By now the whole world has heard about comedian Kathy Griffin’s appalling staged-photo of herself holding a mock-up of the bloody, severed head of Donald Trump. Despite her rather pathetic apology, a firestorm of protest […]
Over the several decades, Catholics in the United States have grown increasingly ignorant of their faith. There are many good ideas and theories about why this is the case, but part of the solution seems […]
Washington D.C., Jun 6, 2017 / 12:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- United States Vice President Mike Pence exhorted those in attendance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast on Tuesday to continue to be a “voice for the voiceless”, after proclai… […]
Nashville, Tenn., Jun 6, 2017 / 11:39 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop David Choby of Nashville died at age 70 Saturday night after complications arose from a recent fall; he was a man known for his dear friendship and his commitment to promoting priestly vocations.
After a fall in his home early in February damaged his spine, Bishop Choby developed a reoccurring blood infection, which ultimately led to his death June 3 at about 10 pm.
“His engaging style, his keen intellect, especially in matters related to canon law, and most of all his warm personality will be greatly missed. Bishop Choby was a thoroughly gracious gentleman and churchman,” Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of Louisville said June 4.
He added that Bishop Choby “leaves a legacy of true pastoral care for all.”
Bishop Choby was noted for his understanding of canon law and commitment to the formation of priests. Instead of flowers, his family has asked for donations to be made to a memorial fund for the Nashville diocese’s Seminarian Education Fund.
A native to Nashville, he was born to Raymond and Rita Choby in January 1947. He was baptized at the Cathedral of the Incarnation, where he was later ordained a bishop. Attending seminary at Saint Ambrose College in Iowa and the Catholic University of America, he was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Nashville in 1974 by Bishop Joseph Durick.
Before receiving his canon law degree from the University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, he was an associate pastor at St Joseph Parish and administrator for St Ann Parish. He also spent time working for the diocese’s tribunal while at Christ the King Parish – which he did for most of his priesthood until he was appointed bishop.
After receiving his degree in canon law, Bishop Choby joined the faculty of the Pontifical College Josephinum in Ohio for five years. He was also the president for the seminary’s board of trustees.
Starting in 1989, and until he was appointment bishop in 2005, he worked as the pastor for St John Vianney Parish in Gallatin, Tennessee. He served two five-year terms with the diocese’s presbyteral council and college of consultors – a local ordinance governing the diocese’s pastoral welfare. He was then elected the diocesan administrator in 2004.
He was appointed Bishop of Nashville in 2005, and consecrated in February 2006. He continued to serve as Nashville’s bishop until his death.
Visitations of Bishop Choby’s body will be held at the Nashville Cathedral June 8, concluding with the Office of the Dead; and June 9 at St. John Vianney in Gallatin, followed by the rosary and a dinner.
The bishop’s funeral Mass will be said June 10 at the Diocese of Nashville’s chancery, and his body will be buried at Calvary Cemetery.
“Please pray for the repose of the soul of Bishop Choby, for his family and friends, and for the people of the Diocese of Nashville,” the diocese asked in a statement.
The lanterns glow through the dusk as the summer evening darkens into twilight. Meanwhile revelers in the garden square make their way slowly to the gates as the park-keeper gradually rounds them up. More noisily, […]
Paris, France, Jun 6, 2017 / 09:57 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A man was shot after an apparent hammer attack on police officers at Paris police headquarters next to the Cathedral of Notre Dame on Tuesday.
The suspect was wounded in the chest during the June… […]
Kyiv, Ukraine, Jun 6, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Lubomyr Husar, Major Archbishop Emeritus of Kyiv-Halych and former head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, died May 31 at the age of 84.
Among his many accomplishments as priest, bishop, and cardinal, he is well remembered for welcoming St. John Paul II on his visit to Kyiv and Lviv in Ukraine in 2001, when he was the first Pope to visit the former Soviet republic.
Cardinal Husar was born in 1933 in Lviv. He fled from the Soviets in Ukraine with his parents in 1944, first to Austria, and then to the United States in 1949. He studied at St. Basil’s College Seminary in Stamford, Conn. in the early 1950s, and continued his studies at the Catholic University of America in Washington and at Fordham University in New York.
He was ordained a priest of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Stamford in March 1958 and taught at St. Basil’s College Seminary until 1969. From 1966 to 1969 he was the pastor of Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church in Kerhonkson, N.Y.
