Month: July 2018

Denver, Colo., Jul 26, 2018 / 03:56 pm (CNA).- This week, CNA says farewell to our summer intern, Lizzy Joslyn. In her final week at CNA this summer, Lizzy offers “The Genius of Woman,” a four-part series of interviews and profiles, based on Pope St. John Paul II’s “Letter to Women,” and interviews with seven Catholic women from very different walks of life. This is the fourth piece in that series:

A sophomore college student studying political science, Miriam Miller, 18, dreams of becoming a strong and influential advocate for humanitarian causes.

Initially, Miller felt fear and doubt when considering a career in politics. Not wanting “to be mean, argue, tear people apart” in her future career, Miller’s was encouraged when she discovered, through an exploration of the Church teachings, that she “didn’t have to” embody those qualities in order to be successful and happy in her desired field. “That’s not who I am as a person,” she added.

“I don’t want to feel like I have to be this weird little mutant of myself,” Miller said. And, thanks to the feminine genius, she doesn’t have to.

A little refresher: John Paul II, in his 1995 “Letter to Women,” used the idea of the “feminine genius” to praise women for their unique abilities socially and emotionally: “Much more important is the social and ethical dimension, which deals with human relations and spiritual values. In this area, which often develops in an inconspicuous way beginning with the daily relationships between people, especially within the family, society certainly owes much to the ‘genius of women.’”

Miller told CNA that in her experiences attending seminars and events with political leaders, she has encountered some women who seem to avoid anything that might make their femininity stand out. There was a noticeable expectation for women to almost go out of their way to “not look cute,” she said.
 
Women shouldn’t have to feel like they should hide their feminine qualities out of the fear of harassment, she added.

“Women have kind of lost that feminine grace, which is a good thing… and it’s sad,” Miller said.

God made women with their own unique qualities–the feminine genius–and those should be celebrated and used to further his kingdom, Pope St. John Paul II taught.

Miller said that until she learned that, there were qualities “in myself that I hadn’t allowed to grow because I was told it wasn’t good,” she said. Until Miller realized she didn’t have to hide her femininity, or her perspective, she doubted her aspirations, and her ability to have the future she hoped for.
 
Embracing the feminine genius gives women power to positively influence the world, John Paul II wrote.

“Perhaps more than men,” wrote John Paul II in his Letter to Women, “women acknowledge the person, because they see persons with their hearts. They see them independently of various ideological or political systems. They see others in their greatness and limitations; they try to go out to them and help them.”

Women humanize the world–their talents socially and emotionally have the potential to create a “civilization of love,” as John Paul II said–a peaceful society that strives to imitate and exemplify God’s perfect love.

CNA’s Managing Editor Michelle La Rosa also sees the feminine genius at work in the workplace. Her interests began in political philosophy, and they translated easily to journalism when in 2011 she began working for CNA in Washington, D.C.

La Rosa, the only female editor at CNA, says she brings a unique contribution to “editorial discussions or in different viewpoints or working with people,” complementing the perspective of her male colleagues.

“There’s… this different perspective that women often bring.”

“Our editors here collaborate really well because we all have very different strengths and weaknesses and very different backgrounds. But I think part of that feminine genius is just kind of seeing the… more human side of things,” said La Rosa.

Women, as John Paul II wrote, “make an indispensable contribution to the growth of a culture which unites reason and feeling, to a model of life ever open to the sense of ‘mystery’, to the establishment of economic and political structures ever more worthy of humanity.”

By most modern standard, “progress,” he wrote, is “measured according to the criteria of science and technology.”

“Much more important,” the pope said, “is the social and ethical dimension, which deals with human relations and spiritual values.” This, he said, is where the feminine genius is uniquely important.

The differences between men and women“doesn’t mean we can’t do the same jobs,” Miller noted, “we just do them differently.”
“Womanhood expresses the “human” as much as manhood does, but in a different and complementary way,” wrote John Paul II. “It is only through the duality of the “masculine” and the “feminine” that the “human” finds full realization.”

“As a rational and free being, man is called to transform the face of the earth. In this task, which is essentially that of culture, man and woman alike share equal responsibility from the start,” he wrote.

“Recognizing the unique gifts and talents of what it means to be a woman is not to degrade men, but it’s to recognize that complementarity and the ways in which men and women can really build off of each other and work together to build up the church and society,” La Rosa said.

[…]

Philadelphia, Pa., Jul 26, 2018 / 03:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The relics of St. Katharine Drexel, along with her original tomb, will be translated to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, and the public will be able to visit her remains when  the tomb opens in September.

