Europe

Szombathely, Hungary, Nov 11, 2017 / 03:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Besides the smiling Pope, John Paul I, several other people’s causes advanced towards sainthood this week. Among them is Servant of God János (John) Brenner, a Cistercian Hungarian priest whose martyrdom was acknowledged by Pope Francis this week.

Brenner was born on Dec. 27, 1931 in Szombathely, Hungary. A young person “full of life, joy and mischief,” Brenner attended Catholic schools run by the Cistercian order (a reformed order of Benedictines) for several years until the nationalization of schools by the communist government which came to power after World War II as part of the Eastern Bloc.

He felt called to the Cistercian order. He applied and was accepted as a novice to the order in Zirc in 1950, and took the name Br. Anastasius (Anasztáz).

However, only a few months after Brenner began formation, the communist government began suppressing religious houses. To protect the men in formation, the novice master moved the young brothers from the abbey to private apartments, where they hoped to continue formation in secret.

It was around this time that Brenner, along with a few other novices, moved to the local seminary to begin studying to become a priest, while continuing with his Cistercian formation through correspondence.

Despite the dangers and religious oppression going on around him, journal entries from Brenner at the time display a deep trust in God and a strong desire to do his will.

“There is no greater joy than when man who is nothing, can be even more annihilated in Christ and immerse himself into the infinite world of His soul filled with wonderful riches which are forever given over to us,” he wrote in 1950.

“Even if the road is rough, I look at your pain- ridden face and follow you. I ask you only one thing: May I always fulfill most precisely what you give to me as my vocation.”

Brenner took vows with the Cistercian order and then was ordained a priest in 1955.

Throughout his ministry, he was known for his willingness and readiness to serve and to sacrifice, and took as his priestly motto the verse Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.”

Brenner was especially talented at working with youth, which all the more made him a target of the communist government.

Even when he was made aware of personal threats against his life, and his bishop offered to transfer him elsewhere for his own safety, Brenner responded: “I’m not afraid, I’m happy to stay.”

On the night of Dec. 14, 1957, Brenner was falsely called to give last rites to a sick person in a neighboring town, amid the reprisals for the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

He left his home, carrying his anointing oils and the Eucharist, but was ambushed in the woods outside Rabakethely and stabbed 32 times. He was found dead the next day, still clutching the Eucharist in his hands, which has earned him the title of the “Hungarian Tarcisius.” St. Tarcisius was a young boy and third century martyr who was also killed while carrying and protecting the Eucharist.

While the communists had hoped that Brenner’s death would intimidate the faithful in the area, they could not stop devotion to Brenner’s memory. The Chapel of the Good Pastor was built in 1989 on the spot where he died, and is a popular place of pilgrimage for people throughout the country. The dirty and bloodied surplice Brenner wore when he was killed has been preserved as a relic.

Because Brenner has received a declaration of martyrdom from the Vatican, his new title is Venerable Servant of God János Brenner. This means that the path is open for Brenner’s beatification, as the usual requirement for a miracle is waived in cases of martyrdom.

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Annecy, France, Nov 9, 2017 / 08:06 pm (ACI Prensa).- Last month thieves in France robbed, and in the process desecrated, ten churches in the Diocese of Annecy, in the country’s Auvergne-Rhone-Alpes region.

A similar incident also occurred in the Diocese of Vannes, in Brittany.

Local press reported that the churches in the Annecy diocese were broken into Oct. 28029.  The perpetrators  are believed to be two men who forced open the church doors with a crow bar.

In Sainte Marie Madeleine de Morzine parish, the criminals broke open and desecrated two marble tabernacles. In the other churches the robbers stole the poor boxes, ciboria, and chalices.

Bernard Bidaut, communications director for the Diocese of Annecy, told ACI Prensa, “we are careful about our statements. These are not acts of voluntary profanation.”

At the same time, he said, “they are for us because this is the theft of important liturgical objects (some with consecrated Hosts), but it’s clear this is a classic case of stealing in order to resell the objects.”

Bidaut also indicated “the investigation is ongoing.”

