Vatican City, Apr 9, 2019 / 08:21 am (CNA).- Thirty-five years ago today, William A. Wilson presented his credentials to Pope John Paul II, becoming America’s first ambassador to the Holy See. This historic moment marked the start of formal diplo… […]
Kigali, Rwanda, Apr 9, 2019 / 12:37 am (CNA).- The story of Cyprien and Daphrose Rugumba is a story of atheism and devout faith, of a strained marriage and a love that overcomes obstacles, of a powerful conversion that was able to change an entire life… […]
Mosul, Iraq, Apr 8, 2019 / 10:01 pm (CNA).-
Archbishop Petros Mouche heads the Syriac-Catholic Archdiocese of Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city, which was captured by ISIS in the summer of 2014.
Today, with ISIS ousted from Mosul and the… […]
Eleven Discalced Carmelite Sisters of Fairfield, Pennsylvania are establishing a new monastery on a 40-acre, hilltop site in the Diocese of Harrisburg, just eight miles from the historic town of Gettysburg. The nuns were originally […]
Homs, Syria, Apr 8, 2019 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- During a visit to Homs last week, the superior general of the Society of Jesus said that he would be happy to open a cause of beatification for Fr. Frans van der Lugt, who was killed in the Syrian city five years ago.
“I would be happy, God willing, to work for the opening of the cause of Fr Frans van der Lugt so that he may serve as a model of self-giving and holiness for this country, Syria, and for the whole Church,” Fr. Arturo Sosa said April 6 during a trip commemorating the April 7, 2014 death of the priest.
Fr. van der Lugt, a native of the Netherlands, was killed by an unknown gunman. He was caring for the fewer than 30 Christians who then remained in the Old City district of Homs, which had been blockaded by the Syrian government for nearly two years as part of the Syrian civil war.
Fr. Sosa visited Homs April 5-6, and Beirut April 7, in memory of Fr. van der Lugt, delivering and address and celebrating Masses. Fr. Ziad Hilal, a Syrian Jesuit, told La Croix that Fr. Sosa was accompanied by Fr. Pascual Cebollada, the Society’s general postulator.
“According to the rules of the Church, it is necessary to wait for five years after the death of someone before introducing his or her case for beatification. It is time now to begin the process,” Fr. Hilal said.
Fr. van der Lugt served in Syria nearly 50 years, 30 of them in Homs, and was involved in interreligious dialogue and had built a spirituality center that housed children with mental disabilities.
During his April 6 address, Fr. Sosa said: “Being here with you in Homs on the eve of the 5th anniversary of the martyrdom of Fr Frans van der Lugt is a particularly important and moving moment for me … To come to Syria, to know this place where Fr. Frans lived for many years, to be one of the so many pilgrims who give thanks for what his life has meant, even without knowing him, was for me a wish, indeed a burning desire ever since I first heard about him.”
Fr. van der Lugt “loved this country, Syria, and the many and diverse people with whom he was in contact for almost 50 years, and to whom he gave himself by speaking their language, receiving everything from them and presenting himself to them with empty hands,” the superior general said.
“His whole life was in perfect harmony and in tune with these principles, and his martyrdom was the natural result of all that he had experienced.”
During the siege of Homs “Fr Frans gave himself to everyone, enduring famine and sometimes persecution. He refused to leave this place while others were still confined there. He had to give up everything except his hope and faith in life and resurrection,” Fr. Sosa reflected.
“May the Lord give us the grace, through the intercession of Fr Frans, to continue our mission with courage, determination and hope, especially in this country where there have been so many trials and so much suffering and where the challenges of reconciliation and peace continue to be so urgent and immense,” he concluded.
During his homily at a Mass in Homs April 5, Fr. Sosa said that during the blockade of Homs “Frans’ first concern was to ensure that bread would be shared to feed the few who had stayed behind.”
“He could have fled from this hell on earth so many times. However, he freely and voluntarily chose to show solidarity with each of these little ones, whom he considered to be his brothers and sisters, not wanting to abandon any of them.”
To foster interreligious unity in Syria, Fr. van der Lugt would organized multi-day walking tours to sites in the country, and days of work and activity for handicapped persons in the countryside outside Homs.
Wael Salibi, a young friend of Fr. van der Lugt, told CNA shortly after his death that “we didn’t know when we (were) suffering, when we lost the road, who was walking with him, whether he was Christian or Muslim, we are just sons of God and sons of this land, Syria … that was his target, to put Muslims and Christians together.”
“We never felt like he wasn’t Syrian. I think he’s Syrian more than anyone I know,” Salibi added. “He changed the lives of thousands of people… he taught us the meaning of love not just with words, but with life.”
In the week following Fr. van der Lugt’s death, Pope Francis said he was a man who “always did good to all, with gratuity and love,” and who was “loved and admired by both Christians and Muslims.”
