Vatican City, Apr 7, 2020 / 05:15 am (CNA).- The Vatican has welcomed the Australian High Court’s decision to quash Cardinal George Pell’s sexual abuse conviction.
A statement from the Holy See press office, issued April 7, said: "The Holy See, which has always expressed confidence in the Australian judicial authority, welcomes the High Court’s unanimous decision concerning Cardinal George Pell, acquitting him of the accusations of abuse of minors and overturning his sentence.”
“Entrusting his case to the court’s justice, Cardinal Pell has always maintained his innocence, and has waited for the truth to be ascertained.”
“At the same time, the Holy See reaffirms its commitment to preventing and pursuing all cases of abuse against minors."
The High Court handed down its judgement in Brisbane April 7.
The cardinal, now 78, was convicted Dec. 11, 2018, on five charges that he sexually abused two 13-year-old choir boys after Sunday Mass while he was Archbishop of Melbourne in 1996 and 1997. He maintained his innocence throughout his long legal battle.
He was sentenced to six years in prison, of which he would have had to serve at least three years and eight months before being eligible to apply for parole.
As a convicted child sex offender, Pell had been held in solitary confinement for extra protection from other inmates. He was not permitted to celebrate Mass.
After the High Court ruling he was released from the high-security Barwon Prison and is reported to have moved to a Carmelite monastery outside of Melbourne.
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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jan 19, 2021 / 01:55 pm (CNA).- The Presidential Inaugural Committee is facilitating donations to Planned Parenthood, encouraging supporters to sponsor American flags on the National Mall in the name of unity.
Through the committee’s “America United” program around the Jan. 20 Presidential Inauguration, supporters of President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris are encouraged to become a “symbolic sponsor” of the “Field of Flags” on the National Mall; they can do so by donating to a number of groups including Planned Parenthood.
“At a time when Americans cannot gather together in person for the inauguration, the PIC will install an extensive public art display on the National Mall that will include approximately 191,500 U.S. flags of varying sizes, including flags representing every state and territory, and 56 pillars of light,” the committee stated in a Jan. 11 announcement.
The hundreds of thousands of flags “will represent the American people who are unable to travel to Washington, DC,” the committee stated, encouraging supporters “to become a symbolic sponsor of the Field of Flags in exchange for a donation to PIC’s partners in service.”
Here’s your first glimpse of what the #NationalMall will look like for Wednesday’s Inauguration of @joebiden: a sea of 200k US flags and state/territory flags. “All of it to show the American people that we’re thinking about them in this time” – @moojv77. More on @cbsthismorningpic.twitter.com/rwHgW2tRGa
On the donation page for the Field of Flags, among the 95 groups listed as “partners” of the committee is the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
Among the other 95 “partner groups” of the committee are a number of pro-LGBT groups including the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), and the National Center for Lesbian Rights.
At the bottom of the donation site of ActBlue Charities, a 501(c)3 charitable organization of the Democratic fundraising site ActBlue, users are informed that they will receive emails from Planned Parenthood.
“You’ll receive emails from Planned Parenthood organizations. You may unsubscribe at any time,” the site reads.
The committee had announced the “America United” program as an effort that “reflects the Biden-Harris commitment to healing the nation and bringing Americans together.”
Planned Parenthood supported the Biden-Harris ticket, and expressed jubilation over the selection of Harris as the Democratic vice presidential nominee in August.
In August, Planned Parenthood Action spent five figures on an online video ad hailing Harris as “OUR Reproductive Health Champion.” The group Planned Parenthood Votes also released a fact-sheet “Nine Reasons to Love Kamala Harris.”
As a 501(c)4 organization, the Presidential Inaugural Committee is considered a non-profit under tax law; such organizations can engage in certain political advocacy, such as endorsing political candidates, that 501(c)3 charitable organizations cannot engage in.
The “America United” program of the inauguration committee cited the need for unity amid “unprecedented crisis and deep divisions,” including more than 370,000 deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic, economic hardships, and “political divisions.”
Ordination of deacons of the Pontifical North American College Seminary in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, on Sept. 29, 2022 / Evandro Inetti / CNA
CNA Newsroom, Oct 4, 2022 / 07:03 am (CNA).
“It is really an exciting time to become a saint,” Monsignor Thomas Powers, the new rector of the Pontifical North American College Seminary, told EWTN News ahead of the ordination of 23 deacons from his college on Sept. 29.
“We know from history, from Church history in particular, that the saints were risen up in times of persecution, in difficult times, within and outside the Church,” Powers said. Speaking about the men who would be ordained, he praised their readiness “to step up and to be called to heroic virtue, and to become the saints that that we’re all called to be.”
Monsignor Thomas W. Powers is the twenty-fourth rector of the Pontifical North American College in Rome. EWTN Vatican
The 23 men from the North American College ordained to the Diaconate on Sept. 29 were joined for the ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica by over a thousand family members and friends. They prostrated themselves in front of the altar and dedicated their lives in service to God’s Church and to his people.
Monsignor Powers hopes others will follow the same path as these men and become seminarians. “Pray that young men hear God’s voice and decide to become priests,” he said.
According to a 2021 study from Georgetown University, enrollment in seminary programs has been quite steady in the last two decades. Still, Powers believes that the Church needs strong leadership now as much as ever. Speaking of his own students, he explained: “they’re about to embark on a life that’s very joyful. It’s fulfilling, it’s rewarding, but it’s also challenging, because we have challenges within the Church and outside of the Church.”
He praised the faith of his students, saying, “I thank God on my knees every day for the men that are here, because they’re superb, wonderful, joyful men. They want to be good, holy priests, and they want to be formed well in their faith.”
Ordination of deacons of the Pontifical North American College Seminary in St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, on Sept. 29, 2022. Evandro Inetti / CNA
This formation, Powers believes, is integral to the development of strong Catholic priests. He recounted his own experience studying in Rome, near the residence of the Holy Father and at the center of the Catholic Church. But the formation vital for his development as a priest was the fraternal formation he gained through friendship and community with his fellow seminarians.
“For two years, we stayed here in Rome,” Powers recalled. “Maybe our families visited, maybe they did not. But, we really had to learn to develop a new relationship with Jesus Christ. Ties back home were cut, and we were formed as a men and as Christians who wanted to give our lives as priests,” Powers said. “I have wonderful friendships from my time here that continue to this day and I know the men being ordained today will say the same thing.”
He spoke of the calling received by each priest and each diaconate candidate: “I think it’s amazing that God’s voice still gets through, that these men still hear God’s voice, and they respond generously, and give that that Marian ‘Yes’ to what God is asking them to do, despite our complicated society and the very difficult and challenging times inside and outside of the Church,” he said.
He said priests and seminarians “come from different backgrounds, experiences, family life, origins, and yet they all hear that same call. That’s an individual call from God, each one of them. And, so, it’s inspiring that they listen to that call.”
Monsignor Powers hopes that watching the ordination of these men will inspire others to become seminarians. “It’s really all the Church asks,” he said, “that a young man leaves his heart open, just as I did and just as these men about to be ordained did. Leave your heart open to the possibility, and let God surprise you.”
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