Lima, Peru, Apr 23, 2020 / 10:02 am (CNA).- As the ongoing coronavirus lockdown in Peru leaves the working poor in a vulnerable situation, one priest has been working to ensure that thousands in need have access to food.
Fr. Omar Sánchez Portil… […]
CNA Staff, Apr 23, 2020 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles is inviting all U.S. bishops to join him on May 1 in reconsecrating the U.S. to the Blessed Virgin Mary in response to the pandemic. The reconsecration is timed to coincide… […]
Vatican City, Apr 23, 2020 / 08:45 am (CNA).- Pope Francis marked the feast of his namesake on Thursday with a gift of ventilators and other medical equipment to countries with medical systems overwhelmed by the coronavirus outbreak.
Ventilators were … […]
Denver Newsroom, Apr 23, 2020 / 03:00 am (CNA).- Mary Ellen Barrett, a mom living on Long Island, has been homeschooling her children since before coronavirus made it cool (read:necessary) to go to school at […]
Vatican City, Apr 23, 2020 / 08:00 am (CNA).- The Vatican announced Thursday that due to the health situation caused by the coronavirus, the 52nd International Eucharistic Congress, to be held in Budapest in September, has been moved to the year 2021.
… […]
Vatican City, Apr 23, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis asked people to pray on Thursday for families who are struggling to put food on the table during the coronavirus pandemic.
“In many places, one of the effects of this pandemic is that many families find themselves in need, and they are hungry,” Pope Francis said April 23 during the broadcast of his morning Mass.
“Let us pray for these families, for their dignity,” he added.
The pope said that the poor are suffering from “another pandemic”: the economic consequences of layoffs and furloughs. He said that the poor also suffer from the exploitation of unscrupulous money-lenders, and prayed for their conversion.
The coronavirus pandemic threatens food security in many parts of the world. David Beasley, executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP), based in Rome, said April 21 that the world was already facing “the worst humanitarian crisis since World War II” in 2020 before the pandemic.
“So today, with COVID-19, I want to stress that we are not only facing a global health pandemic but also a global humanitarian catastrophe,” he told the UN Security Council via videolink. “If we don’t prepare and act now — to secure access, avoid funding shortfalls and disruptions to trade — we could be facing multiple famines of biblical proportions within a short few months.”
According to the WFP, 130 million people worldwide are on the edge of starvation during the pandemic.
In his homily in the chapel of Casa Santa Marta, his Vatican residence, Pope Francis reflected on Christ as our intercessor before God.
“We are accustomed to praying to Jesus to give us this grace, that other, to help us, but we are not accustomed to contemplating Jesus who shows the Father the wounds, to Jesus, the intercessor, to Jesus who prays for us,” the pope said.
“Let us think about this a little … For each of us Jesus prays. Jesus is the intercessor. Jesus wanted to bring his wounds with him to show them to the Father. It is the price of our salvation,” he said.
Pope Francis recalled an event in chapter 22 of the Gospel of Luke when Jesus said to Peter at the Last Supper: “Simon, Simon, behold Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail.”
“This is Peter’s secret,” the pope said. “Jesus’ prayer. Jesus prays for Peter, so that his faith may not fail and he can – Jesus says – confirm his brothers in faith.”
“And Peter was able to go far, from coward to courageous, with the gift of the Holy Spirit thanks to the prayer of Jesus,” he added.
April 23 is the feast of St. George, Jorge Mario Bergoglio’s namesake. The Vatican celebrates the pope’s “name day” as an official state holiday.
Denver Newsroom, Apr 23, 2020 / 12:24 am (CNA).- While a New Jersey state senator has launched a petition seeking the “thoughtful” resumption of religious services with “reasonable precautions,” the Archdiocese of Newark has stressed the wisdom of statewide restrictions on gatherings given the prevalence of the novel coronavirus in the region.
“As the New Jersey region unfortunately has the highest number of reported Covid-19 cases in the nation, with increasing reported deaths, it is prudent to continue compliance with statewide mandates for social distancing protocols at this time,” Maria Margiotta, director of communications and public relations for the archdiocese, told CNA April 22.
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy’s executive orders ban gatherings of any size as the state battles the novel coronavirus. Businesses deemed non-essential have shut down in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. While symptoms of infection are nonexistent, mild or moderate for most people, a significant minority require hospitalization. Infection can be fatal in a small percentage of cases, especially where the person is elderly or otherwise has health vulnerabilities.
In New Jersey, the executive order’s limits drew objection from State Sen. Mike Doherty, a Republican from the state’s rural northwest.
“We’re asking Governor Murphy to allow religious services to resume in New Jersey in a thoughtful fashion. It’s the right thing to do, both constitutionally and morally,” Doherty said April 19. In his view, “it’s possible for religious services to resume if reasonable precautions are put in place.”
New Jersey has suffered over 5,000 coronavirus-related deaths as of Wednesday, with over 95,000 known cases statewide. It neighbors New York state, where 250,000 confirmed coronavirus cases include over 15,000 deaths, with New York City the worst-hit urban area in the United States.
Doherty emphasized the benefits of religious gatherings in a time of crisis.
“When many of us could be at Sunday services today replenishing a much needed sense of hope in these uncertain times, we instead remain separated in our homes from the communities of faith that sustain us in good times and bad,” he said.
Doherty has launched an online petition for New Jersey residents who wish to share with the governor “their belief that religion is an essential service and constitutionally protected right that should be allowed to resume immediately.” By 7 p.m. local time Wednesday, the petition had more than 1,700 signatures.
