CNA Staff, Apr 29, 2020 / 11:50 am (CNA).- The Diocese of Lincoln, Nebraska today released the results of an independent investigation into alleged misconduct by a deceased longtime vocations director.
The report concluded that Monsignor Leonard Kalin… […]
CNA Staff, Apr 29, 2020 / 10:55 am (CNA).- When the U.S. Army arrived at Dachau concentration camp 75 years ago, on April 29, 1945, the clergy held captive there regarded it as a miracle.
A week earlier, on April 22, the priests and monks of Dachau ha… […]
When the novelist Sigrid Undset was making her way from atheism to the Catholic faith, her most powerful guide was the Dominican laywoman Saint Catherine of Siena. The central moral insight in Undset’s most renowned […]
Rome Newsroom, Apr 29, 2020 / 06:00 am (CNA).- The Grand Master of the Order of Malta Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre died early Wednesday at the age of 75.
Dalla Torre had been in treatment for throat cancer in Rome in recent months. He is remembered by the Order of Malta for his kindness, appreciation of the arts, and charity towards the poor and disabled.
“I worked with Fra’ Giacomo for over 20 years,” Philippa Leslie, communications director of the Order of Malta in Great Britain, told CNA.
“He had a warm and sympathetic personality, a nice sense of humour, and was always completely natural and friendly with all whom he met, and took a great interest in people,” she said. “In relaxed moments, we discussed opera together, particularly Italian opera.”
The Grand Master of the Sovereign Order of Malta is a position usually held for life. Dalla Torre led the order for three years before his death. He was elected as the 80th grand master in May 2018 after serving one year as the interim grand master amid the order’s ongoing reform.
Portuguese Grand Commander Fra’ Ruy Gonçalo do Valle Peixoto de Villas Boas will serve as interim head of the order, according to article 17 of the order’s constitution, until the election of the new Grand Master.
The 80-year-old interim leader has been a member of the Order of Malta’s Portuguese Association for more than 30 years. He took his solemn vows as a Professed Knight in 2015, and was elected to the position of Grand Commander in May 2019.
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta is a Catholic lay religious order originally founded as the Knights Hospitaller around 1099 in Jerusalem for the protection and medical care of Holy Land pilgrims. Now based in Rome, it is present in 120 countries with over 2,000 projects in the medical-social field and more than 120,000 volunteers and medical staff.
It maintains sovereignty, holding diplomatic relations with more than 100 states and United Nations permanent observer status.
Recently, the Order of Malta has been active in its response to the coronavirus throughout the world. The order has delivered medicine and food to the elderly, donated iPads to nursing homes so residents can make video calls to family, and assisted with the construction of a new hospital in Lombardy, the epicenter of the coronavirus in Italy.
In April, the order launched a “Doctor to Doctor” initiative to share best practices with medical staff in the Middle East for the treatment and prevention of COVID-19. The program connected doctors on the front line in Italy with doctors in Palestine, Jordan, and Lebanon.
The grand master is the sovereign and religious head of the Order of Malta vested with the authority to conduct diplomatic relations, ratify international agreements, and to issue legislative measures along with the Sovereign Council.
As grand master, Fra’ Giacomo Dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto made state visits to Cameroon, Benin, Germany, Slovenia, Bulgaria, and other countries. He visited medical staff and patients in the order’s healthcare facilities during each of these trips, according to a press statement by the order.
He cared for the poor by serving weekly at soup kitchens in Rome’s railway stations and participating in the order’s International Summer Camps for Young Disabled. For over forty years, he was active in the order’s pilgrimages to Loreto, Assisi, Lourdes, and other international locations.
Born in Rome in 1944, Dalla Torre, studied literature and philosophy at Sapienza University of Rome, specializing in Christian archaeology and art history.
He taught courses in Classic Greek at the Pontifical Urbaniana University in Rome and has served as head of the university’s library and chief archivist for important collections.
