Washington D.C., May 9, 2018 / 01:29 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The release of three American prisoners from North Korea was hailed as an important first step in addressing abuses within the nation, as U.S. leaders call for a continued expansion of religious… […]
Vatican City, May 9, 2018 / 11:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After a two-day meeting in Rome, the governing council of the Vatican office for the Synod of Bishops approved the text to be used as the working document for the upcoming October gathering dedicated to youth.
The May 7-8 meeting of the governing council was presided over by Pope Francis and centered on finalizing the text.
A compilation of ideas and thoughts from five sources, the document includes information from answers to a questionnaire sent out to bishops conferences; answers to an online questionnaire for youth; an international seminar on youth that took place in Rome in September 2017; contributions and suggestions from both individuals and groups; and the concluding document of the March 19-24 pre-synod meeting in Rome, which gathered some 300 youth from around the world.
According to a May 9 communique on the Synod of Bishops’ council meeting, a draft of the working document was presented which generated “an interesting exchange of opinions.”
Suggestions were made for changes to the text. Once the changes were incorporated, the document was approved by each of the council members participating.
Participants also discussed how the October synod will be organized. The meeting was closed by Pope Francis, who thanked the council for their contributions and for “the spirit of fraternal communion in which the meeting took place.”
A preparatory document for the October synod released in January 2017 insisted on the need for a global approach and stressed that the voices of youth needed to be heard, and that they would be protagonists in the discussion leading up to the synod.
In the final document written by youth during the pre-synod meeting in March, young people urged the Church to be more authentic, more modern, and more creative in the way it interacts with young people, specifically in how it addresses controversial issues.
The youth, who included Catholics and non-Catholics, largely said they felt left out and that they wanted to be taken seriously, as leaders and contributors to important discussions happening in the Church.
They also said they didn’t want the Church to shy away from talking about hard or controversial topics, such as sexuality and women’s roles in the Church, but wanted people who could speak with them openly and honestly. They also asked for mentors who could help them navigate the tough issues and listen patiently to their questions.
Vatican City, May 9, 2018 / 10:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The first hearing in a trial against the former president of the Institute of Religious Works (IOR) – known as the “Vatican Bank” – and his lawyer took place today at the Va… […]
Vatican City, May 9, 2018 / 08:45 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis and the primate of the Orthodox Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia, His Beatitude Metropolitan Rastislav, will meet for the first time later this week, the Vatican announced Wednes… […]
Vatican City, May 9, 2018 / 02:46 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis said Wednesday that nothing can take away a person’s baptism or the salvation and identity they gain as a child of God, which is why the Church only allows for the sacrament to be administered once.
“Baptism is not repeated because it imprints an indelible spiritual sign: This sign is never erased by any sin, though sin prevents baptism from bringing the fruit of salvation,” the pope said during his May 9 general audience.
Just as parents give their children earthly life, the Church gives spiritual life through baptism, making each person a son of God through Jesus Christ, he said, explaining that at the moment of baptism, God tells each person that “you are my beloved child.”
“This paternal voice, imperceptible to the ear but well audible to the heart of those who believe, accompanies us for our entire lives, without abandoning us,” he said, adding that this is why the Church believes in only one baptism for salvation.
The belonging a person obtains from baptism “is something you never lose,” Francis said, even if a person sins with something as serious as murder, their belonging to God and his Church never goes away, “he continues to be a son.”
Even though everyone is a sinner and there is a great need for conversion in life of each person, “God never rejects his children,” he said, and asked the crowd to repeat the phrase with him out loud.
Speaking to pilgrims who braved a rainy forecast to join him for the audience in St. Peter’s Square, the pope continued his catechesis on baptism, focusing this week on the moment a person is actually baptized when the priest invokes the Trinity, saying “I baptize you in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
He then pointed to the biblical passage in St. Paul’s letter to the Romans in which the apostle asked: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”
The baptismal font is the place where one actually rises with Christ, he said, adding that in baptism, “the old man is buried, with his deceptive passions, so that he is reborn as a new creature.”
“At the same time you die and are born, and the same salutary wave becomes for you tomb and mother,” the pope said, quoting St. Cyril of Jerusalem.
Man’s rebirth as a new creation, then, naturally “demands that the man corrupted by sin is reduced to dust,” he said, adding that the images of the tomb and of the maternal womb referred to by St. Cyril are “incisive” phrases which express the reality of what happens during baptism.
To be incorporated in the body of Christ through baptism means one must also conform to him, Francis said, adding that the action of the Holy Spirit during the sacrament purifies, sanctifies and justifies the person in order to bring them into one body united to Christ.
This dynamic is expressed when the priest anoints the baptized person with oil after reciting the phrase: “God himself consecrates you with the chrism of salvation so that inserted into Christ, priest, king, and prophet, you will always be members of his body for eternal life.”
