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Saginaw, Mich., Oct 29, 2018 / 06:00 pm (CNA).- Bishop Joseph Cistone of the Diocese of Saginaw, Michigan planned one final diocesan event before succumbing to lung cancer in October: forty hours of continuous Eucharistic adoration to pray for the suffering of the Church, against a backdrop of country-wide revelations of sexual abuse.

After Cistone’s death, members of the diocese are participating in the forty hours of adoration, and are praying not only for the Church, but also for the late bishop’s soul.

Bishop Cistone died Oct. 16 after announcing in February that he had been diagnosed with lung cancer. He said at that time that he would undergo a treatment plan involving both chemotherapy and radiation. On Oct. 1 the diocese announced that the cancer had spread to other parts of Cistone’s body, and that he had begun an aggressive course of chemotherapy.

His funeral was held Oct. 23 at Saginaw’s Cathedral of Mary of the Assumption.

The forty hours of adoration began Oct. 28 with Mass at that same cathedral at 10 a.m, followed by a procession through the Cathedral to begin adoration. The adoration is scheduled to end after 7 p.m. vespers prayer on Tuesday Oct. 30.

Sister Esther Mary Nickel of the Religious Sisters of Mercy told CNA that the prayer intentions for the forty hours of adoration are for the diocese of Saginaw, the suffering of the Church, and for the repose of the Bishop Cistone’s soul.  

Sister Nickel said on the first night of adoration, men from the local chapter of the Knights of Columbus volunteered to stand guard at the door all night.

“I was so surprised that people came through the night,” Sister Nickel said.”I must say we’re having a wonderful turnout. I’m grateful.”

Sister Nickel said that Catholics in the Saginaw diocese had been experiencing various hardships lately, in addition to the bishop’s death. Police raided the bishop’s home in March, as well as the diocesan chancery and its cathedral rectory, as part of an ongoing investigation into sex abuse allegations against several diocesan priests. Two priests have been placed on leave from their duties after a recent wave of accusations of sexual abuse against priests in the diocese.

The practice of forty hours of adoration draws its roots back to Rome over 500 years ago, begun by St. Philip Neri. Sister Nickel said the forty hours devotion was “near and dear” to Cistone’s heart, and this event was the last one he approved for the liturgy office before his death. She said Bishop Cistone had a great devotion to St. John Neumann, a great proponent of the practice in the United States, who started the practice at his parish in Philadelphia in 1840.

Sister Nickel said Cistone brought this tradition back from Philadelphia to Saginaw with him, as well as his desire that his priests in particular would cultivate a devotion to the blessed sacrament.

Martha Arvizu, a lifelong Saginaw resident and a parishioner of the diocese since the ninth grade, told CNA it can sometimes be difficult for her to quiet her mind from the noise of daily life. She and her 91-year-old mother, who Arvizu said always wants to be there with her daughter despite being hard of hearing, attended the adoration service Sunday night.

“It’s wonderful to come and be in the silence and get in the presence of our Lord,” Arvizu said. “He’s very forgiving and He walks with us.”

Arvizu said despite the difficult circumstances present in the Saginaw diocese and elsewhere in the Church, she plans to continue to practice her faith.

“I think if you lose your faith, you’re nowhere,” she reflected. “If you have your faith, and you believe in your faith, nothing can deter you. [God’s] there to help us along, and what our destiny is, he’s the only one that knows…I think our faith will get us through anything.”

She said although there is at least one parish in the diocese that offers perpetual adoration, it was nice to be able to stay in adoration as long as they wanted under the protection of the Knights.

“We probably should do it more often, as long as we have preparation,” “This was very well planned, they let everyone know that they were going to do this. I think it’s a positive thing, and even those who have been going that don’t come all the time find it enriching…[Adoration’s] something we all need, especially at this time, with the loss of our bishop.”

[…]

Pittsburgh, Pa., Oct 29, 2018 / 05:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic bishops promised prayers for victims and their families while condemning anti-Semitism, after a shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue Saturday killed 11 people.

“To our brothers an… […]

Issele-Uku, Nigeria, Oct 29, 2018 / 04:55 pm (CNA).- Five nuns were abducted by gunmen in Nigeria’s Delta state on Thursday, according to local media.