Fr. Nicholas Owona, a priest of the Annecy diocese, told France 3 that “breaking into the tabernacles is offensive ” and that the faithful “are scandalized” by what happened.

France 3 reported that since 2015 church desecrations in the region have been on the rise.

Meanwhile, in the town of Plouay, 40 miles northwest of Vannes, intruders in Saint Ouen parish tore off the arm of a statue of the Madonna and Child and removed the altar stone.

The local police are looking for those responsible. The Observatory of Christianophobia, a French  website that tracks such incidents, indicated this same church was the victim of attacks in 2013 and 2014.

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Madrid, Spain, Nov 4, 2017 / 06:01 am (ACI Prensa).- Next Saturday 60 members of the Vincentian Order who were martyred during the Spanish Civil War will be beatified at a Mass in Madrid, a “celebration of hope, faith and forgiveness.”

“The grace experienced by these martyrs is impossible to understand without faith,” said Sister Angeles Infante, a Daughter of Charity who is postulator of the cause for beatification. She praised the martyrs’ “faithfulness to the Vincentian charism, giving their lives, the greatest treasure they had, for Christ.”

The Nov. 11 Mass of Beatification at the Palacio Vistalegre will be a celebration of hope because “these martyrs believed in the beatitudes and their martyrdom summed them all up.”

“It ‘s not a violent death that makes you a martyr, but the cause you die for, which is Christ. They gave their lives for God, embodying the faith through their witness, forgiving and asking their families to forgive,” the postulator said.

Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid, who will celebrate the Mass, said that “these 60 martyrs gave their lives out of love. They died loving and forgiving, demonstrating a wisdom which comes from above, not taking sides in the conflict or getting involved in the civil unrest, but having a wisdom which came from Jesus Christ.”

“A human being’s weapons are not hatred or rancor but those of Jesus Christ: the love which engenders life and not death.”

He also emphasized that these 60 martyrs are a model “more timely than ever because they led the life of God which is always relevant,” especially during “times in history when it seems hard  for us to  forgive. That’s why it’s good to remember people like these, people who don’t destroy but forgive instead, who give their lives not for an idea, but for a person: Jesus Christ.”

Those being beatified are Vicente Queralt Lloret and 20 companions, and José Maria Fernández Sanchez and 38 companions. They were killed in 1936 and 1937 by Republican forces.

Thousands of priests and religious, accompanied by laity, were martyred during Spain’s civil war. More than 1,800 have already been beatified, and several have been canonized.

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA

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London, England, Nov 2, 2017 / 05:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Bishop of Portsmouth, England has called Catholics to pray for the conversion of 113 Members of the British Parliament who signed a letter urging the ban of prayer vigils outside of abortion… […]

Albano Laziale, Italy, Nov 2, 2017 / 09:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- We should beg God to put an end to the violence and destruction wrought by war, especially as the world seems to prepare for another conflict, Pope Francis said on All Souls’ Day.

Today “the world is at war again and is preparing itself to go more heavily into war. No more, Lord! No more! With war, you lose everything!” the Pope said Nov. 2.

“This is what we should say today; that we pray for all the dead, but in this place we pray in a special way for these young people (killed in war).”

Pope Francis said gave a short homily at Mass for All Souls’ Day at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno, an Italian cemetery for American personnel killed in World War II.

Located a little more than 20 miles south of Albano Laziale and dedicated in 1956, the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery covers 77 acres. There are 7,860 servicemen buried there and in a chapel on the grounds are the names of 3,095 servicemen who went missing in action.

Most of those who are buried in the Nettuno cemetery died in the liberation of Sicily, the landings at Salerno and Anzio, and in air and naval support of these operations in 1943 and 1944.

In recent tradition, popes have said an All Souls’ Day Mass at Rome’s Campo Verano cemetery, founded in the 19th century. Pope Francis did the same for the first three years of his pontificate, though in 2016 he chose to say the All Souls’ Day Mass at Rome’s Prima Porta Cemetery instead.

All those present at the cemetery today are “gathered together in hope,” he said. But often this hope has its roots in human suffering, such as the suffering of war.

But it is “better to hope without this destruction,” he pointed out and without the death of “thousands upon thousands” of young people.

