VOLUME 2, ISSUE 13  •  SEPTEMBER 24, 2016

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VATICAN NEWS

The world needs a merciful response to refugees, Pope Francis says

Man rams car through police barrier into St. Peter’s Square

Pope tells ambassadors to serve in humility, not get lost in politics

Corruption is worst form of criminality, Pope tells Vatican police

Papal ambassadors issue global appeal to step-up peace efforts

Cardinal Parolin to visit Colombia for signing of peace accords

Church unity with a global focus: Lessons from ‘bishop school’

In Assisi, Pope Francis slams ‘paganism of indifference’

Peace requires us to do more than ‘change the channel,’ Pope Francis says

Do something about forced migration, cardinal exhorts U.N.

500 Catholic scholars lash back at Humanae Vitae critics

A final farewell to Rome’s exorcist: The funeral of Father Amorth

What is the ‘beating heart’ of the Church? The Eucharist

Pope Francis condemns ‘inexcusable violence’ in murder of Mexican priests

Being ‘merciful like the Father’ isn’t a slogan – it’s a way of life, Pope says

The modern – and little known – miracles of Padre Pio

Have the right lessons been learned from the financial crisis?

Vatican official: Religion has the responsibility to condemn terrorism

Journalism can’t be a ‘weapon of destruction,’ Pope Francis says

The Vatican is changing how it verifies miracles

Catholics, Orthodox sign agreement on synodality and primacy

Exorcist says there’s a demon that targets the family

WORLD NEWS

Bishops: Don’t let the media guide Catholics on divorce

March for life in Berlin draws thousands

In grilling U.N. speech, Amal Clooney blasts failure to stop ISIS

Two priests murdered in Mexico

Amid communist rule, a Catholic university opens in Vietnam

How Catholics brought women’s equality to a Cameroon clan

Does the Mexican priest who allegedly abused minors even exist?

Mysterious deaths of mentally ill draw concern from South Africa bishops

Another Catholic priest has been kidnapped in Mexico

D.C. leaders discuss protection, justice for ISIS victims

U.S. NEWS

We need to do more for refugees, Catholic advocates say

How a new classical academy is reaching out to millennial parents

U.S. bishops support day of prayer for sex abuse victims

A Phoenix bishop’s plea to voters and politicians: No votes for abortion

Former Southern Baptist to become next head of Louisiana diocese

World’s oldest Catholic bishop dies at age 104

Trump names 33 conservative Catholics as new advisers

For Bishop Olmsted, Pope Francis shows continuity on marriage

What a Charlotte priest will tell his flock after a fatal police shooting

Religious Christmas carols to be allowed in veterans’ hospitals

What do you say to a homeless person? Advice from Catholic urban missionaries

FEATURES

EWTN family shares favorite memories of Mother Angelica

These friends with Down syndrome are dominating the Argentina pizza market

A Report from Baby Bishop School

Not your grandpa’s porn – Has the Church caught up to the problem?

The President who nearly was

Why Catholic thinkers say the push for contraception is stale

The Supreme Court probably won’t approve polygamy. Here’s why.

‘The Magnificent Seven’: This year’s more intriguing remake

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • September 25, 2016

Monday • September 26, 2016

Tuesday • September 27, 2016

Wednesday • September 28, 2016

Thursday • September 29, 2016

Friday • September 30, 2016

Saturday • October 1, 2016

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Volume 2, Issue 13 • September 24, 2016

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VATICAN NEWS

The world needs a merciful response to refugees, Pope Francis says

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 17, 2016

Pope Francis washes the feet of migrants and refugees during Holy Thursday Mass on March 24, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — In a world marked by increasing war and conflict, Pope Francis said a generous and merciful response to those fleeing violence is needed in order to combat hatred and foster a greater sense of fraternity and solidarity.

“At this place and time in history, there is great need for men and women who hear the cry of the poor and respond with mercy and generosity,” the Pope told a group of Jesuit alumni Sept. 17.

He noted how there are “tragically more than 65 million” forcibly displaced persons around the globe, calling the number “unprecedented” and “beyond all imagination.”

“The displaced population of today’s world is now larger than the entire population of Italy,” he said, but cautioned that beyond the statistics, each refugee is no different from our own families, and has “an inalienable right to live in peace and to aspire to a better future for their sons and daughters.”

Pope Francis spoke to members of the European Confederation and World Union of Jesuit Alumni and Alumnae present in Rome for a Sept. 14-16 conference titled “Global Migration and Refugee Crisis: Time to Contemplate and Act.”

Throughout their conference, the group was accompanied by the Jesuit Refugee Service, which was founded in 1980 by Fr. Pedro Arrupe, superior general of the Jesuits while Pope Francis was a young priest.

In his speech, the Pope noted how more than 35 years ago Fr. Arrupe intervened on behalf of Vietnamese boat people in the South China Sea who were suffering from pirate attacks and violence in their homeland.

“Sadly the world today still finds itself embroiled in countless conflicts,” he noted, adding that “the terrible war in Syria, as well as civil conflicts in South Sudan and elsewhere throughout the world, can seem irresolvable.”

Meanwhile, as war “rages” throughout the world and record numbers of refugees continue to die trying to cross the Mediterranean or spend years “languishing” in camps, the Church, Francis told the group, “needs you to draw on the bravery and example of Father Pedro Arrupe.”

He urged them to go back to their Ignatian roots as they face the problems experienced by refugees, offering the Lord “all your liberty, your memory, your understanding and your entire will” in serving refugees and understanding the root causes of forced migration in each of their own countries.

“I urge you to draw on the joys and successes that your Jesuit education has given you by supporting the education of refugees throughout the world,” the Pope said, pointing to the “disturbing truth” that less than 50 percent of child refugees have access to primary education.

Further, Pope Francis noted that only 22 percent of adolescents are enrolled in secondary school, while less than 1 percent of refugees have access to a university education.

Francis urged the Jesuit alumni to “put your mercy in motion and help transform this educational reality” in order to build “a stronger Europe and a brighter future for refugees.”

Pointing to the Holy Year of Mercy, the Pope stressed that together with the Church, the group would be able to better respond to the “human tragedy” of refugees through concrete acts of mercy which promote their integration not only into Europe, but any culture they move to.

“So, I encourage you to welcome refugees into your homes and communities, so that their first experience of Europe is not the traumatic experience of sleeping cold on the streets, but one of warm human welcome.”

Although it can at times seem like we’re alone when it comes to putting mercy into action, Francis assured the group that they have the support of the various ecclesial organizations and humanitarian causes dedicated to serving the marginalized and excluded.

“Yet more important, remember that the love of God accompanies you in this work. You are God’s eyes, mouth, hands and heart in this world.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Man rams car through police barrier into St. Peter’s Square

by CNA/EWTN News • September 17, 2016

St. Peter’s Square. (Camille King CC BY-SA 2.0)

Vatican City — A mentally ill man rammed his car through a police checkpoint at St. Peter’s Square on Friday evening, demanding to meet with Pope Francis.

The 64-year-old Italian man was immediately stopped by police officers. No one was injured in the incident, according to the Italian publication Il Messaggero.

The man entered the area of the colonnade near the Paul VI Hall. After breaking through the security barriers, he exited his car and began ranting, saying, “I want to see the Pope.”

According to reports, the man was visibly agitated. He is now being treated at a mental health center.

The Vatican has increased security in recent months, in response to a wave of global terrorism.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope tells ambassadors to serve in humility, not get lost in politics

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 17, 2016

Pope Francis at the general audience in St. Peter’s Square on Nov. 11, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — In a special Jubilee audience with nearly all of his 108 ambassadors around the world, Pope Francis thanked them for their dedication, and encouraged them to continue their work in humble service, without getting caught up in useless politics.

“(You are) the link between the Successor of Peter and the different local Churches to whom you are bearers and artisans of that communion which is sap for the life of the Church and for the announcement of her message,” the Pope said Sept. 17.

As papal ambassadors – also called nuncios – “you touch with your hand the flesh of the Church, the splendor of the love which renders her glorious, but also the wounds and sores that are begging for forgiveness,” he said.

He thanked the nuncios for their service and fidelity, as well as their generous dedication and availability to their missions, often times demanding.

As the Pope’s representatives, nuncios must be bearers of Christ’s love and one who “sustains and protects, who is ready to support and not only to correct, who is willing to listen before deciding, to make the first step in eliminating tensions and fostering understanding and reconciliation.”

Francis stressed the importance of humility in their role, explaining that “without humility no service is possible or fruitful.”

“The humility of a nuncio passes through love for the country and for the Church in which he is called to serve,” the Pope said, and cautioned his ambassadors not to get distracted by politics or thinking of the next assignment, but to be fully present “with an undivided mind and heart.”

Pope Francis met with 106 out of his 108 ambassadors serving in various countries throughout the world. They gathered in the Vatican Sept. 15-17 for a special meeting convened specifically for the Jubilee of Mercy.

Among the 108 nuncios currently in service, 103 are bishops, and 5 are prelates who have the mission of Permanent Observer at various international bodies.

In his broad and lengthy speech, Pope Francis said as his representatives, nuncios must be pastors who “meet, listen, talk, share, propose and work together” both with Catholics and civil society, always showing “sincere love, sympathy and empathy with the people and with the local Church.”

Francis cautioned them not to “point fingers at or attack” those whose opinions differ from their own, explaining that this is “a miserable tactic of today’s political and cultural wars, but it cannot be the method of the Church.”

“Our gaze must be far-reaching and deep,” he said, adding that “the formation of the conscience is our primary duty of charity and requires delicacy and perseverance in being carried out.”

He acknowledged that there are many threats in the world that attack the flock, confuse it, disrupt it, “disperse and even destroy it.”

Nuncios must be aware of the different faces of danger that threaten their flocks, Francis said, and pointed to the situation of Christians in the Middle East, noting that “the violent siege seems to aim, with the complicit silence of many, toward their eradication.”

He highlighted the importance of going to the root of the problem, saying “it’s good to have the eyes opened to recognize where hostilities come from and to discern the possible paths to counter their causes and tackle their pitfalls.”

Closeness and fraternity with local bishops is something the Pope also pointed to as essential to a nuncio’s mission. “To be ready and happy to spend (sometimes even lose) time with bishops, priests, religious, parishes, cultural and social institutions,” he said, is ultimately “the job of a nuncio.”

To be close and available to the local Churches doesn’t consist of “a supine strategy to collect information and manipulate reality or people,” but rather of an attitude “that befits one who is not only a career diplomat, nor merely an instrument of Peter’s concern, but a pastor gifted the interior ability to bear witness to Jesus Christ.”

While it can be natural and understandable in their work, Francis told the nuncios to “overcome the logic of bureaucracy which can often impede your work, rendering one closed, indifferent and impenetrable.”

He encouraged his ambassadors to make sure the apostolic nunciature is truly the “Pope’s home” and a constant reference point where both faithful and public authorities can come for support and advice, not just diplomatic functions.

“Make sure that your nunciature never becomes a refuge for ‘friends and friends of friends,’” he said, telling them to “flee from gossip and careerists.”

The Pope also warned his nuncios against endorsing political or ideological battles, because “the Church’s permanence is not based on the consent of living rooms or squares, but on fidelity to the Lord.”

The Church’s true source of power flows from God’s mercy, he said, adding that “we have no right to deprive the world, the diplomatic forum and large areas of international discussion of this wealth that no one else can give.”

Awareness of this fact allows the Church to become the prophetic voice of the marginalized, he said, asking “may their cry become our cry and together we can break the barrier of indifference that often reigns to hide hypocrisy and selfishness.”

Francis told the nuncios that in order to accompany their people, they have “to move,” and encouraged them to visit dioceses, religious institutes, parishes and seminaries in order to understand how the people live and think, and which questions they ask.

He told the nuncios to be “a true expression of an outgoing Church, or a ‘field hospital’” capable of being part of the local Church, country or institution to which they have been sent.

Pope Francis urged the nuncios to be close to local bishops and encourage their ideas, adding that “vague priorities and theoretical pastoral programs are not enough. You need to focus on the concrete reality of the present, of the company, of proximity, of accompanying.”

He said that one of his great concerns is the selection of good bishops, and voiced his hope that bishops would be pastors, “and not principals or officials. Please!”

Acknowledging that the speed of our times demands constant training and updating, Francis said the current challenges we face are big ones, and papal diplomacy must be involved and make “mercy palpable in this crushed and wounded world.”

While the Church shouldn’t underestimate the extent of current problems, she is also called to look ahead, and not focus on the need for immediate results, he said.

“There will always be that tension between fullness and limits, but it’s not useful to the Church to worry about spaces of power and of self-affirmation, but rather to make born and grow the seed of good, patiently accompanying its development,” he said.

Francis told nuncios they ought to rejoice “with the temporary collection that you can obtain, without becoming discouraged when a sudden and icy story ruins what seemed golden and ready to harvest.”

He also urged them not to be afraid to speak confidently both to the faithful and to public institutions.

“We face a world in which it’s not always easy to identify the centers of power and many get discouraged, thinking that they are anonymous and unreachable,” he said, but voiced his certainty that these people are still able to be reached.

He told them to dialogue clearly and never fear that mercy will “confuse or diminish” the beauty of the truth, because “the truth is fulfilled in its fullness only in mercy.”

The world, Pope Francis said, “is afraid and is spreading fear. Often this is the key it adopts in its reading of reality and chooses – as its strategy – to build a world founded on walls and trenches.”

However, while the reasons for this fear are understandable, “we must not embrace it, ‘for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control,” he said, and urged the nuncios to “open doors, build bridges, create ties, make friendships, promote unity.”

“Be men of prayer: never neglect this, especially silent adoration, the true source of your work.”

Fear, Francis said, “always lives in the darkness of the past, but has a weakness: it’s provisional. The future belongs to the light! The future is ours because it belongs to Christ!”

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VATICAN NEWS

Corruption is worst form of criminality, Pope tells Vatican police

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 18, 2016

Pope Francis greets members of the military, armed forces and firefighters during his Jubilee General Audience on April 30, 2016. (Alexey Gotovskiy/CNA)

Vatican City — On Sunday Pope Francis celebrated the 200th anniversary of the Vatican Gendarme by thanking the security force for their tireless service, and warned against modern crimes linked to exploitation and corruption.

“Crooks love the scam and hate honesty. Crooks love bribes, agreements done in the dark. This is worse than anything, because he believes he’s being honest,” the Pope told members of the Vatican Gendarme Sept. 18.

The crook “loves money, loves wealth,” he said, and, calling wealth an “idol,” noted that crooks “trample on the poor” with no concern or second thought.

He noted how there are many people throughout the world today who have large, large industries of slave labor. In the world today slave labor is a management style.”

The responsibility of the Vatican Gendarme, then, is to serve by fighting against “scams, against crooks, against exploiters … Your responsibility is to deal with those who do bad things, like the exploiter and the crook. Your responsibility is to defend honesty,” he said, and thanked them for their tireless service.

Pope Francis celebrated Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Corps of the Vatican Gendarmes, a civilian police and security force overseen by Vatican City, on the occasion of their 200th anniversary.

In his homily, the Pope pointed to the day’s readings, noting how they present three different types of people, which he named “the exploiter, the crook and the faithful man.”

The exploiter, described by the Prophet Amos in the First Reading, is someone “taken in by a manic form of gain” to the point they become annoyed and impatient by liturgical days of rest, because “they break the fast pace of business,” he said.

For the person who exploits, “his only God is money, and his way of acting is dominated by fraud and exploitation at the expense are above all the poor and destitute,” Francis said, noting that this type of person still exists today.

On the other hand, the crook, as seen in the parable of the dishonest steward from the day’s Gospel from Luke, is someone who lacks fidelity and uses scams and deception as his business method, the Pope continued.

Asking how the steward got to the point of cheating and stealing from his master, Pope Francis said it wasn’t from one day to the next, but “little by little. Maybe one day a tip here, another day a bribe there, and so little by little he arrives to corruption.”

While the master praises the steward for his “cleverness” in making up the funds after realizing his steward had been stealing from him, “it’s a completely worldly and strongly sinful cleverness, which does a lot of bad,” Francis observed.

However, he noted that there is a type of Christian cleverness that knows how to do things in a wise and honest way, rather than a worldly one. To be as wise as serpents but as pure as doves, he said, is a grace from the Holy Spirit that we must ask for.

Turning to the figure of the faithful man, the Pope said this is the one who follows Jesus and is “a man of prayer, in the double sense that he prays for others and trusts in the prayer of others for him.”

This type of person knows how to be faithful in the small things and in the big, he said, noting that unfortunately the world today is still full of crooks and corrupt people.

“It strikes me how corruption pervades everywhere,” he said, and noted how the day’s Gospel passage leads to the final choice that no one can serve two masters, “because either he will hate one and love the other, or will be devoted to one and despise the other.”

Francis thanked the Vatican Gendarme Corps for their “vocation,” often times being poorly paid. He recognize that “many times you must fight against temptations of those who want to buy you,” and said he is proud that the Gendarme style is one of saying “‘no, I have nothing to do with this.”

“I thank you for these two centuries of service, and I wish for all of you that the society of Vatican City, that the Holy See, from the lowest to the highest, recognize your service.”

This is a service “which guards, a service which seeks not only to do things justly, but also with charity, with tenderness and even risking your own lives,” he said, and asked for God to bless them.

Shortly after celebrating Mass Pope Francis led faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square in praying the Angelus.

Reflecting on similar themes, he told pilgrims before the prayer that as Christians, we must respond to worldly cleverness with Christian astuteness, which is “a gift of the Holy Spirit.”

While worldliness is manifested in attitudes of corruption, deception and abuse of power that lead down the path of sin, Christian cunning is “a serious, but full of joy, and commited lifestyle marked by honesty, correctness, respect for others and for their dignity, and by the sense of duty.”

Francis stressed that it’s important “to decide which direction to take,” but that when we seek to follow the logic of the Gospel and of fraternity, “we become artisans of justice and open horizons of hope for humanity.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Papal ambassadors issue global appeal to step-up peace efforts

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 19, 2016

Pope Francis meets with apostolic nuncios at the Vatican on Sept. 17, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — After spending three days in Rome to celebrate the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis’ diplomatic representatives throughout the world have called on government leaders to make greater efforts in ending conflict and promoting peace.

According to a Sept. 19 communique from the Vatican, the papal ambassadors – called apostolic nuncios – issued “a pressing appeal” to the international community and to those with governing responsibilities to “strive ever more effectively to stop violence.”

The nuncios urged leaders to “peacefully resolve the conflicts in various parts of the world,” and expressed their solidarity with all innocent victims of the world’s many violent conflicts.

They also offered their support to those who face religious persecution, praying to “the Father of every mercy” for those suffering and for their intentions.

Out of his 108 ambassadors around the world, 106 gathered with Pope Francis in Rome Sept. 15-17 for the celebration of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy.

The appeal of the apostolic nuncios came as a shaky ceasefire between rebels and government forces in Syria continues to crumble. Initially going into effect Sept. 12, the seven-day ceasefire was meant to allow humanitarian aid to reach crisis areas, and signal a step in ending years of violent conflict.

However, as of Sept. 19, the Russia-U.S. brokered deal was barely hanging in the balance, with numerous violations reported on each side.

The Syrian civil war has raged since March 2011. More than 280,000 people have been killed, while over 12 million are displaced or have become refugees. Some of the combatants have conducted atrocities against Christians and other religious minorities.

In a Sept. 17 speech to his ambassadors, Pope Francis urged the nuncios to always be aware of the threats that attack their flocks, even seeking to “disperse and even destroy it.”

He pointed specifically to the many conflicts raging throughout the Middle East, noting that “the violent siege seems to aim, with the complicit silence of many, toward their eradication.”

He highlighted the importance of going to the root of the underlying problem, and to then discern “the possible paths to counter their causes and tackle their pitfalls.”

The world, he said, “is afraid and is spreading fear. Often this is the key it adopts in its reading of reality and chooses – as its strategy – to build a world founded on walls and trenches.”

However, while the reasons for this fear are understandable, “we must not embrace it, ‘for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control’,” he said, and urged the nuncios to “open doors, build bridges, create ties, make friendships, promote unity.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Cardinal Parolin to visit Colombia for signing of peace accords

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 20, 2016

The flag of Colombia. (Grancolombiano Departamento de Comunicaciones via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Cartagena, Colombia — Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin will visit Colombia Sept. 26 to mark the signing of a long-awaited peace agreement between the Colombian government and FARC rebels.

It was announced Monday that Cardinal Parolin will visit Cartagena during the signing of the peace deal, which was agreed to Aug. 24 between the government of Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos and the country’s largest rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC).

The deal is intended to end a 52-year conflict in the South American country. It will be signed Sept. 26 in front of a large group of diplomatic delegations and then submitted to a popular vote by the Colombian people Oct. 2.

Cardinal Parolin’s presence at the signing will fall immediately after his visit to the Sept. 13-26 U.N. General Assembly in New York City as the Holy See’s Observer. During the assembly, he spoke at a Summit for Refugees and Migrants Sept. 19, and is expected to stay for a week before heading to Colombia.

Many have welcomed the peace accord, but some – including former president Alvaro Uribe – charge that it is too lenient on the FARC.

The deal would incorporate some of FARC’s leadership into the government in exchange for their disarmament and renunciation of kidnapping and drug trafficking.

When the deal was initially signed, Pope Francis expressed his approval of the agreement in an Aug. 31 communique from the Vatican.

“(Pope Francis) reiterates his support for the goal of attaining the peace and reconciliation of the entire Colombian people, in light of human rights and Christian values, which are at the heart of Latin American culture,” read the communique, signed by Cardinal Parolin.

Pope Francis had declined an Aug. 12 invitation to appoint a representative to the committee in charge of selecting judges for the Special Jurisdiction for Peace, explaining that given “the universal vocation of the Church and the mission of the Successor of Peter as Pastor of the People of God,” it would be more appropriate for another party to fulfill this task.

The country is under a ceasefire, which came into effect after the peace accord was reached.

The UN Mission in Colombia has had around 80 men and women on the ground throughout the country verifying and monitoring the peace deal. After the Sept. 26 signing, this number will increase to 200.

Since 1964, as many as 260,000 people have been killed and millions displaced in Colombia’s civil war. The Marxist FARC rebels and the Colombian government have been engaged in peace talks in Cuba since 2012.

The conflict has engendered right wing paramilitaries aligned with the government, as well as secondary rebel groups such as the National Liberation Army.

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VATICAN NEWS

Church unity with a global focus: Lessons from ‘bishop school’

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • September 20, 2016

Bishops attend a Mass of Canonization in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 18, 2015. (Martha Calderon/CNA)

Vatican City — The Vatican holds a special seminar series each year for new bishops to help them learn their new role.

Among these new bishops was Bishop Ruben Tierrablanca Gonzalez, the vicar apostolic of Istanbul.

For him, the seminar had a singular focus. It “teaches all of us bishops to look at the Church in its entirety,” he told CNA.

“The seminar mostly focuses on one, reiterated issue: we must understand that the Church is simply one,” Bishop Tierrablanca recounted. “We, the bishops of local Churches, are not called to merely focus only on our local Churches, while not taking care of other situations. We are called to look at the entire Church.”

A Franciscan originally hailing from Mexico, Bishop Tierrablanca has lived in Istanbul since 2003. He was appointed apostolic vicar for Istanbul in April.

He came to Rome for the annual seminar for new bishops Sept. 10-18.

The annual gathering of newly appointed bishops in Rome is “a meeting to reconfirm our union with Rome, and to understand that the Church is always the Church, no matter where local communities are,” the bishop explained.

