Category Archives: World News

Historians’ approval moves Father Tolton’s sainthood cause forward

Posted on by
Reply

Father Augustus Tolton, the first recognized U.S. diocesan priest of African descent, is pictured in an undated photo. Father Tolton’s cause is moving forward after receiving positive news from the Vatican’s historical consultants. (CNS photo/courtesy of Archdiocese of Chicago Archives and Records Center)

By Joyce Duriga
CHICAGO (CNS) – The canonization cause of Father Augustus Tolton received important approval from the Vatican’s historical consultants earlier this year, moving the cause forward.
Father Tolton, a former slave, is the first recognized U.S. diocesan priest of African descent. Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George opened his cause for canonization in 2011, giving the priest the title “servant of God.”
The consultants in Rome ruled in March that the “positio” – a document equivalent to a doctoral dissertation on a person’s life – was acceptable and the research on Father Tolton’s life was finished, said Chicago Auxiliary Bishop Joseph N. Perry, postulator for the cause.
“They have a story on a life that they deem is credible, properly documented. It bodes well for the remaining steps of scrutiny – those remaining steps being the theological commission that will make a final determination on his virtues,” Bishop Perry explained.
It now goes to the Congregation for Saints’ Causes, he said. Once the congregation’s members “approve it, then the prefect of that congregation takes the case to the pope,” he added.
If the pope approves it, Father Tolton would be declared venerable, the next step on the way to canonization. The last two steps are beatification and canonization. In general, two approved miracles through Father Tolton’s intercession are needed for him to be beatified and canonized.
Six historical consultants ruled unanimously on the Tolton “positio,” compiled by a team in Rome led by Andrea Ambrosi, based on hundreds of pages of research completed in Chicago.
While working on the document, Ambrosi’s team asked Bishop Perry why it took so long to open a cause for Tolton, who died in 1897.
“We told them that African-Americans basically had no status in the church to be considered at that time. Some people didn’t think we had souls. They were hardly poised to recommend someone to be a saint,” Bishop Perry said. “And then in those days there were hardly any saints from the United States proposed.”
The fact that the historical consultants approved the “positio” unanimously is a positive sign, he said. The cause is scheduled to go before the theological commission in February 2019.
Two miracles through Father Tolton’s intercession have been sent to Rome.
“We’re hoping and our fingers are crossed and we’re praying that at least one of them might be acceptable for his beatification,” Bishop Perry said.
Born into slavery, young Augustus fled to freedom with his mother and two siblings through the woods of northern Missouri and across the Mississippi River while being pursued by bounty hunters and soldiers. He was only 9 years old.
The small family made their home in Quincy, Illinois, a sanctuary for runaway slaves.
Growing up in Quincy and serving at Mass, Augustus felt a call to the priesthood, but because of rampant racism, no seminary in the United States would accept him.
He headed to Rome, convinced he would become a missionary priest serving in Africa. However, after ordination he was sent back to his hometown to be a missionary to the community there.
He was such a good preacher that many white people filled the pews for his Masses, along with black people. This upset the white priests in the town, who made life very difficult for him as a result. After three years, Father Tolton moved north to Chicago to minister to the black community, at the request of Archbishop Patrick Feehan.
Father Tolton worked tirelessly for his congregation in Chicago, to the point of exhaustion. On July 9, 1897, he died of heat stroke while returning from a priests retreat. He was 43.
Since the cause was opened, Bishop Perry and his team have given more than 170 presentations on Father Tolton around the country. They also have received inquiries about the priest from Catholics in the Philippines, Germany, Australia, Italy, France and countries in Africa.
People receive Father Tolton’s story well, Bishop Perry said.
“There’s also the element of surprise. … People always presume that we had black priests,” he told the Chicago Catholic, the archdiocesan newspaper.
Father Tolton did not speak out publicly against the racist abuse he encountered from his fellow Catholics. Rather, throughout his ministry, he preached that the Catholic Church was the only true liberator of blacks in America.
“I think people generally are touched by his story, especially regarding his stamina and perseverance given what appears to be a different mood today. People don’t accept stuff thrown in their faces anymore,” Bishop Perry said.
(Duriga is editor of the Chicago Catholic, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago.)

