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Vatican City, Mar 19, 2021 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- Among the seven clerics and religious whose heroic virtues were recognized by the Vatican on Thursday are three Italian religious sisters who died while serving victims of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1995.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints promulgated a decree March 18 recognizing the heroic virtues of seven clerics and religious.

The religious sisters — Sr. Annelvira Ossoli, Sr. Vitarosa Zorza, and Sr. Danielangela Sorti — were members of the Sisters of the Poor, Palazzolo Institute. They contracted and died of Ebola while serving the poor. Three of their fellow religious who also died of Ebola were recognized for their heroic virtue Feb. 20.

The six religious sisters died while attending to Ebola patients at a hospital in the Diocese of Kikwit between April 25 and May 28, 1995.

They had reportedly assisted in an operation on a patient who, unbeknownst to them, had the Ebola virus.

Following the death of the six religious and the resultant uncertainty about the Ebola epidemic, the Palazzolo Sisters in the DRC wrote a fax to their Mother General in Bergamo, saying, in part, “We understand your trepidation, but we are totally in God’s hands. No evacuation can be done. It is very hard for you and us to accept this separation from the Sisters.”

They continued, “Painful events have overwhelmed us but the life of the Congregation must continue; the situation is quite dramatic especially inside. But it is necessary to remain calm. In Kinshasa there are no outbreaks and all the roads towards the interior are blocked.”

Founded in 1869 by Italian Priest, Blessed Luigi Maria Palazzolo, the Sisters of the Poor serve the poor, orphans, and the sick.

The March 18 decree also recognized the heroic virtues of Mercurio Maria Teresi, Archbishop of Monreale from 1802 to 1805; Cosme Muñoz Pérez, a diocesan priest who founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Patronage of Mary and who died in 1636; Salvatore Valera Parra, a diocesan priest who died in 1889; and Leone Veuthey, a Conventual Franciscan who died in 1974.

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Christian Afghan refugees leaving Kabul / Instagram @glennbeck

Denver Newsroom, Aug 25, 2021 / 14:56 pm (CNA).
With time running out to rescue civilians fleeing the Taliban, Afghan Christians and others whose names appear on U.S. government list… […]

Pope Francis spoke about the Christian roots of Hungary during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square on May 3, 2023. / Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Vatican City, May 3, 2023 / 02:21 am (CNA).

Pope Francis said Wednesday that freedom is under threat in Europe, as people choose consumerism and individualism over building families and community.

Even today, “freedom is under threat,” he said May 3. “Above all with kid gloves, by a consumerism that anesthetizes, where one is content with a little material well-being and, forgetting the past, one ‘floats’ in a present made to the measure of the individual.”

“This is the dangerous persecution of modernity that advances consumerism,” he underlined.

“But when the only thing that counts is thinking about oneself and doing what one likes, the roots suffocate,” he warned. “This is a problem throughout Europe, where dedicating oneself to others, community feeling, the beauty of dreaming together and creating large families are in crisis. All of Europe is in crisis.”

Pope Francis spoke about Europe, its roots, and the problem of consumerism, during his weekly audience with the public.

Speaking about his visit to Budapest, Hungary, April 28-30, he asked those present at the audience to think about “the importance of preserving roots, because only by going deep will the branches grow upwards and bear fruit.”

He began his reflection on the three-day trip to Hungary’s capital city by recalling the European country’s Christian roots and the ways those were tested in the 20th century.

“Their faith, as we have heard from the Word of God, has been tested by fire,” he said, noting the atheist persecution in the 1900s, when “Christians were struck down violently, with bishops, priests, religious, and lay people killed or deprived of their freedom.”

“But while attempts were made to cut down the tree of faith, the roots remained intact,” he said, pointing out the steadfastness of the “hidden Church” in Hungary.

“In Hungary, this latest persecution, the Communist oppression was preceded by the Nazi oppression, with the tragic deportation of a large Jewish population,” the pope added.

“But in that atrocious genocide, many distinguished themselves by their resistance and their ability to protect the victims; and this was possible because the roots of living together were firm,” he said. “Thus the common bonds of faith and people helped the return of freedom.”

Quoting St. Pope John Paul II, Pope Francis also spoke about Hungary’s “many saints and heroes, surrounded by hosts of humble and hard-working people.”

He noted, in particular, the devotion of Hungary’s St. Stephen, to the Virgin Mary.

“I want to recall, at the beginning of the month of May, how very devoted the Hungarians are to the Holy Mother of God,” he said.

“Consecrated to her by the first king, St. Stephen, they used to address her without pronouncing her name, out of respect, calling her only by the titles of Queen,” Pope Francis said. “To the Queen of Hungary, therefore, we entrust that dear country; to the Queen of Peace, we entrust the building of bridges in the world; to the Queen of Heaven, whom we acclaim at this Easter time, we entrust our hearts that they may be rooted in the love of God.”

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