The schedule of the seminar was quite tight: three meetings per day, plus an audience with Pope Francis Sept. 16.

The seminar series for new bishops first began in 2001. It aims to provide all the new bishops guidelines and tools to better fulfill the requirements of their new position.

“We were informed about the current situation of the Church, we were given indications about how to work. We are provided guidelines in theology and liturgy and we are taught about how to live and administer a diocese and how to be in relation with the clergy and the people of God,” Bishop Tierrablanca said.

He then added that because the Roman Curia is undergoing reform and renewal, bishops must be aware of how things are changing.

“It is not just a matter of how much we are renewing the structure (of the Church). Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, celebrated a Mass for us and said in his homily that the real reform is a spiritual one.”

Concerning the Curia reform, the new bishops were informed about the services of the dicasteries and how they are being re-shaped.

“As bishops, we often merely refer to the Congregation of Bishops, or to the Congregation for the Eastern Church, or to the Evangelization of People, that are the dicasteries to which we are subject. But we don’t think about other dicasteries, though they are very important.”

For example, he found an important resource in the new Secretariat for Communications.

“When we want to communicate something, we often use the channel of the parish bulletin, but we do not reach a great audience.” He explained bishops can use the secretariat “to give more visibility to our work, which is the work of the Church in the world.”

Among the pastoral training includes help for bishops on how to spread the gospel with joy.

Bishop Tierrablanca cited the joyous themes of the titles of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortations Evangelii gaudium and Amoris laetitia.

“Emphasis is put on the fact that the message must give joy,” he said. “That means that every bishop or shepherd is called to express how joyful the Gospel is, and in this way we get closer to people.”

He said that this is particular important in Turkey, where Christians are a minority and where churches are not allowed to be visible on the streets.

“It is important to get in touch with another person in a friendly and open way, and live a transparent life. Thanks to this testimony of life, you can get closer to those who are not Christians,” Bishop Tierrablanca said.

In the end, the gathering of bishops reinforced the bond between local bishops and the Pope.

“Sometimes we think that being with Rome is a straitjacket that you cannot get rid of. But Rome presides over all the Churches with charity. We are always the Church, and we always recognize ourselves as a unique Church,” Bishop Tierrablanca concluded.

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VATICAN NEWS

In Assisi, Pope Francis slams ‘paganism of indifference’

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 20, 2016

Pope Francis embraces Bartholomew, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, on arriving in Assisi for the World Day of Prayer for Peace on Sept. 20, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Assisi, Italy — In efforts for peace, indifference is the greatest sickness of our time, Pope Francis said at an interreligious summit in Assisi on Tuesday.

“It is a virus that paralyzes, rendering us lethargic and insensitive, a disease that eats away at the very heart of religious fervor, giving rise to a new and deeply sad paganism: the paganism of indifference.”

“We cannot remain indifferent,” he said. “Today the world has a profound thirst for peace.”

The Pope spoke Sept. 20 during an international interreligious gathering marking the 30th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace convoked by St. John Paul II in 1986.

The event, held in different locations, has been organized every year by the Sant’Egidio community. The last day of prayer led by a Pope, however, was held by Benedict XVI in 2011, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first historic meeting in Assisi.

At this year’s gathering in Assisi, Pope Francis focused on humanity’s thirst for peace and the toxic nature of self-interest and apathy in the face of violence around the world.

“Prayer and the desire to work together are directed towards a true peace that is not illusory: not the calm of one who avoids difficulties and turns away, if his personal interests are not at risk,” he said.

Peace “is not the cynicism of one who washes his hands of any problem that is not his,” Francis continued. “It is not the virtual approach of one who judges everything and everyone using a computer keyboard, without opening his eyes to the needs of his brothers and sisters.”

Above all, peace is a gift of God, Pope Francis said, explaining that it is only with his help that our works can bear fruit.

He acknowledged the distances many people traveled to be at the summit in Assisi, but stressed that working together for peace is not merely a physical movement, but most of all a spiritual movement – a spiritual response – of becoming more open to God and to our fellow brothers and sisters.

“In Lesbos, my dear brother, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, and I saw the sorrow of war in the eyes of the refugees, the anguish of peoples thirsting for peace.”

“I am thinking of the families, whose lives have been shattered; of the children who have known only violence in their lives; of the elderly, forced to leave their homeland.”

Francis also spoke out against war and arms trading, which he said are the reason for much of the poverty around the world.

“We do not want these tragedies to be forgotten. Rather together we want to give voice to all those who suffer, to all those who have no voice and are not heard. They know well, often better than the powerful, that there is no tomorrow in war, and that the violence of weapons destroys the joy of life.”

Speaking out against religious fundamentalism, the Pope said, “peace alone, and not war, is holy!”

“We never tire of repeating that the name of God cannot be used to justify violence,” he said. “Peace, a thread of hope that unites earth to heaven, a word so simple and difficult at the same time.”

Peace means forgiveness, openness to dialogue, cooperation, and education, Pope Francis said, noting how leaders from all branches of Christianity were in attendance, all united in their prayer for peace.

“Prayer and concrete acts of cooperation help us to break free from the logic of conflict and to reject the rebellious attitudes of those who know only how to protest and be angry,” he said.

Our path toward peace “leads us to immersing ourselves in situations and giving first place to those who suffer,” the Pope stated.

“To taking on conflicts and healing them from within; to following ways of goodness with consistency, rejecting the shortcuts offered by evil; to patiently engaging processes of peace, in good will and with God’s help.”

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Peace requires us to do more than ‘change the channel,’ Pope Francis says

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 20, 2016

Pope Francis arrives in Assisi, Italy for the World Day of Prayer for Peace at the Sacred Convent on Sept. 20, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — While in Assisi for an interreligious prayer gathering, Pope Francis cautioned against an indifference that ignores the suffering of others as easily as flipping through TV channels, stressing that peace only comes through action and solidarity.

In the words “I thirst,” whispered by Jesus as he hangs on the Cross, “the voice of the suffering, the hidden cry of the little innocent ones to whom the light of this world is denied, the sorrowful plea of the poor and those most in need of peace” is audible, Pope Francis said Sept. 20.

Victims of war, “which sullies people with hate and the earth with arms,” cry out for peace, he said, noting how many live under the daily threat of bombs and are forced to leave their homelands in search of safety.

These people “thirst. But they are frequently given, like Jesus, the bitter vinegar of rejection,” he said.

“Who listens to them? Who bothers responding to them?” Francis asked, lamenting that “far too often they encounter the deafening silence of indifference, the selfishness of those annoyed at being pestered, the coldness of those who silence their cry for help with the same ease with which television channels are changed.”

These people, he said, are not merely a nameless face, but are all “brothers and sisters of the Crucified One … the wounded and parched members of his body.”

Pope Francis traveled to Assisi to mark the 30th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Peace that St. John Paul II convoked in the city in 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 meeting is held again in Assisi, from Sept. 18-20 and is titled “Thirst for Peace.”

The gatherings attended by Popes have traditionally taken place in years marked by major conflict or threats of violence, such as the 1986 gathering, which was framed by Cold War tensions and the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Later, in 1991, St. John Paul II attended the event in the backdrop of the war in the Balkans, while in 2002 he led the world’s interreligious leaders in praying for peace just months after the deadly Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.

Now, Francis himself attends with the looming threat of ISIS spread throughout the Middle East and, increasingly so, in Europe. His presence at the prayer summit is his third time in Assisi, the first having taken place Oct. 4, 2013, for the feast day of his namesake, and the second being just a few weeks ago on Aug. 4, to commemorate the 800th anniversary of the “perdono” indulgence.

This year the prayer event gathered 476 official representatives from different religions, along with more than 1,500 volunteers and thousands of other participants. There were 9 different major religions and 26 different religious confessions represented.

For the occasion, the diocese of Assisi gave Pope Francis a 112-page book covering the 30-year “Story of Assisi” with commentary from the key speakers of each major encounter since the launch of the event in 1986. It also includes the testimonies of two victims of war who share their personal experience.

After spending nearly an hour greeting participants from different religions after his arrival, Pope Francis met individually with leaders of several major religions, including Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople; His Holiness Ignatius Ephraim II, Syriac-Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch; His Grace Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury and Primate of the Church of England and Great Rabbi of Israel David Rosen.

The Pope then had lunch with 12 refugees who fled war in various countries around the world before leading Christians in a moment of ecumenical prayer in the lower part of the Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi, during which all countries at war were named, and a candle lit for each one.

Pope Francis spoke after hearing brief addresses from both Patriarch Bartholomew and Archbishop Welby, who made a distinction between the human economy of profit and the economy of God.

“In God’s economy, we are the poorest of the poor … because we think ourselves rich, because we have money,” the archbishop said, but stressed that our human wealth is like “a children’s game,” and that “we are only truly rich when we receive mercy from God.”

“Our imaginary economy not only deceives us … it drains our energies in the pursuit of illusions,” he said, noting that God, on the other hand, “offers us wealth that is real” through his mercy, which replaces the illusion of our wealth with “the reality of peace and love, because when we receive mercy and peace we become the bearers of love and peace.”

In his brief speech, Bartholomew said that today Christians are called to give “a testimony of communion.”

The patriarch stressed that communion among Christians today is commonly lived out as “communion which is martyrdom.”

“We are therefore thirsty, we must be thirsty … for thirst is the symbol of our need and yearning,” he said, and encouraged participants to turn to the other and let “a listening silence … permeate us,” because “there can be no conversion without listening.”

In his own reflection, Francis himself turned to the gathering’s theme, explaining that while Jesus certainly thirsts for water while hanging on the Cross, above all he thirsts “for love, that element no less essential for living.”

“He thirsts to give us the living waters of his love, but also to receive our love,” Francis said, and pointed to the reality that “Love is not loved,” which, according to some, is what most upset the Pope’s namesake, St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Francis “was not ashamed to cry out and grieve loudly” for love of the suffering Lord, the Pope said, adding that this same reality must perpetually be in the hearts of all as we contemplate Christ Crucified, “who thirsts for love.”

He noted how St. Teresa of Calcutta, whom he canonized Sept. 4, sought to quench this thirst through service to the poorest of the poor. The Lord’s thirst is quenched by our compassionate love, Francis said, adding that Christ “is consoled when, in his name, we bend down to another’s suffering.”

Pointing to Jesus’ words in the Gospel “as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me,” Pope Francis said they challenge us, seeking “a place in our heart and a response that involves our whole life.”

As Christians, we are called to reflect on the mystery of “Love not loved,” and to pour out mercy onto the world.

“On the cross, the tree of life, evil was transformed into good,” Francis said, explaining that as disciples of the Crucified Lord, we too “are called to be ‘trees of life’ that absorb the contamination of indifference and restore the pure air of love to the world.”

After his reflection, Pope Francis and other major leaders of different forms of Christianity gathered alongside him closed their liturgy before heading to the concluding ceremony, during which representatives from all the major religions present issued a joint appeal for peace.

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Do something about forced migration, cardinal exhorts U.N.

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 20, 2016

A CRS tent aiding refugees and migrants in Europe. (Sean Callahan/Catholic Relief Services)

New York City, N.Y. — The Vatican Secretary of State pleaded Monday for an increased commitment from the international community in addressing the root causes of forced migration, particularly those which are man-made, such as war and arms trading.

“Since human choices provoke conflicts and wars, it is well within our power and responsibility to address this root cause that drives millions to become refugees, forced migrants and internally displaced persons,” Cardinal Pietro Parolin said Sept. 19 at the United Nations Summit for Refugees and Migrants in New York.

“The greatest challenge before us,” Cardinal Parolin said, “is to identify and act on the root causes that force millions of people to leave their homes, their livelihoods, their families and their countries, risking their very lives and those of their loved ones in the search for safety, peace and better lives in foreign lands.”

Cardinal Parolin highlighted the increase in religious persecution as a cause of displacement, acknowledging that while “other groups are heavily targeted, many reports confirm that Christians are by far the most persecuted faith group,” and that many are even harassed in refugee settings.

“We must not abandon them,” he urged.

“Addressing the root causes of displacement of peoples,” Cardinal Parolin said, “requires strength and political will.”

“As Pope Francis has said, this ‘would mean rethinking entrenched habits and practices, beginning with issues involving the arms trade, the provision of raw materials and energy, investment, policies of financing and sustainable development, and even the grave scourge of corruption.’”

Where the likelihood of illegal use is “real and present,” the Holy See has “repeatedly called to limit strictly and to control the manufacture and sale of weapons,” Cardinal Parolin stated.

“The proliferation of any type of weapons aggravates situations of conflict and results in huge human and material costs, provoking large movements of refugees and migrants and profoundly undermining development and the search for lasting peace.”

Cardinal Parolin stressed that eliminating the structural causes of poverty and hunger must include protection of the environment, assurance of dignified labor for all, access to quality education, and protection of the family, which he said is “an essential element in human and social development.”

Diplomacy and dialogue are the way to resolve questions, Cardinal Parolin affirmed, praising the summit for addressing “more effective ways of sharing responsibility” in the face of the refugee and migrant crisis.

While they are not recognized as refugees by international conventions, Cardinal Parolin added, “the Holy See feels itself compelled to draw urgent attention to the plight of those migrants fleeing from situations of extreme poverty and environmental degradation,” as well.

“They suffer greatly and are most vulnerable to human trafficking and various forms of human slavery,” he said.

“The Holy See thus pleads for a common commitment on the part of individual governments and the international community to bring to an end all fighting, hatred and violence, and to pursue peace and reconciliation.”

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500 Catholic scholars lash back at Humanae Vitae critics

by CNA/EWTN News • September 20, 2016

Dome of St. Peter’s. (Dade72 via Shutterstock)

Washington D.C. — Nearly 50 years after the “prophetic” papal document Humanae Vitae, the Catholic Church’s longstanding teaching against contraception continues to promote the human good, said a group of Catholic thinkers on Tuesday.

“We hold that Catholic teaching respects the true dignity of the human person and is conducive to happiness,” said hundreds of Catholic scholars in a Sept. 20 document.

“Humanae Vitae speaks against the distorted view of human sexuality and intimate relationships that many in the modern world promote. Humanae Vitae was prophetic when it listed some of the harms that would result from the widespread use of contraception,” they said.

More than 500 Catholic scholars with doctoral degrees in theology, medicine, law and other fields have signed the document in support of Catholic teaching, titled “Affirmation of the Catholic Church’s Teaching on the Gift of Sexuality.”

Signatories of the document included Fr. Wojciech Giertych O.P., the theologian of the papal household; John H. Garvey, president of Catholic University of America; Tracey Rowland, Dean of the John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne, Australia; Sister Prudence Allen, philosophy professor at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver; Fr. Thomas Petri, O.P., academic dean of the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, D.C.; and Helen M. Alvaré, law professor at George Mason University.

The scholars charged that a new U.K.-based statement opposing Church teaching “offers nothing new to discussions about the morality of contraception and, in fact, repeats the arguments that the Church has rejected and that numerous scholars have engaged and refuted since 1968.”

The statement in question, organized by the U.K.-based Wijngaards Institute, claims there are “no grounds” for Catholic teaching against contraception. It questioned the idea that openness to procreation is inherent to the significance of sexual intercourse, and said that “the choice to use contraceptives for either family planning or prophylactic purposes can be a responsible and ethical decision and even, at times, an ethical imperative.”

Abortion-causing methods of contraception should “ordinarily be avoided,” but can be accepted if “there is a proportionate reason for doing otherwise,” the Wijngaards statement said. It credited access to contraceptives for “substantial increases in women’s education and contribution to the common good” and said the benefits of contraception include easier family planning, a substantial decrease in maternal morbidity and mortality, infant and child mortality, and abortion.

The Wijngaards statement was set to be presented at a meeting hosted at the United Nations Sept. 20 to “encourage the Catholic hierarchy to reverse their stance against so called ‘artificial’ contraceptives,” the institute said.

Organizers of the Wijngaards statement said they would promote their claims to Catholic Church officials, ordinary Catholics and “opinion leaders,” including bishops, priests, religious sisters, management and medical staff of Catholic health care facilities, Catholic social workers, and Catholic journalists. They said they would also promote their claims and theological materials to “all U.N. departments and development agencies who are trying to navigate the relationship between religious belief and women’s health as they work towards the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals.”

The Wijngaards Institute was founded in 1983 by Catholic priest John N. M. Wijngaards, who was later laicized. His writings question Catholic teaching on masturbation, homosexuality and abortion. He also wrote a novel that promises “to liberate you from outdated Catholic sexual teaching.”

Besides Wijngaards, the 138 Catholic signers of the dissenting document include Mary McAleese, the past president of the Republic of Ireland; Peter Steinfels, former New York Times religion columnist and founding co-director of the Fordham Center on Religion and Culture; Georgetown University religion and international affairs professor John Esposito; Georgetown University professor of Catholic Social thought Peter Phan; Fairfield University religious studies professor Paul Lakeland; emeritus Auxiliary Bishop of Sydney Geoffrey Robinson; and Baroness Helena Kennedy, a member of the United Kingdom’s House of Lords.

Another signatory is Prof Charles E. Curran, a former Catholic University of America theology professor who played a key role in dissent from Humanae Vitae. Two Creighton University professors, Michael G. Lawler and Todd Salzmann, were among the statement’s 22 authors.

Blessed Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae reaffirmed the traditional Christian rejection of contraception and said it applied to the birth control pill. The move drew significant opposition from non-Catholics and from some within the Church who had been campaigning against Church teaching.

The Catholic Church holds that sex is designed by God to be both unitive and procreative, and that attempting to separate these two aspects of human sexuality through artificial contraception is immoral.

Normally, if a married couple faces a just reason to avoid pregnancy, the Church teaches that they may do so through Natural Family Planning, a process that works with a woman’s natural fertile cycles and abstaining from sexual activity during the times that she is fertile.

In their counter-document, the 500 Catholic scholars maintained that Church teaching is “true and defensible” on the basis of Scripture and reason. They described Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross as “the ultimate and complete self-gift” linked to the biblical spousal imagery of Christ and the Church.

They charged that the Wijngaards statement’s authors “virtually ignored” the work of St. John Paul II and his Theology of the Body.

“There he demonstrates that our very bodies have a language and a ‘spousal meaning’ – that they express the truth that we are to be in loving and fruitful relationships with others,” the Catholic scholars said in their document.

Human sexual relations fulfill God’s intent only when they “respect the procreative meaning of the sexual act” and take place as a “complete gift of self” within marriage, they continued.

The Church asks the faithful to “deepen their relationship” with God, to be open to the direction of the Holy Spirit, and to ask Jesus Christ to “provide the graces needed to live in accord with God’s will for their married lives, even the difficult moral truths.”

“The widespread use of contraception appears to have contributed greatly to the increase of sex outside of marriage, to an increase of unwed pregnancies, abortion, single parenthood, cohabitation, divorce, poverty, the exploitation of women, declining marriage rates, as well as to declining population growth in many parts of the world,” the Catholic document said.

Critics of the Wijngaards statement said they would issue a more detailed response in a forthcoming text called “Self-gift: the heart of Humanae Vitae.”

The 1968 revolt against “Humanae Vitae” followed several years of global lobbying and organizing by wealthy foundations involved in population control and other forms of birth control advocacy.

Donald T. Critchlow, in his 1999 Oxford University Press book “Intended Consequences: Birth Control, Abortion, and the Federal Government in Modern America,” said that in the 1960s, the wealthy heir John D. Rockefeller III and others within the foundation community were “astutely aware of the importance of changing the Catholic Church’s position on birth control.”

They saw a series of meetings at the University of Notre Dame from 1963 to 1967 as an opportunity to ally with Catholic leaders who could “help change opinion within the hierarchy,” Critchlow said. These meetings, sponsored by the Rockefeller Foundation and the Ford Foundation, brought together selected Catholic leaders to meet with leaders of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the Population Council, as well as with leaders in the two foundations.

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A final farewell to Rome’s exorcist: The funeral of Father Amorth

by Alvaro de Juana (CNA/EWTN News) • September 20, 2016

The funeral Mass of Father Gabriele Amorth, said at Santa Maria Regina degli Apostoli Alla Montagnola on Sept. 19, 2016. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Rome, Italy — Hundreds attended the funeral Mass of Father Gabriele Amorth, the exorcist of the Diocese of Rome, on Monday, following his Sept. 16 death at the age of 91.

“He accompanied with great humility, faith, generosity, and charity those who were tormented by the evil one,” and “ and encouraged them on the difficult journey to liberation,” a priest of the International Association of Exorcists said during the Sept. 19 funeral.

The Mass was said by Bishop Paolo Lojudice, an auxiliary bishop of Rome, at the parish of Santa Maria Regina degli Apostoli Alla Montagnola. Numerous priests of the Society of St. Paul, to which Fr. Amorth belonged, were in attendence

The priest speaking at the funeral said that Fr. Amorth’s “ability to create a peaceful atmosphere during the exorcisms was admirable, communicating calm to everyone.”

“Exorcists from all over the world are especially grateful to Father Gabriele for everything he did to re-propose and restore value to the mystery of exorcism,” he stated, adding that the priest’s “tenacious and passionate work of raising awareness among he clergy and the people of God shows the pastoral importance of this ministry.”

The priest also noted that Fr. Amorth “never spared any effort in his labors and generously offered his work. He was honest with everyone and we exorcists always admired his great spirituality embodied in his life of prayer and his great love for the religious life, his religious institute, the priesthood, the Pope … and also Eucharistic adoration and the Virgin Mary.”

The International Association of Exorcists in their statement highlighted his “great sense of humor and ability to tell any anecdote.”

“The purpose of his great availability to give interviews on radio, television and in the newspapers was to promote a comprehensive evangelization according to the Church’s mandate to drive out demons in the name of God, and through the media he provided an accurate catechesis on this ministry.”

Fr. Amorth was born in Modena in northern Italy on May 1, 1925. He entered the mother house of the Society of St. Paul in Alba in August 1947, five years after meeting its founder, Blessed James Alberione. He was ordained a priest on Jan. 24, 1951.

In 1985, Cardinal Ugo Poletti, the Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome, appointed him exorcist of the diocese. He performed an estimated 70,000 exorcisms, often repeating the rite on the same persons.

Fr. Amorth drew much publicity for his books explaining his work and his public statements on the demonic.

Preceding his death, he had been hospitalized for several weeks due to lung complications.

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VATICAN NEWS

What is the ‘beating heart’ of the Church? The Eucharist

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • September 21, 2016

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

Genoa, Italy — The Eucharist is the source of mercy and the beating heart of the Church, Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco of Genoa has said.

He was appointed Pope Francis’ special envoy for the Italian National Eucharistic Congress, held in Genoa Sept. 15-18.

“I would say that this congress is the response to a world order without God. It is also a testimony – for the city of Genoa and for the country - that living a good and peaceful life is really possible when we are on Jesus’ side,” Cardinal Bagnasco told CNA.

The Archbishop of Genoa is also president of the Italian bishops’ conference. His envoy role was unusual, as for the first time since the Second Vatican Council, the Pope did not attend a Eucharistic Congress held in Italy.

From all over Italy, 900 delegates and bishops gathered for the congress, the theme of which was “Eucharist as the source of mission.”

“This congress renewed the love for Jesus in the Eucharist,” said Cardinal Bagnasco. “The Eucharist is the beating heart of the Church and of the People of God. Charity, missions, and works of mercy are born out of the Eucharist.”

Referring to the “world order without God,” Cardinal Bagnasco reiterated what he said Aug. 10, during the homily for the feast of St. Laurence, to whom the Genoa cathedral is dedicated.

