Brussels, Belgium, Sep 12, 2017 / 10:38 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The board of the Belgian Brothers of Charity announced Tuesday it will continue offering euthanasia to patients in their psychiatric centres, despite being ordered by the Vatican to stop doin… […]
Rome, Italy, Sep 9, 2017 / 09:17 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican announced Saturday that Cardinal Velasio De Paolis, C.S., prefect emeritus of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See and a distinguished professor and scholar of canon law, has died in Rome.
Cardinal De Paolis died Sept. 9, just 10 days shy of his 82nd birthday. Details of the cardinal’s death have not yet been released.
A scholar and professor, Cardinal De Paolis taught moral theology and canon law in Rome for nearly 40 years, publishing more than 200 books and articles on scientific topics, spirituality and canon law.
Most recently, in 2014, he was a contributor to the book, “Remaining in the Truth of Christ: Marriage and Communion in the Catholic Church.”
Edited by Fr. Robert Dodaro, O.S.A., it was written in response to Cardinal Walter Kasper’s suggestion that the Church allow those who are divorced and civilly remarried without an annulment to receive the Eucharist.
Besides Cardinal De Paolis, among the nine contributors to the book were Cardinals Walter Brandmuller, Raymond Burke, Gerhard Muller and Carlo Caffarra, who passed away Sept. 6 at the age of 79.
Cardinal De Paolis was born in Sonnino, Italy on Sept. 19, 1935. He became a professed member of the Congregation of the Missionaries of Saint Charles Borromeo (Scalabrinians) in 1958 and was ordained a priest of the order on March 18, 1961.
He studied in Rome, earning a law degree from La Sapienza University, a licentiate in theology from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, and a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Gregorian University.
At the end of 2003, he was appointed secretary of the Supreme Tribunal of the Signatura and elevated to titular bishop of Thelepte by Pope John Paul II.
He was ordained a bishop Feb. 21, 2004.
In April 2008, he was appointed president of the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See by Pope Benedict XVI.
He was elevated to cardinal in the consistory of Nov. 20, 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI and appointed cardinal-deacon of Gesu Pastore alla Montagnola.
In 2010, Benedict XVI also nominated him as a pontifical delegate for the Congregation of the Legionaries of Christ after abuses by the congregation’s founder were made public. In this position he oversaw the congregation until the drafting of their new constitution.
He was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on May 4, 2011, serving until he reached the mandatory retirement age of 80 in 2015.
Rome, Italy, Sep 5, 2017 / 02:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- More than 20 years ago, Ann Pollak traveled to Calcutta, hoping to volunteer alongside Mother Teresa. The experience would spark a years-long process that would eventually lead her to adopt a severely handicapped child from one of the care centers run by the Missionaries of Charity.
“It has not been easy, at all, but the blessings have far, far outweighed the sacrifices,” Pollak told CNA. “Oddly, in adopting a blind child, I began seeing the world through my own eyes from a different perspective.”
Nearly 16 years ago, Pollak adopted a child from one of Mother Teresa’s orphanages. But adoption was not initially her intent.
In 1995, Pollak travelled to India in order to meet Mother Teresa. She spent two weeks doing volunteer work and was impressed with Mother Teresa’s constant smile, and the fact that despite winning a Nobel Prize and being globally famous, the religious sister was very approachable.
Pollak would return to do volunteer work numerous times in the years that followed. In 1997, about a month before Mother Teresa’s death, she was working with handicapped children. She was assigned to feed one little girl, Rekha, who was blind, autistic and mentally delayed.
“She had the sweetest smile on her face,” Pollak recalled of Rekha. “I just fell in love with her.” She also believed that the child had potential to develop and grow, if she was able to get the proper care and attention from a family.
A year later, Pollak returned to India to see if the little girl was still there. She was.
Pollak said that she wanted to find the young girl a family, or at least a school, somewhere that would be able to offer the proper care for someone with her particular needs.
But as time went on, she became frustrated with her inability to find anyone to care for the girl. She began praying every day, asking God for a solution. Although she had not previously considered adoption, she began to feel an inner call to adopt Rekha.
“I couldn’t find any other solution,” she reflected.
It took almost a year to prepare and get everything in order. Numerous complications arose. Pollak recalled praying what Mother Teresa had termed her “Little Novena” – a series of 9 Memorare prayers offered consecutively.
