Vatican City, Apr 10, 2019 / 09:49 am (CNA).- As Pope Francis’ council of cardinals wraps up the drafting of a new apostolic constitution, they have decided to take up the topic of management roles for women working in the Vatican.
Vatican spoke… […]
Vatican City, Apr 10, 2019 / 03:49 am (CNA).- Pope Francis warned Wednesday that pride is the most dangerous attitude in the Christian life, pointing out that even the holiest of people have received everything from God.
“None of us loves God as He loved us. It is enough to put oneself before a crucifix to grasp the disproportion,” Pope Francis said April 10.
“Before God we are all sinners,” Francis said. “If we say we are without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us,” he said quoting the first epistle of John.
The pope said that pride is “the most dangerous attitude of every Christian life,” warning that arrogance can “also infect people who live an intense religious life.”
“There are glaring sins that make noise, and there are also devious sins, which lurk in the heart without us even realizing it. The worst of these is pride,” Francis said.
The sin of pride divides people and makes us presume to be better than others, he explained. “We always remain children who owe everything to the Father.”
Pope Francis said that when we go through difficult days, we must always remember that life is a miracle that God has created from nothing.
“In this life we have received so much: existence, a father and a mother, friendship, the wonders of creation,” he said.
“If you love, it is because someone next to you has awakened you to love, making you understand how in it lies the meaning of existence,” he explained.
Pope Francis called this principle the “mystery of the moon,” which has no light of its own, but reflects the light of the sun.
“We love because we have been loved, we forgive because we have been forgiven,” he said. “None of us shines with our own light.”
The pope said that understanding this can give us a greater empathy for others.
“Let’s try to listen to the story of some person who made a mistake: a prisoner, a convict, a drug addict,” Francis said. Without neglecting to consider personal responsibility, he said, you can ask yourself whether these mistakes are the result of a “story of hatred and abandonment that someone carries with him.”
Pope Francis reflected on a line, “Forgive us our trespasses” as a part of his ongoing catechesis on the “Our Father” prayer.
“Lord, even the holiest among us does not cease to be your debtor. O Father, have pity on us all,” Pope Francis prayed.
Vancouver, Canada, Apr 10, 2019 / 03:04 am (CNA).- A former inmate in Canada credits volunteers and staff members working in prison ministry in the Archdiocese of Vancouver with helping to transform his life – helping him find sobriety and a rela… […]
New York City, N.Y., Apr 10, 2019 / 12:00 am (CNA).- The site of a former church in New York City has been transformed into affordable housing units, and the Archdiocese of New York plans to develop 2,000 affordable units from its building stock over t… […]
During an eco-talk in another diocese, a participant shared with me how her parish celebrated Masses for creation. Special readings were read and hymns were sung, and the entrance procession, she said, included a child […]
Vatican City, Apr 9, 2019 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- The Vatican updated Tuesday the complementary norms of the constitution governing personal ordinariates, a structure by which Anglicans may enter into full communion with the Catholic Church.
The complement… […]
Jalandhar, India, Apr 9, 2019 / 05:04 pm (CNA).- Bishop Franco Mulakkal of Jullundur, India has been charged with raping a nun nine times over a two-year period and faces a maximum sentence of life imprisonment, local authorities announced today.
The … […]
Washington D.C., Apr 9, 2019 / 04:28 pm (CNA).- With 2019 well underway, states across the country have seen an increase in bills related to abortion, as pro-life advocates seek more success and abortion rights backers fear Supreme Court decisions.
&l… […]
Jakarta, Indonesia, Apr 9, 2019 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- Indonesia’s Supreme Court has rejected the appeal of a Buddhist woman who was convicted of blasphemy for complaining about the volume of a local mosque’s call to worship.
The court’s ruling was made March 27, and posted to its website April 8.
The woman, Meliana, is of Chinese descent and lives in Tanjung Balai, about 110 miles southeast of Medan. She said in 2016 that an adhan was “too loud” and hurt her ears, according to The Jakarta Post. She made the comment in a private conversation to her neighbor, Kasini, but her words were subsequently twisted to seem like an objection to the adhan itself and spread on social media.
Anti-Chinese violence flared in Tanjung Balai after Meliana’s comments were shared on social media, with her property and several Buddhist temples being set aflame.
She was convicted of blasphemy, and sentenced in August 2018 to 18 months in prison. She had lost an appeal with the North Sumatra High Court before turning to the Supreme Court.
Meliana’s lawyer, Ranto Sibarani, said he was surprised her conviction was upheld because he considered there wasn’t enough evidence of blasphemy.
“The evidence was only a statement signed by residents. It’s strange that a statement signed by other people could be used as evidence of religious blasphemy,” Sibarani told The Jakarta Post. He said the statement letter used as evidence in the court was written six months after the incident.
