time to take heart and realize that the compass of the Scriptures and Tradition now need to be emphasized more than ever as our guide; that we cannot look to politicians, we can’t look to the government, we certainly cannot look to pop culture and the media as our guide for morality.”

Fr. Endres spoke with CNA during the Fortnight for Freedom, a two-week campaign by the U.S. bishops to educate Catholics about religious freedom and the current threats to the public practice of religion in the nation.

Among the threats the bishops have warned of in recent years are the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act, and Catholic adoption agencies being forced out of business because they will not place children with same-sex couples as mandated by state anti-discrimination laws.

The bishops recently voiced grave concerns over the Supreme Court’s recent marriage decision Obergefell v. Hodges, which established same-sex marriage in all 50 states.

Although the majority opinion “makes a nod” toward religious freedom, it does not mention the First Amendment’s protection of the free exercise of religion and this is very troubling, Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore told reporters on a conference call after the decision. Archbishop Lori chairs the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee on Religious Liberty.

“The free exercise of religion means that we have a right not only to debate it openly in the public square, but to operate our ministries and to live our lives in accordance to the truth about marriage without violence, or being penalized, or losing our tax exemption, or losing our ability to serve the common good through our social services and through education,” he said in the June 26 conference call.

The omission of “free exercise” in the Court’s majority opinion thus “could give rise to a lot of legal controversies,” Archbishop Lori warned. Without guarantees of the free exercise of religion, religiously-affiliated organizations which oppose same-sex marriage and businesses who cannot serve same-sex weddings could face legal challenges.

The current threats to religious liberty – state and federal laws regulating the free exercise of religion of charitable institutions – are eerily similar to a Supreme Court case from nearly a century ago, and Catholics should take note, Fr. Endres explained.

In 1922, Oregon passed a law forcing all children between the ages of eight and sixteen in parochial and private schools into public schools. The law, the Compulsory Education Act of 1922, was supported by the Ku Klux Klan as a measure to push for standard American education and to prevent what they saw as a foreign influence – the Catholic Church – from educating immigrant children.

The Society of Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary, along with a military private school, fought the law in court. Three years later, in Pierce v. Society of Sisters, the Supreme Court resoundingly struck down the law in a unanimous decision, ruling that it violated the freedom of parents to send their children to parochial schools.

In the history of the U.S., this was perhaps the event that bears the closest resemblance to the present-day struggle between Catholic institutions maintaining their religious freedom, and state and federal laws looking to regulate their consciences, Fr. Endres said.

However, the law is also but one incident in a U.S. history that is checkered with anti-Catholic bigotry and violence. In “Sticks, Stones, and Broken Bones: the History of anti-Catholic Violence in the U.S.“, a 2014 article in Homiletic and Pastoral Review, Fr. Endres detailed just how rocky has been Catholicism’s relationship with mainstream American culture.

Colonial-era laws forbade Catholics from becoming lawyers and teachers. In Maryland, Catholic parents could be fined for sending their children to Europe to receive a Catholic education. Distribution of anti-Catholic pamphlets and literature was commonplace.

Once European emigration to the U.S. increased in the 1840s and 50s, this established a largely Catholic minority of Irish and Germans.

Anti-Catholicism was mingled with xenophobia as the mainstream individualist culture was quite suspicious of Catholicism. Consequently, some U.S. residents tried to ensure that immigrants would not gain positions of power. A political party surfaced that at its root was anti-Catholic, the “Know-Nothing Party.”

Convents and churches were victim to mob violence in multiple cases. Two Philadelphia parishes were burned in 1844 after rumors circulated that Catholics were trying to oust Protestant bibles from public schools.

The visit of a papal ambassador from Bl. Pius IX to report on the state of the Church in the U.S. resulted in violent unrest in multiple cities, including the burning of the ambassador’s effigy.

Anti-Catholic violence waxed and waned through the years, but Catholics had never felt they fully “made it” in American society until the election of John F. Kennedy, an Irish Catholic, to the presidency. Afterward, many devout Catholics thought they would be accepted as a permanent part of the American mainstream culture.

“We felt like we had kind of come of age in this country,” Fr Endres told CNA. “And that in general, we were not on the fringes.”

The recent threats to religious liberty are proving more and more that this Catholic peace was a reprieve and not a permanent acceptance of Catholicism in the U.S., he added.

Why has there been so much anti-Catholic sentiment in the United States? The overall conflict between the Church and American culture has centered on freedom and authority, and the fault line still exists today, Fr. Endres explained.

“I would say part of it is the role of individuals vis a vis community and the Church has always upheld quite a communal emphasis,” he said. Historically, the mainstream American culture promoted individualism, and looked down on Catholics who followed the authority of the Bishop of Rome.

This conflict also extends to the debate of the role of community versus the freedom of the individual, he added.

“We have this strange idea that’s developed in this country that freedom means absolute autonomy of persons. And the Church has never believed that true freedom consisted of absolute autonomy, but instead, basically a relationship with God and with one another. We kind of have this path set before us that yes, we are responsible to other people. We are responsible to God in a special way, and absolute autonomy has no place in that kind of worldview.”

Historically, this played out in the Protestant individualistic culture of the U.S. against the Catholic view of community and authority.

This push for absolute autonomy has played out in the push for acceptance of same-sex marriage and of the transgender movement.

On the other side is a Christian anthropology, he said: “how we view our being made in the image and likeness of God, how we view marriage and family life, gender, sexuality, all those kinds of things.”

The question then becomes, “do I have an obligation to anyone but myself?” Fr. Endres asked rhetorically.

“The modern notion would be ‘it’s just you,’” whereas a Christian recognizes that he has an obligation to obey and love God and the Church, and to love his neighbor.