Within days, the complications had been resolved and the adoption process was complete. “I attribute that to the intercession of Mother Teresa and also the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Pollak said.
Rekha was seven-and-a-half years old at the time of her adoption. Now, she is 23.
Pollak said that her daughter has come a long way. While some of her conditions can never be cured – for example, she was born without eyes, and therefore has no chance of ever being able to see – there are other areas in which she has developed significantly.
Despite autism and mental delays, Rekha was able to start speaking at age 15. Once she started speaking, she began picking up more and more words, and now has a basic vocabulary.
But the transition was not easy. For years after she was taken away from India, Rehka had frequent, violent fits.
“During these fits, she would bite herself, rip off her clothes, throw herself on the floor…and she also physically hurt me,” Pollak said, recalling times that her daughter would bite her or tear out her hair.
Pollak believes that these fits were caused by Rekha’s inability to communicate her needs, combined with insecurity at being transported to a new and unknown life, as well as hormonal changes as she went through puberty.
Thanks to medication and a great deal of devotion and time, Pollak said that “Rekha is today a much calmer individual – the fits still occur but they are much less intense and much less frequent.”
“Rekha has helped me to become a more patient person!” she added.
Many of Pollak’s friends and family were not initially supportive, with some of them believing that she was making a serious mistake. A dear friend told her that she was ruining her life.
Her younger sister was married to an adoptee and was sympathetic and supportive, she recalled. But her older sister made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with the adoption, including assuming any responsibility if anything were to happen Pollak.
But over time, Pollak said she seen how her daughter has brought out the best in humanity.
“Over the almost 16 years that she’s been with me, I have witnessed the graciousness, kindness and love of other human beings, from people whom we’ve met maybe only on a bus ride to people who have become a part of our life,” she said, pointing specifically to the caregivers they had worked with over the years.
“People frequently stare at us in public because we are sort of an ‘odd couple’ and because Rekha is often very boisterous, but those stares are so often accompanied by smiles.”
On Sept. 4 last year, Pollak and Rehka were both able to attend Mother Teresa’s canonization, an opportunity that Pollak considers incredibly special.
“Today, I believe that my mission to meet Mother Teresa indirectly led me to Rekha,” she said, reflecting on her own journey to adoption. While there were many factors in her decision, which unfolded over several years, she said that watching the saint’s work more than 20 years ago was part of the inspiration that led to her become more deeply involved in the life of the girl she would go on to adopt.
“Seeing Mother Teresa’s work in Calcutta and in other places in the word has a strong impact, and can turn a casual observer into a protagonist,” she said.
This story was originally published on CNA Sept. 5, 2017.
Rimini, Italy, Sep 5, 2017 / 04:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Brazilian man who received the miracle allowing for Mother Teresa’s canonization says that he and his wife were ordinary believers who received an extraordinary sign of God’s … […]
Edinburgh, Scotland, Sep 4, 2017 / 04:29 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Constant, pouring rain did not deter the Catholic bishops of Scotland from consecrating Scotland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on Sunday.
Decked in rain jackets and carrying colorful umbr… […]
London, England, Sep 4, 2017 / 12:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican has approved a decision from the Catholic bishops in England and Wales to move two Holy Days of Obligation back to their original dates.
Effective starting on December 3, the… […]
London, England, Sep 1, 2017 / 10:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, who served as Archbishop of Westminster for nine years, from 2000-2009, died Friday at the age of 85 after a brief hospitalization. He was well known for his efforts to promote unity between Catholics and Anglicans.
“I am writing to let you know the sad news that Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor died peacefully this afternoon, surrounded by his family and friends,” Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster wrote to his archdiocese Sept. 1.
“Please pray for the repose of his soul. Pray, too, for his family, and those many friends and colleagues from the Diocese and far beyond who mourn his loss.”
Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor was admitted to hospital last month. After his admission, he had written to Cardinal Nichols, his successor at Westminster, asking him to share the news of his illness so that the clergy of England and Wales might pray for him.
“As you will know so clearly, for Cardinal Cormac these loving prayers are a source of great strength and comfort as he calmly ponders on all that lies ahead, all in God’s good time,” Cardinal Nichols wrote Aug. 19.
