Vatican City, Mar 6, 2020 / 04:30 am (CNA).- Vatican City has confirmed its first case of coronavirus, a Vatican spokesman said Friday.
All outpatient services in Vatican City State’s Health and Hygiene Department were suspended March 6 to allow… […]
“God spoke further to Moses: ‘Go and gather the elders of the Israelites, and tell them, The LORD, the God of your ancestors, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has appeared to me and […]
Jackson, Miss., Mar 5, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- A bill has been introduced in the Mississippi legislature to prohibit abortions being performed because of race, sex, or genetic abnormality, citing anti-discrimination laws and a recent opinion of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.
House Bill 1295, the Life Equality Act of 2020, passed through a House committee March 3 and will soon be proposed to the state’s House of Representatives.
“It is the intent of the Mississippi Legislature … to prohibit the practice of nontherapeutic or elective abortion for the purpose of terminating the life of an unborn human being because of that human being’s race, sex, or the presence or presumed presence of a genetic abnormality,” the bill reads.
A physician who performs an abortion prohibited by the bill would be guilty of a felony, and face one to 10 years in prison, and would have their medical license supended or revoked. Women who procured such abortions would not face prosecution, and there would be an exception for medical emergencies.
House Judiciary B Committee Chairman Nick Bain, a Republican from Corinth, highlighted the state’s strong pro-life commitment.
“We have had a solid record of supporting pro-life measures, and we wanted to continue that,” he said, according to the Associated Press.
The bill’s findings quote extensively from Justice Thomas’ concurring opinion in Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky, Inc., in which he wrote at length about a similar Indiana law which he said promotes “a State’s compelling interest in preventing abortion from becoming a tool of modern-day eugenics.”
“The United States Supreme Court has been ‘zealous in vindicating the rights of people even potentially subjected to race, sex, and disability discrimination,’” HB 1295 states, quoting Thomas’ opinion.
“The inherent right against discrimination on the basis of race, sex, or genetic abnormality is protected in federal and state laws,” the bill notes, adding that “Notwithstanding these protections, unborn human beings are often discriminated against and deprived of life.”
Under current Mississippi law, abortions are legal until 20 weeks of pregnancy. The state requires minors seeking an abortion to receive permission from a parent or judge. There is also a 24 hour waiting period after the request for the abortion.
Over a dozen states have passed a similar bill or portions of the bill introduced in Mississippi. Nine states have banned abortions based on sex, two states have prohibited the procedure based on race, and two states have outlawed abortions on the basis of fetal abnormalities.
The only state with a ban on all three reasons is Missouri. Kentucky has also passed a ban on all three but the law has been put on hold by a court.
A federal judge blocked in December a Mississippi law banning most abortions after 15 weeks. Then-Gov. Phil Bryant, a Republican, signed the bill into law in 2018.
Due to changes in the makeup of the U.S. Supreme Court, both foes and supporters of legal abortion anticipate any decision on abortion could overturn or significantly modify existing precedent that, with few restrictions, mandates legal abortion across the U.S.
“We will sustain our efforts to fight for America’s unborn children,” Bryant said on Twitter Dec. 13. “Mississippi will continue this mission to the United States Supreme Court.”
Washington D.C., Mar 5, 2020 / 05:12 pm (CNA).- A New Jersey parish has made headlines in recent weeks, after an eight-year-old boy with autism was reportedly denied Holy Communion. The parish said there had been a misunderstanding, and was working to ensure the boy could receive the Eucharist.
Misunderstandings, whatever the cause, happen in parish life, and can lead to feelings of frustration and disappointment among parishioners and parish leaders.
When parish issues arise pertaining to disabilities, one organization tries to help: the National Catholic Partnership on Disability. While not commenting on the situation of the New Jersey parish, Charleen Katra, the organization’s executive director, talked with CNA about how parishes can be welcoming to people with disabilities, and form them in the Catholic faith.