And Catholics are once again being moved to the margins, with laws prohibiting them from publicly practicing their religion and remaining true to Church teaching on sexuality.

However, “it’s important for us to realize then that to be on the margins of society is not always a bad thing,” he added.

The present hostility to Catholic teaching on sexuality might actually be a “call instead to remain faithful on the margins,” he said, because the Catholic faith is counter-cultural.

“We are speaking a truth that is not always popular, but which we believe very strongly comes from Christ and more broadly from the revelation of God to man. And if you really believe that, you can’t accommodate.”

Throughout U.S. history, some Catholics have remained faithful to the Church, while others accommodated to the culture. For example, some German Catholic immigrants and priests in the 19th century left the Church to become Protestant because they couldn’t endure the anti-Catholic hostility.

“Americanists,” the subjects of the 1899 encyclical Testem benevelentiae nostrae of Leo XIII, were American Catholics who had been so affected by the American culture that they were no longer authentically Catholic. This problem exists today.

“Americanism shows that more or less constant feature of American Catholic history, where Catholics have to make that choice of whether they are going to identify primarily as American, and then Catholic secondarily, or Catholic as a primary identity and American as a second,” Fr. Endres said.

“So what’s going to be the noun, and what’s going to be the adjective?”

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Honestly funny – comedian Jim Gaffigan blends faith, humor in new TV show

by Adelaide Mena (CNA/EWTN News) • July 2, 2015

Left to right, Tongayi Chirisa, Adam Goldberg, Jim Gaffigan, Ashley Williams, and Michael Ian Black for the Jim Gaffigan Show. (TV Land)

Washington, D.C. — God and comedy clubs are not generally something most families throw together; then again, most families don’t create a cable comedy show either.

But for Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan, this mix of faith and funny is a vital part of their family life – a life that they draw upon in creating their latest project, a cable TV show.

“Mixing these worlds – the world of standup comedy and one’s faith – can provide conflict and humor,” said Jim Gaffigan, who co-wrote and stars in The Jim Gaffigan Show.

His wife Jeannie, the other comedic mastermind behind the show’s script and the new program’s executive producer, hoped their family’s experience mixing spheres of personal, religious and public life would appeal to other families navigating a sometimes strange world.

“It’s normal families that are in this very abnormal situation and all the things that inform their interactions with other people. And there’s a lot of comedy in that,” she said. “People relate to it. People laugh at it.”

The new show will premiere on TV Land July 15, and preview episodes are already available online at www.jimgaffigan.com. Many of the plots in the new series, the couple explained, come from their personal experience of living as a Catholic family in lower Manhattan: a neighborhood where spotting hipsters and bohemians is much more likely than spying a family with five kids.

Funny has been a part of this family’s dynamic for years: the couple met in 2000 and began working together, getting married in 2003. While raising their family, the couple worked on writing and creating comedy shows like “Beyond the Pale” (2006) and the Grammy-nominated “Mr. Universe” (2012), which Jeannie produced and Jim starred in and performed. The duo also worked together to write Jim’s 2012 comedic memoir “Dad is Fat,” and a second collection of essays, “Food: a Love Story,” which was published in 2014.

Most of the new show is set in an exact replica of the fifth-story, two-bedroom apartment the family recently moved out of, or in the surrounding New York neighborhood. In the opening episodes available online, fictionalized versions all seven members of the Gaffigan family make an appearance, along with other characters Jim and Jeannie’s personas run into during daily life.

Jim said that when writing the show, the Gaffigans focused on the contrast between a relatively normal family life and the offbeat reality of New York and the comedy club scene as a means of connecting with a wide audience. “We wanted to present it as this conventional family in this unconventional world, and that’s really what it is for every family in America,” he said in a recent press call.

Jeannie elaborated that this contrast also comes from their desire to be honest about themselves. “It’s a show about our lives; this is what we do.”

“We made a decision not to hide any of the spectrums of our life. There’s the Church and there’s the comedy club and they’re sort of diametrically opposed,” Jeannie explained, saying that she and her husband sought to show the reality of both parts of their lives without disparaging either.

The blend of experiences and seemingly incongruous situations also grew out of the reality of living in New York City, she said, a place of “all sorts of people, all sorts of faiths, all sorts of lifestyles, all sorts of attitudes.”

Given that faith and the generally secular world of comedy rarely mix – especially on cable TV – Jim said that the tensions the show explores offer some new comedic ground. “The good thing is that these topics, or even these angles into comedy, are fresh.”

Talking about – and even laughing about – the tensions surrounding religion can be a teaching opportunity too, Jim said. He described such humor as a way of neutralizing the challenge of hiding one’s faith in order to tackle the challenge of surprising an audience.

“They’re either going to assume I’m going to bag on religion or they’re going to think that I’m going to say something that they’re not going to relate to and I sort of love that challenge,” he commented.

The experiences the Gaffigans have had in their lives work their way into the characters as well as the plot, the couple explained. “We just write what we know, and the priest character that we write in the show was based on some really fantastic people that we have in our lives,” Jeannie said.

Jim added that when writing the role of the pastor, “we’re fighting any of the cliches of a priest character.” The couple tried to ensure that he was “not a bumbling buffoon or alcoholic” but a source of wisdom.

As in the Gaffigan’s real life, the religious characters of the show are integrated into the fictional Gaffigans’ world. In a future episode, a priest is invited to go to a late-night show taping with Jim’s character, a situation based on a real-life events with the priest who married them.

This mixing of secular and religious allows for the exploration of Jim’s character’s faith and uncertainties with bringing this aspect of his life into the public square. “Some of the message is that it’s my fear – most other people don’t care, and I’m projecting that fear on other people.”

