CNA Staff, Apr 21, 2020 / 03:01 pm (CNA).- Several priests located at a retirement home in Missouri have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, but those who have been hospitalized are likely to be released soon.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis annou… […]
CNA Staff, Apr 21, 2020 / 02:19 pm (CNA).- Indigenous rights groups are warning that many families in Bangladesh who have lost jobs and income because of the coronavirus pandemic are not yet receiving aid, and many are facing starvation.
A joint state… […]
Sometimes the mask slips. Sometimes the curtain is drawn back prematurely. And then the reality of things comes into clearer focus. That is what happened when the April 20 edition of the Washington Post, the […]
CNA Staff, Apr 21, 2020 / 11:00 am (CNA).- The Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth in Canada has offered prayers for the victims of a weekend shooting rampage in a small town in Nova Scotia, including a member of the country’s Royal Canadian Mounted P… […]
It’s been a couple of weeks since I wrote last. I’m sorry about that. There was Holy Week and then there was Easter – the whole week of the Octave is generally pretty slow around […]
London, England, Apr 21, 2020 / 08:00 am (CNA).- Elderly and disabled coronavirus patients have the same right to life-prolonging treatment as others, the bishops of England and Wales have said.
In a statement April 20, the bishops noted that th… […]
Vatican City, Apr 21, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- Pope Francis appointed Tuesday Fr. Robert W. Marshall as the next bishop of Alexandria, Louisiana.
“I have known Bishop-elect Marshall for a number of years and am very pleased to welcome him to episcopal ministry here in the Diocese of Alexandria,” Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans said April 21.
“Please join me in praying for him and for the diocese as we move through this transition,” he added.
Marshall, 60, is originally from Memphis, Tennessee, where he worked as a civil attorney before his ordination to the priesthood at the age of 40.
He will lead the Diocese of Alexandria in central Louisiana, which has been without a bishop since March 2019.
It is unclear when his ordination and installation Mass will be able to take place as public Masses throughout the diocese remain suspended under coronavirus pandemic regulations.
Born in Memphis in 1959, Marshall studied history at Christian Brothers University in Memphis before earning a law degree from the University of Memphis in 1983. He practiced law for 12 years before discerning a call to the priesthood.
Marshall studied at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana, and was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Memphis, where he served as pastor at a number of parishes, including the Church of the Ascension and St. Francis of Assisi Parish.
Marshall served as pastor of Memphis’ Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception since 2017 and vicar general for the diocese since 2019.
Archbishop Gregory Aymond of New Orleans has served as apostolic administrator of Alexandria since April 2019. Archbishop Aymond tested positive for COVID-19 in March and has been in recovery from the coronavirus.
Aymond recently created a COVID-19 response team to address how the Diocese of Alexandria will restart ministries and public liturgies after Louisiana’s Stay at Home order lifts on April 30. As those plans are finalized, a date for Marshall’s installation will be announced.
“I am sorry I could not be here for this good news announcement,” Aymond said. “In light of Governor Edwards’ ‘stay-at-home’ order and my ongoing recovery, I am not able to greet you in person. Regardless, it is a privilege for me to join you in welcoming your new bishop.”
Vatican City, Apr 21, 2020 / 03:30 am (CNA).- The Holy Spirit can help Christians overcome the three temptations that destroy community life, Pope Francis said at his morning Mass Tuesday.
The pope noted April 21 that money, vanity and idle chatter have divided believers since the early days of Christianity.
“But the Spirit always comes with his strength to save us from this worldliness of money, vanity and idle chatter,” he said, “because the Spirit is not the world: he is against the world. He is capable of doing these miracles, these great things.”
Reflecting on the day’s Gospel (John 3:7-15), in which Jesus tells Nicodemus that he “must be born from above,” the pope said we are reborn through the Holy Spirit rather than by our own efforts.
“Our docility opens the door to the Holy Spirit: it is He who makes the change, the transformation, this rebirth from above,” he said. “It is Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is capable of doing wonders, things that we cannot even think about.”
Speaking from the chapel of his Vatican residence, Casa Santa Marta, the pope turned to the day’s first reading (Acts 4:32-37), which describes the harmony among the first Christians. This description was no fantasy, he said, but rather a model for today’s Church.
