VOLUME 3, ISSUE 13  •  MAY 27, 2017

Table of Contents

Copyright Notice

VATICAN NEWS

In surprise ‘mercy Friday’ visit, Pope Francis blesses homes of Rome’s poor

Pope Francis: Church teaching helps us avoid harm of ideology

The Church needs a unified strategy to counter gender ideology, expert says

Pope invited by bishops to address the future of Europe

The Pope’s words at the Regina Coeli prayer

Pope Francis announces new June 28 consistory

Pastoral visit to the Roman parish of San Pier Damiani ai Monti di San Paolo in Casal Bernocchi, Acilia

What common ground could Trump and Pope Francis find?

Pope Francis’ newest cardinals show a global Church

Introductory address of the Holy Father at the opening of the 70th General Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference

Pope Francis to nuns: Your joy can change the world

Here’s the plan for Melania and Ivanka’s day in Rome

Pope Francis, Trump hold landmark first meeting

General Audience: Emmaus, the journey of hope

Ivanka Trump meets with human trafficking survivors in Rome

Pope taps Bishop Angelo de Donatis as new Vicar of Rome

Francis calls Don Orione Sisters to be ‘missionaries without borders’

WORLD NEWS

The first Catholic church in 60 years is being built in Cuba

Rome hosts annual March for Life

Ban on religious icons in cars sparks Catholic outcry in Philippines

Manchester bishop: There is ‘no justification’ for horrific attack

ISIS ally in Philippines storms Catholic cathedral, takes hostages

Cardinal Zen urges prayer for Christians in China

Cardinal pleads for Islamist militants to release Philippines hostages

Why this cardinal has high hopes for Pope Francis’ Colombia visit

Romania takes step toward marriage defense amendment

Dozens of Egyptian Christians killed in bus attack

U.S. NEWS

Justice Alito warns seminarians religious liberty is in danger

Pence to Notre Dame graduates: Bring values into the workplace

Knights of Columbus leader talks Pope Francis, Trump in new interview

U.S. bishops welcome Trump administration’s reprieve for Haitian migrants

St. Louis rule creates legal traps for pro-lifers, lawsuit charges

Stronger religious freedoms in Texas could boost Catholic foster care

New video shows graphic discussion of aborted baby parts

What can we learn from the newest priests? Encourage vocations

FEATURES

This new technology could produce babies from skin cells. And that’s bad

Pope Francis resets Marian devotion on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima

Seminarian who once saved the Eucharist from ISIS returns as a priest

Why head transplants won’t disprove the existence of God

A word to those being confirmed

Cardinal Dolan finds lesson in humility in life of Irish immigrant who saw Our Lady

How a nuns’ home is helping girls freed from sex trafficking

SCRIPTURE READINGS

Sunday • May 28, 2017

Monday • May 29, 2017

Tuesday • May 30, 2017

Wednesday • May 31, 2017

Thursday • June 1, 2017

Friday • June 2, 2017

Saturday • June 3, 2017

The Catholic Digital News

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Volume 3, Issue 13 • May 27, 2017

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VATICAN NEWS

In surprise ‘mercy Friday’ visit, Pope Francis blesses homes of Rome’s poor

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 19, 2017

Pope Francis blesses a home in Ostia, Italy on May 19, 2017. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Ostia, Italy — On Friday Pope Francis made a Year-of-Mercy style visit to a poor neighborhood on the outskirts of Rome, blessing the houses of a dozen people, as parish priests do every year during the Easter season.

According to a May 19 Vatican communique, the Pope wanted to continue the “Mercy Friday” visits he made during the Jubilee of Mercy, which are signs “inspired by the corporal and spiritual works of mercy” he performed during the Holy Year.

“As a sign of closeness to the families living on the peripheries of Rome, he decided to bless their houses one-by-one, as the pastor does every year during the Easter season,” the communique read.

Two days ago Fr. Plinio Poncina, pastor of Stella Maris, one of the six parishes in Ostia, posted signs on the outside of the condo building notifying families that he would be stopping by to give the annual Easter blessing.

Only lasting a few minutes, the blessing usually consists of the priest walking through the house and sprinkling holy water in each room, leading the family in a prayer and then handing them a prayer card before moving on to the next apartment.

So it was “a great surprise today when, as the bell rang, instead of the pastor the inhabitants saw Pope Francis.”

According to the communique, the Pope “with great simplicity” met with the families and blessed around a dozen apartments inside the Piazza Francesco Conteduca complex, leaving each of them with a rosary as a gift.

Francis jested at one point, apologizing to families for the disturbance, but reassured them that he had respected the time of silence during which they rest after lunch, which was posted on the sign at the entrance of the condominium.

Located roughly 20 miles southwest of central Rome, Ostia has a population of around 100,000, among whom is “a lively community of faithful” who live and share the difficulties of a life lived on the peripheries.

The area parish and its adjunct soccer field have often become a reference point for the community and those “social and existential realities which often, suffering forms of exclusion, remain on the margins,” the communique said.

Francis’ visit to Ostia marks the second “Mercy Friday” visit he has made since the close of the Jubilee of Mercy in November 2016.

In March he visited the St. Alessio-Margherita di Savoia Regional Center for the blind in Rome, showing he doesn’t think works of mercy are just for special occasions – or years.

Pope Francis kicked off his monthly works of mercy in January 2016 by visiting a retirement home for the elderly, sick, and those in a vegetative state, and a month later traveled to a center for those recovering from drug addiction in Castel Gandolfo.

Other visits throughout the year included refugees, children, formerly sex-trafficked women, former priests, infants, and the terminally ill.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis: Church teaching helps us avoid harm of ideology

CNA/EWTN News • May 19, 2017

Pope Francis at the General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 22, 2017. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Pope Francis warned that ideologues sow confusion and division in the Church in the name of false clarity, rather than relying on the Pope, the bishops, and Church councils inspired by the Holy Spirit.

“We are human, we are sinners,” he said, adding that there are difficulties even in the Church. Being sinners leads to humility and drawing closer to God who saves us.

Looking to the early Church, Pope Francis made a distinction between those who had “forceful discussions” but “a good spirit,” and those who “sowed confusion.”

“The group of the apostles who want to discuss the problem, and the others who go and create problems,” the Pope distinguished. “They divide, they divide the Church, they say that what the Apostles preached is not what Jesus said, that it is not the truth.”

The Pope’s words came in his homily at Casa Santa Martha May 19, Vatican Radio reports. He reflected on the Council of Jerusalem of 49 A.D., recounted in the Acts of the Apostles, which rejected claims that gentile converts to Christianity would have to be circumcised.

In the early Church, he charged, “there were jealousies, power struggles, a certain deviousness that wanted to profit from and to buy power.”

In the end, the apostles’ discussion came to agreement.

“They had hearts open to what the Holy Spirit said. And after the discussion ‘it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us,’” the Pope said.

This is not “a political agreement” but “the inspiration of the Holy Spirit” that led them to reject the “necessities” some would require of Christian converts, like a refusal to eat meat sacrificed to idols and a requirement to abstain from “illegitimate unions.”

The “liberty of the spirit,” however, allowed gentiles to enter the Church without circumcision.

At that first Church Council, Pope Francis said, “the Holy Spirit and they, the Pope with the bishops, all together,” gathered together in order “to clarify the doctrine,” as would be done through the centuries at successive councils so that “what Jesus said in the Gospels, what is the Spirit of the Gospels, would be understood well.”

The Pope encouraged the congregation not to be afraid in the face of “the opinions of the ideologues of doctrine.” He stressed that the Church has “its proper Magisterium, the Magisterium of the Pope, of the bishops, of the councils.” They should follow the path “that comes from the preaching of Jesus, and from the teaching and assistance of the Holy Spirit.” This path is “always open, always free,” because “doctrine unites, the Councils unite the Christian community” but “ideology divides.”

Pope Francis further warned against divisive elements in the Church.

“But there were always people who without any commission go out to disturb the Christian community with speeches that upset souls: ‘Eh, no, someone who says that is a heretic, you can’t say this, or that; this is the doctrine of the Church,’” he said.

“And they are fanatics of things that are not clear, like those fanatics who go there sowing weeds in order to divide the Christian community.”

He said their “great error” results from when Church doctrine, which comes from the gospel and is inspired by the Holy Spirit, “becomes an ideology.”

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VATICAN NEWS

The Church needs a unified strategy to counter gender ideology, expert says

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 19, 2017

(Wong yu liang via Shutterstock)

Vatican City — Apostolic nuncios attended a crash course last year on gender from an expert in the field, who stressed the need for the Church to develop a unified strategy, based on the faith’s basic principles, in fighting gender ideology.

First, “we Christians, and certainly our bishops and nuncios, need to be convinced about our principles, the principles of our faith,” Fr. Robert Gahl told CNA May 16. “We also need to have a thought-through understanding of those principles, also regarding the human body.”

He stressed the importance of remembering that “humanity has been saved fully, that we are redeemed also in our sexuality.”

This implies a daily struggle and fight with original sin, he said, explaining that “the redemption of our own embodiment and therefore of our own sexuality and complementarity” is a task each person must carry out daily.

Secondly, he said, “the Church needs to act together, so that it be in concert, because we’re more powerful when we act together.”

Acting together doesn’t mean that everyone has to do the same thing, but rather that by seeking guidance from the Church on how to handle modern issues such as gender, individuals will be able “to act in a way that will be more effective in the public square.”

Fr. Gahl emphasized that the present time “is a crucial moment for the bishops to help to intervene and to help coordinate so the market can produce sound alternatives that also agree with our conscience and our religious belief.”

Both individuals and institutions “need to have instruction and guidance” from bishops, he said, noting that “many people are waiting for that and at times, unfortunately, it’s missing, because the bishops aren’t sure what to do because things are changing too rapidly.”

Fr. Gahl, a priest of Opus Dei, is an associate professor of ethics at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross who has authored numerous publications on sexual ethics and moral action, among other topics.

He was chosen to lead a course for some 140 apostolic nuncios held during a Sept. 15-17, 2016, jubilee weekend dedicated to them, during which they met with the Pope and had several rounds of catechesis.

One of the courses the nuncios attended was that on gender offered by Fr. Gahl, who spoke about the rising threat gender ideology poses throughout the world, its political and ecclesial implications, and the strategy the Church must develop to effectively oppose what is often a very savvy communications strategy from the other side.

“This is really fascinating … the challenge the nuncios have,” Fr. Gahl said, explaining that he tried to give them space in the course to reflect critically on their work, in which they both coordinate among bishops and serve as diplomats.

“Gender ideology is threatening the freedom of religious expression, religious belief, and the freedom of the Church as an institution in many places, and in the places where it’s not being threatened, it probably will be threatened very shortly,” the priest explained.

Therefore, the nuncios have the challenge “of observing, addressing and helping to guide and instruct the bishops in each country so the Church can have a concerted strategy” in defending the Church as an institution and all believing Christians against this “wave of manipulation of human dignity.”

However, Fr. Gahl said he disagrees with those who claim the push for gender ideology comes from “some malicious political strategy or that it’s motivated by some evil intent, or people who claim that there is some kind of material gain from it.”

Instead, he voiced his belief that most of the pushing is being done by people with “a good intention” who are truly convinced it is for the betterment of humanity. “I see it as being rooted in a view of the human being … that comes out of post-modern philosophy,” he said.

This notion, the priest said, is what Benedict XVI described as “a nihilistic understanding of freedom, such that we are each our own creator.” In this view, God is replaced and we can each create ourselves in the image of whatever we would like to be, rather than receiving our nature from another as a given.

“What’s really horrible about this is it means we have no intrinsic dignity. No one has intrinsic dignity, no one should be respected for who they are, but they should be respected for who they think they are,” Fr. Gahl said.

The priest said it was providential that he gave his talk during the Jubilee of Mercy, because he was able to contextualize it within Pope Francis’ emphases on tenderness and compassion.

“My entire conference was infused by this effort to say we should be understanding toward people, we should be compassionate to them … especially people who are suffering from some form of gender dysphoria,” he said.

Rather than being condescending, the priest said we ought to try to understand and appreciate the view of the other, showing compassion in order to “help them in some way to achieve a full flourishing and health according to who they are.”

Fr. Gahl said his course provided a unique space for the nuncios to ask questions and exchange ideas.

Because of their position, nuncios typically come to the Vatican on an individual basis and “basically never have the opportunity to all get together and discuss important issues,” he said.

While his course was in many ways an exceptional opportunity for nuncios because of the jubilee, Fr. Gahl said he believes it would be useful to have nuncios come together more often to discuss timely problems the Church is facing today.

Even if they come in smaller groups divided by region or language, “perhaps there’s some way … in which that could be done in the future,” he suggested.

During discussion after the course had ended, nuncios brought up various concerns, Fr. Gahl said, noting that at least one comment was made on the need to convey “an awareness and a savvy” on the issue to seminarians.

It must be now taken into consideration that “men going into seminary today are already influenced by this [gender ideology] in the culture, so they need to receive a formation that is going to help them be mature in their own masculinity in order to help them become spiritual fathers.”

Fr. Gahl said he was impressed by the resonance among the nuncios in recognizing the importance of the gender issue, and noted that he often emphasized the need to utilize new media better, given its influence.

Pope Francis “is very concerned about what he calls ‘ideological colonization,’” the priest said. “He’s especially concerned about the educational process of how there are schools that are indoctrinating children with propaganda that is ideological that is contrary to even a scientific or Christian understanding of the human person.”

In Francis’ view, “this as an intrusion or a violation of the rights of the parents, who are the principle educators,” Fr. Gahl said, noting that this is evidenced in many of the Pope’s writings.

“He sees gender promoted as an ideology,” the priest said, clarifying that when he refers to ideology, “not everything gender is ideology. But it is an ideology when it puts people in categories that conflict with their biology and boxes people in and forces people at times to become something that they’re not.”

“It imposes upon other people styles of life that are contrary with reality. Contrary with the understanding that marriage is between a man and a woman,” he said, adding that “the Pope is very concerned about this,” and is emphasizing the need for complementarity.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope invited by bishops to address the future of Europe

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • May 19, 2017

Pope Francis addresses paralympians in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican on Oct. 4, 2014. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — Pope Francis will deliver his fifth speech on the present and future of Europe during an event organized by the Commission of the European Bishops’ Conferences of the European community (COMECE).

The event, titled “Rethinking Europe,” has been organized by COMECE in collaboration with the Holy See, and will take place in Rome Oct. 27-29 to mark the 60th anniversary of the Treaties of Rome, which laid the foundation for the European Union.

Pope Francis was invited to the event during a private meeting he had with the COMECE standing committee on May 16. The meeting took place in the afternoon in Domus Sanctae Marthae, where Pope Francis lives.

The COMECE delegation is composed of president Cardinal Reinhard Marx and the four vice-presidents, bishops Jean Kockerols, Gianni Ambrosio, Czeslaw Kozon, Rimantas Normila. COMECE general secretary, Fr. Olivier Poquillon also attended the meeting.

The group also had meetings with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, and with Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, the Vatican Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Cardinal Marx stressed in a press release that the “Rethinking Europe forum will be the start of a process of dialogue between the Churches representatives (both bishops and lay people) and the politicians who have political responsibility and make decisions.”

After the encounter with COMECE’s standing committee, Pope Francis met on May 18 with the new presidency of the Council of the European Bishops’ Conferences, known by the acronym CCEE.

While the COMECE is composed by bishops delegated by their Bishops’ Conferences to deal with institutions associated to the European Union, the CCEE is composed by the presidents of the Bishops Conferences in Europe, and deals with the pastoral challenges of each of the European countries represented.

Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, current president of the Italian Bishops Conference, was elected President of the CCEE.

The Italian cardinal explained in a press conference that the topics discussed with Pope Francis included secularization, migration, youth and human trafficking.

When the conversation turned to the challenges of young people, “the Pope warned us about the demographic winter. He particularly recommended us to care for young people.”

Cardinal Bagnasco also underscored that “Pope Francis expressed gratitude and admiration for the work done by the Churches in Europe in order to tackle the migration issues.”

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VATICAN NEWS

The Pope’s words at the Regina Coeli prayer

The Holy See Press Office • May 21, 2017

Vatican City — At midday today, Sixth Sunday of Easter, the Holy Father Francis appeared at the window of his study in the Vatican Apostolic Palace to pray the Regina Coeli with the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

The following is the Pope’s introduction to the Marian prayer, which substitutes the Angelus at Easter time:

Before the Regina Coeli

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today’s Gospel (cf. John 14:15-21), the continuation of last Sunday’s, takes us to the moving and dramatic moment of Jesus’ Last Supper with His disciples. John the Evangelist receives from the Lord’s mouth and heart His last teachings, before His Passion and Death. Jesus promises His friends, in that sad, dark moment, that, after Him, they will receive “another Paraclete” (v. 16). This word means another “Advocate,” another Defender, another Consoler: “the Spirit of truth” (v. 17); and He adds “I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you” (v. 18). These words transmit the joy of a new coming of Christ: risen and glorified, He abides in the Father and, at the same time, comes to us in the Holy Spirit. And in this, His new coming, our union with Him and with the Father is revealed: “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (v. 20).

Meditating on these words of Jesus, today with a sense of faith we are aware of being the People of God in communion with the Father and with Jesus through the Holy Spirit. In this mystery of communion the Church finds the inexhaustible source of her mission, which is realized through love. In today’s Gospel Jesus says: “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him” (v. 21). It is the love that introduces us to the knowledge of Jesus, thanks to the action of this “Advocate” that Jesus has sent, that is, the Holy Spirit. Love of God and of our neighbor is the Gospel’s greatest commandment. The Lord calls us today to respond generously to the evangelical call for love, putting God at the center of our life and dedicating ourselves to the service of our brethren, especially those who are most in need of support and consolation.

If there is an attitude that is never easy, that is never to be taken for granted, even in a Christian community, it is indeed being able to love, to love following the example of the Lord and with His grace. At times conflicts, pride, envy and divisions also leave a sign on the Church’s beautiful face. A community of Christians should live in Christ’s charity and, instead, it is in fact precisely there that the evil one “puts his paw” and we, sometimes, allow ourselves to be deceived. The spiritually weakest are those who pay the price. How many of them – and you know some of them – how many of them have drifted away because they do not feel welcomed, they do not feel understood, they do not feel loved. How many persons have drifted, for instance, from some parishes or communities because of the environment of gossip, jealousy and envy they have found there. For a Christian too to be able to love is never something that is achieved once and for all. One must begin again every day; we must exercise ourselves so that our love for the brothers and sisters we encounter may become mature and purified of those limits and sins that render it partial, egoistic, sterile and unfaithful. Every day the art of loving must be learned. Listen to this: every day the art of loving must be learned; every day Christ’s school of patience must be followed, every day one must forgive and look to Jesus, and do so with the help of this “Advocate,” of this Consoler that Jesus has sent us, the Holy Spirit.

May the Virgin Mary, perfect disciple of her Son and Lord, help us to be ever more obedient to the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth, to learn every day to love one another as Jesus has loved us.

After the Regina Coeli

Dear brothers and sisters,

Unfortunately, painful news reaches us from the Central African Republic, which I hold in my heart, especially after my visit in November 2015. Armed clashes have claimed numerous victims and displaced many people, and threaten the peace process. I am close to the population and to the bishops and to all those who work for the good of the people and for peaceful coexistence. I pray for the deceased and wounded, and renew my appeal: may weapons be silenced and the good will to engage in dialogue prevail, so as to bring peace and development to the country.

Next May 24 we will all be united spiritually to the Catholic faithful of China, on the feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Help of Christians,” venerated at the Sheshan Shrine at Shanghai. To Chinese Catholics I say: let us raise our gaze to Mary Our Mother, so that she may help us to discern the Will of God regarding the concrete path of the Church in China and support us in accepting her plan of love with generosity. Mary encourages us to offer our personal contribution towards communion among believers and for the harmony of the society as a whole. Let us not forget to bear witness to faith with prayer and with love, always remaining open to encounter and dialogue.

I address a warm greeting to you, faithful of Rome and pilgrims, especially to the Musical Chapel of the Cathedral of Pamplona; to the group from the Colégio São Tomás of Lisbon; to the faithful of Saint Charles’ Chapel of the Hospital de la Croix Saint-Simon Paris; and those from Torrent (Valencia, Spain), Canada, and the United States of America, including some from the Island of Guam.

A special greeting goes to the newly-confirmed youngsters and candidates for Confirmation from the diocese of Genoa – with God’s help I will come to visit your city next Saturday – and to the “ladybirds” of Frosinone and the faithful of the Santa Maria Goretti parish in Rome.

Dear brothers and sisters,

I wish to announce that on Wednesday 28 June a Consistory will be held to appoint five new Cardinals. Their provenance from different parts of the world manifests the catholicity of the Church, which reaches all around the earth, and the assignment of a title or a diaconate in the city expresses the Cardinals’ belonging to the diocese of Rome that, according to the well-known expression of Saint Ignatius, presides in charity over all the Churches. And on Thursday 29 June, Solemnity of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, I will concelebrate Holy Mass with the new Cardinals, with the College of Cardinals, with the new Bishops, the Metropolitans, the Bishops and some presbyters.

Here are the names of the new cardinals: Msgr. Jean Zerbo, archbishop of Bamako, in Mali; Msgr. Juan Jose Omella, archbishop of Barcelona, Spain; Msgr. Anders Arborelius, bishop of Stockholm, Sweden; Msgr. Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, titular bishop of Acque Nuove di Proconsolare, apostolic vicar of Pakse, in Laos; and Msgr. Gregorio Rosa Chavez, titular bishop of Mulli, auxiliary of the archdiocese of San Salvador, El Salvador.

Let us commend the new Cardinals to the protection of Saints Peter and Paul, so that by the intercession of the Prince of the Apostles, they may be genuine servants of ecclesial communion, and by that of the Apostle to the Gentiles, may be joyful heralds of the Gospel throughout the world and, with their testimony and their counsel, they may support me more intensely in my service as Bishop of Rome, universal Pastor of the Church.

I wish you all a good Sunday. Please, do not forget to pray for me. Have a good lunch, and goodbye.

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis announces new June 28 consistory

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 21, 2017

Participants begin to enter the Vatican’s Synod Hall before the Friday session of the Synod on the Family on Oct. 10, 2014. (Daniel Ibáñez/CNA)

Vatican City — During his Regina Coeli address Sunday, Pope Francis announced to pilgrims that he will be holding a June 28 consistory to create 5 new cardinals he said represent the “catholicity” of the Church.

“Brothers and sisters, I wish to announce to you that Wednesday, June 28, I will hold a consistory for the nomination of 5 new cardinals,” the Pope said May 21, adding that “their origin from different parts of the world manifests the catholicity of the Church, spread throughout the earth.”

The day after the consistory, on the June 29 Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, the new cardinals will concelebrate Mass with Pope Francis in St. Peters Basilica alongside the new metropolitan archbishops named during the previous year, who traditionally receive the pallium from the Pope on that day.

The five new cardinals appointed by Pope Francis are: Archbishop Jean Zerbo, of Bamako, Mali; Archbishop Juan José Omella of Barcelona, Spain; Bishop Anders Arborelius of Stockholm, Sweden; Bishop José Gregorio Rosa Chávez, auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, El Salvador and Bishop Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, Apostolic Vicar of Pakse, Laos and Apostolic Administrator of Vientiane.

Keeping true to Francis’ style, the new appointments represent not only the weight key European dioceses such as Stockholm carry, but also the Pope’s acute attention to the peripheries.

A key example of this is the appointment of a cardinal to communist Laos. In 2015 Pope Francis advanced the causes of canonization of 12 potential saints, two of whom were martyred by communist revolutionaries in Laos in 1960.

The Pathet Lao defeated the royalist forces in 1975, and Laos has been a communist state ever since. Foreign missionaries were expelled or fled that year, and now fewer than two percent of Laotians are Christian.

Also noteworthy is his appointment of San Salvador’s auxiliary bishop, marking the first time he has tapped an auxiliary as cardinal. Bishop Chávez was chosen over his Archbishop, Jose Luis Escobar Alas, for the red hat, showing that Francis, as seen in his previous appointments, is willing to skip over “cardinal sees.”

San Salvador is also the diocese Bl. Oscar Romero led before being shot during Mass in 1980. He was recognized as a martyr and beatified in 2015. Chávez is known to have been a close collaborator of Romero before the archbishop’s death.

Rumors have been going around that Romero will be canonized sometime this year, however, so far there has been no confirmation.

All of the new cardinals are under 80, and therefore eligible to vote in the next conclave.

They will join the 17 other prelates who got a red hat during Francis’ most recent consistory, held Nov. 19, 2016, to coincide with the close of the Jubilee of Mercy.

On that occasion, the Pope named 13 new cardinals of voting age, including three Americans, and five who had already passed the voting age of 80, making them ineligible to vote in the next conclave.

The Americans named by the Pope in November were Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago, Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Newark, and Bishop Kevin Farrell, prefect of the new Congregation for Laity, Family and Life.

Others of voting age include: Archbishop Mario Zenari, who is and will remain apostolic nuncio to the “beloved and martyred” Syria; Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapalainga of Bangui; Archbishop Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid; Archbishop Sergio da Rocha of Brazil; Archbishop Patrick D’Rozario of Dakha, Bangladesh; Archbishop Baltazar Enrique Porras Cardozo of Merida, Venezuela; Archbishop Joseph de Kesel of Malines Brussels; Bishop Maurice Piat of Port-Louis, Mauritius Island; Archbishop Carlos Aguiar Retes of Tlalnepantla, Mexico and Archbishop John Ribat of Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.

Non-voters elevated were: Anthony Soter Fernandez, Archbishop Emeritus of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Renato Corti, Archbishop Emeritus of Novara and Sebastian Koto Khoarai, O.M.I, Bishop Emeritus of Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho.

Additionally, Francis also nominated Fr Ernest Simoni, an Albanian priest from the diocese of Shkodra, whose testimony of the persecution of the Albanian Church under the communist regime the Pope cried at during his 2014 daytrip to the country.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pastoral visit to the Roman parish of San Pier Damiani ai Monti di San Paolo in Casal Bernocchi, Acilia

The Holy See Press Office • May 21, 2017

Vatican City — This afternoon, Sixth Sunday of Easter, the Holy Father Francis paid a pastoral visit to the parish of San Pier Damiani ai Monti di San Paolo, in Casal Bernocchi, Acilia, in the southern outskirts of Rome.