“Jim’s character is less religious than me, so Jim’s response to that is similar to my response 10 years ago,” he said.

This honest look at faith and doubt, along with its lighthearted approach, Jeannie said, allows the show to deal with its characters’ faith in a way that’s neither too sweet nor too dour. “I think Jim and Jeannie seem Catholic and being flawed without being stereotypical cartoons of what people would perceive a Catholic family to be.”

Jim pointed to an example of dialogue between the Jim and Jeannie characters where the faith informs the comedy in this frank way.

“When Jeannie’s mad, she might say, ‘I don’t want to raise five kids by myself,’ he explained. “And Jim would say, ‘You’re going to divorce me?’”

“No! I’m Catholic,” Jeannie’s character jokes. “I don’t believe in divorce. I would murder you.”

Even if the characters joke about these normal tensions between spouses, ultimately creating the show was a family affair – one that both Jim and Jeannie participate in, open their family life to and hope fans find fresh and engaging. “Hopefully, whether they’re brand-new or not, they’re unique and true to our experience.”

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CatholicVote says controversial video sparked outpouring of thanks

by CNA/EWTN News • July 2, 2015

(CatholicVote.org)

Chicago, IL — After last week’s Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage, one Catholic group released a short video on tolerance – a clip that’s gotten both fierce criticism and profound thanks from viewers.

“The response to our video has been overwhelming. Literally tens of thousands of people are emailing saying: ‘thank you for speaking up for me. I don’t agree with the Supreme Court decision, but I don’t hate anyone,’” said Brian Burch, president of CatholicVote.org.

Burch’s organization is a lay-led movement of American Catholics with around 600,000 members in the U.S. The group’s video, titled “Not Alone,” mirrors a gay “coming out” perspective and features six young adults who vocalize their belief that marriage is meant to be between one man and one woman.

In response to the “Love Wins” hash tag used after the Supreme Court ruling, CatholicVote created their own hash tag of “Speak Truth With Love.”

The six adults interviewed discussed the fear of being treated differently because they do not support gay marriage; and they professed to have gay friends who are wonderful people and are loved.

The two-and-a-half minute video, however, was swiftly pounded with profanity-laced comments and aggressive jeers towards those in the video who claim to “love their gay friends” and yet do not support same-sex marriage. The video has over 670,000 views and counting.

“Gays deserve dignity and respect, and so do Christians,” Burch said. “We as a country are going to have to expand our definition of tolerance and learn to accept that there is nothing hateful about believing in the uniqueness of male-female marriage, as people have for thousands of years.”

Another article on CatholicVote.org, links to several websites criticizing the video are posted to directly display intolerance that is currently happening in the secular media. Some headlines accused the six adults to be “anti-gay,” while other sources describe the adults as “bigots.”

“Where real hatred and bigotry has occurred, it deserves to be condemned,” Burch said. “LGBT advocates are right to call out people who behave reprehensibly in defense of marriage.”

“But likewise, and to be consistent, they should condemn those that are intolerant of anyone that disagrees with the same-sex agenda. Andrew Sullivan, one of the founders of the same-sex marriage movement, has warned his friends against becoming a movement that hates its opponents.”

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This 95-year-old Catholic couple died in each other’s arms

by CNA/EWTN News • July 3, 2015

(Michael Brant via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

San Diego, CA — Few love stories can say that they began at the age of eight. But for Jeanette and Alexander Toczko, they couldn’t have imagined life any other way.

What began as a childhood crush later bloomed into a deep, committed love – a love that would last throughout a war, five children, and seventy-five years of marriage.

“Their hearts beat as one from as long as I can remember,” said Aimee Toczko-Cushman, one of the couple’s five children, according to the Daily Mail.

After meeting his future wife at the age of eight, Alexander Toczko married Jeanette in 1940 while he was enrolled in the U.S. Navy as a telegraph operator. Alexander was a devoted husband to his wife Jeanette, and as Catholics, he fondly carried a snapshot of Jeanette’s First Holy Communion in his wallet.

The Toczko’s settled in San Diego, California in 1971 where Alexander and Jeanette worked together, establishing their own fashion photography and advertising firm. Alexander had a passion for golf and sketching, and the couple loved to travel with each other.

They raised their five children in the San Diego area, and over the years became the proud grandparents of ten grandchildren.

This past June, the couple celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary. Alexander, a WWII veteran, was 95 and Jeanette was 96.

The couple’s health had been declining over the months, especially after Alexander had taken a recent fall, breaking his hip.

“He was going fast,” their son, Richard Toczko, remembered.

Hospice care was brought to Jeanette and Alexander’s home, so that they could share their own bed and stay close to each other in their final moments.

Remarkably, the inseparable couple had a dying wish that they often told their children – they both wanted to pass away together, in each other’s arms and in their own bed.

Alexander was the first to go on June 17. Once Jeanette had been informed that her husband had died, she said, “See this is what you wanted. You died in my arms and I love you. I love you, wait for me, I’ll be there soon.”

Jeanette died only hours after her husband on June 18.

“Even the hospice nurse said it was the most incredible thing to see the two of them taking those last breaths together,” Aimee Toczko-Cushman said.

“They both entered the pearly gates holding hands,” reflected their son, Richard Toczko.

A funeral mass was held for Alexander and Jeanette on June 29, a ceremony which commemorated both their lives and their 75th wedding anniversary. They were buried at the Miramar National Cemetery in San Diego.

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U.S. NEWS

Bl. Junipero statue in the Capitol is safe – for now

by CNA/EWTN News • July 3, 2015

The statue of Father Junipero Serra inside the National Statuary Hall in Washington D.C. (CNA)

Los Angeles, CA — An effort to remove the statue of Bl. Junipero Serra from the U.S. Capitol has been set aside for the time being.

