We stand at a pivotal point in the great moral debate over abortion in our country—not because new arguments have emerged, but rather because laws so breathtaking in their barbarism have been passed, and a […]
Vatican City, Apr 9, 2019 / 12:59 pm (CNA).- The leaders of the newest country in the world will meet this week in the smallest country in the world.
Vatican City will host the leaders of war-torn South Sudan for a spiritual retreat April 10-11, with … […]
San Francisco, Calif., Apr 9, 2019 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- Asylum seekers crossing the southern border may no longer have to return to Mexico while their cases are heard after a federal judge blocked the Department of Homeland Security’s Migrant Protection Protocols.
Judge Richard Seeborg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled April 9 that Homeland Security’s new protocols, announced in December 2018, did not adequately protect the safety of asylum applicants.
Shortly after the Migrant Protection Protocols were announced, the American Civil Liberties Union and immigration advocacy organizations filed a suit on behalf of 11 people seeking asylum in the United States from Central America.
The suit alleged that preventing the asylum seekers from staying in the United States is a violation of international law regarding humanitarian protections.
The protocols would have kept those seeking asylum in the United States in Mexico while their cases were being decided. Asylum seekers were to remain in Tijuana, near the border with the United States, and would be bussed to San Diego for court appearances.
The policy was intended to prevent asylum seekers from missing court appearances in favor of remaining in the United States illegally.
“Aliens trying to game the system to get into our country illegally will no longer be able to disappear into the United States, where many skip their court dates,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said in December.
“Instead, they will wait for an immigration court decision while they are in Mexico. ‘Catch and release’ will be replaced with ‘catch and return,'” she said.
Nielsen resigned from the Department of Homeland Security on April 7, but remains in post until Wednesday. Her replacement has not yet been announced. Kevin McAleenan, the commissioner of Customs and Border Protection, will serve as acting secretary.
Seeborg said that the policy did not properly ensure the safety of asylum applicants while their cases were being decided. The decision does not have immediate effect and the administration has until Friday afternoon to decide if they will appeal.
In November 2018, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration issued a joint statement with the presidents of Catholic Relief Services, Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Legal Immigration Network stating they concern at the Trump administration’s policy about asylum-seekers.
“While our teaching acknowledges the right of each nation to regulate its borders, we find this action deeply concerning,” said the statement.
“It will restrict and slow access to protection for hundreds of children and families fleeing violence in Central America, potentially leaving them in unsafe conditions in Mexico or in indefinite detention situations at the U.S./Mexico border. We reiterate that it is not a crime to seek asylum and this right to seek refuge is codified in our laws and in our values.”
The signatories said they hoped the administration would “seek other solutions” to improve the integrity of the immigration system, as well as protect children and families.
“The Catholic Church will continue to serve, accompany and assist all those who flee persecution, regardless of where they seek such protection and where they are from,” they said.
San Diego, Calif., Apr 9, 2019 / 10:37 am (CNA).- Hoping to curb incidents of after-Mass road rage, a Catholic church in San Diego has posted signs throughout the parking lot reminding parishioners of the graces they have received during Mass.
On Thur… […]
Washington D.C., Apr 9, 2019 / 09:45 am (CNA).- The release and success of the pro-life film Unplanned is being credited with an uptick in women seeking information on reversing chemical abortions.
The Options Line, run by Heartbeat International&rsqu… […]
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”.
© Catholic World Report