People with severe disabilities deserve Catholic catechesis and sacramental preparation, and parishes can serve them from a young age with open doors, open hearts, and dialogue with them, their loved ones, and even other parishioners, Katra told CNA.
“It’s a ministry of hospitality and evangelization,” Katra added.
The parishes most successful at this ministry don’t necessarily begin with training, she said. Rather, they begin with “a heart of hospitality.”
Katra’s organization helps to serve people who live with physical, intellectual, sensory, mental or emotional disabilities. The group provides resources for parish staff and leads training on meaningful participation in the sacraments, accessible parishes, and catechetical best practices.
“A lot of what I do is lowering everybody’s frustration levels,” Katra said.
Her advice?
“Don’t make it harder than it is,” she said.
“Jesus the Master Catechist has shown us what to do. And what to do is full inclusion. If God puts people in front of you, you serve them, to the best of your ability.”
“Open your doors. Open your hearts. Seek out training if you need it,” she said. “It’s about accompaniment, being with someone, being with them, being with their family, being what they need.”
The National Catholic Partnership on Disability was established in 1982 to help implement the U.S. bishops’ guidance on people with disabilities. Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz of Louisville now serves as the partnership’s episcopal moderator.
The U.S. bishops continue to provide guidance to address some concerns of persons with disabilities, their families and advocates, and clergy and others in pastoral ministry.
“Parish ministers and all Catholics should respond to the severely disabled and their families with tremendous love and generosity, and with a readiness to support and assist them,” Father Andrew Menke, executive director of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat for Divine Worship, told CNA.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops publishes Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacraments with Persons with Disabilities. The document, last updated in June 2017, runs to 16 pages.
People with disabilities, too, need growth in holiness. Their participation in the grace of the sacraments is “essential” to this, the guidelines explain. The liturgy must be “completely accessible” to persons with disabilities, because liturgical forms are “the essence of the spiritual tie that binds the Christian community together.”
“Accessibility involves far more than physical alterations to parish buildings,” the bishops said. “Realistic provision must be made for Catholics with disabilities to participate fully in the Eucharist and other liturgical celebrations.”
Catechesis for people with disabilities, for instance, “must be adapted in content and method to their particular situations,” the bishops continued.
The bishops’ guidance encourages the inclusion of people with disabilities in typical catechesis classes, “unless their disabilities make it impossible for them to participate in the basic catechetical program.”
Even then, participation in parish life is “encouraged in all ways possible.”
Katra’s organization works with publishers to provide resources for catechists and leaders who are working directly in faith formation. It helps provide resources for those who have diverse learning styles.
Any work with parishioners with disabilities needs to be tailored to the individual, Katra said. Parishes “need to learn about the individual as well as his or her disability,” she said, adding that clergy should be consulted and advised about an individualized process and individual needs.
“Patience, compassion and empathy are necessary for success,” Katra said.
Parents are experts on this subject and always are a key resource, she added.
“They are with this person 24/7,” she said. “They know what causes them to get more anxious. They also know typically what will help them calm down and come back to a more balanced emotional state.”
Katra recommends that parishes provide to parents or guardians an information form that asks many specific questions about their loved one. Good questions seek out details about sensory needs, learning style and communication style, she explained.
She suggests parish leaders take a proactive approach to foresee needs before they arise.
Still, Katra acknowledged that there can be parish situations where a parish staffer responds “we don’t have anything” or “we aren’t trained to do this.” While there is likely no intent to hurt or offend in such situations, parishioners with disabilities and their families might find these situations to be hurtful and to fail to affirm their Catholic identity.
In such cases, Katra encouraged simply apologizing.
“We’re a Church. We’re about mercy, we’re about forgiveness,” Katra said as an example. “Start from a place of ‘I’m sorry, we’re sorry, if in any way we hurt or offended you’.”
“We want to serve you. We want you here. It pains us that we sent the wrong message. What can we do to make it right?” she added. “We’ll do some adaptations or we’ll get some training so that we can better serve not only you, but many other families that have the same or similar needs.”
