Washington D.C., May 3, 2019 / 07:15 am (CNA).- The Department of Health and Human Services has released a new rule allowing medical professionals to refuse to take part in procedures because of their religious or conscientious objections. The rule cov… […]
New York City, N.Y., May 3, 2019 / 04:00 am (CNA).- Esther Harber says she was raped by a priest in 2010. Nine years later, through grace and her own courage, Harber’s story, and her life, are moving forward in hope.
Harber is not naive. She kno… […]
On May 5th, Pope Francis will begin his two-day visit to Bulgaria, a multi-religious Eastern European country with an Eastern Orthodox majority that makes up 59.4% of the population. Muslims make up 7.8% of the […]
Rome, Italy, May 3, 2019 / 12:43 am (CNA).- The partial destruction of Notre Dame basilica in a fire last month elicited mourning from Catholics and non-Catholic alike. But it is not the first time an iconic basilica has endured flames – and been … […]
Pemba, Mozambique, May 2, 2019 / 05:29 pm (CNA).- Catholic Relief Services is appealing for additional aid after Cyclone Kenneth struck northern Mozambique last week, the second such storm to hit the country in recent months.
“Entire villages have been flattened. Roads have been washed out. And bridges have been destroyed,” Erica Dahl-Bredine, CRS’ country representative of Lesotho and Mozambique, said April 30. “We’re just beginning to fully understand the extent of the damage. In fact, the number of people who have been impacted by this storm continues to climb.”
Cyclone Kenneth struck northeastern Mozambique April 25, killing 38. It destroyed 35,000 homes and left homeless tens of thousands. Cyclone Idai had hit the country’s south in March, killing at least 900.
“The local Church is doing an incredible job of helping the people of Mozambique in both regions and has mobilized an enormous army of volunteers to assist in these dual relief efforts,” Dahl-Bredine commented.
“But additional support will be needed from the international community before more people lose their lives.”
Landslides have destroyed numerous roads, making it difficult for humanitarian groups to access vulnerable areas, and a lack of resources and immediate aid is a concern, according to CRS.
Cyclone Kenneth particularly damaged the coastal districts of Cabo Delgado Province. Even after the cyclone passed, heavy rainfalls have continued to devastate the provincial capital, Pemba.
Catholic Relief Services said there are more than 168,000 people in urgent need of help. Mozambique is one of the poorest African countries, with 65% below the poverty line.
Dahl-Bredine said some areas are more at risk: “On Sunday, landslides triggered by a torrential downpour were reported in certain low-lying neighborhoods. In one case, a landslide dumped so much trash on top of people’s houses that the ensuing debris caused several reported deaths.”
“This is a part of Mozambique that is already more vulnerable to these types of storms because of its relative lack of resources.”
Beside a lack of food and clean water, one of the major concerns is waterborne diseases, such as cholera, typhoid, and malaria.
“When a storm like this hits with so much devastation, ensuring proper hygiene and sanitation practices becomes vital to stemming a deadly disease outbreak,” she further added.
CRS is working with the local government to provide support to some of the hardest hit areas in Pemba, including temporary shelter, food, and other necessities. The country has also received aid from Caritas, Save the Children, and the UN, who recently offered $13 million to Mozambique and Comoros Island.
Maria Auxiliadora parish in Pema is housing nearly 1,000 people displaced by the cyclone.
As the area has a large Muslim population, Father Ricardo Filipe Rosa Marques told the Associated Press that the Catholic Church is open to all.
“We don’t ask about people’s religions, human life is all we value,” he said.
Although some Muslims have refused help because they have not wanted to enter a Catholic church, he said, a large portion of people have appreciated the support and banded together in solidarity.
“People here have suffered a lot. They have been through (Portuguese) colonialism, civil war and the recent killings. They have been living with scars for years yet their love and sense of sharing is amazing,” he said.
Washington D.C., May 2, 2019 / 04:15 pm (CNA).- On April 30, a group of 19 Catholics released an open letter to the bishops of the world, accusing the pope of heresy and demanding that […]
Sacramento, Calif., May 2, 2019 / 05:06 pm (CNA).- Catholic Charities of the East Bay (CCEB) in California is remaining firm in its conviction against referring teenage victims of sex trafficking for contraception and abortions at a new facility, while emphasizing that medical care is not the new facility’s primary mission.
“We are not licensed to provide medical services,” said Mary Kuhn, spokesperson for CCEB. “We provide therapeutic services, shelter, case manage, and make sure the girls are getting either homeschooling or the right school, all of that…We’re not involved in their medical decisions.”
Catholic Charities is planning to open a home for teenage victims of sex trafficking, but has faced opposition from neighbors and critics who oppose the Church’s teaching on contraception and abortion.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the planned home will house up to 12 teenage sex-trafficking victims, ages 12 to 17, in Sequoyah, a forested neighborhood of the eastern Oakland hills. The facility, a former rectory, is still awaiting state approval to begin operations.
Alameda County District Attorney Nancy O’Malley had approached the diocese with an initiative to tackle human trafficking in the area. The new facility will be named “Claire’s House,” after O’Malley’s mother.
Kuhn told CNA that the biggest problem faced by social services agencies and advocacy groups for victims of sex trafficking is a lack of supportive homes, and Claire’s House is intended to fill that need.
The district attorney approached Oakland Bishop Michael Barber in 2015, along with other faith-based agencies in the area, asking for their help in addressing the problem of sex trafficking.
“There’s a lot of support for this program in Alameda County and the greater Bay Area,” Kuhn told CNA.
“Unfortunately there are a few people that are, quite understandably, nervous or opposed because they really just don’t want this near where they live.”
