Armagh, Northern Ireland, Oct 5, 2018 / 09:00 am (CNA).- Catholic leaders fear a revival of border tensions in Ireland following Brexit. As the United Kingdom prepares for its withdrawal from the European Union, Catholics in parishes and dioceses split… […]
Vatican City, Oct 5, 2018 / 07:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A young U.S. Catholic participating in the 2018 Synod of Bishops said he hopes the Vatican meeting is a starting point for implementing change within the local dioceses and for raising the importance of positive Catholic role models.
For whatever reason young people may leave the Church, “the need is for positive examples of the faith,” Jonathan Lewis told CNA Oct. 5.
“I see the need for us to have in each of our parish communities – it can’t just be one parish in each diocese, it has to be in every community – relationships of love, friendship, and mentorship to walk with young people at every step of faith.”
Lewis, 32, is an auditor to the synod – one of 34 young adults appointed by Pope Francis to participate in a meeting of bishops from around the world, discussing young adults, the faith, and vocational discernment.
Lewis has worked for the Archdiocese of Washington for six years, first as the director of evangelization and young adult ministries and now as assistant secretary for pastoral ministry and social concerns.
Prior to his work in D.C., Lewis worked in parish ministry, doing religious education, youth ministry, and young adult ministry in the dioceses of Wilmington and Kansas City, and the Archdiocese of San Francisco.
A native of Kansas, he studied at Catholic University of America and holds a master’s degree in theology from the University of Notre Dame. He is married, and he and his wife are expecting their first child.
As an auditor for the Vatican’s synod on young people, faith, and vocational discernment, Lewis is listening in on the general congregations, will give one four-minute speech called an intervention, and will join in the working groups of the latter part of the assembly.
Lewis said he sees the youth synod as an opportunity to “revive the Church by focusing on the young voices of committed Catholics,” and by going out as missionaries to reach young people who do not practice the faith, but who often still have “a strong spiritual sense and desire to make a difference in our world.”
About the many concerns people have voiced regarding the synod, among them that it will be a lot of show, but have little real-world impact, Lewis said there is no way “a month-long meeting or one document, can include each of the perspectives of young people worldwide.”
However, he thinks the meeting, which he said has so far had a positive atmosphere inside the hall, “can certainly begin a discussion.”
“Whatever the final document is, [I hope] it will be a beginning point for the Church to implement a priority of young people,” he said.
Lewis explained that his intervention – the short speech he will offer during the meeting – will be focused on the need for strong mentorship-type relationships for young people.
Whatever you call it, whether discipleship mentorship, spiritual mentors, spiritual advisors, or spiritual direction, “today we need to cultivate relationships of spiritual friendship in the life of our parishes,” he said.
In his experience, and he believes the experience of many Catholics, long-term commitment to the faith and to the Church is correlated to the number and quality of relationships with faith mentors one has had throughout their life, whether parents, a catechist, pastor, or teacher.
Vatican City, Oct 5, 2018 / 06:06 am (CNA).- Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport said Thursday that the Church must discuss its sexual abuse crisis if it is to gain the trust of young people.
During his Oct. 4 speech at the 2018 Synod of Bishops, Cagg… […]
Santiago, Chile, Oct 4, 2018 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati of Santiago has exercised his legal right to silence after being summoned for questioning by a state prosecutor.
The intended questioning was likely to be focused on what the card… […]
Vatican City, Oct 4, 2018 / 04:36 pm (CNA).-
The first session of the synod of bishops on young people, the faith, and vocational discernment was held Thursday, with bishops from around the world making brief interventions.
The following is a brief summary of the Oct. 4 session, provided to CNA by the synodal fathers from Poland:
Intergenerational relationships, social media, sport, and pastoral care that is able to answer the challenges of the youth are the main topics of the first session of the Synod, according to the Instrumentum Laboris.
During the first session of the Synod, the Synod Fathers discussed the introduction of the Instrumentum Laboris; precisely, the intergenerational relations, the digital continents, and pastoral care that can respond to these challenges.
