News Briefs

Recalling Mother Angelica, prelate says Catholic journalists are to spread the gospel

March 27, 2019 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Mar 27, 2019 / 10:24 am (CNA).- The crisis facing the Church today calls Catholic journalists not only to “relentless and fair reporting” but also to spreading the gopsel, Archbishop Georg Gänswein said in a Mass said in memory of Mother Angelica.

The March 27 Mass at Santa Maria della Pieta in Camposanto dei Teutonici in Vatican City marked the third anniversary of the death of Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, foundress of EWTN Global Catholic Network. EWTN is the publisher of Catholic News Agency.

In attendance at the Mass celebrated by the prefect of the papal household were employees of the EWTN Vatican bureau, various embassies to the Holy See, the Holy See press office, and a variety of ecclesial organizations.

Archbishop Gänswein reflected in his homily on Divine Providence, noting that Mother Angelica founded EWTN on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

He said the faith is brought to us through witnesses, and reflected that Mother Angelica “with visionary genius understood the role you have to play in the new Information Age even the Catholic Church has now entered, whether she wants it or not. And that’s why you are now all called to be witnesses in a completely new and very special way.”

“This role is not necessarily undramatic,” he said, adding that “you as Catholic media professionals are challenged to be better and more professional than your colleagues from non-Catholic media.”

“God, for every need of the Church, calls men and women who will give us special assistance in all sorts of danger,” the archbishop said.

“Thus, in the great confusion caused by presbyter Arius in the early Church, he called Athanasius the Great; in the chaos of the migrations of peoples, St. Columban; after the French Revolution, the holy parish priest of Ars – and so on. Only in this way can we understand what Mother Angelica from the ‘Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration’ really set in motion, when she began to build the spiritual channel EWTN in a garage of her monastery in Alabama, without any means and against all odds.”

Archbishop Gänswein said that “by doing so, she implanted in the Catholic Church of America at that time a media power that did not depend on the bishops: a ‘fourth power’ so to say, in which faithful journalists disclose any sort of abuse just as intrepidly as they indicate dangerous wrong ways, on which some shepherds today seem to get lost just as they did in all times of history.”

In light of the clerical and, indeed, episcopal abuse scandals, the archbishop exhorted, “as Catholic journalists you are not only responsible for the ‘hard news’ and a relentless and fair reporting, but more than ever for the core of all good news: the Gospel.”

“That means that today you are called to follow Mother Angelica and spread the most important news of all time in a completely new way, and with the most modern means, in freedom and together with the Magisterium of the Church: the news of the Incarnation of God as the greatest news that the world has ever heard and seen.”

“In Saint Francis de Sales, we already have a long-established patron of journalists. In Mother Angelica, however, the one, holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church has received the gift of a prophetess and apostle for the digital future, from whom we can learn anew that we can always trust in a miracle, especially in the darkest hours of history,” Archbishop Gänswein concluded.

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Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis to work with lay advisory board

March 27, 2019 CNA Daily News 0

St. Paul, Minn., Mar 27, 2019 / 03:01 am (CNA).- The Archdiocese of of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is organizing a lay advisory board aimed at bringing input and suggestions from parish councils to the archbishop’s office.

Its goal is to help bring parishioners healing after a tumultuous past several years in the archdiocese.

Father Michael Tix, archdiocesan liaison for the effort and vicar for clergy and parish services, told CNA in an interview that the archdiocese set up the board in a way that mirrored the existing diocesan presbyteral council.

“It does help to be able to create a flow of information back and forth from parishes to archbishop, and archbishop back to parishes through their parish council though an existing structure that’s there,” Tix said.

Archbishop Bernard Hebda asked each parish pastoral council last December to choose a representative to send to meetings held during a week in March with fellow parish figures within individual deaneries.

Subsequently, each deanery in the archdiocese will elect a representative – chosen from among the parish figures – and an alternate to sit on the lay advisory board. That representative will serve as a link between the archbishop’s advisory board and the parishes back home, Tix said.

