Vatican City, Apr 22, 2020 / 04:30 am (CNA).- The crucifix is not just a symbol or wall decoration, it is the entire expression of the love of God, who sent his Son to die for us and for our sins, Pope Francis said at Mass Wednesday.
“How … […]
Rome, Italy, Apr 22, 2020 / 03:16 am (CNA).- Living under coronavirus-caused quarantines and stay-at-home orders, many Catholics may find themselves unable to practice the faith in the ways to which they are accustomed.
When you can’t attend Mas… […]
On April 29, 1951, Father Thomas Love, SJ, baptized me in the Church of Sts. Philip and James, near Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Family legend has it that I raised such a furor during […]
Denver Newsroom, Apr 22, 2020 / 12:40 am (CNA).- In the face of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Courage International has announced that it will host online its annual conference to support Catholics who minister to people with same-sex attraction.
Courage International is a Catholic group for those who experience same-sex attraction and are seeking to live chaste and faithful lives. Its Truth and Love Conference seeks to provide practical and spiritual guidance on the topics of homosexuality and sexual identity to pastoral ministers and lay professionals.
While it was originally scheduled to take place in the Diocese of Arlington, the conference will instead take place for its several hundred participants on the online platform Zoom on April 27-29.
Ann Schneible, communications director for Courage, told CNA that when people register for the conference, they will be given a secure code and detailed instructions on how to participate.
During each talk, she said, participants will be able to type questions directly into Zoom. These questions will then be answered by the speakers during the Q&A period at the end of each presentation.
All of the participants will be invited to Monday’s keynote address and the following plenary sessions on Monday and Wednesday. On Tuesday, registrants will be able to choose talks from one of three tracks – pastoral care, mental health, and sexual identity.
The theme of this year’s conference is called “Be not afraid: Affirming the truth about sex and identity.” It will mark the 100th birthday of Pope John Paul II and declare him the official patron of the Truth & Love initiative, the section of the Courage ministry focusing on providing resources to those who minister to people with same-sex attraction.
Schneible said the title is inspired by the beginning words of his 1978 inaugural homily: “Do not be afraid. Christ knows ‘what is in man.’ He alone knows it.”
Schneible explained, “This theme is relevant to our work because whenever we are ministering to someone who experiences same-sex attractions or questions about their gender identity, the compassion we show cannot be separated from the truth about human dignity and authentic happiness. With Pope Saint John Paul II as our patron, we pray for his intercession as we continue to speak the truth fearlessly and with love.”
Father Philip Bochanski, executive director of Courage International, told CNA that the writings and messages of John Paul II are important to the Church’s understanding of human dignity, sexuality, and the human body. He said the pope also had a way of sharing the truth with an essence of love.
“He was able to perceive the trends in the way that the culture looks, and how to answer those kinds of cultural misunderstandings with the perennial truth that comes from the gospel through the Church,” he said.
“He did it with such compassion. That’s [why] he’s going to be our model. Not just what to say, but how to say it. How to speak the truth in love.”
The list of speakers at the virtual conference will include experts in pastoral care, theology, and mental health. Speakers include Bishop John Keenan of Paisley, a Courage chaplain in Scotland; Helen Alvaré, a professor of law at Antonin Scalia Law School of George Mason University; and Suzanne Baars, a licensed professional counselor and marriage and family therapist.
[Bishop Keenan will] talk about his experience over the last few years as a chaplain and how that has affected his understanding of pastoral ministry. We’re going to have Helen Alvare… talk about some of the legal implications of the legislation that’s being passed … about sexual orientation and gender identity and how that might affect parishes and schools and other institutions,” he said.
Bochanski also highlighted some of Tuesday’s talks, which will be divided into three separate categories: pastoral care, health care, and gender identity discordance.
He said the first track, pastoral care, will look at conveying Church teaching and creating a welcoming environment in parishes and schools. It will also examine how those in pastoral ministry can come to understand the experience of those with same-sex attraction.
The second track, on mental health care, will be directed toward health professionals. He said it will review a psychological experience, involving family dynamics, relationships, and self-identity, of those with same-sex attraction.
The third track will analyze gender discordance – when people view themselves as a different gender than their biological sex. The talks will include insight from healthcare professionals on genetics and body chemistry, as well as a philosophical perspective, Bochanski added.
