Month: November 2017

No Picture
News Briefs

Pope Francis makes surprise visit to the poor outside St Peter’s Square

November 16, 2017 CNA Daily News 1

Rome, Italy, Nov 16, 2017 / 10:58 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Thursday made an unannounced visit to a small makeshift medical center in front of St. Peter’s Square where poor and homeless people are receiving free treatment ahead of this weekend’s World Day for the Poor.

According to Selene, a young volunteer present when the Pope arrived Nov. 16, “It was absolutely an unforgettable surprise for me, and for all the volunteers serving here,” whom she said are all young Italians.

In comments to CNA, she said she has “no words” to describe the encounter, in which the Pope thanked them for their work, blessed them, and spent time talking with the poor and needy for about 20 minutes.

Pope Francis arrived to the center around 3:45p.m., where he was welcomed by a group of poor people waiting to be seen by specialists.

The center was set up in anticipation of the first World Day of the Poor, which will take place Nov. 19 and is being organized by the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.

Open from 9a.m. until 4p.m. every day this week, the center offers patients free visits with doctors who specialize in clinical analysis, cardiology, dermatology, infectious diseases, gynecology, and andrology.

The doctors operate out of small mobile ambulances that patients can go into for a check-up or for a more specialized exam.

After talking and exchanging jokes with the poor and homeless waiting to be seen, the Pope then spoke with nurses from the Italian Red Cross and volunteers with the Confederation of Mercy, who help operate the center.  

Dr. Silvia Rosati said the Pope’s surprise appearance was “a beautiful experience, a wonderful experience.”

“We are trying to do the little that we can right now,” she said, recounting how the Pope told them to “continue trying to be as present as possible with the poor, and with our attempt to help people as much as we can with our work.”

Established by Pope Francis at the end of the Jubilee of Mercy, the World Day for the Poor this year has the theme “Love not in word, but in deed.”

In addition to access to free medical exams, the poor and needy participating in the event will attend a  said Mass by Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica. Afterward, they will be offered a three-course lunch at different centers and organizations around Rome, including the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall.

[…]

No Picture
News Briefs

Report: US bishops choose delegates for 2018 Synod

November 15, 2017 CNA Daily News 2

Baltimore, Md., Nov 15, 2017 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- Meeting in Baltimore for their annual fall assembly, the U.S. bishops have selected their choices for delegates to next year’s Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment, multiple sources have reported to CNA.

According to these sources, the delegates are Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the bishops’ conference president; Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles, conference vice president and head of the nation’s largest diocese; Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia, who hosted the World Meeting of Families attended by Pope Francis in 2015; and Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles, known for his prominent new media evangelization presence. These names have not been confirmed by the USCCB.

The 2018 Synod on Young People, the Faith, and Vocational Discernment is a global meeting of bishops to be held next year in Rome. Bishops’ conferences vote on delegates to attend the synod. After being elected, delegates’ names are sent to the Vatican for approval.

Cardinal DiNardo was born in Steubenville, Ohio, in 1949. He studied philosophy and theology, and he was ordained a priest in 1977.

He became coadjutor bishop of Sioux City, Iowa, in 1997 and was named coadjutor bishop of Galveston-Houston in January 2004. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals in November 2007.

The cardinal was chosen vice president of the U.S. Bishops’ Conference in 2013, and president of the conference in 2016, a position that he currently holds.

He previously served as the head of the bishops’ pro-life committee, and he has also served as a member of the Pontifical Council for Culture, the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People, and the Pontifical Council for the Economy.

Appointed in 2010 to shepherd the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Archbishop Gomez heads the largest U.S. diocese, with more than 4 million Catholics. He is the highest-ranking Hispanic bishop in the United States.

Born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1951, he holds degrees in accounting, philosophy and theology, and was ordained an Opus Dei priest in 1978. In 2001, he was ordained an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Denver, and in 2005, he was appointed Archbishop of San Antonio.

Archbishop Gomez has worked extensively in Hispanic ministry and played a key role in creating the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders (CALL). In 2005, he was named one of Time Magazine’s 25 most influential Hispanics in the United States, and in 2007 he was on a CNN’s list of “Notable Hispanics” in a web special celebrating “Hispanic Heritage Month.”

