VOLUME 2, ISSUE 5  •  JULY 30, 2016

Table of Contents

Copyright Notice

VATICAN NEWS

Pope responds to violence in Munich and Kabul with call for more prayer

Pope prays for pilgrims en route to Krakow for WYD

For youth in Krakow, seeing Pope Francis will be ‘out of this world’

Pope condemns ‘absurd violence’ after priest is killed in French church

Pope Francis goes to Krakow tomorrow – Here’s what to watch for

Let the fire of faith enkindle the world, cardinal tells WYD pilgrims

Pope Francis to pray at John Paul II’s tomb with kids who have cancer

En route to Krakow, Pope says world is at war, but it’s not a war of religions

Francis to Polish leaders: Remember the past, but look to the future

What Pope Francis told young immigrants in Texas

In first balcony talk, Pope tells youth to ‘make chaos’

The humble speak for God, Pope says at Czestochowa

Don’t waste your life seeking ‘empty thrills,’ Pope tells youth

Three words every couple should know, according to Pope Francis

At Auschwitz, Pope prays for God’s forgiveness

The Pope’s powerful words at a children’s hospital in Poland

WYD panel discusses worldwide state of religious freedom

Francis’ message to young Cubans: Dream of a better world

Are you suffering? Jesus is with you, Pope Francis says

Heroism and sacrifice: The Catholic history of Auschwitz

The cruelty of Auschwitz still continues, Pope tells youth

The story of a Holocaust survivor who met Pope Francis

WORLD NEWS

These Argentinian nuns are accused of helping hide $9 million

Munich archbishop, Benedict XVI grieve deadly shooting

Cardinal Dziwisz talks Krakow, Saint John Paul II

French bishops declare Day of Fasting after priest’s murder

The story of Poland’s majestic ‘underground salt cathedral’

Nun who escaped with her life talks about ISIS attack in France

Syrian brothers reunite at WYD, and ask the world to pray

French pilgrims pedal their way to World Youth Day

Japan knife attack shows disabled persons ‘have to be protected’

A ‘cry of hope’ after the death of Father Hamel

U.S. NEWS

Racial tensions spark day of prayer, peace task force with U.S. bishops

Youngest U.S. track Olympian relies on God when times get tough

Americans support higher standards for abortion clinics, poll finds

In new book, millennial Catholic women chat faith, life and dating

How knowing your fertility can catch diseases early

Tim Kaine, a Catholic VP? Bishops voice their concerns

Leaked e-mails show DNC meetings with anti-religious freedom project

Tim Kaine draws ire over flip-flop on Hyde Amendment

Even a former Obama staffer thinks the Democratic platform is extreme

Pa. Supreme Court lets stand ruling that priest’s trial was tainted

Louisiana priest immediately suspended after child porn arrest

At Baseball Hall of Fame, Mets star gives thanks for Catholic faith

What is the Democratic Party’s ‘progressive’ vision of religious freedom?

FEATURES

‘Star Trek: Beyond’ packs forgiveness and action into one entertaining film

Can the Catholic Church die?

Nuanced, thoughtful and still action-packed: New ‘Bourne’ flick delivers

How Christians can deal with the experience of suffering

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • July 31, 2016

Monday • August 1, 2016

Tuesday • August 2, 2016

Wednesday • August 3, 2016

Thursday • August 4, 2016

Friday • August 5, 2016

Saturday • August 6, 2016

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Volume 2, Issue 5 • July 30, 2016

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope responds to violence in Munich and Kabul with call for more prayer

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • July 24, 2016

Pope Francis at the Vatican on April 3, 2014. (Daniel Ibáñez/CNA)

Vatican City — On Sunday, Pope Francis responded to recent acts of violence in Germany and Afghanistan, expressing his closeness to the families of the victims, and stressing the importance of prayer in the face of threats against “safety and peace.”

“At this time, our spirit is once more shaken by the sad news relating to the deplorable acts of terrorism and violence which have caused suffering and death,” the Pope said in an appeal after the weekly Angelus at the Vatican.

In his July 24 address, the Pontiff spoke in reference to “the dramatic events in Munich, Germany, and Kabul, Afghanistan, where the lives of numerous innocent people have been lost.”

“I am near to the families of the victims and the wounded,” he said. “I invite you to join in my prayer, in order that the Lord may inspire all good and fraternal resolutions.”

In the face of seemingly “insurmountable” difficulties, and dark “prospects of safety and peace,” the Pope said, our prayer should be “all the more persistent.”

At least 80 people were killed and 230 people wounded after two explosions struck the Afghan city of Kabul on Saturday, Reuters reports. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the suicide attack, which hit the capital city’s Shi’ite Hazara minority.

The July 23 attack on Kabul is the latest in a string of attacks worldwide attributed to ISIS. Among the most recent attacks include an axe attack on a train in Würzburg, Germany last Monday, in which several passengers were critically wounded. The previous week, 84 people were killed in Nice, France when a Tunisian man intentionally drove a large truck through a crowded beach street at high speed during a Bastille Day celebration.

Pope Francis further responded to the attack in Munich, expressing his condolences to the local archbishop in a telegram early Sunday morning.

At least nine people were killed and more than 30 injured on Friday evening after an 18-year-old gunman – who reports have named Ali David Sonboly – opened fire at the Olympia shopping mall in Munich.

Police believe the teenager had no known ties to the Islamic State, but he was reportedly inspired by Anders Behring Breivik, the mass murderer who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011, according to the BBC.

The Pope learned “with dismay” of the attack in Munich, which included the killing of young people, according to the telegram addressed to the archbishop of Munich and Freising, Cardinal Reinhard Marx and signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

“His Holiness shares in the suffering of the survivors, and he expresses his closeness to them,” and he “prayerfully entrusts the departed to God’s mercy,” the telegram reads.

In the message, the pontiff expressed his sympathy to all those affected by the incident, and his gratitude towards rescue workers for their “generous and caring commitment.”

“Pope Francis prays that Christ, the Lord of life, may give everyone comfort and consolation,” the telegram reads, “and he imparts to the his Apostolic blessing as a pledge of hope.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope prays for pilgrims en route to Krakow for WYD

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • July 24, 2016

Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 16, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis has asked for prayers as he, and all the pilgrims attending this year’s World Youth Day, prepare to make their way to Krakow, Poland for the international event.

The Pope, who leaves Wednesday, said Sunday that he is traveling to Krakow in order “to encounter these boys and girls,” as well as “to celebrate with them and for them the Jubilee of Mercy, through the intercession of St. John Paul II.”

“I ask you to accompany us with prayer,” the pontiff said to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square during his weekly Angelus address.

Francis also expressed his gratitude towards all those working to welcome the pilgrims coming to Poland for the international event, along with the many bishops, priests, religious, and laity.

He then turned his thoughts to the many people who cannot attend WYD in person, but who will follow the event through means of communication. “We will all be united in prayer.”

The 31st World Youth Day is being hosted in Krakow, Poland – the birthplace of its founder, St. John Paul II – from July 25-31. Pope Francis himself will take part in the international gathering starting July 28.

Before leading the crowds in the Angelus prayer, the Pope delivered a reflection on the day’s Gospel reading, in which Jesus teaches his followers how to pray to the Father.

The word “father” is the “secret” of Jesus’ prayer, the pontiff said. “It is the key which he himself gives is in order that even we can enter into that relationship of confidential dialogue with the Father.”

The “Our Father” allows God to “manifest his holiness in us,” and advance “his reign,” making it possible for him to exercise his “loving lordship in our lives,” he explained.

The prayer taught by Jesus addresses three basic human needs – “bread, forgiveness, and help in temptations” – none of which we can live without, the pontiff said.

Beginning with the “bread,” Francis explained how it is “the bread of pilgrims,” adding that “it is neither horded up nor wasted.”

Forgiveness, meanwhile, is above all else “that which we receive from God,” he said. It is the “awareness of being sinners, forgiven by infinite divine mercy,” which allows us to make “concrete gestures of fraternal reconciliation.”

Without this awareness of being a forgiven sinner, a person “can never make a gesture of forgiveness or reconciliation,” the Pope said. Such an act “begins from the heart,” and the feeling of being a forgiven sinner.

Finally, the expression “lead us not into temptation,” he said, “expresses the awareness of our condition, always exposed to the dangers of evil and corruption.”

“We all know what a temptation is,” the pontiff remarked, off-the-cuff.

Francis went on to reference the two parables also given in the Gospel reading. The first parable is about one friend asking another for a loaf of bread; even though he may refuse at first, he will eventually respond if his friend is persistent. The second points to the analogy between a father, who knows what is good to give his children, and God the father.

Both of these parables “want to teach us to have complete faith in God, who is Father,” the Pope said. “He knows our needs better than we do, but wants us to present them with audacity and insistence, since this is our way of participating in his work of salvation.”

Finally, the pontiff stressed the importance of the Holy Spirit in living well,” and in doing “the will of God.” He encouraged the crowds to pray over the coming week: “Father, give me the Holy Spirit.”

For her part, Mary proves with her very existence that “everything is enlivened by the Holy Spirit,” Francis said. She helps us “pray to the Father, united to Jesus, to live not in a worldly way, but according to the Gospel, guided by the Holy Spirit.”

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VATICAN NEWS

For youth in Krakow, seeing Pope Francis will be ‘out of this world’

by Elise Harris and Kate Veik (CNA/EWTN News) • July 25, 2016

Pilgrims arrive in Krakow, Poland on July 23, 2016. (Jeffrey Bruno/CNA)

Krakow, Poland — As thousands of youth are setting foot in Krakow for World Youth Day, many voiced their excitement not only to meet peers who share the same faith, but above all to see Pope Francis in person.

For Ernest, a young pilgrim traveling from Zimbabwe, “that feeling is going to be out of this world. It’s going to be out of this world.”

In July 25 comments to CNA, Ernest said that he’s always seen the Pope on TV, but never in person. He missed Francis during his trip to Africa last year, which included stops in Kenya, Uganda and the Central African Republic, because he decided to go on a pilgrimage to Uganda, but arrived only after the Pope had left.

“People tell me it was really packed,” he said, adding that while it was a blessing to see the impact Francis left in Uganda, “I’m really excited and I’m really expecting to see the Pope” in person.

Ernest said this is his first time attending a WYD, but that after hearing his peers talk about their experiences in the 2011 and 2013 gatherings in Madrid and Rio de Janiero, he decided to go.

“They say it was a blessed experience, that’s why I’m here. I’ve never seen the Pope, so I want to see him for the first time! It’s so great to be here.”

Ernest and his group, numbering around 30-40 people, are just a small part of the more than 300,000 pilgrims expected to arrive to Krakow this week for WYD. World Youth Day officially kicks off July 25 and lasts through July 31, with Pope Francis arriving July 27. It will be the second WYD of his pontificate.

Most pilgrims traveling to Krakow will be arriving from other pilgrimages they’ve made to places such as Rome and other important sites in and around Poland such as the Shrine of Czestochowa, the Divine Mercy Sanctuary, and John Paul II’s hometown of Wadowice, which sits some 30 miles southwest of Krakow.

In the days leading up to Pope Francis’ arrival, groups of pilgrims are participating in several activities, including special sessions of catechesis, as well as a four-day youth festival and the possibility to visit a vocations center.

The catechesis sessions will be offered July 27-29 as part of the official WYD events, and will be preached in different languages by bishop from around the world on the gathering’s official theme: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

Many of the catechesis sessions will take place in Wadowice, as well as in churches and other selected venues in Krakow in order to ensure that all youth will be able to participate.

During the youth festival, which lasts from July 26-29, a religious, artistic and cultural program will take place in the evenings, during which youth will be able participate in concerts, exhibitions, workshops, sporting events and theater.

They will even have the opportunity to perform in front of the other youth as a means of expressing and sharing their culture with the others.

Vocations are another area of heavy emphasis during the event. Groups of priests, nuns and religious can be seen throughout the main areas of the WYD events approaching youth and handing them holy cards as they engage with them on faith and their communities.

Nothing, however, can outdo the excitement the youth feel about meeting thousands of their peers from all over the world and seeing Pope Francis in person.

Maria, a young woman born in Guayaquil, Ecuador but who is now living in Orlando, Fl., told CNA that this is her first WYD, and the fact that it’s being led by a Latin American Pope is “awesome.”

Even though she has lived in the United States since she was a toddler, Maria had a lot of family still living in Ecuador, and because of that was invited to travel to WYD with their group.

“I honestly didn’t expect it to be this big or to be as organized, but you feel the warmth of everyone and people give you so many nice gifts and it’s an amazing experience,” she said, adding even though WYD hasn’t officially started, everything she has expected ”has really just come true.”

“There’s so much going on, there’s so many people that I’ve met, and I’ve learned new languages like Polish and German. It’s been great. It’s met all of my expectations if not exceeded them.”

Likewise, Majd, a youth from Australia, told CNA that his group arrived to Krakow Sunday, and that so far, “our experience here is absolutely lit.”

“It’s excellent, I love it. It’s really fun, fantastic,” he said, explaining that before coming to Krakow, their group traveled for 24 hours to get to Italy, where they visited important sites in Assisi, Siena, Florence and Pisa before heading to Warsaw, Czestochowa and finally Krakow.

Having participated in the 2008 WYD in Sydney, Majd said that despite having spent only a few days in Poland, he so far prefers the Krakow experience.

“The area is quite nice, the culture here is amazing, the people here are really welcoming. I really want to see more people,” he said, adding that for him, ”there’s a lot more things I could probably learn from here than I would in Australia.”

Majd said this will be his first time seeing Pope Francis in person, and that he’s really looking forward to participating in Mass with Pope July 31 to mark the official close of WYD.

“I think it’d be great to see him, especially if I could see him up close. If I could get that I’m going to love it,” he said, explaining that he’s anxious to hear Francis talk about the Year of Mercy.

“I want to hear him talk about the Year of Mercy, how we can be better, how we can show mercy to others. I really want to learn a lot from him,” Majd said, saying he believes WYD will “definitely make the Jubilee better for us.”

“I’m hoping that this will definitely deepen my faith and that I can bring a lot of great souvenirs from here and that my family would learn from me my ways and the ways of Him.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope condemns ‘absurd violence’ after priest is killed in French church

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • July 26, 2016

Pope Francis prays with journalists on a papal flight in August, 2014. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis has decried the “absurd violence” which has left an elderly priest dead after his church in northern France was taken hostage during Mass.

In a statement released Tuesday by the Vatican, the Pope, having been informed of the situation, “participates in the pain and horror of this absurd violence,” while radically condemning “every form of hatred.”

The statement said the pontiff is praying for those affected by the tragedy, which took place in the Normandy region, adding that the Vatican is following the situation.

Fr. Jacques Hamel, 84, was killed Tuesday after two armed gunmen stormed a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during Mass, the BBC reports. The assailants entered the church and took the celebrating priest and four others hostage.

The BBC further cites police sources which say the priest’s throat was slit in the attack.

Reuters reports that both of the hostage takers were shot dead by police. Authorities say one of the hostages has been critically wounded, the BBC reports.

According to the ISIS-linked Amaq news agency, the assailants were “two soldiers of the Islamic State,” the BBC reports.

“We are especially moved because this horrible violence took place in a Church — a sacred place in which God’s love is announced — with the barbaric murder of a priest and the involvement of the faithful,” the Vatican’s statement read.

“We are close to the French Church, the Rouen archdiocese, to the affected community, and the French people.”

Pope Francis has also sent a telegram to Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen, assuring him of his “spiritual closeness,” and his prayers for the suffering of the families, the parish community, and the diocese.

In the telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope prayed that God “welcomes Fr. Jacques Hamel in peace,” and brings comfort to the injured person.

Affected that the “act of violence” took place during Mass, the pontiff “implores God’s peace for the world,” the telegram read. He prayed that God might inspire “thoughts of reconciliation and fraternity.”

Archbishop Lebrun, who is currently in Krakow, Poland for World Youth Day, responded to the news of the killing, calling on believers and non-believers to “cry out to God with all men of good will.”

The archbishop said he had prayed in Warsaw with the youth attending WYD at the tomb of Fr. Popiulusko, a priest who was assassinated in 1984 during the communist regime.

“The Catholic Church cannot take weapons other than those of prayer and brotherhood among men,” the Rouen archbishop said, explaining that he would be returning to his diocese where the people are “very much in shock.”

“I leave here hundreds of young people who are the future of humanity, the true ones,” he said. “I ask them not to give in to the violence,” but instead “become apostles of the civilization of love.”

French prime minister Manuel Valls decried the “horror” of the “barbaric attack,” writing on Twitter: “The whole of France and all Catholics are wounded. We will stand together.”

Tuesday’s killing comes little over a week after a teenage Afghan Islamist went on an axe rampage in Würzburg, Germany, which left several passengers severely wounded. More recently, just last Saturday, around 80 people were killed and 230 people wounded after two explosions struck the Afghan city of Kabul.

The Vatican’s July 26 statement came in response to the “terrible new news” of the deadly hostage situation in a church in Rouen, the latest in “a series of violence which, in recent days has shocked us,” and caused “immense suffering and worry.”

In less than two years, France has witnessed several deadly attacks attributed to Islamic state militants, with the most recent — and second deadliest — taking place earlier this month. On July 14, 84 people were killed in Nice, France when a Tunisian man intentionally drove a large truck through a crowded beach street at high speed during a Bastille Day celebration.

On Nov. 13, 2015, nearly 130 people were killed in a series of attacks throughout Paris. In January of that same year, a total of 12 people were killed in the French capital after terrorists stormed the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.

During an address at WYD for the launch of DoCat, a new Catholic social doctrine app for young people, the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, responded to the attacks.

“We want to express also our unity, our communion of prayer, even of sorrow, with the people of France,” he said.

Although little is yet known about the incident, he said we are nonetheless “shocked, we are saddened, and we pray for the people of France.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis goes to Krakow tomorrow – Here’s what to watch for

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • July 26, 2016

Pope Francis at the Divine Mercy Vigil in St. Peter’s Square on April 2, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Many special moments are anticipated during Pope Francis’ visit to Poland this week for World Youth Day, especially considering his visit to Auschwitz and his meeting with 10 Holocaust survivors.

However one thing that could easily slip through the cracks in the lead-up, but will likely be a major part of what shapes the trip, are his evening dialogues with youth from the balcony of the Bishop’s Palace.

Every night when he comes back to Krakow after the day’s activities, Pope Francis will appear on the palace balcony to address youth gathered below.

Given Francis’ spontaneous nature and the personal connection he forms when engaging with groups in more intimate settings, the off-the-cuff conversations will likely be what sets the tone for the trip, more so than his scheduled activities.

The tradition was initiated by St. John Paul II, who spoke to youth from the balcony every time he visited his homeland as Pope.

John Paul II, who was originally from Wadowice, Poland, moved to the Bishop’s Palace in Krakow Aug. 10, 1944, while studying at the Archdiocese of Krakow’s clandestine seminary, forced to go underground when Poland was occupied by Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during the Second World War.

He was ordained a priest by Cardinal Adam Stefan Sapieha in the archbishop’s private chapel at the palace, and he stayed there when he was elected bishop of the local metropolitan diocese in 1958.

Then-cardinal Wojtyla later resided in the palace as the Archbishop of Krakow until his Oct. 16, 1978, election as the Bishop of Rome.

As Pope, St. John Paul II returned to Poland nine times in 1979, 1983, 1987, twice in 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999 and 2002. During each of his pilgrimages to Krakow, the Polish Pope would stay at the Bishop’s Palace, and would come out on the balcony each night to greet and speak with youth gathered below.

The famous window from which he spoke is located just above the entrance to the building. A statue of the St. John Paul II was gifted to the diocese in 1980 and now stands in the courtyard below.

His evening chats with Polish youth came to define John Paul’s visits to Krakow, and many who weren’t necessarily young would also come out to hear what the Vicar of Christ had to say.

The taxi driver on the way into Krakow said that as a child, he used to attend the evening balcony talks, and that the discussions formed a unique, special environment. He noted that John Paul would frequently tell jokes and jest with the youth, creating a casual, open environment.

Benedict XVI also imitated the gesture during his visit to Poland in 2006, and now Pope Francis will do the same during WYD, continuing the legacy of the great Polish Pope, which is still blatantly alive and thriving throughout the country.

St. John Paul II established World Youth Day in 1985; the first event was held in Rome in 1986. Since then it has occurred in various cities throughout the world, typically every three years.

World Youth Day in Krakow officially kicks off July 25 and lasts through July 31, with Pope Francis arriving July 27. It will be Pope Francis’ second World Youth Day during his pontificate.

Other highlights to watch out for will be his gestures, since he speaks louder with his actions than his words. Especially noteworthy will be his actions during his visit to Auschwitz, where he will sit in silence at Block 11, and will meet with 10 Holocaust survivors as well as 25 “Righteous Among the Nations.”

Francis will likely also make a lot of references to his predecessor St. John Paul II, given the fact that he is not only in the great Saint’s homeland, but also given the fact that the Polish Pope is still so widely recognized and revered in Polish society, even for those who aren’t necessarily religious.

Apart from these highlights, the rest should be a fairly normal WYD scene. However, while Francis’ schedule is packed with different events, we can’t leave out the possibility of at least a few papal surprises.

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VATICAN NEWS

Let the fire of faith enkindle the world, cardinal tells WYD pilgrims

by CNA/EWTN News • July 26, 2016

Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz says the opening Mass for World Youth Day in Krakow’s Blonia Park on July 26, 2016. (Kamil Janowicz/World Youth Day Krakow 2016 via Flickr)

Krakow, Poland — Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz’s welcome to World Youth Day pilgrims on Tuesday had a stirring reminder: it is up to them to ensure that the Gospel of Jesus Christ reaches the world.

“Carry the flame of your faith and ignite with it other flames, so that human hearts will beat to the rhythm of the Heart of Christ, which is ‘a flaming fire of love’,” Cardinal Dziwisz, the Archbishop of Krakow, said in his homily for the July 26 opening Mass of World Youth Day at the city’s Blonia Park.

“May the flame of love engulf our world and rid it of egoism, violence and injustice, so that a civilization of good, reconciliation, love and peace will be strengthened on our earth.”

Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims, including Pope Francis, are expected in Krakow for the global gathering of Catholic youth. St. John Paul II was archbishop of the city before becoming Pope in 1978. The cardinal served as a close aide to the Pope.

Cardinal Dziwisz reflected on what brought all the World Youth Day pilgrims together.

“We are all here because Christ has gathered us. He is the light of the world,” he said.

“Only He – Jesus Christ – is able to satisfy the deepest desires of the human heart,” he added. “It is He who has led us here. He is present among us. He is accompanying us like He accompanied His disciples headed for Emmaus. Let us entrust Him in these days our matters, fears and hopes.”

The cardinal urged the faithful to listen – and respond – to Christ’s questions about love, as he asked St. Peter after the Resurrection.

Cardinal Dziwisz said that “meeting with Jesus, we simultaneously realize that we all make up a great community – the Church – which surpasses the boundaries established by people and which divide people.”

“We are all God’s children, redeemed by the blood of His Son, Jesus Christ,” the cardinal continued. “Experiencing the universal Church is a great experience associated with World Youth Day. The image of the Church depends on us – on our faith and sanctity. It is up to us to ensure that the Gospel reaches those who have not yet heard about Christ or have not learnt enough about Him.”

Cardinal Dziwisz challenged the pilgrims to share with each other “what is most valuable.”

“Let us share our faith, our experiences, our hopes. My dear young friends, may these days be an opportunity to form your hearts and minds,” he said.

He encouraged them to listen to bishops’ catecheses and to Pope Francis, and to participate in the liturgy wholeheartedly.

“Experience the merciful love of the Lord in the sacrament of reconciliation. Discover also the churches of Krakow, the wealth of the culture of this city, as well as the hospitality of its inhabitants and of those of neighboring towns, where we will find rest after a day’s rigors,” he urged.

“Krakow is alive with the mystery of Divine Mercy,” he said, referring to the visions and devotion of St. Faustina Kowalska, which were popularized by St. John Paul II.

