VOLUME 2, ISSUE 14  •  OCTOBER 1, 2016

Table of Contents

Copyright Notice

VATICAN NEWS

Love can be only response to evil, Pope tells attack survivors

Pope Francis: The truth can’t be forced on people

For the Council of Cardinals, curia reform is an experiment in flexibility

Pope Francis: Feeling hopeless? Don’t drink - pray!

From homeless to meeting the Pope – a story of inspiration

‘We have faced the mercy of God’ – An interview with Cardinal Koch

God’s mercy overcomes human desperation, Pope Francis says

Memory of Shimon Peres should inspire peace efforts, Pope says

Spreading hope, trust, the center of next World Communications Day

Pope condemns ‘arrogant’ abuse of power that leads to war, violence

At the heart of the Church, EWTN launches new Rome office

Pope Francis concerned by North Korean nuclear tests

In Georgia, Pope says true peace is built on justice, mutual respect

Pope Francis to Georgian Orthodox: Christ’s love unites us

In Georgia visit, Pope finds a country of Christian tensions

WORLD NEWS

Body of third priest kidnapped in Mexico found

Mexicans flood the capital to defend marriage – with Pope Francis’ blessing

This priest, martyred in a concentration camp, is now a blessed

Syrian children to unite in prayer for an end to violence

After U.N. action, bishops call for a world without nuclear weapons

For Cardinal Parolin, Colombia’s peace deal the start of ‘a better future’

Mexico may be the most dangerous country to be a priest

Is your birth control making you depressed?

‘Our generation can stop abortion’, says pro-life leader in Poland

U.S. NEWS

Catholic event aims to answer ‘challenging’ sexuality questions with charity

Archbishop Gomez: It’s time to end the death penalty

Pope taps parish priest as new bishop of Lubbock

Should Catholics be worried that faith was barely mentioned at the debate?

New technology unveils contents of ancient Biblical scrolls

In Minnesota, Christian-Muslim dialogue turns strangers into neighbors

Thousands of students, parents ask Supreme Court to protect bathroom privacy

U.S. bishops say Amoris Laetitia is deeper than ‘myopic’ commentaries

Meet the Courage apostolate’s new leader: Fr. Philip Bochanski

L.A. Dodgers host first-ever ‘Catholic Night’

Critics find dodgy ethics in ‘three-parent baby’ conception

Americans, religious liberty and discrimination: A look beyond the numbers

This pro-life policy has saved an estimated 2 million lives

Bishop Conley: You actually don’t have to vote for either

For this disability advocate, Colo. assisted suicide measure still not safe

FEATURES

Our elders are lonely – do we care?

A priest and his love for Syrian refugees

Is Latin the best language? And other questions about exorcism

By the age of 10, young Catholics are losing their faith

This Ohio mystic mentored Mother Angelica. Was she a saint?

Leadership

Double review: ‘Deepwater Horizon’ and ‘Masterminds’

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • October 2, 2016

Monday • October 3, 2016

Tuesday • October 4, 2016

Wednesday • October 5, 2016

Thursday • October 6, 2016

Friday • October 7, 2016

Saturday • October 8, 2016

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Volume 2, Issue 14 • October 1, 2016

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VATICAN NEWS

Love can be only response to evil, Pope tells attack survivors

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 24, 2016

Pope Francis greets survivors of the Nice, France terrorist attack during an audience at the Vatican on Sept. 24, 2016. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — In the face of the devil’s assaults, we must respond as God would, promoting respect for others and extending love and forgiveness to those who have harmed us, Pope Francis said in a Saturday audience with survivors of the terror attack in Nice, France in July.

“When the temptation to turn in on themselves, or to answer hatred with hatred and violence with violence is great, authentic conversion of heart is necessary,” he said Sept. 24. “This is the message that the Gospel of Jesus addressed to all of us.”

Pope Francis received the nearly 1,000 survivors of the July 14 attack in Nice in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican. After his speech he greeted them each one by one.

Eighty-six people were killed and over 400 were wounded in the Nice terror attack in July after a Tunisian man, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, intentionally drove a large truck through the crowded seafront Promenade des Anglais.

The crowds had been celebrating Bastille Day, which marks the day of France’s independence and is traditionally the country’s biggest public holiday.

“I wish to share your pain, a pain that becomes even stronger when I think of the children, even entire families, whose lives have been torn suddenly and dramatically. To each of you I assure my compassion, my closeness and my prayer,” the Pope told those gathered.

“The Church remains near and accompanies you with great mercies,” he said. “With its presence next to you in these moments so heavy to deal with, she asks the Lord to come to your aid and to put in your hearts feelings of peace and brotherhood.”

In his speech, Pope Francis praised all those who went to the aid of the wounded, the victims, and their families, after the attack, both Catholic and organizations of other religions.

“I am glad to see that among you interreligious relations are very much alive, and this can only help to alleviate the hurt of these dramatic events,” he said.

“In fact, establish a sincere dialogue and fraternal relations among all, particularly among those who confess one and merciful God, it is an urgent priority that those responsible, both political and religious, should seek to encourage and which everyone is called to implement around him.”

Pope Francis also met with the Hospital Sisters of Mercy Sept. 24, praising them for their dedication to serving the sick and dying, regardless of race or religion.

“In front of the weakness of the disease can be no distinctions of social status, race, language and culture; Everybody grows weak and we must trust the other,” he said.

“You dedicated your life above all to the service of brothers and sisters who are in hospitals, who thanks to your presence and professionalism will feel better supported in the disease,” the Pope said. “And to do this there is no need for long speeches: a caress, a kiss, stand by in silence, a smile.”

“On that hospital bed always lies Jesus, present in the person who is suffering, and it is he who asks for help from each of you.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis: The truth can’t be forced on people

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 25, 2016

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, Sept. 25, 2016. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — God is shared with the world through love and authentic relationships, not by forcing the truth on people, Pope Francis said Sunday.

“God is proclaimed through the encounter between persons, with care for their history and their journey. Because the Lord is not an idea, but a living person,” the Pope said in his homily at the Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists Sept. 25.

“His message is passed on through simple and authentic testimony, by listening and welcoming, with joy which radiates outward.”

Referencing St. Paul’s first letter to Timothy, Pope Francis called the Resurrection the “beating heart which gives life to everything.”

“The Lord Jesus is risen, the Lord Jesus loves you, and he has given his life for you; risen and alive, he is close to you and waits for you every day. We must never forget this.”

Nothing is more important than the fact that the Lord is risen, the centerpiece of our faith, he explained. But we cannot keep it to ourselves.

“We are called always to live out and proclaim the newness of the Lord’s love: ‘Jesus truly loves you, just as you are. Give him space: in spite of the disappointments and wounds in your life, give him the chance to love you. He will not disappoint you,’” Francis said.

“It is by loving that the God-who-is-Love is proclaimed to the world: not by the power of convincing, never by imposing the truth, no less by growing fixated on some religious or moral obligation,” he continued.

In the day’s Gospel, a rich man doesn’t notice the poor Lazarus outside the door to his house, his spiritual blindness and worldliness are like a black hole that “swallows up what is good, which extinguishes love, because it consumes everything in its very self.”

“Today’s callousness causes chasms to be dug that can never be crossed,” Francis said. “And we have fallen, at this time, into the sickness of indifference, selfishness and worldliness.”

The Lord asks us, today, to meet and help all of the Lazaruses we encounter. We cannot delegate to others, “saying: ‘I will help you tomorrow; I have no time today, I’ll help you tomorrow.’ This is a sin,” he said.

“The time taken to help others is time given to Jesus; it is love that remains: it is our treasure in heaven, which we earn here on earth.”

After Mass, the Pope led pilgrims in the Angelus, and expressed his solidarity with the bishops of Mexico in supporting the efforts of the Church in favor of family and life. On Saturday an estimated 215,000 people marched through the streets of Mexico City to oppose President Enrique Pena Nieto’s push to legalize same-sex marriage.

Pope Francis also offered his prayers for the Mexican people in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of two priests whose bodies were found Sept. 19 – the same day a third priest was kidnapped.

The Pope also spoke of the beatification of Engelmar Unzeitig, a German priest killed in the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, and greeted all of the deaf people present on the “World Day of the Deaf,” encouraging them to do their part to make the world better.

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VATICAN NEWS

For the Council of Cardinals, curia reform is an experiment in flexibility

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • September 27, 2016

A view of St. Peter’s Basilica from the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. (Alexey Gotovskiy/CNA)

Vatican City — How does Pope Francis carry forward the reform of the Roman Curia? Gradually, step by step, by trial and error, according to Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano, who serves as secretary of the Council of Cardinals.

Bishop Semeraro delivered his evaluation of the work of the Council of Cardinals in a lengthy article for the Italian Catholic monthly “Il Regno,” published Sept. 19. There, the bishop provided the criteria that led the Council of Cardinals to their suggested reform of the Roman Curia.

The keywords to understand the reforming method are pastoral conversion, decentralization, and subsidiarity.

Curia reform is already underway, the bishop said.

There is unusual flexibility in the new management of the Vatican departments, known as dicasteries. At present, the newest dicasteries’ rules are approved on an experimental basis but without a time limit. Usually the Church places a time limit on experimental rules.

This decision allows adjustments and improvements as soon as any are needed.

Bishop Semeraro linked the Council of Cardinals’ actions to the “needs for a pastoral conversion” that Pope Francis stated in his apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium.

The bishop reviewed Pope Francis’ instructions that established the Secretariat for Communications, the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life and the Dicastery for Integral Human development. According to Bishop Semeraro, these show that Curia reform has a twofold meaning.

“First of all,” the bishop said, “the reform wants to make the Curia relevant to the current times, to better meet the needs of men and women.” Secondly, the reform aims at “making the Roman Curia more compliant to its task, that is, collaborating with the ministry of the successor of Peter.”

For Bishop Semeraro, the diverse backgrounds of the cardinals on the Pope’s advisory council bring much experience to their task.

He considered the demographics of the Council of Cardinals. Five are diocesan bishops from India, Europe, Africa, and North and South America. Two are bishops emeriti, one of whom currently heads a Vatican dicastery. There are two cardinals who have served as apostolic nuncios. Of these, one is now Secretary of State and the other is president of the Vatican City State Administration.

How often does the Council of Cardinals meet? To date, the council has gathered 16 times, usually for three consecutive days and with two meetings per day. That makes a total of 93 meetings.

The council started to consider a reform based on Pastor Bonus, the 1988 apostolic constitution of St. John Paul II that regulates the competencies and work of the Roman Curia.

Bishop Semeraro explained that the council made a systematic reading of Pastor Bonus, starting from the section about the Vatican Secretariat of State and continuing with the descriptions of congregations and pontifical councils. At first, the cardinals made a general overview and then went more in depth into topic.

“Some of the issues needed more and more meetings of reflection. When the study was finalized, the council made some specific proposal to the Holy Father,” Bishop Semeraro recounted.

At the Vatican, the traditional method is to study a general juridical and ecclesiological setting first in order to make concrete decisions afterward. The Council of Cardinals is doing exactly the opposite, operating by trial and error.

Bishop Semeraro noted that there was an early proposal to establish a moderator of the curia to coordinate the functions of the Roman Curia, a role that already exists in the separate administration of the Diocese of Rome. The council then suggested that Pope Francis drop the proposal.

The reform in general aims at reorganizing the Roman Curia. While the different names of congregations and political councils might suggest categories of two separate and unequal classes, this is not the case.

“The different names are about a different exercise of their power,” Bishop Semeraro explained. To avoid this impression, he added, the new dicasteries are labeled simply as “dicasteries,” since this terminology already is considered a synonym for both congregations and pontifical councils at the Vatican.

Bishop Semeraro also explained the rationale behind the establishment of the two new dicasteries on Laity, Family and Life and on Integral Human Development.

The Laity, Family and Life dicastery is born out of the need “to consider and value with ever more awareness the status of lay people within the Catholic Church.”

The cardinals wanted to emphasize the role of the laity with an institutional response in the Church’s administration, a response on a par to the consideration given to bishops, priests and religious brothers and sisters.

After that, the cardinals also thought that family could be properly linked to laity, and consequently to life. The proposal aimed “to keep these issues united in the Church’s organization and pastoral work,” Bishop Semeraro said.

Similarly, the Pope wanted to name a dicastery for Integral Human Development from the merging of the Pontifical Councils for Justice and Peace, Migrants, and Healthcare Workers and the human development-focused Pontifical Council Cor Unum, given the goals of Catholic social teaching.

This way, the dicastery works to avoid a situation in which major social principles remain “mere general indications that do not question anyone.”

Bishop Semeraro noted that the Pope himself wanted to take over temporarily the responsibility for the office of migrants and refugees. This choice underscores a specific focus on the world emergency, while his desire for temporary responsibility might be read “as a hope that this emergency will soon be solved.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis: Feeling hopeless? Don’t drink - pray!

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 27, 2016

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

Vatican City — Feelings of spiritual desolation, or a lack of will to live, should be combated with prayer, not with sleeping pills or alcohol – things that only distract us from the problem – Pope Francis said Tuesday.

“We need to understand that when our soul is in this state of generalized sadness we can barely breathe: This happens to all of us … whether strong or not,” the Pope said in a homily Sept. 27. We need to “understand what goes on in our hearts.”

Offered on the Feast of St. Vincent de Paul, the Pope said Mass at Casa Santa Marta for the Vincentian Sisters the Daughters of Charity, who serve at the house.

In his homily, Pope Francis reflected on the day’s first reading, which is from the Book of Job, saying “Spiritual desolation makes us feel as though our souls are crushed, we can’t succeed, we can’t succeed and we also don’t want to live.”

“‘Death is better!’ This was Job’s outburst. It was better to die than live like this. What should we do when we experience these dark moments, be it for a family tragedy, an illness, something that weighs us down?” the Pope asked.

Instead of giving in to this despair, or trying to distract ourselves from our problems by taking sleeping pills or drinking “one, two, three or four glasses” of alcohol, which “do not help,” Francis said we should pray.

“It is a prayer to knock at the door but with strength!” Pope Francis stated. “Our Lord himself taught us how to pray in these dreadful moments.”

Quoting the day’s Psalm, he said to pray, “Lord, you have plunged me into the bottom of the pit. Upon me, your wrath lies heavy. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.”

“This is the prayer and this is how we should pray in our darkest, most dreadful, bleakest and most crushed moments,” the Pope continued. “This is genuine prayer. And it’s also giving vent just like Job did with his sons. Like a son.”

Pope Francis emphasized that spiritual desolation is something that happens to everyone and said that the first step is to recognize within ourselves when we are having these moments of hopelessness or when we don’t understand why something is happening.

And then, he said, “we must pray to the Lord like today’s reading from Psalm 87 teaches us to pray during our dark moments. ‘Let my prayer come before you, Lord.’”

Offering advice for when we encounter a person who is suffering or experiencing a sense of desolation, the Pope said we should be silent; “but a silence with much love, closeness and caresses. And we must not make speeches that don’t help in the end and even can do harm.”

Francis’ homily concluded with his asking the Lord for the grace to recognize spiritual desolation, the grace to pray when we are afflicted by this feeling of spiritual desolation, and also the grace “to know how to be close to people who are suffering terrible moments of sadness and spiritual desolation.”

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VATICAN NEWS

From homeless to meeting the Pope – a story of inspiration

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 27, 2016

Shyla Montoya with Pope Francis. (Tanya Cangelosi)

Vatican City — Tanya Cangelosi never imagined that she would one day be bringing homeless people on pilgrimages to Rome. And Shyla Montoya never thought that she would someday go on a pilgrimage to Rome.

But earlier this month, that is exactly what they did. And what’s more, the pair was even able to meet Pope Francis.

On Sept. 7, in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis stopped to speak with the two women after giving his usual Wednesday General Audience. Cangelosi, who started her own homeless ministry in Denver, handed him a collage she had made with photos of “our homeless kids,” as she calls them.

Pope Francis held the photo: “he didn’t just hand it off, he really looked at it,” Cangelosi said.

Montoya is the third person from the homeless community selected to go on pilgrimage to Rome through Denver Homeless Ministries (DHM). The first was Clarissa “Glitterbear” Salazar in 2014 and the second was Derrick Yearout – known as “Tree” on the streets.

That she would take homeless people on pilgrimage to Rome was the “furthest thing from my mind,” Cangelosi told CNA.

As an organization committed to providing awareness of homeless persons in the Denver community and providing opportunities to serve them as both equals and friends, DHM offers the pilgrimage as a way to inspire those committed to bettering their lives.

According to Cangelosi, however, the effects of the trip aren’t always seen right away. “Maybe things don’t make a difference for 3 or 4 years down the line,” she said. Sometimes it needs time to sink in, and that’s okay.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve done in my life,” she said. “I just do what the Lord asks me.”

Montoya, 22, said she was pleased to meet the Pope, and that for her, the trip to Rome was not just for herself. She uploaded pictures to social media throughout the pilgrimage for all of her friends – who she calls her street “family” – following along back in Denver, Colorado.

The trip was “not just for me,” Montoya said. “That’s really important for me. I would bring everybody (along) if I had the chance.”

Growing up, Montoya never knew her father, and went back-and-forth between living with her birth mother and great-grandparents until she was six, when her mother died. After that she was raised by her great-grandparents.

When she was 14, her great-grandfather died, and heartbroken, she ran away from home. She lived in a group home for a while. Eventually, when she wanted to return home, she wasn’t allowed to because of her great-grandmother’s age. So she was put into the foster care system.

She eventually ran away again and lived by couch hopping until she went back to the group home. She got back in touch with her family, and her great-grandmother – who she calls “mama” – inspired her to go back to school.

But when she was 18 and her great-grandmother died, she, in her own words, “relapsed,” didn’t go to school, and fell into a “depression.”

“I started stealing. Eventually, I lost everything – again. I still had my apartment, but I didn’t know how to survive,” she wrote in a statement prior to the Rome pilgrimage.

“Struggling for food and clothes, and drinking a lot, I was lost. But something hit me. The Holy Spirit, I think. Something made me completely stop doing all the bad things I was doing.”

“I started going to school. One step at a time, I picked everything up, piece by piece.”

Montoya, now age 22, has an apartment and said she loves her job working at Auntie Anne’s pretzel shop. Starting next year, she plans to study social work at a college in New York City through a program that helps pay for higher education for those who grew up in foster care.

She said she has dreamed of living in New York City ever since she was a little girl. Going to Rome, on the other hand, “never crossed my mind.”

“Not a day goes by that I don’t reminisce on the past,” she said. “With every struggle that I faced and that I am facing today, I’m not negative about life. I always have a smile on my face and it’s rare when I don’t believe that everything happens for a reason.”

Despite the challenges to this year’s Rome pilgrimage, Cangelosi said God’s “calling me to do it again next year.”

In the meantime, though, Montoya said she is grateful for the experiences she’s had in life, if only because she’s learned from them. Everything “definitely made me open my eyes and appreciate life and everyone who walks in it,” she said.

“Because even though sometimes I may not like them, I always remind myself that the sky isn’t the limit because there’s footprints on the moon.”

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VATICAN NEWS

‘We have faced the mercy of God’ – An interview with Cardinal Koch

by Paul Badde (CNA/EWTN News) • September 28, 2016

Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. (Daniel Ibáñez/CNA)

Vatican City — Hundreds of years before Martin Luther broke away from the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope in the western world, the Great Eastern Schism created a division between Rome and Constantinople.

The split of Christianity in the Orthodox churches of the east and the Roman Catholic Church in the west was formally completed in the year 1054. On December 7, 1965, Pope Paul VI in Rome and the ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras in Istanbul terminated the mutual excommunications “from memory and from the midst of the Church” and committed them “to oblivion.”

But efforts toward healing have taken place. Upon the invitation of Archbishop Bruno Forte from Chieti-Vasto, Italy, 70 Orthodox bishops together with two cardinals and numerous other high clergymen of the Roman Catholic Church celebrated the Orthodox “divine liturgy” of St. John Chrysostom on September 18, 2016 in the Basilica of the Holy Face before the Face of Christ, which is displayed above the main altar of the church.

CNA/EWTN News Rome correspondent Paul Badde asked Cardinal Kurt Koch, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, about the celebration:

CNA: Your Eminence, Archbishop Bruno Forte calls the “Holy Face” of Christ the “polar star of Christianity.” For him, there is no rational doubt that the veil with the image is identical to Veronica’s veil of Christ that John mentions next to the linen bandages in the holy tomb. Is that however not provocative for the Orthodox brothers?

Cardinal Koch: Christians believe in one God who showed his concrete face in Jesus Christ. And the closer we come to know to the Face of Christ and the deeper we become one in him, the deeper we also become one among ourselves. Therefore, it is a wonderful occasion to be before the face of Christ, to pray, to venerate the Face in order to ask for his wish to be fulfilled that we find unity.

CNA: Catholics have something to bring the Orthodox. The other way around is also true, with the Orthodox, say with their culture of venerating icons. Could it be this: that from this day on, the images could be newly comprehended and valued in the Catholic Church – in the midst of that powerful “Iconic Turn,” which the media experts today observe how images in general play a role in communication like never before?

Yes, the innermost mystery of ecumenism is an exchange of gifts. Every church has their gifts. And the icons are a special gift of Orthodoxy. I believe therefore that many Christians in the west can find a new approach to the icons and so deepen their faith. That is a magnificent gift. It is very important that we in the western tradition also renew our appreciation for the image. Through the reformation in the 16th century, we set a totally new emphasis on the word. But the Word was made flesh. The Word was made visible. Therefore the images belong with faith. That is a gift of the Orthodox that we accept gratefully.

CNA: Ten years ago, Peter, in the form of Pope Benedict, came here. Since then, there has been a tremendous turn in the appreciation of this image of Manoppello. Since then, it has become world-renown. Today, the Synod of Bishops came. What meaning do you think will someday be attributed to this pilgrimage in which the Synod convened here?

