In 2001 The Economist published an article entitled “Time to forgive the sinners in China”. The author asked an important question, the answer to which we are still struggling to find: Both China and the […]
Salem, Ore., Sep 26, 2018 / 08:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A ballot initiative in the state of Oregon could, if passed, ban the use of public funds for abortion on demand, which has directly cost taxpayers nearly $25 million since 2002.
If Measure 106 pas… […]
Rosario, Argentina, Sep 26, 2018 / 07:01 pm (ACI Prensa).- Mary Our Queen Parish in the city of Rosario, Argentina was the target of a violent attack Sept. 23, which the church’s pastor said was a threat made in response to his recent denunciation of area gangs and drug traffickers.
Gunmen fired on the church and school, which face each other. Seven shots struck the church facade, one of which went through the front door. Another five bullets hit the door of the school.
The Rosario Regional Prosecutor’s Office opened an investigation to find those responsible. However, the church’s pastor, Fr. Juan Pablo Núñez, blamed the shooting on drug traffickers. A few weeks ago, he began to speak about the drugs problem, and he said he had already received threats.
“The neighborhood was a no man’s land, many incidents of robberies, shootings, the people came to talk to me because they didn’t know whom to talk to, so then I started airing their concerns about that situation,” Fr. Núñez told the news portal Todos Para Uno.
The priest explained that he has been working in the neighborhood for four and a half years. He had opened a center to help young people on drugs, but he had to close it soon afterwards because of threats from the parents themselves, some of whom were also involved in the drug trade.
Four weeks before the attack, Fr. Núñez began to ask the local authorities to take the necessary steps “to put an end the drama of the lack of public safety.”
“When people ask me if I’m afraid, for myself no, but I do fear for the people because these gangs don’t respect anyone,” the pastor of Mary Our Queen said.
The vicar general of the Archdiocese of Rosario, Msgr. Emilio Cardarelli, expressed his solidarity with Fr. Núñez and the parish and school community.
Msgr. Cardarelli asked prayers of all the faithful “so that the grace of letting themselves be encountered by Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth and the Life, may come to those who were the authors of this deed.”
Finally, he asked the authorities “to not just work on the weakest link, the small time drug dealers on the streets, but also on the financial circuit that sustains drug trafficking and the massive distribution of arms, which cause so many deaths in our city.”
“With the start of the novena coming soon which prepares us for the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, the patroness of our city and archdiocese, we commend to her heart this situation which is harming our young people and deteriorating the social fabric,” Msgr. Cardarelli concluded.
This article was originally published CNA’s Spanish-language sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
Maumere, Indonesia, Sep 26, 2018 / 06:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At least 20,000 people were present Wednesday for the episcopal consecration of Bishop Ewaldus Martinus Sedu of Maumere, UCA News has reported.
The Sept. 26 Mass was said at Samador da Cunha Sport Center in Maumere, on Indonesia’s Flores island.
All schools in Maumere were reportedly closed so students could attend the ceremony.
His principal consecrator was his immediate predecessor, Bishop Gerulfus Kherubim Pareira; the principal co-consecrators were Archbishop Vincentius Sensi Potokota of Ende and Bishop Franciscus Kopong Kung of Larantuka.
Bishop Sedu, 55, was born in Bajawa, and was ordained a priest of the Archdioese of Ende in 1991. He incardinated into the Diocese of Maumere when it was established out of the Ende archdiocese in 2005, and has served as vicar general.
He was appointed Bishop of Maumere July 14.
The Diocese of Maumere has approximately 302,000 Catholics, 54 diocesan priests, 102 religious priests, and 36 parishes. Its area is less than 700 square miles.
Though Indonesia is a heavily majority-Muslim country, the island of Flores is largely Catholic. Flores was colonized by Portugal, and more than 87 percent of the population of the Maumere diocese is Catholic.
Wheeling, W.V., Sep 26, 2018 / 04:45 pm (CNA).- Archbishop William Lori of Baltimore has begun an investigation into the alleged misconduct of Bishop Michael Bransfield, who until recently led the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston.