Upon arrival at the Casal Bernocchi Sports Center at 15:40, the Pope met with children, young candidates for confirmation and other young people who attend the Center. During the meeting the Pope answered several questions posed by the children.

Then, after transferring by car to the parish, at 16:15, the Pope greeted the sick, the Neocatechumenal community and the poor people assisted by Caritas. Finally, he confessed four penitents.

At 17:55 the Pope presided, in the parish church, at the celebration of Holy Mass. After the proclamation of the Gospel, the Holy Father pronounced an off-the-cuff homily.

The following is the text of the questions from children and the Pope’s answers at the Sports Center and the transcript of the homily the Holy Father pronounced during the Holy Mass:

Questions from children and answers from the Holy Father

Questions from Children: What can we children do to save the world?

How did you become aware of your priestly vocation?

What can we do to follow Jesus better?

Pope Francis, I would like to ask you what sport you practiced at my age – I am 11. I would also like to know if you played football and, if so, in which position.

Pope Francis: It is a good question! You asked this: “What can we do to save, to help.” You said “to save the world.” But the world is large! Can a child – think, think carefully before answering – can a boy, a child, a girl, help in the salvation of the world? Can he or she do this, or not?

Children: He can’t …

Pope Francis: Can’t he do anything? Don’t you count at all? Can you or not?

Children: Yes, we can!

Pope Francis: Good! A bit louder, I can’t hear …

Children: [shouting] Yes, we can!

Pope Francis: And I would like to hear you, which of you is the best at answering this question. Think carefully: how can I help Jesus to save the world? How can I help Jesus to save the world? Raise your hands, those of you who want to answer. … Raise your hand if you want to answer. [Someone says: “With prayer”]. With prayer can we help Jesus to save the world? Can we, or not?

Children: We can!

Pope Francis: But what is happening? Are you all asleep?

Children: No!

Pope Francis: Ah, the sun … the sun sends us to sleep. With prayer. Very good. Another thing. You …

Child: Respecting people.

Pope Francis: Respecting people. And people, should they be respected?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: Dad, mum, grandfather, grandmother: are they to be respected?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: And the people we do not know, are they to be respected?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: And the people who live on the street, the homeless, are they to be respected?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: Yes. Everyone, all people are to be respected. Shall we say it together?

Pope and children: All people are to be respected!

Pope Francis: And a person who isn’t good to me, must I respect him?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: Are you sure?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: But wouldn’t it be better just to give him a slap?

Children: No!

Pope Francis: Really?

Children: Yes.

Pope Francis: Good: even a person who is not good to me must be respected.

Pope and children: Even a person who is not good to me must be respected.

Pope Francis: And a person who has done me harm, think carefully about this: what must I do? If a person has done harm to me, can I do harm to him?

Children: No!

Pope Francis: No. It is not nice. Can I telephone the mafia to ask them to do something?

Children: No …

Pope Francis: You aren’t convinced … Can we do this?

Children: No!

Pope Francis: Can we make agreements with the mafia?

Children: No!

Pope Francis: No! Even those [who do harm] must be respected. You have answered well. You see in how many ways we can help Jesus save the world. And this is good, it is very good! And if I have done my homework and my mother lets me go out and play with my friends, or have a match, is this good?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: Playing – think hard – playing, playing well, does this help Jesus save the world?

Children: Yes …

Pope Francis: You are not convinced …

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: Yes! Because joy helps Jesus save the world. Let us all say it together.

Children: Joy helps Jesus save the world

Pope Francis: Joy is something very beautiful, very beautiful. You, today, are you joyful?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: Yes? Are you joyful?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: And this is very good. And I think that with this I have answered to “what can I do to help Jesus save the world?.” And so think about it, later, always.

Then, when I was your age I used to play football, You know, I wasn’t very good at football, and where I am from, those who are not good at football are called “pata dura“ (“hard leg”). Have you understood? I was a pata dura, and so I was usually the goalkeeper, so I didn’t have to move much: it was my position. It is not a curse, this, you can say it: pata dura, it is not a swear word.

Another question was: how did I become aware of my vocation. Every person has a place in life. Jesus wants one person to get married, to have a family; he wants another to be a priest, another to be a nun … But each one of us has a path in life. And for the majority it is for them to be like you, to be like everyone, to be like your parents: lay faithful who have a beautiful family, who raise their children, who make faith grow. … And I was in a family: we were five brothers and sisters and we were happy. Father went to work, and came home from work – in that time there was work – and we played. Once – this will make you laugh, but do not do what I am telling you! – we had a competition to play at being parachutists, and we took an umbrella and went onto the terrace, and one of my brothers was the first to jump off, down from the terrace. He survived, only just! These are dangerous games. But we were happy. Why? Because father and mother helped us to get along, at school, and they were also concerned with us. It is very good, very good. Listen well: it is very good in life to be married, it is very good. And it is very good to have a family, a father and a mother, to have grandparents, aunts and uncles. Do you understand? It is very good, it is a grace. And each one of you has parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, a family. And why don’t we greet them now? Let’s applaud them, all of them [applause]. Your parents make sacrifices for you, to let you grow, and this is a good thing, a beautiful vocation: having a family.

But there is another vocation: being a nun, being a priest. And one day I felt – all of a sudden – I was sixteen and I felt that the Lord wanted me to be a priest. And here I am! I am a priest. This is the answer. You feel it in your heart: when a boy feels warmth in his heart, and then that warmth goes further, and he feels love for a girl, and then they get engaged and then they marry, that is what it is like in your heart when the Lord says to you: “You must go ahead on the path to become a priest.” And that is what I felt. Just as we feel the good things in life. Because it is a beautiful thing! Do you understand?

Good, you must be tired of staying here, the sun is strong.

Children: No!

Pope Francis: Now there is a bit of a breeze, but …

I don’t remember: if someone is not good to me, must I give him a slap?

Children: No!

Pope Francis: Ah, I had forgotten. And must I pray for the people who hate me?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: Yes, yes: pray for those who are not good to me, for this … I must pray. And must I be obedient to my mother and father?

Children: Yes!

Pope Francis: I, or my neighbor?

Children: Everyone!

Pope Francis: Ah, everyone! Someone said “I.”

Children: I!

Pope Francis: I must obey my mother and father: everyone!

Children: I must obey my mother and father.

Pope Francis: It is very important, because they make sacrifices for us. Do you understand?

Children: Yes.

Pope Francis: Very good. And now, what shall we do?

Well, let us pray. In the first question we spoke about prayer. Now let us pray for each other. Everyone, hold hands. Like brothers, like friends. Hold each other by the hand. And let us pray to Our Lady, who is our Mother: Ave O Maria …

And now I will give the blessing to all of you. In silence, each one of you, think of your parents, of your relatives, your friends; think also of your enemies, of the people who hate you or do not wish you well. And may this blessing descend upon them too, upon everyone.

[Blessing]

Thank you!

Meeting with the communities of the Neocatechumenal Way

Pastor: Holy Father, welcome. A brief presentation. This brief encounter is with the Neocatechumenal Way, which was born here, in this parish, about 30 years ago. There have been several evangelizations: there are five communities plus two missionary communities, sent by your predecessor Benedict XVI eight years ago, and he sent them here to the outskirts of Rome to evangelize those who are distant from the Church. There are two communities: one from Piazza Bologna, so they travel fifty kilometers to come here, every Wednesday and Saturday; and another from San Leonardo del Murialdo: every Tuesday they go to homes to visit families, to pray with them, to offer them a word, to listen, and this has borne much fruit. Not many people attend this parish: you see many people now, today; but what we see today is, I think, the fruit of all that has been done in these years, by my predecessors before me and even from these facets of our parish. Indeed I am grateful to the Lord – I too come from the Redemptoris Mater, I attended the seminary there, I was itinerant first; I have been in this parish, as pastor, for 12 years now. I am happy. I have had difficulties – many of them – but also so many joys. I must say that these brothers witnessed faith – not only them, also – and they gave life and strengthened my vocation. When I was in crisis, in these years, they were – I am moved – they supported me, because I thought I should not be here. So I thank God, I am grateful to be a priest, to be a priest and to serve the Church of Rome. And obedience to you, as successor to Peter, first of all.

Pope Francis: One of you said to me that if the Way was present in this parish, it is thanks to this person [the parish priest]. But there is a good thing: he did not say, “if the Way or this parish is strong, if we have many children, if we have this type of community and also missionaries it is because we have missionary priests – no. [He said that] You have been the missionaries. Because the grace of the mission comes from Baptism: it is Baptism that gives us the strength for the mission, and the laypeople, who are baptized, are those who must be missionaries. Then us, priests, nuns, even bishops, everyone. But the laypeople must go ahead. This is what the parish priest said: the fact of visiting families, listening to them … This is not in the canon law, but it is very important: “the apostolate of the ear.” Listening. “But Father , we waste so much time … .” No! You gain it. You listen, then, at a certain point you will say a word and that word will germinate, it will be a seed, it will go ahead. But first you need to listen. Today people need others to listen to them. Everyone speaks, we speak about everything … But let us think … I will tell you about a personal experience – I too can give personal witness: you like testimonies, no? How often I have heard people who come to me to ask for advice, and I have remained silent, I have let them speak, speak, speak … and then they say, “Yes, you are right.” I didn’t speak! But there was the Spirit that they had within, that had spoken to them and they found the way. But they needed an ear, and all of you have this experience. And if someone starts to speak, do not say, “No, but this … .” Do not explain anything, until the moment at which the Spirit tells you, “Speak.” Remember the apostle Philip: he was baptizing, evangelizing, and the Spirit told him, “Go on that road.” And there he found a carriage carrying a man, minister of the economy of the Queen of Ethiopia. But he was Jewish and was reading the prophet Isaiah. And Philip did not say a word to him, he simply drew next to the carriage; the man looked at him, and Philip asked him, “Tell me, do you understand this?” “And how can I understand it if no-one explains it to me?.” He was the one who asked. Philip was in silence. He asked him to get into the carriage and he explained it … And, once he found a little water in the desert, he asked, “Why can I not be baptized?” Listen. At the beginning they listened, then they said a word. But if you go into a house, knock on the door, and when they answer the door, you say, “I come to announce the Gospel, Christ’s salvation,” they will kick you out and you will ruin the work of the Holy Spirit. Listen. Then, while you listen, prayer: “Lord, give me the right word.” This is the visits to the families does so much good: let the right word fall. But after they have expressed themselves, after they have explained themselves well. And then go ahead, in the community, draw close to the people, who will feel good. This is how the mission is done. Jesus, one of the most beautiful images He uses for the mission, is that of the sower: sowing. You throw the seed of the Word … And there is a passage of the Gospel that says, “Then, the sower falls asleep and nothing happens, but it is the Lord who makes it grow.” Always work with the Lord, always. Please, do not be proselytizers, but rather evangelizers. It is ugly to go to a house in search of an extra member of the ecclesiastical firm: it is not this. “The Church does not grow by proselytism, but by attraction,” that is, by witness, by service. Be servers of all, and in this way things are good.

Then, there are moments of crisis – the parish priest spoke about his own, the ones he has had. But I would want to ask you – I will not do it! – who among you has not had a crisis, raise your hand. We have all had one. Everyone. And always the Lord places next to us someone who has helped us. And when you are in crisis, let yourself be helped. Ask for help. Do not close up, ask for help. Ask for the alms of grace, and this will always come through a brother, a sister. Always. Because the Gospel is like this. Preaching is not done by angels: angels praise God and keep us, but who must preach? Us. All of us. This is the path.

I thank you for what you do. You are courageous. And also these jewels who are here, your children, are a promise for the future of the Church. Raise them to be good Christians. And I like how you sing! Before I give you my blessing, could you sing a hymn to Our Lady? When I entered, you were singing one. If you know another …

[Hymn]

Thank you. Now I will give you my blessing.

[Blessing]

Please, pray for me: do not forget!

Homily of the Holy Father

We have heard how Jesus bids farewell to his followers at the Last Supper, and asks them to observe the commandments, and promises that He will send them the Holy Spirit: “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever – the Spirit of truth” (John 14: 16-17). And the Holy Spirit is in us – in each one of us – and we have received Him in Baptism: we have received Him from Jesus and from the Father. In another part [of the New Testament], the Apostle tells us to safeguard the Holy Spirit, and adds: “Do not grieve the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 4:30), as if to say: “Be conscious that you have God Himself inside, the God Who accompanies you, Who tells you what you are to do and how you must do it; He Who helps you not to make mistakes, Who helps you not to slip into temptation; the Advocate: He who defends you against the evil one.” And this Spirit is what Peter, in the second Letter, says will help us “revere Christ” in our hearts (cf. 1 Peter 3:15). And how? With prayer of adoration and by letting the inspiration of the Holy Spirit emerge. It is He Who says to us, “This is good, this is not good, this is the wrong road, this is the right road …”: He leads us ahead. And when people ask for explanations, on why we Christians are as we are, Peter says: “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have” (cf. 1 Peter 3:15). And how must you do this? Peter continues: “But do this with gentleness and respect” (v. 15). And here I would like to pause.

The language of Christians who safeguard the Holy Spirit, Who is given as a gift, of those who know they have the Spirit Who explains to them [the truth], this language is a special language. They do not have to speak in Latin: no, no. It is another language. It is the language of gentleness and respect. And this can help us to think about our attitude as Christians. Is it an attitude of respect, or of anger? Or is it bitter? It is so ugly to see people who say they are Christians but who are full of bitterness. … With gentleness. The language of the Holy Spirit is gentle, and the Church calls Him the “gentle guest of the soul,” because He is gentle and gives us gentleness. And respect. Always respect others. He teaches us to respect others. And the devil, who knows how to weaken us in our service to God, and also how to weaken us in our safeguarding of the Holy Spirit Who is within us, does everything possible to make our language neither gentle nor respectful. Even within Christian communities.

Today I said, during the Angelus [Regina Coeli], and I would like to repeat: how many people are drawn to a parish, for example, in search of peace, this respect, this gentleness, and instead find internal battles between the faithful. Instead of gentleness and respect, they encounter gossip, slander, competition, rivalry, one against the other … They encounter that atmosphere not of incense, but of gossip. And then what do they say? “If these are Christians, I prefer to remain a pagan.” And they go away, disappointed. Because these people do not know how to conserve the Holy Spirit, and with this “language” they show ambition, envy, jealousy, many things that divide us and distance people. It is we who distance them. And we do not allow the job of the Spirit, that of attracting people, to continue. I always like to return to this topic, because I tell you, I tell you clearly, that this is the most common sin in our Christian communities.

When I offered incense to Our Lady, I lowered my gaze and saw the snake., the snake that Our Lady crushes, the snake with its mouth open and tongue out. It will be good for you, as a Christian community, to see in this a Christian community that does not conserve the Holy Spirit with gentleness and respect: it is like that snake, with its long tongue … A parish priest once said to me, speaking on this topic, “In my parish there are some who could take communion from the door: with the tongue they have, they arrive at the altar!” Some of you might say, “But Father, always the same topic!” But it is true. This destroys us. And we must conserve the Holy Spirit, and not the things that the snake, the devil, teaches us.

Excuse me if I always return to this, but I think that this is the enemy that destroys our communities: gossip. Perhaps it will be good for you, some today, some on another day, when you go to greet Our Lady, to look downwards and see that tongue [of the snake] and say to Our Lady, “Our Lady, save me: I do not want to be like this. I want to conserve the Holy Spirit as you conserved Him.” She conserved the Spirit, Who then came and made her Mother of the Son of God.

Sisters and brothers, truly: this hurts my heart, it is as if we threw stones at each other. And the devil enjoys this: it is a carnival for the devil, this! Let us ask for this grace: to conserve the Holy Spirit that is in us. Do not grieve Him, as the Apostle tells us. Do not grieve Him. And may our attitude to all – Christians and non Christians – be an attitude of gentleness and respect, so that the Holy Spirit may act in this way with us: with gentleness and respect.

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

What common ground could Trump and Pope Francis find?

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 22, 2017

Pope Francis (l) and U.S. President Donald Trump (r). (Giulio napolitano via Shutterstock)

Vatican City — When Pope Francis was asked last week about his upcoming meeting with U.S. president Donald Trump, he made headlines for answering that he always tries to look for common ground.

Given that they have vocally disagreed on prominent issues in the past, what will the areas of shared agreement be?

The two are set to meet at the Vatican Wednesday, May 24, at 8:30 a.m., before Pope Francis’ weekly general audience.

President Trump arrives to Italy May 23 after stopping in both Saudi Arabia and Israel as part of his first international trip, which lasts nine days. He will also attend a NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25 and a G7 summit in Sicily on May 26.

Perhaps the most prominent area of disagreement between Trump and Francis is immigration.

During a Feb. 18, 2016, in-flight press conference, the Pope was asked to respond to Donald Trump’s immigration stand, particularly his threat to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Pope Francis responded saying “a person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.” However, he also said that he would “give the benefit of the doubt” to the political candidate.

One week prior, Trump had bashed Pope Francis as a “pawn” for the Mexican government and “a very political person” who does not understand the problems of the United States.

After the fact, then-Holy See spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi told Vatican Radio that the Pope’s comment “was never intended to be, in any way, a personal attack or an indication of how to vote” and had repeated a longstanding theme of his papacy: bridge-building.

During Trump’s time in office so far, U.S. bishops – who have Francis’ full backing on the issue – have been critical of Trump’s moves on immigration, criticizing the “ban” he implemented in his first week in office halting refugee admissions for 120 days – indefinitely for Syrian refugees – and temporarily banning visa permissions for people seeking entry to the United States from Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen.

Trump and Francis also have very divergent opinions on climate change. Francis insisted on the need to protect creation in his environmental encyclical Laudato Si, saying problems such as global warming are caused by human activity.

The Pope gave his full support of the Paris Climate deal in 2015, sending Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, to the Nov. 30-Dec. 11 summit as his personal delegate to the gathering.

Trump later threatened to back out of the deal, but delayed the process until after the G7 summit he’ll be participating in this week.

While there will certainly be these and other points the two disagree on, there are several issues – other than their shared disregard for formal protocol – that could actually bring the two together.

These, to name a few, could be: pro-life issues, above all defense of the unborn; religious freedom, particularly for Christians in the Middle East; and the push for a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Since his campaign days, Trump has identified himself as pro-life, and even gave a shout-out to the Jan. 27 March for Life in Washington D.C. in a clip of an interview with David Muir of ABC.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence became the first vice president to participate in the event, giving a keynote speech that stressed the “sanctity of life.”

Pro-life issues are likely to be at least one strong point of union for Trump and Francis, who has often spoken out against abortion and other concerns such as euthanasia, calling them in one audience in 2014 “sins against God.”

He has also encouraged the use of conscientious objection based on religious convictions, at one point describing it as “a basic human right.”

When it comes to the Trump administration, the pro-life issue remains a big issue for many U.S. Catholics, who praised the president’s reinstatement of the “Mexico City Policy,” which prohibits U.S. funding of non-government organizations that either promote or perform abortions through family-planning funds.

Trump was also lauded for his appointment of Niel Gorsuch to fill the Supreme Court vacancy left when Justice Antonin Scalia passed away last year. Gorsuch has been praised not only for his pro-life stance, but also for his commitment to religious freedom.

Pope Francis and Trump are also likely to share concern for persecuted Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq and throughout the Middle East.

Both Trump and Francis have called for greater solidarity and protection of persecuted Christians.

Francis has repeatedly spoken out on modern persecution, saying there are more martyrs today than in the early Church, with the “ecumenism of blood” having become a watermark phrase of his pontificate.

Trump himself said during his campaign that protecting persecuted Christians would be a priority. As evidence of this intent, at a May 11 summit on persecuted Christians U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said, “We’re with you, we stand with you,” and assured of both his and Trump’s prayers.

As with any political figure, questions still loom as to how much Trump will actually do, especially if differing political opinions get in the way. But overall, the topic will likely be a point of agreement and collaboration with the Vatican.

And while Trump’s previous rhetoric on Islam is something Francis would likely hastily disagree with, a recent shift in the president’s tone is something the Pope would certainly welcome.

During his election campaign, Trump called for the “total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States,” and voicing his opinion that “Islam hates us.”

However, so far Trump’s rhetoric on Muslims has cooled during his first international trip abroad.

In his May 21 speech at the Arab Islamic American Summit in Ridyadh, Saudi Arabia, Trump avoided the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism,” referring instead to “the crisis of Islamist extremism and the Islamist terror groups it inspires.”

“The nations of the Middle East will have to decide what kind of future they want for themselves, for their country and, frankly, for their families and for their children,” Trump said, speaking to leaders from more than 50 predominantly Muslim countries.

The choice is “between two futures,” and “it is a choice America cannot make for you,” he said, adding that “a better future is only possible if your nations drive out the terrorists and drive out the extremists.”

He said he didn’t come to “lecture,” but to seek an end to terrorism and the beginning of peace in the Middle East region, noting that roughly 95 percent of terrorist victims are themselves Muslim.

The president said he wants a partnership with people who share the same “interests and values” as the U.S., calling Islam one of the “great faiths” with an “ancient heritage” that has served as the “cradle of civilization.”

In addition, Trump said the problem of terrorism is not “a battle between different faiths, different sects, or different civilizations. This is a battle between barbaric criminals who seek to obliterate human life and decent people of all religions who seek to protect it. … This is a battle between good and evil.”

The U.S. president’s more moderate tone on Islam, and indeed his unprecedented praise of some aspects of Muslim culture, is something Pope Francis would likely appreciate. The Pope has on multiple occasions warned against “Islamophobia,” insisting that not all Muslims are terrorist.

However, while the two might have new-found common ground in terms of how they refer to the Muslim community, at least in the public sphere, Francis will likely take issue with the weapons deal signed by Trump and Saudi King Salman.

The deal guarantees the Middle Eastern powerhouse some $350 billion in weapons over the next 10 years, with $110 billion going into effect immediately.

Francis has consistently called for an end to the arms trade, criticizing nations that sell weapons to warring countries in order to keep the conflicts going that line their own pockets. The Pope has used almost countless occasions to insist for an end to this “scourge.”

Saudi Arabia has also been criticized by many other Middle Eastern nations for funding ISIS, most directly through weapons sales.

But regardless of the deal, terrorism is sure to be one of the key topics discussed, and if Trump’s speech in Saudi Arabia is an indication of how he intends to address the issue from here on out, the two just might be able agree on this point.

After leaving Saudi Arabia, Trump flew to Israel for an official visit in a bid to cement Israeli ties and help move forward on a peace deal with Palestine. After arriving this morning, he voiced hopes to Israeli President Reuven Rivlin of a broader peace deal in the region.

“You have a great opportunity right now. Great feeling for peace throughout the Middle East. People have had enough of the bloodshed and the killing. I think we’re going to start see things starting to happen,” he told Rivlin.

In a speech to Israeli Prime Minister on the tarmac, Trump said: “We have before us a rare opportunity to bring security and stability and peace to this region and its people, defeating terrorism and creating a future of harmony, prosperity and peace, but we can only get there working together. There is no other way.”

In a previous encounter, Trump had asked Netenyahu to “hold off” on building more settlements in order help give space to further peace discussions in the region.

Earlier this month Trump met with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas at the White House, telling him that when it comes to a deal that pleases both parties, “we will get it done.”

The commitment to a two-state solution has been a longstanding priority for the Vatican, which was reinforced during a recent 2015 agreement between Palestine and the Holy See to promote religious freedom in the area.

Trump himself, however, has said his administration is not married to the idea of a two-state solution to the decades-long conflict, deviating from previous administrations on the issue.

While the Vatican and Trump might not agree on what exactly a peace deal looks like, it’s likely to be a shared concern.

Another topic that could be a point of union between the Pope and the president is human trafficking; not necessarily because Trump himself has been a hardliner on the issue, but more likely because the president’s daughter and high-profile adviser Ivanka Trump has made a commitment to it.

It is in this capacity that she is participating in each of the nine days of Trump’s first trip abroad as president, including the public portion of his meeting with Francis.

While in Italy, Ivanka is also set to meet with the Community of Sant’Egidio, a group often praised by Pope Francis for their work with the poor and refugees, to discuss putting an end to human trafficking.

During the meeting, the Ivanka is expected to meet with several women who are victims of trafficking, and discuss various ways in which the Church and the U.S. government can collaborate on the issue.

So while there are clearly many areas in which Pope Francis and Trump diverge, the meeting will likely find both men seeking to find common ground.

Francis himself during his May 13 press conference refrained from making a premature evaluation of Trump, saying “I never make a judgment of a person without listening to them. I believe that I should not do this.”

When the two finally meet, “things will come out, I will say what I think, he will say what he thinks, but I never, ever, wanted to make a judgment without hearing the person.”

Peace and friendship are things that can’t be forced, he said, explaining that they take daily effort and are “handcrafted.”

“Respect the other, say that which one thinks, but with respect, but walk together,” he said. Even if someone thinks differently, “be very sincere,” and respectful.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis’ newest cardinals show a global Church

by Andrea Gagliarducci (CNA/EWTN News) • May 22, 2017

Consistory of Cardinals in St. Peter’s Basilica on Nov. 4, 2012. (Lewis Ashton Glancy/CNA)

Vatican City — Only seven months after Pope Francis’ last consistory, he will create five new cardinals in June. He continues a pattern of finding cardinals at the peripheries of the world, from dioceses which have not traditionally had a cardinal.

The next consistory will take place June 28.

In this new batch Pope Francis has confirmed his preference for dioceses that are not traditional sees for a cardinal. For instance, this is the first time a bishop from El Salvador, Sweden, Mali, and Laos will receive a red hat.

The Pope’s choice of Bishop Louis Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun, Vicar Apostolic of Paksé, reveals his particular interest in Laos.

Laos, a one-party communist republic averse to religion, is one of the few countries lacking full diplomatic relations with the Holy See.

However, in recent years the Laotian government has been showing a greater openness to the international community, and also to the religious sentiment of its mostly Buddhist population.

