Year: 2018

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News Briefs

Amid abuse lawsuits, Guam archdiocese to file for bankruptcy

November 7, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Hagatna, Guam, Nov 7, 2018 / 01:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Archdiocese of Agaña, Guam has announced that it will file for bankruptcy, following mediation efforts in September regarding clerical abuse claims in the country.

Archbishop Michael Byrnes said the bankruptcy declaration “will bring the greatest measure of justice to the greatest number of victims,” allowing them to know “that they’ve been heard and understood,” the Associated Press reported.

Leander James, an attorney working with alleged victims in the country, welcomed the announcement, saying, “Bankruptcy provides the only realistic path to settlement of pending and future claims.”

There are currently $115 million in lawsuits from over 180 abuse claims pending in Guam.

In March, the Archdiocese of Agaña announced plans to sell its chancery property and move offices, as part of a broader move to liquidate and sell archdiocesan property to settle sex abuse cases.

Anthony Perez, another victims’ attorney, explained that the local diocese will not necessarily be forced to close its doors.

“In my discussions with attorneys from my team with extensive experience in these types of bankruptcies, this filing will allow the archdiocese to reorganize and still be operational after the claims are paid and the bankruptcy is closed,” he said, according to the Associated Press.

In March, Guam Archbishop Anthony Apuron was found guilty of “certain” charges and sentenced to be removed from office and forbidden from living in the archdiocese. Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Michael Byrnes as Apuron’s successor.  

The Vatican did not state the charges for which Apuron was found guilty. He had been accused of a multitude of offenses, including raping his nephew in 1989 or 1990.

Apuron maintains his innocence and immediately filed an appeal, which Pope Francis said he was personally evaluating.

[…]

The Dispatch

A note on the other kind of schism

November 7, 2018 Edward N. Peters 14

Most Catholics correctly, but incompletely, understand schism as “the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff” (1983 CIC 751). Overlooked here—perhaps because it is much rarer than is typical ‘anti-papal schism’ and is harder to […]

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News Briefs

Manx legislature passes most liberal abortion law in British Isles

November 7, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Douglas, Isle of Man, Nov 7, 2018 / 11:17 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The upper house of the Isle of Man’s legislature passed Tuesday a bill that will liberalize abortion access in the territory. The Abortion Reform Bill 2018 now needs only receive royal assentand promulgation before it becomes law.

Members of the Legislative Council unanimously passed the bill with its amendments Nov. 6.

Abortion policy on the the Isle of Man, a crown dependency located between England and Northern Ireland, is currently governed by the Termination of Pregnancy Act 1995, which allows abortion only in cases where the mother’s life is endangered or if the baby has a low survival rate.

The Abortion Reform Bill 2018 decriminalizes abortion. It will allow elective abortion up to 14 weeks; up to 24 weeks if medical reasons or “serious social grounds” were presented; and, according to Isle of Man Today, “in certain emergency or serious situations after 24 weeks.”

Among amendments made to the bill were measures regarding counseling services and conscientious objection.

It will provide for buffer zones around medical centers to keep pro-life counselors and protesters at a distance from women procuring abortion, as well as measures to prevent sex-selective abortions.

The Anglican bishop of Sodor and Man, Peter Eagles, who is ex officio a member of the Legislative Council, had voted against the bill earlier in the year, but was in favor of it Tuesday.

“I see these amendments as being entirely within the spirit of the discussion held in this council earlier and as being instrumental in enhancing the bill’s effectiveness,” Eagles said, according to Isle of Man Today.

The bill has been opposed by the Catholic Church on the island and by Humanity and Equality in Abortion Reform.

Supporters of abortion rights have expressed hope that the bill’s passage will strengthen abortion reform across the United Kingdom.

The bill will go to Richard Gozney, Lieutenant Governor of the Isle of Man, to receive royal assent Nov. 20. It will be promulgated on Tynwald Day, July 5, 2019.

[…]

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News Briefs

The bishop who reaped a hundred-fold

November 7, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Miao, India, Nov 7, 2018 / 07:00 am (CNA).- Many bishops spend their days carefully making plans to lead and manage the dioceses entrusted to them.

Bishop George Pallipparambil of the Indian diocese of Miao is different. He says that in his diocese, t… […]

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News Briefs

Pope says entrepreneurship needed in face of ‘scandalous poverty’

November 7, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Vatican City, Nov 7, 2018 / 04:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis spoke of the need for creative entrepreneurship in the face of “scandalous poverty” Wednesday, stressing the importance of generosity with one’s possessions.

“If there is hunger on earth, it is not because food is missing!” Pope Francis said in St. Peter’s Square Nov. 7.

“What is lacking is a free and far-sighted entrepreneurship, which ensures adequate production, and a solidarity approach, which ensures fair distribution,” he continued.

“Possession is a responsibility,” Francis stressed. “The ownership of a good makes the one who owns it an ‘administrator of Providence.’”

“The possession of goods is an opportunity to multiply them with creativity and use them with generosity, and thus grow in love and freedom,” he said.

Quoting the catechism, Pope Francis said, “Man, using created goods, must consider the external things that he legitimately possesses, not only as his own, but also as common, in the sense that they can benefit not only him but also others.”

The pope’s remarks on entrepreneurship and ownership came during a reflection on the seventh commandment, “Thou shall not steal.” In recent months, Pope Francis has dedicated his weekly general audiences to a series of lessons and reflections on the Ten Commandments recorded in the scriptural books of Exodus and Deuteronomy.

“‘Do not steal’ means: love with your goods, take advantage of your means to love as you can. Then your life becomes good and possession becomes truly a gift. Because life is not the time to possess, but to love,” Francis said.

In a departure from his prepared remarks, he said, “If I can give … I am rich, not only in what I possess, but also in generosity.”

“In fact, if I cannot give something, it’s because that thing has me — I’m a slave!” he added.

Pope Francis reflected upon St. Paul’s letter to St. Timothy, which says, “For the love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.”

Christ “enriched us with his poverty,” Pope Francis said.

“While humanity struggles to get more, God redeems him by making himself poor: the Crucified Man has paid for all an inestimable ransom from God the Father, ‘rich in mercy,’” he continued.

The love of money leads to vanity, pride, and arrogance, the pope warned, adding that “the devil enters through the pockets.”

During his general audience, the pope greeted pilgrims from around the world, including a particular greeting for the participants of the first International Men’s Meeting in Rome.

The pope also mentioned that this weekend will mark the 100th anniversary of the independence of Poland and said, “May you always be accompanied by the protection of Mary Queen of Poland and the blessing of God!”

[…]

The Dispatch

Roots of Catholic anger

November 7, 2018 George Weigel 62

After a month out of the country, working in Rome at Synod-2018 and helping mark the 40th anniversary of John Paul II’s election at events in Brussels and Warsaw, I came home to find Catholic […]