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Denver Newsroom, Aug 20, 2020 / 03:01 am (CNA).- He’s been called Terror of Demons, but even St. Joseph has to adhere to some coronavirus restrictions. The Diocese of Lafayette was going to kick off their Year of St. Joseph a couple months ago, but coronavirus restrictions bumped the celebration to this past weekend.

“We waited until our diocese and the state of Louisiana was at a safe point in our recovery,” Blue Rolfes, the communications director for the diocese, told CNA. She said they consulted the state’s Department of Health before the launch, and they were on board with the August start date. “We’re just excited that we were going to be able to do it after all,” Rolfes said. Bishop Douglas Deshotel of Lafayette started the year Aug. 17 by celebrating Mass at St. Joseph parish in Patterson, one of 13 parishes in the diocese named after the saint.

There is “not one recorded word of St. Joseph spoken in the Gospel,” Deshotel said in his homily. “But we know him as a man of action.” “Spiritual writers give St. Joseph many attributes, saying he was a very religious man, he was civic-minded, humble, a hard worker, obedient to the will of God, a provider to his family, Jesus and Mary, and the protector of the holy family,” he said. The bishop noted that the diocese had chosen to celebrate this year as the Year of St. Joseph because it is the 150th anniversary of Bl. Pius IX declaring Saint Joseph patron of the universal Church in 1870.
“As St. Joseph cared for the holy family of Jesus and Mary, we ask him during this year to care for the Church. The Church is the body of Christ, as St. Joseph loved and cared for and protected Jesus, we ask him to do the same for the Church,” Deshotel said. But even though St. Joseph was a quiet man, Rolfes said, he is one of the greatest saints of the Church. “He wasn’t martyred, he didn’t go out in blaze of glory. But the contributions that he made to our faith and our Church, and to the life of Jesus are just secondary to none,” Rolfes said. “He was asked by God to do the unthinkable, especially back then, very much as Mary was. And he immediately obeyed and said that he would follow God’s request. And because of that, he was able to become Christ’s earthly father, foster father,” Rolfes said. As the protector of the Holy Family and the chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “he set a wonderful standard for fathers, for human fathers for the rest of eternity,” Rolfes added. Catholics in the Diocese of Lafayette can participate in the year in many ways, Rolfes noted, including by making a pilgrimage to any of the parishes named for St. Joseph in the diocese, by participating in the parish missions about St. Joseph, and by participating in the St. Joseph Workday at their parishes.

A Year of St. Joseph pamphlet contains photos of each St. Joseph parish that may be visited, and pilgrims can receive stamps at each parish, indicating that they have made a pilgrimage there. The pamphlets also include prayers to St. Joseph, such as the Litany of St. Joseph, that may be prayed throughout the year. Pope Francis has also granted a plenary indulgence to Catholics in the diocese who make a pilgrimage to at least one of the parishes, and meet the other ordinary conditions of receiving a plenary indulgence: that the individual be in the state of grace by the completion of the acts, have complete detachment from sin, and pray for the Pope’s intentions. The person must also sacramentally confess their sins and receive Communion, up to about twenty days before or after the indulgenced act.
Rolfes said she thought St. Joseph was a strong example and witness for all Catholics during this time in history.

“The society and the culture that we live in now is so divisive in so many ways, and not only politically, but also on a lot of other different levels,” she said. “And I think St. Joseph is a wonderful example to us of staying true to the faith and being strong, and doing what God asks of us. And caring more for others than we care for ourselves. I think he’s a wonderful role model for fathers, definitely, but for all of us,” she said.

The Year of St. Joseph in the Diocese of Lafayette will conclude May 1, 2021, the Feast of St. Joseph the Worker, with a closing Mass at St. Joseph Church in Milton.

“We’re asking everyone to go to Joseph, to take all of their concerns and worries and fears and anxieties…and requests and prayers. Go to Joseph during this year.”

[…]

Denver Newsroom, Aug 20, 2020 / 12:25 am (CNA).- For more than 170 years, Catholics in Pittsburgh have observed a day of thanksgiving for their parish’s deliverance from a Cholera pandemic that killed hundreds of local people in the mid-1800s.

The annual Cholera Day Mass is held each year in August, fulfilling a promise from a prior generation of parishioners.

When Cholera hit Pennsylvania in the summer of 1849, more than 1,000 people in Pittsburgh alone died from the disease. Saint Michael’s Catholic Parish was hit hard – the parish was nearly wiped out by the epidemic.

