Canadian cardinal: Women should help screen, train priest applicants

London, England, Feb 1, 2017 / 08:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An umbrella grouping of evangelical Christians in the United Kingdom has issued a statement marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation, which reaffirms that movement’s “enduring importance” for them.

“It is clear that many of the core distinctions that developed between Luther’s understanding and that of the Roman Catholic Church remain between modern-day evangelicals and Catholics,” Evangelical Alliance’s statement said. “In certain areas, however, there have been significant attempts to foster deeper understanding of the theological and ecclesiastical differences that distinguish each tradition, and to develop this understanding in a less conflictual way.”

The evangelicals also noted that particularly with regard to “evangelism and social and medical ethics” there has been “genuine collaboration and co-operation towards agreed ends.”

The Evangelical Alliance works with 81 denominations and 600 organizations in the United Kingdom which identify themselves as evangelical Christians, and aims to help them listen to and be heard by government, media, and society.

Their statement called the Reformation “not so much an innovation as a recovery.” After discussing the primacy of Scripture and Martin Luther’s understanding of justification, the alliance noted “the plurality of religious expression to which the Reformation gave rise,” which it said “can be seen in both positive and negative terms, and is a reminder that for all its necessity and for all its phenomenal achievements, the Reformation had consequences which were at times more complex, and in certain cases, less positive.”

Evangelical Alliance then noted that much progress has been made in reconciliation between the Catholic Church and ecclesial communities, especially in the last 100 years of the ecumenical movement.

Enumerating the main points of divergence between evangelicals and Catholics, the group listed the nature and authority of the Church; the papacy and papal infallibility; the sacraments; and Mariology.

Turning to points of convergence and co-operation, Evangelical Alliance noted creeds, evangelism and renewal, and the ethical issues of abortion, euthanasia, and same-sex marriage.

Steve Clifford, general director of the Evangelical Alliance, stated that “It has been in the area of public policy especially that evangelicals and Catholics have come together over the last 40 years to put pressure on the government and work for the common good. In protecting the beginning and end of life this work has been particularly evident, as well as in many other areas that contribute to our wellbeing as a society.”

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Shrewsbury, England, Apr 21, 2019 / 03:01 pm (CNA).- Easter is not a time for political debate, but is rather an opportunity to encounter the pinnacle of the faith – Christ’s death and resurrection, Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury said in his homily for the feast.

At the April 21 Mass said at Shrewsbury Cathedral, Bishop Davies referred to increasing political bitterness and an indifference to Easter’s significance.  

“Everything rests on the witness given by those who, on that first Easter morning, came to ‘see and believe‘; on the witness of the Apostles and their Successors who stand with Peter in testimony that ‘God raised Jesus to life‘,” he said.

“In Christ’s Resurrection, we see how human life is no longer destined for death but for everlasting life and happiness. This is the joy of Easter that never fades.”

Easter is a celebration of the Christian foundation, he said, but it is not an excuse for clergyman to criticize on passing political opinions nor is it a time when political sentiments should be prioritized.

“All of our Christian faith and the whole of Christian civilisation depends on this Day,” he said.

“[Political] choices ought not to concern us on this greatest day in the Christian Calendar,” he further added.

This Easter has come at a time of much political strife, he said, noting that English society has seen a deterioration in people’s civility toward those who hold opposing beliefs. As tolerance has declined so has the culture’s comprehension of Easter and truth, he said.

“A deepening bitterness and intolerance in British society must surely be a concern for us all. It might even mark a change in our national character as disagreement and difference now too often leads to anger; enmity; no-platforming; and even threats of violence and death to those in public life.”

“We might trace this breakdown in our civility and gentle tolerance to the loss of the greater horizons which Easter celebrates. In many western societies, we see a descent into an irrationalism in which there is only ‘my truth’ and ‘your truth,’ with no hope of basing our lives and society on what is enduringly and always true. Yet, passing questions of public policy must always be seen from the perspective of what is lasting.”

He pointed to the 2010 visit of Benedict XVI to England, in which the then-pope “observed that if the only thing underpinning our democracy is an ever-changing social consensus, then the real challenge to democracy and social cohesion lies in our losing hold of the very truths which made our civilisation and society possible.”

“It is in Christ – the only person ever to have said, ‘I am the truth’ – that we find the enduring truth about the human person which has long formed the basis of our civility, our understanding of human rights and of a rule of law worth defending.”

As the British Parliament takes a break for Easter, pausing debate on Brexit, Bishop Davies applauded the respite. He expressed hope that this Easter would “return to the foundations that should always underpin our national debates.”

“On this Easter Day, we hear Saint Paul urge the first believers to cast out everything that is malice and to seek ‘sincerity and truth‘. This is surely the path we, too, should take for the healing of society and the recovery of our tolerance.”

