Brazilian bishops’ bioethics commission condemns attempt to decriminalize abortion

Bogotá, Colombia, Nov 14, 2017 / 02:52 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis sent a handwritten letter to a disabled soldier he met in Colombia this fall, thanking him for a special gesture at the Bogota airport, when the soldier gave him his military cap.

The pope told the soldier that their encounter touched him so much that he placed a photo of it in his study.

The pontiff’s letter was addressed to the special ops Marine Edwin Restrepo. Restrepo, who has been in a wheelchair for 13 years, after he stepped on an anti-personnel blast mine during a search and secure operation near the town of Zambrano.

Restrepo lost part of an arm and a leg, and he also went blind. Nevertheless, he learned to read Braille and after finishing school, began a law career. He also learned how to walk with his new prosthesis.

Restrepo briefly met Pope Francis at the Catam airport in Bogota on Sept. 10 before the pontiff left for Villavicencio during his apostolic trip to Colombia. He handed the Pope his soldier’s cap and asked the Holy Father to pray for the soldiers and police in Colombia.

The pope’s letter is dated Oct. 16 and was read and delivered to the soldier Nov. 9 by Bishop Suescún Mutis of the Colombian military diocese.

The Holy Father wrote in his letter, “Dear Brother, I don’t know your name but I haven’t forgotten the spontaneous gesture you made this past September 10 at the Catam airport before my departure for Villavicencio.”

Referring to the military cap Restrepo handed him, Francis wrote, “That gesture touched my heart, and I didn’t give your soldier’s cap to my aide (as I normally do with the things people give me). Instead I wanted to take it with me, a memento and symbol of your devotion and love for your country, as captured in the photo.”

The pope told Restrepo that “that soldier’s cap accompanied me during the trip. I thought of you often, and of so many of your companions injured fighting for your people.”

After returning to Rome,  “I couldn’t let go of it, and I placed it next to the photo and the news article that came out in L’Osservatore Romano next to the picture of the Blessed Virgin above the little altar that I have in my study that I often pray in front of. So every time I pray there, I pray for You, your fallen and injured comrades and for Colombia.”

 “And once again I say ‘Thanks!’ to you. Thanks for your gesture, thanks for your love for your country. And, please, I ask you to not forget to pray for me. May Jesus bless you and the Blessed Virgin care for you. Fraternally, Francisco,” the text concludes.

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Father Paul Goo, center, is pictured during a missions trip to the Philippines in 2017. He will serve in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State beginning in January 2025. Goo is pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. / Credit: Photo courtesy of The B.C. Catholic

Vancouver, Canada, Dec 3, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Father Paul Goo, pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has been called to Rome to serve in the English-language section of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State starting in January 2025.

Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, who recommended Goo for the role, made the announcement in a Nov. 30 letter sent to archdiocesan clergy.

“As you all know, loyalty to the Holy Father and the Apostolic See is a defining characteristic of our archdiocese, notably in the joyful gift of Vancouver priests called to serve the Church as bishops,” he wrote.

“We have now been honored with a different kind of request from Rome; namely, that one of our pastors be released for service in the English-language section of the Secretariat of State, the Vatican dicastery which works most closely with Pope Francis in the exercise of his universal ministry.”

The archbishop said the papal nuncio to Canada, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, had asked him to suggest a priest suited to the responsibility, and Goo was his choice. “I responded knowing that we would lose — for a time — a dedicated and zealous pastor but with confidence that this sacrifice would bring blessings to the archdiocese.”

The appointment is for five years.

In a Nov. 30 letter to his parishioners, Goo expressed his mixed emotions about the “surprising” news.

“While I am both happy and excited about this new chapter in my priesthood, I will miss all of you. Serving as your pastor has been a tremendous blessing and joy. From the moment I arrived, I have said that this parish does not belong to me but to the Holy Spirit. It is the Lord who has brought us together, and it is the Lord who will carry us through this change.”

Ordained to the priesthood in 2015, Goo was appointed as assistant pastor at Christ the Redeemer and named pastor in July 2023. He was vocations director for the Archdiocese of Vancouver from 2019 to 2013.

In his letter, Goo said he will be “supporting the coordination of the Holy Father’s communication in English-speaking parts of the world.”

Miller will appoint a temporary parish administrator to work with Goo in December and assume responsibility for the parish in January until next year’s pastoral appointments are named.

Goo reflected on the unexpected move, saying: “I know this news may come as a shock to many, just as it was to me. Transitions like these are always a challenge, but they also remind us of the mysterious and providential ways of the Holy Spirit.”

He asked for his parishioners’ prayers and, quoting John 3:8, he wrote: “The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

The Vatican Secretariat of State, historically the Holy See’s chief administrative and diplomatic body, has been undergoing changes under Pope Francis. Traditionally, the secretariat served as the hub for legislative, financial, and diplomatic matters.

In 2023, Pope Francis issued a new Fundamental Law to modernize the Vatican City civil constitution. Francis’ new constitution is the third Fundamental Law since 1929, when the Vatican City State was founded with the Lateran Treaty. It defines the role of the Secretariat of State, stating that “representation of the Vatican City State in relations with states and with other subjects of international law, in diplomatic relations and for the conclusion of treaties, are reserved to the supreme pontiff, who exercises them through the Secretariat of State.”

This story was first published by The B.C. Catholic and is reprinted here with permission.

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CNA Staff, Feb 2, 2021 / 06:40 pm (CNA).- A stray bullet pierced the roof of a church in Brazil this weekend as a Catholic priest was celebrating Mass. The local diocese pointed to the incident as a sign of worrying violence in the region.

Fr. Robinso… […]