“I think it reflects the reality that people, in general, are multifaceted and need to be supported and nourished on different levels simultaneously. We tried to keep in mind all those different aspects of pastoral care and family life and just the different ways that we’re going to encounter people so that the folks who participate are going to be equipped for all of those,” he said.
CNA Staff, Apr 21, 2020 / 06:00 pm (CNA).- Public religious services cannot be stopped “indefinitely” during the pandemic, especially when liquor stores are considered “essential” businesses, two law professors argued in the New York […]
Washington D.C., Apr 21, 2020 / 08:00 pm (CNA).- When the coronavirus epidemic passes, Americans can’t simply return to their old habits, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio has said.
“We won’t properly absorb the lessons from the coronavirus cris… […]
Rome Newsroom, Apr 21, 2020 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- Public Masses will resume in Austria on May 15, the country’s chancellor has said.
Sebastian Kurz made the announcement at a press conference in Vienna at noon local time April 21.
Fr. Peter Schipka, secretary general of the Austrian bishops’ conference, confirmed that public liturgies would begin again from May 15, according to the Austrian Catholic news agency Kathpress.
Kurz said at the press conference that church services will “naturally” still be subject to certain restrictions. In particular, churches will have to ensure “that the distance rule is observed everywhere,” Kathpress reported.
Kurz, a Catholic, also announced the news on Twitter April 21, alongside other measures to ease the lockdown in Austria.
“It is good that we can go the way of reopening and there is also light at the end of the tunnel for the economic development of our country,” he tweeted.
“Our motto for the next phase is clear: as much freedom as possible, as much restriction as necessary.”
A statement on the website of the Federal Chancellery of Austria said that church services will be permitted “subject to certain conditions and safety regulations to protect health”.
The statement added that Susanne Raab, the country’s minister of education and cultural affairs, will share further details, in consultation with religious communities, on Thursday, April 23.
Responding to the news, Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna tweeted: “We will soon be able to celebrate the Eucharist together with great joy and responsibility.”
He added: “Faith needs both: the celebration together and the personal relationship with God. This is where Christianity comes from. The community of the Church is something essentially different from a club or a group of friends.”
Austria, which has a population of 8.9 million, was one of the first European countries to enter lockdown. The first two cases of coronavirus were confirmed on February 25. From March 16 onwards, Austrians were ordered not to leave their homes except for reasons such as essential work or shopping.
Almost 15,000 people have contracted COVID-19 in Austria and 491 people have died as of April 21, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
Washington D.C., Apr 21, 2020 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- The provost of The Catholic University of America is one of four people named on Monday, April 20, to serve on the National Science Board.
Dr. Aaron Dominguez, who is also a physics professor at the school, was appointed by President Donald Trump to the National Science Board for a six-year term.
The National Science Board is a committee established in 1950 to advise the White House and Congress on matters related to science and engineering. It is responsible for the policies of the National Science Foundation. Past board members include members of academia as well as executives in the technology fields.
Dominguez, a particle physicist, explained in a profile published by the university how his Catholic faith impacts his teaching and research.
“The universe has evolved in a way that is perfect for you and me to exist. Mathematically, physically, we have this perfect situation where atoms can exist, stable matter can exist, which means we can have stars, more complicated elements, you and me,” he said.
“And if you were to change a few things in the physics equations or in the physical constants, that wouldn’t be true. I see the hand of God everywhere, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t still try to understand the physics and mathematics behind that. In fact, we should be searching because of this.”
University President John Garvey called the inclusion of Dominguez on the Board “a proud moment for The Catholic University of America,” and said he was “deserving of the nomination” and an internationally recognized expert in his field.
Dominguez “is an accomplished particle physicist and an experienced researcher who leads a team in the construction of the next generation of particle detectors at the CERN laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland,” said Garvey.
Garvey told CNA that Dominguez is “a man of great faith, who lives out the mission of Catholic University,” and that “we are proud to have him serving as our provost.”
Dominguez was promoted to university provost in 2019, having previously been the dean of the University’s School of Arts and Sciences.
In his address to the 2016 Freshman Convocation, Dominguez said that his position at the school was his “dream job,” and that he was thrilled he was able to work in a laboratory and explore the origins of the universe.
