Briefs

NATION
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Two members of a group called Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising said April 5 that five fetuses taken by the police a week earlier from the Capitol Hill residence of one of the activists were “proof of illegal abortions” being performed at a Washington abortion clinic. Activists Lauren Handy, 28, and Terrisa Bukovinac, 41, made the comments at a news conference. The same day, a group of 23 congressional Republicans wrote a letter to Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Robert J. Contee III asking for a thorough investigation of the remains “of five preborn children” and urging they not assume – “without conducting any medical evaluations” – that “each child died as the result of a legal abortion.” Handy and Bukovinac said the fetuses are from a box of medical waste they got from the driver of a medical waste truck at an abortion clinic, and they claimed the fetuses looked like they were from late-stage abortions. According to a Washington Post story and other news accounts, the two women described walking up to a Curtis Bay Medical Waste Services truck outside the Washington Surgi-Clinic, one of a few U.S. abortion clinics that does late-term abortions. They said they asked the driver if he had picked up anything from the clinic. The driver told them yes, they said, so they asked for a box. “The driver asked what they would do with the remains inside,” The Washington Post reported. “After they told him they would give the (fetal) remains a funeral and bury them … the driver gave them a box.”

NEW ORLEANS (CNS) – The attack in which Marianite Sister Suellen Tennyson, 83, was abducted from her convent in Yalgo, Burkina Faso, the morning of April 5 was conducted by at least 10 armed men, the Marianites of Holy Cross said in an electronic newsletter. The congregation said Sister Tennyson, the former international congregational leader for order and a native of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, was sleeping when the men burst into the convent, ransacked the living quarters and kidnapped her, leaving behind two other Marianite sisters and two young women who also live in the convent. “There were about 10 men who came during the night while the sisters were sleeping,” Marianite Sister Ann Lacour, congregational leader, said in the e-bulletin April 6. “They destroyed almost everything in the house, shot holes in the new truck and tried to burn it. The house itself is OK, but its contents are ruined.” Sister Lacour, who currently is attending a congregational meeting in Le Mans, France, said the Marianites have contacted both the U.S. Embassy in Burkina Faso and the U.S. State Department, and “they have assured us that this is a high priority case for them.” The congregation also has contacted the apostolic nuncios to the U.S., Burkina Faso and France as well as the Vatican’s secretary of state and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious in the U.S. The other two Marianites at the convent – Sister Pauline Drouin, a Canadian, and Sister Pascaline Tougma, a Burkinabé – were not abducted and did not see many of the details. “They think there were more men on the road. They have heard nothing from or about Suellen since she was taken.”

Sulpician Father Peter W. Gray of Reisterstown, Md., displays a portrait he did of Sister Thea Bowman, a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration, at his home office in Reisterstown, Md., March 4, 2022. (CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn)

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Pope Francis recognized a miracle attributed to the intercession of Blessed Artémides Zatti, a Salesian brother who was a pharmacist in Argentina and known for his care for the sick; the miracle clears the way for his canonization. During a meeting April 9 with Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, the pope also signed decrees advancing the sainthood causes of four other men and five women. Born in the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia in 1880, Blessed Zatti’s family immigrated to Bahía Blanca, Argentina, in 1897. At the age of 19, he was accepted by the Salesians to study for the priesthood. However, he was forced to abandon his studies after falling ill with tuberculosis. According to his biography published by the Vatican, he moved to the Andean city of Viedma to recover and, during that time, he made a vow to Mary to serve the sick and the poor for the rest of his life if he was healed. After his recovery, he made good on his promise and, after professing his vows as a Salesian brother in 1908, he worked at a Salesian-run hospital where he served for more than 40 years as a trained pharmacist, nurse and operating-room assistant as well as handling the hospitals budget and personnel. Blessed Zatti was diagnosed with liver cancer and died in 1951.

WORLD
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) – The Nigerian bishops said lack of arrests in widespread attacks gives credibility to the idea that the government is either complacent or compromised. “Nigerians are sick of flimsy excuses and bogus promises from the government to deal with terrorists,” wrote Archbishop Lucius Iwejuru Ugorji of Owerri, newly elected president of the Nigerian bishops’ conference, on behalf of the bishops. “Considering the billions of naira appropriated for security and the fight against terrorism in recent times, it is difficult to imagine that a large number of terrorists, who unleashed terror on unarmed and law-abiding citizens can disappear in broad daylight without a trace. “It is indeed very hard to believe that our security apparatus lacks intelligence or the ability to fight and defeat terrorists in our nation,” the archbishop said. His April 4 statement came as the country was still dealing with a March 28 attack on a commuter train. Gunmen detonated a bomb on the tracks and opened fire on the train; when Archbishop Ugorji issued his statement, more than 150 people were still missing.