There are only 45,000 Catholics in Laos, less than one percent of the 7 million Laotians. Laos has no dioceses: there are only three apostolic vicariates with 22 priests and 11 religious priests. Three new priests were ordained in the country in 2016, and two more will be ordained this year.

The beatification of Italian missionary Mario Borzaga, of the Laotian priest Joseph Thao Thien and 14 companions martyred in 1960 gave more impetus to the Laotian “baby Church,” to use Bishop Mangkhanekhoun’s words.

The beatification Mass took place in Vientiane on Dec. 11, 2016, with the participation of over 7,000 faithful. The government’s permission for the public celebration was considered a sign that the Laotian government is changing its hostile attitude towards religion. Meanwhile, the Holy See is trying to establish full diplomatic ties with the country in order to better protect the Catholic flock.

In Mali, the red biretta for Archbishop Jean Zerbo of Bamao can also be read through diplomatic lense.

Archbishop Zerbo has strongly committed to the ongoing dialogue for reconciliation in his country. In 2012, Al-Qaeda exploited a rebellion carried out by ethnic Tuaregs and tried to take control of the central government. Ever since, Mali has been living in a constant political crisis that has turned into a refugee crisis.

His elevation as cardinal will give Archbishop Zerbo more weight in the peace talks.

After his trip to Sweden late last year, Pope Francis also named as cardinal Bishop Anders Arborelius of Stockholm.

Bishop Arborelius, a convert from Lutheranism, is the first Swedish-born Catholic bishop in the country since the Lutheran Reformation.

In El Salvador, Bishop José Gregorio Rosa Chavez, auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, is the first auxiliary bishop ever to be appointed a cardinal while the bishop in charge of his archdiocese remains but a bishop.

His red biretta may be considered a reward for his service to El Salvador in his more than 30 years as auxiliary bishop, especially during the difficult years of the 1980-1992 civil war.

In contrast to other cardinals-to-be, the red hat for Archbishop Juan José Omella Omella is not a dramatic departure from tradition, as Barcelona is traditionally a see with a cardinal. Archbishop Omella’s predecessor, Cardinal Lluis Martinez Sistach, turned 80 on Apr. 29.

The announcement that Archbishop Omella will be created a cardinal comes only two days after the new presidency of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference met with Pope Francis in a private audience in Rome.

The Spanish Bishops’ Conference gathered for its general assembly in Madrid on March 15. Cardinal Ricardo Blázquez Pérez was re-elected as president for a second three-year mandate by a strong majority. Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, archbishop of Valencia and former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, was elected vice-president.

In the race for the presidency, Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid, got four votes, while Archbishop Omella got just one vote.

By naming Archbishop Omella a cardinal, the Pope might want to show the Spanish Bishops’ Conference the men in whom he places his trust. The two Spaniards, Cardinal Osoro Sierra, appointed by Pope Francis as Archbishop of Madrid, and Archbishop Omella will have gotten their red hats in back to back consistories only seven months apart.

All of the new cardinals are below 80, so they all have the right to vote in a conclave to elect a Pope. Sweden’s Bishop Anders Arborelius is the youngest, as he will turn 68 in September, while Bishop Rosa is the oldest, about to turn 75.

In the last consistory, 13 out of 17 new red hats were given to bishops or archbishops below the age of 80.

Church rules set the maximum number of cardinal electors in a conclave at 120.

With the five new cardinals, Pope Francis has the increased the number of voting cardinals to 121, exceeding the limit by one.

The five new cardinals also slightly re-shape the composition of the College of Cardinals. After the June 28 consistory, Europe will be represented by 53 voting cardinals, compared with 51 at present. Central America’s voting cardinals will increase to five from four. Africa and Asia combined will have 15 cardinals in a prospective conclave, an increase of one.

Other regions’ number of cardinal electors is unchanged: North America still has 17 voting cardinals, South America has 12, and Oceania four.

Up to now, Pope Francis has created 61 cardinals: 49 voting cardinals, and 12 non-voting. The college of voting cardinals is completed by 52 cardinals created by Benedict XVI, and 20 by St. John Paul II.

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Introductory address of the Holy Father at the opening of the 70th General Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference

The Holy See Press Office • May 22, 2017

Vatican City — At 16:30 this afternoon, in the New Synod Hall, the Holy Father Francis opened 70th Assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference (C.E.I.), taking place in the Vatican from today until 25 May.

After the initial prayer and the greeting to the Assembly at the beginning of its session, the Pope gave a long address to the Italian bishops.

At the end of the meeting, at 18:45, the Holy Father handed the prepared text to those present.

The following is the greeting with which the Pope introduced the works and his prepared text:

Greeting of the Holy Father

Pope Francis: Good evening, brothers and sisters.

Thank you for the words the Cardinal President addressed to me. I would like to thank him for these ten years of service in the presidency, and also for the patience he has had with me, because it is not easy to work with this Pope. And he has had a lot of patience, and I thank him very much. He came with a plan, and left with another: that is how it is. But in this job, I can say that we wish each other well and have made a good friendship. I have only one fear: how much will he make me pay next Saturday to enter Genoa?

Cardinal Bagnasco: Sure! Sure! [laughter, applause]. Prepare yourself …

Pope Francis: The Genoese don’t give …

Cardinal Bagnasco: … discounts, nothing! [laughter]

Pope Francis: Very good. Many thanks, Eminence, and also to all those who have collaborated with you in these ten years. But, as you are so accustomed, passing from one presidency to the other, now … but it will be easier [reference to the presidencies of the Council of European Episcopal Councils].

Cardinal Bagnasco: I think so …

Pope Francis: It will be easier. I have written something I wanted to tell you, but then reading it, rereading it, I have seen that it was more of a meditation than an introduction. And it seemed useful to me to leave it to you to take it away, to read it and reflect on it. It is a service. At the end of today’s session, they will give you the text and each one of you can take it away, read it, reread it … I have written it only with the wish to help the Conference to go ahead, and in this way bear more fruit. My idea is to engage in dialogue, in sincere dialogue as we did the other time, which worked very well, and was good for me, asking things clearly without fear. Because when there is no dialogue, when the person who presides does not permit dialogue, it sows gossip, which is worse: this is worse. Let us engage in dialogue among ourselves. For my part, I am willing also to listen to opinions that are not agreeable to me, but with full freedom, with full freedom. Because, according to the most beautiful definition, the Pope is the servant of the servants of God. And this is what I must do today, responding to your questions, to your concerns and engaging in dialogue. Eminence, how long do we have?

Cardinal Bagnasco: Until seven.

Pope Francis: Until seven, good. Will we finish? If there is nothing to say, we will finish earlier [laughter]. Thank you to all those who collaborate, journalists, secretaries, everyone, all of you, for this help; I welcome those who have been appointed or ordained between the last assembly and today, the “new” people. The last one ordained in the previous one was Accrocca; who was the last one ordained in this one? The last one to have been consecrated, who was it? [Msgr. Guglielmo Giombaco, bishop of Patti]. Welcome!

And now, solemnly, extra omnes! [laughter, applause]

Holy Father’s Address

Dear brothers,

In these days, while I prepared for the meeting with you, several times I found myself invoking the “visit” of the Holy Spirit, of He Who is the gentle persuader of the inner man. Truly, without His strength, “there is nothing in man, nothing that is not harmful,” and all our efforts are in vain; if his “most blessed light” does not invade us profoundly, we remain prisoners of our fears, incapable of recognizing that we are saved only by love: what is in us that is not love distances us from the living God and from His Holy People.

“Come, Holy Spirit, send forth the heavenly radiance of Your light. … Give to your faithful, those who trust in You, the sevenfold gifts.”

The first of these gifts is already present in the convenire in unum, the willingness to share time, listening, creativity and consolation. I hope these days will be characterized by open, humble and frank exchange. Do not fear moments of opposition: entrust yourselves to the Spirit, Who opens to diversity and reconciles difference in fraternal charity.

Live episcopal collegiality, enriched by the experience each person bears, and which draws upon the tears and joys of your particular Churches. To walk together is the constitutive way of the Church; the figure that enables us to interpret reality with the eyes and heart of God; the condition for following the Lord Jesus and being servants of life in this wounded time.

The breath and the pace of the Synod show what we are, and the dynamism of communion that animates our decisions. Only from this perspective can we truly renew our pastoral ministry and adapt it to the mission of the Church in today’s world; only in this way can we address the complexity of this time, thankful for the journey accomplished thus far, and determined to continue it with parrhesia.

In reality, this path is marked also by closures and resistances: our infidelities are a heavy debt on the credibility of the testimony of the depositum fidei, a far worse threat than that which comes from the world with its persecutions. This awareness helps us to recognize that we are recipients of the Letters to the Churches that begin Revelation (1:4-3:22), the great book of Christian hope. Let us ask for the grace to be able to listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches today; let us receive the prophetic message to understand what He wants to nurture in us: “Come, Father of the poor; come, giver of gifts; come, light of the heart.”

Like the Church of Ephesus, perhaps at times we have abandoned the love, the freshness and the enthusiasm of previous times. Let us return to the origins, to the founding grace of the beginnings; let us allow ourselves to be looked at by Jesus Christ, the “Yes” of the faithful God, the unum necessarium: “May this Assembly of ours gathered here not shine with any other light than that of Christ, Who is the Light of the world; may our minds not seek another truth but the word of the Lord, Who is our only Teacher; let us not be concerned with anything other than to obey His precepts with faithful submission in everything; may no other trust sustain us than that which corroborates our feeble weakness, so that it is founded on His words: “Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Matthew 28:20)” (Paul VI, Address for the Opening of the Second Session of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, 29 September 1963).

Like the Church of Smyrna, in moments of trial perhaps we are also victims of fatigue, of solitude, of worry for the future; we are troubled to realize that the God of Jesus Christ might not correspond to the image and the expectations of the “religious” man: He disappoints, overwhelms, scandalizes. If we keep our trust in God’s surprising initiative, the strength of patience and the fidelity of Confessors: we do not have to fear the second death.

Like the Church of Pergamum, perhaps we also seek sometimes to make the faith coexist with spiritual worldliness, the life of the Gospel with logics of power and success, presented forcedly as functionaries of the social image of the Church. The attempt to serve two masters is, rather, a sign of the lack of inner convictions. Let us learn to renounce pointless ambitions and self-obsession in order to live constantly under the gaze of the Lord, present in so many humiliated brothers: in this way we will find the Truth that truly sets us free.

Like the Church of Thyatira we are perhaps exposed to the temptation to reduce Christianity to a series of principles without concreteness. We thus fall into a disincarnate spiritualism, which neglects reality and makes us lose the tenderness of a brother’s flesh. Let us return to what truly counts: faith, love of the Lord, service rendered with joy and gratuitousness. Let us adopt Jesus’ sentiments and gestures, and we will truly enter into communion with Him, the morning star Who never sets.

Like the Church of Sardis, we can perhaps be seduced by external appearance and by opportunism, conditioned by the fashions and judgements of others. Christian difference, instead, speaks of the welcome of the Gospel with works, concrete obedience, lived faith; with resistance to the arrogant, the proud and the prevaricator; with friendship to the small and sharing with the needy. Let us be called into question by charity, let us cherish the wisdom of the poor, promoting their inclusion; and by mercy, we will again find ourselves participants in the book of life.

Like the Church of Philadelphia, we are called to perseverance, to throw ourselves into reality without timidity: the Kingdom is the precious stone for which we sell all the rest without hesitation and open ourselves fully to the gift and the mission. Let us enter with courage through every door that the Lord opens before us. Let us make the most of every occasion to be near. Even the best leaven is inedible by itself, whereas in its humility it can ferment a great quantity of flour; let us mingle in the city of men, let us collaborate actively to encounter different cultural riches, let us strive together for the common good of each and all. We will again become citizens of the New Jerusalem.

Like the Church of Laodicea, we perhaps know the lukewarm nature of our commitment, the calculated indecision, the snare of ambiguity. We know that it is precisely these attitudes that receive the severest condemnation. Indeed as a witness of the twentieth century reminds us, cheap grace is the mortal enemy of the Church: it ignores the living word of God and precludes the way to Christ. The true grace – that cost the life of the Son – cannot but be but at a dear cost: because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ, because it costs man the price of life, because it condemns sin and justifies the sinner, because it does not dispense from work. … It is a dear price, but it is grace that gives life and leads us to live in the world without being lost in it (cf. D. Bonhoeffer, Sequela). Let us open our heart to the knocking of the eternal Pilgrim: let us allow Him to enter, let us dine with Him. We will depart once more, to arrive everywhere with a proclamation of justice, fraternity and peace.

Dear Brothers, the Lord never seeks to depress us, so let us not linger on reproaches, which in any case are born of love (cf. Revelation 3:19) and lead to love. Let us allow ourselves to be roused, purified and consoled: “Cleanse that which is unclean, water that which is dry, heal that which is wounded. Bend that which is inflexible, fire that which is chilled, correct what goes astray.”

It takes boldness to avoid getting used to situations that are so deeply rooted as to seem normal or insurmountable. Prophecy does not exact wrenches but courageous choices, proper for a true ecclesial community: they lead us to allow ourselves to the “troubled” by events and persons and to enter into human situations, animated by the healing spirit of the Beatitudes. On this path we will be able to reshape our proclamation, which radiates first of all with charity. Let us move with the confidence of one who also knows that this time is a kairos, a time of grace inhabited by the Spirit of the Risen One: we bear the responsibility of recognizing Him, receiving Him and to following Him obediently.

“Come, Holy Spirit. Greatest comforter, sweet guest of the soul, sweet consolation.”

Dear Brothers, “placed to feed the Church of God” (Acts 20:28), participants in the mission of the Good Shepherd: may no-one be invisible or marginal in your eyes. Reach out to every person with the solicitude and compassion of the merciful Father, with a strong and generous spirit. Take care to perceive as yours the good and the evil of the other, and be capable of offering life itself gratuitously and tenderly. May this be your vocation because, as Saint Therese of the Child Jesus wrote, “love alone makes the members of the Church act: if love was extinguished, the Apostles would no longer proclaim the Gospel, the martyrs would refuse to shed their blood … .”

In this light, I also thank on your behalf Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco for his ten years of presidency of the Italian Episcopal Conference. Thank you for your humble and shared service, not without personal sacrifice, in a moment of a not easy transition in the Church and in the country. May the election and subsequent appointment of his successor also be none other than a sign of love of Holy Mother Church, a love lived with spiritual and pastoral discernment, in accordance with a synthesis that itself is also a gift of the Spirit.

And pray for me, called to be custodian, witness and guarantor of the faith and of the unity of the whole Church: with you and for you, may I accomplish this mission with gladness to the end.

“Come, Holy Spirit. Grant the reward of virtue, grant the deliverance of salvation, grant eternal joy.”

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis to nuns: Your joy can change the world

CNA/EWTN News • May 23, 2017

Pope Francis meets with the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master on May 22, 2017. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Women who are consecrated to God live “the prophecy of joy,” and this authentic joy is their most credible witness, Pope Francis told leaders of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master on Monday.

“The world today is in need of this: that joy that arises from the encounter with Christ in a life of personal and community prayer, in daily listening to the Word, in the encounter with brothers and sisters, in a happy fraternal life in the community, including fragility, and in the embrace of the flesh of Christ in the poor. Prophets of a joy that is born of feeling loved and therefore forgiven,” he said May 22.

“Joy is a beautiful reality in the life of many consecrated persons, but it is also a great challenge for all of us,” he said, adding “authentic joy, not self-referential or complacent, is the most credible witness of a full life.”

The Pope addressed an audience of sisters gathered in Rome in recent weeks for the 9th General Chapter of the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master. The general chapter has elected its new superior general and other leaders.

He emphasized his point about joy, saying “this joy that fills your hearts and manifests itself on your faces will lead you to go out to the peripheries, participating in the joy of the Church, that is evangelization.”

“But to do this there must be a true joy, not counterfeit joy. Do not falsify joy. Evangelization, when you are convinced that Jesus is the Good News, is joy and gladness for all. This joy drives away the cancer of resignation, fruit of the lethargy that withers the soul,” he added.

He voiced hope that the sisters’ lives shall bear the fruits of the Holy Spirit, the master of diversity and unity. He encouraged them “to tirelessly weave unity in legitimate differences, taking account also of the fact that you are present in different countries and cultures.”

Pope Francis advocated a cultivation of care and reciprocal acceptance; practicing fraternal correction and respect for weaker sisters, and “banishing from the community all divisions, envy, gossip; saying this with frankness and charity.”

The Sister Disciples of the Divine Master were founded in Italy 1924 by Blessed Fr. Giacomo Alberione and Mother Scholastica.

The Pope noted the sisters’ mission of “bringing to the men and women of our time the Gospel,” particularly through liturgical service and caring for priests.

He encouraged them to cultivate dialogue and communion with other charisms and “to combat any form of self-centeredness.”

“It is ugly when a consecrated man or woman is self-centered, always looking at him or herself in the mirror. It is ugly,” he said.

He also encouraged them to show the fruits of communion with “the men and women of our time.”

“Our God is the God of history and our faith is a faith that works in history. In the questions and expectations of the men and women of today, we find important indications for our discipleship of Christ,” the Pope said.

He encouraged the general chapter to listen to the sisters of the congregation and to contemporary men and women.

“Never tire of exercising continually the art of listening and sharing,” he said. “In this time of great challenges, which demand of consecrated people creative fidelity, impassioned research, listening and sharing are more important than ever before, if we want our life to be fully meaningful for ourselves and for the people we meet.”

Pope Francis said this practice requires “a climate of discernment, to recognize what belongs to the Spirit and what is contrary to Him.”

“Before us there opens up a world of possibilities,” he said. “The culture in which we are immersed presents all of them as valid, all of them as good, but if we do not want to fall victim to the culture of ‘zapping’ and, at times, a culture of death, we must increase our habit of discernment.”

He encouraged the sisters to ask two questions at both the personal and community level: “Lord, what do you want me to do? What do you want us to do?”

The Pope warned against the dangers of a spirit of resignation, suggesting that the devil might tempt them by citing their small numbers or their few vocations and otherwise do what he can to make them have long faces.

“I encourage you also to be prophets of hope, with eyes turned to the future, where the Spirit pushes you, to continue to do great things with you,” he said. “The hope that does not disappoint is not based on numbers or works, but on Him, for Whom nothing is impossible”

“With this trust and this strength I repeat to you: do not join the prophets of misfortune, who do great damage to the Church and to consecrated life; do not give in to the temptation of torpor – like the Apostles in Gethsemane – and desperation,” he said.

“Awaken the world, illuminate the future! Always with a smile, with joy, with hope,” the Pope concluded. “May Mary our Mother protect you with her gaze, and the Lord bless you, show you His Face, and grant you peace and mercy.”

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VATICAN NEWS

Here’s the plan for Melania and Ivanka’s day in Rome

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 23, 2017

Melania (l) and Ivanka (r) Trump. (Lev radin via Shutterstock)

Vatican City — When U.S. President Donald Trump stops in Rome for a meeting with Pope Francis Wednesday, both his wife Melania and daughter Ivanka will have their own schedules, which include stops at a Vatican hospital and a round-table on human trafficking.

Ivanka serves in her father’s administration in an unpaid position as an assistant to the president.

Pope Francis and Donald Trump will meet at the Vatican May 24 at 8:30 a.m., before the Pope’s General Audience. Melania and Ivanka will both be present for the public portion of the visit, but will each follow their own itinerary after.

Once the meeting is finished, the First Lady will a visit the Vatican-owned pediatric hospital Bambino Gesu. During her tour of the facility, Melania is expected to greet patients and visit one of their playrooms as well as the chapel.

While Melania visits Bambino Gesu, Ivanka, a high-profile adviser to her father, will make her way to the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere to meet with the Community of Sant’Egidio to discuss efforts to oppose human trafficking.

The Sant’Egidio Community is often praised by Pope Francis for their work, in particular for the projects they lead aimed at helping the poor and refugees.

During her meeting with Sant’Egidio, Ivanka is expected to meet with several women who are victims of trafficking, and discuss various ways in which the Church and the U.S. government can collaborate on the problem.

Before leaving with her father on his first international tour, Ivanka hosted an anti-human trafficking round-table at the White House May 17 that hosted a swath of bipartisan lawmakers and representatives of numerous organizations that deal with human trafficking.

According to reports, during the discussion Ivanka spoke about the Trump administration’s efforts to combat trafficking not only in the U.S., but throughout the world, telling attendees that “combatting human trafficking and modern slavery is both a moral and strategic interest domestically and abroad.”

That particular round-table was a follow-up to a February discussion on the same topic, which was also organized by Ivanka. At the time, according to reports, President Trump said he would use the “full force and weight” of the U.S. government to fight human trafficking.

Both stops highlight key priorities for Pope Francis, who after his election in 2013 personally requested that the Pontifical Academy of Sciences study the issue of human trafficking. As a result, the institution has held at least two symposiums or conferences on the topic each year.

Francis has also mentioned several times that he is bothered by the suffering of children, saying it is one of life’s mysteries that he still fails to comprehend.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope Francis, Trump hold landmark first meeting

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • May 24, 2017

Pope Francis meets with President Donald Trump in the Apostolic Palace on May 24, 2017. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — After months of anticipation, Pope Francis and U.S. President Donald Trump finally met at the Vatican Wednesday in a friendly encounter which included an emphasis on protection of life and freedom of conscience.

According to a May 24 Vatican communique, Pope Francis and Trump expressed satisfaction “for the good existing bilateral relations between the Holy See and the United States of America, as well as the joint commitment in favor of life, and freedom of worship and conscience.”

The Pope and Trump met at the Vatican May 24, at 8:30a.m., immediately before the weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square.

Trump arrived to Italy May 23 after stopping in both Saudi Arabia and Israel as part of his first international trip. He is also set to attend a NATO meeting in Brussels on May 25 and a G7 summit in Sicily on May 26 before returning to the U.S.

President Trump arrived to the Vatican via the side entrance by Casa Santa Marta around 8:15a.m. and was greeted by a group of Swiss Guards in the San Damaso courtyard. After stepping out of the car, Trump and First Lady Melania greeted Archbishop Georg Ganswein and other Vatican dignitaries before entering the Apostolic Palace.

Pope Francis and Trump smiled as they sat down at the Pope’s desk in the papal library. Pope Francis said, “Welcome!” and Trump responded, “Thank you very much, this is such a great honor.”

Smiling, Francis explained that he doesn’t speak English well and needs a translator, but added that he was “very happy to meet” Trump.

After the cameras left the two began the private portion of their conversation, which lasted about 30 minutes. In addition to Pope Francis and Trump, only the Pope’s English translator, Msgr. Mark Miles, was present.

During the “cordial discussions,” the two expressed hope for peaceful collaboration between the government and the Catholic Church in the United States, that it may be “engaged in service to the people in the fields of healthcare, education and assistance to immigrants,” a Vatican communique on the meeting said.

Pope Francis and President Trump also exchanged views “on various themes relating to international affairs, the promotion of peace in the world through political negotiation and interreligious dialogue, with particular reference to the situation in the Middle East and the protection of Christian communities.”

After their formal conversation, gifts were exchanged between Francis, Trump and the president’s official delegation. There were 12 people in his entourage, including First Lady Melania Trump; daughter Ivanka, Tump’s assistant and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, his assistant and senior advisor.

Also present for the meeting with Pope Francis were U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs H.R. McMaster and Louis Bono, American Chargé d’Affaires ad interim to the Holy See until Calista Gingrich us officially approved as ambassador.

Despite their differing opinions on climate change, Pope Francis gave Trump a copy of his environmental encyclical Laudato Si,’ as well as copies of his 2015 Apostolic Exhortation on the family “Amoris Laetitia” and his 2013 exhortation “Evangelii Gaudium.”

In addition to the customary gift of these three documents, Francis also gave President Trump a copy of his message for the 2017 World Day of Peace, saying: “I signed it personally for you.” Trump responded that he would be reading them.

The Pope also gifted the U.S. President with a medallion he said symbolized peace and unity, which, after the translator explained in English, he added in Spanish: “Have it so that you become an instrument of peace.” In response, Trump said that “we can use peace.”

On his part, President Trump gifted Pope Francis a set of books by Martin Luther King, Jr., saying: “I think you’ll enjoy them, I hope you do.”

Members of the delegation each received a medal and a rosary from the pontiff. When greeting Francis, First Lady Melania told him that she would afterward be visiting the hospital. Joking, the Pope asked her if they had given her potica, a traditional Slovenian dessert, to eat, to which she responded, “yes, potica,” as they both laughed.

Departing with a handshake, Trump said to Francis: “Thank you, thank you, I won’t forget what you said.”

After meeting with Pope Francis, Trump met with Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin and Secretary for Relations with States Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, as is customary for heads of state.

Pope Francis went immediately to begin the Wednesday general audience with thousands of pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square.

After the meeting, First Lady Melania paid a visit to the Vatican-owned Pediatric hospital Bambino Gesu, also known as the “Pope’s hospital.”

Bambino Gesu sits next to the Pontifical North American College on top of Rome’s Gianicolo hill, and is among the most important pediatric hospitals in the world. Founded in 1869 by the Duchess Arabella Salviati, the hospital was donated to Pius XI in 1924, with the aim of giving it a more stable future.

At the same time, Trump’s daughter and high-profile adviser, Ivanka, will make her way to the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere to meet with the Community of Sant’Egidio to discuss efforts to oppose human trafficking.

The Sant’Egidio Community is often praised by Pope Francis for their work with the poor and refugees, in particular.

Ivanka is participating in each of the seven days of Trump’s first trip abroad as president, and was also present for the public portion of his meeting with Francis.

Before leaving with her father on his first international tour, Ivanka hosted an anti-human trafficking roundtable discussion at the White House May 17.

During her meeting with Sant’Egidio, she is expected to meet with several women who are victims of trafficking, and discuss various ways in which the Church and the U.S. government can collaborate on the issue.

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General Audience: Emmaus, the journey of hope

The Holy See Press Office • May 24, 2017

Vatican City — This morning’s General Audience took place at 9:25 a.m. in St. Peter’s Square, where the Holy Father Francis met with groups of pilgrims and faithful from Italy and all over the world.

