A tabernacle was desecrated May 24, 2023, at St. Ann Parish in the town of Nindirí in Nicaragua. / Credit: Facebook of the Chapel of Our Lady of Fatima
ACI Prensa Staff, May 26, 2023 / 11:00 am (CNA).
During the early hours of May 24, unidentified persons desecrated the chapel of Our Lady of Fatima in the small settlement of Campuzano, situated roughly halfway between Managua and Masaya in Nicaragua.
In a statement, St. Ann Parish, located in the town of Nindirí to which the desecrated chapel belongs, reported that “the sacrilegious act consisted of forcing open the secured door and removing the tabernacle from the chapel, forcing open the tabernacle to steal the ciborium, outraging the Consecrated Species.”
The Hosts, according to the parish, “were abandoned in a property near the chapel.”
The parish held an act of reparation yesterday afternoon followed by the celebration of Holy Mass.
On the chapel’s Facebook page, along with the photos of the destruction, it reads: “They can desecrate our churches, break our images, but our faith always remains in Jesus Christ who made heaven and earth. All hail to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.”
This desecration adds to the more than 500 attacks that the Catholic Church has suffered in the last five years under the dictatorship of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, which have been compiled by the lawyer and researcher Martha Patricia Molina.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
If you value the news and views Catholic World Report provides, please consider donating to support our efforts. Your contribution will help us continue to make CWR available to all readers worldwide for free, without a subscription. Thank you for your generosity!
Click here for more information on donating to CWR. Click here to sign up for our newsletter.
When Pope Pius IX declared the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary on December 8, 1854, he had a golden crown added to the mosaic of Mary, Virgin Immaculate, in the Chapel of the Choir in St. Peter’s Basilica. / Daniel Ibañez/CNA
The Catholic Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, is sparing no effort in addressing that through its new, seven-part video series “Mary, Explained.”
In preparation for its upcoming golden jubilee in 2024, the diocese has launched a three-year effort to prepare for the celebration.
Year One, which began in November 2021, focused on the theme of the Eucharist. Out of that theme the diocese produced a series called “The Mass, Explained,” which received much positive feedback.
This year, the second year of preparation, the theme for the diocese is “rejoice,” and the focus is Mary’s perfect example of joy.
Kerry Nevins, multimedia producer for the Arlington Diocese, told CNA: “‘Rejoice’ is centered around Mary’s response to the Annunciation when she is told that she’s going to be the mother of God.” He explained that this was their call from Bishop Michael F. Burbidge, who leads the diocese.
Bishop Michael F. Burbidge shares his thoughts in the “Mary, Explained” series on the importance of Marian theology and why the diocesan faithful ought to see Mary as our model disciple. Photo courtesy of Diocese of Arlington
As Burbidge, Nevins, and their Arlington Diocese team continued to explore the theme, they decided to create a video series about Mary.
The seven-part series will unpack the Marian dogmas month by month by way of addressing the following topics: Who is Mary? (May); Was she the mother of God? (June); Was she immaculately conceived? (July); Was she assumed into heaven? (August); Was she ever-virgin? (September); Why do Catholics pray and have devotions to Mary? (October); and How can we embrace Mary as our model disciple? (November).
Nevins explained that the mission of the series is to “dive into who she is, what Catholics believe about her, what Catholics don’t believe about her, and why we should even be looking to her in the first place.”
“We don’t just want to know our faith for the sake of knowing our faith so we can get a couple of answers right on Catholic ‘Jeopardy,’” Nevins told CNA. “We want people to know their faith so that they can know Christ and come to be in a relationship with him, and I think the best way that you can get to know somebody is by meeting their mom.”
Dr. Matthew Tsakanikas, associate professor of theology at Christendom College who is featured in the series, expressed how this project gracefully addresses a wide audience, hearing perspectives from priests, religious, and laypeople alike. Tsakanikas told CNA: “I think it’s written so that anyone accessing it has a chance to get insights at every level.”
Tsakanikas noted how “Mary, Explained” takes what might seem like lofty ideas and brings them down to us. “These dogmas aren’t supposed to be … just looking at Mary on a pedestal but also looking at Mary in terms of how these graces were assigning her a task and mission,” he said.
Through a deeper understanding of the Marian dogmas, viewers can understand how she, too, was commissioned to bring about the kingdom of God here on earth and hopefully encourage them to do the same.