Three Marianite Sisters: Suellen Tennyson, Pascaline Tougma and Pauline Drouin, are pictured in an undated photo near the clinic where they serve in Yago, Burkina Faso. Sister Tennyson, 83, an American, was kidnapped late April 4 or early April 5 after armed attackers broke into the convent on the parish compound. (CNS photo/courtesy Marianites of the Holy Cross)

As three feasts converge, Holy Land Christians
hope for peace, tourism

By Judith Sudilovsky
JERUSALEM (CNS) – With pandemic restrictions almost fully lifted, churches and shopkeepers alike are hopeful that the streets of Jerusalem will fill up once again as Easter, Passover and Ramadan converge.

Joseph Hazboun, regional director of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association-Pontifical Mission in Jerusalem, noted that the pandemic has left its mark not only on people in the tourism industry but also on some monasteries and convents that depend on the sales of their homemade products. Though there are signs of returning pilgrims, he said, it is still a long way off from the high numbers of three years ago.

And with the continuing unchecked vandalism attacks on church property, especially but not only in Jerusalem, Christians feel threatened, he said.

In addition to vandalism, in March, Israelis and Palestinians saw an increase in violence. In early March, seven Palestinians were killed in separate clashes with Israeli forces, and in late March three terrorist attacks that killed 11 people left Israelis reeling.

On April 2, the patriarchs and heads of local churches of Jerusalem condemned the violence and called on Christians, Muslims and Jews to show mutual respect for one another at the rare confluence of the three major religious holidays. They called on government authorities to “exercise policies of religious tolerance, restraint of force, and de-escalation of conflict.”

“In these coming weeks that are sacred to our respective religious traditions, we encourage all people of good faith to walk in the pathway of peace that is so central to the symbolism of Jerusalem, the City of Peace. In this way, we can be true witnesses to the world of the common vision of peace/shalom/salaam that is enshrined within the heart of our separate but intertwined religious beliefs,” they said.

This is not the first cycle of violence the Holy Land has experienced, said Sami El-Yousef, chief executive officer of the Latin Patriarchate, and the region has always found a way to rise above it all during religious celebrations.

“If we are faithful to our religion – regardless whether Muslim, Jewish, or Christian – the upcoming season must present a different track to take us all back to the basics and celebrate the majesty of Jerusalem.” He said the season must be “the symbol of unity and peace rather than division and violence.”

Having just returned from Gaza, El-Yousef noted that the Christian community was “very happy” that this year, for the Easter holiday, 720 Israeli travel permits for 80 days were issued. Israel and Egypt have blockaded the Gaza Strip for more than 15 years.

In the northern Israeli city of Haifa, Reem Abunassar, 46, who teaches religious education at St. Joseph Catholic Parish, is still traumatized by the riots last year in Israeli mixed cities at the end of Ramadan, when violence broke out between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Her four young adult daughters were attacked by a Jewish mob in front of their house.

During Lent she has been praying for peace, she said.

“To get into the spirit of Easter, I pray each and every day that there will be peace in the world,” she said. “I don’t believe in any violence, in any terrorist attacks, in killing of any kind. This is not in my religion. I believe in peace, and I believe that peace will one day prevail, because I pray a lot for this.”

Sister Bridget Tighe, a member of the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood and general director of Caritas Jerusalem, noted that while this Easter season people are hoping the economy will slowly get back on track, especially with the return of tourism in Bethlehem, West Bank, it will take time, and there is still need for assistance.

In his call for the Good Friday Collection for the Holy Land, Franciscan Father Francesco Patton, custos of the Holy Land, noted how the unprecedented situation of the past two years has affected the Christian communities throughout the Middle East.

“With difficulty we have tried to support materially the weakest communities: the community of Bethlehem and that of Jerusalem, with no more pilgrims and no work; the communities of Lebanon, devastated by an increasingly economic and political crisis; those of Syria, which remains like a prisoner of a war that seems to never end. Also this year on Good Friday, please remember us, your brothers and sisters who live in the Holy Land. Help us according to the generosity of your heart, remembering the words of our Lord Jesus: ‘There is more joy in giving than in receiving'” he said in the statement.

Mundo en Fotos

Sulpician Father Peter W. Gray of Reisterstown, Md., displays a portrait he did of Sister Thea Bowman, a El padre sulpiciano Peter W. Gray de Reisterstown, Maryland, muestra un retrato que hizo de la hermana Thea Bowman, una hermana franciscana de la Adoración Perpetua, en la oficina de su casa en Reisterstown, Maryland, el 4 de marzo de 2022. (Foto de CNS/Tyler Orsburn )
Las mujeres sostienen hojas de palma antes de una procesión del Domingo de Ramos en la Capilla de San Esteban en Panchimalco, El Salvador, el 10 de abril de 2022. (Foto CNS/José Cabezas, Reuters)
Los cristianos llevan ramas de olivo y palma mientras recorren el camino tradicional que Jesús tomó en su última entrada a Jerusalén durante la procesión del Domingo de Ramos en el Monte de los Olivos en Jerusalén el 10 de abril de 2022. (Foto de CNS/Debbie Hill)
Tourists walk along a beach contaminated with sargassum in Cancun, Mexico, April 3, 2022. Once on shore, sargassum piles prevent sea turtles from laying eggs and reaching the ocean. (CNS photo/Paola Turistas caminan por una playa contaminada con sargazo en Cancún, México, el 3 de abril de 2022. Una vez en la costa, las pilas de sargazo impiden que las tortugas marinas pongan huevos y lleguen al océano. (Foto del CNS/Paola Chiomante, Reuters)
Las activistas Lauren Handy, a la izquierda, y Terrisa Bukovinac cantan consignas contra el aborto legal frente a la Corte Suprema en Washington el 10 de diciembre de 2021. Handy y Bukovinac, miembros de un grupo llamado Progressive Anti-Abortion Uprising, dijeron en una reunión de noticias del 5 de abril de 2022 conferencia que cinco fetos encontrados por la policía en la casa de un miembro del Distrito de Columbia son “pruebas de abortos ilegales”. El grupo dijo que encontraron los cinco fetos y varios otros en los desechos médicos desechados por una clínica de abortos en el Distrito. (Foto del CNS/Sarah Silbiger, Reuters)
Fieles católicos cargan una gran plataforma con una escena de la crucifixión de Cristo durante una procesión del Domingo de Ramos en Antigua, Guatemala, el 10 de abril de 2022. (Foto CNS/Luis Echeverria, Reuters)

