Aleppo, Syria, Feb 21, 2018 / 03:23 pm (Aid to the Church in Need).- Annie Artin, 15, is a lonely girl who lives with her mother, Silva Owadis, 37, her grandmother, and aunt in a modest but new apartment in Aleppo, Syria.
The family has lived there si… […]
New Delhi, India, Feb 21, 2018 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Compared to 2016, attacks against Christians in India by Hindu extremists more than doubled in 2017 amid efforts to label the religious minority a danger to the state.
The persecution ranges from threats and physical violence to destruction of church property, but false allegations against Christians have also increased.
“It is a new trend to accuse Christians of serious crimes,” said Shibu Thomas, founder of the ecumenical forum Persecution Relief.
The allegations are “a clear indicat[ion] that those opposed to Christians want to portray them as serious threats to the nation’s safety and security,” he told UCA News.
According to a report from Persecution Relief, last year 736 incidents of attacks occurred throughout India compared to the 348 that happened in 2016. Most of these are “daring physical attacks,” the report said, but the victims of these attacks were also accused of sedition, discrimination, and destruction of religious property.
“When victims reach for police help, they find themselves accused of violations. … This is a dangerous sign. Unfortunately, the police are in league with fanatics and elects members support their actions,” Thomas said.
Attacks against Christians have increased since the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party won the general election in 2014, naming Narendra Modi as prime minister.
The party has now the largest representation in the country’s parliament. A majority of the attacks stem from four of India’s 29 states – Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Chhattisgarh – three of which are governed by the BJP.
“Christians are not safe anymore in India under the current situation,” said Anil Andrias, who leads a protestant congregation in Uttar Pradesh.
Andrias told UCA News that the persecution against Christians could be physical attacks and false allegations, but he also said Christians have been denied government services, such as collecting public water or using public roads.
Christians make up 2.3 percent of India’s population, with 80 percent identifying as Hindu.
Charlotte, N.C., Feb 21, 2018 / 11:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The evangelist Billy Graham died Wednesday at his home in Montreat, N.C., his family has announced. He was 99.
Born in Charlotte, N.C., Graham was ordained a Southern Baptist minister in 1939. During his work in ministry, he wrote more than 30 books and conducted the annual Billy Graham Crusades until his retirement from active ministry in 2005. His last book, Where I Am: Heaven, Eternity, and Our Life Beyond the Now, was published in 2015.
During his time in ministry, Graham insisted that his crusades and rallies be racially integrated, and was friends with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1981, Graham first met with St. John Paul II, who said that the two were “brothers.” They would meet again several times. When John Paul II died in 2005, Graham said he believed that the Pope had been “the most influential voice for morality and peace in the world during the last 100 years,” and praised his “strong Catholic faith” and perseverance through his illnesses.
Prominent Catholics reacted with sadness to Graham’s death, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York. In a statement on the archdiocesan website, Dolan wrote that while his family was Catholic, there was a level of respect for Graham’s work in bringing people to Christ.
“There was no question that the Dolans were a Catholic family, firm in our faith, but in our household there was always respect and admiration for Billy Graham and the work he was doing to bring people to God,” said Dolan.
“As an historian, my admiration for him only grew as I studied our nation’s religious past, and came to appreciate even more the tremendous role he played in the American evangelical movement. May the Lord that Billy Graham loved so passionately now grant him eternal rest.”
Dolan’s sentiment was echoed by Catholic Herald editor Damian Thompson, who praised Graham’s evolution on Catholicism. Thompson called Graham a “fine man, a powerful force for good.”
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Billy Graham started out as an typical evangelical anti-Catholic and ended up acclaiming St John Paul II as the world’s greatest witness to Christianity. A fine man, a powerful force for good: rest in peace.</p>— Damian Thompson (@holysmoke) <a href=”https://twitter.com/holysmoke/status/966317143523495936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, offered condolences to the Graham family and said that he was praying for the repose of his soul. DiNardo praised Graham for his work spreading the gospel around the country, and said he was thankful for his ministry.
“His faith and integrity invited countless thousands around the world into a closer relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God for the ministry of Billy Graham,” said DiNardo.
Dr. Robert George, a professor at Princeton University and a former chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, compared Graham to St. John Paul II and other religious figures, saying that while he was “firmly rooted” in his denomination, Graham was able to reach all people.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Billy Graham was like John Paul II, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Martin Luther King, Jr. He was firmly rooted in a particular tradition of faith, yet somehow spoke to–and in a sense belonged to–all of us.</p>— Robert P. George (@McCormickProf) <a href=”https://twitter.com/McCormickProf/status/966320319681187841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 21, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Santiago, Chile, Feb 21, 2018 / 10:27 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta, who is currently in Chile investigating allegations of abuse cover-up by a local bishop, was hospitalized Wednesday and underwent gallbladder surgery, though he is expected to make a full recovery.