A statue of Franciscan missionary and saint-to-be Father Junipero Serra has stood in the U.S. Capitol since 1931. However, a proposal in the state legislature would have removed it and replaced it with a statue of astronaut Sally Ride, the first American woman to travel to space.

According to the L.A. Times, a vote on the proposal was postponed after the senator who authored it noted the timing of Pope Francis’ trip to the United States this fall, where he will formally declare Bl. Serra a saint. The senator has requested that the proposal be re-considered at a later date.

State legislatures have the authority to decide which two statues will represent their state at the U.S. Capitol.

Bl. Serra’s statue is currently in the National Statuary Hall Collection. His statue cradles a church in his left arm and holds a cross aloft in his outstretched right arm. The website of the Architect of the Capitol, which maintains the statue, describes Fr. Serra as “one of the most important Spanish missionaries in the New World.”

Several lawmakers had objected to the proposal to remove the statue given Bl. Serra’s upcoming canonization, questioning the message that it would send.

The resolution to remove the statue had already passed the state senate, by a 22-10 vote.

Bl. Junipero Serra played a leading role in California history, helping to convert thousands of native Californians to Christianity and teaching them new technologies. The eighteenth century priest founded many of the missions that would go on to become the centers of major California cities.

In a May 2 homily, Pope Francis called Bl. Serra “one of the founding fathers of the United States, a saintly example of the Church’s universality, and special patron of the Hispanic people of the country.”

The Pope will canonize Father Serra Sept. 23 during his visit to Washington, D.C. The priest was beatified Sept. 25, 1988 by Saint John Paul II.

The proposal to remove the statue of the soon-to-be saint was shelved following a heavy campaign to save it. A Spanish-language website, ‘Salvemos a Serra’, or ‘Let’s Save Serra’, had called on Californians to write their legislators in opposition to the resolution.

“U.S. Hispanics need your support to maintain the presence of our first saint in the U.S. Capitol,” the website said.

‘Salvemos a Serra’ had also asked supporters of Bl. Serra to sign English- and Spanish-language petitions on the website CitizenGo.org. More than 47,000 did so.

The petitions ask legislators to “defend the memory of this Founding Father of California who protected the Native Americans and had a key role in the formation of this country.”

The petitions were posted by Alejandro Bermudez, executive director of Catholic News Agency.

“In a state that counts Hispanics as its largest ethnic group, California’s elected leaders are about to banish the first and one of the only two Hispanics from statuary hall,” Bermudez said in a May 22 essay at the Latino media website NewsTaco.

“To add insult to injury, they plan to go on the record with this just in time to welcome the first Latin American pope in history to the United States,” he added. “It’s quite the insult to the Pope, who will visit the Capitol and canonize Serra during his September visit — making him the first saint to be named by a pope on American soil.”

Some activist groups have attacked Bl. Serra as a symbol of European colonialism and have characterized the missions as engaged in the forced labor of Native Americans, sometimes claiming Bl. Serra himself was abusive.

Many of Bl. Serra’s defenders vigorously dispute the claims, noting the many natives he helped during his life, and their outpouring of grief at his death.

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FEATURES

We’ve been here before: Marriage and the Room of Tears

by Very Rev. Robert Barron • June 29, 2015

Just last week, I had the privilege of spending four hours in the Sistine Chapel with my Word on Fire team. Toward the end of our filming, the director of the Vatican Museums, who had accompanied us throughout the process, asked whether I wanted to see the “Room of Tears.” This is the little antechamber, just off of the Sistine Chapel, where the newly-elected Pope repairs in order to change into his white cassock. Understandably, tears begin to flow in that room, once the poor man realizes the weight of his office.

Inside the small space, there were documents and other memorabilia, but what got my attention was a row of impressive albs, chasubles, and copes worn by various Popes across the years. I noticed the specially decorated cope of Pope Pius VI, who was had been of the longest serving Pontiffs in history, reigning from 1775 to 1799. Pius was an outspoken opponent of the French Revolution and its bloody aftermath - and his forthrightness cost him dearly. French troops invaded Italy and demanded that the Pope renounce his claim to the Papal States. When he refused, he was arrested and imprisoned in a citadel in Valence, where he died six weeks later. In the room of tears, there was also a stole worn by Pius VI’s successor, Pius VII. This Pope Pius also ran afoul of the French, who, under Napoleon, invaded Italy in 1809 and took him prisoner. During his grim exile, he did manage to get off one of the greatest lines in Papal history. Evidently, Napoleon himself announced to the Pope that he was going to destroy the Church, to which Pius VII responded, “Oh my little man, you think you’re going to succeed in accomplishing what centuries of priests and bishops have tried and failed to do!”

Both popes find themselves, of course, in a long line of Church people persecuted by the avatars of the regnant culture. In the earliest centuries of the Church’s life, thousands - including Peter, Paul, Agnes, Cecelia, Clement, Felicity, Perpetua, Sebastian, Lawrence, and Cyprian - were brutally put to death by officials of the Roman Empire. In the fourth century, St. Ambrose was opposed by the emperor Theodosius; in the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII locked horns with the Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV; in the nineteenth century, Bismarck waged a Kulturkampf against the Catholic Church in Germany, and in the twentieth century, more martyrs gave their lives for the faith than in all the previous centuries combined.