In a letter to Cardinal Nichols published the day of his death, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor had written: “At this time, the words I pray every night are never far from my thoughts: ‘Into your hands, Lord, I commend my spirit’ … I have received many blessings in my life, especially from my family and friends. I thank God for the many priests, religious and lay faithful who have helped and sustained me in my Episcopal life.”
“Above all, as I now commend myself to the loving mercy of God, I ask them all to pray for me as I remember and pray for them,” the cardinal had written.
Born in Reading Aug. 24, 1932 to an Irish family, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor studied at the Venerable English College and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome starting in 1950, and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Portsmouth Oct. 28, 1956.
After 15 years as a parish priest, he was appointed rector of the Venerable English College at the end of 1971. As rector, he was also the host to Donald Coggan, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, who visited Bl. Paul VI in Rome in 1977. It was only the third time that an Archbishop of Canterbury and a Pope had met in Rome since the Church of England split from the Holy See.
In November 1977 Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor was appointed Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, where he served until he was transferred to the Archdiocese of Westminster in 2000. He was made a cardinal by St. John Paul II the following year.
While head of the Westminster archdiocese, he also served as president of the English and Welsh bishops’ conference, and was a member of several Vatican dicasteries.
His retirement as archbishop, at the age of 76, was accepted by Benedict XVI in April 2009.
Although unusual for a retired bishop, he was appointed a member of the Congregation of Bishops and the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in October 2009. He served in these congregations until his 80th birthday.
While Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, he served for 18 years as Co-Chairman of the Anglican and Roman Catholic International Commission. He was also chairman of the English and Welsh bishops’ Committee for Christian Unity from 1983 and chairman of the Department for Mission and Unity from 1994.
In recognition of his work for Christian unity throughout his episcopate, the cardinal was awarded an honorary doctorate of divinity by George Carey, Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, in 2000.
He was criticized when it was discovered that as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton he had failed to report a priest, Fr. Michael Hill, who was convicted for child sexual abuse in 1997. After this incident, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor invited the judge Lord Nolan in 2000 to investigate the issue of pedophile priests and child protection in the Catholic Church in England and Wales.
The Nolan Report was published in 2001. As a result of the report, the Church in England and Wales formed the Catholic Office for the Protection of Children and Vulnerable Adults to centrally manage applications through the Criminal Records Bureau ensuring thorough background checks of anyone working with children or vulnerable adults.
In 2002, Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor launched a spiritual renewal program in Westminster which during its three years brought together 20,000 people in regular weekly faith groups throughout the diocese.
It was also in 2002 that he became the first member of the Catholic hierarchy to deliver a sermon to an English monarch since 1680. At the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II, he gave a homily for members of the royal family during the Anglican morning service at Sandringham, the queen’s country residence in Norfolk.
Justin Welby, the Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, said Friday that Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor’s death “represents a loss to his innumerable friends, to the church and to the country … his humility, sense and holiness made him a church leader of immense impact.”
“His words and his life drew people to God. His genial warmth, pastoral concern and genuine love for those in his care will be missed, but also celebrated with thanks. May he rest in peace and rise in glory.”
Funeral arrangements for the cardinal have yet to be announced.
Norwich, England, Aug 29, 2017 / 02:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Tuesday EWTN opened its first studio and office in the U.K. at the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, emphasizing its role in supporting the Church’s evangelization in the region.
In an Aug. 29 statement on the studio launch, EWTN Chairman and CEO Michael P. Warsaw called the opening of the facility “a particularly important” step for the network’s continued development in the U.K.
The new studio, he said, “will allow us to greatly expand our capacity to produce programming for our European channels as well as to more easily incorporate content from the U.K. into our other channels around the world.”
He said it’s appropriate that the new studio sits just steps away from the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, which annually draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from all over the U.K. and the world, and which for centuries “has been one of the most important centers of Catholicism in Britain.”
With such strong pilgrim activity, Warsaw said he is “very happy that EWTN now has a presence in this extraordinary place and can share what happens here with our audience around the globe.”
Located in a converted house in the village of Walsingham, about 30 miles northwest of Norwich, the studio includes a street-level reception area and welcome center for visitors, where pilgrims can watch clips of EWTN’s most popular television shows, films, and documentaries.