In his address in Italian the Pope focused on the theme “Emmaus, the journey of hope” (cf. Lk. 24:28-32).

After summarizing his catechesis in several languages, the Holy Father addressed special greetings to the groups of faithful present.

The General Audience concluded with the recital of the Pater Noster and the Apostolic Blessing.

Catechesis of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today I would like to focus on the experience of the two disciples of Emmaus, to which the Gospel of Luke refers (cf. 24:13-35). Let us imagine the scene: two man walk along, disappointed, sad, convinced that they have left behind them the bitterness of an affair that has gone badly. Before that Passover they were full of enthusiasm: convinced that those days would have been decisive for their expectations and for the hope of all the people. Jesus, to Whom they had entrusted their life, seemed finally to have arrived at the decisive battle: now He would have demonstrated His power, after a long period of preparation and concealment. This was what they expected. And it was not thus.

The two pilgrims cultivated a solely human hope, that was now shattered. That cross hoisted on Calvary was the most eloquent sign of a defeat that they had not foreseen. If that Jesus really did follow God’s heart, they had to conclude that God was helpless, defenseless in the hands of the violent, and incapable of resisting evil.

So, that Sunday morning, these two flee from Jerusalem. The events of the passion and the death of Jesus are still before their eyes; and in their mind the painful rush of those events, during the forced rest of the Sabbath. That feast of the Passover, which should have sounded the hymn of liberation, was instead transformed into the most painful day of their lives. They leave Jerusalem to go elsewhere, in a quiet village. They all have the appearance of people intent on removing a memory that burns. So, they are on the road, and they walk, sorrowful. This scene – the road – had already been important in the Gospel accounts; now it will become even more so, in the moment in which one begins to tell the story of the Church.

Jesus’ encounter with these two disciples seems to be entirely fortuitous: it resembles one of those many encounters that happen in life. The two disciples walk deep in thought, and a stranger appears beside them. It is Jesus, but their eyes are unable to recognize Him. And then Jesus begins his “therapy of hope.” What happens on that road is a therapy of hope. Who gives it? Jesus.

First of all, He asks and listens: our God is not intrusive. Even though He already knows the reason for the disappointment of these two, He leaves them the time to gauge in depth the bitterness that they have experienced. There emerges a confession that is recurrent in human existence: “We hoped, but … we hoped, but … “ (v. 21). How much sorrow, how many defeats, how many failures there are in the life of every person! In the end we are all a bit like those two disciples. How often in life have we hoped, how often have we felt as though we were one step from happiness, only to find ourselves on the ground, disappointed. But Jesus walks with all those distrustful people who proceed with their heads bowed. And walking with them, in a discreet way, He manages to restore hope.

Jesus speaks to them first through the Scriptures. He who holds in his hand the book of God will not chance upon stories of easy heroism or thunderous campaigns of conquest. True hope never comes at an easy price: it always passes through defeat. The hope of those who do not suffer, is perhaps not even hope. God does not like to be loved as one would love a leader who drags his people to victory, annihilating his adversaries in blood. Our God is a dim light that burns on a cold and windy day, and although His presence in this world may seem fragile, He has chosen the place that we all disdain.

Then Jesus repeats for the two disciples the cardinal gesture of each Eucharist: He takes the bread, He blesses it, and He gives it. In this series of gestures, is there not perhaps all the story of Jesus? And is there not, in every Eucharist, also the sign of what the Church should be? Jesus takes us, He blesses us, He “breaks” our life – because there is no love without sacrifice – and He offers it to others, He offers it to everyone.

It is a swift encounter, that of Jesus with the two disciples of Emmaus. But in it there is all the destiny of the Church. It tells us that the Christian community is not closed up in a fortified citadel, but walks in its most vital space, namely the road. And there it encounters people, with their hopes and disappointments, at times heavy. The Church listens to all our stories, as they emerge from the casket of our personal conscience; to then offer the Word of life, the witness of love, love that is faithful unto the end. And then people’s hearts once more burn with hope.

We have all, in our life, had difficult and dark moments; moments in which we journeyed sadly, deep in thought, without prospects, with only a wall in front of us. And Jesus is always next to us to give us hope, to warm our heart and say, “Go ahead, I am with you. Go ahead.” The secret of the road to Emmaus is all here: even contrary to appearances, we continue to be loved, and God will never cease to love us. God will always walk with us, always, even in the most painful moments, even in the ugliest moments, even in the moments of defeat: the Lord is there. And this is our hope. Let us go ahead with this hope! Because He is next to us and walks with us, always!

Greetings in various languages: English

I greet the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors taking part in today’s Audience, particularly the groups from England, Hong Kong, India, Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Guam, Zimbabwe, Canada and the United States of America. In the joy of the Risen Christ, I invoke upon you and your families the loving mercy of God our Father. Today I wish to greet especially pilgrims from Hong Kong as they celebrate Our Lady of Sheshan. May the Lord bless you all!

Copyright © Libreria Editrice Vaticana (vatican.va)

VATICAN NEWS

Ivanka Trump meets with human trafficking survivors in Rome

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 24, 2017

Ivanka Trump at Rome’s Community Sant’Egidio to meet with African women freed from human trafficking on May 24, 2017. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Vatican City — After a visit with Pope Francis Wednesday, Ivanka Trump met a group of human trafficking survivors, calling them examples of strength and addressing various legislative ways the U.S. government can help victims.

Ivanka met with a dozen victims of human trafficking from Nigeria and Eritrea. She described them as “remarkable women,” who are “testaments to strength, faith and perseverance in the face of unspeakable adversity and challenge.”

Ivanka is currently accompanying her father, U.S. President Donald Trump, on his first international tour, which also included stops in Saudi Arabia and Israel. Earlier in the day, Trump and Pope Francis had their first highly anticipated meeting.

The encounter between Ivanka and human trafficking victims took place at the headquarters of the Community of Sant’Egidio in Rome’s Trastevere neighborhood.

Founded in 1968 by Italian layman Andrea Riccardi, a historian and former minister in the Italian government, the community focuses their mission on service to the poor and refugees, conflict resolution, and both ecumenical and inter-faith dialogue.

Sant’Egidio is a favorite of Pope Francis, who often praises the community for their work. It has long been involved in campaigns to combat human trafficking – also an important topic for Pope Francis – and has partnered with the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See for several events.

Ivanka thanked the community for their work, which she said “resonates strongly” not just in Italy, “but throughout the world.”

She said that in her meeting with representatives of Sant’Egidio, they were able to discuss several programs “that have been successfully launched and developed over many, many years now.”

These programs, she said, “have provided support and help to those who need it most, whether it’s the elderly or the disadvantaged, and also victims of human trafficking throughout Africa and the whole world.”

“So it was a great privilege to be able to be here and the hear firsthand from these tremendous thought leaders about the work that’s being done, what has worked and what has the potential to work better and to be better executed in the future,” she said, adding that she looks forward to further collaboration.

In comments to journalists following the meeting with Ivanka, two women from Sant’Egidio who work with the trafficking victims said it was an “intense” and “moving” encounter.

Some of the women told their stories, including how they were rescued, how their lives have changed and the situations they are in now.

There was “a lot of interest” on the part of Ivanka, they said, noting that she “listened very carefully” to their stories, but also asked questions about possible legislative initiatives on the part of the government to stop human trafficking, specifically when it comes to women.

Trafficking in the Mediterranean and Africa was mentioned specifically, including the trafficking of children, and a strong emphasis was placed on how the process begins in the countries where the victims originate.

According to the women from Sant’Egidio, Ivanka referred to her brief meeting with Pope Francis earlier that morning, telling the women that he is “a great advocate of your stories” of success and integration.

Ivanka then asked the victims what could be done. They said there is a greater need for communication and the sharing of information in their countries of origin, since many women are tricked into a trafficking ring under the false pretense that they will be moving to Europe for legitimate work, in many cases as a cook or maid.

They said that “public campaigns” are needed, because most women “never imagined” they would end up being trafficked.

In addition to the trafficking of persons, organ trafficking was also discussed, as well as the role of religion in ending violence and achieving peace, the freedom of women and the education of children.

In brief comments to journalists, Sant’Egidio founder and president Andrea Riccardi noted that Ivanka made a strong reference to collaboration with the organization’s projects in Africa, specifically in terms of helping to get legal documents for the continent’s “ghost children,” meaning children who are not registered and therefore have no legal identity, making them extra vulnerable and easy prey for traffickers.

Riccardi said Ivanka also showed a strong interest in an initiative the community is currently trying to push forward in Italy to get legal documents for women rescued from forced prostitution.

Before leaving with her father on his first international tour, Ivanka hosted an anti-human trafficking roundtable discussion at the White House May 17. The event gathered a swath of bipartisan lawmakers and representatives of numerous organizations that deal with human trafficking.

According to reports, Ivanka spoke during that discussion about the Trump administration’s efforts to combat trafficking not only in the U.S., but throughout the world, telling attendees that “combatting human trafficking and modern slavery is both a moral and strategic interest domestically and abroad.”

That particular roundtable was a follow-up to a February discussion on the same topic, which was also organized by Ivanka. At the time, President Trump said he would use the “full force and weight” of the U.S. government to fight against trafficking.

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VATICAN NEWS

Pope taps Bishop Angelo de Donatis as new Vicar of Rome

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 26, 2017

Angelo de Donatis at his Nov. 9, 2015 episcopal ordination in the Basilica of St. John Lateran. (Daniel Ibañez/CNA)

Vatican City — On Friday the Vatican announced that Bishop Angelo de Donatis had been chosen by Pope Francis as the new Vicar of Rome, who will oversee the administrative needs of the Roman diocese, including her clergy.

In addition to naming him Vicar of Rome, Francis also named Donatis an archbishop, according to the May 26 Vatican communique on the announcement.

He will be taking over for Cardinal Agostino Vallini, who has held the position since 2008, under Benedict XVI. Currently also a member of the Council for the Economy established by Pope Francis in 2014, Vallini previously served as Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura from 2004 until his appointment as Vicar of Rome.

Bishop Donatis was born in Casarano, in the Nardo-Gallipoli province of Italy, in 1954 and served as a priest for the diocese until the early 1980s, when he was incardinated as a priest in Rome.

Well known and loved among Romans and expats alike, Donatis was appointed an auxiliary bishop for Rome by Pope Francis in 2015.

While the Pope is the official Bishop of Rome, the Cardinal Vicar is hand-picked by the Pope after consulting with priests, bishops and cardinals who serve in and around Rome, and is charged with the spiritual administration of the diocese.

According to canon law, every Catholic diocese must have at least one or more vicar generals, however, the Vicar of Rome serves more as a “de facto” bishop due to the Pope’s heavy workload with his various responsibilities and commitments.

The man who holds the position also serves as the Archpriest for the papal Basilica of St. John Lateran.

A decree instituted by Pope Paul IV in 1558 also holds that the Vicar of Rome must be a cardinal. Since Pope Francis has already named him as an archbishop, it’s likely Donatis could be added to the list of 5 prelates who will get a red hat during the June 28 consistory.

There is also a Vicar General for the Vatican City State, who is the Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica and is charged with looking after the spiritual needs of the small country. This position is currently held by Cardinal Angelo Comastri, who was tapped for the role by Benedict XVI in 2005.

Donatis, after working in various parishes throughout Rome, was in 1990 named Director of the Office of the Clergy for the Diocese of Rome, a position he held until 1996. He was then named as Spiritual Director at the Pontifical Roman Seminary.

Since 2003 he has served as the parish priest for St. Mark the Evangelist parish, located near Rome’s famous Piazza Venezia, and was also named the Assistant for the diocese of Rome’s National Association for the Family of Clergy.

In 2014 Pope Francis tapped Donatis to preach the Lenten spiritual exercises for the Roman Curia during their weeklong retreat in Ariccia. A year later he was named auxiliary bishop.

After the conclusion of their spiritual exercises in 2014, Pope Francis thanked Donatis for accompanying the Curia and for planting “the seed of the Word of God” in their hearts.

“The Lord will seed the rain and that seed will grow and bear fruit,” he said, but added, “we must also thank the sower, no? Because you were the sower and you know how to do it!”

Donatis was ordained a bishop by Pope Francis himself, who during the liturgy connected the ordination to the opening of the Jubilee of Mercy, which at the time was still a month away.

“At the beginning of the year of Mercy I ask you as a brother to be merciful,” Francis said, adding that “the world needs mercy so much. Teach priests and seminarians the path of mercy; with words, but also with your attitude.”

“The mercy of the Father which is always placed in the heart, never hurts anyone,” he said, adding that “this is what I wish for you: mercy.”

Donatis chose as his episcopal motto the phrase: “Nihil Caritate dulcius,” meaning “Nothing is sweeter than love.”

His coat of arms includes a shield bearing the image of the lion of St. Mark the Evangelist at the top right, named for the parish he has led since 2003, on top of the color red, symbolizing both blood and love.

Below the shield is a pomegranate – the fruit that in the Bible is a symbol of the blood poured out by Christ and the martyrs. The background of the image is silver in reference to the purity and transparency of the Virgin Mary, to whom Donatis entrusted his episcopal ministry.

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VATICAN NEWS

Francis calls Don Orione Sisters to be ‘missionaries without borders’

CNA/EWTN News • May 26, 2017

Pope Francis meets with the General Chapter of the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity at the Vatican’s Consistory Hall on May 26, 2017. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Vatican City — Addressing the Little Missionary Sisters of Charity on Friday, Pope Francis spoke to them about their charism for evangelization, especially to the poor, encouraging them to be joyful in their mission.

“You are called, and are by vocation, ‘missionaries’; that is, evangelizers, and at the same time you are at the service of the poor. Sisters, be missionaries without borders,” the Pope said May 26 at the Vatican’s Consistory Hall.

“To all, but especially to the poor, in whom you are called to recognize the flesh of Christ, bring the joy of the Gospel that is Jesus Himself. To all, show the beauty of God’s love manifested in the merciful face of Christ. With this beauty fill the hearts of those you encounter. Closeness, encounter, dialogue, and accompaniment are your missionary approach. And do not let yourselves be robbed of the joy of evangelization.”

The Little Missionary Sisters of Charity are holding their 12th General Chapter in Rome throughout the month of May. They are also known as the Don Orione Sisters, after their founder, St. Luigi Orione. The Italian priest founded the order in 1915 to perform works of charity among the poor, orphans, the aged, and the handicapped.

Pope Francis thanked the sisters for their apostolate “in the various activities of youth ministry, in schools, in homes for the elderly, in the little ‘Cottolengo’ institutes, in catechesis and oratories, with new forms of poverty, and in all places where Divine Providence has placed you.”

Mission and service “help you overcome the risks of self-referentiality, of limiting yourselves to survival and self-defensive rigidity” and “make you take on the dynamics of exodus and giving, of coming out of yourselves, of walking and sowing,” he reflected. “For all these purposes, it is vital to nurture communion with the Lord” in prayer, he added.

“In the Church, mission is born of the encounter with Christ … The center of the Church’s mission is Jesus. As His disciples, you are called to be women who work assiduously to transcend, projecting towards the encounter with the Master and the culture in which you live.”

Missionaries must be “bold and creative,” the Pope said. “The convenient criterion of ‘it has always been the case’ is not valid. It is not valid. Think of the aims, the structures, the style and the methods of your mission.”

“We are living in a time when we need to rethink everything in the light of what the Spirit asks us,” Pope Francis maintained. “This demands a special look at the recipients of the mission and reality itself: the look of Jesus, which is the look of the Good Shepherd; a gaze that does not judge, but which grasps the presence of the Lord in history; a gaze of closeness, to contemplate, to be moved, and to stay with the other as often as necessary; a deep look of faith; a respectful gaze, full of compassion, that heals, frees, and comforts.”

This gaze “will make you courageous and creative and will help you always to be in search of new ways to bring the Good News that is Christ to all.”

He also said that missionary must be free, “without anything of his or her own. I never tire of repeating that comfort, lethargy and worldliness are forces that prevent the missionary from ‘going out,’ ‘starting out’ and moving on, and ultimately sharing the gift of the Gospel. The missionary can not walk with the heart full of things (comfort), an empty heart (lethargy) or in search of things extraneous to the glory of God (worldliness).”

“The missionary is a person who is free of all these ballasts and chains; a person who lives without anything of his own, only for the Lord and His Gospel; a person who lives on a constant path of personal conversion and works without rest towards pastoral conversion.”

A missionary must also be “inhabited by the Holy Spirit. It is the Spirit Who reminds the disciples of all that Jesus said to them, Who teaches them, Who bear witness to Jesus and leads the disciples, in turn, to bear witness to Him. The missionary is asked to be a person obedient to the Spirit, to follow His movement.”

This obedience should lead them “to become capable of perceiving the presence of Jesus in so many people discarded by society,” he said. “You too, dear sisters, be in this sense spiritual people, let yourselves be led, driven and guided by the Spirit.”

Pope Francis said a missionary’s spirituality must be based on Christ, the Word of God, and on the liturgy. A ‘holistic’ spirituality, involving the whole person in its various dimensions, based on complementarity, integrating and incorporating. It allows you to be daughters of heaven and daughters of the earth, mystical and prophetic, disciples and witnesses at the same time.”

“Finally, the missionary is required to be a prophet of mercy … Your charism of service to the poor demands that you exercise the prophecy of mercy, that is, to be people centered on God and on the crucified of this world. Let yourselves be provoked by the cry of help from so many situations of pain and suffering. As prophets of mercy, announce the Father’s forgiveness and embrace, a source of joy, serenity and peace.”

“Along with the other institutes and movements founded by Don Orione, you form a family. I encourage you to walk the paths of collaboration with all the members of this rich charismatic family … Cultivate between you the spirit of encounter, the spirit of family and cooperation.”

Francis concluded by offering the Visitation as “an example for your mission and for your service to the poor.”

“Like the Virgin Mary, go on your way, in haste – not the rush of the world, but that of God – and, full of the joy that dwells in your heart, sing your Magnificat. Sing the love of God for every creature. Announce to today’s men and women that God is love and can fill the heart of those who seek Him and who let themselves be encountered by Him.”

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WORLD NEWS

The first Catholic church in 60 years is being built in Cuba

CNA/EWTN News • May 18, 2017

St. Lawrence Sister Parish in Cuba. (Fr. Cirilo Castro/St. Lawrence Parish Bulletin)

Tampa, Florida — Funded by a parish in Florida, a new Catholic church is being built in Cuba and is the first the island nation has seen in 60 years.

Father Ramon Hernandez, pastor of St. Lawrence church in Tampa, said he and his parishioners are happy to see how their funds have financed the project, and said he looks forward to the inauguration Mass taking place early next year.

Saint Lawrence provided $95,000 in donations for the church’s construction in Sandino, Cuba, located in the western corner of the country.

The new church, alongside a refurbished synagogue in Havana, shows Cuba’s progress in religious freedom since Fidel Castro ushered in communism during his revolution in the 1960s. Atheism was established as the belief system for the entire state, and many religious leaders were faced with persecution. In 1992, however, Cuba was made a secular state.

“Cuba is changing,” Fr. Hernandez said, according to the Tampa Bay Times. The priest is a native Cuban who celebrated Mass in churches hidden in the homes of faithful families. He left the country in the 1980s.

The new church will be called the Parish of Divine Mercy of Sandino, and will be led by Father Cirilo Castro. The 800 square foot building will have a maximum capacity of 200 people. An estimated 40,000 people live in the coastal town. The town’s main industries involve citrus fruits, coffee, and fish.

The idea for the project was first conceived in 2010 by St. Lawrence’s former pastor, who wanted a greater spiritual connection between Cuba and Tampa. Tampa and Cuba have already had strong ties over the importation of tobacco in the late 19th century.

During a visit to Tampa last month, Fr. Castro said that the roof was the last piece of the structure, expected to be installed by the end of June. The pews and the altar will be added over the next few months in preparation for the first mass taking place either in January or February of 2018.

The completion of Divine Mercy of Sandino marks a significant step towards religious freedom and amends to the faiths oppressed in previous years. Religions like Mormonism and Islam have also been given room to grow.

“I see the stories of persecution of freedom of religion in Cuba but we now have a mixture of religions,” said José Ramón Cabañas, Cuba’s ambassador to the United States in an interview with the Tampa Bay Times last week.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom acknowledged that churches have been dissembled and religious leaders have been arrested even within the past year. But the report reveals that nearly 70 percent of Cuba’s population is Catholic and additional five percent is Protestant, showing a greater attachment to the faith despite government meddling into religious affairs.

Religious persecution still lingers, but developments in religious freedom have notable increased, and this church is one of many planned to be erected in Cuba. Two other Catholic churches are currently under construction in Havana and Santiago.

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WORLD NEWS

Rome hosts annual March for Life

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • May 20, 2017

Pro-life advocates participate in Rome’s annual March for Life on May 20, 2017. (Marina Testino/CNA)

Rome, Italy — Held this year on May 20, Rome’s seventh annual March for Life was a chance for pro-life advocates of any faith to share their convictions about the sanctity of life and how it is founded in a love of life and family.

“It is the seventh edition of the March and as in the past years, we expect thousands of people to come and create a joyful atmosphere,” Alessandro Elia, one of the event’s organizers, told CNA ahead of Saturday’s event.

“In fact, we are against abortion because we love life and we love the family, a natural institution which is fundamental for every human society.”

This year was Rome’s sixth – and Italy’s seventh – annual March for Life. The event’s tagline was “For life without compromise.”

Pope Francis gave his apostolic blessing to participants in the pro-life event. In a written message signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis voiced his hope that the March for Life would promote the dignity of human life in Italy.

More than 6 million babies have been aborted in Italy since abortion on demand was legalized in the country in 1978. Since that time, “it seems like being contrary to abortion is not permitted,” Elia said.

“Many Catholics and non-Catholics are very determined to end abortion and the March for Life is an annual occasion to prove that we exist and that our requests need to be taken into account by the civil and political world.”

First held in Rome on Mother’s Day in 2012 – previously held in another part of the country on one other occasion – the annual event was modeled after the U.S. March for Life held each year in Washington D.C.

Over the past four years, thousands of people have traveled from around the world to take part.

This year’s March for Life began its peaceful demonstration at the Piazza della Repubblica, marching down Via Cavour, a major thoroughfare of the city, to arrive at the Piazza della Madonna di Loreto, located next to the busy Piazza Venezia of the well-known Altare della Patria national monument.

Thought open to people of all faiths, the night before the March Eucharistic Adoration was held at the Basilica of Sant’Andrea delle Fratte to pray for the reparation of the crime of abortion.

Though there were heavy rain showers off-and-on the morning and early afternoon of the day of the March, by the time it began in the afternoon blue skies and sunshine prevailed.

Euthanasia is a current pro-life issue in Italy at the moment, as the Italian Chamber has voted in favor of a bill that would effectively force doctors to follow directives from patients or their trustees – no matter made how many years earlier – to even include the withholding of food and water.

Next the bill to be passed by the Italian Senate. The law, on advanced healthcare directives (in Italian called DAT), “requires the doctor to be bound by an anticipated declaration of a patient who requests the suspension of nutrition and hydration,” Elia explained.

In this case, he said, the so-called “‘right to die’ for the patient equals the duty to kill for the doctor. This is unacceptable.”

Besides forcing doctors to participate in what is essentially a form of assisted suicide, “the death of patients by starvation and dehydration is extremely cruel,” he said.

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WORLD NEWS

Ban on religious icons in cars sparks Catholic outcry in Philippines

CNA/EWTN News • May 22, 2017

(Jen Gallardo via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Manila, Philippines — In the most recent clash between the government and the Catholic Church in the Philippines, authorities have banned hanging rosaries and religious icons in vehicles, citing safety concerns.

According to reports from the AFP, the ban is part of a new law that will take effect Friday aimed at eliminating distractions for drivers, including talking or texting on mobile phones, applying makeup, or eating or drinking.

The ban, announced last week, sparked outcry in the majority-Catholic country, where roughly 80 percent of the population identifies as Catholic.

“This is an overreaction, insensitive and lacks common sense,” Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary for public affairs at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, told the AFP.

He said that most drivers feel safer with religious icons in their vehicles, because they give them a sense of divine intervention and protection.

In a statement on the website for the Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines, Fr. Secillano said he believed the ban on religious icons was an over-extension of a law initially meant to cut down on drivers distracted by their cellphones.

“I agree with banning the use of phones while driving but they are absolutely missing the point by prohibiting the display of small religious images in cars,” he said.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, which issued the ban, has said that religious icons may still be attached to the dashboard or rearview mirror if they do not swing around or block a driver’s line of vision.

Piston, an association of jeepney drivers and owners, a common form of public transportation in the Philippines, said there was no evidence that rosaries and religious icons caused accidents.

“Do not meddle with the drivers’ faith in God,” said its president, George San Mateo.

The ban is just the latest clash of government authorities with the Catholic Church in the country.

The Catholic Church has been one of the most outspoken opponents of President Rodrigo Duterte’s violent and unrelenting war on drugs, as well as his policies on the death penalty and reproductive health that go against the social teaching of the Catholic Church.

President Duterte in turn does not lose much love on the Catholic Church, hurling shocking insults at Church officials who cross him.

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WORLD NEWS

Manchester bishop: There is ‘no justification’ for horrific attack

by Hannah Brockhaus (CNA/EWTN News) • May 23, 2017

The outside of Manchester Arena, where a bomb exploded in the foyer at the end of a concert on May 22, 2017. (Paul Gillett (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Manchester, United Kingdom — After what has been deemed a terrorist attack killed 22 people – mostly youth – at a theater in Manchester Monday night, local Bishop John Arnold condemned the act, saying there is no justification for such violence.

“The citizens of Manchester and members of the Catholic community are united in condemning the attack on the crowds at the Arena. Such an attack can have no justification,” Bishop Arnold said in a May 23 statement via the diocese’s Twitter account.

In a series of tweets, he thanked the emergency services “for their prompt and speedy response which saved lives. We join in prayer for all those who have died and for the injured and their families and all affected by this tragedy.”

The bishop stressed that “we must all commit to working together, to help the victims and their families and to build and strengthen our community solidarity.”