He was secretly consecrated a bishop in 1977, and celebrated the 40th anniversary of his episcopal ordination in April of this year. His consecration was unacknowledged publicly until 1996 due to Blessed Paul VI’s Ostpolitik efforts at reaching out to the Russian Orthodox Church and the Eastern Bloc.
Bishop Husar returned to Ukraine in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union and served as spiritual director of Holy Spirit Seminary in Lviv.
The Ukrainian Catholic synod of bishops elected him major archbishop – father and head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church – in 2000, and St. John Paul II made him a cardinal the following month. He resigned his position as in February 2011 at the age of 77.
Pope Francis sent a letter to Cardinal Husar’s successor, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk ofKyiv-Halych, calling the late cardinal “one of the highest and most respected moral authorities of recent decades for the Ukrainian people,” and praising him for his love and warmth, especially the young.
He called Cardinal Husar a father and spiritual guide for his Church, “which he gathered from the ‘catacombs’ where she was forced to flee persecution, and to whom he restored not only the ecclesiastical structures, but above all the joy of her history, founded on faith through and beyond any suffering.”
The Pope expressed his desire to “be among those praying to the heavenly Father” for Cardinal Husar’s soul.
The Divine Liturgy for the cardinal’s burial was held June 5 at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection.
Cardinal Husar is greatly admired in Ukraine, where signs have already appeared calling for his speedy canonization.
Vatican City, Jun 6, 2017 / 05:30 am (CNA/EWTN News).- More than 130 imams and religious leaders throughout the UK have joined voices in strongly condemning recent terrorist attacks in London and Manchester, calling the acts “cold-blooded murders.”
In a joint statement issued June 5, the imams and other religious leaders said they condemn the recent terror attacks in Manchester and London “in the strongest terms possible.”
Coming from a range of backgrounds across the UK, the signatories said that in “feeling the pain the rest of the nation feels, we have come together to express our shock and utter disgust at these cold-blooded murders.”
In an unprecedented move, the imams who signed the statement also declared that they will not perform the traditional Islamic funeral prayer for the attackers.
Signatories urged fellow imams and religious authorities to withdraw the privilege of the prayer because of the “indefensible actions” of the perpetrators, which are “completely at odds with the lofty teachings of Islam.”
Seven people were killed and 48 others injured in London the night of June 3 when three men drove a van into a crowd of people on London Bridge around 10 p.m. local time. The men then went on a stabbing spree in nearby Borough Market, where people were enjoying a night out at restaurants and pubs.
The three men reportedly shouted “this is for Allah” during the attack. The three attackers were shot dead by police within eight minutes of the first emergency call.
According to police, 12 more people have been arrested in connection to the attacks.
Saturday’s assault marked the third terror attack in the UK in three months. In March a separate car and knife attack in Westminster left five people dead, and a bombing at an Ariana Grade concert in Manchester May 22, killed 22 people, most of whom were youth.
Such “ruthless violence” is never acceptable, the declaration read, but especially during Ramadan, when Muslims around the world are focused on “prayer, charity and the cultivation of good character.”
This only serves to demonstrate how “utterly misguided and distant the terrorists are” from the Islamic faith, the signatories said, adding that the “reprehensible actions” of the attackers has neither religious legitimacy nor their sympathy.
“Alongside our friends and neighbors, we mourn this attack on our home, society and people, and feel pain for the suffering of the victims and their families,” they said, and prayed “that the perpetrators be judged in accordance with the gravity of their crimes in the hereafter.”
“Their acts and willful dismissal of our religious principles alienates them from any association with our community for whom the inviolability of every human life is the founding principle,” they said, quoting the Qaran.
The signatories also commended the actions of the police and emergency personnel for their courage and “rapid response” the night of the attack.
Closing their statement, the faith leaders said they are praying “for peace and unity, and for all the victims of terror both at home and across the globe, who are targeted, irrespective of their faith.”
Orange, Calif., Jun 6, 2017 / 02:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Stephanie Packer cherishes every moment with her husband and four children. Living with a terminal illness in Orange, California, her goal is “to do everything I can to have one more second with my kids.”
When assisted suicide legislation was officially passed in California in 2016, Packer experienced the ultimate slap in the face: her insurance company denied the coverage of critical chemotherapy treatment that her doctors recommended for her condition.
Her insurance would, however, cover end-of-life drugs for just $1.20.
“It was like someone had just hit me in the gut,” said Packer, who shared her story in the documentary, Compassion and Choice Denied.
Produced by the Center for Bioethics and Culture Network, the documentary details Packer’s experience of living with a terminal illness in an age where assisted suicide is cheaper than the fight for life.
