VOLUME 2, ISSUE 7  •  AUGUST 13, 2016

Table of Contents

Copyright Notice

VATICAN NEWS

At unplanned meeting, imam thanks Francis for his comments on Islam

Pope: It’s ‘unacceptable’ that civilians must pay the price of Syrian conflict

Pope sends condolences to victims of Pakistan hospital attack

Pope offers message of prayer amid violent storms in Mexico

Surprise! Pope Francis visits convents on his day off

For Pope Francis, when we receive Christ’s mercy we must share it

Pope Francis invites 21 Syrian refugees to lunch

Will Pope Francis visit Assisi again this year? This imam says yes.

Muslims who interpret Quran peacefully ‘find a strong ally’ in the Church

Former prostitutes get special visit from Pope Francis

WORLD NEWS

Irish archbishop moves seminarians from ‘gay culture’ at St. Patrick’s

An encounter with the Manoppello Image of the Face of Christ

Catholic before partisan: African leaders unite to aid orphanage

The shocking prayer of a young Iraqi: ‘Have mercy on ISIS’

Irish bishop of Bloody Sunday fame remembered for his peaceful witness

New Iraqi priests bring joy amid years of sadness, displacement

Meet the priest who serves the most rural parts of Papua New Guinea

Japan’s bishops oppose efforts to abandon pacifism in nation’s constitution

Campaign will help 1,000 seminarians in honor of murdered French priest

Brazilian priest mentioned in ‘Spotlight’ film commits suicide

The deadly danger of global blasphemy laws

In Syria, Aleppo’s Catholics pray and fast for peace

Bishop calls for international collaboration to end conflict in South Sudan

Islamic aggression takes different form in Nigeria, bishop explains

In war-torn Syria, Our Lady of Peace Cathedral needs help

U.S. NEWS

This California bill could hurt poor students at religious schools

In 38 states, churches can’t help people pay their insurance premiums

Re-trial puts landmark Catholic sex abuse conviction in doubt

Pence slammed for proposed Christian, Jewish refugee ban

Will Texas execute two innocent men?

Pro-life leaders reject call for abortions in face of U.S. Zika cases

Oklahoma Christians counter Satanic mockery of Virgin Mary with prayer

Guam priest admits guilt amid ongoing abuse scandal

Sale of saint relics on eBay sparks Catholic outcry

Who’s turning 40? One of America’s largest dioceses!

FEATURES

These two game-changing Olympians are serious Catholics

The little-known Catholicism of a ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ star

Back to School: The Catholic Philosophy of Education

World Youth Day 2016: Source of hope

Highs and lows of showbiz explored in worthwhile indie flick

Ben-Hur: An epic remake

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • August 14, 2016

Monday • August 15, 2016

Tuesday • August 16, 2016

Wednesday • August 17, 2016

Thursday • August 18, 2016

Friday • August 19, 2016

Saturday • August 20, 2016

The Catholic Digital News

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Volume 2, Issue 7 • August 13, 2016

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VATICAN NEWS

At unplanned meeting, imam thanks Francis for his comments on Islam

by CNA/EWTN News • August 5, 2016

Pope Francis prays in the Porziuncola in Assisi on Aug. 4, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Assisi, Italy — During his visit to Assisi Thursday, Pope Francis had a brief, unscheduled meeting with the imam of Perugia, Abdel Qader Mohammed, who thanked the Roman Pontiff for his recent statement that true Islam is not a religion of violence, but of peace.

Pope Francis met briefly with Mohammed during his Aug. 4 visit to the Porziuncola inside the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels.

According to San Francesco, the official magazine of the Franciscans in Assisi, Mohammed thanked Pope Francis for statements he made during his July 31 papal flight to Rome where he affirmed, in Mohammed’s words, “that Islam is not a religion of terrorism, but a faith of peace.”

When asked by a French journalist during the flight whether or not Islam as a whole can be considered a violent religion, the Pope responded that “I do not believe it is right to identify Islam with violence … This is not right and it is not true.”

“I don’t like to speak about Islamic violence,” he said, noting that while “one can speak of the so-called ISIS,” it is “an Islamic state which presents itself as violence.”

“This is a small fundamentalist group called ISIS,” he said. But “I do not believe it is true or correct that Islam is terrorist.”

According to San Francesco, Mohammed said the unexpected meeting with Pope Francis was “an exciting, important and necessary encounter, now more than ever … because dialogue is built on mutual respect and sincerity. And today more than ever, firm stances are needed against all forms of violence and terror.”

“A heartfelt thanks to Pope Francis for his closeness to us Muslims,” Mohammed commented, closing by praising “Allah, the Merciful.”

Pope Francis visited Assisi to mark the 800th anniversary of the “Pardon of Assisi,” when, according to tradition, Saint Francis had a vision of Christ and Our Lady surrounded by angels. When the Lord asked what he wanted for the salvation of souls, Saint Francis responded by asking God to grant a plenary indulgence to all pilgrims who visited the church.

This isn’t the first time Francis has met with an imam. On March 19 he embraced the grand imam of Ahmed el-Tayeb, grand imam of the al-Azhar Mosque, during a meeting at the Vatican, a move which is seen as a step toward reopening dialogue between Christians and Sunni Muslims.

On that occasion, el-Tayeb issued a global appeal to counter terrorism, which he said is “deviant” from true Islam and threatens both east and west alike.

While in Assisi, Pope Francis also heard the confessions of 19 people and visited the hospital of the friars of the Porziuncola in the evening, where he gave a brief speech before heading back to Rome.

“Thank you so much for your welcome and I ask the Lord to bless you,” Pope Francis said. “I thank you for this desire to be close to me. Do not forget: always forgive. Forgive from the heart, or if you can get closer … but forgive, because if we forgive the Lord forgives us, and we all need forgiveness. Is there anyone not in need of pardon here? All (are)!”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope: It’s ‘unacceptable’ that civilians must pay the price of Syrian conflict

by CNA/EWTN News • August 7, 2016

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

Vatican City — On Sunday, Pope Francis lamented at how many defenseless civilians are forced to “pay the price” of the ongoing Syrian crisis, and he expressed his solidarity for those affected.

“Sadly, news of civilian victims of war continues to arrive from Syria, especially from Aleppo,” the Pope said during his weekly post-Angelus address, delivered to the crowds in St. Peter’s Square from the Apostolic palace.

“It is unacceptable that many unarmed persons – even many children – must pay the price of the conflict,” he said. The price, he said, is that of “closed hearts and the absence of the desire for peace” on the part of the powerful.

The pontiff expressed his closeness in prayer and solidarity to his “Syrian brothers and sisters,” entrusting them to the “maternal protection of the Virgin Mary.” He then invited the crowds in a moment of prayerful silence, before leading them in the Hail Mary.

The city of Aleppo has been under a weeks-long siege by Syrian government forces, although rebel fighters have announced that they have put an end to it, the BBC reports. Around 250,000 are estimated to have been living in the besieged city.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed and millions more displaced over the course of the civil war between Syrian and government forces, which is currently in its fifth year.

Before leading the crowds in the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis shared some reflections on the day’s Gospel readings, during which Jesus invites his disciples to sell all their belongings and follow him.

This invitation presents almsgiving as a “work of mercy,” the Pope said. Rather than placing “faith in ephemeral goods,” Jesus invites his disciples to “use things without attachment or egotism,” according to “the logic of God, the logic of attentiveness to others, the logic of love.”

The pontiff then turned to the parables on the theme of vigilance as recounted in the day’s Gospel.

He began with the first parable about servants needing to always be prepared for the return of their master.

“It is happiness to wait for the Lord with faith, to stay ready, in an attitude of service,” the Pope said.

Noting how the parable is set at night, Pope Francis explained how the scene is like a vigil, “which is a prelude to the bright day of eternity.”

By remaining “ready, alert, and committed to the service of others,” he said, the Lord will invite us to be served upon his return, and he “welcome us to his table.”

“This is already the case every time we meet the Lord in prayer, or in serving the poor, and above all in the Eucharist, where he prepares a banquet to nourish us with his Word and his Body.”

Pope Francis reflected briefly on the parable of the unexpected coming of the thief, and the demand for “vigilance” ahead of the Lord’s arrival.

The Pope also spoke of the third parable of the servant who abuses his power while the master is away; upon the master’s return, he is punished.

“This scene describes a recurring situation even in our days: so much injustice, violence, and daily evils are born of the idea of acting like the master of the lives of others.”

“Jesus today reminds us that the anticipation of eternal beatitude does not exempt us from the responsibility of making the world more just and habitable,” Pope Francis concluded.

“Indeed, it is this hope of possessing the kingdom in eternity which pushes us to work for the betterment of the conditions of earthly life, especially of our weakest brothers and sisters.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope sends condolences to victims of Pakistan hospital attack

by Ann Schneible (CNA/EWTN News) • August 9, 2016

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

Vatican City — Pope Francis offered his condolences to those affected by the “senseless and brutal” attack against a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan, which left dozens dead and over a hundred injured.

The Pope was “deeply saddened to learn of the loss of life” from Monday’s attack, according to the telegram which was signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

In the message, the pontiff sent his “heartfelt condolences to the relatives of the deceased, to the authorities and to the entire nation as he offers the assurance of his prayers for the many injured victims of this senseless and brutal act of violence.”

“Upon all who mourn and upon all who have been affected by this tragedy, His Holiness invokes the divine gifts of consolation and strength.”

At least 70 people were killed and around 120 people were wounded when a suicide bomber struck the hospital in Pakistan’s south-west, the BBC reports.

Included among the casualties were lawyers and journalists who were accompanying the remains of Bilal Anwar Kasi, a lawyer who had been shot dead earlier that day.

Both a Pakistan faction of the Taliban – known as Jamaat-ur-Ahrar – and the Islamic State have claimed responsibility for the bombing, according to Reuters.

The Jamaat-ur-Ahrar is the same group responsible for a deadly attack earlier this year in which around 70 people – mostly children – were slaughtered during Easter Sunday celebrations.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope offers message of prayer amid violent storms in Mexico

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • August 9, 2016

Geostationary imagery of Tropical Storm Javier. (U.S. Naval Research Lab via Wikipedia/Public domain)

Vatican City — After Tropical Storm Javier and Hurricane Earl ravaged parts of Mexico over the weekend, Pope Francis offered his prayers and closeness to all those affected by the storms.

“In the face of the grave damage caused by the hurricane which affected several areas of the country – causing numerous victims and extensive material damage – the Holy Father expresses his affection for the beloved Mexican people,” Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin said in a telegram dated Aug. 8.

The Pope, he said, offers his prayers “for those who lost their lives and (desires) to show his closeness to their families and the victims.”

Multiple mudslides caused by heavy rains killed at least 40 people in the mountainous north of Mexico’s Puebla state over the weekend. An additional 13 people were killed by mudslides in the neighboring Veracruz state, according to the AP.

In the telegram, addressed to the Mexican bishops’ conference, Pope Francis imparted his Apostolic Blessing to the victims of the storms and asked “the Lord to sustain the will of the authorities and people of Mexico and to awaken in all a spirit of solidarity.”

Storm shelters have been set up in the affected areas, mostly at local schools, by authorities in Cabo San Lucas and families living in low-lying areas near streams were evacuated, the AP reports.

The township of Huauchinango alone had 25 victims, the AP said. Their mayor Gabriel Alvarado said that “it’s a tragedy what has happened to our people.”

According to the BBC, dogs have been brought into Puebla to search for those who are still missing. More than 10,000 people have been affected and 18 villages remain cut off in the eastern state, the agency reports.

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VATICAN NEWS

Surprise! Pope Francis visits convents on his day off

by CNA/EWTN News • August 9, 2016

Pope Francis prays before the tomb of St. Filippa Mareri at a Franciscan convent in Borgo San Pietro, Italy on Aug. 9, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Rieti, Italy — In keeping with his spontaneous personality, Pope Francis made a surprise visit Tuesday to two convents north of Rome.

The Pope visited the province of Rieti the morning of Aug. 9, stopping by the monastery of the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Philippa Mareri in Borgo San Pietro.

He also visited the convent of the Benedictine Sisters of Reparation of the Holy Face of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Carsoli, which is just outside the province.

He was accompanied by Bishop Domenico Pompili of Rieti and by the bishop’s assistant, Sister Angela Severino.

Pope Francis has made a surprise visit to Rieti before. On Jan. 4, he met with the local Franciscan community and venerated the shrine in Greccio, where it is believed that Saint Francis set up the first Nativity Scene.

He also visited with Bishop Pompili on that occasion, and met a group of about 70 youth taking part in a pilgrimage to the shrine.

Founded by Father Ildebrando Gregori, the Benedictine Sisters of Reparation now has congregations in Italy, Poland, and India. The monastery of the Franciscan Sisters in Borgo San Pietro is the motherhouse of the congregation, although they have several other locations throughout Italy, and one in Albania.

According to the Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, the Vatican press office said that it was “a private visit” and had no public nature.

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VATICAN NEWS

For Pope Francis, when we receive Christ’s mercy we must share it

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • August 10, 2016

Pope Francis greets the faithful at the General Audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall on Aug. 10, 2016. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Vatican City — Each of us must respond to the gift of mercy in our hearts by getting up and putting mercy into action, Pope Francis said Wednesday.

Speaking about a bishop who had in his cathedral one Holy Door of mercy for entering and one for exiting, Pope Francis said: “Let us also do the same with the journey that goes from the heart to the hands.”

“Let us enter the church through the door of mercy, to receive the forgiveness of Jesus, who tells us: ‘Arise! Go, go!’ And with this ‘Go!’ – on foot – let us leave through the exit door,” he continued.

Pope Francis gave this reflection at the end of his General Audience in the Vatican’s Paul VI audience hall Aug. 10.

Pope Francis reflected on the pain of the mother of the young boy who died in Luke 7 and the compassion that Christ felt for her, saying it is the mother’s great pain which moved Christ to perform the miracle of reviving the boy from death.

St. Luke, Pope Francis said, writes that upon seeing the woman, “the Lord was moved by great compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not cry!’”

During this Jubilee Year it would be good for pilgrims to remember this story from the Gospel when entering the Holy Door, “the Gate of Mercy,” Pope Francis explained.

“We are confident that, at the Holy Door, the Lord is near to meet each one of us, to bring and offer his powerful word consoling: ‘Do not cry!’ This is the door of the meeting between the pain of humanity and compassion of God.”

Pope Francis told those present that crossing the threshold is the beginning of our journey in God’s mercy, a mercy which tells us to “arise,” just as Christ told the boy in the Gospel of Luke.

At the Holy Door, each person brings his or her life, with all of its “joys and sufferings, projects and failures, doubts and fears,” Pope Francis reminded pilgrims. “Present it at the mercy of the Lord,” he told them.

“In passing through the Holy Door, we try to feel in our heart this word: ‘Get up!’”

Pope Francis explained that Christ heals us of our failures, revives us, and gives us hope. In the Holy Door, each of us can find the “inexhaustible treasure of God’s mercy.”

At the word of Christ, the dead boy sat up and began to speak. “What Jesus did is therefore not only an action of salvation destined to the widow and her son, or a gesture of kindness limited to that town,” he said. “Today too the Church recognizes a visit from God.”

“Mercy, both in Jesus and in us, is a journey that starts from the heart to get to the hands. What does this mean? Jesus looks at you, heals you with his mercy, tells you: ‘Get up!’, And your heart is new,” Pope Francis concluded.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis invites 21 Syrian refugees to lunch

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • August 11, 2016

Pope Francis eats lunch with 21 Syrian refugees in the Casa Santa Marta on Aug. 11, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — On Thursday Pope Francis invited 21 Syrian refugees to join him for lunch at his residence in the Vatican’s Casa Santa Marta, exchanging gifts, toys and drawings with the children.

The Syrian families were those brought by Pope Francis after his day-trip to Lesbos, Greece in April. Pope Francis brought the first group back to Rome with him on his flight April 16, and the second group arrived to Rome in mid-June.

During the meal, “both adults and children had an opportunity to speak with Pope Francis about the beginning of their lives in Italy,” an Aug. 11 communique from the Vatican read.

The Pope presented the children with toys and gifts and the children gathered around the Pope to give him a collection of their drawings.

The first group of refugees, accompanied to Rome by Pope Francis in April, was made up of three Muslim families and numbered 12 people in total, including six children. Two of the families are from Damascus, and one is from Deir Azzor, which is now territory occupied by ISIS. Their homes had been bombed.

The second group, which arrived in Rome in June and included two Christians, was made up of six adults and three children. They are all Syrian citizens who had been living in the Kara Tepe camp on Lesbos after making the perilous boat ride from Turkey to the small Greek island.

All of these families are currently hosted by the Community of Sant’Egidio and were joined at lunch by the founder, Andrea Riccardi, and several other members of the community.

Pope Francis and his Syrian guests were also joined by the Substitute Secretary of State, Archbishop Angelo Becciù and Dr. Domenico Giani, Commander of the Vatican Gendarmerie, and two gendarmes who assisted with the transfer of the families from Lesbos to Italy, according to the communique.

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VATICAN NEWS

Will Pope Francis visit Assisi again this year? This imam says yes.

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • August 11, 2016

Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 3, 2016. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Assisi, Italy — If a prominent imam is right, Pope Francis will visit Assisi Sept. 19 for a major international interreligious meeting.

Mohamed Abdel Qader, the Imam of Perugia and Umbria – the Italian region that is home to Assisi – raised the possibility last week in an interview with the Italian Bishops Conference’s television TV2000.

Imam Qader was in Assisi when Pope Francis visited to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the “perdono” indulgence. This plenary indulgence, established in 1216 under Pope Honorius III, is given to everyone who goes to Assisi, goes to confession, receives Holy Communion and prays according the Pope’s intentions on the days of Aug. 1-2 each year.

The imam attended the Aug. 4 ceremony at the St. Mary of the Angels Basilica in Assisi. He exchanged a quick greeting with Pope Francis before he left.

The unscheduled meeting came only three days after Muslim leaders all over Europe made the decision to take part in Catholic Masses on Sunday, as a sign of solidarity with the Catholic Church. The move was a rejection of the barbaric murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel, the French priest killed by Islamist extremists at the end of Mass in a church in the area of Rouen, France.

Imam Qader told TV2000 that there will be a papal visit to Assisi for peace Sept. 19-20.

“I and many other representatives of the national and international Muslim community will go and greet the Pope,” the imam said.

At present, the Vatican has not officially confirmed papal participation in the meeting of Assisi.

The meeting falls on the 30th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace that St. John Paul II convoked in Assisi 1986.

St. John Paul II went back to Assisi for successive events 1993 and 2002. The last day of prayer led by a Pope was convoked by Benedict XVI in 2011, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first historic meeting in Assisi.

However, the Sant’Egidio community has organized an interreligious meeting every year since 1986, held at different locations.

This year, the event will once again take place in Assisi. Father Mauro Galimberti, custodian of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, said that the Franciscan friars will join the Sant’Egidio community and the diocese to “open wide the doors for a new meeting among the world leaders of religion.”

The event, the custodian said, will be “a choral prayer.”

“Together, we will ask ourselves: what are the principles acknowledged by all the religions for peaceful coexistence? What contribution to politics, science and culture in general can we propose to draft a decalogue of human coexistence?”

This interreligious dialogue effort is part of other efforts to advance a “culture of encounter” which the Pope has prized during his pontificate.

Other noteworthy events are also taking place in Catholic-Muslim dialogue. Relations have been re-established with Egypt’s Al-Azhar Mosque, one of the most important institutions of Sunni Islam.

