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Bishops lament return of federal executions

July 30, 2019 CNA Daily News 0

Washington D.C., Jul 30, 2019 / 10:15 am (CNA).- Catholic leaders have condemned the federal government’s announcement last week that it will resume of executions after an almost two decade-long hiatus.

“I am deeply concerned by the announcement of the United States Justice Department that it will once again turn, after many years, to the death penalty as a form of punishment,” said Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, Florida, chair of the U.S. bishops’ domestic justice and human development committee, in a statement released July 30. 

Attorney General William Barr on July 25 announced that executions of federal death-row inmates would resume for the first time since 2003, with five executions scheduled for December 2019 and January 2020.

“Under Administrations of both parties, the Department of Justice has sought the death penalty against the worst criminals, including these five murderers, each of whom was convicted by a jury of his peers after a full and fair proceeding,” said Barr, who is a practicing Catholic and a member of the Knights of Columbus.

Federal executions are rare, with only three occurring in the modern era and the last one being in 2003, the Death Penalty Information Center reports. The federal death penalty was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1972 in Furman v. Georgia, but revised federal death penalty statues were reinstated in 1988.

In 2014, President Obama ordered a Department of Justice (DOJ) review of the federal death penalty after several botched executions by lethal injection in states including Oklahoma and Ohio. However, executions will once again take place and more will be scheduled in the future, the DOJ said Thursday.

In 2018, Pope Francis approved updated language for the Catechism of the Catholic Church calling the death penalty “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.”

In paragraph 2267, the Catechism acknowledges that the death penalty was “long considered an appropriate response” to grave crimes by legitimate authorities after a fair trial. However, it says, there is now an “increasing awareness” of human dignity even after such crimes have been committed, as well as more secure means of detention by societies that keep open the possibility of redemption.

When the change was announced, bishops across the United States welcomed the change. Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles said at the time that he was “grateful for Pope Francis’ leadership in working for an end to judicial executions worldwide,” and that the revisions “reflect an authentic development of the Church’s doctrine that started with St. John Paul II and has continued under emeritus Pope Benedict XVI and now Pope Francis.”

“The Scriptures, along with saints and teachers in the Church’s tradition, justify the death penalty as a fitting punishment for those who commit evil or take another person’s life,” Archbishop Gomez wrote.

In his statement on Tuesday, Dewane noted that last month, at their annual Spring meeting, the U.S. bishops States voted overwhelmingly to adopt updated language “reflecting this position” in the U.S. catechism for adults.

“I urge instead that Federal officials take this teaching into consideration, as well as the evidence showing its unfair and biased application, and abandon the announced plans to implement the death penalty once more,” he said.

The Federal Death Penalty Act of 1994, enacted as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, expanded the list of eligible death penalty offenses.

One of the five inmates, Daniel Lewis Lee, was convicted in 1999 by a federal court jury on “numerous offenses, including three counts of murder in aid of racketeering.” Lee was a member of a white supremacist group, robbing and killing a family of three in gruesome fashion, the DOJ said.

Lawyers for Lee said Thursday that the crime for which he was sentenced to death was actually orchestrated by a different member of a white supremacist group, who only received a life sentence; they argued that Lee did not conduct the murder, and that evidence used against him during the trial was later overturned by DNA testing.

Morris Moon, Lee’s attorney, stated that “the trial judge, the lead prosecutor, and members of the victims’ family all oppose executing him and believe a life sentence is appropriate,” but the federal government ordered prosecutors to proceed with a death sentence. Furthermore, Lee suffered “relentless” abuse and trauma as a youth, he said.

Another of the five inmates, Wesley Purkey, raped and murdered a 16 year-old girl and bludgeoned to death an 80 year-old woman, the DOJ said. Purkey’s lawyer said on Thursday that he suffered serious abuse and trauma at a young age, and now “suffers from a multitude of mental and physical disabilities, including dementia” at age 67.

According to the DOJ, inmate Lezmond Mitchell murdered a 63 year-old woman and forced her nine year-old granddaughter to sit beside her corpse on a 30 to 40-mile drive before murdering her as well. Mitchell’s attorney said that he is a member of the Navajo nation, which opposes the death penalty in its own jurisdiction, and which has opposed the sentence.

Mitchell is “the only Native American on federal death row,” his counsel said. He was eligible for the death penalty because carjacking resulting in death is a federal crime.

According to the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), Federal administration of the federal death penalty is geographically-concentrated in the South, with more than half of federal death sentences coming from just three states—Virginia, Texas, and Missouri. Additionally, the three federal circuit courts comprising that region—the Fourth, Fifth, and Eighth—are responsible for 42 of the 61 current federal death sentences.

More than half of current federal death row inmates are African-American, Latino, Asian or Native American, the DPIC said.

