US

Atlanta, Ga., Aug 23, 2018 / 05:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- An injunction blocking the enforcement of an Alabama law that would have banned a second-trimester abortion procedure was upheld by a federal appeals court on Wednesday.

The 2016 law in question would have criminalized dilation and evacuation abortions (D&Es), dubbed “dismemberment abortions” by the state Alabama, which are the most common type of abortion performed in the second trimester.

Dilation and evacuation abortions are only used by two abortion clinics in the state, West Alabama Women’s Center and Alabama Women’s Center, which challenged the law with representation from the American Civil Liberties Union.

In a 3-0 decision Aug. 22, the judges of the US Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit found the law to be unconstitutional. The law was similarly blocked last October by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, who said it was unconstitutional because it would have effectively banned abortion in the state after the first trimester.

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall told reporters that while he was disappointed with the court’s decision, he was encouraged that the court “recognized the state’s important and legitimate interests in ending barbaric abortion procedures – in this case, procedures that literally tear apart babies living inside their mothers’ wombs.”

In his decision, Chief Judge Ed Carnes wrote that “the State has an actual and substantial interest in lessening, as much as it can, the gruesomeness and brutality of dismemberment abortions. That interest is so obvious that the plaintiffs do not contest it.”

“But the fact that the Act furthers legitimate state interests does not end the constitutional inquiry. The legitimacy of the interest is necessary but not sufficient for a pre-viability abortion restriction to pass the undue burden test,” he said.

Carnes wrote that the Alabama law posed an “undue burden” on women seeking second trimester abortions because the alternatives were not considered “safe, effective or available.”

“In our judicial system, there is only one Supreme Court, and we are not it. As one of the ‘inferior Courts,’ we follow its decisions,” Carnes wrote.

U.S. District Judge Joel Dubina wrote separately to concur with Carnes, adding that he agreed with Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ criticism of the Supreme Court’s “abortion jurisprudence”, which “has no basis in the Constitution.”

“The problem I have, as noted in the Chief Judge’s opinion, is that I am not on the Supreme Court, and as a federal appellate judge, I am bound by my oath to follow all of the Supreme Court’s precedents, whether I agree with them or not,” Dubina wrote. “Therefore, I concur.”

U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams wrote separately to note that she agreed with the court in its final decision only.

Marshall has said his office may appeal the case to the Supreme Court.

Alabama has had mixed results in passing recent pro-life legislation. In August 2017, a federal judge struck down an Alabama law requiring more scrutiny for minors who seek an abortion without parental consent.

The state is still considered to be one of the most restrictive in terms of abortion law. Alabama law requires that women be given counseling and an ultrasound prior to having an abortion, though it is optional for the woman to view the ultrasound image. It also has restrictions on the health insurance coverage of elective abortions that are not performed for reasons of life endangerment, rape or incest.

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Dallas, Texas, Aug 23, 2018 / 04:43 pm (CNA).- A Texas priest under investigation for sexual abuse has disappeared, the Diocese of Dallas announced this week. Officials believe he may have fled to his native country, the Philippines.

Father Edmundo Paredes was the pastor at St. Cecilia Catholic Church in Oak Cliff, Texas, before he was investigated by the church last year for stealing from the parish. Paredes acknowledged financial irregularities and was suspended from ministry in June 2017, the diocese said in a statement.

Church leaders suspect the priest took an estimated $60,000 to $80,000 during his 27 years at the parish.

At the time of his suspension, the Church had no knowledge of abuse allegations, the diocese said.

In February 2018, the Diocese of Dallas was informed of allegations that Paredes had molested three teenage boys between 10 and 20 years ago. The diocese said that it “immediately filed a report with law enforcement agencies so that an investigation could be launched.”

The allegations have been deemed credible, and the Church has hired two private investigators to locate the missing priest, Dallas Bishop Edward Burns said. The Church has also been in contact with the Filipino authorities.

Bishop Burns informed parishioners at St. Cecelia of the allegations against Paredes at Mass over the weekend. He remained after Mass to meet with parishioners.

Father Paredes has been banned from functioning or representing himself as a priest, the bishop said.

In a statement, the diocese said it had not made the allegations public sooner because it “did not want to hinder the investigation by law enforcement.”

“Bishop Burns was prepared to announce this allegation in March, but there was concern for the victims who asked that he would be committed to his anonymity in the community,” the diocese said.

“Because [Paredes] had not been at St. Cecilia or any other parish since June 2017, Bishop Burns tried to be sensitive to the victims’ request. When the Pennsylvania report was made public the Bishop believed [he] needed to inform the community of the allegations against the now suspended priest.”   