Vatican issues new rules for contemplative nuns

Posted on by
Reply

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY – The Vatican released an instruction with new norms for contemplative orders of nuns, encouraging cooperation among their monasteries and outlining procedures for communities left with only a few members.
The document, “Cor Orans” (“Praying Heart”) is a follow-up instruction on implementing Pope Francis’ 2016 document “Vultum Dei Quaerere” (“Seeking the Face of God”), which issued new rulings and mandates for monasteries of women around the world. The aim of both, the Vatican said, is to safeguard the identity and mission of contemplative women religious. The pope charged the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life with creating the new instruction, which seeks to fill the legislative gaps left since Pope Pius XII’s apostolic constitution “Sponsa Christi,” from 1950, and facilitate carrying out the mandates in “Vultum Dei Quaerere.” The instruction was released by the Vatican May 15 and went into effect immediately.
Archbishop Jose Rodriguez Carballo, secretary of the congregation, told reporters one of the most significant changes is requiring a monastery or contemplative community of women religious to have at least eight professed religious women in order to maintain their autonomy. If that number drops to five professed religious, they lose their right to elect a superior, the Vatican congregation is informed of the situation and an ad hoc commission is formed to name an administrator, he said.
The outside intervention is meant to assess whether the community’s difficulties are “temporary or irreversible” and, if temporary, help them overcome the problems so as to avoid their suppression, the archbishop said.

A nun holds a copy of “Cor Orans,” a new instruction for contemplative women religious, during a news conference for its release at the Vatican May 15. The instruction concerns the life, autonomy, supervision and formation of contemplative women religious. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

The instruction also details the roles, rights and responsibilities federations will have.
Pope Francis’ new ruling included a mandate that all monasteries are to be part of a federation with the aim of facilitating formation and meeting needs through sharing assets and exchanging members; however, a monastery can request an exception from the Vatican.
The new instruction said monasteries have one year to comply until the dicastery assigns them a federation or other form of association.  
Father Paciolla said the documents do not change the autonomy of the monasteries or the purpose of a federation, but are meant to bring “balance” to how they can better work together.
The aim, Father Paciolla said, is to open up another channel of communication with the Vatican and foster dialogue and communion when it comes to oversight.
Archbishop Rodriguez Carballo said the instructions, like Pope Francis’ document, are built on the responses received from a questionnaire sent to all contemplative women religious a few years ago.
(Editor’s note: Because these rules are so new, it will take some time to review them to see how they might apply to local communities, including the Carmelite community in the Diocese of Jackson.)

Obispos mexicanos prometen nuevo enfoque pastoral acompañando a la gente

Posted on by
Reply

Por David Agren
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO, Mex. – La conferencia episcopal mexicana ha prometido buscar una nueva visión pastoral en la cual la iglesia es considerada cercana a las necesidades de la gente, los pobres son la prioridad y los prelados se expresan proféticamente en asuntos como la violencia, la desigualdad y la corrupción entre las élites que actualmente cuentan con la jerarquía como aliados.
La conferencia presentó su plan pastoral el 13 de mayo diciendo que este responde al estado actual del país y a los cambios sociales. El plan también responde a la amonestación del papa Francisco, quien regañó a los obispos de México en 2016 por descansar en sus laureles, mostrar timidez mientras la violencia aumentaba y no poder encontrar unidad entre ellos.

A federal policeman keeps watch at a cemetery as relatives of missing persons look for mass graves in Ahuihuiyuco, Mexico, May 10. (CNS photo/Daniel Becerril, Reuters)