In that homily, the cardinal noted that “even today, Christians experience martyrdom,” not only in the bloody, “classical” way, but also in new forms, “refined, but not less cruel; legalized, but not less unjust.”

He pointed his finger at a Europe that considers Christianity as “divisive” and at the world that “in the name of values like equality, tolerance and rights” claims to “marginalize Christianity” and establish “a world order without God.”

The cardinal told CNA that the euthanasia recently performed on a minor in Belgium – a terminally ill boy of 17 years – is “definitely one of the outcomes of a world order without God.”

“Only without God do we reach this point, as we have no more criteria for love and for living together, for loving others. Without God, we do not follow the rationale of love, but we rather follow the different rationale of effectiveness and of wellbeing at all costs.”

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Pope Francis condemns ‘inexcusable violence’ in murder of Mexican priests

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 21, 2016

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

Vatican City — After hearing of the murder of two priests in Mexico, Pope Francis sent a telegram to the country’s bishops condemning the violent act, offering his prayers as a sign of closeness to the community and their families affected.

“Deeply distressed upon receiving the sad news of the assassination of Reverends Alejo Nabor Jimenez Juarez and Jose Alfredo Suarez de la Cruz … the Holy Father expresses his sincerest condolences,” read the telegram, sent Sept. 20.

Signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the telegram voiced the Pope’s closeness to Bishop Trinidad Zapata of Papantla, where the priests’ served, as well as to all clergy, religious communities and faithful of the diocese.

He offered his prayers “for the eternal repose of these priests of Christ, victims of an inexcusable violence.”

On Tuesday the bodies of Mexican priests Alejo Nabor Jiménez Juárez and José Alfredo Suárez de la Cruz were found murdered in a field after having been kidnapped from their parish.

They were kidnapped Sept. 18 from Our Lady of Fatima Parish in the city of Poza Rica, a town located in the north of the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz. The bodies of the two priests were found the following day in a field in the nearby city of Papantla.

A third man, identified by Veracruz authorities, was kidnapped alongside the two priests, but escaped and was found alive. Veracruz officials said that he had been placed under protection.

Poza Rica and surrounding areas in Veracruz have been the locus of drug and associated cartel violence for years, but it is yet unclear why the priests were targeted. Priests have also been the target of violence elsewhere in Mexico.

Pope Francis recently condemned the escalation of drug activity and violence in Mexico during his visit to the country earlier this year, telling a group of laborers Feb. 17 to work toward finding adequate means to ending “the cycle of drugs and violence.”

He said the lack of decent work and opportunity leads to situations of poverty, which then becomes “the best breeding ground for the young to fall into the cycle of drug trafficking and violence.”

This, the Pope said, “is a luxury which no one can afford; we cannot allow the present and future of Mexico to be alone and abandoned.”

In his telegram to Bishop Zapata, the Pope voiced his “firm condemnation of all that attacks life and the dignity of people,” and urged the clergy and pastoral agents of the diocese to continue their mission with enthusiasm by imitating Christ, “despite the obstacles.”

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Being ‘merciful like the Father’ isn’t a slogan – it’s a way of life, Pope says

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 21, 2016

Pope Francis arrives in St. Peter’s Square for the General Audience on Sept. 21, 2016. (Daniel Ibáñez/CNA)

Vatican City — On Wednesday, Pope Francis reflected on the theme of the Jubilee of Mercy, “Merciful like the Father,” telling pilgrims that while imitating God’s love can seem impossible, it’s genuine effort, rather than quantity, that matters.

To be “merciful like the Father” is not just “a slogan for effect, but a life commitment,” the Pope said Sept. 21.

However, he also questioned whether Jesus’ words to his disciples in the Gospel of Luke are actually realistic, asking “is it really possible to love like God loves and to be merciful like him?”

When looking back at the story of salvation history, Francis noted that God’s entire revelation to man consists of his tireless love for humanity which culminates with Jesus’ death on the Cross.

“So great a love can be expressed only by God,” he said, explaining that Jesus’ call for humanity to be merciful like the Father “is not a question of quantity. Instead it is a summons to be signs, channels and witnesses to his mercy.”

“And the Church can’t but be the sacrament of God’s mercy in the world, in every time and across all humanity,” he said, adding that “every Christian is called to be a witness of mercy, and this takes place on the path to holiness.”

Pope Francis spoke to the thousands of pilgrims present in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience. He has dedicated his catechesis to the topic of mercy in honor of the ongoing Holy Year of Mercy, which takes its theme from the day’s Gospel reading from Luke.

In his address, the Pope said that while “of course God is perfect,” if he is seen only in this way, it becomes impossible for humanity to strive toward that model of “absolute perfection.”

Instead, having God “before our eyes as merciful allows us to better understand what his perfection consists of and spurs us to be like him; full of love, compassion and mercy.”

Francis then asked what it means for the disciples to be merciful. The answer, he said, was given by Jesus in two verbs: “to forgive” and “to give.”

Mercy is expressed “above all in forgiveness,” he said, adding that “forgiveness in fact is the pillar that holds up the life of the Christian community, because in this is shown the gratuitousness of the love with which God has first loved us.”

“All Christians must forgive! Why? Because they have been forgiven. All of us, each one of us here in the Square, have been forgiven,” the Pope said, explaining that “if God has forgiven me, why shouldn’t I forgive others? Am I greater than God?”

When it comes to giving, Francis noted that God always “gives well beyond our merits,” but will be even more generous with those who were generous on earth.

Jesus, he said, “doesn’t say what will happen to those who did not give,” but sends a warning when he uses the image of “the measure: with the measure of love that we give, it is we ourselves who decide how we will be judged, how we will be loved.”

Because of this, “merciful love is the only path to take,” Francis said, stressing the need for everyone to be a little more merciful and a little less hasty to speak poorly of others, to be judgmental and to “pluck” at others with criticism, envy and jealousy.

“We must forgive, be merciful and live our lives in love,” he said, explaining that by doing so, the heart enlarges with love rather than selfishness and anger, which makes the heart small and hardens it “like stone.”

“What do you prefer? A heart of stone or a heart of love? If you prefer a heart full of love, be merciful.”

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VATICAN NEWS

The modern – and little known – miracles of Padre Pio

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 22, 2016

Statue of Padre Pio. (Riccardo via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Vatican City — Known around the globe as simply “Padre Pio,” Saint Pio of Pietrelcina has been called one of the “most active” saints in the Church, and continues to work miracles for those who pray through his intercession.

“St. Padre Pio is a pretty powerful intercessor … a priest said to me once that he’s probably one of the most active saints in the Church,” Fr. John Paul Zeller MVFA, told CNA in an interview.

A friar with the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word and a Missionary of Mercy from Birmingham, Ala., Fr. Zeller is the proud owner of a first-class relic of Padre Pio, and has witnessed several healings in first-person after praying through Padre Pio’s intercession with the relic in hand.

Fr. Zeller said that while he initially had no specific devotion to Padre Pio, he developed one after taking a trip to San Giovanni Rotondo, where Padre Pio served as a priest for the majority of his life, after the 2014 canonization of St. John Paul II.

After learning more about Padre Pio’s life, the priest said he was moved, and worked up the courage to ask one of the superiors in San Giovanni for a relic. The superior agreed, and gave Fr. Zeller not one but two pieces of a blood-soaked bandage Padre Pio had wrapped around the wounds of his stigmata.

Padre Pio was born Francesco Forgione May 25, 1887, to a devout Catholic family in Pietrelcina, Italy. At the age of 15, he joined the Capuchin Friars, and eventually became a priest with the order.

Throughout his life, Padre Pio was known as a mystic who experienced the stigmata for 50 years. Many miracles and wonders have been attributed to him, including reports of healing, soul-reading, levitation and even bi-location.

Fr. Zeller said that after he received the relics, he gave one to his community, founded by Mother Angelica, and was granted permission to keep the other for himself.

“I keep that relic on me at all times,” he said, noting that in his role as Director of the pilgrimage department at EWTN’s headquarters in Birmingham, ”I have the opportunity to pray with a lot of people.”

“I’ve prayed with people and there have been cases where there have been, I would say, some healings,” the priest said, explaining that people will come up to him several months, even a year, after he prayed with them and recount experiences of healing.

One such experience happened only a few months ago during a healing service at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, he said, recalling how during the service, he and two other priests prayed over people with the two blood-soaked bandages as well as a glove of Padre Pio’s that belonged to Mother Angelica.

As they were praying a woman suffering from sciatica came up “and I prayed over her,” Fr. Zeller said, noting that the woman approached him later and said that after she went back to her seat, she told her husband “I’m healed.”

Sciatica “is a very serious back condition that doesn’t really go away and is very painful,” the priest said, noting that “it totally went away” for this woman after he prayed over her with the relic.

In another instance, Fr. Zeller recalled how shortly after he received the relic he was talking with some friends and found out that their 12-year-old daughter had been suffering from an ear infection that “wouldn’t seem to go away.”

He asked the girl if he could pray over her with his relic, and when she said yes, “I showed her mom and I showed her and I said ‘which ear is it?’”

Fr. Zeller said that as soon as he put the relic to the girl’s ear and began to pray “she dropped to the ground. She totally slipped out of my hands.”

“I should have caught her, but I didn’t know what was happening, I was kind of scared that something happened to her, but she totally slipped out of my hands and fell on the ground,” he said, noting that while he was anxious over the situation, the girl’s mother was calm, saying “that would be ‘Slain in the Spirit.’”

“The ear infection was completely knocked out of her,” he said, noting that from that point on, “from what I know she didn’t have the ear infection.”

In yet another case “there was a lady that had some kind of heart disease for 40 years that she’d suffered from in her life,” he said, adding that while he didn’t have time to get into the specifics, “she’s totally healed” after having been prayed over with the relic of Padre Pio.

“It’s a longer story than that, but she’s totally free from that,” Fr. Zeller said, recalling how another women recently came to him, saying she “had experienced some kind of physical healing” after being prayed over with the relic.

Referring to the healings, Fr. Zeller stressed that “that’s not me, that’s the intercession of St. Padre Pio.”

Although he initially had no devotion to Padre Pio until just a few years ago, the priest said he feels like the sudden connection that came is because the saint chose him, rather than the other way around.

“One of my professors at seminary used to say that we don’t choose saints, saints choose us,” he said, noting that while we may have “a particular liking of a saint, we may look at a saint’s personality and be drawn to them … I think there is a truth to saints choosing us rather than us choosing them.”

Padre Pio “was really a joyful friar,” he said, explaining that he had always envisioned the saint as being “really stern” and was afraid to ask for his intercession, lest Padre Pio “be stern with me.”

However, it was during his trip to San Giovanni Rotondo that he learned who Padre Pio really was, Fr. Zeller said, explaining that in his view, the reason for the saint’s seemingly serious disposition is that “he knew when people were not repentant.”

“It was said that he could even smell sin, and I don’t even imagine what eternal separation from God smells like,” the priest said.

“So that was his concern for the salvation of people’s souls. He was concerned about people’s souls and bringing them God’s mercy and God’s forgiveness.”

To honor his upcoming Sept. 23 feast, devotees in Rome will celebrate with an entire week of events and activities.

Thousands of devotees with 600 groups will gather in the Roman parish of San Salvatore in Lauro, adjacent to Rome’s famous Piazza Navona, which will serve as a hub for the people attending the various activities linked to Padre Pio’s feast.

Inside San Salvatore numerous relics of Padre Pio, including his cloak, gloves, stole and blood from the wounds of the stigmata that marked his body for 50 years.

Festivities opened Sept. 18 with a special Mass celebrated by Rome’s auxiliary bishop Guerino Di Tora. On Sept. 20 Padre Pio’s relics were exposed in San Salvatore for veneration, and a special Mass celebrated by another of Rome’s auxiliary bishops, Angelo De Donatis.

Two days later, on the 22nd, the “Vigil of Transit” commemorating what is believed to be the exact moment of Padre Pio’s death will be celebrated. After the vigil, Mass will be celebrated by Msgr. Carmelo Pellegrino, Promotor of Faith of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

Celebrations will culminate on Padre Pio’s Sept. 23 feast with several Masses said throughout the day as well as a procession of a statue of the saint and his relics from San Salvatore to Piazza Navona, which will take place in the afternoon.

A special blessing will be given and a prayer offered for the victims of the recent earthquake that devastated several cities in Central Italy.

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VATICAN NEWS

Have the right lessons been learned from the financial crisis?

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 22, 2016

Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, authored a speech delivered this week at the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development has announced in their 2016 report that developing countries are beginning to feel the impact the global economic slowdown resulting from the financial crisis of 2007-08.

In response, a close collaborator of one of Pope Francis’ senior Vatican officials has sent a reminder that as the global community looks for solutions, the Christian perspective is to ensure these answers don’t forget the impact on the poor.

“We absolutely need to learn to hear the voices of those who are not at the table. The voices of those who often carry a disproportionate burden from the decisions that are made, but who say, ‘look, this is what this decision is actually costing us’,” Fr. Michael Czerny, a spokesman of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, told CNA Sept. 22.

The exclusion of those who bear the burden of decisions made from the discussion is something that “has to be overcome,” he said, adding that Christians have an obligation “not only to become a bit knowledgeable, but also to dialogue with their representatives.”

Policies are frequently “in our name,” he said, explaining that Christians have the duty to speak up and tell their representatives, “we’re not satisfied with decisions that are short-term or self-interested.”

Fr. Czerny moderated discussion during the Sept. 22 launch of the 2016 United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report, titled “Structural Transformation for Inclusive and Sustained Growth.”

In a summary of the report provided by UNCTAD officials, it was explained that the economic slowdown in advanced economies has steadily continued to decline since the economic crisis of 2008, and is the “biggest drag on global growth.”

However, the novelty found in 2016’s report is that while the slowdown has previously impacted mainly advanced nations, developing countries “are now caught in the downdraft,” and are starting to feel the impact.

Held at the Rome headquarters of Vatican Radio, the news conference presenting the report was hosted by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, which is headed by Cardinal Peter Turkson.

The cardinal was scheduled to speak at the presentation but was unable to attend due to a last minute commitment. His speech was read aloud by Fr. Czerny, who collaborates with the pontifical council.

In his speech, Cardinal Turkson noted how the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace was established in 1967 as a result of the Second Vatican Council, just three years after the U.N. had instituted the UNCTAD.

Recalling Bl. Paul VI’s words at the founding meeting for UNCTAD, Cardinal Turkson said that “Development (is) the new name of peace,” but stressed that true development “must foster the development of every person and of the whole person.”

This not only means each individual man, woman and child, but “each human group, and humanity as a whole,” the cardinal said.

He noted how in the 52 years since the founding of UNCTAD, new technologies have broken down the traditional borders between nations and helped open new areas of economic opportunity.

“A less polarized political landscape has provided new possibilities for worldwide trade,” he said, noting that economic power “has become more dispersed, mostly due to globalization and to industrialization and rapid growth in East Asia, with corresponding changes in the workings of the international trading system.”

However, the cardinal asked what forms of trade, growth and development would be able to meet the “pervasive challenges of poverty, of inequality and lack of progress,” adding that the answer must always focus on the good of the human person, including that of future generations.

When it comes to safeguarding the environment and ensuring that economic affairs are ordered to the well-being of everyone, “human leadership or governance still seems to have a lot to learn,” he said.

Cardinal Turkson stressed that world governance, including that of institutions belonging to the U.N., needs “to appreciate the poor,” viewing them “not as a problem, but as people who can become the principal builders of a new and more human future for everyone.”

Turning to the financial crisis of 2008, the cardinal said it has left “a long shadow” resulting from “a combination of ethical and technical breakdowns,” which are seen in the 2016 UNCTAD report.

“Have the right lessons been learned yet?” he asked, insisting that it is not yet evident that “the organizations, institutions and decision-makers responsible for ethical and technical breakdowns have acknowledged their role, much less made the necessary repairs.”

“We must do better,” he said, adding that our societies must to find ways to exercising greater corporate, financial and governmental responsibility for both the economy and the environment.

“The world economy has been marooned in growth doldrums for the past six years, and this state of affairs is in growing danger of becoming accepted as the ‘new normal,’” he observed.

Both dialogue and cooperation are needed in response, Cardinal Turkson said, but noted that these aren’t always easy to achieve. However, “the ‘old normal’ of isolated sectors and competing institutions will not meet the challenges.”

Integrated policies are needed, and will require both persistence and generosity from various sectors of society, including those of banking, finance, commerce, business, and politics, as well as workers, the unemployed, migrants, youth, and the elderly.

Peace, the cardinal said, “is not the mere absence of violence. It bespeaks human fulfilment, integral in all its aspects – material, social, spiritual.”

Given this fact, “trade and development must aim at the fullest human flourishing if we are ever to have real peace.”

In his comments to CNA, Fr. Czerny said that while affairs surrounding economics and development are primarily the concern of politicians and world leaders, it’s important for religious institutions such as the Holy See to have a voice.

“Our most important role is to encourage our members, Christians in this case, and all people of good will, to get informed and get involved,” he said, adding that “too much of this stuff is happening behind our backs.”

“We can’t understand it, we know we don’t like the results, but we haven’t learned how to get in there and make our voices heard.”

The priest stressed that it’s the duty of Christians to be involved and informed about political issues, uniting their faith to what’s happening in the political, economic, and environmental sphere.

“We really need to learn to live our faith in daily life,” he said, explaining that “there are seven days in the week. Sunday is only one day.”

Fr. Czerny noted that “daily life is structured and marked so much by important economic, political, social, cultural decisions,” so to exclude our faith from any of these spheres “is to say that our faith has nothing to do with our life, and that’s exactly the opposite of what we want to say.”

“Our faith does have everything to do with our life, and we need to learn to live our faith in the public sphere.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Vatican official: Religion has the responsibility to condemn terrorism

by CNA/EWTN News • September 22, 2016

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, blesses a new building at the North American College in Rome on Jan. 6, 2015. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

New York City, N.Y. — While genocide, war crimes, and violence against humanity continue to plague individuals across the globe, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin called for the protection of victims of atrocities and urged both religious leaders and national authorities to step up preventive measures.

“In the face of these grave crimes, there exists a grave responsibility, first for nation States and then for the international community,” Cardinal Parolin said in a Sept. 20 address.

“It seems entirely appropriate, therefore, to reflect on the responsibility of religious leaders, especially in an ever more interconnected world, to help counter the spread of hatred and violence in the name of religion and to promote more inclusive and peaceful societies,” he continued.

Cardinal Parolin’s words came during a keynote address at the “Upholding the Responsibility to Protect: The Role of Religious Leaders in Preventing Atrocities” event, sponsored by offices of the Holy See and United Nations.

Throughout his speech, Cardinal Parolin drew attention to the popularization of extremism in religion, saying that some religions have been manipulated into becoming a champion for violence, genocide, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing.

While freedom of religion is an “inalienable fundamental human right,” Cardinal Parolin said that the international sphere must reject the restrictive interpretations of religion that condone violence, while also allowing religion to take a stance in the public square. He argued that religion is not the root of atrocities, but rather, that they stem from a quest for power.

“Religions are not the cause of these ills, that result instead from some political, geopolitical, and economic interests, and from the desire for power and domination,” he said.

“All religions aspire to peace,” the cardinal continued, but warned that vicious and misguided use of religion can “lead to conflicts and wars.”

Because of this, Cardinal Parolin urged religious leaders and national authorities to work together in undertaking the heavy responsibility of preventive measures and by condemning the use of religion to promote violence.

“An urgent stance is necessary on the part of religious leaders to condemn without delay all forms of abuse of religion or of religious texts to justify violence and the violation of human dignity carried out in the name of God or a religion,” Cardinal Parolin stated.

He asked religious leaders to shed light on “principles and ethical values written in the human heart by God, known as the natural moral law.” He also encouraged them in their vocations to “carry out and inspire actions aimed at helping the building of societies based on respect for life.”

The cardinal also stated that it is the primary - but not exclusive - duty of national authorities to prevent atrocities by ending the trafficking of arms and affirming the dignity of life. He noted an integral part to their responsibility as leaders also means “refraining from supplying weapons, financing or other assistance to the perpetrators of such crimes.”

Cardinal Parolin additionally pointed to Pope John Paul II’s 1986 meeting in Assisi, Italy, where the belated pope gathered religious leaders from around the world to pray for peace - an event which Pope Francis recently imitated.

Moving forward, Cardinal Parolin noted that “the Holy See will continue to promote both the fundamental moral and juridical principle of the Responsibility to Protect and the right understanding of the social consequences of religion.”

“Let us hope that through the combined efforts of the leaders and believers of all religions and all people of good will, in conjunction with State institutions, based on respect for life and human dignity, and oriented to the good of the human person, it will be possible, one day, to put an end to the atrocities, which for too long have shaken the conscience of humanity, undermined its moral and spiritual fiber and turned people away from the plan of God.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Journalism can’t be a ‘weapon of destruction,’ Pope Francis says

by CNA/EWTN News • September 22, 2016

Pope Francis meets with Italy’s national council of journalists at the Vatican’s Clementine Hall on Sept. 22, 2016. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Emphasizing the importance of respect for human dignity, Pope Francis told journalists Thursday that their profession can never be used as a destructive weapon, nor should it be used to nourish fear.

“Certainly criticism is legitimate, and, I would add, necessary, just as is the denunciation of evil, but this must always be done respecting the other, his life, and his affect. Journalism cannot become a ‘weapon of destruction’ of persons or even nations,” the Pope said Sept. 22 at the Vatican’s Clementine Hall.

“Neither must it nourish fear in front of changes or phenomena such as migration forced by war or by hunger.”

He was meeting with Italy’s National Council of the Order of Journalists, and he commented that “there are few professions which have such influence on society as does journalism. The journalist has a role of great importance, and at the same time a great responsibility. In a certain sense you write the ‘first draft of history’ … introducing persons to the meaning of events.”

While acknowledging the increased role of digital media, which has come at the expense of print journalism and television, the Pope said that “journalists, when they are professional, remain a key pillar, a crucial element for the vitality of a free and pluralistic society.”

Pope Francis reflected on how journalism “can serve for the betterment of the society in which we live,” noting that it is indispensable for everyone “to stop and reflect on what we are doing and how we are doing it … even in the professional life there is a need for this, a bit of time to pause and reflect. Certainly, this is not easy in the realm of journalism, a profession which lives on continuous deadlines and ‘expiration dates’. But, at least for a brief moment, let us reflect a bit on the reality of journalism.”

He highlighted loving the truth, living with professionalism, and respecting human dignity as the three key elements in practicing a journalism which serves society.

“To love the truth means not only to affirm, but to live the truth, to bear witness to it in one’s work. To live and work, then, with coherence in respect to the words that are used for an article in the paper or a television service. The question here is not one of being or not being a believer. The question here is being or not being honest with oneself and with others,” he said.

Francis called relationship “the heart of every communication,” noting that “no relationship can stand and endure over time if it is based on dishonesty. I realize that in journalism today – an uninterrupted flow of events recounted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – it’s not always easy to arrive to the truth, or at least get close to it. Not everything in life is black or white. Even in journalism, one needs to know how to discern between the shades of gray in the events you are called to cover.”

“Political debates, and even many conflicts, are rarely the result of a distinct, clear dynamic in which it is possible to recognise precisely and unequivocally who is wrong and who is right.”

He said that “comparison and conflict are, indeed, born precisely from this difficulty of synthesis between different positions. This is the difficult and at the same time necessary work – we could also say mission – of a journalist: to arrive as close as possible to the truth of the facts and never to say or write what one knows, in their conscience, is not true.”