Briefs

NATION
WASHINGTON (CNS) – The church’s charitable outreach to people fleeing war, political instability, poverty and other threats is a requirement for followers of Jesus, the Administrative Committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a March 17 statement. “Some may question why and how the church supports refugees and migrants, regardless of race, creed or color, but the simple truth is that Christ identifies with those in need: ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me,’” the committee said, citing Matthew 25:35. Led by Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez as USCCB president, the committee said various challenges have forced people to flee in search of safety and security and that their plight requires a Christian response. “This means that when people are hungry and knock at our door, we feed them. When they come to our door cold, we clothe them. And when someone who is a stranger comes, we welcome him or her. The church does this everywhere she exists,” it said. The statement comes as the efforts of U.S.-based church agencies in ministering to migrants and refugees have faced rising challenges from those who say doing so encourages more people to come to the United States, especially from along the southern border.

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican published Pope Francis’ calendar for Holy Week and Easter, which includes the Way of the Cross at Rome’s Colosseum for the first time in two years. The annual commemoration of Christ’s passion at the Colosseum was canceled in 2020 due to restrictions on outdoor gatherings to prevent the spread of COVID-19. And in 2021, there was a pared-down Way of the Cross service in St. Peter’s Square.

As is customary when first publishing the pope’s calendar for Holy Week, the Vatican did not provide the time or place for his celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, April 14. Before the pandemic, Pope Francis had made it a tradition to celebrate the Mass and foot-washing ritual at a prison or detention center, refugee center or rehabilitation facility.

Here is the schedule of papal liturgical ceremonies and events for April released by the Vatican March 21:
– April 2-3, Apostolic visit to Malta.
– April 10, Palm Sunday, Mass in St. Peter’s Square.
– April 14, Holy Thursday, morning chrism Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.
– April 15, Good Friday, afternoon liturgy of the Lord’s passion in St. Peter’s Basilica.
– April 15, Way of the Cross at night in the Colosseum.
– April 16, Easter vigil Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.
– April 17, Easter morning Mass in St. Peter’s Square, followed at noon by the pope’s blessing “urbi et orbi” (the city and the world).
– April 24, Divine Mercy Sunday, Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The real battles people should be fighting and funding are the ones against hunger, thirst, poverty, disease and slavery, Pope Francis said. Instead, vast sums of money are spent on arms for waging war, which is “a scandal” that just drags civilization backward, he said in an address to a group of Italian volunteers. “What is the point of all of us solemnly committing ourselves together at international level to campaigns against poverty, against hunger, against the degradation of the planet, if we then fall back into the old vice of war, into the old strategy of the power of armaments, which takes everything and everyone backward?” he asked. The pope made his remarks in an audience at the Vatican March 21 with volunteers representing the Italian organization “I Was Thirsty.” Founded in 2012, the group sets up projects that provide clean drinking water to communities in need around the world.

WORLD
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) – A Ukrainian priest described escaping from his bombed-out parish in Mariupol and said he still hopes some Catholics will survive the relentless Russian onslaught. Pauline Father Pavlo Tomaszewski said the decision to leave was not easy, “but when they started shelling the whole city, we realized we’d have to go.” “They bombed and shelled us without any break for four days – since our monastery had no cellar for hiding in, we could see tall apartments blocks exploding in front of us,” said the priest, who comes from the western city of Kamenets-Podolsky but studied in neighboring Poland. “Although there’d been water, food and gas and electricity supplies at the beginning, these were deliberately hit to cut off what people needed for daily survival. By the end, with no sense of time, we’d lost any contact with parishioners or with the outside world.” The priest spoke at a March 18 virtual news meeting organized by the pontifical agency Aid to the Church in Need, as Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed its forces were “tightening the noose” around Mariupol, a port city on the Sea of Azov. Up to 90% of all buildings in the city were reported damaged. Father Tomaszewski said Russian forces had targeted civilians from the outset, bombing and shelling Mariupol’s eastern districts, but had intensified “atrocities against the innocent population” in retaliation for Ukrainian resistance.