Two months before his death Fr. van der Lugt told AFP that “the Syrian people have given me so much, so much kindness, inspiration and everything they have. If the Syrian people are suffering now, I want to share their pain and their difficulties.”
In the homily at his first Mass, said May 30, 1971, Fr. van der Lugt said: “It is only when my hands are empty that I can really receive the other; to fill my hands with him, to give him space in my arms, to call him by his name, speak his language. (…) I found all this in one who fascinates me to the depths of my being, a man who was able to live simply, with empty hands: Jesus of Nazareth. Knowing how to live with empty hands, he always made room in his life for his Father and for his fellow human beings”.
London, England, Apr 8, 2019 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- At a ecumenical rally to call for an end to knife crime, the Archbishop of Westminster on Saturday challenged the community to provide youths with positive alternatives to gangs.
Cardinal Vincent Nichols spoke at the Standing Together rally in London’s Trafalgar Square April 6. He highlighted efforts being taken by the Catholic Church to discourage gang enrollment and called for more action from parishes, schools, and parents.
“The only way of counteracting a gang culture is to create for young people a sense of belonging to something else: something that’s positive, creative and attractive to them,” said Nichols.
The April 6 event was hosted by Ascension Trust in partnership with London City Mission, Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, and the Diocese of Southwark. The goal of the rally is to encourage the community to work against gang violence and support those who have been affected by it.
In 2017 and 2018, 285 people in the UK died from stabbings, the highest number on record; and there have been 22 fatal stabbings in London in 2019, according to the BBC.
Knife offenses in England and Wales have risen steadily since 2014, to more than 39,800 in 2017-2018. The vast majority of knife offenses in England and Wales are assault or robbery; though most violent attacks do not involve the use of any weapon.
In London, black and minority ethnic teenage boys and young men are disproportionately affected by knife crime, both as victims and perpetrators.
Nichols drew attention to some Catholic schools in London who have worked with the Metropolitan Police on anti-gang programs. Before children are introduced to gangs, he said, these programs provide explanations of this life-style’s dangers and the means for children to counteract offers.
He also applauded the efforts of a parish priest in his archdiocese seeking to initiate a boxing club. The cardinal said boxing has been a positive avenue for youth in the past. These opportunities even led to careers, as in the case of John Conteh, he said.
“In my youth in Liverpool there were a lot of Catholic parishes with boxing clubs because they taught discipline and the right use of strength,” he said.
“This was the alternative to gang culture and this is the kind of reaction we need to involve young people in a way that calls out their commitment and helps them to build discipline and self-control in their lives, and that’s the best counter to some of the worst influences today.”
Nichols also encouraged parents to talk to their children about truth, and find times to sit in silence and pray, specifically to counter the influences of social media. These outlets are restricting the full potential of young people, he said, noting the media contain false promises and is a promotion of instant gratification.
“In families and schools we need to be scrupulous in telling each other the truth and not hiding behind the half-truths, crudeness and unworthiness of things that are cheap, quick and popular today.”
Speaking directly to the youth, the cardinal encouraged young people to remove themselves from gangs and throw out knives at anonymous deposit boxes throughout the city. These weapons do not ensure security, he said, noting that carrying knife will only promote its use and put oneself and others at risk. Rather, he said young people should seek out sincere friendships.
“So build friendships, find places where you can go and sit and honestly talk and share your experiences with other people. Say your prayers, turn to God, turn to Christ and let your life grow from that relationship with Jesus rather than from anywhere else.”
The British government announced last month it would provide police in England and Wales an additional GBP 100m ($130.6m) in the next year to counter knife crime.
Police in England and Wales were also given greater power to search people without reasonable suspicion in areas where there is a risk that serious violence may occur.
Washington D.C., Apr 8, 2019 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has criticized Vice President Mike Pence for his views on gay marriage, saying that his civil marriage to his same-sex partner has led him closer to God.
Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, contracted a civil marriage with his partner Chasten, in a June 2018 Episcopalian ceremony.
Before he became vice president, Pence was Indiana’s governor from 2013 until 2017. In that office, he supported an attempt to amend the state constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman, and signed the 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act into law. The act was criticized by gay rights activists as permitting discrimination by religious organizations.
“My marriage to Chasten has made me a better man,” said Buttigieg, speaking April 7 at a fundraiser for the Victory Fund, an organization dedicated to electing homosexual political candidates.
“And yes, Mr. Vice President, it has moved me closer to God.”
Buttigieg said that he wishes “the Mike Pences of the world would understand” that he was born gay and that he cannot change this. “Your problem is not with me. Your quarrel, sir, is with my creator,” Buttigieg said.
Both Pence and Buttigieg are baptized Catholics, but neither attends Mass. Buttigieg describes himself as a devout Episcopalian. Pence attends an evangelical church and has described himself as an “evangelical Catholic.”
