Santiago, Chile, Sep 15, 2018 / 04:01 pm (ACI Prensa).- As part of the investigation into sexual crimes against minors committed by members of the Catholic Church in Chile, the offices of the Archdiocese of Concepción and the dioceses of V… […]
Palermo, Italy, Sep 15, 2018 / 06:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In Sicily Saturday, Pope Francis said the wounds of the Church and the world are the wounds of Christ, and they must be touched and seen.
“To consider the wounds of society and of the Chu… […]
New York City, N.Y., Sep 15, 2018 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A Catholic Charities in New York has received a nearly $1 million grant to provide care to opioid addicts in rural counties in the southern part of the state.
This year the Catholic… […]
In an address at the Faith and Reason Institute at Gonzaga University, the Archbishop of Philadelphia says loss of faith has a detrimental impact on three areas: […]
Producer Matt Baer knew Zamperini (1917-2014) for 18 years, and found that his story inspired him “unlike any other story I’ve come across as a […]
Oran, Algeria, Sep 14, 2018 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- The Algerian bishops’ conference has announced that the beatification of Bishop Pierre Claverie and his 18 companions, who were martyred in the country between 1994 and 1996, will be held Dec. 8.
The beatification will take place at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Holy Cross in Oran.
The new blesseds “have been given to us as intercessors and models of the Christian life, of friendship and fraternity, of encounter and dialogue. May their example aid us in our life today,” the Algerian bishops wrote.
“From Algeria, their beatification will be for the Church and for the world, an impetus and a call to build together a world of peace and fraternity.”
In January Pope Francis had authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to recognize the martyrdoms.
Claverie was a French Algerian, and the Bishop of Oran from 1981 until his Aug. 1, 1996 martyrdom. He and his companions were killed during the Algerian Civil War by Islamists.
In addition to Claverie, those being beatified are: Brother Henri Vergès, Sister Paul-Hélène Saint-Raymond, Sister Esther Paniagua Alonso, Sister Caridad Álvarez Martín, Fr. Jean Chevillard, Fr. Alain Dieulangard, Fr. Charles Deckers, Fr. Christian Chessel, Sister Angèle-Marie Littlejohn, Sister Bibiane Leclercq, Sister Odette Prévost, Brother Luc Dochier, Brother Christian de Chergé, Brother Christophe Lebreton, Brother Michel Fleury, Brother Bruno Lemarchand, Brother Célestin Ringeard, and Brother Paul Favre-Miville.
The best known of Claverie’s companions are the seven monks of Tibhirine, who were kidnapped from their Trappist priory in March 1996. They were kept as a bartering chip to procure the release of several imprisoned members of the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria, and were killed in May. Their story was dramatized in the 2010 French film Of Gods and Men, which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival.
The prior, Christian de Chergé, sought peaceful dialogue with the Muslim population of the area and provided employment, medical attention, and education to the locals.
Dom Christian accepted that the current political tensions and violent militias were a threat to his life. According to the Trappist order, he wrote a letter to his community and family, citing the peace felt giving his life to God.
“If it should happen one day – and it could be today – that I become a victim of the terrorism which now seems ready to engulf all the foreigners living in Algeria, I would like my community, my Church and my family to remember that my life was given to God and to this country,” he said.
After the death of the monks of Tibhirine, Bishop Claverie knew his life was in serious danger. A bomb exploded at the entrance of his chancery Aug. 1, 1996, killing him and an aide, Mohamed Bouchikhi.
Sister Esther Paniagua Alonso and Sister Caridad Álvarez Martín were Augustinian missionaries from Spain who were killed Oct. 23, 1994 in Algiers.
Vatican City, Sep 14, 2018 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- Following the allegations made by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò about the case of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, many have called for official Vatican files on the former cardinal to be released. Whi… […]
Sokoto, Nigeria, Sep 14, 2018 / 03:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In the face of Nigeria’s upcoming general election, the country’s bishops have encouraged politicians and residents to participate in a just voting process.
The Nigerian bishops’ conference met in Sokoto Sept. 6-14, where they discuss the general election which is to be held in February 2019. Their concluding communique called for a respectful electoral process and emphasized its importance to the country’s success.
“We demand that the choice of the electorate, once made, be respected by all. Although elections are not enough to enthrone good governance, they are an important stage in that project,” read the statement.
“Unless we get our electoral process right, elections in Nigeria will only become expensive cosmetic exercises that legitimise corruption and ineptitude.”
The statement challenged citizens to ensure they are equipped with voter cards and to reject illegal voting practices, namely buying and selling votes. The bishops wrote that the voters should be wary of political inducements and not be swayed by the pressures of politicians.
“It is the right of Nigerians to fully participate in the electoral process without intimidation and violence” the bishops said.