It is very nice that after 10 years we were allowed to come here on this jubilee. Pope Benedict came in the name of the whole Catholic Church. Today the Church from east and west is present here. This jubilee can perhaps aid the search for unity between the Church in the east and the Church in the west.

CNA: You are, as president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity in Rome, responsible for ecumenism. Pope Francis has said, “Look at Christ and proceed courageously!” What would you say in light of today, when you came together in this difference of the eastern and western Church before this image of Christ, would be the next step to approach Christ courageously?

We are actually always on the way towards Christ. For it is His Will that we find unity. That is not a human project. Christ himself prayed on the evening before his suffering that the disciples would be one so that the world would believe. The credibility of witness depends on our being one. That is also a special concern of Pope Francis when he says we must go the same way towards Christ, then we will find the unity.

CNA: “Misericordiae Vultus” (The Face of Mercy) is the name of the bull of indiction with which Pope Francis announced this Holy Year of Mercy. The “Face of Mercy” was given this year its very own meaning. What do you feel when you stand here today before the merciful glance of Christ, who looks at us from this wonderful veil?

It is a beautiful message that we have a merciful God, who knows that there are no hopeless causes for him. Even if a person has fallen so deeply, he can never fall deeper than into the hands of God. To be able to now really see this face and encounter it is of course a wonderful immersion into this message of the holy year. People today need nothing more than God’s mercy. And if they may look at the face of the merciful God, that is a wonderful gift.

CNA: And what will you tell Pope Francis about this occasion if you get the chance?

I will certainly say to him that we have faced his great message of God’s mercy and that this face is important for the whole Church. That is, so to say, the banner of the Church: the merciful face of God!

Translated by R. Andrew Krema.

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VATICAN NEWS

God’s mercy overcomes human desperation, Pope Francis says

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

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

Vatican City — On Wednesday Pope Francis said that Jesus’ salvific mission reaches its culmination on the Cross in his conversation with the two thieves crucified with him, showing that God’s mercy goes beyond the desperation of human suffering, responding to it with mercy and forgiveness.

When the bad thief cries out to Jesus on the Cross, telling him “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us,” this act “bears witness to the anguish of man in front of the mystery of death and the tragic awareness that only God can be the liberating answer,” the Pope said Sept. 28.

As he dies on the Cross alongside two criminals, Jesus confirms God’s salvation “can reach any man in any condition, even the most negative and painful.”

Because of this, Francis said the ongoing Jubilee of Mercy is a time of grace and of mercy “for all, good and evil, those who are healthy and those who suffer. The good and the bad … because the Church is mercy!”

“Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ!” he said, and directed his words to all who are “nailed to a hospital bed, who live closed in a prison, to those who are trapped in war,” telling them: “look to the Crucifix; God is with you, he remains with you on the Cross and offers himself to all as the Savior.”

Pope Francis spoke to the thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his weekly general audience, giving special greetings to the American seminarians in Rome who will be ordained deacons Thursday and their families.

He continued his ongoing catechesis on mercy, telling attendees that when Jesus forgives those nailing him to the Cross, saying “Lord forgive them, for they know not what they do,” his words “culminate in forgiveness … Jesus forgives.”

When confronted with the opposite attitudes of the two thieves he is crucified with, Jesus hears the first one insult him, the Pope said, but explained that this offense was “driven by desperation” caused by suffering.

Jesus’ forgiveness, he said, bears witness to the fact that “he who has done terrible things in life has the ability to be forgiven.”

The second criminal, known as the “Good Thief,” provides a model of true repentance and “a catechesis focused on learning to ask Jesus for forgiveness,” Francis said.

In telling the second criminal “have you no fear of God?” the good thief reveals “the starting point of repentance: fear of the Lord.”

Pope Francis stressed that Fear of the Lord is “not being afraid of God, but that respect that one must give to God because he is God.”

“The good thief calls attention to the fundamental attitude which opens to trust in God: the awareness of his omnipotence and of his infinite goodness,” he said, noting that “this is the trusting respect which helps to make space for God and to entrust oneself to his mercy, even in the thickest darkness.”

Francis pointed to the “tenderness” and “humanity” of the good thief in asking Jesus to remember him, explaining that it’s necessary for the human being to know they are not abandoned, and that God is always close.

Jesus’ response that “today you will be with me in paradise,” shows that even a man condemned to death “becomes a model of Christianity who entrusts himself to Jesus.”

It is while Jesus hangs on the Cross that his salvation culminates, the Pope said, noting that his promise to the good thief “reveals the fulfillment of his mission: to save sinners.”

“On the cross, the final act confirms the final realization of his saving plan. From the beginning to the end he proved himself to be mercy, the definitive and unrepeatable love of the Father,” he said.

“Jesus is truly the face of the mercy of the Father,” Francis said, and, closing his address, noted how the good thief called Jesus by name, and led pilgrims in repeating the name of Jesus three times as a short prayer.

After his address, Francis turned his thoughts to the ongoing conflict in “the beloved and martyred Syria.”

Upon hearing of continued air strikes in Aleppo, he voiced his “deep sorrow and lively concern” over the fact that innocent children, elderly, sick and youth continue to lose their lives in the bombings.

He assured his spiritual closeness to those suffering, and renewed his appeal for everyone to commit themselves to protecting civilians, “which is a committed and urgent obligation.”

Francis also issued an appeal “to the consciences” of those responsible for the bombings, saying “they must answer before God” for their actions.

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VATICAN NEWS

Memory of Shimon Peres should inspire peace efforts, Pope says

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 28, 2016

Shimon Peres. (Chatham House via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Vatican City — Upon learning about the death of Shimon Peres Wednesday, Pope Francis sent a telegram offering his condolences and his appreciation for the former president of Israel’s tireless efforts for peace and the common good.

“As the State of Israel mourns Mr. Peres,” the Pope wrote, “I hope that his memory and many years of service will inspire us all to work with ever greater urgency for peace and reconciliation between peoples.”

In the Sept. 28 telegram, sent to current President of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, the pontiff expressed hope that the work which Peres, 93, began during his lifetime will continue.

“I fondly recall my time with Mr. Peres at the Vatican and renew my great appreciation for the late President’s tireless efforts in favor of peace,” he said.

Pope Francis met with the former president and prime minister at the Vatican on several occasions, the most recent being June 20.

On June 8, 2014, Pope Francis met with then-Israeli President Peres and the Patriarch of Constantinople Bartholomew I in the gardens of the Vatican for a meeting of prayer, “Invocation for Peace.”

At this meeting, Peres made a heart-felt appeal for peace, saying, “I come to call for peace between nations.” He acknowledged that “peace does not come easy.” Even if peace “seems distant,” the then-Israeli president continued, “we must pursue it to bring it close.”

“We are commanded to pursue peace,” he emphasized. Peres expressed his belief that “if we pursue peace with determination, with faith, we will reach it.” He recalled that in his life, he had seen both peace and warfare. He said he would never forget the devastation caused by war.

“We owe it to our children” to seek peace, he stressed.

The Pope and Peres also met a month earlier in 2014, on May 26, when Pope Francis expressed his hope that Jerusalem would be a true ‘city of peace,’ and Peres echoed this commitment.

“May Jerusalem be truly the City of Peace! May her identity and her sacred character, her universal religious and cultural significance shine forth as a treasure for all mankind,” Pope Francis said in the garden of the then-president’s residence.

First elected to Israeli parliament in 1959, Peres would go on to serve three times as prime minister, and once as president.

Peres developed Israel’s nuclear program in the 1950s. He also ordered a major bombing campaign against Lebanon in retaliation for Hezbollah shelling in northern Israel in 1996.

However, he was also known for his peace efforts, playing a major role in the Oslo peace accords and winning the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to create peace between Israel and Palestine.

He had initially approved the construction of Jewish settlements on occupied Palestinian territory. However, he later shifted his view, saying that the settlements were a hindrance on the road to peace.

In his telegram today, the Pope said he was “deeply saddened” to learn of Peres’ death and conveyed to President Rivlin and to all the people of Israel his “heartfelt condolences,” and prayers for all who grieve.

Pope Francis also invoked the divine blessing upon the nation of Israel.

Using Peres’ life as inspiration, the Pope said, “In this way, his legacy will truly be honored and the common good for which he so diligently labored will find new expressions, as humanity strives to advance on the path towards enduring peace.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Spreading hope, trust, the center of next World Communications Day

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 29, 2016

Pope Francis greets pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square after the Wednesday General Audience on May 21, 2014. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Announced Thursday, this year’s World Day of Social Communications will focus on the theme of spreading hope and trust in the “Good News” of Jesus Christ and salvation.

“‘Fear not, for I am with you’ (Is 43:5) Communicating hope and trust in our time,” was announced as the theme for 2017 by the Pontifical Council of Social Communication in a communique from the Vatican Sept. 29.

When those in the field of communication are far from the scene of where things are happening, frequently they can “ignore the complexity of the dramas faced by men and women,” and fall into “desperation” over “looming fears,” the communique says.

The push to “fear not,” on the other hand, “is an invitation to tell the history of the world and the histories of men and women in accordance with the logic of the ‘good news,’” reminding us that “God never ceases to be a Father in any situation or with regard to any man.”

World Communications Day takes place each year on the Sunday before Pentecost, and is the only worldwide celebration called for by the Second Vatican Council in the 1963 document “Inter Mirifica” on the media of social communications.

This year the day falls on May 28, 2017. The Pope traditionally releases a message for the day on Jan. 24, observing the feast of St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of writers, journalists and the Catholic press.

The current communication system, the announcement continued, can cause a “numbness of conscience” or overwhelm us with fear. “Desperation is possible,” it said, when “communication is emphasized and transformed into spectacle.”

“But in the midst of this tumult a whisper is heard: ‘Fear not, for I am with you.’”

Shortly before the announcement of the theme, Pope Francis had a Sept. 22 audience with journalists, during which he reflected on the importance of respect for human dignity, telling them 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 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 said.

In 2016, the theme for World Communications Day was “Communication and Mercy: a fruitful encounter,” and was intended to complement the Jubilee Year of Mercy happening in the Church this year. In 2015, the theme centered on the family and communication.

In the communique for the 2016 theme, it was stressed that through our Christian faith, we know that even in death and darkness, light and life can be brought forward.

“We Christians have ‘good news’ to tell, because we contemplate trustfully the prospect of the Kingdom. Let us learn to communicate trust and hope for history.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope condemns ‘arrogant’ abuse of power that leads to war, violence

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

Pope Francis celebrates Mass at the Pontifical North American College, Rome on May 2, 2015. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — In a passionate speech on Thursday, Pope Francis condemned as arrogant the mentality of revenge and the abuses of power that lead to violent conflicts.

“Violence begets violence, and we have the impression of being caught up in a spiral of arrogance and inertia from which there is no escape,” the Pope told members of charitable and humanitarian organizations Sept. 29, adding that the evil “which grips our will and conscience should challenge us.”

“Why, even at the cost of untold damage to persons, property and the environment, does man continue to pursue abuses of power, revenge and violence?” he said, and pointed to a recent attack on a U.N. humanitarian convoy as an example.

Acts of violence such as this are part of the “mysterium iniquitatis,” he said, referring to “that evil which is present in man and in history and which needs to be redeemed.”

Francis condemned the attack as “destruction for destruction’s sake,” and stressed that despite the growing suffering due to war and conflict, “the answer to the drama of evil lies in the mystery of Christ.”

Pope Francis spoke to members of charitable organizations gathered in the Vatican for a Sept. 29 symposium on the humanitarian crisis in Iraq and Syria, organized by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.

Marking the fifth such meeting, the symposium gathered 80 representatives from various Catholic charitable organizations in the Middle East, as well as those in religious congregations who work in crisis areas.

Among the participants were several bishops from Syria and Iraq, as well as the apostolic nuncios to both countries, Archbishop Mario Zenari and Archbishop Alberto Ortega, respectively. Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin also spoke during the event, as did Staffan de Mistura, special U.N. envoy to Syria.

In his speech to participants, Pope Francis lamented that despite extensive efforts made in the past five years, “the logic of arms and oppression, hidden interests and violence continues to wreak devastation on these countries.”

“Even now, we have not been able to put an end to the exasperating suffering and repeated violations of human rights,” he said, noting that the consequences of the crisis go “well beyond the region,” and are clearly visible in the ever-growing phenomenon of migration.

Those who work or volunteer in charitable and humanitarian organizations are a reflection of God’s mercy, and a sign that “evil has limits and does not have the last word,” Francis said.

“This is a sign of great hope,” he continued, and offered his thanks to those who pray daily for the victims of the conflicts, particularly the children, observing that “in Aleppo, children have to drink polluted water!”

However, Pope Francis noted that beyond the necessary humanitarian aid, what citizens in the Middle East really want more than anything else is peace.

Because of this, the Pope said he will never tire of asking the international community “for greater and renewed efforts to achieve peace throughout the Middle East, and of asking not to look the other way.”

“This request is my daily prayer to God, to inspire the minds and hearts of all who have political responsibility, that they may be able to renounce their own interests in order to achieve the greater good: peace,” he said.

Francis also noted that while political leaders certainly play a key role, it is also the responsibility of each individual to commit to being a peacemaker in their own way, “because every situation of violence and injustice is a wound to the body of the whole human family.”

Turning to the Christians in the Middle East who suffer violence and uncertainty, the Pope insisted that in the midst of “so much darkness, these Churches hold high the lamp of faith, hope and charity,” and assured them of his closeness and prayer.

He entrusted these communities and those who work on the ground serving the victims of the humanitarian crisis to the intercession of newly-canonized St. Teresa of Calcutta, whom he called an “exemplar of charity and mercy.”

According to statistics from Cor Unum, the ecclesial network in Iraq and Syria has comprehensively reached more than 9 million individual beneficiaries from 2015-2016.

In 2015, roughly $207 million in humanitarian aid was raised, while as of July, 2016 has yielded $196 million. Since 2011, the crisis in both countries has left around 300,000 people dead and 1 million wounded.

Currently in Syria there are more than 13.5 million people in need of aid, and more than 10 million in Iraq. According to Cor Unum, the number of internal refugees in Syria is 8.7 million while in Iraq the number is 3.4 million, with 4.8 million Syrians having fled to surrounding countries of the Middle East, most significantly in Turkey, Lebanon and Jordan.

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VATICAN NEWS

At the heart of the Church, EWTN launches new Rome office

by Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • September 29, 2016

EWTN president Michael Warsaw and Msgr. Dario Viganò, prefect of the Secretariat for Communications, celebrate the dedication of the EWTN News Rome Bureau on Sept. 29, 2016. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Rome, Italy — The EWTN News Rome Bureau is now is just minutes from St. Peter’s Square, having launched its new office on Wednesday. The occasion sparked reflection on Mother Angelica’s legacy and the media network’s mission to serve the gospel.

“Today with this launch we step out in a new chapter in how we can serve our EWTN family with information from Rome,” Michael Warsaw, president of EWTN Global Catholic Network, told CNA Sept. 29.

The new office is on the Via Della Conciliazione in the shadow of St. Peter’s Basilica, the dome of which is visible from the building’s rooftop terrace.

“You can’t help but be here in Rome and in this place, so close to St. Peter’s Basilica, the tomb of St. Peter, and not be energized by that,” Warsaw said. “For all of us at EWTN that’s my hope, that this presence in Rome, so close to St. Peter, will energize us for the work of the New Evangelization in the years ahead.”

Monsignor Dario Edoardo Viganò, prefect of the Vatican’s Secretariat for Communications, blessed the new location in the presence of dozens of EWTN staff, supporters, and guests. Several hundred people gathered for a rooftop reception.

Among the guests were Syriac Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III Younan of Antioch, Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, and Cardinal Raymond Burke, patron of the Knights of Malta. Other guests included Archbishop Georg Ganswein, prefect of the Papal Household; several other cardinals and bishops; U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Ken Hackett and several other ambassadors to the Holy See; and members of the Vatican press corps.

The office includes access to professional recording studios on the sixth-floor rooftop, advanced technical infrastructure, and a much improved and spacious workspace.

Warsaw said the new Rome office “really positions the network in an even better way to be able to bring news and information from the heart of the Church to our audience around the world.”

“It gives us a much bigger base of operations to be able to use at the service of the Church,” he said.

About 17 people work full-time in the EWTN News Rome office, as do three part-time employees. The multi-national, multi-lingual staff comes from the United States, Italy, Spain, Peru, and Kazakhstan.

From the Rome office, the EWTN News Bureau and its related EWTN agencies provide video news services in English, Spanish, and German, and written news services in English, Spanish, and Italian. This effort is complemented by EWTN News’ internet presence. Its social media reached 100 million people the weekend of Mother Teresa’s canonization.

The office will support staff and media production from various EWTN News sections: the National Catholic Register; CNA Group members Catholic News Agency, ACI Stampa, and ACI Prensa; and ChurchPop.

The impact of EWTN founder Mother Angelica, who passed away on Easter Sunday 2016, was still felt in Rome.

“If she could see this place here in Rome, she would see part of her dream realized,” Alan Holdren, EWTN News Bureau Chief, told Vatican Radio.

Warsaw agreed.

“I think Mother would be very, very pleased to see this development in Rome,” he said. “It was always her hope that the network could be a vehicle for bringing news and information about the Holy Father and the Vatican to our audience around the world.”

Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston also saw the new Rome office as part of Mother Angelica’s legacy.

“I am convinced that Mother Angelica is now happy in heaven thinking that after all his work, there is now finally this place here in Rome,” Cardinal O’Malley told Vatican Radio. “The story of Mother Angelica is the story of a miracle. A cloistered nun has managed to do what the bishops and the U.S. Catholic foundations have failed to do.”

“EWTN is an important reality in the United States to reach Catholics,” the cardinal continued. “To have a headquarters here in Rome will help a lot to communicate to our people the message of the Holy Father and what happens here in Rome.”

Cardinal O’Malley said EWTN faces the challenge of communicating the faith to new generations.

“In the U.S. we now have a huge Hispanic population, and we are very pleased that EWTN also has programs in Spanish, for our migrants,” he said.

The beneficiaries of EWTN are truly international. During Mother Teresa’s canonization, her Missionaries of Charity sisters in India were watching the EWTN broadcast from St. Peter’s Square.

“That would be enough to motivate our work,” commented Holdren.

He noted the world’s many crises, including those in the Middle East.

“We serve an evangelical voice, we serve the voice of Christ, we serve the Pope’s message,” he said.

“To reach these places of crisis is a challenge. Through the satellite that Mother Angelica bought many years ago, we were able to reach these countries.”

“The challenge is to keep this widespread reach, but also reach people in modern Western society. In the face of so many problems and so many challenges, there are many hopes. We want to reach out with this Gospel message to deliver that truth which we believe leads everyone to the salvation that it accompanies.”

EWTN Global Catholic Network is now in its 36th year. Based in Irondale, Alabama, it is the largest religious media network in the world.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis concerned by North Korean nuclear tests

by CNA/EWTN News • September 29, 2016

Pope Francis at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on April 13, 2016. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis is troubled by the international tensions arising from recent North Korean nuclear tests, said Greg Burke, director of the Holy See Press Office this week.

“Responding to a question about the delicate situation on the Korean peninsula, I can confirm the concern of the Holy Father and the Holy See about the continuing tensions in the area on account of the nuclear tests carried out by North Korea,” Burke stated in a statement released Sept. 27.

This concern, he added, “was reiterated today by Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, the Holy See’s Undersecretary for Relations with States” during a meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency held in Vienna.

On Sept. 9, the communist country carried out its fifth nuclear test with an underground explosion, which was celebrated by their leader Kim Jong Un, who ignored the protests of the international community.

In March, the United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 2270, which included tough sanctions against North Korea after their fourth nuclear test, which they claimed to have carried out on January 6 this year.

Now, after the fifth test, the Security Council is preparing a new resolution to force Kim Jong Un to abandon the development of nuclear weapons.

Nevertheless, on Sept. 27 the South Korean Minister for Unification, Hong Yong-pyo, warned that “there are signs that Pyongyang (North Korea) is preparing to carry out a new test of its nuclear weapons this year.”

According the Yonhap agency, the new test could occur on Oct. 10, when the communist regime celebrates the 71st anniversary of the foundation of the Korean Worker’s Party, a date which can be used as a pretext to carry out the sixth nuclear test or launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.

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VATICAN NEWS

In Georgia, Pope says true peace is built on justice, mutual respect

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • September 30, 2016

Pope Francis arrives at the Tbilisi airport in Georgia on Sept. 30, 2016. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Tbilisi, Georgia — Pope Francis landed in Georgia Friday, telling leaders of the former Soviet republic that peace is urgent in today’s troubled world, and can only be achieved by the pursuit of justice and mutual respect for the sovereign rights of every nation.

After landing in Georgia Sept. 30, the Pope insisted that peaceful coexistence among all peoples and states in the region “is the indispensable and prior condition” for an “authentic and enduring progress.”

“This requires increasing mutual esteem and consideration, which can never lay aside respect for the sovereign rights of every country within the framework of international law,” Francis said.

He noted that in far too many places in the world, there seems to be “a dominant way of thinking which hinders keeping legitimate differences and disagreements – which can always arise – within a climate of civilized dialogue.”

Promoting dialogue based on reason, moderation, and responsibility is especially needed within the context of the current global climate, marked by violent extremism that “manipulates and distorts civic and religious principles,” subjugating them to “the dark designs of domination and death.”

In order to carve out paths that lead to lasting peace and authentic cooperation, it must be remembered that the essential elements for “a just and stable” relationship between states ought to always be at the service of “a practical, ordered and peaceful coexistence among nations,” he said.