The Catholic Mobilizing Network last Thursday called the DOJ decision “unconscionable,” arguing that the death penalty system in the U.S. “is tragically flawed.”

“The actions of the Federal government are meant to represent the values of the American people — values of equality, fairness, and for Catholics, above all, a belief in the sanctity of human life,” stated Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, Executive Director of CMN.

“The resumption of executions at the federal level flies in the face of these values, and promotes a culture of death where we so desperately need a culture of life,” she said.

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John Paul II Institute responds to student and faculty criticisms

July 29, 2019 CNA Daily News 2

Vatican City, Jul 29, 2019 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- The Pontifical John Paul II Institute issued a statement Monday, defending recent changes at the school. But some students and faculty members say that explanations do not address the full picture of issues at the theological institute.

“The academic project of the new Institute, approved by the Congregation for Catholic Education, is designed as a widening of reflection on the family, and not as a replacement of themes and topics. Such expansion, showing even more the centrality of the family in the church and in society, confirms and relaunches with new vigor the original and still fruitful intuition of St. John Paul II,” the July 29 press release said.

The statement aimed to respond to concerns raised by students, alumni, and faculty members of the Institute following the recent approval of its new statutes, or governing documents. The new statutes were called for in 2017, when Pope Francis reestablished the institute, broadening its focus from theology to include “family sciences.”

The Institute was initially founded in 1981 as a center for the study of Christian anthropology and theology, especially in light of the philosophical ideas expressed in Pope St. John Paul II’s “Love and Responsibility,” and the set of his teachings that eventually came to be called the “Theology of the Body.”

When Pope Francis legally refounded the Institute two years ago, he said he hoped its work would be “better known and appreciated in its fruitfulness and relevance.”

Adding a focus on the social sciences, he said, would be an expansion of “the field of interest, both in terms of the new dimensions of the pastoral task and the ecclesial mission, as well as in the development of human sciences and the anthropological culture in such a crucial field for the culture of life.”

The July 29 press release acknowledged that while a chair of fundamental moral theology at the school will no longer exist, changes made to the institute’s curriculum are intended to ensure that “moral doctrine of marriage and family,” and “theological ethics of life,” remain a part of the institute’s coursework.

Fundamental moral theology is already required in the “first cycle” of theological studies required for admission to the Institute’s graduate programs, the press release said.

But a professor at the Institute told CNA that scholarship in the field of fundamental moral theology has been a long-standing part of the school’s identity, and that other subjects also covered in the first cycle, such as Christian anthropology, remain a part of the Institute’s curriculum.

The professor, noting that Humanae vitae is not expressly mentioned in the Institute’s new statutes, said that the school’s chair of fundamental moral theology was established at the Institute’s inception, at the insistence of the school’s founder, Pope St. John Paul II.

“It is important to know that in the old statutes of 2011, based on a few words from Ratzinger about the Institute’s contribution to fundamental moral theology, explicit mention of fundamental moral theology was included,” the professor added.

Regarding concerns raised about faculty dismissals, the press release said that because of its partnership with the Pontifical Lateran University, the Institute has reduced its number of course offerings, and therefore not retained some professors, “according to a policy of consistency and economy.”

Some professors may be eligible for rehire, according to the future faculty needs of the Institute, the press release said.

Among those no longer included among the Institute’s permanent faculty is Monsignor Livio Melina, who held a chair in fundamental moral theology and served as the Institute’s long-time president. The press release said that Melina would no longer hold a permanent faculty position because the chair in moral theology “no longer exists.”

Also dismissed is Fr. Jose Noriega, DCJM, a professor of moral theology at the institute.

Noriega is the superior general of the Disciples of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a Spanish religious community of 24 professed members. The press release said that Noriega could not continue on the faculty because of a provision in canon law which forbids holding two ecclesiastical positions which are “incompatible.”

Noreiga’s term as superior general of the Disciples of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary ends in January 2020.

Noriega has served as superior for 12 years. The priest told CNA that during his years as superior, including three years under the Institute’s current administration, the issue has not been raised to him by anyone at the Institute.

Noriega also said that there is no proof that his faculty position is “incompatible” with a leadership position in his religious community. He noted that during the time he has held both positions, he also served as editorial director of the Institute.

The press release took issue with reports that a new hiring process will be centralized in the office of the Institute’s Grand Chancellor, Archbishop Vincenzo Paglia, noting that “the appointment of new permanent teachers must be done through an open competition.”

Such a competition, according to the statutes, is judged by a commission constituted by the institute’s president, a faculty member, and an external member nominated by the Grand Chancellor or a vice-chancellor. Tenured faculty members can veto the commission’s decision by a two-thirds majority.

The faculty member told CNA that because the chancellor appoints the Institute’s president, the composition of faculty hiring commissions remains subject to his influence and control, noting that only one member of hiring commissions, the one appointed by the faculty, would have independence from the administration’s preferences and intentions.