The cardinal also reflected on the diverse backgrounds of pilgrims, who come from “every nation under heaven.”

“We come from such parts of the world where people live in peace, where families are communities of love and life and where young people can pursue their dreams,” he said. “But among us are also young people from countries whose people are suffering due to wars and other kinds of conflicts, where children are starving to death and where Christians are brutally persecuted. Among us are young pilgrims from parts of the world that are ruled by violence and blind terrorism, and where authorities usurp power over man and nations, following insane ideologies.”

“We bring to this meeting with Jesus during these days our personal experiences of living the Gospel in our difficult world,” Cardinal Dziwisz said. “We can face the challenges of the modern world, in which man chooses between faith and disbelief, good and evil, love and its rejection.”

He encouraged them to be messengers of good news, like St. John Paul II. They should return to their communities carrying “the spark of mercy” and remind everyone of the Beatitude, “blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

“Carry the good news about Jesus Christ to the world,” his homily concluded.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis to pray at John Paul II’s tomb with kids who have cancer

by CNA/EWTN News • July 26, 2016

Pope Francis prays before the tombs of his predecessors in the grotto of St. Peter’s Basilica on Nov. 2, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Before taking off for WYD in Krakow, Pope Francis will pray at the tomb of St. John Paul II alongside children who have cancer, and will bring their prayers to Poland in order to ask the nation’s saint for healing.

According to a July 26 statement from Italian nonprofit Peter Pan, which works with children who have cancer and their families, members of the association will “share a moment of prayer” with Pope Francis July 27 before he flies to Krakow for World Youth Day.

Scheduled to depart from Rome’s Fiumicino airport at 2 p.m., Francis will come to St. Peter’s Basilica at 8:45 a.m., where he will meet members of the Peter Pan association at the tomb of St. John Paul II (in the basilica’s St. Sebastian Chapel) to join them in a moment of prayer.

The group will have a prayer celebration including Mass and the rosary at the saint’s tomb, led by Fr. Jarek Cielecki. While Francis won’t stay for the entire event, he’ll join the group for part of their prayer.

According to the statement, they “will ask the Holy Father to bring with him to WYD the prayers of the families of children and adolescents who are ill, and to unite them to those of the youth, who come from all over the world, and to his own, so that with the intercession of St. John Paul II, these children can be restored to health.”

Founded in Rome in 2000, Peter Pan is a volunteer association and was born from the desire of a group of parents with children suffering from cancer who wanted to offer other families concrete support in facing the difficult experience of illness.

The association provides houses and welcome for families who don’t live in Rome, but who come to treat their children in the city’s hospitals, particularly the Bambino Gesu and the Policlinico Umberto I.

The association continues their work with the help of their nearly 200 volunteers, as well as through the donations of individuals and agencies.

During the celebration of Wednesday’s Mass, Fr. Cielecki, a Pole, will light two candles, one of which contains the image of the Merciful Jesus and was blessed by him in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius, while the other shows the face of St. John Paul II and was blessed in the saint’s hometown of Wadowice.

In addition to Wednesday’s Mass and prayer with Pope Francis, intercessory prayer will take place at St. John Paul II’s tomb every day from July 28-31 so as to be “in communion with the Holy Father, who will be praying in Krakow with the youth of WYD,” as well as for all who are sick, including the families and children involved in Peter Pan.

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VATICAN NEWS

En route to Krakow, Pope says world is at war, but it’s not a war of religions

by CNA/EWTN News • July 27, 2016

Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Nov. 4, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — On the flight to Poland for World Youth Day, Pope Francis on Wednesday responded to recent violence across the globe by saying that the world is at war.

“When I speak of war, I talk about it seriously, but it’s not a war of religion. It’s a war for money, for resources, for nature, for dominion. This is the war,” Pope Francis told journalists on his July 27 flight from Rome to Krakow.

“Could one think of a religious war? No. All religions want peace. Others want war,” he said. “Is that clear?”

Francis addressed the 70 journalists on board the papal plane when, as usual, he came to the back to greet them each individually and thank them for their work.

However, before going down the rows of eager writers and photographers on board, Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ, who will retire as Vatican spokesman after the trip, asked the Pope to offer some words on the “emotional days” at hand considering recent tragedies, including yesterday’s attack in at a church in Rouen that left an 84-year-old priest dead.

In his comments, Francis noted that “for some time we have said that the world is in a piecemeal war. This is war.”

Frequently what’s happening is called “insecurity, but the true word is war. There was that of 14 (First World War), with its methods, then that of 39 to 45 (Second World War), and now there’s another great war. This is what we are experiencing now.”

This war is real, he said, noting that while it might not necessarily be “organic,” it is organized.

He pointed to yesterday’s attack in the French diocese of Rouen in which Fr. Jacques Hamel, 84, was killed by two Islamic State supporters while celebrating Mass.

“This holy priest who died precisely in the moment in which he offered prayers for the entire Church is one, but there are many Christians, many innocent people, many children,” who suffer the same type of violence and hatred, he noted, pointing to Nigeria as an example.

“It’s war: we’re not afraid to tell this truth,” Francis said, explaining that the world is at war because “it has lost peace.”

The Pope then thanked the journalists for their work during World Youth Day, adding that youth “always speaks to us of hope.”

“Now we hope that the youth tell us something and give us hope at this time,” he said, and offered his thanks to those who “harbor condolences” for yesterday’s attack, as well as French president Francois Holland, who “called me like a brother” after the incident, “and I thank him.”

After offering these brief words to those on board, Pope Francis went down the rows of journalists to greet each of the 70 on board individually.

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VATICAN NEWS

Francis to Polish leaders: Remember the past, but look to the future

by CNA/EWTN News • July 27, 2016

President Andrzej Duda shakes hands with Pope Francis at Wawel Castle on July 27, 2016. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Krakow, Poland — After landing in Krakow on Wednesday, Pope Francis told Polish leaders to take a look at their history and use it as an inspiration to take the good and leave the bad behind, including when it comes to modern-day issues such as migration.

“Memory is the hallmark of the Polish people,” the Pope told national leaders after his arrival to Krakow July 27.

He said he was always impressed by Pope St. John Paul II, a Polish native, due to his “vivid sense of history. Whenever he spoke about a people, he started from its history, in order to bring out its wealth of humanity and spirituality.”

To have an awareness of one’s own identity that is free of any “pretensions to superiority” is something “indispensable for establishing a national community on the foundation of its human, social, political, economic and religious heritage,” he said.

Francis noted how in the everyday life of each individual and society, “there are two kinds of memory: good and bad, positive and negative.”

Good memory, he said, is what Mary shows us in her Magnificat when she praises the Lord for his saving works, while negative memory “keeps the mind and heart obsessively fixed on evil, especially the wrongs committed by others.”

“Looking at your recent history, I thank God that you have been able to let good memory have the upper hand,” he said, citing the 2015 celebration of the 50th anniversary of the “Letter of Forgiveness” exchanged between the Polish and German episcopates following the Second World War.

“That initiative, which initially involved the ecclesial communities, also sparked an irreversible social, political, cultural and religious process that changed the history of relationships between the two peoples,” Francis observed, and cited the joint-declaration between the Catholic Church in Poland and the Orthodox Church of Moscow as another example.

Given these recent examples, the “noble Polish nation has thus shown how one can nurture good memory while leaving the bad behind,” the Pope said, and urged them to do the same in the future.

Pope Francis spoke with the Polish diplomates in Krakow’s Wawel Castel immediately after landing in the city’s John Paul II International Airport. He will be on an official visit to the country July 27-31 to participate in World Youth Day.

In his speech, the Pope noted how the trip marks his first visit to central-eastern Europe, and that he is “happy to begin with Poland, the homeland of the unforgettable Saint John Paul II, originator and promoter of the World Youth Days.”

He noted how John Paul frequently spoke of a Europe that “breathes with two lungs,” and said that the idea of a “new European humanism” gets its inspiration from the “creative and coordinated breathing of these two lungs, together with the shared civilization that has its deepest roots in Christianity.”

Francis then noted how Poland recently celebrated the 1,050th anniversary of its baptism, which he will commemorate with a special Mass at the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa July 28, calling it “a powerful moment of national unity.”

The event, he said, “reaffirmed that harmony, even amid a diversity of opinions, is the sure path to achieving the common good of the entire Polish people.”

“Similarly, fruitful cooperation in the international sphere and mutual esteem grow through awareness of, and respect for, one’s own identity and that of others. Dialogue cannot exist unless each party starts out from its own identity,” he said, and encouraged the Polish people to take a look at their recent past.

In order to look at one’s history and take the good while leaving the bad behind, one must have “a solid hope and trust in the One who guides the destinies of peoples, opens closed doors, turns problems into opportunities and creates new scenarios from situations that appeared hopeless.”

This is evident given Poland’s own historical context, the Pope said, noting that an awareness of the progress made, coupled with the joy of achieving one’s goals, becomes a source of strength for facing current challenges.

These challenges, he said, “call for the courage of truth and constant ethical commitment, to ensure that decisions and actions, as well as human relationships, will always be respectful of the dignity of the person.”

“In this, every sphere of action is involved, including the economy, environmental concerns and the handling of the complex phenomenon of migration,” he said, noting that the topic of migration in particular “calls for great wisdom and compassion, in order to overcome fear and to achieve the greater good.”

“There is a need to seek out the reasons for emigration from Poland and to facilitate the return of all those wishing to repatriate,” Francis said, adding that “a spirit of readiness” to welcome those fleeing war and hunger and to show solidarity with those deprived of fundamental rights, including the right to “profess one’s faith in freedom and safety,” is also needed.

However, Pope Francis noted that at the same time, new methods of cooperation are needed at the international level in order resolve the conflicts and wars which “force so many people to leave their homes and their native lands.”

This, he said, “means doing everything possible to alleviate the suffering while tirelessly working with wisdom and constancy for justice and peace, bearing witness in practice to human and Christian values.”

Given Poland’s complex, history, Francis invited the Polish nation “to look with hope to the future and the issues before it,” explaining that attitude will help foster “a climate of respect between all elements of society and constructive debate on differing positions.”

He spoke of the need for social policies which support the poor, families and the disadvantaged, stressing that “life must always be welcomed and protected.”

“These two things go together – welcome and protection, from conception to natural death. All of us are called to respect life and care for it.”

On the other hand, the Pope noted that it is also the responsibility of the State, the Church and society to both accompany and assist those “in serious difficulty” in order to ensure that “a child will never be seen as a burden but as a gift, and those who are most vulnerable and poor will not be abandoned.”

Francis closed his speech by affirming the full cooperation of the Catholic Church with Poland, so that “the nation may, in changed historical conditions, move forward in fidelity to its finest traditions and with trust and hope, even in times of difficulty. May Our Lady of Czestochowa bless and protect Poland!”

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VATICAN NEWS

What Pope Francis told young immigrants in Texas

by CNA/EWTN News • July 27, 2016

Pope Francis with pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the general audience on Aug. 26, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — As thousands of youth gather in Krakow this week for World Youth Day with Pope Francis, hundreds of undocumented immigrants in Texas who couldn’t make it got a special message from the pontiff.

“Dear youth of the diocese of Brownsville … I want to be close to you. I want to tell you to always look forward, always look to the horizon. Don’t let life put walls in front of you, always look to the horizon,” the Pope said in a July 26 video message to the Texan youth.

“Always have the courage to want more, more and more … but courageously, while not forgetting to look back at the heritage that you have received from your ancestors, from your grandparents, from your parents; the legacy of your faith, this faith which now you have in your hands as you look forward.”

On Tuesday the diocese of Brownsville hosted a diocesan-wide event called the World Youth Encounter, set to coincide with the official July 26 launch of WYD in Krakow, Poland. The event took place at St. Anne Parish in the impoverished Peñitas area of the city.

Many families in the community, which numbers around 10,000, live in circumstances of extreme poverty, and some even lack running water and sewage systems.

The extreme levels of poverty and the lack of a legal immigration status made it impossible for many of the youth to make it to Poland, which is why the Pope decided to send the youth the special message in Spanish.

He told the youth to “play life to the full! Take the memory you have received, look toward the horizon and, today, take the reality and advance it, making it bear fruit, making it fertile.”

“God is calling you to be fruitful! God is calling you to transmit this life. God is calling you to create hope. God is calling you to receive mercy and to give mercy. God is calling you to be happy,” Francis said, telling the youth “don’t be afraid! Play life to the full.”

Before leaving for the airport to go to Krakow July 27, Pope Francis met with 15 young refugees in a similar situation at his residence in the Vatican’s Santa Marta guesthouse.

The group was made of nine boys and six girls from different nationalities who recently arrived in Italy, and still don’t have the documents needed enabling them to travel abroad.

According to a July 27 communique from the Vatican, the youth were accompanied by Vatican Almoner Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, wished the Pope a good trip and a “joyful participation” in WYD.

Since they couldn’t join in person, the youth said they would be “participating spiritually.”

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VATICAN NEWS

In first balcony talk, Pope tells youth to ‘make chaos’

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • July 27, 2016

Pope Francis speaks to World Youth Day participants from the balcony of the bishop’s palace in Krakow on July 27, 2016. (Mariusz Cygan/World Youth Day Krakow 2016 via Flickr)

Krakow, Poland — On his first night in Krakow Pope Francis was already stirring things up with participants in WYD by hosting an off-the-cuff Q and A and telling them to ‘make chaos’ by spreading the joy of their faith.

“You must do your duty and make chaos all night. Show your Christian joy, the joy the Lord gave you to be in the community who follows Jesus,” the Pope told those participating in World Youth Day after arriving to Krakow July 27.

He spoke from the balcony of the Bishop’s Palace, telling the thousands of youth gathered below not to be afraid, but to have faith and spread the joy that comes from following Christ.

Pope Francis is currently in Krakow for this July 27-31 trip to Poland for WYD. Every night when he comes back to the city after the day’s activities, Francis is set to appear on the palace balcony to address youth gathered below.

The tradition was initiated by St. John Paul II, who spoke to youth from the balcony every time he visited his homeland as Pope. It was continued by Benedict XVI when he visited Poland in 2006, and is now being carried on by Francis.

In his brief speech, the Pope first recalled the story of a young man who had studied graphic design for just over two years, but decided to leave his studies in order to volunteer for WYD.

He immediately put his talents to use, designing all of the banners that currently decorate the streets of Krakow in honor of WYD, the Pope said, noting that “images of the patron saints” found on practically every street – St. John Paul II and St. Maria Faustina Kowalska – were done by this young man.

In the process of his work for WYD, the youth rediscovered his faith, but was diagnosed with cancer in November, Pope Francis recalled. He noted how the doctors had amputated the young man’s leg in an effort to save his life, but it didn’t work, and the cancer continued to spread.

This young man “wanted to live through the Pope’s visit” and had even reserved a place on the Krakow tram that the Pope will take later in the week with sick and disabled youth as his special passengers. However, the young man didn’t make it, and died July 2.

“He did a lot of good for everyone,” Francis said, leading the youth below in a moment of silent prayer for the young man who died.

“We must get used to the good things and the bad things. Life is like this, dear young people,” he said, while stressing that “there is something we cannot doubt: the faith of this young man, of our friend, who worked so much for this WYD.”

After leading the youth in a round of applause for the example of the young man, he urged them to give thanks to the Lord “because he gives us examples of courage, of courageous youth who help us to go forward in life.”

“Don’t be afraid, God is great, God is good, and all of us have something good,” he said, and bid the youth farewell before telling them to “make chaos” all night in a show of their Christian joy.

Before going to the balcony, Pope Francis connected virtually with Italian youth participating in WYD as part of the July 26-29 youth festival, during which the youth show their culture through performances, singing, and dancing.

During the conversation, Pope Francis took questions from three Italian youth who gave their testimonies and asked a question afterwards.

He spoke to the first young person of the importance of knowing how to keep going in both good and bad moments, explaining that joy helps saves us from being “neurotic.”

The Pope then heard the testimony of Andrea, a 15-year-old from the Diocese of Bergamo who was teased growing up. As a result she attempted suicide at the age of 13. However, when she was recovering in the hospital she realized that there was nothing wrong with her, but rather with those who teased her, and that she was stronger than she thought.

While she has moved beyond that period in her life, Andrea said she still feels the pain and finds it hard to let go, and asked the Pope how she can learn to completely forgive the people who teased her.

In his response, the Pope said that cruelty is a common problem among children, and even adults. “Children are cruel many times, and they have that capacity to hurt you where it will do the most damage,” he said, noting that cruelty is the “base of all wars.”

This cruelty “kills even the good name of another,” he said, and warned against the “terrorism of gossip.”

“Gossip is terrorism,” Francis said, explaining that when a person gossips, “it destroys the dignity, the fame of a person.” To gossip, he added, is like “throwing a bomb” that explodes and destroys everything around it.

Pope Francis said this temptation is something that must be overcome with peace and forgiveness, but noted that to forgive “isn’t easy, because one can say ‘I forgive, but I don’t forget.’”

“You always carry with you the hurt of this cruelty,” he said, explaining that to completely forgive someone for harm done “is a grace that we have to ask the Lord for. By ourselves we can’t, but we have to ask the lord to give us the grace to forgive, to forgive our enemies.”

The final question Francis received was from a group of youth and a priest who had been in Munich Feb. 22 when an 18-year-old German teenager of Iranian descent killed nine people and injured nearly 30 others after opening fire at the city’s Olympia shopping mall.

After they were forced to cut their trip short and head home, the group still managed to make it to WYD, and asked the Pope how youth can spread peace in a world filled with hate.

In reply, Pope Francis spoke of the difference between peace and hate, explaining that peace always builds bridges, whereas hatred only builds walls.

“We all have a decision to make in life: do I build bridges, or do I build walls?” he said, noting that bridges unite, whereas walls divide.

“In our daily lives the ability to build a bridge when you extend your hand to a friend, you make a bridge. But when you hit, hurt another, you build a wall. Hate always grows with walls,” he said, noting that many times when we reach out our hand to build a bridge, we’re left hanging.

He said there are certain “humiliations” like this that we’ll have to experience in order to truly walk the path of unity, but stressed that we must “always build bridges.”

As the youth gathered to speak to him took up one another’s hands in a concrete show of unity, Francis closed by emphasizing that “we must build bridges, not allow ourselves to fall on the ground. No. Always seek the way to build bridges.”

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VATICAN NEWS

The humble speak for God, Pope says at Czestochowa

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • July 28, 2016

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Shrine of Czestochowa on July 28, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano/CNA)

Czestochowa, Poland — Those who embrace their own littleness become the “spokespersons” of God, Pope Francis said during Mass at the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, celebrating the 1050 anniversary of Poland becoming a Christian nation. It was the first major event of the Pope’s trip to the country for the 31st World Youth Day.

“To be attracted by power, by grandeur, by appearances, is tragically human,” the pontiff said in his homily. “But to give oneself to others, eliminating distances, dwelling in littleness and living the reality of one’s everyday life: this is exquisitely divine.”

“The little ones speak (God’s) own language, that of the humble love that brings freedom,” he said. “So he calls the simple and receptive to be his spokespersons; he entrusts to them the revelation of his name and the secrets of his heart.”

According to official estimates, some 500,000 people attended the July 28 Mass with Pope Francis outside the Jasna Góra monastery, where the famous image of Our Lady of Czestochowa is housed.

The event at Poland’s leading Marian marked the first public Mass during Pope’s July 27-31 trip to the nation for WYD, which is taking place in Krakow.

The Mass was a celebration of the “baptism” of Poland, which became a Christian nation in 966 upon the baptism of its first historic ruler, Mieszko I.

Francis centered his homily for the Mass on the readings, starting with Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

This reading speaks of Jesus coming at the “fullness of time” which, the Pope said, was “a gift of grace: God filled our time out of the abundance of his mercy. Out of sheer love he inaugurated the fullness of time.”

The pontiff noted the particular significance of God entering into history by being “born of a woman.”

“There was no triumphal entrance or striking epiphany of the Almighty. He did not reveal himself as a brilliantly rising sun, but entered the world in the simplest of ways, as a child from his mother,” he said.

Citing Saint Luke’s Gospel, the Pope said: “Thus, contrary to our expectations and perhaps even our desires, the kingdom of God, now as then, ‘does not come in a way that attracts attention,’ but rather in littleness, in humility.”

Pope Francis turned his reflection to the day’s Gospel which recounts Jesus’ first miracle — turning water into wine, at the request of his mother, during the wedding feast at Cana.

“Today’s Gospel takes up this divine thread delicately passing through history,” he said. “Time shortens, God always shows himself in littleness.”

This miracle was not an an “amazing deed done before the crowd” or a response to a “political question,” the pontiff observed. Rather, it was a “simple miracle” in a small village, one which “brings joy to the wedding of a young and completely anonymous family.”

Despite its “littleness,” the miracle is nonetheless “a great sign, for it reveals to us the spousal face of God, a God who sits at table with us, who dreams and holds communion with us,” the Pope said.

“It tells us that the Lord does not keep his distance, but is near and real. He is in our midst and he takes care of us, without making decisions in our place and without troubling himself with issues of power.”

The desire for power is a human temptation, the pontiff said. Unlike us, Jesus “prefers to let himself be contained in little things.”

“To be attracted by power, by grandeur, by appearances, is tragically human,” he said. “But to give oneself to others, eliminating distances, dwelling in littleness and living the reality of one’s everyday life: this is exquisitely divine.”

Pope Francis reflected on three ways in which God saves humanity. This is achieved by Jesus’ littleness, by his closeness to his people, and by his concrete actions.

Reflecting on Jesus’ “littleness,” the Pope noted his special love for “the little ones, to whom the kingdom of God is revealed.”

“The little ones speak his own language, that of the humble love that brings freedom. So he calls the simple and receptive to be his spokespersons; he entrusts to them the revelation of his name and the secrets of his heart,” he said.

He cited examples of this littleness, such as the martyrs who “defenseless power of the Gospel shine forth,” as well as ordinary people who witnessed “the Lord’s love amid great trials.”

The Pope also remembered the Polish saints, St. John Paul II and St. Faustina, describing them as “meek and powerful heralds of mercy.”

He also noted the significance of this significant anniversary of Poland’s baptism falling during the Jubilee Year of Mercy.

Pope Francis then reflected on God’s nearness to his people, and his desire “to come down to our everyday affairs, to walk with us.”

Reflecting on the 1050 years of Christianity in Poland, he said “we do well before all else to thank God for having walked with your people, having taken you by the hand and accompanied you in so many situations.”

“That is what we too, in the Church, are constantly called to do: to listen, to get involved and be neighbours, sharing in people’s joys and struggles, so that the Gospel can spread every more consistently and fruitfully: radiating goodness through the transparency of our lives.”

Finally, Pope Francis spoke of God in his reality, as manifested in the Word becoming flesh, “born of a mother.”

“The eternal is communicated by spending time with people and in concrete situations,” the Pope explained.

Addressing the people of Poland, the pontiff said: “Your own history, shaped by the Gospel, the Cross and fidelity to the Church, has seen the contagious power of a genuine faith, passed down from family to family, from fathers to sons and above all from mothers and grandmothers, whom we need so much to thank.”

Pope Francis indicated to the image of Our Lady of Czestochowa, and reflected on Mary as a sign of “the fullness of time.”

“In her, we find complete conformity to the Lord,” he said, adding that there is a “Marian thread” woven into history with the “divine thread.”

“If there is any human glory, any merit of our own in the fullness of time, it is she,” he said. Mary is that space, preserved free from sin, where God chose to mirror himself.”

“She is the stairway God took to descend and draw near to us. She is the clearest sign of the fullness of time.”

Reflecting on Mary’s “littleness,” the Pope noted how God “was so pleased with her that he let his flesh be woven from hers, so that the Virgin became the Mother of God.”

The pontiff addressed the pilgrims who travel to the Shrine of Czestochowa, the “spiritual capital” of Poland.

“May she continue to point the way,” and help you to weave in your own lives the humble and simple thread of the Gospel.”

At the Jasna Góra shrine, like at Cana, Pope Francis said “Mary offers us her nearness, and helps us to discover what we need to live life to the full.”