Ahmed al-Tayab, the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, had a private meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican May 23.

Pope Francis is also expected to visit the Mosque of Rome. The invitation was personally forwarded to Pope Francis by an Islamic delegation Jan. 20, in a short 10-minute meeting in a small hall of Paul VI Hall ahead of the Pope’s general audience.

Though the delegation said the Pope accepted the invitation, at present no date for the visit has been set.

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VATICAN NEWS

Muslims who interpret Quran peacefully ‘find a strong ally’ in the Church

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • August 12, 2016

The Great Mosque of Aleppo, as it appeared in 2010. (Yeowatzup via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Berlin, Germany — A Vatican bishop spoke out last week stressing that while few Muslims are terrorists, there are passages in the Quran advocating violence that can’t be ignored, and must be clarified from within the Muslim community.

“It would be naive to pretend that there are not certain episodes in the Koran and the Hadith that may lend themselves to a violent interpretation,” Bishop Marcelo Sánchez Sorondo, president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, said Aug. 5.

He added that “how the Muslim community worldwide can give a peaceful hermeneutic to these passages is a task which I imagine will be made more difficult with too much pressure ‘from outside,’” and that thus “I wouldn’t dream of telling Muslims how to interpret their faith.”

“But those who want to work towards that end from within will find a strong ally and friend in the Catholic Church, ready to accompany on the way.”

Bishop Sánchez delivered this reflection during a “Meditation for Peace” hosted by The Art of Living, an India-based Hindu organization.

His speech came just days after Pope Francis on his July 31 return flight from Krakow voiced his belief that it is not right to identify Islam with violence. “This is not right and it is not true,” he said.

In his speech Bishop Sánchez agreed with the Pope, but noted how the “religious-inspired terrorism” of the last few decades has been “propagated by a few individuals who insist that they alone have the correct interpretation of Islam.”

These individuals persist “in the face of the billion other adherents of Islam who testify to a tolerant religion which does not recognize the legitimacy of the actions of these few wicked individuals,” he said.

Bishop Sánchez acknowledged that most Muslims are not guilty of the violence perpetrated “in the name of their religion,” and that Muslims themselves were killed in the July 15 act of terrorism in Nice, when a truck plowed through crowds celebrating Bastille Day, killing 84 people and wounding roughly 50 others.

He also noted how an “overwhelming majority” of the victims of terrorist groups in the Middle East such as the Islamic State are Muslim.

“It therefore falls upon all leaders of moral authority in these times to do all they can to calm an increasingly tense situation – made all the more tense by the actions of the few,” he said.

The bishop quoted a prayer Pope Francis offered July 30 at World Youth Day in Krakow for the conversion of terrorists to the “way of peace and goodness, of respect for the life and dignity of every human being.”

“I think this is also the sincere hope of everybody – of whichever faith tradition,” he said.

In light of continued terrorism around the world, “every single person, irrespective of personal faith, has the responsibility to speak – and to act – with the utmost prudence … Only ever appealing to our neighbor’s most noble sentiments and never to his worst instincts,” Bishop Sánchez said.

He concluded his speech by emphasizing that “what I want to say – and this is my central message for the Meditation for Peace today – is that perhaps it is the case that this generation has been entrusted with the last opportunity of preserving peace throughout our societies … across the European Union and the wider world.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Former prostitutes get special visit from Pope Francis

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • August 12, 2016

Pope Francis meets with former prostitutes assisted by the Pope John XXIII Community in Rome on Aug. 12, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Pope Francis has visited a special community for women freed from prostitution and violent abuse as his latest ‘Mercy Friday’ initiative during the Jubilee.

On Aug. 12 he met the 20 women, all of whom have suffered severe physical violence and live under protection, who are cared for at the “Pope John XXIII Community” in Rome. Pope Francis has met with members of the community at the Vatican on several occasions.

The women hosted by the community present at the meeting are from all over the world, six being from Romania, four from Albania, seven from Nigeria, and one each from Tunisia, Italy and the Ukraine. The average age of the women being around 30 years.

A Vatican communique giving details of the visit stressed that the visit is a concrete sign of the Pope’s repeated criticism of human trafficking, which he has called “a crime against humanity” and “a plague in the contemporary body of humanity, a wound in the flesh of Christ.”

The general manager of the community, John Paul Ramonda, the chaplain, Don Aldo, two street workers and the apartment manager were also present at what was the Pope’s eighth act of mercy, for his “Mercy Friday” initiative.

Pope Francis’ most recent visit for the Jubilee of Mercy took place July 29 in Poland during World Youth Day, when he offered silent prayer at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp and visited sick children at the pediatric hospital of Krakow.

A month before, in June, Pope Francis visited two communities of priests – the “Monte Tabor” community, which consists of eight priests suffering from various forms of hardship, and the Diocese of Rome’s “Casa San Gaetano” community which houses 21 elderly priests, some of whom are sick.

In January Pope Francis visited a retirement home for the elderly, sick, and those in a vegetative state, and a month later traveled to a center for recovering drug addicts in Castel Gandolfo.

The Pope’s act of mercy in March took place on Holy Thursday, when he traveled to the CARA welcoming center for refugees at Castelnuovo di Porto, washing the feet of 12 of the guests.

Migrants were also the center of the Pope’s act of mercy in April, when he visited refugees and migrants during a daytrip to the Greek island of LesBos. In May, he traveled to the “Chicco” community for people with serious mental disabilities at Ciampino.

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WORLD NEWS

Irish archbishop moves seminarians from ‘gay culture’ at St. Patrick’s

by Carl Bunderson (CNA/EWTN News) • August 6, 2016

St. Patrick’s College. (Bart Busschots via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Dublin, Ireland — Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has transferred his seminarians away from Ireland’s main seminary, St. Patrick’s College, after anonymous accusations emerged of a gay culture at the institution.

The three seminarians, who are studying for the Archdiocese of Dublin, will instead continue their studies at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome.

“There are allegations on different sides. One is that there is a homosexual, a gay culture, and that students have been using an app called Grindr,” Archbishop Martin told RTE Radio Aug. 2.

This “would be inappropriate for seminarians, and not just because they are training to be celibate priests, but (because) an app like that would be something that would be fostering promiscuous sexuality, which is certainly not in any way the mature vision of sexuality one would expect a priest to understand,” he added.

The archbishop also lamented that the allegations have been made anonymously, saying, “the trouble with anonymous complaints is that it’s almost impossible to carry out due process … a culture of anonymous letters is poisonous. Until that’s cleared up, I would be happier sending my students elsewhere.”

Fr. John Gilligan, the vocations/diaconate director of the Dublin archdiocese, told CNA Aug. 4 that Archbishop Martin “has the final say and decides where to send [seminarians] for study. To date that has been to Rome where we had three this year and to Maynooth where we had seven.”

He added that “a number of the seminarians in Maynooth have taken time out,” and that three “are to do the remainder of their studies in Rome from September.”

St. Patrick’s College is located in Maynooth, about 15 miles west of Dublin. Established in 1795 and built for some 500 students, it now hosts fewer than 70 seminarians. It includes a pontifical university which grants undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in theology, philosophy, and canon law to non-seminary students of both sexes.

Archbishop Martin had told RTE he was “somewhat unhappy about an atmosphere which was growing in Maynooth.”

He described how “anonymous letters and blogs” were “accusing people of misconduct or accusing the faculty of Maynooth of not treating allegations correctly.”

“If this is going on a large scale in the seminary and it hasn’t been noticed in the seminary, then there is something wrong,” he said.

The archbishop also noted that “there are people saying that anyone who tries to go to the authorities with an allegation are being dismissed from the seminary.”

He said he “offered to provide a totally independent person” to whom whistleblowers could go with their evidence, but that “the answer was simply more anonymous letters.”

“That’s not a healthy culture. We have to find a way where people will come forward with solid hard evidence which can be used to follow up allegations,” Archbishop Martin stated.

He offered that St. Patrick’s College’s formation staff “have to find a way to let people come forward with solid evidence to substantiate the allegations.”

“There seems to an atmosphere of strange goings-on there; it seems like a quarrelsome place with anonymous letters being sent around … I felt that a quarrelsome attitude of that kind was not the healthiest place to be, so I sent them to the Irish College.”

Archbishop Martin said that “I don’t think this is a good place for students. However, when I informed the president of Maynooth of my decision, I did add ‘at least for the moment.’”

“I think a lot more structural reform will be needed at Maynooth,” the archbishop reflected.

Msgr. Hugh Connolly, president of St. Patrick’s College, has said that with no public complaints, no investigation has been made. He told RTE following Archbishop Martin’s interview that the allegations of a gay culture at the seminary made him “very unhappy,” citing the requirement of priestly celibacy.

He added that “the broader atmosphere is, I think, actually quite a wholesome, healthy one because there are a lot of interplay between students of many, many disciplines, lay students and clerics, male and female, people who are engaged pastorally.”

St. Patrick’s College told The Irish Times that it “has no concrete or credible evidence of the existence of any alleged ‘active gay subculture’,” and that it is “not true that seminarians are prohibited from reporting misbehaviour or concerns.”

The college added that it “will be reviewing current policies and procedures with a view to enhancing structures for reporting concerns or/and misbehavior so as to discourage recourse to anonymous correspondence while taking care to ensure due process and justice.”

St. Patrick’s College has been defended in recent days by the Association of Catholic Priests – which aims at, among other things, “a redesigning of Ministry in the Church, in order to incorporate the gifts … of the entire faith community, male and female.”

An Aug. 2 statement by the ACP said St. Patrick’s College “has become a focus of unfair and unwarranted attention, and charged that “the anti-Maynooth issue is being driven by a number of agendas.”

These agendas, the ACP said, include “conservative commentators”, “former students who were deemed unsuitable for priesthood by the seminary authorities”, “right-wing commentators who are unhappy with the focus on the theology of the Second Vatican Council”, and “writers of blogs”.

Other Irish bishops have said they will continue sending seminarians to St. Patrick’s College.

According to The Irish Times, Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh said: “We are extremely grateful to Saint Patrick’s College, Maynooth, for the spiritual, human, pastoral and academic formation that he received there.”

Archbishop Martin of Dublin has been joined in his decision to remove seminarians from Maynooth, however, by Bishop Alphonsus Cullinan of Waterford and Lismore.

An apostolic visitation of the Church in Ireland which concluded in 2012 found that “fairly widespread” dissent from Catholic teaching is hampering its renewal.

The visitation called for, wherever necessary, assurance that formation would be “rooted in authentic priestly identity, offering a more systematic preparation for a life of priestly celibacy by maintaining a proper equilibrium between human, spiritual and ecclesial dimensions” and showing “greater concern for the intellectual formation of seminarians, ensuring that it is in full conformity with the Church’s Magisterium.”

It suggested that the pastoral training of seminarians be re-evaluated to ensure “it is sacramental, priestly and apostolic, and duly concerned with preparing candidates to celebrate the sacraments and to preach.”

It also stated that “the seminary buildings should be exclusively for seminarians of the local Church and those preparing them for the priesthood, to ensure a well-founded priestly identity.”

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WORLD NEWS

An encounter with the Manoppello Image of the Face of Christ

by Paul Badde (CNA/EWTN News) • August 6, 2016

The Manoppello Image. (Han santing via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Chieti, Italy — Ten years ago, Benedict XVI visited the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello, which houses an image of the face of Christ which some believe to be the Veil of Veronica.

“Seeking the Face of Jesus must be the longing of all of us Christians; indeed, we are ‘the generation’ which seeks his Face in our day, the Face of the ‘God of Jacob’,” Benedict said during his Sept. 1, 2006 pilgrimage to the shrine. “If we persevere in our quest for the Face of the Lord, at the end of our earthly pilgrimage, he, Jesus, will be our eternal joy, our reward and glory for ever.”

During that pilgrimage Benedict was the first Pope in more than 400 years to kneel in veneration before the Manoppello Image which is kept in the shrine, located about 12 miles southwest of Chieti in Italy’s Abruzzo region.

After his visit to Manoppello, the talk of the human face of God in Christ became a kind of mark in Benedict’s pontificate.

In commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the event, Paul Badde asked Archbishop Bruno Forte of Chieti-Vasto about his memories of the day.

Badde: Your Grace, ten years ago, Pope Benedict XVI visited the holy veil, which is called the “Volto Santo” in Manoppello and was long known as the “Veil of Veronica”, on your invitation as the first Pope in over 400 years to visit. You stood one meter away from the Holy Father on this historic encounter. What was going through your mind during those moments?

Archbishop Forte: In those moments, my eyes were going back and forth between the venerated image and the face of the Successor of Peter, who contemplated it intensely, as if to be captured by the image and at the same time challenged to enter into that which this veil suggests – with that extraordinary mystical and inquiring intelligence that characterized the whole work of Joseph Ratzinger and Benedict XVI. It was like attending a dialogue in which silence was more eloquent than each word: a silence from the surplus, touching and being touched on the threshold of mystery from whose depths allows itself to be illuminated.

Badde: “The Pope was delighted!” as you said in German right after the Pope’s visit. Can you remember more today the immediate reaction of Benedict XVI to this “face-to- face” encounter?

Archbishop Forte: Of course. The enthusiasm of the Pope seemed to me to be like what the Greek term “enthousiasmós” means in the original sense of the word: “en theó ousía” – as an “act of being in God.”

Badde: You said in 2006 that there is a “moral certitude” that the image of Manoppello is identical with that which the Evangelist John mentioned as “soudarion” from Christ’s empty tomb in Jerusalem. What did you mean?

Archbishop Forte: John names it in verses 6 and 7 in the 20th chapter of his Gospel: “When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths, but rolled up in a separate place.” The burial cloths – in the original “tá othónia” – correspond in all likelihood with that unique witness that we have in the famous Shroud of Turin (or Santa Sindone in Italian). The “Soudárion,” on the other hand, allows me to say from my moral certainty that it corresponds with the veil from Manoppello. This certainty is supported by various data. First and foremost, the veil was kept in Jerusalem as a precious remembrance of the Redeemer. Then it was taken to Camulia in Cappadocia where it was venerated for a long time. From there it was later taken under the threat of the so-called iconoclasts first to Constantinople and then in safety to Rome. Here it was displayed at the beginning of the 13th century for the public to view, where it was treasured as an incomparable relic at St. Peter’s Basilica. When the new construction of the magnificent and current St. Peter’s began on April 18, 1506, the sacred Sudarium was still located in a vault, from where the veil in all likelihood was brought to safety by Cardinal Giampietro Carafa, Archbishop of Chieti and later governor of the city (and future Pope Paul IV) in 1527 as German and Spanish soldiers ravaged Rome in the so-called “Sack of Rome.” And which place was safer than a monastery on the other side of the Papal States’ borders – in his Diocese of Chieti-Vasto? Manoppello was the first town behind the border, which is reached as soon as one comes out of Rome and therefore the holy veil arrived here at a Capuchin monastery after it was previously kept in sure hands in private homes. But when it was decided in 1640 to put the veil on display for public veneration, the threat that the Vatican’s Chapter of Canons could demand to get the veil back was foiled and thwarted by a certain Fra’ Donato da Bomba with a chronicle in which he asserted that the holy veil had already reached Manoppello in 1506, when the new construction on St. Peter’s began. Therefore, it could not be possible to be the so-called Veil of Veronica as it was back then also called in Rome. It was thus a pious lie, but nevertheless a lie, even if it was pronounced with good intentions, which saved the whereabouts of this genuine divine proof of the passion and resurrection of Christ for the people of Abruzzi and for all of us …

Badde: How do you then explain the opposition to the Volto Santo, even still today, especially in relation with the Shroud of Turin?

Archbishop Forte: The Shroud of Turin has been well known and honored for a long time throughout the world; however, the holy face of Manoppello seems for some still to be something unheard of and new, which is not supported in the same way from the perception and tradition of the faith of the people of God. But it is not so in reality, as I have just called to mind. Between these two

incomparable witnesses, there is not only no contradiction, but also they have even been proven for a long time to concur and correspond perfectly to one another. The Trappist sister Blandina Paschalis Schlömer has compellingly pointed out a variety of concurring points that show the extreme compatibility between the face on the Sindone (or Shroud) and the face on the Sudarium. It indicates that there is a relationship between both cloths, which were established in the holy tomb in Jerusalem. In any case, the Shroud of Turin and the Manoppello Image show the inexplicable and mysterious way the same person once dead and once alive. It is Jesus Christ, the Lord.

Badde: And how do you answer the voices that claim the portrait of Christ on the veil of Manoppello is simply “painted” and indeed from a human hand, probably during the time of the Renaissance?

Archbishop Forte: The Veil of Manoppello was tested under an electron microscope and even in extra enlargements, no traces of paint were found. The image was not painted; rather, it is a true image – and that makes it even more precious because it provides us with a kind of authentic image which we have of the Redeemer of the world.

Badde: In Germany – especially since Rudolf Bultmann - the supposition that Jesus was risen only “in kerygma” meaning in the faith and in the speech and in the preaching of the apostles was frequent even among theologians. Christ could not possibly be raised from the dead. How do you as a theologian bring this modern line of thought within the Church together with the process of the rediscovery of the Holy Sudarium over the last 40 years in the Diocese of Chieti-Vasto?

Archbishop Forte: The theses of Bultmann’s existentialist interpretation have been academically obsolete for a while thanks to the return and development of research on the historical Jesus. In the gap of time between the death of Jesus on the cross and the new beginning of Easter, something essential must have happened in order to transform the frightened and fleeing disciples on Good Friday into the bold heralds of the resurrection of Christ on Easter. This “something” was not a fruit of hysterical imagination of the events as, for example, Ernest Renan declared; rather, it approaches them externally as an unexpected gift that transformed their sorrow into joy and their fear into audacious courage and their escape from Jerusalem into a new life and worldwide mission. To conclude, there is almost complete unanimity in serious research since then on the historical Jesus.

Badde: Since Pope Benedict’s visit 10 years ago, the Volto Santo draws more pilgrims from the whole world to Manoppello, including countless bishops from every continent. What other implications did Pope Benedict’s “private visit” have on your diocese and on your faith?

Archbishop Forte: Certainly Pope Benedict’s visit, which was accompanied by more than 300 media representatives and about 70 television channels from the whole world, raised the awareness of the holy face of Manoppello to a truly planetary level and drew waves of pilgrims here. What delights me even more as a believer and shepherd is this: that the visits of the “Volto Santo” are kind of bound all together with personal confession and participation in sacramental Confession and the Eucharist; and that is not an aesthetic phenomena, but a thoroughly deep and transformative encounter with the risen Christ. And that is truly a wonderful gift to us all.

Badde: On this coming September 18th, you will receive 70 Catholic and Orthodox bishops before the Holy Face in Manoppello. In 2005 you invited Pope Benedict to the Holy Veil. How did these bold and audacious initiatives come about?

Archbishop Forte: Here I must specify that Pope Benedict’s decision to come to the Volto Santo was made by he himself, and totally alone. He shared that with me even before his election to be the Successor of Peter and after the election in the course of an audience, in which I participated as member of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity. This initiative was a great gift from him. I was very happy about that and it filled me with great thankfulness towards him.

Badde: What will you tell Pope Francis about the concrete “Misericordiae Vultus” (Face of Mercy) in Manoppello, if the opportunity should ever arise?

Archbishop Forte: I have already spoken enthusiastically with his Holiness about the Holy Face of Manoppello and also sent him a beautiful reproduction. For that reason, I leave it all now in his hands and in the hands of God. It lies there now and will continue on in the right manner.