In 2008, Archbishop Gomez was appointed as a consultant to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He has served in various roles for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, in areas including Cultural Diversity, Doctrine, and Hispanics and the Liturgy.

In 2016, he was elected vice president of the bishops’ conference.

Born in 1944 in Concordia, Kansas, Archbishop Chaput was ordained to the priesthood in 1970. He was ordained Bishop of Rapid City, South Dakota, in 1988, and was appointed Archbishop of Denver by Pope John Paul II in 1997.

While in Denver, Archbishop Chaput launched the local St. John Vianney Seminary, which boasts one of the highest seminary enrollment rates in the country. He was also influential in the success of several Colorado-based organizations, including the nationwide missionary group Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS), the international women’s group Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women (ENDOW), and the Augustine Institute, a lay Catholic graduate school.

As member of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Tribe, Archbishop Chaput is the first Native American archbishop. He has served on several U.S. bishops’ committees involving marriage and family, pro-life activities, immigration, and religious freedom. In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him to the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

The archbishop was chosen to lead Philadelphia in 2011. He led efforts to organize the 2015 World Meeting of Families, which brought Pope Francis to the United States.

Bishop Barron was appointed auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles in 2015. He is the founder of the Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, as well as the host of the award-winning documentary Catholicism.  

Born in Chicago in 1959, Bishop Barron was ordained a priest in 1986. He taught as Mundelein Seminary, the University of Notre Dame and at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas.

Known as a pioneer in new media evangelization, Bishop Barron has a strong social media following. He has published 15 books and is a #1 Amazon bestselling author.

 

[…]

No Picture
News Briefs

Pope Francis got a Lamborghini, and he’s raffling it for charity

November 15, 2017 CNA Daily News 3

Vatican City, Nov 15, 2017 / 05:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Wednesday Pope Francis became the proud new owner of a special papal-themed Lamborghini Huracán, which was given to him by company execs at the Vatican and will be auctioned off for charity.

The sleek white Huracán with gold lines running along the hood and angles of the car’s body was presented to Francis in front of his residence at the Vatican’s Saint Martha Guesthouse Nov. 15, which he blessed and autographed in the presence of top executives from the luxury Italian sports car brand.

It will be auctioned at Sotheby’s and the Pope has decided to give the proceeds to three different charitable causes: the restoration of villages on the Nineveh Plain in Iraq, assisting victims of human trafficking, and missionary work in Africa.

At a base cost of roughly $250,000, the Huracán made its debut at the March 2014 Geneva Auto show, and was released in the second quarter of the year, quickly becoming Lamborghini’s most popular and best-selling car.

The name, which is Spanish for “hurricane,” is reminiscent of the fighting bull “Huracán” that fought in the late 1800s and was known for its courage. The choice of the car’s name follows suit with Lamborghini’s style, as they typically use historic Spanish fighting bulls as a scheme for naming their vehicles.

It was designed based on the hexagonal form of the carbon atom, and has 610 metric horsepower and 4 wheel drive, as well as a naturally aspirated V10 engine and a full-LED lighting system. In 2014, the Huracán was named “Supercar of the Year” by car magazine Top Gear.

With six different models of the Huracán on the market, the papal-version marks a special 7th edition created specifically for Pope Francis.

In terms of proceeds, funds will go toward initiatives led by papal charity Aid to the Church in Need to rebuild properties that were destroyed by ISIS in Iraq.

One of their projects, titled “Iraq, return to the roots,” was presented at the Vatican in September. From 2014-2017, the project has financed various programs for Christians in Iraq, amounting to an approximate total of $35 million.

Among the structures destroyed or damaged since the ISIS invasion of the Nineveh Plains in 2014, it is estimated that some 13,000 homes, schools, hospitals and religious buildings were completely or partially destroyed. The project, with a total estimated cost of $250 million, aims to continue providing a concrete response to Christians from the Nineveh Plains who want to return to their homes.

Proceeds from the raffle will also directly benefit the Pope John XXIII Community, which assists women who have been victims of human trafficking and prostitution. Pope Francis has met members of the community at the Vatican on several occasions, and he visited them in August 2016 as one of his “Mercy Friday” outings during the Jubilee of Mercy.

