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Valparaiso, Chile, May 13, 2018 / 03:52 pm (ACI Prensa).- As infants, Monica and Cristian Moya were hovering on the verge of death. But after their mother consecrated them to the Virgin Mary, they recovered from a severe case of pneumonia.
Today, Cristian Moya is a priest. Sister Monica Moya made her final vows with the Congregation of the Daughters of Saint Mary of Providence – founded by Saint Luis Guanella – last year.
In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language sister agency, Sister Monica recalled that their mother told them the story of their consecration to Mary just a few years ago.
The twins were born January 15, 1974 in San Antonio Province in the Valparaiso Region of Chile.
They were struck with a severe case of pneumonia when they were about three months old. In critical condition at the hospital, doctors informed their parents “that a blood transfusion was the last thing they would do for us,” the sister said.
Their mother – who had lost her first child at the age of one due to a heart condition – decided to consecrate the twins to the Virgin Mary, under her title of Nuestra Señora Purísima of Lo Vasquez (Our Lady Most Pure), a very well-known and beloved Marian title in Chile.
“My mom says that the only thing that came to her mind was to offer us to the Virgin and leave us in her hands. After that our recovery occurred,” Sister Monica said.
“Maybe you can look at this as a simple coincidence, but now one of her children is a priest and the other a nun,” she reflected.
Also notable, she added, is that Cristian “did his priestly formation in the seminary that is next to the Shrine of Nuestra Señora Purísima de Lo Vásquez,” the same church where their mother had gone to beg for the recovery of her children.
Sister Monica said that her mother’s offering “impacted me a lot and has made me think that the Lord took charge of taking me on this path, which… my parents also contributed to through prayer, Christian formation, and by themselves as a married couple.”
Besides the Virgin Mary, the nun’s vocation was also strongly tied to the person of Saint Joseph, patron of her congregation and whose solemnity coincides with the day she became a postulant, then a novice and also when she made her first vows.
While it is customary for a bishop to officiate the ceremony of final vows, Sister Monica was able to obtain permission for her twin brother to preside at the Mass.
Sister Monica considers her vocation “a gift and a miracle.”
“It’s something that has surpassed everything my mind can understand, it is a very particular grace that helps me say ‘yes’ every day.”
This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
What happened in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary can and must happen in our own lives. Each of us has received the Holy […]
Vatican City, May 13, 2018 / 06:20 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After multiple bombings at churches in Indonesia left 11 dead dozens more injured, Pope Francis prayed for the repose of the souls of those who died and asked God to bring an end to hatred and violence.
“I am particularly close to the dear people of Indonesia, in a special way to the Christian communities of the city of Surabaya who have been strongly hit by the serious attack against places of worship,” the pope said May 13.
He offered his prayer for the victims and their relatives, and asked pilgrims to pray with him for “the God of peace to stop these violent acts, and that in the heart of all may be found space not for hatred or violence, but for reconciliation and fraternity.”
The pope’s appeal came after 11 people were killed and at least 40 injured in three separate May 13 suicide bombings in Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, which took place at churches as worshipers were gathered for Sunday services.
According to BBC News, the first explosion took place between services at Santa Maria Catholic Church around 7:30a.m. local time and involved a motorbike. The second blast took place at a Pentecostal church, and at a third location, witnesses say the attack was carried out by one or more veiled women who came into a church with children.
Sunday’s attacks were the deadliest the country has seen since 2005, when suicide bombings in Bali killed 20 people.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attacks, which took place within minutes of each other, however, according to ABC News, police have determined that the attacks were each carried out by members of the same family who had been radicalized by ISIS in Syria before moving to Indonesia.
More than 90 percent of Indonesians are Muslim, however, there are a large number of Christians, Hindus and Buddhists in the country.
In his reflection on the day’s readings, which spoke of Jesus’ ascension into heaven, Pope Francis noted how on one hand the text directs the reader to heaven, while on the other it reminds Catholics of the Church’s mission on earth.
Jesus’ ascension, then, serves as a reminder to both look to heaven, and also to be attentive to the task the Risen Lord has entrusted to his disciples.
This mission, Francis said, is “a boundless mission – that is, literally without limits – which overcomes human strength.”