“His knowledge of history – medieval, and especially the history of the Order of Malta – was extensive. He was of course very up to date with world affairs too. But his great passion was music, about which he was very knowledgeable,” Leslie said.
Dalla Torre entered the Order of Malta in 1985 and made his solemn vows as a professed knight in 1993. From 1994-1999 he served as grand prior of Lombardy and Venice, and from 1999-2004 was a member of the Sovereign Council.
In 2004, he was elected grand commander, and after the death of the 78th grand master, Fra’ Andrew Bertie, he stood in as interim lieutenant. He served as grand prior of Rome from 2008 to 2017.
Dalla Torre was appointed interim grand master April 29, 2017, after the resignation of Matthew Festing, which marked the end of a month-long back and forth between the Order of Malta and the Holy See, beginning with the dismissal of Grand Chancellor Albrecht von Boeselager from both his position, and his membership in the order, in early December 2016.
Boeselager had been dismissed because of allegations that under his tenure the order’s charity branch had inadvertently been involved in distributing condoms in Burma to prevent the spread of HIV. Boeselager, whose brother Georg von Boeselager was appointed a member of the Board of Superintendents of the IOR in 2016, was reinstated after Festing was asked to resign by Pope Francis.
The death of the Order of Malta’s Grand Master comes as the organization continues its reform.
Vatican City, Apr 29, 2020 / 05:15 am (CNA).- The eight beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount reveal the path from selfishness to holiness, Pope Francis said at his general audience Wednesday.
Speaking via livestream due to the coronavirus crisis, the pope said April 29: “The path of the Beatitudes is an Easter journey that leads from a life according to the world to a life according to God, from an existence guided by the flesh — that is, by selfishness — to one guided by the Spirit.”
In his address from the library of the apostolic palace, the pope concluded his cycle of catechesis on the beatitudes.
He said that the eighth beatitude, “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10), was intimately connected to the first, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).
“This beatitude announces the same happiness as the first: the kingdom of heaven is for the persecuted just as it is for the poor in spirit,” he said. “We understand that we have arrived at the end of a unified path set out in the previous proclamations.”
Those who follow the path of the beatitudes soon find themselves in conflict with the world, the pope noted. But they are blessed because “they have found something worth more than the whole world.”
“The world, with its idols, its compromises and its priorities, cannot approve of this kind of existence,” he said. So it dismisses life according to the Gospel “as an error and a problem, therefore as something to be marginalized.”
That is why the world has persecuted Christians throughout history, the pope observed.
“It is painful to remember that, at this moment, there are many Christians suffering persecution in various parts of the world, and we must hope and pray that as soon as possible their tribulation will be stopped,” he said.
He encouraged Catholics to express their solidarity with the persecuted, who he described as “bleeding members of the body of Christ which is the Church.”
The pope urged Christians to be careful not to read the eighth beatitude in a “self-pitying way.” Sometimes, he said, we arouse contempt because we have drifted away from the Gospel, rather than because we are witnessing to it.
He said: “In fact, the contempt of men is not always synonymous with persecution: just a little later Jesus says that Christians are the ‘salt of the earth,’ and warns against ‘losing the taste,’ otherwise salt ‘serves no other purpose than to be thrown away and trampled underfoot’ (Matthew 5:13). Therefore, there is also a contempt that is our fault when we lose the taste of Christ and the Gospel.”
In off-the-cuff remarks at the end of his address, the pope said: “In persecutions there is always the presence of Jesus who accompanies us, the presence of Jesus who consoles us and the strength of the Spirit who helps us to move forward.”
“Let us not be discouraged when a life consistent with the Gospel attracts people’s persecutions: there is the Spirit that sustains us on this road.”
Vatican City, Apr 29, 2020 / 04:05 am (CNA).- When identifying your faults, avoid being vague and tell God your sins honestly and frankly so that he can heal you, Pope Francis said at Mass Wednesday.