Pope Francis spoke to members of the Georgian diplomatic corps and civil society after arriving having a private meeting with Georgian president Giorgi Margvelashvili shortly after arriving at the International Airport of Tbilisi Sept. 30.

Tbilisi is the Pope’s first stop during his official Sept. 30-Oct. 2 visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Expected to largely focus on the topics of peace and interreligious dialogue, the trip is seen as a conclusion of his Caucasus tour, following his visit to Armenia in June.

In addition to Georgia’s president, upon his arrival Pope Francis was also greeted by His Holiness and Beatitude Ilia II, Catholicos and Patriarch of All Georgia, spiritual leader of the Georgian Orthodox Church.

Though Francis didn’t explicitly mention it, his words allude to the Russian occupation of the partially-recognized states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia since the Russo-Georgian War of 2008.

According to news agency Aljazeera, although Abkhazia and South Ossetia declared their own independence from Georgia soon after the war, only a few nations, including Russia, recognize it. The majority of the international community, including the United States and the European Union, consider the territories to be occupied, and have condemned Russia’s military presence.

In his speech, Pope Francis also made reference to the roughly 300,000 persons internally displaced in Georgia as a result of the 2008 war.

He stressed that wholehearted priority must be given to human persons in their current circumstances, and that “every attempt to prevent differences from giving rise to violence that can cause ruinous calamity for people and for society” must be pursued.

“Far from being exploited as grounds for turning discord into conflict and conflict into interminable tragedy, distinctions along ethnic, linguistic, political or religious lines can and must be for everyone a source of mutual enrichment in favor of the common good,” he said.

Francis emphasized the need to allow for everyone to peacefully coexist in their homeland, “or freely to return to that land, if for some reason they have been forced to leave it.”

“I hope that civil authorities will continue to show concern for the situation of these persons, and that they will fully commit themselves to seeking tangible solutions, in spite of any unresolved political questions,” he said.

Pope Francis noted that due to its geographical location, Georgia can be seen as a natural bridge between Europe and Asia, calling the country a link that facilitates communication and relations between peoples.

He noted how just 25 years have passed since Georgia’s independence was proclaimed. The country held a referendum in March 1991, making them the fourth Soviet republic to organize such a vote on the topic of independence, ultimately leading to their liberation from Soviet rule.

During the period since Georgia has regained its liberty, the country has “built and strengthened its democratic institutions and sought ways to guarantee the most inclusive and authentic development possible,” he said, but noted that this came as a result of “great sacrifice.”

The Pope voiced his hope that Georgia’s ongoing path of peace and development would continue to advance with a firm commitment from all sectors of society to fostering conditions of stability, justice and respect for the rule of law, “hence promoting growth and greater opportunities for all.”

Pointing to the longstanding presence of the Catholic Church in the country, the Pope said the Church shares in the both the joys and concerns of the Georgian people, and is committed to contributing to “the well-being and peace of the nation” through active cooperation with authorities and civil society.

“It is my ardent desire that the Catholic Church may continue to make its own authentic contribution to the growth of Georgian society, thanks to the common witness to the Christian tradition which unites us, its commitment to those most in need, and the renewed and strengthened dialogue with the ancient Georgian Orthodox Church and the other religious communities of the country.”

After his speech to Georgia’s authorities and diplomatic corps, Pope Francis will have an audience with Ilia II, which will be followed by an ecumenical prayer service with Georgia’s Assyrian and Chaldean Catholic communities at the Catholic Chaldean Church of St. Simon Bar Sabbae.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis to Georgian Orthodox: Christ’s love unites us

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • September 30, 2016

Pope Francis meets with Ilia II, the Georgian Orthodox Catholicos and Patriarch of All Georgia, in Tbilisi on Sept. 30, 2016. (CTV)

Tbilisi, Georgia — God’s love and our unity in Christ are what enable us to overcome conflict and disagreement, and to spread the Gospel – which is what bears spiritual and artistic fruit, Pope Francis said in Georgia on Friday.

“Truly, the love of the Lord raises us up, because it enables us to rise above the misunderstandings of the past, above the calculations of the present and fears for the future,” the Pope said in a meeting with the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, which is one of the 14 autocephalous Eastern Orthodox Churches.

Unity between the Georgian Orthodox Church and Catholic Church, joined with a firm faith in Christ, the Pope said, is necessary so that “the Gospel may bear fruit in our day,” just as saints “put the Gospel before all else.”

Pope Francis met with Ilia II, Catholicos and Patriarch of All Georgia, at the Patriarchal Palace in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi Sept. 30.

Tbilisi is the Pope’s first stop during his Sept. 30-Oct. 2 visit to Georgia and Azerbaijan. Expected to largely focus on the topics of peace, ecumenism, and interreligious dialogue, the trip is seen as a conclusion of his Caucasus tour, following his visit to Armenia in June.

In his speech, the Pope expressed that love is the path to overcoming all disagreements and conflict, stating that the “true enemy” is not other people, but the evil spirit that is within ourselves.

“It is as if the great poet of this land, Shota Rustaveli, is speaking to us with some of his renowned words,” Pope Francis said.

Quoting from the epic poem “The Knight in the Panther’s Skin,” he said: “Have you read how the Apostles write about love, how they speak, how they praise it? Know this love, and turn your mind to these words: love raises us up.”

Even in the face of countless trials, Francis stated, the people of Georgia have testified to the greatness of God’s love by rising up to “the heights of extraordinary artistic beauty.”

Historically, the head of the Georgian Orthodox Church and the Bishop of Rome have always had a good relationship, Pope Francis noted. The last time Ilia II met with the head of the Catholic Church was during St. John Paul II’s apostolic visit to Georgia in 1999.

Speaking of the future, Pope Francis expressed a wish for even greater peace and forgiveness between people and regions.

“May difficulties not be an obstacle, but rather a stimulus to know each other better,” he said, “to share the vital sap of the faith, to intensify our prayers for each other and to cooperate with apostolic charity in our common witness, to the glory of God in heaven and in the service of peace on earth.”

The Georgian Orthodox Church was one of the four Eastern Orthodox Churches which declined to participate in the ‘pan-Orthodox Council’ organized by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople which was held in June.

The Church also objected to an ecumenical document agreed to earlier this month by the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches which regarded synodality and primacy during the first millennium.

Noting how the Georgian people love to celebrate, Francis said this joy has its roots in the faith, “which leads Georgians, when gathered around their tables, to invoke peace for all, and to remember even one’s enemies.”

“Joined to their exaltation of love, friendship is given a special place,” he said.

“I want to be a genuine friend to this land and its beloved people, who do not forget the good they have received and whose unique hospitality is intimately united to a way of living that is full of true hope, even though there is no shortage of difficulties.”

After his encounter with Ilia II, Pope Francis had a meeting with the Assyrian and Chaldean Catholic communities of Georgia at the Chaldean parish of St. Simon Bar Sabbae.

There, he offered a prayer for many different things, including that by Christ’s glorious passion, he may “conquer the hardness of our hearts, imprisoned by hatred and selfishness.”

The Holy Father prayed for persecuted Christians, those who are abused, and for refugees. He also prayed for all those harmed by war, asking especially that “the peoples so wearied by bombing” experience the joy of Christ’s resurrection, and that Iraq and Syria will be raised up from “devastation.”

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VATICAN NEWS

In Georgia visit, Pope finds a country of Christian tensions

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • September 30, 2016

Georgian Orthodox protestors line the streets of Tbilisi on Pope Francis’ arrival to Georgia on Sept. 30, 2016. (Alan Holdren/CNA)

Tbilisi, Georgia — Pope Francis on his visit to Georgia will find a country where dialogue among Christians is particularly difficult, with cool relations between the Georgian Orthodox Church and the country’s tiny Catholic minority.

For this reason his trip is “ecumenical, but not according to the common meaning of the word ecumenism,” a top official of the Catholic Church in Georgia told CNA.

The Georgian Orthodox Church – an Eastern Orthodox Church to which more than 80 percent of Georgians adhere – is considered part of the national identity. While it is not an established religion, the Georgian constitution does acknowledge Georgian Orthodoxy’s special role in the nation.

Catholics, meanwhile, constitute only one percent of Georgia’s population, while members of the Armenian Apostolic Church (which is Oriental Orthodox) are three percent, and Muslims are more than 10 percent.

Fr. Akaki Chelidze, a Camillian Father who serves as chancellor of the Apostolic Administration of the Caucasus, spoke about the situation in Georgia.

He said the Orthodox Church in Georgia has always considered itself the “necessary glue to keep the nation together.” This is probably why it considers other religious denominations as “rivals, or even obstacles, for the unity of the country.”

The delicate situation with the Georgian Orthodox Church could overshadow the papal visit there.

Relations between Catholics and Orthodox are cool: It is no coincidence that there will be no common prayer celebrated by Pope Francis and Patriarch Ilia II, though it is a sign of goodwill that the patriach was present at the Pope’s arrival at Tbilisi airport on Friday.

The way from the airport to downtown Tbilisi, as well as the streets where the Pope passed, were decorated with Vatican and Georgian imagery, but there was no sign or banner to signal the arrival of the Pope.

Not until Sept. 29 was a banner celebrating the Pope’s visit set up on the side of the Catholic Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption. The banner went up while Bishop Giuseppe Pasotto, Apostolic Administrator of the Caucasus, was saying Mass in the cathedral.

Fr. Chelidze spoke about the broader cultural context.

“The Georgian Orthodox Church is very much linked (even senselessly) to the Russian form of anti-Catholicism,” explained the priest, adding that this anti-Catholic attitude has increased in the course of the years.

The Catholic portion of the population does not expand, due in part to the Georgian Orthodox Church’s regard for Catholic baptisms as invalid: If a Catholic wants to marry a Georgian Orthodox, they must submit to an (attempted) second baptism.

“Pope Francis will not perhaps have the warm welcome he had in Armenia, as the word ‘ecumenism’ cannot even be pronounced in Georgia,” Fr. Chelidze stressed.

There will not be a common prayer of the Pope and Ilia II, but neither was there a common prayer back in 1999, during the visit of St. John Paul II.

Fr. Chelidze said it is still a positive development that the patriarchate said the Pope will be “welcomed in the best way possible.” It is also positive that some people of Georgia, even non-Catholics, are happy for the visit.

Given the delicacy of the issue of Catholic-Orthodox relations, the Pope will likely not mention it during his speeches.

According to Fr. Chelidze, Pope Francis’ visit will mostly concern meeting with the local Catholic Church, to which Pope Francis will provide guidance concerning pastoral care and commitment to charity.

Considering the Caucasus situation, peace will certainly be a core issue.

The most known conflicts in the Georgia are the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia; they were the subject of a war with Russia in 2008. They have declared their independence from Georgia, and are administered by Russia.

Fr. Chelidze said that given the political and socio-economic difficulties, the Georgian people are “waiting to be encouraged.”

According to the priest, the papal trip fills the heart of the Catholic Church in Georgia with hope and recalls the prayer of Jesus Christ for his disciples.

“It will be good to hear the Holy Father talking about ‘that they may be one,’ that is, the communion among the different Catholic rites,” Fr. Chelidze said.

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Body of third priest kidnapped in Mexico found

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

(Vivver via Shutterstock)

Vatican City — Less than a week after two Catholic priests in Mexico were found murdered after having been abducted from their parishes, the body of a third slain priest, Fr. José Alfredo López Guillén, has been found.

Fr. López Guillén, pastor of Janamuato in Mexico’s central state of Michoacan, was taken from the rectory of his parish by unknown persons Monday, Sept. 19. His car had been found overturned on a road nearby.

According to a message written on the archdiocese’s Facebook page, the priest had been killed several days before his lifeless body was found near the town of near Puruandiro.

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.

According to the Catholic Multi Media Center, 15 priests have been killed in Mexico in less than four years. The majority of the killings have taken place in areas plagued by drug violence, which continues to terrorize country and frequently targets priests, since the Catholic Church is one of the most vocal in speaking out against cartel crimes and activities.

Pope Francis, who has often condemned drug related crime and violence in Mexico, voiced his closeness to the country’s bishops in his Sunday Angelus address.

He offered his support to the commitment of the Church and of civil society in Mexico to “in favor of the family and of life, which in this time require special pastoral and cultural attention throughout the world.”

“I also assure of my prayer for the dear Mexican people, so that the violence which has in these days also affected some priests, ceases.”

In a video posted on YouTube Sept. 22, Cardinal Alberto Suárez Inda of Morelia, capital of Michoacan and one of the most troubled cities in Mexico, 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 asked that the captors would “respect his person and his life, so 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,” he said, and prayed for peace, for respect for life, and for the conversion “of those who dedicate themselves to doing evil.”

“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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Mexicans flood the capital to defend marriage – with Pope Francis’ blessing

by Alvaro de Juana (CNA/EWTN News) • September 26, 2016

March for the Family in Mexico on Sept. 24, 2016. (Barbara Bustamante/CNA)

Mexico City, Mexico — Some 400,000 people filled the streets of Mexico City on Saturday to protest the Mexican government’s attempt to redefine marriage as anything but a union between one man and one woman.

Juan Dabdoub Giacoman, president of the Mexican Council of the Family, which helped organize the event, told CNA on Sept. 10 that the march was “historic” and an “example of the awakening of Mexico.”

“It is a march to express to politicians and leaders of the country that this is really what Mexican society is searching for, which is not what gender ideology and the international LGBT movement is promoting.”

After Mass on Sept. 25, Pope Francis voiced his support of the Mexican bishops’ role in supporting the march, and their efforts for society “in favor of family and life, which at this time require special pastoral and cultural attention throughout the world.”

The size and reach of the protests came as a surprise, even for event organizers, Dabdoub told CNA.

“Mexico really isn’t characterized as being a country with great social participation,” he explained. “Civically, we have been very apathetic and this awakening to the national level was shocking and surprised us.”

“The family is the fundamental cell of society,” Dabdoub said. “But what the president proposed not only fails to protect it, but shatters it.”

“If we send our message and show that there are many people willing to go out and face what is happening now, we will have the opportunity for politicians to reverse the situation and begin to make the changes Mexicans need,” he asserted.

Sept. 24 marked the country’s second March for the Family. The march brought together more than 400,000 people to protest against efforts by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to push for same-sex marriage and to show the Mexican people’s support for marriage and the family.

During this year’s event, the organization announced that it would create a permanent civic movement in defense of the family and marriage. The organization also relayed their request to meet with President Peña Nieto in order to promote a Citizens’ Initiative to strengthen the family and also to create the National Institute of the Family.

Mario Romo, director of Family Network, said after the event that “the response was overwhelming. This is a great gift that we all made to our country.”

He also pointed to the existence of two citizens’ initiatives “seeking to protect marriage between man and woman.”

“One in the Senate, which came this year in in February with more than 250,000 signatures, and another in the Congress that 30,000 people went to present on September 1, and was signed by 50 federal deputies,” he told CNA.

Romo encouraged Mexican citizens not to be afraid and to “say what they want and what they do not want. This is a sign that when we unite, citizens can be heard. “

In addition, Jose Enrique Guzman, counsel for ADF International in Mexico, highlighted the importance of defending the rights of parents to educate their children, “according to our convictions and principles.”

“Our children have a right to be educated in a natural way. We all come from mom and dad, we all have the right to be educated by a father and mother, and to education in schools that conforms to our convictions and principles as Mexicans,” Guzman told CNA.

“We are not marching to be homophobic, we are not marching to spit on someone nor to discriminate against someone. On the contrary, we are here to demonstrate and that in a democracy such as that of Mexico, biology is enforced and not an ideology,” he said.

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This priest, martyred in a concentration camp, is now a blessed

by CNA/EWTN News • September 26, 2016

Blessed Engelmar Unzeitig, who was beatified on Sept. 24, 2016. (CMM engelmarunzeitig.de)

Würzburg, Germany — Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig, a priest of the Mariannhill Mission society who was interred in the Nazi’s Dachau concentration camp and has been recognized as a martyr, was beatified during a Mass on Saturday.

Bishop Friedhelm Hofmann of Würzburg said during his homily for the Sept. 24 Mass at the city’s cathedral that Fr. Unzeitig, known as the “Angel of Dachau”, brought the light of God’s goodness to the place where his presence “is least expected.”

Fr. Unzeitig lived under a “dehumanizing dictatorship,” Bishop Hofmann noted, saying, “we can learn from him not to subject ourselves to a dictatorship, even a dictatorship of opinions.”

The following day, before leading pilgrims to Rome in the Angelus, Pope Francis made note of the beatification, saying that “Killed in hatred of the faith” Fr. Unzeitig “opposed hatred with love, and answered ferocity answered with meekness. May his example help us to be witnesses of charity and hope even in the midst of tribulations.”

Fr. Unzeitig was born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1911, and he joined the seminary at the age of 18 and became a priest for the Mariannhill Mission Society, whose motto is: “If no one else will go: I will go!”

He was arrested by the Nazis in 1941, when he was only 30 years old and had been a priest but two years, serving in Germany and Austria.

His crime was having preached against the Third Reich from his pulpit, particularly against their treatment of the Jewish people. He encouraged his congregation to be faithful to God and to resist the lies of the Nazi regime.

As punishment, Fr. Unzeitig was sent to what has been called the “largest monastery in the world”: Dachau concentration camp, which became renowned for the number of ministers and priests within its walls.

The camp housed some 2,700 clergy, roughly 95 percent of whom were Catholic priests from Poland, making it one of the largest residences for priests in the history of the Church – hence the name.

While imprisoned at the camp, Father studied Russian in order to be able to help the influx of prisoners from Eastern Europe, and had a reputation at the camp as a holy man.

For several years, Fr. Unzeitig was able to remain in relatively stable health despite the poor treatment he received. However, when a wave of the often-fatal typhoid fever swept through the camp in 1945, he and 19 other priests volunteered to do what no one else wanted to – care for the sick and dying in the typhoid barracks, an almost-certain death sentence in and of itself. He and his companions spent their days bathing and caring for the sick, praying with them, and offering last rites.

Despite his bleak circumstances, Fr. Unzeitig found his hope and joy in his faith, as evidenced in letters to his sister from the camp:

“Whatever we do, whatever we want, is surely simply the grace that carries us and guides us. God’s almighty grace helps us overcome obstacles … love doubles our strength, makes us inventive, makes us feel content and inwardly free. If people would only realize what God has in store for those who love him!” he wrote.

In another letter he wrote:

“Even behind the hardest sacrifices and worst suffering stands God with his Fatherly love, who is satisfied with the good will of his children and gives them and others happiness.”

Eventually, on March 2, 1945, Fr. Unzeitig succumbed to typhoid fever himself. Dachau was liberated by American soldiers just a few weeks later, on April 29.

In recognition of his heroic virtue, Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig was declared venerable by Benedict XVI in 2009, and Pope Francis acknowledged him as a martyr in January, which opened the path for his beatification.

Some 1,800 people participated in the beatification Mass at the Würzburg cathedral. Several representatives of the Czech government were present, as well as members of the Mariannhill missionaries and the bishop of an Austrian diocese where Fr. Unzeitig had served.

His feast is to be celebrated March 2, the anniversary of his death.

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WORLD NEWS

Syrian children to unite in prayer for an end to violence

by CNA/EWTN News • September 26, 2016

Syrian children. (Eoghan Rice via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Aleppo, Syria — Christian and Muslim children of Aleppo, Syria will gather together in prayer on October 6 to plead for an end to the violence and devastation in their city and country.

Archbishop Boutros Marayati, the head of the Armenian Catholic archieparchy in Aleppo, told a mission society news agency that the initiative will involve mostly primary school-aged children, who will add their signatures and fingerprints to an appeal to all world leaders, asking them to help stop the violence.

“But above all, they will pray. They will pray for all of their peers,” the Archbishop told Agenzia Fides, the information service for the Pontifical Mission Societies.

“And we trust in the fact that children’s prayer is more powerful than ours,” he added.

Last month, the bloodied, dusty face of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, sitting shell-shocked in the back of an ambulance after his house had been bombed, brought new attention to the plight of Syrian children caught in the crossfires of the ongoing war. Since then, many more photos and videos of children caught or killed in the rubble have emerged, sparking increased humanitarian pleas on their behalf.

The already dire situation in Syria has only worsened in recent days and weeks as an attempted ceasefire collapsed and other diplomacies failed. Since Friday morning, hundreds of airstrikes have battered neighborhoods in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, killing an estimated 100 people and leaving at least 50 more, including children, trapped under the rubble.

The recent use of so-called bunker-busting bombs, which weigh about a ton and can blast through two meters of underground, reinforced concrete have only added to the horror and destruction in the past few days.

A humanitarian truce, called for by the United Nations and brokered this month by the United States and Russia, fell apart less than a week after its institution after U.S. forces struck a Syrian position killing dozens of soldiers, though the move was reportedly unintentional.

The Syrian civil war, which began in March 2011, has claimed the lives of between and estimated 280,000 and 470,000 people, and forced 4.8 million to become refugees, about half of them children. Another 8 million Syrians are believed to have been internally displaced by the violence.

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

Catholic leaders in the city, including Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart of Aleppo, have made continual appeals to the international faith community for prayers and humanitarian aid.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last week that the continued fighting and horror in Aleppo shows the failure of the international community.

“The Syrian tragedy shames us all,” he said. “The collective failure of the international community should haunt every member of this Council.”

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WORLD NEWS

After U.N. action, bishops call for a world without nuclear weapons

by CNA/EWTN News • September 27, 2016

(Romanova Natali via Shutterstock)

Washington D.C. — A U.N. resolution against further nuclear weapons tests drew praise from the U.S. Catholic bishops, who repeated their support for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty in the wake of North Korean weapons tests.

The U.S. bishops’ conference “welcomes the action of the U.N. Security Council as encouraging this important step toward a world without nuclear weapons,” Bishop Oscar Cantú of Las Cruces, N.M. said Sept. 23.