Translation by R. Andrew Krema.

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WORLD NEWS

Catholic before partisan: African leaders unite to aid orphanage

by CNA/EWTN News • August 7, 2016

Catholic Members of Parliament with Fr.Chinkanda and Missionaries of Charity. (Episcopal Conference of Malawi)

Lilongwe, Malawi — In an orphanage near the capital city of Lilongwe, Malawi, children are reaping the fruits of the Year of Mercy.

The Mother Teresa Children’s House, which is a Kawale-based orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity, received food donations this week from the country’s Catholic members of Parliament who were inspired by the call from Pope Francis to enact works of mercy during the Jubilee Year.

“You know this is the Year of Mercy as it has been declared by our Pope – Pope Francis – and as a Catholic Community at Parliament, we thought that we do something in order to support those that need our support,” Hon. Francis Kasaila said in a statement from the Episcopal Conference of Malawi.

“This is just a small donation, of course, and otherwise we know that these sisters need a lot of support from well wishers and people of goodwill. They really need quite a lot in order to care for these children,” Kasaila continued.

Kasaila is the leader of the National Assembly and a Parliamentarian for Democratic Progressive Party. He was joined by other Parliament members such as Hon. Juliana Lunguzi, a Member of Parliament for Dedza East.

Although some of the leaders had opposing political views, they set aside their differences to support the children in need. Kasaila said that he believes Catholicism comes before politics.

Fr. Henry Chinkanda, the Catholic Parliamentary Liaison Officer of the Episcopal Conference of Malawi, applauded the Catholic Parliamentarians in their efforts, and encouraged them to be a fruitful witness of charity by loving each other despite any political differences.

In addition to donating food items such as maize, beans, cooking oil and milk, some members of Parliament also spent time in the orphanage singing songs with the children.

The Missionaries of Charity expressed gratitude for the donations, which will be used to feed the 52 children that take refuge at the orphanage.

“As a community, we would like to thank our Catholic members of Parliament for the love they have shown to these children,” Sister Mira of the Missionaries of Charity said.

Sister Mira also used the opportunity to condemn the act of abortion, saying that their orphanage would readily house any “unwanted” children who would otherwise be victims of abortion.

“We would want to discourage the tendency of aborting innocent children as well. Therefore, let those that feel they wouldn’t manage to care for their children, bring them to this center rather than aborting or abandoning the innocent souls,” she said.

“As you know, life is a gift from God. So too these children are a gift from God and who knows, these will be our future leaders.”

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WORLD NEWS

The shocking prayer of a young Iraqi: ‘Have mercy on ISIS’

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • August 7, 2016

Christina Shabo holds a rosary and a scarf of the Iraqi flag. (Elise Harris/CNA)

Krakow, Poland — (Editor’s note: This article includes explicit descriptions of violence. Reader discretion is advised.)

Christina Shabo was born under a tree in a refugee camp after her family fled bombing in their Iraqi hometown in 1991.

Several of her relatives have been killed by the Islamic State – one who’s body was chopped up and delivered to the family in pieces – and some continue to fight for their lives after suffering vicious attacks.

However, rather than harboring an understandable hatred toward those persecuting her family and her people, she has decided instead to pray for ISIS and their conversion.

“I asked Jesus for the grace to forgive every time I would pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet. But instead of praying ‘For the sake of his sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world,’ I pray ‘have mercy on ISIS and on the whole world.’”

This is what Shabo, 25, said she has decided to pray as a means of helping learn how to forgive the terrorists who are slaughtering her people.

She gave her testimony to fellow youth July 29 as part of a catechesis session for WYD in Krakow, detailing the painful events that led her family to flee Iraq in the first place, as well as the horrors that have taken place after the rise of ISIS in 2014.

In an interview with CNA after her testimony, Shabo explained that the decision for her to speak during WYD was last minute, and she was asked to incorporate forgiveness into her talk.

However, upon hearing this request, Shabo’s first thought was “I don’t forgive ISIS.”

“I’ve struggled with it, because I haven’t gotten there yet. It’s a daily reminder,” she said, explaining that she still harbors anger and resentment, so the path to forgiveness has been a difficult, everyday task.

Admittedly, after hearing Shabo’s story, it’s easy to understand where these feelings come from.

“I was a miracle baby. I really, truly was,” she said, explaining that her mother was 8 months pregnant when her family made the difficult decision to leave Iraq in 1991 due to the threat of bombing in their hometown during the Gulf War.

They were among the thousands of others who decided to make the dangerous trek through the steep mountains in order to pass into Turkey, with bombs falling nearby.

She noted how many people died along the way, including her 8-year-old cousin Rita. Shabo said that when Rita died, her uncle didn’t “have it in his heart” to bury her in the mountains, so he carried her body the rest of the way into Turkey.

Once the family made it across the border, they buried Rita under a tree in the camp. Then, “it gets even crazier,” Shabo said, explaining that just a month later her mother’s water broke near the same tree, “and my mom delivered me right then and there.”

While Shabo and her family gained religious asylum in Detroit two years later, many of their relatives are still living in Iraq where the violence hasn’t ended, but instead has reached a fever pitch with the spread of the Islamic State.

The world of violence Shabo was born into “was reincarnated” June 20, 2014, when ISIS militants stormed Mosul, either slaughtering Christians and moderate Muslims who don’t share their extreme ideologies, forcing them to pay a high tax, or flee the city.

Shabo said that during the attack, one of her relatives was “violently murdered … He was chopped up in a dozen pieces” and delivered to his family in a bag.

“Imagine someone that you love being delivered to you in a bag in pieces. It’s insane. So when I hear stories like that, how could I not be angry?” she said.

One of her cousins was also killed the series of bombings in Baghdad which claimed the lives of some 400 people July alone. Her cousin’s mother is still in the hospital “fighting for her life.”

However, as hard as it was to think about forgiveness, Shabo said that throughout her life whenever she has felt anguish, anger, frustration or numbness, “I go to adoration. I take it to Him.”

It was through adoration that the idea to pray for ISIS came to her mind, she said, explaining that as she was praying one day she kept repeating the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, “it just kind of came to me: pray for them. Use that as a way to kind of think about them, but think about them in a more positive way.”

Though she didn’t mean it at first, Shabo said the idiom “fake it till you make it” eventually worked, and that slowly she was able to open her heart letting go of her anger.

“Anger just makes you angry and bitter, and nothing good comes out of it. But when you take that and you turn it into mercy and forgiveness, and you see how fruitful that can be, even for yourself, aside from anyone else, you can’t stop doing it.”

Shabo noted how her father is a deacon at their Chaldean parish in Detroit, and that as their family marched through the mountains to Turkey, it was he who kept their faith strong.

“As they march they prayed. That’s all they had. They left with nothing,” she said, explaining that her father kept reminding the others that “it’s okay. Even despite all of this, we have him with us. And we need to hold on tight to that.”

This, she said, “is how they got through that, and that’s how we continue to get through it.”

However, it hasn’t always been easy. Shabo said while she has been “blessed” to live have her family, to live in Detroit and go to school like “a normal person,” she also feels a great sense of guilt.

“None of my other family survived. There’s a sense of guilt that I survived and they didn’t,” she said, explaining that she also feels a deep connection with the Christians in Iraq, and desperately wants to go back, but is unable to given the precariousness of the current situation.

When asked why she feels ashamed of not being able to return, Shabo said it’s because the stories of all the refugees currently fleeing Iraq and Syria “are the same as mine.”

She pointed to the September 2015 photo of Aylan Al-Kurdi, three-years-old, which captured the reality of many refugees. The photo, which gripped the heart and conscience of those all over the world, showed the tiny body of Al-Kurdi washed up on the shore of Turkey after drowning along with his mother and older brother in a failed attempt to reach the nearby Greek island of Kos from Bodrum, their most direct passage into the European Union.

“When I saw that image, I absolutely broke down … I did not see that child, I saw myself,” she said, explaining that after everything she’s gone through, she “vividly” relates to what these families are experiencing.

“There’s thousands of Iraqi Christians in the northern Erbil that are living in the same situation I was. It’s hard not to feel that connection, to feel that that’s me,” she said, adding that there’s also the aspect “that I survived, but that child died.”

Shabo said she wants to take “all the goodness” she has received through God and her faith “and to give it back to the people” in difficulty, as well as those still living in Iraq.

In fact, she’s already jumped in, and has started working in crisis intervention and volunteers on a help line for suicide. She also collaborates with an organization called the “Shlama Foundation,” which was established after a peace rally she helped organize in 2014 when ISIS attacked Mosul.

It was through the rally that close friends of hers created the foundation, which aims to find out the concrete needs of those in Iraq and raise money to fund specific projects on the ground.

She explained that for a long time she was “ashamed” of her story, and didn’t want to tell people the conditions of her birth, but it was her parents who insisted “this is who you are, and you’re going to keep it alive.”

“It’s so hard to do that in the secular world of America or a lot of these other countries,” Shabo said, noting that in Iraq “it was easy” since many come from similar situations, but that many she knows in the U.S., including her nieces and nephews, are struggling to hold on to their heritage.

Even keeping the Chaldean language of Aramaic – an ancient language dating back to the time of Christ – is a challenge.

Aramaic “was the language that Jesus Christ spoke,” she said, explaining that the prospect of a Middle East without Christians is “a tragedy, because that’s where Jesus is from.”

“That can’t happen. I don’t want to see that happen. I don’t want to live in that world,” she said, cautioning that “if we don’t do something about it, then unfortunately that will be our reality.”

While she wants Christianity in Iraq and the Middle East to live on, Shabo admitted that the uncertainty of the situation is hard for many to deal with, and that even she and her family have a hard time accepting the decision of their relatives who have decided to stay.

She said that after the Baghdad bombing that claimed her cousin’s life, her family called “and were yelling at them: ‘Why did you stay? Why didn’t you go to Erbil? Why are you still there? Get out! Your son just died and you’re in a hospital.’”

“I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to go back into the same world that it was,” she said, but noted that despite Iraq’s bloody history of violence and persecution “our people have stood their ground.”

“That gives me hope, and I feel like if we hold on to that hope and hold on to that faith, that there will be a world where I can return to and it will still continue.”

Shabo explained that events like WYD can help serve as catalysts for those who want to do something to help, thanks to the global representation of youth as well as the connections people are able to make.

“As powerless as you feel as an individual, when you connect with other people who have that same passion that have that same desire, God works wonders,” she said, explaining that through WYD she was able to meet people she had been corresponding with in Iraq, but had never met in person.

She was also able to meet the group of 300 Chaldean youth who traveled from Iraq to Krakow for the July 26-31 event, one of whom was from her hometown.

When Shabo asked the group for something from Iraq, they gave her a scarf with the Iraq flag on it. In return, when the group asked her for something from the U.S., Shebo gave them her necklace and bracelets.

“It’s such a blessing” to be at WYD, she said, explaining that a cousin whom she had never met before was also there, and she was trying to find a time to meet him.

“It’s good to know that other people are listening and connecting with the story,” she said. “There’s no words to describe that, when you feel that, because that comes from God. We are truly one Body in Christ. It’s amazing I can’t put it into words.”

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WORLD NEWS

Irish bishop of Bloody Sunday fame remembered for his peaceful witness

by CNA/EWTN News • August 8, 2016

A mural in Derry depicting then-Father Daly leading a group carrying a victim on Bloody Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972. (murielle29 via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0)

Derry, Northern Ireland — After his death in hospital Monday morning, Bishop Emeritus Edward Daly of Derry’s ministry advocating for peace during the Troubles of Northern Ireland is being remembered across Ireland.

Bishop Daly was well-known for waving a blood-stained white handkerchief over one of the victims of the Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry, a 1972 incident in which British soldiers shot at unarmed civilians protesting the British internment of more than 300 suspected Irish Republican Army sympathizers, many of whom were innocent.

“Bishop Daly served, without any concern for himself, throughout the traumatic years of the Troubles, finding his ministry shaped by the experience of witnessing violence and its effects; through this dreadful period he always strove to preach the Gospel of the peace of Christ,” Bishop Donal McKeown of Derry said Aug. 8.

The bishop said his predecessor had “provided an example of priestly ministry which was exemplary, inspired by service of God and the people he encountered. His ministry was characterised by his deep love of the people of this diocese, his dedicated visitation of parishes and his constant availability to others.”

“The bishops, priests and people of the diocese were blessed to have such a dedicated and faithful priest among them.”

Bishop Daly was born in 1933 and attended seminary at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Derry in 1957, and consecrated its bishop in 1974. He remained Bishop of Derry until 1993, resigning at the age of 59 after suffering a stroke.

After his retirement he served as the Derry diocese’s archivist, and as a hospice chaplain until this February, “a ministry in which he touched the lives of so many people,” Bishop McKeown noted.

Bishop Daly was made famous during Bloody Sunday, Jan. 30, 1972, when as a priest at Derry’s cathedral he carried a white handkerchief while leading a group of men carrying Jackie Duddy, a fatally-injured victim of the shooting by British soldiers. Duddy was one of 14 persons who were fatally shot during the protest march; Bishop Daly anointed him before his death.

His contribution to the peace process in Northern Ireland resulted in his being given Derry’s Freedom of the City award in 2015, together with James Mehaffey, who was the Church of Ireland’s bishop of Derry from 1980 to 2002.

Bishop Philip Boyce of Raphoe said the late bishop’s “attention – at times heroic – to victims of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, for prisoners and their families, and for all who suffered in any way, was remarkable. Bishop Edward was a revered pastor and speaker whose words touched, and actions sustained, many people in Derry and across Ireland.”

Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh commented that Bishop Daly “will be remembered as a fearless peace-builder - as exemplified by his courage on Bloody Sunday in Derry - and as a holy and humble faith leader.”

He added that the late bishop’s bravery was “apparent in his lived conviction that violence from any side during the Troubles was futile and could never be morally justified … He walked with his people in their struggles and joys and was most at home out in the streets, parishes and communities of his diocese.”

Martin McGuinness, deputy first minister of Northern Ireland and a member of Sinn Féin, called Bishop Daly “a tremendous force for good” throughout Derry and recalled his having been “very critical of the IRA throughout the 25-year-old conflict.”

Northern Ireland’s first minister, Arlene Foster, a unionist, said Bishop Daly “made a significant contribution” during the Troubles “by arguing that violence should be rejected and by articulating a vision based on respect and tolerance.”

Charles Flanagan, foreign minister of the Republic of Ireland, said the bishop was “first and foremost a man of peace … a key advocate for peace in Northern Ireland over a period of decades.”

Bishop Daly also received attention for his 2011 memoir, in which he suggested that while “There is certainly an important and enduring place for celibate priesthood … I believe that there should also be a place in the modern Catholic Church for married priesthood.”

Bishop Daly died at the age of 82. His body has been received at the Derry cathedral, where rosaries will be said for him three nights. His funeral Mass will be said on Thursday.

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WORLD NEWS

New Iraqi priests bring joy amid years of sadness, displacement

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • August 8, 2016

Roni Salim Momika is ordained a priest in Erbil’s Aishty camp for the displaced on Aug. 5, 2016. (Fr. Roni Momika)

Erbil, Iraq — Fr. Roni Salim Momika, one of three priests ordained in an Erbil refugee camp Friday, said the event has turned the dreary mood of displaced Christians into one of joy, which he hopes will give them the strength to stay in their homeland.

“My feeling is happy, happy!” Fr. Momika told CNA after his Aug. 5 ordination, adding that he feels “something inside” that makes him deeply joyful.

He was ordained a priest of the Syriac-Catholic Church alongside his friends and fellow deacons Emad and Petros in the large, prefabricated church inside Erbil’s Aishty 2 camp for the displaced, which is home to some 5,500 people forced to flee their homes due to ISIS.

The ordination, he said, “will give hope to (the people)” in the camp, mostly Syriac Catholics from Qaraqosh, who for two years have been forced to live as refugees.

Fr. Momika, who is from Qaraqosh, noted how Aug. 6 marks the exact two-year anniversary since ISIS attacked his hometown, driving out inhabitants who didn’t meet their demands to convert to Islam, pay a hefty tax or face death.

“We left Qaraqosh during this time two years ago,” he said, explaining that it’s been “a time of challenge” and “a time of sadness” for the Christians.

However, while the anniversary could serve as a reminder of the bleak and uncertain reality for Christians in Iraq, the sight of three young men being ordained to the priesthood has instead made it “a happy time, a hopeful time, and a good time,” Fr. Momika said.

“Before it was a bad day because we became refuges and ISIS entered to Qaraqosh, but now this day became a good day because it’s our ordination and we give hope to our people,” including the hope “to stay here,” he said.

Fr. Momika, Emad, Petros and another seminarian named Paul were all forced to flee Qaraqosh when ISIS attacked in 2014.

Before being forced to leave, Momika and his sister were among the victims wounded in a 2010 bombing of buses transporting mainly Christian college students from the Plains of Nineveh to the University of Mosul, where they were enrolled in classes.

Since the Qaraqosh seminary was closed following the 2014 attack, the then-seminarians were sent to finish their studies at the Al-Sharfa Seminary in Harissa, Lebanon. After completing their studies in Lebanon, they returned to Iraq for their deaconate ordination, which took place March 19.

Since then, Paul decided to serve in Baghdad, and was ordained there roughly 20 days ago, while Fr. Momika and the others were ordained in Erbil.

Archbishop Yohanno Petros Moshe, Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul, Kirkuk and Kurdistan, the priests’ bishop, was the one who celebrated their ordination Mass in the Aishty camp.

Fr. Momika, whose family fled to Erbil after leaving Qaraqosh, said that while the church only has a capacity of about 800 people, about 1,500 showed up for the ordination.

Several of his family members were able to come for the ordination, including his father, sister and many others who traveled from Baghdad, Aqrah and other cities to be there.

Until now Fr. Momika has worked with the youth and led the women’s groups inside Erbil’s refugee camps. The priest said that for now he will remain in Erbil and continue to serve in that capacity, but it’s up to Archbishop Moshe to decide “if I will stay here or not” in the long run.

As a newly ordained priest surrounded by violent persecution, Fr. Momika said that he wants “to stand with the refugees” despite the “the danger (in their) lives.”

He said he wants to give the Christians “power, hope, and courage to continue their lives and stay with the poor people” and those who are suffering, adding that for him, the essence of his role and vocation is “to give Christ to the people.”

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Meet the priest who serves the most rural parts of Papua New Guinea

by Antonio Anup Gonsalves and Kevin Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • August 9, 2016

Mountains of Papua New Guinea. (Fr. Christian Sieland)

Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea — In the deep Melanesian jungles, a native Papua New Guinea Catholic priest walks miles through the deep thick forests. He scales the country’s steep mountainous terrain to reach his remote flock and serve in the poorest parishes every weekend.

“These people live in a difficult and rugged terrain. God has put them there. It is their home. All the material used to build their church was carried by their grandfathers on their shoulders. They are proud to have the presence of the Church in their area,” said Fr. Christian Sieland of the Kundiawa Diocese of Papua New Guinea.

“Many have only a few pieces of clothes or just enough money to get through the week. They may be poor, but they acknowledge all the blessings God has given them,” Fr. Sieland told CNA.

“They don’t starve because God has given them a fertile soil where almost everything can be grown. They don’t thirst because God has given them clean and fresh mountain streams nearby to fetch water from.”

The priest had high praise for the hospitality of these Catholics.

“When I as their parish priest go into their homes for a visit or even stay overnight with them, they give me the biggest plate full of food, they let me sleep in their best beds under mosquito nets. The care and respect given to a priest in those remote areas sometimes really touches me and makes me at times even feel embarrassed,” he said.