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Given that he was one of the principal planners and prominent leaders of last October’s special Synod on Amazonia, Cardinal Claudio Hummes, OFM, is understandably enthusiastic about the results of that exercise. Indeed, the enthusiasm […]
Denver Newsroom, Apr 28, 2020 / 08:00 pm (CNA).- Several controversial bills proposed in the California legislature, including two backed by Planned Parenthood, will likely have no chance to be considered when lawmakers reconvene to address legislation… […]
Denver Newsroom, Apr 28, 2020 / 05:17 pm (CNA).- Archbishop Michael Miller of Vancouver has announced that he is donating to the University of British Columbia’s research toward a COVID-19 vaccine.
“May the search for COVID-19 solutions also be a moment of solidarity, of collaboration, and of growing together as a visible sign to the world of the healing and reconciliation so needed right now,” Archbishop Miller said April 27 as reported by the B.C. Catholic.
Ryan Thomas, a special advisor to the archdiocese, told CNA that Archbishop Miller wanted to express, through his donation, the Catholic Church’s support for science and medicine that contribute to the common good.
“The Church— as Pope Francis has said from the beginning of his pontificate— is called to go out, we’re called to engage, not called to retreat,” Thomas told CNA.
“From a scientific standpoint, that means identifying the research that is worthy of our investment, that meets the high standards that we have to protect life,” he said.
Thomas declined to specify the amount of the donation, but said that it was in the thousands of dollars.
The global effort to develop a COVID-19 vaccine includes at least 50 other research teams, the university says, many of which in the U.S. and Canada have received government funding and are being conducted by large pharmaceutical companies.
Pro-life leaders have warned in recent months that among the many COVID-19 vaccines currently in development worldwide, in some cases researchers are using old cell lines derived from the cells of aborted babies.
It was important to Archbishop Miller, Thomas said, that the Church be seen to be promoting research into a vaccine that Catholics can support in good conscience.
A group of Evangelical Christians and Catholics in Vancouver began to rally around the idea of supporting a vaccine that corresponded to Christian ethical standards, and eventually presented the idea of supporting UBC’s research to Archbishop Miller.
Thomas said Miller made sure to inquire about whether UBC’s vaccine research makes use of aborted fetal cells, which it does not.
Dr. Wilf Jefferies, the project’s lead researcher, told CNA via email that his research team is currently in the process of validating the potency of vaccine candidates in preclinical trials, in order to assess their potential toxicity before trying them in human subjects.
The UBC lab is using immune-boosting components called adjuvants in its vaccine candidate, with the hopes of reducing the dosage of vaccine required for complete protection against the disease. In addition, Jefferies hopes that UBC’s vaccine will continue to provide protection against COVID-19 even if the virus mutates over time.
“I am heartened by the unity and kindness that is being demonstrated during this pandemic,” Jefferies told CNA.
“I think the response by the archdiocese is an affirmative and practical way to address the critical need in our society to develop a vaccine…I am sincerely humbled by the support we have received from the archdiocese and from other groups and individuals.”
So far, Jefferies’ lab has received grants from the government-funded Michael Smith Health Research Foundation and the Sullivan Urology Foundation affiliated with the University of British Columbia, as well as a number of private donations.
There are at least 1,000 clinical trials currently taking place around the world to test potential COVID-19 vaccines.
A group of pro-life leaders in a letter to the Trump administration earlier this month reiterated that development of a COVID-19 vaccine should avoid unethical links to abortion.
“No American should be forced to choose between being vaccinated against this potentially deadly virus and violating his or her conscience,” reads the April 17 letter to Dr. Stephen M. Hahn, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“Fortunately, there is no need to use ethically problematic cell lines to produce a COVID vaccine, or any vaccine, as other cell lines or processes that do not involve cells from abortions are available and are regularly being used to produce other vaccines,” it continued.