Now why am I rehearsing this rather sad history? In the wake of the United States Supreme Court decision regarding gay marriage, a not inconsiderable number of Catholics feel beleaguered and more than a little afraid. Their fear comes from the manner in which the decision was framed and justified. Since same-sex marriage is now recognized as a fundamental human right guaranteed by the Constitution, those who oppose it can only be characterized as bigots animated by an irrational prejudice. To be sure, Justice Kennedy and his colleagues assure us that those who have religious objections to same-sex marriage will be respected, but one wonders how such respect is congruent with the logic of the decision. Would one respect the owners of a business who refuse to hire black people as a matter of principle? Would not the government, in point of fact, be compelled to act against those owners? The proponents of gay marriage have rather brilliantly adopted the rhetoric of the civil rights movement, precisely so as to force this conclusion. And this is why my mentor, the late Francis Cardinal George, so often warned against the incursions of an increasingly aggressive secular state, which, he argued, will first force us off the public stage into privacy and then seek to criminalize those practices of ours that it deems unacceptable.

One reason that this has been rather shocking to American Catholics is that we have had, at least for the last century or so, a fairly benign relationship with the environing culture. Until around 1970, there was, throughout the society and across religious boundaries, a broad moral consensus in our country, especially in regard to sexual and family matters. This is one reason why, in the 1950’s, Archbishop Fulton Sheen could find such a wide and appreciative audience among Protestants and Jews, even as he laid out fundamentally Catholic perspectives on morality. But now that consensus has largely been shattered, and the Church finds itself opposed, not so much by other religious denominations, as it was in the 19th century, but by the ideology of secularism and the self-defining individual - admirably expressed, by the way, in Justice Kennedy’s articulation of the majority position in the case under consideration.

So what do we do? We continue to put forth our point of view winsomely, invitingly, and non-violently, loving our opponents and reaching out to those with whom we disagree. As St. John Paul II said, the Church always proposes, never imposes. And we take a deep breath, preparing for what could be some aggression from the secular society, but we take courage from a great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. The Church has faced this sort of thing before - and we’re still standing.

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 two award-winning documentary series, Catholicism and Catholicism: The New Evangelization.

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FEATURES

The American Dream

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. • July 1, 2015

In 1943, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen made a prescient observation: “A proof that we are in danger of losing our freedom is that everyone is talking about it. Picture a group of men on a roof-top proclaiming in song and story the glories of architecture, while below saboteurs have already knocked out half the foundations of the house – and here you have the picture of modern freedom.”

On this extended holiday weekend, Americans will proclaim in song and story the glories of our American freedoms, the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, rights given by God and not by any person — inalienable rights.

The American flag will be displayed outside homes and public buildings to celebrate our independence, and small groups will gather to read aloud the majestic document we call our Declaration of Independence.

Colonial costumes, parades and picnics, hot dogs and hamburgers, barbecues and fireworks, rousing music of John Phillip Sousa, George M. Cohan, and Irving Berlin — these make up the lighter side of Independence Day.

The Drama of 1776

During the spring and summer of 1776, days of great drama and of even greater consequence, the congressional members of the Second Continental Congress ratified the decision to separate from England. Since 1763, the colonists had bristled against Parliament with one grievance after the other. Tax piled on tax had been levied on them without any representation in Parliament. In 1775, matters came to a head. The intolerable situation could not stand. All of which brought them to 1776.

In June, the Congress’s Committee of Five assigned Thomas Jefferson to draft the declaration to separate from the mother country. Throughout the meetings, the gentleman from Virginia had remained taciturn, but he was reputed to be the consummate wordsmith as well as a scholar in literature and in science. Jefferson accepted the task — but reluctantly. He had responsibilities back home.

Early in July, the draft was placed before the entire delegation as they edited and pored over words, phrases, and their meaning. An impassive Jefferson sat observing the verbal gymnastics. ‘They’re mangling my prose,’ he thought to himself. But in the end the gentleman from Virginia would be credited as the author of our founding document. It became the inspiration for similar documents of more than one hundred fledgling nations.

Slavery and the Declaration

While the Declaration claimed that “all men are created equal,” slavery still existed in southern colonies. Jefferson and other signers owned slaves. It was feared however that if decisions about abolishing slavery were brought to a vote, the members from the slave states would refuse to sign the document. Years would pass before equal rights and equal opportunity were finally afforded African Americans.

Education of Black Children

Several institutes of religious women engaged in educating black children, regardless of their faith-traditions. We Sisters expected much from them. Motivated and proud of their Catholic education, they did not disappoint. They walked with heads held high. Their personal difficulties were many, but we encouraged them to press ahead through diligent hard work at their lessons.

Class sizes were large — fifty or more. Concentration was placed on teaching the children to spell correctly, write clearly, and speak with conviction. They loved to diagram sentences and present oral topics, especially those linked to their future. Reading and reciting poetry — these they loved as well. The slower readers were brought up to speed while the better ones advanced beyond their class reading levels. This was the Language Arts curriculum. Religion lessons taught them how to pray, strengthened their inner resolve, and formed positive habits.

The children excelled in music and many joined three- or four-part choirs after school hours. Year after year, they won gold medals in choral competitions. They were ready and eager to take their responsible place in American life there to enjoy the freedoms denied their forebears.

Religious Liberty: A Burning Question

The First Amendment to the Constitution states that the government has certain limited powers to preserve the good order of the people, but “government is not juridically omnipotent.” One of its limitations has to do with the distinction between church and state, in their purposes, methods, and manner of organization.

“The freedom of the Church is a pregnant phrase,” writes Fr. John Courtney Murray, S.J. His thoughts as articulated in We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition (1960).

In the first place, it means the freedom of the Church as a spiritual authority to carry out her divine commission.

But, secondly, it means the freedom of the Church as the Christian people to live within its fold an integral supernatural life, a life with inherent super-political dignity that transcends the goals and power of the state.

The Church then lays claim to immunity from subordination to the state and its temporal ends. The chief example of this concerns the dignity of the whole person, marriage and the family.