“Move forward in a healthy way, in a relationship, because that’s what we are as a Church,” Katra advised.
In catechesis, sometimes instructors should provide more time or require less work. Some parishioners benefit from a “multi-sensory approach,” that is hands-on, visual and auditory. Parishioners could need “sensory-friendly” items like fidgets or squeeze balls, noise cancelling headphones, and weighted lap pads to aid their participation.
There are also communication styles and adaptations for people with difficulties communicating. For instance, someone who is non-verbal uses “prayer hands” to indicate the words “Amen.”
Parish catechetical leaders and volunteer catechists should be offered training and resources, like professional growth days, conferences and newsletters.
While some parishes might fear they lack the resources and volunteers to serve parishioners with disabilities and their families, Katra offered hope.
“We just have to use our resources wisely. Seek out those people who are already there in front of you. Don’t think you don’t have them, you do,” she said.
You can’t respond to a call you don’t hear,” she added, saying church and parish leaders “have an opportunity to call forth people from the parish.”
In Katra’s view, candidates for confirmation, most often in their early teens, are at an ideal age and level of formation to be asked to be involved in parish ministry and to help them find where their gifts fit.
Parishes should ask young men and women to be a “buddy” for a parishioner and to help include them in systematic catechesis, retreats, Masses and other activities. The goal is to have someone to offer help as needed, but “not to do for someone what they can do for themselves.”
Young people who respond to serve often show compassion, empathy and patience and can go on to careers in social work, special education, pediatrics, or physical and occupational therapy.
“At the same time, every parish has those kinds of professionals in their community,” Katra said. She suggested inviting parishioners or others who are health care professionals to provide workshops.
If a parish announces that it is forming a ministry for people with severe disabilities or that it is looking for someone to help train catechists, Katra predicted, “many people would be happy to do it.”
“A special ed [teacher] could do that in their sleep, almost,” she said.
Accessibility to parish community events and meetings might include sign language interpreters and large print materials.
Some parishes are remiss in not providing ramps, assistive listening devices, or other assistance “because a need has not been presented.”
Parishes sometimes don’t provide training or resources to support catechists or educators teaching persons with disabilities or they don’t anticipate the need, Katra added.
Even when parishes make plans for persons with disabilities, they can neglect to make plans in consultation with them.
Katra warned not to use outdated or derogatory language, but also not to “exceptionalize” people with disabilities, like describing them as “angels” or “using them as a means of sanctification” rather than “realizing they are agents of evangelization in their own right.”
Every Catholic has the right to be educated in the faith, to be prepared for the sacraments and to receive the sacraments, and to “respond to God’s call,” she said. “All persons have gifts to share and all persons are capable of growth in holiness.”
From a Trinitarian perspective, God invites every person to be in communion, she added.
“We are all broken and our path to wholeness always includes community,” said Katra, who added that anyone could become a person with a disability, either through accident or age.
“We’re all one car accident away from rolling in a wheelchair,” said Katra. “We have no guarantee that our abilities will be with us in any given moment. Sometimes you’re born with something, sometimes you acquire it later in life. Some are temporary, some are permanent. Some are visible, some are invisible.”
“We all have strengths, we all have weaknesses. Hopefully we focus, as a Church, on our gifts and our abilities than other things,” she said.
Chicago, Ill., Mar 5, 2020 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- After being named to the Vatican’s task force for the protection of minors against sexual abuse, Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago told the Chicago Tribune that Church leaders must remain humble in the… […]
Vatican City, Mar 5, 2020 / 04:18 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis is asking youth to wake up from the deadening static of staring at a cell phone to encounter Christ in their neighbor.
“Today, we are often ‘connected’ but not communicating. The indiscriminate use of electronic devices can keep us constantly glued to the screen,” Pope Francis said in his message to young people published March 5.
“When I look at things, do I look carefully, or is it more like when I quickly scroll through the thousands of photos or social profiles on my cell phone?” Francis asked.
The pope warned that he sees a “growing digital narcissism” among young people and adults alike.