One of the most important pilgrimage sites in Europe, the Walsingham shrine dates back to 1061, and is widely referred to as “England’s Nazareth.” Both Anglican and a Catholic chapels are located at the site, which has become a hub for ecumenical prayer and devotion.
Inspiration for the shrine came when a devout English noblewoman, Richeldis de Faverches, prayed to undertake a special task in honor of Our Lady.
As the story goes, in answer to the woman’s request, Mary appeared to her in a vision and took her to Nazareth, showing her where the Annunciation occurred. Mary then asked De Faverches to build a replica of the house in Walsingham to serve as a perpetual memorial of that moment.
The shrine was built and a religious community put in charge of it. In 1150, a priory was built by the Augustinian Canons, and eventually Walsingham became one of the largest, most well-known shrines in Medieval Christendom.
However, during the English Reformation, the priory was handed over to the commissioners of King Henry VIII in 1538, and the highly venerated statue of Our Lady of Walsingham was burned along with the shrine.
As a result, pilgrimages to the site ceased, and wouldn’t pick up again for another 300 years, until after the Catholic Emancipation of 1829.
In 1896, Charlotte Pearson Boyd purchased a small, 14th century chapel called the “Slipper Chapel” – one of the last en-route to Walsingham – and restored it for Catholic use. A year later, in 1897, Leo XIII issued a rescript stating that the shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham would be restored.
Official pilgrimages started up again that same year, and visits to the site increased as greater numbers of pilgrims began filing into both the chapel and the shrine for devotion.
Walsingham currently attracts some 150,000 pilgrims during peak seasons.
In 2015, on the Feast of the Holy Family, Pope Francis gave the shrine the title of a minor basilica.
Warsaw voiced his hope in his statement that the opening of EWTN’s studio there would help to form a “strategic collaboration” with the shrine in order to help the site carry out “its mission to evangelize.”
Present alongside Warsaw at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new shrine was the shrine’s rector, Monsignor John Armitage, and Bishop Alan Hopes of East Anglia.
Msgr. Armitage said Walsingham “is very much the crossroads of the Catholic Church in England, and has been for over 950 years.”
“This is a place where pilgrims come from all over the country and indeed all over the world,” he said, explaining that the Church itself “needs to be at the crossroads.”
For an organization dedicated to communications such as EWTN, “to be at a place where people are coming from all sort of different aspects of the life of the Church is particularly important.”
“So we are delighted as a shrine to be able to welcome EWTN to come here as an organization in their own right, but at this place where so many pilgrims come from all over the world.”
Bishop Hopes also spoke about the new studio, saying the facility “will certainly be a center for evangelization.”
“EWTN right at the front of evangelization in the media…it enters people’s hopes, it enables them to join in the prayer and worship life of the Church,” he said. “It means that people can see the teaching aspects of the faith, so it’s a real mission in itself.
Just as Richeldis de Faverches responded to Mary’s wish by building a shrine in honor of the place where the Annunciation took place, EWTN will do the same in terms of building the Church, he said, explaining that the organization “always contributed (to the Church in England), but it’s assisting in that building up of the Kingdom, that proclamation of the Gospel.”
Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster sent a letter for the occasion, which was read aloud by Bishop Hopes at the ceremony.
Cardinal Nichols offered his gratitude for the addition of the studio, which he called a “valuable media center in the heart of our National Shrine.”
He praised the work of the media, noting that over the past 950 years “Walsingham has been a place of pilgrimage, proclaiming the joy of the Annunciation.”
“In this new chapter of its history, I welcome the opportunity for the shrine and EWTN to work together as servants of the New Evangelization,” he said, adding that he is looking forward to visiting the studios himself while in Walsingham for the Westminster pilgrimage in October.
All television and radio channels EWTN produces for the U.K. and Ireland are currently available on the Sky satellite platform, and cable and video streaming platforms throughout the area. The network also transmits two additional television channels for the European continent.
The Walsingham studio in particular was made possible thanks to the work of Saint Clare Media-EWTN, Ltd., the network’s non-profit affiliate in Britain. They conduct marketing, fundraising, and the production of programming for EWTN’s radio services in the U.K., and they are also create and distribute news content in collaboration with EWTN’s global news outlets.
Warsaw joined EWTN in 1991 and worked in senior management positions in television production, satellite operations and technical services. In 2000 he became president of EWTN, and in 2009 he assumed the post of CEO. In 2013 he was named chairman of the board.