The letter’s signers include Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chair of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities; the heads of three other bishops’ conference committees; and leaders of many other Catholic and non-Catholic groups.
The Pontifical Academy for Life has noted that Catholics have an obligation to use ethically-sourced vaccines when available, and have an obligation to speak up and request the development of new cell lines that are not derived from aborted fetuses.
The 2008 Vatican document Dignitatis personae strongly criticized aborted fetal tissue research. However, as regards common vaccines, such as those for chicken pox and measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR), that may be derived from cell lines of aborted babies, the Vatican said they could be used by parents for “grave reasons” such as danger to their children’s health.
In a 2017 document on vaccines, the academy noted a “moral obligation to guarantee the vaccination coverage necessary for the safety of others… especially the safety of more vulnerable subjects such as pregnant women and those affected by immunodeficiency who cannot be vaccinated against these diseases.”
Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 28, 2020 / 04:47 pm (CNA).- The bishops of the United States have called for increased protections and support for farm workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
An April 29 statement from the U.S. bishops’ coference, co-signed by four bishops, advocated that employers of migrant and farm workers, as well as public health officials, acknowledge that “all workers need access to free testing and care related to the COVID-19 virus.”
The bishops called for renewed commitments from employers to ensure that housing and transportation provided for farm workers is safe and compliant with Centers for Disease Control guidelines, that information on health and hygiene practices is “easily accessible in multiple languages” and that workers be given any appropriate personal protective equipment.
The statement was signed by Archbishop Nelson Perez of Philadelphia, chairman of the USCCB Committee on Cultural Diversity; Bishop Joseph Tyson of Yakima, who leads the Subcommittee on Pastoral Care of Migrants, Refugees and Travelers (PCMRT); Bishop Oscar Cantu of San Jose, the PCMRT’s episcopal liaison for migrant farmworker ministry; and Bishop Mario Dorsonville, an auxiliary bishop of Washington and leader of the USCCB’s Committee on Migration.
The statement also noted the need for emergency plans, establishing protocols for when a worker is diagnosed with COVID-10.
“To defeat the virus, no one must be left out,” said the bishops. “The COVID-19 virus teaches us we are one human family, says the Holy Father. ‘We can only get out of this situation together, as a whole humanity.’”
The bishops said it was essential to “honor the dignity of farmworkers and make sure that they are paid a livable wage as well as be eligible for other benefits to help protect their health and the health and safety of their families at this time.”
Bishop Tyson told CNA on Tuesday that the safety of migrant workers is especially important in his own diocese, where much of the population and economy is connected to the agricultural industry.
“We’re hoping that [these suggestions] are principles that will guide all the stakeholders –whether that’s ranchers, orchardists […] owners of the packing plants, government officials, health department people” Tyson told CNA in an interview.
“We’re just offering those as principles for all of the stakeholders, regardless of how they’re involved in the agricultural industry,” he added.
Tyson told CNA that the statement was “just at the beginning” of a process of developing policy suggestions. He said he and his brother bishops were “trying to be proactive” with their recommendations and best serve the migrant farmworker population, which swells during the state’s bigger harvesting seasons.
The Diocese of Yakima, where Tyson has been a bishop since 2011, grows by one-third each summer as migrant workers come to work in the area. More than 62% of his diocesan population are considered “essential workers” during summer months, meaning they are at increased risk of contracting the virus as they continue to work ensuring the country’s food supply.
“We are very concerned that our workers, our parishioners, our fellow Catholics, have the protection they need in order to do their essential work in the fields” said Tyson. “They are the ones harvesting the fruit, cutting the asparagus, pulling the apples off the trees and sorting them.”
Tyson told CNA that there are “many” employers, ranchers, and orchardists who are working to provide equipment to their workers, for which he is grateful. He said that he hopes these policies will become more widespread across the agricultural industry.
“This is all very real to us,” explained Tyson. “It’s a real key issue, our own folks, here.”
© Catholic World Report