The prelate, who chairs the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, said the U.S. bishops have long supported ratification of a comprehensive test ban.

On Friday, the United Nations Security Council approved a resolution that called on countries to refrain from nuclear weapons testing. It presented the avoidance of nuclear weapons testing as an international norm.

The resolution, proposed by the United States, passed with 14 votes and the abstention of Egypt. The Wall Street Journal said the resolution was largely symbolic.

Sept. 24 marked the 20th anniversary of the launch of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

At present 166 countries, including the Holy See, have signed and ratified the treaty. A total of 183 countries have signed the treaty but have not ratified it, including the United States.

The U.S. failed to ratify the treaty in a 1999 Senate vote, although it has observed a national moratorium on nuclear weapons testing since 1992.

The nuclear test ban treaty will not take effect until the U.S. and seven other hold-out nations, North Korea, Egypt, Iran, Israel, China, India and Pakistan, ratify it.

North Korea carried out its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9. It said it detonated a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on ballistic rockets, CNN reports. The explosion was estimated at about 10 kilotons, about two-thirds the power of the bomb the U.S. dropped on Hiroshima during the Second World War.

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WORLD NEWS

For Cardinal Parolin, Colombia’s peace deal the start of ‘a better future’

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

Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos (l) and FARC leader Timoleón Jiménez (r) shake hands after signing the peace deal on Sept. 26, 2016. (Presidencia El Salvador via Flickr/Public domain)

Cartagena, Colombia — Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin praised the signing of a peace agreement in Colombia on Monday, telling Colombians that a better future is possible, while also stressing that reconciliation is a commitment everyone must make, and which begins with those who have suffered.

Cardinal Parolin spoke from Cartagena, where he said Mass Sept. 26 to mark the signing of the peace agreement between the country’s government and FARC rebels. He was present on behalf of Pope Francis for the signing of the agreement, where attendees dressed in white to symbolize peace.

“You can build a different future in which you can coexist without massacring each other and which possesses different convictions,” the cardinal said Sept. 26.

He stressed that while recent decades have been challenging, it’s possible to achieve a brighter future “within the framework of the respect of democratic rules, of human dignity, and of the Catholic tradition of this great nation.”

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 had been engaged in peace talks in Cuba since 2012.

The deal brings a much-awaited end to the 52-year conflict. It was signed Sept. 26 in front of a large group of diplomatic delegations and will be submitted to a popular vote by the Colombian people Oct. 2.

The accord, which will incorporate some of FARC’s leadership into the government in exchange for their disarmament and renunciation of kidnapping and drug trafficking, has been welcomed by many, but some – including former president Alvaro Uribe – charge that it is too lenient on the FARC.

In his homily for the Mass honoring the agreement, Cardinal Parolin said that while the deal marks the end of a long negotiation, it also signals the beginning of “a process, still open, of change which requires the support and respect of all Colombians.”

Colombia “must ease the pain of so many of its citizens who are humiliated and oppressed by violence, it must stop the hatred and change the course of history in order to build a better future within just and strong institutions,” he said.

The most effective way to do this, he said, is to start by rebuilding “the dignity of those who suffer” and have suffered due to the conflict. However, in order to do this, one must draw near to these people “without time restrains, to the point of identifying oneself with them.”

When it comes to true peace, the kind for which Colombia yearns, goes beyond “the necessary pursuit of certain structures or conventions,” and centers on the “reconstruction of the person,” the cardinal said.

“In fact, it’s in the wounds of the human heart where the deepest causes of the conflict that in recent decades has torn this country apart are found.”

Only God is able to give us the strength to address and overcome these problems, Cardinal Parolin said, explaining that the signing of the peace agreement shouldn’t be considered as just “one more event,” but as a show of confidence in the authorities and all who follow the situation with prayer.

“We ask God to grant us the heroism of solidarity, which is necessary to fill, in truth and in justice, the abyss of the evil produced by violence,” he said.

Colombia has experienced “in its own flesh that the ambition of money and power, and, because of this, the exploitation of man by man, forced displacement, violence and the disregard of human dignity of the victims, among other scourges, constantly haunt mankind,” he said.

The cardinal closed his homily by praying to God “for the future of this dear people,” and for the journey the Colombian people will continue to make “on paths of truth, justice and peace.”

In comments to CNA on the signing of the accord, Cardinal Darío Castrillón Hoyos praised the agreement as “something positive” that comes at the end of a long, violent conflict, but he also cautioned that true peace goes beyond paper, and is rooted in goodwill and forgiveness.

Cardinal Castrillon, who was born in Medellín and served the Church in Colombia from 1952 to 1996, is known to have spoken out vocally against the violence and terrorism of the conflict, encouraging the Church to help in peace efforts.

“I believe only in a signature that has the harmony of the Trinitarian God … I do not believe in a peace that doesn’t forgive; this is not the peace of Christ; I do not believe in a peace that deceives and is made for political gain,” said the president emeritus of the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei, explaining that a superficial peace which continues to destroy is not real.

Peace, he said, implies a renouncement from weapons and drug trafficking, “which are powerful in this world,” as well as an authentic desire to respect the other party.

“If in the moment that of signing I don’t think you should be respected, this signature means nothing,” he warned, but said “we are happy” that an agreement has finally been reached, because “among many negative things, this can also be something positive.”

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WORLD NEWS

Mexico may be the most dangerous country to be a priest

by David Ramos (CNA/EWTN News) • September 28, 2016

The Zocalo in Mexico City. (Saul Trabanca via Flickr CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

Mexico City, Mexico — With 15 priests killed in the last four years, Mexico is the most dangerous country to exercise priestly ministry in the entire world, Father Hugo Valdemar, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Mexico, said recently.

In a report published Sept. 21, the research unit of the Catholic Multimedia Center recorded 14 murders of priests from 2012 to 2016. The death of Fr. José Alfredo López Guillén, whose body was found the night of Sept. 24, brings that number to 15.

Speaking to CNA, Fr. Valdemar stated that “it has become clear that Mexico is the country where ministers of the Catholic Church are most at risk.”

“Which is even surprising because there is still more risk in Mexico than, for example, in Syria or in those countries where Christians are persecuted by the Islamic State.”

Just in the last week, three priests were murdered in the states of Veracruz and Michoacán. Fathers Alejo Nabor Jiménez Juárez and José Alfredo Juárez de la Cruz were kidnapped and then murdered in the town of Poza Rica inVeracruz.

Fr. López, the pastor of Janamuato, was kidnapped Sept. 19 in Michoacán. His body was found on Sept. 24 near Puruándiro.

In both cases Mexican authorities have sought to deny that these homicides were linked to organized crime, though Veracruz and Michoacán have faced years of violence from drug cartels.

Fr. Valdemar said that in these last three crimes “the states where they occurred, in a highly irresponsible way, have wanted to deny this was carried out by organized crime.” He charged that the state governments “don’t want to accept the state of affairs with organized crime, which has become uncontrollable in these areas.”

He added that the kidnapping and murder of the three priests “demonstrates the gravity of the situation” in Mexico.

“If there is no respect for a priest, who are generally highly respected in Mexico, then you can imagine the rest of the population. If they kill, extort, and rob a priest, imagine what it’s like for the rest of the population, which is even more vulnerable, more unprotected than are we priests.”

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WORLD NEWS

Is your birth control making you depressed?

by CNA/EWTN News • September 29, 2016

(Unsplash/Catholic News Agency)

Washington D.C. — For the millions of women using hormonal birth control, side effects are nothing new.

Headaches, mood swings and weight gain are all commonly reported side effects, not to mention more serious problems such as blood clots and migraines.

But a new, long-term Danish study is now showing a strong connection between hormonal contraception and another adverse effect: the risk of depression, particularly among teens.

“Use of hormonal contraception, especially among adolescents, was associated with subsequent use of antidepressants and a first diagnosis of depression, suggesting depression as a potential adverse effect of hormonal contraceptive use,” stated a Sept. 28 online publication of the Danish Sex Hormone Register Study.

From 2000-2013, more than 1 million women in Denmark were observed for the study, with ages ranging from 15-34. These women came from different backgrounds, with various levels of education and body mass index. They used a range of birth control methods, including IUDs, the pill, patches, and the vaginal ring.

Following these subjects, the study tracked the women’s birth control prescriptions, as well as subsequent antidepressant prescriptions or depression diagnoses. Women included in the study had no previous diagnosis of depression and did not have a history of using antidepressants.

Over the years, the study ultimately drew a clear connection between the use of hormonal birth control and an increased risk of depression, but not all women reacted in the same way.

Although hormonal contraception via devices, like a patch, seemed to have a higher risk than pills, the study overall found that the “use of all types of hormonal contraceptives was positively associated with a subsequent use of antidepressants and a diagnosis of depression.”

In addition, 15-19 year-old teens using a birth control device were shown at a higher risk – about three times more likely – of receiving antidepressant medication compared to the older age groups.

“Adolescent women who used hormonal contraception experienced higher risks than women in general,” the study noted.

The researchers did state that teenage users of progestin-only contraception more frequently use antidepressants compared to non-users, suggesting a connection between depression and synthetic hormones.

The Danish researchers speculate that the use of birth control more adversely affects teens because their brains are still in a crucial developmental stage. Synthetic hormones, such as progestin found in birth control, might be causing havoc in the molding of younger bodies, but experts have yet to find out the exact connection.

“This finding could be influenced by attrition of susceptibility, but also that adolescent girls are more vulnerable to risk factors for depression,” the study stated.

Although it would be hard to definitively state that birth control causes depression, the study did find a strong link between the long-term use of hormonal contraception and the first time use of antidepressants.

“Assessment of the association between the duration of use and the risk for first use of antidepressants demonstrated increasing relative risks with length of use,” the study noted.

“A total of 133,178 first prescriptions of antidepressants and 23,077 first diagnoses of depression were detected during follow-up,” the study found, adding that this number was not reflective of the depressed individuals who did not receive medication.

Moving forward, the study suggested that both women and doctors become aware of these findings and pay particular attention to any mood changes.

“Health care professionals should be aware of this relatively hitherto unnoticed adverse effect of hormonal contraception.”

Birth control has increasingly come under fire in recent years, as science continues to indicate that the high levels of artificial hormones contained within many forms of contraception have negative consequences.

Other recent studies on hormonal birth control have shown that it may be responsible for an increase in breast cancer risk, and that it may change a woman’s biological preference in picking a compatible mate.

The Catholic Church teaches that the use of contraception is immoral because it tries to separate the sexual act from its natural possibility of procreation.

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.

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‘Our generation can stop abortion’, says pro-life leader in Poland

by CNA/EWTN News • September 30, 2016

OneLife march in Los Angeles, California on Jan. 23, 2016. (Archdiocese of Los Angeles)

Warsaw, Poland — Magdalena Korzekwa-Kaliszuk, director of campaigns for CitizenGo in Poland, has pointed to last week’s progress of a bill in the Polish parliament banning abortion as a “triple victory,” saying, “our generation can stop abortion.”

On Sept. 23, with a 267-154 vote in favor, Polish lawmakers sent a bill that seeks the total ban of abortion in the country to committee for further consideration.

Abortion is currently allowed in the case of rape or incest, grave risk to the health of the mother, and serious deformities in the baby in the womb. At most, 2,000 legal abortions are procured annually in Poland, though it is estimated that there may be 10,000 performed illegally, according to the BBC.

The legislative proposal will be debated for an unlimited time until a final draft is written, which will finally be submitted to a vote by all members of parliament, which is ruled by the Law and Justice Party.

It came to parliament after a citizens’ group, Stop Abortion, delivered a petition with 450,000 signatures calling for a complete ban on abortion. The bill would criminalize the performance of abortion by physicians.

Speaking to Actuall news Sept. 28, Korzekwa-Kaliszuk explained that “this is the first time that a citizen initiative focused on stopping abortion … which was introduced with almost a half a million citizen signatures, has been passed by parliament thanks to 267 votes in favor, 11 abstentions, and 154 against and now will be debated in the Justice and Human Rights Committee.”

“The second victory came with the defeat of another bill voted on last Friday, introduced by feminists who were calling for abortion on demand for the first 12 weeks and which was defeated by the majority in the chamber,” she said.

A third victory she noted “has to do with another bill which was also sent to the committee and which limits abortion on the single grounds of serious risk to the mother’s health.”

She said that “this victory is proof that good people cannot just defend these values when they are attacked, but also take the initiative and change the world.”

Korzekwa-Kaliszuk expressed her confidence that Poland’s case “can spread to other countries in the European Union so they can stop abortion.”

Currently, the only European states that ban abortion entirely are Malta and Vatican City.

“It must serve as an argument for those pro-lifers who are under a lot of pressure and think that change is not possible, because the protection of life from conception is possible, and it’s happening in Poland now,” she pointed out.

While she expressed caution because “we have to hope that the law will finally be changed,” the Polish pro-life leader emphasized that “this victory means that Poland has an unique opportunity to end the legacy of communism, when abortion was available without a problem for Poles.”

“In 1993 the first great change was wrought and it significantly limited the number of legal abortions in the country, but not all could be prevented. In recent years, abortions performed in Poland were about 1,000 a year and most of them, almost 90 percent, were for fetal deformities.”

Korzekwa-Kaliszuk added that “all pro-life Poles are aware the fact that the battle is not over and that the most important votes will take place in the coming months.”

There are many dangers, she warned, including that both the bill limiting grounds and the one totally banning abortion “can be held up for months in the parliament committee, and can be amended or even voted down.”

The Polish parliament, she said “is full of pro-life people,” but there are also politicians “who perhaps have doubts, are scared and under a lot of political pressure.”

“We must support Poland, Polish MPs and Polish citizens, and their pro-life initiatives. That’s what we need now!” she encouraged.

Korzekwa-Kaliszuk said that “many European politicians may be alarmed and try to stop this good opportunity for Poland” but that Poland, while “a full member of the European Union, is an independent country and depends on its citizens, who want to protect the lives of the unborn.”

“I’m also sure that among EU politicians there are people who support this incredible opportunity for Poland,” she said.

The pro-life leader said that “good brings about more good, and so we’re prepared to start this change not only in Poland, but also in Europe.”

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U.S. NEWS

Catholic event aims to answer ‘challenging’ sexuality questions with charity

by CNA/EWTN News • September 24, 2016

(Zoltan Voros via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Phoenix, AZ — A Catholic-run conference aims to help clergy, lay ministers, and medical and mental health professionals provide better support for people who experience same-sex attraction or confusion about sexual identity.

Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of Phoenix and Father Paul Check, the executive director of Courage International, invited to the conference clergy, vowed religious, lay ministers and other relevant professionals in a Sept. 15 letter.

“The ‘Truth and Love’ project endeavors to bring the clarity and charity of Catholic teaching to challenging questions, while never losing sight of individual people,” they said. The event aims to offer “sound practical and pastoral guidance.”

The Truth and Love Conference, now in its third edition, will be held Jan. 9-11, 2017 in Phoenix, Ariz. at St. Paul Catholic Church. The conference’s sponsors are the Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, the Catholic apostolate Courage, and the Catholic publishing company Our Sunday Visitor.

Among the clergy to speak will be Bishop Olmsted, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, and auxiliary Bishop Michael J. Byrnes of Detroit. Fr. Check will speak, as will Courage associate director Fr. Philip Bochanski.

Other speakers include Deacon Timothy Flanigan, M.D., a Brown Medical School professor who has been a leader in HIV care; Dr. Andrew W. Lichtenwalner, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth; and Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse, founder of the Ruth Institute.

Several of those who appeared in the Courage documentary “Desire of the Everlasting Hills” will speak at the conference, including writer and speaker Daniel Mattson and Rilene Simpson.

The conference will include testimony from people who experience same-sex attractions on how the Church and chaste friendships have helped them journey towards chastity and sanctity, organizers said.

Experts will speak on a Christian view of humanity, natural law, Scripture, chastity and the psychology of homosexuality.

The conference will also discuss how pastors, family and friends can best love those who experience same-sex attractions or sexual identity confusion. It aims to provide “practical recommendations and tools” for communicating Catholic teaching on homosexuality and sexual identity to parishes, schools and students. These recommendations aim to be “an integral part of the New Evangelization,” the conference said.

The conference will open and close with a Mass.

Registration and more information is available at the conference website: truthandlove.com.

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Archbishop Gomez: It’s time to end the death penalty

by CNA/EWTN News • September 24, 2016

Archbishop José H. Gomez at the second annual Immigration Summit at Christ Cathedral on Feb. 27, 2016. (Los Angeles Archdiocese)

Los Angeles, CA — Californians should vote for Proposition 62, a ballot measure to end the death penalty, the Archbishop of Los Angeles has said in a reflection on justice, Catholic teaching and American society.

“It is time for us to end the death penalty – not only in California but throughout the United States and throughout the world,” Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said Sept. 21.

“In a culture of death, I believe mercy alone can be the only credible witness to the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person.”

His essay is part of a special issue of the Los Angeles archdiocese’s newsweekly Angelus dedicated to the Church and the death penalty.

Rather than condemn criminals to death, he said, Christians “should pray for their conversion and encourage their rehabilitation and ultimate restoration to society.”

Those who seek an end to the death penalty must not forget the victims of crime and their loved ones.

“We entrust them to the Father of mercies and we pray that he grant them healing and peace,” the archbishop continued.

California’s ballot measure Prop. 62, which is on the November ballot, would replace the death penalty with lifetime in prison without parole.

Public opinion survey results have been mixed.

A Sept. 1-8 online poll of 1,909 registered voters sponsored by the USC Dornslife College and the Los Angeles Times found that only 40 percent of registered voters would approve the proposal. Another survey, run by the Field Poll, polled 942 likely voters Sept.7-13. It found support from 48 percent of voters and opposition from 37 percent.

Another ballot measure, Prop. 66, would limit the appeal process for death row inmates and shorten the time from sentencing to execution.

Archbishop Gomez cited St. John Paul II’s words in his final U.S. visit in 1999, in which the Pope called the death penalty “cruel and unnecessary.”

“The reason is that every life is sacred and every person has a dignity that comes from God,” the archbishop explained. “This is true for the innocent and it is true for the guilty. It is true even for those convicted of the most violent crimes.”

He acknowledged historical Catholic support for the death penalty.

“The Catholic Church has always taught that legitimate governments have the right to impose the death penalty on those guilty of the most serious crimes. This teaching has been consistent for centuries — in the Scriptures, in the writings of the Church Fathers and in the teachings of the Popes,” he said.

“But in recent years, there has been a growing consensus that the use of the death penalty can no longer be accepted.”

Archbishop Gomez cited a “strange appetite for violence” in American culture, violent video games, demeaning music and entertainments.

“In this cultural context, I do not see how the death penalty can ever again express society’s ultimate value for human life. In this cultural context, the death penalty can only function as one more killing.”

Archbishop Gomez and the Los Angeles archdiocese’s Office of Life, Justice and Peace have established a website supporting a Yes vote on Proposition 62, killingisntjustice.org.

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Pope taps parish priest as new bishop of Lubbock

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

Opening Mass for the Synod of Bishops on the Family on Oct. 8, 2015. (Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk)

Vatican City — The Vatican announced Tuesday that Pope Francis has named Msgr. Robert Milner Coerver, a parish priest from the Diocese of Dallas, as the new bishop-elect for Lubbock, Texas.

Msgr. Coerver, pastor of St. Rita Parish in Dallas, will be taking over for Bishop Plácido Rodríguez, who has been leading the diocese since 1994, but who will now retire after having reached the normal age limit of 75.

Born June 6, 1954, in Dallas, Msgr. Coerver grew up as part of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish before beginning his studies in philosophy at Dallas’ Holy Trinity Seminary.

He was then sent to the Pontifical North American College in Rome to study theology, where he was also enrolled in courses at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas and the Pontifical Gregorian University.

The bishop-elect was ordained a priest June 27, 1980, for the diocese of Dallas, and in 1981 received a Licentiate in Spiritual Theology from the Gregorian University.

Later, in 1990, he obtained a Masters’ degree in Counseling and Guidance from Texas A & M University – Commerce, formerly known as East Texas State University.

After his ordination, Msgr. Coerver served as assistant pastor at St. Elizabeth of Hungary Parish in Dallas as well as St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Plano until 1985.

For the next 11 years he served as a spiritual director at Holy Trinity Seminary on the campus of the University of Dallas. In 1996 he moved fulltime into diocesan ministry, serving as a spirituality consultant for various programs in the diocese.

In July 1997, he was appointed Director of the Office of Sacramental Life for the diocese, and in 2003 was named Director of Priestly Life and Ministry. He was given the title “Chaplain to His Holiness” by St. John Paul II in 2004, allowing him to be addressed as “Monsignor,” rather than “Father.”

On March 16, 2005, Msgr. Coerver was named as pastoral administrator of Our Lady of the Lake Church in Rockwall, Texas. One year later he was named pastor of the parish, where he served until 2010, when he was appointed to his current position as pastor of St. Rita Parish in Dallas.

Since 2008, Msgr. Coerver has also served as a member and Chairman of the Presbyteral Council of the Diocese of Dallas.

Details on the day and time of his episcopal ordination have yet to be announced.

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Should Catholics be worried that faith was barely mentioned at the debate?

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • September 27, 2016

Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump face off in the first presidential debate At Hofstra University. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Washington D.C. — There were few direct statements about faith by the two presidential candidates in Monday’s debate. But that is not necessarily a cause for worry, Catholic analysts said.

Monday’s event was only “the first of three presidential debates,” noted Dr. Matthew Bunson, senior contributor to EWTN, and the candidates did not have “many opportunities” to discuss faith issues because of the structure of the debate, which focused mainly on national security, the economy, and the direction of the country.