During Mass, Bishop Burns vowed to be transparent, with respect to the victims’ privacy, and offered his prayers and sympathy to the victims and community.

“With the utmost sensitivity to victims, I have pledged to continue efforts of transparency and need to make you aware of this atrocious and sad event,” he said.

“I offer my heartfelt apologies that these crimes have happened in your parish and please know I am praying for all victims of sexual abuse and for all of you here in the St. Cecilia community.”
 

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Orange, Calif., Aug 23, 2018 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Returning from Bishop Robert Barron’s conference held this week on preaching, several priests said the experience was a grace-filled time to focus on one of the most important roles with which they are tasked.

The inaugural Word on Fire National Conference for Priests was held Aug. 20-22 in Huntington Beach, Calif., fewer than 20 miles southwest of Orange. Sponsored by the Napa Institute and led by Bishop Barron, an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, the gathering of more than 300 priests focused on homiletics.

“It was very helpful,” Fr. Matthew Magee of the Archdiocese of Denver said, to hear Bishop Barron “talk about [how] the first office, the primary office we have as priests, is to preach.”

Fr. Magee told CNA it was wonderful to have re-instilled the “importance of the gift of preaching … and to open up our hearts to experience what that is from a different perspective, and then to be able to collaborate with other priests about what that means for our ministry.”

The conference was meant to help priests guide parishioners through the Bible, to preach Christ-centered homilies, to present the gospel as a yes to life and to love, and to use beauty in preaching.

Along with Bishop Barron, another presenter was Dana Gioia, the California Poet Laureate and a former chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts.

Fr. Joe McLagan, also of the Denver archdiocese, said Gioia “gave a talk on beauty which was quite good … he used several, about five, different pieces of literature to coalesce into the fact that beauty needs to be brought back into the world,” and how the words of preaching can do that.”

Bishop Barron’s talks focused on theory of preaching, as well as philosophy, theology, and scripture, and finally practicalities. He also shared insights from the late Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, whom he served as a priest for nearly 20 years.

“It’s putting preaching back to a level of importance that some people can relegate it from,” Fr. McLagan said.

Fr. Eric Zegeer, a priest of the Archdiocese of Miami who will be teaching homiletics this autumn, is studying for a doctorate in preaching.

“I found it still very informative and helpful,” he said, “so at any level of study in homiletics, or experience, there’s a lot to get out of it.”

Fr. Zegeer also described the conference as a consoling time of priestly fraternity.

“The fraternity and fellowship … was a great source of consolation, a wonderful experience of fraternity. It was a grace-filled, restful, and prayerful few days.”

Fr. Jason Keas of the Diocese of Colorado Springs called it “a God-anointed time … to gather as brother priests to focus on the word of God and our mission, to kind of get back to the basics of the teachings of the Church.”

“It was great to gather as priests, to build each other up, to encounter the Word, to be a support to one another.”

He said it was wonderful to consider the gift of the intellectual life and the importance of studying scripture to find Christ.

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San Antonio, Texas, Aug 23, 2018 / 02:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Before being allowed to celebrate Mass for families housed at a migrant detention center in south Texas, a local priest was made to sign a confidentiality agreement promising that he would n… […]

Newark, N.J., Aug 23, 2018 / 10:10 am (CNA).- Seton Hall University has announced an independent review of accusations of sexual abuse and harassment against seminarians. The university is sponsored by the Archdiocese of Newark, and is home to Immacula… […]

Bismarck, N.D., Aug 23, 2018 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Earlier this year, St. John parish in Lansford, N.D., was formally transferred from the Diocese of Fargo to the Diocese of Bismarck. The bishops of both dioceses said Mass at the church on Sunday to mark the change and to celebrate with parishioners.

“The fraternal love of Catholics of North Dakota is symbolized in this wonderful parish,” Bishop David Kagan of Bismarck said during his homily at the Aug. 19 Mass.

“There’s a beauty to this demonstrating the friendship and respect between two bishops who were friends and priests of the Fargo Diocese before being named bishop … This historical day is a sign of our mutual love and respect for one another and abiding love and faith in our Almighty God.”

Priests of the Bismarck diocese had been serving the parish since 1949.

Sonia Mullally wrote in the August issue of Dakota Catholic Action that “After the change, which officially took effect on May 20, approximately 255 square miles were added to the Bismarck Diocese.”

Lansford is located in Bottineau County, 140 miles north of Bismarck.

When the Bismarck diocese was established in 1909 out of territory of the Fargo diocese, Fargo retained Bottineau County.