The Archdiocese of Malta announced the news in a brief statement Feb. 21, saying Scicluna was admitted to the San Carlos de Apoquindo Hospital in Santiago.
According to the Chilean bishops’ conference, Scicluna had been experiencing pain since last week. The spokesman, Deacon Jaime Coiro, said the archbishop has come out of surgery and is in stable condition. His recovery time in hospital is expected to take between two and three days.
Scicluna arrived in Santiago Feb. 19 to interview victims of sexual abuse and those opposed to the 2015 appointment of Bishop Juan de la Cruz Barros as Bishop of Osorno, whom they say covered up the crimes of his longtime friend Fr. Fernando Karadima, who in 2011 was found guilty of sexually abusing minors and sentenced to a life of prayer and solitude.
In addition to heading the Diocese of Malta, Scicluna in 2015 was named by the Pope to oversee the doctrinal team charged with handling appeals filed by clergy accused of abuse in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. He served as the congregation’s Promoter of Justice for 17 years, beginning in 1995, and is widely known for his expertise in the canonical norms governing allegations of sexual abuse.
Prior to arriving in Santiago, Scicluna stopped in New York to interview Juan Carlos Cruz, one of Karadima’s most high-profile victims and one of Barros’ most vocal opponents.
Barros’ appointment to Osorno was met with harsh criticism and continues to be a source of contention for activists and abuse victims who accuse the bishop of covering up the crimes of Karadima.
Barros has repeatedly insisted that he knew nothing of the abuse, and Pope Francis has backed him, saying during a visit to Chile last month that accusations against the bishop were “calumny,” as he has received no evidence backing the allegations and no victims had come forward.
However, shortly after returning from his Jan. 15-18 visit to Chile, the Vatican announced that Francis had named Scicluna as his envoy to interview several witnesses who came forward claiming to have evidence of the cover-up.
The case then took another complicated turn when Cruz made a statement in an interview with the Associated Press saying he had sent the Pope an eight-page letter in April 2015 claiming that Barros had not only witnessed Karadima’s abuse, but had at times participated.
He had given the letter to four members of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, who in turn handed it to the head of the commission Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston, who was to deliver it to the Pope.
News of the letter and the Pope’s statement in Chile that no victims had come forward raised questions as to whether or not Francis had received the letter, or whether he read it if it did in fact reach his desk.
After leaving Malta Feb. 15 to meet with Cruz in person in New York, Scicluna then went to Santiago Feb. 19 to interview more witnesses related to the Barros case. He is scheduled to return to Malta Feb. 25.
According to the Chilean bishops’ conference, Scicluna’s surgery has not impacted the investigation, and the interviews “will continue as planned,” being carried out instead by Monsignor Jordi Bertomeu, an official from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith who accompanied Scicluna as notary for the case. In turn, another priest traveling with two has been asked to act as notary.
In their statement, the Chilean bishops’ conference voiced their hope that Scicluna will have a “quick recovery.” The archbishop, they noted, voiced his desire to meet with some of the witnesses as soon as he is able.
Liverpool, England, Feb 20, 2018 / 04:49 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A British court ruled Tuesday that physicians can stop providing life support, against his parents’ wishes, to Alfie Evans, a 21-month old boy who has an unknown neurological degenerative condition.
Evans is in a “semi-vegetative state” and on life support at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital in Liverpool, where doctors have said further efforts are futile and went to court to argue that continuing treatment, as his parents wish, is not in Evans’ best interest.
Justice Anthony Hayden of the High Court ruled Feb. 20 that “Alfie’s need now is for good quality palliative care … He requires peace, quiet, and stability, so that he may conclude his life as he has lived it.”
“I am satisfied that continued ventilatory support is no longer in Alfie’s interests. This decision I appreciate will be devastating news to Alfie’s parents. I hope they will take time to read this judgement again.”
Alder Hey Children’s Hospital has said it always tries to agree with patients on plans for care: “Our aim is always to try and reach an agreement with parents about the most appropriate care plan for their child. Unfortunately there are sometimes rare situations such as this where agreement cannot be reached and the treating team believe that continued active treatment is not in a child’s best interests.”
The hospital may withdraw Evans’ ventilation on Friday.
Alfie’s parents, Tom Evans and Kate James, are considering appealing the decision.
