Piracy and despair: The unique problems that plague sailors

Montreal, Canada, Aug 25, 2017 / 03:25 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Claude Paradis was impoverished and homeless, living on the streets of Montreal, Canada. He struggled with addiction to both alcohol and drugs, with a future so bleak, he considered ending his own life.

He did not end his life, however, and today he is a priest who dedicates his time to serving the physical and spiritual needs of those trapped in poverty, prison and prostitution. 

“The street brought me to the Church and the Church in the end brought me back to the street,” the priest told the Journal Metro.

Last December, as a sign of his closeness and solidarity with the homeless, Fr. Paradis decided to sleep on the street for the whole month, to care for the homeless people there with solidarity and charity.

His hope was that he could accompany people in a difficult situation while also making the citizens of Montreal aware of the harsh reality faced by those living on the street.

Fr. Paradi founded an institution called Notre-Dame-de-la-rue (Our Lady of the Street). Each night, he goes out to bring food and shelter to those living on the streets. He also administers the sacraments, celebrates the Eucharist and even presides at funerals.

The priest is accompanied by one of his co-workers, Kevin Cardin, who also was addicted to drugs, but found help, changed his life and now has a family.

Notre-Dame-de-la-rue has the support of the Archbishop Christian Lépine of Montreal, who has described the initiative as “a presence of the Church to give encouragement.” It also has the support of the city.

“Our mission is especially to give encouragement. Unlike the shelters, we go out to the people, a bit like a door-to-door service. We talk to them, sometimes we pray together before they go back to face the harshness of the street.”

Fr. Paradis knows how hard life on the street is. After growing up in the Gaspé region and working in Cowansville as a nurse, he came to Montreal 25 years ago.

However, he was unable to find a job. “Isolation and despair took hold of me,” he said.

Living on the street, he thought about committing suicide. “I started doing cocaine and then crack,” he recalled.

In a letter posted on the website of La Victoire de l’Amour (the Victory of Love), Fr. Paradis tells how he met the Lord.

“I had the privilege of meeting God just at the moment I was doubting Him. On a little back street in Montreal, abandoned by people, there was nobody there. Passing by the old church, impelled by I don’t know what instinct, I turned back in there.”

At that moment, he had a deep and intense encounter with God. He realized he did not want to die, but rather wanted to become “a man of the Church.” 

Fr. Paradis went on to fight his addictions and now ministers to many people who face the same challenges he struggled with years ago.

The 57-year-old priest has dedicated the rest of his life to serving the poor, saying “on the street is where I want to be, until I die.”

This article was originally published on CNA Jan. 17, 2017.

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Hamilton, Bermuda, Feb 19, 2018 / 01:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The British government has said it will not overrule a Bermudian law passed earlier this month which abolishes same-sex marriage, less than a year after the institution was imposed by a court decision.

Bermuda’s parliament passed a bill in December 2017 which abolished same-sex marriage, and rather allowed both opposite- and same-sex couples to form domestic partnerships. The Domestic Partnership Act was approved by Bermuda Governor John Rankin Feb. 7.

“The Act is intended to strike a fair balance between two currently irreconcilable groups in Bermuda, by restating that marriage must be between a male and a female while at the same time recognising and protecting the rights of same-sex couples,” said Bermudian home affairs minister Walton Brown.

“Bermuda will continue to live up to its well-earned reputation as a friendly and welcoming place, where all visitors, including LGBT visitors, will continue to enjoy our beauty, our warm hospitality and inclusive culture.”

In a 2016 referendum, Bermudians had voted against gay marriage by 69 to 31 percent, but a May 2017 Supreme Court ruling legalized the practice.

As a British Overseas Territory, Bermuda is a self-governing territory under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. The British government is thus able to block Bermudian laws, but it was deemed inappropriate to do so.

“That bill has been democratically passed by the Parliament of Bermuda, and our relationship with the overseas territories is based on partnership and respect for their right to democratic self-government,” said British Prime Minister Theresa May.

Eight same-sex marriages were contracted in Bermuda while the practice was legal, and they will continue to be recognized.

Some proponents of gay marriage have advocated a boycott of Bermuda over the new law, but others have argued it would counterproductive and would only harm same-sex persons in the territory.

The Domestic Partnership Act 2018 already faces legal challenges in the courts.