“It really seems too daring that Jesus entrusts the task to a small group of simple men without great intellectual abilities!” he said, noting that despite this fact and despite the powers of the world, they were able to bring Jesus’ message to “every corner of the world.”
However, this task “can only be realized with the strength that God himself grants to the apostles,” the pope said, adding that light of this, Jesus in the Gospel assures them that their mission will be sustained by the Holy Spirit, telling them that they will receive the “strength of the Holy Spirit” and will bear witness to him throughout the world.
This mission was passed on and continues to this day, Francis said, explaining that each person, by virtue of their baptism, has the ability to announce the Gospel.
“The Ascension of the Lord into heaven, while inaugurating a new form of the presence of Jesus in the midst of us, asks us to have open eyes and open hearts to encounter him, to serve him and to bear witness to others.
And to do this means being men and women of the ascension, who look for Christ in the signs of modern times and who bring his message of salvation to everyone, above all the poor, Francis said.
Just as the Risen Christ sent his apostles out with the strength of the Holy Spirit, “today he is also sending us, with the same strength, to propose concrete and visible signs of hope,” he said.
After his address, Pope Francis greeted pilgrims present from different countries and associations. He also noted how Sunday marked the World Day of Social Communications, and prayed that journalists and those who work in media would “seek the truth of the news, contributing to a more peaceful and just society.”
Durban, South Africa, May 13, 2018 / 03:07 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the wake of a mosque attack that left one dead and two other critically injured, the Catholic bishops of South Africa have offered their prayers and condolences to the victims, and stro… […]
Chicago, Ill., May 12, 2018 / 03:23 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The first African American priest in the U.S. could become the country’s first African American saint as his cause took another step forward this week.
A document summarizing the life, virtue, and alleged miracles of Servant of God Fr. Augustus Tolton, known as the positio, was unanimously approved as historically correct by a committee of six Vatican officials this week, clearing the way for the priest’s cause for canonization to continue moving forward.
Bishop Joseph N. Perry, auxiliary bishop of Chicago and diocesan postulator for the Tolton cause, called the approval a “very positive sign going forward” and noted its significance for the African American Catholic Community.
“Fr. Tolton lived during a particularly tumultuous time in American history especially for race relations,” Perry said in a statement.
“He was a pioneer of his era for inclusiveness drawing both blacks and whites to his parish in Quincy. However, due to his race, he suffered discrimination and condemnation. The beatification and canonization of Fr. Tolton will signal a significant milestone in the history of black Catholicism in the United States.”
Born in Missouri on April 1, 1854, John Augustine Tolton fled slavery with his mother and two siblings in 1862 by crossing the Mississippi River into Illinois.
“John, boy, you’re free. Never forget the goodness of the Lord,” Tolton’s mother told him after the crossing, according to the website of St. Elizabeth’s Church in Chicago.
The young Tolton entered St. Peter’s Catholic School with the help of the school’s pastor, Fr. Peter McGirr. Fr. McGirr would later baptize him and instruct him for his first Holy Communion. Tolton was serving as an altar boy by the next summer.
The priest asked Tolton if he would like to become a priest, saying it would take 12 years of hard study. The excited boy then said they should go to church and pray for his success.
After graduating from high school and Quincy College, he began his ecclesiastical studies in Rome, because no American seminary would accept him on account of his race.
On April 24, 1886 he was ordained in Rome by Cardinal Lucido Maria Parocchi, who was then the vicar general of Rome. Newspapers throughout the U.S. carried the story.
Fr. Tolton was ordained for the southern Illinois Diocese of Quincy. Upon his return in July 1886, he was greeted at the train station “like a conquering hero,” the website of St. Elizabeth’s Parish says.
“Thousands were there to greet him, led by Father McGirr. A brass band played church songs and Negro Spirituals. Thousands of blacks and whites lined the streets to catch a glimpse of the new priest wearing a black Prince Albert and a silk hat. People marched and cheered his flower-draped four-horse carriage. Children, priests and sisters left the school joining the procession heading towards the church.”
Hundreds waited at the local church where people of all races knelt at the communion rail.
Fr. Tolton served in Quincy before going to Chicago to start a parish for black Catholics. The new church was named for St. Monica and opened in 1893.
