Target gay pride products ignited political protests with its "tuck friendly" crotch construction, Los Angeles, California, June 2, 2023. / Shutterstock
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 17, 2023 / 15:17 pm (CNA).
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Bishop James Conley leads a eucharistic procession outside Lincoln’s Cathedral of the Risen Christ, one of the passport pilgrimage sites. / Diocese of Lincoln
St. Louis, Mo., Aug 17, 2023 / 14:15 pm (CNA).
A new initiative from the Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska, aims to bring pilgrims to every corner of the state to visit its many adoration chapels.
Dubbed the “Eucharistic Passport Pilgrimage,” the diocesan initiative is modeled after the Nebraska Passport, a project of the Nebraska Tourism Commission designed to encourage exploration of the state’s various attractions.
“The Nebraska Passport Program has been a very popular way to promote Nebraska and its beautiful sites. It is my hope and prayer that our diocesan Eucharistic Passport Pilgrimage will offer an opportunity for thousands of Nebraskans to make a spiritual pilgrimage across our state,” Bishop James Conley wrote in a recent column announcing the new initiative.
“I pray that this might be an occasion of true encounter with our eucharistic Lord, hidden in the Blessed Sacrament and an opportunity for true renewal and revival for our eucharistic Lord. And, like the Nebraska Passport Program, [that] we might be inspired to travel across our beautiful state in a spirit of prayer and gratitude.”
The Lincoln Diocese encompasses a large and mostly rural swath of southern Nebraska that stretches from the Missouri River in the east to the border with Colorado. Catholics make up about 94,000 of the diocese’s population of 621,000. The diocese spans nearly 25,000 square miles of territory and 134 total parishes, according to the diocese.
Conley told CNA that in creating the new passport program, he was inspired by his own love of pilgrimages. Over the years, Conley has walked portions of the Camino de Santiago on three different occasions and this summer walked St. Cuthbert’s Way, a Catholic pilgrimage in northern England near the Scottish border. Conley has been open in recent years about the ways that pilgrimages have helped him greatly with his spiritual, emotional, and mental health.
The idea for the passport, Conley said, is to lead pilgrims to 17 designated eucharistic adoration chapels in Nebraska and offer the pilgrims a stamp on their passport to prove that they went there. Conley said they plan to offer a prize of some sort for any pilgrims who visit all 17 locations (though what exactly the prize will be has yet to be determined).
Conley said he hopes pilgrims will visit the adoration chapels and pray specifically for their intentions as part of the National Eucharistic Revival, a three-year initiative by the U.S. bishops that aims to inspire, educate, and unite the faithful in a more intimate relationship with Jesus in the Eucharist.
Conley said central to the passport project is sharing the importance of visiting and adoring Christ in person.
“We live in such a digitized virtual world, especially since the pandemic years … Anytime we can get away from our screens and out into God’s beautiful creation, whether it’s on a walking pilgrimage, or up in the mountains, or on the beach, or any time we have contact with the really ‘real,’ it’s a remedy for this world, which is becoming more and more in our head,” the bishop said.
Father Christopher Eckrich, diocesan master of ceremonies and Conley’s priest secretary, told CNA that they hope to provide pilgrims with a true sense of “adventure” with the passport program.
“[Visiting all 17 sites] might be harder than people think,” Eckrich said via email.
“People will have to be strategic as adoration is not offered every day in some places. So, people will only be able to get their stamps on certain days — which will add to the adventure! It’s really about creating a pilgrimage environment for people to discover the beautiful adoration chapels, and churches in our diocese, and go visit places they never would have visited before. And the arduousness adds to the excitement upon its completion.”
The passports debuted after Masses the weekend of Aug. 12-13 throughout the Diocese of Lincoln. The passports include informational literature about the 17 designated sites and a map indicating the locations.
The passports will remain available for anyone to pick up in the back of churches across the Lincoln Diocese for the next year, Eckrich said. (If a parish runs out, it can request more from the chancery, he said.)
Shannon Mullen contributed to this story.
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Pope Francis poses next to a miniature model of a ship with Madagascar’s President Andry Nirina Rajoelina and his family in the Vatican’s apostolic palace on Aug. 17, 2023. / Vatican Media.
Vatican City, Aug 17, 2023 / 05:45 am (CNA).
Pope Francis met Thursday with the Catholic president of Madagascar, Andry Nirina Rajoelina. The president was accompanied by his wife of 23 years and three young adult children.
The 49-year-old politician and businessman has led the country of Madagascar in his current term since January 2019. He also led a provisional government in the country from 2009-2014.
According to the Vatican, after a 20-minute private conversation, Pope Francis invited Rajoelina and his family to pray a Hail Mary together before a Marian image he had received from the bishops of Madagascar.
The pope and delegation were also photographed together next to a miniature of a ship, a gift Francis received on the occasion of his 2019 visit to the island country.
Pope Francis traveled to Madagascar Sept. 6-8, 2019, as part of a larger trip that included the countries of Mozambique and Mauritius.
There are 22 Catholic dioceses in Madagascar, an island country about 250 miles off the coast of East Africa.