Freedom from Coercion

Religious freedom is freedom from coercion. It is the absence of constraints and restraints on individuals in their efforts to pursue freely the positive values of religion.

Religious freedom is the recognition of the inviolability of the human person, individually and in association with others in what concerns religious belief and action.

The people are united in their religious freedom to believe and practice without any governmental coercion, restraints or constraints.

The political or civil freedoms of the First Amendment, unlike later freedoms or rights, were assurances against coercive action by government and society (Francis Canavan, S.J., “Religious Freedom: John Courtney Murray, S.J. and Vatican II”)

Vatican II’s Declaration on Religious Freedom (1965)

The Council Fathers spoke to the issue of religious freedom, though they could not have predicted the urgency of their words in today’s world. Religious communities, they wrote, “have the right not to be hindered in their public teaching and witness to their faith, whether by the spoken or by the written word.”

In addition, religious communities “should not be prohibited from freely undertaking to show the special value of their doctrine in what concerns the organization of society and the inspiration of the whole of human activity.”

The Religion Clause of the First Amendment

We celebrate our liberty in law, and the establishment clause has two parts: the government (a) shall make no law establishing a religion, and the government (b) shall not prohibit the free exercise thereof. This clause is a good law but not a religious law; it is not an article of faith but an article of peace in a pluralistic society. What can be further stated about the First Amendment?

1. America has proved by experience that political unity and stability are possible without uniformity of religious belief and practice, without the necessity of any governmental restriction on any religion.

2. In areas allotted to the government, it is easier to differ without civil strife when religious differences are excluded.

3. The Catholic Church, for example, is better off when left alone to carry out its identity and its mission. This is so because religious freedom is guaranteed not only to the individual Catholic but also to the Church as an organized society with its own law and jurisdiction. In other words, “this independent authority has been the essential element of freedom in the political tradition of the Christian West” (Canavan).

Anti-Catholicism in the United States

Anti-Catholicism, the last acceptable prejudice in the United States, has a long history, but a new wave of anti-Catholicism has taken on a subtle coloration, coercion by the government in the name of freedom for the masses. It appears as the virtuous counterpart of hatred.

In 1642, Virginia and later the Massachusetts Bay Colony passed laws prohibiting Catholics from settling there, but within ten years, the law was repealed. Rhode Island imposed civil restrictions on Catholics for several years.

Catholics are still prime targets in social media which ridicule the Church with biting criticism — and, with impunity.

Coercive Power, St. Thomas More and St. John Fisher, Martyrs

In 1534, Henry VIII separated himself from the Roman Catholic Church and established himself as the supreme head on earth of the Church of England. He demanded an oath of absolute obedience from his subjects after Rome refused his request for a divorce. He wanted to marry Anne Boleyn claiming that he needed a male heir. His first wife, Catherine of Aragon had no son.

Sir Thomas More and Bishop John Fisher would not bend to the divorce. They and a few others were out of step with the rest of the realm. Henry had them beheaded. They were neither the first Englishmen nor the last to suffer death for their faith. The break with Rome was the most consequential event in English history. Catholic for 1500 years, Anglican for 400, England still has Catholic sensibilities.

In Robert Bolt’s play, “Man for All Seasons,” there is a tense encounter between Cardinal Wolsey and Thomas More. The Cardinal asks him ‘to come along with the rest of us.’ More replies sardonically: “Well (he pauses), I believe that when statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by a short route to chaos.” Just before his execution, the future saint declared, “I am the king’s good servant, but God’s first.” His words echo down through the halls of English Church history.

We Catholics would be wise to keep Thomas More and John Fisher on our radar. Their backs of steel would not bend to the whims of temporal power.

A Happy and Safe Weekend to you all!

Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, Brentwood, NY, holds degrees in philosophy (Ph.L.), musicology (Ph.D.), theology (M.A.), and liturgical studies (Ph.D.). She has taught at all levels of Catholic education and writes with a particular focus on a theology of beauty and the sacred arts. Her e-mail address is jroccasalvo@optonline.net.

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FEATURES

‘Terminator: Genisys’ showcases an underwhelming, convoluted plot

by Carl Kozlowski • July 1, 2015

There are some actors who just can’t break out of typecasting. The Three Stooges never got to do Shakespeare, Michael Richards never stopped being Cosmo Kramer, and Arnold Schwarzenegger will always be The Terminator.

Yet while those first two examples were metaphorical, Schwarzenegger really is trapped in the role of the humanoid killing machine who eventually developed a heart of gold. He starred in three “Terminator” films before he switched over to being The Governator, and now that he’s left government behind and suffered a string of embarrassing box-office flops, he is back in his signature role in the series’ fifth film, “Terminator: Genisys.”

“Genisys” is a confusing mess, because it spends half the time rehashing the plot points of the original “Terminator” from 1984 in an obvious attempt to explain the original films to a new generation of sci-fi fans who haven’t bothered to see them. The key idea is that a worldwide missile-defense system called Skynet developed enough artificial intelligence to form its own opinions about mankind, opting to destroy humanity with nuclear missiles around the world on what became known as Judgment Day in 1997.

The only person who can eventually lead humanity in a massive revolt against Skynet and its evil robot enforcers is a man named John Connor. Therefore, the Terminator robot played by Schwarzenegger was sent back to 1984 to kill John’s mother, an average Los Angeles waitress named Sarah Connor, before she could conceive John – and another human hero also traveled back in time to save her from the Terminator and impregnate her with John.

That convoluted plotline worked wonders in the hands of the series’ creator, writer-director James Cameron. But after the film’s initial sequel “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” in 1991, he moved on to create other classics like “Titanic” and “Avatar.” Two other half-hearted sequels were released by other filmmakers since then, with the latest – 2009’s “Terminator: Salvation” - not even starring Schwarzenegger at all.