The nuns are members of the Order of the Missionary of Martha and Mary.

They were kidnapped O… […]

Buffalo, N.Y., Oct 29, 2018 / 03:30 pm (CNA).- A former Church employee said she leaked diocesan documents because when the Buffalo diocese addressed sexual abuse allegations it seemed primarily concerned with protecting the reputation and assets of the Church.

A local media investigation published Aug. 22-23 revealed confidential diocesan documents indicating that Bishop Richard Malone allowed priests to stay in ministry despite multiple abuse allegations made against them.

Siobhan O’Connor, a former executive assistant to Bishop Malone, told “60 Minutes” on Sunday that she decided to leak the internal diocesan documents mentioned in the report after an incomplete list of priests accused of abuse was published.

“Bishop Malone had agreed to release a list of 42 priests accused of sexually abusing minors,” according to the program. “But O’Connor knew there should be more names because she had seen the draft list that circulated between the bishop and diocesan lawyers … As they worked on the list, the bishop and his lawyers decided they would not reveal the names of accused priests still in ministry.”

The list, released March 20, “identifies diocesan priests who were removed from ministry, were retired, or left ministry after allegations of sexual abuse of a minor,” according to the diocese. It “also includes deceased priests with more than one allegation made against them.”

O’Connor said: “It was a very carefully curated list. And I– I saw all the– the lawyers coming in and out, and I was aware of the– the various strategies that were in place.”

“To my mind the overarching attitude seemed to be to protect the church’s reputation and her assets,” she added.

O’Connor worked as Malone’s assistant for three years, quitting in August, shortly after she leaked the personnel files to a local television station. That station’s report subsequent focused on two priests whose names were reportedly considered for inclusion on the publicly-released list of credibly accused clergy, but removed before publication. Both priests were in active ministry at the time of the list’s publication in March.

Among the cases which troubled her was that of Fr. Arthur Smith, who had been suspended from his parish by Malone’s predecessor in 2011, after complaints were made that he had shown signs of grooming and stalking students, and had inappropriate communications with one male student.

In November 2012, Bishop Malone returned Smith to ministry, as chaplain of a nursing home. There, two young adult men said they were touched inappropriately by Smith. The regional superior of the religious order running the nursing home wrote to Malone to report the complaints, and to say that the order was discontinuing Smith’s work there.

In 2015, Malone wrote in a letter to Vatican officials that Smith had groomed a young boy, refused to stay in a treatment center, faced repeated boundary issues, and been accused of inappropriate touching of at least four young men. However, in the same letter, Malone said that “On the basis of his cooperation in regard to regular counseling, I have granted Father Smith faculties to function as a priest in the Diocese of Buffalo.”

The same year, the bishop wrote a letter of approval for Smith to serve as a priest on a cruise ship, explicitly clearing him for work with minor children.

In 2017, Malone assigned Smith as a “priest in residence” at an area parish. The priest was suspended in 2018, after the diocese said it had received a new substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.

“Our previous bishop had removed him from ministry, so I always thought it was odd that Bishop Malone had reinstated him,” O’Connor told “60 Minutes.”

“When I explored his file more in-depth, that might have really been the moment when I knew that I had to do something with this information.”

Because the list of accused priests was substantially shorter than she believed it should be, O’Connor said, “I felt that instead of being transparent, we were almost being the opposite or– or half transparent. Here are the names that we would like you to know about, but please don’t ask us about the rest.”

“60 Minutes” also interviewed two clerics of the Buffalo diocese who are dissatisfied with how the local Church has handled allegations of sexual abuse: Fr. Robert Zilliox, who holds a licentiate in canon law, and Deacon Paul Snyder.

Bishop Malone declined to be interviewed by “60 Minutes,” and issued a statement about that decision Oct. 27.

The first reason, he said, is that child protection and victim reconciliation is occupying most of his time.

Second, he said, “it is clear to me and my staff that your roster of interviews did not include those who are aware of the full extent of the efforts of our Diocese to combat child abuse. Nor does it include those who urge me every day to stay the course and restore the confidence of our faithful.”

