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Nun in Mexico celebrates 75th anniversary of her first profession

August 9, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Guadalajara, Mexico, Aug 9, 2018 / 03:01 pm (ACI Prensa).- Sister Emma of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, 97, celebrated last month her “diamond anniversary” of consecration to Christ.

The religious, born in 1921 Yahualica in the Mexican state of Jalisco, celebrated July 19 the 75th anniversary of her profession in the Congregation of the Servants of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Poor.

The congregation noted that the milestone marks for Sister Emma “75 years of living united to the Divine Spouse and of jubilant dedication to our most needy brothers, especially the sick and the elderly.”

Sister Emma entered the congregation Dec. 4, 1940. She made her first profession July 16, 1943, and made her final vows six years later.

She now lives in the congregation’s community at Most Holy Trinity Hospital in Guadalajara.

The congregation said that in the witness of Sister Emma’s life “we can see our charism radically lived out, because she has known and has experienced being loved and indwelt by the Triune God and so has discovered the presence of God in the people she lives with and has served and loved as living temples of the Most Holy Trinity.”

The religious, they said, “always reminds us that it’s God’s work and that he will send us in his time many vocations, and that we should continue working and giving glory to God.”

The Congregation of the Servants of the Most Holy Trinity and of the Poor was founded by Blessed Vicenta Chávez Orozco amid the societal hardships and attacks against the Church in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in Mexico. It was established as a religious institute in 1905 in Guadalajara.

At 113 years from their foundation, they are currently in several Mexican states, serving hospitals, medical clinics, mission centers, and infirmaries.

 

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Archbishop Fisichella talks Veritatis splendor, Francis, and development of doctrine

August 9, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Aug 9, 2018 / 01:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In an interview with Vatican News marking the 25th anniversary of St. John Paul II’s encyclical Veritatis splendor, Archbishop Salvatore Rino Fisichella said that “the magisterium must never be used instrumentally to place a contrast in the development of the doctrine.”

Veritatis splendor, written on some fundamental questions of the Church’s moral doctrine, encouraged a renewal of moral theology and taught that there are intrinsically evil acts, that absolute truths exist across various cultures. It also urged sharp caution against moral relativism and the misuse of conscience to justify false or subjective morals.

Archbishop Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting the New Evangelization, stated that “when we speak about the truth, we must always have a dynamic concept.”

“The truth is not a ‘fixistic’ dimension. The truth, for the Christian, is first of all that living Word that the Lord has left us. Let us not forget Jesus who says: ‘I am the way, the truth and the life’,” the archbishop said.

“Therefore, the dimension of truth opens to a personal encounter: it is the truth of the Gospel, it is the truth represented by the person of Jesus Christ. All that is the content that Jesus wanted to transmit to His disciples, and that comes from the Apostles to us, is a truth that opens up more and more to a discovery of the mystery that has been revealed.”

He said that “There are some fundamental points that remain as milestones in the dogmatic and moral teaching of the Church. These are elements that remain in their immutability,” and that

“All this then requires from the theologians … a great work of interpretation,” Archbishop Fisichella stated.

Immutuable norms “must, however, be continuously opened through the discovery of the truth of the Word of God.”

The archbishop said that in his opinion, the Church “cannot accept an idea of truth closed in on itself. Truth, by its very nature, refers to fidelity and also to freedom: ‘The truth will set you free.’ A truth that opens up more and more is a truth that makes every believer, every man, discover a more profound freedom. However, this also requires fidelity. The link between fidelity and truth is a typical link in the biblical conception of truth.”

Asked about fidelity to truth and those who criticize Pope Francis for, they believe, diverging from Catholic doctrine, and who refer to Veritatis splendor, Archbishop Fisichella said that “I don’t think there are any grounds that justify challenging the teaching of Pope Francis in the light of the previous Magisterium.”

The question is an implicit reference to the ‘dubia letter’ sent by four cardinals to Pope Francis in September 2016. The letter asked the Pope to clarify some passages of Amoris laetitia, and four of the five dubia quoted Veritatis splendor and noted that Francis’ apostolic exhortation could be interpreted as contrasting with St. John Paul II’s encyclical.

Pope Francis has not responded to the dubia.

The Vatican News interview also comes on the heels of a change to the text of the Catechism of the Catholic Church regarding capital punishment, which has been widely interpreted as a change in doctrine.

Archbishop Fisichella said that “when there is an instumental use” of the Magisterium, “then I fear there is no desire for a discovery of the truth, and also that there is no fidelity to the tradition of the Church. I don’t think there are any grounds that justify challenging the teaching of Pope Francis in the light of the previous Magisterium. On the contrary, we need to reiterate how much continuity there is in development.”