Acting with a “mother’s love,” Mary teaches us “to avoid hasty decisions and grumbling in our communities,” he said.

“As the Mother of a family, she wants to keep us together. Through unity, the journey of your people has surmounted any number of harsh experiences.”

Addressing the crowds, the pontiff prayed that Mary may “obtain for you the desire to leave behind all past wrongs and wounds, and to build fellowship with all, without ever yielding to the temptation to withdraw or to domineer.”

Pope Francis also spoke of the “great realism” which Mary demonstrated at the wedding in Cana, taking to heart the people’s problems, and handling them “discreetly, efficiently and decisively.”

He encouraged the faithful to ask for the grace to be able to imitate Mary’s “sensitivity” and “creativity in serving others,” and to know the beauty of serving others, “without favourites or distinctions.”

“The transition from before to after Christ means little if it remains a date in the annals of history,” Francis concluded. “May each one of us be able to make an interior passage, a Passover of the heart, towards the divine ‘style’ incarnated by Mary,” he said.

“May we do everything in littleness, and accompany others at close hand, with a simple and open heart.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Don’t waste your life seeking ‘empty thrills,’ Pope tells youth

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • July 28, 2016

Pope Francis at the World Youth Day welcoming ceremony in Krakow’s Blonia Park on July 28, 2016. (Jesus Huerta/World Youth Day Krakow 2016 via Flickr)

Krakow, Poland — For young people who have given up on life, or who waste their existence seeking out “empty thrills,” Pope Francis proposes an alternative: Look to Christ, for only he can bring lasting fulfillment.

“Jesus can give you true passion for life” and “can inspire us not to settle for less, but to give the very best of ourselves,” the Pope said July 28 during a massive welcoming ceremony at Krakow’s Blonia Park, one of his first encounters with young people during this year’s World Youth Day celebrations.

In his address to the crowds, the Roman Pontiff observed how many young people are entering into an “early retirement,” and “throw in the towel” before their lives have begun.

Others, he said, “waste their lives” seeking out “empty thrills” in order to feel alive. “It is disturbing to see young people squandering some of the best years of their lives, wasting their energies running after peddlers of fond illusions,” he said.

He challenged young people instead to seek out lasting fulfillment from another source. “To find fulfillment, to gain new strength, there is a way,” he said. “It is not a thing or an object, but a person, and he is alive. His name is Jesus Christ.”

The Pope then went off script, enthusiastically calling on the young people to answer: “Can you buy Jesus Christ? Is Jesus Christ sold in stores? Jesus Christ is a gift! A gift from the Father!”

Thursday evening’s welcome ceremony marks Pope Francis’ first full day in Poland during his July 27-31 trip for the 31st World Youth Day.

In his address to the crowds, Pope Francis began by expressing his gratitude toward St. John Paul II, who founded World Youth Day in the 1980s.

“From his place in heaven, he is with us and he sees all of you,” he said. “So many young people from such a variety of nations, cultures and languages but with one aim, that of rejoicing that Jesus is living in our midst.”

The Pope explained that in rekindling our enthusiasm to follow Christ and our desire to be his disciples, we are saying he is alive.

“What better opportunity to renew our friendship with Jesus than by building friendships among yourselves!” he said. “What better way to build our friendship with Jesus than by sharing him with others!

“What better way to experience the contagious joy of the Gospel than by striving to bring the Good News to all kinds of painful and difficult situations!”

Citing the theme of this WYD – “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall find mercy” – Francis said, “blessed indeed are they who can forgive, who show heartfelt compassion, who are capable of offering the very best of themselves to others.”

Francis remarked on the “festive mood” of the event in Poland, and with all the young people taking part both in person and via modern media, “we are going to make this World Youth Day an authentic Jubilee celebration.”

“Nothing is more beautiful than seeing the enthusiasm, dedication, zeal and energy with which so many young people live their lives,” he said.

“When Jesus touches a young person’s heart, he or she becomes capable of truly great things.”

The Roman Pontiff described his excitement in listening to the young people share their dreams, their questions, and “impatience with those who say that things cannot change.”

“It is beautiful and heartwarming to see all that restlessness!” he said. “Today the Church looks to you and wants to learn from you, to be reassured that the Father’s Mercy has an ever-youthful face, and constantly invites us to be part of his Kingdom.”

“Knowing your enthusiasm for mission, I repeat: mercy always has a youthful face!”

A merciful heart is one which seeks to go beyond its comfort zone, to go out and embrace everyone, the Roman Pontiff continued.

It is also a “place of refuge” for the homeless, refugees, and migrants; “it knows the meaning of tenderness and compassion.”

“To say the word ‘mercy’ along with you is to speak of opportunity, future, commitment, trust, openness, hospitality, compassion and dreams.”

The Pope then spoke off the cuff, saying that “when the heart is open, it is able to dream; there is a room for mercy, there is room to caress those who suffer.”

“There is room to place oneself next to those who lack peace in their heart, or who lack the necessities of life, or who lack the most beautiful thing: the faith.”

Francis discouraged young people from entering into an “early retirement” – referring particularly to those “who are defeated even before they begin to play, who walk around glumly as if life has no meaning.”

“Deep down, young people like this are bored … and boring!” he said.

The Pope also said he is troubled when young people “waste their lives looking for thrills or a feeling of being alive by taking dark paths and in the end having to pay for it … and pay dearly.”

“It is disturbing to see young people squandering some of the best years of their lives, wasting their energies running after peddlers of fond illusions.”

He challenged young people with an alternative: to seek the “power of grace” which gives them a “lasting sense of life and fulfillment.”

“To find fulfillment, to gain new strength, there is a way. It is not a thing or an object, but a person, and he is alive. His name is Jesus Christ.”

“Jesus can give you true passion for life,” he said, and “can inspire us not to settle for less, but to give the very best of ourselves.”

“Jesus challenges us, spurs us on and helps us keep trying whenever we are tempted to give up. Jesus pushes us to keep our sights high and to dream of great things.”

Francis spoke of the Gospel account of Christ visiting the home of his friends Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. As the account goes, Martha is kept busy with the duties of entertaining Christ, while Mary simply visits with their guest.

“Our many jobs and responsibilities can make us a bit like Martha: busy, scattered, constantly running from place to place. But we can also be like Mary: whenever we see a beautiful landscape, or look at a video from a friend on our cellphone, we can stop and think, stop and listen …”

“Jesus wants to stop and enter our home,” Pope Francis reflected. “He will look at us hurrying about with all our concerns, as he did with Martha … and he will wait for us to listen to him, like Mary, to make space for him amid the bustle.”

In a challenge to young people, the Pope said that if they “want a complete life”, they must begin by letting themselves “be open and attentive.”

This is “because happiness is sown and blossoms in mercy,” he said: “That is his answer, his offer, his challenge, his adventure: mercy.”

Francis turned to Mary of Nazareth, and her “daring ‘Yes’” which “launched her on the adventure of mercy.”

“All generations would call her blessed,” he said: “to all of us she is the ‘Mother of Mercy’.”

The Pope challenged all the youth present to pray that they may be launched “on the adventure of mercy.”

“Launch us on the adventure of building bridges and tearing down walls, barriers and barbed wire,” he prayed. “Launch us on the adventure of helping the poor, those who feel lonely and abandoned, or no longer find meaning in their lives.”

“Here we are, Lord! Send us to share your merciful love,” he concluded, expressing his desire to welcome Christ “in our midst during this World Youth Day.”

“We want to affirm that our lives are fulfilled when they are shaped by mercy, for that is the better part, and it will never be taken from us.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Three words every couple should know, according to Pope Francis

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • July 28, 2016

Pope Francis takes a selfie with a newly married couple in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 2, 2015. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Krakow, Poland — Married couples were the focus of Pope Francis’ second “balcony talk” in Poland on Thursday, receiving from him three words he has often said are key to a successful marriage.

“Sometimes they ask me how to make it so that the family always goes forward and overcomes difficulties,” the Pope said July 28, adding that when this happens, “I suggest to them to practice three words.”

Speaking in his native Spanish, he said these words “can help to live married life because in married life there are difficulties,” adding that marriage is something we have to take care of, “because it’s forever.”

The three words are “permission, thanks, and forgiveness.”

Pope Francis was speaking at the end of his first full day in Poland, where he is spending July 27-31 for World Youth Day. Each night when he comes back to Krakow after the day’s activities, Francis is set to appear on the balcony of the local archbishop’s palace to address youth gathered below.

The tradition was begun by St. John Paul II, who spoke to youth from the balcony every time he visited his homeland as Pope – had been Krakow’s archbishop from 1964 until his 1978 election as Bishop of Rome. It was continued by Benedict XVI when he visited Poland in 2006, and is now being carried on by Francis.

In yesterday’s encounter Francis recounted the moving story of a young student who rediscovered his faith after leaving school to volunteer for WYD in designing the banners that currently line Krakow’s streets, but passed away from cancer before the event arrived. He praised the young man’s faith, and encouraged the youth gathered to spread the joy of their faith in Christ throughout the city.

In his speech from the balcony Thursday, he focused on married couples, explaining that whenever he sees a young couple is getting married or has just done so, “I tell them they are the ones who have courage, because it’s not easy to form a family.”

“It’s not easy to make a life commitment, it takes courage, and I congratulate them because they have courage,” he said, noting that the three words “permission, thanks, and forgiveness” come in handy every day of married life.

On the topic of permission, the Pope said to “always ask your spouse, the wife to the husband and the husband to the wife, ‘what do you think, what do you think if we do this?’” rather than just “running over” the other without getting their opinion.

He also stressed the need to be grateful, “because it’s the spouses who confer the sacrament of marriage, one to the other. And this sacramental relationship is maintained with this sentiment of gratitude, of thanks.”

The third word, he noted, is forgiveness, which is “a very hard word to say.” In marriage, mistakes are always made, he said, noting that the important thing is to know how recognize one’s mistakes and ask for forgiveness.

This “does a lot of good,” Francis continued, urging families and engaged couples to “remember these three words, which will help you to a lot in married life: permission, thank you, and forgiveness.”

In marriage “there are always problems or discussions. It’s habitual and it happens that the husband and wife argue, raise their voice, fight,” he said, noting that “somethings the plates fly.”

“But don’t panic when this happens,” he said, and advised couples to never finish a day without making peace, “because the cold war the day after is very dangerous.”

A simple gesture is enough to make this peace, he said, tapping his face twice, adding that “when there is love, a gesture fixes everything.”

Pope Francis then invited the youth to pray for all the families who were present, for those who are married and those who are engaged, and led the crowd in praying a Hail Mary, each country in their own language.

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VATICAN NEWS

At Auschwitz, Pope prays for God’s forgiveness

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • July 29, 2016

Pope Francis prays at the Auschwitz concentration camp on July 29, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano/CNA)

Krakow, Poland — Pope Francis paid a solemn visit to the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps on Friday, where over a million people are believed to have lost their lives. At the memorials, he gave no speech and prayed in silence, but instead wrote in the guest book two simple lines begging for God’s mercy and forgiveness.

“Lord have mercy on your people! Lord, forgiveness for so much cruelty!” the Pope wrote in the “Memory Book” shortly after praying in the darkened cell of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest martyred in Auschwitz.

The July 29 Papal visit was made to two out of the three main Auschwitz camps, where as many as 1.5 million people are believed to have died under the Nazi regime.

The pontiff’s day began with a stop at the original camp (known as Auschwitz I), where he prayed for several minutes in silence in the courtyard of the complex.

He was then taken by car to the camp’s infamous Block 11 building. There, he was welcomed by Poland’s Prime Minister Beata Szydlo. He then individually greeted a group of ten men and women who had survived the Holocaust.

The Pope was given a candle which he used to light a bronze lamp at the site. The lamp, which contains images of the Auschwitz fence line, as well as the Heart of Jesus, was his gift to the Auschwitz museum.

The pontiff then entered the Block 11 – a brick building where prisoners were tortured – and briefly visited the various rooms. He stopped for a lengthy period of time to pray in St. Maximilian Kolbe’s cell.

Francis was then taken by car to the Birkenau camp – otherwise known as Auschwitz II. Little now remains of the camp, which had been the site of the Nazi gas chambers, where hundreds of thousands of prisoners were killed, and the crematoriums where their bodies where incinerated.

The Pope silently paid homage before the row of commemorative plaques which now mark the site. He walked slowly past each plaque, before lighting a candle and praying for a moment in silence. After this, a man chanted the Psalm 130, which reads: “Out of the depths, I cry to you, O Lord.”

Finally, following his prayer at the memorial, Francis met with a group of 25 non-Jewish men and women who had risked their lives to save Jews from mass extermination at the hands of the Nazis.

Because of their actions during World War II, they have been given the honorific title “Righteous among the Nations” by the State of Israel for their role in helping the Jews during the Holocaust.

Also present at the ceremony were survivors of the Holocaust, like Lidia, 75, who recounted to journalists being brought to Auschwitz at three years old, where she was stripped naked and tattooed with a number on her arm. It took nearly 20 years for her to be reunited with her mother following the liberation of the camps by allied forces.

Pope Francis’ visit to the camps marks the second full day of his July 27-31 trip to Poland, where he is leading World Youth Day celebrations in Krakow.

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The Pope’s powerful words at a children’s hospital in Poland

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • July 29, 2016

Pope Francis embraces a patient at Krakow’s Prokocim University Pediatric Hospital on July 29, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Krakow, Poland — Pope Francis paid a visit to the patients of a children’s hospital in Krakow on Friday, where he expressed his solidarity with the sick and lauded the hospital in its caring for “the smallest and most needy,” showing his gratitude to those present for “this sign of love.”

“To serve with love and tenderness persons who need our help makes all of us grow in humanity. It opens before us the way to eternal life,” the Pope said July 29 to the patients, their families, and their caretakers.

“Those who engage in works of mercy have no fear of death,” he added.

The Pope’s visit to the Prokocim University Pediatric Hospital took place on the second full day of his July 27-31 visit to Poland, where he is leading World Youth Day festivities in Krakow.

Francis also stressed the need for social and political concerns to center on the needs of society’s most disadvantaged.

“This is the sign of true civility, human and Christian: to make those who are most disadvantaged the centre of social and political concern,” he said.

“Sadly, our society is tainted by the culture of waste, which is the opposite of the culture of acceptance. And the victims of the culture of waste are those who are weakest and most frail; and this is indeed cruel.”

During the visit, he met with some 50 child patients, their families, and the medical personnel who care for them.

The Roman Pontiff presented the hospital with a painting by Pietro Casentini depicting Christ, St. Peter, and the disciples in Capernaum facing the crowds of sick and disabled people.

In his short address, Pope Francis expressed his desire “to draw near to all children who are sick, to stand at their bedside, and embrace them.”

“I would like to listen to everyone here, even if for only a moment, and to be still before questions that have no easy answers. And to pray.”

The Pope observed how the Gospel gives many examples of Christ’s going out to meet and embrace the sick. He compared the Lord’s compassionate attentiveness to that of a mother who cares for her sick child.

The Roman Pontiff expressed his wish that Catholics would follow Christ’s example in drawing near to the sick, “in silence, with a caress, with prayer.”

The Pope also addressed the loneliness families sometimes feel in providing care for their loved ones.

“Let us multiply the works of the culture of acceptance, works inspired by Christian love, love for Jesus crucified, for the flesh of Christ,” he said in response.

The Pope offered his encouragement to all medical professionals, chaplains, and volunteers who have made it a “personal life decision” to respond to the Gospel’s call to “visit the sick.”

“May the Lord help you to do your work well, here as in every other hospital in the world,” he said, going off the cuff to remember in particular the many religious sisters who spend their lives serving in hospitals.

“May he reward you by giving you inner peace and a heart always capable of tenderness.”

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VATICAN NEWS

WYD panel discusses worldwide state of religious freedom

by The Knights of Columbus (CNA/EWTN News) • July 29, 2016

Archbishop Bashar Warda of the Chaldean Archeparchy of Erbil speaks at the religious freedom panel in Krakow. (Knights of Columbus)

Krakow, Poland — The day after a priest was brutally murdered in France, a panel at World Youth Day in Poland discussed the importance of religious freedom worldwide.

The panel left an Iraqi archbishop deeply impressed at how Catholic youth from around the world \are not only aware of the persecution of Christians – particularly in the Middle East – at the hands of ISIS, but are anxious to demonstrate their solidarity.

Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, Iraq, was greeted with one standing ovation after another as he spoke to thousands of young people at World Youth Day (WYD) about the targeting of Christians in his country.

World Youth Day is a weeklong gathering of young Catholics from around the world that will conclude on Sunday with a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis.

The panel discussion took place Tuesday at Tauron Arena Kraków, the site for English-speaking pilgrims to World Youth Day. The arena has been dubbed “Mercy Center” for the week, and is being sponsored by the Knights of Columbus and a number of partners.

Pope Francis will visit the arena before he departs for Rome on Sunday.

Christians now suffering in the Middle East “will be so moved to learn of this tremendous support, and they will be encouraged in hope knowing that so many youth around the world care about them, and care that they continue to be allowed to practice their faith in the place where Jesus himself lived, in the place where his language is still spoken,” said Archbishop Warda of Erbil, Iraq, immediately after the panel discussion.

In addition to Archbishop Warda, the panel included Archbishop of Baltimore William Lori, who has served as the chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty; author and commentator George Weigel; and Vice President of the NGO Roads of Success, Jacqueline Isaac. An American of Egyptian descent, Isaac has spent more than a decade advocating for the rights of minorities and women across the Middle East, and recently testified before the U.K. Parliament and U.S. Congress.

The discussion had a particular poignancy as it was held in the wake of the murder of Father Jacques Hamel in France. Despite the pain that follows such an act, panelists called for a spirit of forgiveness and reconciliation, especially with those who are carrying out violence and intimidation against Christians.

“We are to be the carriers of [God’s] light and his love,” said Isaac. “And I promise you that it will radiate and break through the darkness.”

Archbishop Lori observed that Christians would rather use the gift of freedom to evangelize or serve the poor instead of fighting legal battles over the right to practice the faith. He also noted that the implications of the struggle are usually far removed from the every-day lives of the young.

He asked: “What should our response be in the face of the secular view of religious liberty, where liberty is considered the ‘right’ to discriminate?” We can’t go along with that point of view. Without religious freedom, life becomes a hard place, where no one and nothing stands.”

Weigel emphasized that “religious freedom is not freedom of worship alone.”

He pointed out that “religious conviction, not only leads us to worship, it leads us to educate, leads us to serve, leads us to heal, it leads us to religious communities that have a right to be themselves.”

Mercy Centre has been organized by the Knights of Columbus – the world’s largest Catholic fraternal service organization with nearly two million members – together with the Sisters of Life and the Saint John Paul II National Shrine in Washington, D.C., and other groups.

The Knights of Columbus, with 4,000 members in Poland, is also celebrating its 10th anniversary in that country this year.

For more information and a complete listing of World Youth Day programming, visit wydenglishsite.org or follow #WYDMercyCentre #kofc on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

This press release was provided to CNA by the Knights of Columbus.

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VATICAN NEWS

Francis’ message to young Cubans: Dream of a better world

by CNA/EWTN News • July 29, 2016

Pope Francis’ video message to Cuban youth. (CTV/YouTube)

Krakow, Poland — Pope Francis sent a video message to Cuban youth unable to attend World Youth Day on Friday, encouraging them to have hope and to bring the Gospel to life.

“Young Cubans: open yourselves to great things! Do not be afraid,” the Pope said July 29 in his message to the some 1,400 youth who are gathered in Havana for a celebration that coincides with World Youth Day.

“Dream that with you, the world can be different! Dream that Cuba, with you, can be different, and better every day. Do not give up! In this endeavour it is important that you open your heart and mind to the hope that Jesus gives.”

The Church in Cuba has organized a gathering for those who could not travel to Krakow for the encounter with Pope Francis, adopting the same themes and providing catecheses, the Way of the Cross, and opportunities to pass through a Holy Door and gain the plenary indulgence offered for the Jubilee of Mercy.

“With great hope I join with you in this moment, in which you are in harmony with the universal Church whose young heart is in Krakow,” the Pope said. “I trust that these days will be, for all, a special occasion to foster the culture of encounter, the culture of respect, the culture of understanding and of mutual forgiveness.”

Pope Francis exhorted them to “never forget that this hope is suffered; hope knows how to suffer to carry out a project, but likewise do not forget that it gives life, it is fruitful. And with this, hope will not be fruitless; rather, it will give life to others, it will create a homeland, a Church, it will do great things.”

He said, “Hope is instrumental in building ‘social friendship’, even though people may think differently. It is not necessary for us all to think in the same way.”

“We must all join together in ‘social friendship’, even with those who think in a different way. But we all have something in common: the wish to dream, and this love for the homeland. The important thing, regardless of whether we are the same or different, is to build this ‘social friendship’ with all; to build bridges, to work together. Build bridges!”

The Pope encouraged Cuba’s youth to “live the experience of listening carefully to the Gospel and then bringing it alive in your own lives, in the lives of your family and friends. … When you pray the Via Crucis , remember that we cannot love God if we do not love our brothers. When you pass through the Holy Door, let yourself be infused with this love.”

By doing this “you will learn always to look upon others with mercy, closeness and tenderness, especially those who suffer and those who are in need of help,” he said.

“Stand before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament; because in him, and only in him, will you find the strength to follow the most beautiful and constructive plan of our lives; because love is constructive, love destroys not even the enemy, love always builds up.”

He recalled St. John Paul II’s exhortation to “be not afraid”, telling them to “remember that the Master’s most beautiful wish is that you will be afraid of nothing.”

“Boys and girls, do not be afraid of anything, be free of the bonds of this world and proclaim to all, to the elderly, the sorrowful, that the Church weeps with them, and that Jesus is able to give them new life, to revive them.”

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Are you suffering? Jesus is with you, Pope Francis says

by CNA/EWTN News • July 29, 2016

Pope Francis leads the Stations of the Cross for World Youth Day at Krakow’s Blonia Park on July 29, 2016. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Krakow, Poland — The Way of the Cross shows Christ’s embrace of everyone who hungers, suffers, and dies – and the imperative for Christians to do works of mercy. Those were Pope Francis’ words for young people at World Youth Day in Krakow on Friday.

“Jesus himself chose to identify with these our brothers and sisters enduring pain and anguish by agreeing to tread the ‘way of sorrows’ that led to Calvary,” the Pope said July 29. “By dying on the cross, he surrendered himself into to the hands of the Father, taking upon himself and in himself, with self-sacrificing love, the physical, moral and spiritual wounds of all humanity.”

“By embracing the wood of the cross, Jesus embraced the nakedness, the hunger and thirst, the loneliness, pain and death of men and women of all times,” he continued.

The Pope spoke to thousands of young people gathered in a field in Krakow’s Blonia Park.

He reflected on the question: “Where is God?”

“Where is God, if evil is present in our world, if there are men and women who are hungry and thirsty, homeless, exiles and refugees?” he asked. “Where is God, when innocent persons die as a result of violence, terrorism and war?”

He asked where God is in the face of cruel and deadly disease, in the exploitation and suffering of children, and in “the anguish of those who doubt and are troubled in spirit.”

“These are questions that humanly speaking have no answer,” Pope Francis said.

“We can only look to Jesus and ask him. And Jesus’ answer is this: ‘God is in them.’ Jesus is in them; he suffers in them and deeply identifies with each of them. He is so closely united to them as to form with them, as it were, ‘one body’.”

The Pope told young people of the importance of the spiritual and corporal works of mercy, saying they open us to God’s mercy and help us appreciate that “without mercy we can do nothing.”

These are the only answers to evil, he said.

“In the face of evil, suffering and sin, the only response possible for a disciple of Jesus is the gift of self, even of one’s own life, in imitation of Christ; it is the attitude of service. Unless those who call themselves Christians live to serve, their lives serve no good purpose. By their lives, they deny Jesus Christ,” the Pope declared.