The bishops urged politicians to reflect on the purpose of public office and its service to the people. Emphasizing the importance of law, the statement also asked lawmakers to construct just laws, remove unfair regulations, and uphold the equal rights of all citizens.
“We continually encourage the legislators to enact good laws and abrogate bad ones, so as to ensure order, safety, good conduct and safeguard the Common good,” wrote the bishops.
“We also enjoin the judiciary not to allow itself to be used as an instrument of subjugation, oppression, discrimination and injustice…We note that the rule of law connotes equality of all under the law; seeks the protection of fundamental rights of citizens; and guards against abuse of power.”
The Nigerian bishops advocated for the government’s aid in releasing the captives of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram.
“We advise the Federal Government to ensure the safe release of the remaining Chibok girls and all other persons in captivity.”
The path toward an ideal Nigeria must overcome ethnic and religious boundaries, the bishops said.
“We desire that mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence becomes a model for the adherents of all religions in the country,” the statement read. “This would enable us to collectively build the great Nigeria of our dreams.”
The bishops emphasized the power of prayer and encouraged all members of the Church to participate in continuous prayer for the upcoming election.
“Our Lord Jesus Christ demonstrated the power of prayer during his earthly life. He prayed incessantly, especially, at very decisive and significant moments of his life.”
“Following his footsteps, we direct that our Church at various levels continue to pray, especially as we approach the election year.”
Analysts view the pact as the best chance to end permanently a deadly conflict which has been unfolding in the world’s youngest nation since 2013. […]
New York City, N.Y., Sep 14, 2018 / 11:40 am (CNA).- Cardinal Timothy Dolan has spoken about how the extended sexual abuse scandals facing the Church have taken a personal toll on him. The Archbishop of New York said that his own mother is “embarrassed to be Catholic.”
Dolan made the comments to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in a Sept. 13 interview. He said that his mother, who lives in an assisted-living home, told him that people knew her son was a priest and that she was ashamed of the scandals.
“If you don’t think that’s wrenching, I tell you, it’s awful. This summer has been anything but a church picnic for us. It’s been a disaster–one crisis after another,” he said.
Dolan also said that, while scandals involving sexual abuse among the clergy were “not new,” he had listened to many survivors face-to-face throughout the years and that the damage done to them and to the Church was terrible.
The cardinal explained that when people came to him in anger and frustration about the revelations he told them how he shares their pain and outrage. Dolan also expressed his anger at how his fellow bishops could be “so negligent” in failing to properly respond to allegations of abuse.
Despite this anger at members of the Church hierarchy for mishandling or ignoring abuse claims, Dolan gave a strong vote of personal support to Cardinal Donald Wuerl of Washington, D.C.
Dolan said that Wuerl had a strong record as a reformer who has taken tough action against clerical abuse.
Cardinal Wuerl has faced numerous calls for his resignation in the fallout of the revelations concerning his predecessor, Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, and a Pennsylvania grand jury report on allegations of sexual abuse in several dioceses in that state.
“I’ve got to be personal,” Dolan said of Wuerl, “he’s a good friend and he’s a tremendous leader. I kind of hope he doesn’t resign. We need him. He’s been a great source of reform in the past.”
Dolan did, however, say that he would “trust” Wuerl’s decision if he felt it was necessary to resign.
Wuerl, the former bishop of Pittsburgh, was named over 200 times in the Pennsylvania grand jury report. In addition to persistent questions about his knowledge of the accusations against McCarrick, he has faced criticism for his handling of some cases involving accused priests during his time in Pittsburgh.
Cardinal Wuerl submitted his resignation to Pope Francis following his 75th birthday three years ago, as is required by canon law. By not accepting the resignation, Pope Francis has allowed him to continue in office past the normal retirement age.
While it was widely thought that Wuerl hoped to continue in post at least until the U. S. Bishops’ conference met for their general session in November, an Archdiocese of Washington spokesman recently confirmed to CNA that he plans to travel to Rome “soon” to request that the pope accept his resignation.
As Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Dolan was responsible for overseeing the preliminary investigation into allegations that Archbishop Theodore McCarrick groped a 16 year old boy in 1971. McCarrick was serving as a priest in the Archdiocese of New York at that time.
That investigation, which began in 2017, determined the accusation to be credible and forwarded the charge to authorities in Rome. The public disclosure of that finding in June 2018 triggered a succession of public accusations that McCarrick had sexually assaulted or abused seminarians and priests over a period of decades, as well as a further accusation that he had sexually abused a minor.
Since then, numerous bishops in the United States and Rome have faced questions about when accusations against McCarrick had first been made known to Church authorities, and how he had been allowed to continue in ministry despite widespread rumors of his misconduct.
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