Pope Francis incenses a once-desecrated statue of the Virgin Mary from Karemlesh during his Mass in Erbil, Iraq, March 7, 2021. Credit: Vatican Media.
Erbil, Iraq, Mar 8, 2021 / 01:37 pm (CNA).- A statue of the Virgin Mary that had been desecrated by the Islamic State was present at Pope Francis’ Mass in Erbil on Sunday.
The statue was decapitated, and its hands cut off, in Karemlesh, a largely Christian town 18 miles east of Mosul, during the Islamic State’s occupation of the villages in the Nineveh Plains from 2014 to 2017. It belonged to St. Adday church.
The statue has been partially restored; its head has been replaced, though its hands have not.
Speaking March 7 to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner, Fr. Thabet Habeb, the pastor of St. Adday, recalled that when he first saw the image of the beheaded Virgin he experienced “a very sad feeling, because I saw my church like this, along with everything else. We prayed before this Virgin for many years and it was destroyed. It was something very important for the parish, for our church.”
Fr. Habeb said the statue “will return to Karemlesh and will be in our church upon our return.”
The priest hopes that a fruit of the Holy Father’s visit to Iraq will be that the government and the world would look at “this martyr Church, which must be aided so it can continue to bring the Gospel.”
The Islamic State swept through large swathes of Syria and Iraq in 2014, giving families of Christians and other religious and ethnic minorities an ultimatum – convert to Islam, die, or leave.
In 2017 the Nineveh Plain the area was liberated from the rule of the Islamic State.
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Actor Paras Patel as Matthew in the hit series “The Chosen.” / Credit: “The Chosen”
CNA Staff, Jun 12, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).
[Editor’s note: The following article may contain spoilers.]Season 4 of the hit series “The Chosen” has been officiall… […]
Exterior of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. / Shutterstock
Boston, Mass., Nov 23, 2022 / 14:30 pm (CNA).
In a 2017 email, a doctor at the transgender clinic at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia said she was not aware of any medical studies at the time that supported the irreversible surgeries the clinic had been performing on minors, public records show.
The statement is contained in internal emails, obtained by a private citizen through a public documents request, between Dr. Nadia Dowshen — co-director of the Gender and Sexuality Development Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia — and Dr. Rachel Levine. At the time Levine, a biological male who identifies as a transgender female, was Pennsylvania’s physician general. Today Levine serves as assistant secretary for health for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Critics of so-called “gender-affirming” surgeries and treatments for young people with gender dysphoria were outraged by the disclosure, which one leading pediatrician says suggests that these procedures amount to “a giant experiment on children” that lack a clear understanding on the part of health care professionals and their young patients of the risks and long-term consequences involved.
But in a statement to CNA, Levine said there was “nothing unusual” about the email exchange and maintained that the “medical validity” of these procedures has been “affirmed.”
In one of the emails, Levine asked Dowshen and another co-director of the Gender & Sexuality Development Clinic, Dr. Linda Hawkins, about what Levine called “gender confirmation surgery” for “young people under 18 years of age,” which Levine said could include “top surgery for trans young men and top and bottom surgery for trans young women.”
“Top” and “bottom” surgery are the common parlance among transgender supporters for major, irreversible surgical changes to make a person appear to be a different sex. These include the removal of women’s breasts and the removal and reconstruction of male sexual organs.
Rachel Levine, then a nominee for assistant secretary of Health and Human Services, testifies before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 25, 2021. Caroline Brehman/AFP via Getty Images
“Is there any literature to support this protocol?” Levine asked in the May 4, 2017, email. “Please let me know if you have any references.”
The same day, Dowshen responded and wrote: “Hi Rachel, I’m not aware of existing literature but it is certainly happening. I think we’ve had more than 10 patients who have had chest surgery under 18 (as young as 15) and 1 bottom surgery (17).”
Dowshen said she was currently working with colleagues to “get some pre-post data for top surgeries for youth under 18” and suggested that a research assistant could do a literature search to make sure they were “not missing anything,” to which Levine agreed.
“A lot of our youth are being denied coverage for top surgery if under 18,” Dowshen said.
In a statement to CNA Wednesday, Levine downplayed the significance of the email exchange.
“As physician general of the state of Pennsylvania, I worked to remain aware of the latest science in a number of health areas. This allowed me to offer policy recommendations to the governor, to offer strong managerial oversight on behalf of the people of Pennsylvania, and to coordinate effectively with my peers,” Levine said.
“My question about the existing literature on surgeries for minors was asked in the same spirit as many of the other questions I asked in that role — that of making sure I was aware of the latest and most relevant data on an issue of public interest,” Levine said.
“There was nothing unusual about that exchange, and in the years since it occurred, the medical validity of gender affirming care has only been reaffirmed and strengthened,” Levine said. “It is important to note the standards of care for patients include psychological and medical evaluations and, if necessary, treatment and support for the young person and their family. Children who have not yet started puberty do not receive medical treatment — at that age, care focuses on counseling and being mindful of the needs of the young person, their family, and their school.”
CNA also contacted Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia for comment but did not receive a response.