Turning to his second point, living with professionalism, Pope Francis said this means, “beyond what we can find written in the codes of ethics, to understand, to internalize the profound sense of one’s work.”

“From this arises the necessity of not submitting one’s profession to the logic of partisan interests, be they economic or political.”

The Pope said that “the task of journalism – dare I say, its vocation – is therefore to nurture the social dimension of man, favouring the building of true citizenship.”

Working with professionalism “means not only responding to the preoccupations, while legitimate, of one class, but keeping at heart one of the pillars in the structure of a democratic society,” he said. “We should always reflect that, throughout history, dictatorships – of every orientation and type – have always sought not only to take control of means of communication, but even to impose new rules on the profession of journalism.”

Finally, Pope Francis noted that respect for human dignity is of particular importance in journalism because “even behind the simple account of an event there are feelings, emotions, and, ultimately, the lives of persons.”

He recalled how he often speaks of gossip as a “terrorism” which kills with the tongue. “If this applies to individuals, with family or at work, it applies all the more to journalists, because their voice reaches everyone, and this is a very powerful weapon.”

“Journalism must always respect the dignity of the person. An article is published today and tomorrow it is replaced with another, but the life of a person unjustly defamed can be destroyed forever.”

He added that criticism and the denunciation of evil can be legitimate and, indeed, necessary, but always within a framework of respect for the person.

Neither may journalism “nourish fear in front of changes or phenomena like migration forced by the war or by hunger,” Pope Francis exhorted.

The Pope concluded, saying, “I hope that more and more journalism everywhere is a tool of construction, a factor for the common good, an accelerator of processes of reconciliation; that it may know how to reject the temptation of stirring up confrontation, with language that fans the flames of division, instead favoring the culture of encounter.”

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VATICAN NEWS

The Vatican is changing how it verifies miracles

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 23, 2016

Pope Francis says the Mass of Canonization for the Martins, Father Grossi, and Sister Maria in St. Peter’s Square on Oct. 18, 2015. (Martha Calderon/CNA)

Vatican City — Changes to the regulations for confirming alleged miracles during the causes of saints aim to preserve the scientific rigor of the examination and maintain its distinction from matters of theology, it was announced Friday.

The changes, which were approved by Pope Francis Aug. 24, were announced by the Vatican Sept. 23. They concern the professional secrecy of the proceedings regarding presumed miracles and hold that a supermajority of two-thirds (five out of seven, or four out of six) of the votes from members of the Medical Board must be positive for the cause to continue to the next step.

Previously, only a simple majority of medical experts acknowledging a supernatural healing was required. The changes also stipulate that the medical experts will receive their remuneration only through bank transfer – not cash.

“The purpose of the Regulation can be none other than the good of the Causes, which can never neglect the historical and scientific truth of the alleged miracles,” Archbishop Marcello Bartolucci, Secretary of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, wrote regarding the changes. “Just as it is necessary for the legal checks to be complete, convergent and reliable, it is also necessary that their study be performed with serenity, objectivity and sure competence by highly specialised medical experts.”

“This Regulation obviously concerns only the good functioning of the Medical Board, whose task appears increasingly delicate, demanding and, thanks be to God, appreciated both inside and outside the Church.”

Archbishop Bartolucci added, “Always the Church is convinced that miracles of the saints is the ‘finger of God,’ which ratifies, so to say, the human judgement of their holiness of life.”

“This vision is part of the mind of the Church and has been repeatedly reaffirmed by the ordinary magisterium to the pronouncements of Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. It is historically certain that miracles are always a decisive argument for the canonization of Servants of God,” he stated.

The new wording is based on the regulations approved by Blessed Paul VI in 1976. The drafting of the new regulations was done by a special commission which began its work in September 2015.

Besides the new requirements of a qualified majority and professional secrecy on the part of those involved, the president of the Medical Board is limited to one term and one reappointment (a total of 10 years in the position). Nor can a case be re-examined more than three times, and when a re-examination is made, there must be a nine persons on the Medical Board.

Also, it is now the Under-Secretary of the Council who will undertake the functions previously under the rapporteur, who had been responsible for reporting on the proceedings of the meetings.

In addition to the changes introduced, there were also adjustments made to procedural language.

Since the 12th and 13th centuries the Church has continually revised the regulations under which a miracle is confirmed in cases of causes for beatification or canonization. The 1917 Code of Canon Law established access of the miracle to theologians only after the alleged miracle had been studied and verified by two expert doctors, aside from issues of philosophical and religious consideration.

“And even today it is so: the scientific aspect remains distinct from the theological,” Archbishop Bartolucci affirmed.

“Miracles are not marginal events of the Gospel or the causes of saints. Jesus proclaimed the Kingdom of God in word and with ‘messianic signs,’ that he worked to make clear his identity and credibility to its mission and also to anticipate the final news of the redeemed world,” Archbishop Bartolucci said.

“The same is true for saints,” he said.

“Miracles, that they receive through their intercession, are a sign of God’s presence in history and, at the same time, are the confirmation of their former high holiness, expressed first of all in the exercise of heroic Christian virtues or martyrdom.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Catholics, Orthodox sign agreement on synodality and primacy

by CNA/EWTN News • September 23, 2016

Members of the Commission for Dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches outside the Shrine of the Holy Face in Manoppello, Italy on Sept. 18, 2016. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Chieti, Italy — At an ecumenical gathering held this week, representatives of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches signed a joint document regarding synodality and primacy during the first millennium.

The agreement can point to ways of “resolving problems still existing between Catholics and Orthodox today,” said Msgr. Andrea Palmieri, undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

The 14th plenary session of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches was held in the Italian city of Chieti Sept. 15-22. Their agreement was subtitled “Towards a Common Understanding in Service to the Unity of the Church.”

The primacy of the Bishop of Rome is among the main points of disagreement between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.

In the west, Church unity was expressed through being in communion with the Bishop of Rome, as the successor of Saint Peter. Petrine primacy among the apostles was a cornerstone in the west, whereas the east regarded Saint Peter and his successors as Bishop of Rome as “first among equals.”

The Eastern Orthodox, on the other hand, have a conciliar or synodal model of the Church. For them, unity is through the common faith and communion in the sacraments, rather than a centralized authority. They do not recognize the authority of the Bishop of Rome over all Christians, but rather consider him equal to other bishops, though with a primacy of honor.

The understanding reached this week was approved despite a disagreement regarding particular paragraphs by the Georgian Orthodox Church. When the document is published, the Georgians’ objection will be included as a footnote.

Moreover, the commission was unable to agree to a focus for the next plenary session, due to be held in two years in an Orthodox nation.

According to a statement of the Russian Orthodox Church, its Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk proposed synodality and primacy in the second millennium – with a stress on the place of the “uniate” Churches, or those which maintain Byzantine rites while having come into communion with the Bishop of Rome.

The Russian Orthodox Church says the phenomenon of Eastern Catholic Churches which broke communion with the Orthodox “still constitutes a stumbling stone in the Orthodox-Catholic relations.”

The statement noted that Metropolitan Hilarion “reminded the meeting that the Joint Commission was to discuss the issue of ecclesiological and canonical consequences of Uniatism at its plenary session in Baltimore, USA, as far back as the year 2000,” but that “the work in Baltimore was not completed because of disagreements that arose both between the Catholic and Orthodox sides of the dialogue and within each of the sides.”

The metropolitan said that the Russian Orthodox agreed to discuss synodality and primacy on the condition that within this context “the Commission will explore the canonical and ecclesiological consequences of Uniatism. However, for ten years from 2006 to 2015 the Commission has never revisited this theme.”

He maintained that having talked about primacy and synodality in the first millennium, these themes in the second millennium is the natural next step, and that “here we will have to deal with the issue of the 1054 schism and also the issue of Uniatism as one of the central ones in the second millennium. I can predict that there will be many divisive issues and that we will not agree on every point. However, the aim of our dialogue is not simply to agree on the points of which we agree anyhow, but we have to explore also the points of disagreement. And the issue of Uniatism is one such extremely burning issues.”

Metropolitan Hilarion drew attention to statements made by Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, who is head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church – one of the ‘uniates’. He said the major archbishop’s statements “go against the line of our dialogue, create obstacles on its way and sow distrust between the Orthodox and the Catholics … We have to understand that there are people in our Churches who create obstacles on our way, and we have to bear it in mind when we speak about the future of our dialogue.”

The Russian Orthodox statement also said that one member of its delegation, Archimandrite Irenaeus, “stressed that it would be difficult for the Russian Orthodox Church to continue working in the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue if the problem of ecclesiological and canonical consequences of the unia remains unsolved.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Exorcist says there’s a demon that targets the family

by CNA/EWTN News • September 24, 2016

(Todd Page via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Vatican City — There’s a demon that specializes in attacking the family, said exorcist César Truqui, a priest who participated in a course on exorcism held in Rome last year.

Fr. Truqui warned that everything that is harming the family, including divorce, pleases the devil.

Speaking to the Italian weekly Tempi in 2015, the priest said that there is “a demon who specializes in the attack on the family, also cited in the story of Tobias, called ‘Asmodeus.’”

In the Old Testament book, the demon is known to have killed seven of Sarah’s husbands and was chained in the desert by Saint Raphael. The demon “is present” in many exorcisms, Fr. Truqui said.

The priest recalled encountering the demon “in exorcisms by Father Gabriele Amorth and Father Francisco Bamonte, whom I assisted.” The recently-deceased Fr. Amorth was a renowned exorcist in Rome who has performed an estimated 70,000 exorcisms over the course of 29 years. Carrying out an exorcism can require multiple sessions and each time the rite is administered it is counted as one instance.

“I remember a young couple, very united, who wanted to get married, however, the woman had to undergo an exorcism to be set free,” Fr. Truqi said.

During the exorcism “the demon was furious and threatened Fr. Amorth in order to prevent the marriage, otherwise he would kill the young woman. Obviously, it was a threat from the Liar which in fact did not happen.”

In that regard, the priest added that the devil also seeks to attack the family through ideologies and lifestyles, as well as individualistic thinking and the spread of divorce.

“They think ‘if I don’t like my husband anymore, I would be better off divorcing’ but they forget about the consequences to the children and society,” he said. “This mentality that works against the family pleases the devil – he knows that a man who is alone without any points of reference is manipulable and unstable.”

“Even today, and I’m more than 50 years old, just thinking that my mother and father love each other forever, I find comfort and courage. In contrast, the children of separated parents are more fragile and wavering,” he said.

In 2014, Pope Francis gave an address to the Charismatic Renewal, in which he pointed out that the devil seeks to destroy families because that is where Jesus grows, in the midst of the love of the spouses and in the lives of their children.

“He grows in the love of the spouses, he grows in the lives of the children. And that’s why the enemy attacks the family so much. The devil does not love the family. He seeks to destroy it, he wants to eliminate love there,” he warned at Rome’s Olympic stadium before 52,000 people.

On that day Francis reminded that “families are these domestic churches. The spouses are sinners, like everyone, but they want to progress in the faith, in their fruitfulness, in the children and their children’s faith.”

And so he asked the Lord to “bless the family, make it strong, in this crisis in which the devil wants to destroy it.”

This article was originally published May 26, 2016.

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Bishops: Don’t let the media guide Catholics on divorce

by CNA/EWTN News • September 17, 2016

(George Hodan CC0 1.0)

Edmonton, Canada — Divorced Catholics who have remarried civilly are welcome to seek reconciliation with the Church, but they need to be sure they’re following the right path, some Catholic bishops of Canada have said in new guidelines.

“It may happen that, through media, friends, or family, couples have been led to understand that there has been a change in practice by the Church, such that now the reception of Holy Communion at Mass by persons who are divorced and civilly remarried is possible if they simply have a conversation with a priest,” said guidelines from the Catholic bishops of Alberta and the Northwest Territories.

“This view is erroneous,” they said.

Couples who express this view “should be welcomed to meet with a priest so that they hear proposed anew ‘God’s plan (pertaining to marriage) in all its grandeur’ and thus be helped to understand the correct path to follow toward full reconciliation with the Church,” the bishops said.

The guidelines concern aspects of Pope Francis’ recent apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia.” They were signed by six Canadian bishops, including Archbishops Richard W. Smith of Edmonton and Gerard Pettipas of Grouard-McLennan.

The guidelines are intended to direct “authentic and effective pastoral accompaniment” of men and women who have divorced and remarried without a formal annulment of their first union, the bishops explained.

“We pray that these brothers and sisters of ours will open their hearts to the Father’s merciful love, revealed in Christ, and find healing and reconciliation within the Church,” they said.

“Our Catholic parish communities should welcome with generosity and love men and women who are divorced and remarried. Pastors in particular will take great care to ensure that these couples know they have not placed themselves beyond the embrace of the Church.”

Discovery of couples in such a situation “should not be met with awkward silence but with a warm communication of openness and readiness to accompany them in the journey of faith,” the bishops advised pastors.

The guidelines remind pastors that divorced and civilly remarried couples seeking to reconcile with the Church should always be directed to the Interdiocesan Marriage Tribunal for an investigation into their case. The bishops noted that Pope Francis recently reformed canon law to make these tribunals more efficient.

“At the same time, the pastor supports the couple by helping them examine their conscience,” the guidelines continued.

The bishops provided some questions to help pastors and couples discern the situation, such as whether a couple recognize the consequences of their divorces or adulterous behavior on their community with God and the Church. Couples and the pastor should ask whether the people in the couple’s lives have been dismissive of the Church or dismissive of the couple. They should consider whether a couple’s faith is formed more by Christ in the Gospels or by “principles, culture or theories.”

“Do they understand who it is that is waiting with the living waters of mercy?” reads another question for discernment.

The bishops’ guidelines recounted Catholic teaching that reception of Holy Communion is a visible expression of a Christian’s participation in the “new covenant” established by Jesus Christ.

“Therefore, any serious rupture of this union, such as adultery, must be healed prior to the reception of Holy Communion,” the bishops added. They said all Catholics must confess all serious sins before receiving Holy Communion.

For the Canadian bishops, Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation “lifts up the beauty and dignity of marriage and family life.” The Pope “calls upon all members of the Church to embrace with mercy, love and inclusion any families that are encountering difficulty.”

The guidelines took effect Sept. 14.

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March for life in Berlin draws thousands

by Anian Christoph Wimmer (CNA/EWTN News) • September 17, 2016

Participants in the 2016 March for Life in Berlin. (Rudolf Gehrig/EWTN)

Berlin, Germany — More than 7,500 people took part in the annual March for Life in Berlin on Saturday, under the motto: “No Child is Unsuitable.”

The peaceful gathering was organized by the Federal Association for the Right to Life. Participants brandished placards supporting the right to life from conception to natural death.

Five bishops took part in the event: Bishop Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg, who also celebrated the closing ecumenical Church service, Berlin’s Archbishop Heiner Koch, and Auxiliary Bishops Matthias Heinrich of Berlin, Dominikus Schwaderlapp of Cologne, and Florian Wörner of Augsburg.

Archbishop Koch called on the demonstrators to strive to ensure “that every human being can develop well, from their first moment in the womb to their final breath.”

Right to Life-Association president Martin Lohmann, reflecting on the slight increase in participants and stronger presence of bishops from last year to this year, told media representatives: “Our movement for life is growing – and that is a good thing!”

Several Protestant groups participated in or supported the event. However, the official Lutheran association of Berlin-Brandenburg-Silesian Upper Lusatia did not participate in the march, instead issuing a statement distancing itself from the event, and essentially declaring that it supported the “right of women to choose” – and while “recognizing the importance of advocating unborn life,” its positions were “not commensurate” with those of the March for Life.

Counter-demonstration draws fewer participants

According to Berlin police, about 1,500 people came to a counter-demonstration organized by the Alliance for Sexual Self-Determination. Police had to stop counter-demonstrators from blocking the peaceful pro-life marchers.

The pro-abortion alliance is supported by several German politicians and parties, including the Greens, the Left Party and several politicians of the SPD, among them Berlin’s Governing Mayor, Michael Müller.

On its website, pro-abortion and gender-ideological demands are found alongside accusations that participants of the March for Life are “Christian fundamentalists” with “a reactionary worldview,” amongst other things.

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In grilling U.N. speech, Amal Clooney blasts failure to stop ISIS

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 18, 2016

Amal Clooney at a 2015 press conference. (Dying Regime via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

New York City, N.Y. — Nadia Murad, a young Yazidi woman who escaped ISIS captivity after her family was slaughtered, has been named a new U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and has been nominated for both a Nobel Peace Prize and as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential people of 2016.

But despite the global recognition that Murad has garnered for the atrocities she and thousands of women like her have suffered, her lawyer, renowned Lebanese-British human rights advocate, activist and author Amal Clooney said that while the nominations mark progress, little has actually been done to bring justice to those committing genocide.

According to the British paper The Independent, in her speech at Murad’s Sept. 16 induction ceremony as Goodwill Ambassador, Clooney noted that it was her first time speaking in the chamber of the U.N. headquarters in New York, and stressed that “I wish I could say I’m proud to be here but I am not.”

“I am ashamed as a supporter of the United Nations that states are failing to prevent or even punish genocide because they find that their own interests get in the way. I am ashamed as a lawyer that there is no justice being done and barely a complaint being made about it,” she said.

Clooney said she is also ashamed as a woman “that girls like Nadia could have their bodies sold and used as battlefields,” and is shamed as a human being “that we ignore their cries for help. We know that what we have before us is genocide, and we know that it is still ongoing.”

Murad, 23, was captured by ISIS militants in 2014 when the group stormed Mt. Sinjar in Iraq, murdering her elderly mother and six brothers alongside hundreds of others. Like thousands of other Yazidi women, Murad was spared death but was taken as a slave and subjected to horrendous sexual and physical abuse after being sold as a slave multiple times.

Having experienced numerous humiliations and violations against her dignity, Murad managed to escape after three months and fled to Germany, where she currently lives.

Her appointment as a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for the Dignity of Survivors of Human Trafficking for the U.N.’s drugs and crime body comes just months after she briefed the U.N. Security Council in the first-ever session on human trafficking Dec. 16, 2015.

In her testimony that day, Murad recounted her painful abduction and captivity, describing how she had been rounded up with other Yazidis when ISIS attacked, and watched as the militants shot men and boys in cold blood.

“We found ourselves faced with a true genocide … ISIS had one intention: to destroy the Yazidi identity by force, rape, recruitment of children, and destruction of all of our temples,” she said, noting that six of her brothers were among some 600 men and boys slaughtered by the militants in one day, while her mother was one of 80 elderly women executed and buried in a mass grave.

She stressed that the jihadists “didn’t come to kill the women and girls, but to use us as spoils of war, as objects to be sold … or to be gifted for free. Their cruelty was not merely opportunistic. The ISIS soldiers came with a pre-established policy to commit such crimes.”

“Rape was used to destroy women and girls and to guarantee that these women could never lead a normal life again,” she said, and recounted how on Aug. 15, 2014, ISIS militants came to her school and separated the men and women, killing the men and taking the women by bus to a different region.

“Along the way they humiliated us, they touched us and that violated us,” she said, explaining that they were taken to Mosul and brought to a building with thousands of other Yazidi families and exchanged as “gifts.”

“One of these men came up to me, he wanted to take me. I looked at the floor. I was absolutely petrified. When I looked up I saw a huge man, he was like a monster. I cried out, I said ‘I’m too young and you’re huge!’ He hit me, he kicked me and beat me,” Murad recounted.

She recalled that a few minutes later she was approached by a smaller man, and begged him to take her instead. The man, she said, asked her to change religion, but “I refused.”

He then asked for her hand in marriage, Murad said, and she then told him she was “ill.”

“A few days later he forced me to get dressed and put makeup on,” she said, recalling that after raping her, he forced her to serve as part of his military faction and humiliated her daily by torturing her and forcing her to wear clothes that didn’t fit her body.

On her first attempt to flee, Murad said she was stopped by a guard who then beat her, made her take her clothes off and then put into a room with the other guards, who raped her until she fainted.

After she finally managed to escape three months later, Murad said she was accepted into Germany, where she received the necessary medical attention.

She voiced her thanks to Germany for their welcome, but noted that the suffering she is advocating to end is not just her own, but a “collective suffering” of all women who face the same horrors.

At the Sept. 16 induction ceremony, which was set to coincide with the Sept. 21 U.N. International Day of Peace, Clooney emphasized that “what Nadia has told us about is genocide, and genocide doesn’t happen by accident. You have to plan it.”

“We know exactly who the perpetrators are. They brag. ISIS brags about its crimes online,” she said, explaining that “no one is more blameless” than a young Yazidi woman who has lost everything.

“Yet two years on, two years after the genocide began, 3,200 Yazidi women and children are still held captive by ISIS and not a single member of ISIS has been prosecuted in a court anywhere in the world for crimes committed against the Yazidi,” she observed.

Clooney praised Murad for her courage, saying the young woman’s strength and leadership “astounds me.”

“She has defied all the labels that life has given her: orphan, rape victim, slave, refugee. She has instead created new ones: survivor, Yazidi leader, women’s advocate, Nobel Peace Prize nominee. And now, as of today, Goodwill Ambassador.”

Speaking directly to Murad, Clooney said she was sorry “that we have failed you,” and voiced her hope that Murad’s appointment would be a turning point for all victims of sexual violence in human trafficking.

Murad has already met with various world leaders and heads of state in order to raise awareness of the plight of Yazidis suffering as victims of human trafficking.

Through her ambassadorship, according to the U.N. media advisory, Murad will focus on different advocacy initiatives and will raise awareness of the plight of the countless victims still suffering due to trafficking, particularly refugees, women and girls.

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Two priests murdered in Mexico

by CNA/EWTN News • September 20, 2016

Priests celebrate Mass at San’t Agnese in Agone Catholic Church in Rome on Sept. 14, 2014. (Joaquín Peiró Pérez/CNA)

Mexico City, Mexico — One day after they were kidnapped from their parish, Mexican priests Alejo Nabor Jiménez Juárez and José Alfredo Suárez de la Cruz were found murdered in a field.

The Mexican Bishops Conference confirmed the priests’ deaths and extended their condolences and prayers to the Diocese of Papantla, Mexico, where the priests served, and to the families of the two slain priests.

“We extend our pain and indignation at the violence exercised against them,” the bishops’ conference said.

“In these moment of pain, impotence and tragedy provoked by violence, we raise our prayers to the heavens for the eternal rest of these our brothers, and implore the Lord for the conversion of their aggressors,” the statement continued. “From the authorities we await an investigation to clear up what happened and the enforcement of justice against those responsible.”

“We pray to the Lord that he blesses our beloved homeland, and we ask for the intercession of Blessed Mary of Guadalupe, Queen of Peace, that united we search for integrity and the progress of our people,” the statement closed.

The Diocese of Papantla also offered its prayers “for the eternal rest of their souls and that we may be united in prayer as a Church, so that Christ the King of Peace may bring harmony to our homeland.”

The two priests were kidnapped Sept. 18 from Our Lady of Fatima Parish in the city of Poza Rica, a town located in the north of the Mexican Gulf state of Veracruz. The bodies of the two priests were found the following day in a field in the nearby city of Papantla.

A third man, identified by Veracruz authorities, was kidnapped alongside the two priests, but escaped and was found alive. Veracruz officials said that he had been placed under protection.

Poza Rica and surrounding areas in Veracruz have been the locus of drug and associated cartel violence for years, but it is yet unclear why the priests were targeted. Priests have also been the target of violence elsewhere in Mexico.