“May the light of this Easter Day lead us gently as a nation to ‘see and believe’ God’s great purpose for us, and so to recognise anew the truth by which we and all of human society can be saved,” he said.

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Bergamo, Italy, Mar 23, 2020 / 01:01 pm (CNA).- Mario Enzler’s mother always wanted a big family.

“My mother wanted twenty children, but got only me,” Enzler said with a laugh.

Enzler, a former Swiss Guard for St. John Paul II, is an Italian expat living in New Hampshire with his wife and five children. He is a professor at the Busch School of Business at the Catholic University of America.

His octogenarian parents live in the medieval city of Bergamo in northern Italy. They come to the United States to visit quite often, Enzler said, and he said his mother is already excitedly making plans to come and visit the US in July.

Normally, Bergamo’s biggest claim to fame is that it is the home diocese of St. John XXIII. The image of “Papa Giovanni,” as the saint is known, is everywhere.

But in the past few months, the city has garnered the less welcome distinction as an epicenter of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

“If, God forbid, anything happens to them, I can’t get there right now,” Enzler said.

In the past week alone, more than 3,000 people have died in Italy after contracting the coronavirus. Among the dead are at least 60 priests this month, according to local media reports.

The Bergamo region has one of the highest rates of infection in Italy, with over 5,000 cases and counting.

The obituary section in the town’s newspaper, L’Eco di Bergamo, is normally 2-3 pages long; now, it is 10-11 pages long every day. The newspaper’s editor recently told the Washington Post that 90% of the deaths— the vast majority of which are elderly people— are due to coronavirus.

The Diocese of Bergamo has reported 20 diocesan priests and two religious who have died so far, and one was a close friend of the Enzler family. Bergamo’s mayor has encouraged the cremation of people who die of COVID-19.

Enzler said he is able to talk to his mother and father daily via video chat, and that they give him almost a daily update on who they know in the city who has died of the virus.

“What is really hard for my parents and for me is that there are no funerals,” Enzler told CNA.

“Some of the priests that passed away, my mom and dad had known them for 60 years. And they could not go to the funeral— that’s very sad.”

Although they are both remaining in their home, isolated from the outside world, Enzler fears for his parents’ safety. His father is diabetic, so he is aware that contracting the virus likely would be lethal for him.

Enzler first spoke to CNA last week; on March 23, Enzler emailed to say that his mother told him that his father is now exhibiting flu-like symptoms, including a fever and a dry cough.

He said there aren’t enough test kits in the city to test everyone exhibiting symptoms, so those with symptoms are instructed to treat the illness like the flu unless it gets much worse.

“Not much I can do from here besides putting everything at the feet of the cross,” Enzler said.

“My dad, despite being diabetic, is a strong man…a lot of people that got sick got well in a week or so, we will never know if they had the virus or not, all it matters they got better and they never abandon their faith.”

Enzler said his father shocked him the other day by telling him that having to rely on the army and other people for his daily needs is actually helping him to “rediscover the meaning of gratitude.”

“Now, I see myself saying thank you more every day to more and different people than I have in many years…coming from my dad, that got me emotional,’ Enzler said.

United in prayer

Enzler said his parents’ parish has done a good job of leveraging technology to keep the parishioners united in prayer.

Through an email chain, their associate pastor is encouraging his flock to pray prayers such as the rosary simultaneously, according to a schedule. Enzler said every time he talks to his parents on video chat, they are excited to tell him how many rosaries they prayed that day together.

In addition, the Diocese of Bergamo has opened a telephone service that offers free psychological and spiritual counseling and support.

“Look at these old people in Bergamo— throughout the day, isolated in their homes, they are united in prayer in specific moments. How beautiful that is,” Enzler observed.

On March 19, Pope Francis requested that all Catholics throughout the world pray a rosary with him at the same time. Enzler said that he suspects that a priest in the pope’s household— a friend of Enzler’s from Bergamo— is keeping the pope updated on the situation in Bergamo and on the simultaneous rosaries the faithful are praying there.

“The media is not talking about the thousands and thousands and thousands of Hail Marys that the elderly Italians are saying on a daily basis…they are praying to Mary, specifically, because they know that she will clean up this mess,” Enzler said.

Enzler said an old Italian proverb is helping to sustain his parents through this trying time: “Non tutti i mali vengono per nuocere,” which roughly translates to “Not all bad things come to damage you.” He said the pandemic is teaching people the meaning of redemptive suffering.

“I strongly believe that this crisis, because of the faith and the amount of prayers of the elderly, isolated in their houses— I think that this will have an impact on the younger generation,” Enzler said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of young adults, because of this, will rediscover their faith.”

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