Polish priest attacked in sacristy during apparent robbery

Cardinal Reinhard Marx, pictured in Rome Feb. 24, 2019. / Daniel Ibáñez/CNA.

Munich, Germany, Jun 4, 2021 / 04:03 am (CNA).
Cardinal Reinhard Marx, the 67-year-old archbishop of Munich and Freising, has offered his resignation to Pope Francis.Th… […]

Rome Newsroom, May 13, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- For the first time in its history, the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima celebrated the May 13 anniversary of the 1917 Marian apparitions without the presence of the public. 

“Yes, the sanctuary is empty, but not deserted. We are physically separated, but spiritually united as a Church with Mary, in an intense way, with a heart full of faith and trust,” Cardinal António Marto said as he led the rosary on the eve of the anniversary.

“Holy Mary, teach us to believe, hope, and love you. Star of the Sea, shine on us and guide us on our way in the sea of history,” the cardinal prayed.

Marto, the bishop of Leiria-Fátima, offered Mass May 13 via livestream at the Fatima shrine, calling for conversion and dedication to the rosary in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

“A pandemic is a call to a deep spiritual conversion,” Cardinal Marto said in his homily May 13.

“A short time ago we were living with enormous trust in the technical-scientific power, in the economical-financial power, thinking that we were perhaps immune to any epidemic or, if it came, a quick solution would be found. But, unexpectedly, an unpredictable, invisible, silent virus, able to contaminate everything and all, staggering the world. We felt the ground falter under our feet,” he said. 

Marto said that the current “dramatic and tragic situation” reveals humanity’s vulnerability and frailty, and invites one to reflect on what is essential in life.

In Portugal, the celebrations of Our Lady of Fatima began on the eve of the feast. Fr. Carlos Cabecinhas, the rector of the Marian shrine, invited families to place candles in the windows of their houses as a way to participate in the traditional procession of candles at Fatima from home.

The rector said that while people cannot make a pilgrimage with their feet, they can make an interior pilgrimage with their hearts.

Public Masses are expected to resume in Portugal May 30 with some restrictions laid out by Portugal’s bishops’ conference to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.

At Fatima’s Chapel of the Apparitions, Cardinal Marto led the rosary May 12 with meditations on the sorrowful mysteries for the intention of ending the coronavirus pandemic.

“To the virus pandemic we want to respond with unity and prayer, with compassion and tenderness,” he said.

“Today we respond with the rosary, a prayer for difficult times,” Marto said. “By meditating on the painful mysteries, we unite all the suffering humanity. We entrust our pain to Mary’s maternal heart.”

The cardinal then quoted the Virgin Mary’s request when she appeared to three shepherd children Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco on May 13, 1917: “Pray the rosary every day to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.”

Jacinta and Francisco Marto were canonized on May 13, 2017, by Pope Francis in Portugal. Both of the young saints died of the Spanish flu pandemic that killed between 50 and 100 million people in the early 20th century.

Pope Francis encouraged devotion to Our Lady of Fatima during his general audience offered via livestream from the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace May 13.

“Today we celebrate the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Fatima,” he said. “We turn our thoughts to the apparitions and its message transmitted throughout the world.”

“In our prayer we ask God, through the intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, for peace for the world, the end of the pandemic, the spirit of penance and our conversion,” Pope Francis said.

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Paris, France, Feb 22, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An international group of Catholic physicians is protesting a law passed by France’s parliament last week sanctioning pro-life websites that aim to dissuade women from abortion by using “misleading claims.”

The law constitutes “a clear violation of the freedom of expression and cannot be approved, especially when it comes from a country which prides herself on being tolerant, broad-minded, and always fighting in the defense of human rights,” the World Federation of the Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) stated.

“In this instance, it would appear that the French government interprets ‘human rights’ as a kind of a privilege to be enjoyed only by women seeking a medical procedure that, from a health standpoint, is not in their or their unborn child’s best interest.”

It continued: “FIAMC protests this immoral law and its future consequences, and denounces the abuse it constitutes. Such a law contradicts the universal moral law and cannot be obeyed in conscience. It is hoped that a future French government will abolish it quickly in order to restore the now tarnished image of this great democratic nation.”

The lower house of the French parliament, which is dominated by the Socialist Party, passed the bill Feb. 16. It was also supported by most Union of Democrats and Independents members of parliament.

The Republicans, who dominate the French Senate, opposed the law. The party has said it will challenge the law in the courts.

The law provides for a penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euro ($31,800) against the directors of publication of websites which run afoul of the law.

#delitdentraveivg @laurossignol CELA PEUT SERVIR DE SYNTHESE A TOUT CE CIRQUE DELIRANT ; Prochaine étape : le conseil constitutionnel ! pic.twitter.com/g8N28Uw3y2

— IVG (@ivg_infos) February 16, 2017

Laurence Rossingol, the French minister for women’s rights, said the law targets pro-life organizations which operate “websites imitating the state websites”; infos ivg is reportedly the site targeted by the law.

Rossingol said pro-life activists can freely express themselves “under the condition they sincerely say who they are, what they do, and what they want.”

The French minister of health and social affairs, Marisol Touraine, said the law is aimed at “preventing these websites from disseminating disinformation.” She also denounced the “cultural climate that tends to make women feel guilty when they consider” abortion.

The bill was introduced in October 2016, and the Catholic Church in France quickly opposed it. Archbishop Georges Pontier of Marseille, president of the French bishops’ conference, wrote Nov. 22 to President Francois Hollande registering the Church’s concerns, saying the proposal “call into question the foundations of our liberties and most particularly the freedom of expression … Can the slightest encouragement to keep one’s child be described as ‘psychological and moral pressure’?”

Alliance Vita, a pro-life group, has denounced the law as an infringement on freedom of speech.

More than 50,000 pro-life supporters marched in Paris Jan. 22 to protest the bill.

“Obstruction to abortion” had been criminalized in 1993. That law prevented pro-life activists from physically blocking access to abortion clinics, and had an identical penalty for offenders, of up to two years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine. The new law had been proposed as an update the 1993 law for cyberspace.

In January 2016 France also abolished a one-week reflection period before a requested abortion could be carried out.

The AFP reports that 220,000 unborn children are aborted annually in France, where abortion was legalized in 1975. It added that approximately one-third of Frenchwomen undergo abortion.

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