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Harrisburg, Pa., Sep 13, 2018 / 01:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A district attorney in Pennsylvania cleared Bishop Kevin Rhoades of Fort Wayne-South Bend of any wrongdoing Thursday, and both the district attorney and the Fort Wayne diocese lamented that unnecessary harm was done to the bishop by speculation going public.

“After a full investigation, the Dauphin County District Attorney has determined that there is no basis to conclude that Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades ever engaged in a criminal or otherwise improper relationship with a person whom we will refer to as J.T.,” read a Sept. 13 statement by Francis Chardo, Dauphin County district attorney.

A cousin of J.T. (who died in 1996) had contacted the Diocese of Harrisburg saying he recalled Rhoades having travelled with J.T. when J.T. was a minor, and that he thought it was odd and was compelled to report it. Harrisburg is the seat of Dauphin County.

The suggestion of impropriety was leaked to the press.

The Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend stated that “While it’s important that allegations be brought forward, it’s equally important for due process to take place. The result of this investigation underscores the importance of allowing appropriate authorities to determine credibility of accusations before the reputation of any individual is impugned in the court of public opinion.”

Similarly, Chardo wrote that “This has been a case of a public airing of mere speculation of impropriety with no foundation. In this case, the leaking of what turned out to be an unfounded report did unnecessary harm. This has done a disservice to actual victims of sexual abuse. It has also caused significant and unnecessary harm to Bishop Rhoades.”

He encouraged “reports of any suspicion of the abuse of a child to law enforcement,” while adding that “once reports are made to proper authorities, they should be fully investigated without public speculation about guilt. Where appropriate, we will bring charges. Here, we found no evidence of wrongdoing. We now regard this case as closed.”

Bishop Rhoades, 60, was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Harrisburg in 1983. He became Bishop of Harrisburg in 204, and continued serving there until his 2009 appointment as Bishop of Fort Wayne-South Bend.

Chardo explained that J.T. turned 18 in July 1988, and that Rhoades had no connection to J.T.’s parish until that month, and that he “would have had no opportunity to even meet J.T. before July 1988. In fact, he did not meet J.T. until almost two years later.”

Rhoades first met J.T. in 1990 at the Dauphin County Prison, the district attorney found. J.T.’s mother had asked Rhoades to visit her son in prison. Bishop Rhoade’s recollection of events coincided with the records of the county jail, Chardo noted.

J.T. Was paroled April 6, 1990, after Rhoades told a court that J.T. could do community service at his parish.

“During the time that J.T. was doing community service and spending time at St. Francis Parish, Father Rhoades decided to make a trip to Puerto Rico,” Chardo wrote. “A friend of Father Rhoades, a teacher, who was considering the priesthood, also made the trip. Upon learning of the impending travel to Puerto Rico, J.T. asked if he could also join the trip so that he could visit his grandmother there. Father Rhoades agreed. All three men made the trip to Puerto Rico and there was no sexual or intimate contact between them. We interviewed the teacher by telephone as he lives in England … He confirmed Bishop Rhoades’ account of the trip and that there was no sexual or intimate contact between Father Rhoades and anyone else during the trip.”

J.T.’s mother was also interviewed by detectives, and she “corroborated Bishop Rhoades’ account,” confirming that the Puerto Rico trip took place when J.T. was in his 20s, and that “she never had any indication of sexual contact between J.T. and Father Rhoades.”

Chardo noted that the investigation began with a report by one of J.T.’s cousins to the Harrisburg diocese that he recalled Rhoades “had travelled with J.T. to Puerto Rico twice and South America once when J.T. was 13 or 14 years old. The cousin did not witness any sexual or unlawful acts and did not receive information relating any such acts from any source. The cousin merely thought the conduct he remembered was odd and so he felt compelled to report it. The Diocese promptly forwarded the report to the Dauphin County District Attorney.”

The district attorney noted that when he was re-interviewed, “the cousin indicated that he was not certain of the timeframe but he was sure that the contacts between J.T. and Father Rhoades occurred after 1986, based upon a milestone in his own life. He conceded that it may very well have been when J.T. was in his late teens or early twenties.”