Bishop Arnold, who oversees the Salford diocese that includes Manchester, made his statement in response to an attack which took place at Manchester Arena Monday night at the end of a concert by American pop artist Ariana Grande, who is popular among teens.

A bomb exploded in the foyer of the arena May 22 around 10:30p.m. local time, as concert goers were beginning to leave. At least 22 are dead, including children, and almost 60 are injured, according to reports.

The lone attacker was also killed in the blast. He is believed to have been carrying an improvised explosive device, which he detonated to cause the explosion, according to Manchester Police Chief Constable Ian Hopkins.

Investigations have not yet revealed whether the attacker was working alone or if he was part of a larger network or terrorist group.

In a May 23 telegram addressed to victims and signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis said he was “deeply saddened to learn of the injury and tragic loss of life caused by the barbaric attack in Manchester.”

The Pope voiced his “heartfelt solidarity with all those affected by this senseless act of violence,” and praised the “tremendous efforts” of the emergency responders and security, offering his prayers for the wounded and those who died.

“Mindful in a particular way of those children and young people who have lost their lives, and of their grieving families,” the Pope invoked God’s blessings “of peace, healing and strength upon the nation.”

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, head of the Archdiocese of Westminster in London, sent a letter to Bishop Arnold May 23 expressing his condolences for the attack.

“It was with great sorrow that I heard the media reports of last night’s atrocity, in Manchester,” he said. “May God welcome into His merciful presence all who have died. May God turn the hearts of all who commit evil to a true understanding of His desire and intention for humanity.”

“I assure you, and all those you serve, of the prayers and condolences of your brother bishops in England and Wales,” he said, adding that “We, too, mourn this loss of life. We pray for the eternal repose of all who have died.”

The Diocese of Salford announced that Bishop Arnold would say a special Mass for the victims May 23 at 12:30p.m. at St. Mary’s Church, commonly called the “Hidden Gem,” and which is the Catholic Mother Church of Greater Manchester. Another Mass will be held at the Salford cathedral at 7p.m. local time.

In a May 23 statement immediately following a meeting of the government’s emergency meeting, Cobra, UK Prime Minister Theresa May called the bombing “a callous terrorist attack” that targeted “some of the youngest people in our society with cold calculation.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and the families and friends of all those affected,” she said, noting that the attack is “among the worst terrorist incidents we have ever experienced in the United Kingdom.”

“All acts of terrorism are cowardly attacks on innocent people,” May continued, but said the arena attack stands out “for its appalling, sickening cowardice, deliberately targeting innocent, defenseless children and young people who should have been enjoying one of the most memorable nights of their lives.”

Although he’s traveling abroad, U.S. President Donald Trump said during a joint appearance with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas Tuesday, that the “wicked ideology” of terrorism “must be obliterated.”

“I extend my deepest condolences to those so terribly injured in this terrorist attack, and to the many killed and the families, so many families, of the victims.”

“So many young, beautiful, innocent people living and enjoying their lives, murdered by evil losers in life,” he added. “I won’t call them monsters, because they would like that term, they would think that’s a great name. I will call them, from now on, losers, because that’s what they are.”

The attack is the worst Britain has seen since a bombing on the London transport network on July 7, 2005 killed 52 people.

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ISIS ally in Philippines storms Catholic cathedral, takes hostages

CNA/EWTN News • May 24, 2017

(NEstudio via Shutterstock)

Marawi, Philippines — Islamic State-allied militants in the Philippines have taken a Catholic priest and a group of church-goers hostage, threatening to kill them if the nation’s military does not cease its current offensive against them.

The hostages were taken during a militant siege in the southern Philippines city of Marawi on Tuesday and Wednesday. Militants also burned the Catholic cathedral of Marawi.

Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, denounced the hostage-taking. He said the priest and the hostages had no involvement in the conflict between the military and the militants.

“He was not a combatant. He was not bearing arms. He was a threat to none,” the archbishop said. “His capture and that of his companions violates every norm of civilized conflict.”

The country’s Catholic bishops have urged prayers for the captured priest and the other hostages in the area. While the majority of the Philippines is Catholic, they make up only a small percentage of the population in Marawi, a mostly Muslim city of about 200,000 people, located on the island of Mindanao.

About 100 armed militants moved through Marawi on Tuesday, the Associated Press reports. They beheaded a police chief and burned buildings, including the bishop’s residence. They raised the black flag of the Islamic State group while also taking the hostages.

Responsible for the attack is the Maute group, a clan-based group with members in Marawi. It is one of under a dozen new armed Muslim groups that have pledged allegiance to ISIS. The groups have formed a loose alliance, reportedly led by Isnilon Hapilon, a commander of the Abu Sayyaf militant group.

The militants’ siege of Marawi followed an army raid on the hideout of Hapilon. The militant leader has pledged allegiance to ISIS and the United States has offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

Bishop Edwin de la Peña of Marawi was not at home at the time of the attack, but his secretary is reportedly among the hostages. He received a phone call from a militant who used his secretary’s phone. The militant introduced himself as a member of ISIS and demanded a unilateral ceasefire.

“They want a ceasefire and for the military to give them access out of Marawi. Otherwise, they will kill the hostages,” Bishop de la Peña told CBCP News.

The bishop reported that he was allowed to speak with Fr. Chito Suganob, the captive priest who is the vicar general of the Territorial Prelature of Marawi, in order to make their demands clear.

In addition to the priest, hostages include three church staffers and ten worshipers, the Associated Press said.

Bishop de la Peña himself barely missed being taken hostage.

“I was supposed to go to Marawi yesterday but I was asked to cancel my trip because of the siege,” he said.

Archbishop Villegas, the Catholic bishops’ conference president, urged prayers for peace and asked the militants to show mercy.

“We call on the Maute group that claims to bear arms in the name of a Merciful and Benevolent God – the very same God we Christians worship and adore – to do the One God true honor by the mercy and benevolence that are two of our God’s most exalted attributes,” he said.

The archbishop also addressed the response of government forces, saying, “We beg of them to make the safety of the hostages a primordial consideration.”

President Rodrigo Duterte, who has been heavily criticized for a brutal crackdown on illegal drugs, has cut short his trip to Russia and placed all of Mindanao island under martial law. The president has sought peace talks with two large Muslim rebel groups in the country’s south but has ordered the military to destroy smaller extremist groups like the Maute.

“It is difficult to root out because they are from there,” political analyst Ramon Casiple told the Associated Press. “The Mautes are embedded in the population.”

The group was blamed for a September 2016 bombing that killed 15 people in southern Davao city, the president’s hometown. A military raid on their jungle camp last month reportedly found homemade bombs, grenades, combat uniforms, and passports of suspected Indonesian militants.

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Cardinal Zen urges prayer for Christians in China

by Elise Harris (CNA/EWTN News) • May 24, 2017

Cardinal Joseph Zen, emeritus Bishop of Hong Kong, at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome on Nov. 18, 2014. (Bohumil Petrik/CNA)

Rome, Italy — As Chinese Catholics celebrate the feast of Our Lady, Help of Christians, Cardinal Joseph Zen has asked for prayers on behalf of Christians in the country, who often face difficulty and even persecution for their faith.

“In the history of the Church, Our Lady, Help of Christians always came to help the Church in difficulty,” Cardinal Zen, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong, told CNA in an interview, adding that this help has always been particularly strong when attached to the rosary.

Noting how the Church is celebrating the centenary year of the apparitions in Fatima, he noted that in her appearances there Mary “came to ask for prayer.”

“Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady, Help of Christians, they are really interested, concerned or maybe even worried about the situation of the Church, especially in the places where there is no freedom of religion,” he said.

“So please intensify your prayer – this is only thing we can do, and the only thing most useful and efficacious.”

Cardinal Zen, 85, is one of the most prominent Catholic voices in China, and is outspoken when it comes to the country and it’s Christian population.

He spoke ahead of the May 24 feast of Mary, Help of Christians, who is highly venerated among Chinese Catholics. Sheshan Basilica in Shanghai is dedicated to her, where she is also known as Our Lady of Sheshan.

Cardinal Zen recalled that in a letter to Chinese Catholics in 2007, Benedict XVI “composed a wonderful prayer” to Our Lady of Sheshan, suggesting that May 24 could become her permanent feast, and asking that it be a day of prayer dedicated to the Church in China.

In his letter, Benedict said the day is “an occasion for the Catholics of the whole world to be united in prayer with the Church which is in China.”

As the feast is celebrated, then, Cardinal Zen voiced his hope that Catholics throughout the world would pray for Christians in China, who often face persecution for their beliefs while living in an atheistic culture.

When it comes to Vatican relations with China, ever since the communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, the Holy See has had a reduced diplomatic presence in Beijing, with the nunciature being moved to Taiwan in 1951.

China-Vatican relations have been cool ever since, but with some apparent thaws. After Benedict XVI’s letter in 2007, a series of bishops’ appointments approved both by the Chinese government and the Holy See took place.

The Church in China, however, is still in a difficult situation. The government of the Chinese People’s Republic never recognized the Holy See’s authority to appoint bishops. Instead, it established the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (PA), which is a sort of ecclesiastical hierarchy officially recognized by the Chinese authorities.

In his letter, Benedict said the PA was “incompatible with Catholic doctrine,” since in their assemblies, held every few years, both legitimate and illegitimate bishops were treated equally by the PA, particularly regarding the sacraments.

For this reason, Chinese bishops recognized by the Holy See entered a clandestine state, thus giving life to the so called “underground Church” that is not recognized by the government.

But despite the hiccups that still exist, the Vatican has been working diligently to come to an agreement with the Chinese government, particularly regarding the appointment of bishops.

Talks with China are currently centered on bishop appointments, but as of now haven’t touched the possibility of establishing diplomatic ties.

The deal currently on the table would essentially allow the government to pick a list candidates for the episcopacy and propose them the names to the Pope for approval or denial.

For Cardinal Zen, the danger of this that it leaves open the possibility that the Pope will either be forced to approve a “bad bishop,” or his denial could be vetoed by the Chinese government.

Whereas currently the Vatican sends a list of potential candidates to China to approve or deny, in the new deal it would be the clergy who elect candidates, and the Pope giving the final word on people who may or may not be government stooges.

Cardinal Zen said that while accurate information on the deal is hard to find, at the moment “it seems to be stopped,” which in his opinion is good news, because “the whole initiative starts from the government of China and the Holy Father has only the last word. But the last word may not be enough.”

Right now in China “there is no freedom, so people cannot speak out, and those who speak out, it means they have too good of a relationship with the government,” he said, adding that those vocally in favor “seem to hope in this agreement which may confirm their situation of privilege.”

“So I try to tell the people that no deal is better than a bad deal,” he said. “They should really consider the real good of the Church and not just to have an agreement at any cost.”

His recent comments echoed those he made to CNA earlier this year.

Cardinal Zen said he would “never criticize the Pope,” and that what he wants above all is for “everybody to be rational.”

“But I hope the people around the Pope stop giving him bad advice, because the Pope really needs to know the reality, and the reality is that there is no freedom, the reality is that we cannot see any goodwill on the part of Beijing government,” he said. “They are still controlling the Church and they want to control it even more.”

“To the Chinese Catholics I say: let us raise our gaze to Mary our Mother, so that she help us to discern the will of God regarding the Church’s concrete path in China and sustain us in welcoming with generosity her project of love.”

“May Mary encourage us to offer our personal contribution for communion among believers and for the harmony of society as a whole,” he said, urging Chinese Catholics not to forget to “bear witness to the faith with prayer and with love, always remaining open to encounter and dialogue.”

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Cardinal pleads for Islamist militants to release Philippines hostages

CNA/EWTN News • May 25, 2017

Soldiers take positions while evading sniper fire as they try to clear Marawi of armed militants one street at a time on May 25, 2017. (Jes Aznar/Getty Images)

Cotabato, Philippines — A Filipino cardinal has prayed for the release of Catholic hostages held by Islamist militants who have seized parts of a city on Mindanao, appealing to Muslim leaders to help secure their release.

“I pray for the safety of all the hostages. I appeal to the consciences of the hostage takers not to harm the innocent as the Islamic faith teaches. I appeal to religious leaders of Islam to influence the hostage takers to release the hostages unharmed,” Cardinal Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato told Radio Veritas.

“For God’s will is the safety of innocent people. May the loving God protect the people of Marawi,” said the cardinal, whose see is also on Mindanao.

Militants of the Maute group stormed the city of Marawi, on the southern Philippines island Mindanao, on Tuesday. The group, formed in 2012, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in 2015.

The militants’ violence began after a failed army and police raid to capture Isnilon Hapilon, a local Islamist leader.

The Maute militants have burned several buildings, including the Catholic cathedral and the bishop’s residence. They are also said to have freed more than 100 inmates from prisons in the city. The fighting has reportedly killed at least 20 people in the city.

At the cathedral, they took hostages including a Catholic priest and a group of church-goers, threatening to kill them if the nation’s military does not cease its current offensive against them.

The captive priest, Fr. Chito Suganob, is vicar general of the Territorial Prelature of Marawi, which has a very small Catholic population. Bishop Edwin de la Peña y Angot, Prelate of Marawi, was on a return trip home at the time of the attack.

Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has cut short a trip to Russia, and placed all of Mindanao under martial law for 60 days. He has also proposed that martial law be extended across the country. Duterte’s presidency has drawn controversy for his brutal crackdown on drugs.

Another Mindanao prelate, Archbishop Martin Jumoad of Ozamiz, has said he backs martial law, but with an important caveat.

“I am for the imposition of martial law provided a mechanism has to be established so that human rights will not be violated,” he said, according to CBCP News.

Archbishop Jumoad warned the people to be “extra-careful” and to cooperate with the military, particularly those in Marawi.

“If the people will not cooperate with the armed forces, things could get more complicated,” he said.

According to the archbishop, an attack by another Islamist group, Abu Sayyaf, in the province of Bohol was foiled because the people cooperated with authorities.

Local media reported that nine Christians stopped at a checkpoint run by the militants in Marawi were captured and executed after they were identified as Christian.

Thousands of people have fled Marawi, where the attackers also beheaded the police chief and burned the city jail and Dansalan College, the Philippines’ ABS-CBN News reports.

The college is run by the United Church of Christ in the Philippines. Its staff is about 80 percent Christian, wth a student body that is about 95 percent Muslim. Marawi itself is predominantly Muslim.

The United Church of Christ in the Philippines said the Maute group must be held accountable, but warned against “portraying these tragic events as a religious war.”

“This will only increase tensions, and may further fan the flames of Islamophobia,” the ecclesial community said May 24.

The statement was critical of martial law imposed across all of Mindanao and said military solutions to the problems had repeatedly failed. The community prayed that martial law will not be used as a pretext to undermine peace talks with other movements.

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Why this cardinal has high hopes for Pope Francis’ Colombia visit

by Miguel Pérez Pichel (CNA/EWTN News) • May 25, 2017

Colombian pilgrims attend Pope Francis’ General Audience in St. Peter’s Square on April 20, 2016. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Rome, Italy — Pope Francis is headed to Colombia this summer, and one of the nation’s leading bishops believes the visit will be a chance for progress for many countries in the region.

Cardinal Rubén Salazar Gómez of Bogota said the Pope’s message will be relevant for all Latin American countries. The visit is “truly going to help all of us create stronger bonds between the different countries and also to be able to work toward common solutions,” he said.

“I think the Holy Father is aware that Colombia has a certain emblematic character in Latin America, because perhaps it is the best sample of the problems we suffer from on the continent,” said the cardinal, who is also president of the Latin American Episcopal Council (CELAM).

He was speaking to reporters after the CELAM president met with ambassadors accredited to the Holy See.

The cardinal discussed a few details of Pope Francis’ Sept. 6-11 trip to Colombia, saying the Pope is aware of the problems facing Colombia and Latin America.

Cardinal Salazar named poverty as a problem. He also noted the “cancer of corruption,” which Pope Francis has described as “a cancer that has metastasized everywhere, that has infiltrated all areas of society.”

Violence is another scourge on the continent, the cardinal said, calling the papal visit “a balm of hope and consolation.”

“The Holy Father is going to give us courage, make us realize that if we really want to resolve our problems in depth, we have to start with a change of heart,” he said.

Cardinal Salazar told CNA that Colombians “are preparing ourselves well” to receive the Pope.

“Not only because for the people the Pope’s visit is extremely important, but also because we are doing everything possible to prepare ourselves spiritually,” he added.

“There is going to be a very strong evangelization effort on all levels,” he said. “Meetings, forums, catechesis, and preaching are being prepared so the people will be truly prepared, so the Pope’s message falls on good ground and, therefore, produces fruit. We are doing all this and we are very hopeful.”

He also explained some points on the program for the trip.

“The Mass to be celebrated in Bogota will have a special emphasis on respect for, care for and the promotion of life,” Cardinal Salazar said. “There will also be special priority for the disabled, the sick and the elderly to attend.”

“In Villavicencio,” he continued, “the emphasis will be ecological: the whole Amazon region’s problems, and (the need for) respect for the Earth, but also respect for indigenous cultures, ethnic minorities.”

He also discussed the peace process with FARC rebels and other guerrillas, acknowledging that “the situation is not easy, but despite the difficulties there have been, it’s going gradually moving forward.”

“I hope that what we have achieved so far not only won’t be destroyed, but that we can move forward to the point of achieving complete peace,” he said. “There is genuine hope. We’re sure that despite the difficulties, peace will prevail.”

He recognized concern that Colombia is polarized on the “very complex issue” isssue.

“The political polarization that we are experiencing which every day seems to be getting stronger, deeper, more difficult. We hope the Pope works those miracles that politically are not easy to do,” said Cardinal Salazar.

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Romania takes step toward marriage defense amendment

CNA/EWTN News • May 25, 2017

Parliament building of Romania. (Aleksandar Todorovic via Shutterstock)

Bucharest, Romania — Romania’s lower house of parliament has overwhelmingly approved a proposed constitutional amendment to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman.

The Chamber of Deputies passed the measure by a vote of 232-22, with 13 abstentions.

If approved, the amendment would change Paragraph 1 of Article 28 of the Romanian Constitution to say: “The family is founded on the freely consented marriage between one man and one woman, on their equality and on the right and duty of parents to assure the growth, education and training of their children.”

The proposed amendment began with a signature drive, initiated by the Coalition for the Family, which collected 3 million signatures from Romanian citizens in support of the constitutional language.

It has also garnered support from Orthodox, Catholic and Evangelical leaders, along with legal groups such as ADF International and the European Center for Law and Justice.

The measure has already been approved by the Romanian Constitutional Court as satisfying all requirements for a constitutional amendment.

It will next go to the Senate. If it is approved there, it will become a referendum to be voted on by the Romanian people.

Romania is not the only country in the region to consider a defense-of-marriage amendment. Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, and Slovakia all define marriage as the union of one man and one woman within their constitutions.

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Dozens of Egyptian Christians killed in bus attack

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • May 26, 2017

(Unsplash)

Cairo, Egypt — An attack on a bus carrying Christian pilgrims in Egypt on Friday killed at least 28 people, including children, and injured at least 22 more.

The AP reported that, according to the Egyptian government, the bus was stopped and attacked by gunmen in the desert south of Cairo, en route to St. Samuel the Confessor monastery in Minya, Egypt. Witnesses reported seeing eight to 10 gunmen wearing masks and military uniforms, who fired on the bus.

Bishop Angaelos, general bishop of the Coptic Orthodox Church of the UK, tweeted on Friday that he had spoken to the Bishop of Menia, and confirmed the attack.

The May 26 attack is the latest in a string of violent incidents where Coptic Christians in Egypt have been targeted. Twenty-nine were killed when a chapel adjacent to St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo was bombed in December.

The Islamic State released a threatening video message after that attack, saying, “Oh crusaders in Egypt, this attack that struck you in your temple is just the first with many more to come, God willing.”

Later in the winter, several more were killed in a series of murders in Egypt’s Sinai region, and ISIS affiliates there claimed responsibility. Hundreds fled their homes in the face of the violence.

Then on Palm Sunday, 45 were killed in two separate attacks on Masses: A bomb was detonated inside St. George’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Tanta, which killed 28, while a suicide bomber detonated outside of St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria – where the Patriarch of Alexandria Pope Tawadros II was saying Mass – killed 17 including himself.

Egypt’s president Abdul Fattah el-Sisi declared a three-month state of emergency following the April 9 attacks, and Friday’s attack fell within the time frame.

A checkpoint near St. Catherine’s monastery in the Sinai region was also attacked in April, resulting in one dead and four injured. ISIS claimed responsibility for that attack.

Other Church leaders offered condolences and prayers following the May 26 attack.

A Vatican telegram offered the condolences of Pope Francis.

“Deeply saddened to learn of the barbaric attack in central Egypt and of the tragic loss of life and injury caused by this senseless act of hatred, Pope Francis expresses his heartfelt solidarity with all those affected by this violent outrage,” the telegram said.

“He assures their grieving families and all who have been injured of his ardent prayers, and he pledges his continued intercession for peace and reconciliation throughout the nation.”

Bishop Michael F. Burbidge of Arlington, Va. said in a statement that he is once again “deeply saddened by news of violence against innocent people of faith.”

“This attack reminds us again of the horrific persecution of our Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East and their courageous witness to their faith,” he continued. “I ask that all the faithful in the Diocese of Arlington and people of good will join me in prayer for the victims of today’s attack.”

He asked for the intercession of Mary, Queen of Peace, “for an end to violence and religious persecution throughout the world.”

Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl of Washington, D.C., blogged about the attacks, saying, “Our response to this most recent atrocity is to turn to our Lord Jesus Christ, whose eternal love triumphs over suffering and evil and turns the darkness of death into the dawn of new life.”

“(W)e are all one human family. We are all in this together and we must all stand together in solidarity against such violence and evil,” he said, stressing that while we may be tempted to think that our efforts at change are futile, “we can look for opportunities to speak out, to awaken consciences and urge a change of heart.”

“At the very least, we can persevere in prayer,” the cardinal said. “Let us pray for the gifts of the Spirit to strengthen us and also to touch the hearts of all to stop the violence and so that toleration and genuine peace reigns in every land.”

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Justice Alito warns seminarians religious liberty is in danger

CNA/EWTN News • May 22, 2017

Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito receives an honorus causa degree at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary from Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia on May 17, 2017. (Sarah Webb/Catholic Philly)

Philadelphia, PA — In his address to graduating seminarians on Wednesday, United States Supreme Court Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr. emphasized the importance of religious freedom and the dangers it faces today.

Religious freedom means that “no one is forced to act in violation of his own beliefs,” Alito said, according to Catholic Philly. “Most of my life Americans were instilled in this,” he added, and urged the audience “keep the flame burning.”

Alito gave the keynote address at the concursus ceremony for the graduating class of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia May 17, where he also received the degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, Honorus Causa, from Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia.

He was awarded the degree “in testimony to and recognition of his many outstanding contributions to society … especially in protecting the sanctity and dignity of human life, the full responsibilities of the human person and promoting true justice and lasting peace,” Archbishop Chaput said.

Alito, 67, is a practicing Catholic from an Italian family in Trenton, New Jersey, and was nominated to the Supreme Court by President George W. Bush, where he has served since January 2006.

He wrote the majority opinion for the 2014 Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. case, in which the court allowed for closely-held, for-profit corporations to be exempt from a regulation its owners religiously object to if there is a less restrictive means of furthering the law’s interest, according to the provisions of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

He also wrote a dissent from the majority opinion in the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges case, in which the Supreme Court held that the Constitution guarantees the right to same-sex marriage.

Prior to his address, in an interview with the St. Charles Borromeo blog Seminarian Casual, Alito again spoke about religious freedom as well as the effect his faith and family has had on his career.

Religious freedom is “one of the most fundamental rights” in the United States, Alito said, and the founding fathers “saw a vital connection between religion and the character needed for republican self-government.”

“What the founders understood more than 200 years ago is just as true today,” he said, though “(t)here is cause for concern at the present time.”

In his Obergefell dissent, Alito said he “anticipated that … ‘those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools.’”

There is already evidence of this happening, he said, such as in a case the Supreme Court declined to hear, in which a pharmacy was being forced to sell emergency contraceptives despite their religious beliefs against them. He said he anticipates even more struggles for religious freedom in the years to come.

“This is not an easy time to be a priest, but priests are desperately needed,” he said.

In particular, priests of the 21st century are needed to “express what is essential about the faith in a way that registers with a culture that speaks a different language. It is a daunting task, but that is essentially what was done by brave priests in the past who took the faith to every corner of the globe,” he said.

“One priest who especially stands out in my memory is the pastor of the church in New Jersey that we attended before moving to Washington. He had a marvelous way of speaking to the parishioners in a way that was seemingly simple but attractive and ultimately profound.”

When asked how his Catholic faith has shaped him, Alito said his faith provides him meaning and purpose.

“The title of a book by Tolstoy has been translated as What Then Should We Do? My faith gives me an answer. It would be terrible to think that life has no meaning, that we are going nowhere, and that what we do until we die is a matter of indifference. That is what tortures so many today.”

He added that the strong family values with which he was raised influenced the way he raised his own family, and that he is grateful for a career that allows him some flexibility to be able to spend time with his family.

“Nothing on this Earth is more important to me than my family,” he said.

“I have been fortunate to have jobs that allowed me to control my work schedule to a very great degree,” he said. “Very few people today have this luxury, and it is hard for busy people to balance work and family life. Our society needs to do a better job of making this possible.”

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U.S. NEWS

Pence to Notre Dame graduates: Bring values into the workplace

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • May 22, 2017

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence delivers commencement address at University of Notre Dame on May 20, 2017. (Barbara Johnston/University of Notre Dame)

South Bend, IN — U.S. Vice President Mike Pence challenged University of Notre Dame graduates on Saturday to promote human dignity and the sanctity of life in the workplace.

“I urge you, as the rising generation – carry the ideals and the values that you’ve learned at Notre Dame into your lives and your careers,” Pence told the graduates, praising the university for its rich traditions of defending human life and religious liberty in the face of persecution.

The vice president delivered the commencement address at the University of Notre Dame on March 20. He called on the graduates to “be exceptional from this day forth.”