“And I think they were much more concerned with going at each other than they were with bolstering their image with faith voters,” Bunson said of presidential candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.

However, Bunson expects that there will be more mention of faith at the Oct. 4 vice presidential debate between Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), a Roman Catholic, and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence (R), who was raised Catholic but currently identifies as an evangelical Christian.

Presidential contenders Trump and Clinton officially debated for the first time on Monday evening at Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y.

Clinton has identified as a Methodist; Trump has said he is a Presbyterian Protestant at Marble Collegiate Church in New York, but the church has clarified that he is not a regular attendee.

Throughout the evening, they fielded questions from moderator Lester Holt, the anchor of the NBC Nightly News, on issues of the economy, national security, race relations and civil unrest, and their own personal lives. However, their own faith and the role of faith in today’s public square were topics largely absent from the conversation.

Sara Huckabee Sanders, a Trump advisor and daughter of former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, said the lack of talk of faith was “a little bit” concerning.

“I think that particularly when it came to the conversation on race relations, that’s where I think faith could have played a really big role. But I think that both candidates have talked some about that in the past,” she said.

However, both Trump and Clinton have already reached out to “galvanize” their religious bases, Bunson noted, so they didn’t necessarily need to do so in the debate.

Clinton has reached out to supporters in the mainline Protestant congregations as well as “more secular voters” who may have voted for her primary opponent Sen. Bernie Sanders (D-Vt.); Trump has courted Evangelical Christians and – “somewhat belatedly,” Bunson suggested – Catholics, in recently naming a list of over 30 prominent Catholic advisors.

While issues like religious liberty, marriage, and abortion were not mentioned at the debate, the candidates did touch on issues directly affecting families, like “pocketbook issues” and “paid leave,” Joshua Mercer of CatholicVote.org told CNA.

And in the debate section on racial tensions, Clinton did mention the importance of churches helping to ease tensions between African-American communities and the police: “And so we need to do a better job of working, again, with the communities, faith communities, business communities, as well as the police to try to deal with this problem.”

The U.S. bishops have spoken out prominently about racial tensions, holding a Day of Prayer for Peace on Sept. 9 and announcing that a new pastoral letter on racism is in the works.

Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, created a task force in July to investigate what dioceses could better do to heal racial tensions and address problems plaguing certain communities. He did so after protests in several cities occurred over incidents of young black men being shot by police officers, as well as nationwide horror after a retaliatory killing of five police officers in Dallas.

Archbishop Kurtz condemned the violence while also calling attention to the serious problems many urban communities face, including drug abuse, unemployment, and lack of access to quality education and affordable housing.

Last week, riots broke out in Charlotte, N.C. and protests in Tulsa, Okla. after the deaths of young black men in those cities in dealing with the police.

When asked how they would, as president, work to heal racial tensions, Clinton discussed the various problems affecting minority communities like gun violence, housing, education, and “the systemic racism in our criminal justice system,” while Trump focused more on gun laws and the importance of “law and order.”

“Unfortunately, race still determines too much, often determines where people live, determines what kind of education in their public schools they can get, and, yes, it determines how they’re treated in the criminal justice system,” Clinton said.

She also praised the positive aspects of many of these communities, “the vibrancy of the black church, the black businesses that employ so many people, the opportunities that so many families are working to provide for their kids.”

Another subject that was absent from Monday’s conversation was the issue of abortion, despite a recent Knights of Columbus/Marist poll showing that almost two-thirds of Americans want Hyde Amendment protections so taxpayers don’t directly fund abortions, and 60 percent of respondents saying abortion should be limited to the first trimester at most.

Kellyanne Conway, a pollster who is now campaign manager for Trump, wished the life issue has been asked about by the moderator so that “Americans should know that Hillary Clinton is for late-term abortion.”

When pressed that many pro-life voters still have serious concerns about Trump’s commitment to the pro-life cause given his statements in the past, Conway said “they shouldn’t have those concerns,” pointing to Trump’s present support for the pro-life cause and his pledges to major pro-life legislative goals like a late-term abortion ban and to “make permanent the Hyde Amendment.”

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New technology unveils contents of ancient Biblical scrolls

by CNA/EWTN News • September 27, 2016

Dead Sea Scrolls. (ChameleonsEye via Shutterstock)

Louisville, KY — For the first time in centuries, an ancient Biblical scroll could be read, thanks to a computer scanning technology that can reconstruct a clear text from damaged, unreadable material.

“This work opens a new window through which we can look back through time by reading materials that were thought lost through damage and decay,” Brent Seales, a University of Kentucky professor of computer science, said Sept. 22.

“There are so many other unique and exciting materials that may yet give up their secrets — we are only beginning to discover what they may hold,” Seales added, according to the University of Kentucky.

Seales and his team developed a high-resolution computer scan that will “virtually unwrap” a severely damaged ancient scroll of animal skin with an ink-based text. The scan can create clear, legible text from a wrapped scroll despite the damage.

Analysis of one scroll revealed 35 lines of text from the first two chapters of a version of the Book of Leviticus.

The scroll is at least 1,500 years old. It comes from a 1970 archaeological excavation in the synagogue at En Gedi in Israel. The scroll was badly burned at some point in its life and it was previously undecipherable.

“The discovery of text in the En Gedi scroll absolutely astonished us; we were certain it was a shot in the dark, but the most advanced technologies have brought this cultural treasure back to life,” said Pnina Shor, who is curator and director of the Israel Antiquities Authority’s Dead Sea Scrolls Project.

Seales and Shor are among the co-authors of a study about the project, published Sept. 21 in the Science Advances journal.

Scholars at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem were able to conduct a critical analysis of the recovered text.

The scroll’s text is identical to the Masoretic text, which is often used as the basis for Protestant Bibles’ translations of the Old Testament, the New York Times reports.

The Dead Sea Scrolls found have many small differences compared to the Masoretic text.

Carbon dating of the scroll indicates it is a copy dating back at least to 300 A.D.

Analysis of the script’s style suggests it could date back as 50 A.D. to 100 A.D., according to Ada Yardeni. Yardeni, an expert on Hebrew paleography, analyzed the text in the journal “Textus.”

The new computer technique could reveal the contents of other damaged, unreadable scrolls, such as Dead Sea scrolls found near the Dead Sea. Classical texts from places like Herculaneum, the Greek city destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D., could also be recovered from carbonized scrolls.

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In Minnesota, Christian-Muslim dialogue turns strangers into neighbors

by Bridget Ryder (National Catholic Register) • September 28, 2016

(Photographee.eu via Shutterstock)

St. Cloud, MN — In the aftermath of the mall stabbing of nine people by a Somali-Muslim Sept. 17 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, Muslims called on their friends at the Greater St. Cloud Area Faith Leaders and others for support.

Leaders from various faiths came together to pray and strategize a sensible reaction to the violence. They emerged from their meeting ready to show a united front to a community whose racial-cultural stress points where under heavy pressure.

This wasn’t just a crisis response, but the fruit of almost two years of ongoing Muslim-Christian dialogue.

“It has allowed us to build bridges in the past, and it seemed natural that we would have conversations and stand in solidarity when this happened,” said Kathy Langer, director of social concerns for Catholic Charities of the Diocese of St. Cloud and a member of the Greater St. Cloud Area Faith Leaders group. “We’re friends, so of course we could talk about next steps.”

Since 2014, Catholics in St. Cloud have been sitting down with their Muslim neighbors to talk about their respective religions and get to know each other as human persons. The importance of this dialogue became evident when the rural community, where racial tensions still run high, braced itself for the repercussions of the most recent violence. In addition to the work of the Greater St. Cloud Area Faith Leaders, a local Christian-Muslim dialogue group organizes gatherings with talks by Christians and Muslims and small-group discussions.

The St. Cloud Times has reported harassment of Somali businesses and a city on edge. The once-homogenous college town is still adjusting to the influx of Somali immigrants and refugees that started approximately 10 years ago.

“St. Cloud used to be called ‘white cloud,’ and they were proud of that,” said Sister Helen Rolfson, of the Sisters of St. Francis in Rochester, Minnesota, and chairwoman of the St. Cloud Diocese’s Ecumenical and Interreligious Commission.

Now, among St. Cloud’s approximately 66,000 people, 9% of residents are Somali. But, according to Sister Helen, “some treat it as though it were 50%.” The Christian-Muslim dialogue is helping to ease the racial and cultural friction, and Catholics have taken a strong leadership role in the effort.

Bishop Kettler’s Leadership

Much of the impetus comes directly from the diocese’s shepherd, Bishop Donald Kettler. When he came to St. Cloud in 2013, he made interreligious dialogue a prominent part of his ministry.

“Interfaith and ecumenical dialogue is just a priority of his,” said Joe Towalski, director of communications for the diocese.

Bishop Kettler met informally with local Muslims and leaders of other churches early on, but when a mosque was vandalized in December 2014, it seemed like the right time to formalize the meetings into a recognizable group. Bishop Kettler hosted the first meeting of the Greater St. Cloud Area Faith Leaders in April 2015 at the diocesan chancery.

It has met monthly since then, and the bishop has attended many of the sessions. The organization also hosts an annual picnic.

At the most recent one in August, 250 people — Muslims and Christians — attended and shared a potluck meal. The human interaction is as important as the theological discussion, say members.

“Before this [mall stabbing] we learned to laugh with each other, to eat each other’s food that came out of our own kitchens. Because of this, we could move into this [new discussion due to the mall stabbing] with respect,” Langer said.

Both Langer and Sister Helen agree that having the foundation of mutual respect and friendship built by the ongoing dialogue is key to moving through the new community crisis.

“We have our mission cut out for us,” Sister Helen said.

In an interview with the St. Cloud Times on Sept. 22, Bishop Kettler called on the community to not back away from dialogue and interaction. In his column in the diocesan paper, the St. Cloud Visitor, he also wrote, “This is what I am asking you to do: Don’t be afraid.” He also quoted Pope Francis’ 2015 address to the U.S. Congress, reminding Catholics, “If you want security, give security.”

Dialogue Continues

It seems the flock is heeding the advice of its shepherd.

On Thursday, Sept. 22, almost 300 people filled the parish hall at St. Joseph’s Church in St. Joseph, Minnesota, a small town 10 miles outside of St. Cloud, for a Christian-Muslim dialogue that also welcomed nine Somali-Muslim families into the community. The event was organized locally by an ad hoc group with help from the Interfaith Christian-Muslim Dialogue Group, an organization that started 10 years ago in St. Cloud and has expanded regionally.

Planning started approximately four months ago, when the town’s historic homogeneity was broken by the new arrivals.

“In a town of 6,000, of which 3,000 are students at St. Benedict’s College, the impact was obvious and created some consternation in the community,” said Vince De Vargass, a resident of St. Joseph and organizer of the event.

According to De Vargass, many Somalis have come to Minnesota because the government asked the Lutheran Church to resettle Somali refugees, and there is a large Lutheran presence in Minnesota. Members of the Lutheran church also held a listening session in July to allow St. Joseph residents to express their reactions to the demographic change.

According to De Vargass, the “venting meeting” aired complaints that the Somalis were rude, and solely there to take advantage of American resources. Nevertheless, he thought it helped local white Christians to be more open to dialogue.

In the planning for the Sept. 22 event, De Vargass reached out personally to all of the Somali families in St. Joseph. Then he invited parishioners. The announcement started at the Saturday evening Mass on Sept. 17, before the attacks had taken place. On Sunday morning, he didn’t hold back, reminding parishioners that the actions of one person do not speak for a whole community.

‘These Are Our People’

The evening accomplished exactly what De Vargass had hoped it would.

“The reception was awesome,” De Vargass said. “People found the Somalis jolly, cheerful and talkative. It was not expected in the minds of a lot of people, but they really enjoyed meeting their neighbors.”

Almost all of the Somali families in St. Joseph attended, along with hundreds of Christians. The evening started with three speakers: Crosier Father Virgil Petermeier, a longtime missionary among Muslims; Ayan Omar, a language arts teacher at Technical High School in St. Cloud; and Jama Alimad, a Muslim elder in St. Cloud and executive director of Community Grassroots Solutions. Omar received a standing ovation after sharing her personal story of fleeing her home and starting life over in Minnesota.

After the panel, the Somalis went into sex-separated rooms for their evening prayer. Christians were able to observe. Then attendees were seated at mixed Christian-Muslim tables, and the panel took questions.

De Vargass said they are also working on bringing “English as a Second Language” classes and homework tutoring to their town, in order to continue to help their new neighbors integrate.

As De Vargass said, “This is our town, and these are our people.”

This article was originally published in the National Catholic Register.

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Thousands of students, parents ask Supreme Court to protect bathroom privacy

by CNA/EWTN News • September 28, 2016

(Kristina sohappy via Flickr CC BY 2.0)

Washington D.C. — More than 8,900 students, parents and school community members are asking the U.S. Supreme Court to protect a restroom privacy policy for students in a Virginia school district.

“Placing students in circumstances where their privacy is compromised and they are at risk of bodily exposure in the vicinity of members of the opposite sex is not only demeaning and humiliating, but also denies individuals’ personal dignity,” said a legal brief filed by Alliance Defending Freedom on behalf of the concerned individuals.

“Courts have thus refused to require schools to open sex-specific locker rooms, showers, and restrooms to all students because permanent emotional impairment could result from the deprivation of students’ bodily-privacy rights,” the brief continued. “Instead, they have allowed schools to craft common sense solutions that respect every student’s privacy.”

The brief, filed Wednesday, represented 8,914 concerned parents, students, grandparents, and community members, as well as more than 40 state family policy councils, all of whom support a student privacy policy in Gloucester Country, Virginia.

The policy separates restrooms based on biological sex, while offering a private alternative facility for students who are uncomfortable using the restroom for their sex.

The restroom policy has been challenged in court after a student who was born a girl but identifies as a boy began using the boys’ restroom at school.

The student refused to use a private bathroom because doing so would “make him feel even more stigmatized,” according to court documents, which also said, “Being required to use separate restrooms sets him apart from his peers, and serves as a daily reminder that the school views him as ‘different.’”

A federal court initially denied the student an injunction against the school board’s restroom policy. The circuit court remanded that decision and sent it back, and in June the district court judge ruled that the school district had to allow the student access to the men’s bathroom.

The Supreme Court in August placed a temporary stay on the federal court ruling ordering that the school board must allow the student to use the men’s restroom. The stay will last until the Supreme Court either refuses to hear the case or hears and decides the case.

In its friend-of-the-court brief, Alliance Defending Freedom joins its voice to teachers, U.S. states, former Secretary of Education Bill Bennett, and more than 100 Congress members in asking the Supreme Court to hear the case and overturn the 4th Circuit’s ruling.

“(C)ourts have recognized that the constitutional right of bodily privacy is defined by reasonable expectations, not the bohemian leanings of a few,” the ADF brief said, “and that laws aimed at eliminating sex discrimination were designed to create equal opportunities for women and men, not to force new privacy mores on the American public.”

Gary McCaleb, senior counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom, said that the Circuit’s ruling is “out of step with the law and previous federal court precedent.”

“Decades of court decisions have established that, in light of the right of bodily privacy, no law grants opposite-sex persons access to single-sex facilities, where the interest in privacy is obviously strongest and bodily exposure is so common.”

The U.S. Catholic bishops have spoken about treatment of children identifying as transgender.

“Especially at a young age and in schools, it is important that our children understand the depth of God’s love for them and their intrinsic worth and beauty. Children should always be and feel safe and secure and know they are loved,” Bishop Richard Malone of Buffalo and Archbishop George Lucas of Omaha stated on May 16.

Bishop Malone chairs the U.S. bishops’ family life and youth committee; Archbishop Lucas chairs the bishops’ Catholic education committee.

Nevertheless, federal agencies’ treatment of “‘a student’s gender identity as the student’s sex’ is deeply disturbing,” the bishops continued, citing Pope Francis’ words in Amoris Laetitia that “the young need to be helped to accept their own body as it was created.”

There have been “legitimate concerns about privacy and security on the part of the other young students and parents,” the bishops added of policies that recognize students’ gender identity over their biological sex.

“As Pope Francis has recently indicated, ‘biological sex and the socio-cultural role of sex (gender) can be distinguished but not separated’,” the bishops added.

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U.S. bishops say Amoris Laetitia is deeper than ‘myopic’ commentaries

by CNA/EWTN News • September 29, 2016

(Ivan Galashchuk via Shutterstock)

Washington D.C. — The United States bishops have said that Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation on love in the family, Amoris laetitia, was well-received among local Catholics and has had a broader focus than is sometimes recognized.

Among the dioceses and Catholic organizations that had responded to a survey organized by the U.S. bishops, “many noted that the exhortation had been well received by Catholics in the United States and that the emphasis on accompanying marriages and families was particularly appreciated,” the bishops’ report said.

“It was noted that media reports and commentaries have tended at times to present a myopic view of Amoris laetitia, with interest in only a few topics out of a broad range covered in the exhortation, and that this has sometimes presented a challenge to the proper reception of the document,” the bishops added.

The Pope’s document, known as a post-synodal apostolic exhortation, was published April 8. It follows two global gatherings of bishops at Synod on the Family held at the Vatican in 2015 and 2016.

At the request of Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, the U.S. bishops surveyed bishops and leaders of national Catholic organizations to gauge the reception and implementation of the exhortation in their nation. Responses came from 59 dioceses and 18 national organizations.

Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville, the U.S. bishops’ conference president, commented on the bishops’ report.

“Pope Francis has given us a tremendous gift in Amoris laetitia,” said the archbishop. “May our ongoing reception of it continue to be an opportunity for the whole Church and society to renew their dedication to protect, promote, and strengthen marriages and families.”

For Archbishop Kurtz, the apostolic exhortation offered “a wealth of encouragement, guidance, and wisdom about the beautiful gift and vocation of marriage and family life.”

The U.S. bishops’ report on the document’s reception said the survey responses indicated “excitement” about the document and gratitude for its “hopeful, positive tone about marriage.”

Many bishops and national Catholic leaders said the document has inspired further attention to how to welcome Catholics in irregular marriage situations and how to integrate them into the Church. Other discussion has focused on marriage preparation, marriage ministry, new forms of missionary activity, and how clergy and others can best respond to the needs of families today, especially those in serious difficulties.

Survey responses said priests could use good guidance on effective preaching on Amoris laetitia and confessors need advice on how to assist people in irregular marital relationships.

Respondents desired further resources on the reception of the sacraments as it concerns people in irregular marriage situations. They also desired further explanation of key terms and concepts in the Pope’s exhortation, such as discernment, integration, gradualness, conscience, and mercy.

Respondents stressed “slow and careful” implementation of Amoris laetitia. Many noted the importance of good communication with the Catholic faithful, and the responses also discussed education and formation of the clergy and the re-evaluation and strengthening of marriage-related ministries.

Other ministry fields the responses discussed included natural family planning, chastity, ministry to parents, youth ministry, ministry to those with same-sex attraction or in same-sex relationships, Hispanic and Latino ministry, and ministry to families with children who have special needs.

The diocesan tribunal was also a special focus. Respondents noted the need to educate the laity on the marriage nullity process and to implement fully Pope Francis’ changes that made the nullity process more accessible and without fees.

Archbishop Kurtz said the bishops’ conference looks forward to the development of a renewed, comprehensive pastoral plan for marriage and family life ministry and advocacy, inspired by Pope Francis. This plan will be developed as a “strategic opportunity” for the Church in the U.S. to make incarnate the exhortation’s vision of marriage and family life.

The bishops’ report links to three dioceses that shared their resources on the reception and implementation of Amoris laetitia: the Archdioceses of Washington, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles.

The bishops noted their own efforts to promote the exhortation through news media and social media events and on websites such as usccb.org, foryourmarriage.org, and marriageuniqueforareason.org.

The U.S. bishops will vote in November 2016 on their strategic plan for 2017-2020, including a pastoral plan for marriage and family life ministry.

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Meet the Courage apostolate’s new leader: Fr. Philip Bochanski

by Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • September 29, 2016

Fr. Philip Bochanski. (Carmel Communications)

Washington D.C. — Expansion and further welcoming outreach are the plans for the next head of Courage International, a Catholic apostolate for people with same-sex attraction.

“I look forward to welcoming more courageous men and women in the name of the Church, to hear the stories of how God has been acting in their lives and relationships, and to walk with them along the way to holiness that the Church proposes for our happiness and fulfillment,” said Father Philip G. Bochanski, the apostolate’s new executive director.

Fr. Bochanski told CNA Sept. 28 that he is most impressed with the “spiritual fatherhood” that the apostolate’s chaplains show to Courage and EnCourage members.

“My plan at this point is to continue their good work and do what I can to expand the reach of our local chapters,” he added. ”Today we are present in about two-thirds of the dioceses of the United States, and in 14 countries overseas, but there are many more places in the universal Church that could benefit from our presence and our pastoral work.”

The apostolate was founded in New York City in 1980 when a small group of Catholic men with same-sex attraction and wanted to live chaste lives according to Catholic teaching met with the priest Fr. John F. Harvey, the apostolate’s first director. The group’s five goals are chastity, prayer, fellowship, support and service.

The group also has a ministry outreach to parents and spouses, called EnCourage.

Fr. Bochanski was ordained a priest in 1999 for the Philadelphia archdiocese. He was a pastoral associate in several Philadelphia parishes and a chaplain for the Holy Spirit Adoration Sisters, the Catholic Medical Association’s Philadelphia guild, and the Courage apostolate’s Philadelphia chapter.

He became associate director of Courage last year. He has helped implement the apostolate’s “Courage Study Days” to help form priests about Catholic teaching on homosexuality, how to be clear and compassion in presenting Catholic teaching, and how to provide authentic pastoral care to men and women with same-sex attractions. He has helped oversee existing and new chapters of Courage and EnCourage, a ministry outreach to parents and spouses.