“Genisys” spends the other half of its running time trying to reinvent the wheel by creating a plot in which our heroes don’t know whether to time-travel to 1997 or 2017 in order to save the world. A hole in time was cracked open during a key fight sequence that can’t be revealed without being a major spoiler, leading to greater – yet more confusing – consequences than anyone ever imagined.

This latest attempt at adventure is directed by a guy named Alan Taylor, a veteran TV director of everything from “Sex and the City” to “Game of Thrones,” whose only major feature film before this was “Thor: The Dark World.” In other words, this journeyman is no James Cameron.

The movie really stars hot young “Game of Thrones” actress Emilia Clarke, who follows in the footsteps of all-time female badass Linda Hamilton in taking on the role of Sarah Connor. Hamilton played her with a toughness and grit that called to mind a female Rocky Balboa.

Clarke, on the other hand, may be a 29-year-old actress, but she seems so young and high-strung that she comes off like she’s starring in a sequel to “Juno” rather than saving the planet from rampaging killer robots. As the adult John Connor, supervising events from 2029 Los Angeles, Jason Clarke’s odd looks and nasty facial scar undermine the badass nature that his character needs to have because he looks like Randy Quaid.

And Jai Courtney as Kyle Reese – Connor’s right-hand man, who goes back in time to save Sarah Connor and impregnate her with John – is just a plain, generic, good-looking action hero. As Bruce Willis’ son in the last awful “Die Hard” movie, he nearly drove a nail into the coffin of that franchise, and he may just do the same with the “Terminator” films.

This latest entry in the series is the second, after “Salvation,” to be rated PG-13. While normally I’m happier to spotlight a G, PG or PG-13 film rather than an R since I’m a Catholic critic partially concerned with the moral content of films, the first three “Terminator” films were dependent on pushing their action violence to inventive and gritty limits.

Toned down enough to be deemed OK for teens by the ratings board, the result makes all of the action sequences feel like the filmmakers pulled their punches and limited their weaponry damage throughout. This not only detracts from the escapist fun of a world-class action series, but just feels bland throughout. At least there is almost no profanity, and we never see Connor and Reese have sex, as their inevitable “mating” (Arnold’s word for it in the movie) is thankfully switched into a budding romance that never goes beyond a sweet kiss. Be forewarned, however, that the time-travel machine that’s key to the movie requires that anyone who uses it remove their clothes, so there is briefly seen rear male nudity, mostly in shadow, and implied nudity from Sarah Connor - though none of this is in a prurient, sexual context.

Of course, one can never underestimate the stupidity of the masses, and “Terminator: Genisys” is likely to clean up overseas, where blowing things up real good is more important than having well-motivated characters and a sensible plotline. But here, audiences are as likely to be underwhelmed as the one I saw it with opening night.

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 • JULY 5, 2015

Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Ez 2:2-5; NRSVCE)

When the Lord spoke to me, a spirit entered into me and set me on my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. He said to me, Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their ancestors have transgressed against me to this very day. The descendants are impudent and stubborn. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, “Thus says the Lord God.” Whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house), they shall know that there has been a prophet among them.

Second Reading (2 Cor 12:7-10; NRSVCE)

To keep me from being too elated, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me, to keep me from being too elated. Three times I appealed to the Lord about this, that it would leave me, but he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness.” So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong.

Gospel Reading (Mk 6:1-6; NRSVCE)

Jesus left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Then Jesus said to them, “Prophets are not without honor, except in their hometown, and among their own kin, and in their own house.” And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. And he was amazed at their unbelief.

MONDAY • JULY 6, 2015

Monday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gn 28:10-22a; NRSVCE)

Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place — and I did not know it!” And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”

So Jacob rose early in the morning, and he took the stone that he had put under his head and set it up for a pillar and poured oil on the top of it. He called that place Bethel; but the name of the city was Luz at the first. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God’s house.”

Gospel Reading (Mt 9:18-26; NRSVCE)

While Jesus was saying these things to them, suddenly a leader of the synagogue came in and knelt before him, saying, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay your hand on her, and she will live.” And Jesus got up and followed him, with his disciples. Then suddenly a woman who had been suffering from hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the fringe of his cloak, for she said to herself, “If I only touch his cloak, I will be made well.” Jesus turned, and seeing her he said, “Take heart, daughter; your faith has made you well.” And instantly the woman was made well. When Jesus came to the leader’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd making a commotion, he said, “Go away; for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him. But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl got up. And the report of this spread throughout that district.

TUESDAY • JULY 7, 2015

Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gn 32:23-33; NRSVCE)

That same night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face, and yet my life is preserved.” The sun rose upon him as he passed Penuel, limping because of his hip. Therefore to this day the Israelites do not eat the thigh muscle that is on the hip socket, because he struck Jacob on the hip socket at the thigh muscle.

Gospel Reading (Mt 9:32-38; NRSVCE)

A demoniac who was mute was brought to Jesus. And when the demon had been cast out, the one who had been mute spoke; and the crowds were amazed and said, “Never has anything like this been seen in Israel.” But the Pharisees said, “By the ruler of the demons he casts out the demons.”

Then Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every disease and every sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”

WEDNESDAY • JULY 8, 2015

Wednesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gn 41:55-57; 42:5-7a, 17-24a; NRSVCE)

When all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; what he says to you, do.” And since the famine had spread over all the land, Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians, for the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. Moreover, all the world came to Joseph in Egypt to buy grain, because the famine became severe throughout the world.

Thus the sons of Israel were among the other people who came to buy grain, for the famine had reached the land of Canaan.

Now Joseph was governor over the land; it was he who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph’s brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. When Joseph saw his brothers, he recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke harshly to them. Then he put them all together in prison for three days.