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Amid communist rule, a Catholic university opens in Vietnam

by CNA/EWTN News • September 21, 2016

Cathedral in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. (Howtogoto via Shutterstock)

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam — After 40 years, the first Catholic Church-operated university opened in Vietnam since the advent of communism in the country.

“The institute aims to enhance theological knowledge and competence among all priests, religious and laypeople,” Bishop Joseph Dinh Duc Dao, rector of the institute, said at the opening ceremony according to UCA News.

There have not been Church-run schools in the country since 1975, when communist rule took over the country.

In 1954-1955, Vietnam was split between the North, which was ruled by communists, and the South, which had a Catholic president. For a 300-day period during that time, called Operation Passage to Freedom by the United States Navy, free movement was allowed between the (then) two countries. During that period, hundreds of thousands of people fled North Vietnam to South Vietnam, including many Catholics who feared persecution under the communist rule of the north, and felt safe under the Catholic president in the south.

However, after the fall of Saigon in the South at the end of the Vietnam War in 1975, the country was reunited under communist rule, and Catholics lost many of the freedoms they had sought, including control of or involvement in education.

In the 1990s, the government began to relax some of the restrictions. Some orders of nuns started running kindergartens and some wealthy individuals set up private, Catholic schools, but there were no upper level schools being run by the Church.

The bishops of Vietnam have officially been pushing for a church-operated university since 2011, when they wrote a letter to government officials asking them to allow for Catholic schools.

“It is recommended that the government opens the door to the religious people of good will who aspire to be involved in school education, which is considered the key to open the path for a bright future in the country,” the bishops said in their letter.

Then, in December 2015, Archbishop Paul Bui Van Doc of Ho Chi Minh City announced that he had received permission from the government to open the first Catholic University by the fall of 2016.

“The relationship between the Vatican and the Vietnam government is becoming better and better, so we asked and they accepted,” the archbishop said at the time.

While the first class size is fairly small - 23 students, mostly priests, all studying theology - the school is hoping to grow and diversify in the near future.

“After that, in the future, maybe a lot,” Archbishop Doc said.

“It’s possible a thousand or more than a thousand” students will eventually join the university.

There are currently over 5 million Catholics in Vietnam, which makes up between 6-7 percent of the population.

Vatican Insider reported that the school will offer bachelor’s degrees, licenses and doctorates and will eventually offer courses in psychology, sciences, canon law, among others, and that the university’s structure and statutes had also received approval from both the government and Vatican.

Bishop Dao told Vatican Insider in December that he considered it a work of mercy that the school would open during the Jubilee year.

“It is a work of God, with our strengths we helped make it happen,” he said.

“It is a work of mercy that we will carry out in the Holy Year with renewed gratitude towards God and with compassion: the service of education implies a deep attention to others.”

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How Catholics brought women’s equality to a Cameroon clan

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 21, 2016

Pilgrims from a Cameroon chiefdom at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 21, 2016. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — A region of Cameroon that traditionally believed women to have no value now sees them as equal to men, thanks to a lay Catholic apostolate in the area.

“Before the coming of the Focolare Movement, the women had no say, but the movement has taught us a lot of things,” said Nicasius Nguazong, who is the Fon – similar to a king – of the Cameroonian chiefdom of Nwangong.

Fon Nicasius and about 40 other pilgrims, including other heads of northwest Cameroonian clans, travelled to Rome to mark the 50th anniversary of the Focolare Movement first coming to the Bangwa people.

They attended the Pope’s Wednesday General Audience, and several met with Pope Francis Sept. 21.

Mafue Christina Fontem – whose role is similar to a queen – testified at a press conference afterward that her father, after meeting the founder of the Focolare Movement, a woman named Chiara Lubich, carried out a campaign for the higher education of women.

“And because of that,” she said, “you will find that those of us who are here, his daughters, went to school, and you also have among us a granddaughter who is here from Germany.”

“We had something in our tradition that we always said: ‘a woman is worth nothing’,” Mafue Christina reflected. “But with the coming of Chiara, women got emancipated.”

The Focolare Movement, a Catholic lay apostolate, was originally founded by Chiara Lubich in 1943. It was begun during World War II as a path of spiritual and social renewal.

Using the inspiration of Jesus’ prayer in John 17:21, “May they all be one,” the movement now exists all over the world; it aims to create unity through the use of dialogue and relationships among individuals, peoples and cultures.

Although it has Catholic roots, people of every age, vocation, religion and culture belong to the movement.

“Before the coming of the Focolare Movement, they didn’t encourage education for girls because they thought that a woman’s place was in the kitchen,” Fon Nicasius said.

But now, men and women share in the housework, instead of women doing everything, which used to include bending over to chop firewood while carrying babies on their backs, said Mafue Christina.

“This comes from the teaching of the Focolare Movement of loving one another as Jesus has loved us,” she said.

Mafue Christina told a story about a time when a woman left the house to go to the farm. When she returned, her husband had drawn a warm bath for her and invited her to take a bath and rest. She was very surprised, Mafue Christina said, “because it was not part of their culture. This was the culture of the disciple of love.”

Speaking from a man’s perspective, Fon Nicasius said that now, even in their traditional councils, it is acknowledged that women have a say and they have been given positions of responsibility.

He praised the efforts of Catholics in his country, saying, “The good works of the Focolare Movement and the Catholic Church cannot end in our own reign.”

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Does the Mexican priest who allegedly abused minors even exist?

by CNA/EWTN News • September 21, 2016

(Alphaspirit via Shutterstock)

Mexico City, Mexico — After the Mexican branch of the “hacktivist” group Anonymous reported that the Archdiocese of Mexico had let off an alleged priest who confessed to having molested 30 girls, the Church in Mexico has denied that the priest even exists, calling the Anonymous report “irresponsible and malicious.”

On Sept. 8 Anonymous Mexico claimed that the Archdiocese of Mexico “decided to let off from any crime and punishment José Ataulfo García, the priest who allegedly confessed to raping more than 30 indigenous girls in the state of Oaxaca.”

The report by the hackers group was picked up this weekend by several Spanish-language newspapers, and this week by some English media.

Religión Digital posted an article with the headline “Priest with HIV who confessed to molesting 30 girls let off”, but it has since been deleted.

SIAME, the communications office of the Archdiocese of Mexico, has stated that the supposed priest José Ataulfo is not listed in their jurisdiction’s records, nor in those of the Archdiocese of Antequera, Oaxaca.

“This supposed priest does not belong to the Archdiocese of Mexico – as Anonymous Mexico asserts – much less has he been let off, as the post irresponsibly and maliciously states,” stated Fr. Hugo Valdemar Romero, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico.

SIAME stated the accusations probably originated in “Hablemos de Mexico”, a publication which “several weeks ago, in wake of the opposition of the Catholic Church to the presidential initiatives to legalize so-called ‘marriage equality’ throughout the country, threatened to publish a supposed list of homosexual priests and bishops which included this personage.”

“However, the existence of such a priest is increasingly doubtful, since according to the information gathered by SIAME, in the dioceses that makes up the Province of Oaxaca, there is no record of such a minister,” the publication of the Archdiocese of Mexico City explained.

Archbishop José Luis Chávez Botello of Antequera, Oaxaca, stated, “I don’t know him [Ataulfo], he’s not from the archdiocese.”

Archbishop Chávez cautioned that the accusations are reactions “from some quarter” which wants to silence the voices calling for peace and recalled that “the Pope has also been attacked by some groups.”

“I invite them, as I’ve already told them, when there’s something like that, seriously investigate it, don’t just repeat what’s being said,” he urged, while assuring that “lies unravel all by themselves.”

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Mysterious deaths of mentally ill draw concern from South Africa bishops

by CNA/EWTN News • September 22, 2016

(Hxdbzxy via Shutterstock)

Johannesburg, South Africa — The unexplained deaths of three dozen mentally ill patients in a South African province show the need for action to help this vulnerable population, the country’s bishops have said.

“As a society, we should never forget that the lives of the mentally ill are precious before God. The lives of the mentally ill should therefore be considered to be more important than the dictates of fiscal efficiency and profit making,” the Justice and Peace Commission of the South African Catholic Bishops’ Conference said Sept. 19.

“The families and the whole country need answers. We send our heartfelt condolences to all affected families.”

Earlier this year, 36 psychiatric patients died within months of being removed from the Life Healthcare Esidimeni Centre to local NGOs and other facilities in Gauteng province.

About 2,000 patients were transferred to over 120 other facilities after the contract was cancelled. The facility had contracted with the provincial government for more than 40 years.

Many patients’ relatives warned that new facilities were unsuitable. Patients were also transferred without their medical files, the Times of South Africa reports.

The province includes Johannesburg and the national administrative capital Pretoria. Gauteng premier David Makhura said the number of deaths was worryingly high. He said there has been a “disturbing trend” of patient deaths in the last five years, the African News Agency reports.

The bishops’ commission was waiting on results of a health department investigation but voiced “deep concern” that the health department did not heed warnings from civil society and from patients’ families that the contract cancellation with the health center and the transfer of patients was being rushed.

“We therefore continue to ask the health department to put adequate measures to ensure sustainable levels of control to health care costs,” the bishops’ commission said. “We reiterate our position that a health system that puts profit before people, and without adequate measures for cost control, is both unsustainable for the country and a death sentence to the poor.”

They said that the health department’s deinstitutionalization plan for mental health care should not be used “as a pretext to shirk on its constitutional responsibilities to provide adequate care to the mentally ill.”

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Another Catholic priest has been kidnapped in Mexico

by CNA/EWTN News • September 23, 2016

(Neville Elder via Shutterstock)

Mexico City, Mexico — Mexican Cardinal Alberto Suárez Inda is offering prayers for the safety of a priest who was kidnapped in the country earlier this week.

Fr. José Alfredo López Guillén, pastor of Janamuato, was taken from the rectory of his parish by unknown persons on Monday, September 19. His whereabouts remain unknown, as does the motive for the kidnapping. His car was also stolen.

His abduction occurred on the same day that authorities found the lifeless bodies of previously-kidnapped Fathers Alejo Nabor Jiménez Juárez and José Alfredo Juárez de la Cruz, in the Diocese of Papantla, in Veracruz state.

In a video posted on YouTube Sept. 22, Cardinal Suárez said that “after sharing in the enormous pain over the murder of two young priests in the Diocese of Papantla in Veracruz, today we are suffering anguish firsthand over the disappearance, the kidnapping of one of our priests.”

The cardinal offered prayers for the kidnapped priest and that the captors may “respect his person, his life, that he can return soon to the exercise of his ministry. We join in prayer for his family members and parishioners who are going through this distressing time.”

“We ask God for peace, for respect for life, for the conversion of those who dedicate themselves to doing evil,” he said.

“Our community suffers the death, the anguish of any one of our faithful. In this case, it’s a good man, dedicated to doing good and who is peaceful. This barbarity is in no way justifiable, I ask for your prayers.”

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D.C. leaders discuss protection, justice for ISIS victims

by Adelaide Mena (CNA/EWTN News) • September 23, 2016

(Photo Unit via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Washington, D.C. — With ISIS continuing to threaten vulnerable populations in Iraq and Syria, more action is needed to protect victims and offer justice before it’s too late, said human rights leaders this week.

“The survivors of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Iraq and Syria merit the fullest possible assistance of our government, including consideration for admission of victim refugees to the United States,” said David Scheffer, former U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues.

Without adequate aid and support, these communities face total eradication, warned other speakers.

Policies focused on individual aid instead of helping whole communities increase “the likelihood that the complete eradication of these groups from the region – which was the intent of the genocide – will succeed,” warned Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus.

Anderson and Scheffer spoke at a Sept. 22 hearing before the U.S. Helsinki Commission on Capitol Hill entitled “Atrocities in Iraq and Syria: Relief for Survivors and Accountability for Perpetrators.”

The hearing focused on the Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2016 (H.R. 5961), introduced by commission chairman Rep. Chris Smith (R- N.J.), which includes steps to protect religious and ethnic communities targeted by ISIS – both in their homelands and as refugees – and how to guarantee that perpetrators of human rights abuses will be prosecuted and punished.

Rep. Smith praised recent declarations by the United States and other organizations that acknowledge continued ISIS persecution of Christian, Yazidi and other religious and ethnic communities as “genocide.”

However, he criticized the lack of action, saying that “displaced genocide survivors cannot pay for food, medicine, or shelter with words from Washington.”

Christians, Yazidis, and other ethnic and religious minorities in areas of Iraq and Syria have been facing intense persecution, human trafficking and death since their territories fell under ISIS control. In late 2015, the U.S. State Department formally labeled ISIS’ persecution as a “genocide.”

While documentation of the human rights abuses is necessary and can help spread awareness of the horrors these populations face, Smith continued, “first and foremost, they are crimes committed by perpetrators who need to be investigated and prosecuted.”

“This requires collecting, preserving, and preparing evidence that is usable in criminal trials.”

Scheffer explained in his testimony that it is already possible to prosecute perpetrators of war crimes, under some circumstances, but added that Smith’s proposed legislation could help ensure that “perpetrators of crimes against humanity do not find sanctuary from prosecution in the United States,” by including their atrocities under the criminal code.

Chris Engels, deputy director of the Commission for International Justice and Accountability, a non-profit that carries out investigations of human rights atrocities, also spoke. He too stressed the need for increased accountability and prosecution of perpetrators of human rights abuses, and to prevent these events from happening in the future: two goals which he described as connected.

Noting again that some avenues for accountability and punishment of human rights abuses exist currently and do not depend on the creation of special tribunals and courts, Engels encouraged government leaders to start planning for accountability measures, pointing to their importance for rebuilding efforts after conflict.

Prosecution of ISIS members and the Assad regime can also help the region “evolve into stable, peaceful, and just societies,” in a way that a lack of fighting or political settlements alone cannot, Engles continued.

“These trials have the power to serve as tangible examples to all in the region that the rule of law is here, and here to stay,” he said, warning that without avenues for justice, “the seeds of future conflict, cataclysmic destabilization, unprecedented human displacement, and militant terrorism lay undisturbed and ready to grow.”

Prosecuting militant leaders for human rights abuses, as opposed to charges of terrorism, could also help to diffuse the “‘clash of cultures’ narrative” between the West and the Islamic world, by providing fact-based evidence of the horrific crimes they have committed against whole classes of people.

Anderson urged the commission that the communities facing the most horrific violence at the hands of ISIS are not receiving adequate public aid – an oversight which all but seals their extermination.

“On the one hand we have the unanimous policy of the elected branches of the United States government stating that a genocide is occurring. On the other hand we have an aid bureaucracy that is allowing the intended consequence of the genocide to continue, even though it is in our power to stop it,” he criticized.

The bureaucratic roadblocks threaten the survival of Christians and Yazidi communities, he said, asking the United States to expand aid to these populations more directly.

Anderson also urged the commission to focus on building structures that end the “system of religious apartheid” in the region and ensure that Christians and other religious minorities receive “equal rights and the equal protection of the laws as enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”

Stephen Rasche, legal counsel and director of resettlement programs for the Archdiocese of Erbil provided an on-the-ground perspective of working with more than 10,000 displaced families fleeing violence in Northern Iraq, echoing Anderson’s critique of the lack of public funding for the diocese’s work. The care for the tens of thousands of Christian and non-Christian internally displaced persons has been accomplished mainly through private donors, Rasche testified.

“It is no exaggeration to say that without these private donors, the situation for Christians in Northern Iraq would have collapsed, and the vast majority of these families would without question have already joined the refugee diaspora now destabilizing the Middle East and Europe.”

He noted that the “individual needs” policy assessment imposed by the United States and other international organizations excluded these displaced persons, because the care they receive from the Church is better than that received in many refugee camps. Such an assessment fails to acknowledge that they are “threatened with extinction as a people, the victims of genocide and a cycle of historical violence which seeks to remove them permanently from their ancestral homes.”

Bill Canny, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Migration and Refugee Services, spoke of the need both to rebuild the societies in Iraq and Syria, and to address “the root causes of the forced migration,” as well as the need for the United States and other countries to “continue to protect and support internally displaced people and refugees from Syrian and Iraq.”

He pointed out that “return is the first choice and option most viable for most refugees,” but that in some cases, return is not possible. He suggested that in those cases, resettlement of refugees in new homes should be considered, particularly those who are most vulnerable if they return.

“We have urged the United States and other concerned countries, as well as countries in the region, to do more to protect them and others who are facing persecution at the hands of both state actors and non-state actors.”

However, he continued, the United States has resettled a concerningly low number of religious minorities in the past year, particularly Christians.

Whatever the causes for the low numbers of Christian resettlement, Canny said, it is clear “that Christians and other religious minorities have become a target for brutality at the hands of the non-state actor ISIS, and that they are fleeing for their lives, and that far too few of them have been attaining U.S. resettlement.”

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We need to do more for refugees, Catholic advocates say

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • September 17, 2016

Caritas Athens soup kitchen for refugees in Athens, Greece. (Elie Gardner/Catholic Relief Services)

Washington D.C. — Catholic advocates are praising the U.S. for hosting an international refugee summit, but insist the administration can do more to address an unprecedented global refugee crisis.

“We are very pleased at the historical role that the United States government has played in welcoming more refugees than any other country,” Jill Marie Gerschutz Bell, the senior legislative specialist for Catholic Relief Services, told CNA in an interview.

“We’re pleased that the president has called a summit of other host countries. But we want to see the president do more, particularly for the unaccompanied children and young people coming to the United States,” she added.

“If we’re going to ask other governments to abide by our moral and legal obligations, we need to make sure that we are too.”

Officials from Catholic Relief Services will be attending the Leaders’ Summit on Refugees hosted by President Obama Sept. 20 in New York City, just after a United Nations refugee summit. Leaders from around the world are expected to meet and pledge to provide for the needs of refugees around the world.

“There are too few countries around the world that are bearing a significant burden in the form of hundreds of thousands and, in some cases, even millions of individuals who fled their home country to try to avoid violence,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest explained in a Thursday press briefing.

“And there’s more that the international community and that the world must do to help those countries bear that burden.”

Over 65 million people are estimated by the UN to be displaced right now, the highest number ever recorded. Half of all refugees are children, with sectarian conflicts and government persecution as some of the leading causes of mass migration.

Thus, Catholic Relief Services, which provides aid to refugees around the world, will be at the summit pushing for the international community to do more for refugees.

As “part of a broader group” of humanitarian aid organizations, CRS has “jointly pledged” with them to invest $1.2 billion into refugee assistance. It’s “private money,” Bell told CNA, from “Catholics in the pews, largely.” It’s “because they believe that we are called to welcome the stranger, just as Pope Francis repeatedly reminds us.”

“The Church has taken very seriously this call to welcome the stranger and to provide assistance,” Bell said. The Syrian refugee crisis is the worst in terms of scale, but CRS has been helping “the more forgotten refugees” like from sub-Saharan Africa and Afghan refugees living in Pakistan.

Catholic Relief Services would like to see some changes in the “architecture” of refugee assistance since the world is largely operating on a structure from just after World War II, Bell said.

“The humanitarian architecture has not kept pace with this increase in individuals,” she said, adding that “more refugees live in cities than in camps today, and they are living there longer than they ever have before.”

When asked what specifically could change, Bell noted that the United Nations should “focus more on coordination” and on “speeding up its response.”

Governments, meanwhile, should be “providing access to livelihoods and education in host countries” to ensure refugees are not dependent upon humanitarian assistance in the long-run and can begin to support themselves.

“Most people don’t want to live that way” she said of dependency on aid. Refugees can “give back to the country that’s hosting them” and establish a “relationship of mutuality” if given the chance.

Another area that needs addressing is “psycho-social support” for children who have “suffered extreme trauma,” Bell insisted, noting that “there’s not a lot of government funding” for it.

“The Church is a real light to these children,” she insisted.

The Obama administration has recently announced that it will aim to increase the number of refugees it will accept to 110,000 in fiscal year 2017. Bell praised the administration’s pledge, but cautioned that Congress will need to make sure refugee resettlement will be properly funded, “because the present bills do not have all the funding that are needed.”

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How a new classical academy is reaching out to millennial parents

by Maggie Maslak (CNA/EWTN News) • September 18, 2016

(Unsplash/Catholic News Agency)

Denver, CO — Coming in 2017, families in Northern Colorado will have the option to send their children to a Catholic elementary school through a new regional, classical academy in Thornton.

“It is with great joy that we announce the opening of a new Catholic school in the Archdiocese of Denver to be called Frassati Catholic Academy,” stated a letter from Archbishop Samuel J. Aquila of Denver and the Superintendent of Catholic Schools, Kevin Kijewski.

“Given the growing Catholic population around Thornton, we desire to offer a new opportunity to help form your children both spiritually and academically,” the Sept. 15 statement continued.

In an email interview, Kijewski told CNA that one of the reasons they chose to make Frassati Catholic Academy a classical education school was because of parents.

“Classical education, while not completely new in the archdiocese, is an academic program of study that many millennial parents prefer,” Kijewski said.

“Parents are rediscovering how timeless lessons from great thinkers such as Aristotle, Socrates, and Cicero can prepare their students for a rapidly changing world,” he continued.

Frassati Catholic Academy will be the first regional Catholic academy opened by the archdiocese of Denver, meaning that it will not be associated with a single parish, but will rather serve a range of different families in various parishes throughout the Northern Colorado region.

The school, located in an almost 62,000 sq. foot building, will be located at 133rd Ave. and Colorado Blvd. on over seven acres of land. The academy will open Fall 2017, and will offer programs to children beginning at junior kindergarten through the fifth grade.

Kijewski said they have great hopes for their first academic year.

“For our first year of operation in the fall of 2017, we expect anywhere between 120 to 240 children to enroll in grades K through 5. We will be adding an additional grade up to grade 8 for each subsequent year,” he told CNA.

With a focus on classical education, the archbishop’s letter stated that Frassati Academy will “be rooted in the wisdom of the past, particularly in western civilizations such as Greece and Rome,” where the “study of Latin, Art, and Music will be integral parts of the curriculum.”

“The foundations of classical education will equip our young people to faithfully navigate today’s secular and rapidly changing world,” the statement continued.

According to the school’s website, classical education will also help the next generation navigate “our modern world (which) requires classical thinking skills more than ever.” The site also states that the classical style will foster children’s “ability to be critical thinkers, literate evaluators, ethical problem solvers, and socially responsible global citizens.”

The patron of the school, Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati, is an Italian outdoorsman known for his social activism and adventurous spirit - especially appropriate for the Colorado area. Blessed Frassati died at the age of 25 and was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 2002, 77 years after his death.

“He is known as the man of the beatitudes, a title which speaks to living out the faith with authentic joy,” noted the statement from the archbishop and superintendent.

“We believe he is an excellent patron for this new school,” they continued, saying he “serves as a great example for young people today, especially here on the Front Range.”

Registration for the school will open during Catholic Schools Week on January 30, 2017. More information can be found at gofrassati.org

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U.S. bishops support day of prayer for sex abuse victims

by CNA/EWTN News • September 19, 2016

(Unsplash/Catholic News Agency)

Washington D.C. — In light of Pope Francis’ call to pray for the victims of sexual abuse, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will support a Worldwide Day of Prayer for Sexual Abuse Survivors, highlighting the importance of healing and noting the progress the Church has made over the years.

“With a pastor’s heart, Pope Francis renewed the call of the universal Church to pray for, help heal and proactively protect children from the terrible sin of sexual abuse,” said Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, Kentucky, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in a Sept. 16 statement.

“This universal expression of healing and sorrow, joined by our brothers and sisters around the world, will be a powerful reminder that no survivor should walk the path toward healing alone,” he said.