Pope Francis closed his address saying the entire vocation of a Catholic can be summed up as the necessity to live united to Jesus Christ and his Church “in order to carry out the same mission in this world, bringing fruits which last forever.”
“Animated by the only Spirit, the entire People of God participate in the functions of Jesus Christ, priest, prophet and king, and carry the responsibility of the mission and service that derive from them,” he said.
To participate in the kingly and prophetic priesthood of Christ, he said, means above all “to make oneself a free offering to God, giving testimony through a life of faith and charity, putting them at the service of others in the example of the Lord Jesus.”
San Justo, Argentina, May 9, 2018 / 12:24 am (CNA/EWTN News).- When Fr. Juan Carlos Cagliani goes on prison visits, he is not only seeking to bring Christ to the inmates, but to encounter Christ in them as well.
“I’m not going to bring Christ to the prison, I am going to meet Christ in the prison. I am not bringing Jesus, I am going to meet Jesus!” said of priest, who belongs to the Diocese of San Justo in Argentina.
Fr. Cagliani, who has spent 37 years working with prisoners, participated in the Prison Ministry Regional Meeting held in Neuquén, Argentina, April 28-30.
The theme of the regional meeting was “Where is your brother?” (Genesis 4:9) In addition to ministers, government officials were present and spoke about recent changes to the Criminal Code.
Approximately 70 delegates from the Diocese of Patagonia listened to the presentation given by Fr. Cagliani, who said that “to embrace Christ behind bars is to discover the merciful gesture of knowing that we love each other as brothers.”
“You begin to discover the face of Christ in those faces, where you don’t look at the crime but only go to find the love and mercy that come from God,” he said. “You find in those visits, in that human contact, in that closeness, in that presence, in that sharing, a God who loves you.”
The priest said that he experiences the love of God when he encounters each particular brother or sisters who is serving a sentence in prison.
“Often hated, cursed by so many brothers, including Christians, and they don’t realize that Jesus is there in that place.”
Bishop Pedro Maria Laxague of Viedma, a member of the Bishops’ Prison Ministry Commission, said that “God challenges us to take responsibility for our brothers.”
“He invites all of us to shepherd our brothers, the way he did,” the bishop said.
Bishop Laxague also noted that “prison ministry challenges us to be a Church closer to the people.”
He suggested that “the world of the prison” reveals underlying problems in society.
“Many things are going wrong in the neighborhoods, in the cities, in the towns,” he said, “and that is where all of us who are baptized live, where we carry out our service.”
Dallas, Texas, May 8, 2018 / 05:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- For undocumented immigrants in Texas, something as simple as a routine traffic stop could mean arrest and deportation.
Since an anti-sanctuary law was enacted this spring, Texas law enforcement officers are permitted to inquire about the immigration status of anyone they have detained, even during routine interactions, and must comply with federal guidelines to hold undocumented criminal suspects for possible deportation.
Despite promises that the law would not lead to racial profiling and unnecessary arrests, its passage has left many immigrants feeling uneasy in their communities.
Father Michael Forge, a Catholic priest in Farmers Branch, Texas, told Dallas News that since the anti-sanctuary law was passed, several of his undocumented parishioners have told him that they felt unsafe to going to church or taking their kids to school.
That’s why Forge and several other local Catholic churches have begun issuing Church identification cards. Unlike state-issued identification, they do have any legal significance, but they can provide officers with a name and address, assuaging for some card holders the fear of arrest during otherwise routine interactions.
Auxiliary Bishop Greg Kelly of Dallas, who helped launch the initiative with the group Dallas Area Interfaith, said that the identifications give immigrants a sense of safety, community and belonging.
“It was just a way of giving them status within the church,” Kelly told CNA. “It was a way of saying you belong to us, you’re a part of our parish family.”
Applicants for the church ID cards are typically asked to provide some other form of identification, such as an expired driver’s license or passport from their country of origin, or an affidavit certifying their identity.
Some parishes ask that immigrants show that they are active parish members for several months before applying, though that is not a requirement everywhere.
“You don’t have to be Catholic for that matter,” Forge told Dallas News. “We certainly want our immigrants, legal or otherwise, to have some sort of peace.”
Kelly said the cards have been a way to offer some solidarity with and peace of mind to fellow Christians.
“They’re our brothers and sisters but oftentimes they live in the shadows, they’re subject to injustices, wage theft, people may hire them and not pay them,” he said.
Police in the cities of Dallas, Carrollton and Farmers Branch have been told that they are allowed to accept the church cards as a form of identification. The church IDs include a person’s name, address and home parish. They can also be used to enroll in citizenship or language classes.
“So far people have said there’s a sense of relief and joy that they have something that says that they belong to this parish,” Kelly added.
“They recognize that it’s not an official government ID, they know that, it’s just a way of saying: ‘we are acknowledged here.’”
Santa Fe, N.M., May 8, 2018 / 04:54 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A 2017 U.S. Supreme Court decision has given new life to New Mexico backers of state funding for private school textbooks, as their case returns to the state Supreme Court.