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Cartagena, Colombia, Sep 10, 2017 / 11:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In his Angelus address Sunday, Pope Francis said the story of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá, the patroness of Colombia, provides an example of the humility with which all Christians should serve each other. 

“The Lord teaches us through the example of the humble and those who are not valued,” the Pope said Sept. 10. “They are the poor, humble ones, who contemplate the presence of God and to whom the mystery of God’s love is revealed most clearly.”

“As we pray the Angelus, recalling the incarnation of the Word, we also reflect on Mary who conceived Jesus and brought him into the world. We look to her this morning under the title of Our Lady of Chiquinquirá,” he said.

Our Lady of Chiquinquirá is the patroness of Colombia. Her image, which was painted on a piece of cloth in the 16th century was abandoned for a long time and allowed to become discolored and full of holes.

Tradition holds that a woman named Maria Ramos found the image in an old oratory in the town of Chiquinquirá in 1855 and “had the courage and faith to put this blurred and torn fabric in a special place, restoring its lost dignity,” Francis said.

It is said the painting was repaired to its former brilliancy through a miraculous restoration which occurred on Friday, Dec. 26, 1586.

The Pope pointed out how the Lord granted Maria Ramos, an ordinary woman, the grace to receive the poor image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, even in its damaged and worn state; and he gave the indigenous Isabel and her son Miguel the grace of being the first people to witness the transformed image.

Maria Ramos, he continued, is a model “for all those who, in different ways, seek to restore the dignity of our brothers and sisters lost through the pain of life’s wounds, to restore the dignity of those who are excluded.”

She is also a model for all those who provide dignified accommodation and care to those without a home, he continued. Being, above all, “a model for all those who pray perseveringly so that the men and women who are suffering may regain the splendor of the children of God which they have been robbed of.”

Pope Francis led the Angelus at the Church of St. Peter Claver in Cartagena, in one of the last events of his Sept. 6-11 trip to Colombia.

He urged all gathered to pray for the intercession of Mary and St. Peter Claver, “the slave of the blacks forever,” as he wanted to be known, who would wait for ships from Africa in the port city of Cartagena in order to help the slaves brought there.

Because of language differences, St. Peter Claver was often only able to communicate through his evangelical and charitable works. If he ever felt revulsion towards the slaves, he would kiss their wounds, the Pope said.

“He knew that the language of charity and mercy was understood by all. Indeed, charity helps us to know the truth and truth calls for acts of kindness,” Francis said.

The saint, who is buried beneath the altar in the church with his name, was “austere and charitable to the point of heroism,” the Pope said. And after helping hundreds of thousands of people, he himself spent the last four years of his life sick and confined to a bad cell.

St. Peter Claver is also a witness to the responsibility and care we should have for one another, he noted, despite the criticism he faced from those who hated his ministry and thought it would undermine the lucrative slave trade.

In Colombia and around the world millions of people are still being sold into slavery, the Pope emphasized. “They either beg for some expressions of humanity, moments of tenderness, or they flee by sea or land because they have lost everything, primarily their dignity and their rights.”

“María de Chiquinquirá and Peter Claver invite us to work to promote the dignity of all our brothers and sisters, particularly the poor and the excluded of society, those who are abandoned, immigrants, and those who suffer violence and human trafficking.”

They all have human dignity, he concluded, because they are living images of God. “We all are created in the image and likeness of God, and the Blessed Virgin holds each one of us in her arms as her beloved children.”

“Let us now turn to Our Blessed Virgin Mother in prayer, so that she may help us recognize the face of God in every man and woman of our time.”

After the Angelus, the Pope assured those present of his prayers for the countries of Latin America, particularly Venezuela, expressing his closeness to the nation and those from the nation who have been welcomed into Colombia.

“From this city, known as the seat of human rights, I appeal for the rejection of all violence in political life and for a solution to the current grave crisis, which affects everyone, particularly the poorest and most disadvantaged of society,” he said.

Before the Angelus in the Square of St. Peter Claver, Pope Francis blessed the cornerstones of two new homeless shelters being built in Cartagena. He also visited the home of a woman who opens her home daily to those in need, giving them food and affection.

“These visits have done me much good because they demonstrate how the love of God is made visible each day,” Francis said.

In his blessing of the cornerstones in St. Francis Square, the Pope prayed to the Lord that he would “fill with your blessings these servants of yours, who wish to devote themselves generously to the help of their brothers; so that, in urgent needs, they may serve you faithfully and fully in the person of their neighbor. Through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

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