The president of the Coalition of Residents Protecting Sequoyah, the neighborhood where the home will operate, has expressed concern about human traffickers coming to the neighborhood looking for girls they have abused.
“Claire’s House is not a safehouse, and it’s not a shelter,” Kuhn clarified.
“And that’s really important…a safehouse means you’re hiding from someone, and a shelter means you’re getting a bed, but little else. Claire’s House is a home, and it’s a home for healing. It’s a home for girls who have already been separated from their exploiter,” she said.
The young people that the house will be serving will primarily be referred to the house by the county social services agency, and will be children that are already in the foster care system.
Without a place like Claire’s House, Kuhn said, they could be placed in a foster home with a family that “really isn’t prepared to provide the sort of therapeutic services and support that they need, because of their experience [of being trafficked].”
“They’re not coming in as an emergency placement or a crisis situation, so there is an assessment process. So they’re at a place where they are contemplating where to go next in their lives, and they just don’t have housing and they don’t have a place where they can be kids again.”
In alignment with Catholic teaching on the immorality of artificial contraception and abortion, the facility will not make appointments for clients at clinics that provide contraception or abortion and will also not provide transportation to those facilities.
Instead, the home will post a sign in a common area that explains the teens’ medical options. It will be up to the teens’ parents or guardians to arrange for abortion or contraception if they so choose.
“We are not a provider of medical services,” Kuhn clarified.
Per the house’s licensing, they contract with a third party medical provider who Kuhn said is equipped to work with the vulnerable group that they serve.
If there are conversations or decisions regarding abortion or contraception, that would be between the girls, their doctors, and their guardians. She said the house will likely not talk to the girls much about those topics, but that pro-life pregnancy resources are a service Catholic Charities of the East Bay would like to provide in the future.
“They do have access to third-party medical care providers,” she said.
“Of course, we’ll talk about health and hygiene, life skills, things like that. But our goal is to get them stabilized, enable them to pursue their education, get them the therapeutic services they need, and enable them to start participating in things kids do.”
The overarching Catholic values that come from their work help the teenagers to heal, she said.
“A lack of supportive homes for children who have left their exploiters— that is the single biggest problem that’s faced by social service organizations and advocacy groups, and Claire’s House fills this desperate need,” she reiterated.
The survivor led-community is supportive of the house, she said, and she said she hopes that other Catholic Charities organizations around the country can follow the same model.
“We are a national system, and we have deep experience serving people on the margins,” Kuhn said.
“And other entities would have a difficult time matching what Catholic Charities is able to do.”
The home plans to begin accepting its first clients as soon as the state approves a care license for the facility. Kuhn said Catholic Charities of East Bay will not be publicly announcing when they begin their services out of respect for the privacy of the children.
Wichita, Kan., May 2, 2019 / 04:10 pm (CNA).- By a single vote, the Kansas legislature failed to override a governor’s veto of a bill requiring doctors who administer the two-pill abortion drug regimen to tell women that the abortion pill can be … […]
San Cristobal, Venezuela, May 2, 2019 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- Members of the Venezuelan National Guard attacked a Catholic church in San Cristobal Wednesday, amid nationwide protests against the government of president Nicolas Maduro.
Bishop Mario del Valle Moronta Rodriguez of San Cristóbal de Venezuela said May 1 that “this afternoon a horde of Bolivarian National Guardsmen attacked Our Lady of Fatima church in Barrio Sucre of San Cristóbal.”
A Mass was ending, he said, “when two (members of) the GNB entered the church on a motorcycle.”
Bishop Moronta said that “the pastor came down from the rectory in order to stop them,” but “in the attempt to dialogue, a horde of 40 GNB arrived trying to enter.”
“The pastor, Fr. Jairo Clavijo, stopped them, and after them a general arrived by the last name of Ochoa who started arguing with the pastor, in hardly respectful terms.”
“Not content with the outrage, the GNB threw tear gas canisters inside the church,” he complained.
The Bishop of San Cristóbal said, “they were unable to evacuate the sacred precinct where there were a good number of faithful including quite a few elderly people. A nun fainted.”
For Bishop Moronta “this incident is extremely serious and is an attack on the Catholic Church.”
“I blame the aforementioned General Ochoa as well as the military authorities in the region for this despicable incident which by itself speaks of the intentionality of the attackers who don’t have the least respect for human dignity and don’t even show any fear of God.”
The Venezuelan prelate said the Diocese of San Cristóbal “will take preventive measures and appropriate actions in this case.”
“As a bishop and a pastor I express my complete solidarity with the pastor, Fr. Jairo Clavijo, and the entire congregation of Our Lady of Fatima, whom I accompany with my prayers and the actions we will put forward.”
The clash was one of many that took place across Venezuela April 30-May 1 after opposition leader Juan Guaidó urged protests against Maduro.
Guaidó, head of the opposition-controlled legislature, the National Assembly, declared himself interim president in January and has been recognized by a number of Western governments, but has been largely unable to secure the support of Venezuela’s military.
Both supportors and opponents of Maduro have been on the streets in Venezuelan cities since Guaidó’s call on Tuesday. The military responded to opponents in violent clashes, firing tear gas, and by arresting peaceful demonstrators.
Maduro said he had stopped an “attempted coup.”
Guaidó has called for continuing protests, and announced a series of strikes beginning May 2.
Under Maduro’s socialist administration, Venezuela has been marred by violence and social upheaval, with severe shortages and hyperinflation leading 3 million to emigrate.
Washington D.C., May 2, 2019 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee has approved a controversial equality bill paving the way for a full vote on the floor of the House. Critics of the bill warn that the legislation will dam… […]
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