The Pope stressed the importance of both the corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

“We are called to serve the crucified Jesus in all those who are marginalized, to touch his sacred flesh in those who are disadvantaged, in those who hunger and thirst, in the naked and imprisoned, the sick and unemployed, in those who are persecuted, refugees and migrants,” he said. “There we find our God; there we touch the Lord.”

He said the credibility of Christians is at stake in how they welcome both those who suffer physically and those who suffer spiritually.

“The Way of the Cross is the way of fidelity in following Jesus to the end, in the often dramatic situations of everyday life,” he added. “It is a way that fears no lack of success, ostracism or solitude, because it fills ours hearts with the fullness of Jesus.”

Christ brings this path even to societies that are divided, unjust, and corrupt.

“The Way of the Cross is not a sadomasochistic habit. The Way of the Cross alone defeats sin, evil and death, for it leads to the radiant light of Christ’s resurrection and opens the horizons of a new and fuller life. It is the way of hope, the way of the future,” the Pope said. “Those who take up this way with generosity and faith give hope and a future to humanity.”

“And I would like you to be sowers of hope,” he added.

“Dear young people, on that Good Friday many disciples went back crestfallen to their homes,” he concluded. “Others chose to go out to the country to forget the cross.”

“I ask you – and respond, each of you, silently in your hearts – how do you want to go back this evening to your own homes, to the places where you are staying? Your tents? How do you want to go back this evening to be alone with your thoughts? The world is watching us. Each of you has to answer the challenge that this question sets before you.”

He added special mention of those attending World Youth Day from war-torn Syria: “Tonight Jesus, and we with him, embrace with particular love our brothers and sisters from Syria who have fled from the war. We greet them, and we welcome them with fraternal affection and friendship.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Heroism and sacrifice: The Catholic history of Auschwitz

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • July 29, 2016

Maximilian Kolbe and Edith Stein. (Public Domain via Wikipedia)

Vatican City — Pope Francis sat quietly in one of Auschwitz’s most ominous prison cells, praying in what had been the inhumane living space of St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Catholic priest martyred during the Holocaust.

St. Maximilian was one of over a million people estimated to have died in the Auschwitz concentration camps, where the Pope paid a visit on July 29 during his trip to Poland. This August marks the 75th anniversary of his death.

Although the majority of those incarcerated in the death camps were Jews, targeted by the Nazi regime for extermination, many of the victims were Catholics, including priests and religious sisters. St. Maximilian, a Franciscan friar, died in 1941 after asking to take the place of another prisoner who was destined for execution. The following year, Edith Stein, the German Jewish philosopher turned Catholic Carmelite nun, was also killed at Auschwitz, most likely in the gas chambers upon her arrival.

They are joined by countless other Catholics who lost their lives during the Holocaust, many of them for trying to rescue Jews from the Nazis.

The sacrifices of these Catholics, both living and dead, were quietly remembered throughout Pope Francis’ pilgrimage to the infamous Auschwitz death camp. He prayed at length in the prison cell where the St. Maximilian had been kept during his incarceration. He also greeted a group known as the “Righteous among the Nations” – non-Jewish men and women who had risked their lives to save Jews from the Nazi extermination.

According according to several biographies, the young St. Maximilian had been personally called to martyrdom by the Virgin Mary. In his account, Mary came to him in an apparition holding two crowns, indicating for him to choose: one was white, representing purity, the other red, for martyrdom. He chose both.

Following the German invasion of Poland, St. Maximilian was arrested twice, first in 1939 and again in 1941, at which point he was sent to Auschwitz. That August, 10 prisoners were sentenced to death by starvation in punishment for another inmate’s escape. After hearing one of the men lament leaving behind his wife and children, Fr. Kolbe volunteered to die in his place.

Survivors of the camp testified that the starving prisoners could be heard praying and singing hymns, led by the priest. After two weeks, on the night before the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the camp officials decided to hasten Fr. Kolbe’s death, injecting him with carbolic acid. He was canonized 40 years later, on Oct. 10, 1982.

Edith Stein, known formally as St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, is another martyr of the Auschwitz death camp. She was born into a Jewish family in Breslau, Poland, but abandoned her faith as a teenager. A brilliant academic, Stein advanced in a career in philosophy, and studied under the likes of phenomenologists Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger. Influenced by the writings of St. Teresa of Ávila, she converted to Catholicism in 1922, and entered the disclaced Carmelite monastery 1933.

In 1942, Sr. Teresa Benedicta was arrested along with her sister Rosa, and the members of her religious community, in retaliation against a protest letter by the Dutch Bishops which decried the Nazi treatment of Jews. It is believed that she perished in the Auschwitz gas chambers upon her arrival Aug. 9, 1942, along with her sister and the rest of the community.

Pope Francis’ pilgrimage to Auschwitz also paid homage to the sacrifice of the Ulma family, even though they were not killed in the concentration camp.

The visit was conducted almost entirely in silence, except for the recitation of Psalm 130 – “Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord” – delivered by Fr. Stanislaw Ruszala, a Polish priest from the village of Markowa, where the young Catholic family had been slaughtered by the Nazis for harboring Jews.

Jozef Ulma was murdered during the Nazi occupation, alongside his wife Wiktoria and seven children, including their unborn child. The Nazis also slaughtered the eight members of the Jewish Goldman, Gruenfeld and Didner families being harbored by the Ulmas.

Pope Francis is not the first pontiff to visit the Auschwitz camps. The camps were visited by Polish-born St. John Paul II in 1979, and later by Benedict XVI in 2006.

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The cruelty of Auschwitz still continues, Pope tells youth

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • July 29, 2016

Pope Francis pays a solemn visit to the Auschwitz and Birkenau concentration camps on July 29, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Krakow, Poland — Speaking from the balcony of the bishop’s palace in Krakow, Pope Francis told youth gathered below that the horror lived by prisoners in the Auschwitz extermination camp isn’t over, but still continues in those who suffer various forms of cruelty today.

“I don’t want to make you bitter, but I have to tell the truth. The cruelty of Auschwitz and Birkenau has not ended. Even today many people are tortured,” the Pope said July 29.

Many prisoners, he said, “are tortured immediately, in order to make them talk. Today there are men and women in overcrowded prisons. They live like animals. This cruelty is there today.”

He spoke at the close of his second full day in Poland, where he is spending July 27-31 for World Youth Day. He’s appearing on the balcony of the archbishop’s palace each night after he returns in order to address the crowd of youth gathered below.

St. John Paul II began the tradition by speaking to youth from the balcony each time he visited his homeland as Pope. It was continued by Benedict XVI when he visited Poland in 2006, and is now Francis is following in the steps of his predecessors.

Earlier in the morning Francis went to the Auschwitz and Birkenau extermination camps, where an estimated 1.5 million people lost their lives during the Nazi occupation. He later stopped by a children’s hospital to visit with the young patients and give them his blessing.

After leaving the hospital, Pope Francis traveled to Krakow’s Blonia Park, where the youth participating in WYD performed a live reenactment of the Stations of the Cross.

In his speech to youth at the balcony window, Pope Francis noted how they are closed the day uniting to the suffering Jesus. However, Jesus didn’t just suffer 2,000 years ago, but “he suffers today,” the Pope said.

There are many people who suffer, including “the sick the homeless, the hungry, those who are doubtful in life, who don’t feel happiness or salvation, or who feel the weight of their own sin,” he said, noting that Jesus also suffers in the sick children he visited at the hospital earlier in the day.

“Jesus also suffers there, in many children … and that question always comes to mind: why do children suffer? There are no answers for these things.”

Francis then reflected on his visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau, where there was so much pain and “cruelty,” asking “is it possible that us men, created in God’s image, are capable of doing these things?”

The same cruelty exists today, he said, explaining that this can be seen wherever there is war. “In many places in the world, where there is war the same thing happens,” he said.

However, Francis also noted that Jesus chose to come into this reality, and to carry the weight of this cruelty on his shoulders. He also asks us to pray, the Pope said, offering his prayers for “all of the Jesus’ there are in the world: the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, those in doubt, those who are alone, who feel the weight of many doubts and wounds.”

These people, he said, “suffer a lot,” and asked the youth to also pray for the many sick children in the world, “who carry the cross as a child,” and for all men and women “who today are tortured in many countries in the world, for the prisoners who are piled up as if they are animals.”

Jesus took all of this upon himself, including our sin, Pope Francis said. He stressed the fact that we’re all sinners who carry the weight of our sins, and jestingly told the youth that if they don’t feel like a sinner, to raise their hand.

“We are all sinners, but Jesus loves us. And when there are tears, the child looks for their mother,” he said, and led the youth in praying a Hail Mary, each in their own language, before giving his blessing and wishing them a good night.

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VATICAN NEWS

The story of a Holocaust survivor who met Pope Francis

by Alan Holdren and Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • July 29, 2016

A number tattooed on the forearm of Lidia Maksimovic Bocarova, a survivor of the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Bielsko-Biala, Poland — A survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp welcomed Pope Francis’ Friday visit and asked the world to remember the suffering that took place there.

“It is important for me and I am very excited,” Lidia Maksimovic, 75, told journalists at the camp July 29. “It is not possible to forget about these horrible things and it is important also that people would come here and would see and learn what happened here. So that all that happened here would never happen again.”

Maksimovic is a survivor of the Auschwitz-Brikenau concentration camp run by the Nazis in Poland. As many as 1.5 million people died at the Auschwitz complex, including St. Maximilian Kolbe.

On Friday Pope Francis visited several parts of the complex. He prayed in silence for several minutes at the courtyard of the original camp, known as Auschwitz I. He was then taken by car to the infamous Block 11 building. There, he was welcomed by Poland’s Prime Minister, Beata Szydlo.

He prayed for a moment in silence.

Among those present for his visit was a group of ten men and women who had survived the Holocaust, among whom was Maksimovic.

Her family was of Russian origin living in Nazi-occupied territory in what is now Belarus. The Nazis suspected them of collaborating with the Soviet Union, and they were shipped to Auschwitz with about 1,500 other civilians.

She was stripped naked and tattooed with a number on her arm. She was three years old.

“I was numbered in my left hand as a prisoner. I have it from my childhood,” she told CNA.

Part of the camp served as a laboratory for Nazi doctor Josef Mengele’s human experiments.

“We were divided into two groups. I belonged to the group of strong and healthy children from which Doctor Mengele personally choose the children for his targets for medical experiments,” Maksimovic said.

“The most difficult time for us, for mothers and children was the moment of numbering and division,” she said. “They divided children from the mothers. Moms hugged their children and did not want to leave them, but babies were pulled out from their embraces and thrown out as animals. All women were crying. Kicking them, the Nazis forced them to go out to the specially prepared barracks.”

“We as children saw our mothers take off all their clothes and then they were shaved. We children could not recognize our mothers because we have never seen them in that conditions,” she said.

“Then our moms were dressed in those clothes which you can see here presented at the museum. They were blue and gray uniforms with wooden shoes.”

The children were sent to the children’s barracks.

“We were looking to the other children, to the places where they lived and it was horrible, not like you see it now,” she said. “Now everything is clean … at that time, it was dirty and excrement was around. There were no toilets or clean water.”

It took nearly 20 years for her to be reunited with her mother following the liberation of the camps by Allied forces.

Pope Francis chose to maintain silence in prayer and not give remarks at Auschwitz.

Maksimovic considered this a good choice.

“This place is the place of silence,” she said. “If someone can say something, they have to say that people have suffered here and were lowered to the very bottom.”

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WORLD NEWS

These Argentinian nuns are accused of helping hide $9 million

by CNA/EWTN News • July 23, 2016

(Thoom via Shutterstock)

Buenos Aires, Argentina — Four nuns in Argentina are being investigated by Church officials after allegedly helping a former government official hide up to $9 million in cash and jewels in their convent.

Jose Lopez, who was in the cabinet of former Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, was arrested in June outside the monastery of Our Lady of the Rosary of Fatima. A neighbor had allegedly seen Lopez throwing plastic bags of money over a monastery wall at three in the morning, and called the police.

Security footage released by Argentinian media allegedly shows Lopez carrying a rifle and bags of money into the convent, located on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, with the assistance of two of the sisters. Police reportedly found wads of cash in three different currencies stashed in the convent kitchen and in the trunk of a car.

This week, Archbishop Augustine Radrizzani of Mercedes Lujan in Argentina announced the launch of a complete canonical investigation of the events at the monastery.

Father Tom O’Donnell, who will lead the investigation, told a local radio station on Wednesday that the investigation would “determine if there was a canonical crime and help the actions of the civil justice.”

The pastor of the Basilica of Our Lady of Luján, Fr. Daniel P. Blanchoud, will serve as a notary in the investigation. Archbishop Radrizzani said he made the decision to launch the investigation after seeking the approval of several other Argentinian bishops.

Archbishop Santiago Olivera, the bishop of Cruz del Eje and president of the Episcopal Commission for Social Communications, told an Argentinian Catholic news agency this week that the local Church received the news of the sisters “with pain, with surprise and concern.” He said he hoped the sisters would eventually apologize either for their inadvertent assistance in a crime, or for knowingly assisting in a crime.

One of the nuns accused of assisting Lopez is set to appear before a judge next month. A total of four nuns have been accused of helping Lopez.

Since Fernandez’s presidential term ended in December, President Mauricio Macri’s administration has launched several investigations of former government officials accused of money laundering.

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WORLD NEWS

Munich archbishop, Benedict XVI grieve deadly shooting

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • July 23, 2016

Mourners in Munich after a July 22, 2016 shooting spree at the Olympia Mall. (Johannes Simon/Getty Images News)

Munich, Germany — The archbishop of Munich has called for prayers for the victims of Friday’s deadly shooting at a shopping mall, and condemned acts of violence which “poison” society with fear.

“This horrific crime deeply affects me and fills me with profound grief,” Cardinal Reinhard Marx is quoted as saying in a July 23 statement by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.

“My prayers are with the victims and their families,” said the head of the German Bishops’ Conference said, adding: “I hope that the many injured can return home soon.”

At least nine people were killed and nearly 30 injured on Friday evening after an 18-year-old gunman opened fire at the Olympia shopping mall in Munich, the BBC reports.

The German teenager of Iranian descent, who The Independent identifies as Ali David Sonboly, was later found dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police believe the teenager had no known ties to the Islamic State, but the BBC reports he may have been inspired by Anders Behring Breivik, the mass murderer who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011. Friday’s shooting spree came on the five year anniversary of Breivik’s massacre.

Friday’s incident also follows closely on the heels of two other attacks: a teenage Afghan Islamist went on an axe rampage in Würzburg, Germany, on Monday night, leaving several passengers severely wounded. And the previous week, 84 people were killed in Nice, France when a Tunisian man intentionally drove a large truck through a crowded beach street at high speed during a Bastille Day celebration. Both of these attacks are believed to have been inspired by ISIS.

Cardinal Marx decried how “on an almost daily basis, we are witness to an unprecedented unleashing of violence and hate.”

“In many places, acts of violence poison our society’s climate with fear and terror,” he said.

The German cardinal has called on people to pray with him for those affected by violence and terror.

Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who had served as archbishop of Munich and Freising as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger from 1977-1982, has reportedly also responded to the attacks, via the prefect of the papal household, Archbishop Georg Gaenswein.

Having been informed about the incident, Benedict XVI “prays for the innocent victims, and expresses condolences and closeness to the families,” the Vatican Insider reports.

The head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, has also offered his condolences and prayers for those affected by the tragedy in the Bavarian capital.

“Our resolve turns toward an unwavering desire to be witnesses of love alive in the world,” the Louisville archbishop said in a July 22 statement. “Against this resolve the forces of hatred and division cannot prevail.”

“Let us draw strength from the courage of the victims and first responders in Munich so that we may continue down the path of peace, rejecting violence and that which seeks to divide us.”

Shortly after Friday’s attack, which reportedly began just before 6 p.m. local time, the local Church stepped up to help, with 10 emergency pastoral care workers caring for those affected by the massacre.

After the shooting, many people were trapped for hours as central Munich was placed on lock-down, and found refuge in one of the many Catholic churches in the vicinity.

In Saint Michael’s Church, located in the heart of Munich, the local Jesuits organized for 40 people – mostly tourists – to spend the night in temporary rooms.

Additional prayers will be held on Saturday at the church, which will offer pastoral conversations and reflections for those affected – as will most parishes in the archdiocese, especially in and around the Bavarian capital.

On Sunday, special prayers are planned during Mass at the Munich Cathedral.

Anian Christoph Wimmer contributed to this story.

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WORLD NEWS

Cardinal Dziwisz talks Krakow, Saint John Paul II

by CNA/EWTN News • July 26, 2016

St. John Paul II, circa 1995. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Krakow, Poland — As World Youth Day approaches, the Archbishop of Krakow recently spoke with EWTN Deutschland about the “city of saints” hosting the gathering, and about its most famous son – St. John Paul II.

“You ask me where I have seen [John Paul II’s] holiness. Well, we know that he was a very talented man – a writer, a poet, a speaker, an actor; but most of all, a great pray-er,” Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz told EWTN’s Robert Rauhut.

Cardinal Dziwisz was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Krakow in 1963 by St. John Paul II, who was then an auxiliary bishop of the city. Wojtyla was appointed archbishop the following year, and then-Fr. Dziwisz became his secretary soon thereafter – a role in which he served until the Pope’s death in 2005.

He said St. John Paul II “had already discovered the importance of prayer as a boy back in Wadowice. He organized his whole life in a way such that it had a great reference to God; such that his life became a prayer to the Lord himself … He did not split his time between work, sports, and prayer … Everything he did served the Lord’s will, in some way.”

“He granted audiences, he held different meetings, but the people who were close to him knew he was praying even then.”

The cardinal reflected that when one of the Pope’s staff would tell him of a difficult situation to which they couldn’t find a solution, St. John Paul II would reply, “I do not see one either, because we have not yet prayed enough … Let us introduce this matter to the Lord: a solution will then arise in some way; the issue will solve itself, always through prayer.”

St. John Paul II’s prayerfulness was “with him from the time he was a child,” Cardinal Dziwisz reflected. “His father played a great role for that matter. He taught him the prayer to the Holy Spirit, which accompanied him his whole life. Even on his last Saturday, on the day he died, he recited this prayer to the Holy Spirit.”

He added that St. John Paul II was also very devoted to the Virgin Mary and the rosary: “for him that was always a Christological prayer: contemplation of the work of redemption with the Mother of God.”

The late Pope spent time in Eucharistic adoration daily, and made a Holy Hour every Thursday. Cardinal Dziwisz said St. John Paul II “encouraged us to compensate the time that the Apostles overslept” during Christ’s agony in the garden.

St. John Paul II “saw the positive in everyone,” which Cardinal Dziwisz attributed to “his theology – the picture of God in men, this appreciation towards everyone.”

The saint’s legacy is kept alive particularly through his magisterium, the cardinal said, calling it “a point of reference in many areas,” especially the family: “He has left us a great doctrine in that field.” As an exemplar he mentioned Familiaris consortio, St. John Paul II’s 1981 apostolic exhortation on the role of the Christian family in the modern world, noting that Pope Francis’ own recent exhortation on the family “quotes John Paul II many times.”

Cardinal Dziwisz also reflected on the central role that the Church played in the development of Poland as a nation – the country is celebrating the 1050th anniversary of its conversion this year. “Without a doubt, the Church played an important role in the first days of the Polish state and it still is significant for our people today,” he said.

Krakow became the Polish capital in 1038, and was then also deemed the “center of culture, Christianity and religiosity in Poland.” One of its early bishops, St. Stanislaus of Szczepanów, can be called the “conscience of the nation,” Cardinal Dziwisz said, noting that he was martyred “defending human rights and defending the freedom of conscience.”

St. Stanislaus “was the first to show that the Church is to serve the people and that it should do so in an autonomous way, not serving on behalf of the state, but with it … he demonstrated the sovereignty of Church authority from the state authority. That is how the church in Poland was upheld back then and is maintained today. Of course, both institutions cooperate for the common good, but in general, we deal with two independent orders.”

Cardinal Dziwisz affirmed that Krakow “is indeed a ‘city of saints’. No further place – except for Rome – has as many saints as Krakow. Here, we have many churches, and the quantity of churches is an expression of how religious the city is. Almost every church contains a grave of a saint. It has been like that all the time and we have numerous contemporary saints.”

He noted St. Albert Chmielowski, who founded religious congregations and died in 1916, and who “was a role model for John Paul II.”

St. John Paul II’s pride in his native Poland showed a healthy and postive patriotism, Cardinal Dziwisz reflected. “He very strongly underlined the difference between ‘nationalism’ and ‘patriotism’”, he explained. “Nationalism is negative. By contrast, patriotism is positively connotated; it is something you have to develop. Patriotism entails a religious aspect. He was indeed a patriot of Poland … he always appreciated the culture of Poland, the Polish Church, of which I derive from, and the Polish people. He saw their great values. Hence, he tried hard: he was familiar with the European culture and its values. He was of the opinion that both the west and the east frame contemporary Europe.”

Cardinal Dziwisz believes St. John Paul II supported a united European community, albeit one based on Christian values.

“Without values, without the Christian culture on which Europe has evolved, the community would not be able to survive. So we have to return to those values, to his prophetic idea. If we will not, the already unstable community will suffer from greater problems and a crisis.”

St. John Paul II’s prophetic vision of Europe is needed today, Cardinal Dziwisz said: “It is the job of contemporary people, contemporary Europeans. It is up to the youth who make a pilgrimage to Krakow, to celebrate their faith here, their belonging to God, to Christ, and to the community of Christian culture.”

The late Pope developed a close friendship with Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who succeeded him as Benedict XVI, the Krakow archbishop then explained. “He cherished Cardinal Ratzinger a lot, whom he wanted to have on his side right from the beginning of his pontificate … He knew right from the start that Cardinal Ratzinger was necessary to keep clear the matters of theology, particularly the disputable ones or uncertainties. He was convinced of him due to his enormous intellectual skills, his educational background, his abilities and skills for dialogue … they were a team, connected in mutual trust, in their dedication to work. They appreciated each other, so what they had was certainly something you might call a mutual understanding and a friendship.”

Krakow is particulary important as “the capital of mercy,” its archbishop added. It was here that St. Faustina Kowalska, to whom the Divine Mercy devotion was revealed, spent her last years. “Next to her as an apostle of divine mercy, receiving the message on behalf of the whole world, God has provided for a second apostle to realize this message,” he said, indicating St. John Paul II. “The idea of Divine Mercy has always been present in some way in his magisterium, his documents, his homilies and speeches.”

From Krakow “a spark will arise,” Cardinal Dziwisz said, “a spark of Divine Mercy, just as Sister Faustina once wrote.”

“That spark will assist to deepen the religious life in the world. We do have the hope that the young people will familiarize themselves with this dispatch, this message of Divine Mercy here, and that they will bring it to all countries … because young people from almost 200 different countries will come to Krakow” for World Youth Day, he said.

“It is due to providence that the youth will celebrate a festival of mercy this year here in Krakow,” Cardinal Dziwisz said. “The Lord wants to show us something, he wants to show us that this is the way to the future, the way of the Church, the way of societies … However, mercy means reversal and conversion, as well. We see that many people come to confess: they are keen to reconcile with God, but also with other people. Mercy – that is God’s love to the people, who are also obliged to communicate and to share love and mercy. In this context works of mercy develop.”

He gave as an example the location of the World Youth Day events, saying that “anticipating the Holy Father’s intention, two houses have been built there, already! There is the house of bread, in which the poor are welcome to find shelter. It also has medicine for the sick; medical consultation or rehabilitation is conducted there. So we will not only celebrate and be happy there, but something will stay there permanently. We are already preparing cars and ambulances which will drive to Syria. The issue is not simply to announce mercy, but to live it by taking actions.”

Cardinal Dziwisz also noted the need for catechizing the youth.

Good catechesis “is always needed, because ignorance is dangerous. Once the human being is afraid or does not know what to do next, he or she is most likely to be subjected to all different kinds of tendencies” that they need to be guarded against.

“The next point is to be with society, without merging with politics. We want to achieve a positive cooperation, but we also want to stay independent,” he said. “Let us go back to Stanislaus, and be open for everyone, not shutting ourselves off to any political group. That will brings back the people’s trust in us. That way we ensure that everyone can feel at home in the Church. No one will be locked out.”

