Dublin, Ireland, Oct 3, 2018 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The bishops of Ireland issued a letter Oct. 1 calling on the government of the Republic of Ireland to do more to address the country’s homelessness crisis. Nearly 115 families became homel… […]
Culiacan, Mexico, Oct 2, 2018 / 05:42 pm (ACI Prensa).- The congress of the Mexican state of Sinaloa on Friday passed a constitutional amendment protecting human life from the moment of conception.
The amendment, passed Sept. 28 by the unicameral state legislature, must be ratified by a majority of the state’s municipalities.
The vote was 32 in favor, one against, and one abstention.
Since the 2007 legalization of abortion in Mexico City under the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD), 18 Mexican states have passed constitutional reforms protecting human life from conception.
The proposed Article 4 of the Sinaloa constitution reads: “Everyone has a right to have their life respected. The state protects the right to life from the moment an individual is conceived, enters under the protection of the law and is considered as born for all legal intents and purposes, until their natural death.”
Rodrigo Iván Cortés, president of the National Front for the Family, told ACI Prensa the amendment was introduced by Juan Pablo Yumani of the National Action Party (PAN).
The majority party in the Sinaloa congress is the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI).
For Cortés, this amendment to the Sinaloa constitution “is a ray of light in a very murky time” since several organizations recently celebrated the legalization of abortion in Mexico City and demanded that it be extended throughout the country.
Among these are the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) of president-elect Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who announced during a Sept. 27 press conference they will seek to legalize abortion throughout Mexico.
Cortés noted that MORENA is joined in their goal by PRD.
The state of Veracruz is also being pressured to legalized abortion.
Cortés said the National Front for the Family will hold pro-life marches throughout Mexico Oct. 20.
This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Sydney, Australia, Oct 2, 2018 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- The possibility of ordaining married men to the priesthood merits consideration both of its positives and negatives, Bishop Michael McKenna of Bathurst has said.
“I’m very open to looking a… […]
London, England, Oct 2, 2018 / 03:21 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The bishops of England and Wales held their five-yearly ad limina visit to the Holy Father last week, at which Pope Francis encouraged them to live the faith joyfully.
“His message was simple: we are to live the gift of our faith with joy. Joy was his great emphasis. He explained that this joy is rooted firmly in our relationship with Jesus,” read an Oct. 1 statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales
“It is a joy of knowing that he is with us; of knowing the presence of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives, drawing and guiding us towards the will of God; a joy of knowing our Heavenly Father is waiting for us, longing to hold us in his embrace of loving mercy. This is the joy of the faith by which we are to live. He added that this joy is the source of lasting peace in our hearts and lives, no matter our circumstances.”
The English and Welsh ad limina was held Sept. 24-29.
Pope Francis, they said, “radiates this joy and peace.”
They said that “even in this time of turmoil, the Holy Father is so clearly rooted in God and blessed by God. His peace is secure. His life is serene. We know, because he showed us his heart. It is the heart of a loving father.”
“We spoke with the Holy Father about the difficulties of fulfilling our role as bishops. In turn he reflected on the importance of prayer and preaching in our lives, and of paternal closeness to our priests and people, with care and with firm justice.”
They reported that the pope “spoke of the encouragement he wishes to give to priests today, who can sometimes feel vulnerable in the face of difficult circumstances, in a critical environment. He spoke, movingly, of the wounds inflicted by abuse and neglect, wounds that wreak such harm in the lives of its victims and in the life of the Church. Wherever they are found, these are wounds in the Body of Christ and are painful to touch. He encouraged us, in our pastoral work, never to neglect even the tiny flames of faith that exist in so many communities and people.”
The bishops noted that they were joined on a number of their visits in Rome by two bishops of the Church of England, and on one by a representative of the Conference of Religious in England and Wales.
Ahead of their ad limina, the English and Welsh bishops had issued a statement addressing the recent sexual abuse scandals in the Church, both in the UK and abroad. They also announced an independent review of current policies and procedures for child protection and for handling complaints of sexual abuse.
A recent report by an independent government inquiry into sexual abuse highlighted cases of “appalling sexual abuse,” dating back decades, at two of the most prominent Catholic schools in the country, Ampleforth and Downside. Both of those schools are administered by a religious order.
The Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales includes the 22 dioceses across the two countries. Its membership also includes the Military Ordinariate covering the armed forces of the UK, the Apostolic Eparchs of the Ukrainian and Syro-Malabar Churches in Britain, the Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, and the Apostolic Prefect of the Falkland Islands.
Hobart, Australia, Oct 2, 2018 / 02:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic priests in the Australian state of Tasmania could face jail time if they fail to report sexual abuse disclosed during the sacrament of confession, ABC news (Australia) has reported.
Draft legislation put forth by the government of the island would make mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse a criminal matter for religious leaders. Many public sector workers already face fines if they fail to report suspected abuse, according to ABC.
The Tasmanian proposal comes amid various attempts by authorities throughout Australia to mandate the breaking of the confessional seal to report cases of child sex abuse, and pushback from Catholics in the country.
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sex Abuse released a report in December 2017 that included 409 recommendations aimed at curbing child sex abuse in the country. The Royal Commission recommended to all Australian states that their laws governing child abuse reporting “should not exempt persons in religious ministry from being required to report knowledge or suspicions formed, in whole or in part, on the basis of information disclosed in or in connection with a religious confession.”
The Australian bishops’ conference on Aug. 31 responded positively to nearly all of the Royal Commission’s recommendations, but defended the confessional seal.
Archbishop Julian Porteous of Hobart, the Tasmanian capital, argued that “perpetrators of [sexual abuse] very rarely seek out confession and if mandatory reporting of confessions were required they would almost certainly not confess,” as quoted by The Australian.
The Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly in Canberra passed a law in June requiring religious groups to report any allegations, offences or convictions of child abuse within 30 days. The state of South Australia adopted a similar law, mandating a fine for failing to report abuse, which took effect this week.
Should the proposed legislation pass, Tasmania will become the second Australian state to change their laws based on the Royal Commission’s guidelines.
In July, the attorney general of Victoria declined to accept the royal commission’s recommendentation that it require priests to break the confessional seal to report cases of child sex abuse.
The Code of Canon Law states that “The sacramental seal is inviolable; therefore it is absolutely forbidden for a confessor to betray in any way a penitent in words or in any manner and for any reason.” A priest who intentionally violates the seal incurs an automatic excommunication.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “every priest who hears confessions is bound under severe penalties to keep absolute secrecy regarding the sins that his penitents have confessed to him,” due to the “delicacy and greatness of this ministry and the respect due to persons.”
Fr. Michael Whelan, a parish priest at St. Patrick’s Church in Sydney, was quoted in local news in June as saying that he, along with other priests, would be “willing to go to jail” rather than break the seal of confession. When asked if the Church was above the law, Whelan said “absolutely not” and said he would only be protecting religious freedom.
Clerics are not the only critics of the new legislation. Andrew Wall, a member of the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly, said forcing priests to break the seal of confession oversteps an individual’s “freedom of association, freedom of expression and freedom of religious rights.”
Washington D.C., Oct 2, 2018 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- The United States Supreme Court will not hear a challenge to a pro-life amendment to the Tennessee state constitution.
Amendment 1 categorically excludes abortion rights from the state’s constituti… […]
El Paso, Texas, Oct 1, 2018 / 06:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Hundreds of undocumented migrant children and teens have been moved to a tent city in a Texas desert, months after Catholic leaders warned of the dangers of the plan.
In recent weeks, young immi… […]
Oslo, Norway, Oct 1, 2018 / 05:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Among the 331 candidates for the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize are the Copts, the Christian ethnoreligious group of Egypt.
Coptic Orphans, a Christian developmental organization, announced the nomination Sept. 24.
The group said that the Copts have been nominated “for their refusal to retaliate against deadly and ongoing persecution from governments and terrorist groups in Egypt and elsewhere.”
This year, 216 individuals and 115 organizations have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. The award’s recipient will be announced Oct. 5.
Copts make up an estimated 10 percent of Egypt’s population, and they face a constant threat of violence.
In 2015, 21 Copts were beheaded by Islamic State in Libya; they have been recognized as martyrs by the Coptic Orthodox Church.
Coptic churches in Egypt are frequently bombed.
In December 2017, ten people were reported dead after terrorists attacked a Coptic church near Cairo. Forty-nine Christians died in church bombings on Palm Sunday in 2017. A Coptic priest was murdered in a knife attack in Cairo in October 2017.
Christians in Egypt have long faced attacks from Islamist extremists, particularly since Egypt’s military ousted president Mohammed Morsi, of the Muslim Brotherhood, in 2013.
Vatican City, Oct 1, 2018 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- This week the Synod of Bishops begins its fifteenth ordinary general session, convoked to discuss the themes of young people, the faith, and vocational discernment. The session will take place over three wee… […]
Washington D.C., Oct 1, 2018 / 04:42 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Americans should call on the Holy Spirit to guide and heal the Church and nation, Msgr. Peter J. Vaghi said to attendees at Sunday’s annual Red Mass, celebrated at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, DC.
Vaghi, who is chaplain of the John Carroll Society as well as pastor at the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, Md., spoke at the Sept. 30 Mass of the Holy Spirit, which traditionally marks the beginning of the judicial year. The US Supreme Court’s 2018-2019 session opened Oct. 1.
The name Red Mass is taken from the red vestments worn to symbolize the tongues of fire of the Holy Spirit.
It is this Holy Spirit whom people should call upon “to return and enlighten us, to enlighten in a special way each of you who serves the cause of justice and the common good,” said Vaghi.
“The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console, to renew, to heal,” he said. “Yes, to heal us.”
Vaghi noted that both the Church and country could benefit from this healing power, as “it is a power that treats the anger and divisions that so need the healing touch of our God if we are to continue our respective missions with love and effectiveness in our day.”
The Holy Spirit is a guide for those working in the legal profession and in government service, as the Holy Spirit helps people experience God’s wisdom and love as “the guiding principles and foundation of our very existence moving us to be men and women of justice, compassion, boundless mercy and joy” in their jobs.
Vaghi drew comparisons between the Holy Spirit as “the spirit of truth” and the words used in the Declaration of Independence.
“So we call upon the Holy Spirit to help us understand and deepen our understanding of these ‘truths’ referred to in our Declaration of Independence” – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The Red Mass, he said, is “a most appropriate time” for one to think about these truths.
“In our day, these ‘truths,’ truths whose origin is the Holy Spirit, are sometimes seen in ways not always as self-evident – these truths that from the beginning of our national experiment helped define us as Americans – these truths of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” he said. The country is divided, but Vaghi believes that the truths laid out in the Declaration of Independence are a solid base for rebuilding the American consensus.
The Red Mass is celebrated each year prior to the start of the Supreme Court’s new term, and stems from a tradition in the Middle Ages. It is meant for all members of the legal profession, including lawyers, judges, law students, and government officials, Catholic or otherwise. The Red Mass has been celebrated in D.C. for the past 66 years.
This year three Supreme Court Justices, Stephen Breyer, John Roberts, and Clarence Thomas, attended the Mass, along with newly-retired Justice Anthony Kennedy. Attorney General Jeff Sessions was also in attendance. Notably not present at the Mass was Judge Brett Kavanaugh, who is currently in the midst of a heated confirmation process for the Supreme Court.
© Catholic World Report