He told Al Jazeera: “There is no evidence that she committed blasphemy. This hoax spread in the course of a week and ruined a woman’s life in the process. Today’s decision is very dangerous because in the future it means that people can spread false information which will lead to wrongful convictions under the blasphemy law.”
Sibarani intends to file a judicial review of the case.
Two prominent Islamic organizations in Indonesia, Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah, have reportedly criticized Meliana’s conviction, saying a complaint over the volume of adhans should not be considered blasphemy.
Meliana was charged with blasphemy only after the local chapter of the Indonesian Ulema Council issued an opinion saying she had insulted Islam. The Islamic Defenders Front has supported her conviction.
Indonesia is the largest Muslim-majority nation in population. Alongside the 87 percent of its population who are Muslim, 10 percent of the population is Christian, and 2 percent are Hindu. Discrimination and attacks on religious minorities occur not infrequently
The constitution of the country officially invokes “belief in the One and Only God” and guarantees religious freedom, but strict blasphemy laws embedded in its criminal code have been criticized by national and international human rights groups. Almost all blasphemy cases in Indonesia have ended in convictions.
Basuki Tjahaja Purnama, a Christian and the former governor of Jakarta, completed a two-year sentence in January on a conviction of insulting the Quran.
Washington D.C., Apr 9, 2019 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- The U.S. bishops have urged support for legislation to limit abortion on the same day as abortion survivor Melissa Ohden appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Ohden testified before the committee Tuesday during hearings on the Pain-Capable Child Protection Act, telling senators that “abortion doesn’t spare a child from suffering, it causes suffering.”
“I have lived every day since discovering the truth about my survival at the age of 14 knowing that, sadly, children just like me are being subjected to similarly horrific, painful abortion procedures that lead to their death,” she said.
The bill would prohibit abortion after the 20th week of a pregnancy, at which point there is broad consensus that unborn babies are capable of feeling pain.
Ohden survived a saline-infusion abortion when she was at 31 weeks’ gestation. She said her birthmother, who was a teenager, was pressured into having an abortion she did not want.
Five days after being injected with the saline solution, Ohden’s mother gave birth to her. She weighed only 2 pounds and 14 ounces.
Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City, chair of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishop’s pro-life comittee, said that the bill highlights the “shameful reality that the United States is one of only seven nations worldwide that allows the barbaric practice of late-term abortion, when a child likely feels pain and might even live outside the womb with appropriate medical assistance.”
The legislation was introduced by committee chairman Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who has sponsored similar legislation each year since 2013.
“I don’t believe abortion five months into the pregnancy makes us a better nation. America’s at her best when she’s standing up for the least among us,” said Graham during the hearing.
During her own opening remarks, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) accused Graham of trying to play politics with women’s health, and that the bill itself is unconstitutional.
“The Supreme Court has made clear, repeatedly, that laws banning abortion before viability are unconstitutional,” Feinstein said, noting that similar state-level bans at 20 weeks have been struck down.
Ohden offered the senators a graphic account of how saline abortions like the one she survived are intended to kill the unborn child.
“As the toxic salt solution of the saline infusion abortion was injected into the amniotic fluid surrounding me in the womb, attempting to scald and poison me to death, I wonder how long it took for the pain to set in,” she said.
“If you read about it online or in medical journals, you will find children like me called the ‘red skinned,’ or ‘candy-apple babies,’ because that toxic solution would turn the skin bright red, as it peeled it away and moved internally into the organs.”
Ohden said that her medical records state that “a saline infusion for an abortion was done, but was unsuccessful,” meaning that she was born alive. A nurse noticed her breathing, she explained, and brought her to the neonatal intensive care unit. Only then was any effort made to reduce the amount of pain she was in.
“I can only imagine how my pain finally began to subside as medical treatment was provided to me,” she said.
Due to the effects of the abortion and premature birth, Ohden had numerous medical issues, including jaundice, seizures, and respiratory issues. She has since recovered, and says her life is “a set of many miracles.”
Ohden, the founder of the Abortion Survivors Network, said she has connected with 281 abortion survivors. She suspects there are many more abortion survivors, as proper statistics on aboriton survival are not kept.
“Every child deserves better than to suffer the pain of an abortion,” she said.
Archbishop Naumann said in a statement circulated by the U.S. Bishops Conference Tuesday that such procedures are dangerous to the woman, and noted that the vast majority of Americans are opposed to late-term abortions.
“It is time for Congress to pass this bill,” he said.
“I also pray that consideration of this bill moves our country closer to recognizing all unborn babies as legal persons worthy of our love and respect,” said Naumann.
The other six countries that permit late-term abortion are Canada, China, Netherlands, North Korea, Singapore, and Vietnam.
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