Shrewsbury, England, Feb 27, 2018 / 01:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a recent pastoral letter, a British bishop has encouraged Catholics to make the “awesome reality” of the Eucharist a central focus of their life and prayer during Lent.
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God cannot make us free and then make it absolutely certain that we do not reject Him. The whole point of divine and human love […]
Cali, Colombia, Feb 27, 2018 / 12:44 am (ACI Prensa).- In 2016, Jeison Aristizabal was named CNN’s Hero of the Year for overcoming the challenges posed by cerebral palsy and working to help children with disabilities in Colombia.
Today, Aristizabal, 38, is focusing his efforts on fighting a measure to legalize euthanasia in Colombia.
In October 2017, Colombia’s Constitutional Court instructed the Department of Health to produce within four months regulations for administering “death with dignity” to “boys, girls and adolescents” with disabilities and terminal illness.
The Colombian court said that its ruling seeks to prevent minors from becoming “victims of cruel and inhumane treatment because their right to die with dignity is being denied.”
In response, Aristizabal filed for an injunction with Colombia’s Council of State – the country’s highest judicial authority – to prevent the implementation of the Constitutional Court’s ruling.
Speaking recently to EWTN’s Radio Católica Mundial (Catholic World Radio), Aristizabal said that “people need to know how this happened. This came about because the family of a child with disabilities and a terminal illness saw that their health insurance, their healthcare system, would not provide him with medical care, would not provide medication for their child.”
The child’s family, feeling powerless, told their insurance company that “they would rather see their child die than to see him suffering from negligence, and from the insurance company’s lack of coverage for his medications,” Aristizabal said.
“What the country never expected was that instead of the court saying, ‘We are going to sanction the healthcare system, we are going to order the healthcare system to be more effective,’ what this court did was to order the government to issue regulations on childhood euthanasia.”
“What this court said was that any parent can dispose of the life of his child when he has a terminal illness or a disability.”
Born with cerebral palsy, Aristizabal has faced numerous challenges in life. A doctor told his mother when he was young that he was “not going to amount to anything in this life.”
But his mother supported him, and today, he is a media professional and lawyer, in addition to running a foundation that serves hundreds of children with disabilities in Cali, Colombia.
Through the foundation, he said, he helps those with physical or cognitive disabilities to realize that they have value and worth.
“Today’s society is one that gives us prognoses,” said Aristizabal, but “you have to overcome that prognosis. We must tell the person who feels defeated today, who has waved the white flag, to not give up.”
Aristizabal said that he has traveled around the world encouraging people to “not surrender in the face of obstacles.”
“And this is the message that we want to bring to these parents that today are experiencing a tragedy, that today are in a tough situation, [with their children’s] health issues: don’t wave the white flag, don’t give up, don’t accept defeat,” he said.
“Instead rise up today with the will to fight, to win, with the help of God and society.”
Aristizabal has launched a CitizenGo petition drive directed to the Council of State, encouraging it to oppose childhood and adolescent euthanasia.
“Disabilities cannot make children’s human lives of lesser worth because they have such conditions,” he said. “Life is valuable in itself and must be protected.”
This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Washington D.C., Feb 26, 2018 / 06:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- With the U.S. Supreme Court hearing a case that could have a great impact on the future of public sector unions, the U.S. bishops have filed an amicus brief citing Pope Benedict XVI in oppositi… […]
Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Feb 26, 2018 / 05:00 pm (CNA).- Four Congolese protesters were shot dead Feb. 25, during demonstrations organized by Catholics protesting President Joseph Kabila’s refusal to step down from power.
The casualties occurred just two days after a worldwide day of prayer and fasting for peace in the Democratic Republic of Congo, called for by Pope Francis.
An additional 47 people were wounded and more than 100 arrested in the Sunday protests, according to the United Nations mission in Congo.
Many of the demonstrations occurred in and around Catholic churches in the DRC. Some priests chose to hold protests within the parameters of their parish grounds to minimize violence.
“Security forces blocked the roads around the churches. They came in and threw tear gas canisters into churches. They used live ammunition,” Father Jean Claude Tabu, Curate of the St. Benoît Parish in the north of Kinshasa, told La Croix. This is the third round of demonstrations organized by the Catholic Lay Committee. Previous protests on Dec. 31 and Jan. 21 left over a dozen dead.
“I note with sorrow and deep concern the loss of life and injuries that occurred at the hands of those who are supposed to protect life and the rule of law. I add my voice to that of the Holy Father in his call for calm and peace in the country,” wrote Archbishop Timothy Broglio, chair of U.S. Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, in a Feb. 14 letter to the bishops of Congo.
The Catholic church in the Democratic Republic of Congo has strongly advocated for free and fair elections in the country that has faced decades of political instability.
The Congolese Catholic Bishops’ Conference have called upon President Kabila to state that he will not run for an illegal third term as president. Kabila was supposed to leave office in December 2016, but elections have been continually postponed.