“How often do we end up being eyewitnesses of events without ever experiencing them in real time! Sometimes our first reaction is to take a picture with our cell phone, without even bothering to look into the eyes of the persons involved,” Francis said.
Pope Francis encouraged young people to “wake up.” He said that if someone realizes that he is “dead inside,” he can trust that Christ can give them new life to “arise,” as he did with the young man in Luke 7:14.
“When we are ‘dead,’ we remain closed in on ourselves. Our relationships break up, or become superficial, false and hypocritical. When Jesus restores us to life, he ‘gives’ us to others,” he said.
The pope called upon young people to bring about “cultural change” that will allow those “isolated and withdrawn into virtual worlds” to arise.
“Let us spread Jesus’ invitation: ‘Arise!’ He calls us to embrace a reality that is so much more than virtual,” he said.
“This does not involve rejecting technology, but rather using it as a means and not as an end,” the pope added.
Pope Francis said that a person who is alive in Christ encounters reality, even tragedy, that leads him to suffer with his neighbor.
“How many situations are there where apathy reigns, where people plunge into an abyss of anguish and remorse! How many young people cry out with no one to hear their plea! Instead, they meet with looks of distraction and indifference,” Francis said.
“I think too of all those negative situations that people of your age are experiencing,” he said. “One young woman told me: ‘Among my friends I see less desire to get involved, less courage to get up.’ Sadly, depression is spreading among young people too, and in some cases even leads to the temptation to take one’s own life.”
With Christ, who brings new life, a young person can become more aware of those who are suffering draw near to them, he said.
“You too, as young people, are able to draw near to the realities of pain and death that you encounter. You too can touch them and, like Jesus, bring new life, thanks to the Holy Spirit,” he said. “You will be able to touch them as he does, and to bring his life to those of your friends who are inwardly dead, who suffer or have lost faith and hope.”
“Perhaps, in times of difficulty, many of you have heard people repeat those ‘magic’ formulas so fashionable nowadays, formulas that are supposed to take care of everything: ‘You have to believe in yourself’, ‘You have to discover your inner resources’, ‘You have to become conscious of your positive energy’ … But these are mere words; they do not work for someone who is truly ‘dead inside,’” he said.
“Jesus’ word has a deeper resonance; it goes infinitely deeper. It is a divine and creative word, which alone can bring the dead to life,” the pope said.
Pope Francis addressed this message to the young people throughout the world who will celebrate local diocesan World Youth Day gatherings on Palm Sunday this year.
The pope reminded young people that the next international World Youth Day will take place in Lisbon in 2022: “From Lisbon, in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, great numbers of young people, including many missionaries, set out for unknown lands, to share their experience of Jesus with other peoples and nations.”
“As young people, you are experts in this! You like to take trips, to discover new places and people, and to have new experiences,” he said.
“If you have lost your vitality, your dreams, your enthusiasm, your optimism and your generosity, Jesus stands before you as once he stood before the dead son of the widow, and with all the power of his resurrection he urges you: ‘Young man, I say to you, arise!’” Pope Francis said.
Bishop Robert J. Baker, 75, has served as bishop of the Diocese of Birmingham, Alabama, since 2007. He was born in Ohio and began pursuing his studies for the Diocese of Toledo, but as there […]
Vatican City, Mar 5, 2020 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- In a video released on Thursday by Vatican Media, Pope Francis announced that his prayer intention for the month of March is for “the unity of Christians in China.”
“Let us pray together t… […]
Dublin, Ireland, Mar 5, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- Mary McAleese has written to Pope Francis about the allegations of sexual misconduct against L’Arche founder Jean Vanier. The former Irish president told the pope she could leave the Catholic Church if the Holy See is found to have failed to act in the case.
McAleese wrote to Pope Francis Feb. 26 asking for an explanation about how Varnier was able to rise to such acclaim in the Church despite his sexual misconduct. The letter was published on her own website.