“I think, however, that it is also important to carefully consider the whole teaching of Pope Francis and not just a single particular aspect of it: the mosaic is produced by the whole deck, not by a single card.”

For Archbishop Fisichella, the teaching of Pope Francis is “a great openness in the work of evangelization” without “anticipating the norm of the proclamation.”

According to the prelate, Francis’ pontificate is about “being able … to accompany our contemporaries, to walk beside them in order to help them understand, to really understand its application, and sometimes also, perhaps, to take a step back. And so this dimension emerges together with the need for mercy. The Jubilee of Mercy was the concrete sign of how Pope Francis identifies and orients his Pontificate.”

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Former Pennsylvania chief justice backs delay of grand jury report

August 8, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Harrisburg, Pa., Aug 8, 2018 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- The former chief justice of Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court has warned that the release of a grand jury report into allegations of sexual abuse and coverups by the Catholic Church in that state could violate the constitutional rights of those named in the report.

In an Aug 6 column in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Ronald D. Castile wrote that the state’s Supreme Court initially halted the report’s release because of “important constitutional issues,” including “questions regarding due process, fairness, and deprivation of personal reputational rights.”

“After reviewing the Supreme Court opinion, I agree that important constitutional rights are at risk of being denied because of issues pertaining to procedural aspects inherent in the Grand Jury Act and the impact on individual reputational rights.”

Article 1 of the Pennsylvania Constitution enshrines a person’s right to possess and protect their good reputation, placing it on the same footing as life and liberty.

Several individuals named in the report, including some priests, objected to being included in the document. They argued that the grand jury report links their names to terrible crimes or cover-up efforts, but that they had not been afforded the chance to respond to allegations made against them, or given the benefit of due process of law.

Castile agreed, criticizing “the inability of many of the named clerical members of the Catholic Church to defend themselves against allegations contained in the report.”

A source close to the grand jury investigation told CNA that while named individuals had been allowed to send in written statements during the investigation, they were not given the chance to appear in person, answer questions directly, or question other witnesses.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court ordered on July 27 that a redacted version of the report be published no later than August 14.

Castile, who spent 20 years as a prosecutor in the state of Pennsylvania and served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court from 2008-2014, said that the Supreme Court’s decision to delay the release and order the redaction of some names had his support.

“I agree with the court’s action, and I agree with its decision to assign all the parties concerned immediate hearings on the constitutional issues identified in the process and the substance of the report.”

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro has been critical of the objections and pressed for the full report to be released as soon as possible. He even wrote to Pope Francis, asking him to tell intervene and order those appealing against the report’s release to “abandon their destructive efforts to silence the survivors.”

Castile said that the attorney general should have an equal concern for protecting the rights of all Pennsylvania citizens, and that the release of “quasi-official accusations of misconduct against many named but uncharged individuals” who have not had the chance to defend themselves was not appropriate.

The former chief justice stressed that an important function of a grand jury report is to recommend ways to address issues brought up in the course of the investigation, but that the Supreme Court’s decision allowed for any such recommendations to be published in a way that did not infringe constitutional rights.

The 800-page report is expected to name 300 priests accused of sexual abuse in six Pennsylvania dioceses over a period of decades. The dioceses are Pittsburgh, Erie, Allentown, Harrisburg, Scranton, and Greensburg.

The Diocese of Harrisburg and Diocese of Erie have already released the names of all clerics credibly accused of abuse, and Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh has committed to doing the same.

While Castile said it is important that victims of abuse receive justice, and that the recommendations of the grand jury investigation should be made public, he said that justice also requires protecting the rights of individuals and the presumption of innocence.

“What is called for is exactly what the Supreme Court has ordered,” Castile said, “a rational discussion of the issue by all sides in order to address the important constitutional questions that have arisen in the grand jury report.”

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Dolan praises St. Dominic at KofC convention

August 8, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Baltimore, Md., Aug 8, 2018 / 03:54 pm (CNA).- The Archbishop of New York encouraged Catholics to imitate the patient and persistent prayer of St. Dominic, during a homily Aug. 8 at the 2018 Knights of Columbus convention in Baltimore.

“Jesus pr… […]

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New L.A. STEM school inspired by JPII

August 8, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Los Angeles, Calif., Aug 8, 2018 / 03:12 pm (CNA).- John Paul II taught often that science and religion follow complementary paths toward the same goal- truth.

A new high school in Los Angeles- the St. John Paul II STEM Academy- aims to help students … […]