The Worldwide Day of Prayer was originally suggested at the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) Plenary Assembly by a survivor of clerical child sexual abuse.

Pope Francis approved the notion, and encouraged each National Bishops Conference to hold the day of prayer on a suitable date within each prospective country. Australia already held their prayer day on Sept. 11, and South Africa announced a prayer weekend from Dec. 2-4. The Philippines are planning to determine a date in the near future.

The administrative committee for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops began discussing the day of prayer for abuse victims last week, but have yet to announce a date. Archbishop Kurtz hopes that the day of prayer will bring healing to wounded victims and grace to prevent future abuses.

“For whenever we have failed to protect our children from predators, we beg God’s forgiveness. For wherever we have failed to support victims of sexual abuse, we beg their forgiveness,” Archbishop Kurtz said.

The Kentucky archbishop also underscored the progress the Church has made to fight sexual abuse, pointing to diocesan programs such as the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, saying “we have learned from the pain of such moments to motivate a rigorous prevention program.”

In addition, the Church has also made strides in preventing abuse by pursuing a proactive approach in reforming church law. The Church has also removed clergy who have committed abuses and opened meetings between victims and the Holy Father.

Archbishop Kurtz noted that many parishes in the United States have benefited from past prayer days and reconciliation services, saying that the faithful should always pray for abuse survivors and for prevention in the future.

“Let us pray that we may never become complacent in our prayer and protection,” Archbishop Kurtz stated.

“If you have been the victim of sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, notify law enforcement and please know there is a victim assistance coordinator in every U.S. diocese ready to help. They are trained and ready to receive your call.”

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A Phoenix bishop’s plea to voters and politicians: No votes for abortion

by Kevin Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • September 20, 2016

United States Capitol building. (Phil Roeder via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Phoenix, AZ — Catholics should be consistent in public life and need to make protecting innocent life a serious political priority, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix has said in the latest edition of his booklet on the duties of Catholic voters and politicians.

The booklet “Catholics in the Public Square,” now in its fourth edition, makes a distinction between support for intrinsically evil issues and support for different methods of achieving policy.

“For example, Catholics may never legitimately promote or vote for any law that attacks innocent human life,” Bishop Olmsted said, latter adding “being right on all the other issues can never justify a wrong choice on this most serious matter.”

The guide reiterated the need to examine one’s conscience and the need for Catholic politicians to oppose laws that allow or promote abortions.

“If a politician is actively supporting and furthering the culture of death, he is not only causing scandal; he is sinning. Similarly, when a politician performs actions (like voting) that allow for abortions and even promote abortions, or that mandate the distribution of contraceptives by pharmacists and others, that politician is materially cooperating in grave sin,” the bishop’s booklet continued.

These politicians must make a sincere confession before receiving Holy Communion, he said. Because the harm they have done was public, they should also publicly make amends.

“Catholics should always be respectful of the human dignity of others, including people of different faiths, or no faith at all,” Bishop Olmsted said. “Having said that, however, Catholics should not be afraid to embrace their identity or to put their faith into practice in public life. In fact, each of the faithful has a call to evangelization and to share the good news of Christ with the rest of the world.”

The booklet, released Sept. 17, features a new foreword by Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles and updated material from Pope Francis. The new material includes excerpts from the Pope’s recent encyclical “Laudato Si” and his speeches during his trip to the United States.

“Bishop Olmsted wrote this booklet to better form Catholic lay people about their faith and responsibilities to their communities,” Robert DeFrancesco, communications director for the Diocese of Phoenix, told CNA Sept. 19. “According to Bishop Olmsted, it is important for Catholics to reflect on their role in public life, because we are called to live our faith all of the time wherever we are and whatever we are doing, not just at Mass on Sundays.”

Bishop Olmsted said that Catholics are specially called “to contribute to the common good, to defend the dignity of every human person, and to live as faithful citizens.”

“It only makes sense that if Catholics are supposed to live their faith in all of their daily activities that they should also take their faith into account while voting,” he added.

A Catholic’s preparations to vote must include proper formation of conscience, followed by research of important issues and candidates that will appear on the ballot.

Archbishop Gomez’s foreword to the booklet also reflected on Catholics in the public arena.

“This book is a kind of ‘question and answer catechism’ on some of the deepest issues of faith and public life,” he said. The archbishop described the booklet as “a must-read for all of us who are trying to engage the culture and to proclaim the Church’s beautiful vision for human life and human society.”

“The Church needs clear and courageous teaching and witness to confront the idols of a secularized, post-Christian America,” Archbishop Gomez said.

Bishop Olmsted suggested that some Catholics have been “frightened into silence and even confused by charges that they are imposing their morality on others.”

”Of course, if one’s faith does not impact on one’s whole life, including one’s political and social responsibilities, then it is not authentic faith; it is a sham, a counterfeit,” he countered.

“A democratic society needs the active participation of all its citizens, people of faith included,” he added. “This is not an imposition on other’s morality. It is acting with integrity … The active engagement of Catholics in democratic processes is good for society and it is responsible citizenship.”

Archbishop Gomez said that Catholic social teaching provides “a vision of the world as it could be and as it should be. The world as God created it to be.”

“The Catholic vision is spiritual not political. Catholics belong first of all the ‘city of God.’ But we have a duty to build up the ‘city of man,’ to correct injustices and seek a world that reflects God’s desires for His children — what Jesus called the kingdom of God and the Apostles called the new heaven and new earth,” the archbishop said.

The fourth edition booklet, published by St. Benedict Press, is available in an eBook version at Amazon and at the Phoenix diocese’s website. Its production was supported by a contribution from the national Knights of Columbus. The booklet is being distributed to the parishes of the Phoenix diocese.

The booklet’s first edition was released in 2006.

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Former Southern Baptist to become next head of Louisiana diocese

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 21, 2016

Bishop David Talley, who was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Alexandria on Sept. 21, 2016. (Michael Alexander/Archdiocese of Atlanta)

Alexandria, LA — The Vatican announced Wednesday that Pope Francis has appointed Bishop David Prescott Talley, currently auxiliary bishop of Atlanta and a former Baptist, to serve as the coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of Alexandria.

As coadjutor, Bishop Talley possesses the right of succession as head of the Diocese of Alexandria upon the resignation of its current ordinary, Bishop Ronald Herzog. Bishop Herzog will celebrate his 75th birthday – ‘mandatory retirement’ age for bishops – on April 22, 2017.

Archbishop Wilton Gregory of Atlanta said Sept. 21 that Bishop Talley “is a servant minister of our Church, who is graced with extraordinary wisdom, patience, kindness and dedication.”

The bishop, he said, “developed these gifts as a priest and bishop here in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, where he always cared for our people as a true minister of mercy and kindness. Thus, he now begins this new appointment with exceptional credentials.”

Serving as an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Atlanta since 2012, Bishop Talley, 66, was the first native-born Georgian to serve the Archdiocese of Atlanta as a bishop.

Born in Columbus, Georgia, Sept. 11, 1950, he was raised as a Southern Baptist, but left that ecclesial community as a teenager over the issue of racial segregation, he said. He then joined the Catholic Church when he was 24, after meeting Catholics and reading the writings of Thomas Merton while he was studying at Auburn University.

He was ordained a priest of the Atlanta archdiocese June 3, 1989, and earned a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He has served as pastor at three Atlanta area parishes, as the archdiocesan vocations director, as chancellor of the archdiocese, and as judicial vicar of the metropolitan tribunal. He was made a monsignor in 2001, and appointed auxiliary bishop of Atlanta in 2013.

As director of vocations, Bishop Talley, who speaks Spanish, helped the archdiocese to initiate a cross-cultural immersion program for seminarians to spend time living in El Paso and Ciudad Juarez so that they could learn Spanish and be more knowledgeable about the Hispanic culture and community.

He currently serves as chaplain to the disabilities ministry in Atlanta. Serving in this ministry has been key to his spiritual life: “all they do is ask the Lord for help. That simplicity and humility is where I think the Church should be – humble before God,” he told the Atlanta archdiocesan newspaper, the Georgia Bulletin.

Archbishop Gregory said, “We will sorely miss him in the Archdiocese of Atlanta, even as we thank him sincerely for sharing himself with us over these years, but we will gladly accompany him with our prayers and warmest best wishes.”

In Bishop Talley, the Pope has given the people of Louisiana a “tremendous gift,” he said.

Bishop Talley met with the priests of the Alexandria diocese Wednesday morning, saying, “I’m happy, I’m excited to be here in the Diocese of Alexandria. I pray that I will be the bishop that I need to be for this diocese.”

Located in central Louisiana, the Diocese of Alexandria serves 12 of the state’s parishes, where nearly 10 percent of the population is Catholic.

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World’s oldest Catholic bishop dies at age 104

by CNA/EWTN News • September 22, 2016

Bishop Peter Leo Garety. (Archdiocese of Newark)

Newark, N.J. — Archbishop emeritus Peter Leo Gerety of Newark, the oldest Catholic bishop in the world, passed away Sept. 20 at the age of 104 – 77 years after his ordination as a priest and after 50 years as a bishop.

“Today this local Church of Newark mourns a remarkable Churchman whose love for the people of God was always strong and ever-growing,” Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark said.

“He served as shepherd of this great Archdiocese during a time of spiritual reawakening in the years after the Second Vatican Council, and a time of deep financial difficulties. He very carefully led the Church, her people and institutions through those challenges,” Archbishop Myers continued.

The archbishop was born July 19, 1912 in Sheldon, Conn. He was the eldest of nine sons of New Jersey natives Peter L. and Charlotte Daly Gerety.

He grew up in Shelton and attended public schools. He won scholastic honors and captained the football team.

Gerety went on to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the New Jersey Transportation Department before entering St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, Conn. He was sent abroad to study at St. Sulpice Seminary in Issy, France. On June 29, 1939 he was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris for service in the Archdiocese of Hartford.

He served as a priest in the archdiocese for 27 years, mostly in New Haven. He especially focused on the needs of the black Catholic community. He founded the St. Martin de Porres Center, an interracial social and religious center. In 1956, the center became St. Martin de Porres Parish, with Fr. Gerety as its pastor.

The priest was an active member of the civil rights movement and took part in the March on Washington led by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. He founded the New Haven chapter of the Urban League. He served on the Connecticut State Committee on Race and Religion and the National Catholic Conference on Interracial Justice.

In 1963, Pope Paul VI named Fr. Gerety a monsignor. In March 1966, the Pope named him Coadjutor Bishop of Portland, Maine. His episcopal ordination took place June 1, 1966 and he became Bishop of Portland in 1969 when his predecessor, Bishop Daniel J. Feeney, passed away.

Paul VI then named him Archbishop of Newark in 1974.

As Archbishop of Newark, he worked on outreach to Latin American and Black Catholic communities. As part of his efforts in adult faith formation, he established Renew International in 1978. His work also included putting the archdiocese on a stable financial footing.

Msgr. Franklyn Casale, now the president of St. Thomas University in Florida, served Archbishop Gerety as secretary, chancellor and vicar general of the Newark archdiocese.

“He saw the priesthood as a gift and that propelled his church leadership. He needed to share that gift,” Msgr. Casale told the New Haven Register. He said the archbishop “empowered the laity to take its part in the Church.”

Archbishop Gerety served on many committees of the U.S. bishops’ conference. He also worked with the Call to Action Committee, formed in 1976 during the American bicentennial to consider the needs of the Church. Call to Action was later notoriously co-opted by activists who campaigned against Catholic teaching.

He retired from active ministry in 1986 and was succeeded by Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, who would become Archbishop of Washington and a cardinal.

As Archbishop emeritus, Gerety officiated at baptisms, confirmations and other events as long as his health allowed. He partnered with Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University to establish The Archbishop Gerety Fund for Ecclesiastical History. The fund supports studies of Catholic Church history in the U.S.

Archbishop Gerety passed away in the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor at St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly in Totowa, N.J.

He is survived by numerous nephews and nieces.

Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart will receive the archbishop’s body at 3 p.m. on Sunday, followed by a viewing of the body. There will be another viewing period from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, with a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at the cathedral at 3 p.m..

With the archbishop’s death, Archbishop Bernardino Piñera Carvallo of Chile, age 101, is now the oldest living bishop, according to the website Catholic Hierarchy.

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Trump names 33 conservative Catholics as new advisers

by CNA/EWTN News • September 22, 2016

Donald Trump at the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio on July 18-21, 2016. (Addie Mena/CNA)

Washington D.C. — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has released a list of 33 prominent conservative Catholic advisers for his campaign, according to reports from Philly.com, a website of The Inquirer and Daily News.

The announcement comes in the midst of a highly contentious election season and at a time when Trump is struggling in the polls among Catholic voters, according to some reports.

Among the released names of advisers are former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, who ran for president in 2012 and 2016. When he left the race in February, Santorum originally endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio. When Rubio left the race in March, Santorum endorsed Trump, citing the vacant Supreme Court seat as a key reason.

Another key person reported as a new Catholic adviser for Trump is Joseph Cella, founder of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast who reportedly will be the chief liaison to the Trump campaign for Catholic affairs.

Notably, Cella is a signatory of “An Appeal to Our Fellow Catholics”, an open letter written by George Weigel and Robert P. George in March during the primaries and signed by more than 30 Catholic intellectual and readers, including Robert George, law professor at Princeton University; Mary Rice Hasson, director of the Catholic Women’s Forum at the Ethics and Public Policy Center; and Thomas Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University.

The letter denounced Trump as a man “manifestly unfit to be president of the United States” who has “driven our politics down to new levels of vulgarity.” Citing Trump’s ethnic prejudices, promises to punish the families of terrorists, and his sudden about-face on pro-life issues, among other issues, the signatories pleaded with Catholics not to vote for Trump in the primaries.

The new list of Trump’s Catholic advisers also reportedly includes Tom Monaghan of Michigan, founder of Domino’s Pizza and the Ave Maria University; Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List; Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback; Matt Schlapp, president of the American Conservative Union; former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating (R); U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, Republican of Ohio; Jim Nicholson, former Republican national chairman, secretary of veterans affairs and ambassador to the Vatican; and longtime conservative leader Richard Viguerie.

The election season has thus far been a tumultuous one for Catholics, as leaders such as Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia have noted.

“Only God knows the human heart, so I presume that both major candidates for the White House this year intend well and have a reasonable level of personal decency behind their public images. But I also believe that each candidate is very bad news for our country, though in different ways,” he said at the University of Notre Dame earlier this month.

“One candidate, in the view of a lot of people, is a belligerent demagogue with an impulse control problem. And the other, also in the view of a lot of people, is a criminal liar, uniquely rich in stale ideas and bad priorities,” he added.

Many Catholic leaders continue to debate whether Catholics can in good conscience vote for Trump, following the voting guidelines laid out by the United States Bishops.

The first debate between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will take place on Monday September 26 at Hofstra University on Long Island in New York.

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For Bishop Olmsted, Pope Francis shows continuity on marriage

by CNA/EWTN News • September 23, 2016

(Scribbletaylor via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Phoenix, AZ — Pope Francis has not changed Catholic practice on Holy Communion for the divorced and remarried. Rather, his goal is to help welcome them to the Church, Phoenix’s Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted has said.

The Pope gives “special attention to those who walk on the edge of despair” because of personal failures, family problems, and “the complex and contradictory situations in which they find themselves now,” Bishop Olmsted said in his Sept. 18 column for The Catholic Sun.

The bishop considered Pope Francis’ 2016 apostolic exhortation “Amoris Laetitia,” especially as it concerns couples in irregular situations like the divorced and remarried.

The exhortation does not advocate the reception of Holy Communion for those who are divorced and remarried, he said.

“Pope Francis specifically calls those in this situation ‘to seek the grace of conversion’,” the Phoenix bishop said, citing the 78th paragraph of the exhortation.

Pope Francis “calls for deeper and sustained pastoral accompaniment of these suffering families, assuring them that they are welcome in the Church family, and that we are eager to seek ways to integrate them more fully into our local communities,” Bishop Olmsted added.

Couples who cannot receive Holy Communion are not excommunicated from the Church, he said, adding: “Accompaniment is possible and should be the case in our parishes.”

People in complex family situations “should be encouraged to pray, attend Mass, and rectify the situation in communication with their pastor, who remains their pastor despite the case of objective sin.”

For Bishop Olmsted, Pope Francis continues Catholic practice on marriage.

“Throughout ‘Amoris Laetitia’ we see a continuity with the Church’s Magisterium especially that of Blessed Paul VI, St. John Paul II, and Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI which reaffirm the constant tradition of the Church,” the bishop said.

He cited previous teaching documents like St. John Paul II’s 1981 exhortation “Familiaris Consortio.” That exhortation asked the Church to encourage the divorced to ensure they don’t feel separated from the Church, while also affirming Church practice, based on Sacred Scripture, of not admitting the divorced and remarried to Holy Communion.

Benedict XVI reaffirmed this practice in his 2007 exhortation “Sacramentum Caritatis.”

Bishop Olmsted, citing the Catechism of the Catholic Church, said that formation of conscience “guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.”

For this task, God has given “the light of God’s word and the authoritative teaching of the Church,” he said. “For good reason, then, Pope Francis affirms both of these as the primary foundation for his document.”

The bishop stressed that Pope Francis’ exhortation “seeks the grace of conversion” for married couples and “encourages them to have confidence that forgiveness is always within their reach.”

The Catechism teaches Catholics that they must examine their consciences before the cross of Jesus Christ.

“Without embracing the Cross of Christ, we cannot have life in Him,” Bishop Olmsted commented. “Only when we ‘take up our cross each day’ and follow Him can we be His disciples. The Lord gives us the command and also the grace to do this, every day, beginning within the family in which by God’s grace we live.”

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What a Charlotte priest will tell his flock after a fatal police shooting

by Kevin Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • September 23, 2016

Police officer on I-85 during protests following the death of a man shot by police in Charlotte, N.C. on Sept. 21, 2016. (Sean Rayford, Getty Images)

Charlotte, N.C. — Father Patrick Winslow is a priest at a Catholic church in Charlotte’s University City neighborhood.

After a police shooting left a man dead and roused hundreds of people in protest amid conflicting stories, he’s been thinking about what he can say to his flock.

“I think they need to hear a simple message of prayer, of charity, and reassurance that we are called to be a light in the midst of many darknesses in this world,” Father Patrick Winslow told CNA.

“If there were a Christian way forward it would simply be one of drawing closer together and listening and relating, with a sense of vulnerability,” he said.

Father Winslow is pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Charlotte’s University City neighborhood, which surrounds the main campus of University of North Carolina-Charlotte.

In an apartment complex less than a mile from the church, a police shooting rocked the community.

Keith Lamont Scott was shot and killed by police who were looking for another man named in a warrant on Sept. 20.

Scott was a father of seven. His family said that he was unarmed and sitting in his car reading a book as he waited for his son to return from school, CNN reports. A woman reported to be his daughter livestreamed the aftermath of the shooting on the internet, claiming Scott was disabled, didn’t have a gun, and was afraid of the officers.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney disputed the account. He said Scott left his car with a gun. He said officers repeatedly told Scott to drop his gun before an officer shot him.

Scott, Chief Putney, and the officer who shot Scott are all black.

The police chief said officers could not find a book at the scene of the shooting.

“It’s time to change the narrative because I can tell you from the facts that the story’s a little bit different as to how it’s been portrayed so far, especially through social media,” Chief Putney said.

In reaction to the shooting, hundreds of protesters rallied in Charlotte. Some threw rocks at police and set fires. Some blocked Interstate 85 and set a fire in the middle of the highway, blocking traffic for miles.

Sixteen officers were injured in the protests, Putney said. At least seven people were hospitalized with minor injuries and five others were arrested.

The mayor of Charlotte, Jennifer Roberts, has asked faith leaders to work for healing in the community.

At St. Thomas Aquinas Church, Fr. Winslow planned to speak before the Wednesday evening Mass.

“We’re probably 500 yards from the shooting. This is our neighborhood,” he told CNA.

Father Winslow said he was aware of the different experiences of different people in the neighborhood.

“The African-American community is going to feel different than the university kids across the street, versus all the other different people in the area,” he said.

The priest said he could not make a judgment on the shooting, knowing what is only in the news.

“Obviously I would feel a great deal of compassion for the family who lost someone that they love. I would also feel a great deal of compassion for all of those families who have people in law enforcement who were wounded as a result of the violence last night,” he said.

“I think that many who have not experienced prejudice and bigotry would be surprised by the experience of those who experience it regularly,” the priest continued. “Those who experience it regularly might be surprised that there are many who are not bigoted in their thoughts.”

He said he thought the majority of churchgoers at his diverse parish are not bigoted in their thinking.

Some of his parishioners have experienced acts of racism and bigotry in the wider community, such as a French-speaking black woman who was mistreated because of her skin color.

Fr. Winslow said he wanted to speak about how painful these experiences are.

He said the community was also surprised how a national narrative about law enforcement and race “collided in our backyard.”

The protests follow months of unrest and tensions in cities across the U.S.

In addition to the incident in Charlotte, a police shooting of Terence Crutcher, a 40-year-old black man in Tulsa, Oklahoma also prompted protests on Tuesday. A police officer responded to reports of an abandoned SUV.

Video recordings show Crutcher raising his hands before being tasered and fatally shot. However, the camera angle is obstructed in the preceding moments. Police reports indicate that he was unarmed.

Tulsa Police officer Betty Shelby is facing first-degree manslaughter charges in relation to the death of Crutcher.

Tulsa Bishop David A. Konderla responded in a statement, saying, “Today the prayers of the faithful of the Diocese of Tulsa are extended to the families of Terence Crutcher and Officer Betty Shelby. The tragic incident that took place last Friday will forever mark the lives of everyone involved, including our larger community.”

“We offer our deepest and heartfelt condolences to the Crutcher family as they mourn the loss of their loved one.”

“We offer our appreciation to those in our city government and our public service employees who work hard every day to serve our community,” he continued. “We pray that God would grant wisdom and discernment to all parties involved in the investigation of this sad event. We ask that everyone would join us in praying for continued peace and healing for all people of goodwill in Tulsa and throughout our nation.”

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Religious Christmas carols to be allowed in veterans’ hospitals

by CNA/EWTN News • September 23, 2016

Adoration of the Shepherds by Gerard van Honthorst. (Public domain)

Washington D.C. — New clarifications about Department of Veterans Affairs rules have resolved a dispute about religious Christmas carols, gifts and displays in veterans’ hospitals, a chaplains’ group has said.

“No one should try to water down Christmas for our veterans just because they object to any religious references or items. I am most grateful that the VA has clarified their policy prior to the upcoming holidays,” Chaplain Ron Crews, a retired Army Reserve colonel, said Sept. 21.

The chaplain is executive director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, a group of Protestant Christian organizations and ministries that provide over 2,600 chaplains for the U.S. military.

“This should make clear that churches may sing Christmas carols and distribute Christmas cards at VA hospitals,” Chaplain Crews continued. “The guidelines state that hospital administrators may allow this and provide reasonable guidance as to where displays may be set up and where and how long a church choir may sing.”

He said the new policy “should put a stop to those organizations that complain without basis about any mention of faith in VA facilities.”

The Veterans Affairs department had attracted controversy for some hospital policies applied at Christmastime.

In December 2013, A Veterans’ Affairs hospital in Georgia barred high school Christmas carolers from singing religious songs. The hospital required them to sing from a list of 12 Christmas songs its pastoral service deemed appropriate. The ban was enacted on the grounds that each veteran had the right to be protected from unwelcomed religious material.

The new guidance says that once a director allows holiday singing in a designated location, the department “must remain neutral regarding the views expressed by the group or individual generally or in its holiday songs.”