[…]

Arlington, Va., Oct 29, 2018 / 10:30 am (CNA).- In a statement released last Wednesday and repeated at Masses over the weekend, Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington and Bishop Barry C. Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond pledged that the… […]

Washington D.C., Oct 28, 2018 / 01:00 pm (ACI Prensa).- The number of Americans who claim to be witches has increased dramatically over the past 30 years.

An estimated 1 to 1.5 million people say they practice Wicca or paganism, a rise from an estimated 8,000 Wiccans in 1990, and 340,000 in 2008.

In 2014, a Pew Research Center survey found about 0.4 percent of Americans identify themselves Pagan or Wiccan, a significant increase over prior years.

If accurate, the Pew data would suggest that there are more self-identified “witches” in the United States than members of some mainline Protestant denominations. For example, according to 2017 figures, there are 1.4 million practicing Presbyterians in the United States.

Wicca is a form of modern pagan witchcraft begun in the 1940s and 1950s in the United Kingdom. Those who practice Wicca often refer to themselves as “witches.” People who practice other forms of witchcraft may not identify with the “Wiccan” or “pagan” label, meaning that the number of self-identified witches in the United States might actually be higher than reported.

Online, witchcraft has become increasingly popular and mainstream. The hashtag “#WitchesofInstagram” has been used nearly two million times on Instagram, featuring images of crystals, pentagrams, and people sharing their experiences as witches.

A priest pursuing doctoral studies in exorcisms told CNA that he was not surprised by the increasing number of Americans interested in dabbling in witchcraft.

The priest, who asked not be identified because of the attention exorcist priests often receive, pointed to the increasing popularity of spiritualism in general, which includes yoga and ouija, and the need for instant results in American culture.

He theorized that people who are dissatisfied with their religion begin to look for a “quick fix– magic.”

And while some witches differentiate between “white magic” and “black magic,” with black magic being intentionally malicious, he rejected the idea there could be any such thing as positive or harmless magic.

“Both of them are associated with Satan, and he’s in charge of that,” the priest told CNA.

People who embrace one form of witchcraft, whether to find love or solve a problem may find themselves “trapped” in the world of the occult, he said.

“I have personally had many, many experiences of people coming to me,” with issues that stemmed from something initially thought to be innocuous, he said.

The modern appeal of paganism may stem from Christianity’s early roots, the priest said. When Christianity first spread to pagan areas–Ireland, France, etc.–the people who lived there were incredibly superstitious. Christianity was able to provide a sort of spiritual reassurance.

“Christianity always has good news, and the good news is that the devil is overcome,” he said.

Now, he said, as people have begun to turn away from the message of Christ’s lordship, and have begun to “glorify their own reason and understanding,” Christianity has become less appealing–and people return to the superstitious practices of long ago.

A lack of faith in the Christian God coupled with the “very hedonistic society” of modern times adds to the appeal of the supposed quick fix of magic, he said.

“Anything we want, we have to have right away,” he said.

“I mean, if I suffer, I need to have a solution. Even if you go to a hospital, you look at the chart and they always ask you ‘how do you feel from one to 10?’ and if you feel that your pain is too high, they will pump you with opioid painkillers.”

These comments were echoed by Fr. Thomas Petri, O.P., vice president and academic dean at the Dominican House of Studies.

Petri told CNA that he did not find it surprising that some people who have turned away from Christianity would turn toward pagan worship.

“Man is essentially a religious animal who seeks meaning beyond the ordinary and so is prone to worship powers beyond himself,” he explained.

The increase of self-identfied “witches” could also be as a result of Satan, he said, who “is actively at work in the world seeking to drive as many people away from salvation in Christ as he can.” Satan, he said, does this “under the guise of principalities and powers that some people think are more novel and powerful than Christ.”

“Sadly, they couldn’t be more wrong and they need our prayers.”

[…]

South Bend, Ind., Oct 27, 2018 / 12:00 am (CNA).- Students at the University of Notre Dame have asked university administrators to block pornography on the university’s wi-fi networks.

More than one hundred students signed letters, one sent by m… […]

Denver, Colo., Oct 25, 2018 / 04:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A European online service that has been quietly offering mail-order abortion pills to women in the United States for several months is being investigated by the FDA for possibly violating abortion drug laws. Aid Access is a website that says it offers abortion-inducing drugs to healthy women who are nine weeks pregnant or less.