“Indeed, the task is indeed not easy; but living in a democracy, we have to understand to be independent concerning our service to society and the Church.”

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WORLD NEWS

French bishops declare Day of Fasting after priest’s murder

by CNA/EWTN News • July 26, 2016

(Kiev.Victor via Shutterstock)

Krakow, Poland — In response to the murder of Father Jacques Hamel by believed Islamic State sympathizers, the French bishops have designated Sunday, July 31, as a Day of Fasting.

Msgr. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, secretary general of the French Bishops Conference, discussed the decision July 26.

“What happened in France had happened in other countries before, and actually we see Christians laying down their lives in the interests of their faith,” he told journalists gathered in Krakow, Poland for World Youth Day.

“They die because they are objects of hate and this for a fact gives us an additional motivation to live the life of fraternity we are called to.”

Earlier in the day, two armed gunmen stormed a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in the Normandy region. The assailants entered the church during Mass and took the priest and four others hostage.

Police sources said the 86-year-old priest’s throat was slit in the attack. Both of the assailants were shot dead by police. One of the hostages was critically wounded.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, and one of the attackers has been identified as a 19-year-old man who was under house arrest with a tracking bracelet after being caught attempting to travel to Syria.

The murder comes on the tail of numerous attacks in recent weeks.

Saying the attackers were terrorists, Msgr. Dumas stressed that in the midst of shock and sadness following the attack, Christians must not let evil and violence dominate.

“A priest is a symbol of peace and fraternity, and he was an old priest, more than 50 years as a priest in France, so tonight we are sad and we are shocked by this,” the priest acknowledged.

“But we are also something which is very strong. We want to maintain and develop dialogue between the different people in our country. We need peace, we need fraternity, we need to build a society where people love each other, and we will continue this path,” he said. “The Catholic Church in France wants that.”

World Youth Day, which officially begins today, offers a special chance for reflection, he added: “We should see the horizon, the horizon of peace, of joy, brotherhood and prayer. We are rooted in our faith and in Christ and we believe that evil and violence will not have the upper hand.”

According to Msgr Dumas, the French contingent at World Youth Day received the news with sadness. About 300 youth are from the Diocese of Rouen, out of 3,000 French pilgrims total at the international gathering this week.

The French priest believes that World Youth Day needs to go forward “with even greater intensity.”

He stressed the importance of fraternity, hope in the future, and “the desire to create a world in which violence and hate don’t have any place.” He said the young pilgrims “want to live it here, and they say that to all French people.”

Msgr. Dumas voiced confidence in Polish authorities’ efforts to ensure security at World Youth Day.

He also noted that in other parts of the world, many people are killed because they are Christians or because they are Muslims.

“Many more Muslims than Christians are killed because they are Muslims, so we pray and we are going to pray at Mass in a few minutes for peace and for all those who are killed because they believe in God.”

Msgr. Dumas said the Church most foster dialogue among different people.

“It’s a bit hard, difficult, so we do it with hope,” he said. “It’s a Christian attitude because we think that the Catholic religion can involve all of our society, and that is very important for us. Violence is not the answer, the only answer is really love. We cannot do anything else. Love, love and love. Dialogue and dialogue. And also have mercy for all those who are totally distracted by violence.”

Pope Francis, in his response to the attack, has condemned “every form of hatred.” A Vatican statement said the Pope “participates in the pain and horror of this absurd violence.”

The Vatican statement said it was especially moving that the “barbaric murder” took place in a church

Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen also reacted to the attack from Krakow.

“I cry out to God, with all men of good will. And I invite all non-believers to unite with this cry … The Catholic Church has no other weapons besides prayer and fraternity between men,” he said.

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WORLD NEWS

The story of Poland’s majestic ‘underground salt cathedral’

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • July 27, 2016

Wieliczka Salt Mine chapel, Poland. (Tomasz Labuz via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Krakow, Poland — Located just southeast of Krakow, the Wieliczka salt mine is famous for many things – most notably its underground chapels, made entirely out of rock salt.

In fact, the chapels are so stunning that they have earned the mine a nickname: the ‘underground salt cathedral.’

Officially opened in the 13th century, the mine is one of the oldest salt mines still in operation and is composed of numerous chambers chiseled out of rock salt, saline lakes, statues and chapels sculpted in salt.

Until now, the main visitor’s route through the mine, called the “Tourist Route,” has been walked by roughly 40 million tourists from around the world, according to the mine’s official website.

In a show of just how deeply the faith is rooted in the Polish people, the mine is also filled with several chapels carved completely out of rock salt, in order to provide miners with a way to practice their faith while underground.

Since miners typically worked under dangerous circumstances in the dark, away from their families, they created the chapels as places where they could pray and celebrate Mass before facing the challenges of the job.

The shrines were chiseled near the miners’ workplaces and at the major and minor shafts where tragic accidents had occurred.

While it isn’t possible to determine exactly how many chapels and shrines once existed in the Wieliczka mine, the most important are shown on the “Pilgrims’ Route,” which, unlike the regular tourist route, allows groups accompanied by a priest to register and celebrate Mass inside one of the chapels.

The most important chapel, which is the largest and contains the most statutes and carvings, is the St. Kinga Chapel, which is located about 330 feet underground.

The large space inside the chapel measures roughly 5,000 square feet of floor space. It is 36 feet tall, and is decorated with bas-relief carvings in rock salt depicting important scenes in Jesus’ life, such as the Nativity, the Last Supper and the Crucifixion.

It also contains carvings of important biblical events like the Slaughter of the Holy Innocents, and of saints. Two giant chandeliers made completely out of salt crystals hang from the ceiling, while an image of St. Kinga, also made entirely of salt crystals, sits behind the main altar.

The sculptures inside the chapel were carved over the course of 70 years, in large part thanks to a man named Erazma Baracza, an art lover and director of the mine.

Inside the main altar are two relics: one of St. Kinga, and one of St. John Paul II, who visited the mine three times during his life. Though he never went as Pope, the young Karol Wojtyla traveled to Wieliczka twice as a teen, and once as a cardinal.

Mass is still celebrated in the chapel every Sunday, as well as on special feast days or holidays. It is also used for special events such as weddings and sacred music concerts, seating about 400 people.

St. Kinga, the chapel’s namesake, lived during the 13th century and was the daughter of Hungarian King Bela IV.

Although she had desired to live a life of celibacy, a young Polish prince named Boleslaw asked for her hand in marriage, and the pious Kinga reluctantly accepted.

When her father asked what she wanted to bring to her husband as a wedding gift, Kinga said she didn’t want any gold or jewels, but preferred to bring something that could serve the people.

With this in mind, she asked her father for salt, since Poland had none. Her father easily agreed, and gave her his most prosperous salt mine.

Kinga and her husband Boleslaw, a devout couple, made a vow of celibacy despite their marriage, and carried out their reign in service to their people. The princess was known to have dedicated much of her time to visiting the poor and caring for lepers.

When Boleslaw died in 1279, the princess sold all of her material possessions and gave the money to the poor before entering the Poor Clares monastery at Sandec, preferring to dedicate her life to prayer rather than continuing with her responsibilities in governing the kingdom.

She spent the rest of her life in prayer, refusing for anyone to refer to her with her royal title “Grand Duchess of Poland.” She died in 1292, and was beatified by Pope Alexander VIII in 1690. In 1695, she was named chief patroness of Poland and Lithuania.

Kinga was canonized by St. Pope John Paul II on June 16, 1999. In gratitude for her canonization, a statue of John Paul II was added to the St. Kinga chapel in the mine alongside a salt crystal sculpture of Our Lady of Lourdes.

The mine also contains chapels dedicated to the Holy Cross, to St. John, to St. Anthony and to St. John Paul II.

In 1076 the Wieliczka Salt Mine was entered into the National Register of Historic Monuments, and in 1978 was included on UNESCO’s First World List of Natural and Cultural Heritages.

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WORLD NEWS

Nun who escaped with her life talks about ISIS attack in France

by CNA/EWTN News • July 27, 2016

(Alex Proimos via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Paris, France — Sister Danielle, one of the religious who was held hostage by ISIS at a church in France, was able to escape in a moment of inattention by the terrorists and alert the police.

However, they were not able to arrive in time to save the life of 84-year-old Father Jacques Hamel.

Speaking to RMC Radio, the sister related the incident that led to the death of the first priest at the hands of ISIS in Europe and which left another person severely wounded.

“I didn’t think they were going to come after Jacques. It was still dawn. He was standing in front of the altar, they made him get down on his knees and then he started to resist. When we saw the knife in the right hand I said to myself, ‘well, something’s really going to happen there,’” she said.

Sister Danielle said that even though the other nun and the faithful present were shouting to the terrorists to stop, they went ahead.

“They were shouting ‘you Christians are wiping us out.’ They were taping themselves on video. They made a kind of sermon around the altar in Arabic. It was horrifying.”

“He was an extraordinary priest,” she recalled, “that’s all I can say. Father Jacques is great.”

Fr. Hamel was killed Tuesday after two armed gunmen stormed a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy during Mass. The assailants entered the church and took the celebrating priest and four others hostage. Local law enforcement reported that the priest’s throat was slit in the attack, and that both of the hostage takers were shot dead by police. One of the hostages has been critically wounded.

Pope Francis decried the “absurd violence” in a statement Tuesday, adding that he is praying for those affected by the tragedy.

The French bishops have designated Friday, July 29, as a day of fasting. Msgr. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, secretary general of the French Bishops Conference who’s currently in Poland for World Youth Day, discussed the decision July 26.

“What happened in France had happened in other countries before, and actually we see Christians laying down their lives in the interests of their faith,” he told journalists in Krakow.

“They die because they are objects of hate and this for a fact gives us an additional motivation to live the life of fraternity we are called to.”

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WORLD NEWS

Syrian brothers reunite at WYD, and ask the world to pray

by Kate Veik and Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • July 28, 2016

Al and Yousef Astfan are brothers from Syria who reunited in Krakow at World Youth Day after three years. (Kate Veik/CNA)

Krakow, Poland — Among the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at World Youth Day are two brothers, recently reunited.

“I’m from Syria,” Yousef Astfan, 34, told CNA. “It’s been divided.”

Yousef first attended World Youth Day in Madrid in 2011. Now he’s in Krakow with his brother, 25-year-old Al Astfan, a first-time attendee who loves the event.

“It’s great. It’s such a great opportunity to meet people from all the world, in the name of Jesus,” Al said.

Yousef explained his own thoughts about the massive Catholic youth gathering.

“It gives you a very nice push for your faith, to be here to see all these Christians. Because everybody says that Europe is no more Christian,” he said.

“When I come here? No, I don’t see this. I feel proud that all these Christians are here. Especially when we fight for our Christianity in Syria. Being a Christian in Syria is a curse. You can get killed for this.”

The Syrian civil war has raged since March 2011. More than 270,000 people have been killed, while over 12 million are displaced or have become refugees. Some of the combatants have conducted atrocities against Christians and other religious minorities.

The Astfan brothers’ parents and sister, her family, and Yousef’s wife and family are still in Syria.

“They are living in Aleppo. It’s pretty dangerous there. But they don’t want to leave their country,” Yousef said.

Al Astfan has lived in Germany for about 18 months as a refugee. He is studying for his master’s degree in mechanical engineering.

“I want to continue my study,” he told CNA.

As for Yousef, he now lives and works in Dubai. The two had only just reunited on Tuesday.

“I met him literally four hours ago,” Yousef said. “This is the first time I met him in three years. Since he left Syria, I didn’t see him.”

“I just can’t believe that he’s here with me, finally,” he added. “My family are very happy because we finally met. They wish to be here as well.”

His brother Al was also reflective about the reunion.

“It’s great, we remember old days,” he said.

Yousef thought Christians who live free from violent persecution should appreciate what they have.

“They don’t appreciate the bliss they are living in,” he said. “I can just tell the people and raise my voice: you are living in a bliss, so keep it, do what you need to do.”

He also had a message for CNA readers: “Just pray for Syria. They cannot do anything more.”

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WORLD NEWS

French pilgrims pedal their way to World Youth Day

by Kate Veik and Tonia Borsellino (CNA/EWTN News) • July 28, 2016

(Catholic News Agency/YouTube)

Krakow, Poland — Pilgrims from across the globe travel to World Youth Day by plane, train and automobile. But not Victor Jacquemont, Antoine Lescuyer, and Humbert Canot.

The three young men, all in their early twenties, traveled from Paris to Krakow by biking 1,134 miles.

Their 18-day journey – starting on July 4 – took them across France, Germany, Czech Republic, and Prague.

The men told CNA they had a small tent in tow but also asked for “hospitality” from local churches and met many people along the way.

Originally from Cergy, a suburb of Paris, the men said the idea was to bike from their school’s chapel to the international youth gathering in Poland. The three attend ESSEC, an international business school in Europe.

One of the reasons they chose to bike was because, “it’s not just a trip. It was kind of a pilgrimage,” Canot said.

He explained that they wanted to make some effort, “some physical effort,” and have time to think about their faith.

“The bike was kind of an ideal way of traveling for that.”

The men also mentioned that Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si had an impact on them.

Because it talked about “having an ecological way of living,” the men said, “we thought that traveling on bicycle would be a nice way to put that in practice.”

The pilgrims believe that the Virgin Mary protected them during the whole journey.

A woman who saw their journey on Facebook gave the men a small icon of Mary, just before their trip began. They said they “introduced it to (everyone) that we met on the way.”

The men also handed out small miraculous medals from the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal, where the devotion originated.

“We gave it as a memory and as a token of friendship.”

Now that they have arrived in Krakow, the young men are marveling in the “very good atmosphere.”

Between people praying in their own languages and singing songs, the men said it is nice to see that “we are all united in Jesus, despite all of the political divisions there might be,” Jacquemont said.

“The language barrier doesn’t exist anymore,” he added, “it doesn’t matter.”

This marks the first World Youth Day for Canot and Jacquemont, but Lescuyer said he attended the event when it was in Madrid in 2011.

The men said they will be meeting up with other pilgrims from their diocese and they plan on living this week to the fullest with Pope Francis.

“If we make enough noise, we might even meet him!”

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WORLD NEWS

Japan knife attack shows disabled persons ‘have to be protected’

by Antonio Anup Gonsalves (CNA/EWTN News) • July 29, 2016

Japan reacts to mass stabbing at care center for the disabled. (Ken Ishii, Getty Images News/Getty Images)

Yokohama, Japan — Following Tuesday’s mass killing at a care home in Japan for persons with mental disabilities, one of the country’s bishops has said the incident demonstrates the need for such persons to be valued and protected by society.

“Disabled people have to be protected,” Bishop Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Niigata told CNA.

He added: “A society which will not protect the weak has no respect for human dignity.”

In the early hours of July 26 an attacker entered the Tsukui Yamayuri-en facility in Sagamihara, some 20 miles northwest of Yokohama, stabbing 19 people to death. The dead ranged in age from 19 to 70, and another 25 people were wounded.

Shortly after the attack, 26-year-old Satoshi Uematsu, a former employee of the care center, turned himself in to local police and was arrested.

Uematsu had written a letter to Japan’s parliament in February advocating for euthanasia of persons with disabilities, saying it would be better if they “disappeared.”

“My goal is a world in which the severely disabled can be euthanised, with their guardians’ consent, if they are unable to live at home and be active in society,” he had written.

In that letter Uematsu had threatened to kill hundreds of disabled persons, according to Kyodo news agency. After delivering the letter, he was kept in a hospital for nearly two weeks before being released.

Bishop Kikuchi condemned the attack, saying it was “a serious attack against human life and human dignity, which we believe to have the greatest value of all.”

He expressed hope that after “this sad incident the general public of Japan would have a chance to consider the importance of human dignity and the importance of providing support to the weak in society.”

Such mass killings are extremely rare in Japan, which has strict gun control laws. The last was in 2008, when a man stabbed seven people to death in a Tokyo shopping district.

Bishop Kikuchi said, “I am just unable to find any words to express my shock and sorrow upon hearing the new of the mass stabbing … I am so sorry to the families of the victims and hope that they would receive the necessary support.”

He also voiced concern over the low wages earned by employees of care centers like Tsukui Yamayuri-en, and said Japan’s system of protecting its weakest “needs to be revisited.”

The bishop also said that among the factors influencing deteriorating values in Japan is that the country’s “traditional family system is quickly disappearing, and that is strongly affecting the value afforded to human life.”

He asserted that since World War II, the citizens of his country have pursued “material success, and after several recessions in the past 20 years, the general feeling of the public is always that our dream days, like the ‘70s and ‘80s, would come back again.”

“So the standard of value in society is based on monetary gain and because of the past 20 years’ recessions, many young people have … lost hope for the future,” Bishop Kikuchi lamented.

He also stated that education in Japan “in the past 70 years has managed to keep young people away from traditional religious values. Religion is something very foreign to many youth in Japan, and the absence of God does not contribute to establish a morals-based value system in our society.”

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WORLD NEWS

A ‘cry of hope’ after the death of Father Hamel

by CNA/EWTN News • July 29, 2016

Fr. Jacques Hamel, who was killed while saying Mass by Islamic State terrorists on July 26, 2016. (CNA)

Paris, France — At a Mass said for the victims of Tuesday’s church attack in France, the Archbishop of Paris appealed for hope as he remembered Father Jacques Hamel, who was killed by two Islamic State terrorists as he was celebrating the Eucharist.

At the July 27 Mass for the victims of Saint-Étienne du Rouvray said at Notre Dame de Paris, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois recalled the words of one of the readings of the day from the prophet Jeremiah: “Would you be a mirage for me, like doubtful waters?”

“In this terrible time we’re going through, how can we make our own this cry to God of the prophet Jeremiah, in the midst of attacks of which he was the object? How can we not turn against God and not demand an account from him?” the cardinal reflected.

He also said that to cry out to to the Lord “is not to lack faith in God. It is, on the contrary, to continue to speak to him and to call upon him in the precise moment when events seem to call into question his power and his love. It is to continue to affirm our faith in him, our trust in the Face of love and mercy he has shown in his son Jesus Christ.”

“Those who wrap themselves in the trappings of religion to mask their deadly project, those who want to proclaim to us a God of death, a Moloch who would rejoice in the death of a man and who would promise paradise to those who kill while invoking him, those people cannot expect humanity to yield to their mirage.”

In his homily, Cardinal Vingt-Trois recalled that “the hope written by God on the heart of man has a name: it is called life. Hope has a face, the face of Christ giving his life in sacrifice so that men may have life in abundance.”

“Hope has a project, the project of gathering humanity into one people, not by extermination but by conviction and by the call to freedom. It is this hope in the midst of trial that forever blocks for us the path to despair, vengeance, and death.”

For the cardinal “it’s this hope that animated the ministry of Father Jacques Hamel when he celebrated the Eucharist, during which he was savagely executed. It is this hope that sustains the Christians in the Middle East when they have to flee in the face of persecution and they choose to leave everything behind rather than renounce their faith.”

Referring to World Youth Day being held in Poland, the cardinal also said that “it is this hope that dwells in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of young people gathered around Pope Francis in Krakow. It’s this hope to allows us to not succumb to hatred when we are caught up in the storm.”

“It is this conviction that was savagely wounded at Saint-Étienne du Rouvray, and it is thanks to this conviction that we can resist the temptation to nihilism and a taste for death. It is thanks to this conviction that we refuse to become delirious with conspiracy theories and allow our society become gangrenous with the virus of suspicion.”

“Where shall we find the strength to face dangers if we cannot rely on hope?” he then asked.

Finally, the Archbishop of Paris emphasized that “for we who believe in the God of Jesus Christ, this hope is trusting in the word of God as the prophet Jeremiah received it and relayed it: ‘Though they fight against you, they shall not prevail, for I am with you,to save and rescue you. I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked, and ransom you from the power of the violent.’”

Fr. Hamel was killed July 26 after two armed gunmen stormed a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy during Mass.

The assailants entered the church and took the celebrating priest and four others hostage.

Local law enforcement reported that the priest’s throat was slit in the attack, and that both of the hostage takers were shot dead by police.

The French bishops designated July 29 as a day of fasting following the attack.

Fr. Hamel, who was 86, was ordained a priest in 1958. His funeral Mass will be said Aug. 2 in the cathedral of Rouen.

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U.S. NEWS

Racial tensions spark day of prayer, peace task force with U.S. bishops

by CNA/EWTN News • July 23, 2016

(Kzenon via Shutterstock)

Washington, D.C. — After several shootings and increased racial tensions around the country, the head of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has called for a national day of prayer and appointed a task force devoted to peace and unity.

“I have stressed the need to look toward additional ways of nurturing an open, honest and civil dialogue on issues of race relations, restorative justice, mental health, economic opportunity, and addressing the question of pervasive gun violence,” said Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, the USCCB president.

“The Day of Prayer and special Task Force will help us advance in that direction. By stepping forward to embrace the suffering, through unified, concrete action animated by the love of Christ, we hope to nurture peace and build bridges of communication and mutual aid in our own communities.”

The newest statement and task force reflect sentiments in a previous statement from Archbishop Kurtz released earlier this month, urging prayer, reflection, and dialogue following racially-related shootings and violence in Baton Rouge, Minneapolis, and Dallas.

“To all people of good will, let us beg for the strength to resist the hatred that blinds us to our common humanity. To my brothers and sisters in Christ, let us gather at the Cross of Jesus. Our Savior suffered at the hands of humanity’s worst impulses, but He did not lose hope in us or in His heavenly father. Love overcomes evil,” he said in his July 8 statement.

Alton Sterling, a 37-year-old black man, was shot July 5 after an encounter with police in Baton Rouge.

One day after Sterling’s death, an African American man in Falcon Heights, Minnesota, was shot four times by a police officer and later died. Philando Castile, age 32, had been pulled over for an alleged broken tail-light.

On July 7, five Dallas police officers were killed in what authorities called a “sniper ambush” at the end of a peaceful protest against police shootings of African Americans.

In the following days, police officers were also shot and killed in racially-related incidents in Baton Rouge and Kansas City, Kan.

The National Day of Prayer for Peace in Our Communities will be celebrated Sept. 9, the feast of St. Peter Claver, the patron saint of African Americans.

The task force, which will be headed by former USCCB president Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta, will collect and distribute resources, listen to concerns of community members and law enforcement, and work to rebuild relationships and resolve conflicts. The group will also present a report on their activities and recommendations at the November meeting of the USCCB.

“I am honored to lead this Task Force which will assist my brother bishops, individually and as a group, to accompany suffering communities on the path toward peace and reconciliation,” Archbishop Gregory said in a statement.

“We are one body in Christ, so we must walk with our brothers and sisters and renew our commitment to promote healing. The suffering is not somewhere else, or someone else’s; it is our own, in our very dioceses.”

The announcement of the day of prayer and the creation of the task force follows several prayer vigils and peace efforts in the Catholic Church, and comes at the end of a novena for peace launched by the Knights of Columbus following the shootings.

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U.S. NEWS

Youngest U.S. track Olympian relies on God when times get tough

by Tonia Borsellino (CNA/EWTN News) • July 24, 2016

Sydney McLaughlin. (Union Catholic High School)

Newark, N.J. — Sydney McLaughlin has not had an easy year.

In recent months, she fell ill with mononucleosis, her mother suffered a heart attack, and she underwent a nervous breakdown before a major qualifying track competition.

So when she became the youngest member of the U.S. Olympic track and field team on July 10, the victory was extra sweet.

What gets 16-year-old McLaughlin through the stress and pressure that inevitably comes with competing with some of the world’s top athletes? Her Christian faith.

“Something like track is a very mental sport,” she told CNA during a press teleconference, “there’s a lot of pressure and there’s a lot of expectation put on you.”

“Sticking to what I know and believing that everything I’ve been given comes from God definitely played a big role for me,” she said.

On July 10, McLaughlin finished third in the 400-meter hurdles at the U.S trials in Oregon. That made her the youngest member on the U.S. track and field team for the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil next month.