At a glance, it’s evident that the production quality was carefully considered.
“A lot of planning went into it,” Nevins said. “We really believe that … quality is credibility.”
With endless options to click through, Nevins acknowledged that the content had to be aesthetically appealing if they wanted people to consume it. “We really want to make Catholic media beautiful because we’ve got the greatest story to tell, but if the story doesn’t look good, people aren’t going to watch it,” he said.
Beyond the production quality, the mission of the series is to stoke a fire of love for the Church and deepen devotion to Our Lady.
Father Daniel Hanley, formator at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, told CNA: “Letting people know and enter into relationship with Mary as spiritual mother is hugely important. She’s a real person, she’s involved in our life, and we should recognize it and let her be.”
The bishop’s leadership and inspiration is credited with the initial vision for the series, but the diocese was well suited for the project, according to Hanley. “There’s a lot of Marian devotion in our diocese,” he added.
Those involved in the production of “Mary, Explained” are hopeful that the series will bear the fruit of Marian devotion in their diocese and beyond.
“It’s part of God’s plan for salvation that people know her and let her be part of their life,” Hanley said. “I noticed that they’ll lean in when you preach about Mary. There’s a desire to know more about her.”
Washington D.C., Jul 13, 2023 / 13:00 pm (CNA).
Republican lawmakers on the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday pressed FBI director Chris Wray on a leaked memo from the bureau’s Richmond division that desc… […]
Cardinal Joseph Zen, former bishop of Hong Hong (second from left), attends the funeral Mass for Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Jan. 5, 2023, in St. Peter’s Square. / Alan Koppschall/EWTN
Vatican City, Jan 5, 2023 / 02:25 am (CNA).
Cardinal Joseph Zen attended the funeral of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI on Thursday morning after Hong Kong authorities temporarily released his passport for five days to allow him to travel to Rome.
The 90-year-old cardinal from Hong Kong arrived in St. Peter’s Square dressed in red and walking with a cane to concelebrate the funeral Mass on Jan. 5.
The former bishop of Hong Kong, who was arrested last year under the city’s national security law, was allowed by a local court to travel to Italy to be present for the funeral of the late pope who made him a cardinal.
A magistrate ruled on Jan. 3 that the Chinese cardinal would be allowed to leave Hong Kong for five days with his previously confiscated passport temporarily returned to him.
Following the death of Benedict XVI on Dec. 31, Zen reflected on the legacy of the late pope emeritus.
The cardinal wrote on his blog that Benedict XVI was a “great defender of the truth” who took “extraordinary” actions to support the Church in China, despite many setbacks.
“As a member of the Chinese Church, I am immensely grateful to Pope Benedict for things he has done that he did not do for other Churches,” Zen wrote.
The Hong Kong cardinal recalled in particular Benedict XVI’s 2007 letter to China, which Zen called “a masterpiece of balance between the lucidity of Catholic ecclesiological doctrine and humble understanding with respect to civil authority.”
Zen also criticized “errors” in the Chinese translation of Benedict’s letter, which he said he believed contained “biased quotations against the obvious sense of the letter.”
“Another extraordinary thing he did for the Church in China is the establishment of a powerful commission to take care of the affairs of the Church in China; unfortunately under the new president of said commission it has been made to disappear quietly without even a word of respectful farewell,” the cardinal added.
Benedict XVI created Zen a cardinal in 2006 and selected the cardinal to write the meditations for the papal Stations of the Cross at the Colosseum in 2008, one year before Zen’s retirement as bishop of Hong Kong.
Zen underlined that he sees Benedict XVI as a pope who was “often misunderstood and sometimes not followed” but said that it is “precisely in these cases, which seem to be failures, that I was able to admire his great fortitude and magnanimity in the face of setbacks.”
“Despite his great efforts, Pope Benedict failed to improve the situation of the Church in China. He could not accept just any compromise,” the Chinese cardinal said.
The cardinal, who was born in Shanghai, added that he is “convinced that every effort to improve the situation of the Church in China [in the future] will need to be taken in line with the 2007 letter.”
“As we remember the great pontiff, let us remember that we now have him as a powerful intercessor in heaven. With his intercession, we pray that all, the Church in Rome, the Church in China, and the Chinese authorities will be moved by God’s grace to bring about true peace for the Church and our homeland,” Zen said.
Leave a Reply