An Italian priest at the parish then invoked the Blessed Mother and St. Roch, a 14th-century saint who dedicated his life to the care of diseased people in Italy. The priest asked for their intercession for the parish’s safety and promised to observe a day of gratitude each year in remembrance.

When another Cholera outbreak hit the city in 1853, not a single person from Saint Michael’s parish got sick or died. That year, the first bishop of Pittsburgh, Bishop Michael O’Connor, formally authorized the celebration. Pope Leo XIII later sent a relic of St. Roch in recognition of the holy day.

“The people at St. Michael’s Parish, they prayed to Saint Roch because he had saved people from a similar place [in the past],” said Donna Gillespie, office manager for the South Side/Mt. Washington Parish Community.

“So they prayed to him and they vowed … that they would keep holy a day,” she continued. “They have for the last 171 years.”

The celebratory anniversary is today held by South Side/Mt. Washington Parish Community – a collection of consolidated parishes in Pittsburgh including Prince of Peace and St. Mary of the Mount.

Each year, the parish holds three Masses, each with a different focus. One Mass is dedicated to St. Roch, another is in remembrance of the victims of the Cholera pandemic, and the last one is in honor of the Blessed Mother, since the Masses are usually held within the octave of the Assumption.

This year, the occasion took on an additional special intention – healing and deliverance from the coronavirus pandemic. So far this year, Allegheny County has had over 9,500 cases of coronavirus and 291 deaths, according to the New York Times.

“This year was special because we tied it in with the pandemic. Our petitions were mentioned [for the] past and future people that die,” said Joseph Drzazynski, one of the organizers behind the event.

“We had a novena this year, nine days to St. Roch, and it was a prayer that we said for the people that died by themselves. We were trying to bring it into what’s going on today – praying for the [COVID-19 victims], the nurses, and the doctors,” he told CNA.

The Masses this year were held on August 15 and 16. Around 80 people attended the Mass in-person on Sunday, which was also streamed online. Attendees practiced social distancing and wore masks.

The occasion normally includes a celebration and dinner, but due to the current pandemic, the parish instead offered a Zoom meeting explaining the history of the holy day.

Personal devotion among the families in the parish has also continued. One local family saw their child cured after praying to St. Roch decades ago.

“The mother had an infant son who was very sick and she prayed to Saint Roch and promised him, if he would spare her son, then she would also keep holy a day to honor Saint Roch,” said Gillespie.

“The family has been doing that for the last 83 years, and the gentleman lived to be in his nineties before he died this year.”

[…]

Denver Newsroom, Aug 19, 2020 / 05:01 pm (CNA).- Parishes in San Francisco, including the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption, have been holding concurrent outdoor Masses in order to adapt to the city’s COVID-19 health orders.

Several Masses took place concurrently on San Francisco’s Cathedral Plaza Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption.

The San Francisco County Department of Health is limiting outdoor worship services to 12 people, with indoor worship services prohibited. The San Francisco archdiocese covers the city and county of San Francisco, as well as San Mateo and Marin counties.

“San Francisco is very restrictive, only allowing twelve at any sort of outdoor gathering,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone said in an Aug. 15 video message.

“We have a very large plaza in front of the cathedral, so there’s plenty of room to have multiple Masses at the same time,” Cordileone said.

Cordileone said the idea of concurrent Masses came to him as he realized how many priests were available at the cathedral and at the chancery. Attendees at the outdoor Masses were asked to wear masks.

“I envisioned many people on the plaza, and even if they cannot be at the same Mass worshipping together, they can worship together in smaller groups…we do what we can under the circumstances in which we find ourselves, as the Church has always done throughout our history.”

The City of San Francisco has been closely monitoring Catholic churches in the city and has repeatedly issued warnings to the archdiocese for apparent health order violations.

The archdiocese told CNA in July that it had made a good-faith effort to comply with the city’s public health guidelines, despite some occasional confusion and last-minute changes to the city’s public health orders.

“Our intention has always been to conform to what we understand to be the City orders and timelines,” the archdiocese said July 2, noting that the city’s orders have been changing throughout the pandemic, sometimes on short notice.

In an Aug. 12 letter to the archdiocese’ lawyer, City Attorney Dennis Herrera reprimanded the archdiocese for “several things of concern” related to recent Masses. Several of the complaints that the city has received of churches holding indoor Masses, Herrera acknowledged, have turned out to be inaccurate.