“But how can you refuse such gestures of hospitality from simple believing people? They don’t have much to offer, but when they offer you the little they have, it comes from deep within their hearts.”

About 30 percent of the diocese’s 375,000 people are Catholic. The diocese’s territory includes Mt. Wilhelm, the country’s highest mountain at nearly 14,800 feet. Some parts are so remote that people have never seen a car.

Fr. Sieland reflected on his mission.

“My motivation is simple. If I as an ordained priest don’t go to these people, who else will?” he asked. “Wasn’t I ordained for this purpose, namely to bring the sacraments to the people and to nourish them with spiritual food, i.e. the Word of God, and the Eucharist? No priest means no Eucharist, no confession, no sacraments at all. If I don’t go, then I am depriving them of their God-given right to receive all the spiritual food and blessings.”

“How am I going to justify myself before God for not ‘feeding his lambs, tending his sheep and feeding his sheep?’,” he said, citing Jesus’ words to St. Peter.

“Even if there were only 10 old people to be visited, I would still walk and climb the mountains and cross the rivers to be with them.”

The Papua New Guinea government has not been to the region in more than 40 years, since independence in 1975.

“But the Church has been there ever since the first missionaries from the Society of the Divine Word started to evangelize the people in the early 1930s and 1940s,” Fr. Sieland said.

“When you see the simple and yet deep faith of the people, and compare it to your own belief which is adorned with certificates, diplomas and degrees, then you begin to appreciate the simple faith of the ‘little ones’ all the more.”

In recent decades, permanent churches have been built. The Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea is transitioning from a missionary phase, though some changes have come too soon.

“Traditional and western modern values are clashing right now and the younger generation seem a bit lost or confused,” Fr. Sieland said. “Good traditional values that are similar to certain Gospel values are slowly disappearing. In 20 years’ time they will be gone for good.”

The numbers of foreign missionaries, especially from Europe, have dropped considerably. Even with the help of missionaries from Australia, Poland, India, and Indonesia, local clergy still cannot staff all the areas their predecessors vacated.

“Most of the Catholic parishes cover huge areas,” the priest reported. “Even in the remotest of areas, you will find a small Catholic Church building and maybe even an elementary or primary school and an aid post.”

The priest said that the government should be providing basic services, but the churches have had to fill the gap.

Despite efforts to promote Catholic values at parish schools, the country still faces many challenges posed by western lifestyle, mobile phone technology and internet access.

“One of the greatest challenges is the loss of Gospel values such as honesty, transparency, respect, love, commitment and dedication in family, in marriage, in the parish, at school, outside of school,” Fr. Sieland said.

Many teachers lack a stable marriage life and face problems with debt or alcohol. Some mismanage the schools’ money. Many students, for their part, disrespect teachers and some use alcohol or marijuana, often affecting their performance at school.

There are also major problems deeply rooted in Melanesian culture. Polygamous relationships have proved very hard to eradicate. There is also a clash between Christianity and traditional beliefs about sorcery.

“If people get sick and die, especially if they are a young, energetic and educated persons, people speak of ‘sanguma’ or sorcery,” the priest said. “We still have a lot of sorcery related violence and killings in Papua New Guinea, especially in our own province.”

“The local church tries everything to challenge this kind of belief, educate the people and eradicate belief in sorcery, but it won’t happen just from one day to the next. It takes time.”

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Japan’s bishops oppose efforts to abandon pacifism in nation’s constitution

by CNA/EWTN News • August 9, 2016

Japanese pilgrims attend the General Audience address in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 22, 2014. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Nagasaki, Japan — In the shadow of the 71st anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bombs and the end of World War II, the Japanese bishops have warned against legislative proposals they believe will cause their nation to become further entangled in world violence.

In a message signed by Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki, president of the Japanese bishops’ conference, the bishops said that “appropriate steps are required to be taken constantly” in light of issues of violence and discrimination which occur in Japan “on a daily basis.”

“We must not fail to be wary of security-related laws and the movement to change the Constitution which will inevitably involve the Japanese people in the cycle of violence,” the statement reads.

The message was released for the 35th annual Ten Days for Peace event, which runs Aug. 6-15 and commemorates the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on Aug. 6 and 9, 1945.

The statement is a response to prime minister Shinzo Abe’s call for a revision of Article 9 of Japan’s constitution, which outlaws war as a means for settling international disputes.

There is also controversy regarding security legislation passed in 2015 reinterpreting the language of Article 9 to allow for “collective self-defense,” which would include assisting allies under armed attack, such as the U.S., even if Japan itself were not under threat.

This reinterpretation of the article is Japan’s largest movement away from the pacifist foreign policy adopted in the 1947 constitution, in the light of World War II.

“World peace has been shattered and is constantly threatened by such events as the Syrian War, terrorist activities by fundamentalists and others, armed conflicts involving control of resources and hegemonic shows of force,” the bishops’ message states.

Because of terrorist attacks around the world many people, including women and children, have been forced to leave their homes, or have been killed or injured.

“That is why we pray that powers in both Asia and the West will move toward reconciliation rather than a sort of cold war, and that the spirit of peace enshrined in the European Union (EU) will spread globally and tensions in East Asia will be reduced.”

Describing current global events, the bishops’ message calls for peaceful resolution between nations.

“Depending on the power of humanity and the grace of God, we want to realize the high ideal of eliminating not only nuclear weapons but all types of weapons and violence from the world,” the statement says.

“By making efforts to complete the fulfillment and happiness of heart and body, work and private life, and relationships with God and people in particular, we must begin building peace within ourselves,” the bishops’ statement emphasizes.

“We all can do that and we all must do that. That is the sure path to realizing world peace.”

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Campaign will help 1,000 seminarians in honor of murdered French priest

by CNA/EWTN News • August 10, 2016

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

Rome, Italy — A Catholic charity is launching a campaign to support the studies of 1,000 seminarians around the world in honor of a French priest who was killed by ISIS sympathizers while celebrating Mass two weeks ago.

The Italian chapter of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need announced the campaign, which will help fund the education of future priests in 21 dioceses around the world.

“Support for the formation of new priests is a concrete response to fundamentalism, because especially in countries where the extremist threat is the greatest, the ministers of God must possess the appropriate tools to promote dialogue and contribute to a peaceful coexistence between all the religious groups, putting an end to the conflicts,” said Alessandro Monteduro, director of the group in Italy.

The campaign comes in response to the July 26 murder of Father Jacques Hamel, an 84-year-old priest who was killed while celebrating Mass in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, France.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, in which two armed gunmen stormed the church, taking the priest and four others hostage. They slit Fr. Hamel’s throat and critically injured another of the hostages before being shot dead by police.

Aid to the Church in Need Italy said on its website that it will offer support to seminarians belonging to dioceses in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. Monteduro explained that “we chose the seminaries that had the greatest need for aid, to allow them to accommodate more students and form what we consider to be the new ‘soldiers of the faith.’”

According to the agency, there are a great number of young men who want to become priests in areas experiencing great poverty and persecution, despite the difficulties they face.

The pontifical foundation also noted that the Church is the first to promote religious dialogue as well as to offer the young people alternatives to violence. In this sense, the group said, the contribution of Catholic schools is crucial in spreading the values of peace and mutual respect.

It is because of this, Monteduro concluded, that “forming well-prepared priests in a powerful weapon against fundamentalism” as well as “the Christian presence being visible, especially in those societies under attack by the extremists.”

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Brazilian priest mentioned in ‘Spotlight’ film commits suicide

by CNA/EWTN News • August 10, 2016

(Neville Elder/Shutterstock)

Vatican City — Fr. Bonifacio Buzzi, a Brazilian priest convicted of child abuse and who was mentioned in the Oscar-winning film ‘Spotlight,’ committed suicide in his prison cell over the weekend.

According to Reuters, Fr. Buzzi, 57, hung himself with a sheet inside his jail cell in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais Aug. 7 after having been arrested Friday.

In 1995 the priest was found guilty of abusing several youth in a mental hospital, and sentenced to four years of house arrest. In 2004, he was convicted of molesting a 10-year-old boy in Mariana, Minas Gerais and was jailed from 2007-2015 for the crime.

He was arrested Aug. 5 in the southern state of Santa Catarina following criminal complaints that he had molested two more boys, aged 9 and 13, and taken back to Minas Gerais.

The Vatican was in the process of taking action against the priest, but the process had not yet concluded at the time of his death.

Fr. Buzzi was among the cases of pedophilia listed at the end of the 2015 Oscar-winning film “Spotlight.”

The movie covers the Boston Globe’s investigation into sex abuse of minors by Catholic figures in the archdiocese, as well as cover-up by some members of the hierarchy. The film won an Oscar for Best Picture at the Academy Awards on Feb. 28.

“Spotlight” ends with the Boston Globe printing an explosive exposé, before listing all the other cities where sex abuse was later found to be a problem in the Catholic Church, including the parish in Mariana where Fr. Buzzi had served.

In the years following the exposé, the Catholic Church has since established several safety measures in order to prevent abuse, including a “zero tolerance” policy for abusers, safe environment training and oversight, and mandatory background checks for any individual who has contact with minors.

The Vatican has also restructured its proceedings regarding abuse charges. From 2004-2011, there were 3,400 U.S. cases of alleged clergy abuse reported to Rome for review. Of the accused priests, 848 were laicized and 2,572 were permanently removed from ministry.

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The deadly danger of global blasphemy laws

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • August 10, 2016

(Luca Cerini via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Washington, D.C. — Among the biggest threats to religious freedom worldwide are blasphemy laws, the State Department said in its annual religious freedom report, released Wednesday.

“I want to highlight this year the chilling, sometimes deadly effect of blasphemy and apostasy laws in many places of the world, as well as laws that purport to protect religious sentiments from defamation,” the Ambassador at-Large for International Religious Freedom David Saperstein said at the release of Wednesday’s report.

Every year, the State Department publishes a report on the state of religious freedom worldwide, as mandated in the 1998 International Religious Freedom Act. It documents the religious liberty situation in almost 200 countries and territories, reporting the worst abuses while noting positive steps taken to protect the rights of citizens.

“The purpose of this annual report is not to lecture,” Antony Blinken, Deputy Secretary of State, said Wednesday while introducing the report. “It is to inform, to encourage, and ultimately to persuade.”

Religious freedom “is written into the founding DNA of the United States, renewing and strengthening our nation with every generation,” he said.

“Every country has an obligation to respect religious liberty and freedom of conscience,” he added. “Societies tend to be stronger, wealthier, safer, and more stable when their citizens fully enjoy the rights to which they are entitled.”

The 2015 report, released Wednesday, highlighted the threat posed by blasphemy laws and apostasy laws to the religious freedom and human rights of citizens.

Blasphemy laws are particularly pernicious because, in the worst cases, they are punishable by death and may require no evidence or trial to convict, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said.

Thus, they have a “chilling, sometimes deadly effect” Ambassador Saperstein explained, because religious minorities are targeted under these laws by mobs acting with impunity. Or minorities are victims of their own government, cracking down on their religious practice under the guise of prohibiting blasphemy.

“Governments have too often failed to take appropriate steps” to stop violence done in the name of these laws, Saperstein continued. “These government failures weaken trust in the rule of law.”

Around one-quarter of countries today have blasphemy laws and other laws prohibiting acts like apostasy, Ambassador Saperstein said, citing a recent Pew Research report.

Pakistan has the highest number of blasphemy convictions worldwide, most notably in the case of Asia Bibi, a mother of five who was accused by a neighbor of insulting the prophet Mohammed in 2009, convicted in 2010, and is currently on death row.

“Iran continues to execute prisoners of conscience for their beliefs,” Ambassador Saperstein stated at the press conference introducing the report, noting that at least 20 persons charged with “enmity against God” were executed in 2015, and almost 400 members of minority religions are in jail, including Shi’a Muslim leaders who have spoken out against the government.

In Saudi Arabia there are “lengthy prison sentences and lashings” for blasphemy charges, without even a conviction in court, he continued. The report noted the case of Palestinian poet Ashraf Fayadh who was sentenced to death stemming from a 2013 arrest for allegedly making “disparaging remarks about Islam.” He had previously been sentenced to eight years in prison and 800 lashes.

The report also pointed to the continued atrocities inflicted on religious minorities in 2015 by “non-state actors” like the terror groups Boko Haram and Da’esh, or ISIS.

The State Department ruled in March that ISIS had committed “genocide against groups in areas under its control, including Yezidis, Christians, and Shia Muslims.” Deputy Secretary Blinken noted on Wednesday that “naming these crimes is important. But our goal is to stop them.”

The report noted its continued violence towards these groups in 2015 – “including killings, torture, enslavement and trafficking, rape and other sexual abuse against religious and ethnic minorities and Sunnis.”

Boko Haram, meanwhile, kept targeting Christians in Nigeria, as well as Muslims who opposed their actions. “Boko Haram claimed responsibility for scores of attacks on churches and mosques, often killing worshippers during religious services or immediately afterward,” the report said.

A “Global Terrorism Index” report published last fall said that Boko Haram “has become the most deadly terrorist group in the world,” killing more people than ISIS.

Meanwhile, in Syria, “as the insurgency increasingly became identified with the Sunni majority,” the government “targeted” areas with Sunni Muslims for bombardment. Terror groups like ISIS and al-Nusra continued to attack religious minorities there.

There have been some global signs of hope for religious freedom, however, Saperstein noted.

For instance, Iceland “abandoned its 75 year-old blasphemy law.” And when synagogues were threatened with violence in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, youth – including some Muslims – banded together to physically protect the synagogues.

Muslims in France “showed their solidarity” with Catholics in attending the funeral Mass of 84 year-old Fr. Jacques Hamel, recently murdered in church in Rouen by ISIS sympathizers, Saperstein noted. In May of 2015, Muslims protected their Christian neighbors from a mob accusing them of blasphemy.

There was also the Marrakesh Declaration calling for “protecting religious minorities in Muslim-majority countries,” signed by hundreds of Muslim leaders.

“In closing, the protection and promotion of religious freedom remains a key policy priority for the United States,” Saperstein concluded.

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In Syria, Aleppo’s Catholics pray and fast for peace

by CNA/EWTN News • August 11, 2016

Crucifix inside the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on May 23, 2014. (Lauren Cater/CNA)

Aleppo, Syria — As rebel factions continue to fight Syria’s Assad government for control of Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, Christians in the metropolis are praying and fasting for peace to come to their homes.

“We don’t know what’s going to happen. We announced to all the priests , since yesterday, and we’ve also told the people, that we want to fast and pray the next 72 hours so that the will for peace always prevails and so that it wins over the will for war,” Father Ibrahim, a pastor in Aleppo, told Vatican Radio Aug. 9.

Rebels in the city claim to have broken government siege of Aleppo, where some 250,000 people live in rebel-held areas. Air strikes on rebel positions in the city have intensified in recent days.

Fr. Ibrahim said the situation is very difficult “because the bombardments, which are are intensified at night, continue, but there are also missiles falling on the western side of the city, where we’re living.”

He said Aleppo’s inhabitants “are afraid, don’t have electricity or water,” and “everything is expensive and in recent days two areas were evacuated and many people have slept and continue to sleep on the streets or in tents.”

The priest expressed his doubts that the humanitarian truce called for by the United Nations will take place. The arrival of more troops suggests “a total war,” he said.

“The army for its part wants to retake the parts (of the city) it lost in recent days, while these military groups are getting ready to advance further toward Hamdaniya and the entire western area of the city,” he said.

In the midst of this situation Fr. Ibrahim said the Church continues caring for the population and “it’s a miracle” they can still distribute food packages to “thousands of needy families.”

“It’s a miracle and divine providence that we bought everything before Aleppo’s main street was closed off,” he reflected.

Fr. Ibrahim noted that he does not use the word “rebels” to refer to those fighting the Assad government “because today, as we see and hear, within the city it’s more the jihadists than the rebels who are taking the helm of these military groups which are very, very diversified.”

There are several coalition of rebels in Aleppo, the largest of which is the Army of Conquest, which includes Jabhat Fateh al-Sham – the successor to al-Nusra Front.

The Syrian civil war began in March 2011 with demonstrations against Assad. The war has claimed the lives of more than 280,000 people, and forced 4.8 million to become refugees. Another 8 million Syrians are believed to have been internally displaced by the violence.

The civil war is being fought among the Syrian regime and a number of rebel groups. The rebels include moderates, such as the Free Syrian Army; Islamists such as the Army of Conquest and the Islamic State; and Kurdish separatists.

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Bishop calls for international collaboration to end conflict in South Sudan

by CNA/EWTN News • August 11, 2016

Catholics at a United Nations camp for internally displaced persons near Malakal, South Sudan on Jan. 13, 2016. (United Nations/JC McIlwaine via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Yei, South Sudan — In the midst of an intense humanitarian crisis gripping his country, a South Sudanese bishop has called for collaboration between local political leadership and the international community in obtaining peace.

South Sudan saw a civil war break out in 2013 as a power struggle between its president, Salva Kiir, and vice-president, Riek Machar, who are of rival ethnic groups. A peace deal was reached last year, but fighting has continued in some places, with more than 300 killed in July.

Bishop Erkolano Lodu Tombe of Yei addressed the ongoing conflict at Christ the King Cathedral on Sunday.

According to the Catholic Radio Network, Bishop Lodu called on South Sudan’s transitional government Aug. 7 to reach out to international bodies such as the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (Igad) and the African Union to achieve peace.

However, he warned against the tendency of international partners to force peace, instead of helping the nation in resolving the crisis and giving citizens hope for peace and safety.

Bishop Lodu’s comments came after an Aug. 5 report from Igad that South Sudanese leadership has finally agreed to accept the deployment of a regional intervention force.

That report called the internal displacement of South Sudanese and the massive departure of refugees to neighboring countries “a humanitarian crisis of enormous proportions.”

Igad also stated its condemnation of “the reported widespread sexual violence, including rape of women and young girls by armed men in uniform.”

While the scope of the regional intervention force to be deployed is not stated, it is expected to help implement a peace deal signed in August 2015 by Kiir and Machar.

The peace deal was ended in July when heavy fighting broke out in Juba, the capital, between the forces of the Sudan People’s Liberation Army, loyal to Kiir, and the SPLA in Opposition, loyal to Machar.

Machar fled Juba amid the relapse of conflict, and Kiir appointed Taban Deng Gai, his mining minister, as acting vice president in Machar’s stead on July 23.

The July fighting, according to Igad, resulted in a huge loss of lives and displacement of citizens.

South Sudan gained its independence from Sudan in 2011. In its brief history it has been marred by an ethnically motivated civil war, with the Dinka supporters of Kiir fighting against the Nuer followers of Machar.

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Islamic aggression takes different form in Nigeria, bishop explains

by Aid to the Church in Need • August 11, 2016

A Fulani herdsman in Cameroon. (Philippe Semanaz via Flickr CC BY-SA 2.0)

Jalingo, Nigeria — Bishop Charles Hammawa heads the Diocese of Jalingo, located in the eastern part of the Nigeria’s so-called “Middle Belt.” The population of 2.3 million is about equally divided between Muslims and Christians, 450,000 of whom are Catholic, with 10 percent of the people belonging to traditional religions.

The bishop expressed to the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need Aug. 9 his concern about what he labeled “suspiciously persistent” attacks by well-armed Muslim Fulani herdsmen on Christian farmers. He also dicussed the growing influx of Muslim settlers taking possession of land taken from these farmers.