“Based upon the records relating to Bishop Rhoades’ assignments and the interviews of Bishop Rhoades and J.T.’s mother, we have determined that Bishop Rhoades first came in contact with J.T. at the request of his mother while J.T. was an adult inmate of the Dauphin County Prison. This contact was in the context of religious outreach to an inmate to provide spiritual guidance.”

Chardo also determined that the trip to Puerto Rico “occurred when J.T. was an adult” and that “this was the only time that Bishop Rhoades travelled with J.T.”

“The report relating to multiple trips was the result of an honest, mistaken recollection and the passage of nearly three decades. All of Bishop Rhoades’ contact with J.T. was in the context of pastoral care and arose out of the recognized tradition of prison ministry.”

Chardo noted that J.T.’s name was not disclosed “because the report by a member his family was made confidentially and without the expectation that it would be publicly aired.”

He added that “no witness has alleged observing any criminal or improper conduct by Bishop Rhoades with respect to J.T., and that “Bishop Rhoades and the family of J.T. fully cooperated in the investigation.”

The Fort Wayne-South Bend diocese noted its appreciation of “the swift and thorough investigation into the unsubstantiated allegation against Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades. As anticipated, the investigation exonerated Bishop Rhoades.”

The diocese said it “stands firm in sympathy and support for all victims of child sexual abuse and encourages victims to report allegations.”

Bishop Rhoades commented, “I have offered up the pain of this difficult time for the victim survivors of child sexual abuse.”

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Washington D.C., Sep 13, 2018 / 11:00 am (CNA).- Dr. Leana Wen, a former Baltimore City Commissioner of Health, is the new president of Planned Parenthood. The abortion provider announced Wen’s appointment on Sept. 12. She replaces Dr. Cecile Richards, who was appointed to the role in 2006.

In a three-minute video posted by Planned Parenthood announcing her hiring, Wen described her immigrant background–she moved to the United States from China at the age of eight–and her past work as an emergency room doctor and as the health commissioner of Baltimore.

“Reproductive health care is health care. Women’s health care is health care, and health care has to be understood as a fundamental human right,” said Wen in the video.

“Having a physician as the head of Planned Parenthood–it is a sign that what we are doing is mainstream medical care.”

While Wen stressed her enthusiasm for the role, former Planned Parenthood clinic director-turned-pro-life activist Abby Johnson told CNA that she hopes to one day welcome Wen into her ministry for former abortion industry workers.

“Doctors take an oath to first ‘do no harm’ and when it comes to pregnant women, there are two patients. Doctors understand this, even those who do abortions,” said Johnson.

“We have had seven abortionists come through our ministry at And Then There Were None–they left their jobs and realized they could authentically practice that oath elsewhere. It’s my hope that Dr. Leana Wen, Planned Parenthood’s new president, comes to realize the atrocity of abortion for both mom and baby. We are here when she decides to quit and to use her talents to first do no harm.”

Wen is the first physician to lead Planned Parenthood in five decades. In a statement on Twitter, she said her new position was “an incredible honor and privilege” and that she was “proud to stand alongside millions of (the organization’s) supporters as we embark on this next chapter together.

Americans United for Life President and CEO Catherine Glenn Foster said in a statement that she believes that Wen “puts politics ahead of women’s health,” and that she has an “abysmal and tragic record” combatting sexually transmitted diseases from her time in Baltimore.

During Wen’s time as a city commissioner for health, Maryland had some of the highest diagnosis rates in the country for diseases such as syphilis and HIV/AIDS, said Foster.

“Without irony, Wen further hails the ‘life saving work’ of the nation’s largest abortion network, even though Baltimore’s African-American community has been decimated by abortion.”

While in her post in Baltimore, Wen sued the Trump administration over funding cuts to a grant for teen pregnancy prevention programs. The funding was eventually restored.

Foster was also critical of Wen’s attack on conscience rights, saying “[Wen] refers to the principled decisions of doctors and nurses to refrain from the destruction of innocent human lives as ‘refusals,’ and teamed up with NARAL in the attempt to force pro-life pregnancy centers to refer for abortions.”