Particularly concerning: the insurance company had initially suggested that they would cover the chemotherapy drugs. It was one week after assisted suicide was legalized that they sent Packer a letter saying they were denying coverage. Despite multiple appeals, they continued to refuse.
“As soon as this law was passed, patients fighting for a longer life end up getting denied treatment, because this will always be the cheapest option… it’s hard to financially fight,” Packer said in the documentary.
Physician-assisted suicide is legal in a handful of states, gaining momentum ever since the high profile suicide of cancer patient Brittany Maynard in 2014.
Many prominent Catholic leaders, such as Pope Francis, have spoken out against assisted suicide, calling it “false compassion.” Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez has said that assisted suicide “represents a failure of solidarity” and abandons the most vulnerable in society.
“We are called as people to support each other, to hold each other’s hand and walk through this journey,” Packer said, adding, “I want my kids to see that dying is a part of life, and the end of your life can be an opportunity to appreciate the things you didn’t appreciate before.”
Packer leads support groups for individuals with terminal and chronic illnesses. She said there was a clear morale change in many of the group members when physician-assisted suicide became legalized in her state.
“Normally, we would talk about support and love, and we would be there for each other, and just encourage them that, you know, today is a bad day, tomorrow doesn’t have to be,” she said.
But when assisted suicide was legalized, individuals became more depressed, with some saying that they wanted to end their lives.
“Patients are going to die because of this,” Packer said. “Patients need to know what this means, and the public needs to know that it’s going to kill these patients because they aren’t going to get the treatment they need to extend their life.”
She also said that assisted suicide proponents have twisted the meaning of suicide to make it sound “sweet and pretty,” and have also redefined what it means to live with a terminal illness.
“It makes terminally ill patients feel ‘less than,’ that they are not worthy of that fight, that they’re not worth it,” she said.
Packer believes that end-of-life drugs should never “be supported by physicians or run by the government. That’s not okay… because it affects me negatively and affects my fight and my ability to stay here longer with my children.”
Packer pointed to other resources, saying that there is a whole treasury of support for terminal patients – financially, psychologically, physically, and even if patients just need someone to talk to.
While life-affirming palliative care remains an expensive medical cost, Packer recommended that more energy and resources fund hospice care, instead of making death the cheaper option.
“We can start to fix our broken health care system, and people will start to live instead of feeling like they have to choose to die.”
This article was originally published on CNA Oct. 19, 2016.
Washington D.C., Jun 6, 2017 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Despite its pro-life actions, the latest health care reform bill has “many serious flaws,” the U.S. bishops have said.
People without a strong voice in the political process “must not bear the brunt of attempts to cut costs,” several leaders with the U.S. bishops’ conference told U.S. Senators in a June 1 letter. They said lawmakers have “grave obligations” related to health care legislation and need to reject the “grave deficiencies” of the American Health Care Act.
The U.S. bishops’ letter to senators stressed the principles of universal health care access, respect for life, truly affordable health care, conscience protections, and the need for health care that is comprehensive and of high quality.
They asked the Senate to reject major changes to Medicaid, to retain protections for human life, to increase tax assistance for those with low-income and the elderly, to retain a cap on health care plan costs for the elderly, to protect immigrants, and to add health care protections.
On May 2 the House of Representatives narrowly voted (217 to 213) to pass a bill to repeal the 2010 Affordable Care Act and to replace it with the American Health Care Act.
The latest bill would replace the 2010 legislation’s individual insurance mandate with a 30 percent premium fine for having a significant gap in coverage. More tax credits would be offered, and the allowable contributions to health savings accounts would also be expanded.
The bill would cap the expansion of Medicaid and would allow states to determine which “essential health benefits” to recognize as mandatory for health plans. Under the 2010 legislation, this included hospitalizations and maternity care. The new bill would allow states to charge persons more based upon their health history, provided the states set up pre-existing pools. Under current law, this is forbidden.
The bill bars funding for abortion providers like Planned Parenthood for one year, instead directing $422 million in these funds to health care providers that do not perform abortions.
However, the new legislation faces an uncertain future in the Senate.
The bishops said that the Catholic Church “remains committed to ensuring the fundamental right to medical care, a right which is in keeping with the God-given dignity of every person, and the corresponding obligation as a country to provide for this right.”
The U.S. bishops’ conference leaders who signed the letter were Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chair of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities; Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chair of the Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty; Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice, who chairs the Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; and Bishop Joe S. Vásquez of Austin, who heads the Committee on Migration.
© Catholic World Report