Margiotta, the Newark archdiocese spokeswoman, did not address the petition directly. However, she said Catholic churches would reopen only with the decision of the local bishop.
“The process of how and when to reopen churches will be determined by the ordinary and his diocesan staff,” she said. “The well-being and safety of our clergy, staff, and parishioners remain a priority, and the archdiocese will continue to review guidance from federal and state officials as plans to reopen are considered. Although church buildings remain closed, our prayers and celebration of Mass continue via livestream so that we may remain united as one Church and one people amid this ongoing pandemic.”
Last week, Gov. Murphy cited a Harvard University study published in the journal Science as saying social distancing measures might need to last through 2022. Any sports or entertainment gatherings, and possibly high school and college graduations, might need to be held virtually without anyone in the audience.
“I don’t see a normal, even if it were to take place, a normal gathering in the foreseeable future. I just don’t see it,” he said April 15, according to New Jersey 101.5. “I’ll be the happiest guy on the planet if I’m wrong.”
“This is a war. It is the fight of our lives. Wars are not won by one person or one small group. They’re won when millions of people come together in a common cause,” he said. “Our cause right now is totally flattening the curve and then seeing it drop down the other side. Then we can begin the process responsibly along with our neighbors of reopening our state and beginning to live life in our new normal.”
“This is no time to let up. We have got to keep at it,” he said, stressing the need for cases of coronavirus to fall to “a manageable reality” where experts can reconsider social distancing measures. Murphy emphasized “a responsible re-opening” with health care infrastructure and protocols that “frankly, we don’t have at the moment.”
Such protocols include fast and accurate coronavirus testing and the ability to trace the contacts of infected people to prevent contagion from spreading. Citing discussions with experts, Murphy said he thought a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus was unlikely earlier than a year or a year and a half from now.
Doherty’s petition, hosted at the website of the New Jersey Senate Republicans, said people have been denied the opportunity to attend religious services that “could provide hope, solace, and a sense of community during this time of social distancing and isolation due to the coronavirus.”
According to the petition, “it is possible for churches, temples, mosques, and synagogues to operate safely through reasonable precautions, including outdoor services, social distancing, and limitations on the size of gatherings.”
The petition cited the constitutional right to practice religion that “should not be impeded through overly restrictive executive orders.”
“Governor Murphy should recognize that religious services are no less essential to people’s needs than retail services, such as lottery and liquor sales, that have been allowed to continue,” it said.
CNA sought comment from Senator Doherty but did not receive a response by deadline.
The senator is a strong advocate of lifting New Jersey limitations on small businesses, saying “the state needs to reopen sooner rather than later.”
“The cure is becoming much worse than the disease. The idea that churches will be shut down until July is unacceptable,” he said April 15, according to Insider NJ.
He objected to the governor’s refusal to allow churches to conduct “outdoor, open air services with proper spacing” while “allowing the essential service of selling more booze to desperate citizens, and allowing customers to pull up to fast food take out windows where the spacing between the customer and the server is zero inches.”
Vatican City, Apr 22, 2020 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- The Vatican has released a free online prayer book to help Catholics seeking divine assistance amid the coronavirus crisis.
The 192-page book is available for download on the website of the Vatican’s… […]
CNA Staff, Apr 22, 2020 / 05:02 pm (CNA).- A Sri Lankan priest criticized the government’s response to last year’s Easter bombings, saying the failure to thoroughly investigate has amounted to a betrayal of the people.
Father Nishantha Cooray spoke to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) on the first anniversary of the bombings that targeted numerous sites across the country, including three churches, on April 21, 2019. The Easter attacks claimed over 259 lives and injured at least 500 more.
Police made 135 arrests following the attacks. Former president of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena created a presidential commission to look into the perpetrators behind the bombings. Current President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed a similar committee.
But Cooray, who ministered at victims’ funerals, argued that the actions undertaken so far are inadequate. He warned that if the government does not take the investigation more seriously, it could lead to more attacks in the future.
“Although we have completed one year [since the bombings], no acceptable step has been taken in arresting the persons involved in the crime,” he said.
The priest argued that politicians made promises of a thorough investigation, and gained votes by doing so, but have not followed through on these promises.
“The newly elected government started the second chapter of the same book with the same writing style… They did not want to hurt the Muslim politicians,” he said.
“Now, we feel as if we are betrayed. Just to arouse the emotions of the people, the representatives of the government say something about the investigations [into the bombings]. It is only a good slogan for the next election.”
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Sri Lanka has appealed to the government to appoint an independent commission to conduct an impartial inquiry.
Commemorating the attacks on their one-year anniversary, parishes in Sri Lanka rang church bells, encouraged people to observe a two-minute period of silence, and lit lamps in memory of the dead victims.
While public Masses have been canceled in Sri Lanka because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith of Colombo live-streamed Easter Mass on April 12. During the live stream, Ranjith voiced forgiveness for the attackers.
“[W]e meditated on Christ’s teachings and loved them, forgave them and had pity on them,” he said, according to Vatican News.
“We did not hate them and return them the violence. Resurrection is the complete rejection of selfishness,” the cardinal said.
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 22, 2020 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- Two Catholic dioceses have filed suit against the Small Business Administration (SBA), claiming they were wrongfully denied access to emergency loans during the pandemic because of their bankru… […]
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