“Reconocernos que ser iglesia pueblo, trae consigo la necesidad de ajustar y actualizar nuestros conceptos teológicos y asumirlos en sus consecuencias prácticas, tanto personalmente, como al interior de la vida de nuestras comunidades cristianas.”, dice el documento de los obispos, titulado Proyecto Global de Pastoral 2031-2033. Las fechas coinciden con el quinto centenario de las apariciones de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe, santa patrona del país, a san Juan Diego y con el segundo milenio de la resurrección de Cristo.
“Actitudes de individualismo, celos pastorales, pretensiones principescas, arrogancia, soberbia y comportamientos que contradicen una vida de comunión y participación, ya no tienen lugar en la vida de la iglesia pueblo”, dijeron los obispos.
Según los datos del censo, aproximadamente el 83 por ciento de los habitantes del país todavía se identifica como católico, algo que un editorial de la Arquidiócesis de México señaló al cuestionar el regaño del papa a los obispos de México y preguntaron quién lo asesoró sobre el discurso.
Sin embargo, la conferencia episcopal tomó el discurso como un llamado a la acción. Su documento se expresó con candor y tristeza de que un país tan católico y tan fervoroso en su fe pueda experimentar tanta violencia y tolerar altos niveles de desigualdad y corrupción.
Las medidas contra los carteles de la droga, comenzadas hace 11 años, han cobrado más de 200,000 vidas y han dejado más de 30,000 desaparecidos. Aunque México ha superado la gobernación de un solo partido, la percepción de corrupción ha aumentado aun cuando el país se volvió más democrático.
A menudo los obispos han preferido no hablar sobre temas complicados o controversiales, parcialmente por riesgo que corren si dicen algo. Sacerdotes están entre las víctimas de la violencia. A veces los obispos han comentado solamente después que el gobierno haya hablado primero.
“Lamentamos profundamente la desaparición y muerte de miles de jóvenes en los últimos tiempos, los feminicidios, verdaderos ríos de sangre nueva que han corrido por nuestros pueblos y ciudades”, dice el documento.
“La introducción de una narcocultura en nuestra sociedad mexicana, de conseguir dinero rápido, fácil y de cualquier forma, ha venido a dañar profundamente la mente de muchas personas”, dice el documento, añadiendo que hay factores que han afectado la situación como “la pérdida de valores, la desintegración familiar, la falta de oportunidades, los trabajos mal remunerados, la corrupción galopante en todos los niveles, la ingobernabilidad, la impunidad”.
El documento de los obispos ofrece momentos de autocrítica, incluyendo el reconocimiento de que ellos no han atendido suficientemente el abuso sexual por clérigos. El propio comportamiento de los obispos se mencionó con el reconocimiento de que “en algunos momentos parecemos más jueces, dueños o líderes de una estructura humana que agentes dóciles al Proyecto del Reino de Dios”.
Los obispos añadieron: “Vemos con inquietud que nuestro pueblo reclama un mayor acompañamiento espiritual y un especial coraje profético frente a las circunstancias actuales”.
Otros defectos reconocidos incluyen su trabajo con las poblaciones indígenas, con los jóvenes y con los residentes urbanos. Muchos de estos últimos se han mudado de los sectores aislados pobres de México en busca de oportunidades pero “perdiendo sus raíces”, sufriendo exclusión y viviendo la explotación.
“La iglesia se ha visto rebasada para atender y acompañar a esta multitud desamparada”, dice el documento.
La piedad popular se ha arraigado en muchas partes de México, mientras que muchos de los bautizados entienden poco sobre el credo.
“Hay un analfabetismo religioso preocupante en un gran número de creyentes”, dijeron los obispos. “Esto se manifiesta en la superficialidad de sus compromisos sacramentales y en la ligereza de la vivencia de los valores del Evangelio en su vida diaria”.
El nuevo plan pastoral presentó 193 observaciones acerca del estado de las cosas en México, pero también acciones para la iglesia mexicana. Los obispos se comprometieron a defender los derechos humanos, proteger a los migrantes e incorporar “la doctrina social de la iglesia … en la formación de los agentes de pastoral”.
El documento también prometió dar acompañamiento para los que practican la piedad popular y también para las víctimas de la violencia, promover la participación en los sacramentos con énfasis en la Eucaristía y ser “una iglesia incluyente donde se acoja con misericordia a esposos vueltos a casar, homosexuales, madres solteras, ancianos, indigentes y migrantes, entre otros”.

Not just what you see: Some issues behind the Israel-Palestinian violence

Posted on by
Reply

By Judith Sudilovsky
JERUSALEM (CNS) – A Sometimes, news is not just what meets the eye on the TV screen or a social media post.
Catholic political analyst Wadie Abunasser noted that while neither Israel nor the Palestinian political movement Hamas is interested in starting a war at the moment, both are interested in delivering strong messages to the other side on various issues being negotiated through backdoor channels. Internal politics also contribute to the situation, he said.
One issue on the table, he said, is a prisoner exchange being negotiated by the Egyptians. The exchange involves the bodies of two Israeli soldiers held by Hamas since the last Gaza war and three Israeli civilians – an Israeli-Ethiopian and two Israeli Bedouin – held by Hamas. All three civilians crossed into Gaza willingly, and two have mental health issues.
“(Israel and Hamas) are trying to press each other, and there is no real mutual understanding,” said Abunasser, director of the International Center for Consultations in Haifa. “What I am afraid of is not a prepared war, but of incidents getting out of hand if this continues.”
Egyptian negotiators are also at work trying to calm the current situation, he said.
The demonstrations were first called to protest the U.S. embassy move to Jerusalem, and to mark the 70th year since al-Naqba, or what Palestinians call their catastrophe – the creation of the State of Israel.
“We are talking about two neighbors who dislike each other,” said Abunasser.
The status of Jerusalem was one of the issues to be discussed when the two sides finally returned to the negotiating table, and neither side was to take unilateral action, he said. Though it was the U.S. decision to move the embassy, Israel is seen as having lobbied strongly for it and for the relocation of other embassies as well.
“The fact that (U.S. President Donald Trump) is downgrading and avoiding any relations is bringing the Palestinians to a very embarrassing situation. They are basically boycotting the USA and have brought back their representative from Washington,” Abunasser said. “Many people believe Trump is not a good friend of Israel. He is pretending (to be), but he is causing more problems than solutions.”
Abunasser also said internal Palestinian politics is playing a role in the growing tensions. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has been cutting funds to Gaza, which is under control of Hamas, Abbas’ rival. Abbas wants to force the Hamas leadership to comply with his conditions for reconciliation, said Abunasser.
“So Hamas is trying to kill two birds with one stone. They are pressing back on Israel … (about) concessions to Hamas on the prisoner exchange, and Hamas is pressing against the Palestinian Authority (with the protests) and, if people are killed, the PA has to pay (their families),” he said. “Hamas, Israel and the PA are fighting each other until the last Gazan. It is very sad, really.”
He said 2 million people live in the cage known as Gaza, which has been blockaded for 11 years, since Hamas took control there. Much of the infrastructure of Gaza has been destroyed by the Israeli military.
Abunasser said Hamas does not want to risk Gazans taking out their anger on political leaders, so it is trying to divert the anger instead toward Israel. Gazans are pawns in the confrontation, he said.
Numerous children have been killed in the demonstrations, including an 8-month-old baby, who died of tear gas inhalation.
While Palestinians have been calling the protests “peaceful,” Hamas leader Salah Bardawil was shown on Palestinian TV saying that of 62 people killed in the Gaza demonstrations, 50 were from Hamas, which is listed as terrorist group by Israel, the U.S. and the European Union. More than 2,000 people have been injured in the demonstrations.