Minería salvaje de Perú es ‘una batalla campal’, dice sacerdote

Por Lucien Chauvin

SANTIAGO DE CHUCO, Perú (CNS) — El padre Carlos Campos sabía que enfrentaría múltiples desafíos cuando fue designado para administrar la iglesia principal en Santiago de Chuco — una ciudad situada en las montañas del norte de Perú — pero nunca esperó recibir amenazas físicas.

Dicho departamento alberga algunos de los distritos más pobres de Perú, y grandes zonas suelen quedar aisladas durante la temporada de lluvias, los primeros tres meses del año. La pobreza y el aislamiento empeoraron cuando la pandemia golpeó solo unos meses después de la llegada del padre Campos, y el gobierno de Perú implementó una cuarentena drástica de tres meses.

El padre Campos y un grupo de jóvenes feligreses formaron un grupo Laudato Si’ y comenzaron un trabajo de extensión que incluyó asistencia técnica para agricultores, distribución de alimentos y, más recientemente, la construcción de un comedor de beneficencia que brindará alrededor de 150 comidas diarias, principalmente a los residentes mayores. El padre Campos también supervisa una pequeña escuela parroquial.

Una vista aérea muestra un campamento minero de oro durante una operación militar peruana para destruir maquinaria y equipos ilegales utilizados por mineros salvajes en Madre de Dios, Perú, el 5 de marzo de 2019. (Foto CNS/Guadalupe Pardo, Reuters)

La labor social fue bien recibida, pero el padre Campos no encontró la misma reacción cuando comenzó a cuestionar el impacto de la minería salvaje en la provincia. En lugar de apoyo, él comenzó a recibir amenazas.

“La minería salvaje no solo afecta el medio ambiente, sino a toda la sociedad. Recibimos amenazas cuando empezamos a oponernos a lo que estaban haciendo. Desafiarlos es básicamente como David enfrentando a Goliat”, expresó el padre Campos.

Santiago de Chuco y las provincias aledañas son ricas en oro y otros metales, y la minería existe desde la época precolombina. Si bien hay minas formales de clase mundial en la zona, grandes áreas de la provincia han sido invadidas por mineros salvajes, que excavan en las colinas en busca de minerales; ellos no usan equipo de protección y no cumplen con las normas ambientales.

El padre Campos reveló que el problema se intensificó durante la pandemia, cuando otras fuentes de trabajo se evaporaron y la gente recurrió a la minería.

“El poco control que había sobre la minería salvaje desapareció con la pandemia. Se ha convertido en una batalla campal donde quiera que vayas. Están contaminando el aire, el suelo, y el agua”, acotó.

El gobierno de Perú y las agencias internacionales han centrado la atención en la minería salvaje en la Amazonía, especialmente en el departamento de Madre de Dios, en el sureste de Perú, donde el papa Francisco llamó a la minería ilegal de oro un “falso dios” durante una visita a Perú en 2018. Varios distritos de Madre de Dios están en estado de emergencia desde febrero de 2019; sin embargo, la destrucción y la violencia continúan.

Hombres armados desconocidos dispararon y mataron a un activista ambiental el 20 de marzo en La Pampa, una de las zonas mineras salvajes más notorias. El Vicariato Apostólico de Puerto Maldonado condenó el asesinato de Juan Fernández, exigiendo una investigación y preguntando de qué sirve la emergencia si el Estado no puede proteger a sus ciudadanos. El hermano de Fernández es líder de una comunidad cristiana en Madre de Dios.

“Nos solidarizamos con quienes, en esta región de Madre de Dios, día tras día, se
sienten abandonados por un Estado que parece no velar por ellos. ¡Están siendo amenazados y
asesinados!”, dijo el vicariato.

La minería salvaje en el altiplano ha recibido mucha menos atención.

El epicentro en esta parte del Perú es Quiruvilca, un pueblo de 4,150 pies sobre el nivel del mar en Santiago de Chuco. Su nombre significa “diente de plata” en quechua, la lengua indígena más prevalente de Perú.

La gran mina polimetálica de Quiruvilca cerró abruptamente en diciembre de 2017, dejando a miles de mineros sin empleo de la noche a la mañana. La mayoría inmediatamente decidió minar por su cuenta y muchos otros se mudaron con la pandemia. El alcalde Oscar Diestra dijo que no sabe cuántas personas están trabajando en los cerros, pero en el último conteo había más de 100 actividades económicas diferentes — desde cavar la tierra hasta operar puestos de comida — relacionadas con la minería en el pueblo.

“Aquí todo gira en torno a la minería, aunque ya no tengamos una empresa minera”, indicó.