After the transfer of St. John’s parish and its territory, most of the county remains part of the Diocese of Fargo.

The Diocese of Bismarck serves western North Dakota, while the eastern half of the state is included in the Fargo diocese.

“In truth, not much changes for the members of St. John. As usual, they will see Fr. Adam Maus at the altar each week. Many of them possibly didn’t even realize that they were a Fargo Diocese parish being served by their neighboring diocese,” Mullally wrote.

The change is rooted in the acknowledgement in 1949 by the pastor of St. Andrew parish in Westhope, Bottineau County, that as he aged, he could no longer manage the travel to Lansford, “especially during the long North Dakota winters.”

The then-bishops of Bismarck and Fargo agreed that priests of the Bismarck diocese “would take over providing for the pastoral and sacramental needs of the parishioners of St. John in Lansford.”

For more than 60 years, priests from Minot served St. John’s; more recently, the pastoral care has been taken over by those at St. Jerome in Mohall.

The anomaly was noted by Bishop Kagan in 2012.

At the time, he was also serving as apostolic administrator of the Fargo diocese, following the transfer of Bishop Samuel Aquila to the Archdiocese of Denver.

When Bishop John Folda was appointed to Fargo the next year, Bishop Kagan informed him of the situation.

“A few years later, a more formal conversation began and got the ball rolling to make St. John an official parish of the Diocese of Bismarck,” according to the Bismarck diocese.

The discussion took 18 months, and paperwork for the transfer was submitted to the Congregation of Bishops. The congregation approved of the change in boundaries Jan. 13.

Lansford became a station in 1902, with Masses said in homes. St. John’s was build in 1906, and dedicated the following year. A new church was built in 1963.

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Portland, Ore., Aug 23, 2018 / 12:34 am (CNA).- Catholic Charities Oregon is hoping to expand a program that offers financial classes and coaching for low-income workers in the state.

The Save First Financial Wellness program is part of the Family Suc… […]

Denver, Colo., Aug 22, 2018 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- By the time he passed away, death was familiar to Joe Doak.

Doak was a devout Catholic, and a veteran, who died July 29 at 96 years old. But before his own death, Doak had spent days and nights sitting beside dying men and women in a hospice, offering them a word of comfort and the encouragement of prayer.

In 2011 Doak became a vigil volunteer for Hope-West hospice in Grand Junction, Colorado. There, he would comfort the dying with prayers, hymns, discussions, or just the consolation of his silent presence.

A devout Catholic, Joe told the Daily Sentinel in May that he wanted to be a source of hope, letting those patients know that someone would be with them during their last hours.

“The main thing is to tell them that they’re not alone. They’re not dying alone,” he said. “I just hope that I’ve comforted and consoled them and given them hope,” he added.  

Doak was an electrical engineer and raised six children with his wife Phyllis, getting married about 10 years after World War II, when he served as a communications officer in the United States Navy.

His family eventually moved to Gunnison, Colorado, where Doak owned an electronic store specializing in computers. He then moved to Montrose, where the Catholic engineer spent a large portion of his retirement time volunteering.

He volunteered in a variety of community activities – he taught seniors computer skills, he aided immigrants in their English, and he helped children with their reading skills. He was also a driver for Meals on Wheels.

“That is the makeup of my dad. He wants to help people, wants to comfort people that may be alone. He is a very religious person, so I think this played into him being a devoted Catholic,” his son, Roger Doak, told Colorado Public Radio. 

Doak was inspired to hospice ministry after caring for his wife Phyllis during a seven-year struggle with Alzheimer’s. After she died in 2011, he saw an ad for the vigil volunteers and decided to use his experience with Phyllis for other people.

Each time Doak received a call about a person dying, he would go to introduce himself, usually to a complete stranger. Doak would sit with patients, offering his hand, making conversation, and singing Christian hymns. A favorite of his was “Open my Ears” by Jesse Manibusan, the Daily Sentinel reported.  

Roger Doak told Colorado Public Radio that his father had most likely died alone, but expressed hope that the people he comforted were there to receive him in the end.

“I’d like to think that all those people that my dad had comforted when they died, were actually there with him when he died.”

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St. Paul, Minn., Aug 22, 2018 / 04:56 pm (CNA).- More than 100 young adults in Saint Paul, Minnesota, gathered this week to pray for the healing of sexual abuse victims and for a purification of the Church in the face of recent scandals.

An estimated … […]

Dublin, Ireland, Aug 22, 2018 / 01:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- God’s plan for the family may sometimes feel countercultural, but it is nevertheless part of the Church’s “good news” for society and for the world, said Archbishop Eamo… […]