If women qualify for the pills through online consultations, Aid Access writes them prescriptions for the two abortion-inducing drugs, misoprostol and mifepristone. These prescriptions are filled at a pharmacy in India, which mails the drugs to women in the U.S.

To date, Aid Access has reportedly mailed abortion drugs to 600 women in the U.S. The service costs $95, and the website notes that financial aid is available.

The FDA, however, has issued warnings that women should not buy mifepristone online, “because you will bypass important safeguards designed to protect your health (and the health of others).”

“Mifeprex (mifepristone) has special safety restrictions on how it is distributed to the public. Also, drugs purchased from foreign Internet sources are not the FDA-approved versions of the drugs, and they are not subject to FDA-regulated manufacturing controls or FDA inspection of manufacturing facilities,” the warning states.

In a statement made earlier this week reported by The Guardian, the FDA said that it “takes the allegations related to the sale of mifepristone in the U.S. through online distribution channels very seriously and is evaluating the allegations to assess potential violations of U.S. law.”

Aid Access founder, Dutch physician Dr. Rebecca Gomperts, has not commented on the FDA statement but told CNN that she has “no worries.”

“Everything I do is according to the law,” she said.

Gomperts is also the founder of Women on Web, a site launched 12 years ago to provide abortion drugs to women in countries where the procedure is illegal, and to military women serving overseas. Women on Web reportedly mails about 9,000 abortion pill packages to women each year.

Gomperts has said she believes she has a “moral obligation” to provide this service to women who may have difficulty accessing surgical or medical abortions for a variety of reasons.

A medical abortion consists of a woman taking two different medications within about 48 hours of each other – the first, mifepristone, blocks the progesterone that makes the womb an inhabitable place for a baby. The second, misoprostol, is taken 48 hours after the first pill, and makes the uterus contract and expel its contents – the baby.

Studies show that about one in every 100,000 women who induce a medical abortion will need surgical intervention due to complications. According to FDA numbers, about one in 155,000 women die from complications of medical abortions.

Doctors who perform medical abortion reversals have said that the risks of medical abortions are often due to lack of thorough follow-ups, because women often receive the abortion-inducing drugs from clinics with which they do not have an established relationship.

Pro-life groups have slammed Gomperts and her organizations for putting money and politics ahead of women’s welfare.

“Risking women’s lives to make a political point and a quick profit makes no sense, and we sadly anticipate horror stories when inevitably something goes wrong,” said Kristan Hawkins, a spokesperson for Students for Life of America (SFLA).

“Handing out deadly drugs through the mail is a disaster waiting to happen. We know that women have died using chemical abortion drugs, and that how far along a woman’s pregnancy is or where it is can be a life or death issue. Women later in pregnancy or women experiencing an ectopic pregnancy in particular are in great risk — two things that must be determined by examination and not by some online questionnaire,” Hawkins said in a statement.

Mail-order abortions would also aid abusers of women who want “to end wanted pregnancy, something that this distribution model would make even easier. Women deserve better,” she said. Catherine Glenn Foster, president and CEO of Americans United for Life, told CNN that Aid Access’ service was “reckless and irresponsible,” especially since women cannot be screened online for an ectopic pregnancy, “a dangerous and potentially life-threatening condition that no abortion clinic would try to manage.”

“Because Gomperts’ plan is dangerous to women’s health and safety, the act of sending unregulated prescription abortion pills through the mail should be the subject of federal regulation,” she told CNN. “For this reason, Americans United for Life is exploring the possibility of Congressional intervention to protect women.”

[…]

Newark, N.J., Oct 25, 2018 / 01:28 pm (CNA).- Dr. Mary Meehan, interim president of Seton Hall University, has issued a strongly-worded letter to the campus community following numerous reports of students harassing seminarians on campus.

&qu… […]

Denver, Colo., Oct 25, 2018 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Some opponents of broad religious freedom protections have spent over $500,000 on advocacy and public relations campaigns related to the Masterpiece Cakeshop Supreme Court decision, a CNA analysis of recen… […]