Planned Parenthood is the largest provider of abortions in the United States. In 2016, the organization performed about one out of every three abortions, the largest single share by far.

While Wen emphasised the “basic health care” offered by Planned Parenthood, the past decade has seen its number of patients decline by about 700,000, while the number of cancer screenings, contraceptives distributed, and prenatal services provided by the organization decreased as well.

Abortions, however, have increased by about 10 percent since 2006, despite Planned Parenthood seeing fewer patients.

The amount of federal funding received by Planned Parenthood increased by 61 per cent over the past decade. In 2016, Planned Parenthood received over half a billion dollars in federal funds.

[…]

Washington D.C., Sep 12, 2018 / 04:50 pm (CNA).- An archdiocesan spokesman has confirmed that Cardinal Donald Wuerl will soon ask Pope Francis to accept his resignation as the Archbishop of Washington, D.C.

In a Sept. 11 letter to priests, Wuerl said … […]

Las Cruces, N.M., Sep 12, 2018 / 04:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A New Mexico bishop has given an update an apparently weeping statue of the Blessed Mother, saying a diocesan investigation will begin to analyze the apparent miracle’s spiritual fruits…. […]

Pittsburgh, Pa., Sep 12, 2018 / 11:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the wake of recent sex abuse scandals, Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh has announced a Year of Repentance in the diocese.

He has asked all the clerics to fast and pray for the purification of the Church, and invited all Catholics to join the initiative.

“Faced with the sinful actions of the members of our own ranks of the clergy, who are called to manifest the example of Christ, we feel both shame and sorrow, and are reminded of our own sinfulness and the need for mercy,” Bishop Zubik wrote in a Sept. 10 letter to the clerics and seminarians of the diocese.

“I invite the faithful to join with the clergy as they desire in our acts of prayer and penance. The year is open to individuals to go beyond what I am requesting as we continue to pray that the Lord come to our aid.”

The Year of Repentance will include the observance of the Ember Days, which were traditionally days of fast and abstinence.

Bishop Zubik has asked that on each of the 12 Ember Days in the coming year, clerics of the Diocese of Pittsburgh fast, abstain from meat, and make a Holy Hour.

Ember Days are tied to the seasons of the year, and are held on the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of four weeks: the third week of September, the third week of Advent, the first week of Lent, and the octave of Pentecost.

In the Pittsburgh diocese’s Year of Repentance, the Ember Days fall Sept. 19, 21, and 22, 2018, Dec. 19, 21, 22, 2018, March 13, 15, 16, 2019, and June 12, 14, 15, 2019.

Bishop Zubik will inaugurate the Year of Repentance Sept. 23 with Vespers and a Holy Hour at the cathedral.

The year will close with a Mass for the Assumption Aug. 15, 2019 to serve “as a sign of hope and healing for victims and for renewal in the Church through the intercession of Mary.”

In his letter, Bishop Zubik also encouraged the clerics of Pittsburgh to consider restoring the recitation of the prayer to St. Michael after all Masses.

[…]

Detroit, Mich., Sep 12, 2018 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Many homeless people of Detroit already recognize Father Marko Djonovic’s white Ford Excursion.

When Djonovic rolls up with his friend Marcus Cobb, it’s probably because they’ve got a job to offer, in exchange for lunch and some pay.

“Word is getting out on the street about us,” Djonovic said of his new ministry, which he dubbed Better Way Detroit.

“So when they see the white Ford Excursion they come up to us, asking, are you going to pick us up for work?” he told CNA.

Djonovic and Cobb are the two-man crew behind Better Way Detroit, and since May they have been teaming up with the city of Detroit and willing homeless workers to clean up the city’s parks, overgrown alleys, and vacant lots.

They drive around three days a week, stopping at shelters and other homeless hangouts, offering several hours of work for pay. The van can hold up to six people besides Djonovic and Cobb, and they typically take workers on a first come, first serve basis.

While he never worked with the homeless in any official capacity prior to starting this ministry, Djonovic said he was inspired by the individual interactions he had had with people on the streets.