ACN: Boko Haram appears to be curtailed, and there are fewer attacks by the group. However, you have reported another manifestation of Islamic extremism in the form of these attacks by Fulani herdsmen on Christian farmers.

Bishop Hammawa: That is my suspicion – that jihad is taking a new course. It looks like a problem between herdsmen and farmers. In the past, things would settle down after a clash. But I have seen cases of herdsmen not just letting their cattle graze but taking over the land – and Muslim from the north coming in to settle there. It appears to be a strategy to deliberately populate areas with Muslims and, by the sheer weight of superior numbers, influence political decision-making in the region. It is not the extreme violence of Boko Haram, but another way of capturing Nigeria for Islam. And this crisis has been sustained for the past three years in our region. It’s also suspicious that the herdsmen have access to sophisticated weaponry. There appears to be some financing of the Fulani aggression, which has left numerous dead, destroyed many communities and displaced thousands of people.

ACN: Are Muslims and Christians in competition in the “Middle Belt,” where neither religion has the upper hand?

Bishop Hammawa: Both faiths are committed to gaining new followers. The difference lies in the approach. Christianity uses persuasion through preaching. For Islam, it can be the case of a kind of coercion – the understanding that if you want to get anywhere in government, you have to be a Muslim. For example, the office of traditional rulers is presented as belonging only to Muslims, which prompts some Christians eligible to the throne to convert to Islam.

ACN: In this regard, how do you rate the policies of President Muhammadu Buhari – is he being fair to Christians?

Bishop Hammawa: I have some doubts. He is very cautious and a little bit slow in condemning the Fulani crisis, for example. I wish he would be stronger in making firm statements in this matter and take concrete action in combatting Islamic extremism. My worry is that – although Boko Haram members have been killed or are awaiting trial – the organization is laying low, with members hiding out in various places. Violence could readily flare up again.

ACN: What is the solution, in your view, to putting a real stop to Islamic extremism?

Bishop Hammawa: We keep saying that dialogue must be the solution. But the parties do have to come to the table with a sincere willingness to live in peace. Also, it must be acknowledged that many of the rank-and-file of Boko Haram had been neglected by the Muslim elite in the north for a long time. These youth and adults have not been properly educated, because Western education has been rejected; they have been living in the margins of the society, with only a fundamentalist Islamic formation. They are filled with anger and they have nothing to lose. Meanwhile, the Muslim elite send their children to be educated abroad! No wonder, Boko Haram eventually targeted Muslim leaders as well.

ACN: Do you and your priests use your homilies to address these issues?

Bishop Hammawa: We avoid inflaming hostilities; we preach peace and reconciliation; we urge Christian farmers not to retaliate — at most, we encourage them to defend themselves; but we cannot tell them to go and fight — that would violate the spirit of the Gospel. There definitely is a great fear of persecution among Christians, which brings some of them to compromise or hide their faith. Those who remain steadfast deserve our utmost support.

ACN: Are local authorities, such as the police, of any help?

Bishop Hammawa: Unfortunately, corruption and bribery hamper security efforts. Corruption, of course, is rampant all across Nigeria.

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In war-torn Syria, Our Lady of Peace Cathedral needs help

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • August 11, 2016

A shell in the street of Homs, Syria. (United Nations/David Manyua)

Homs, Syria — The war-torn Cathedral of Homs sits in the heart of western Syria.

When the area was occupied by the Syrian civil war’s opposition forces, they turned the cathedral into a military headquarters.

The occupation took its toll. Icons of the cathedral were stolen, severely damaged or defaced. The marble columns were almost completely ruined. The ambo has been targeted by gunfire, while many furnishings were burned.

In the crypt, the tombs of priests were desecrated. One body was torn from its resting place.

Even the roof has holes caused by rocket damage, as large as 23 feet in diameter.

The siege lasted from April 2011 to May 2014, killing some 2,000 people. Now, the Syrian opposition has withdrawn. Christians are returning home.

They need to rebuild their cathedral, which is dedicated to Our Lady of Peace.

Pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need’s Italian branch launched a fundraising campaign in late July for the Melkite Greek Catholic cathedral. It aims to collect about $89,000 to repair the worst damage.

It is a tragedy for a city that was previously known as a crossroads of religious pluralism.

“Homs was the cradle of one of the most ancient Christian communities in the East, but Christian blocks like Bab al Dreib and Hamidiya have been abandoned by about 80 percent of the residents,” the pastoral charity said.

Many churches are damaged and unfit for use. However, the situation in Homs has stabilized. Despite the destruction at the cathedral, religious worship have taken place there once again. First Communions have been celebrated.

On July 1, the International Day of the Child, there were signs of renewed life in Homs. That day, the children of Syria celebrated a “Day of Prayer for Peace.” Some 700 Christian children in Homs took the streets for a peace procession.

The procession stopped by all the half-destroyed churches of Homs. It ended in front of the Homs cathedral, where children lit candles in front of an icon of the Infant Jesus of Prague, offering prayers for peace.

In a short address, Archbishop Jean Abdo Arbach described the Infant Jesus as “the source of peace for our children and our country.”

The posters of the Infant Jesus decorated the sections of the cathedral that were still standing. They will remain in the cathedral.

Donations for the cathedral’s reconstruction may be given through the Aid to the Church in Need website, churchinneed.org.

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This California bill could hurt poor students at religious schools

by Kevin Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • August 8, 2016

(Ryan Tyler Smith via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Sacramento, CA — Religious students from disadvantaged backgrounds could be most affected by a California bill threatening state-backed student grants to schools that disagree with same-sex marriage and gender ideology.

“The students become the greatest victims in all of this. Students growing up in your youth groups may say ‘we want to go to a school that is going to help us learn our faith while earning a degree.’ This bill would not allow that to happen,” said Prof. Kevin Mannoia, chaplain and pastoral ministry professor at Azusa Pacific University.

The proposed bill S.B. 1146 could have grave financial consequences for these students and their desired schools – and even lead to some schools’ closure.

“They wouldn’t be able to choose these schools because they wouldn’t exist,” Mannoia told CNA Aug. 5.

Azusa Pacific University is an interdenominational Christian university in California.

The state legislature there is considering a bill that could require schools to compromise their religious beliefs or face lawsuits and an end to their state grants under the CalGrant program.

The bill uses language that claims it does not prohibit institutions from various actions, but then immediately says that this purported exemption applies only under certain circumstances.

For example, only if institutions provide housing or restroom accommodations for students “consistent with their gender identity” may they reserve housing or restrooms for either male or female students. Institutions may provide separate housing accommodations for married students or students with children only if these accommodations “includes both married opposite-sex and married same-sex couples.”

Moral conduct rules and religious practices may only be enforced if they are “uniformly applicable to all students regardless of the student’s sexual orientation or gender identity.”

Mannoia said he thinks that that the bill has good motives to protect students. But Christian schools are already “deeply committed” to student safety and opposing hostility and discrimination.

“We work very hard at that,” he said.

The schools are also committed to their religious and moral beliefs, he continued, and this commitment is targeted by the bill.

“If a school has such policies that are built on a religious commitment to a lifestyle or a position on marriage or sexual intimacy, then the state could say we are no longer going to provide CalGrants to any institution that discloses this or says they are particularly aligned with that faith system,” Mannoia said.

Required chapel attendance, required courses in religion and the Bible, student admissions or faculty hiring based on religious identity could be targeted by lawsuits under the proposed law, he said.

The legislation would “carve away at the ability of these universities and colleges to operate in a manner that is consistent with their faith values.”

If the schools will not change their beliefs, they will have to refuse to take CalGrants. The grants allow disadvantaged students to access higher education at a college or university of their choice, including schools consistent with their religious beliefs.

About 25 percent students at religious schools are CalGrant recipients. Among these students, about 80 percent come from disadvantaged populations. At some schools, as many as 40-45 percent of the student body is on CalGrants.

Some schools might not be financially sustainable without taking CalGrant students.

“My hunch is that we would probably see a few schools that would have to close in the state of California,” Mannoia said. “Certainly all the faith-based institutions would have to realign their priorities in an effort to replace that money.”

He said that even if the funds were replaced through other means, the more serious issue in the long term is the religious freedom of those institutions to govern and hire in a way consistent with their faith.

This ability “is in jeopardy and becomes exposed to public liability.”

Mannoia said that supporters of the colleges and university should contact the California legislature to object to the bill.

“This is not a time for the Church to become vitriolic or antagonistic. It is not a time to bash any group in our culture at all in an attempt to defeat it,” he said.

“This is a time for Christian higher education, for faith-based institutions, to tell their stories. This is a time for us to frame this around the big issues of religious freedom, choice of students and access of students to higher education.”

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In 38 states, churches can’t help people pay their insurance premiums

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • August 9, 2016

(Alex Proimos via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Washington, D.C. — As churches and charities are legally shut out of helping pay people’s high medical costs in most states, congressmen and advocates are rallying to “allow charities to be charitable.”

“People with chronic, rare, and acute diseases have the right to get the help from third party organizations, and insurers have no sound reason to deny these payments,” said Rep. Randy Hultgren (R-Ill.), a co-sponsor of the Access to Marketplace Insurance Act.

The bill would lift bans on charitable medical payments for health plans on 38 state exchanges.

The prohibition “discriminates against some of our most vulnerable citizens, who have no other means of paying the high out-of-pocket costs,” Hultgren continued, insisting that the government must “allow charities to be charitable.”

When the Affordable Care Act was passed, the law’s supporters said it would stop insurance companies from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions. However, some say a new regulation has “created the new ‘pre-existing condition’.”

In 2014, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services ruled that on the health care law’s exchanges, insurers didn’t have to accept third-party payments of premiums by charitable non-profits; they only had to accept payments from certain “state and federal government premium programs,” the Marketplace Access Project explained. The project advocates for charities to be allowed to help pay for premiums.

38 states then disallowed the charitable payments for health plans on their exchanges. This can put a heavy burden on patients with chronic health conditions, though. The costs of some long-term medical treatments can add up to an exorbitant sum.

“CMS is functionally enabling insurers to exclude patients with expensive – yet devastating – conditions from their plans,” the project stated.

For instance, according to the National Hemophilia Foundation, someone suffering from severe hemophilia could incur up to $300,000 a year in treatment costs. Despite the health care law capping out-of-pocket medical expenses, some families still needed the help of charities and non-profits to pay their medical bills.

Someone waiting for a kidney transplant – currently more than 100,000 Americans – will need expensive weekly treatments just to survive, according to the American Kidney Association.

Unable to pay for a health plan they need, people might resort to skipping treatments, enrolling in Medicare or Medicaid, or using emergency rooms for health care, the Marketplace Action Project claims.

So the bill, introduced by Rep. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) last November, allows these charities and other third parties to continue making these payments. The list of 94 co-sponsors is bipartisan: more than 30 Democrats have co-sponsored the bill.

“The law already compels insurance companies to accept premium assistance from the Affordable Care Act, Indian Tribes, and State or federal programs,” Cramer stated. “Individual Americans should also have the right to organize and do the same through their charity of choice. We need to allow charities to be charitable.”

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Re-trial puts landmark Catholic sex abuse conviction in doubt

by CNA/EWTN News • August 9, 2016

(Lisa F. Young via shutterstock.com)

Philadelphia, PA — There will be drama in Philadelphia.

A landmark case involving Catholic officials’ response to sex abuse is planned for retrial May 1 of next year. The accused is a monsignor who was the first Catholic official convicted for his supervisory actions regarding a priest accused of abusing children.

But claims of new exonerating evidence and a court’s decision to throw out the monsignor’s previous sentence make the situation more complex.

Monsignor William J. Lynn, 65, was released from Pennsylvania state prison Aug. 2 on $250,000 bail. He had served 33 months in prison on a conviction that was overturned in late 2015.

The monsignor was sentenced to three to six years in prison after a 2012 trial.

Msgr. Lynn himself was not accused of sexually abusing children. However, he was convicted on one felony count of child endangerment for failing to protect children from a priest with a known history of abuse.

The monsignor’s defense lawyer Thomas A. Bergstrom said the case against his client was “over the top, inaccurate and dishonest,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. He said the monsignor had served almost the minimum sentence under the vacated conviction, in addition to 18 months’ house arrest.

However, Philadelphia District Attorney Seth Williams said he had no doubts about re-trying the case. He charged that the monsignor “helped create a playbook for handling someone who alleges that an archdiocesan priest is a pedophile.” He said he thought there was sufficient evidence for a retrial and he would not bring the case if he was not sure he could secure a conviction.

Msgr. Lynn 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.

His first trial included 13 weeks of testimony. Most of the testimony reviewed Archdiocese of Philadelphia records about its investigations into two dozen priests dating to 1940, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Prosecutors said the history showed the priest was part of a dominant culture in the archdiocese.

In December 2015 a Superior Court panel, by a vote of 2-1, ordered a new trial for Msgr. Lynn. It agreed with his lawyers that the prosecutors had wrongly tainted the jury’s judgement in its use of historical evidence of the Church’s handling of sex abuse, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

The priest’s lawyers said the evidence was prejudicial and inflammatory and drove the jury toward a guilty verdict. Bergstrom has argued that Msgr. Lynn was a scapegoat.

Assistant District Attorney Brian Zarallo said that prosecutors will re-use some of the historical evidence in the re-trial, but this is dependent on agreements in pre-trial hearings.

The case for which the monsignor was convicted involved an accusation from a man who said that two priests and a parochial school teacher sexually abused him when he was a 10-year-old altar boy. The accuser, known in court records under the pseudonym “Billy Doe,” alleged abuse that took place in the 1998-1999 school years.

Msgr. Lynn had allowed one of the accused priests, Fr. Edward V. Avery, to live at the rectory of Philadelphia’s St. Jerome Catholic Church despite a history of sexually abusing children. Avery, now 73, pled guilty to the charges involving Doe in March 2012 and is still serving his prison sentence. He was laicized in 2006.

The other priest accused of abuse was the late Father Charles Engelhardt, who died in prison in 2014 at the age of 67. He was still appealing his prison sentence of six to 12 years.

The other man accused was parochial school teacher Bernard Shero, now 53, who is serving a sentence of eight to 16 years.

In January 2013, Avery was a witness at Englehardt’s and Shero’s trial. But he recanted his plea and said he pled guilty only to avoid a longer prison term. He denied knowing his accuser, Englehardt, and Shero.

The alleged victim who accused the three men is now 28. At the trial defense attorneys strongly questioned his history of drug use, lies, crimes, and discrepancies between his trial testimony and his initial statements to police and church investigators.

The accuser rejected claims he had made false accusations and said his drug and emotional problems were due to the abuse he suffered.

Both prosecutors and defense attorneys will have to decide how to use the new revelations and claims.

Bergstrom said he has since acquired previously unavailable reports from investigators and forensic psychiatrists that cast doubt on the credibility of the accuser’s allegations.

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Pence slammed for proposed Christian, Jewish refugee ban

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • August 10, 2016

Republican VP candidate Mike Pence at the RNC in Cleveland, Ohio on July 20, 2016. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Washington D.C. — Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence was met with heated criticism after suggesting that a Trump administration may ban Christian and Jewish refugees fleeing from terrorism.

Speaking on a conservative radio show Monday, Pence was asked about his support for religious liberty in light of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s previous proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S.

Pence responded that a general halt on immigration from certain countries would be “appropriate” for security concerns.

“The position that Donald Trump is advocating today is that we should temporarily suspend immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism, which I think is altogether fitting and appropriate,” he said.

“The simple fact is that both our Homeland Security and the FBI have said there are countries like Syria where people are coming in through routine means, the refugee program and otherwise, that we simply cannot know who they are for sure,” he continued, “and so suspending that program from those countries, I think is in the best interest of the security of our people.”

Pence was then asked if the suspension would include Christian and Jewish immigrants and refugees. He simply reiterated his previous point of “temporary suspension of immigration from countries or territories compromised by terrorism.”

His statements immediately came under fire from Catholic immigration advocates.

The proposal flies in the face of Church teaching and is misinformed, said Dr. Susan Weishar, a migration fellow at the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University New Orleans who directed immigration and refugee services for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans for 14 years.

“Because everyone has the right to life and the conditions worthy of life, the Church teaches that people threatened by poverty, religious intolerance, and armed conflict, have a right to flee their home countries to realize a dignified life, and that wealthier countries have an obligation to receive them whenever possible,” Dr. Weishar told CNA.

Refugees are fleeing “the very terror that we abhor,” she added, and the U.S. can accept them without “compromising our national security.”

“The U.S. vetting process for refugee is rigorous and thorough, involving multiple background checks, several in-person interviews, and an average wait time of 12-18 months before entering the United States,” Dr. Weishar added.

Fr. Thomas Reese, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, also voiced strong disagreement with the Trump-Pence proposal.

“USCIRF is on record supporting the continued resettlement of refugees into the U.S, including those who are fleeing religious persecution,” he said, stressing that the U.S. should be “generous” in admitting refugees.

The particular situation for religious minorities in Syria is dire, Fr. Reese said, and the U.S. should “prioritize the resettlement of Syrian refugees based on their vulnerability.”

“Throughout the region, ISIL has targeted for persecution, and in some cases genocide, members of religious minority communities – because of their faith. At the same time, ISIL also has targeted both Shia and Sunni Muslims who have resisted their violent ideology. And the Assad regime has targeted multiple religious communities,” he said.

“Given the scale of the Syrian refugee crisis, USCIRF also has called for resettling 100,000 refugees from Syria.”

As governor of Indiana, Pence tried to halt the resettlement of refugees there last fall, citing security concerns. He ordered state agencies to not pass on federal grant dollars to refugee resettlement programs there.

Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis still had the Catholic Charities in the diocese to resettle a Syrian refugee family that had been through the vetting process and was cleared by the U.S. federal agencies for resettlement.

The archbishop met with Pence in December, after which the governor said he “respectfully disagrees with their decision to place a Syrian refugee family in Indiana at this time.”

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Will Texas execute two innocent men?

by CNA/EWTN News • August 10, 2016

Lethal injection room in New Mexico State Penitentiary. (Ken Piorkowsk)

Austin, Texas — In Texas, two scheduled executions could kill innocent men, Catholic and other Christian leaders have warned.

“In both cases, there are strong indicators that the defendants may be innocent. A gross misuse of justice does not serve the victims, our society or those who have been sentenced to death,” the Texas Catholic bishops said Aug 3.

They urged Texans to write to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles regarding Jeff Wood and Robert Pruett. Wood is scheduled for execution Aug. 24.

“Jeff Wood has not ever killed another person. He was not even in the building when the murder for which he is sentenced took place,” the bishops said. “His mental health and the witness of a now-discredited psychiatrist seem to be the primary reasons for his capital punishment.”

In January 1996 Wood, then 22, waited in a car while Daniel Runeau robbed a Kerryville convenience store. Runeau shot and killed the clerk, Kriss Keeran, the Texas Tribune reports. Wood was charged with capital murder under a Texas law that says a person can be charged with a crime if he helps commit another crime or should have anticipated that other crime as a result.

The Texas Catholic Conference’s executive director Jennifer Carr Alimon, in an Aug. 3 letter to Gov. Abbot and the Texas Board of Pardon and Paroles, said his original sentencing hearing was “prejudiced by the false and perjured testimony” of a discredited psychiatrist.

“The jury also did not hear evidence that might have caused it to spare Mr. Wood’s life,” Alimon’s letter said.

Wood’s mental illness should have made him incompetent to stand trial, but he had instructed his attorneys not to present evidence on his behalf or cross-examine witnesses,” Alimon added. “It is extremely rare for any person in the history of the modern death penalty to have been executed with as little culpability and participation in the taking of a life as Mr. Wood.”