His doctors have described his condition as untreatable, but his parents are requesting their son’s transfer to the Vatican-linked Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital in Rome for further diagnosis and possible treatment.
Evans’ case echoes that of Charlie Gard, a terminally ill English infant who died in July 2017 after being taken off life support against his parents’ wishes. Gard was 11 months old, and had been at the center of a months-long legal debate regarding parental rights and human life.
Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital treating Gard also went to court to take him off of life support, saying his parent’s decision to maintain treatment was not in his interest.
Though Gard’s parents raised more than $1.6 million for his treatment and had offers from hospitals in Europe and the US to give him experimental treatments, a High Court judge ordered that he be taken off life support.
Discussing Gard’s situation with CNA in June 2017, Dr. Melissa Moschella, a Catholic University of America philosophy professor, said: “It seems to me completely wrongheaded that the state should be stepping in here when the decision that the parents are making is really aimed at the best interests of the child.”
“It’s not crazy, it’s not abusive, it’s not neglectful. It’s the decision of parents who want to, however they can, to give their very sick child a chance for life.”
She said such a decision “should be completely within the prerogative of the parent,” citing the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. According to Moschella, that declaration “clearly indicates that the parents, not the state will have primarily responsibility.”
Dublin, Ireland, Feb 20, 2018 / 02:16 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As the Republic of Ireland prepares to vote in a referendum that could liberalize the country’s abortion laws, a recent poll has shown dwindling support for a change in the constitution.
… […]
Johannesburg, South Africa, Feb 20, 2018 / 01:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The first State of the Nation address by South Africa’s new president, Cyril Ramaphosa, has been welcomed by one of the country’s Jesuit priests for its call to create communities of trust and to dialogue about problems facing South Africa.
Ramaphosa assumed office Feb. 15, following the resignation of Jacob Zuma, whose tenure was marked by numerous allegations of corruption allegations and fostered a decline in morality in public life. South Africa’s bishops were quick to welcome Zuma’s choice to resign.
In his State of the Nation address Feb. 16, Ramaphosa pledged to “turn the tide of corruption in our public institutions. We are determined to build a society defined by decency and integrity, that does not tolerate the plunder of public resources, nor the theft by corporate criminals of the hard-earned savings of ordinary people.”
Ramaphosa also discussed land redistribution and job creation.
Fr. Peter-John Pearson wrote at Spotlight Africa Feb. 19 that Ramaphosa’s speech echoed “poignant issues outlined in Catholic Social Teaching.”
Writing at the ministry of the Jesuit Institute South Africa, the priest cited Ven. Pius XII and Cardinal Basil Hume, Archbishop of Westminster from 1976 to 1999, in stressing “importance of restoring and building civic relationships thus strengthening civil society.”
“Ramaphosa called for the reestablishment of communities of trust in the face of diminishing trust in public institutions and weakened confidence in leaders. He underlined that it is everyone’s task to create a common destiny,” Fr. Pearson noted.
He cited St. John Paul II’s teaching on solidarity, and said Ramaphosa’s “commitment to undoing past injustices and present inequalities is key to establishing the common good.”
“His further commitment to the free basic services which supports 3.5 million indigent households and continuing the payment of 17 million grants to the poorest of the poor, resonates with the fundamental option for the poor as does his promise to deal effectively with those who have plundered the resources of the nation and those who have established a culture of cronyism and corruption.”
The priest also considered it important how often Ramaphosa “promised to hold summits on a variety of important and often contested issues ranging from investment to jobs.”
“While some decried this emphasis as an entrenchment of a culture of talking at the risk of it diminishing action: from a CST perspective it undergirds the importance of dialogue as a powerful way of ensuring the inclusion of usually excluded voices in the process of developing public policy,” Fr. Pearson stated.
“In a country plagued with a history of identity politics and a growing exclusion of the poor from any meaningful decision making about their own futures, creating spaces for dialogue and thus building incrementally those communities of trust, is critical for any sustainable life together,” he added.
The priest concluded suggesting that this is the first time that “there seems to be a spirit of hope in South Africa” in several years.
“A solid indication of pursuing the quest for justice, enhancing a dialogical culture together with appropriate processes that implement such dialogues, and the generation of hope, are indeed the benchmarks of CST and a sign of the times in South Africa.”
Washington D.C., Feb 20, 2018 / 11:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After the Senate failed to pass a bipartisan bill that would offer protections for immigrants, U.S. bishops noted their disappointment and urged leaders to focus their efforts on finding a huma… […]
Rockville Centre, N.Y., Feb 20, 2018 / 09:53 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Tuesday Bishop Robert Coyle, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for the US Military Services, was transferred to the Diocese of Rockville Centre, where he will continue to serve as an auxiliary bishop.