Therefore, he said, “if today is a day of hope, today is also a day of tears.” Tears just like those cried by the women who mourn the death of a husband or a child who has died in service to their homeland. “It’s tears that humanity today must not forget,” he emphasized.

The Pope explained that pride is the vice which leads people to seek solutions to problems through a declaration of war, and that humanity “has not learned the lesson” nor does it seem to “want to learn it.”

Francis concluded by reminding that today is a day to pray for all the dead, but that we should pray especially for those young people killed in war and buried in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery.

“We also pray,” he continued, “for the dead of today, the dead of war, even innocent children. This is the fruit of war: death.”

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Albano Laziale, Italy, Nov 1, 2017 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis will visit on Thursday an Italian cemetery for American personnel killed in World War II, where he will say Mass for All Souls’ Day.

The Pope’s Nov. 2 Mass will be held at the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery and Memorial in Nettuno, a little more than 20 miles south of Albano Laziale.

Cemetery Superintendent Melanie Resto said that for Francis to choose to commemorate the fallen soldiers at the cemetery is “the biggest honor I can imagine.”

“We didn’t expect the Pope, but it is a great honor,” she added.

Pope Francis “will be here to pray for the service members, not only the service members here, but all those who have died in wars.”

According to Resto, the cemetery is visited every week by family members of the soldiers whose bodies are buried there.

It is open every day, except Christmas and New Years Day. Staff are available to answer questions and to escort relatives to grave sites.

Rasto said many of the cemetery staff have been employeed at the memorial for more than 25 years; there are already three employees whose fathers worked on the grounds before them. They feel that “it’s an honor to work here,” she said, “and we’re proud to have them.”

The Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, dedicated in 1956, covers 77 acres, and 7,860 servicemen are buried there. In a chapel on the grounds are the names of 3,095 who were missing in action.

Most of those who are buried in the Nettuno cemetery died in the liberation of Sicily, the landings at Salerno and Anzio, and in air and naval support of these operations in 1943 and 1944.

In recent tradition, the Popes have said an All Souls’ Day Mass at Rome’s Campo Verano cemetery, founded in the 19th century.

Pope Francis did this the first three years of his pontificate, and in 2016 said an All Souls’ Day Mass at Rome’s Prima Porta Cemetery.

Material from EWTN News Nightly was used in this report.

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Ploërmel, France, Oct 31, 2017 / 06:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- France’s top administrative court, the Conseil d’Etat has ordered a cross to be removed from a statue of Pope Saint John Paul II in Ploërmel, a small city in France’s Brittany region.

The statue, nearly 25 feet tall, portrays Pope Saint John Paul II praying beneath an arch adorned with a cross. The memorial was erected in Ploërmel in 2006.

#MayDay
Please help french people who are facing to the John-Paul II cross dismantling at #Ploermel village
Large RT and forward to media pic.twitter.com/JM9V3FSZNi

— co??tehe?se (@CourteheuseR) October 29, 2017

The court order decision provoked a strong response from the late pontiff’s native Poland.

Poland’ prime minister, Beata Szydlo, offered to have the statue relocated to Poland, to save the statue from “the dictates of political correctness” and “secularization of the state.”

“Our great Pole, a great European, is a symbol of a Christian, united Europe,” she said, according to the Telegraph.

Since its arrival, the statue has been a source of controversy, drawing some criticism from locals and the secularist National Federation of Free Thought, which campaigned for the statue’s removal.

The court stated that the cross’ “presence in a public location is contrary to the law”, Le Point reported.  

Prime Minister Szydlo responded that religious censorship is undermining the values of Europe and is a nuisance to Europeans. Secularization and the dictatorship of political correctness is “alien to our culture, which leads to terrorizing Europeans in their everyday life,” she said.

The ruling has also received backlash on Twitter, where people have been protesting the court’s decision by using the hashtag #montretacroix (show your cross). France’s conservative parties have decried the decision, labeling the ruling as “madness” and “destructive to the country’s history.”

Patrick Le Diffon, the mayor of Ploërmel, called the statue a work of art and opposed its dismantling. However, the mayor said he would not like to start a religious battle and mentioned the possibility of bypassing the problem by selling the public land to a private investor.