“Analysis of the statutes shows that the concentration of power in the hands of the Grand Chancellor is true,” the professor told CNA.

The June 29 statement also disputed reports that 150 students had signed expressing concern about the direction of the school. The statement said that only a few representatives of the students had signed the letter, which “asked for explanations about the innovations taking place.”

“All students were promptly informed of the news and reassured, in accordance with art. 89 of the statutes, about the three-year validity of the old curriculum. Everyone will be given the opportunity to choose between old and new systems and to draft any new plans of study.”

The faculty member said that while the Institute has told students they may continue in their preferred curriculum, changes to course offerings will make that impossible for those students who wish to continue with the Institute’s traditional theological offerings.

One of the letter’s organizers told CNA that, to date, 246 students and alumni have added their signatures to the letter through a website set up for that purpose. Organizers say they intend to publish the letter in the coming days.

A student at the Institute, herself among the authors of the letter, told CNA that while students received communication from the Institute’s administrators before they sent their letter, they have received no response to their concerns.

“We students have expressed our reactions of pain and our request for clarification, addressing the academic authorities, to understand, to know what is going on; to express our support to the professors that have been fired overnight –and it is the time to say it, by an academic institution only because they were spiritual and cultural heirs of John Paul II, only because they believe in the teachings regarding marriage and family from Humanae vitae.
 
With the new order and the new statutes, we don’t have changes that have been shared and agreed upon, but replacements and expulsions. We are witnesses to a true coup d’etat; it is not an integration and alignment of new courses and professors to what already exists and works, but instead the end of an era, with the expulsion of serious and thoughtful persons,” she added.

 

[…]

Analysis

The Vandals sack Rome….again

July 29, 2019 George Weigel 99

An exercise in raw intellectual vandalism has been underway in Rome since July 23: what was originally known as the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family has been peremptorily but systematically […]

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Poor and vulnerable most hurt by budget cuts, say Alaska’s bishops

July 29, 2019 CNA Daily News 1

Juneau, Alaska, Jul 29, 2019 / 03:41 pm (CNA).- Recent budget cuts resulting from the governor’s budget vetoes are having a “direct negative impact” on the homeless, poor, and vulnerable in Alaska, the state’s bishops said Thursday.

“Our Catholic social services agencies, along with other faith-based denominations and private nonprofits, can barely keep up with the current needs of people who live on the margins,” the July 25 statement reads.

“Across Alaska, thousands of low-income families now face new struggles through funding cuts to agencies that operate food pantries, shelter programs, and early childhood education. The millions of dollars cut statewide to homeless services will force the most vulnerable onto the streets. Cuts to senior housing grants and to the senior benefits program adversely affect our elders,” it adds.

The statement, published by the Alaska Catholic Conference, was signed by Bishop Andrew Bellisario, C.M, of Juneau and Apostolic Administrator of Anchorage; Bishop Chad Zielinsk of Fairbanks; and Bishop Roger L. Schwietz, OMI, Archbishop Emeritus of Anchorage.

It follows budget cuts made this month by Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

According to Anchorage Daily News, the governor cut $444 million from a proposed $8.7 billion state operating budget. The cuts will affect multiple education initiatives and Medicaid services, including adult dental coverage. A senior benefits program which paid cash to elders in need was cut from the budget, and millions were cut from services that aid the poor, blind, special-needs, or homeless populations, Anchorage Daily News reported.

The cuts were part of a plan to rebalance the budget without raising taxes or cutting the Permanent Fund dividend, an annual payout to permanent citizens of Alaska, funded by oil revenues.

The cuts will end daytime shelter at multiple Catholic homeless shelters and will drastically reduce the number of beds available, the bishops said.

“In Anchorage, Brother Francis Shelter will be forced to reduce its capacity from 240 beds to 100. Where will the other 140+ homeless go? The Shelter has now closed during the day to cut costs, forcing more people to wander the streets,” the bishops said.

“Clare House, which provides shelter to 90 at-risk women with children and to expectant mothers, 24/7, will be forced to reduce services to nighttime only. Where will these moms and their children go? Currently the shelter also provides day-care for their children allowing these women to work.”

The bishops also expressed their concerns for the livelihoods of the employees at these shelters, who face layoffs after the budget cuts. Anchorage Daily News reported that 14 people could be laid off from the Brother Francis shelter alone due to the cuts.

“We need to support these dedicated servants of the poor, not penalize them by laying them off from their jobs. After all, they work on our behalf. They assist those who are clinging to the last rung of the ladder in our society, many of whom, without assistance, have only to look forward to destitution and despair,” the bishops said.