Earlier this year, a brief controversy arose after it was announced that Pence’s wife, Karen, had taken a job teaching art at Immanuel Christian School. Immanuel Christian School considers homosexual sex acts to be “moral misconduct,” and employees are not permitted to engage in or support these activities.
Pence has denied criticisms that he is “homophobic,” saying that his support for traditional marriage law and religious freedom initiatives, including Indiana’s 2015 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, are not borne of homophobia.
Pence said in 2015 that Indiana law “does not allow businesses the right to deny services to anyone.”
In 2015, he said on Twitter that “If I saw a restaurant owner refuse to serve a gay couple, I wouldn’t eat there anymore.”
The Catholic Church teaches that marriage is a lifelong partnership between one man and one woman. While teaching that homosexual acts are in themselves disordered and sinful, the Church also says that of those who experience same-sex attraction must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity.
Fr. Thomas Petri, O.P., Petri, vice president and academic dean at the Pontifical Faculty of the Immaculate Conception at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington, DC, told CNA that the Church’s view on human sexuality is rooted not only in tradition and scripture, but also in the natural law.
“Quite simply, the Catholic tradition going back not only to Judaism but to the natural law is that sex is ordered to procreation and the raising of children. Sex brings a man and a woman together in a union that is not only life-giving but also bond-creating. It’s a union that cannot be simulated by any other type of genital activity,” Petri said.
“Insisting that sex can or should work any other way is to lie to oneself in a desperate attempt to justify a disorder of sexuality and self-image.”
Petri told CNA that he rejects Buttigieg’s claim that God creates anyone to have a homosexual sexual orientation.
“To further conclude that God positively wills people to have disordered desires approaches the line of material heresy and flies in the face of what Christians have believed about God for two thousand years,” he said.
Last week, Pope Francis said that experiencing homosexual desire is not itself sinful, likening the experience to a disposition to anger, and underscoring the Church’s teaching that only acts, including acts of the will, constitute sin. The pope also noted an increasing sexualization of young people in society, and cautioned parents against making assumptions about their children’s sexual orientation.
On Meet the Press on Sunday, Buttigieg also defended earlier remarks in which he appeared to question President Donald Trump’s belief in God, suggesting that Trump’s Evangelical Christian supporters are hypocrites.
Trump, said Buttigieg, is not following scriptural imperatives for believers to care for widows and immigrants, and therefore is not behaving in a Christlike manner.
“The hypocrisy is unbelievable,” said Buttigieg. “Here you have somebody who not only acts in a way that is not consistent with anything that I hear in scripture in church, where it’s about lifting up the least among us and taking care of strangers, which is another word for immigrants, and making sure that you’re focusing your effort on the poor–but also personally, how you’re supposed to conduct yourself.”
Self-described white born-again/evangelical Christians voted overwhelmingly for Trump in 2016, with 81 percent in favor compared to only 16 percent voting for Hillary Clinton.
Historically, white evangelical support for Republican presidential candidates has never fallen below 74 percent. In 2016, the Protestant/other Christian vote split was nearly identical to the 2012 election.
Catholics, particularly Hispanic Catholics, supported Trump in 2016 at higher levels than they did Mitt Romney in 2012. The last time a Republican presidential candidate won majority support among Catholic voters was George W. Bush in 2004.
In response to Buttigieg’s comments on biblical imperatives, Meet the Press host Chuck Todd asked the mayor about his thoughts on abortion. Buttigieg, who considers himself pro-choice, said that he thinks abortion is a moral question that should be decided by a woman and her doctor, not by “a male government official imposing his interpretation of his religion.”
The Church teaches that abortion is the deliberate ending of an innocent human life, and is a grave sin.
Dr. Chad Pecknold, associate professor of systematic theology at the Catholic University of America, told CNA that Buttigieg offered “a very selective account of Christianity.”
“Mr. Buttigieg invokes Christian authority wherever it can be made to agree with his politics, and yet finds it irrelevant wherever it disagrees,” said Pecknold.
“This approach makes Christianity into a political plaything. This is perfectly illustrated by the way Mr. Buttigieg claims that public policy should favor the poor, but not the unborn. When he calls out other politicians for their Christian hypocrisy, it’s less a matter of theological expertise than a case of the pot calling the kettle.”
“Authentic Christian political thought does not choose between those who need to be protected and defended,” Pecknold said.
When the Vatican announced that Theodore McCarrick had been found guilty of several serious crimes, including the abuse of children and adults and solicitation in the confessional, it also announced that he was to be […]
Jerusalem, Apr 8, 2019 / 02:30 pm (CNA).- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Saturday that he will declare sovereignty over existing settlements in the West Bank if he is reelected prime minister. Parliamentary elections in Israel will take… […]
Jalandhar, India, Apr 8, 2019 / 02:15 pm (CNA).- The bishop accused of serially raping a nun could face criminal charges this week, as Indian police say they will ask a court to charge him with rape, evidence tampering, and menacing his accuser.
In Ju… […]
© Catholic World Report