St. Katharine Drexel and her family attended Mass at the Cathedral Basilica when she was a child.

Previously, St. Katharine Drexel’ body was buried at the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament Motherhouse and Shrine in Bensalem, Pa. That shrine closed at the end of 2017, about 18 months after the sisters announced that they intended to sell the property. The smaller number of sisters found it difficult to maintain the relatively large property.

“The Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament have once again given the faithful of the Archdiocese a tremendous gift,” said Fr. Dennis Gill, rector of the Cathedral Basilica. “With the new opportunity to honor Saint Katharine at the Cathedral, even more people will be exposed to her extraordinary life and example. It is our fervent hope that others will be inspired and continue her important work among Native Americans and African Americans.”

The opening of the new tomb coincides with several new programs from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia celebrating Drexel’s life and work. These include lesson plans for Catholic schools, a documentary film, new websites and social media outreach, and a Mass of thanksgiving to be celebrated in November. This Mass will mark the formal opening of the tomb.

“Saint Katharine’s message is as relevant today as it was 125 years ago,” said Sister Donna Breslin, President of the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament, in a statement published by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. “She is a contemporary saint and we continue to pray to her for an end to racism and other deeply rooted injustices.”

St. Katharine Drexel was canonized Oct. 1, 2000 by St. Pope John Paul II. She was the second American-born saint, and the first-ever saint to have been born a U.S. citizen. (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American saint, was born in New York in 1774, while the area was still a British colony.)

Born in 1858 to a family of significant wealth, Katharine Drexel founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in 1891. Her work primarily focused on ministering to the African American and Native American populations of the southwestern United States.

Drexel’s order opened 50 schools for African American children, 12 schools for Native American children, and over 140 missions for these populations.

Her order founded what would eventually become Xavier University of Louisiana, the only historically black Catholic university in the United States. Today, a school named after her stands on the site of the original college.

She died in 1955 at the age of 96, and the canonization process began 11 years later.

[…]

Washington D.C., Jul 26, 2018 / 03:00 am (CNA).- A classical education forms the whole person, leading students to truth and mitigating the influence of internet culture, according to one speaker at a Catholic classical education conference held this week.

The National Catholic Classical Schools Conference is sponsored by the Institute for Catholic Liberal Education and conducted July 23-26 at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Speakers include priests, classical educators, and academics from Catholic universities and colleges.

Unlike standard academic programs, a “classical” school focuses on memorization, close study of primary-source “great books” and the liberal arts, rather than using conventional text books. The trend of classical education has become popular among some Catholics in recent years.

Dr. Jake Noland, dean of faculty at St. Thomas More Academy in Raleigh, North Carolina, spoke to attendees July 25 about the role a classical education can play in forming children and young adults in faith, character, and intellect.

“Jesus Christ, our Lord, is the truth, and the truth will set you free. This reading is what classical education is all about.”

Noland told the audience that, while the truth does set people free, it is important to prepare students to fruitfully receive truth. That, he explained, is the important role a classical education can play. 

“We are in the business of forming young people to embrace the fullness of Christ in their particular vocations.” This is especially important today, as many cultural factors draw children away from this particular path. Noland cited the ubiquity of smartphones with internet access as especially harmful to the emotional health and well-being of teens, whom he referred to as the “iGen,” a termed coined by psychologist Jean Twenge.

The members of the iGen, born between 1995 and 2012, are far less religious, more morally neutral, more likely to question marriage, and less likely to get married than previous generations, according to Twenge’s data. They are also likely to remain at home, living with their parents, longer than previous generations.

A way to form the iGen, Noland suggested, is with the coherence and logic offered by the classical curriculum. The iGen “needs a new set of stories” to help form them as adults capable of engaging in “functional and fruitful relationships.”

“This will also strengthen the love of truth.”

Noland explained that “truth is real and matters,” and students are more likely to embrace it when it is presented in a consistent and coherent matter, and when “authority can be relied on as trustworthy.”

In a classical Catholic model, reliance on scripture and a lived faith is also key, Noland said, recognizing that ignorance of scripture is “ignorance of Christ.”

While Noland said that daily Mass may not be feasible for every school environment, when it is celebrated it should be the “centerpiece” of a school, and not considered an optional extra.

One conference attendee, Jocelyn Paul, the director of classical education and a teacher at the newly-opened Martin Saints Classical High School in Oreland, Pennsylvania, told CNA that she was first drawn to the classical education model when she was in college.