Mundo en Fotos

Michael Baiamonte, entrenador de fútbol en la Escuela Secundaria Holy Cross en Nueva Orleans, es entrevistado por la Hermana Marianita Marjorie Hebert, directora ejecutiva de Caridades Católicas de la Arquidiócesis de Nueva Orleans el 22 de marzo de 2022. Vivía al otro lado de la calle de un hombre que murió durante un EF- 3 tornado y le dijo que durante el tornado su familia oró en el armario del baño. “Terminó en cuatro Avemarías”, dijo Baiamonte. (Foto del CNS/Peter Finney Jr., Clarion Herald)
An Aztec dancer Una bailarina azteca se presenta durante la Reunión del Legado Indígena, celebrada para reconocer y honrar a los sobrevivientes de la escuela residencial, en Toronto, en esta foto de archivo del 5 de noviembre de 2021, después del descubrimiento de cientos de tumbas sin marcar en los terrenos de dos antiguas escuelas residenciales para niños indígenas en Canadá. En cuatro reuniones del 28 de marzo al 1 de abril, el Papa Francisco escuchará las experiencias de los miembros de las comunidades indígenas de Canadá. (Foto CNS/Carlos Osorio, Reuters)
El hermano franciscano David Buer participa en una vigilia de oración “Sanando nuestras fronteras” el 22 de marzo de 2022 en Douglas, Arizona. La vigilia recuerda a los migrantes que murieron cruzando la frontera entre EE. UU. y México y se lleva a cabo semanalmente en el cruce fronterizo internacional. Se han recuperado 300 cuerpos en Sulphur Springs Valley del condado de Cochise, Ariz. (Foto CNS/Jim West)
Las religiosas en la Basílica del Santuario Nacional de la Inmaculada Concepción en Washington oran durante una Misa donde el Cardenal de Washington Wilton D. Gregory dirigió a las personas a rezar un Acto de Consagración al Inmaculado Corazón de María por Rusia y Ucrania. (Foto del CNS/Andrew Biraj, Norma Católica)
Un ruso y un ucraniano se abrazan en el puerto de entrada de San Ysidro en la frontera entre Estados Unidos y México en Tijuana, México, el 18 de marzo de 2022, mientras esperan visas humanitarias después de huir de la guerra de Rusia contra Ucrania. (Foto CNS/Jorge Duenes, Reuters)

Ukrainian archbishop calls on Russia not to bomb historic cathedral

ROME (CNS) – The Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of Kyiv-Halych and the Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See said they had received information that Russia planned airstrikes on the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv.

Not only is the cathedral holy to all Slavic peoples, but it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cathedral has religious significance for the Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholics. Its construction was begun in the 11th century, several hundred years before Ukrainian Catholics declared their union with Rome and broke union with the Orthodox.

A Rome spokesman for Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, major archbishop of the Byzantine Catholic church, said church officials had received intelligence about the airstrikes. He said Archbishop Shevchuk called on all Christians to pray for the site and “calls upon the aggressor to refrain from this most horrific act of vandalism.”
“May St. Sophia – the wisdom of God – illumine those who have considered committing this crime,” Archbishop Shevchuk said.

The Ukrainian Embassy to the Holy See tweeted out the information from “intelligence data” and said in all caps, “We appeal to the Russians – do not commit the crime.”

The March 1 warning came as Russia began airstrikes against Kyiv and warned residents near Ukrainian security services to evacuate their homes.

Nicholas Rudnytzky, professor of history and dean of academic services at Manor College in Jenkintown, Pennsylvania, spoke to catholicphilly.com about the importance of the cathedral.

“St. Sophia is a testament to Ukrainian national consciousness and spirit,” he said.

He noted that given its prominence in the history of Orthodox Christianity as well, “it is the symbol of all Christianity. No Orthodox faithful of any kind would ever contemplate such an act, which is unthinkable.”

Rudnytzky said if this intelligence is true, “Putin is betraying his hand here and trying to do what the Soviets couldn’t. This (would not just be) an attack on Western civilization, but a specified attack on Christianity.”

(Contributing to this story was Gina Christian in Philadelphia.)

An aerial view shows an illuminated Christmas tree in front of the Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kyiv, Ukraine, Dec. 22, 2021. (CNS photo/Valentyn Ogirenko, Reuters)

Russian Catholics grieving, angered after Ukraine invasion

By Jonathan Luxmoore
WARSAW, Poland (CNS) – Catholics in Russia have been left “grieving, angered and bewildered” by their country’s invasion of Ukraine, according to the church’s spokesman, who also warned that citizens would face harsh economic consequences from the conflict.

Father Kirill Gorbunov, spokesman for the Russian bishops’ conference, said many Catholics are angry “and don’t know where to direct this anger – some are turning it on God, on the church, on the Russian government and on the world.”

“While some Catholics are reacting as if none of this affects them, some discussion groups formed as part of the church’s synodal process have now come together for mutual support in the current state of grief, anger and bewilderment,” said Father Gorbunov, who is also vicar general of the Moscow-based Mother of God Archdiocese.

“It’s obvious this situation will have very, very severe consequences for the well-being of citizens here. Our most important task as priests is to remind people of the church’s teaching on war and peace. But we must also be very attentive to the most vulnerable – the elderly, sick and poor – and act as counselors, helping people react in a meaningful, prayerful way which leads to integrity rather than madness.”