A group of Evangelical leaders also called for a halt to the execution of Wood and asked for a new sentencing hearing.

“Our faith compels us to speak out in this case, where a looming execution date threatens the life of an individual with significant mental impairments who never should have been sentenced to death,” they said in an Aug. 8 letter.

The letter’s signers included Rev. Sam Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Willow Creek co-Founder Lynne Hybels, Dr. Antipas Harris of Regent University School of Divinity, and Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice.

Regarding the case of Robert Pruett, who is seeking clemency, the Texas bishops said there is “no physical evidence tying him to his alleged crime and possibly false testimony.”

Pruett was convicted of murdering Texas prison guard Daniel Nagle in prison in 1999.

He has always denied he killed the guard. Only witness testimony from other inmates, not physical evidence, links him to the crime. He has claimed he was framed by the killers, who were worried Nagle was about to expose corruption in the prison.

Pruett had been serving a 99-year sentence as an accessory to murder. He was tried as an adult at the age of 15 after his father stabbed and killed their neighbor. Prosecutors said Pruett had gotten into a fistfight with the neighbor earlier that night, the web magazine Fusion reports.

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Pro-life leaders reject call for abortions in face of U.S. Zika cases

by CNA/EWTN News • August 11, 2016

(Tatiana Vdb via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Washington D.C. — A small patch of the city of Miami is being called “ground zero” for the Zika virus in the United States, adding fuel to the abortion debate surrounding the disease, which can cause birth defects in unborn children.

“I understand a lot of people disagree with my view – but I believe that all human life is worthy of protection of our laws. And when you present it in the context of Zika or any prenatal condition, it’s a difficult question and a hard one,” Florida Senator Marco Rubio told POLITICO magazine.

“But if I’m going to err, I’m going to err on the side of life,” he added.

New Zika cases in the area of Wynwood, Miami, have public officials concerned, because they seem to have been contracted from local mosquitoes rather than from travelling or being in close contact with someone from the Caribbean or Latin America, where the disease has been most widespread.

Public health officials are warning pregnant women to stay away from the area because of the threat Zika can pose to unborn children, particularly those in the early stages of pregnancy. Namely, Zika has been linked with an increased risk for microcephaly, which causes babies to be born with a small head, and, in severe cases, stunted brain development.

“Obviously, microcephaly is a terrible prenatal condition that kids are born with. And when they are, it’s a lifetime of difficulties,” Rubio told POLITICO. “So I get it. I’m not pretending to you that that’s an easy question you asked me. But I’m pro-life. And I’m strongly pro-life. I believe all human life should be protected by our law, irrespective of the circumstances or condition of that life.”

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, a pro-life political advocacy group, said in a statement on Monday that Rubio was “absolutely right” to defend unborn children who are at risk due to Zika.

“Zika should not be used as a springboard for a search-and-destroy mission against disabled babies,” she said. “Rather, adults, children, and unborn children who are victims all deserve the same standard of care. Killing the patient is not medical treatment and we cannot make advances in medicine if we destroy patients before we find treatments for them.”

“The United States strives to be a beacon for disability rights. To advocate abortion in cases of Zika and other prenatal diagnoses is a major step backwards for the rights of Americans with disabilities and a distraction from the urgent need to develop a vaccine or method to eliminate mosquitos carrying the virus,” Dannenfelser added.

Despite the latest outbreak, a doctor with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told The New York Times that the United States has a much better chance of containing the virus than some Latin American countries due to better mosquito control, more air-conditioning and less standing water than other countries.

At the start of the Zika outbreak, many countries in Latin America issued an advisory cautioning women to avoid pregnancy for up to two years, until the virus is under control. Abortion is illegal in many countries in the heavily Catholic region.

In February, the United Nations issued a statement calling for the repeal of laws and policies “that restrict access to sexual and reproductive health services in contravention of international standards” in Zika-affected countries in order to give women access to abortion and birth control.

Also in February, a Brazilian journalist with microcephaly spoke out against the calls for abortion, saying that it does not “give children a chance to succeed,” and that she was living a “happy and fulfilled life” despite having microcephaly.

On his return flight from Mexico in February, Pope Francis strongly rejected abortion as a response to the fears surrounding the Zika virus outbreak.

“Abortion is not the lesser of two evils. It is a crime. It is to throw someone out in order to save another. That’s what the Mafia does. It is a crime, an absolute evil,” the Pope said Feb. 18.

“It’s against the Hippocratic oaths doctors must take. It is an evil in and of itself, but it is not a religious evil in the beginning, no, it’s a human evil. Then obviously, as with every human evil, each killing is condemned.”

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Oklahoma Christians counter Satanic mockery of Virgin Mary with prayer

by CNA/EWTN News • August 11, 2016

(David McTavish/Shutterstock)

Oklahoma City, OK — Another planned black mass and an additional satanic ritual in Oklahoma City is timed to mock a Marian feast and desecrate an image of the Virgin Mary. In reaction, the local Catholic archbishop and Christians from all backgrounds will join in prayer.

Archbishop Paul Coakley of Oklahoma City explained the need for prayer and called on Catholics to join the Unity Prayer Service and Walk.

“In response to this blasphemous event, and the many other acts of hatred and violence happening in our world in recent weeks, I am encouraging the faithful and people of good will to pray together for healing and peace, and for the Lord to watch over our community and protect us from evil and its many destructive and violent manifestations,” the archbishop said Aug. 10.

“I also ask that we pray for the conversion of this man and for all who have not yet come to know the Lord of Life.”

The multi-denominational prayer walk will take place in downtown Oklahoma City Aug. 15 at 6 p.m. It will begin at the Jesus Wept Statue of Saint Joseph’s Old Cathedral and end at the United Methodist First Church for a Christian prayer service.

“As the local government has refused to interfere with this abhorrent blasphemous worship that is being publicly sanctioned in our community, we trust that our government – local, state and federal – will reaffirm its commitment to protect the religious liberty of Christians and other believers as well,” Archbishop Coakley said. “Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother, let us pray together for healing and peace in our country and our world.”

Aug. 15 marks the Assumption of the Virgin Mary, when the Catholic Church marks the bodily assumption of the Virgin Mary into Heaven.

The same day, a group called the Church of Ahriman has scheduled a ticketed event at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall, which is run by the city government.

The event involves the attempted corruption of a plaster statue of the Virgin Mary using sulfur, menstrual blood, and the ashes of desecrated and burned pages of the Koran. It involves the consumption of a pig’s heart and the “entrapment” of the Virgin Mary in a ritual triangle, in an attempted parody of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The statue will be smashed.

“You’re basically going to have three rituals going on at the same time,” Dastur Adam Daniels, a leader in the group, told the Oklahoma Gazette. “We’re trying to show people how chaotic we are in nature and how chaotic our religion is. It’s all based on chaos.”

Daniels said the abuse of the Virgin Mary statue aims to illustrate black magic and his religion’s teachings. He aims to distinguish these teachings from atheistic Satanism, and claims the practices draw from the occult, Zoroastrianism, Tantra, and Hinduism.

Before the ritual, the group will hold a black mass. The black mass, often connected to witchcraft and demonic worship, is a sacrilegious ceremony that invokes Satan and mocks the Mass. It often involves the desecration of the Eucharist, generally by stealing a consecrated host from a Catholic Church and using it in a profane sexual ritual.

Daniels said that the event is legal.

“We’re not doing anything against the law,” Daniels said. “Against canon law, sure. But the United States’ law? No. We’re not doing anything wrong.”

The group previously attempted a black mass using a consecrated Host stolen from a Catholic liturgy. The move caused massive protests, with Archbishop Coakley playing a leading role in criticizing the event. Daniels returned the consecrated Host after a lawsuit sought the return of stolen property. The ritual went forward without the Host in September 2014.

At the same time, thousands of Catholics and others held prayers, Eucharistic processions, and demonstrations outside the city hall as the group held a sparsely attended black mass.

Daniels had attempted to hold a mock exorcism at the civic center’s music hall in 2010 as part of a different Satanist group he had co-founded and led as a “Dark Overlord.” However, the group expelled Daniels after learning he was a sex offender.

Oklahoma City’s News 9, citing court records, in 2010 reported that Daniels was a registered sex offender and was convicted of sexual battery on a person over age 16.

The Aug. 15 event is advertised on the Oklahoma City music hall’s website as a presentation of the group Dakhma of Angra Mainyu. The website says the black mass will be performed “as done in 2014.” The ritual involving the Virgin Mary statue “will educate the public on the practice of Ahrimanism.”

Daniels claimed the Catholic Church was attempting to infringe on his religious liberty by blocking his rituals.

“They’re the one who started this fight; I’m just bringing it to them,” he told the Oklahoma Gazette.

The Family Policy Institute of Oklahoma is among the participants of the prayer walk.

“This year has been a difficult year on many levels for Oklahomans and Americans, but now is the time for the Body of Christ to come together in unity across denominational lines in a Call to Prayer,” Timothy Tardibono, the institute’s director, said Aug. 10. “As Oklahoma’s communities search for answers in these troubling times, Christ’s unified followers in Oklahoma City can provide the peace and hope our neighbors are desperately seeking just as Christ envisioned.”

Dr. Anthony L. Jordan, executive director-treasurer for the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, said the churches involved continue to recognize their doctrinal differences but also believe it is time to gather together in prayer.

“We believe that only the light of the Gospel can provide the peace and hope our neighbors are desperately seeking amid these troubled times,” he said.

Dr. A.D. Beacham Jr., who heads the International Pentecostal Holiness Church Executive Offices in Bethany, Okla., said he was thankful that “the Body of Jesus Christ in Oklahoma City is gathering to stand for righteousness, hope and reconciliation in our city.”

In 2014 an official with the Oklahoma City music hall told CNA it has a policy of neutrality.

“We do not discriminate against any group based on the content of their message,” she said.

She said the government policy would mean the center would be willing to host a racist or anti-Jewish event “as long as it was not hosting something specifically illegal in nature, or that during the production they were taking part in illegal activities.”

Previous satanic rituals at the music hall were poorly attended, the official said.

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Guam priest admits guilt amid ongoing abuse scandal

by CNA/EWTN News • August 12, 2016

(Vivver via Shutterstock)

Hagatna, Guam — A priest in Guam has admitted to abusing around 20 children, a revelation that comes amid an ongoing investigation into abuse accusations surrounding the local archbishop.

Accusations against Fr. Louis Brouillard, 95, were made during a public hearing last week to lift Guam’s statute of limitations on child abuse. The accusations were raised by a man who lives in Hawaii and said he was sent to a Catholic school in Guam, where he was abused twice, including by Fr. Brouillard in the 1950s.

The priest served in Guam between the 1940s-1970s, during which he taught at San Vicente and Father Duenas Memorial Catholic schools.

According to The Associated Press, after the accusations were made, Fr. Brouillard admitted in an interview to having abused “a couple of boys” while teaching at the schools.

Fr. Brouillard could not come up with an exact number of children he had abused, but said it was “maybe 20.” He said that he had confessed his sins to other priests on the island, and was told to “do better” and perform regular penance, such as praying for the victims.

“At that time, when I was that age, I got the impression that kids liked it, so I went ahead. But now of course, I know it’s wrong and I’m paying for it,” he said, according to The Associated Press.

The hearing in which the accusations were made took place at the Guam Legislature and aims to enact Bill 326, which would strike down the current two-year statute of limitations for civil claims involving the sexual abuse of minors.

If passed, the measure would repeal the entirety of the current law and establish that action against child abusers may be taken at any time in any court of competent jurisdiction.

Brouillard’s admissions come shortly after Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Savio Hon Tai-Fai, secretary of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, as apostolic administrator “sede plena” of the Archdiocese of Agaña, which serves Catholics in Guam, a U.S. island territory in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

The appointment was made shortly after Archbishop Anthony Apuron of Agaña was accused of sexual abuse dating from the 1970s, and of failing to implement strong policies on the handling of clerical sex abuse.

As apostolic administrator “sede plena,” Archbishop Hon now governs the archdiocese because its ordinary is incapable of doing so. Though Archbishop Apuron remains archbishop, he is not able to exercise his office while Archbishop Hon remains as apostolic administrator.

Allegations against Archbishop Apuron surfaced in May with accusations from a former altar boy, who said that he was molested at age 12, when he spent the night at a rectory with then-Father Apuron. The alleged incident took place in the mid-1970s in Agat, a town located almost 13 miles southwest of Hagåtña, Guam’s capital, when Archbishop Apuron was a parish priest.

Shortly later, another allegation surfaced, also involving a former altar server who had spent the night at the rectory.

Archbishop Apuron, however, has denied the allegations, calling the most recent a “malicious and calumnious accusation.”

Archbishop Apuron, 70, is a native of Guam. He was ordained a priest of the Order of Friars Minor Capuchin in 1972. He was appointed an auxiliary bishop of Agaña in 1983, its apostolic administrator in 1985, and he has served as archbishop since 1986.

In 2014, a California man had accused Archbishop Apuron of having molested his cousin. However, the cousin did not confirm the accusation, and no charges were filed.

The Pope’s decision to appoint Archbishop Hon as apostolic administrator of Agaña also falls shortly after his release of the motu proprio “As a loving mother,” which provides for the removal of bishops from office in cases where they are negligent in dealing with sex abuse cases.

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Sale of saint relics on eBay sparks Catholic outcry

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • August 12, 2016

Relics at St. Anthony’s Chapel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Aug. 7, 2015. (Addie Mena/CNA)

San Jose, Calif — Ryan Scheel was shopping for a rosary on eBay when one listing caught him off guard.

A first class relic of the bone of a saint, still in its wax-sealed reliquary, was listed for sale – to the tune of $3,600.

“The listing was crass enough to even describe the relic as ‘ex ossibus,’ a Latin term meaning ‘from the bones,’” Scheel told CNA e-mail comments.

He decided to further search the online auction site, and found “pages and pages” of other first class relics for sale, violating eBay’s own policy that prohibits the sale of human body parts, other than human scalp hair.

Scheel, who is also the founder and editor of the Catholic resource site uCatholic, said he tried to use eBay’s “Report Item” feature in order to alert the site of the first class relics, but he said the closest option given from the available drop-down list states: “The item in this listing is an artifact, fossil, or relic taken from federal or state public land or Native American land or battlefield.”

Catholic News Agency reached out to eBay for comment on this issue, but did not receive a response by press time.

The listing of first class relics “is incredibly insensitive to the Catholic faith in way I doubt would be tolerated for other religions,” Scheel said.

“But also … common decency should tell eBay that profiting off of the sale of body parts is ghastly and unethical, no matter who the remains belonged to in life.”

That’s why Scheel decided to launch a petition calling for eBay to remove the listings of the first class relics. He hopes to obtain signatures from at least 25,000 Catholics in order to alert the site of the illicit sales.

“The sale of Catholic Relics is not only a great and terrible offense against the Catholic faith, it is also explicitly against your very own corporate policy concerning the sale of human body parts and remains,” the petition reads.

“As a Catholic, we ask that you remove all current listings of Catholic relics containing the mortal remains of the Saints and actively monitor and prohibit any future listings,” it continues.

Scheel told CNA that it appears that the people listing the relics seem to somehow be bypassing the ban on the sale of human body parts, but on eBay’s part, “the issue here seems like one of enforcement, and hopefully not ill-will or religious insensitivity.”

The policies of eBay technically allow for the sale of second and third class relics, or first class relics of objects such as the cross or the shroud of Turin.

However, Schell said “eBay should also forbid this out of common respect for the Catholic Faith.”

Code of Canon Law 1190 states that it is “absolutely forbidden to sell sacred relics,” whether or not they are human remains.

Some have argued that what is for sale is the reliquary itself, and not the relic.

However, in the case of many of the first class relics for sale on eBay – some of which are going for thousands of dollars - that seems to not be the case, said JD Flynn, a canon lawyer and director of communications for the Diocese of Lincoln, Neb.

“Here’s what needs to be considered: is the reliquary being sold for a price comparable to that of similar objects which do not contain relics? If a silver box containing Mother Teresa’s eyelashes costs $1,000, and a silver box with no eyelashes costs $100, it’s very difficult to argue that the person is not engaging in the sacrilege of simony,” Flynn told CNA.

Simony is a sacrilegious practice that consists in buying and selling what is spiritual (relics) in return for what is temporal (money).

In the case of the eBay relics, Flynn said, it may be permissible for Catholics to buy the listed relics in order to protect them from further harm or desecration.

“For example, it would be hard to justify getting into a bidding war with other devout Catholics for a relic, but it would be easy to understand getting into a bidding war for a relic with the owners of some hipster bar that wants relics for decorations,” Flynn said.

“But in such a situation, the merchant is obviously engaged in simony.”

The full petition can be found at: ucatholic.leadpages.co/ebay-relics-petition

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Who’s turning 40? One of America’s largest dioceses!

by CNA/EWTN News • August 12, 2016

Crystal Cathedral. (Diocese of Orange)

Orange County, CA — Major celebrations are set to mark the 40th anniversary of California’s Diocese of Orange, one of the largest dioceses in the U.S.

“We have been incredibly blessed by God as a community of faith over the past 40 years,” Bishop Kevin Vann said Aug. 1. “Our diocese has humbly fed the hungry, clothed the naked, and offered Christ’s Mercy to all who suffer in our parishes, Catholic hospitals and clinics, ministries of education, and our missions of charity throughout the county.”

The Christ Cathedral Campus in Garden Grove will host the Sunday, Sept. 18 celebrations. The events will help celebrate the history of each of the diocese’s parish communities and honor the diversity of the Church.

The day begins at 7:30 a.m. with a 5K run and a “fun run” in the neighborhood of Christ Cathedral. At 9:30 a.m. Mass will be celebrated for over 5,000 people. At 11 a.m., carnival games, rides and other activities will open, including sledding on real snow. There will food vendors and a beer garden opening at 11:30 and running through 9 p.m.

A music festival will begin at 3:30 p.m. Performers include Matt Maher, Colton Dixon, Phil Wickham, Andy Mineo, Jordan Feliz, and Jackie Francois.

The campus cultural center will host an all-day photo exhibit, while the Freed Theater will host a speakers’ series from 12-3 p.m.

Bishop Vann said the celebration will honor the work of the diocese and celebrate the people who have made the ministries possible. It will be a time to “rededicate ourselves to the work of Christ for the many decades to come.”

Pope Paul VI established the diocese in 1976. It began with 44 parishes and over 300,000 Catholics.

The diocese is now home to over 1.3 million Catholics, who make up nearly 40 percent of the population. They are served by 62 parishes and centers and 41 schools.

“In Orange County like anywhere, life and the church will change. Faith remains a deeply personal experience, yet all Catholics celebrate that faith together,” Bishop Vann added. “The Catholic Church has served as a steady unifying spiritual force over the last two centuries in Southern California and will continue to care for a diverse community.”

“The diocese remains strong and spiritually rich,” he said. “We invite the community to join us at Christ Cathedral to celebrate this journey and look to a future full of hope and grace.”

Sponsors of the celebration include Saint Joseph Health and Farmers & Merchants Bank.

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These two game-changing Olympians are serious Catholics

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • August 9, 2016

Katie Ledecky (l) and Simone Biles (r). (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for Children’s National Health System and Mike Coppola/Getty Images)

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky are two of the names to know in this year’s summer Olympic games in Rio.

Biles, a record-shattering gymnast with a sparkling smile and bubbly energy that shines through her routines, is the U.S. gymnastics team fan favorite and the gymnast to beat for any chance at the gold.