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Brussels, Belgium, Oct 31, 2017 / 04:22 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A group of Catholics who were reciting the rosary were removed Saturday from the Brussels cathedral  on the grounds that they were disturbing a service celebrating the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.

The United Protestant Church in Belgium was hosting the event with the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther posting the 95 Theses to the door of Wittenberg Castle – a gesture which led to Luther’s eventual schism from the Catholic Church.

Steven Fuit, president of the UPCB, spoke at the event, saying it was an ecumenical service and noting that “our unity essentially derives from respecting differences.”

“Our individuality and our unity consist not in the passive acceptance of diversity,” Fuit said, according to the Catholic Herald.

“Without the other who is different, who thinks otherwise, who does otherwise, I do not exist, I am nothing. Differences are an inherent part of unity,” he continued.

However, approximately a dozen young Catholics made an appearance during the commemoration and began to recite the rosary with linked arms during the ceremony.

Police ultimately removed the group from the cathedral, as shown on a YouTube video.

The group of Catholics allegedly handed out a leaflet calling the ceremony a “profanation,” according to Media-Presse-Info, a French news website.

“Our Cathedral of St. Michael and St. Gudula is a Catholic building built by our fathers to be a House of God, for the celebration of holy Mass, for the praise of God and the saints,” read the leaflet.

“Indeed, the so-called Reformation was really a revolt: under the pretext of combatting abuses, Luther rebelled against the divine authority of the Catholic Church, denied numerous Truths of the Faith, abolished the Sacrifice of the Mass and the Sacraments, rejected the necessity of good works and the practice of Christian virtues. Finally, he attacked the veneration of the Virgin Mary and the saints, the religious life and monastic vows,” the leaflet continued.

“This terrible revolution was a great tragedy for Christian society and for the salvation of souls. And the Lutheran errors are still heresies today because the Truth is eternal.”

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Madrid, Spain, Oct 31, 2017 / 06:01 am (ACI Prensa).- As the situation in Catalonia unfolds after the Spanish autonomous community declared independence, a move strongly opposed by the Spanish central government, local bishops are insisting on a peaceful resolution.

Cardinal Juan José Omella Omella of Barcelona, the Catalan capital, said Oct. 27 that “as shepherd of Barcelona” he loves Catalonia and shares “the people’s pain and suffering,” and that his heart “weeps with them.”

Cardinal Omella was in Rome the day of the Catalan declaration of independence, and he asked God to “help us avoid confrontation and build a future in peace.”

“After my two years in the Diocese of Barcelona, I can say that I deeply love Barcelona and Catalonia. They are marvelous people,” the cardinal emphasized.

“And I also love Spain and I love the Europe we belong to, where I received my formation as a young man.”

Cardinal Omella was born in the Catalan-speaking region of Aragon, and first served as a priest in the Archdiocese of Zaragoza.

The Catalan crisis began with an Oct. 1 independence referendum, which had been declared unconstitutional and illegal by Spain’s constitutional court. Ignoring the court ruling, Catalonia’s separatist government proceeded with the referendum, setting the stage for sometimes violent clashes with voters as the Civil Guard and National Police attempted to stop the vote.

According to the Catalan government, 90 percent of those who voted – 43 percent of potential voters – supported independence from Spain.

The Catalan regional parliament then declared the community’s independence Oct. 27.

Spain’s central government responded by announcing the dissolution of the Catalan parliament and the suspension of Catalan autonomy. The Spanish president removed from office the Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, and other officials.

The Spanish government has called for regional elections in Catalonia to be held Dec. 21.

Cardinal Ricardo Blazquez Perez of Valladolid, president of the Spanish bishops’ conference, expressed Oct. 28 his “sadness over the declaration” of independence, and reiterated “his support for the constitutional order” and its “re-establishment.”  

“I am praying to God for the peaceful coexistence of all citizens,” he concluded.

Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra of Madrid tweeted the same day: “Christ encourages us to not raise up walls, to engage one another in dialogue, and to work for social reconciliation. At this time in Spain with special urgency.”

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