Pence commended the university’s defense of religious liberty, noting that it was among the plaintiffs in lawsuits against the Obama administration’s contraception mandate.

“Just as Notre Dame has stood strong to protect its religious liberty, I’m proud that this President just took steps to ensure that this university and the Little Sisters of the Poor could not be forced to violate their consciences to fully participate in American civic life,” Pence said in reference to the lawsuits.

“I’m so proud that the University of Notre Dame has stood without apology for the sanctity of human life,” he continued, pointing to the university’s efforts to uphold human dignity, through its educational initiatives, social commitment and focus on ethics and culture.

Around 100 students walked out of Pence’s speech on Saturday, according to an estimate by the university reported by CNN. They reportedly did so to represent racial minorities, undocumented immigrants, LGBTQ persons and others who they said would be adversely affected by the administration’s policies.

Pence, formerly a member of the U.S. Congress and the governor of Indiana, was baptized Catholic, but by 1994 he called himself a “born-again, evangelical Catholic.” He had begun attending an evangelical megachurch with his family in the 1990s.

He has recently described himself as “a Christian, a conservative, and a Republican, in that order.”

Pence has a long history of pro-life and religious freedom advocacy, but has also quarreled with Catholic bishops over immigration matters.

As governor of Indiana, he tried to halt the state’s participation in the U.S. refugee resettlement program as he, along with then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, questioned the security of the program. This came in the wake of deadly terror attacks in Paris in November of 2015, where a terrorist who was reportedly one of the perpetrators had allegedly entered Europe by posing as a Syrian refugee, according to reports at the time.

Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis, now Cardinal of Newark, had directed Catholic Charities Indianapolis to resettle a Syrian refugee family during that time. He met with Governor Pence in December. Pence’s office said after the meeting that the governor “respectfully disagrees with their decision to place a Syrian refugee family in Indiana at this time.”

Pence’s speech at Notre Dame continued the tradition of presidents and vice presidents speaking at the university and receiving honorary degrees.

In May of 2009, President Barack Obama became the ninth U.S. president to have an honorary degree from the university. He spoke amidst controversy over his staunch pro-abortion record.

Then-Denver Archbishop Charles Chaput issued a strong statement saying that Notre Dame “conferred an unnecessary and unearned honorary law degree on a man committed to upholding one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in our nation’s history [Roe v. Wade].”

Former Vice President Joe Biden, a Catholic who supported abortion as a U.S. senator and who was in an administration that issued the controversial contraception mandate, received an honorary degree from the university last year.

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend, the local diocese, said the university should not have honored a politician with “gravely irresponsible” positions on abortion and marriage that are at odds with Church teaching.

“We should seek to honor those who act to protect human life and dignity from conception to natural death, who respect true marriage and the family, who promote peace, justice, religious freedom, solidarity, the integral development of the poor, the just treatment of immigrants, and care for creation,” he stated last March. “We should not honor those who may be exemplary in one area but gravely irresponsible in another.”

In his speech this weekend, Vice President Pence called for the university to continue to foster a free discussion of ideas, as free speech has been curbed in much of academia.

“Notre Dame is a campus where deliberation is welcomed – where opposing views are debated and where every speaker, no matter how unpopular or unfashionable, is afforded the right to air their views in the open for all to hear,” he said, adding that the university “is an exception” and is “an island in a sea of conformity.”

Many schools have “speech codes, safe zones, tone policing, administration-sanctioned political correctness,” he said, which “are destructive of learning and the pursuit of knowledge. And they are wholly outside the American tradition.”

Pence also exhorted the university’s graduates to “have faith.”

“Strive every day to lead for good with courage and conviction. Live your life according to the precepts and principles that you have learned and seen here at Notre Dame,” he said.

“And in all that you do, have faith that He who brought you this far will never leave you, nor forsake you – because He never will.”

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Knights of Columbus leader talks Pope Francis, Trump in new interview

CNA/EWTN News • May 23, 2017

Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus, meets with Pope Francis on Feb. 16, 2017. (L’Osservatore Romano)

Bridgeport, CT — The leader of the nearly 2 million-member Knights of Columbus recently spoke about the importance of his group’s fidelity to Pope Francis, as well as his hopes for a successful upcoming meeting between the Roman Pontiff and U.S. president Donald Trump.

In a new interview, Supreme Knight Carl Anderson touched on these topics as well as his organization’s commitment to persecuted Christians, problems with how some media treats issues within the Church, and what the Knights make a priority in their charitable giving.

The organization recently celebrated its 135th anniversary at St. Mary’s Church in New Haven, Conn., the church where Fr. McGivney founded the Catholic fraternity that now has 1.9 million members worldwide.

Please read below for CNA’s full interview with Carl Anderson:

The Pope will be meeting the United States president this week; what should people expect from that meeting?

The pope has made clear that he is seeking common ground with the president, and I would assume the president will do the same. Some in the media focus only on the differences between the thinking of these two men, but, there is also much common ground on issues like abortion, religious liberty, persecuted Christians and human trafficking.

In what ways have the Knights worked with Pope Francis over the past few years?

From our earliest days, the Knights of Columbus has always been loyal to the Holy Father. We have a wonderful relationship with Pope Francis and have helped sponsor a number of conferences and projects with the Vatican during his tenure on topics including relief work in Haiti, the Church in America, and the continental Jubilee of Mercy. I’ve had the privilege to meet with Pope Francis privately each year and to review with him our priorities and new initiatives. Each time, I’ve come away deeply inspired by his love for the poor and those on the margins of society.

We see supporting the pope, his ministry and his charitable endeavors as central to who we are as an organization. I have repeatedly told our K of C leaders to take his words to us as our agenda, and I’ve personally assured him he can count on our support.

What are the main causes the Knights support?

We support causes large and small, but our primary focus over the past two years has been helping Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East who were targeted by ISIS. Because these communities are so small, they are too often overlooked by U.S. Government or UN aid programs and risk disappearing. We also have been supporting clean water projects in Africa, inspired by Laudato Si, and we just finished a project to improve the energy efficiency of our headquarters.

Two of the projects I’m very proud of are our work in Africa to educate and support AIDS orphans, many of whom are themselves HIV positive, and our efforts in Haiti to provide artificial limbs to children who lost their legs because of the earthquake there.

Also, at the local level, our members accompany their fellow parishioners and the members of their communities, supporting their needs in ways large and small. From food programs, to housing and clothing programs, to disaster relief, when people need us, we are there.

We also strongly support the right to life. Laudato Si section 120 states that without opposition to abortion, defending the rest of the vulnerable is increasingly difficult: “Since everything is interrelated, concern for the protection of nature is also incompatible with the justification of abortion. How can we genuinely teach the importance of concern for other vulnerable beings, however troublesome or inconvenient they may be, if we fail to protect a human embryo, even when its presence is uncomfortable and creates difficulties? If personal and social sensitivity towards the acceptance of the new life is lost, then other forms of acceptance that are valuable for society also wither away.”

In our country today, abortion takes more lives each year than any other cause of death. But we certainly don’t focus all our charity efforts on beginning-of-life issues. For example, we continued to give away more than 80,000 new winter coats and more than 8,000 wheelchairs in 2015, and we are constantly engaged in tens of thousands of projects around the world to help clothe, feed, shelter and meet other pressing needs of our neighbors. Last year we gave away $175 million and 73.5 million hours to charitable causes. We also support the Vatican and national bishops’ conferences in numerous ways, including in the defense of religious liberty, especially – but not only – when assaults on religious liberty also implicate the lives of the most vulnerable among us.

How dire are things for the Christians in the Middle East and why did you choose that issue?

For the first time in nearly 2,000 years, we are reaching a point where Christians could literally cease to exist in a country like Iraq. The situation is incredibly dire, and in the next few days, we will be announcing a new initiative to help stabilize these communities because there is a real concern that they will not survive. We have been providing assistance with food for thousands of families, we have provided funding for medical clinics, for apartment buildings, rental assistance, clothing, education, etc. But even more is needed. We simply cannot allow Christianity and pluralism to be eliminated from this region by those using terrorism and genocide to achieve their ends.

I am among the many who hope that the meeting between the pope and the president this week in Rome may include breakthrough solutions and closer cooperation between the American government and its aid programs and the Church to help ensure that these people survive, and that ISIS’ goal of eliminating religious minorities is not realized. As at least one commentator has also pointed out, no two organizations are more critical to survival of these people than the U.S. government and the Vatican.

In terms of how we chose this issue, it came naturally to us, since the Knights of Columbus has been concerned about religious persecution throughout our history. We spoke up for Catholics being persecuted in Mexico in the 1920s, for Jews being persecuted in Germany in the 1930s, for people of faith being persecuted in the Cold War, and now, for these victims of ISIS.

You also mentioned your pro-life work. There have been some real advances in that area recently - what trends do you see?

We have seen some great strides in this area over the past months including moves to stop the taxpayer funding of abortion including via the Mexico City Policy. Appointments to the court and several cabinet positions are also very pro-life and this is very heartening as well.

As our polling shows, support for abortion restrictions is bi-partisan. For example, 70 percent of Democrats and 94 percent of Republicans support banning taxpayer funding of abortion abroad. In addition, about 6 in 10 Democrats, 7 in 10 Independents and 9 in 10 Republicans support substantial restrictions on abortion, and would limit it – at most – to the first three months of pregnancy.

Practicing Catholics are united in support for abortion restrictions in overwhelming numbers as well.

Some may see abortion as a political or divisive issue, but that does not mean that it is. And we do not see or intend our opposition to it as political. For us it is a matter of morality and values.

In fact, it is my fondest hope that both of our country’s major parties would embrace a pro-life platform. If that were to happen, the issue could cease to be seen as partisan, and voters could move on to other issues. We’ve been working on this for more than four decades, with nearly 60 million abortions since Roe v Wade. The scandal is that too many Catholics in public office have refused to take action to protect unborn children. As Catholics we are called to build a culture of life and that certainly includes more than abortion. But I do not see how it is possible to build a culture of life with public officials who insist on maintaining a legal regime that results in a million abortions a year.

I have personally voted for pro-life candidates of both parties. Those who criticize our pro-life work as partisan miss the fact that far from being partisan, it is consistent with our help of the defenseless and marginalized. It exactly fits with Pope Francis’ statements in Laudato Si and also in Evangelii Gaudium, where he stated in section 213: “Among the vulnerable for whom the Church wishes to care with particular love and concern are unborn children, the most defenseless and innocent among us. Nowadays efforts are made to deny them their human dignity and to do with them whatever one pleases, taking their lives and passing laws preventing anyone from standing in the way of this. Frequently, as a way of ridiculing the Church’s effort to defend their lives, attempts are made to present her position as ideological, obscurantist and conservative. Yet this defense of unborn life is closely linked to the defense of each and every other human right. It involves the conviction that a human being is always sacred and inviolable, in any situation and at every stage of development.”

How can we help poor individuals and families, the intellectually disabled, and refugees from ISIS and ignore the unborn? It’s not possible. We are talking about a million lives each year that are lost, and that demands our attention.

The same outlook applies to our work in defense of religious freedom – in which we have been supported by Pope Francis. This isn’t a new – or political – endeavor for us. It is the defense of a fundamental right that we have engaged in for more than a century.

What is your opinion of how the news media covers the Church today?

Pope Francis, in his book, On Heaven and Earth, was very hard on the media. He pointed out that too often the media tries to generate conflict and misinforms. He said: “Today, there is misinformation because only part of the truth is said, only what interests them is taken for their convenience, and that does a lot of damage because it is a way of favoring conflict.”

We see this with some reports leading up to his meeting with the president. Some push what they see as points of conflict, ignoring the points of common ground.

Unfortunately, in this country too, we frequently see reporting focused on advancing a political agenda instead of getting the facts right.

We ourselves have even sometimes had partisan reporters or commentators complain about a donation or two that we made that they don’t agree with. In such cases, they typically ignore the majority, totality and context of what we do – in other words, the literally hundreds of donations we make that they probably would support as well.

As Pope Francis said, those in the media can tell a half truth and do damage by generating conflict, and let me give you one example that really illustrates the point. A commentator recently intimated that a $1.5 million dollar donation we gave to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia a couple of years ago somehow showed sympathy to opposition to Pope Francis. Leaving aside the many ways in which that assertion is problematic on its face, in fact, exactly the opposite of what was asserted was true.

The money donated was actually in support of Pope Francis’ trip to the United States as part of the Vatican’s World Meeting of Families in that city. At best what can be said about this kind of thing is that it reflects what lawyers might call a reckless disregard of the truth.

What makes such episodes of misleading or untruthful reporting particularly sad is that it seems that often what drives this reporting is dissent or disagreement with Church teaching, not just disagreement with us. But the media should not stoop to politicizing the pope or trying to drive wedges between him and faithful Catholics who love him.

The pope is pro-life, he is in favor of religious liberty. He visited the Little Sisters of the Poor and has spoken about “polite persecution” in Western countries to underscore the importance of religious freedom. These aren’t political positions for him – or for us. They are values positions based on our Catholic faith.

It is worth noting that we support a number of Catholic media outlets – large and small – because we see the importance of quality Catholic journalism.

The Knights of Columbus is unique as a business entity. Can you talk a little about that?

Unlike non-profits that are charities with fundraising operations, the Knights of Columbus is also one of the nation’s largest – and best rated – life insurers. We have an arm that takes donations, but many of the dollars we donate come from the business side.

We were founded by the Venerable Father Michael McGivney to help provide Catholic families with support for their faith and in their financial future. The faith side is obvious, and the financial future side has grown into a Fortune 1000 insurance operation exclusively focused on our members and their families. Many people are surprised by the size of the Knights of Columbus insurance program. We sell more than $8 billion of insurance each year. We have over $106 billion of insurance in force and we have over $23 billion of assets under management. Our members have entrusted us with their hard earned cash, and they count on us to be there to provide for the future of their families.

We have a responsibility to their future, and we take this responsibility seriously on both fronts. One way that we do this is to seek to invest in ways that are sustainable, and to use Catholic screens on our investments so that we are not putting our members’ money into enterprises that run counter to our faith.

To do that, we hire top professionals to manage our business and our investments. We have about 900 employees at our headquarters in New Haven and we are one of the city’s largest private employers. Given that we are operating at such a high level in the financial services industry, while we pay our executives less than the market average, we also understand that we have to pay competitively enough to attract the caliber of talent needed to run a Fortune 1000 company and to successfully manage the financial futures of our members and their families. People’s livelihoods depend on us hiring and retaining the highly competent people able to deliver at the highest level, and our members deserve nothing less than the best professionals we can hire.

This has been our approach to the business side of the Knights of Columbus for decades. And it has worked. We have consistently received top ratings for our financial strength.

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U.S. NEWS

U.S. bishops welcome Trump administration’s reprieve for Haitian migrants

CNA/EWTN News • May 23, 2017

Haitian migrants in Mexico seeking to enter the United States. (Salesian Order)

Washington D.C. — The Trump administration’s decision to allow 50,000 Haitian earthquake victims to remain in the United States prompted gratitude from the U.S. bishops’ conference, which stressed the need for continued work to aid Haitians here and in their home country.

“While this extension is helpful, it still leaves many Haitian families in the United States in an insecure and vulnerable position, particularly with respect to ensuring legal work authorization,” Bishop Joe S. Vasquez of Austin, chairman of the U.S. bishops’ migration committee, said May 23.

The Department of Homeland Security’s decision extended the Obama administration’s protections for Haitians who had arrived in the U.S. within a year of the massive 2010 earthquake. They may remain with work authorizations until January 2018.

Sources in the department told Reuters that Secretary John Kelly of the Department of Homeland Security believes that conditions in Haiti are improving, but Haitians in the U.S. still need protections.

At the same time, there is no commitment to extending protections past January. Officials recommended that Haitians with temporary protective status begin seeking travel documents to return to Haiti.

In a May 23 letter to Secretary Kelly, Bishop Vasquez said that extending temporary protective status serves an important humanitarian role by promoting the safety and stability of Haitian families in the U.S.

“We encourage our government to work proactively with the Haitian government to provide life-saving aid and recovery assistance,” he said. “Haiti will continue to struggle to receive back those who are temporarily protected, even those who may be returned in the near future.”

The bishop said that Catholic service networks in the U.S. will continue to aid Haitian families and the rebuilding process in Haiti. These networks will also look for opportunities to collaborate with the Church in Haiti and with the U.S. and Haitian governments.

The earthquake killed an estimated 220,000 people and affected over 3.5 million more.

Temporary protected status may be provided to citizens of countries that are suffering from severe violence, disease and natural disasters. At present countries designated for that status include Sudan, Somalia, Syria, El Salvador, Nepal, and Yemen, Reuters reports.

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U.S. NEWS

St. Louis rule creates legal traps for pro-lifers, lawsuit charges

CNA/EWTN News • May 24, 2017

(Digital Storm via Shutterstock)

St. Louis, MO — A St. Louis city ordinance that could force Catholic schools and pro-life pregnancy centers to hire employees who support abortion has drawn legal opposition from the Archbishop of St. Louis and several pro-life organizations.

“As Catholics, we know that all life is a gift from God and our parents, and must be protected at any cost,” St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson said May 22. “Sadly, legal protection for those members of the human family waiting to be born in this country was removed by the Supreme Court in 1973.”

“Now, some of our St. Louis politicians have made a protected ‘class’ out of ‘reproductive health,’ which is merely a politically correct euphemism for abortion,” the archbishop said at a press conference on the steps of the federal courthouse in downtown St. Louis.

He said the archdiocese will not comply with the “vile bill.”

Archbishop Carlson was joined by Peggy Forrest of Our Lady’s Inn, which promotes abortion alternatives for pregnant women, archdiocesan newspaper the St. Louis Review reports. Also present was Sarah Pitlyk, special counsel for the Thomas More Society, which has filed the lawsuit seeking judicial review.

The Archdiocesan Elementary Schools of St. Louis, Our Lady’s Inn, and the private company O’Brien Industrial Holdings, LLC are parties to the lawsuit concerning St. Louis Ordinance 70459, also called Board Bill 203 Committee Substitute. The ordinance, enacted in February, creates a protected status for anyone who has “made a decision related to abortion,” even in cases where the abortion was not their own. The protections apply to corporations and all businesses, not only individuals.

Opponents said the bill would bar any individual or entity, including Christian organizations, from refusing to sell or rent property to individuals or businesses that promote or provide abortions. It could require Catholic schools to hire abortion supporters or potentially be sued.

The lawsuit notes the archdiocesan schools require teachers and employees to sign a statement saying they will not publicly support abortion and will otherwise live in harmony with Catholic teachings in their professional and personal lives. Organizations that require such a statement face criminal fines under the city bill, while individuals who enforce it face a fine and even jail time.

“The passage of this bill is not a milestone of our city’s success. It is, rather, a marker of our city’s embrace of the culture of death,” said Archbishop Carlson.

Pitlyk of the Thomas More Society further criticized the ordinance.

“The City of St. Louis, by pushing an abortion agenda, is clearly out of step with the rest of the state,” she charged. “The city has taken the protections typically granted to prevent discrimination for ‘race, age, religion, sex or disability’ and applied them to those who have made or expect to make ‘reproductive health decisions,’” she said.

Forrest said that the ordinance would bar Our Lady’s Inn from hiring only individuals who support its mission to provide abortion alternatives.

She said that since the ordinance was passed, her organization has received several suspicious calls that seemed like possible legal traps. She said there is a great possibility “that women either pretending to need services or knowing full well they don’t want the services that we provide will engage us just to see if they can catch us in violating the ordinance.”

“It’s insincere and takes up time for women who really are interested in our services,” Forrest added. “We support women who have already made a choice for life. And if that’s not the choice they’ve made then our services don’t match them.”

The ordinance would also require businesses to include abortion coverage in employee health care plans, even if owners object. The Thomas More Society said this requirement is unlawful under the 2014 U.S. Supreme Court decision involving Hobby Lobby’s challenge to a federal rule mandating coverage of contraceptive drugs, including drugs that can cause abortion.

The Catholic-owned O’Brien Industrial Holdings, LLC, was also part of the Hobby Lobby case.

The St. Louis legal complaint said the ordinance violates other constitutional protections involving free speech, free association, the religion clauses of the First Amendment, due process rights, and equal protection, as well as several state laws.

Pitlyk also faulted the ordinance’s “extremely limited” religious exemptions for housing and employment, and its lack of exemptions for individuals who have “sincere religious, moral or ethical objections to abortion.”

“That is unconstitutional, and directly violates both federal and state law,” she said.

St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson defended the law in a statement, saying, “We don’t believe the ordinance infringes on the rights of the Archdiocese,” according to the Associated Press.

While backers of the ordinance said it aimed to address discrimination against individuals who have had, or were planning to have abortions, they could not find examples of such.

Pitlyk said the ordinance was “a remedy in search of a problem.”

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U.S. NEWS

Stronger religious freedoms in Texas could boost Catholic foster care

CNA/EWTN News • May 25, 2017

The Texas state capitol building. (Ricardo Garza via Shutterstock)

Austin, Texas — The Catholic Church in Texas will work to promote more foster parenting, following the state legislature’s approval of strong legal protections for religious adoption and foster care agencies.

“Now Catholics can join other people of good will and serve Texas’ children in good faith,” said Jennifer Carr Allmon, executive director of the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops.

This fall, the bishops’ conference has said, it will work with diocesan offices on a campaign to encourage Catholic families to be foster parents.

“Most Catholic Charities in the state had withdrawn from serving foster children,” the bishops’ conference said May 22. “The new law removes a significant barrier to Catholics serving children in the foster care system and will trigger greater recruitment efforts by Catholic parishes and ministries.”

The bill, called the Freedom to Serve Children Act, could protect the ability of organizations and individuals in Texas’ foster care system who have sincerely held religious beliefs to remove themselves from actions that would directly violate their faith.

It has multiple applications. It could allow groups opposed to abortion to avoid helping a minor obtain an abortion. It could allow groups that believe children should be placed only with a married adoptive mother and father to provide foster services without facing lawsuits from same-sex couples.

The bill passed the Texas Senate May 22 on a 21-10 vote. Democratic Sen. Eddie Lucio of Brownsville joined Republicans to support the bill, saying it would help add more private adoption agencies to Texas’ system: “It’s about increasing capacity, it’s about providing homes for kids.”

The bill now heads to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who is expected to sign the bill.

The Texas House of Representatives had passed the bill by a 93-49 vote on May 10, largely along party lines.

Private foster care and adoption agencies receive about 25 percent of child placement funding in the state, the Associated Press reports. Some groups had suspended services for fear of discrimination lawsuits.

In other states and the District of Columbia, long-serving Catholic adoption agencies have been shut down by laws against sexual orientation discrimination or new state funding rules that would have required them to place children with same-sex couples.

A Texas Department of Family and Protective Services report indicates that 314 children slept in state offices, hotels, shelters and other temporary housing between Sept. 1 and March 31, the Austin American-Statesman reports.

The bill drew opposition from the American Civil Liberties Union and LGBT activist groups like the Human Rights Campaign.

Marty Rouse, national field director for the Human Rights Campaign, charged that the bill would “prioritize discrimination over the best interest of kids in the child welfare system.”

Critics voiced concern the bill would allow foster parents to prevent children from being vaccinated. Some critics objected to protecting foster parents’ abilities to limit children’s access to contraceptives and abortion.

South Dakota passed a similar bill in March, but no other states currently have similar legislation.

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U.S. NEWS

New video shows graphic discussion of aborted baby parts

CNA/EWTN News • May 26, 2017

(578foot via Shutterstock)

Washington D.C. — Preview footage released recently by the Center for Medical Progress appears to show participants at a national abortion convention casually discussing the skulls, eyeballs and other baby body parts they encounter in abortion procedures.

“An eyeball just fell down into my lap, and that is gross!” says one panelist in the video, to laughter from the crowd.

“When the skull is broken, that’s really sharp!” another says.

The footage also appears to show a person acknowledging, “We certainly do intact D&Es,” a presumed reference to dilation-and-extraction, or partial-birth abortions, which are illegal under federal law.

Planned Parenthood employees also appear in the footage discussing baby organs that are given to biotech firms for money.

“They’re wanting livers,” one abortion provider says. “Sometimes she’ll tell me she wants brain,” another medical director says.

The Center for Medical Progress – an investigative journalism group – released the undercover footage, which it says was collected at the 2014 and 2015 National Abortion Federation conventions.

It’s the latest in a series of videos the group has released. Previous videos have appeared to show employees in the abortion industry discussing the sale of body parts from aborted babies and talking about altering abortion procedures in order to obtain the best “specimens” of baby parts.

Other videos have also appeared to show employees setting abortion quotas at some clinics, and suggesting that they decide how to handle babies born alive after botched abortions based on “who’s in the room” at the time.

The Center for Medical Progress videos have given great momentum to efforts to end state and federal taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood, which receives about half a billion dollars in federal funds annually, about 40 percent of its operating budget. While this money is forbidden by law from funding abortions, critics charge that these rules may not always be followed, and that any federal funding frees up other money for abortions.

In January 2017, the Republican-controlled U.S. House of Representatives Select Investigative Panel investigating fetal tissue procurement released its report declaring that there are abuses and possible criminal violations in the area. The procurement of fetal tissue for profit is illegal.

Although a dozen states opened investigations into the organizations involved, they did not find legally admissible evidence of wrongdoing.

Backers of Planned Parenthood have charged that the videos were deceptively edited, a charge Daleiden has strongly contested, releasing the full videos to support his claim.

Daleiden is currently facing criminal charges for filming people without their consent in California. He claims that he is protected as an undercover journalist.

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U.S. NEWS

What can we learn from the newest priests? Encourage vocations

by Matt Hadro (CNA/EWTN News) • May 26, 2017

A Mass of diaconal ordination said in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sept. 29, 2016. (Daniel Ibanez/CNA)

Washington D.C. — Members of the newest priestly ordination class in the United States were closely connected to the Church growing up through their Catholic school or parish, according to a new survey of the 2017 ordinands.

“They’re much more likely than Catholics in general to have attended Catholic school. A third of them have a relative who’s a priest or religious. They come from pretty active Catholic families,” Dr. Mary L. Gautier, co-author of “The Class of 2017: Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood,” told CNA.