A woman holds a peace sign during a protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in Moscow Feb. 27, 2022. (CNS photo/Evgenia Novozhenina, Reuters)

Detachments from Russia’s invasion force, amassed in border regions since last fall, attacked Ukraine in the early hours of Feb. 24, triggering harsh resistance from Ukraine’s 200,000-strong armed forces and a huge refugee exodus, as well as sharp fall in Russian currency, the ruble. On March 1, Russian troops continued to pound Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, and a 40-mile column of Russian tanks and vehicles was reported to be within 20 miles of Kyiv.

In a Feb. 24 pastoral message, Russia’s five-member bishops’ conference said it was “deeply shocked” that war had erupted “despite huge efforts at reconciliation,” and the bishops backed the pope’s appeal for March 2, Ash Wednesday, to be marked by “intense prayer and fasting for the sake of saving human lives.”

They also asked priests to celebrate Masses “for the preservation of peace and justice” and called on fellow Christians “to resist lies and hatred, and be a source of reconciliation.”

“This confrontation brings death and destruction and threatens the security of the entire world,” the bishops said.
“The peoples of our countries are united not only by a common history, but also by a great common suffering that befell us in the past because of the madness of war. … Let our contemporaries know they will have to give a strict account for the military actions they have taken. The course of coming centuries largely depends on their current decisions.”

As the war progressed, Russian Catholic churches held peace prayer vigils. The Saratov-based St. Clement Diocese began a nine-day adoration of the Blessed Sacrament March 1.

Moscow Archbishop Paolo Pezzi, president of the bishops’ conference, circulated a “prayer for peace and fatherland,” to be read at Masses. It calls for Catholics to “be able to see a common future,” while also shunning “lies that destroy the world.”

Father Gorbunov told CNS Russia’s bishops had based their message on the church’s dogmatic constitution, “Lumen Gentium,” and were “expressing church teaching, not just their own opinion.”

“We’ll see if they wish to expand on this in coming days, but I personally think things are changed not by statements, but by the change of heart people experience during prayer, thinking and talking,” he said. “In normal everyday life, people don’t always understand what’s going on. But when they start to pray, they understand the terror, find compassion and see the necessity of doing something.”

“Like many ordinary people, I’m no expert in predictions – the decision-makers will get what they deserve, and I hope it won’t be the worst-case scenario for either Ukraine or our country,” he said.

Bishop in Ukraine fears Russia could brand priests, nuns as spies

Prayer for Ukraine

God of infinite mercy and goodness, with grateful hearts we pray to you today for peace. You offer us your peace continually (Jn 14:27) and constantly remind us that peacemakers are blessed, “for they shall be called children of God.” (Mt 5:9) May your voice resound in the hearts of all, as you call us to follow the path of reconciliation and peace, and to be merciful as you are merciful.

We pray to you for the people of the Ukraine who are experiencing conflicts and deaths. Bless the leaders with wisdom, vision and perseverance needed to build together a world of justice and solidarity, and to break down walls of hostility and division.

To you we entrust all families and pray that they may never yield to discouragement and despair, but become heralds of new hope to one another in this challenging time.

May you continue to inspire all of us to oneness of heart and mind, to work generously for the common good, to respect the dignity of every person and the fundamental rights which have their origin in the image and likeness of God impressed upon every human being.

Grant eternal rest to the dead and quick recovery to the wounded, we pray through Christ our Lord, Amen!

(Prayer adapted from: Pope JPII’s Prayer for Peace, shared by St. Stephen Pro-tomartyr Ukrainian Catholic Church, Calgary)

By Catholic News Service
WARSAW, Poland – Church leaders in embattled Ukraine have warned that foreign missionaries could be targeted by attacking forces, while many could be branded “NATO spies” if Russia occupies the country.

“Clergy from Western countries will certainly be at risk – the Soviet rulers viewed priests and nuns as Vatican spies, and now they’ll be spies of NATO and the European Union,” Auxiliary Bishop Jan Sobilo of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia told Catholic News Service March 3.

“Judging by what’s happened in other occupied areas, we can also expect restrictions on Masses and other activities. By defending Ukraine, we are also defending the Catholic Church,” he said.

A Polish priest in Kharkiv said he also feared repression against foreign clergy, especially those from Poland and other NATO countries.

“We were all given a free choice to leave or stay by our bishops – and while a few have had to go, almost everyone else has remained,” Father Wojciech Pasiewicz, director of the church’s Caritas Spes charity in the partly destroyed eastern city, told CNS March 3.

Ukrainians gather for prayer in a Kyiv church basement Feb. 26, 2022, as the Russian invasion of their country endures. (CNS photo/courtesy Polish Bishops’ Conference)

“Given the restrictions and controls placed on freedom and democracy in Crimea and other regions, we can clearly expect the same here and anticipate real dangers from the Russians,” he said. “But what matters now is that this war ends, and people are allowed to return to their homes and churches.”

“We are simply praying and doing all we can to stay in touch with our faithful, while many hide out in parish basements,” Father Pasiewicz told CNS. “The children are terrified, and there’s fear and panic everywhere, with some still hoping to be evacuated. We should all be praying for peace and mourning the dead, uniting in hope that this will all end today or tomorrow.”