‘A giant experiment on children’
Dr. Quentin Van Meter, president of the American College of Pediatricians — an organization of pediatricians that advocates for children’s health and well-being — criticized the email exchange. He told CNA that it is wrong for any doctor to be doing experimental surgeries when there are no long-term studies to support them.
Van Meter said the result of the doctors doing experimental sex-change surgeries on minors is that “the lives of what will be tens of thousands of children are ruined.”
He said that there are no long-term studies in existence to support sex-change surgeries, whether that be for minors or adults.
“This is a giant experiment on children,” he said. “Medicine cannot be practiced that way.”
Van Meter also took issue with Levine’s response to CNA.
Van Meter said Levine is wrong about transgender surgeries being “affirmed” by science, saying that “it’s actually been torn to shreds by science.”
“It’s the most embarrassing, non-scientific facade in a very scientific environment,” he said.
The original publicizer of the emails, Twitter user Megan Brock, told CNA she gained access to the emails through a Pennsylvania Right to Know Law public document request.
Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is the latest hospital to come under fire after media exposés have shown that gender transition surgeries on minors have been taking place at medical institutions across the nation.
In August, Boston Children’s Hospital took heavy criticism when news broke that it was offering gender transition treatments and surgeries for kids. The hospital has since updated its website and says that only 18-year-olds qualify for “phalloplasty or metoidioplasty and for vaginoplasty surgeries.”
The website still says that the hospital will perform “chest surgery” on 15-year-olds.
In October, Vanderbilt University Medical Hospital paused gender transition surgeries on children after an investigation into the hospital was called for by Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee. Vanderbilt’s surgeries on minors — and the lucrative nature of its transgender surgeries in general — were originally exposed by Matt Walsh, an internet host for The Daily Wire.
Archdiocese of Detroit’s I AM HERE website features powerful photo essays of real people’s transformative encounters, prayer resources through Hallow, and inspirational messages urging people to give Jesus’ Real Presence a chance to change their lives. / Courtesy of Archdiocese of Detroit
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 18, 2022 / 05:23 am (CNA).
The transformative power of encountering Jesus Christ in the Eucharist is a phenomenon that is often difficult to fully comprehend. To help those who are searching for Jesus’ presence, the Archdiocese of Detroit and Hallow App are launching the I AM HERE campaign.
The campaign allows parishes as well as individuals to get involved. Through the teachings of the National Eucharistic Revival, a grassroots effort led by the U.S. bishops aiming to inspire and teach about the Eucharist, I AM HERE aims to promote a true devotion to the Real Presence.
The I AM HERE campaign launched on June 14. The campaign includes a website, social media, and testimonies from real individuals whose lives were changed by the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Hallow app is also assisting the organization with a series of free audio prayer meditations to help listeners pray.
“Something that I think is really unique to the way we do evangelization and mission is direct communication in the Archdiocese of Detroit. We’ve always highlighted and seen the power of personal testimony and personal stories.” Emily Mentock, associate director of strategy for the Detroit Archdiocese, told CNA.
The National Eucharistic Revival and I AM HERE come in response to the small percentage of Catholics who believe in the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. A 2019 Pew Research Center survey found that 69% of Catholics see the bread and wine as symbolic, while only 31% see the bread and wine as the body and blood of Jesus.
Because of this statistic, Mentock told CNA that they want to focus on the 31% who do believe and have them share their stories. She tells all people to, “open your heart and mind to what might be possible.”
“We hope to see our parishes transformed by people growing in love for Jesus Christ and in their zeal to communicate this love with others,” said Edmundo Reyes, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
The Hallow app and the Archdiocese of Detroit are partnering on a eucharistic campaign called I AM HERE. Courtesy of Archdiocese of Detroit
The I AM HERE website features powerful photo essays of real people’s transformative encounters, resources for intentional prayer through Hallow, and inspirational messages urging their audience to give Jesus’ Presence a chance.
“You are never alone. In your brokenness, sorrows and frustrations, Jesus wants to say to you, ‘I am here,’” says the main message on the I AM HERE page.
Through a budding social media presence on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, the campaign will feature personal testimonies of eucharistic encounters. The campaign’s press release also states that campaign organizers, partnered with parishes, will gather stories of parishioners to help encourage others to find Jesus in the Eucharist themselves. Parishes wishing to get involved can contact iamhere@aod.org.
The stories on the I AM HERE website feature individuals from all different walks of life. From teenagers to the elderly, each person has a unique experience to share. The variety of testimonies is meant to show the audience that there is no requirement to find Jesus’ Real Presence, only that you “sit in his presence and open yourself up to his voice.”
“Mass is an obligation, you know, whether you believe in the real presence or not. But adoration only makes sense, really, when you’re going to go and look at and put yourself in front of this host if you think that Jesus is present there: body, blood, soul, and divinity,” Mentock told CNA.
“So we really want people to see the I AM HERE message. What’s sort of underlying it all is that it’s not just a devotion. It really is Jesus being here with us and breaking through the brokenness of our world to meet us and transform us in the gift that is the Eucharist.”
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