“It is true that immediately after this problems will begin,” he observed, “but the Lord shows us how far we can go if we are open to the Holy Spirit, if we are docile. In this community there is harmony.”
Pope Francis said that many things divided parishes, dioceses, communities of priests, and men and women religious. He identified three major temptations: money, vanity and idle chatter.
“Money divides the community,” he said. “For this reason, poverty is the mother of the community. Poverty is the wall that guards the community. Money divides … Even in families: how many families ended up divided by an inheritance?”
He continued: “Another thing that divides a community is vanity, that desire to feel better than others. ‘Thank you, Lord, that I am not like the others:’ the Pharisee’s prayer.”
Vanity could be seen at the celebration of sacraments, the pope said, with people vying to wear the best clothes.
“Vanity enters there too. And vanity divides. Because vanity leads you to be a peacock and where there is a peacock, there is division, always,” he said.
“A third thing that divides a community is idle chatter: it’s not the first time I’ve said it, but it’s reality … That thing that the devil puts in us, like a need to talk about others. ‘What a good person that is…’ — ‘Yes, yes, but…’ Immediately the ‘but:’ that’s a stone to disqualify the other.”
Yet with the Holy Spirit we are able to resist all three temptations, he said, concluding: “Let us ask the Lord this docility to the Spirit so that He may transform us and transform our communities, our parish, diocesan, religious communities: transform them, so that we may always move forward in the harmony that Jesus wants for the Christian community.”
After Mass, the pope presided at adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.
He led those watching via livestream in an act of spiritual communion, praying: “My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love you above all things, and I desire to receive you into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace you as being already there and unite myself wholly to you. Never permit me to be separated from you.”
Finally, those present sang the Easter Marian antiphon “Regina caeli.”
At the start of Mass, Pope Francis noted that amid the coronavirus lockdown towns and cities had fallen silent.
“In this time there is so much silence,” he said. “One can also feel the silence. May this silence, which is a little new in our habits, teach us to listen, make us grow in our ability to listen. Let us pray for this.”
CNA Staff, Apr 21, 2020 / 03:01 am (CNA).- Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence reflected Sunday on the potential outcome of the coronavirus pandemic, encouraging Catholics to develop plans for evangelization.
“When our churches re-open for public … […]
Denver Newsroom, Apr 21, 2020 / 12:31 am (CNA).- The Kansas governor’s emergency restrictions on church services wrongly treated religious gatherings more strictly than similar activities, a federal judge said.
The judge granted a temporary injunction to two Baptist churches which challenged the order.
“Churches and religious activities appear to have been singled out among essential functions for stricter treatment,” U.S. District Judge John Broomes said in an April 18 ruling, saying the restrictions are “more severe than restrictions on some comparable non-religious activities.”
Gov. Laura Kelly’s rules “basically eliminated” association for the purpose of public worship, the judge said. The governor did not argue that church gatherings pose unique health risks, he said, and “the exemption for religious activities has been eliminated while it remains for a multitude of activities that appear comparable in terms of health risks.”
The judge said that the plaintiffs are likely to succeed in their case and will suffer religious freedom violations because the order was not “narrowly tailored” enough to further the “compelling” state interest in countering the spread of the coronavirus.
Chuck Weber, executive director of the Kansas Catholic Conference, told CNA April 20 that the Catholic bishops have tried to be a partner in the coronavirus response and commended the governor’s previous efforts, but found the restrictions imposed on religious gatherings in the days before Easter to be “troublesome.”
“We are grateful for this challenge and will be following the legal developments,” Weber said.
The plaintiffs are two churches and their pastors from different parts of Kansas: First Baptist Church in Dodge City in western Kansas, joined by Calvary Baptist Church in Junction City in northeast Kansas. Both churches are practicing social distancing measures at services, but say they believe engaging in “corporate” prayer is a call from God, the Associated Press reports.
The lawsuit from the two churches said the governor could have used less restrictive measures and that the presence of numerous exceptions for “essential” businesses, but not churches, meant her policies unfairly targeted churches.
Gov. Kelly, however, defended the restrictions and characterized the judge’s decision as “preliminary.”
“This is not about religion. This is about a public health crisis,” she said, adding that six deaths and 80 cases of coronavirus originated at religious gatherings. As of Monday, there have been more than 100 coronavirus deaths and almost 2,000 confirmed cases in the state.