“They have more opportunity to be aware of and around priests,” she added.

The annual survey of ordinands is conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate at Georgetown University (CARA).

This year’s survey featured 444 respondents, 343 of whom are entering the diocesan priesthood, from 140 dioceses. 101 of the respondents are entering the religious priesthood. The survey was conducted in March 2017.

According to the U.S. bishops’ conference, CARA compiles data every year for the Secretariat for Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations.

The average age of ordination has continued a slight, yet steady downward trend in age from 1999, as the 2017 class average was 34 years, down from 36 years in 1999. 16 was the average age the ordinands first began considering the priesthood.

Most of this year’s ordinands – 82 percent – were “encouraged to consider the priesthood by someone in their life,” most often by a parish priest, although others reported being encouraged by a friend, family member, parent, teacher, or parishoner.

That “staggering number” should spur the faithful to be aware of their role in encouraging vocations, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations, stated in response to the survey.

“That statistic should motivate all the faithful to be sensitive to the work of the Holy Spirit, who may wish to use them to extend the invitation to ordained ministry,” he said.

Conversely, almost half the respondents (48 percent), including 60 percent of those in religious life, reported being dissuaded from entering the seminary by someone else.

Encouragement of young men to enter the seminary is indeed a “very important” factor in their decision, Gautier said, encouragement “from family, friends, the parish priest, the teachers in the school, all of that makes a difference.

Seminarians were more likely than the average Catholic child to be involved in their parish and attend Catholic school, according to several statistics taken together.

“Between 40 and 50 percent” of the respondents went to Catholic school at some point in their life – anywhere from kindergarten through tertiary education — and almost six in ten (59 percent) received religious education at their parish, “for seven years, on average,” the study said.

They were much more likely than the average Catholic adult to attend Catholic school, especially as they grew older.

Half of respondents attended Catholic grade school (K-8), 11 percentage points higher than the national average of 38 percent among adult Catholics. 41 percent of respondents attended a Catholic high school compared to the national average of just 19 percent, and 40 percent attended a Catholic college, much higher than the national average of 10 percent among adult Catholics.

Many ordinands were involved in their parish, either in their prayer life and/or through ministries.

Three-fourths were altar servers at their parish, and 52 percent of respondents served as lectors at Mass. 43 percent were Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. Almost four in five regularly prayed at Eucharistic Adoration and almost seven in ten prayed the rosary.

And many were involved in group prayer, as almost half attended a regular prayer group or Bible study. Almost half “participated in parish youth groups,” and 34 percent were part of Catholic campus ministry or a Newman Center in college.

Regarding family life, the ordinands had an average of three siblings in their family, and are “very unlikely to be only children,” Gautier said. They are often the oldest siblings in their family, but in 2017 more respondents were middle children than were oldest children in their families.

Demographically, the class did not reflect an increasingly large Hispanic Catholic population in the U.S., and this is a challenge for vocations directors, Gautier acknowledged.

Seven in ten respondents were Caucasian, while only one-fourth were foreign-born. Meanwhile, the Hispanic Catholic population is growing, making up 34 percent of the overall Catholic population in the U.S. and 46 percent of Catholic Millennials, according to Pew Research in 2015.

“I think vocation directors are aware of the challenge and are actively working to increase vocations in the Hispanic community, but it’s not reflected in the numbers of ordinands, at least this year,” Gautier explained.

43 percent of the respondents listed an undergraduate degree from a college or university as their highest education level before entering seminary, and 16 percent said a graduate degree was their highest level. Those in religious life were on average more highly educated, as the vast majority (86 percent) of respondents in religious life had received an undergraduate or a graduate degree, compared to 52 percent of diocesan ordinands.

Almost one third (28 percent) of the respondents “carried educational debt, which averaged $28,318, at the time they entered the seminary,” the study showed.

Of those who carried such debt into seminary, they “were able to reduce it to an average amount of $25,830 which is 9 percent less than when they entered (unadjusted for inflation),” the study showed.

Respondents who were in religious life were actually able to reduce their student debt by almost half (46 percent) while in seminary, as almost three-fourths of them received assistance for this from their religious community. Meanwhile, the average debt for seminarians preparing for diocesan priesthood increased slightly.

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FEATURES

This new technology could produce babies from skin cells. And that’s bad

by Maggie Maslak (CNA/EWTN News) • May 18, 2017

Embryos. (Andrii Vodolazhskyi via Shutterstock.)

Washington D.C. — Within the next 10-20 years, a new and controversial fertility technology called in vitro gametogenesis (IVG) could make it possible to manipulate skin cells into creating a human baby.

However, this groundbreaking research has caused push-back from some critics, like Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, director of education at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, who says IVG would turn procreation into a transaction.

“IVG extends the faulty logic of IVF by introducing additional steps to the process of manipulating the origins of the human person, in order to satisfy the desires of customers and consumers,” Fr. Pacholczyk told CNA in an email interview.

“The technology also offers the possibility of introducing further fractures into parenthood, distancing children from their parents by multiplying the number of those involved in generating the child, so that 3-parent embryos, or even more parents, may become involved,” he continued.

IVG has been successfully tested by Japanese researchers on mice, which produced healthy babies derived from skin cells.

The process begins by taking the skin cells from the mouse’s tail and re-programing them to become induced pluripotent stem cells. These manipulated cells are able to grow different kinds of cells, and are then used to grow eggs and sperm, which are then fertilized in the lab. The resulting embryos are then implanted in a womb.

Although similar to in vitro fertilization, IVG eliminates the step of needing pre-existing egg and sperm, and instead creates these gametes.

But many experts in the reproductive field are skeptical of its potential outcomes and ethical compromises.

“It gives me an unsettled feeling because we don’t know what this could lead to,” Paul Knoepfler, a stem cell researcher at the University of California, Davis, told the New York Times.

Knoepfler noted that some of the potential repercussions of IVG could turn into “cloning” or “designer babies.” Other dangers could include the “Brad Pitt scenario,” in which celebrity’s skin cells retrieved from random places, like hotel rooms, could be used to create a baby.

Potentially anyone’s skin cells could be used to create a baby, even without their knowledge or consent.

In an issue of Science Translational Medicine earlier this year, a trio of academics – a Harvard Law professor, the dean of Harvard Medical School, and a medical science professor at Brown – wrote that IVG “may raise the specter of ‘embryo farming’ on a scale currently unimagined, which might exacerbate concerns about the devaluation of human life.”

They added that “refining the science of IVG to the point of clinical use will involve the generation and likely destruction of large numbers of embryos from stem cell – derived gametes” and the process “may exacerbate concerns regarding human enhancement.”

Fr. Pacholczyk also pointed to further concerns, saying IVG disrupts the uniqueness of every individual’s sex cells.

“IVG raises additional concerns because of the way it manipulates human sex cells. Our sex cells, or gametes, are special cells. They uniquely identify us,” Fr. Pacholczyk stated.

“It is most unfortunate that overwhelming parental desires are being permitted to trump and distort the right order of transmitting human life,” he continued.

Fr. Pacholczyk said that processes like IVG “enable a consumerist mentality that holds that children are ‘projects’ to be realized through commercial transactions and laboratory techniques of gamete manipulation.”

The Catholic Church teaches that IVF and similar reproductive technologies are morally illicit for several reasons, including their separation of procreation from the conjugal act and the creation of embryos which are discarded.

Pope Francis recently spoke out against the destruction of human embryos, saying that no good result from research can justify the destruction of embryos.

“Some branches of research use human embryos, inevitably causing their destruction. But we know that no ends, even noble in themselves – such as a predicted utility for science, for other human beings or for society – can justify the destruction of human embryos,” the Holy Father said May 18.

Although IVG has proven successful in mice, there are still some wrinkles that need to be ironed out before it is tested on humans, and will entail years more of tedious bioengineering.

However, Fr. Pacholczyk hopes that potential parents will come to realize that children should not products that can be ordered or purchased by consumers, and should rather be seen as a gift.

“Turning commercial laboratories to create children on our behalf is an unethical step in the direction of treating our offspring as objects to be planned and created in the pursuit of parental gratification, rather than gifts received from the Lord.”

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Pope Francis resets Marian devotion on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima

by Deacon Keith Fournier • May 20, 2017

On the centennial of the Apparition of Mary, the Mother of the Lord, to the children of Fatima, Pope Francis spoke from a pastor’s heart to hundreds of thousands who had gathered.

Francis has a deep love for Mary, the Mother of the Lord. He is a champion of popular piety as a strength for the faithful and a vehicle for a genuine renewal of devotion for the whole Church.

However, after affirming that, along with them, he was there as a pilgrim, he used the opportunity to reset Marian Piety for Catholic Christians.

In his characteristically plain spoken manner, he juxtaposed two approaches to Marian Piety. He cautioned against one. Then, he revealed the better way, the evangelical way, of practicing Marian Piety in a way which helps one draw closer to Jesus Christ.

The Pope asked the faithful:

Pilgrims with Mary … But which Mary? A teacher of the spiritual life, the first to follow Jesus on the narrow way of the cross by giving us an example? Or a Lady unapproachable and impossible to imitate? A woman blessed because she believed always and everywhere in Gods words? Or a plaster statue from whom we beg favors at little cost?

He continued:

The Virgin Mary of the Gospel, venerated by the Church at prayer? Or a Mary of our own making: one who restrains the arm of a vengeful God? One sweeter than Jesus the ruthless judge? One more merciful than the Lamb slain for us?

With a pastor’s heart, he steered the faithful away from a misguided response to some of the messages of Marian apparitions. He cautioned them against some of the more apocalyptic approaches to the messages, which leads to fear and alarm. He explained that they are loving calls to repentance, renewed faith and missionary activity.

Francis explained:

It is evident here that we should not surrender to catastrophes and visions that present Our Lady as sweeter and more merciful than God the Father and Jesus Christ. Great injustice is done to God’s grace … whenever we say that sins are punished by his judgment, without first saying – as the Gospel clearly does – that they are forgiven by his mercy!

Mercy has to be put before judgment and, in any case, God’s judgment will always be rendered in the light of his mercy. Obviously, Gods mercy does not deny justice, for Jesus took upon himself the consequences of our sin, together with its due punishment. He did not deny sin, but redeemed it on the cross. That is why we are freed from our sins and we put aside all fear and dread, as unbefitting those who are loved. Thus, there is no faith based on fear, on chasing secrets and visions, but based on the gospel and love.

This was Pope Francis at his best. A pastor in the Chair of Peter.

When I read the accounts on the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, I was drawn back to my own return to the Catholic Christian faith and rediscovery of the gift of Mary as the Mother of the Lord, the Mother of the Church and my Mother.

My Journey Home to the Catholic Church

I am what is often called a revert to the Catholic Church. I did not become a Catholic after having been a member of another Christian community. Though I was raised as a Catholic, I fell away from the practice of the ancient faith when my family stopped participating in the sacraments and living the faith as a central part of our life together.

We became what could be called cultural Catholics.

The Catholic Christian faith and the Savior had little to do with our life.

My teenage years were spent searching for meaning in life. My hunger for the truth finally led me home to the Lord – and His Church. However, the route was a circuitous one.

Among the places which it led to was my personal reading of the fathers (early leaders) of the first centuries of the undivided Christian Church. In those ancient Christian writings I discovered how the early Christians really viewed their participation in the Church as integral to their belonging to Jesus Christ.

I discovered how the early church worshiped. How they understood Christianity not as some sort of add on to life, but a new way of life, now lived in Jesus Christ. A Way lived with one another, in Jesus Christ. That all happened by living in His Body, the Church, of which we are all members by Baptism (1 Cor. 12).

In other words, the Church was not some-thing, but Some-One.

The Church is Relational

After intensely questioning many of the teachings of the Catholic Church, in my questioning journey home to the Catholic Church, including the teaching concerning even the role of Mary, I came to understand that the pronouncement of the early Church Council of Ephesus (431 AD) that Mary is Theotokos, Greek for Mother or Bearer of God.

It was a profoundly Christological declaration. In other words, it speaks about Jesus Christ, and not really about Mary.

It was an effort to correct the growing heresies in the early Church which threatened to undermine the core proclamation of the Gospel about who Jesus really is. The Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, the Word Made Flesh, Jesus the Christ, was truly both God and Man. The Incarnation was – and is – central to the Christian claim.

The One whom Mary bore was and is, truly God and truly man.

I studied the historic background of the proclamation at that Council and came to understand what was at stake. When I read this simple proclamation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church years later, What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ (CCC #487). It all began to make sense.

My study of early Church history also revealed the presence of Marian piety and devotion in the very early centuries of the Church. It was expressed in the frescoes found in the catacombs and espoused with the anointing of the Holy Spirit in the reflections of the early church fathers on the significance of her role in salvation history – as well as her continued role in the life of the Church through her both example and prayer.

As my knowledge of the lives of the saints increased, I had to decide whether all their writings about Mary reflected bad theology? Or, perhaps, I had missed something.

Fortunately, I arrived at the proper conclusion.

Mother of the Lord, My Mother

But, even after all that, Mary was still to me the Mother of the Lord. She was not yet my Mother. The progression continued as I prayerfully reflected on the last hours of the earthly ministry of Jesus as recounted in the fourth Gospel, the one written by the beloved disciple John. Its meaning began to unfold and become personal for me.

John records: When Jesus saw his mother, and the disciple whom he loved standing near, he said to his mother, Woman, behold your son. Then he said to the disciple, Behold your mother (John 19: 26-27).

Throughout the Christian Tradition great theologians, mystics, popes and saints have viewed John as representing you and me in that great exchange of love between Jesus and John. He spoke from the second tree, the Cross on Calvary. The last gift Jesus gave us, before giving every drop of His Sacred Blood to set us free from sin, was His mother.

She is the mother of His family, the Church. All who are baptized are now incorporated into Christ and become members of that family. We live our lives in His Body, the Church (1 Cor. 12). The Head and the Body are eternally joined in a communion of love.

St. Augustine – and countless Saints both East and West – wrote of the whole Christ, meaning both head and body (cf. Colosians 1:15 -23, Ephesians 4:15,16). That is the Church.

Everything Jesus has – He has given to His Church. That includes His Mother. She is the Mother of His Mystical Body, His Church. We are members of that family which He has formed, called the Church.

As the years unfolded, I found that many of the members of the communion of saints to which we are all joined, were profoundly Marian. My favorite saints, like Francis of Assisi, Bernard of Clairvaux, the early church fathers, St Jose Maria Escriva all the way up to my champion, Saint John Paul II, all had a deep love and devotion to Mary as Mother.

Finally, the grace was given to me to see the beauty of this last gift given by Jesus from the cross. I received her as my own mother. This little Virgin from Nazareth – whose yes brought heaven to earth and earth to heaven, went from being the mother and a mother to – my mother.

And, rather than distance me from Jesus, my intimate communion with Him grew deeper and deeper.

The Catholic Catechism reminds us of the evangelical nature of what is taught about Mary in these words:

What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ. God sent forth his Son, but to prepare a body for him, he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary (Lk. 1:26,27). (CCC#487, 488).

Some History

The Catechism of the Catholic Church also explains:

Called in the Gospels the mother of Jesus, Mary is acclaimed by Elizabeth, at the prompting of the Spirit and even before the birth of her son, as the mother of my Lord. In fact, the One whom she conceived as man by the Holy Spirit, who truly became her Son according to the flesh, was none other than the Father’s eternal Son, the second person of the Holy Trinity. Hence the Church confesses that Mary is truly Mother of God (Theotokos), (CCC, 495,496; Council of Ephesus, 431 AD).

The word in Greek is Theotokos, which means bearer or mother of God. The term was used as part of the popular piety of the early first millennium church. It is used throughout the Eastern Church Liturgy, both Orthodox and Catholic.

This title was a response to early threats to orthodoxy. It was a defense of authentic Christian teaching. A pronouncement of the Council of Ephesus in 431 A.D., insisted, If anyone does not confess that God is truly Emmanuel, and that on this account the holy virgin is the Theotokos (for according to the flesh she gave birth to the word of God become flesh by birth) let him be anathema.

The Council’s insistence on the title was to preserve the teaching of the Church that Jesus was both Divine and human. The two natures were united in His One Person. Not only was that teaching under an assault then, it is under an assault now.

Failing to get it right has extraordinary implications. Again, the reason that the early Church Council pronounced this doctrine was Christological – meaning that it had to do with Jesus Christ.

One of the threats in the fourth century came from an interpretation of the teachings of a Bishop of Constantinople named Nestorius. Some of his followers insisted on calling Mary only the Mother of the Christ.

The Council insisted on the use of the title (in the Greek) Theotokos, (Mother of God or God-bearer) to reaffirm the central truth of what truly occurred in the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. This has profound implications for you and for me.

Mary as Model

The rejection of the truth revealed in this title led to a diminution in the understanding of the role of Mary. It impeded some Christians from grasping the meaning of her “Yes” to God’s Will. She is a model of who we are becoming – as we cooperate with grace! (See, the exposition on grace in the Catholic Catechism, CCC 1996-2003).

This minimizing of Mary is a privation, a lack, and can lead to a reduced understanding of the call to every Christian to live our lives for Jesus Christ – just as Mary did. It can undermine our mission to bring the world to the new world, recreated in her Son, the Church.

The Church is His Body on earth and a seed of the Kingdom which is to come. The Church, of which we are members through baptism, continues His redemptive mission until He returns.

We can also miss the insight it brings to our personal calling. Every Christian is called to bear Jesus for the world as Mary did. We are invited into the relationship that she had with her Son. We can become God-bearers and bring Him to all those whom we encounter in our few short days under the sun.

In addition, we should remember this – Jesus called her Mother. She was always there as His Mother.

Mary, Always with Jesus

Mary was at the Incarnation, Birth, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of God Incarnate. She was there throughout the often-called hidden years in Nazareth. In the life of Jesus Christ every word and every act was redemptive, revealing the mystery of heaven touching earth – and the deeper purpose of our lives.

Mary was present in moments whose impact is timeless.

She was there on the day of Pentecost, the birthday of the Church. She was there as the first evangelist and disciple who gave the first Christian testimony to her cousin, Elizabeth. She won the first convert in utero in the person of John the Baptist. This event, called the Visitation, is recorded in the Gospel of St. Luke (Luke l: 39-45).

This followed the visit of the Angel Gabriel to Mary (Luke 1:6-38). Her response was to the Angel was not a onetime reaction. It was a life of surrender. Her Fiat (Latin, let it be done) provides a pattern of life for us, if we choose to make it our own.

It issued forth in a song of praise, her Magnificat. Mary humbled herself. She confronted her fears and entered a new way of living. All in a continued response to a gift initiated by a loving God. We are called to respond the same way to His calling in our own life.

God is not an add-on to our life. He is its source and its summit. There is a way that all men and women are invited into – not just once, but daily – the Way of Jesus. Mary walked in this way with extraordinary humility. She shows us love surrendered to Love Incarnate.

Justin Martyr and the early Christians found in her yes, the undoing of the no given by the first woman Eve. They called Mary the Second Eve, the mother of the new creation. In her womb, she carried the One Scripture called the New Adam. Jesus was born from her as the first born of a new race of men and women who find a new birth through His life, death and Resurrection.

Bearing the Lord

Jesus resides within and lives through all who respond to His invitation. Just as Mary did. Her free choice is an invitation to explore our own histories and write them anew in Jesus Christ by exercising our own freedom to choose the more excellent way (1 Cor. 13).

When we allow the Savior Jesus Christ, to be, in a sense, incarnated within us, we become God Bearers. We become the tent and the ark in which God takes up His residence. Jesus comes to dwell through us, in an age desperately in need His salvation and presence.

Jesus said “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23).

The Holy Spirit

In the Annunciation the Spirit of God hovered over Mary. This is connected, through its symbolic language, to the creation account when the Spirit hovered over the waters (Gen 1:2). It also calls to mind the creation of Adam, the first man, who was fashioned out of clay. The Lord breathed the breath of life into him and the man became a living being (Gen 2:7).

The encounter recalls the cloud of glory which covered the mountain when God gave Moses the Law on Sinai (Exodus 24). The cloud covered the Tent of Meeting (Ex 40), and no one could enter because the glory of God filled the tabernacle. Mary is a living tabernacle, an Ark of the New Covenant, a dwelling place of God Incarnate, a new temple of the Word Incarnate.

Such images were freely used by the early Christian fathers.

Such uses did not in any way deflect from the centrality of Jesus Christ. Quite to the contrary. They only deepened the mystery and opened the early Church up to a deeper encounter with Jesus Christ.

The Christian Vocation

Gregory of Nyssa (fourth century) once wrote:

What came about in bodily form in Mary, the fullness of the Godhead shining through Christ in the Blessed Virgin, takes place in a similar way in every soul that has been made pure. The Lord does not come in bodily form, for we no longer know Christ according to the flesh, but he dwells in us spiritually and the Father takes up his abode with him, the Gospel tells us. In this way, the child Jesus is born in each one of us (Gregory of Nyssa, On Virginity).

The Catholic Catechism tells us:

Since the Virgin Mary’s role in the mystery of Christ and the Spirit has been treated; it is fitting now to consider her place in the mystery of the Church. The Virgin Mary is acknowledged and honored as being truly the Mother of God and of the redeemer. She is clearly the mother of the members of Christ since she has by her charity joined in bringing about the birth of believers in the Church, who are members of its head. Mary, Mother of Christ, Mother of the Church (CCC 963).

We have a Mother in this eternal family called the Church. Mary, the Mother of the Lord Jesus. The pastoral admonitions of Pope Francis to the faithful who gathered to commemorate the centenary of the Apparitions at Fatima need to be heard by the faithful around the world.

Mary points us to Jesus Christ, the One Savior of the World. True Marian Piety is always Christological – it leads us into a closer relationship with Jesus Christ.

This column was first published on May 13, 2017 at Catholic Online.

Deacon Keith A. Fournier is Founder and Chairman of Common Good Foundation and Alliance. A member of the clergy, a Roman Catholic Deacon, he is also a constitutional/human rights lawyer and public policy advocate who served as the first and founding Executive Director of the American Center for Law and Justice in the nineteen nineties. He has long been active at the intersection of faith, values, and culture and currently serves as Special Counsel to Liberty Counsel. Deacon Fournier is also a Senior Contributing Writer for THE STREAM.

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Seminarian who once saved the Eucharist from ISIS returns as a priest

CNA/EWTN News • May 23, 2017

(Alexey Gotovskyi/CNA)

Karamlesh, Iraq — Martin Baani was just 24 years old when he risked his life as a seminarian to rescue the Blessed Sacrament from the imminent invasion of Islamic State terrorists in his hometown.

Now, he is returning to his native village as a priest, ready to serve the people through the Eucharist.

On August 6, 2014, Baani received a call from a friend who warned that a nearby village had fallen into the hands of ISIS, and that his hometown of Karamlesh would be next.

Baani promptly headed to the San Addai church and took the Blessed Sacrament, to prevent the jihadists from desecrating it. That day, he fled in a car along with his pastor, Fr. Thabet and three other priests.

“I was the last one to leave Karamlesh, with the Blessed Sacrament in my hands,” he told the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need.

Despite threats from ISIS, Baani chose to stay in Iraq instead of fleeing with his family to the United States. He continued his studies at Saint Peter’s Seminary in Erbil, the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan.

In September 2016, Baani was ordained a priest along with six other men.

Around 500 people attended the ordination, which was presided over by the Patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church, Louis Raphael Sako.

A few months before his ordination, Baani told Aid to the Church in Need: “Every day I go to the refugee camps to accompany the families. We are Christian refugees. ISIS wants to eliminate Christianity from Iraq but I have decided to stay. I love Jesus and I don’t want our history to disappear.”

Almost a year later, following the liberation of the villages of the Plain of Nineveh from ISIS control, Fr. Banni confirmed his decision to stay in Iraq in order to “serve my people and our Church.”

“Now I am happy to celebrate Holy Mass in Iraq,” he said.

Aid to the Church in Need has currently planned the reconstruction of about 13,000 Christian homes that were destroyed by ISIS.

Several weeks ago, the foundation held an “olive tree ceremony” where they delivered an olive plant to the homeowners of 105 Christian homes in the villages of Bartella, Karmalesh and Qaraqosh as a symbol of peace and reconciliation.

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Why head transplants won’t disprove the existence of God

by Perry West (CNA/EWTN News) • May 23, 2017

(Megaflopp via Shutterstock)

Denver, CO — With plans for the first human head transplant surgery looming in the next year, a lead doctor on the formidable project has high hopes for the procedure.

Along with the aim of finding a new body for a yet-to-be-selected patient, the physician says that the surgery – as a first step toward immortality – will effectively disprove religion.

But Catholic critics have called into question not only the ethics of such a risky procedure, but the dubious claim that such a development would render belief in God irrelevant.

“The actual trying of the surgery at this point I think would be unethical because of the tremendous risk involved, and it is an unproven surgery,” Dr. Paul Scherz, assistant professor of moral theology and ethics at The Catholic University of America, told CNA.

Sherz made his remarks following the news that Italian doctor Sergio Canavero is aiming to carry out the first human head transplant surgery within the next 10 months. It’s a process Canavero hopes will pave the way for the process of transplanting cryogenically frozen brains – and ultimately, in his view, to the eradication of death.

Canavero serves as director of Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group and has teamed up with Harbin Medical Center and Doctor Xiaoping Ren, an orthopedic surgeon who was involved with the first successful hand transplant in the U.S. The first surgical attempt for the head transplant is expected to take place in China, where the group says they’re more likely to find a donor body.

Cryonics involves the freezing of the brain or even the whole body of patients, with expectations that future science will have the means to restore the frozen tissue and extend life.

Because conscious minds will have experienced “life” outside of death, Canavero said the surgery would then remove the fear of death and the people’s need for religion. He said if the process succeeds, “religions will be swept away forever.”

However, Sherz responded that even if the surgery was a success, it would not disprove the Catholic faith.

“There is nothing in the Catholic tradition of how we understand the soul that would think that if you moved a head or moved the brain that that wouldn’t allow the person to come back to life,” he said.

Turin Advanced Neuromodulation Group has already claimed that a successful head transplant has been carried out on a monkey, but not all scientists agree that the operation can be recorded as a success.