Christians, both Protestants and Catholics, make up the majority religion in Madagascar, at estimates between 40 and 80%. Islam and indigenous religions are also practiced. The country’s total population is around 25 million.
After his meeting with Pope Francis, Rajoelina spoke with Vatican diplomat and under-secretary for relations with states Monsignor Mirosław Stanisław Wachowski.
According to a brief statement from the Vatican, the conversation covered the war in Ukraine and its global consequences, crises affecting the continent of Africa, and the contributions of the Catholic Church to Malagasy society.
The two also touched on the respectful bilateral relationship between the Holy See and Madagascar and the possibility of drafting a bilateral agreement.
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Indore, India, Aug 16, 2023 / 13:30 pm (CNA).
As India celebrated its 77th Independence Day marking freedom from colonial British rule on Aug. 15, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) asserted the patriotism of Christians and called for “resolving internal challenges with empathy, understanding, and unity.”
“India’s journey to freedom was not solely forged on the battlefield but also through unwavering determination, sacrifices, and visionary leadership from those of diverse backgrounds, including the Christian community,” the CBCI said in a press release.
Though British imperialism spread in India when the East India Company began trading there in the 17th century, the British Parliament took total control over the Indian subcontinent in 1858.
Following the massive freedom struggle led by Mahatma Gandhi — the prophet of nonviolence — the British ended their rule over the Indian subcontinent in August 1947, dividing it into Hindu-majority India and Muslim-majority Pakistan.
Hindu nationalist outlets, under the influence of the ruling BJP (the Bharatiya Janata Party, one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress), have called into question the patriotism of India’s 34 million Christians. The CBCI statement addressed the charge, saying: “Christian freedom fighters left an indelible mark on India’s history. Their dedication and sacrifices serve as a poignant reminder that the fight for freedom was a collective endeavor that transcended religious and cultural boundaries.”
“Our nation’s strength is derived from its ability to confront and resolve internal challenges with empathy, understanding, and unity. The diverse fabric of our country is a source of strength, but it also requires ongoing efforts to ensure that every citizen’s rights and aspirations are respected and protected,” the bishops stated.
In an apparent criticism of the 105-day-old bloody ethnic conflict in the northeastern state of Manipur — in which ethnic Christian Kuki tribes have been targeted — the CBCI further called for “meaningful dialogue seeking solutions that prioritize the well-being and future of all the citizens, especially those who are suffering and feel abandoned due to conflicts, sentiments of hatred, and acts of violence.”
The tiny state of Manipur, with a population of 3.7 million, has been engulfed in a violent conflict between ethnic Kuki tribals and Meiteis that began May 3 following a solidarity march by members of the Christian Kuki tribal community in south Manipur. The protest was against a controversial order from the state high court for extending Scheduled Tribe status to the ethnic Meiteis. (Scheduled Tribe status is a provision of India’s national constitution that mandates free education and quotas in professions such as medicine and engineering, as well as government jobs.) The Meiteis were originally followers of indigenous Sanamahism and many converted to Hinduism as well as Christianity. Christians constitute more than 52% of the state’s population.
Reports of tribal Kuki attacks on ethnic Meiteis spread like wildfire after the protest, which in turn plunged the Imphal Valley, which accommodates 90% of Manipur’s population, into an outburst of violence against Kuki tribal Christians. At the same time, ethnic Meitei settlements in the Kuki-dominated hills surrounding the valley were also targets of violence.
“It is our earnest appeal that the governance system should uphold the secular fabric of our country, reinforce constitutional values, and cultivate an environment of peaceful coexistence of various communities,” the CBCI statement said.
A CBCI delegation led by its president, Archbishop Andrews Thazhath, visited Manipur in late July. According to the Times of India, Biren Singh, the beleaguered BJP chief minister of Manipur, in a statement on Independence Day eve acknowledged that “with over 150 dead and hundreds injured, homes and places of faith razed to the ground, we are not leaving a good legacy for our children and future generations.”
The Catholic Church in Manipur, which accounts for 100,000 members among the 1.5 million Christians in the state, welcomed the CBCI statement for Independence Day.
“The beauty of this country is the diversity of culture, faith, and ethnicity, with a feeling of common brotherhood,” Father Varghese Velickagam, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Imphal, which covers the entire Manipur state, told CNA Aug. 15.
“Any forces that scheme to destroy these noble ideals should be resisted immediately,” said Velickagam, who issued a summary of the violence against Christian targets in early August and stated that more than 600 churches had been destroyed.
“The resolution of the crisis in the northeastern state [Manipur] is possible only through ‘peace’ and the central [federal] and the state government is putting all its efforts into it,” said Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his Independence Day address.
However, Modi has been widely criticized, even internationally, for his protracted silence on Manipur bloodshed as the state government, led by the BJP, has failed to curb the bloodshed against the Kuki tribal Christians and has even condoned it.
“Killings will only stop when the assailants are arrested and put behind bars,” pointed out Colin Gonsalves, a Christian lawyer who has been representing Kuki tribal groups in the Supreme Court of India, in an interview.
“No communal attack can continue in the country without the state head giving support … The police can stop violence in 24 hours if they are told,” Gonsalves said, pointing to state complicity in the unabated violence in his interview, which has gone viral.
© Catholic World Report