Originally from Dunellen, New Jersey, McLaughlin attends Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains.

As a Christian, the young Olympian explained that her faith in God has helped her throughout the journey.

She described the pressure and expectations leading up to the qualifying Olympic trials as much more than a typical meet.

“It became overwhelming at one point,” she said.

It’s a competition with the best of the best, added her father, Willie McLaughlin. He said the experience was similar for him.

In 1984, he qualified for the 400-meter semifinals at the Olympic trials but failed to make the Olympic team.

“Running the Olympic trials was the single most stressful thing I’ve ever done in my life. Hands down.”

McLaughlin’s mother was also a runner and her older brother, Taylor McLaughlin, currently competes in the 400-meter hurdles for Michigan University.

The young athlete said that she only found the courage to compete with the help of her family and coaches. Despite panicking at the Olympic trials and nearly turning back, McLaughlin ended up setting a world junior record at 54.14 seconds.

The fact that the trials were at night made her think about the big race all day. To get on the line at the first race and go from round to round, somehow making the team, “definitely showed this is God’s plan for me.”

She sealed her place on the U.S. Olympic team earlier than she and her family anticipated.

The Olympics “has always been on my mind but not at the age of 16,” she said.

Her father agreed that it was something they always talked about, but had not expected so quickly.

“We knew there was an outside chance of her making it, you know things happening the way they did, she ended up getting on the team,” he said, “We didn’t think it would be this soon.”

Now, her parents are also figuring out plans to get to Rio, in order to see their daughter fulfill a dream they had always envisioned.

McLaughlin said she includes prayer in her warm-up before every meet and then goes out there and does what she knows she can, “regardless of what happens.”

The fact that there are always more races to run and a “chance to do it better” motivates her to keep going.

After the trials, McLaughlin attended the ESPY Awards and received an award for being named the Gatorade National High School Female Athlete of the Year. She gave a speech and talked about the obstacles she had faced throughout the previous year.

A busload of people from Union Catholic High School was at the airport in New Jersey ready to welcome her back home.

On August 7, McLaughlin will turn 17. She said she is going to miss the Opening Ceremonies to celebrate with her family and friends.

Then, she will fly to the Olympics with her lucky blanket, a sparkly manicure, and the faith that whatever happens, it will be according to God’s plan.

In the fall, McLaughlin will return to school for her senior year. Her goal is to build up a different school club: juggling.

“I’m going to focus on that a lot this year, try to get more members, hopefully pull a squad together so we can perform at the pep rally.”

Only then, she will be an Olympian juggling on a unicycle.

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U.S. NEWS

Americans support higher standards for abortion clinics, poll finds

by CNA/EWTN News • July 25, 2016

(Syda Productions via shutterstock.com)

New Haven, CT — A new poll released Monday found that an overwhelming majority of Americans believe abortion clinics should be held to the same medical and safety standards as other outpatient surgery centers.

The survey follows last month’s Supreme Court ruling striking down a Texas law regulating abortion clinics on the grounds that it placed an “undue burden” on a women’s “right to an abortion.”

The case had challenged two Texas regulations of abortion clinics. One regulation said that abortionists must have admitting privileges at a local hospital in case of a medical emergency at their clinic. The other said that clinic buildings must meet the standards of ambulatory surgery centers: they must have proper sanitation, staffing, and medical experts on hand to deal with medical emergencies.

Seventy-eight percent of those surveyed in the July 2016 poll believe that abortion clinics should be held to the same standards as other outpatient surgery centers.

The agreement was widespread across the board, including 77 percent of African Americans and 82 percent of Latinos, in addition to 77 percent of women, and 84 percent of millennials.

Even 74 percent of those who consider themselves “pro-choice” agreed that abortion clinics should meet the standards of other outpatient surgical centers.

Furthermore, 70 percent of Americans said that doctors who perform abortions to be required to have hospital admitting privileges.

This included 71 percent of women, 77 percent of millennials, and 78 percent of Latinos. Both those who identify as pro-life and those who identify as pro-choice showed a 71 percent rate of support for this requirement.

The survey, conducted July 5-12, 2016 by the Marist Institute for Public Opinion and commissioned by the Knights of Columbus, polled 1,009 adults in the U.S., with a 3.1 percentage point margin of error.

In addition to asking Americans about their views on medical standards for abortion facilities, the survey revisited questions from previous polls involving abortion restrictions.

It found that 78 percent of Americans support substantial restrictions on abortion and would limit it to the first trimester of pregnancy at most.

While this number is down from last year’s Marist survey, which found in January 2015 that 84 percent of Americans supported substantial abortion restrictions, the poll director said the numbers are still very stable throughout the years.

“The majority of Americans in favor of abortion restrictions has been consistently around 8 in 10 for the better part of a decade,” said Barbara Carvalho, director of the Marist Poll. “Though self-identification as pro-life or pro-choice can vary substantially from year to year, the support for restrictions is quite stable.”

The Marist poll also found that the majority of Americans – 62 percent – oppose taxpayer funding of abortion, although this number dropped by 6 percent from last year.

Opposition to taxpayer-funded abortion in the 2016 poll was found among 65 percent of African Americans, 61 percent of Latinos, and 45 percent of those who say they are pro-choice, in addition to 84 percent of Republicans, 61 percent of Independents and 44 percent of Democrats.

Remaining steady from last year, Americans by about a 20-point margin believed that medical professionals should not be forced to perform abortions against their conscience.

This included 61 percent of Latinos polled and 41 percent of those who identify as pro-choice.

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U.S. NEWS

In new book, millennial Catholic women chat faith, life and dating

by Tonia Borsellino (CNA/EWTN News) • July 26, 2016

(Mooshny via Shutterstock)

Denver, CO — Megan Finegan and Kaylin Koslosky are not theologians, journalists, or youth ministers. But the 22-year-old friends believe that they can minister to other young women by writing a new book about femininity.

Their book, “Daughter of the King: Wait, Where’s My Crown?!,” addresses issues young women face in today’s society from the perspective of young women themselves.

Finegan recently graduated from Benedictine College and is now a paralegal. Koslosky is finishing up her last year at Colorado State University and is hoping to teach high school science.

In what they hope will be a fun and easy to read format, the two friends discuss faith, relationships, beauty, modesty, and what they call “twenty-first century buzz topics” like homosexuality and abortion.

“We just felt incredibly called by God to help Him get this message out there to His daughters — our peers,” Koslosky told CNA.

Koslosky and Finegan said competition and judgment are prominent in today’s culture, but this book takes a different approach.

“We’re here with you now, and it’s hard, and we’re still struggling with this information too,” Finnegan said, “but this is the truth and this is what we’re striving for, but it’s a journey.”

“And this is what’s helped us,” Koslosky added.

Though the two frequently finish each other’s sentences and joke that they share one brain, they have many different life experiences as well.

“We have touched on every topic faced by high school and college women nowadays,” Koslosky said.

In addition to their testimonies, Finegan and Koslosky offer tips and personal discoveries in every chapter. They said they also researched the topics, citing more than 30 sources.

“(The book is) just resurrecting a deeper beauty and understanding that who we are is beautiful and the life we bring to the world as women,” Koslosky said.

According to Koslosky, the idea for the book came from “Megan’s mouth.”

In the summer of 2014, the two prayed a novena to St. Anne.

“She and I would meet up at the adoration chapel and talk about the reflection of the day and it would be about all these feminine virtues,” Finegan said.

“We were like yelling at each other, agreeing, but yelling because we were so passionate about it,” Koslosky said.

The idea of doing something about it popped up, but was forgotten as time went on. It was not until the Feast of the Assumption on August 15 of that year, that it resurfaced.

The two women were in the car driving to Mass when Koslosky began talking about how she loved the books she was reading on feminine virtue.

Finegan said she loved those books too but they would always lose her attention part-way in and that, “honestly, I feel like we need someone in our generation to write to us because I’m tired of 40-year-olds writing to us when really, our generation is different.”

They pointed out that the culture of dating had completely changed and with the influence of technology, everything was different. The two agreed that someday a college student should write a book when Finegan said, “I feel like we should do that.”

“I was like, ‘Nope, do you know what it means to write a book?’” Koslosky recalled.

“That’s long. We are busy people,” she said.

That fall semester, Finegan was leaving for a study abroad trip in Florence, Italy and Koslosky was getting ready to coordinate a large retreat for her college’s campus ministry. They were both loaded up on school credits and said they did not have the time.

But they prayed about it that day and said, “It was a weird Mass experience.”

Koslosky said she began to laugh and was full of joy. She thought, “We have to do this.” Finegan said she knew God was asking a lot and she was scared, but once she gave it all to Him, she had peace about the idea.

“Both of us were dead in,” they said.

As Mass continued, they began to write things down on a little notebook Koslosky had in her purse.

“We get to her [Kaylin’s] home and we just like start looking at what we had written down and we typed it up and we had an outline and intro done,” Finegan said.

Neither of the young women were writers, but they said journaling was how they prayed best. During the fall semester, they tried writing more, but it was not very productive. So that Christmas break, they gave themselves one week to get it all done.

“Each day we wrote a section,” Koslosky said.

They would begin the day with Mass, then go to a coffee shop next to St. Thomas More Catholic Church in Centennial, Colorado and write as much as they could. If something were too difficult to write, they would go to Adoration.

“The really hard, vulnerable parts, Jesus had to help us with,” Koslosky said.

“We are very vulnerable in this book,” she continued. “Here’s our entire life; everything we’ve done wrong, everything we’re not proud of, but here’s what God’s done with us.”

“And that’s what’s amazing.”

According to Koslosky, they wrote the book in six days.

“On the seventh day, we rested,” Finegan chimed in.

After it was finished, the young women did not know what to do next. Koslosky said, “We didn’t know the words platform or book proposals.”

But that summer, Koslosky happened to meet Curtis Martin, the founder of the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), and Finegan met international Catholic chastity speaker Jason Evert, at separate events.

Not only did the interactions encourage the two to continue with publishing the book, but FOCUS said they would sell it, and Jason Evert offered the young women a place to build their platform on his website, the contact to his own editor, and the advice to self-publish.

One of Koslosky’s blogs for Jason Evert, entitled “I Never Knew a Bikini Could Hide So Much,” was the top blog post on chastityproject.com for 2015.

On August 15 of this year, the book dedicated to Mary will be published.

The two authors said they just want other women to know, “No matter what you’ve done or where you’ve been, or what your past is or isn’t, you’re beautiful, you’re loved and you’re a daughter of the King.”

They described the book as a starting point for any young women to delve deeper in their faith or open their minds to the possibility of truth in its pages. Finegan and Koslosky hope it is just the start of a journey and are offering further resources on restoreyourcrown.com.

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U.S. NEWS

How knowing your fertility can catch diseases early

by Adelaide Mena (CNA/EWTN News) • July 26, 2016

(Julia Caesar via Unsplash CC0 1.0)

Washington, D.C. — When Maggie* was in high school, she stayed after class to talk to ask a teacher what to do about a very personal concern she felt her physician was not taking seriously. What she learned led to the discovery of a brain tumor, and treatment for the growth which had been affecting the teen for years. The tools she needed to find and treat this growth came from an awareness of her fertility and natural cycles.

“It wasn’t so much that I was trying to avoid pregnancy or get pregnant – it’s that there was something legitimately wrong with my body,” Maggie told CNA.

By the time she was in her late teens, Maggie had noticed that her cycles had never regulated, and had no idea what that meant except that it wasn’t normal. While for the first years after a young woman begins to menstruate her cycles are of varying length and heaviness, they typically regulate within a few years. But several years after her own cycles began, Maggie was concerned that they never had settled into a normal pattern – in fact, she sometimes would have as few as one cycle a year. In addition, she also faced rounds of headaches.

One day, Maggie approached her college-level biology teacher, who also happened to be a practicing Catholic, looking for an explanation for her concerns and asking what to do. The teacher told her to ask her pediatrician, but also put her in touch with her church’s fertility instructor to see what could be done.

Maggie said her pediatrician immediately assumed that she was pregnant: an impossibility, because she was not sexually active. When the pregnancy tests came back negative, the doctor responded, “‘I don’t know what your problem is’ and brushed me off,” she recalled.

Meanwhile, the local parish’s natural family planning (NFP) instructor saw the teen’s distress and put her in touch with a Catholic fertility physician who could teach Maggie how to observe and chart the signs of her fertility.

Understanding Fertility

“A sign of health in a woman is a normal, regular cycle,” Dr. Lorna Cvetkovich, a gynecologist and obstetrician at Tepeyac Family Center in Fairfax, Va., explains. “We know what a normal cycle looks like,” she continued, “so at any time the parameters fall outside of those, then that’s a clue that maybe they’re not ovulating, they may have a luteal phase defect, they may have fibroids. It can show you all sorts of things.”

For women whose cycles fall within a normal range, normal bodily processes present themselves in a predictable pattern.

In the first part of a woman’s cycle, called the follicular phase, hormonal signals from the pituitary gland trigger the follicles (egg-containing structures within the ovaries) to prepare an egg for ovulation and to secrete estrogen into the woman’s body. This rise in estrogen levels triggers changes in the kind of fluid the cervix secretes, as well as thickening the uterine lining, making them more able to support the conception process.

After ovulation a woman’s body secretes progesterone, which causes a sharp increase in a woman’s basal, or resting, body temperature, as well as a preparation of the uterine lining for possible implantation. If a pregnancy occurs, the basal body temperature and hormone levels may continue to rise, whereas if pregnancy does not happen, the resulting dip in hormones triggers a drop in temperature, menstruation, and the beginning of a new cycle.

In a healthy woman who is not pregnant, this cycle will repeat every 21-35 days.

These changes can be observed by any woman, and can be used by married couples as a valid method to achieve or delay pregnancy, according to the teaching of the Catholic Church, which teaches that it is immoral to disrupt this natural cycle with the use of contraceptive pills, implants, barrier methods, or by having incomplete intercourse. Using these observations to help in the discernment of family size is known as natural family planning.

However, the same observations and data – commonly collected into charts for easier analysis – can be used to help diagnose gynecological issues such as ovarian cysts and growths in the uterus, called fibroids, as well as hormone deficiencies and other abnormalities affecting bodily functions. The information can also be essential in pinpointing issues surrounding pregnancy, such as the exact date of conception, infertility, and miscarriages.

This information is such a valuable insight into a patients health and symptoms – and an invaluable tool for doctors practicing reproductive medicine. “I just think it’s invaluable, and I don’t really know how people practice [gynecology] without having the charting,” said Cvetkovich. “There’s just so many uses, and it adds so much to your evaluation of the patient.”

Cycles and Diagnosis

Disorders in other bodily systems – such as the endocrine system – can manifest in a woman’s menstrual cycle and her chart. “Thyroid plays a role in almost every function of the body, so it may show up as a sign in the cycle,” explained Cvetkovich.

For Christine, charting her bodily signs helped her to catch an issue with her thyroid that might otherwise have been missed. After charting for four years, she started noticing that some months there was no ovulation that could be detected by temperature or with chemical tests for the hormones that trigger ovulation.

“I had what looked like a really long cycle, and then eventually, what to the uninformed observer would look to be a light period. But because I knew I hadn’t peaked, I was able to identify it as estrogen breakthrough bleeding and not a real cycle,” she explained.

“It seemed like my body was trying to ovulate, and not really getting there.”

She approached her doctor, explaining she was not ovulating and that she would like to find the cause for something that was out of the ordinary. The doctor then ordered comprehensive blood tests, and found that some of her thyroid-stimulating hormone levels were elevated beyond normal – in fact, her levels were twice as high s they had been a year ago.

After receiving treatment, her cycles returned to their normal pattern.

“I didn’t have a lot of signs or symptoms of hypothyroidism, aside from missing ovulation,” Christine noted, saying she wouldn’t have picked up on the disorder had she not been charting. “ I wouldn’t have realized there was an issue,” Christine she added, reflecting on the fact that she probably would not have even received the treatment she needed.

“Whenever I’m sharing my experience with NFP with somebody, I’m always quick to point out not only all of the standard benefits, but that it enabled me to know my body and know there’s a problem that so many people wouldn’t be aware of.”

How Fertility Awareness Helped to Find a Tumor

After a local NFP instructor put Maggie in touch with physicians familiar with fertility awareness, she became more aware of what was going on in her own body. She learned to observe her basal body temperature and cervical fluid signs – and noticed that while sometimes she had a more typical menstrual cycle and her chart showed the usual peaks and dips of a healthy young woman, at other times her cycle was irregular and her temperature was more elevated.

Even though she was not sexually active, “my body was acting like it was pregnant,” Maggie said. The doctors at the Catholic fertility clinic sent Maggie out for blood work, which showed a high level of prolactin – a hormone present during pregnancy and breastfeeding. She took this information back to her pediatrician, and then to an endocrinologist, who ordered an MRI scan of her brain.

“There was a tumor pressing into my pituitary, pressing into my frontal cortex,” Maggie explained.

“When I first heard the word ‘tumor’ I freaked out,” she related, but thankfully, “it wasn’t cancerous,” but a benign growth which explained both her irregular cycles and some of her headaches.

Maggie received the treatment she needed to shrink the tumor, and told CNA that “things are pretty much normal now.” While the tumor is still there – “it’ll never really go away, unless I get surgery,” she related; “what’s happened at this point is that it’s checked.”

While since receiving treatment she has no need to monitor as rigorously all of her signs and symptoms, knowledge of her fertility and its signs has given Maggie tools she can use use if the tumor starts to grow again.

“I have this, and I know these are indicators to know [if] something is wrong with my prolactin.”

Fertility – ‘A Public Health Issue’

Cvetkovich suggested this level of awareness can be useful for any woman looking to take care of their health.

“I think that anytime you put someone more in tune with your body, they’re just going to know that things are wrong earlier. I think that’s what it’s all about, knowing what’s normal for you, and being in tune with it.”

She commented that many of her fellow physicians, as well as the general public, have grown accustomed to relying on hormonal contraceptives to address disorders, a practice she said “makes people very distant from their bodies and from their cycles.”

“We’ve lost the idea that having a normal monthly cycle is health – that’s normal. Being fertile is normal. I think that’s where NFP brings us back to, really: to reality.”

Maggie agrees, saying that some of her initial struggle in receiving treatment was a result of people “missing the point that fertility isn’t sort of an accessory to being a human woman – it’s an integral part of how our bodies work.” Awareness of how women’s bodies work, and how to tell when they’re not working correctly, is important for everyone.

“It’s a public health issue.”

*Name has been changed to protect privacy.

This article was originally published July 31, 2015.

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U.S. NEWS

Tim Kaine, a Catholic VP? Bishops voice their concerns

by CNA/EWTN News • July 26, 2016

Tim Kaine. (U.S. Naval Institute via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Washington D.C. — After Senator Tim Kaine, a Catholic from Virginia, was named Hillary Clinton’s running mate last week, several bishops spoke out on the sanctity of life – implicitly criticizing the nominee’s pro-choice stance.

Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Kaine’s home diocese of Richmond, Virginia released a statement regarding Catholics in public office July 22.

“The Catholic Church makes its position very clear as it pertains to the protection of human life, social justice initiatives, and the importance of family life,” he said.

“From the very beginning, Catholic teaching informs us that every human life is sacred from conception until natural death. The right to life is a fundamental, human right for the unborn and any law denying the unborn the right to life is unequivocally unjust.”

Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island also commented on the subject, mentioning Kaine by name and lamenting that “apparently, and unfortunately, his faith isn’t central to his public, political life.”

Kaine has been described as a devout Catholic and has attended St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Richmond for decades.

His record on the issue of abortion is complicated. While he says that he personally opposes abortion, he supports it politically.

As Governor of Virginia, he often spoke of adoption as the best solution to unwanted pregnancy, and approved the sale of “Choose Life” license plates, whose proceeds help fund pro-life clinics. He supported abstinence-only sex education for a time (although he later cut funding saying the program was not working), and backed Virginia’s informed consent law, which requires women seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound of the developing fetus prior to the procedure.

However, since entering the Senate in 2010, he has maintained a consistently pro-abortion voting record, earning him a 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, whose president, Ilyse Hogue, voiced her support for the candidate after he was picked.

“While Senator Kaine has been open about his personal reservations about abortion, he’s maintained a 100% pro-choice voting record in the U.S. Senate,” she said in a statement. “He voted against dangerous abortion bans, he has fought against efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, and he voted to strengthen clinic security by establishing a federal fund for it.”

In an interview with MSNBC, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards called Kaine “not only a solid vote but really an ally.”

Recently, Kaine has voiced support for the Supreme Court’s striking down of Texas laws that would have required abortion clinics to meet the standards of surgical centers, among other standards. In a statement, he called the ruling a “major win … (in) the fight to expand reproductive freedom for all.”

He has also supported the Affordable Care Act on numerous occasions, and spoke out against the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision after it found that the Act violated the religious freedom rights of Hobby Lobby and similar employers who were forced to comply with the federal contraception mandate against their religious beliefs.

Church teaching does not dictate which party or candidate a Catholic should choose. It does, however, offer guidelines for the faithful to use in making their decision.

In their document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” the U.S. bishops outline an understanding of political responsibility based upon developing a “well-formed conscience.”

Catholic teaching holds that the “right to life” is paramount. St. John Paul II described it as “the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights.” The bishops’ document stresses that the direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life “is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed.”

In the document, the bishops also stated their opposition to “contraception and abortion mandates in public programs and health plans, which endanger rights of conscience and can interfere with parents’ right to guide the moral formation of their children.”

In his statement, Bishop DiLorenzo added that elected officials in Virginia are made aware of the Church’s stance on various issues because he and Bishop Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington advocate for Catholic policies before the Virginia General Assembly, U.S. Congress, and the Virginia Catholic Conference, a public policy advocacy organization.

“We continue to maintain an open communication with public officials who make on-going decisions impacting critical, moral and social issues. This is a responsibility I take seriously, along with my brother bishops, to reach out to public leaders to explain Catholic principles and encourage them to protect human life and dignity in all decisions they make,” Bishop DiLorenzo said in the statement.

“We always pray for our Catholic leaders that they make the right choice, act in the best judgment and in good conscience, knowing the values and teachings of the Catholic Church.”

Bishop Tobin of Providence also weighed in on Saturday on Tim Kaine’s stance on various issues in a Facebook post titled “VP Pick, Tim Kaine, a Catholic?”

“Democratic VP choice, Tim Kaine, has been widely identified as a Roman Catholic. It is also reported that he publicly supports ‘freedom of choice’ for abortion, same-sex marriage, gay adoptions, and the ordination of women as priests,” Bishop Tobin wrote.

“All of these positions are clearly contrary to well-established Catholic teachings; all of them have been opposed by Pope Francis as well. Senator Kaine has said, ‘My faith is central to everything I do.’ But apparently, and unfortunately, his faith isn’t central to his public, political life.”

In past election years, several bishops have stressed that Catholic politicians who support abortion should not receive Communion.

While Bishop DiLorenzo’s statement did not address Kaine specifically, he said “(i)t is the duty of all Catholics, no matter their profession, to decide through an upright and informed conscience as to their worthiness to receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.”

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Leaked e-mails show DNC meetings with anti-religious freedom project

by Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • July 27, 2016

A protestor marches through downtown Philadelphia, PA during the DNC on July 25, 2016. (Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

Washington, D.C. — Leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee show efforts to arrange a meeting with a key NGO working to end religious liberty protections.

The emails were among thousands that surfaced on the website WikiLeaks July 22. The leak included emails to and from several DNC lead staffers during the period from January 2015 to May 25, 2016.

Two May 16 emails from DNC lead staffers, titled “Who do you want at the religious exemption research meeting?”, discuss a presentation from the Movement Advancement Project, an LGBT advocacy group which has challenged religious freedom protections as harmful.

The emails follow up on an April 11 email from Mike Gehrke, vice president of the Benenson Strategy Group consulting firm, to DNC communications director Luis Miranda and Mark Paustenbach, the DNC’s deputy communications director and national press secretary.