“Biles competes with a joy and abandon that has been lacking in women’s gymnastics in recent years,” wrote Liz Clarke for the Washington Post. “All too often, grim-faced pony-tailed youngsters clench their jaws, furrow their brows and inhale an ocean’s worth of air before hurtling into rigorous tumbling passes. Their feats may be acrobatically eye-popping, but the strain of pulling them off is palpable.”

“Biles, by contrast, exudes utter delight, competing as if the four-inch-wide balance beam is the sidewalk in front of her house, the vault and uneven bars mere elements of her backyard swing-set and the mat a magic carpet for high-flying fun,” Clarke wrote.

The Texas teenager is a four-time national champion and the first female gymnast in history to win three consecutive world championships. The complex moves written into her Rio routines - including her signature series of flips now called “The Biles” - give her an edge before she even performs.

But behind her jaw-dropping performances is a strong family and faith life that Biles (literally) carries with her.

In a recent interview with Us Magazine, the athlete unpacked her Olympic bag, explaining the significance of each item. Along with her bottled water, bobby pins, Beats headphones and cheetah-print umbrella, Biles carries a white rosary.

“My mom, Nellie, got me a rosary at church,” she told the magazine. “I don’t use it to pray before a competition. I’ll just pray normally to myself, but it’s there just in case.”

Biles was adopted by her grandparents, Ron and Nellie Biles, when she was five years old. Her mother, a drug addict, had struggled to care for Simone and her siblings.

After the adoption, Simone has called Nellie and Ron “mom and dad.” She attends Sunday Mass with her parents, and regularly lights a candle to St. Sebastian, the patron saint of athletes, before big events, according to olympic.org.

Katie Ledecky is also one of the top athletes to watch at this year’s games.

A 19 year-old swimmer, two-time Olympic gold medalist and nine-time world champion, Ledecky returns to the Olympics after taking home the gold in the women’s 800-meter freestyle swim at the summer games in London in 2012. At the time, she was just 15 years old.

The Bethesda, Maryland athlete has no obvious physiological advantages. Measuring in at 6 feet tall, she is often on the shorter end of the swim roster. Her hands and feet aren’t particularly large, and her general physique offers her no upper hand - so much so that a summary of her physical-assessment tests at the U.S. Olympic Training Center referred to her as “remarkably unremarkable.”

But what is remarkable about Ledecky is her inner drive. A young woman with a gentle demeanor outside of the pool, Ledecky swims with an “aggression and the kind of fury” the moment she begins a competition. She’s adopted a type of “galloping” stroke typically used by male swimmers like Michael Phelps, and has a “tough as nails” determination to be the best, according to her coaches.

“She’s the greatest athlete in the world today by far,” Michael J. Joyner, an anesthesiologist and researcher for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., specializing in human performance and physiology, told the Washington Post. “She’s dominating by the widest margin in international sport, winning by 1 or 2 percent. If [a runner] won the 10,000 meters by that wide a margin, they’d win by 100 meters. One or 2 percent in the Tour de France, over about 80 hours of racing, would be 30 or 40 minutes. It’s just absolutely remarkable.”

Like Biles, Ledecky has shattered world records. She is the current world-record holder in the 400-, 800-, and 1,500-meter freestyle (long course). She also holds the fastest times in the 500-, 1000-, and 1,650-yard freestyle events.

Also like Biles, Ledecky’s Catholic faith is central to her identity.

Ledecky attended Catholic school - Little Flower School in Bethesda through 8th grade, and then Stone Ridge School of the Sacred Heart for high school - her whole life.

“My Catholic faith is very important to me. It always has been and it always will be. It is part of who I am and I feel comfortable practicing my faith. It helps me put things in perspective,” Ledecky told the Catholic Standard in a recent interview.

She also confirmed that she says a “Hail Mary” before each event.

“I do say a prayer – or two – before any race. The Hail Mary is a beautiful prayer and I find that it calms me,” she told the Catholic Standard.

After winning her first Olympic gold 4 years ago, Ledecky paid a visit to the convent of the sisters from her grade school, Crux reported. She wanted to thank the sisters for their support over the years, and give them a chance to celebrate with her.

Catherine Ronan Karrels, Stone Ridge’s head of school, told Crux that Ledecky “is so grounded in her faith, and supported by a really loving family and community. She’s an amazing young woman, who happens to swim.”

Catch Biles and Ledecky this week and next on NBC as they compete in the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

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The little-known Catholicism of a ‘Walker, Texas Ranger’ star

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • August 10, 2016

Clarence Gilyard (top left) as deputy James Trivette on ‘Walker, Texas Ranger.’ (CBS Paramount)

Krakow, Poland — Clarence Gilyard is the seasoned Hollywood actor who kicked major bad-guy posterior as Chuck Norris’ gun-slinging, karate-kicking deputy James Trivette on the hit 1993-2001 CBS series.

The man is legitimate – especially after working alongside Chuck Norris and his impressive slow-mo high kicks for an entire eight seasons on Walker, among other roles. But what many fans may not know is how Gilyard’s high-octane life led to a breaking point and eventual conversion to Catholicism, or how his faith profoundly shapes his life today.

In a sit-down interview with CNA July 29 during World Youth Day in Krakow, Gilyard in a nutshell recounted his former wild lifestyle and his decision to convert, which eventually led him to get involved in the global youth event. He also gave his advice to parents on how to help their kids authentically live the faith.

“I hit bottom, I hit bottom … I was pretty much sex, drugs and rock and roll, ya know what I mean?” Gilyard said. He said that while he was going through his process of recovery, which included “therapists (and) 12-step programs,” he met a man who invited him to go to Mass.

Gilyard agreed, and joined the man for Mass the following Sunday. It was during the consecration of the Eucharist “when everybody hit their knees,” he said, that he felt something that changed his life.

“Man, it rocked my world, it rocked me. So I went to the priest on the way out and I said hey, can I come see you this week? And the rest is history,” he said.

After speaking to the priest, he joined RCIA and entered the Church. That was 21 years ago.

Several years after his conversion, while working as a consultant for his local bishops’ conference, Gilyard went on vacation to Martha’s Vineyard with his wife and five kids. It was there that he met a priest who, given Gilyard’s background in film, told him to visit the production house of Holy Cross Family Ministries when he got back to Hollywood.

Holy Cross Ministries is a nonprofit organization affiliated with the Sisters of the Holy Cross. It was founded by “the Rosary priest” Fr. Patrick Peyton, who coined the phrase “the family that prays together, stays together.”

Through various projects the organization serves low-income and at-risk families by providing critical health, education and legal immigration representation.

After meeting the organization’s president Fr. Willy Raymond, Gilyard was eventually asked to be on the board, and one of the services this role includes is to help organize and facilitate the English speaking venues for the global WYD encounters every 3-4 years.

Gilyard, who attends every WYD, said while he’s at the event “I wear my cowboy hat and I say, hey, there is a Catholic who’s a Hollywood actor that you’ll recognize and he’s got a family, he’s open to life, he’s striving just like everybody else.”

The actor admitted that he has his own issues to work on “just like everybody else,” but stressed that there is a big-name star who “loves Jesus, he loves Mother Church and prays the rosary.”

On the topic of mercy, which was the heart of WYD Krakow’s theme, Gilyard said that the concept isn’t necessarily well-understood by the secular world, but is something he felt during his first Mass “when we were at the consecration where we hit our knees.”

“I don’t get those people standing up – because the geography is God is God, and I need you so much God that I can’t even articulate,” he said, explaining that every day “we’re on our knees not necessarily physically but metaphorically,” begging God for his intercession in our lives.

Gilyard got teary-eyed as he spoke about the day he came into the Church, explaining that his birthday is Dec. 24, and he entered the Church on Christmas Day, Dec. 25.

“I asked to come in on my birthday, and Mother Church accepted me on Christ’s birthday. That’s mercy,” he said. “How do you explain mercy? Five kids, gorgeous wife, fantastic faith community, opportunities to serve all over the world. I say ‘thank-you’ daily.”

He said when it comes to living mercy concretely, Pope Francis is a key example. “This cat’s walking the walk, isn’t he?” Gilyard said, adding that while the Pope has “a lot of energy,” he can’t do it by himself, so “you better get off your butt and help him.”

The actor, who currently teaches film as an associate professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, offered some tips for parents in terms of helping their kids live their faith, based on personal experience.

First of all, he said, adults “need to stop being youth … the youth are being authentic. It’s those people who have gone through those years and are trying to hang out in the space where the youth are supposed to be” that need advice.

The role of a parent is to “to support and mentor and pray” for their kids and the youth, which includes supporting them spiritually.

“We need to be available to youth when they need an answer, when they need a resource, when they need an example,” he said, suggesting that too much time on the cell phone, TV or computer are unnecessary distractions which diminish the role of parents.

Speaking of his own children, Gilyard said he has a 13-year-old who is “rebelling and questioning (and) shooting hormones.”

“He’s only got two hands, but he’s shooting 12 guns, it’s crazy,” Gilyard said, but stressed that his son is “being appropriate.”

The actor said the questions he should be asking himself as a father, then, are: “Am I there for him? Am I being steadfast for him? Am I praying for him? Am I going to daily Mass for him? Am I acknowledging that I need to work on myself because he’s watching me, he’s listening to me, he’s checking me out?”

Pope Francis, he said, is a strong example for him in this area. While he hears many people who say they like what Francis is doing, Gilyard said the Pope “scares me. He scares me because he’s calling me by his example to be a Christian, to be a Catholic, not to say I am.”

Gilyard also emphasized the importance of prayer, noting that while it’s not easy “to be the man of the house, and say okay, let’s pray,” saying a rosary after dinner is a good way his family has been able to incorporate prayer into their daily lives.

Events like WYD, he said, are needed for youth, who often experience a sort of “anxiety” in their search for God. What WYD does, then, is offer them fellowship and the opportunity to join their peers in waving flags, screaming, “blowing horns and beating drums” because they’re excited to see the Pope.

Youth, he said, “want to pray with the Pope, they want to hear what the Pope has to say, they’re not alone. What’s happening inside of you is human, it’s real, and it’s happening to all the youth around the world.”

The amount of resources the Catholic Church provides in order to help persevere in the faith is “ridiculous,” Gilyard said, and pointed to the sacraments and the lives of the Saints as an example of how to imitate Jesus.

The saints, he said, were all “just trying to articulate what Jesus is doing in their lives at the time.” When we turn to them, grace “just keeps pouring out, it just keeps coming,” he said, adding that when it comes to the perfect example of living the Christian life, Jesus is the “one person” we can look to.

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Back to School: The Catholic Philosophy of Education

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. • August 10, 2016

“It’s back to school,” the many ads remind us. The noble work of education will soon begin anew.

The word, educate, from the Latin educere, means to lead out of. Educators worthy of the name lead their students out of the darkness of ignorance to the light of truth, knowledge and wisdom.

The Catholic Philosophy of Education

To realize its Divine mission, the Church has developed a view of education that claims the right over all other agencies to make final decisions about the education of its youth.

There are several principles of the Catholic philosophy of education that mark it with distinction. With the obvious age-appropriate adaptations, they affect all ages and academic levels.

Belief in a Personal God

First, that belief in a personal God is essential to all Catholic thinking in any and every phase of human activity. This includes formal education which proclaims Jesus as its primary Exemplar. It follows that the Church rejects any philosophy of education or position that sacrifices the eternal and supernatural to the temporal and natural (V.P. Lannie, “Catholic Education IV,” The New Encyclopedia 5: 168).

Academic Excellence

Second, Catholic education imparts far more than amassing facts and information. Scholarship and faith belong together, the whole person, seeking ultimate Truth, Goodness, and Beauty. Students should be taught to wonder at the goodness and truth surrounding them. Catholic education builds character. It develops in its students a Catholic moral compass and a Catholic sensibility to understand how society and democracies function. The curriculum’s first order of business is academic formation and excellence. Students must learn correct grammar and use language skillfully, even artfully. This means reading well, writing with imagination, precision and power, and speaking the country’s predominant language correctly. It is typically true that whoever uses the right word thinks precisely and persuasively as in the famous Hopkins’ poetic line, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”

English is a difficult language to master, but it must be said that immigrants to this country often learn to speak better English than those who are born here. In the musical, “My Fair Lady,” the character of Henry Higgins sings, “Why Can’t the English Teach Their Children How to Speak.” He lampoons Americans’ mutilation of English with the line, “Well, in America, they haven’t used it in years.” A playful jab, but jab it is.

Catholic and Christian Humanism

Third, in Catholic humanism, God is found not just in the sacred but also in the secular where Christian values and virtue can be uncovered. The religious and the profane are mutually inclusive, “charged with the grandeur of God.” Whatever is human is inherently Christian. No enterprise, no matter how secular, is merely secular for we live in a universe of grace and promise.

The humanities are associated with depth, richness, feelings, character and moral development. This is why the literary and refining arts are so important. Their purpose is to impart wonder and enjoyment, sensitize the feelings of students and eventually influence their behavior. The humanities are intended for all students and not just for the elite.

The Student and the Educator

Fourth, St. Thomas Aquinas puts it concisely: Education is a lifelong process of self-activity, self-direction, and self-realization. The child is the center of attention, the “principal agent,” in the educational process.

The instructor is the “essential mover” who teaches by the witness of his or her example and consistently brings to their lessons a high degree of preparedness. The teacher’s role is critical to Catholic education (Ibid). The students’ real life situations initiate the process of learning. Educators lead their students out beyond their life setting — their Sitz-im-Leben. Experience teaches students to discover for themselves by engaging the five senses. This includes, for example, making or doing beautiful art forms or listening to beautiful music. Affectivity must be channeled in socially-accepted ways. For the most part, “Rap” culture exalts anti-social affectivity.

In his apostolic exhortation, Evangelii nuntiandi, Pope Paul VI reflected: “Today students do not listen seriously to teachers but to witnesses, and if they do listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses.”

Catholic educators teaching in public schools can adapt Catholic principles to the public school curriculum especially when these are also embraced by other faith-traditions.

The Benedict Effect

At his papal election in 2003, why did Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger take the papal name Benedict? It was the Benedictine monks, who, systematically and comprehensively, rebuilt Europe after the barbaric invasions of Rome in the 5th century. Some European leaders refuse to acknowledge Europe’s Christian roots and, specifically, the Church’s role in building on Greco-Roman culture, Christianizing it, and handing it on to future generations. At a time when Europe was cast in darkness, the Church led it out of the darkness; the Church was Europe’s light. Not opinion, but fact.

St. Benedict, the Benedictine Order, and the Monastic Centuries

In the middle of the sixth century, a small movement changed the landscape of the European world. Benedict of Nursia (480-547) introduced a new way of life and thinking that has brought vitality to contemporary men and women. He laid the foundation of Benedictine monastic life with his monks first at Subiaco and Rome, and then at Monte Cassino.

Benedict composed his Rule of disciplined balance that fostered order and peace. If “pray and work” (ora et labora) was the Benedictine motto, the way to live it was through beauty, piety, and learning. Every monastery was built on an expansive tract of land, and eventually, it became a miniature civic center for the townspeople. One could say that the monks sacralized the landscape.

Monastic Schools

Of the many contributions the Benedictine monks made to European culture, education remained a prominent value. In the Middle Ages, education was conducted within the confines of the monastery by monks, and later, by nuns. They offered religious and general education to youth who intended to enter the monastic or clerical life and to youth who were preparing for public life. They lived at home. Young children of six or seven years of age were taught the basics. The majority, especially potential monks and nuns, were taught to read Latin, writing, chant, arithmetic, and learning how to read time on the sundial. The main text was the Psalter. From the eighth century onward, students were taught the seven liberal arts, the trivium, grammar, logic, and rhetoric, and the quadrivium, arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, and music. The ideal monastery of the Benedictine Order was that of Saint Gall in present-day Switzerland where the town flourished around the monastery.

In our century, Catholic education continues to flourish across the world in developed and in developing countries.

Conclusion: Catholic Education in the United States

The Encyclopedia of Catholicism asserts that “throughout history, there is likely no more compelling instance of Catholic commitment to education than the school system created by the U.S. Catholic community. The story of American Catholicism goes back to the very first Catholic settlers in the New World.”

Despite the various declarations of freedom in early American history, anti-Catholicism prevailed through groups such as the Know-Nothing Society of the 1850s. They existed to eradicate Popery, Jesuitism, and Catholicism.

Between 1840 and 1900, at least sixty European religious orders of women and men were teaching in this country’s parochial schools.

Conclusion

Finally, the philosophy of Catholic education integrates several aspects of the faith into the curriculum but always in age-appropriate ways: Biblical tradition, Early Christian Church plus heresies and the results, Spirituality and prayer, Liturgy, Doctrine, Ecumenism: a study of the world religions and the Third World.

Today, apologetics is needed more than ever to defend the Church against old and new approaches to anti-Catholicism. Our students should be taught the art and skill of civil debate — to learn the principles, internalize them, anticipate opposing views, and then defend the principles.

(This précis of the philosophy of Catholic education has been presented in its ideal conception and not necessarily as it exists with the integrity described.)

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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World Youth Day 2016: Source of hope

by Bishop Robert Barron • August 11, 2016

When I arrived in Kraków for the 2016 World Youth Day, I was pretty exhausted, having left Los Angeles some fifteen hours earlier and having had to change planes in Munich. But I was enthused as I approached my first appointment right in the heart of the Old City. Through the good ministrations of George Weigel, the world’s leading expert on John Paul II, I was one of a group of bishops and priests invited to spend time with the original youth group of Fr. Karol Wojtyla.

These were men and women, now in their seventies and eighties, whom the young Fr. Karol had called together at St. Florian’s Church, the parish that still serves the university community in Kraków. He gave them the moniker of Srodowisko (meaning milieu or environment), and he took them on camping and kayaking trips in the countryside surrounding Kraków, sharing their lives and subtly training them in Catholic philosophy, theology, and spirituality. This was, to be sure, an act of subversion at a time when the government was attempting to impose a dreary atheism on the Polish people. Over the decades, these young people stayed with Wojtyla (whom they called Wujek or Uncle), and he officiated at their weddings and baptized their children and grandchildren. During his years as Pope, they continued to associate with him, often joining him for get-togethers at Castel Gandolfo and for skiing adventures in the mountains of Italy.

We gathered at a long wooden dining table in a cozy room where, we were told, Fr. Wojtyla had once celebrated Mass. With me were, among others, Cardinal Dolan of New York, Bishop Conley of Lincoln, Neb., and Bishop Paprocki of Springfield, Ill. We spoke of many things: when they first met John Paul, what it was like to be with him, his preferred method of kayaking, the constant warfare with Communist spies and informers, his manner of prayer, etc. While we talked, I kept looking across the room at a bookshelf on which rested a framed photograph of the young Fr. Wojtyla in profile. He had that characteristically warm grin that the whole world would in time come to know, and he wore a pair of what would now be considered pretty hipster glasses. He must have looked like that when he was working with these now elderly men and women — and I just felt his presence there palpably. As the evening wore on, we commenced to hear the cries and songs of the young people who had gathered for World Youth Day coming in through the open windows. How wonderful, I thought, that we were with the core group from which eventually grew this phenomenon. Cardinal Dolan remarked that our friends around that table knew John Paul II long before he was Pope, long before he was Cardinal Wojtyla; they knew him as their parish priest. Never underestimate, he said, the power of a pastor, and never forget the great Gospel principle of the mustard seed.