“Courage and EnCourage are, and always have been, about bringing people together for mutual support and encouragement, and about building people up to embrace God’s call and be formed as disciples,” Fr. Bochanski said.

“We are not out to ‘fix’ anyone or to replace anyone’s personality, to put heavy burdens on anyone or to make anyone feel terrible about their lives or their desires,” he added. “As the Church does for every person (regardless of whether their sexual attractions are for the same or the opposite sex), Courage invites each member to embrace chastity in mind, heart and body, and to move away from relationships and behaviors that are not chaste.”

“Along with this invitation comes a promise to support each member as he or she comes to understand chastity more deeply and to live it out more fully,” he said.

Fr. Paul Scalia, chairman of the Courage board of directors, praised Fr. Bochanski’s “great pastoral experience” and his familiarity with the apostolate’s work.

“He has already distinguished himself as a great promoter of the apostolate and we are confident he will continue and build upon the good work of his predecessors,” Fr. Scalia said.

The priest succeeds Fr. Paul Check, who had served as executive director since 2008.

“Fr. Bochanski already has much experience in the work of this vital apostolate and I have every confidence that he will give great service in the years ahead,” Fr. Check said.

Fr. Check himself succeeded Fr. Harvey in 2008. Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Conn. recently named him as the rector of St. John Fisher Seminary Residence in Stamford. Fr. Check will serve on the Courage board of directors.

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia released Fr. Bochanski to take on his new role.

“There’s no better way of showing my support than releasing one of our finest priests, Fr. Philip Bochanski — a perfect candidate to take Fr. Check’s place,” Archbishop Chaput said.

Fr. Bochanski said he is conscious of how questions of homosexuality and sexual identity have become an important issue both in the Church society.

“I will be looking for opportunities to participate in these discussions,” he said.

“Although secular cultural and moral norms seem to be shifting more rapidly than ever before, the truth of the Faith does not change.”

He advised Catholics to make sure they are well-informed about what the Church teaches and look for ways to “speak the truth in love.” They should “share the good news that living chastely and finding our true identity as sons and daughters of God is the way to real happiness and authentic relationships.”

The Courage apostolate’s leadership will be In Phoenix, Ariz. Jan. 9-11 for its “Truth and Love” conference for clergy, religious and laity involved in pastoral care.

The Courage website is couragerc.org.

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U.S. NEWS

L.A. Dodgers host first-ever ‘Catholic Night’

by Michael Wahle (Angelus News) • September 29, 2016

(Catholic News Agency/Public domain)

Los Angeles, CA — On Sept. 2, Dodger Stadium served as the center of a massive Venn diagram of local Catholics and lifelong fans of the Los Angeles Dodgers, as the ballpark hosted its first-ever “Catholic Night.”

The baseball team hosted, fittingly, the San Diego Padres on the field, and actual ordained members of religious life and lay people from throughout the tri-county Archdiocese of Los Angeles in the stands.

Notable Catholics in attendance included Auxiliary Bishop Robert E. Barron and native Angeleno Auxiliary Bishop Joseph V. Brennan, both Dodger fans, who were given the chance to realize the lifelong dream of coming onto the field to throw out ceremonial first pitches.

Both were understandably a tad nervous about tossing the first pitches in front of thousands of people, but were all smiles as they warmed up their arms in their Dodger hats and gear on top of their clerical collars. Bishop Brennan wore a blue Dodgers pullover jacket, while Bishop Barron donned a personalized Dodgers home jersey — and even brought his own baseball mitt to the pitching mound.

“It’s great for the archdiocese; it’s an amazing display of spirit and camaraderie,” says Bishop Barron of the inaugural Catholic Night. “I’m honored to be a part of a night like this that Catholics can share and enjoy together.”

“I have been coming to Dodger Stadium ever since I was a kid, and tonight, I feel like a kid,” shares Bishop Brennan.

Throwing the first pitch was one of many surreal moments throughout the night that made Bishop Brennan feel like a kid. Earlier in the evening, when touring the stadium’s media lobby with Bishop Barron, he was able to meet legendary Dodgers sportscaster Vin Scully, who has been calling Dodger games ever since Bishop Brennan was that young boy listening to his favorite team on his transistor radio.

“That was a childhood dream come true,” he says of meeting Scully. “He was so gracious and so welcoming. And this is a man who has more than a few things to do tonight. The fact that he was willing to make time to introduce himself to me says a lot about him.”

The fact that Scully is not only the legendary “voice of the Dodgers,” but also a devout Catholic, serves as one of many examples of how baseball, according to Bishops Barron and Brennan, can be synonymous with spirituality.

“Among many things, baseball teaches us how to attract people to Church,” explained Bishop Barron in a prior statement. “What attracts people to baseball, initially, is the beauty of the game, the skill of pitching, hitting and catching the baseball and running the bases. The ‘infield fly rule’ and all the other intricate and sometimes arcane rules of any sport only have interest and relevance for people who already know and love the game.”

“Baseball, like our faith, is about teamwork,” adds Bishop Brennan. “It’s about people putting others ahead of themselves and coming together for a common cause. Nights like tonight are a great reminder: ‘It’s not about me; it’s about him.’”

This story originally ran on Angelus News, the daily digital publication of the Archdiocese of LA.

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U.S. NEWS

Critics find dodgy ethics in ‘three-parent baby’ conception

by CNA/EWTN News • September 29, 2016

(Geliatida via Shutterstock)

Washington D.C. — The use of a technique to conceive a “three-parent baby” dodged U.S. law and, critics say, may further alter the relationship between parent and child.

“This fertility doctor openly acknowledged that he went to Mexico where `there are no rules’ in order to evade ongoing review processes and existing regulations in the United States,” said Marcy Darnovsky, PhD, executive director of the Berkeley, Calif.-based think tank Center for Genetics and Society.

“No researcher or doctor has the right to flout agreed-upon rules and make up their own. This is an irresponsible and unethical act, and sets a dangerous precedent.”

U.S. doctors worked in Mexico to avoid U.S. laws that ban the procedures.

They performed the treatment on a Jordanian woman to prevent her from passing on a genetic condition to her child. The condition, called Leigh Syndrome, would be fatal to children due to a defect in mitochondria, the cellular structures that generate energy from food.

The woman and her husband had suffered four miscarriages. One of the children died eight months after birth and another at six years of age.

The doctors took DNA from the mother’s egg and healthy mitochondria from a donor egg to create a new egg to be artificially fertilized. The doctors created five embryos and only one developed normally, BBC News reports.

The boy conceived in the technique was born in April and is now five months old.

Darnovsky wished the infant and his family well, but noted that the Food and Drug Administration had raised “many cautions” about the risk to children conceived in these techniques and possibly to their own children.

“The precedent is very troubling – both in the sense of scientists who should know better `going rogue’ with a risky and experimental procedure, and in the sense that they’re doing so using a technique that is technically a form of human germline modification,” Darnovsky said, referring to genetic modification of heritable traits.

The doctors’ team leaders include Dr. John Zhang, medical director at the New Hope Fertility Centre in New York City. They will present their findings at a meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine in October.

The ethics of the technique drew criticism from Robert P. George, a Princeton law professor who has written on the ethical treatment of the human person in embryo, and Dr. Donald Landry, then-chair of the Department of Medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital. They sent a Feb. 18, 2014 letter to the Food and Drug Administration objecting to any human trials using the procedure.

“The desire to help women suffering from mitochondrial disorders or infertility is admirable and worthy,” George and Landry said. “However, the needs of the children being created through novel technologies also must be taken into account.”

They said the procedure could lead to birth defects and other disorders. The procedure would take place with a relative lack of regulatory oversight.

The procedure using three genetic parents would be “a dramatic alteration of the first and most basic of natural human relationships, with consequences difficult to fathom or predict.”

The fact that human beings have a single mother and father has been “inseparable from our most fundamental social institutions.” They called for greater moral scrutiny for any actions that would “purposely reconfigure the natural, biological foundation of the family.”

George and Landry also objected that the technique would necessarily involve the destruction of human embryos and permit “an unjust and immoral exploitation and instrumentalization of human life.”

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U.S. NEWS

Americans, religious liberty and discrimination: A look beyond the numbers

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • September 30, 2016

(Unsplash/Catholic News Agency)

Washington, D.C. — More Americans are siding against the religious freedom of employers when it may conflict with a “nondiscrimination” policy like access to birth control coverage, new Pew Research numbers show.

However, the numbers don’t tell the whole story, because the Pew questions are too “general” and omit the specific consequences of the government forcing employers to violate their religious beliefs, Jeremy Tedesco, senior counsel with Alliance Defending Freedom, told CNA.

“The questions themselves don’t inform the interviewee of the most important thing that usually changes peoples’ opinions clearly in the favor of religious freedom, and that is that the government is pursuing these mandates with severe penalties, financially crippling fines, plus also potential jail time, simply for exercising your fundamental religious freedom,” he said.

He added that the omission of these factors in the wording of the Pew questions was a “huge oversight on their part.”

New Pew Research numbers released Wednesday show that two-thirds of Americans believe “employers with a religious objection to the use of birth control” should still have to provide for it in their employee health plans.

And young people especially think that way. Overall, three-quarters of those under age 30 said employers should have to provide contraception coverage, whereas fewer seniors age 65 and older (59 percent) said that.

“The survey of more than 4,500 U.S. adults explores recent controversies that have pitted claims of religious liberty and traditional morality against civil rights and nondiscrimination policies,” Pew explained.

Some of the most prominent examples of these conflicts include the Obama administration’s contraception mandate, where employers like the craft chain Hobby Lobby and religious non-profits like the Little Sisters of the Poor refused to comply with the mandate and/or its so-called “accommodation” offered to non-profits.

Because they religiously object to cooperating with contraception use, the Little Sisters say that to provide employees with contraceptive coverage – unless the coverage comes through a separate health plan, facilitated completely independent of the sisters – would be an immoral cooperation with an act they consider wrong. Hobby Lobby, meanwhile, challenged the mandate in court and in 2014 won at the Supreme Court, which decided that as a “closely-held for-profit corporation” owned by a Christian family, Hobby Lobby was exempt from the mandate’s requirements.

On other questions where religious liberty seemingly conflicts with anti-discrimination protections, Americans were more divided according to the Pew numbers, but a majority still favored the “nondiscrimination” position over the religious liberty position.

For instance, 51 percent said that persons identifying as transgender should have access to the public restroom of the gender of their choice. This scenario is most notably being played out in North Carolina where a state law requires all persons to use the public restroom of the gender of their birth, not of the gender currently they identify with.

Meanwhile, 49 percent of respondents said that businesses which serve weddings must offer their creative services to same-sex weddings regardless of the religious beliefs of the owners, whereas 48 percent said they should be “able to refuse” service.

The most prominent scenario of this case might be Barronelle Stutzman, a Washington state florist who was sued for declining to make flower arrangements for a same-sex wedding because of her religious beliefs. Her case will go before the state’s Supreme Court.

Despite their wording, the questions of transgender access to restrooms and businesses serving same-sex weddings reveal a sharp division of the American public, and should not be decided in one heavy-handed way by the government, Tedesco said.

“You see that these issues are issues that reasonable people take different positions on,” he said. “Reasonable people can come to reasonable disputes about marriage, whether marriage should be between a man and a woman, or be expanded.”

Thus, government shouldn’t force Americans to violate their religious beliefs, he continued. “We don’t live in a society where the government takes a position on these kinds of crucial issues to society and then forces everybody to agree with the government. That is as un-American, as un-Constitutional, as contrary to the First Amendment as anything I can think of.”

However, Tedesco admitted that public opinion is shifting against religious freedom, which is a “sad” and dangerous shift.

“There’s no question that even as a general, societal matter, that I think religious freedom is less popular, is less appreciated today than it has been in the past, and that’s a very sad circumstance because America was founded for religious freedom to escape religious persecution,” he said, “and now, what, are we going to turn back the clock on that?”

Catholics responded similarly to the rest of the country on the questions, although weekly Mass-going Catholics answered differently than Catholics who attend Mass less frequently.

Catholics overall voted with the rest of the country on the contraception mandate question. Sixty-five percent said employers should be required to include contraception coverage for employees regardless of their own religious beliefs, where just 32 percent said they should be “able to refuse” coverage.

“While Catholics who attend Mass weekly are split in their views on this question, most Catholics (72%) who attend Mass less often think contraception coverage should be required,” Pew stated. Fifty percent of weekly Mass-attending Catholics said employers should have to provide the contraception.

On the other questions, Catholics were split much more evenly, however.

Fifty-one percent of weekly Mass-attending Catholics said businesses should be allowed to decline to cater to a same-sex wedding, while 59 percent of other Catholics said they should be required to do so.

Sixty percent of weekly Mass-attending Catholics said that transgender persons should use the bathroom of their birth gender, while 51 percent of other Catholics said they should be allowed to use the public restroom of the gender they currently identify with.

Despite what the rest of the country – and even many of their fellow believers – think, “people need to not become discouraged by their perception that Christians and Christian beliefs are apparently moving into a minority,” Tedesco insisted.

“The First Amendment exists more than anything to protect dissidents, minority expression, from suppression by the majority,” he stated. “And we have the greatest claim to the protections and promise of the First Amendment if it truly is the case that we’re in the minority.”

“And the thing we have to do is assert our rights and protect our rights and continue to carve out a free space where we can live, in a way that’s consistent with what God calls us to do,” he stated.

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U.S. NEWS

This pro-life policy has saved an estimated 2 million lives

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • September 30, 2016

(Unsplash/Catholic News Agency)

Washington, D.C. — As the Hyde Amendment turns 40 years old this week, a new report claims that it may have saved two million lives from abortion since it went into effect.

“Two million lives saved is reason to celebrate,” Chuck Donovan, president of the Charlotte Lozier Institute which produced the report, stated.

“The Hyde Amendment is popular not just with pro-lifers, but with a majority of Americans – people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs who all agree that forcing taxpayers to fund abortion is wrong.”

However, he added, the policy “is under unprecedented assault as its 40th anniversary approaches” and pro-lifers must defend it to see that it continues to save lives.

The Hyde Amendment, named after Congressman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) who sponsored it, passed Congress in 1976 several years after the Supreme Court ruled that a woman had a legal right to an abortion. The policy prohibited taxpayer dollars – namely through federal programs for low-income women like Medicaid – from subsidizing abortions.

Current exceptions to the prohibition are for abortions performed in cases of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother.

“As a rider, it is not a permanent law, but it has been passed with bipartisan support in every federal funding bill since 1976,” Genevieve Plaster of the Charlotte Lozier Institute noted in her written testimony to Congress on Sept. 23.

To see how many abortions the policy has prevented, the Charlotte Lozier Institute, the research arm of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, compiled over 20 different studies on how limiting abortion subsidies affects the overall number of abortions.

The conclusion they came to was that, because of Hyde’s prohibition on Medicaid reimbursements of elective abortions, over two million pregnancies are estimated to have instead been carried to term since 1976, and over 60,000 a year. One in nine pregnancies of women on Medicaid would have ended in abortions if not for Hyde, the report claimed.

However, the policy has been under fire recently as the Democratic Party platform called for its repeal over the summer. The party’s presidential nominee Hillary Clinton has supported its repeal, but vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine stated publicly that he favored the policy, after the Clinton campaign had said he opposed it. A Clinton spokesperson said that he still supported the candidate’s “agenda” which included repealing the amendment.

GOP nominee Donald Trump has spoken out in favor of the Hyde Amendment.

According to a recent Knights of Columbus/Marist poll, Americans were not in favor of taxpayer funding of abortion including 63 percent of women and even 44 percent of Democrats and 45 percent of those identifying as “pro-choice.”

“The Hyde Amendment and therefore lives are at stake this election. It is so important that Catholic voters understand where the two tickets stand on this issue,” Mallory Quigley, communications director of the pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List, stated on Thursday. The group’s president Marjorie Dannenfelser also heads Trump’s newly-created pro-life coalition.

How has Hyde saved lives? For instance, data from around the time the policy went into effect showed that “the birthrate among women on Medicaid increased by an average of about 13 percent,” the report stated.

A Guttmacher Institute review of 22 studies found that 19 of the studies had “statistically significant evidence that abortion rates fell after Medicaid funding was reduced,” the report said, noting that in the studies “18-37 percent of pregnancies that would have ended in Medicaid funded abortions were carried to term when funding was no longer available.”

In another case in North Carolina, where from 1980 to 1995 the state subsidized abortions through a special fund, the report cited findings that “whenever funds were depleted,” it was then that “there were statistically significant decreases in the abortion rate, and months later, statistically significant increases in the birthrate.”

According to three studies cited in the Guttmacher review, over the course of two decades in certain states “(state) Medicaid funding limits reduce state abortion rates anywhere from 1.4 to 3.4 abortions per thousand women of childbearing age.”

Using this methodology for every state for every year from 1976 to 2016 the Hyde Amendment is predicted to routinely save over 60,000 lives a year and thus cumulatively has saved 2.13 million lives since 1976.

On the 40th anniversary of the amendment, a “Hello Hyde” campaign also seeks to add faces to the effect of the legislation and personalize it. HelloHyde.org tells the stories of those whose mothers “received prenatal/birth care through Medicaid,” with the statement of “Medicaid should cover birth, not death.”

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U.S. NEWS

Bishop Conley: You actually don’t have to vote for either

by CNA/EWTN News • September 30, 2016

Donald Trump (l) and Hillary Clinton (r). (Action Sports Photography and Krista Kennell via Shutterstock)

Lincoln, NE — Catholics who can’t in good conscience vote for either major presidential candidate are well within their rights to pick a third option, says Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Nebraska.

Voters need to discern whether there is a candidate in each race who can “advance human dignity, the right to life and the common good,” he said in his Sept. 30 column for the Southern Nebraska Register.

“When there is, we should feel free to vote for that candidate – whether they are a member of a major party or not,” he said. “No Catholic should feel obliged to vote for one candidate just to prevent the election of another.”

The bishop advised a prudent course that avoids dangerous forms of “blind partisanship” and misleading political rhetoric and media alarmism.

He acknowledged the possibility that “in extraordinary circumstances” some Catholics may decide there is no suitable candidate for a race and abstain from voting in that particular race.

There are reasons in good conscience for some people to vote for a candidate who “would be most likely to do some good, and the least amount of harm,” on foundational issues like life, family, conscience rights and religious liberty, he said.

Others may in good conscience vote for the candidate who “best represents a Christian vision of society, regardless of the probability of winning,” while others may vote for no candidate at all.

“Catholics will make different judgments about those questions, and come to different conclusions – this reflects the fact the Lord has given us free intellects and free wills,” he said.

The bishop also offered some basic guidelines about voting. He said voting helps the government achieve its “important purpose” of supporting the common good.

“There are some issues in which the common good is clear and some issues which require careful discernment and prudent judgment. This discernment can, therefore, lead to different conclusions and ideas among people of good will,” Bishop Conley said, praising “robust discussion” among people who have the same goals.

However, Mother Teresa’s stand for the right to life should guide Catholics in the voting booth, he said, adding that there are “abundantly clear” moral obligations in voting.

“For example, no Catholic can vote in good conscience to expand legal protection for abortion, or to support the killing of unborn children.”

Bishop Conley cited Mother Teresa’s words in a 1994 letter to the U.S. Supreme Court. There, she said the court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion has “deformed a great nation.”

“The so-called right to abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men,” she wrote. “It has shown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father’s role in an increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts – a child – as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience.”

“The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign,” wrote the founder of the Missionaries of Charity.

Bishop Conley echoed the newly canonized saint, saying “abortion is a grave, unconscionable, and intolerable evil, and we cannot support it in the voting booth.”

Citing negative trends in American culture, the bishop also stressed the need for citizens to fulfill their broader public obligations and opportunities outside of the voting booth.

“Americans today are, in many ways, disengaged, discouraged, and divided. Much of our political rhetoric is unhelpful. And family, community, and public life are in decline,” Bishop Conley continued.

“We need a broader vision of public life, which values and proclaims the dignity of every human life, and which aims for the flourishing of individuals, families, and communities,” he said.

“This broader vision won’t come through an election. It will come through life in Jesus Christ. The most important part of being good citizens is living as faithful and active missionary disciples of Jesus Christ.”

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U.S. NEWS

For this disability advocate, Colo. assisted suicide measure still not safe

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • October 1, 2016

(Andy Dean Photography via Shutterstock)

Denver, CO — Voters in Colorado will decide whether to legalize assisted suicide in their state in November, after a campaign gathered enough signatures to put the proposal on the ballot.

If passed, the measure known as the Colorado End-of-Life Options Act would allow for someone with a terminal illness to request a lethal prescription from their physician. The person must be at least 18 years old, deemed mentally competent, and have a diagnosis from two physicians of six months or fewer to live. The measure also requires that they self-administer the drug, called secobarbital, which is also used for lethal injections in some states.

But these safeguards are not enough to keep Coloradans safe from coercion and error, argues Carri Ann Lucas, an attorney and board member for Not Dead Yet, a disability rights group that advocates against assisted suicide measures.

“Nobody wants themselves or their family members to suffer, but they haven’t thought through all of the policy implications of a decision like this, and passing a measure like this,” Lucas said.

“I think Compassion and Choices is just trying to play on the ignorance of voters and count on the ignorance of voters,” she added. “If people are educated about this proposal, they will not support it.”

The new initiative, largely pushed for by Compassion and Choices, counts on voter ignorance about safeguards and legal concerns surrounding physician assisted suicide in order to pass, Lucas said. It comes after two assisted suicide measures – one initiated in the Senate and one in the House – failed to make it to a floor vote in the state legislature. Last year, the Colorado legislature rejected a similar bill, citing concerns about the lack of safeguards in place.