“Many topics included in specific points of the Synod Instrumentum Laboris have been raised. Among those, the most frequently discussed issue was listening to the questions of the young. This listening begins with real questions, not artificial ones,” said Archbishop Stanisław Gadecki of Poznań, president of the Polish episcopate.
The Fathers also spoke about young immigrants. “These young people who emigrate, impoverish their country of origin, and enrich the country to which they come, often with their faith in God as their only support. For us Bishops, the question arises: Do we know the young people who leave our dioceses and do we know those who come to our dioceses?” Archbishop Gadecki observed.
“We gladly accepted the fact that the deliberations also referred to the values of the World Youth Day, to the wealth that they bring with them. Another topic was the need to build formation centers for young people that function 24 hours a day, with ecumenical and interreligious spaces, in search of God,” said Archbishop Gadecki said.
Questions concerning the young people’s sexuality, determinant during adolescence, were also discussed. “Here, the Church has a beautiful mission to fulfill, because it can proclaim the Gospel of love,” said Archbishop Grzegorz Ryś of Lodz.
Archbishop Ryś pointed out that the most frequently repeated word in the Synod is the word “listen”. At the same time, issues important for young people, such as studies, work, and sexuality were addressed. These are topics that we can start with when going to meet young people because these are their matters.
During the Synod, the subject of the social media also emerged, both as a great opportunity and a great threat, as a reality in which young people are living. We should not only talk about it but take specific actions, said Bishop Marek Solarczyk, Auxiliary Bishop of Warszawa-Praga.
The first of the Synod Fathers from Poland who spoke was Bishop Marian Florczyk, Auxiliary Bishop of Kielce. “Many bishops referred to John Paul II. They recalled him as the originator of the World Youth Days and drew inspiration from his speeches … For us Poles, this was very nice,” he said.
An important topic discussed by the bishops was that of the presence of the young in the sports sector. Contemporary society is sportive. The Instrumentum Laboris calls attention to the Church’s presence in the sports sector. “We can proudly say that the Polish Bishops’ Conference is the only one in the world that has a delegate for the pastoral care of athletes. So, whereas the Church in the West has withdrawn from the lives of athletes, the Church in Poland is committed to them,” said Bishop Florczyk, delegate of the Polish Bishops’ Conference for the Sport.
The Synod on the youth, the faith, the discernment of vocation is taking place in Rome Oct. 3-28.
Edinburgh, Scotland, Oct 4, 2018 / 03:54 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Police Scotland maintains that “if flown or displayed in a provocative manner or altered,” the display of the Vatican flag could be a criminal act.
Scotland has experienced significant sectarian division since the Scottish Reformation of the 16th century, which led to the formation of the Church of Scotland, an ecclesial community in the Calvinist and Presbyterian tradition which is the country’s largest religious community.
Sectarianism and crimes motivated by anti-Catholicism have been on the rise in Scotland in recent years. Football hooliganism in the country can be linked to sectarian football clubs.
“It would be very concerning if the Vatican flag was in any circumstance deemed offensive,” a Church spokesman said, according to the Scottish Catholic Observer.
The Herald obtained the Police Scotland document which shows symbols and flags, the “provocative” use of which could be a crime.
“Whilst the display of the following flags is not an offence, in itself, if flown or displayed in a provocative manner or altered, constitute a common law Breach of the Peace or an offence under Section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2000,” the police document stated.
Among the flags deemed potentially criminal are those of the Vatican, Israel, Ireland, Palestine, Catalonia, and the Basque Country.
“If they are altered to contain a reference to a proscribed organisation they may constitute an offence under Section 13 of the Terrorism Act 2000.”
“Irrespective of the above, the possession of these flags within a football ground may constitute a breach of ground regulations.”
Police Scotland Chief Superindendent John McKenzie said that “often flags themselves are not the issue but the criminal conduct that accompanies them is. This could include, but is not limited to, threatening gestures or words, or flags being amended to show support for a proscribed terrorist group or amendments which constitute a hate crime.”