“The deanery rep would be part of the lay advisory board that would meet with the archbishop, and then that deanery rep would also go back to bring together the parish reps to share information, get feedback from the advisory board meetings as well as from the parish reps, to serve as a conduit,” he said.

The discussions with the archbishop, Tix said, will mainly be about the “particular needs” of parishes or areas of deaneries in order to move forward and promote healing after “four years of bankruptcy, civil and criminal charges, [and] resignations.”

The archdiocese filed for bankruptcy in January 2015 amid many abuse claims that had been made possible under Minnesota legislation that opened a temporary window for older claims to be heard in civil court. In addition, former Archbishop John Nienstedt stepped down in 2015 after the diocese was charged with mishandling cases of child sexual abuse.

The discussions will also be a chance for the archdiocese to inform the lay representatives about what has been going on in the local Church regarding sexual abuse, and what steps the archdiocese is taking to addess it.

“The last four years have been a tough four years for our archdiocese, clearly for the victims and survivors on the one hand, and for anybody who’s been a parishioner,” Tix said.

“It’s been a tough time to be Catholic in the Twin Cities because of a lot of stuff that’s come out that we’ve had to deal with and that we continue to deal with. So I think the first thing that we’re going to talk about is about healing. How do we bring healing to folks? There’s a range of need that’s there. And so in order to move forward we have to address that healing,” Tix said.

The board’s first meeting with the archbishop will be April 3, Tix said, and he said he notes a “positive energy and enthusiasm” in the participants, which he credits to the presence of the Holy Spirit.

He said this lay advisory board may also assist in planning a diocesan synod in the future, a project that Archbishop Hebda has discussed in the past but which “hasn’t really been defined in terms of time or scope.”

Hebda announced in May of last year a $210 million settlement package for victims of sexual abuse. He has said there are no plans for additional parish appeals to help to fund the settlements, saying last June that most of the settlement money – $170 million – would come from the archdiocese’s insurance and from money already collected from parish appeals.

The settlement, announced after more than two years’ deliberation, includes a plan for abuse compensation as well as for bringing the archdiocese out of bankruptcy. The amount is an increase of more than $50 million from the proposal that the archdiocese had originally submitted.

Hebda has said he will continue to advocate for an independent review board for sexual abuse cases, and would commit to transmitting the entire 2014 archdiocesan investigation in former Archbishop Nienstedt’s conduct to whatever national or regional review board is created. He has also said that he strongly favors a “lay-led mechanism for investigating and assessing any allegations made against me or any other bishop.”

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‘The shenanigans’ at Mother Angelica’s first vows

March 27, 2019 CNA Daily News 1

Irondale, Ala., Mar 27, 2019 / 02:03 am (CNA).- If you picture a nun’s first profession of vows, you probably picture a serene, peaceful affair with the sisters singing harmoniously and everything running joyfully and smoothly.

However, the day of Mother Angelica’s first vows was anything but.

Outside, a blizzard spit snow and ice, snarling roads and delaying the guests and the presiding bishop, James McFadden.

Inside, different storms were brewing.

As then-Sister Angelica knelt behind the grille, trying to pray before taking her vows, the organist sister and the choir director, Sr. Mary of the Cross (with whom Sr. Angelica had sparred in the past), began arguing about musical technique, within earshot of the already-arrived guests.

As the incident is recalled in her biography:

Voices slowly escalated. Suddenly the two nuns were at each other: the organist refusing to play, Mary of the Cross threatening to throw her into the snow if she didn’t.

“And I’m sitting there trying to re-collect myself for my vows,” Mother Angelica recalled. “The people must have thought we were nuts.”

Then came the bug, scampering across the wooden floor in front of the sisters.

Mary of the Cross rose up, lifted the kneeler with both hands, and pounded it on the ground, attempting to annihilate the insect. Like a madwoman with a jackhammer, she repeatedly wielded the prie-dieu (kneeler), hurling it and herself at the crawler. The organist, thinking the display an underhanded critique of her playing, pounded the keys all the harder. Sister Angelica could not believe what she termed “the shenanigans.” Then the bishop walked in.