“I was originally ordained a priest here in 1991,” Bishop Coyle said Feb. 20. “I am very grateful to the Holy Father, Pope Francis for appointing me to serve the Church on Long Island. I look forward to assisting Bishop John Barres, Bishop of Rockville Centre, in our pursuit of Dramatic Missionary Growth on Long Island.”
“Years back there was a spirit campaign with the expression, ‘I’m a Long Islander and proud of it!’ I again can say that here as a native son.”
Bishop Coyle was born Sept. 23, 1964 in Brooklyn, and grew up on Long Island. He attended Immaculate Conception Seminary in Huntington, N.Y., and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Rockville Centre May 25, 1991. He was named a monsignor in 2008.
He had been commissioned as an ensign in the US Navy in 1988, and served at two parishes on Long Island as a Navy Reserve Chaplain from his priestly ordination until 1999.
Coyle was on active duty from 1999 to 2009, serving in Japan, southeast Asia, the Middle East, and the US Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, N.Y. He served on two aircraft carriers, and was deployed in the Middle East at the beginning of the Iraq War. He was promoted to the rank of commander in 2005.
In 2009 Bishop Coyle ended his active duty and returned to reserve status, returning to ministry in the Rockville Centre diocese.
He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese for the US Military Services in 2013, where he served as episcopal vicar for the eastern half of the US.
“Today I express my gratitude to Almighty God for the privilege to have served the people of the Archdiocese of the Military Services,” Bishop Coyle said.
“I thank you for your warm welcome and hospitality at the bases I have visited over the years … As I begin a new chapter in my service as a bishop, I will always give thanks for the joy to have served as a Navy chaplain and auxiliary bishop with the military family.”
The bishop will begin his ministry on Long Island April 2.
Bishop John Barres of Rockville Centre said, “I am grateful to the Holy Father for assigning us Bishop Coyle. I am also truly grateful for Bishop Coyle’s pastoral service and for his leadership to the young men and women who defend our great country.”
“Please join me in welcoming Bishop Coyle as he begins his ministry in the spirt of dramatic missionary growth, to the presbyterate of Long Island.”
Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the military archdiocese expressed his deep gratitude for Bishop Coyle’s “selfless ministry” as his auxiliary. “At great personal sacrifice, he lived far from his parents and familiar surroundings on Long Island and tirelessly took up the pilgrim’s staff to minister to the men and women in uniform and their families.”
“I know that he will offer the same generous service to Bishop John Barres and to the faithful of his native Rockville Centre. He returns to them enriched by his ministry to a flock stationed in half of the continental United States.”
Reykjavik, Iceland, Feb 19, 2018 / 03:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An Icelandic bill that would bar circumcision for non-medical reasons has given rise to opposition from various religious groups, including Christians as well as Jews and Muslims.
“Protecting the health of children is a legitimate goal of every society, but in this case this concern is instrumentalized, without any scientific basis, to stigmatise certain religious communities. This is extremely worrying,” commented Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising, who is president of the Catholic Church in the European Union.
Circumcision is a religious ritual in both Judaism and Islam. Jewish boys are circumcised eight days after birth, while Muslim practices vary widely.
The proposed bill states that “Anyone who…causes damage to the body or health of a child or a woman by…removing sexual organs shall be imprisoned for up to 6 years.”
Female genital mutilation has been banned in Iceland since 2005.
The bill was introduced by Silja Dogg Gunnarsdóttir of the Progressive Party of Iceland, who said, “We are talking about children’s rights, not about freedom of belief. Everyone has the right to believe in what they want, but the rights of children come above the right to believe.”
The health risks and benefits of circumcision have been a topic of debate for several years in some European countries, although none have banned the practice outright.
Iceland, which has a population of around 334,000, has a small Muslim population of less than 1,500, , and an even smaller Jewish population of fewer than 250.
Agnes Sigurðardóttir, the Lutheran Bishop of Iceland, has warned that “the danger that arises, if this bill becomes law, is that Judaism and Islam will become criminalised religions. We must avoid all such forms of extremism.”
Yair Melchior, chief rabbi of Denmark, and and Yoav Melchior, rabbi of Oslo, have commented that “There is no country in the world now that bans circumcision. This sets a dangerous precedent that may affect other countries.”
Ahmad Seddeeq, an imam at the Islamic Cultural Centre of Iceland, said that circumcision “is something that touches our religion and I believe that this is… a contravention [of] religious freedom.”
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