Dominguez has highlighted the importance of faith in academic life, calling Catholic University “a place where I can be truly free. I can unite faith and reason, science and the church, academia and the search for truth in one place.”
At the time of his arrival at Catholic, he called the university “a place where we can be free to do this together, you and me, without fear; to have these discussions in class, in our studies, in the cafeteria, in symposia, in cafes,” he said.
Last week, Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York, made a rather interesting theological observation. Commenting on the progress that his state has made in fighting the coronavirus, and praising the concrete efforts of medical […]
Denver Newsroom, Apr 21, 2020 / 03:15 pm (CNA).- An Argentine archbishop has proposed 13 measures that would aim to allow churches to reopen churches during the coronavirus pandemic while reducing the risk of contagion.
The proposal is an effort to balance safety and the need for Catholics to receive the Eucharist, Archbishop Víctor Fernández of La Plata said this week.
In response to the pandemic, Argentina has been under lockdown since March 20. According to John Hopkins University, there are 3,031 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 145 deaths in the country.
Fernández said that although the Church is providing material sustenance to those hardest hit by the pandemic “when we think about sustaining the interior life of the faithful and encouraging its growth, we find ourselves in the serious difficulty of seeing them deprived of the Eucharist for a long time, and we can also foresee that this situation could last for several months.”
In a letter dated April 19 and addressed to the conference’s executive committee, the bishop said the Second Vatican Council teaches that “no Christian community is built up if it is not rooted and centered on the celebration of the Holy Eucharist,” and that Saint John Paul II emphasized that the Mass “rather than an obligation, should be felt as a requisite deeply inscribed in Christian existence.”
Fernández said the letter he sent puts together the suggestions of several bishops and that it is understandable “that many of the faithful are calling on us to find some way to make the Eucharist accessible again.”
“We tell them that they can experience other forms of prayer, and they do, but as Saint John Chrysostom has said “’You can also pray in your home, however, you cannot pray the same way you do in church where the brethren are gathered together.’”
Fernández noted that Pope Francis “teaches that God ‘in the culmination of the mystery of the Incarnation, chose to reach our intimate depths through a fragment of matter.’ It’s good that our faithful have learned that and so it’s not the same thing for them,” he said, adding that Catholics are eager “the food of the love that is the source of supernatural life.”
“It won’t be easy to prove that this situation is lasting too long, nor can we simply wait till the pandemic is completely over,” the prelate noted.
“We know that exposing yourself to infection is irresponsible especially because it involves exposing others to infection and indirectly could lead to a public health crisis that we don’t want to see in our country,” he said.
Aiming to send “a clear message to our People of God to show that we’re truly concerned and that we intend to take some steps that would allow us to resolve this situation as soon as possible,” without neglecting “the health concerns of the authorities” Fernández proposed a series of obligatory measures to celebrate the Eucharist publicly:
1) Keep a distance of two meters between people to the side, front and back. This will require removing or closing off half the pews in the church.
2) No more than two people per pew.
3) Once the pews are occupied in that manner, no more people are to be allowed to enter the church.
4) In the churches where there is usually a lot of people in attendance, the number of Masses should be increased so the faithful can spread themselves out over Saturday and Sunday at different times. Given the prevalence and closeness of churches this will not involve using transportation.
5) Mass should not be celebrated publicly at the most frequently visited shrines due to the difficulty of establishing appropriate controls.
6) There should be no line for communion, instead the Eucharistic ministers should go to the people positioned at the ends of the pews and place the Eucharist in the hand.
7) Every Eucharistic minister should wash his hands with soap before and after and apply alcohol gel.
8) The sign of peace and any physical contact should be omitted.
9) Mass should last no more than 40 minutes.
10) People should leave the church progressively, not all at once, and avoid greeting each other.
11) No intentions should be taken at Mass time, only those previously received by phone, mail or messages.
12) Those people who because of their age are prevented from attending may receive Communion at home.
13) The dispensation from the Sunday obligation should be temporarily maintained so that people who prefer to exercise extreme caution don’t feel obliged to attend.
The archbishop also pointed out in his letter that “if the economic impact has to be foreseen, it’s also appropriate to place a value on those things that provide consolation and strength to people during hard times.”
A version of this story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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