On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do this and you will live, for I fear God: if you are honest men, let one of your brothers stay here where you are imprisoned. The rest of you shall go and carry grain for the famine of your households, and bring your youngest brother to me. Thus your words will be verified, and you shall not die.” And they agreed to do so. They said to one another, “Alas, we are paying the penalty for what we did to our brother; we saw his anguish when he pleaded with us, but we would not listen. That is why this anguish has come upon us.” Then Reuben answered them, “Did I not tell you not to wrong the boy? But you would not listen. So now there comes a reckoning for his blood.” They did not know that Joseph understood them, since he spoke with them through an interpreter. He turned away from them and wept.

Gospel Reading (Mt 10:1-7; NRSVCE)

Then Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also known as Peter, and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Cananaean, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Go nowhere among the Gentiles, and enter no town of the Samaritans, but go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’”

THURSDAY • JULY 9, 2015

Thursday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gn 44:18-21, 23b-29; 45:1-5; NRSVCE)

Then Judah stepped up to him and said, “O my lord, let your servant please speak a word in my lord’s ears, and do not be angry with your servant; for you are like Pharaoh himself. My lord asked his servants, saying, ‘Have you a father or a brother?’ And we said to my lord, ‘We have a father, an old man, and a young brother, the child of his old age. His brother is dead; he alone is left of his mother’s children, and his father loves him.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Bring him down to me, so that I may set my eyes on him.’ Then you said to your servants, ‘Unless your youngest brother comes down with you, you shall see my face no more.’ When we went back to your servant my father we told him the words of my lord. And when our father said, ‘Go again, buy us a little food,’ we said, ‘We cannot go down. Only if our youngest brother goes with us, will we go down; for we cannot see the man’s face unless our youngest brother is with us.’ Then your servant my father said to us, ‘You know that my wife bore me two sons; one left me, and I said, Surely he has been torn to pieces; and I have never seen him since. If you take this one also from me, and harm comes to him, you will bring down my gray hairs in sorrow to Sheol.’”

Then Joseph could no longer control himself before all those who stood by him, and he cried out, “Send everyone away from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. And he wept so loudly that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph. Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, so dismayed were they at his presence.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come closer to me.” And they came closer. He said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed, or angry with yourselves, because you sold me here; for God sent me before you to preserve life.”

Gospel Reading (Mt 10:7-15; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “As you go, proclaim the good news, ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. You received without payment; give without payment. Take no gold, or silver, or copper in your belts, no bag for your journey, or two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for laborers deserve their food. Whatever town or village you enter, find out who in it is worthy, and stay there until you leave. As you enter the house, greet it. If the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave that house or town. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”

FRIDAY • JULY 10, 2015

Friday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gn 46:1-7, 28-30; NRSVCE)

When Israel set out on his journey with all that he had and came to Beer-sheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob.” And he said, “Here I am.” Then he said, “I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there. I myself will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also bring you up again; and Joseph’s own hand shall close your eyes.”

Then Jacob set out from Beer-sheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the wagons that Pharaoh had sent to carry him. They also took their livestock and the goods that they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and they came into Egypt, Jacob and all his offspring with him, his sons, and his sons’ sons with him, his daughters, and his sons’ daughters; all his offspring he brought with him into Egypt.

Israel sent Judah ahead to Joseph to lead the way before him into Goshen. When they came to the land of Goshen, Joseph made ready his chariot and went up to meet his father Israel in Goshen. He presented himself to him, fell on his neck, and wept on his neck a good while. Israel said to Joseph, “I can die now, having seen for myself that you are still alive.”

Gospel Reading (Mt 10:16-23; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of them, for they will hand you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues; and you will be dragged before governors and kings because of me, as a testimony to them and the Gentiles. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or what you are to say; for what you are to say will be given to you at that time; for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death; and you will be hated by all because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”

SATURDAY • JULY 11, 2015

Memorial of Saint Benedict

First Reading (Gn 49:29-32; 50:15-26a; NRSVCE)

Then Jacob charged his sons, saying to them, “I am about to be gathered to my people. Bury me with my ancestors — in the cave in the field of Ephron the Hittite, in the cave in the field at Machpelah, near Mamre, in the land of Canaan, in the field that Abraham bought from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site. There Abraham and his wife Sarah were buried; there Isaac and his wife Rebekah were buried; and there I buried Leah — the field and the cave that is in it were purchased from the Hittites.”

Now that their father was dead, Joseph’s brothers said, “What if Joseph still bears a grudge against us and pays us back in full for all the wrong that we did to him?” So they approached Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this instruction before he died, ‘Say to Joseph: I beg you, forgive the crime of your brothers and the wrong they did in harming you.’ Now therefore please forgive the crime of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Then his brothers also wept, fell down before him, and said, “We are here as your slaves.” But Joseph said to them, “Do not be afraid! Am I in the place of God? Even though you intended to do harm to me, God intended it for good, in order to preserve a numerous people, as he is doing today. So have no fear; I myself will provide for you and your little ones.” In this way he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.

So Joseph remained in Egypt, he and his father’s household; and Joseph lived one hundred ten years. Joseph saw Ephraim’s children of the third generation; the children of Machir son of Manasseh were also born on Joseph’s knees.

Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die; but God will surely come to you, and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” So Joseph made the Israelites swear, saying, “When God comes to you, you shall carry up my bones from here.” And Joseph died, being one hundred ten years old.

Gospel Reading (Mt 10:24-33; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “A disciple is not above the teacher, nor a slave above the master; it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher, and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

“So have no fear of them; for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. And even the hairs of your head are all counted. So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

“Everyone therefore who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven; but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.”