One of the big issues with the newest proposal, Lucas said, is that it does not require a physician or medical professional to be present at the time of the drug’s administration, meaning that there is a concerning margin for error and no one to help if something goes wrong.

“There’s nothing stopping someone from abusing an elder or family member by flipping these medications into their applesauce and feeding them to the individual,” she said. “But also there’s no assurance that these drugs will work as intended, and nobody’s there to ensure that people are safe at the time that they’re administered, that there aren’t any adverse effects that need to be treated at the same time.”

“These are the same types of drugs that are used for lethal injection and we know how that can go awry at times, so that’s certainly a concern,” she added.

Another concern is the conflict of interest in the witnesses of the decision to seek assisted suicide, Lucas said. Under the proposed initiative, a friend or family member would be able to legally witness a loved one’s decision to seek assisted suicide.

“As an attorney, I can’t have an interested party witness a will, so we’re going to now let an interested party help sign a request to seek a lethal prescription?” Lucas asked.

“There aren’t safeguards to ensure … that family members aren’t coercing people into seeking assisted suicide, so somebody who’s an heir to an estate can take their loved one to a doctor’s office and witness their request, even though they stand to inherit from the person if they follow through on that request,” she added.

Additionally, the supposed safeguard about mental competency is another concern, Lucas said. In the language of the proposal as it stands, individuals seeking assisted suicide are only give a psychological evaluation if the doctor deems it necessary – meaning many people with depression or other mental health problems could slip through the cracks, and be killed instead of treated.

The debate surrounding the issue has been heated, and has many news outlets in Colorado grappling with the semantics of it all, debating whether to continue calling the taking of lethal prescriptions “assisted suicide” or “medical aid in dying” – which is used by groups like Compassion and Choices, which advocates for legalized assisted suicide.

Several disability groups in Colorado have joined forces with each other as well as groups of physicians and faith-based groups to fight assisted suicide legislation in the past two years. The disability rights groups argue that assisted suicide discriminates against the disabled as well as people with a low income, because it is cheaper for insurance companies to pay for someone’s death than to pay for lifelong medical care.

In Oregon, the first state to legalize assisted suicide, there have been cases of cancer patients who are denied chemotherapy treatment, but instead are offered lethal prescriptions.

The groups have also argued that doctors can make mistakes when diagnosing terminal illnesses – a person who is given six months to live may outlive their diagnosis, sometimes by many years.

As with past assisted suicide legislation, the problem with the Colorado End-of-Life Options Act is that there is too wide a margin for error, Lucas said.

“Frankly, no safeguards have been proposed that would alleviate our concerns.”

This article was originally published on CNA Aug. 31, 2016.

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FEATURES

Our elders are lonely – do we care?

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • September 25, 2016

(Mrmohock via Shutterstock)

Denver, CO — It was August in Rome, the dog days of summer, and most people had left the Eternal City for the beach or another summer holiday destination.

It happens every year, essentially slowing the city to a crawl for a good two weeks or more. It can be a lonely time, especially for the elderly who no longer travel.

That’s when, on August 2, Italian police discovered Jole, 89, and Michele, 94, a couple living in the Appio neighborhood of Rome. Feeling particularly lonely, having had no visitors for some time, the couple’s sobs became so loud that concerned neighbors called the police, who found no crime on their arrival, just two very lonely people.

Besides offering medical assistance, the police decided to offer some comfort as well.

“They improvised a cozy dinner. A plate of pasta with butter and cheese. Nothing special. But with a special ingredient: Inside, there is all their humanity,” the Facebook post from the Italian police says.

Sadly, the problem of loneliness among the elderly is not just confined to the summer holidays in Rome - it is a growing problem around the world.

Earlier this month, Katie Hafner for the New York Times reported that in Britain and the United States, roughly one in three people older than 65 live alone. In the United States, half of those older than 85 live alone. Studies in both countries show the prevalence of loneliness among people older than 60 ranging from 10 percent to 46 percent.

While not a physical sickness in and of itself, chronic loneliness can also be detrimental to physical health. Several studies show that social isolation or feelings of loneliness can lead to an increased risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke and even an earlier death.

Sr. Constance Veit, communications director for the Little Sisters of the Poor, an order of Catholic sisters whose mission is “to offer the neediest elderly of every race and religion a home where they will be welcomed as Christ, cared for as family and accompanied with dignity until God calls them to himself.” They currently operate more than 25 homes for the elderly in the United States, as well as homes all over the world.

Sr. Constance told CNA that the lonely elderly often pine for those who have preceded them in death, or perhaps family members who live far away or from whom they have been estranged.

“(W)e recognize that in a very real way you can never really replace those who are gone, so for most people there’s always going to be an unfilled hole left, so to speak,” she said. “But we do the best we can.”

Sr. Constance said that the Little Sisters and their staff are always on the lookout for signs of loneliness and isolation among their residents, and that they do the best to connect with them both through group activities and through one-on-one relationships.

“We recognize that we’re not just here to minister to people’s physical or medical needs, but the whole person,” she said.

The New York Times article featured several different service and organizations in the UK that are working to combat loneliness among the elderly. Although similar programs exist in the United States, the research and awareness of the topic in the UK is still much further ahead than it is in the U.S.

“In the U.S., there isn’t much recognition in terms of public health initiatives or the average person recognizing that loneliness has to do with health,” Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a professor of psychology at Brigham Young University, told the New York Times. Her own research has also linked loneliness to deteriorating health.

John Lewis, a British retailer known for its heartwarming Christmas advertisements, partnered with Age UK, a charity for older people, to raise awareness of loneliness among the elderly, particularly during the holidays.

In the video, a young girl discovers with dismay that there’s an old man all alone on the moon for Christmas. Determined to show him he’s not alone, she sends some airborne Christmas gifts his way.

Statistics compiled in the UK have found that a million seniors go as long as a month without talking to anyone. The statistics in the United States are probably similarly shocking, Sr. Constance said.

“To think of an older person going a month without speaking to friends or family, that’s pretty bad,” she said.

Pope Francis would agree. The pontiff once called neglect of the elderly a “mortal sin” after visiting an elderly woman in August who hadn’t seen her family since Christmas.

“It is a mortal sin to discard our elderly … The elderly are not aliens. We are them – in a short or in a long while we are inevitably them, even though we choose not to think about it,” he said during a general audience in March 2015.

“Children who do not visit their elderly and ill parents have mortally sinned. Understand?” he added.

The Holy Father himself had a very close relationship with his grandmother when he was growing up, and has urged Catholics many times to not neglect the elderly or the sense of memory that they bring to their families and to society.

Pope Francis has said that “we don’t have a sense of memory, of appreciation of a family history and family tradition, the things that used to bind the generations together in families,” Sr. Constance said.

We’ve also lost a sense “of filial piety, that we do have a duty to one another in a family and especially to our elders,” she added.

Another part of the problem can be that older people who don’t know how to use new technologies get left out of the loop, Sr. Constance said. A family that stays in touch through a texting group may be unintentionally leaving out older folks who don’t text.

But the blame lies not just with young people - it’s a reciprocal problem, Sr. Constance noted.

“The older generation, relatively speaking, of baby boomers also hasn’t nurtured bonds,” she said.

“They’ve been much more independent and have had more disposable income and have kind of done their own thing, but when something happens and they become frail, they haven’t really set up the networks themselves or those strong bonds, so I think it’s really reciprocal … it’s just kind of sad, it leaves us all a bit isolated.”

Social isolation can also become a self-perpetuating problem. Studies show that, counter-intuitively, social isolation often causes people to go into a kind of defense mode, where rather than reaching out for the support they need, they instead close themselves off further from society.

The most important thing that people can do is to combat the problem is to look for meaningful ways to connect with the elderly in their lives, Sr. Constance said.

“Even if you feel like you don’t have elderly people in your life, chances are you do have elderly people in your neighborhood or in your parish, maybe in your extended family of aunts and uncles,” she said.

“Reach out to them and relate to them and to create bonds with them intentionally, whether it’s visiting them or offering them a ride to church or shopping, or include them in various things,” Sr. Constance added.

For those who live at a distance, teaching the elderly how to use Skype or some other technology that would help them say in touch is also important, she said.

The Little Sisters of the Poor home in Washington, D.C., where Sr. Constance is based, is right across the street from Catholic University of America, which sends student volunteers to the home four nights a week.

While the young people are there to offer friendship to the elderly, it’s a very reciprocal relationship, Sr. Constance said.

“Sometimes I gaze out and realize what’s really going on is that the students are telling their trials, tribulations, joys and anxieties to these little old ladies, and the students feel listened to,” she said.

“So it’s very reciprocal, the residents are receiving something from the students, but the students - whether it’s relationship woes or academic worries, the elderly are going to listen in a different way than your friends who have been hearing it all the time. The elderly can really lend a more sympathetic ear to the angst of younger people, and be a great support for them if they would take the time to realize that.”

The Little Sisters in D.C. are also launching an initiative called “Youth & Aged for Life,” a prayer movement for the Gospel of Life that brings together the young and the old.

Strengthening bonds between generations - or what John Paul II once called the “covenant between generations” - is one of the most pro-life things Catholics and Christians can do, Sr. Constance added.

“It’s only by reestablishing that or strengthening (those bonds) that we can fight the temptation for abortion, euthanasia and assisted suicide, by bonding together more strongly and cherishing one another’s lives, both the very young and the very old.”

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A priest and his love for Syrian refugees

by Casey McCorry (Angelus News) • September 27, 2016

A young boy refugee in Erbil, Iraq. (Maria Lozano/CNA)

Los Angeles, CA — The needs of Father David Bedrossian’s parish are unique.

While many priests grapple with budgetary concerns and a desire to fill pews, Father Bedrossian is wondering where he’s going to find the resources to house the next Syrian refugee who shows up on the church steps.

Father Bedrossian’s parish, Our Lady Queen of Martyrs Armenian Catholic Church, has a long history of sheltering displaced persons. From the Armenian refugees escaping genocide and communism through the 1900s to the present-day Christian Syrian refugees, the parish has been a sanctuary for a generation of persecuted persons.

Each month, Syrian refugees show up at the church with their last penny to meet the man everyone calls “abouna,” (Arabic for father) Father Bedrossian. He is their job coach, landlord, translator, teacher and priest. And to many Father Bedrossian is their last hope.

Seventeen years ago, Father Bedrossian had to flee Syria, leaving his home, his brothers and sisters and his parishioners. Since leaving, six of his family members were killed and his beloved church was ransacked.

“I remember our church. They destroyed everything,” Father Bedrossian said. “They got rid of the crosses, the altars and turned it into ISIS headquarters with offices.”

He now lovingly tends to the wounds of his Syrian family in Los Angeles by making Our Lady Queen of Martyrs a true refuge, an elegant respite, a church resurrected far from home.

A labor of love

There is not a corner of the church that doesn’t have Father Bedrossian’s devoted and loving hand scrawled all over it. With few resources, he has imbued the church with all the ethnic charm and sacred beauty a few dollars and calloused hands can muster. The candles and sconces he bought from Ross’ Dress for Less. The crosses in the sacristy he bought from Hobby Lobby. The pews and roof of the church were artfully refurbished and hand-painted by Father Bedrossian himself.

But the tireless devotion he shows to his physical church is just a shadow of the attention he offers to each and every person in need that crosses his path: Muslim, and Christian, citizen or non, destitute or rich, he is “abouna” to all.

“I have no idea how they find me,” Father Bedrossian said. “I don’t find them, people send them to me. They show up here looking for help and I help them.”

A disappearing generation

In the last 10 years, the Christian community in Syria has gone from 10 percent of the population to less than 2 percent. Hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes or kidnapped and held at ransom. Those who stayed were given three options — convert to Islam, pay the minority tax or face death. Thousands of Christians have been killed, entire villages have been cleared and hundreds of churches have been damaged or destroyed.

“We will disappear in the Middle East,” Father Bedrossian explains. “Before the war started, Christians were over 1.3 million. Now there are 200,000. You think we’ll survive there? I don’t think so.” And in spite of the terror in his home, Father Bedrossian sees little to no acknowledgment here.

“Everybody who is silent is ISIS. Everybody who is silent is killing Christians. Nobody is raising a voice.”

Father Bedrossian says the five main obstacles for refugees are language, paperwork, unemployment, housing and transportation.

“How are they supposed to get a job when they only speak Arabic? They have no papers, no social security number. Are they going to pay their last penny on a lawyer to help them with papers they don’t understand? And without welfare, food stamps, how will they eat? People come here with enough to survive for three months. After that they will be homeless. What do you want these people to do?”

One refugee at a time

The number of refugees and the needs are insurmountable, but Father Bedrossian does what he can one person at a time. Last month, he picked up a Syrian refugee from a homeless shelter and found her temporary housing and meals. He checks in on her daily and is job-hunting for her and many others.

Vaskin Rashdouni, a friend from his hometown, came to the U.S. a few months ago after being kidnapped by ISIS and escaping. Finding work has been near impossible with the language barrier and his health issues. Ever since leaving Syria he has been suffering PTSD and type 1 diabetes. But this doesn’t stop Father Bedrossian from searching.

And Syrian soldier Yousef Hakim Hassake, one of Father Bedrossian’s former altar servers in Syria, is slowly rebuilding a life in the U.S. He has learned English and has found work in a manufacturing company. He has made enough money to take care of his mother. Any spare time he offers to Father Bedrossian and the church in gratitude, doing everything from cleaning and making meals to feeding doves in the garden.

Father Bedrossian explains, “If you choose to help these people, they will never stop repaying you. They will give you everything they have.”

Despite immeasurable obstacles for refugees, and unknown futures, there is no silencing the gnawing realization that being a refugee in the U.S. makes you one of the “lucky ones.”

Father Bedrossian continues to hear word from his family and friends in the Middle East — the escape of his sister to Greece on broken legs, his nephew killed by ISIS, his friend beheaded in a CNN video — these are the things that haunt him.

“I want to go and fight and protect them,” he says. But it seems God has other plans. There is a fight to be fought here.

Doing what you can

The burdens Father Bedrossian bears seem insurmountable: the livelihood of a forgotten nation, the survival of the persecuted in a new nation. Each morning brings the promise of a new refugee at his office door. A new family who needs food and housing. Another man suffering PTSD. Another woman from the homeless shelter. Each morning promises more news reports tallying the lives of his former parishioners like numbers and not lives he shepherded. But it does no good to focus on that, Father Bedrossian explains,

“We must do what we can. It’s the little things that will help a lot.” And he doesn’t work alone.

Strength lies in numbers

He and his parishioners work together. There’s a rolodex of parishioner lawyers he calls upon to help with legal issues. Parishioners “adopt” families financially, or house them until they get on their feet. Collection baskets continually finance a refugee’s month of rent, or a babysitter, or a week’s groceries. Volunteers offer English classes in a tiny classroom off the rectory.

Father Bedrossian has inspired this ragtag grassroots ministry in a way only a priest who stubbornly paints his own church can.

“You teach by doing. If you work they will come to help.”

This parish is unique in their shared history of persecution. Their community has consistently grappled with questions of survival and the worth of one’s faith. Their strength lies in uniting a community of broken people, in selfless charity when it hurts, and a rigorous love for Christ that was worth leaving home for.

For Father Bedrossian, this is everything. “I am tired. Very tired. Never tired of praying, only tired of thinking. What gets me out of bed each morning is my belief in God. It’s what keeps me alive. And even if I stop believing in him, he won’t stop believing in me.”

In a church named for the thousands of Christians who lost their lives protecting the belief in Christ they held so sacredly, the gift of faith is all too known. And Father Bedrossian will continue to wake up, and fight for that gift, and protect his people. It will just be in a little adobe church off of Cesar Chavez Avenue in L.A. It will be in the “little things.”

This article originally appeared in Angelus News, publication of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

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Is Latin the best language? And other questions about exorcism

by Mary Rezac (CNA/EWTN News) • September 27, 2016

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

Indianapolis, IN — The new TV series The Exorcist, based on the horror film series of the same name from the 1970’s, debuted on FOX on Friday, sparking another wave of fascination with the supernatural.

In a recent article prior to the show’s launch, Lance Higdon, writing for pop culture website Vice, explored the world of exorcism, a phenomenon mysterious to many inside and outside the Church.

Higdon recalled that in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) in May, director William Friedkin of the original “The Exorcist” film series, claimed that he had been invited to the Vatican to see - and film - an exorcism in real life.

A Vatican spokesman denied the claim to AFP, noting that the Vatican does not have an official exorcist. The spokesman said it may have been possible that Friedkin was mistaking the Vatican for another Catholic entity.

Fr. Vincent Lampert is a Vatican-trained exorcist for the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and a parish priest. He has travelled around the country speaking about the supernatural and his experiences as an exorcist.

In e-mail comments, he told CNA that it would be forbidden for any Catholic priest to allow an outside party to witness or film an exorcism.

“Filming an exorcism is not allowed because it must be performed in such a way that it manifest the faith of the church and that no one can consider it as a magical or superstitious activity,” he said.

It would also be prohibited for the protection of the possessed person, he added.

Another claim about exorcisms in the Vice article is in its headline: “Latin Is Still The Best Language for Fighting Satan.”

The article cited a comment made by exorcist Fr. Gary Thomas, as reported by the site The New Liturgical Movement. After a talk he gave in February, Fr. Thomas commented that “The Devil hates Latin, it is the universal language of the Church.”

Until very recently (2014), an English translation of the rite of exorcism had not been approved by the Church. When further questioned, Fr. Thomas said that in his experience and in talking to other exorcists, while the Vatican has approved translations of the rite in multiple languages, Latin seems to be the most effective.

However, that the exorcist is a man of God is actually far more important than the language of the rite used, Fr. Lampert noted.

“There are many who claim that Latin is the most powerful language for exorcisms,” he said.

“It is my experience that as opposed to the language that is being used that the exorcist be a man of God. In my opinion this is the most effective weapon.”

When asked whether or not he would recommend people watch the new exorcism series, Fr. Lampert said that there can be benefits as well as dangers to shows that deal with the demonic and the supernatural.

“If watching these types of shows helps people understand the reality of evil then there is a benefit,” he said. “The danger would be for someone to become unduly fascinated with evil.”

Recently updated rules of the Catholic rite of exorcism state that a person who believes they are possessed must first rule out mental illness before seeking an exorcism. If the rite of exorcism is still needed, they may seek out a priest who has been trained and appointed as exorcist for his diocese by his Bishop.

The International Association of Exorcists (AIE) also meets annually in Rome to discuss demonic possession from both theological and scientific perspectives.

Recently, an AIE spokesman told CNA that the rise of occult and demonic activity had become a “pastoral emergency.”

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By the age of 10, young Catholics are losing their faith

by Msgr. M. Francis Mannion • September 27, 2016

Two national studies produced by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), based at Georgetown University, found that young Catholics are abandoning their faith starting around the age of 10, and certainly by age 17 (Confirmation catechists, please note!).

Nearly two-thirds (63%) said they no longer identify themselves as Catholics by the age 17, and another 23% said they stopped regarding themselves as Catholic by the age 10.

Of those who had left the faith, only 13% said they were ever likely to return to the Catholic Church.

The reason most often given is the tension young people perceive between faith and religion. While this factor is highest among students at public school, it is also remarkably high among students at Catholic schools.

There is an emerging profile of youth who say their religious formation is incompatible with what they are learning in public high school or university.

Dr. Mark Gray, a senior researcher with CARA, speaks of an unprecedented “crisis of faith” among youth. “In the whole concept of faith, this is a generation that is struggling with faith in ways that we haven’t seen in previous generations.” There is a severe compartmentalization between education in faith and in science. The fundamental problem is that youth may go to Mass once a week but spend the rest of the week learning “how dumb” their faith is.

On a positive note, Christian Smith, a professor of sociology at Notre Dame University, states that there are three factors that yield a high retention rate among young Catholics. The first is that the young people have a “weekly activity” like catechesis, Bible study, or youth group. The second is the availability of adults (not their parents) with whom they can discuss their faith. The third is the possibility of providing “deep spiritual experiences.”

I am no sociologist of religion, least of all of that which deals with youth. But my own experience tells me that besides the three factors mentioned here, there are the three additional factors: There is daily prayer in the home, parents and children talking about their faith, and some kind of weekly charitable service made possible for the young people.

Some (like me!) worry about the quality of religious formation of children and youth. Things have improved a lot since the horrid days of religious formation in the 70s and 80s. But, having kept an eye on the kind of texts being used, even the better ones are inadequate. If you want your child to be well informed in the faith, then don’t look at the typical text available. We have a long way to go in this area. For one thing, we need to bring back a thoroughly updated question-and-answer catechism.

There is also the question of parish religious education teachers and Catholic school teachers. Would you be surprised to know that many of them do not go to Sunday Mass regularly and have “difficulties” with the Church? Surely this has to have a disastrous effect on the students for whom they have responsibility. I have seen no data on this, so I am basing what I say on what I have observed and read over the years and what other pastors tell me.

Finally, there are the parents, who rarely if ever talk to their children about the faith and the necessity of growing strong in it. And do parents, even of Catholic school children, go to Mass on Sundays? The vast majority, I fear, do not.

Msgr. Mannion is pastor emeritus of St. Vincent de Paul parish in Salt Lake City. He holds a Ph.D. in sacramental theology from The Catholic University of America. He was founding president of The Society for Catholic Liturgy in 1995 and the founding editor of the Society’s journal, Antiphon. At the invitation of Cardinal Francis George of Chicago he founded the Mundelein Liturgical Institute in 2000.

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This Ohio mystic mentored Mother Angelica. Was she a saint?

by Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • September 28, 2016

Rhoda Wise. (Rhoda Wise House and Grotto)

Cleveland, OH — Rhoda Wise, the mystic visionary and reputed stigmatic and miracle worker who played a key role in the life of Mother Angelica, is now the focus of a diocesan inquiry as one of the first steps towards possible canonization.