Before the monkey’s head was stitched back together, it was removed, cooled, and the blood of the transplant body was cross circulated with an outside source. Canavero and his group claimed the supply of blood was then connected to prove the surgery succeeded without brain damage, but the spinal cord was left unattached.

How the connected blood supply proves the surgery is possible without brain damage was not described, and many bioethicists are skeptical of the publication of the surgery’s success without proper peer review and of the issues around the severed spine.

Because the technology has not yet been developed, the bioethicists worry that the severed spine may never be reconstructed, leaving the patient worse off than before.

Despite the pervasive belief in the surgery’s failure, Canavero claims there’s a 90 percent chance that the human head transplant will succeed. And not only that, its success would allow humans to “no longer need to be afraid of death.”

Father Tad Pacholczyk, who serves as a bioethicist for the National Catholic Bioethics Center, disagreed with Canavero’s definition of being “brought back to life.”

He said to assume death as a necessary product of either the head surgery or brain surgery is gullible and mistaken, as there is potential for the patient to be merely unconscious.

“The patient undergoing the head transplant is not dead, only unconscious,” he told CNA. “There is not any ‘bringing back to life’ … There is merely a restoration of consciousness, briefly lost during the movement of the head from one human body to the other.”

Scherz also said that the Church accepts an intimate and mysterious relationship between soul and body, and that the procedure’s success wouldn’t necessary disprove the soul or religion.

“Our neurological tissue has important part to play in our soul … The soul is always intimately related to the body. We are not just souls that are disembodied, right? We are embodied spirits or spirited bodies.”

Most physicians agree that the proposed surgery’s success rate is infinitesimal, and they’ve questioned the morality of a procedure that’s doomed to fail – and the unrealistic hope life extension projects could give to people.

“I am concerned that the rights of vulnerable patients undergoing cryonics cannot be protected indefinitely,” Dr. Channa Jayasena, a lecturer in Reproductive Endocrinology at Imperial College in London, told the Telegraph.

Cryonics, she said, “has risks for the patient, poses ethical issues for society, is highly expensive, but has no proven benefit.”

And the hope for immortal life, Scherz weighed in, isn’t a realistic desire in a fallen world. “Living forever in bodily form is not going to satisfy anyone,” he said.

“If the goal is not to help someone to get back bodily movement or things like that, but to try to live forever on this earth, then I think if you really want to get over the fear of death then you will have to come to terms with the fact that we are mortal.”

“That what’s going to help you to live a better life because you are going to be willing to give your life to things like service.”

In fact, he said that people in transhumanist movements have admitted they would most likely avoid risky behavior in order to preserve their lives.

“If life extension projects come into being there is so much more to lose – and you committed yourself to trying to live on this earth for as long as possible, which stands in contrast to the Catholic tradition and a lot of the philosophical traditions,” Scherz noted.

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A word to those being confirmed

by Bishop Robert Barron • May 23, 2017

One of the greatest privileges I have as a bishop is the opportunity to preside at the sacrament of Confirmation. A drawback, however, is that I am obligated to conduct over forty Confirmations in roughly a two month period — which means that I become tired, rather quickly, of my own homily! As a result, I’m frequently shifting gears, trying out new ideas, looking at the complex phenomenon of Confirmation from a variety of angles. I want to share with you in this article some of the key ideas in the latest iteration of my Confirmation sermon.

Immediately prior to the prayer, which calls down the Spirit on the candidates, the Bishop leads them in a re-affirmation of their baptismal promises. I tell the young people that parents and godparents made these promises for them when they were babies, but that now they will have the responsibility of making them in their own name and while they stand on their own two feet. The first promise is negative in form, which is only natural, for to set one’s face is necessarily to set one’s back. And so the confirmandi declare that they renounce Satan and all his works and empty promises. These empty promises, I tell them, can be heard everywhere in the popular culture. They are in practically every movie they watch, every song they listen to, every casual conversation in which they engage: “you will be happy if you just get enough wealth, enough pleasure, enough power, and enough honor; if you fill up the empty heart with a sufficient amount of these worldly goods, you will find satisfaction.” At this point, I usually ask them to consider the image of the crucified Jesus, prominently displayed in the church. Notice, I say, that we don’t have an image of Bill Gates or Donald Trump or Beyonce on the central axis of the room, but rather that of a man being tortured to death, someone devoid of all wealth, pleasure, power, or honor.

The remaining promises assert what the confirmandi are for. The first of these positive formulations is the simple assertion of belief in God. This is much more than a statement of intellectual conviction; it is, instead, an affirmation of the meaning and direction of one’s life. To believe in God, is to know, I tell the young people, that your life is not about you. A baby’s life is all about himself, the meeting of his immediate needs. But as the child matures, he realizes, increasingly, that he has obligations and connections beyond himself — to his family, his community, his culture, his country, and finally to God. The central narrative of the Bible — repeated again and again — is that people find who they are precisely in the measure that they hear and follow the voice of God inviting them on mission. To say, therefore, that you believe in God is to break out of the shell of a self-regarding egotism and to launch out into the deep, to go on a spiritual adventure.

Next, the confirmandi are invited to announce their belief in “Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.” I ask them to concentrate on the word “Lord.” The Lord is the one who has mastery, who controls, who literally dominates, (from the Latin word Dominus). Everyone in the world has a Lord. It might be a person, a country, an ideology, a political party, or an institution, but everyone is beholden to something or someone. As Nobel laureate Bob Dylan memorably put it: “You gotta serve somebody/ It may be the devil or it may be the Lord/ But you’re gonna have to serve somebody.” To claim the Lordship of Jesus is to acknowledge that every aspect of one’s life belongs to him and comes under his sway. It is to be branded as Jesus’ own. I remind the confirmandi that Confirmation, along with Baptism and Holy Orders, is a “character” sacrament, meaning that it permanently marks the one who receives it, and that, appropriately enough, the word “character” is derived from a Greek term meaning “brand.”

After declaring their belief in the Son, the confirmandi are invited to affirm their belief in the “Holy Spirit, the Lord and giver of life.” The Holy Spirit, I explain, is the love that obtains from all eternity between the Father and the Son. Gazing at one another, the first two divine persons breathe forth their mutual love, and this holy breath is the Spiritus Sanctus. Therefore, the Spirit is the love that God is. Now in the first promise, the confirmandi announce what they are against, namely, the claim that wealth, power, pleasure, or honor will make they happy; in this promise, they unambiguously declare what alone is sufficient to satisfy the infinite longing of their heart: the infinite love that God is. Don’t worry, I tell them, about whether you are rich or poor, famous or forgotten, powerful or powerless; worry, instead, about whether you are growing in your capacity to love. For love is what your heart finally cares about, and love is what you will carry with you into heaven, when you leave all the rest behind.

Finally, the young people are invited to affirm their belief in “the holy catholic Church.” In an anti-institutional, anti-authority time such as ours, this is a hard promise to make, but they have to remember, I tell them, what the Church is. The Church of Jesus is Christ is not an organization or a club. From such a voluntary society, one can legitimately withdraw. But as Paul told us long ago, the Church is not an organization, but an organism, a living body, of which Christ is the head and all of the baptized are cells, molecules, and organs. The Church is the mystical body that the Logos has taken to himself, just as surely as he took to himself a physical body in Palestine two thousand years ago; accordingly, it is the vehicle by which he continues to do his work in the world. To withdraw from it, therefore, is to block the flow of grace. Many of the confirmandi, at least here in Los Angeles, wear red gowns that look very much like graduation robes. I emphatically tell them that these are not graduation gowns, but gowns of initiation, for Confirmation is not an end but a beginning. Renouncing Satan, believing in God, the Lordship of Jesus, and the power of the Holy Spirit, fully initiated in the Church, they are now ready to start. Just a few months ago, Pope Francis made the same point when speaking to a group of Italian students approaching Confirmation. Remember, he said, Confirmation is not the sacramento di arrivaderci! (the sacrament of “see ya later”).

I always assure those I confirm that I will remember them in prayer. Could I invite anyone who reads these words to pray for the army of fully-initiated members of Christ’s mystical body who have been confirmed this year?

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

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FEATURES

Cardinal Dolan finds lesson in humility in life of Irish immigrant who saw Our Lady

by Kevin J. Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • May 24, 2017

John Curry (c) and his cousin Patrick Hill (l), witnesses of Our Lady of Knock. (Knock Museum Collection, Knock Shrine, County Mayo, Ireland)

New York City, N.Y. — An Irish immigrant named John Curry passed away in 1943 in New York City after a modest life.

But when he was reburied earlier this month, a large congregation gathered to remember the man who had witnessed the apparition of Our Lady of Knock.

Among those who honored his memory was Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, who delivered the homily for Curry’s May 13 reburial Mass at St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral in Manhattan.

“We remember this sincere, honest, holy immigrant John Curry, who we come to bury today with reverence for who he was, with reverence for the country from whence he came, with reverence for the nation where settled, with reverence for what he saw that August 21, 1879,” the cardinal said in his homily.

On that evening, fifteen men, women, and children, mainly from the village of Knock in County Mayo, saw an apparition at Knock parish.

They ranged in age from 5 to 74 years old. Curry was the youngest, there with his cousin Patrick Hill.

Some of the witnesses reported figures that appeared to be the Virgin Mary, St. Joseph and St. John at the parish church’s gable wall. Amid luminous lights, they saw the figure of a lamb and a cross on an altar. In the pouring rain, the witnesses stayed, praying the rosary.

Cardinal Dolan said Curry beheld the apparition “with the simplicity and sincerity of a little five-year-old boy.” Throughout the rest of his life, Curry was “a man whose only quiet boast was that he was an altar boy, from his childhood at Knock to his death at Sacred Heart Home with the Sisters of the Poor, rarely if ever missing daily Mass and Holy Communion.”

Curry would later leave Ireland for the United States, then spent time in London before moving once again to New York. He spent his last years with the Little Sisters of the Poor at Sacred Heart Home and was buried in a donated, unmarked grave at Pine Lawn Cemetery on Long Island.

His reburial at Manhattan’s historic old cathedral drew Irish and Irish-American leaders. Their numbers included a group of Irish pilgrims from Knock, including relatives of the never-married Curry.

As an immigrant who first came to New York at the age of 21, Curry “really only distinguished himself by his simplicity, his humility, his kindness and his piety,” Cardinal Dolan said at the Mass. John Curry’s faith in Christ “animated his tender care for the sick” at the New York hospital where he later worked.

At the age of 63, the cardinal recounted, Curry testified “that he recalled the vision of Jesus the Lamb of God, silently adored by his mother, St. Joseph and St. John, as if it were last night.”

“Jesus, Mary, Joseph and St. John,” said the cardinal. “They’re here, and the communion of saints, as is true at every Eucharist … as is the spirit of John Curry.”

“Our eyes are on Mary, are they not?” Cardinal Dolan asked. “The mother of Jesus, given by him to us as a parting gift from his cross on Calvary as our own mother too. Our eyes are on Mary as she appeared in that little village in County Mayo, Knock, on Aug. 21, 1879 in company with her spouse, St. Joseph, her spiritual son St. John, all three of them in silent adoration of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.”

He also reflected on the place of immigrants in the United States.

“Our eyes this this morning as well are on the immigrant, as Jesus, Mary and Joseph were refugees once in Egypt,” he said.

“John Curry was but one of the millions of immigrants who came here to America, from Ireland to be sure, but from almost every nation in the atlas, to enrich this country mightily, and to make this nation a light to the world, through its embrace of the John Currys of the world — a light, my friends, we can not allow to grow dim today.”

According to Cardinal Dolan, Curry would say the day is not about him, but about Jesus and the Virgin Mary, of whom St. Elizabeth said, “Blessed is she who trusted that the Lord’s promise to her would be fulfilled.”

The day of the reburial Mass coincided with the May 13 observance of the centenary of the Our Lady of Fatima apparition.

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FEATURES

How a nuns’ home is helping girls freed from sex trafficking

by Kevin Jones (CNA/EWTN News) • May 26, 2017

(Antonio Guillem via Shutterstock)

Baton Rouge, LA — The numbers are staggering. Each year in the U.S. alone, some 300,000 minors are victims of sex trafficking.

In Louisiana, state estimates indicate that about 40 percent of juvenile victims are being trafficked by their primary care giver: a mother, father, foster parent, uncle, a mother’s boyfriend.

Father Jeff Bayhi has heard unspeakable stories of sex trafficking victims over the years.

That’s why the pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Zachary, La. has worked to open Metanoia Home, a Baton Rouge-area shelter for sixteen women under age 21.

Caring for the victims are four Hospitaler Sisters of Mercy from India, Nigeria, the Philippines and Madagascar.

“They’re not there as social workers or therapists,” but as mother figures, Fr Bayhi said. “They’re going to be there, and be a safe place for these children to be. To be loved, to be nurtured, to be made felt special again in the sight of God.”

The project is modeled after the initiatives of Sister Eugenia Bonetti. The Milan-based Consolata Missionary sister heads the Slaves No More association. She has trained responders to help trafficking victims. Her former students work around the world.

“We have worked with her a great deal,” Fr. Bayhi said of Sr. Bonetti. “She has been here and addressed our legislature. She’s our model.”

Given the grim reality of human trafficking, thousands more people are needed to follow that model.

Trafficking problems in Louisiana are often attributed to its 15 million annual tourists who visit the state, especially New Orleans. The interstate highway that passes through Southern Louisiana runs across the country from Florida to California.

The Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services reported that more than 350 trafficking victims were found in 2015, and nearly 450 in 2016. Half of the victims were children, the CBS affiliate WAFB reports.

Young victims come from families that are not intact and have little supervision. Those raised by someone with a drug or alcohol addiction face some of the greatest risks.

Even so, traffickers target girls and women from all backgrounds.

“We have kids being seduced out of our high schools,” Fr. Bayhi said, citing the case of a 17-year-old senior at a white suburban high school who trafficked two 13-year-old freshman girls.

He said traffickers can target their victims through convincing them to engage in “sexting,” sending sexually explicit photos via phone.

“After that stuff gets out, these people own you,” he said. Other forms of blackmail can involve drugging the victim and filming her in a compromising act.

What do trafficking victims need?

“They need a safe place to be made human again,” said Fr. Bayhi. “When you’re 15 years old, and you’ve performed 3,000 sexual favors, you’re no longer a person, you’re nothing more than a receptacle in your own eyes.”

“Our response is the religious sisters who are there,” he said. “These nuns are the heroes. How do you pay people in eight hour shifts to convince a 15-year-old who has been abused that they really love them? You can’t do it. That’s why the nuns are just so incredibly important to this.”

The nuns of Metanoia Home will have the assistance of other professional volunteers including physicians, nurses, social workers and educators to complement their own expertise in helping victims.

“We need to get them stable, we need to get them to believe in themselves. We need to reconnect these children with God,” Fr. Bayhi said, noting that the house is open to anyone regardless of religion.

The potential beneficiaries could have very different experiences. Recovery for a 17-year-old victim who was trafficked for three months will be much different than for a 14-year-old who has suffered for four years in captivity.

“We will want the children to finally have someone in their life that we trust,” said the priest. Metanoia Home aims to help victims recover from their experience and re-integrate into society.

Increasing efforts are being made to work against human trafficking in Louisiana. Anti-trafficking programs in the state include special training for police officers to help them recognize victims of sex traffickers, rather than treat them as criminals. Fr. Bayhi praised the collaborative work between legislators, the governor, law enforcement, members of the judiciary and state agencies.

In January a delegation of Louisiana anti-trafficking leaders attended Pope Francis’ Wednesday general audience, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards led the delegation, which included Fr. Bayhi.

“It’s really a tragic circumstance and we have to really do much better in Louisiana and around the country,” Gov. Edwards told Vatican Radio in January.

Father Bayhi told CNA that the delegation had a very brief moment with Pope Francis, who thanked them and encouraged them to continue. The delegation spent considerable time with Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, the chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences, whom Fr. Bayhi described as the Pope’s anti-trafficking point man.

The priest commented on inhuman trends in society that he sees as creating a breeding ground for trafficking.

“The sad fact is, there’s a market,” he said. Older men seek out little girls or boys as young as 12.

“One of the things I think you have to understand: human trafficking is not a problem. Human trafficking is a symptom,” he added. “We live in a society where we determine who has the right to be born. We live in a society where we get to decide who dies and when, with our elderly. And now there’s some recent things about Planned Parenthood, we’re talking about selling baby parts and making $52,000/week on baby parts.”

“For God’s sake, we have so devalued the dignity of human life that by and large as a society we see human life as a matter of profit, pleasure or possession,” he said. “Human life has become a commodity. Human trafficking is one more aspect of that.”

In January Fr. Bayhi told Vatican Radio that internet pornography is not a victimless crime.

“Someone is there making those kids do that stuff,” he said. “They are not there voluntarily and you’re paying the money that makes it worthwhile to kidnap these kids and force them into that. You may have never picked up one of these children on a roadside but you make that possible.”

The priest suggested to CNA that the Church and the U.S. bishops’ conference could engage in more education and outreach efforts to help trafficking victims.

“We need to respond to the needs of these kids,” he said, urging people to recognize the signs of trafficking.

“Someone 35 years-old with four 16-year-olds around him, shopping at Wal-Mart, if they’re hanging on him like he’s the best thing since sliced bread, something’s wrong with that picture. Something’s really wrong,” he said.

A Church response could involve the observance of the Feast of St. Josephine Bakhita, an ex-slave from Sudan. Her feast day coincides with the Feb. 8 International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking.

Fr. Bayhi suggested priests should be taught about human trafficking and how to preach about it. For their part, the U.S. bishops’ conference could dedicate more resources to anti-trafficking work.

As for Louisiana’s Metanoia Home, the nuns moved in on May 20. They are prepared to be mothers to young women in need.

Metanoia Home’s website is metanoia-inc.org.

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SUNDAY • MAY 28, 2017

The Ascension of the Lord

First Reading (Acts 1:1-11; NRSVCE)

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. “This,” he said, “is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?” He replied, “It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 47:2-3, 6-7, 8-9; NRSVCE)

R: (6) God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Clap your hands, all you peoples;

shout to God with loud songs of joy.

For the Lord, the Most High, is awesome,

a great king over all the earth.

R: God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

God has gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises;

sing praises to our King, sing praises.

R: God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

For God is the king of all the earth;

sing praises with a psalm.

God is king over the nations;

God sits on his holy throne.

R: God has gone up with a shout, the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Second Reading (Eph 1:17-23; NRSVCE)

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Gospel Reading (Mt 28:16-20; NRSVCE)

The eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

MONDAY • MAY 29, 2017

Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter

First Reading (Acts 19:1-8; NRSVCE)

While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul passed through the interior regions and came to Ephesus, where he found some disciples. He said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” They replied, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” Then he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They answered, “Into John’s baptism.” Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, in Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. When Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied — altogether there were about twelve of them.

He entered the synagogue and for three months spoke out boldly, and argued persuasively about the kingdom of God.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 68:2-3ab, 4-5acd, 6-7ab; NRSVCE)

R: (33a) Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.

Let God rise up, let his enemies be scattered;

let those who hate him flee before him.

As smoke is driven away, so drive them away;

as wax melts before the fire.

R: Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.

But let the righteous be joyful;

let them exult before God;

let them be jubilant with joy.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name;

his name is the Lord.

R: Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.

Father of orphans and protector of widows

is God in his holy habitation.

God gives the desolate a home to live in;

he leads out the prisoners to prosperity.

R: Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.

Gospel Reading (Jn 16:29-33; NRSVCE)

Jesus’ disciples said, “Yes, now you are speaking plainly, not in any figure of speech! Now we know that you know all things, and do not need to have anyone question you; by this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each one to his home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me. I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!”

TUESDAY • MAY 30, 2017

Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter

First Reading (Acts 20:17-27; NRSVCE)

From Miletus Paul sent a message to Ephesus, asking the elders of the church to meet him. When they came to him, he said to them:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, enduring the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. I did not shrink from doing anything helpful, proclaiming the message to you and teaching you publicly and from house to house, as I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus. And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and persecutions are waiting for me. But I do not count my life of any value to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the good news of God’s grace.

“And now I know that none of you, among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom, will ever see my face again. Therefore I declare to you this day that I am not responsible for the blood of any of you, for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God.”

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 68:10-11, 20-21; NRSVCE)

R: (33a) Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.

Rain in abundance, O God, you showered abroad;

you restored your heritage when it languished;

your flock found a dwelling in it;

in your goodness, O God, you provided for the needy.

R: Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.

Blessed be the Lord,

who daily bears us up;

God is our salvation.

Our God is a God of salvation,

and to God, the Lord, belongs escape from death.

R: Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth.

Gospel Reading (Jn 17:1-11a; NRSVCE)

Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you, since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do. So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.

“I have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word. Now they know that everything you have given me is from you; for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me. I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours. All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them. And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you.”

WEDNESDAY • MAY 31, 2017

Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

First Reading (Zep 3:14-18a; NRSVCE)

Sing aloud, O daughter Zion;

shout, O Israel!

Rejoice and exult with all your heart,

O daughter Jerusalem!

The Lord has taken away the judgments against you,

he has turned away your enemies.

The king of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst;

you shall fear disaster no more.

On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem:

Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let your hands grow weak.

The Lord, your God, is in your midst,

a warrior who gives victory;

he will rejoice over you with gladness,

he will renew you in his love;

he will exult over you with loud singing

as on a day of festival.

Responsorial Psalm (Is 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6; NRSVCE)

R: (6) Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid,

for the Lord God is my strength and my might;

he has become my salvation.

With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.

R: Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Give thanks to the Lord,

call on his name;

make known his deeds among the nations;

proclaim that his name is exalted.

R: Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;

let this be known in all the earth.

Shout aloud and sing for joy, O royal Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

R: Great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.

Gospel Reading (Lk 1:39-56; NRSVCE)

Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.”

And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

for he has looked with favor on the lowliness of his servant.

Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

for the Mighty One has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

His mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.

He has brought down the powerful from their thrones,

and lifted up the lowly;

he has filled the hungry with good things,

and sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

according to the promise he made to our ancestors,

to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”

And Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.

THURSDAY • JUNE 1, 2017

Memorial of Saint Justin

First Reading (Acts 22:30; 23:6-11; NRSVCE)

Since the tribute wanted to find out what Paul was being accused of by the Jews, the next day he released him and ordered the chief priests and the entire council to meet. He brought Paul down and had him stand before them.

When Paul noticed that some were Sadducees and others were Pharisees, he called out in the council, “Brothers, I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees. I am on trial concerning the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” When he said this, a dissension began between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, or angel, or spirit; but the Pharisees acknowledge all three). Then a great clamor arose, and certain scribes of the Pharisees’ group stood up and contended, “We find nothing wrong with this man. What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” When the dissension became violent, the tribune, fearing that they would tear Paul to pieces, ordered the soldiers to go down, take him by force, and bring him into the barracks.

That night the Lord stood near him and said, “Keep up your courage! For just as you have testified for me in Jerusalem, so you must bear witness also in Rome.”

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 16:1-2a and 5, 7-8, 9-10, 11; NRSVCE)

R: (1) Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord.”

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;

you hold my lot.

R: Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;

in the night also my heart instructs me.

I keep the Lord always before me;

because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

R: Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;

my body also rests secure.

For you do not give me up to Sheol,

or let your faithful one see the Pit.

R: Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

You show me the path of life.

In your presence there is fullness of joy;

in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

R: Protect me, O God, for in you I take refuge.

Gospel Reading (Jn 17:20-26; NRSVCE)

Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. Father, I desire that those also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory, which you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”

FRIDAY • JUNE 2, 2017

Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter

First Reading (Acts 25:13b-21; NRSVCE)

King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus. Since they were staying there several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix. When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him and asked for a sentence against him. I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before the accused had met the accusers face to face and had been given an opportunity to make a defense against the charge. So when they met here, I lost no time, but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. When the accusers stood up, they did not charge him with any of the crimes that I was expecting. Instead they had certain points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. Since I was at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wished to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges. But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of his Imperial Majesty, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to the emperor.”

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 103:1-2, 11-12, 19-20ab; NRSVCE)

R: (19a) The Lord has established his throne in the heavens.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and all that is within me,

bless his holy name.

Bless the Lord, O my soul,

and do not forget all his benefits.

R: The Lord has established his throne in the heavens.

For as the heavens are high above the earth,

so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;

as far as the east is from the west,

so far he removes our transgressions from us.

R: The Lord has established his throne in the heavens.

The Lord has established his throne in the heavens,

and his kingdom rules over all.

Bless the Lord, O you his angels,

you mighty ones who do his bidding.

R: The Lord has established his throne in the heavens.

Gospel Reading (Jn 21:15-19; NRSVCE)

When Jesus had finished breakfast with his disciples, he said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go.” (He said this to indicate the kind of death by which he would glorify God.) After this he said to him, “Follow me.”

SATURDAY • JUNE 3, 2017

Memorial of Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions

First Reading (Acts 28:16-20, 30-31; NRSVCE)

When he came into Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with the soldier who was guarding him.

Three days later he called together the local leaders of the Jews. When they had assembled, he said to them, “Brothers, though I had done nothing against our people or the customs of our ancestors, yet I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. When they had examined me, the Romans wanted to release me, because there was no reason for the death penalty in my case. But when the Jews objected, I was compelled to appeal to the emperor — even though I had no charge to bring against my nation. For this reason therefore I have asked to see you and speak with you, since it is for the sake of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

He lived there two whole years at his own expense and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance.

Responsorial Psalm (Ps 11:4, 5 and 7; NRSVCE)

R: (see 7b) The upright shall behold your face, O Lord.

The Lord is in his holy temple;

the Lord’s throne is in heaven.

His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind.

R: The upright shall behold your face, O Lord.

The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked,

and his soul hates the lover of violence.

For the Lord is righteous;

he loves righteous deeds;

the upright shall behold his face.

R: The upright shall behold your face, O Lord.

Gospel Reading (Jn 21:20-25; NRSVCE)

Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them; he was the one who had reclined next to Jesus at the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? Follow me!” So the rumor spread in the community that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

This is the disciple who is testifying to these things and has written them, and we know that his testimony is true. But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.