Gehrke said his colleague Amy Levin has been working with the Movement Advancement Project “over the past couple years” to develop “messaging and creative executions around religious exemptions laws” such as Religious Freedom Restoration Acts.

Religious Freedom Restoration Acts and other provisions have provided key protections for Catholics and other religious organizations against laws that would otherwise require them to violate their religious and moral beliefs.

The broad email leak resulted in the resignation of DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz following controversy over revelations of apparent collusion against Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.).

The leak has also revealed the influence of other political actors.

Gehrke’s email to the DNC communications officers said the Movement Advancement Project’s research on religious freedom messaging has “some interesting findings on talking about the issue.” The project “would very much like to share it with you all and anyone you think would find it useful,” he said.

He added that Levin would be “making the rounds” in the District of Columbia and would like to set up a time “for a briefing with those who might benefit from this messaging work.”

Miranda responded April 11: “Hi Mike, that sounds interesting and helpful.” He copied DNC press assistant Rachel Palermo “to help coordinate and include others from our political and community engagement teams.”

The Movement Advancement Project plays a role in a multi-million dollar effort to counter religious freedom protections. The project has close links with Tim Gill, a wealthy Colorado-based businessman who for decades has organized and funded a politically savvy LGBT activism campaign through his Gill Foundation.

CNA research into foundation grant listing and tax forms has found a massive effort using at least $5 million in strategic spending to target religious freedom protections. The funding comes from several influential foundations including the Gill Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the Arcus Foundation.

The Movement Advancement Project has received specific grants targeting religious exemptions. In 2014, the Arcus Foundation gave $100,000 to the Gill Foundation to support the project’s “research and messaging on religious exemptions.” The Evelyn & Walter Hass Haas Jr. Fund made $100,000 grant to the Gill Foundation in 2014 to support the project’s work, including “research to develop messaging around gay rights and ‘religious liberty’ issues.”

That messaging research may also influence Democratic Party leaders, the leaked emails suggest.

Levin followed up in an April 12 message to Miranda, the DNC’s communication director: “glad to hear you are interested. We’ve been able to do a really deep dive with this research which, once all synthesized [and] boiled down, led to very clear (if sometimes surprising!) message and target imperatives.”

On May 16, Palermo asked Miranda who he wanted at the religious exemption research meeting. Miranda replied “Mark, Tom, and Marilyn Davis.” Davis is the DNC’s director of community engagement, while Mark Paustenbach was copied on Palermo’s email.

Gehrke’s April 11 message said that the research to be presented to the DNC leaders was a 501c3 project “independent of any of the message work we have done on campaigns.” He said no candidate or specific situation would be presented.

CNA searches of the DNC e-mails published by WikiLeaks did not reveal further discussion on the meeting with the Movement Advancement Project.

A spokesperson for the Movement Advancement Project told CNA July 26 that Benenson Strategy Group is “a contract researcher that has done work with MAP.” It had arranged the meeting to share recommendations from its messaging guidance “Talking about Religious Exemption Laws.”

“Further information around the messaging recommendations can be found in the guide,” the spokesperson said.

“MAP does not have a relationship with the DNC beyond being invited as a guest to that meeting. MAP also provides messaging briefings to a myriad of allies on both sides of the political aisle,” the spokesman continued.

The Movement Advancement Project has published several editions of its messaging guidance, which lists as partners both Benenson Strategy Group and the Center for American Progress. The guide’s 2016 edition aims to build “effective conversations” about “harmful” religious exemptions that it says undermine public safety, legal protections for people who identify as LGBT, and women’s “reproductive freedom.”

Other leaked e-mails from the DNC mention Tim Gill and Jon Stryker, the Arcus Foundation founder and wealthy heir. Their names are mentioned in the context of invitations to the White House, donor outreach, and using LGBT advocacy to engage millennial voters.

The Movement Advancement Project has organized strategy to advance LGBT advocacy within U.S. religious denominations, seminaries, clergy coalitions and media “to counter religious opposition,” the Gill Foundation’s 2006 annual report said.

The Gill Foundation and the Arcus Foundation are also backers of groups like Catholics United. The Arcus Foundation has funded Equally Blessed, a coalition of Catholic dissenting groups including Call to Action, Dignity USA, and New Ways Ministry. Some funding aimed to shift the narrative on LGBT issues at the Catholic Church’s Synod on the Family.

The source of the leaked emails is uncertain. In previous months, the Washington Post reported that some cybersecurity experts believed the hackers who had penetrated the DNC’s computer network had links to Russian intelligence. Robby Mook, Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, also cited these claims about the leaked emails in a Sunday appearance on CNN’s show State of the Union.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange told NBC News there is “no proof whatsoever” that his organization acquired the emails from Russian intelligence. He said DNC servers have had security holes for years and many sets of documents have been made public through multiple sources.

CNA contacted the DNC and the Benenson Strategy Group for comment but did not receive a response by deadline.

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U.S. NEWS

Tim Kaine draws ire over flip-flop on Hyde Amendment

by CNA/EWTN News • July 27, 2016

Tim Kaine. (U.S. Department of Education via Wikipedia CC 2.0)

Washington D.C. — Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Kaine has reportedly changed his mind on a long-standing policy preventing government funding of most abortions, less than three weeks after affirming his support for the measure.

The reported change has led critics to charge that the Democratic Party is intolerant of those within its ranks who hold pro-life views – even moderate ones.

For 30 years, the Hyde Amendment has prohibited certain taxpayer funds – generally those through the Department of Health and Human Services – from going toward abortions, except in cases of rape, incest, or when the life of the mother is deemed to be at stake.

The amendment has enjoyed widespread bipartisan support and has been renewed every year since 1976 in annual appropriations bills, regardless of which party was in power at the time.

For the first time, however, the Democratic platform this year explicitly called for a repeal of the Hyde Amendment, prompting pro-life activists to call it the “most extreme” platform on abortion ever.

Kaine is a Catholic with a complicated record on abortion. While he says that he personally opposes abortion, he supports it politically.

As Governor of Virginia, he often spoke of adoption as the best solution to unwanted pregnancy, and approved the sale of “Choose Life” license plates, whose proceeds help fund pro-life clinics. He supported abstinence-only sex education for a time (although he later cut funding saying the program was not working), and backed Virginia’s informed consent law, which requires women seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound of the developing fetus prior to the procedure.

However, since entering the Senate in 2010, his record has shifted significantly. He has maintained a consistently pro-abortion voting record, earning him a 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America.

On July 6, Kaine was asked by The Weekly Standard about language in a draft of the Democratic Party’s platform which called for an end to the Hyde Amendment.

Kaine said that he was not aware of change, adding, “I have traditionally been a supporter of the Hyde amendment, but I’ll check it out.”

On July 22, Kaine was officially announced as Hillary Clinton’s running mate. Four days later, CNN reported that the Virginia senator had changed his stance on the Hyde Amendment.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, blasted the decision as caving to the demands of the abortion industry.

“Just 20 days ago Senator Kaine said he supported the Hyde Amendment, which stops taxpayers from funding abortion on-demand,” she said. “What has changed? The Democratic Party has become so bound to the abortion industry that there is no room for conscience. Before he could be considered fit for the role of VP to Hillary Clinton, Sen. Kaine had to divest himself of even the appearance of moderation on the abortion issue.”

“Clinton, Kaine, and (Planned Parenthood head Cecile) Richards are absolute extremists pushing the Democratic Party further and further on abortion, alienating the one-third of Democrats who call themselves pro-life,” Dannenfelser added.

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U.S. NEWS

Even a former Obama staffer thinks the Democratic platform is extreme

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • July 27, 2016

The Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, PA on July 26, 2016. (Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images)

Philadelphia, PA — The Democratic Party platform has drawn the ire of critics – including a member of Barack Obama’s former campaign – who say its extreme positions on abortion shut out millions of pro-life voters.

“It’s morally reprehensible,” Michael Wear, director of faith outreach for Obama’s 2012 presidential campaign, told CNA of the pro-abortion plank. The party had an opportunity “to re-open the big tent” and adopt pro-life policies for pro-life Democrats, but did not, he continued.

The Democratic Party platform acknowledges problems like wage stagnation, racism, and income inequality and calls for a broad range of polices; the list includes promoting abortion-on-demand, a “progressive” vision of religious freedom, supporting a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage, overturning the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, and expanding protections in “sex discrimination law.”

It includes a call for the full abolition of the death penalty, using much stronger language than the 2012 platform, which simply said that capital punishment “must not be arbitrary.”

Absent from the platform was any mention of pornography as a “public health crisis,” as the GOP platform had called it.

The abortion plank in the platform shows a sharp departure from previous years. Gone is the call for abortion to be “rare.” Instead, “reproductive health” is considered “core to women’s, men’s, and young people’s health and wellbeing.”

The platform calls for a broad expansion of abortion access, including overturning the Hyde Amendment, which bans federal dollars from directly funding abortions, and the Helms Amendment, which bans federal dollars from funding abortions abroad. The proposal would overturn decades of U.S. policy.

Dr. Matthew Bunson, EWTN Senior Contributor, noted that when Bill Clinton ran for office in 1996, the Democratic platform mentioned abortion once. This year, abortion is mentioned 19 times in the platform.

“That itself gives us an idea of the seriousness of this issue for them,” he told EWTN News Nightly.

“In that ‘96 platform, there was specific reference to ‘conscience.’ You will not find that word in the Democratic platform in 2016,” he added.

The 2016 language describes “abortion on demand to be a social good worthy of explicit government support with tax dollars from everyone,” added Dr. Charles Camosy, a theology professor at Fordham University.

“I don’t think anyone who is on the side of justice for the vulnerable, of non-violence, could support something like that,” he told CNA.

“The abortion plank in the 2016 Democratic platform effectively marginalizes the voices of 21 million pro-life Democrats,” Kristen Day, executive director of the group Democrats for Life of America, wrote in a Los Angeles Times op-ed with Camosy.

One positive proposal in the platform was “paid family leave,” Camosy said. The platform calls for “national paid family and medical leave” where employees could receive at least 12 weeks of paid leave for childbirth or for a “serious” health problem of their own or of a family member.

The issue of “family leave” is “something that I think is implied in Pope St. John Paul II’s encyclical letter Laborem Exercens,” Camosy said, “when he says that society’s social structures need to be oriented to allow women to serve both their vocation as a mother and as a professional, or worker.”

“And right now, they’re not,” he added, noting that the U.S. ranks behind other developed countries in offering paid maternity leave.

Last week at the Republican National Convention, Ivanka Trump, the daughter of GOP nominee Donald Trump, also brought up working mothers in a speech that discussed wage discrepancies for married women.

Camosy hopes that issue “is something that maybe pro-lifers and certain kinds of Republicans and almost every Democrat could agree on, as a way of not only honoring women per Laborem Exercens, but also creating conditions that would make abortion less likely to be chosen.”

On LGBT issues, the Democratic platform reiterates its support for “gay marriage” but also says there is more work to be done in preventing discrimination.

Some critics voiced concern over language that could be viewed as pitting religious freedom against LGBT interests. The platform says, “We support a progressive vision of religious freedom that respects pluralism and rejects the misuse of religion to discriminate.”

The religious freedom section itself primarily focuses on Trump’s “vilification of Muslims,” and condemns any “religious test” administered to immigrants or refugees seeking entry into the U.S. Trump has suggested the policy of a temporary ban on Muslims entering the country as a security measure.

“It violates the religious freedom that is the bedrock of our country and feeds into ISIS’ nefarious narrative. It also alienates people and countries who are crucial to defeating terrorism; the vast majority of Muslims believe in a future of peace and tolerance,” the platform stated.

Michael Wear stressed the need to transcend partisan divides on religious freedom, and not simply recognize some concerns – like a Muslim ban or churches not being able to serve undocumented immigrants – but ignore other concerns, like adoption agencies being forced to close down because they won’t match children with same-sex couples.

“Religious freedom has become so polarized” and “so politicized,” he told CNA. “People of faith” need to start telling their stories, and explaining their contributions to society before they are marginalized from the public square.

“It’s a sincere problem when people think that if Catholic hospitals are no longer able to operate, the free market would fill in the gaps,” he said. “That’s not true. That’s not true in a state like Washington, where they provide over half of the hospital beds.”

“And so there needs to be, I think, an authentic, free, but public way of sharing the pivotal role that we play in this country. And it’s discordant to talk about helping immigrants, and then not appreciate Catholic Relief Services.”

On immigration, the platform emphasizes a “path to citizenship for law-abiding families who are here,” halting roundups, providing “due process” for migrants “fleeing violence in Central America,” and ending family detention centers.

Jeanne Atkinson of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network was “thrilled” with the platform’s immigration plank, hailing its referral to immigrants as “leaders” and its statement of “concrete policy positions.”

The platform showed an “emphasis on family,” she said, noting its call for ending family detention centers and insistence on keeping immigrant families together. “For the Catholic Church, that’s who we are,” she said.

Despite its promises of immigration reform, the Obama administration has drawn criticism from reform advocates for its deportations, particularly its raids on and deportations of migrant families.

“That’s absolutely always a risk,” Atkinson said, acknowledging her concerns of the current administration and a future president not following the party’s immigration platform. However, the platform serves as a good “advocacy tool” that they can use when talking to the administration, she said.

Criminal justice reform is also mentioned in the platform, with policy proposals like reform of mandatory minimums to grant judges more flexibility in sentencing certain offenders, support of the “ban the box” initiative, and “restoring voting rights” to felons after they have served their sentences.

Marijuana should be moved from its status as a “Schedule 1” drug and placed on a “pathway” to “legalization,” the platform continued.

One section of the document deals with “investing in rural America.” The group Catholic Rural Life was pleased that “the agricultural policies relating to greater support for family farms, conservation programs and beginning farmers and ranchers.”

Robert Gronski, policy coordinator for Catholic Rural Life, also praised “the environmental positions for clean energy, using farm-based bio-energy fuel sources.”

“Catholic Rural Life is heartened by the attention given to the situation of farmworkers in our country,” he added. “We began raising the concern about the effects of pesticides and herbicides on farmworkers who are tasked with applying these chemicals, yet not always properly trained or given proper protective attire. It is good to see this mentioned specifically in the platform.”

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U.S. NEWS

Pa. Supreme Court lets stand ruling that priest’s trial was tainted

by CNA/EWTN News • July 28, 2016

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court inside the state capitol building in Harrisburg. (Goya Bauwens via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Philadelphia, PA — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court let stand July 26 a ruling that prosecutors in a Philadelphia priest’s trial used prejudicial evidence related to clergy sex abuse.

Philadelphia’s district attorney must now decide whether to re-try Monsignor William J. Lynn.

The priest was not accused of sexually abusing children. However, he was convicted on one felony count of child endangerment for failing to protect children from an abusive priest, and was sentenced to three to six years in prison.

Msgr. Lynn, now 65 years old, had served as the Philadelphia archdiocese’s Secretary for Clergy from 1992 to 2004. As such, he was responsible for investigating priests accused of abuse.

He was the first Catholic official convicted for a supervisory role over priests accused of abusing children.

That trial could be revisited, or the priest could be released for good.

In December 2015 the Superior Court had ordered a new trial for Msgr. Lynn. It agreed with his lawyers that the prosecutors had wrongly tainted the judgement of the jury by using historical evidence of the Church’s handling of sex abuse, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Some of the two dozen case histories dated to the 1940s.

In the priest’s 2012 trial, prosecutors used the history in an effort to show the priest was part of a dominant culture in the archdiocese. The judge at the trial allowed it as background on the grounds that jurors could understand the context and the culture in which Msgr. Lynn was operating.

The priest’s lawyers said the evidence was prejudicial and inflammatory and drove the jury toward a guilty verdict.

The charge against Msgr. Lynn stemmed from his response to the case of Edward Avery, a now-laicized priest serving a jail sentence for abusing an altar boy during the 1990s. Prosecutors said Msgr. Lynn had reassigned Avery to live near a church school, despite having substantiated a claim of abuse against the priest. After reassignment, Avery sexually assaulted a 10-year-old boy in 1999.

Philadelphia district attorney Seth Williams had appealed the December 2015 decision that ordered a new trial for Msgr. Lynn.

The district attorney must decide whether to hold another trial for the priest, who has served half his sentence.

He will be paroled Oct. 16. Pennsylvania inmates are typically eligible for parole after they serve their minimum sentence. His attorney has sought bail of $250,000.

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U.S. NEWS

Louisiana priest immediately suspended after child porn arrest

by CNA/EWTN News • July 28, 2016

(Lisa F. Young via Shutterstock.com)

Lafayette, LA — Father Felix David Broussard, a priest of the Diocese of Lafayette, La., was arrested yesterday for allegedly possessing more than 500 images of child pornography, according to local police.

In a statement, the Diocese reported that Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel and diocesan staff were “saddened” to learn of the arrest of the priest, who was immediately placed on administrative leave from active priestly ministry.

“The Diocese takes these allegations very seriously and is cooperating fully in every way possible with the investigation,” the statement read.

The arrest followed a complaint filed with the Louisiana State Police Special Victims unit, alleging that a computer that the priest had primary access to contained images of child pornography.

The unit’s investigation reportedly uncovered over 500 images of pornography involving juveniles, and Fr. Broussard was placed under arrest and booked at the St. Martin Parish jail.

In a news release, state police said they “worked closely with the Diocese of Lafayette during the course of this investigation.”

“Louisiana State Police will continue to maintain working relationships with partner law enforcement agencies, individuals, and private entities statewide in an attempt to locate and arrest those individuals who commit crimes against children.”

Bishop Deshotel called a press conference soon after the arrest, saying he wanted to “get the word out as soon as possible.”

The bishop said that while Fr. Broussard is innocent until proven guilty, the diocese immediately and temporarily relieved the priest of his duties pending the outcome of the investigation, in compliance with their Safe Environment policies and the U.S. Bishop’s Charter for the Protection of Youth.

A different priest will be temporarily placed at the parish to continue serving the needs of the faithful.

In an interview with local news station KLFY, Bishop Deshotel said that the diocese had never heard a complaint against Father Broussard, who was ordained for the diocese in 1993.

“Only good letters from people who loved him in the parish. But you know this kind of illness hides itself in a person. We don’t know,” he told KLFY.

Possession of child pornography is not only a state crime, but it is “a crime in church law also. It preys on the most vulnerable in our community and must be vigorously confronted,” the bishop noted in his press conference.

“I want to also add my sincere thanks to the officers of the Louisiana State Police for their professionalism and courtesy, as well as their commitment also to protecting the young and the innocent. It was an honor for me to work with them in the common goal that we share - protecting the innocent.”

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U.S. NEWS

At Baseball Hall of Fame, Mets star gives thanks for Catholic faith

by CNA/EWTN News • July 29, 2016

Mike Piazza. (Arturo Pardavila III via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

New York City, N.Y. — Mike Piazza, the newest inductee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, has given a shout-out to Pope Benedict XVI and his mother Veronica.

“She gave me the gift of my Catholic faith, which has had a profound impact on my career and has given me patience, compassion and hope,” Piazza said in his induction speech Sunday.

“Pope Benedict XVI said, ‘One who has hope, lives differently.’ Mom, you raised five boys, and you were always there for me.”

Piazza, 47, played catcher for the New York Mets and other teams. He hit 427 home runs in his professional career. He began his professional baseball career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992 and played with the Mets from 1998-2005. He was a 12-time All Star player and a 10-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He retired in 2007.

He is only the second Hall of Fame player to be inducted as a Met.

Piazza had attended 7:30 Mass at Cooperstown’s Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, the New York Post’s sports columnist Kevin Kiernan reported.

Afterward, he asked for a special blessing from the priest, Father John Rosson.

“Yes, it was quite humbling,” Fr. Rosson said on the church website. “Mike was very humble … I was tongue tied when he asked for a blessing and I did not realize that I had a live ‘mike’ on.”

The baseball star signed autographs and took pictures with parishioners. The church is only a 10-minute walk from the hall of fame.

About 50,000 people attended the induction ceremony, including many of Piazza’s past teammates and 48 returning Hall of Famers. Piazza was inducted into the hall of fame alongside Ken Griffey, Jr., a past star for the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners.

Piazza also thanked his father, Vince, who was present at the ceremony.

“My father’s faith in me, often greater than my own, is the single most important factor of me being inducted into this Hall of Fame. Thank you, Dad.”

Piazza noted that his father had had a major stroke several years before.

“We made it, Dad. The race is over. Now it’s time to smell the roses,” he said.

The Mets star also thanked the team’s fans.

“How can I put into words my love and appreciation for New York Mets fans. Looking back into this crowd of blue and orange brings me back to the greatest time of my life,” he said. “The thing I miss most is making you cheer.”

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U.S. NEWS

What is the Democratic Party’s ‘progressive’ vision of religious freedom?

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • July 29, 2016

The Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia on July 28, 2016. (Addie Mena/CNA)

Philadelphia, PA — As the 2016 Democratic Party platform insists on a “progressive” notion of religious freedom, what might that look like in policy?

The platform’s language must be interpreted “within the wider context of both the platform and what they [Democrats] have actually done over the last eight years,” Dr. Matthew Bunson, an EWTN senior contributor, explained to CNA.

The platform, being a “far-left document,” he said, should be “seen through that lens of placing the rights of LGBT people at a clear legal advantage. Politically as well, and as far as they’re concerned, socially.”

As the Republican Party platform included two sections on domestic and international religious freedom, the Democratic Party platform featured two sections on promoting LGBT rights both at home and abroad.

Most of the platform’s focus on domestic religious freedom had to do with Republican nominee Donald Trump’s rhetoric towards Muslims, as well as his proposal of religious tests for immigrants and refugees looking to enter the country. Trump has previously advocated for an indefinite ban on Muslims from entering the country, for security reasons.

Although “conscience” was specifically mentioned in the 1996 Democratic platform on abortion – “we respect the individual conscience of each American on this difficult issue” – there is no mention of “conscience” in the current platform, Bunson noted. Clinton has gone so far as to say at the 2015 Women in the World Summit that “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be changed,” after discussing “critical access to reproductive health care.”

After the party affirmed its support for “religious freedom” in 2008, the term disappeared entirely from the 2012 platform, only to re-appear in 2016 in a different light.

Within the LGBT rights section, one sentence mentioned religious freedom:”We support a progressive vision of religious freedom that respects pluralism and rejects the misuse of religion to discriminate.”

As Bunson stated, a “progressive” take on religious freedom could cede the ground to LGBT concerns when they come into conflict with the free exercise of religion. This is already playing out – or has played out – in some cases, as when Catholic Charities adoption agencies in Illinois and the Distric of Columbia were forced to close because they wouldn’t match children with same-sex couples. A florist in Oregon had to shutter her business for refusing to serve a same-sex wedding.

Rights of conscience might be trampled by LGBT rights in courts and in federal regulation, Bunson explained. “So it’ll be enshrined in health care, it’ll be enshrined in civil rights legislation,” he said.

Earlier this year, the Office of Civil Rights proposed expanding anti-discrimination protections in health care under the Affordable Care Act. The proposals would include prohibiting discrimination for “sex stereotypes,” meaning that certain sex-specific treatments like for “gender transition” would have to be performed if requested.

Democrats have also been pushing the Equality Act, also endorsed by Hillary Clinton, in the House and Senate, though they have not had the majority needed to advance the bill. The act would set up sweeping anti-discrimination protections for sexual orientation and gender identity in many areas, such as housing, education, and health care.

The problem with the bill’s language is that it is so broad it could easily infringe on the religious beliefs of those morally opposed to same-sex marriage or transgenderism, legal experts warned.

Elsewhere in the platform, the party condemned the GOP nominee Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Muslims, in the name of religious freedom:

“We reject Donald Trump’s vilification of Muslims. It violates the religious freedom that is the bedrock of our country and feeds into ISIS’ nefarious narrative.”

Regading religious minorities, the platform says the party is “horrified by ISIS’ genocide and sexual enslavement of Christians and Yezidis and crimes against humanity against Muslims and others in the Middle East. We will do everything we can to protect religious minorities and the fundamental right of freedom of religion.”