Relatives in the Gaza Strip mourn a Palestinian killed at the Israel-Gaza border May 16. (CNS photo/Mohammed Salem, Reuters)

Israel has been criticized by the international community for its use of snipers and live fire against the demonstrators. Israel says its soldiers are trying at all costs to prevent Palestinians who would carry out terrorist attacks against Israeli targets from crossing into Israel.
Israel also says millions of dollars of damage has been caused to Israeli crops as Palestinians send kites with Molotov cocktails flying over the border fence, burning agricultural fields.
Abunasser said Israelis along the border live under constant tension of such possible attack. Numerous underground Hamas tunnels leading from Gaza into nearby Israeli communities have been destroyed by the Israeli in the past, making the fear of infiltration very real.
Gazans, said Abunasser, are under the constant tensions of the blockage, electricity shortages, no work, a lack of commodities and the inability to leave.
“People live on a day-by-day basis. But the Palestinians have it worse. In Israel there is a functioning government, and if there is a war, farmers will be compensated by the state. They can escape to the north,” he said. “Gaza Palestinians have no place to escape, financially or physically.”

World Briefs

Posted on by
Reply

NATION
Trump signs order to give faith groups stronger voice in government
WASHINGTON (CNS) – In front of a small crowd of cabinet members and religious leaders at the White House Rose Garden May 3, President Donald Trump announced, and then signed, an executive order giving faith-based groups a stronger voice in the federal government. “It’s a great day,” he said after signing the order and passing out pens to religious leaders who surrounded him outside on the spring morning for the National Day of Prayer event. No details about the order were given at the ceremony, but religious leaders were reminded of the work they do in caring for those in need and were assured by the president that their religious freedom would continue to be protected by the federal government. A White House document posted online after the order was signed said its purpose was to ensure that faith-based and community organizations “have strong advocates” in the White House and the federal government. It said the “White House Faith and Opportunity Initiative” would provide recommendations on programs and policies where faith-based and community organizations could partner with the government to “deliver more effective solutions to poverty.”

States file lawsuits to end DACA
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Continuing the legal drama against a program that protects some 800,000 young adults brought into the country without legal documentation as minors, seven states have filed a lawsuit attempting once more to end it. Joined by Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, South Carolina and West Virginia, the state of Texas is leading the charge in a lawsuit filed May 1 that says then-President Barack Obama and his administration unlawfully and unilaterally granted what amounts to “citizenship” to “otherwise unlawfully present aliens” when it approved in 2012 the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program. Popularly known as DACA, the program grants a renewable work permit and other temporary documentation to the young adults if they meet certain conditions. Saying it was unlawful, President Donald Trump announced the program’s end in September and asked Congress to hash out a legislative solution by March, but lawmakers have not done so. Since Trump’s announcement, DACA has been on a legal roller coaster. Most recently, a federal district judge from the District of Columbia ruled on April 24 that the Trump administration did not explain why DACA was “unlawful” when it announced it was going to rescind it. Until it can do so – the administration was given 90 days to justify its action – the Department of Homeland Security, which administers the program, must continue to accept new applications and renew documents for those already enrolled, the judge said.

Iowa legislature sends fetal heartbeat bill to governor
DES MOINES, Iowa (CNS) – A bill described by some observers as the most restrictive abortion legislation in the nation has been sent to the desk of Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds. The governor has not said whether she will sign the bill, which the Iowa Legislature passed in the middle of the night May 2. Depending on when the legislature adjourns, Reynolds will have three days or 30 days to sign it. The so-called fetal heartbeat bill would prohibit abortions after a baby’s heartbeat can be detected. The legislation began as an amendment to an Iowa Senate bill that would stop trafficking in the fetal body parts that remain following an elective abortion. “As Pope Francis has said, ‘Let us respect and love human life, especially vulnerable life in a mother’s womb.’ We call upon the judiciary to once again recognize that all life should be protected from the moment of conception to natural death,” Tom Chapman, executive director of the Iowa Catholic Conference, said after the bill’s passage. The bill spells out specific steps that must be followed when a woman seeks an abortion. Specifically, it requires a physician to perform an abdominal ultrasound when testing for a detectable fetal heartbeat and to inform the pregnant woman in writing whether a fetal heartbeat was detected, and if so, that an abortion is prohibited.