The guidance says that Veterans Health Administration facilities may receive cards and gifts with religious messages for distributions to patients and residence in accordance with their individual preferences.

It also allows veterans’ groups to set up displays with religious items on VA property.

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What do you say to a homeless person? Advice from Catholic urban missionaries

by CNA/EWTN News • September 23, 2016

(Rui Duarte via Flickr CC BY-NC 2.0)

Denver, CO — It’s a common sight in at a city intersection. A man or a woman holds a cardboard sign: “Homeless, Hungry. Please Give. Anything Helps.”

Most motorists, stopped at the light and eager to move on, just ignore the person.

But what should you to do before the light changes?

The Denver-based urban ministry Christ in the City offers some advice.

“Ask the person’s name,” said the group’s tip sheet. “One of our friends on the street told us he went four months without hearing his own name. Ask the person’s name and remember it.”

Those with a regular commute should remember that name and say hello the next time.

“You’ll be amazed how his or her face will light up that you remembered.”

“To love is to know and be known,” Christ in the City said. “And so, the chronically homeless become unknown, they become separated, not just from society but from the experience of love itself.”

The chronically homeless are the most resistant to social services and other help. They’re most likely to have substance abuse or mental health problems.

Erin McCrory, the ministry’s managing director, reflected on their situation.

“They’ve told us that once your reality becomes eating out of garbage cans and you don’t hear your name spoken for months at a time, you accept this is your reality,” McCrory told the Denver Catholic Register. “Their spirits are broken and they are lacking in hope and faith in people.”

There are other ways of making personal contact.

“Reach out and offer a handshake,” the group’s tip sheet advised. “This simple gesture breaks a barrier and expresses that you recognize their dignity. One moment of awkwardness for you can be the highlight of the day for him or her.”

Each year, a new team of Christ in the City missionaries gathers in Denver for efforts such as homeless outreach. About 25 young missionaries volunteer for two years, receiving spiritual and academic formation in their time of service.

The group says one missionary alone reaches 500 homeless and engages 80-100 volunteers to engage in more than 62,000 hours of service for the homeless.

The group advises people to give more practical items in lieu of money, like socks, water, Gatorade, or gloves. Those who give food should keep in mind that people who live on the street often have teeth problems and can’t eat hard granola bars or apples. Soft foods like bananas or soft-baked granola bars are more edible.

“Giving money is a personal decision that requires discernment. Gift cards can be a better alternative to cash,” Christ in the City said. Items showing personal care are more likely to keep a focus on friendship.

“Your love and compassion is more effective than five bucks,” the group added.

The group’s final piece of advice?

“Offer to pray for them, and mean it,” Christ in the City said. “We try to be another Christ to our friends on the street, but we accept that we can only do so much. The rest we leave up to God in prayer. He loves our friends more than we ever could.”

The organization has had requests to expand into five other dioceses.

It will host its annual celebration at Holy Name Church in Sheridan, a Denver suburb, on Oct. 6. Missionaries will emcee the event and sit at tables with attendees.

More information about Christ in the City and tickets for its celebration are available at the Christ in the City website, christinthecity.co.

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EWTN family shares favorite memories of Mother Angelica

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • September 19, 2016

Mother Angelica. (EWTN)

Irondale, AL — The legacy of Mother Angelica, the Poor Clare nun who founded Catholic cable channel EWTN, continues to live on in those who watched her or worked with her.

At the 10th annual EWTN family celebration, the first since Mother’s death on Easter Sunday this past year, both viewers and staff of the network recalled their favorite memories of the formidable nun over the years.

Brother Leo (of Hey Brother Leo! fame) joined the friars with the Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word in 1992, the order of friars founded by Mother Angelica. Soon after he joined, he began floor directing Mother Angelica for her live show.

The most difficult part about getting Mother ready for her shows was making sure she was in her seat on time, he told CNA.

“She loved to talk with people (in the audience) before her live show. Trying to get her on the set was not easy,” he said.

Brother Leo added that although Mother was not always this way with everyone, she was especially gentle and motherly to him.

“My mother died when I was three and so she was like a mother to me,” he said. “She was there to encourage me … because she probably knew that I needed that type of comfort. She would encourage me when I was floor directing and smile at me. I always enjoyed working with her live shows.”

During a talk at the family event, Fr. Wade Menezes recalled Mother’s propensity for taking chances, especially on people.

It was early in the Jubilee Year of 2000, and Mother Angelica’s sisters needed a priest in residence who would say Mass for the sisters and could help the friars at EWTN. Mother called Fr. Menezes’ superior at the time, asking if he had any priests.

Because of Fr. Menezes’ background in journalism, his superior decided to recommend him for the post.

“Mother I have just the man for you,” his superior told the nun. “But there’s only one problem. He’s not ordained yet.”

“We’ll take him!” Mother responded.

“So I always saw that as Mother being a mother,” Fr. Menezes said. “She was taking on this baby priest and being a mentor to me of sorts - there was something very special about mother willing to take that risk.”

But Mother’s influence extended beyond the staff and clergy working with her at EWTN. Throughout the course of the weekend, many viewers shared their stories of conversion after watching the nun on T.V.

Kate Eberwyn was a lapsed Catholic who was “very negative about Catholicism”, and although her family remained devout, she “thought they were all stupid.”

But as she watched the Twin Towers collapse on T.V. on Sept. 11, she thought the world was ending. Flipping through the T.V. channels, she saw a nun talking to a friar - Mother Angelica and Fr. Benedict Groeschel.

“They said that in a time like this we should pray to Our Lady of Guadalupe who is the patroness of the Americas,” she recalled.

“So, I said to (God), ‘I don’t know much about you, I don’t even think I like you, but I’m going to pray.’”

She went back to confession and to Mass, and has been a devout Catholic ever since, she said.

Jean, a viewer from Chicago, said when she was about 11 or 12 she wanted to learn how to pray the rosary, so she started watching Mother Angelica’s show every night.

“She taught me all of the prayers to the rosary, and I’ve prayed it daily ever since, so she really helped me foster my relationship with Mary and to learn to love the Blessed Mother,” she said.

Throughout the weekend, many who knew Mother Angelica reiterated that it was her faith in Jesus, and her ability to draw others to him, that was and continues to be the legacy of Mother, more so than just simply being a T.V. personality.

“I can’t say how many people I’ve met who have said I learned to pray the rosary by watching EWTN,” said Michael Warsaw, CEO of EWTN.

During the family talk, Warsaw said if he could sum up the legacy of Mother Angelica, it would be with one of her own favorite phrases, which was: “Dare to do the ridiculous, so God can do the miraculous.”

“Dare to do the ridiculous. We should all be willing to do those things which in the eyes of the world are ridiculous, so that we can assist God in accomplishing the miraculous That’s what Mother Angelica did when founding EWTN 35 years ago.”

Mother Angelica, a cloistered nun, began the network out of her garage in 1981. It is now the largest religious media network in the world, providing Catholic media through television, radio, the internet, print services like the National Catholic Register and wire services like Catholic News Agency.

“She did something that in the eyes of the world was completely ridiculous but she knew that if she stepped out in faith, God would use her and her new network to accomplish the miraculous,” Warsaw added.

“The stories we’ve heard tonight, what we’ve heard throughout this weekend is confirmation of that.”

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These friends with Down syndrome are dominating the Argentina pizza market

by Barbara Bustamante (CNA/EWTN News) • September 19, 2016

(Unsplash/Catholic News Agency)

Buenos Aires, Argentina — Mateo studied baking and Leandro pastry making. Franco and Mauricio wanted to be waiters. These overlapping interests led the four friends with Down syndrome to start a successful pizza service in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

With more than 10,000 followers on Facebook, this group of friends has held nearly 30 events in just two months. Wherever they are called, they always arrive with their own oven and outfits. The offer pizza and empanadas, and they even have a menu for those who are gluten intolerant.

Each one knows his role in the undertaking, which is coordinated by Leandro López, president of the Crecer Sumando (Growing Together) association, which is dedicated to serving young people with Down syndrome.

López told CNA that “the idea was to try to change a little bit the paradigm regarding persons with Down syndrome,” in order to help normalize their inclusion in society’s workforce.

It all started in 2015, when López began working with efforts to help integrate Mauricio, Franco and Leandro into society.

“When that year was over, the guys were eager to work but there was this void.”

“In early 2016, when Mateo had already joined them, we began to work with their parents in the area of jobs, to see what kind of work they would like to do,” recalled the physical education teacher.

“One day I suggested cooking pizza, and I dove into the whole process, from buying all the materials to when we sat down at the table to eat,” López said.

The idea took off, and in June this year, the group began to work with the idea of having a pizza service whose name – “Los Perejiles” – was proposed by Leandro.

They had their first event on July 9. It became “a revolution on social media,” prompting them to “create an account, choose a logo and work on all their outfits.”

“They’re my teachers and I’m learning with them what the needs are,” López said regarding managing the project.

“These young people can really be included in society, and they have a whole lot to teach us. I’m learning something new from them every day: the goodness of being human, the essence of the human being. There is no envy or selfishness among them, instead there is friendly collaboration.”

López said that “at present there are no real job opportunities for people with Downs” in Buenos Aires. There are several training schools, but the chances of graduates being able to move beyond them and find other jobs is low.

“It seems to me that we all have a right to two fundamental things, to life and be taken into account. These two premises can make a person live happily their whole life,” López said.

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A Report from Baby Bishop School

by Bishop Robert Barron • September 19, 2016

For the past week, I have been sequestered at the Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum in Rome, an institution about five miles west of St. Peter’s Basilica. I’m here for the Formation for New Bishops’ program, more colloquially known as “Baby Bishop School.” My colleagues are about 150 other bishops from around the world who have been appointed in the last twelve months.

The accomodations are fairly Spartan: my room reminds me of my quarters in the college seminary, the bed is about two and a half feet wide, and there is no air conditioning. The meals, however, are tasty, and the conversations even tastier. In the course of the week, I’ve interacted with bishops from France, Canada, Venezuela, Iceland, Australia, Ireland, England, Mexico, Ghana, Tanazania, and Guatamala. And I’ve been compelled to use all my linguistic skills — which are only okay — moving from English to decent French to mediocre Spanish to terrible Italian.

The typical day begins with a combined Mass and Morning Prayer, beautifully sung by a choir of seminarians. The principal celebrant and preacher at the Liturgy is a prominent Archbishop or Cardinal from the Roman Curia. We were graced by the presence of Cardinal Oulette (head of the Congregation for Bishops), Cardinal Perolin (the Vatican Secretary of State), Archbishop Fisichella (head of the dicastery for the New Evangelization), and Cardinal Amato (prefect of the Congregation for Saints), among others. After breakfast, we gather in the auditorium for a formal presentation on some aspect of episcopal ministry. For example, Cardinal Jean-Pierre Ricard, the Archbishop of Bordeaux, gave a lively talk on the bishop as father, brother, and friend to his priests; Monsignor Lucio Ruiz, from the Secretariat for Communications, offered his reflections on the new media in relation to evangelization; and Fr. Franco Imoda, former rector of the Gregorian University shared his thoughts on the rapport between psychological development and spiritual commitment. There were also talks on administration, canon law, and the reform of the Roman Curia under Pope Francis. I tried my best to follow the lecture in whatever language it was offered, but I usually got a bit tired and resorted to the simultaneous translation in English. (There was an indefatigable team of translators working around the clock in a special booth in the back of the auditorium).

After the formal talks, we would repair for a half-hour break and then move into what the Italians call circoli minori (small groups), arranged according to language. This gave me a chance to mingle with my fellow American bishops, men from Brooklyn, Dallas, Boston, Tulsa, Washington, D.C., Metuchen, and Superior, Wisconsin — as well as bishops from India, Canada, and Ireland. During these discussions, we applied the theory to our particular situations, and to be honest, had a lot of laughs too. After a little siesta — a lovely tradition that should be adopted immediately in the United States — we would pray evening prayer and then settle in for another talk and discussion. This would be followed by dinner and then, commencing at 9:15 PM, a final session. It made for a long day.

On Wednesday, it was announced that the late evening session would involve short talks from representative bishops from every corner of the world. I confess that I thought, “Oh, those poor men who have to give a talk on such short notice” and that I had more or less resolved to skip that segment. Showing that God has a sense of humor, Cardinal Oulette approached me at the 5:00 PM break and asked me to give the presentation on the Church in America! Well, it turned out to be a very stimulating event. Besides myself, seven other bishops spoke, and they told us about churches struggling against secularist ideology, churches growing by leaps and bounds, churches under dire persecution, and churches struggling to be born. It was an extraordinarily vivid demonstration of the universality and catholicity of the Church born from the wounded side of Jesus and perduring across vast expanses of space and time. You know it theoretically, but it’s wonderful when you can see it, and hear it, and touch it.

I think it’s fair to say that, for all of us, the highlight of the week was our audience with Pope Francis. We gathered in the beautiful, but very warm, Sala Clementina and heard a substantial, thirty-minute discourse from the Pope. His theme was simple and compelling: remember how you were caught, “fished out” was his word, by the mercy of God and then share that mercy with everyone you meet. What really surprised and impressed me was the amount of time the Pope spent with each bishop after the talk. Keep in mind that there were 157 of us and the man is almost eighty years old. But we all got a smile, a handshake, and usually an encouraging word. When I came forward with my brothers from Los Angeles, who were ordained with me a year ago, he grinned and greeted us as “triplets.” He then showed that he was well aware of my work in media and preaching. It was a deeply moving and unforgettable encounter with the successor of Peter.

By way of conclusion, I’ll share a liturgical moment that has stayed with me. The seminarian choir here would sing songs for Mass from a variety of cultures and in an array of languages. On Thursday morning, for the post-communion meditation, they broke into “Here I Am, Lord.” Now I’ve heard “Here I Am, Lord” about ten thousand times, and if I were planning a liturgy in the United States, I would probably steer clear of it, but as the voices of the bishops took up the tune, and the whole place was filled with the words and music, I admit I was deeply moved. All I could think of were the innumerable times I sang that song in college, in the seminary, in all of my different parish and teaching assignments — and I realized that I had “heard him calling in the night,” and that I had managed, often despite myself, to say, “Here I am, Lord,” and that following the mysterious voice had led me to this room, surrounded by bishops from all across the world, who had heard and followed the same voice.

That moment alone made baby bishop school worth it.

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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Not your grandpa’s porn – Has the Church caught up to the problem?

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • September 20, 2016

(Nito via Shutterstock)

Denver, CO — Clay Olsen speaks to thousands of youth about a subject most people would rather not touch: pornography.

As the founder and CEO of Fight the New Drug, an organization that educates people about pornography addiction, Olsen travels the country giving presentations to young people about how pornography is affecting their brains, their relationships and ultimately the world.

Olsen told CNA that after one particular presentation, a young man asked a question that perfectly illustrates how drastically pornography has changed.

“He asked me very sincerely whether Playboy was pornography or not,” Olsen recalled.

“His definition of pornography had shifted so dramatically … that Playboy doesn’t even make the cut.”

Importantly, this young man is the rule of his generation, not the exception, Olsen said. The effects of constant access to the Internet, made possible by the availability of personal laptops, tablets, and smartphones, has drastically changed how young people consume pornography in a way that many adults dangerously underestimate.

An evolving problem

In the earlier days of the Internet, before the boom of smartphones, a 2004 study from an internet traffic management company saw porn sites grow by 1,800% between 1998 and 2004. At the time, Nielsen/Net ratings estimated that about 34 million people visited adult websites every month.

Today, those numbers seem almost laughable. PornHub, one of the world’s largest adult sites with explicit video streaming, reports that it averages 2.4 million visitors per hour. In 2015 alone, the number of hours streamed from the site was double the amount of time human beings have populated the Earth, according to TIME Magazine.

The amount of content is not the only thing that has changed either. Because of the constant availability of pornography, many users find themselves seeking more and more extreme forms of content, and the Internet has kept up with the demand.

As reported in the Washington Post, a recent content analysis of some of the most popular porn sites found that 88 percent of analyzed scenes contained physical aggression such as spanking, gagging, choking or slapping, and verbal aggression occurred in 49 percent of the scenes. Men perpetrated 70 percent of the aggressive acts, while women were the targets 94 percent of the time.

Several studies have also shown a correlation between the viewing of pornography and the likelihood of committing, or wanting to commit, rape or sexual assault. Other studies show a correlation between men who consume pornography and experience erectile dysfunction, once thought to mostly be a condition of older men.

“So you combine those two things - the prevalence and then also the nature - and that cocktail is really what has driven individuals like myself and those that work with me, and millions of others, to rise up and say we can do better, we have to do better,” Olsen said.

Fortunately, Olsen added, it seems that society may finally be catching up to the truth about the harmful nature of porn. Last month, Belinda Lascombe for TIME Magazine chronicled the stories of young men who are anti-porn advocates after their experiences of porn addiction and consequential impotence. A follow-up op-ed from the Washington Post declared that regardless of pornography’s morality, it’s a public health issue. Also last month, Utah’s Senate unanimously approved a resolution declaring pornography addiction a public health crisis.

Shortcomings in the Church

But what about the Catholic Church? Is enough being done to make the faithful aware of the danger of pornography – to provide resources both protecting those who have not fallen victim and reaching out to those who have?

Pope Francis’ most recent papal exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, mentions pornography directly just two times - once to mention that the bishops have expressed concern about it, and once to mention it within the context of age-appropriate sex education.

But that the word made it into the document at all is a significant step, said Fr. Sean Kilcawley, a priest with the Diocese of Lincoln who has spent a significant amount of his priesthood in pornography addiction and educational ministry. He currently serves as the program director and theological advisor for Integrity Restored, a Catholic apostolate that addresses pornography issues and addiction in families, individuals and clergy.

“Pope Francis has talked about pornography more than any other pope in history, I guarantee it,” Fr. Kilcawley told CNA.

Last June aboard the papal plane, Pope Francis (who does not use the internet or watch TV, and reads just one newspaper) told journalists that parents need to be aware of the “dirty” content, including pornography, that can be found online, and urged them to take preventative steps such as keeping computers in common rooms. He has also mentioned the issue in various homilies and talks, particularly to youth, throughout his pontificate.

The problem in the Church, on a practical and local level, is that pornography addiction treatment programs need to part of a parish’s mainstream ministry and not seen as an obscure ministry needed by the few, Fr. Kilcawley said.

“Anti-pornography ministry is not a peripheral ministry,” he stressed.

“We don’t just need tools to help a few people, we have to take those tools and incorporate them into an evangelization plan that’s trying to evangelize within an entire culture that’s being affected by pornography,” he said.

“Pornography is the biggest obstacle to evangelization that we’re facing as a Church,” Fr. Kilcawley added. “Because the core beliefs of an addict are I’m unlovable, if people really knew me they would reject me, no one can meet my needs not even God.”

Matt Fradd, director of content at Integrity Restored, said the clergy abuse scandal could be part of the reason that clergy are so reticent about addressing pornography.

“If sex plus kids equals lawsuits … is it any wonder that nobody wants to talk to kids about pornography?” Fradd told CNA.

Fr. Kilcawley also said some priests may also feel shame addressing the issue due to their own sexual stories.

“We might be afraid that if we talk about it, people will think that we have a problem with it, and so whether we have a problem or not, we can be afraid of that,” Fr. Kilcawley said.

Reluctance to address the issue publicly could also be because of a priest’s own struggle with pornography. In comments to CNA in October 2015, at the time of the Ordinary Synod on the Family in Rome, Archbishop Charles Chaput said that pornography was a major issue among clergy.

“The number of our Catholic clergy who struggle with this problem is very unsettling, and it has nothing to do with celibacy,” the archbishop said, noting that Protestant ministers and Jewish rabbis contend with the same issue. A 2000 survey by Christianity Today found that clergy and laity reported visiting sexually explicit websites at nearly the same rates.

“Pornography’s always been a problem. Ancient Rome was famous for it. Sex is powerful and fascinating, and people have always abused its appeal. … It’s an epidemic, or more accurately, a pandemic. Anyone with an Internet connection anywhere in the world can find all the (pornography) he or she wants,” Archbishop Chaput noted.

But given the prevalence of pornography and its damaging effects, Olsen said, adults can no longer afford to avoid addressing this issue with the children in their lives.

“For many adults, the inclination is to not discuss it. In their opinion, it’s hard, it’s gross, it’s I don’t even want to go there, let’s not focus on it. And although I totally and completely respect their intent and their desires, I have to respectfully come back and say we no longer have the luxury as a society, to sit idly by and watch things continue to progress in a very harmful and societally damaging way.”

Pornography is also important for priests to address with their parishioners in order for them to feel comfortable enough to seek healing, Fr. Kilcawley said.

“It’s just giving people permission to be wounded, which I think is what Pope Francis has been trying to do,” Fr. Kilcawley said. “You have permission to be wounded, and so it’s ok to come and tell your priest that you have this problem in your life. He’s not going to run away from you, he’s not going to scold you, he’s not going to condemn you, he just wants to help you heal.”

“The most shameful sins in our life, we need permission to talk about them,” he said.

Finding solutions

Part of what Fr. Kilcawley does for his anti-pornography ministry is to talk to the parents of his first communicants at a retreat about motherhood and fatherhood within the context of the Church’s teaching on the Theology of the Body. He also spends an hour on internet safety and sex education.

“Pastorally speaking, the best approach is to focus on prevention and focus on relationships within the family, evangelization within the family, and protecting kids from pornography, and the more we talk about it in that way, it’s both bold and less threatening, and then it gives people the freedom to come to the Church to look for healing.”

Once he started talking about the issue of pornography with families, Fr. Kilcawley had so many adults approach him about pornography addiction that he decided to form support groups as well. He now is in charge of a group for men addicted to pornography, as well as a group for women whose husbands are addicted to pornography.

Fr. Kilcawley said he also encourages people who are addicted to abstain from receiving the Eucharist unless they have gone to confession. Even though they may not be in a state of mortal sin due to the compulsive nature of the behavior, not being able to receive the Eucharist unless having gone to confession is an added incentive in the recovery process.

Fradd said talking to kids about pornography in an age-appropriate way is one of the best means to prevent future pornography use and addiction. And the younger parents start, the better, since some researchers estimate the average age of pornography exposure today is 8 years-old.

“I feel like we’re guinea pigs, because parenting in the 8th century and the 13th and the 19th - it was relatively similar compared to parenting in the 21st century,” Fradd said. “The internet really has changed everything.”

Integrity Restored provides parents with free resources about the best ways to talk to their children about pornography. There’s also a children’s book called “Good Pictures Bad Pictures” by Kristen Jenson (available on Amazon), for broaching the subject with the youngest of audiences in an age appropriate way.

Integrity Restored also provides free resources to priests looking for the best ways to broach the subject with their congregations, and hosts symposiums in dioceses in order to educate priests, catechists and the general public on the issue.

Fradd also founded The Porn Effect, which is the youth outreach branch of Integrity Restored that educates youth and provides resources for them about pornography use and addiction. Another important aspect of prevention is internet filters and accountability systems, for which Fradd said he recommends Covenant Eyes.

Olsen said he thinks the best approach to combat a culture of pornography is three-tiered: prevention in children, research on the subject, and recovery therapy programs. Fight the New Drug has spent several years working with neuroscientists and psychologists to develop the Fortify Program, a free and anonymous online recovery program for youth. It currently has over 35,000 users in over 155 countries, and Olsen said he didn’t even put “a penny into marketing or advertising.”

“So the demand is enormous, there are many that are struggling,” he said. “We get emails from 8-year-olds, 9-year-olds, 10-year-olds.”