On July 9, 1897, Fr. Tolton collapsed during a hot day and died from sunstroke at the age of 43.
His cause for canonization was officially launched in 2010, and he was given the title “Servant of God” by the Vatican in February 2011. The research phase of his cause concluded on September 29, 2014.
The next step in his cause for canonization will be in February 2019, when a theological commission with the Congregation for Causes of Saints will further investigate his life and virtue, and consider granting him the title of “Venerable,” which must receive papal approval.
After that step, Tolton’s cause would move forward toward beatification, for which a miracle through his intercession must be approved.
More information about Fr. Tolton can be found on the website for his cause: www.toltoncanonization.org
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Vatican City, May 12, 2018 / 05:42 am (CNA/EWTN News).- From May 15-17 Pope Francis will meet with 33 Chilean bishops to share his personal take on the country’s massive clerical abuse crisis and help the local Church to find a way forward implementing processes of healing and prevention.
During the discussion, Francis will share his reflections on the results of an investigation into abuse cover-up by Church hierarchy in Chile conducted by Maltese Archbishop Charles Scicluna earlier this year, and the subsequent 2,300 page report he drafted on conclusions of the investigation.
According to a May 12 Vatican communique, Pope Francis, “questioned by the circumstances and the extraordinary challenges that the sexual abuse and abuses of power and conscience planted in Chile in recent decades, considers it necessary to profoundly examine their causes and consequences, as well as the mechanisms which in some cases have led to the cover-up and serious omissions from the victims.”
The objective of the 3-day “synodal process,” the Vatican said, is for the pope and Chilean bishops to place themselves in the presence of God and discern together the culpability of both individuals and of the local Church as a whole “in these devastating wounds.”
They will also study “the adequate and lasting changes” which ought to be implemented in order to prevent the repetition “of these always reprehensible acts.”
Set to take place in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall, the meeting will also be attended by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
The meeting with Chilean bishops falls just two weeks after he held individual meetings with three survivors of clerical sexual abuse from Chile: Juan Carlos Cruz, James Hamilton and Andres Murillo.
After their meetings with the pope, Cruz, Hamilton and Murillo said they believed Francis was largely misinformed by people around him, and called out Archbishop Ivo Scapolo, nuncio to Chile since 2011, and Chilean Cardinal Francisco Javier Errazuriz, Archbishop Emeritus of Santiago and a member of Pope Francis’ council of cardinal advisors, as main agents in the cover-up.
Notably, Errazuriz will not be present for the meeting with Pope Francis this week, saying he would be skipping the event due to “personal reasons.”
Pope Francis invited the survivors to meet with him and at the same time summoned Chilean bishops to Rome April 8 after reading the concluding report of Scicluna’s investigation, assisted by Spanish Fr. Jordi Bertomeu of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and admitting to having made “serious mistakes” in judgment of the situation given a lack of “truthful and balanced” information.
Initially the investigation was centered around Bishop Juan Barros of Osorno, who was appointed to the diocese in 2015 and who has been accused by Cruz and several others of not only covering up Karadima’s abuses, but at times also participating.
Allegations were also made against three other bishops – Andrés Arteaga, Tomislav Koljatic and Horacio Valenzuela – who Karadima’s victims accuse of also covering the abuser’s crimes.
While on the ground Scicluna interviewed some 64 people, most of whom were victims, but the scale of the investigation went beyond Barros. It is said to be much more extensive, including details from other cases, such as the Marist Brothers, who are currently under canonical investigation after allegations of sexual abuse by some of the members surfaced in August 2017.
Pope Francis had previous defended Barros, saying he had received no evidence of the bishop’s guilt, and called accusations against him “calumny” during a trip to Chile in January.
However, after receiving Scicluna’s report, Francis issued his major “mea culpa” and asked to meet the bishops and more outspoken survivors in person.
In the May 12 communique, the Vatican said Pope Francis is grateful to his brother bishops in Chile for “being attentive to the docile and humble listening to the Holy Spirit,” and he renews his appeal to Catholics in Chile “to continue in a state of prayer so that the conversion of all might take place.”
No public statement or press release is expected after the encounter in order to ensure confidentiality.
© Catholic World Report