Jerusalem, Feb 26, 2018 / 02:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem has been closed indefinitely to protest two proposals that Christian leaders see as targeting the presence of Christianity in the region.
Catholic, Gree… […]
Washington D.C., Feb 26, 2018 / 01:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The US bishops’ conference has designated today, Feb. 26, 2018, as “National Call-in Day for the Protection of Dreamers.”
The bishops are urging Catholic to contact their sen… […]
Vancouver, Canada, Feb 26, 2018 / 12:27 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Palliative care and hospice units are known for their life-affirming service to individuals who are facing the end of their lives, accompanying patients with dignity, comfort and meaning unti… […]
Vatican City, Feb 26, 2018 / 12:27 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Rebecca Bitrus, who was a prisoner with Boko Haram for two years, is a stark reminder that behind all the rhetoric about promoting peace and helping persecuted Christians, there are real people who have suffered unimaginable atrocities.
In Bitrus’ case, these atrocities include losing her unborn child as a result of her captivity; watching her three-year-old son be killed because she refused to convert to Islam; and being raped and forced into a marriage with a Boko Haram fighter.
Stories such as this are commonplace in Nigeria, where Boko Haram militants since 2002 have killed tens of thousands of Christians and Muslims who don’t share their extremist ideals.
Based in northern Nigeria and active in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon, Boko Haram has been responsible for multiple deadly attacks on villages, schools and churches, often using children in suicide bombing missions as parts of territory controlled by the group have come under attack by local forces seeking to reclaim the area. In 2015, they pledged allegiance to the Islamic State.
Yet despite all of the suffering she was forced to endure at the hands of her captors, Bitrus has also learned to forgive, pointing to the mercy of Christ as a model.
Speaking to EWTN Feb. 23, Bitrus said she was abducted by Boko Haram in August 2014, when late one evening the militants invaded the small town where she and her husband lived with their two small children, Zachariah and Joshua. At the time, Zachariah was five, and Joshua was three.
Bitrus tried to flee, but she and her sons were abducted by Boko Haram and taken to the group’s camp in the forest.
Forced to take the name “Miriam,” she said that she was immediately put to work in a labor camp. She said she had been pregnant with her third child at the time of her abduction, but lost the baby due to the strains of her captivity.
After arriving in the camp, she said the fighters wanted her to convert to Islam. Having been raised a devout Catholic, Bitrus refused. As a result, she said the militants grabbed her youngest son, Joshua, and threw him into a river.
“I have lost him,” she said, explaining that after the incident, she went through the motions and pretended to accept the Muslim faith, “but never did.”
Each time they were forced to recite the Muslim prayers, Bitrus said she would instead pray the rosary, asking God to free her “from the hands of this wicked people.”
“I was never convinced about Islam. I kept my trust in the Lord and I was praying the rosary with my fingers,” she said. “I am convinced that the prayer of the rosary saved me from captivity.”
Bitrus said that at one point, she was forced into a marriage with a Boko Haram fighter, and – like many of the other female prisoners – subjected to repeated rape. She eventually became pregnant and gave birth to a child on Christmas day, whom she named Christopher, in honor of Christ.
After two years in captivity, Bitrus and her two living sons were able to escape when the militants fled as Nigerian troops closed in on the encampment. Amid the chaos, a group of prisoners fled into the forest, where they spent nearly a month with almost no food or water, she recounted, adding that mosquitoes constantly attacked them and she developed severe rashes that have left scars on her body.
With the help of a local community, they were eventually pointed in the direction of the Nigerian army. The troops initially didn’t believe that Bitrus was Christian, and thought she was a member of Boko Haram. However, after reciting several prayers, including the Hail Mary and the Glory Be, they believed her and sent her to a nearby hospital for treatment.
Afterward being discharged, she was sent back to her hometown of Maiduguri, where she was reunited with her husband. For the two years prior, they had each believed that the other had been killed.
When she first escaped, Bitrus said she struggled to accept her youngest child, who was six months old at the time, because he reminded her of the atrocities she had suffered. However, the local bishop, Oliver Dashe Doeme, talked to her and encouraged her to both “accept and love” the child, saying he could grow up to be “an important person in life, a person who could help me.”
She voiced gratitude to Bishop Dashe Doeme, saying he “cared for my needs and I grateful for that.”
Although it was not easy, Bitrus said she was eventually able to forgive Boko Haram for everything she endured.
“I am convinced about Jesus’ teaching on forgiveness,” she said, noting how Jesus himself was tortured, treated unjustly and condemned to death.
However, “even on the cross Jesus forgave those who inflicted pain to him; he said ‘Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing,’” she reflected.
Bitrus was able to tell her story to Pope Francis during a private Feb. 24 audience at the Vatican. Joining her were Ashiq Masih and Eisham Ashiq, the husband and daughter, respectively, of Asia Bibi, who has been on death row in Pakistan since 2010 on charges of blasphemy.