Herrera recounted an instance of a pastor, Father Thuan Hoang, livestreaming Mass at the Church of the Visitacion, with fewer than 12 participants present, including altar servers and choir members. Herrera admonished the priest and the altar servers for not wearing masks, and lamented the fact that singing can be heard in the livestream.

“As a reminder, singing is particularly concerning as a method of virus transmission,” Herrera said.

CNA was not able to reach Father Hoang by press time.

Herrera also recounted an instance in which a city inspector found “25 to 30 people gathering inside” Star of the Sea Catholic Church “for a scheduled group prayer event.”

“Unfortunately, the public cannot come inside houses of worship right now, either for services or to pray,” Herrera wrote.

Star of the Sea’s pastor, Father Joseph Illo, told CNA that particular episode was likely a spontaneous instance whereby people who had entered the church for Holy Hour began praying the rosary together.

Illo said in spite of City Attorney’s statements, the 12 person restriction only applies to “services,” and not to private prayer. He said he suspects that whoever reported the gathering to the city mistook the spontaneous rosary for a “service” being put on by the church.

“The church seats 1,000 people, and we’re allowed to be open for private prayer,” Illo told CNA, adding that the people in the church praying the rosary were socially distanced.

Father Illo said the parish has been committed to remain open for private prayer, at the request of the archbishop. Star of the Sea is the only parish currently offering perpetual adoration in the city, he said.

Illo said he has personally interacted with one city compliance officer, who appeared to be a private investigator whom the city had contracted to check compliance at various sites across the city.

The parish has taken all the necessary precautions, Illo said, including blocking off every other pew, offering hand sanitizer, and cleaning the church twice a day.

With four full-time priests at the parish, Illo said they have been able to adapt somewhat to the 12 person limit, holding four concurrent outdoor Masses, at each of the five Mass times, each weekend.

More people than usual have been coming in lately for Mass and adoration, he said, as well as to avail themselves of a socially-distanced confessional station.

Illo said his parish will continue to bring people the Eucharist “any way we can that is safe, and responsible, and legal.”

“We’re just going to say boldly: the Mass is essential. We cannot live without the Eucharist,” Illo said.

Herrera sent a letter June 29 to the archdiocese’ lawyer, ordering the archdiocese to cease-and-desist indoor public Masses and giving it one day to comply.

A lawyer for the archdiocese sent a letter to the City Attorney’s Office June 30 saying that Archbishop Cordileone has now notified his priests “that the order limiting religious services to outdoors with no more than 12 people remains in force with appropriate social distancing and face coverings.”

In a July 30 memo, Cordileone exhorted his priests to be as diligent as possible in bringing the sacraments to their people, including celebrating outdoor Masses each Sunday, and providing Confession in a safe manner as often as possible.

“Please regularly remind people to follow the safety practices necessary to curb the spread of the virus. This is real, it is dangerous, and it has to be taken seriously,” he added.

“The resurgence is due in no small part to people becoming lax once the shelter-in-place rules began to be lifted. Please urge these practices upon them; absolutely do not give them the impression that the coronavirus is not a serious threat to the physical health of our community.”

Cordileone has pointed out that the city has allowed retail stores to operate at 50% capacity during the same time period that Christians are prohibited from gathering in their churches, even with masks and social distancing in place.

“With regard to outdoor services, you are all well aware that pre-planned and scheduled street protests have been allowed to continue unhindered, while the limit of no more than 12 people still applies to everyone else, including us,” he continued.

“Yet here again, an outdoor worship service is a much safer event than a protest, since the people are stationary, social distance is respected, and the participants are wearing masks.”

San Francisco has seen numerous street protests in recent months, including one in late June that resulted in the destruction of a statue of St. Junípero Serra by a crowd of about 100 people.

[…]

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 19, 2020 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Austin has condemned the Austin City Council’s decision to increase funding for abortion access in the city while partially defunding the city’s police department.&nb… […]

CNA Staff, Aug 19, 2020 / 02:40 pm (CNA).- Joe Biden was officially nominated as the Democratic Party’s 2020 presidential candidate on Tuesday evening. With the formalities over, what are the policies he will be running on?

The 2020 DNC platform… […]

Denver Newsroom, Aug 19, 2020 / 03:00 am (CNA).- Catholics are speaking out on behalf of a Native American man on federal death row, who is set to be executed this month. The man’s tribe, the Navajo Nation, objects to the death sentence and has asked President Donald Trump to commute the sentence to life in prison.

Lezmond Mitchell, 38, and a co-defendant, both of whom are Navajo, killed a Navajo woman and her 9-year-old granddaughter on a Navajo reservation in 2001, NPR reports. Mitchell is scheduled to die in Terre Haute, Indiana on Aug. 26.