“We all want to resume our normal lives as soon as possible, but for now the data and science tell us there’s still a serious threat from COVID-19 – and when we gather in large groups, the virus spreads,” the governor continued. “My executive order is about saving Kansans’ lives and slowing the spread of the virus to keep our neighbors, our families and our loved ones safe. During public health emergencies, we must take proactive measures to save lives.”
Weber said Kansas’ Catholic bishops have “tried to reach out and be a partner in navigating these admittedly complex situations.”
“The Kansas Catholic Bishops certainly recognize that Governor Laura Kelly has a duty and responsibility to protect the public health of citizens and make use of executive orders to accomplish that goal,” he said, noting that the bishops’ early comments on these orders commended her actions.
“In times like this it can become easy to forget that separation of church and state is a two-way street–a ‘street’ that should be shared by the government and faith communities,” he added.
The governor’s initial executive orders banned gatherings of more than 10 people, with religious gatherings among the exemptions as long as appropriate social distancing was practiced.
Then, in an April 7 executive order, the governor stressed the need for enhanced measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus. For the first time the governor listed “churches or other religious facilities” as venues where mass gatherings were banned, alongside auditoriums, theaters, stadiums, and other venues. The order had specific restrictions on religious activities, barring more than 10 congregants in “the same building or confined or enclosed space.” It allowed those who conduct or perform a religious service to exceed the 10-person limit so long as appropriate safety protocols are followed.
In an April 8 statement, the bishops noted their own suspension of public Catholic worship and large public gatherings at Catholic Church facilities predated state and local orders in Kansas. However, they said the order was “troubling” because “it specifically singles out restrictions on churches and religious activities while granting numerous exemptions to other public gatherings that present the same risk to public health.”
“We question the constitutionality of this order,” they said.
Broomes, the federal judge, said the numerous exceptions for businesses were “arbitrary.” He said the order included a “long list” of exempt activities and facilities: most governmental operations; airports; childcare locations; hotels; food pantries; shopping malls; and other retail establishments with large numbers of people but “not within arm’s length of one another for more than 10 minutes”; restaurants, bars and grocery stores, provided social distancing is maintained; office spaces; and manufacturing, distribution and production facilities.
The temporary injunction, which applies only to the two churches, will last until May 2. A Thursday hearing will weigh whether the injunction should be lengthened or broadened.
The Baptist churches’ lawsuit has the backing of the legal group Alliance Defending Freedom.
“Singling out churches for special punishment while allowing others to have greater freedom is both illogical and unconstitutional,” Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel Ryan Tucker said April 18.
He added that the judge’s decision said the churches are to follow their own social distancing practices, “which these churches are obviously happy to do, since they proposed those rules themselves for everyone’s health and safety.”
Tucker voiced hope that the governor will “act quickly to remedy the unconstitutional provision of her mass gathering ban and avoid the need for continued litigation.”
Republican legislators had sought to remove Kelly’s order on church gatherings, but the governor contested their efforts before the state Supreme Court, which declined to rule on the merits of the case.
Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr., a Republican, told the Associated Press that people need to stay home but “the state cannot and should not set up a double standard.”
State Rep. John Carmichael, a Wichita Democrat, appeared sympathetic to the argument that churches faced more severe restrictions.
“I think a very persuasive case can be made that a number of clusters in Kansas are related to places of worship,” Carmichael said, according to KWCH News. “The problem, of course, is though, if you treat other types of gatherings differently or less stringently than a church, then you have a problem.”
Weber reflected on the situation in the state. The Diocese of Salina in northwest Kansas had not yet reported any COVID-19 case, but metro Kansas City and other populated areas have suffered hundreds of cases.
“No one—and I mean no one—wants a return to ‘normal’ any more than the four Catholic Bishops of Kansas,” he said. “This has been brutal on faithful Catholics, but also on our Catholic priests who have experienced a separation from the flocks they love and seek to serve.”
The bishops have reiterated that public Masses may not take place in Kansas. Funeral Masses, baptisms, wedding Masses are allowed only with no more than 10 people present, and only with appropriate precautions.
These measures will remain in place as long as the bishops deem them necessary, relying upon “the best advice of medical professionals,” Weber said.
© Catholic World Report