Bishop Sobilo told CNS the civilian population had now mobilized to defend the country. He said many Russian soldiers appeared “disorientated and demoralized” by the fierce Ukrainian reaction, but feared being shot if they attempted to surrender and withdraw.

Hundreds of Polish priests and nuns have helped run Catholic parishes and charity projects since Ukraine’s 1991 independence and are currently stranded in its eastern and southern war zones.

Polish Father Piotr Rosochacki, who heads Caritas-Spes on the Black Sea, told the Polish Catholic news agency KAI the situation was growing “increasingly desperate,” adding that “all principles for waging war” had been violated in the bitter fighting.

Assumption Orthodox Cathedral is pictured in Kharkiv, Ukraine, March 3, 2022, in the aftermath of Russian rocket attacks that hit three churches. (CNS photo/courtesy risu.ua)

Meanwhile, the Caritas director in Mariupol, Father Roscislav Spryniuk, told KAI attacking Russian troops had fired on residential areas, adding that shops and cashpoints were now empty.

Bishop Sobilo told CNS some Polish clergy had been forced to leave for health reasons or a lack of relevant documents, adding that he had ordered one priest to quit his parish, unwillingly, fearing harm from Russian troops.

However, he added that the “decisive majority” had remained in place, helping people who had fled other cities.

“In Russia itself, the Catholic Church isn’t well regarded and has continual problems,” he told CNS. “So we can be sure we’ll find ourselves in a very difficult, bad situation if we’re occupied.”

Russia’s forces, amassed in border regions since last fall, invaded Ukraine Feb. 24, triggering harsh resistance from the country’s 200,000-strong armed forces, as well as a sharp fall in Russia’s ruble currency amid Western economic sanctions and pledges of military assistance.

Russian troops continued to close on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, March 3 as tens of thousands fled the fighting and Western governments backed an investigation by the International Criminal Court into alleged war crimes by invading forces.

Shelling damaged the Assumption Orthodox Cathedral in Kharkiv, reportedly with windows and other decorations broken, The Associated Press reported March 3.

In his national address that day, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pledged to restore Kharkiv’s cathedral.
“Even if you destroy all our Ukrainian cathedrals and churches, you will not destroy our sincere faith in Ukraine and in God,” the president told Russians.

Briefs

NATION
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (CNS) – The Catholic bishops of Florida praised the state Legislature for passing a measure to prohibit most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. H.B. 5 also includes provisions to improve infant health and analyze and reduce fetal and infant mortality. “While we continue to look forward to the day when the full protection of unborn life is recognized in law, we are encouraged that H.B. 5 further limits the grave harm that abortion inflicts upon women and children,” said Christie Arnold, associate for social concerns and respect life at the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops. The conference said in a March 3 news release that Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has expressed support for this legislation and is expected to sign it into law. “In an incremental, yet important, step, the bill provides at least eight additional weeks of protection for children in the womb. Current Florida law prohibits abortion when a child is viable, or able to survive outside the womb – currently closer to 24 weeks,” the release said. H.B. 5 “closely tracks” the Mississippi law at issue in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization case pending at the U.S. Supreme Court, which could reverse “the unjust ruling” in Roe v. Wade, the conference noted. “If the Supreme Court upholds Mississippi’s law, Florida’s legislation will likely be upheld.”

WASHINGTON (CNS) – In the fall of 1979, Manuel Williams drove to a neighboring Alabama parish to hear a talk by Sister Thea Bowman, a dynamic Catholic speaker and evangelist known for her joyful singing and storytelling. She also challenged the church to welcome the gifts of Black Catholics and celebrate their African heritage that had shaped their culture and faith. Remembering the first time he saw the tall Black woman religious wearing an African dress, he said, “She strode on the stage as well as any Broadway actress or denizen of the performing arts would do. On top of her head she had these meticulous braids you could almost describe as a crown. She was captivating.” Sister Thea, he remembered, had a style all her own. “She smiled. She taught. She told stories. She chastised. She affirmed. She cajoled, and she punctuated it all with a searing and a soaring (singing) voice.” Afterward, Sister Thea met him and encouraged him to become a priest. Father Williams, a priest of the Congregation of the Resurrection, Williams reflected on her life and legacy and her message for today in a Feb. 15 talk at The Catholic University of America titled, “The Wisdom of Sister Thea Bowman for a Church in Crisis.” Sister Thea, who died in 1990, was a Franciscan Sister of Perpetual Adoration and is a candidate for sainthood.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – Although next year’s world Synod of Bishops on synodality may seem like it would be something far removed from U.S. Catholic college students, many are hoping that’s not the case. “Synodality is the chance to be creative in imagining the future of the church. Use this chance. … Catholic colleges and universities can make a contribution,” a theologian told a group of Catholic college leaders in February. Massimo Faggioli, professor of historical theology at Villanova University, outside of Philadelphia, urged Catholic leaders during the annual gathering of the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities in Washington, to be invested in the synod not only because Catholic colleges are a big part of the church but also because there is currently a “crisis of trust in institutions” and Catholic colleges are not immune to it. Vincentian Father Guillermo Campuzano, vice president for mission and ministry at DePaul University in Chicago, agreed, saying the challenge in this whole process will be to “capture the singular voice of the church,” which will need significant input in order to be an accurate portrayal. He emphasized that above all, the synod should “fully embrace the meaning of diversity in the Catholic Church.”