And a spokesman for the Scottish government said, “It is not an offence to fly the flag of the Vatican or any other country.”
A Church spokesman noted that the Vatican flag “has been flown proudly in Scotland on the occasion of two Papal visits without upset or incident and its use should not be restricted in any way.”
Sectarianism has been a problem in Scotland in recent years.
Glasgow has rerouted Protestant marches associated with the Orange Order.
An April poll of Catholics in Scotland found that 20 percent reported personally experiencing abuse of prejudice toward their faith; and a government report on religiously-motivated crime in 2016 and 2017 found a concentration of incidents in Glasgow.
Jefferson City, Mo., Oct 4, 2018 / 02:21 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Abortions at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Columbia, Missouri ended this week after the facility failed to adhere to state rules, and its state license to perform abortions expired Oct. 3. This leaves Missouri with one clinic licensed to perform abortions, located in St. Louis.
“I am just thrilled, and I give all the honor and glory to God for this,” Kathy Forck of Columbia 40 Days for Life told CNA. “We’re pretty confident that [Planned Parenthood] will never be able to recover from this latest blow.”
Forck said that her organization has been praying outside the Columbia clinic for nine years, and during that time abortions had ceased and resumed nine times.
“Even though they have stopped doing the abortions, they’re still open to refer for abortions,” she said. “And until that place actually closes its doors, we’ll be out on the sidewalk offering help and hope to women and letting God use us to save babies by sending them across the street to MyLife Clinic [a pro-life pregnancy center].”
Missouri passed regulations in 2017 which granted the state attorney general more power to prosecute violations, and required stricter health codes and proper fetal tissue disposal. The new rules also required that doctors have surgical and admitting privileges to nearby hospitals, and that clinics meet hospital-like standards for outpatient surgery.
U.S. District Judge Howard Sachs temporarily blocked the regulations in April 2017, with the rationale that the rules were denying Missouri women a constitutional right to abortion. However, the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last month to end the district judge’s injunction, with a three-judge panel writing that the district judge failed to weigh any of the “benefits” that could proceed from the state’s rules.
This sends the case back to the district court for further consideration and allowed the rules to take effect Oct. 1. The Missouri DHSS announced last month that they would begin enforcing the new rules immediately.
The appellate court ruling comes in a case filed by Planned Parenthood affiliates in 2016 after the US Supreme Court struck down similar abortion restrictions in Texas.
In addition to the regulations, the Columbia clinic also must pass an inspection from the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services. According to the Columbia Missourian, a September inspection by the department found that the facility failed to “ensure a sanitary environment,” and was using equipment on which rust and substances believed to be mold and bodily fluids were found.
Doctors performing abortions in Missouri have been required since 2005 to have clinical privileges at a hospital within 30 miles. In 2015, University Hospital in Columbia revoked admitting privileges for a St. Louis-based doctor who had previously been performing abortions at the Columbia clinic.
“No one in Columbia wants to give [medical] privileges to the abortion industry,” Forck commented. “They’ve tried and tried and they just can’t get it.”
She said 40 Days for Life attracts many members of the local medical community to their sidewalk prayer vigils, and that the Columbia clinic had lost seven abortion doctors in the three and a half years that it performed abortions.
Missouri law has held, since the 1980s, that life begins at conception. The state is now one of seven that has only one licensed abortion clinic.
Washington D.C., Oct 4, 2018 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- Human dignity and the common good are the essential aims of work, attendees heard at the 2018 Principled Entrepreneurship conference in Washington, D.C. The three-day conference is being cosponsored by th… […]
Lansing, Mich., Oct 4, 2018 / 11:48 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Police raided diocesan properties at all seven Catholic dioceses in Michigan this week as part of an ongoing investigation into cases of child sex abuse by clergy.
In the Archdiocese of Detroit,… […]
London, England, Oct 4, 2018 / 10:30 am (CNA).- Amid a British investigation into sexual abuse, Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster is expected to face questions regarding the way his archdiocese handled allegations of misconduct made against his p… […]
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