Funds from the raffle will also support two Italian associations that carry out missionary work in Africa, one being the “GICAM” project of hand surgeon Professor Marco Lanzetta, and the other being the “Friends of Central Africa” organization, which for two years has led projects dedicated primarily to care for women and children.

Francis has done similar raffles for high-end gifts in the past, with each item going for well beyond its market sale price.

In 2013 he was given a Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide, which was sold to a private buyer for roughly $327,000, far exceeding the $16-22,000 presale estimate.

After his September 2015 visit to the United States, during which FIAT Chrysler made a pair of FIAT 500Ls available for the Pope to use during his time in Philadelphia, both of the cars were auctioned off to support local charity.

Similarly, in April 2016 a white skullcap – known as a “zucchetto” worn by prelates in the Catholic Church – was sold for around $18,000, after the owner had bought it and exchanged it with the Pope during a general audience. At least part of the funds went to support a children’s charity.

[…]

No Picture
News Briefs

Historic peacebuilding program launches in Bosnia and Herzegovina

November 14, 2017 CNA Daily News 0

Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Nov 15, 2017 / 12:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- When Pope Francis visited Bosnia and Herzegovina two years ago, he found a country still healing from a devastating conflict two decades earlier.

The three-year Bosnian War killed around 100,000 people and displaced a million more. Although ethnic and religious violence tapered off after the peace treaty of 1995-96, deep cultural and religious divides are enduring.

Now, a historic master’s program has been created in Sarajevo that primarily focuses on Interreligious Studies and Peacebuilding, taught by the three major theological seminaries of Catholic, Islamic and Orthodox thought.

“This program represents efforts of the three faculties to work, on a scientific basis, on peace-building and reconciliation in this country,” said Darko Tomasevic, the dean of the Catholic Theological Faculty at the University in Sarajevo.

“Above all, we want to ensure as good a foundation as possible for a better future for Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the capacity that we, as institutions within religious communities and churches, can provide,” Tomasevic said.

The first of its kind in the region, the master’s program was coordinated by Catholic Relief Services, in conjunction with the Faculty of Islamic Sciences, the Catholic Theological Faculty and Orthodox Theological Faculty of St. Basil of Ostrog.

According to Zuhdija Hasanovic, the dean of the Faculty of Islamic Sciences at the University in Sarajevo, the program is an effort to be more intentional about healing the country’s divisions with an attitude of respect.

“Each of the faculties works on developing a sense of respect for ‘others,’ or different ones, but this study program is something special and it will, hopefully, yield results,” he said.

The first class began on Oct. 26, and the program will run over the course of the next year. Professors and teachers from all three seminaries will lead the program, which now includes 23 students. The course is aimed at students who are have backgrounds in theology, social sciences and humanities, and are interested in interreligious studies and peacebuilding.

“Joint-study programs like this one offer a unique opportunity to use religious as a catalyst for peace,” stated Marc D’Silva, the CRS country representative in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“This program will show how religious institutions can train a new generation of religious and civil society leaders to be advocates for a more just and better society,” D’Silva continued.

The master’s program is currently only being offered to local students, but there are hopes of expanding the course to international students. CRS is also promoting scholarships, internships and job opportunities with local government officials and civil society organizations in the country.

The official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the U.S., Catholic Relief Services has had a presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina since 1993, when it began offering emergency relief services to victims of the war in Sarajevo. Post-war, CRS continued to offer aid by helping displaced families return to their homes. The organization has a continued presence in the country today through education, psychological support, rebuilding homes and promoting livelihoods.

Pope Francis’ pastoral visit to Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2015 was seen as an important step in unity, in a nation where religion is closely tied to ethnicity. Forty percent of the country’s 3.8 million population are Muslim/Bosniak and another 40 percent are Orthodox/Serbian. Fifteen percent are Catholic/Croats.

“There is no other foundation on which the culture of peace can be based, but on interreligious dialogue,” stressed Vladislav Topalovic, dean of the Orthodox Theological Faculty “St. Basil of Ostrog” of the University in East Sarajevo.

“It is our only exit, our only path on which we can base that culture of peace, and trust among all of us in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

 

[…]