That the program is free and anonymous is key, Olsen said, because many of these children seeking help will stop once they see either a credit card or parental consent is required, “both of which are a Mount Everest that they are unwilling or unable to climb,” he said.

“We have created a solution that they can jump into that will help them overcome that, so recovery is a big part of how we will heal society.”

Fradd said that in many ways, the resources that the Church needs in order to better address this issue already exist - they just need to be utilized.

“We’re all kind of playing catch up to honest,” he said. “There are beautiful things happening, we just need to know about them.”

This article originally ran on April 19, 2016.

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The President who nearly was

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo • September 21, 2016

In this political season — some call it the theater of the absurd — discussions about women presidents evoke strong views.

In the1960s, there was one woman whose contributions to society were so far reaching that, if the times had been more propitious to women, she could have been elected President of the United States. But it was not to be.

Eunice Kennedy (1921-2009)

Eunice was the fifth child and the third daughter born to Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy. As the granddaughter of John F., “Honey Fitz,” Fitzgerald, the famous mayor of Boston, she inherited her mother’s natural political instincts; from her father, the energy, initiative and drive of a human dynamo.

Rosemary was the third child and first daughter born into the Kennedy family. Unlike the bright brood of eight other brothers and sisters, she was found to be retarded. Eventually, this fact changed the lives of millions of retarded children and adults because Eunice looked after her older sister for the rest of her life.

“I had enormous respect for Rosie,” Eunice said of her sister. “If I had never met Rosemary, never known anything about handicapped children, how would I have ever found out? Nobody accepted them any place.” Through Rosemary’s limitations, Eunice discovered her ministry — really her genius — to spend herself and achieve marvelous things for retarded children throughout the world.

Academic and Professional Preparation

Educated at the Convent of the Sacred Heart, Roehampton, London and at the Manhattanville College of the Sacred Heart, Eunice graduated from Stanford University in 1943 with a Bachelor’s degree in sociology. She worked for the Special War Problems Division of the U.S. State Department and eventually moved to the U.S. Justice Department as executive secretary for a project dealing with juvenile delinquency.

In 1951, she served as a social worker at the Federal Industrial Institution for Women before moving to Chicago to work with the House of the Good Shepherd women’s shelter and the Chicago Juvenile Court.

In 1953, she married Sargent Shriver, an attorney who later worked in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. He was the driving force behind the creation of the Peace Corps; the founder of the Job Corps, and the architect of Johnson’s “war on poverty.” During his service as the U.S. ambassador to France from 1968 to 1970, Eunice studied intellectual disabilities there.

Advocate for the Mentally Retarded

Among advocates of every kind, Eunice excelled as this country’s advocate for the mentally retarded. In 1962, an exhausted and distressed mother of a retarded child phoned Eunice at her home. No summer camp would accept her child, she said. Eunice responded with largesse by opening her own home as a summer camp — free of charge — at Timberlawn, the family estate in Maryland,. She would get in the pool and teach the youngsters to swim, loving them as her own children.

Eunice and Her Brothers

Eunice’s advocacy for the mentally retarded was overshadowed by the political pursuits of her three brothers, but she far surpassed them as the natural politician. More than once it has been said that Eunice would have made a fine President of the Unites States.

Eunice made it a habit of calling the offices of her more famous brothers urging them to another project for the retarded. Teasingly, they dubbed her repeated requests nagging. Yet, they dared not ignore them.

President Kennedy set up research centers on mental retardation. Robert Kennedy inspected squalid state mental institutions, and Sen. Edward Kennedy helped write the Americans with Disabilities Act. “It was extraordinary of her to conceive that she too, could play a role comparable to that of her brothers,” Edward Shorter says, author of The Kennedy Family and the Story of Mental Retardation. “Her leadership role would be in the area of mental retardation rather than on the big political stage.”

In 1968, Eunice founded the Special Olympics. Today, they include more than 2.25 million people in 160 countries. “She had the genius to see that she, in fact, was capable of major achievements helping these kids, and that is what she did. She dedicated her life to it,” writes Shorter.

Awards

Among the many awards Eunice Kennedy Shriver received, the most notable are:

1984 - Presidential Medal of Honor by Ronald Reagan highest civilian award in U.S.

1990 - Eagle award from the U.S. Sports Academy

1992 - Award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged

1995 - Second American to appear on a U.S. coin while still living

2006 - Papal Knighthood and made Dame of the Order of St. Gregory

2009 - Smithsonian Institute’s National Portrait Gallery unveiled an historic portrait of her, the first portrait of the NPG has ever commissioned of an individual who had not served as a US President or First Lady

2010 - The State University of New York at Brockport, home of the 1979 Special Olympics, renamed its football stadium after Eunice Shriver (awarded posthumously)

Later Years

At 85, Eunice was not about to retire or relax. She continued her tireless work on the issues concerning those with special needs “because in so many countries, the retarded are not accepted in the schools, not accepted in play programs, just not accepted. We have so much to do.” Eunice Kennedy Shriver and her husband were devout Roman Catholics and lifelong Democrats. Both staunchly pro-life, Eunice was a member of Feminists for Life. She died in 2009, her husband, in 2011.

The epilogue of the Book of Proverbs is a fitting tribute to Eunice Kennedy Shriver, a woman of noble character. She lived for others.

Proverbs 31:10-31, Epilogue: The Wife of Noble Character

A wife of noble character who can find?

She is worth far more than rubies.

Her husband has full confidence in her

and lacks nothing of value.

She brings him good, not harm,

all the days of her life.

She selects wool and flax

and works with eager hands.

She is like the merchant ships,

bringing her food from afar.

She gets up while it is still night;

she provides food for her family

and portions for her female servants.

She considers a field and buys it;

out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.

She sets about her work vigorously;

her arms are strong for her tasks.

She sees that her trading is profitable,

and her lamp does not go out at night.

In her hand she holds the distaff

and grasps the spindle with her fingers.

She opens her arms to the poor

and extends her hands to the needy.

When it snows, she has no fear for her household;

for all of them are clothed in scarlet.

She makes coverings for her bed;

she is clothed in fine linen and purple.

Her husband is respected at the city gate,

where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.

She makes linen garments and sells them,

and supplies the merchants with sashes.

She is clothed with strength and dignity;

she can laugh at the days to come.

She speaks with wisdom,

and faithful instruction is on her tongue.

She watches over the affairs of her household

and does not eat the bread of idleness.

Her children arise and call her blessed;

her husband also, and he praises her:

“Many women do noble things,

but you surpass them all.”

Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;

but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Honor her for all that her hands have done,

and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

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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Why Catholic thinkers say the push for contraception is stale

by Adelaide Mena (CNA/EWTN News) • September 21, 2016

(Alexey Saxarov via Shutterstock)

Washington D.C. — Modern-day imperialism. Harmful to women. A failed promise. These are the ways that leading Catholic scholars described contraception – and said the Church is right to warn against it.

“What women have discovered over the past 48 years is that we don’t have a design flaw. Being a woman is good enough, and it’s a wonderful thing,” said Mary Rice Hasson, J.D., director of the Catholic Women’s Forum at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

Hasson was among a group of more than 500 Catholic scholars who signed a document supporting Church teaching against contraception, as expressed in Blessed Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae.

The document, entitled “Affirmation of the Catholic Church’s Teaching on the Gift of Sexuality,” was released at a Sept. 20 press conference at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

It responded to a statement opposing Church teaching, released by the U.K.-based Wijngaards Institute. The 150 signatories of the dissenting statement argued that the Church has no reason for its teaching against contraception. They said that the use of birth control is sometimes “an ethical imperative” and that abortion-causing methods of contraception are sometimes acceptable.

Pope Paul VI’s 1968 encyclical Humanae Vitae reaffirmed the traditional Christian rejection of contraception and said it applied to the birth control pill. If a married couple faces a just reason to avoid pregnancy, the Church teaches that they may do so through Natural Family Planning, a process that works with a woman’s natural fertile cycles and abstaining from sexual activity during the times that she is fertile.

Hasson voiced gratitude for the Church’s teaching, saying that it affirms women and does not treat their bodies as “broken.”

“From a woman’s perspective, contraception, abortion and the sexual revolution were held up to be a situation of promise, opportunity, of a way to move forward in equality,” she said.

“And what we’ve found, not looking just through the eyes of faith, but our lived experience has shown that this is a false promise. In fact, women have proved to be hurt and more vulnerable by the consequences of the sex revolution and the promotion of contraception as the solution.”

Rather than affirming women, Hasson said, contraception tells women that their fertility is a problem to be “fixed” through medical means.

In contrast, the Church’s teaching protects and defends women, she said. “We are the future. Women have the support of the Church’s teaching and it’s been just a tremendous thing.”

Hasson told CNA that both domestic and foreign organizations are “very coercive” in pushing contraceptive implements on lower-income women around the world, often without regard for women’s relationship goals and at the cost of other forms of developmental support.

Religious studies professor John Grabowski of Catholic University of America agreed.

He told CNA that during his time serving on the Pontifical Council for the Family, he has heard people from around the world complain that “we are having these population, family planning services shoved down our throats, regardless of our convictions, our cultural values, our religious convictions.”

In many cases, he said, funding is directly tied to acceptance of contraception and abortion programs. “It really is contraceptive imperialism.”

Grabowki, who also signed the document supporting Church teaching, pointed out that every major Christian church agreed with Catholicism through the 20th century.

And today, he said, “there are many Catholic scholars, academics and intellectuals who support the Church’s teaching, who recognize that the teaching is not the policy instituted by the Church 48 years ago, but represents the constant teaching of the Church from its beginning.”

Grabowksi noted that when Pope Paul VI wrote Humanae Vitae, he “predicted that if contraception were to be widely implemented we could expect a number of things to come to pass: increasing infidelity, and the overall moral decline within society, a loss of respect for women on the part of men.”

All of these things have come to pass, Grabowski said, charging that the Wijngaards Statement does not recognize “the fact that we have a wealth of data from the sciences and the social sciences demonstrating the real harm done to women, to relationships, to marriages and to the family. It’s as if the sexual revolution hasn’t happened.”

He also pointed to the statement’s failure to address the “unique contribution” of St. Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the body, a work which he described as “such a rich resource in unpacking this teaching.”

Statement organizer Janet Smith, an ethics professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, noted that with just a few days’ notice, the document in support of Church teaching had attracted more than triple the signatures of the dissenting statement.

She suggested that this is “an opportunity for us to show the world that there are many, many people who accept the Church’s teaching on contraception.”

Furthermore, she said, while all of the signatories hold advanced degrees, they are also largely people who are married with families.

By living out the Church’s teachings on contraception and sexuality in their daily lives, many of the signatories are a living witness to the truth of the Church’s position, she said. “They’re not just accepting it on blind obedience.”

Kevin Jones contributed to this report.

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The Supreme Court probably won’t approve polygamy. Here’s why.

by Kevin Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • September 22, 2016

(Hermin via Shutterstock)

Washington D.C. — A polygamous family featured on a reality TV show has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a law intended to combat polygamy, but one attorney doubts their case will prevail.

“Here, the proposed constitutional right to plural marriage is on a potential collision course with the preexisting constitutional and statutory rights of women and children,” Matthew Kacsmaryk, deputy general counsel at First Liberty legal group, told CNA Sept. 20.

Kacsmaryk said the plaintiffs may have difficulty prevailing against arguments that polygamy causes social harm. If the Supreme Court takes the case, it may still cite available data on sexual exploitation and physical abuse in polygamous communities to find a rational basis for Utah’s law.

Kody Brown and his four wives, featured on the television show “Sister Wives,” last week filed an appeal to the Supreme Court challenging the Utah law, which bars cohabitation with other partners when the man is legally married to just one woman.

An appellate court in April ruled that the Browns cannot sue because they were not charged under the law. That ruling overturned a lower court that said the law violated their right to privacy and religious freedom.

The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals has denied a request to reconsider the case, resulting in an appeal to the high court.

Jonathan Turley, the attorney for the family, explained the appeal.

“This has been an extended and difficult struggle for the Brown family but they have never wavered in their commitment to defending the important principles of religious freedom in this case,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “Utah is a state that was founded by courageous citizens seeking these very protections from government abuse and religious inequality. This lawsuit is true to the original dream of those seeking freedom in Utah.”

But Kacsmaryk suggested that the already well-established constitutional and statutory rights of women and children would stand against the argument for religious freedom in the case.

Brown is legally married to one wife and claims “spiritual marriage” to his other wives. The family now lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. They said they fled their home in Lehi, Utah in 2011 because local authorities opened an investigation after their television show debuted in 2010.

The investigation was closed without charges but the family said they can still face prosecution.

Kacsmaryk served as assistant U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas when it prosecuted polygamists from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, whose claim that they were practicing the free exercise of religion was rejected in court.

He said that constitutional rights “are often balanced against other constitutional rights to achieve something like an Aristotelian ‘golden mean’.”

Kacsmaryk said it is unsurprising that the plaintiffs would invoke arguments made in recent Supreme Court precedents mandating that all states recognize “gay marriage” and strike down morals legislation on the grounds of “radical self-definition” and self-actualization.

In his view, the court has never explained an adequate principle limiting its standard of consenting adults to simply two people.

At the same time, the Brown plaintiffs cannot make any constitutional arguments unless the Supreme Court agrees to hear their case.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, colloquially known as Mormons, renounced the practice of polygamy in 1890, though splinter groups still practice plural marriage. U.S. anti-polygamy laws have been upheld in several Supreme Court decisions.

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‘The Magnificent Seven’: This year’s more intriguing remake

by Carl Kozlowski • September 23, 2016

As Hollywood seems to run out of its own original ideas, reboots and remakes are an increasingly big part of the release schedule – with “Ghostbusters” and “Ben-Hur” just two classics that were reimagined this past summer. Both failed to incite excitement among the new generations of moviegoers they were aimed towards.

Just a month after MGM foisted the new “Ben-Hur” upon the world, it is releasing a far more intriguing new take on its classic 1960 Western “The Magnificent Seven.” Unlike the new “Ben-Hur,” whose only big star was Morgan Freeman in a supporting role, the new “Seven” teams up superstars Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt with respected veteran actors Ethan Hawke, Vincent D’Onofrio and Peter Sarsgaard.

The new movie alters the plot somewhat, shifting the locale from a Mexican village trying to defend itself from a Mexican bandido and his henchmen to an American mining town terrorized by a ruthless mogul named Bartholomew Bogue (Peter Sarsgaard) who’s determined to drive them off their land. When a federal warrant officer named Chisholm (Denzel Washington) rides into town in search of an outlaw, his African-American background draws mean-spirited stares until the townspeople realize that hiring him to take on Bogue and his men might be their only hope for survival.

Chisholm quickly assembles his titular team of heroes, including a Civil War sharpshooter (Ethan Hawke) who’s too shell-shocked to shoot anymore, and a charming tough guy (Chris Pratt) who quickly endears himself to a pretty local woman who proves to be an ace with a gun herself. This time, however, the seven heroes include a more ethnically diverse bunch, with a Latino, a Native American, and an Asian man along for the ride and fighting in their own inventive ways in addition to teaching the town how to defend themselves in the eventual battle royale.

The fact that Washington is the lead hero in a traditional-style Western is drawing attention from some who claim that the new film’s eclectic casting is merely Hollywood political correctness. But an actual viewing of the new edition shows that to be a pointless argument.

The broader range of backgrounds in the new cast comes off as a positive aspect, since Westerns were traditionally the film genre that seemed to use white actors most exclusively. There never seemed to be an attempt during the genre’s heyday to reach out to any other audience demographic, leaving fans and kids of any other background without heroes they could call their own.

Aside from the ugly stares at the film’s start, and the final rant he delivers to the villain near the end, the race of Washington’s character Chisholm doesn’t come into play – he just simply is a sharp-shooting representative of the law. And frankly, it’s fun to see the team come together. Those pining for the days of all-white Western casting still have Pratt, Hawke and a stellar performance by Vincent D’Onofrio holding down the fort, yet director Antoine Fuqua has fashioned a movie that the whole world can now enjoy and relate to – which can only be healthy for this film’s success and revive the genre as a whole.

Yet like the new “Ben-Hur,” the new “Seven” is also an overt appeal to faith-based audiences, including a heavy reliance on prayer from not only the townspeople they’re saving, but among the heroes themselves. Throughout the film, the townspeople rely on prayer in scene after scene, and D’Onofrio’s Jack Horne in particular among the heroes is driven by a righteous fervor to help bring justice to the townspeople. Towards the end, Washington’s Chisholm retreats to the candle-filled church for an intensive quiet moment of prayer, making it unmistakable that the movie’s heroes are believers.

Thankfully, the film has plenty of action set pieces that deliver, and this “Seven” is certainly deserving of a viewing on the big screen for teens and adults. (It’s too violent for those under 13; its PG-13 rating is well-deserved). Here’s hoping it’ll inspire some more adventures on horseback from Hollywood.

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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SUNDAY • SEPTEMBER 25, 2016

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Am 6:1a, 4-7; NRSVCE)

Alas for those who are at ease in Zion.

Alas for those who lie on beds of ivory,

and lounge on their couches,

and eat lambs from the flock,

and calves from the stall;

who sing idle songs to the sound of the harp,

and like David improvise on instruments of music;

who drink wine from bowls,

and anoint themselves with the finest oils,

but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!

Therefore they shall now be the first to go into exile,

and the revelry of the loungers shall pass away.

Second Reading (1 Tm 6:11-16; NRSVCE)

But as for you, man of God, shun all this; pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life, to which you were called and for which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep the commandment without spot or blame until the manifestation of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will bring about at the right time — he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is he alone who has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see; to him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

Gospel Reading (Lk 16:19-31; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to the Pharisees, “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate lay a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who longed to satisfy his hunger with what fell from the rich man’s table; even the dogs would come and lick his sores. The poor man died and was carried away by the angels to be with Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried. In Hades, where he was being tormented, he looked up and saw Abraham far away with Lazarus by his side. He called out, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue; for I am in agony in these flames.’ But Abraham said, ‘Child, remember that during your lifetime you received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner evil things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony. Besides all this, between you and us a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who might want to pass from here to you cannot do so, and no one can cross from there to us.’ He said, ‘Then, father, I beg you to send him to my father’s house — for I have five brothers — that he may warn them, so that they will not also come into this place of torment.’ Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; they should listen to them.’ He said, ‘No, father Abraham; but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”

MONDAY • SEPTEMBER 26, 2016

Monday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Jb 1:6-22; NRSVCE)

One day the heavenly beings came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the Lord, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.” Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, all that he has is in your power; only do not stretch out your hand against him!” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

One day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the eldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell on them and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three columns, made a raid on the camels and carried them off, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was still speaking, another came and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house, and suddenly a great wind came across the desert, struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; I alone have escaped to tell you.”

Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.

Gospel Reading (Lk 9:46-50; NRSVCE)

An argument arose among the disciples as to which one of them was the greatest. But Jesus, aware of their inner thoughts, took a little child and put it by his side, and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me; for the least among all of you is the greatest.”

John answered, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he does not follow with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not stop him; for whoever is not against you is for you.”

TUESDAY • SEPTEMBER 27, 2016

Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul

First Reading (Jb 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23; NRSVCE)

Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. Job said:

“Let the day perish in which I was born,

and the night that said,

‘A man-child is conceived.’

“Why did I not die at birth,

come forth from the womb and expire?

Why were there knees to receive me,

or breasts for me to suck?

Now I would be lying down and quiet;

I would be asleep; then I would be at rest

with kings and counselors of the earth

who rebuild ruins for themselves,

or with princes who have gold,

who fill their houses with silver.

Or why was I not buried like a stillborn child,

like an infant that never sees the light?

There the wicked cease from troubling,

and there the weary are at rest.

“Why is light given to one in misery,

and life to the bitter in soul,

who long for death, but it does not come,

and dig for it more than for hidden treasures;

who rejoice exceedingly,

and are glad when they find the grave?

Why is light given to one who cannot see the way,

whom God has fenced in?”

Gospel Reading (Lk 9:51-56; NRSVCE)

When the days drew near for Jesus to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, “Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village.

WEDNESDAY • SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Jb 9:1-12, 14-16; NRSVCE)

Job answered his friends:

“Indeed I know that this is so;

but how can a mortal be just before God?

If one wished to contend with him,

one could not answer him once in a thousand.

He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength

— who has resisted him, and succeeded? —

he who removes mountains, and they do not know it,

when he overturns them in his anger;

who shakes the earth out of its place,

and its pillars tremble;

who commands the sun, and it does not rise;

who seals up the stars;

who alone stretched out the heavens

and trampled the waves of the Sea;

who made the Bear and Orion,

the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;

who does great things beyond understanding,

and marvelous things without number.

Look, he passes by me, and I do not see him;

he moves on, but I do not perceive him.

He snatches away; who can stop him?

Who will say to him, ‘What are you doing?’

“How then can I answer him,

choosing my words with him?

Though I am innocent, I cannot answer him;

I must appeal for mercy to my accuser.

If I summoned him and he answered me,

I do not believe that he would listen to my voice.”

Gospel Reading (Lk 9:57-62; NRSVCE)

As Jesus and his disciples were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead; but as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

THURSDAY • SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

First Reading (Rev 12:7-12ab; NRSVCE)

War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world — he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

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,

for the accuser of our comrades has been thrown down,

who accuses them day and night before our God.

But they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb

and by the word of their testimony,

for they did not cling to life even in the face of death.

Rejoice then, you heavens

and those who dwell in them!”

Gospel Reading (Jn 1:47-51; NRSVCE)

Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, “Here is truly an Israelite in whom there is no deceit!” Nathanael asked him, “Where did you get to know me?” Jesus answered, “I saw you under the fig tree before Philip called you.” Nathanael replied, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the King of Israel!” Jesus answered, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.” And he said to him, “Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

FRIDAY • SEPTEMBER 30, 2016

Memorial of Saint Jerome

First Reading (Jb 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5; NRSVCE)

The Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:

“Have you commanded the morning since your days began,

and caused the dawn to know its place,

so that it might take hold of the skirts of the earth,

and the wicked be shaken out of it?

It is changed like clay under the seal,

and it is dyed like a garment.

Light is withheld from the wicked,

and their uplifted arm is broken.

“Have you entered into the springs of the sea,

or walked in the recesses of the deep?

Have the gates of death been revealed to you,

or have you seen the gates of deep darkness?

Have you comprehended the expanse of the earth?

Declare, if you know all this.

“Where is the way to the dwelling of light,

and where is the place of darkness,

that you may take it to its territory

and that you may discern the paths to its home?

Surely you know, for you were born then,

and the number of your days is great!”

Then Job answered the Lord:

“See, I am of small account; what shall I answer you?

I lay my hand on my mouth.

I have spoken once, and I will not answer;

twice, but will proceed no further.”

Gospel Reading (Lk 10:13-16; NRSVCE)

Jesus said, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But at the judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum,

Will you be exalted to heaven?

No, you will be brought down to Hades.

“Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

SATURDAY • OCTOBER 1, 2016

Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus

First Reading (Jb 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-17; NRSVCE)

Job answered the Lord:

“I know that you can do all things,

and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.

‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’

Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,

things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,

but now my eye sees you;

therefore I despise myself,

and repent in dust and ashes.”

The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; and he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. He named the first Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. In all the land there were no women so beautiful as Job’s daughters; and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children, and his children’s children, four generations. And Job died, old and full of days.

Gospel Reading (Lk 10:17-24; NRSVCE)

The seventy returned with joy, saying to Jesus, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father; and no one knows who the Son is except the Father, or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”