“Ending the textbook lending program will disproportionately hurt low-income and minority children, at a time when they need access to a quality education more than ever,” Eric Baxter, vice president and senior counsel at Becket, said May 7. “We should be investing in kids’ futures, not crippling their ability to gain a quality education.”
The Becket law group, working on behalf of the New Mexico Association of Nonpublic Schools, has challenged a court decision that ended non-public school students’ participation in an 80-year-old textbook lending program for state-approved textbooks and other educational material.
“A science textbook is a science textbook no matter whose shelf it’s on,” Baxter said, arguing that siding with the school would “stop discriminating” and “give all kids equal access to the best educational opportunities.”
In 2011, two parents challenged the program on the grounds the state constitution bars education funds from being used “for the support of any sectarian, denominational or private school, college or university,” language known as a Blaine Amendment. A 2015 New Mexico Supreme Court decision, Moses v. Ruszkowski, sided with the parents and ended nonpublic school students’ participation.
Becket has challenged the ruling’s reliance on the Blaine Amendment. The law group claimed the 19th century law was “originally designed to disadvantage New Mexico’s native Catholic citizens” and “was all about anti-Catholic animus.”
Such amendments have been used “to keep religious organizations from participating in neutral, generally applicable government programs on the same terms as everyone else,” the legal group charged. It cited efforts in Oklahoma to use a Blaine Amendment to block the use of scholarships for learning-disabled children attending religious schools.
Frank Susman, a Santa Fe attorney who represents the parents, said their case was backed by the Blaine Amendment and at least two other constitutional amendments which he said bar appropriations for private entities, whether schools or students.
“They all absolutely ban this type of aid,” Susman said in court May 7, the Santa Fe New Mexican reports.
The U.S. Supreme Court has returned the 2015 decision to the New Mexico Supreme Court to reconsider in light of its own 2017 ruling in Trinity Lutheran v. Comer. That 7-2 decision sided with a Christian preschool which had been denied a Missouri state grant for an effort to improve playground safety because it was associated with a church.
The United States’ highest court ruled that it was wrong to deny a church a public benefit that was otherwise available only because of its religious status.
New Mexico’s Public Education Department is also challenging the state court’s ruling, though the department has not provided funding for private school textbooks since the decision. The ruling relates to over $1 million in federal funds the state receives each year through the U.S. Mineral Leasing Act.
Rome, Italy, May 8, 2018 / 04:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Will a Mass celebrated in an Italian dialect pave the way for translation of the Roman Missal into regional dialects?
The question was raised April 28, when Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu,… […]
London, England, May 8, 2018 / 03:16 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Scottish bishop addressed the March for Life UK on Saturday, challenging pro-lifers to be courageous in sharing their witness.
“We will win this battle by truth, but we will win it even more by courage,” Bishop John Keenan of Paisley said May 5, the Catholic Herald reported.
“You have no idea of the galvanising effect your courage will have if you stand up before the British media courageously, even under attack, and be pro-life. You’re setting the seeds of the next generation.”
Thousands of pro-lifers marched about a half mile from Trafalgar Square in downtown London to Parliament Square for the march. It was the first time that the March for Life UK had been held in London; previously, it had been hosted in Birmingham.
The march was also attended by Bishop John Wilson, an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Westminster.
In preparation for the March, an all night prayer vigil was held at St. Dominic’s Church – The Shrine of Our Lady of the Rosary. Mass at Saint Patrick’s Catholic Church then kicked off the event on the following morning.
Attendees then listened to keynote speakers Rachel Mackenzie of Rachel’s Vineyard and Clare McCullough, a founder of the Good Counsel Network, who denounced the imposition of a protection order around a London abortion clinic last month.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Thank you to all the priests and religious that came today to March for Life <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/LifeDeservesLove?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#LifeDeservesLove</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/LifeFest18?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#LifeFest18</a> <a href=”https://t.co/CTHlkFQQFB”>pic.twitter.com/CTHlkFQQFB</a></p>— March4LifeUK (@March4LifeUK) <a href=”https://twitter.com/March4LifeUK/status/992911268943138817?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>May 5, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Afterwards, a festival for life took place in De Vere Connaught Room, where workshops, children’s activities, and other Christian services were made available. Bishop John Wilson, an auxiliary of Westminster, gave the opening address and was followed by speakers like American singer Joy Villa, Bishop Keenan, and CEO of N-Gage, Christie Spurling.
At the workshops, pro-lifers could learn apologetic tips to better encounter the current culture. The topics included “how to reach out to pregnant women before the abortion industry does” and “changing the culture one conversion at a time.”
A closing prayer vigil was led by Michael Nazir-Ali, an Anglican bishop.
The March for Like UK is held in the spring to commemorate the April 27, 1968 coming into force of the Abortion Act 1967, which legalized abortion in England, Wales, and Scotland.
© Catholic World Report