The platform also insists on promoting LGBT rights abroad. “Democrats believe that LGBT rights are human rights and that American foreign policy should advance the ability of all persons to live with dignity, security, and respect, regardless of who they are or who they love,” it stated.

“We will continue to stand with LGBT people around the world, including fighting efforts by any nation to infringe on LGBT rights or ignore abuse.”

The Obama State Department has already been doing this, Bunson explained, in putting LGBT rights “at the top of their list for international diplomatic initiatives.”

“If that’s the case, then we will see a continuation and probably an expansion of that, as an instrument of American diplomatic efforts that could equal the disenfranchising of countries that continue to support traditional marriage, that place limitations on certainly what the State Department and White House would view as LGBT rights,” he continued.

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‘Star Trek: Beyond’ packs forgiveness and action into one entertaining film

by Carl Kozlowski • July 22, 2016

Science-fiction can be a difficult genre of film for non-geeky, Average Joes and Janes to get their heads around. Often, the creation of new worlds and inventive forms of technology can simply become confusing if one isn’t already predisposed to being a technical genius, but there are some forms of science fiction that become so popular they transcend their genre and enter the general public consciousness.

The “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” juggernauts are perhaps the two best designed to make anyone in the universe fall prey to their charms. Packed with wit and humanity beneath all the jargon and effects, and often loaded with action that parallels the fun found in Westerns, cop movies and adventure films, these two franchises have lasted nearly 40 and 50 years, respectively, and are more popular than ever.

One man has been the mastermind behind both film series exploding into the 21st Century without losing a step: J.J. Abrams. The mastermind behind groundbreaking TV series “Alias” and “Lost,” as well as the last three “Mission: Impossible” films, Abrams has taken over being our funnest filmmaker from Steven Spielberg – and his only possible misstep so far was the prior “Star Trek” 2013’s “Star Trek: Into Darkness.”

Following a wildly inventive reboot of the entire “Trek” mythos with 2009’s “Star Trek” showing the key characters’ origin stories (dating back even before the William Shatner TV series), “Darkness” was a creative disappointment because it largely mimicked 1982’s smash hit “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan.” So Abrams decided to shake things up, switching over to directing last December’s new “Star Wars” movie and handing the reins over to Justin Lin, who had turned the “Fast and Furious” series into the best action films currently being made on the planet.

Lin drew concern from some Trekkies for seeming to pack too much action into the new “Star Trek: Beyond,” at the expense of the series’ penchant for deeper philosophical discussions. But with an ingenious plot structure in which the team of heroes is divided helplessly into a series of duos, Lin and his writers Simon Pegg (who also plays Scotty) and Doug Jung have managed to exceed expectations with a film that explores issues of war and peace, division and unity, in fresh and exciting ways.

“Beyond” opts for a fresh villain this time around, as a hideous, beastly alien named Krall (Idris Elba) unleashes thousands of small but deadly ships he likens to a swarm of bees upon our heroes’ iconic Starship Enterprise. Captain Kirk (Chris Pine) and the rest of the gang were lured into the dangerous confrontation with Krall by being asked to save another ship in a distant nebula, and the Enterprise is so devastated it crashes into an unknown planet.

The escape pods necessary to getting off the crashing starship wound up splitting up the overall group into a series of pairs, which means both that we have more emotions and laughs than in “Darkness,” especially when Spock and McCoy are forced to team up for survival. The resulting adventure gets more entertaining as it goes, constantly upping the stakes with a series of impressive action setpieces until a final showdown that’s wildly entertaining and manages to use the Beastie Boys’ classic rap-rock tune “Sabotage” as the ingenious soundtrack for an epic space battle.

“Star Trek: Beyond” is a real hoot, and richly entertaining for anyone over age 13 (it’s PG-13) and possibly even over 10. The action scenes are occasionally intense but never graphic or bloody, only one or two S-words and zero F-words are heard, and sex and nudity are not actively shown.

The main moral qualms for “Beyond” lie in a couple of quick scenes in which it’s implied that male and female crew members are having casual sex on the lengthy space missions, and in a very quick and surprisingly subtle moment that reveals that Sulu (John Cho) is homosexual and that he and his partner are fathers of a daughter.

While the idea of Sulu being gay drew a lot of media hype, Lin and the writers make it as casual as an afterthought. Sulu scoops up his young daughter upon his return to earth from an early mission, and Kirk smiles from afar as he watches Sulu’s husband put his arm around his back as they walk away with their child.

This is unmistakably an attempt to make homosexual marriage a sympathetic idea, but it is played so subtly that it’s unlikely to truly offend adult and teen viewers and may be even not noticed at all by those under 8 or 10 years old. The film’s message of unity and forgiveness (amongst Enterprise members, not of Krall) makes this an overall positive experience in a summer packed with disappointments.

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.com 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 re-launching it in January 2014 after a five-month sabbatical. He lives in Los Angeles.

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Can the Catholic Church die?

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. • July 27, 2016

In the first three hundred years of Christianity, it was entirely possible for the fledgling Christian religion to be killed off, for it was this religion under constant threat of persecution. It was inconceivable that a stray minority could or would overcome paganism.

Why was Christianity so special? Christians were convinced that Jesus Christ had risen from the dead. Preaching dignity for all, he was the Messiah, the hope of the nations. Jesus Christ was the answer to the universal question: What is the meaning of life?

In the early fourth century, 90 percent of the population followed one god or another. People shopped around for a god just as today one would shop for food stuffs in a supermarket. But the Christians would not follow the crowd. They refused to worship or sacrifice to the gods. For this, they were made scapegoats when natural disaster struck. It was a high crime to profess being a Christian, and the punishment for it? Cruel death. Yet, the Jesus Movement spread across the Roman Empire with pagans themselves embracing Christianity. The theologian Tertullian (2nd to 3rd century) could declare: “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church; it is certain because it is impossible.”

From the Acts of the Apostles to the Present

In the Acts of the Apostles it is written: “For if this council or this work be of men, it will come to naught. But if it be of God, you cannot overthrow it, lest perhaps you be found even to fight against God” (Acts 5:38). From apostolic times to the present, the demise of Catholic Christianity has been predicted with certitude and anticipated with relish. Civilizations have come and gone, cultures have been overthrown; they have corrupted from within. Novel philosophies and cults have risen and fallen. Despite ongoing difficulties, from within and without, Catholic Christianity has stood, ever proposing and professing its unity, holiness, fullness of faith, and apostolic ministry. Still, all is not well.

Fast forward. Of the 44 percent of Americans who have left the religious tradition of their youth, about 10.1 percent are former Roman Catholics. Their return to the Church is unlikely any time in the near future, according to the findings of the Pew Research Center.

Every year during the Easter Triduum, the Church welcomes thousands into full communion with the Body of Christ. In contrast, large numbers walk out of the Church each year. Some of those who left years ago are prominent figures in public service today and currently in the news: Vice-president hopeful Mike Pence, Gov. John Kasich, Congresswoman Mia Love, and FBI Director James Comey.

“The church in America must face the fact,” writes Fr. William J. Byron, S.J., “that it has failed to communicate the Good News cheerfully and effectively to a population adrift on a sea of materialism and under constant attack from the forces of secularism, not to mention the diabolical powers that are at work in our world” (“On Their Way Out,” America Magazine (January 2, 2011).

Former Catholics may not be able to put their finger on the exact reason for leaving the Church, but it may boil down to a few phrases:

“I don’t get anything out of weekly Mass. Homilies are like dry straw.”

“The Catholic Church is all about dos and don’ts.”

“The clergy abuse scandal and its cover-up have driven me away.”

As if to underscore the sad phenomenon of plummeting numbers, Cardinal Timothy Dolan addressed it in 2011 when he addressed the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops: “Perhaps our most pressing pastoral challenge today is to reclaim that truth, to restore the luster, the credibility, the beauty of the Church, ‘ever ancient, ever new,’ renewing her as the face of Jesus, just as He is the face of God. Maybe our most urgent priority is to lead our people to see, meet, and hear anew Jesus in and through His Church.” “Urgent” is the key word.

If the Catholic Church were a business, its leadership would seek every possible means to reverse these untenable losses. And immediately.

The “new evangelization,” beginning with our youth, seeks to reverse course.

The Church Compared to a Symphony Orchestra

The secret of Catholic Christianity lies not so much in the “the outer walls of the Catholic cathedral, with their cracks and crevices and their weather-beaten masonry” but in “the wondrous artistic beauty of the interior hidden from the outer structure” in the mystery of its internal life. (Karl Adam, The Spirit of Catholicism, 13).

The splendor of the Church’s dogmas of the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Mystical Body of Christ, the beauty of venerating Mary and the saints, and the beauty of the instructions of the Church Fathers on prayer, contemplation, mysticism and morality, on the Church’s effective social teaching — all these expressions of Catholic Christianity can plant the seeds of faith as well as strengthen one’s faith in their beauty.

At its best, Catholic Christianity is a splendid symphony orchestra, an inherently beautiful work of art to behold. The mission of the Church, like a symphony orchestra, is to attract the audience with its deep and expressive beauty. An orchestra without that uplifting spirit and joi de vivre is bound to disappoint its audience. Such an orchestra dies if it ceases to attract through its beauty. And what of the Church?

The Prognosis?

Can the Church die from within or be destroyed from without? Given the revolving door of converts coming in and cradle Catholics going out, can today’s Church grow and speak as a beautifully persuasive voice?

Didn’t Jesus assure Peter, the rock on which he built the Church, that the powers of death would not prevail against it (Mt 16:18)? Still, the human element, of itself, can become deformed and disfigured. Prayerlessness, the drive for power, worldliness and loss of fervor provide fertile ground for critics eager to brand the Church as corrupt.

We need more apostles like Mary Magdalene who first proclaimed the Lord’s resurrection to the disciples. She ran to them in haste and was beside herself with joy to announce the good news.

This then is a Church that promises much and assures eternal happiness. The Church’s vocation is to proclaim its beautiful truth and to do so beautifully.

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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Nuanced, thoughtful and still action-packed: New ‘Bourne’ flick delivers

by Carl Kozlowski • July 28, 2016

Matt Damon has long been an interesting choice for the character of Jason Bourne, a man assigned that name as a false cover identity after he was brainwashed by the CIA to become a super-agent and then suffered amnesia. Damon is one of Hollywood’s most outspoken liberals, a guy who never met a left-leaning cause he didn’t like, so the very idea of him playing a gun-wielding killer when he openly advocates widespread gun control has made for an intriguing dichotomy.

But it’s that duality that helps make him the perfect choice for the Bourne film series, which stands at four action-packed thrillers and counting, since the movies themselves deal with the character’s inherent moral conflicts over whether his actions do more good than harm. Having a thoughtful actor like Damon in the role, rather than a generic muscle-bound action hero, helps lure audiences in for the rare kind of adventure that engages the mind as well as providing visceral kicks.

It’s been nine years since “The Bourne Ultimatum” seemed to draw the series to a close after a trilogy of smash hits, but director Paul Greengrass (who handled “Ultimatum” and “The Bourne Supremacy” in 2004 after taking the reins from Doug Liman following 2001’s “The Bourne Identity”) has returned as well, making this an artistically legitimate effort in addition to a global box office cash cow.

The new movie finds former Bourne (Matt Damon) living off the grid, surviving by taking part in brutal fistfights on an underground professional fighting circuit. Meanwhile, his former friend and colleague Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) is also living on the run, taking part in a hacking activist network in which she downloads highly classified files about the assassin training programs that included Bourne both in his current false name and in his real birth name, David Webb.

Passing the information to Bourne in order to make him aware of his true past and let him know he was innocent in his violence due to brainwashing, Nicky arranges to meet him in Greece after she realizes her hacking was discovered. CIA director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones) brings in another assassin known only as Asset (Vincent Cassel) to shoot Bourne and Parsons, setting off a chain of globetrotting chases, fights and shootouts that leapfrog to London and climax in Las Vegas.

It’s there, in Sin City, that Dewey plans to appear at a debate with the founder of a Facebook-style social network about cybersecurity vs. privacy rights. The catch is, Dewey has far more nefarious intentions in mind that Bourne has to race against time to stop.

“Jason Bourne” is a fast-paced, highly exciting and perfectly executed thriller that de-emphasizes the direct political allusions of the earlier Bourne films in favor of a broader approach more focused on entertaining rather than forcing a message on viewers. It’s also a very nuanced movie, thoughtfully showing the arguments for and against the CIA programs depicted in the movie, but ultimately portrays Bourne as a patriot who wants the best for America.

As Bourne, Matt Damon continues to be a lean mean fighting machine, acing his action sequences ranging from a harrowing motorcycle chase through an even more epic car chase and countless fistfights and gun battles. Jones oozes smug self-assurance and steely resolve in his position as the CIA director, while the broad array of other actors all handle their fast-paced antics admirably.

The move has no sex or nudity, and maybe five uses of Christ’s name in vain, with no other foul language of any kind. While the movie has frequent action, only a couple of moments are cringe-inducing, such as when the main villain walks in on a bloody man who’s bound and gagged and it’s implied that he shoots him point-blank in the head. Otherwise, “Bourne” has plenty of intense chase scenes, shootouts and fistfights, but all are presented tastefully in a way that teens and adult action fans can easily enjoy.

Greengrass has fashioned a film that is at once pulse-pounding and thoughtful, offering a harrowing look at the surveillance technology that we all live under today, in which it is all but impossible to escape capture or death if the government targets you. Yet its title character, while conflicted, remains a man who loves his country and simply wants to do the right thing to keep it safe. Here’s hoping our real-world secret operatives have the same kind of conscience.

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.com 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 re-launching it in January 2014 after a five-month sabbatical. He lives in Los Angeles.

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How Christians can deal with the experience of suffering

by Msgr. M. Francis Mannion • July 29, 2016

Richard Harries, former Anglican Bishop of Oxford (U.K.), wrote a book some years ago entitled Art and the Beauty of God, which has become something of a classic.

Hidden away in the book is one of the best (if incomplete) summaries I know of the problem of suffering and how the Christian can deal with the matter and live through it.

Harries begins by saying, “The almost overwhelming objection to believing that there is a wise and living power behind the universe is the existence of so much pain and anguish in the world.” Christians can live with this objection by recognizing that the problem of suffering can never be answered in this life. But, for non-believers the problem is insurmountable.

Harries’ first explanation of suffering is that God has given humanity genuine independence. “We are genuinely free, within limits, however narrow, to shape our destiny; and that means being free to choose what is harmful to others and oneself, as well as what is beneficial.” Given God’s overall purpose in creation to bring about free, rational beings like us, it could not be otherwise.

Think about it: If all of a sudden, human beings were to change fundamentally for the good, exercising their freedom for good purposes only, how radically different the world would be.

Harries’ second explanation concerning suffering is that “in the person of Jesus, God himself has come among us and shares our anguish to the full, even in the darkness of the Cross.” This is why the image of Christ on the Cross is so consoling to Christians. “Christ,” said French philosopher Blaise Pascal, “dies until the end of the world.”

God is not absent in the experience of suffering; he is in the midst of it. God is not distant, in a remote heaven, apathetic to human suffering. He is the God who, in Christ, carries the Cross through history.

Harries’ third explanation is that “in the Resurrection of Christ we have a sign and promise that in the end God’s purpose of love will prevail; will overcome all that is destructive and evil, all suffering and death. There will be a “glorious consummation” of the whole creation. The whole human and physical world will find its proper fulfilment.

Harries quotes Romans 8:21, the fullest biblical statement about the end of the whole created order: “Creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the children of God.” All will be “transfigured and irradiated by the glory of God in Christ; all will be translucent to the divine beauty.”

I add my own additional “explanations” to Bishop Harries’ list. First is the truth that God is present in suffering and illness through doctors, nurses, healthcare personnel, and hospice workers. Their healing power is the creation and gift of God. The sacrament of Anointing before surgery is profoundly connected to the gift of medicine; it complements it.

When a person dies in or after surgery, we should not imagine that God’s gift in the Anointing rite has failed. It has to be placed in the context of God’s gift of eternal life offered to the deceased person.

A final principle: God is present and active in the sickness and dying of a friend or relative through us, through our being at the sick or dying person’s bedside.

We are participants in God’s gift by being with the sick person, not primarily by talking or offering explanations of sickness and dying, but simply “being there” in loving compassion and solidarity.

Msgr. Mannion is pastor emeritus of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Salt Lake City. He holds a Ph.D. in sacramental theology from The Catholic University of America. He was founding president of The Society for Catholic Liturgy in 1995 and the founding editor of the Society’s journal, Antiphon. At the invitation of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago he founded the Mundelein Liturgical Institute in 2000.

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SUNDAY • JULY 31, 2016

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Ecc 1:2; 2:21-23; NRSVCE)

Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.

Sometimes one who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave all to be enjoyed by another who did not toil for it. This also is vanity and a great evil. What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest. This also is vanity.

Second Reading (Col 3:1-5, 9-11; NRSVCE)

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in all!

Gospel Reading (Lk 12:13-21; NRSVCE)

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” But he said to him, “Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?” And he said to them, “Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions.” Then he told them a parable: “The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.”

MONDAY • AUGUST 1, 2016

Memorial of Saint Alphonsus Liguori

First Reading (Jer 28:1-17; NRSVCE)

In that same year, at the beginning of the reign of King Zedekiah of Judah, in the fifth month of the fourth year, the prophet Hananiah son of Azzur, from Gibeon, spoke to me in the house of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have broken the yoke of the king of Babylon. Within two years I will bring back to this place all the vessels of the Lord’s house, which King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon took away from this place and carried to Babylon. I will also bring back to this place King Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim of Judah, and all the exiles from Judah who went to Babylon, says the Lord, for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon.”

Then the prophet Jeremiah spoke to the prophet Hananiah in the presence of the priests and all the people who were standing in the house of the Lord; and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord fulfill the words that you have prophesied, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles. But listen now to this word that I speak in your hearing and in the hearing of all the people. The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms. As for the prophet who prophesies peace, when the word of that prophet comes true, then it will be known that the Lord has truly sent the prophet.”

Then the prophet Hananiah took the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, and broke it. And Hananiah spoke in the presence of all the people, saying, “Thus says the Lord: This is how I will break the yoke of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon from the neck of all the nations within two years.” At this, the prophet Jeremiah went his way.

Sometime after the prophet Hananiah had broken the yoke from the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: Go, tell Hananiah, Thus says the Lord: You have broken wooden bars only to forge iron bars in place of them! For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: I have put an iron yoke on the neck of all these nations so that they may serve King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, and they shall indeed serve him; I have even given him the wild animals. And the prophet Jeremiah said to the prophet Hananiah, “Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you made this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the Lord: I am going to send you off the face of the earth. Within this year you will be dead, because you have spoken rebellion against the Lord.”

In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.

Gospel Reading (Mt 14:13-21; NRSVCE)

When Jesus heard of the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” Jesus said to them, “They need not go away; you give them something to eat.” They replied, “We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.” And he said, “Bring them here to me.” Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. And all ate and were filled; and they took up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve baskets full. And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.

TUESDAY • AUGUST 2, 2016

Tuesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Jer 30:1-2, 12-15, 18-22; NRSVCE)

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.

For thus says the Lord:

Your hurt is incurable,

your wound is grievous.

There is no one to uphold your cause,

no medicine for your wound,

no healing for you.

All your lovers have forgotten you;

they care nothing for you;

for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,

the punishment of a merciless foe,

because your guilt is great,

because your sins are so numerous.

Why do you cry out over your hurt?

Your pain is incurable.

Because your guilt is great,

because your sins are so numerous,

I have done these things to you.

Thus says the Lord:

I am going to restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob,

and have compassion on his dwellings;

the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound,

and the citadel set on its rightful site.

Out of them shall come thanksgiving,

and the sound of merrymakers.

I will make them many, and they shall not be few;

I will make them honored, and they shall not be disdained.

Their children shall be as of old,

their congregation shall be established before me;

and I will punish all who oppress them.

Their prince shall be one of their own,

their ruler shall come from their midst;

I will bring him near, and he shall approach me,

for who would otherwise dare to approach me?

says the Lord.

And you shall be my people,

and I will be your God.

Gospel Reading (Mt 14:22-36; NRSVCE)

Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but by this time the boat, battered by the waves, was far from the land, for the wind was against them. And early in the morning he came walking toward them on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, “Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat, started walking on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he noticed the strong wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret. After the people of that place recognized him, they sent word throughout the region and brought all who were sick to him, 36 and begged him that they might touch even the fringe of his cloak; and all who touched it were healed.

WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 3, 2016

Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Jer 31:1-7; NRSVCE)

At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people.

Thus says the Lord:

The people who survived the sword

found grace in the wilderness;

when Israel sought for rest,

the Lord appeared to him from far away.

I have loved you with an everlasting love;

therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.

Again I will build you, and you shall be built,

O virgin Israel!

Again you shall take your tambourines,

and go forth in the dance of the merrymakers.

Again you shall plant vineyards

on the mountains of Samaria;

the planters shall plant,

and shall enjoy the fruit.

For there shall be a day when sentinels will call

in the hill country of Ephraim:

“Come, let us go up to Zion,

to the Lord our God.”

For thus says the Lord:

Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob,

and raise shouts for the chief of the nations;

proclaim, give praise, and say,

“Save, O Lord, your people,

the remnant of Israel.”

Gospel Reading (Mt 15: 21-28; NRSVCE)

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, “Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.” But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, “Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.” He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” He answered, “It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered her, “Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed instantly.

THURSDAY • AUGUST 4, 2016

Memorial of Saint John Vianney

First Reading (Jer 31:31-34; NRSVCE)

The days are surely coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt — a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more.

Gospel Reading (Mt 16:13-23; NRSVCE)

When Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist, but others Elijah, and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Then he sternly ordered the disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Messiah.

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and undergo great suffering at the hands of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.”

FRIDAY • AUGUST 5, 2016

Friday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Na 1:15, 2:2, 3:1-3, 6-7; NRSVCE)

Look! On the mountains the feet of one

who brings good tidings,

who proclaims peace!

Celebrate your festivals, O Judah,

fulfill your vows,

for never again shall the wicked invade you;

they are utterly cut off.

For the Lord is restoring the majesty of Jacob,

as well as the majesty of Israel,

though ravagers have ravaged them

and ruined their branches.

Ah! City of bloodshed,

utterly deceitful, full of booty —

no end to the plunder!

The crack of whip and rumble of wheel,

galloping horse and bounding chariot!

Horsemen charging,

flashing sword and glittering spear,

piles of dead,

heaps of corpses,

dead bodies without end —

they stumble over the bodies!

I will throw filth at you

and treat you with contempt,

and make you a spectacle.

Then all who see you will shrink from you and say,

“Nineveh is devastated; who will bemoan her?”

Where shall I seek comforters for you?

Gospel Reading (Mt 16:24-28; NRSVCE)

Jesus told his disciples, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?

“For the Son of Man is to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay everyone for what has been done. Truly I tell you, there are some standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

SATURDAY • AUGUST 6, 2016

Feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord

First Reading (Dn 7:9-10, 13-14; NRSVCE)

As I watched,

thrones were set in place,

and an Ancient One took his throne,

his clothing was white as snow,

and the hair of his head like pure wool;

his throne was fiery flames,

and its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued

and flowed out from his presence.

A thousand thousands served him,

and ten thousand times ten thousand stood attending him.

The court sat in judgment,

and the books were opened.

As I watched in the night visions,

I saw one like a human being

coming with the clouds of heaven.

And he came to the Ancient One

and was presented before him.

To him was given dominion

and glory and kingship,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

should serve him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion

that shall not pass away,

and his kingship is one

that shall never be destroyed.

Gospel Reading (Lk 9:28b-36; NRSVCE)

Jesus took with him Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. Suddenly they saw two men, Moses and Elijah, talking to him. They appeared in glory and were speaking of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Now Peter and his companions were weighed down with sleep; but since they had stayed awake, they saw his glory and the two men who stood with him. Just as they were leaving him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— not knowing what he said. While he was saying this, a cloud came and overshadowed them; and they were terrified as they entered the cloud. Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” When the voice had spoken, Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and in those days told no one any of the things they had seen.