After helping a mentally ill man get off the streets and into housing, he said he realized that while the homeless agencies are a “well-polished machine, there are gaps in that sometimes they can’t go out on the streets and find people and meet these people.”

He said he also discovered that many of the homeless had a strong work ethic and a desire to work for pay.

“When I see the homeless I don’t see hopeless objects of pity, but I see persons…with a sincere desire to work. They want to work. And there’s a great need in the city of Detroit, so putting those two things together moved me to to do this project,” he said.

Djonovic is also part of the newly-formed Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri at Our Lady of the Rosary parish in Detroit.

The spirit of service found in St. Philip Neri was an inspiration behind Better Way Detroit, Djonovic said.

“We serve following his spirit,” Djonovic said of the members of the Oratory. That service manifests itself in three ways: evangelization to youth, the cultivation of the spiritual life among the people through the sacraments, and service to the poor.

“I believe it’s what St. Philip would have done, he wasn’t afraid to out on the streets and preach the Gospel, to engage people, which included the homeless. St. Philip Neri was known as the apostle of Rome just because of that,” he said.

In the beginning, Better Way Detroit partnered with the City of Detroit Parks and Recreation Department to clean up parks through their Adopt a Park program. They now also help the city clear out overgrown alleys and vacant lots that can pose safety problems to neighborhoods.

Cobb provides much need insight to the ministry for how to work with the homeless because he was once a homeless veteran himself, Djonovic said.

“I learn a lot from Marcus, he understands the homeless culture; he’s very wise,” Djonovic said. He said Cobb has taught him the importance of being attentive to even the smaller needs of the homeless, such as if they want cigarettes or water, and to let them know they are respected.

Cobb said it helps instill a sense of respect and responsibility to the homeless that they work with if they are given ownership of the projects in which they partake. Every job starts with an evaluation of the site and the work to be done, and the homeless workers decide how best to get the job done, he said.

“You give them ownership, ask them how it should be done. It gives them responsibility,” Cobb said. “We get their input, and before you know it everyone’s teaming up. It makes them feel important, it gets better results, and they put the word out because they know it’s well worth their time.”

Cobb said he believes the ministry has been well-received among the homeless because “it gives them something to look forward to, and a chance to give back, and to get back into society.”

“Just because they’re homeless…doesn’t mean they don’t want to give back or try to get back in to society,” Cobb said.

It also appeals to the homeless because it gives them a chance to provide for some of their own needs “without a handout,” he said.

The partnership with the city, which is significantly understaffed, has also worked well, Cobb and Djonovic said, because their team is often able to get to jobs that the city doesn’t have the staff to do.

For example, the city gets a lot of calls from senior citizens who have lived in their neighborhoods for decades and have safety concerns about overgrown lots that may serve as hideouts or hubs for drug deals, Djonovic said.

“One woman was just singing our praises” after they cleared up a vandalized, overgrown lot in her neighborhood, he said. “Once (lots) are exposed, they feel safer, especially for the sake of children.”

Djonovic said he feels privileged to get to work alongside the homeless, and as they work, “sometimes I get to know their story, and they get to know my story,” he said.

“It’s happened a few times where guys ask me, why did you become a priest?” he said.

Every project concludes with lunch and a reflection on a bible reading. They have also handed out prayer cards to the homeless and do their best to connect them to housing, healthcare services, or other resources they might need.

“We at least just make them aware of the services available and encourage them to go, some guys aren’t aware of (everything available),” Djonovic said.

Djonovic currently funds the ministry entirely out of his own pocket, and through any donations he receives for the project. All of the money goes strictly to needed materials such as gloves or shovels and to pay the homeless for their work.

Djonovic and Cobb added that they are always looking for ways to expand and strengthen their ministry, and they are hoping sometime in the future to employ someone in a full-time position who can oversee the operation to make it more sustainable.

“Things are looking good we’re really enjoying it,” said Djonovic, who added that he’s been touched by some of the responses he’s seen from the homeless.

“One guy said: ‘I feel blessed because to be a part of something positive.’ He didn’t say, ‘oh, now I’ve got some money in my pocket’,” Djonovic recalled.

