St. Therese of Lisieux’s parents inspired this drug rehab project

December 20, 2017 CNA Daily News News Briefs 1 Print

Montevideo, Uruguay, Dec 20, 2017 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A project to end the drug scourge in Uruguay has drawn inspiration from the parents of the “Little Flower” Saint Therese of Lisieux.

Saint Louis Martin and Saint Zelie Guerin, whom Pope Francis canonized in October 2015, are the namesakes of a chapel in the headquarters of the Renacer Project. The Catholic initiative, whose name refers to being born again, has worked for 28 years to aid the full rehabilitation of drug addicts and their families.

Cardinal Daniel Sturla of Montevideo celebrated the dedication Mass last year on Dec. 28, the Solemnity of the Holy Innocents.

“How good it is that this chapel is dedicated to those holy parents, a holy couple. Here we see the victory of love, purity, beauty, and the joy of the family gathered together,” he said.

The Mass featured the enthronement of first class relics of the couple, which came directly from their shrine at Alençon, France.

In his homily, Cardinal Sturla recalled the history of these two saints. Both had asked to consecrate their lives to God. Louis wanted to join the monks of the Great Saint Bernard Monastery in the Alps. Zelie wanted to join the Daughters of Charity of Saint Vincent de Paul.

Neither one was accepted since God had another plan for them. They met and their rapport was so quick that they were married on July 13, 1858, just three months after they first met.

Nine children were born to this union, four of whom died prematurely. Among the five surviving daughters was Saint Therese, the future patron saint of the missions.

Cardinal Sturla quoted the words Saint Therese dedicated to her parents: “They were more worthy of heaven than of earth.”

“The joy of a truly Christian family is to experience the joy and honor it means that Jesus has laid his eyes on one of their children and called him or her to the priestly or religious life. And until there are many families in Uruguay who feel that, how far we will really be from being Christians,” the cardinal said.

For the cardinal, the key to this marriage was “the systematic life they lived of daily Mass, prayer, meditation and teaching the children about God from an early age.”

“Christian parents know that the most important thing they can hand on to their children is the faith. It is the footprint that God left in each one of us,” he said.

The Chapel of Saint Louis Martin and Saint Zelie Guerin is the Renacer Project’s third chapel. Its dedication coincided with the 25th anniversary of the ordination of its founding priest, Carmelite Father Gustavo Larrique.

“What do Zelie, Louis and their daughters hand on to us from this place, which was a stable and now is a little chapel? The beauty of marriage, the beauty of the family. That great school of humanity and holiness,” Fr. Larrique said near the close of Mass.

With the Renacer Project, he explained, “we try to tell everyone that life is a very precious gift, and that you have to take care of it.”

 

This article was originally published on CNA Jan. 10, 2017.

Hoy bendije en la obra Renacer la capilla dedicada a los santos Luis y Celia, esposos. Santuario de la familia pic.twitter.com/AH2dDFEY8s

— Daniel Sturla (@DanielSturla) December 29, 2016

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Debate begins on decriminalizing abortion in Ecuador

January 8, 2019 CNA Daily News 0

Quito, Ecuador, Jan 8, 2019 / 04:29 pm (ACI Prensa).- The Ecuadorian legislature began debate on decriminalizing abortion last week, amid opposition from the Church and various civil organizations.

The decriminalization of abortion is part of the reform of the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code. The proposal would liberalize this procedure in cases of rape, non-viable fetal deformity, rape, and incest.

The Ecuadorian bishops’ conference stated in a Jan. 3 communiqué that “human life is above any political and religious banner or positions erroneously called conservative or progressive.”

“We invite all men and women of good will, families and, in a special way, the members of the assembly, to exposit with clarity and courage their scientific, ethical and legal arguments, free of any fundamentalist position, whether it be of a social, political or religious character,” the bishops encouraged.

The Ecuadorian bishops’ conference also stated that “we have prepared a document with the counsel of renowned professionals in the fields of medicine, ethics, and law, referring in a particular way to the rights of unborn children.”

Cristina Franco, of Guayaquil Pro-Life Lawyers, told ACI Prensa that the proposal to decriminalize abortion in the case of rape was made by Ernesto Pazmiño Granizo, the former People’s Ombudsman, in 2016, and other proposals were later added to it.

Finally, the proposal was incorporated into the reform of  the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code, and it received the approval of the National Assembly’s Justice and the Structure of the State Commission in December 2018, a necessary previous step for it to be debated in the Plenary Assembly.
 
“The Constitution of Ecuador requires a bill to be submitted to two debates prior to the sanction or objection of the Executive Branch. The first debate began January 3, and out of that, the Commission will issue a second report prior to the second and final debate,” Franco said.

An additional session would have to be held the coming week as part of the first debate, before the bill will be returned to the Justice and Structure of the State Commission.

“This report would have to make note of the bill’s rejection or acceptance by the legislators, as well as proposals presented by the representatives of the different civil organizations.”

Cristina Valverde, a lawyer,  told ACI Prensa that “currently, the Comprehensive Organic Criminal Code does not penalize abortion if the life of the woman is in danger or if the pregnancy was the consequence of the rape of a woman with a mental disability.”

Valverde said that pro-life groups were eventually able to enter the Plenary Assembly Jan. 3 to “tell the members of the assembly that the majority of Ecuadorians want sexual violence to be eradicated and for life to be respected from conception.”

She said the proposal to decriminalize abortion will eventually go back to the Justice Commission, “where we hope they completely eliminate this article and that life will be respected from conception just as the Constitution of Ecuador guarantees in Article 45.”

Article 45 ensures that “girls, boys and adolescents shall enjoy the rights common to human beings, in addition to those specific to their age. The State shall recognize and guarantee life including its care and protection from conception.”

 

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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