WORLD
Philippine cardinal urges daily bell tolling to call attention to murders
MANILA, Philippines (CNS) – Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle called for church bells in the archdiocese to toll at 8 p.m. each day to protest the continuing spate of killings in the country. He said the tolling of the bells will “haunt the perpetrators of violence and killing to remember their victims, never to forget them,” reported ucanews.com. “The bells beckon us to remember the dead … and to ask God to remember them,” said a statement from the cardinal. Ucanews.com reported a Catholic priest and a broadcast journalist were the most recent victims of assassinations. Father Mark Ventura was shot to death after celebrating Mass in Cagayan province April 29. Cardinal Tagle invited the faithful “to pause, remember and pray” for Father Ventura, the second priest to be killed in four months. In December, Father Marcelito Paez was shot dead in the province of Nueva Ecija. “It’s sad that a priest was killed … and even if he’s not a priest, a person. Isn’t he a gift from God? Is it that easy nowadays to just kill and throw someone away?” asked Cardinal Tagle.

VATICAN
Vatican issues instruction on improving canon law studies
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The changes in canon law Pope Francis made to ensure that marriage annulment cases were handled more quickly, more pastorally and with less expense mean that some changes should be made in the way church law is taught, said the Congregation for Catholic Education. The congregation published an instruction May 3 urging Catholic universities to strengthen their canon law programs and urging bishops to send more of their priests “and, if possible, laypeople” to Catholic universities to earn canon law degrees. The new rules, which go into effect for the 2019-2020 academic year, require all students in what is known as the “first cycle” of studies for church licenses in theology to take at least three semesters of canon law courses, including at least one devoted exclusively to church law regarding marriage and the process of recognizing the nullity of a marriage. The instruction also strongly encourages schools and faculties of canon law to offer courses designed for bishops, who have greater responsibility in determining the nullity of a marriage under the rules introduced by Pope Francis in 2015.

Update: Date set for final approval of canonization of Blesseds Paul VI, Romero
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The Vatican announced that final approval would be given May 19 for the canonizations of Blesseds Paul VI, Archbishop Oscar Romero and four others. Pope Francis already cleared the way for their canonizations earlier this year with the publication of decrees recognizing a miracle attributed to the intercession of each one of the blesseds. The Vatican said May 3 that an “ordinary public consistory” – a meeting of the pope with cardinals resident in Rome and invited bishops and other dignitaries – would be held May 19 to finalize the approval of six canonizations. This meeting of cardinals and promoters of the sainthood causes formally ends the process of approving a new saint. The dates and locations for the canonization ceremonies are expected to be announced shortly after the consistory. Meanwhile, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, has said that Blessed Paul’s canonization will take place at the end of the Synod of Bishops on youth and discernment, scheduled for Oct. 3-28.

Catholic media must not fall behind in digital age, pope says

Posted on by
Reply

By Junno Arocho Esteves
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In an age when technology is ever-evolving, Catholic news organizations must be willing to adapt to effectively proclaim the Gospel to all, Pope Francis said.
Speaking to directors and employees of Avvenire, the daily newspaper of the Italian bishops’ conference, the pope said that the use of new digital platforms not only requires significant technological updates but also a willingness to accept that “the attachment to the past may prove to be a dangerous temptation.”
“Authentic servants of tradition are those who, while keeping memory alive, know how to discern the signs of the times and open new paths,” he said May 1.
Marking the feast of St. Joseph the Worker and International Workers’ Day, which is a public holiday in Italy and many other countries, Pope Francis noted that Jesus’ foster father was a “man of silence,” which at first “may seem the opposite of a communicator.”
But, he said, Catholic journalists and news organizations must realize that “only by shutting down the noise of the world and our own gossip will it be possible to listen, which remains the first condition of every communication.”
Particularly in today’s world where “the speed of information surpasses our capacity of reflection,” he said, church members are exposed “to the impact and influence of a culture of haste and superficiality” and risk reducing the church’s mission to a “pastoral ministry of applause, to a dumbing down of thought and to a widespread disorientation of opinions that are not in agreement.”
The example set forth by St. Joseph, he added, is a reminder for all Christians working in the field of communications to “recover a sense of healthy slowness, tranquility and patience.”
“With his silence, he reminds us that everything begins from listening, from transcending oneself in order to be open to another person’s word and history,” the pope said.
Recalling the words of Blessed Paul VI, Pope Francis said that Catholic newspapers shouldn’t just report news to “make an impression or gain clients” but rather to educate their readers “to think, to judge” for themselves.
“Catholic communicators avoid rigidities that stifle or imprison,” he said. “They do not cage the Holy Spirit, but seek to let it fly, to let it breathe within the soul. They never allow reality to give way to appearances, beauty to vulgarity, social friendship to conflict. They cultivate and strengthen every sprout of life and goodness.”
Pope Francis encouraged Avvenire’s directors, journalists and employees to be heralds of the Gospel and, like St. Joseph, be true guardians who protect society’s well-being and dignity.

(Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.)

Pope meets his advisory commission on child protection

Posted on by
Reply

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In its efforts to help advise the pope, the Roman Curia, bishops’ conferences and local churches on protecting minors from abuse, a Vatican commission listened to abuse survivors from Great Britain and discussed the results of Australia’s public inquiry into its country’s institutional responses to abuse.
The plenary assembly of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors (PCPM) April 20-22 was the first gathering with a group of new members appointed in February.
Pope Francis met with the commission members in a private audience April 21 and had met the day before with Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley of Boston, who is president of the 17-member commission. The commission secretary is U.S. Msgr. Robert W. Oliver, a Boston priest, canon lawyer and former promotor of justice at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The pope said he wanted to confirm the commission’s statutes, which were issued April 21, 2015, “ad experimentum” for a period of three years, according to a press statement by the commission April 22.
During their meeting, according to the statement, members “heard presentations on ‘The outcome of the Australian Royal Commission,’ on ‘The U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child,’ and on ‘The role of faith communities in overcoming abuse trauma.'”
Members also listened to the survivor advisory panel of the National Catholic Safeguarding Commission from England and Wales. An unidentified speaker from the advisory panel said, “I hope our visit will help the PCPM to develop a wider network of survivors who are willing to advise and support the ongoing work of the commission in a similar way.”
The panel’s contribution was meant to reflect the papal commission’s “ongoing commitment to ensuring that the thoughts and contributions of people who have been abused inform all aspects of the commission’s work,” the statement said, as well as “help the commission to develop effective ways to integrate the voice of survivors into the life and ministry of the church.”
After Pope Francis founded the commission in 2014, two abuse survivors were named as members. However, one survivor, Peter Saunders, was asked to take a leave of absence in 2016 after he publicly criticized the way some church leaders had handled accusations of abuse; the other survivor, Marie Collins, quit the group in 2017 over what she described as resistance coming from Vatican offices against implementing recommendations.
In February, the pope reconfirmed nine new members, including Teresa Kettelkamp, a former colonel in the Illinois State Police and former director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection.

‘Is my dad in heaven?’ little boy asks pope

Posted on by
Reply

By Cindy Wooden
ROME (CNS) – After circling a massive, crumbling public housing complex on the outskirts of Rome, Pope Francis had an emotional encounter with the neighborhood’s children.
Question-and-answer sessions with youngsters are a standard part of Pope Francis’ parish visits. And, at St. Paul of the Cross parish April 15, there were the usual questions like, “How did you feel when you were elected pope?”
But then it was Emanuele’s turn. The young boy smiled at the pope as he approached the microphone. But then froze. “I can’t do it,” Emanuele said.
Msgr. Leonardo Sapienza, a papal aide, encouraged the boy, but he kept saying, “I can’t.”
“Come, come to me, Emanuele,” the pope said. “Come and whisper it in my ear.”
Msgr. Sapienza helped the boy up to the platform where the pope was seated. Emanuele was sobbing by that point, and Pope Francis enveloped him in a big embrace, patting his head and speaking softly to him.
With their heads touching, the pope and the boy spoke privately to each other before Emanuele returned to his seat.
“If only we could all cry like Emanuele when we have an ache in our hearts like he has,” the pope told the children. “He was crying for his father and had the courage to do it in front of us because in his heart there is love for his father.”
Pope Francis said he had asked Emanuele if he could share the boy’s question and the boy agreed. “‘A little while ago my father passed away. He was a nonbeliever, but he had all four of his children baptized. He was a good man. Is dad in heaven?'”
“How beautiful to hear a son say of his father, ‘He was good,'” the pope told the children. “And what a beautiful witness of a son who inherited the strength of his father, who had the courage to cry in front of all of us. If that man was able to make his children like that, then it’s true, he was a good man. He was a good man.
“That man did not have the gift of faith, he wasn’t a believer, but he had his children baptized. He had a good heart,” Pope Francis said.
“God is the one who says who goes to heaven,” the pope explained.
The next step in answering Emanuele’s question, he said, would be to think about what God is like and, especially, what kind of heart God has. “What do you think? A father’s heart. God has a dad’s heart. And with a dad who was not a believer, but who baptized his children and gave them that bravura, do you think God would be able to leave him far from himself?”
“Does God abandon his children?” the pope asked. “Does God abandon his children when they are good?”
The children shouted, “No.”
“There, Emanuele, that is the answer,” the pope told the boy. “God surely was proud of your father, because it is easier as a believer to baptize your children than to baptize them when you are not a believer. Surely this pleased God very much.”
Pope Francis encouraged Emanuele to “talk to your dad; pray to your dad.”
Earlier, a young girl named Carlotta also asked the pope a delicate question: “When we are baptized, we become children of God. People who aren’t baptized, are they not children of God?”