“Another young man, 25 years old, he said it was a grace” to participate in the project, he said.

Cobb said he would encourage Catholics to encounter and get to know the poor in their cities.

“Go out and start from the bottom and communicate with the people…go into the areas where the people don’t have the income, and approach them and talk to them halfway nice, and they’ll respond.”

[…]

San Francisco, Calif., Sep 12, 2018 / 12:00 am (CNA).- Federal research agencies’ purchase of fetal tissue and body parts from a company under investigation for illegally selling them has drawn criticism from the investigative journalism group th… […]

Washington D.C., Sep 11, 2018 / 05:19 pm (ACI Prensa).- The Archbishop of Washington told priests Tuesday that he intends to meet with Pope Francis soon to discuss his resignation from office.

In a letter sent to priests of the Archdiocese of Washingt… […]

Boston, Mass., Sep 11, 2018 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- The Archdiocese of Boston has announced changes to the way it will process and respond to letters addressed to Cardinal Séan O’Malley on matters related to sexual abuse.

A statement dated Sep… […]

Jefferson City, Mo., Sep 11, 2018 / 01:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Missouri’s health department announced Monday that it will immediately being enforcing state laws regulating abortion clinics and doctors, after a US appeals court ruled that the state may do so.

The 8th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Sept. 10 in Comprehensive Health v. Hawley to overturn a 2017 decision which blocked enforcement of state laws that required abortion clinics to have the same standards as similar outpatient surgical centers, and mandated that doctors who perform abortions have hospital privileges.

“In its opinion, the court noted that the good faith of state officers and the validity of their actions are presumed,” Randal Williams, director of the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, stated.

“As the Director of DHSS, a board-certified obstetrician/gynecologist for thirty years, and a defendant in the case, my commitment and that of the department is to act in good faith to follow the law and protect the health and safety of all women in Missouri, including those seeking abortions.”

The health department stated: “now that the injunction has been vacated, DHSS will immediately begin enforcing the hospital privileges and physical plant requirements for abortion facilities.”

The appellate court ruling comes in a case filed by Planned Parenthood affiliates in 2016 after the US Supreme Court struck down similar abortion restrictions in Texas.

In April 2017 a federal judge issued an injunction against the Missouri law, citing the Supreme Court’s Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt decision.

The appeals court vacated that preliminary injunction, saying that Hellerstedt “did not find, as a matter of law, that abortion was inherently safe or that provisions similar to the laws it considered would never be constitutional,” and that the undue burden standard requires a weighing of regulations’ benefits and burdens.

In its 2017 decision the district court “explicity refused to ‘weigh [] the asserted benefits’”, Judge Bobby Shepherd wrote for the appellate court, and thus “in light of Hellerstedt the district court erred in so ruling.”

The appeals court judges remanded the case to the district court, saying it “should, at the very least, weigh the state’s ‘asserted benefits.’”

It added that the Hellerstedt decision did not find that provisions similar to those in Texas would never be constitutional, precisely because its analysis of the purported benefits of the law at issue related to abortion in Texas, and that “no such determination about abortion in Missouri was made.”

“Perhaps there was a unique problem Missouri was responding to,” the appeals court wrote. “Such a problem may required a different response than what was needed in Texas, and the Hospital Relationship Requirement may be appropriate given ‘[Missouri’s] legitimate interest in seeing to it that abortion, like any other medical procedure, is performed under circumstances that insure maximum safety for the patient,’” quoting Hellerstedt, which was in turn quoting Roe v. Wade.

“Invoking the Constitution to enjoin the laws of a state requires more than ‘slight implication and vague conjecture,’” the appeals court wrote. “At a minimum, it requires adequate information and correct application of the relevant standard. Because we conclude that the preliminary injuction in this case was entered based on less than adequate information and an insufficient regard for the relevant standard, we vacate the preliminary injunction and remand.”

Planned Parenthood currently provided abortion services at only two locations in Missouri, in St. Louis and Columbia.

In 2017, Missouri passed further regulations which granted the attorney general more power to prosecute violations, and required stricter health codes and proper fetal tissue disposal.

[…]