She said that participating in her university’s great books program “was like a conversation had been going on for centuries, and I got to be part of it now.”

The conference offered a rare opportunity for Paul and other classical educators to meet, compare notes, and share what was and was not working in their classrooms.

“As teachers, we’re so busy, so we don’t often have time to sit down and talk about what it means to be a witness to Christ, and how can we lead our students into a deeper love and sense of wonder about God, about the world around them.”

“So this conference kind of carves out the time to do that.”

David Stiennon, board president of St. Ambrose Academy in Madsion, Wisconsin, offered similar sentiments.

Stiennon admitted he had “no idea” what classical education was when he was asked to serve on the school’s board, apart from that the students “wore uniforms and studied Latin.”

He said attending the conference was a way to hear “the miraculous things that are happening” among attendees, “who are totally transforming their schools for the betterment of the students.”

[…]

Washington D.C., Jul 26, 2018 / 12:19 am (CNA/EWTN News).- At a religious freedom event in Washington, D.C., this week, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States explained how the Holy See takes a unique approach to diplomacy and the promotion of religious liberty.

Archbishop Paul Gallagher, who has served as the Vatican Secretary for Relations with States since 2014, explained that he is not a fan of “grandstanding diplomacy,” in which leaders make condemnations from afar.

“It is easy enough for us to say things in Rome or say something in the international press, but the local people have to take the consequences,” Archbishop Gallagher told CNA.

“What we try to do is to engage, to show concern and, very often, to work through our local networks.”

Speaking at a July 24 event co-hosted by the Religious Freedom Institute and The Catholic University of America’s Center for Religious Liberty, the archbishop pointed to the examples of the Vatican’s recent role in negotiations in both Nicaragua and Venezuela.

“The bishops have taken, at the invitation of the government, a role of accompanying and witnessing a dialogue between the government and those groups that are opposing or in conflict. Now that is very complex, and in the moment it is a dialogue that is in great difficulty, but we remain committed to it.”

He added that “we try to remain committed. We don’t pull out. We don’t give up, because we believe that solutions are possible.”

Gallagher, who has previously served as a papal nuncio in Burundi, Guatemala, and Australia, told CNA that he is even more aware of his responsibility to the people on the ground when making decisions in his current role as Secretary for Relations of States.

“We are always very aware of our responsibility to local people because they are the people who have to sometimes pay the price, and I personally feel that very much, and I know the Holy Father does, so we are obviously cautious,” the archbishop explained.

For Gallagher, this is one of the things that differentiates Vatican diplomacy from the foreign policy of individual countries pursuing a specific national interest.

“We are arguably the oldest diplomatic organization in the world,” he explained, “. . .the Holy See and the pope exercise this role on behalf of the benefit of humanity, not just for the promotion of the Catholic Church.”

“Nearly everywhere in the world there are Catholics . . . Sometimes those Catholics might be a minority group. They might be quite vulnerable. Now if we, by what we say and do, may be contributing or aggravating to their vulnerability, then that is something that you have to think long and hard about before you do it. So that’s why we tend to say, ‘Let’s try and do it by diplomatic means. Let’s talk to people privately.’”

While “grandiose statements and denunciations…have their place sometimes,” he said, “I prefer to talk to people and to reason with people or to put people under personal pressure.”

However, Gallagher said that he would like to see more public conversations about freedom of religion and freedom of conscience, calling them “the litmus test of any society.”

The July 24 event, entitled “The Fight for International Religious Freedom: Perspectives from the Vatican,” was an offshoot of a larger State Department Ministerial on international religious freedom taking place from July 24 – 25.

U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See Callista Gingrich and her predecessor Ambassador Miguel Diaz also spoke on how the U.S. and Vatican have worked together to advocate on behalf of persecuted religious communities around the world.

Gingrich chaired a panel in the Ministerial focusing on the intersections between women’s rights and religious freedom.
She spoke of the widespread sexual assault, rape, and killings of the Rohingya women and girls in Burma, Boko Haram kidnappings, and ISIS’s enslavement and rape of countless women from Yazidi, Christian, and Muslim communities.

“While these and other repulsive acts have in part been committed on the basis of religion, they in fact represent perversions of religious faith. These abuses have encouraged a misconception that freedom of religion and women’s rights are incompatible – that increased religious freedom restricts equality and justice for women,” she said.

However she rejected these ideas as “unfair and misled characterizations,” saying, “When religious freedom is protected, women’s rights are strengthened, and societies flourish.”

[…]