“As the Catholic Bishops of Alaska, we are called to advocate and defend or speak against government policies and programs that directly affect the lives and dignity of the poor and vulnerable,” they said.

“We call upon all our elected officials to restore funds to agencies and services that provide for the needs of our children, our elders, the poor, the vulnerable, and the homeless. We ask Alaskans to reach out and contact their elected officials in support of restoring funds for services to the poor and vulnerable in our State,” the bishops added.

“We will continue to do our part to fund our agencies as best we can with our resources, our time and our talent, together with all those willing to support us. We will continue to collaborate with our local and state governments because we realize it is all of us, working together, who contribute to the solution of taking care of the most vulnerable in our State.”

Dunleavy’s vetoes met with strong opposition, and the Alaska House of Representatives voted July 29 to restore some of the vetoed funding.

In a 31-7 vote, the House voted to restore funds for college scholarships and infrastructure projects, among other things. The funds will come from the state’s Constitutional Budget Reserve.

The House bill will now go to Dunleavy.

[…]

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Vatican official offers message of hope to Church in Venezuela

July 29, 2019 CNA Daily News 1

Caracas, Venezuela, Jul 29, 2019 / 02:51 pm (CNA).- After visiting clerics and seminarians in Venezuela, the secretary for seminaries of the Congregation for the Clergy issued a hopeful message for the country, which is facing shortages of basic goods.

“There is no desert that doesn’t end,” Archbishop Jorge Carlos Patrón Wong said, adding that “experiences in the history of Venezuela, and also personal and familial experiences, show that you can move forward.”

Under the socialist administration of Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela has been marred by violence and social upheaval, with severe shortages of food and medicine, high unemployment, blackouts, and hyperinflation. More than 4 million Venezuelans have emigrated since 2015.

Archbishop Patrón spoke to Venezuelans through the “Voices of Hope” program of the Venezuelan bishops’ conference.

“I’m going to repeat the words of Pope Francis: let no one rob you of hope. Be free to live in hope, free to love, free to make decisions in favor of Venezuela, and very free to believe,”  Patrón encouraged.

“You have also gone through not so easy other personal, familial and national experiences in the past, but Venezuela is great, very great,” exclaimed Patrón, who explained that he was referring to Venezuela as great “because it has the seed of the Kingdom, because it has the presence of God, and you have the love of Our Lady of Coromoto.”

Patrón also emphasized that “the Kingdom of God is growing” and added that during his time in Venezuela he met “young seminarians, priests of all ages and bishops who are very determined to be the presence of God in the current circumstances.”

“Any young man, priest, even the bishops themselves had other possibilities, which perhaps were much more comfortable, humanly understandable and justifiable, but it’s beautiful to realize that we have seminarians, priests and bishops that from within, from the heart, know that it’s worth giving their lives and going through a series of sacrifices, a series of inconveniences, but they are joyful because they are giving their lives so that the Kingdom of God, the values of the Gospel, are lived in Venezuela today,”  Patrón said.

The prelate added that the clerics and seminarians “are very Venezuelan because from Venezuela, in Venezuela, from their vocation, they are the best citizens, the best Christians because they are giving their lives, their potentialities, their gifts, their lives, for the people of Venezuela.”

“That’s why, when you come to Venezuela you realize there’s life, there’s youth, there’s priesthood, there’s consecrated life, there are lay faithful who have freely decided to live, develop and give themselves totally to God, for the people of Venezuela and we can say there is a living present and it’s going to see a better future,” the archbishop said.

Finally, reflecting on the formation of seminarians and the ongoing formation of deacons and priests,  Patrón stressed that it is necessary to be a pastor for the current situation and for future generations.

“The people of God and we need priests who are integrally formed. The people are praying to have holy, healthy priests, generous priests and this means that in formation we have ‘very human’ human beings, very close to the people of God, and at the same time very close to Jesus Christ, very spiritual. Men of God and men of their people, who give themselves to the people of Venezuela,” he concluded.

Earlier this month the Venezuelan bishops asked that Maduro resign from office, saying his exercise of the presidency is illegimate. They called for the election of a new president as soon as possible.

The bishops cited a July 4 report from the UN human rights commissioner which said the government has committed a variety of human rights abuses, including a high number of extrajudicial killings.

Maduro was sworn in for a second term as president Jan. 10, after winning a contested election in which oppositon candidates were barred from running or imprisoned. Venezuela’s bishops have called his new term illegitimate, and Juan Guaidó, head of the opposition-controlled legislature the National Assembly, declared himself interim president Jan. 23.

Guaidó has been recognized by a number of Western governments, but has been largely unable to secure the support of Venezuela’s military. He has pledged a transitional government and free elections.

Last week the US Treasury Department claimed that Maduro and his government have profited off a food subsidy program through a “vast corruption network,” in which a fraction of the food meant to enter the country was actually imported.

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