Lori was appointed apo… […]
Washington D.C., Sep 26, 2018 / 04:30 pm (CNA).- A recent study from the University of Maryland has shown that members of the generation born in and after the mid 1980s are divorcing at a lower rate than older cohorts.
Philip Cohen, a sociology professor at the University of Maryland, released an analysis Sept. 15 which drew on census data to show that the divorce rate in the United States had dropped by 18 percent between the years 2008 and 2016. The drop was credited in large part to millennials staying married–even if they are marrying at lower rates than previous generations did at the same age.
Dr. John Grabowski, associate professor of moral theology and ethics at the Catholic University of America, told CNA that he believes the report is “kind of good news and bad news.”
“The good news is: the divorce rate is falling, particularly among millennials. The bad news is less people are getting married, especially poorer people. Many people are just choosing to cohabit.”
While it had been thought that a drop in the divorce rate could be credited to an aging population less likely to divorce, the study showed that even when controlling for age the divorce rate still dropped by 8 percent, and that the millennials who do marry tend to stay married more than older demographics.
Slightly more than 10 percent of people between the ages of 18 and 34 are divorced, a number which has stayed relatively stable since 1980. In contrast, over a quarter of people over the age of 44 are divorced, a 10 percent rise since 1980.
According to a separate study from Bowling Green’s National Center for Family and Marriage Research, the divorce rate for people aged 55 to 64 almost doubled between 1990 and 2015.
In calculating the divorce rate, Cohen compared the number of divorces to the number of married women so that the divorce rate would not be positively impacted by fewer marriages overall.
Grabowski hypothesized that the lower divorce rates among millennials could be partly explained by marriage no longer being considered a social an expectation or requirement among their generation.
This means that those who do marry are being “much more intentional” about the process, he said. “In some ways they’re swimming against the tide a bit culturally by doing that.”
Additionally, Grabowski suggested that the sexual revolution of the 1960s and 70s had led to an increased exposure to the negative effects of divorce on men, women, and children.
“People are more aware now of the resources and practices that they need to have a healthy marriage–in other words, to keep a marriage working,” he explained. It also helps, he said, that people are better informed about what it takes to keep a marriage working, and that there are more resources available to aid a troubled marriage.
While the news that millennials are increasingly shunning divorce can be read as a positive development, the decreasing number of millennials who marry at all may indicate cause for concern, Grabowski said.
Cohabiting couples often cite disincentives to marry–such as the high cost of a “fairytale wedding”–but Grabowski told CNA that he believes the benefits of married life clearly outweigh any cost.
“We have decades of social scientific research that shows that people who do get married do better economically, health-wise, and emotionally than people who remain unmarried or who simply cohabit or serially cohabit with different people,” he said.
The largest group of people living in poverty in the United States are single-parent households with children, “usually headed by women,” Grabowski added.
“People who remain unmarried but have children are at a huge economic disadvantage compared to their married counterparts.”
Many millennials, Grabowski theorized, may be afraid of entering a marriage after watching their parents or relatives divorce. Still, he said that the analysis showed “a little bit of good news” about marriage as a whole.
“And if the millennials kill divorce, or kill the divorce rate, well, that’s a good thing. If only we could convince maybe more of them to enter into marriage, we’d be doing really well.”
The relation between the Church and political life depends on her position in society generally. In the best situation, Catholicism would be generally recognized as a guide to action and belief, and that situation would […]
London, England, Sep 26, 2018 / 02:30 pm (CNA).- The bishops of England and Wales have released a statement addressing the recent sexual abuse scandals in the Church, both in the UK and abroad. They also announced an independent review of current polic… […]
Arlington, Va., Sep 26, 2018 / 01:30 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Arlington has announced that it is conducting a review of all clergy personnel files and that it will publish a list priests and deacons who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a … […]
St. Paul, Minn., Sep 26, 2018 / 12:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At a hearing in US bankruptcy court Tuesday, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of Saint Paul and Minneapolis told clergy abuse victims their persistence and courage have made children more safe.
At the… […]
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