Pope Francis embraces Emanuele, a boy whose father died, as he visits St. Paul of the Cross Parish in Rome April 15. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

“What does your heart tell you?” the pope asked Carlotta. She said, they are, too.
“Right, and I’ll explain,” the pope told her. “We are all children of God. Everyone. Everyone.”
The nonbaptized, members of other religions, those who worship idols, “even the mafiosi,” who terrorize the neighborhood around the parish, are children of God, though “they prefer to behave like children of the devil,” he said.
“God created everyone, loves everyone and put in everyone’s heart a conscience so they would recognize what is good and distinguish it from what is bad,” the pope said.
The difference, he said, is that “when you were baptized, the Holy Spirit entered into that conscience and reinforced your belonging to God and, in that sense, you became more of a daughter of God because you’re a child of God like everyone, but with the strength of the Holy Spirit.”

Deposite sus armas, dicen los obispos mexicanos después de que el segundo sacerdote fuera asesinado

Posted on by
Reply

Por David Agren
CIUDAD DE MÉXICO (CNS) – Sin embargo, otro sacerdote católico mexicano ha sido asesinado en su parroquia, el segundo ataque letal contra el clero en el país en menos de una semana.
El padre Juan Miguel Contreras García fue asesinado a tiros en la parroquia de San Pío de Pietrelcina en el suburbio de Guadalajara de Tlajomulco de Zúñiga. Una declaración del 20 de abril de la fiscalía del estado de Jalisco dijo que el padre Contreras fue confrontado y fusilado en la sacristía. Dos asaltantes posteriormente huyeron en un automóvil compacto. No se le ofreció ningún motivo para el ataque.
El ataque del padre Contreras siguió al asesinato, el 18 de abril, del padre Rubén Alcántara Díaz en el suburbio de Cuautitlán Izcalli, al norte de la ciudad de México. El padre Alcántara fue atacado el 18 de abril, justo antes de las 7 p.m. Misa en la Parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen, la Diócesis de Izcalli dijo en una breve declaración.
La conferencia de obispos mexicanos emitió un llamado a la acción sobre la violencia que consume el país e impacta a la iglesia.
“Estamos haciendo un llamado urgente para construir una cultura de paz y reconciliación. Estos acontecimientos lamentables nos llaman a todos a una conversión mucho más profunda y sincera. Es hora de mirar honestamente nuestra cultura y nuestra sociedad para preguntarnos cómo nos perdimos. respeto por la vida y lo sagrado “, dijo la conferencia en una declaración el 20 de abril.
“Pedimos a los fieles católicos que acompañen a sus sacerdotes con la oración, sobre todo, en el servicio pastoral de las comunidades a las que están encomendados”, continuó la declaración.

El padre Rubén Alcántara Díaz, sacerdote de la parroquia de Nuestra Señora del Carmen en Cuautitlán Izcalli, México, fue asesinado en su parroquia el 18 de abril. Aqui esta fotografíado en 2015 con dos mujeres no identificadas. (Foto CNS cortesía del Padre Greg Luyet)

“Les pedimos a aquellos que no aprecian y les quitan la vida por cualquier motivo que miren hacia la cara amable de Dios, que no solo depongan sus armas, sino también el odio, el rencor, la venganza y todos los sentimientos destructivos”.
El padre Alcántara, quien también era el vicario judicial diocesano, fue abordado por el agresor y estuvo involucrado en una discusión antes del ataque, de acuerdo con los medios mexicanos. El asaltante alegó abuso en sus gritos y huyó de la escena, informó el diario Reforma. Su paradero sigue siendo desconocido.
Los ataques contra el clero se han vuelto comunes en México, donde la tasa de homicidios alcanzó niveles históricos en 2017 y la violencia que consume grandes extensiones del país no ha salvado a la Iglesia católica.
El Catholic Multimedia Center ha contado a 23 sacerdotes asesinados en México desde diciembre de 2012, cuando comenzó la administración de seis años del presidente Enrique Peña Nieto.