Bishop James Wall of Gallup, New Mexico is leading a virtual prayer vigil on the afternoon of Aug. 26 ahead of Mitchell’s scheduled execution.

The idea of the prayer vigil, Wall told CNA, is to pray for Mitchell’s conversion, for healing for the victims’ family, and for conversion of the hearts of the executioners.

Mitchell is currently the only Native American on federal death row. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his appeal earlier this year.

Mitchell’s attorneys argue that no Native American can be subjected to the death penalty for a crime committed against a fellow Native American on Native American land without the tribe’s consent. The Navajo Nation is a sovereign entity that extends into three states – New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah.

Most tribal leaders object to the death penalty, and both the Navajo Nation and Mitchell’s victims’ family have objected to Mitchell’s execution.

Federal prosecutors sought the death penalty for Mitchell for the lesser charge of carjacking, which is a federal offense. Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez has strongly criticized the federal government’s decision, saying that in addition to violating Navajo beliefs, Mitchell’s execution would undermine tribal sovereignty.

Wall said the leaders of the Navajo largely agree with the Church on the sacredness of human life, from conception to natural death.

“God is the author and giver of all human life, and we’re called to be good stewards of that life,” the bishop told CNA.

As the country moves forward, advances in the prison system allow the state to keep people safe from criminals without the use of the death penalty, which also gives those offenders and opportunity to genuinely repent, Wall said.

“It provides an opportunity for true contrition, true conversion of heart, and that opportunity to embrace Christ and the Gospel. And whenever we do something like this, when we take a life, what we also do is we don’t provide that person the opportunity to repent. And everyone has to be given that opportunity,”

Gallup is a small town that lies just outside the reservation, but is nevertheless a vital hub for many of the reservation’s residents. The Navajo Nation has only a handful of grocery stores in its entire area, which is larger than West Virginia, so many Navajo people travel as many as three hours to get supplies in Gallup.

The Diocese of Gallup was founded in order to minister to and among the Native American people, Wall said, which brings with it many challenges. Gallup is one of the poorest dioceses in the U.S.

Wall said the poverty and lack of resources in the area make the dioceses’ work even more vital. The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated the economic and health disparities in the Navajo Nation, as infection rates climb.

“So you don’t have a lot of resources, and I think at times you don’t draw a lot of attention to some of the things that are going on, as much as if it were a big city like Los Angeles, or Phoenix, or Chicago,” he said.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the death penalty “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

The federal government resumed executions in July 2020, the first federal executions since 2003. The last scheduled execution this year is set for Aug. 28.

Several U.S. bishops, along with clergy and religious brothers and sisters from around the country, joined more than 1,000 faith leaders in calling for a stop to the scheduled executions.

The prison where the executions will take place fall within the archdiocese of Indianapolis. Archbishop Charles C. Thompson of Indianapolis opposed the executions on June 18, noting his jurisdiction with regard to the location of Terre Haute federal prison and stating that “the supreme law of the Church, the salvation of souls, demands that I speak out on this very grave matter at hand.”

“Since the pontificate of Pope St. John Paul II, it has been the Catholic position that today’s prison system is quite adequate to protect society from inmates escaping or being unlawfully set free,” he said.

While the crimes of the federal inmates cannot be ignored, Thompson said, “humanity cannot allow the violent act of an individual to cause other members of humanity to react in violence.”

[…]

CNA Staff, Aug 18, 2020 / 05:04 pm (CNA).- A priest in the Diocese of Toledo, Ohio was arrested and charged with sex trafficking on Tuesday. The diocese has placed him on leave pending investigation.

Fr. Michael Zacharias, 53, was arrested August 18. … […]

CNA Staff, Aug 18, 2020 / 04:31 pm (CNA).- Catholics from Trenton, Michigan and surrounding communities are mourning the loss of their pastor, Fr. Stephen Rooney, as well as 52 year-old Robert Chiles, both of whom are presumed to have drowned in a boat… […]

CNA Staff, Aug 18, 2020 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Pro-life conditions on U.S. health aid have not resulted in significant gaps in health care provision, and foreign NGOs have broadly accepted the provisions, multiple federal agencies reported on Tuesday.&nbsp… […]

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Aug 18, 2020 / 11:51 am (CNA).- Priests in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe have been warned that they could lose the faculty to preach if they give homilies longer than five minutes. The archdiocese told CNA the restriction … […]