EWTN was founded launched in 1981 by Mother Angelica of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration. The largest religious media network in the world, it reaches more than 268 million television households in more than 145 countries and territories.
In addition to 11 television channels in multiple languages, EWTN platforms include radio services through shortwave and satellite radio, SIRIUS/XM, iHeart Radio, and over 500 AM and 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.
Birmingham, England, Aug 29, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Missing for more than 1,500 years, the earliest known Latin commentary on the Gospels has been rediscovered at the Cologne Cathedral Library and was published in English this week.
… […]
Barcelona, Spain, Aug 26, 2017 / 04:17 am (CNA/EWTN News).- From Spain’s revered Sagrada Familia basilica to Germany and even the Vatican, churches across Europe are taking measures to increase security following several acts of terrorism in recent weeks.
Churches and other highly symbolic Christian landmarks have been a prime target for radical Islamist militants, and with the number of vehicle attacks increasing, many churches throughout Europe are taking new measures to ensure their area is protected.
Although so far neither Italy nor the Vatican have been hit by terrorism, Swiss Guard Commander Christoph Graf said last week that “it may only be a matter of time before such an attack occurs in Rome.”
He spoke during the Guard’s 27th general assembly in Solothurn, Switzerland, which was held Aug. 19-20 and drew the participation of some 450 Swiss Guards and their relatives.
However, according to French news agency La Croix, despite the threat of an imminent attack, “we are prepared,” Graf said, stressing that the Swiss Guards aren’t just a photo op for tourists, but are highly trained with the most modern military techniques, and adapt their training to meet current challenges.
In fact, in light of recent attacks, the Guards – charged with watching over the personal safety of the Pope – have increased their initial training from two months to four months.
In collaboration with the police of Ticino, an Italian-speaking region in southern Switzerland, they are focusing specifically on marksmanship, fire protection, first aid and maintaining tight security.
Likewise, the Aug. 17 attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils prompted police in Germany to take new security measures, especially in areas that see heavy tourism.
Cologne has taken especially unique measures to protect its historic Domplatte cathedral against possible terrorist threats.
Rather than putting up typical metal barricades in front of the cathedral, a key tourist stop in the city, security has placed barricades made up of large stones weighing several hundred pounds around the perimeter of the church.
In order for emergency vehicles and vans to get through, a “mobile barrier” in the form of a police vehicle has also been placed in the area.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>New barricades made from ancient stone guard <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cologne?src=hash”>#Cologne</a> Cathedral in wake of <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Barcelona?src=hash”>#Barcelona</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/terror?src=hash”>#terror</a> attack <a href=”https://t.co/BjA7vMe7oo”>https://t.co/BjA7vMe7oo</a></p>— CNAdeutsch.de (@CNAdeutsch) <a href=”https://twitter.com/CNAdeutsch/status/900440710771605504″>August 23, 2017</a></blockquote>
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In comments to RP Online, Cologne police chief said “The (Domplatte) certainly protects its visitors.”
Barcelona’s Basilica of the Sagrada Familia is also holding discussions to see what more can be done to protect the structure, its visitors and those carrying out the construction of the church.
Designed by famed Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, whose cause for beatification is currently open, the basilica has been under construction for more than 100 years and is still unfinished, yet it is one of Barcelona’s most famous and well-loved buildings, each year drawing thousands of visitors from all over the world.
One of the suspects arrested following the attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils last week said that the ultimate plan had originally involved a much larger attack, which included bombing the Sagrada Familia.
CNA spoke with a representative of the basilica, who said that the Sagrada Familia “has a system of security, of prevention, which has been adapted to the characteristics of the church, which has always worked well” for both visitors and employees.
“Every day we work with all security forces, not only because of what happened with the attack, but it has always been that way,” she said.
Following the recent attacks, however, extreme caution is being taken, and meetings are being planned with the police to examine “how improvements can be made and what new (security) methods can be implemented.”
No details of that plan are being publicly released at this time, but after last week’s attack, extra policemen have been deployed to the site, both internal and external surveillance have been increased, and several police personnel are serving “incognito” around the basilica.
“Security measures are extreme,” the basilica representative acknowledged, but “we’re going to see what further measures can be taken in order to control anything (that happens)…we’ll see what we can do.”
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