The meeting was organized by Aid to the Church in Need, a papal foundation dedicated to supporting persecuted Christians. On Saturday, the organization hosted an event in which Rome’s ancient Colosseum was illuminated red in order to raise awareness of anti-Christian persecution throughout the world and commemorate the modern martyrs who have died for their faith.
<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet” data-lang=”en”><p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”>Tonight the colosseum in <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Rome?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Rome</a> is illuminated red in honor of persecuted Christians throughout the world <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/ColosseoRosso?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#ColosseoRosso</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/acn_int?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@acn_int</a> ???? <a href=”https://twitter.com/dibanezgut?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@dibanezgut</a> <a href=”https://t.co/9QlK0pQtaB”>pic.twitter.com/9QlK0pQtaB</a></p>— Elise Harris (@eharris_it) <a href=”https://twitter.com/eharris_it/status/967463801451892736?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>February 24, 2018</a></blockquote>
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In comments to EWTN Feb. 23, Ashiq Masih said that although his wife is still in prison, she is doing well and is “a symbol of faith.”
“We hope she is going to freed one day, by the grace of God,” he said, explaining that the ordeal has been difficult for the family to endure, because “we are missing her and she misses us.”
Bibi’s daughter, Eisham Ashiq, told EWTN that she wanted Pope Francis and all of Europe to pray that her mother would be released soon.
Vatican City, Feb 26, 2018 / 05:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Many were skeptical, but when Romans awoke Monday morning the forecast was right: the city was covered in a blanket of snow – a phenomena so rare that schools were closed and public transport largely suspended throughout the day.
However, while much of the city is closed indoors sipping tea or hot cocoa, many of those near the Vatican zipped to St. Peter’s Square for a bit of snow-filled fun: some instigated snowball fights, some built miniature snowmen and, at least one man even donned skis to make his way through the slush.
A rare snowball fight in St Peter’s Square.
Vid: @EdwardPentin in #Rome #nevearoma pic.twitter.com/j3nwEopxQm
— Alan Holdren (@AlanHoldren) February 26, 2018
Nueva #EstacióndeEsquí vaticana? #TuTiempo pic.twitter.com/WKEZSzUy9l
— Daniel Ibáñez (@dibanezgut) February 26, 2018
Nuns, priests and seminarians also joined in the excitement, and as locals slowly began to emerge from their houses, wrapped head to toe, they stopped to admire and snap photos of their major landmarks covered in a dusting of white, including the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica.
#snow is starting to melt here in Rome, but the Cupola of St Peter’s Basilica still has a dusting! #bello #snowday pic.twitter.com/vXs9Ck6ZC4
— Elise Harris (@eharris_it) February 26, 2018
Though there was only a dusting or a few centimeters in some areas, for many locals in Rome the very presence of snow thick enough to cover the streets might as well be a blizzard.
Snow in Rome is so rare that some say it happens only once a decade, or, by Vatican standards, once in between each conclave. The last major snowfall in Rome took place in February 2012. Before that, the most recent heavy snows were in 1956 and then in 1986.
Due to Monday’s snow, various tourist sites and modes of public transport in the center of Rome where shut down, including the Colosseum and the archaeological areas of the Roman Forum and the city’s Palatine Hill, the center-most of the seven famous hills in Rome, and one of the most ancient areas of the city.
Si el #PapaFrancisco o #BenedictoXVI se asomaran a la ventana desde sus habitaciones… ¿qué es lo que verían? Aquí las Fotos!!! Gracias a @ndoci_gjergj pic.twitter.com/8MYwcg1D1c
— Álvaro de Juana (@AlvarodeJuana_) February 26, 2018
The Vatican Museums are also closed, however, St. Peter’s Basilica remains open to pilgrims and tourists courageous enough to brave the snow and slush covering the cobblestone piazza outside.
In addition, the mayor’s office has encouraged citizens to limit their mobility to the absolute necessity, and said they are working to clear the roads as soon as possible. According to Italian daily Fatto Quoditiano, Rome’s Department for Civil Protection called a special working committee who requested the help of the army to help remove snow from the streets.
In general, transport within the city center has been suspended save for a few bus lines. Trains are running roughly 2 hours behind, and some flights coming into Rome’s Fiumicino and Ciampino airports have also been delayed or canceled.
Parks, villas and cemeteries have also been closed, however, as of Sunday night train and metro stations were opened to offer shelter to homeless who had no place to go.
Much of the snow had begun melting by mid-morning, however, the city will likely still face closures and delays going into the week as the slosh is expected to freeze overnight.
Do you want to build a snowman? These nuns sure did! #snow #snowday #SnowInRome pic.twitter.com/LRElBBB7r3
— Elise Harris (@eharris_it) February 26, 2018
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