The next morning, I was taken to a parish on the outskirts of Kraków for a catechesis session with several hundred young people, and that evening I had, I must say, one of the greatest experiences in my thirty years as a priest. At the invitation of the Knights of Columbus, I came to a giant indoor arena on the edge of Kraków, dubbed “The Mercy Center.” I had been asked to lead a Eucharistic procession and benediction and to give a short reflection, but nothing prepared me for what I would see and feel. The place was filled, floor to rafters, with about 25,000 young people, and when the Blessed Sacrament was carried into the arena, everyone knelt down. Then, as the Lord was brought slowly up and down the aisles of the ground floor of the stadium, the music swelled, and young people wept, called, stretched out their hands, and prostrated themselves. Walking right behind the Sacrament, I had a privileged vantage point, and I thought, “This is just what it must have been like when Jesus entered a town or when he processed into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. Hanging from the rafters, far over our heads, were banners featuring portraits of the great Polish twentieth-century martyrs, Bl. Jerzy Popieluszko and St. Maximilian Kolbe, stark reminders that following Jesus is always a journey, one way or another, to the cross. I can’t remember another time in the last thirty years when I felt the presence of the Lord more vividly.

The hotel where I stayed during the week, along with most of the other American bishops, was just across the Vistula river from the great Wawel Hill, where the palace of the Polish kings and the cathedral of the Archbishop of Kraków stand. From my window, I could plainly see the bridge over which young Karol Wojtyla ran on the morning of September 1, 1939, when Nazi bombs began to rain over the city. He had been assigned to serve Mass that morning at the Cathedral, and he was frantic to check on the safety of the priest. That awful day, of course, signaled the commencement of Poland’s (and Wojtyla’s) decades-long nightmare of tyranny, persecution, and death. But what young Karol carried in his heart that day was the story of a young visionary nun from Kraków called Faustina Kowalska, who had died just a year before and whose convent was just a few miles from that bridge. It was a tale of the divine mercy. During the terrible night of Nazism and Communism, Wojtyla carried that word in his heart, cultivating like a seed. And when he became Pope, he offered it to the world. Alongside the portraits of the martyrs in the Mercy Center hung a portrait of St. Faustina, and it was her message of mercy that Pope Francis has made central to his own pontificate.

We are passing through a particularly dark moment in the world’s history. But in the wizened faces of the members of Wojtyla’s Srodowisko, in the enraptured cries of 25,000 young people in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament, in the serene witness of Poland’s martyrs, and in the mercy, within mercy, within mercy proclaimed by Faustina, I found much ground for hope.

Bishop Robert Barron is an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and the founder of Word on Fire Catholic Ministries (wordonfire.org). He is the creator of two award-winning documentary series, Catholicism and Catholicism: The New Evangelization.

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FEATURES

Highs and lows of showbiz explored in worthwhile indie flick

by Carl Kozlowski • August 12, 2016

There’s a moment of truth that every struggling entertainer has to face. That’s the moment when they have to question themselves about whether they will ever succeed, or if their dreams are really a delusion.

That’s the dilemma faced by the member of a New York-based improve troupe in the new movie “Don’t Think Twice,” which uses a documentary-like feel to draw viewers into the humorously rattled nerves and tortured psyches of artists who have hit their personal crossroads. As a graduate of Chicago’s Second City improv conservatory who’s been immersed in the LA and Chicago comedy scenes for 20 years, I can vouch that writer-director-costar Mike Birbiglia has absolutely nailed this world, both in moments of joy and sadness.

The movie centers around a troupe called The Commune, who are all fairly smart and witty and getting scared about their lives as they face their mid-thirties. Miles (Birbiglia) is the troupe’s leader, but he’s 36 and has been guiding them through weekly shows at a 99-seat theatre for 11 years, while sharing an apartment with half the troupe and sleeping in such a tiny loft space that a visiting college girlfriend refuses to sleep with him there.

The other members are also well-drawn and unique, defined further by spot-on performances by a cast of veteran indie comedy actors including Kate Micucci, Tami Sagher and Chris Gethard. These actors have graced the real improv stages of Chicago and LA so long, and have faced the same dilemmas en route to their eventual success, and that impassioned perspective does wonders for opening up the backstage world of this movie to viewers who may be wholly unfamiliar with the improv scene.

But the standout duo in the cast are Keegan-Michael Key (of Comedy Central’s “Key and Peele”) and Gillian Jacobs (NBC’s “Community”) as Jack and Samantha. Jack has a long-standing, annoying habit of trying to steal the show whenever talent scouts show up at a Commune show. Despite Miles begging him not to showboat, he bursts into a terrific Obama impression when talent scouts from a “Saturday Night Live” style show come to watch, and both he and Samantha are invited to audition for the big time.

What happens when Jack gets the break and Samantha does it due to surprising circumstances winds up having huge ramifications on the entire troupe, both onstage and off. Jealousy, rivalries and the harsh tug of reality that some members just don’t have star potential all interfere with their decade-plus relationships.

At first, “Don’t” comes off as perhaps too insular a look at a very specific slice of showbiz life. But as the characters develop into people viewers can truly laugh with, empathize with and root for, Birbiglia finds ways to make their dilemmas universal as they each slowly have to face their own shifting visions of their futures. In the way that Birbiglia provides a perfect fit for each of these characters’ lives, both inside big-time showbiz or on their own smaller levels of personal satisfaction, is also a wonder of quality writing.

“Don’t Think Twice” is rated R, though it’s kind of hard to see why – not that it would interest teens anyway, being a story about adult crises. It has one F-word that I recall, as well as a few uses of God’s or Jesus’ names in vain; if anything slipped past me, that is a reflection of how low-key any foul language is here.

One surprising pro-life subplot involves the girlfriend of a main character, who discovers she’s pregnant from a previous fling. She says that being in her 30s, she can’t consider not having the child, and her new boyfriend in the improv troupe steps up and offers to change his entire life and become responsible by offering to take a real chance on their relationship and serve as the child’s father as well, with strong implications that they’re heading for marriage.

There is a scene in which an unmarried couple is having sex but are hidden from their bare shoulders down by sheets, and another scene implies that Miles has just had sex with a young 20-something improv student of his. There are also a few moments in which marijuana is smoked by some members of the group, but is almost too casual to be noticed.

This is the second feature film that Birbiglia has written and directed, following his 2012 debut “Sleepwalk With Me.” A veteran standup comic who took the “Sleepwalk” concept – the story of how he overcame a bizarre battle with sleepwalking to reach success - to a lengthy off-Broadway run in addition to national tours and a bestselling book, Birbiglia proved that he had real chops coming out of the gate.

By expanding his vision to an ensemble-based, character-driven film, he proves here that “Sleepwalk” was no fluke and he could very well develop into a filmmaker capable of keeping Woody Allen’s style of comedy alive and well at the cinema. This is playing in a few major cities now, but is well worth seeking out as it expands into more cities and in its DVD and VOD runs.

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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FEATURES

Ben-Hur: An epic remake

by Michael Wahle (Angelus News) • August 12, 2016

Ben-Hur. (Paramount Pictures and MGM)

Hollywood, CA — For the first time in nearly 55 years, one of the greatest stories ever told will be retold on the big screen starting Aug. 19, as Paramount and MGM’s “Ben-Hur”— a remake of the 1959 Academy Award-winning classic with Charlton Heston — will introduce a whole new generation to the epic tale of fictional nobleman-turned-slave Judah Ben-Hur and his life-changing interaction with Jesus Christ.

And one of the key people behind making this introduction a reality is actress/producer Roma Downey, who knows perhaps as well as anyone the power of introducing people to the right message at the right time.

After falling in love with the craft of acting while performing in a high school production of William Shakespeare’s “As You Like It” as a teenager, Downey’s passion for inspiring audiences through great stories led her to Broadway — and later to Hollywood, where her fruitful career apexed with her starring role on the CBS TV hit “Touched By An Angel.” Fans of the show (which ran for nine seasons, from 1994 to 2003) will recall how Downey’s Monica, an angel who would go “undercover” as a human being in each episode, would reveal her true identity to people and share a message of God’s love at the exact moment the person needed to hear it.

According to Downey, Monica’s penchant for instilling hope in others extended far beyond the fictional world of the show by reaching viewers at home.

“A woman came up to me once, and she had fresh scars on her wrist; she had very clearly tried to take her own life recently,” recalls Downey of a particularly memorable interaction with a fan. “She was feeling very alone and angry with God. She slid down the wall of her bathroom, ready to die, and she had left the television on in her bedroom. And she called out in her anger, ‘Even now, I’m all alone!’

“And in that exact moment, during a revelation scene (i.e., when Monica would show her true identity to the person she was tasked with guiding in that episode), she heard the reply, ‘You are not alone. You have never been alone. Don’t you know that God loves you?’ She grabbed a towel and called an ambulance,” Downey told Angelus News.

“That’s an extreme example, of course, but there were so many other people who just needed to be reminded that they were special and loved. They were touched and healed by seeing an episode of the show and hearing a message at the exact time they needed to hear it. It was such a privilege to be able to deliver a message of God’s love to millions of people every week.”

Her desire to continue delivering that message ultimately led Downey to launch the Lightworkers Media production company along with her husband, Mark Burnett (executive producer of “Survivor” and “The Voice”). “When the show ended, I missed being a part of something that was bigger than all of us,” she explains. “There’s a hunger for stories of inspiration; an underserved audience that wants to see that kind of programming. The whisper came into my heart to start Lightworkers. The name stems from our motto that ‘it’s better to light one candle than to curse the darkness.’”

Since its inception in 2009, Lightworkers has been responsible for major television projects such as the Emmy-nominated “The Bible” on The History Channel, “A.D.: The Bible Continues” on NBC, and feature films such as “Son of God,” “Little Boy,” and now this summer’s remake of “Ben-Hur.” With every remake of a Hollywood classic comes the inevitable naysayers clamoring “Why?” But Downey is convinced that right now is the perfect time for it.

“My husband and I were approached by Gary Barber from MGM about joining the project, and when we went home, so excited to be a part of ‘Ben-Hur,’ our kids responded ‘Ben who?’” recalls Downey. “There’s a whole new generation ready to be introduced to this story, and it’s one of the greatest stories ever told. It’s a big action-adventure movie, but holds deep in its heart a deeper message about faith, hope, forgiveness and reconciliation. If there was ever a time in our country and in our world when those things were relevant, surely the time is now.”

The story revolves around Judah Ben-Hur, a wealthy nobleman in Jerusalem in 26 A.D. who is wrongly accused of a crime and, after years of being forced into slavery, seeks revenge by way of an epic chariot race. While the task of doing justice to the grand 1959 original was a daunting one, Downey couldn’t be happier with the results.

“It takes a village to put a movie of this scale on the screen, and we really had the best of the best people in our village,” beams Downey of the production team, which included Oscar-winning screenwriter John Ridley (“12 Years a Slave”) and Oscar-winning special effects supervisor John Riddell (“The Lord of the Rings”). “The studio gathered an amazing team to produce this movie, an incredible group of people.”

Though the new rendition of “Ben-Hur” has been billed as a “re-imagining of the novel” as opposed to a remake of the 1959 film, shades of the past were very present in the production process. A majority of the filming took place at the famed Cinecitta studios in Rome, the very same studio where the 1959 original was filmed. And in a further twist of coincidence, the crew attached to the remake featured a wig maker and horse trainer whose fathers worked on the original in the same capacities.

British actor Jack Huston, who portrays the titular role this time around, has no relation to the great Charlton Heston, but Downey firmly believes that Huston’s turn would make Heston proud, and will make Huston a star.

“Jack Huston isn’t a household name yet, but after ‘Ben-Hur’ he will be,” asserts Downey. “He’s sensational in this part. Same goes for Toby [Kebbell, who plays Ben-Hur’s childhood friend and adoptive brother who betrays him].” The cast is further elevated by Morgan Freeman, who is a household name, and whose voice — one of the most recognizable in Hollywood history — is the first and last voice audiences seeing the film will hear.

“He was amazing in the film, as he always is,” states Downey of the veteran Freeman, who portrays the wealthy Nubian sheik that trains Ben-Hur to become a charioteer. “He brought such dignity and charisma to the role.”

While the film takes full advantage of CGI and special effects available today, the highly-anticipated chariot sequences — which took 12 weeks to shoot — are as authentic as can be. Both Huston and Kebbell had to learn how to ride the chariot for their roles, and much of the footage audiences will see during the races will actually feature the actors in the chariots. The authenticity, according to Downey, results in an unforgettable sequence.

“You’ll inhale when it begins and won’t exhale until it ends,” predicts Downey of the chariot sequence. “It’s just 12 minutes of pure adrenaline.”

Downey is aware that moviegoers will come for action scenes such as the chariot races, but she hopes they’ll leave having absorbed the film’s beautiful message of letting go of hate and forgiving others.

“Because it’s set within the context of this great adventure and heightened drama, you don’t see that moment [of Ben-Hur forgiving his adoptive brother] coming. And for this new generation, it holds that message without being preachy. You’re not being hit over the head; it’s just great storytelling,” she says.

“Our hope is that people come in to be entertained by an epic movie experience,” she continues, “but that they will go away feeling that, in the same way Ben Hur’s heart is opened to the love of God, there might be people watching who are holding onto anger or disappointment and maybe, just maybe, they’ll see this film and want to lay down the stone they’ve been carrying.”

This article originally ran on Angelus News, the multimedia news platform for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Reprinted here with permission.

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SUNDAY • AUGUST 14, 2016

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Jer 38:4-6, 8-10; NRSVCE)

The officials said to the king, “Jeremiah ought to be put to death, because he is discouraging the soldiers who are left in this city, and all the people, by speaking such words to them. For this man is not seeking the welfare of this people, but their harm.” King Zedekiah said, “Here he is; he is in your hands; for the king is powerless against you.” So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the cistern of Malchiah, the king’s son, which was in the court of the guard, letting Jeremiah down by ropes. Now there was no water in the cistern, but only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.

Ebed-melech left the king’s house and spoke to the king, “My lord king, these men have acted wickedly in all they did to the prophet Jeremiah by throwing him into the cistern to die there of hunger, for there is no bread left in the city.” Then the king commanded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, “Take three men with you from here, and pull the prophet Jeremiah up from the cistern before he dies.”

Second Reading (Heb 12:1-4; NRSVCE)

Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.

Consider him who endured such hostility against himself from sinners, so that you may not grow weary or lose heart. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Gospel Reading (Lk 12:49-53; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what stress I am under until it is completed! Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division! From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; they will be divided:

father against son

and son against father,

mother against daughter

and daughter against mother,

mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law

and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”

MONDAY • AUGUST 15, 2016

Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

First Reading (Rv 11:19a; 12:1-6a, 10ab; NRSVCE)

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple.

A great portent appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars. She was pregnant and was crying out in birth pangs, in the agony of giving birth. Then another portent appeared in heaven: a great red dragon, with seven heads and ten horns, and seven diadems on his heads. His tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven and threw them to the earth. Then the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, so that he might devour her child as soon as it was born. And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron. But her child was snatched away and taken to God and to his throne; and the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, proclaiming,

“Now have come the salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God

and the authority of his Messiah.”

Second Reading (1 Cor 15:20-27; NRSVCE)

But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have died. For since death came through a human being, the resurrection of the dead has also come through a human being; for as all die in Adam, so all will be made alive in Christ. But each in his own order: Christ the first fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father, after he has destroyed every ruler and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.”

Gospel Reading (Lk 1:39-56; NRSVCE)

In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

TUESDAY • AUGUST 16, 2016

Tuesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Ez 28:1-10; NRSVCE)

The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, say to the prince of Tyre, Thus says the Lord God:

Because your heart is proud

and you have said, “I am a god;

I sit in the seat of the gods,

in the heart of the seas,”

yet you are but a mortal, and no god,

though you compare your mind

with the mind of a god.

You are indeed wiser than Daniel;

no secret is hidden from you;

by your wisdom and your understanding

you have amassed wealth for yourself,

and have gathered gold and silver

into your treasuries.

By your great wisdom in trade

you have increased your wealth,

and your heart has become proud in your wealth.

Therefore thus says the Lord God:

Because you compare your mind

with the mind of a god,

therefore, I will bring strangers against you,

the most terrible of the nations;

they shall draw their swords against the beauty of your wisdom

and defile your splendor.

They shall thrust you down to the Pit,

and you shall die a violent death

in the heart of the seas.

Will you still say, “I am a god,”

in the presence of those who kill you,

though you are but a mortal, and no god,

in the hands of those who wound you?

You shall die the death of the uncircumcised

by the hand of foreigners;

for I have spoken, says the Lord God.

Gospel Reading (Mt 19:23-30; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astounded and said, “Then who can be saved?” But Jesus looked at them and said, “For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

Then Peter said in reply, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. What then will we have?” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name’s sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last will be first.”

WEDNESDAY • AUGUST 17, 2016

Wednesday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Ez 34:1-11; NRSVCE)

The word of the Lord came to me: Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them — to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord God: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them.

Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: As I live, says the Lord God, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.

For thus says the Lord God: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out.

Gospel Reading (Mt 20:1-16; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.”

THURSDAY • AUGUST 18, 2016

Thursday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Ez 36:23-28; NRSVCE)

I will sanctify my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them; and the nations shall know that I am the Lord, says the Lord God, when through you I display my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and make you follow my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Gospel Reading (Mt 22:1-14; NRSVCE)

Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his slaves to call those who had been invited to the wedding banquet, but they would not come. Again he sent other slaves, saying, ‘Tell those who have been invited: Look, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready; come to the wedding banquet.’ But they made light of it and went away, one to his farm, another to his business, while the rest seized his slaves, mistreated them, and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned their city. Then he said to his slaves, ‘The wedding is ready, but those invited were not worthy. Go therefore into the main streets, and invite everyone you find to the wedding banquet.’ Those slaves went out into the streets and gathered all whom they found, both good and bad; so the wedding hall was filled with guests.

“But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing a wedding robe, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding robe?’ And he was speechless. Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ For many are called, but few are chosen.”

FRIDAY • AUGUST 19, 2016

Friday of the Twentieth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Ez 37:1-14; NRSVCE)

The hand of the Lord came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry. He said to me, “Mortal, can these bones live?” I answered, “O Lord God, you know.” Then he said to me, “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

So I prophesied as I had been commanded; and as I prophesied, suddenly there was a noise, a rattling, and the bones came together, bone to its bone. I looked, and there were sinews on them, and flesh had come upon them, and skin had covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then he said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, mortal, and say to the breath: Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.” I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.

Then he said to me, “Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel. They say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are cut off completely.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: I am going to open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people; and I will bring you back to the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and bring you up from your graves, O my people. I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I, the Lord, have spoken and will act, says the Lord.”

Gospel Reading (Mt 22:34-40; NRSVCE)

When the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together, and one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him. “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”

SATURDAY • AUGUST 20, 2016

Memorial of Saint Bernard

First Reading (Ez 43:1-7ab; NRSVCE)

The angel brought me to the gate, the gate facing east. And there, the glory of the God of Israel was coming from the east; the sound was like the sound of mighty waters; and the earth shone with his glory. The vision I saw was like the vision that I had seen when he came to destroy the city, and like the vision that I had seen by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple.

While the man was standing beside me, I heard someone speaking to me out of the temple. He said to me: Mortal, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet, where I will reside among the people of Israel forever.

Gospel Reading (Mt 23:1-12; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. They love to have the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the marketplaces, and to have people call them rabbi. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father — the one in heaven. Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah. The greatest among you will be your servant. All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.”