Wet and cold from walking several blocks where he had to leave his stalled car, Bishop McFadden requested a fresh pair of socks, which Sr. Mary of the Cross sent Sister Angelica to get.

When it came time to place the profession ring on Sr. Angelica’s fingers, the bishop couldn’t fit it past her knuckle – her hand was swollen from a shower handle in the convent that had crumbled and cut her hand several days prior.

“With everything going on there, I’m thinking, Oh Jesus doesn’t love me. You know?…I mean, it was a real spiritual experience!” Mother Angelica said. “But that’s the way God works with me. As I look back, before anything big that was coming, something happened to me.”

Despite “the shenanigans” of the day, Sr. Angelica took her vows seriously, writing in a letter to her mother that “the espoused” and “royal couple” (herself and Jesus) “wished to express their gratitude to their friend and member of their personal court…The spouse has asked the Bridegroom to fill you with his peace and consolation.”

She signed the letter: “Jesus and Angelica.”

Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, foundress of EWTN, died on March 27, 2016 after a lengthy struggle with the aftereffects of a stroke. She was 92 years old.

EWTN Global Catholic Network was launched by Mother Angelica in 1981. The largest religious media network in the world, it reaches more than 275 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories.

In addition to television channels in multiple languages, EWTN platforms include radio services through shortwave and satellite radio, SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 AM & FM affiliates. EWTN publishes the National Catholic Register, operates a religious goods catalogue, and in 2015 formed EWTN Publishing in a joint venture with Sophia Institute Press. Catholic News Agency is also part of the EWTN family.

 

This article originally ran on March 28, 2016.

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Scottish bishops warn against characterizing religious beliefs as ‘hate speech’

March 26, 2019 CNA Daily News 3

Edinburgh, Scotland, Mar 26, 2019 / 07:01 pm (CNA).- The Catholic Bishops Conference of Scotland is warning against the government’s restriction of free speech, amid fears that the Church’s stance on marriage and sexuality could make Catholics susceptible to hate crime allegations.

“Care must be taken to allow room for debate and a robust exchange of views, ensuring that ‘hate’ doesn’t include the kind of ordinary discourse where people reasonably hold divergent views,” reads the bishop’s statement submitted to the Scottish Government’s consultation on hate crimes.

“The fundamental right to freedom of expression, and the right of an individual to hold and express opinions, even if they are considered by some to be controversial or unwelcome must be upheld.”

This comes amid a national independent review of Scotland’s hate crime legislation, commissioned by the Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs, and released in May 2018.

In the review, Lord Bracadale, a retired Scottish judge, suggests that “there should be a protection of freedom of expression provision for offences concerning the stirring up of hatred.”

Catholic Parliamentary Office Director Anthony Horan said March 24 that the Church in Scotland supports this recommendation.

“In a climate of heightened sensitivity there is a very real danger that expressing or even holding individual or collective opinions or beliefs will become a hate crime,” Horan said.

“We must guard against this and ensure freedom of expression, thought, conscience and religion are protected.”

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, and Catholics in Scotland are increasingly concerned that the government could consider their faith “hate speech,” according to local reports.

The Scottish government launched a campaign last year with posters addressed to ‘bigots, disablists, homophobes, racists, and transphobes’ across the country, saying that anyone engaging in “hate speech” will be reported to police.

The Scottish Catholic Observer reports that documents released under the country’s Freedom of Information Act last week revealed that the Scottish Government had received many complaints about the “Dear Bigots” campaign. A government official stated that there are “no plans to re-use the ‘Dear Bigots’ letter in future.”

“Some people might suggest that expressing the Catholic Church’s position on marriage or human sexuality could be an attempt to stir up hatred,” Horan said.

“This would obviously be wrong, but without room for robust debate and exchange of views we risk becoming an intolerant, illiberal society.”

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