VATICAN
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Coexistence between older and younger generations can bring about a better appreciation for life that is often lost in today’s fast-paced society, Pope Francis said. A pervasive “spirit of rejection” exists in the modern world that “tends to be hostile to the elderly and, not by chance, also to children” and “casts them aside,” the pope said March 2 during his weekly general audience. “The excess of speed puts us in a centrifuge that sweeps us away like confetti,” he said. “One completely loses sight of the bigger picture,” and instead is tossed about by an attitude dictated by market forces “for which slower pace means losses and speed is money.” The pope continued his new series of talks dedicated to the meaning and value of old age and reflected on the theme, “Longevity: symbol and opportunity.” The long life of the patriarchs recorded in the Bible, he said, “confers a strong, a very strong symbolic meaning to the relationship between longevity and genealogy.”

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – As the Russian military continues to bombard Ukraine, the Vatican is mobilizing efforts to provide humanitarian assistance to those suffering. After Pope Francis’ announcement that he was sending two cardinals to Ukraine, the Vatican said March 7 that Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner, and Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny, interim president of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, intend to reach Ukraine “in the coming days,” depending on the situation. “Cardinal Krajewski is on his way now, March 7, toward the Polish-Ukraine border where he will visit refugees and volunteers in shelters and homes,” the Vatican said. Cardinal Czerny was to arrive in Hungary March 8 “to visit some reception centers for the migrants coming from Ukraine,” the Vatican said. “The cardinals will bring aid to the needy and serve as the presence not only of the pope, but of all the Christian people who express solidarity with the people of Ukraine,” the statement said. According to the Vatican, Cardinal Czerny also intends to raise concerns regarding the treatment of African and Asian residents in Ukraine. Many have reported acts of discrimination against them as they attempt to flee the country. “There are also worrisome reports of increasing activities of human trafficking and smuggling of migrants at the borders and in the neighboring countries,” the statement said.

WORLD
ROME (CNS) – The attack on and seizure of Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant by Russian forces could lead to an ecological disaster 10 times worse than the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, said the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church. In a video message released March 4, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych said the attack should be a cause of concern for the world, especially for those “who care for the environment, those who care for the ecological awareness of humanity. This is not only becoming a humanitarian catastrophe before our very eyes. It is an irreversible attack on God’s creation that for decades, for centuries, will be impossible to correct,” he said. “Ukraine already experienced Chernobyl. Now it stands on the threshold of a new atomic threat that can be 10 times worse.” According to the Reuters news agency, a fire that broke out at a training center in the facility, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, was extinguished after Russian troops captured the site. Although the fire took place in an area outside the main plant and there were no signs of elevated radiation levels, the attack prompted a response from the International Atomic Energy Agency. “I’m extremely concerned about the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and what happened there during the night,” said Rafael Grossi, head of the IAEA, in a March 4 statement.

MEXICO CITY (CNS) – Mexican church leaders condemned a horrific brawl between fans at a professional soccer match, images of which horrified the country and raised uncomfortable questions about rising violence further permeating Mexican life. The brawl erupted at a match March 5 in the central city of Querétaro between supporters from home squad Querétaro and fans from rival team Atlas. Querétaro Gov. Mauricio Kuri said the melee left 26 fans injured – with no deaths, contrary to early media reports – though supporters of Guadalajara-based Atlas flooded social media with pleas for help finding missing fans. The Mexican bishops conference said in a statement immediately after the incident that it “categorically reproaches any episode of violence, however minimal. We exhort sporting clubs, the authorities and civil society to make football and any sport an opportunity to create spaces of integration and not of confrontation (for) reconstructing the social fabric, so damaged and in need of dialogue, respect, comprehension and tolerance,” the bishops said. Gruesome images streamed from Corregidora Stadium showed fans being kicked unconscious, battered bodies strewn naked on the stadium concourses and frightened families rushing the field for safety. The fighting spilled onto the field and some combatants could be seen with weapons.

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon (CNS) – A bishop in Cameroon’s troubled South West region said he is saddened by the rising number of kidnappings in the country’s two violence-ravaged English-speaking areas. Bishop Michael Bibi of Buéa expressed shock over the Feb. 24 kidnapping of 11 teachers of a government-run school for blind and deaf students in the country’s North West region. “It is sad, very sad that teachers should be kidnapped simply because they are teaching,” Bishop Bibi told Catholic News Service. “The question I am asking myself is why do you kidnap and torture and even kill the very people you say you are fighting to free?” Cameroon’s English-speaking North West and South West regions have been embroiled in war for the past five years, with separatists fighting to create a new nation to be called Ambazonia. Since the conflict began, at least 4,000 people have been killed and more than 1 million forced to flee from their homes.