On Feb. 22 L’Arche International announced the conclusions of an internal report which found Vanier had abused his position and relationship to sexually coerce six women over a period of decades. Vanier died on May 7, 2019, at the age of 90. After his death, Pope Francis issued a statement mourning Vanier, and praising his work with persons with intellectual disabilities.
“I am conscious that you yourself have publicly praised Vanier and indeed spoke to him and of him in glowing terms just before his death,” McAleese wrote to the pope, noting that by 2019 the Vatican was aware that one of Vanier’s associates had a history of sexual predation.
Vanier, a Catholic layman, founded L’Arche, which is an organization that assists people with intellectual disabilities through the creation of communities. L’Arche has no official ties to the Catholic Church.
“Given that vulnerable men and women were the intended beneficiaries of L’Arche, and that Vanier was consistently lauded by the Church at the highest level without the remotest suggestion that there was anything worrying in his character it is essential that the Holy See now explains how it came to so publicly commend a man whose predatory proclivities it was aware of,” said McAleese in the letter.
McAleese said that she had “regarded Vanier as inspirational for decades” and was devastated by the report stating he had engaged in sexually manipulative relationships with six women over a 45 year period. None of the women had intellectual disabilities.
The former Irish president said that while she had “reason to despair at the failures at papal, episcopal and Curial level” in recent abuse crises, she would be unable to reconcile any knowledge that the Vatican shielded Vanier.
“If however it transpires that the Holy See failed to protect members of L’Arche community by alerting them to the known predatory activities of Vanier and (Fr. Thomas) Philippe, I have to say that this will be my final line of least resistance,” she said.
“I could not in conscience continue to support an institution capable of such gross negligence.”
Vanier’s spiritual mentor, Fr. Thomas Philippe, O.P., was a French Dominican who died in 1993. Philippe was accused of sexual misconduct and was suspended from public ministry following a canonical process in 1956. He ignored this suspension.
As part of his penalty, Philippe was ordered to inform all of his lay companions, including Vanier, about his suspension from public ministry.
In 2014, L’Arche received new reports regarding Philippe’s misconduct, and requested an additional canonical inquiry, which concluded in March 2015. A report by L’Arche investigating the professional relationship between Vanier and Philipe was published in June 2017.
“Now that both Philippe and Vanier have been unmasked, the spotlight moves to the Holy See,” wrote McAleese. She asked the pope to explain what the Vatican knew, and what they did “to prevent Vanier and Philippe living their grand lie.”
“What did it do or not do which allowed Vanier to grow into the uncontested legend of folk saint and icon, a reputation which must have made it so very difficult for victims to come forward,” she wrote.
McAleese said there is “undoubtedly a cloud of doubt over the Holy See,” and she urges the Church to deal with it “as openly, courageously and honestly as L’Arche dealt with the investigation into its founder.”
In addition to being an outspoken critic of the Church in the wake of the sexual abuse crisis, especially in Ireland, McAleese has in the past clashed with the Church on doctrinal issues, advocating both for the ordination of women to the priesthood and for Church recognition of same-sex marriage.
In November 2019, while serving as Chancellor of Trinity College, Dublin, McAleese stated that the Catholic priesthood was based on a “fundamental lie” and that many potential priests have a “deeply problematic” sexuality.
“The number of fake-hetero misogynistic homophobic gays I met frightened me,” said McAleese, recounting her time living in Rome among seminarians.
In June 2018, three months before she was awarded a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University, she described the practice of baptizing infants as “coercion” and said it should be stopped.
In March 2018, she was forbidden from speaking at the Voices of Faith conference, which was typically held in the Vatican. The conference was then moved outside the Vatican, and held as scheduled. In her keynote speech, McAleese accused the Church of maintaining a misogynistic attitude which seeks to drown out women.
Vatican City, Mar 5, 2020 / 01:58 pm (CNA).- The International Theological Commission this week published a study into the question of whether two “baptized non-believers” can contract sacramental marriage or whether the absence of faith im… […]
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