“She was instrumental in the healing of Mother Angelica when she was a teenager,” Karen Sigler, director of the Rhoda Wise Shrine, told CNA Sept. 27. “Mother Angelica wasn’t the only one. There are all kind of testimonies of healings people received after contact with Rhoda in her home.”

“And it is still happening today,” Sigler said, citing the testimonies recounted on the website of the Canton, Ohio shrine.

St. Peter Catholic Church in Canton will host the Mass opening the diocesan investigation into Rhoda Wise’s cause for beatification and canonization.

Monsignor Robert Siffrin, the vicar general of the Youngstown diocese, will celebrate the Mass on Friday, Oct. 7 at 7 p.m.

Wise was raised in West Virginia, as one of eight children in a staunchly Protestant family, with the last name Greer. She first encountered Catholicism at age 16 when she underwent an appendectomy and a nun gave her a St. Benedict Medal. She hid the medal from her parents and kept it all her life, the Canton Repository newspaper reports.

Her first husband died in 1916, six months after they married. She then married George Wise. Their first adopted daughter died from influenza and they adopted a second daughter, Anna Mae, in 1922. They lived in a Depression-era three room house that was renovated over time.

Wise suffered serious health problems. In 1932, at the age of 44, doctors removed a 39-pound tumor from her body. In December 1936 she seriously injured her ankle by stepping into a water drain. Despite several casts, her foot remained bent inward and she could not stand on it without pain. Doctors thought the injury was permanent.

In 1938 she began a series of treatments and surgeries at Mercy Hospital, Canton. Doctors discovered complications from the surgery on her tumor, and operations to repair these complications left a raw, sore open wound that refused to heal.

She was visited by a Sister of Charity of St. Augustine who introduced her to the Rosary and suggested she offer nine days of prayer to St. Therese of the Child Jesus for her healing.

Wise went on to pray the nine-day novena and drew closer to the Catholic faith, converting to Catholicism on Jan. 1, 1939. A few months later, she was discharged from the hospital with the belief her wound was incurable.

Rhoda claimed to have received a visit from Jesus on May 27, 1939.

“The room which had been dark suddenly became bright, and when I turned around in bed to see the cause of it, I beheld Jesus sitting on a chair beside my bed,” she said in her own words. “I distinctly saw the marks of His forehead where the thorns had pierced His brow. He was gloriously beautiful and was robed in a gold garment which reflected every color.”

On June 28 of that year, she said, she received a visitation from Jesus and St. Therese of Lisieux.

“I am the Little Flower. You have been tried in the fire and not found wanting. Faith cures all things,” the vision of St. Therese said to her.

Wise said she was healed of her stomach wound that night. After another vision months later, her leg healed, and she went to church at the insistence of a vision of St. Therese. She attended Mass for the first time on the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, walking without crutches.

According to Wise, Jesus promised that many miraculous cures would take place at her home as well as many conversions. She said Jesus promised that her devotion to the Sacred Heart and the Little Flower would “win many souls.”

She reputedly suffered the visible stigmata for two and a half years and then suffered invisible wounds. She had several visions of Jesus and St. Therese. Her final vision took place June 28, 1948, ten days before her death.

“Tell the people not nearly enough of them are saying the daily Rosary; they must say the Rosary for the conversion of Russia,” the vision of Jesus told her.

Hundreds of people flocked to Wise’s home when she was alive. These visitors included a young Canton, Ohio native named Rita Rizzo. The teen would become Mother Angelica, the founder of EWTN Global Catholic Network.

On Jan. 8, 1943, the 19-year-old girl had been suffering for months from severe stomach pains related to a discolored abdominal lump.

Wise had Rizzo sit in the wooden chair where Jesus purportedly sat during his visitations. Wise spoke with Rizzo’s mother. Wise gave Rizzo prayers to the Little Flower to say in a novena and told her to make some kind of sacrifice and promise to spread devotion to St. Therese if she were cured.

After the novena’s nine days, Rizzo suffered severe pains, then experienced what she believed to be a miraculous healing. According to Mother Angelica biographer Raymond Arroyo, doctors dismissed the claims of a miracle. Arroyo questioned whether the doctors gave a thorough evaluation, though there are no surviving medical records.

Mother Angelica saw the healing as pivotal.

“When the Lord came in and healed me through the Little Flower, I had a whole different attitude,” she told Arroyo. “I knew there was a God; I knew that God knew me and loved me and was interested in me. I didn’t know that before. All I wanted to do after my healing was give myself to Jesus.”

The young woman would visit Wise’s home more frequently and consult her about her religious vocation.

Decades later, Wise’s house was willed to Mother Angelica and EWTN. It was in the possession of the Eternal Word Television Network from 2001 through 2014, when it was deeded to the Rhoda Wise Shrine.

Sigler, the shrine’s director, welcomed the opening of the investigation into Wise’s life.

“A lot of us have waited for it for a long time. We’re very happy,” she said.

If the diocesan investigation finds sufficient reason, the cause for Wise’s beatification would go to the Vatican for further evaluation.

The Rhoda Wise Shrine is a private association of the faithful approved by Bishop George V. Murry of Youngstown. It takes care of the house Wise lived in and its grotto. The shrine website is rhodawise.com.

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Leadership

by Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. • September 28, 2016

Everyone has a theory about leadership, but all of us want strong, effective, and moral leaders. They’re in great demand but hard to find. Families and schools, sports teams, businesses, and faith traditions rise or fall on leadership. Governments, armies, and nations rise or fall on leadership. According to James MacGregor Burns, historian and political scientist, leadership is “the process by which groups, organizations, and societies attempt to achieve common goals.”

Political leadership is a matter of personality, and it concerns the relation of authority and power with the people. Yet, within this definition lies a mysterious and mercurial quality known as temperament — the most difficult characteristic to gauge in a leader, the most challenging to pin down. Different leadership styles and different temperaments produce varying degrees of success or failure, a topic requiring lengthy discussions.

In this essay, we will consider three aspects of leadership: personal and professional qualities of leaders, vision, and decision-making.

Personal and Professional Qualities of Leaders

To paraphrase the Hallmark motto: The nation should care enough to elect the very best men and women with proven effective leadership, strength of character, and moral probity.

Character

Leaders should reflect on a key question: Who must I be, and what must I do to bring about and advance the vision I have for the common good? Having learned the art of self-discipline, strong leaders are master listeners, master communicators, and masters of their emotions. Honesty lives at the core of their moral compass; it undergirds and supports the public trust. Strong, effective, and moral leaders speak the truth to themselves and to others without shaving it.

On the eve of Britain’s entrance into World War II, Winston Churchill delivered the stark and sobering truth to a nation in distress: “I have nothing to offer you but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.”

George Washington was acclaimed for his integrity, wisdom, and astounding courage on the battlefield, and Nelson Mandela, as a “colossus of unimpeachable character.”

Rose Kennedy was not a public figure but the matriarch of a family of political leaders. She inspired thousands of men and women through her courage in the face of so many family tragedies.

The Burmese-Myanmar politician, statesperson, and author Aung San Suu Kyi has inspired women throughout the world for her courage to withstand fifteen years of house arrest by the authorities who considered her an enemy of the state. She writes in Freedom from Fear: “It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it, and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it.”

Communication Skills

Effective leaders have the ability to communicate clearly and persuasively. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was a charismatic patrician. With his clear sense of noblesse oblige, he led the country through the Great Depression. From his struggle with polio, he learned to empathize with others. Roosevelt’s fireside chats gave him a direct, personal, and immediate contact with the country. He simplified his grand-scale programs capped by the motto, “The New Deal” which gave jobs to the millions of unemployed roaming the streets in despair.

As a sickly child and young adult, President John F. Kennedy spent many solitary hours with books. The breadth of his reading history and politics, literature, science, travel, and biography served as one source of his eloquence, whether in prepared speeches or presented spontaneously. His press conferences became the stuff of conversation pieces in Washington. The press corps was riveted as much on Kennedy’s oratory as on his responses to questions. Here was a master communicator thoroughly enjoying his own press conferences.

Winston Churchill’s strongest quality as a leader was his ability to inspire others, despite the ominous circumstances Britain was facing during his tenure as Prime Minister. The source of this ability lay in his own character — and of course his ability to find the right words to fit the country’s mood. On the eve of World War II in 1940, Churchill declared before the House of Commons: “We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our island, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender.” Labor MP Josiah Wedgwood promptly responded: “That was worth 1,000 guns, and the speeches of 1,000 years.”

In April 1963, when President Kennedy made Churchill an Honorary Citizen of the United States — Churchill’s mother was an American — the President offered this word of praise: “He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle.”

Sense of Humor

Strong leaders have a developed sense of humor that may enhance their Office. “I am the man who accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy to Paris, and I have enjoyed it,” declared the President in the spring of 1961 on their visit to France.

Acerbic wit was never far from President Lincoln’s lips or from Winston Churchill’s. In a letter to his good friend, Joshua F. Speed, Lincoln wrote, “When the Know-Nothings get control, it [the Declaration of Independence] will read: ‘All men are created equal except negroes, foreigners and Catholics.’ When it comes to this I should prefer emigrating to some country where they make no pretense of loving liberty — to Russia, for instance, where despotism can be taken pure, and without the base alloy of hypocrisy.” Regarding his pro-slavery opponents Lincoln declared, “Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally.”

One evening as a tired and wobbly Churchill was leaving the House of Commons, the Labor MP Bessie Braddock accused him of being “disgustingly drunk.” He replied: “Bessie, my dear … you are disgustingly ugly. But tomorrow I shall be sober, and you will still be disgustingly ugly.”

Vision

Leaders have vision, a quality that conceives of an idea or sees a picture into the future before others can visualize it. St. Ignatius of Loyola chose and trained leaders who would be affable, attractive, and persuasive messengers of his vision and not those who were rich or powerful.

In Back to Methuselah, George Bernard Shaw wrote: “You dream dreams and say “Why?” But I dream dreams that never were and say “Why not?” His words were paraphrased by Robert F. Kennedy in his 1968 campaign for the presidential nomination. Transformative leaders can rouse a nation to action when their goals are persuasive. They articulate a shared raison d’être in words such as the Rev. Martin L. King, Jr. orated in his “I have a dream” speech.” He asked men and women to dream today and tomorrow of a better America.

In his inaugural address, John F. Kennedy put his vision this way: “And so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” He simplified this vision in the motto: “The New Frontier.” This phrase encompassed pursuits in science and the arts, foreign affairs, race and inequality. He invited the country to become pioneers on this noble quest. Soon the Peace Corps appealed to the generosity and self-sacrifice of American youth to serve all over the world.

It is no small thing for leaders to touch our hearts and minds by appealing to “the better angels of our nature,” a phrase of Charles Dickens which Lincoln quoted in his First Inaugural Address.

Decision-Making

Leaders make decisions throughout the course of a day or over a longer period of time. Some decisions are so consequential they can change the public image of an organization. Such was the case with a decision taken at Vatican II regarding the fate of Gregorian chant. At the close of the Council, it was hastily whisked away from parish Masses in North America, though it was kept alive in a few monasteries. Popular songs, accompanied by thumping guitars and percussive bongo drums, hastily replaced it. Latin gave way to the vernacular.

The pros and cons cannot be debated here, but music scholars were shocked at the sudden change. Gustav Reese, a noted expert on Gregorian chant, could barely contain himself at the hierarchy’s decision. In a passionate cry, he exclaimed: ‘What have you done to the chant!’

To avoid open criticism of the Church, other scholars described the drastic changes in neutral and measured language as the most dramatic and consequential of all the changes made at Vatican II. Internal struggle was marked by “defiance versus intractability.” This struggle “has sapped the church of its vitality not to mention the effect it continues to have on matters that are “aesthetic, political, sociological, or even purely technical.”

In times of crisis how do leaders make decisions? Some leaders make decisions without consultation, while others call for collegiality. Collegial leaders point the way forward to advance the purpose of the organization. Still, the personality of the leader plays an important role in this model. Whereas strong leaders get the best and brightest to execute their vision by delegating responsibility, weak leaders fear initiative and creativity from their workers. They lack trust in the abilities of others.

To sum up this complex topic, St. Paul exhorts leaders of the community “to lead their lives worthy their calling” (Eph. 4:1).

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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Double review: ‘Deepwater Horizon’ and ‘Masterminds’

by Carl Kozlowski • September 30, 2016

There are two kinds of true-story disaster movies hitting theatres this weekend.

“Deepwater Horizon” stars Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Rusell in the tragic tale of what happened when the titular oil drilling rig fell to pieces in the Gulf of Mexico, causing what became known as the BP disaster and creating the biggest oil spill in American history.

The second, “Masterminds,” stars a powerhouse comedy cast of Zach Galifianakis, Kristen Wiig, Owen Wilson, Jason Sudeikis and Leslie Jones to recount the ridiculously misguided events surrounding the largest cash robbery in American history. Out of the two, “Deepwater” offers an evening of impressive explosions but is kind of a downer, while “Masterminds” emerges as the comic surprise of the year and left an entire room of local critics exploding with laughter at a screening room last week.

“Deepwater” tries to immerse viewers quickly into the life of Mike Williams (Wahlberg), one of the lead engineers supervising the safety of equipment on the Horizon, which is located far offshore. We see him enjoying a roll in the hay with his wife and playing with his young daughter, but within minutes he’s whisked away to the oil rig for the three-week tour of duty that nearly costs him his life.

Joined by the Horizon’s owner Jimmy Harrell (Russell), Williams tries to tell a slimy British Petroleum executive (John Malkovich) that the rig is in no shape to engage in a new long-term drilling operation. But the exec says they are already 43 days behind schedule and orders the rig to drill anyway, leading to the explosive disaster that shocked the planet.

While the explosions and other action effects while the disaster unfolds are impressively wrought by director Peter Berg (“Friday Night Lights”, “The Kingdom”), they occur in the service of such a dismaying story that it’s impossible to enjoy rather than be horrified by the mayhem onscreen. And aside from the opening moments, none of the men onboard is shown with enough personal depth to care about their characters’ fate other than on a basic human level.

“Deepwater” is rated PG13 for its intense scenes of explosions and the many ways in which the oil, shrapnel and fires onboard the Horizon endangered the lives of the crew members aboard. Only a couple of scenes become cringe-inducingly bloody, however. There is also frequent use of mid-level swear words and one use of the F word, for those counting. On the other hand, these are American heroes, having helped stop the disaster once it unfolded, and there is a powerful scene of prayer at a key moment that provides another example that Christian scenes and themes have been successfully re-entering mainstream movies over the past few years.

Thus, viewers are left with a classic example of sound and fury signifying nothing, while “Masterminds” expertly mines comedy gold from the tiniest of details.

“Masterminds” follows the late-1990s tale of a dim-witted security guard named David Ghantt (Zach Galifianakis), who was tricked into robbing his bank-security company of $17.3 million in 1997. The real mastermind of the operation is a guy named Steve (Owen Wilson), who is friends with David’s fellow guard Kelly (Kristen Wiig) and uses her as a means to woo David into the theft because David is in love with her despite being engaged to a woman named Jandice (Kate McKinnon).

David agrees to pull off the robbery in the hopes of winning over Kelly, who is unsure of herself and is easily convinced to concoct the robbery. He is also hopelessly bored with his life and tired of being poorly paid, so he jumps at the chance for excitement and steals an armored vehicle filled with cash before stupidly handing it all over to the rest of the gang.

Steve sends David off to hiding in Mexico with $20,000 in bundled cash stuffed in his underpants, hoping to keep him out of the way so that he won’t ever tell the police what happened and in the hopes that he won’t be able to come back and demand his $3 million share of the robbery. Steve has managed to hide his identity from David the whole time, using Kelly as his intermediary, but when David figures out who he is and threatens to rat out the entire operation, Steve hires a hitman named Mike (Jason Sudeikis) to kill David.

Add in a tough-talking FBI agent (Leslie Jones) leading the law-enforcement investigation and chase to recapture the loot, and “Masterminds” becomes a screwball comedy of incredible inventiveness and rapid-fire comic perfection. The plot is ever-twisting and incredibly funny, the dialogue snaps with comic crackle, and the performances are all distinctive and a joy to behold.

Even better, the screenplay by Chris Bowman, Hubbel Palmer and Emily Spivey keeps the amount of foul language and sexual humor far more contained than in most current wild comedies. There is one gross-out scene in which two women are fighting using a tube of feminine-hygiene gel as their weapon of choice, but it is pretty quick, and easily forgotten in the overall scheme of things. “Masterminds” is just risqué enough, and has enough comic violence, to make it inappropriate for children, but adults and older teens will enjoy it greatly.

Director Jared Hess (“Napoleon Dynamite,” “Nacho Libre”) makes a tremendous comeback with this movie, following his unmitigated 2010 disaster “Gentlemen Broncos.” He has a unique comic vision tying together oddball characters (the wigs and costumes in this movie are a sight to behold), off-the-wall set details and fine-tunes the comedic aspect of nearly every minute detail on screen to deliver a movie that had a screening room of veteran critics exploding with laughter. It ranks with 2012’s “We’re the Millers” as the funniest movie of the decade so far.

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 • OCTOBER 2, 2016

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Hab 1:2-3; 2:2-4; NRSVCE)

O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,

and you will not listen?

Or cry to you “Violence!”

and you will not save?

Why do you make me see wrongdoing

and look at trouble?

Destruction and violence are before me;

strife and contention arise.

Then the Lord answered me and said:

Write the vision;

make it plain on tablets,

so that a runner may read it.

For there is still a vision for the appointed time;

it speaks of the end, and does not lie.

If it seems to tarry, wait for it;

it will surely come, it will not delay.

Look at the proud!

Their spirit is not right in them,

but the righteous live by their faith.

Second Reading (2 Tm 1:6-8, 13-14; NRSVCE)

I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.

Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God. Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.

Gospel Reading (Lk 17:5-10; NRSVCE)

The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.

“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’”

MONDAY • OCTOBER 3, 2016

Monday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gal 1:6-12; NRSVCE)

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!

Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Gospel Reading (Lk 10:25-37; NRSVCE)

A lawyer stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?” He answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have given the right answer; do this, and you will live.”

But wanting to justify himself, he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan while traveling came near him; and when he saw him, he was moved with pity. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, having poured oil and wine on them. Then he put him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of him; and when I come back, I will repay you whatever more you spend.’ Which of these three, do you think, was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”

TUESDAY • OCTOBER 4, 2016

Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi

First Reading (Gal 1:13-24; NRSVCE)

You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus.

Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days; but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord’s brother. In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, “The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.” And they glorified God because of me.

Gospel Reading (Lk 10:38-42; NRSVCE)

Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

WEDNESDAY • OCTOBER 5, 2016

Wednesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gal 2:1-2, 7-14; NRSVCE)

Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up in response to a revelation. Then I laid before them (though only in a private meeting with the acknowledged leaders) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure that I was not running, or had not run, in vain. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel for the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel for the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter making him an apostle to the circumcised also worked through me in sending me to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who were acknowledged pillars, recognized the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me the right hand of fellowship, agreeing that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They asked only one thing, that we remember the poor, which was actually what I was eager to do.

But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood self-condemned; for until certain people came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But after they came, he drew back and kept himself separate for fear of the circumcision faction. And the other Jews joined him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not acting consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Gospel Reading (Lk 11:1-4; NRSVCE)

Jesus was praying in a certain place, and after he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” He said to them, “When you pray, say:

Father, hallowed be your name.

Your kingdom come.

Give us each day our daily bread.

And forgive us our sins,

for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us.

And do not bring us to the time of trial.”

THURSDAY • OCTOBER 6, 2016

Thursday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gal 3:1-5; NRSVCE)

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly exhibited as crucified! The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? Having started with the Spirit, are you now ending with the flesh? Did you experience so much for nothing? — if it really was for nothing. Well then, does God supply you with the Spirit and work miracles among you by your doing the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?

Gospel Reading (Lk 11:5-13; NRSVCE)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; for a friend of mine has arrived, and I have nothing to set before him.’ And he answers from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, at least because of his persistence he will get up and give him whatever he needs.

“So I say to you, Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asks for a fish, will give a snake instead of a fish? Or if the child asks for an egg, will give a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

FRIDAY • OCTOBER 7, 2016

Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary

First Reading (Gal 3:7-14; NRSVCE)

So, you see, those who believe are the descendants of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, declared the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Gentiles shall be blessed in you.” For this reason, those who believe are blessed with Abraham who believed.

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not observe and obey all the things written in the book of the law.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law; for “The one who is righteous will live by faith.” But the law does not rest on faith; on the contrary, “Whoever does the works of the law will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us — for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”— in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

Gospel Reading (Lk 11:15-26; NRSVCE)

After Jesus had driven out a demon, some in the crowd said, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” Others, to test him, kept demanding from him a sign from heaven. But he knew what they were thinking and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself becomes a desert, and house falls on house. If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? — for you say that I cast out the demons by Beelzebul. Now if I cast out the demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your exorcists cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out the demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you. When a strong man, fully armed, guards his castle, his property is safe. But when one stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, he takes away his armor in which he trusted and divides his plunder. Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters.

“When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it wanders through waterless regions looking for a resting place, but not finding any, it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ When it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and live there; and the last state of that person is worse than the first.”

SATURDAY • OCTOBER 8, 2016

Saturday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time

First Reading (Gal 3:22-29; NRSVCE)

But the scripture has imprisoned all things under the power of sin, so that what was promised through faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.

Now before faith came, we were imprisoned and guarded under the law until faith would be revealed. Therefore the law was our disciplinarian until Christ came, so that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.

Gospel Reading (Lk 11:27-28; NRSVCE)

While Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that bore you and the breasts that nursed you!” But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it!”