Un niño le pregunta al papa si su padre, que era ateo, irá al cielo

Posted on by
Reply

Por Cindy Wooden
ROMA – Después de dar vueltas alrededor de un complejo de viviendas públicas masivas y desmoronadas en las afueras de Roma, el Papa Francisco tuvo un emotivo encuentro con los niños del vecindario. Las sesiones de preguntas y respuestas con los jóvenes son una parte estándar de las visitas parroquiales del Papa Francisco. Y, en la parroquia San Pablo de la Cruz el 15 de abril, hubo las preguntas usuales como, “¿Cómo te sentiste cuando fuiste elegido Papa?”

ROMA – El papa Francisco abraza a Emanuele, un niño cuyo padre murió, durante una visita a la Parroquia de San Pablo de la Cruz en Roma el 15 de abril. Aunque su padre no era creyente, había bautizado a sus cuatro hijos, y el papa le dijo al niño que sin duda su “papá está en el cielo”. (Foto CNS-Paul Haring).

Pero entonces fue el turno de Emanuele. El niño le sonrió al Papa mientras se acercaba al micrófono. Pero luego se congeló. “No puedo hacerlo,” dijo Emanuele.
Monseñor Leonardo Sapienza, un ayudante papal, alentó al niño, pero siguió diciendo: “No puedo.”
“Ven, ven a mí, Emanuele,” dijo el Papa. “Ven y susurra en mi oreja.”
Monseñor Sapienza ayudó al niño a subir a la plataforma donde estaba sentado el Papa. Emanuele estaba sollozando en ese momento, y el Papa Francisco lo envolvió en un gran abrazo, acariciando su cabeza y hablando en voz baja con él.
Con sus cabezas tocándose, el Papa y el niño hablaron en privado el uno al otro antes de que Emanuele regresara a su asiento.
“Si todos pudiéramos llorar como Emanuele cuando tenemos un dolor en nuestros corazones como él,” dijo el Papa a los niños. “Estaba llorando por su padre y tuvo el coraje de hacerlo delante de nosotros porque en su corazón hay amor por su padre.”
El Papa Francisco dijo que le había preguntado a Emanuele si podía compartir su pregunta y el niño estuvo de acuerdo. “Hace un tiempo mi padre falleció. No era creyente, pero bautizó a todos sus cuatro hijos. Era un buen hombre. ¿Papá está en el cielo?”
“Qué hermoso es escuchar a un hijo decir de su padre, ‘Era bueno,’” les dijo el Papa a los niños. “Y qué hermoso testigo de un hijo que heredó la fuerza de su padre, que tuvo el valor de llorar delante de todos nosotros. Si ese padre pudo hacer que sus hijos fueran tan buenos, entonces es cierto, era un buen hombre. Él era un buen hombre.”
“Ese hombre no tenía el don de la fe, no era creyente, pero bautizó a sus hijos. Tenía buen corazón,” dijo el Papa Francisco. “Dios es quien dice quién va al cielo,” explicó el Papa.
Al responder a la pregunta de Emanuele, el Papa dijo que el siguiente paso sería pensar cómo es Dios, especialmente qué tipo de corazón tiene Dios. “¿Qué piensas? El corazón de un padre. Dios tiene el corazón de un padre. Y con un padre que no era creyente, pero que bautizó a sus hijos y les dio esa valentía, ¿crees que Dios podría dejarlo lejos de sí mismo?”
“¿Dios abandona a sus hijos?” el Papa preguntó. “¿Dios abandona a sus hijos cuando son buenos?”
Los niños gritaron, “No.”
“Ahí, Emanuele, esa es la respuesta,” le dijo el Papa al muchacho. “Seguramente Dios estaba orgulloso de tu padre, porque es más fácil como creyente bautizar a tus hijos que bautizarlos cuando no eres creyente. Sin duda, esto agradó mucho a Dios.”
El Papa Francisco animó a Emanuele a “hablar con tu padre, reza a tu padre.”
Anteriormente, una joven llamada Carlotta también le hizo al Papa una pregunta delicada, “Cuando nos bautizamos, nos convertimos en hijos de Dios. Las personas que no están bautizadas, ¿no son hijos de Dios?”
“¿Qué te dice tu corazón?” el Papa le preguntó a Carlotta. Ella dijo, ellos también lo son.
“Correcto, y lo explicaré,” le dijo el Papa. “Todos somos hijos de Dios. Todos. Todos.”
Los no bautizados, miembros de otras religiones, aquellos que adoran ídolos, “incluso los mafiosos” que aterrorizan al vecindario alrededor de la parroquia, son hijos de Dios, aunque “prefieren comportarse como hijos del diablo,” dijo.
“Dios creó a todos, ama a todos y pone en el corazón de todos una conciencia para que puedan reconocer lo que es bueno y distinguirlo de lo que es malo,” dijo el Papa.
La diferencia, dijo, es que “cuando fuiste bautizado, el Espíritu Santo entró en esa conciencia y reforzó tu pertenencia a Dios y, en ese sentido, te hiciste más hija de Dios porque eres un hijo de Dios como todos, pero con la fuerza del Espíritu Santo.”