Moneyval evaluation begins at Vatican

Vatican City, Mar 29, 2019 / 04:00 pm (CNA).- Pope Francis issued a new set of canonical norms Friday strengthening existing laws on sexual abuse for the Vatican City State and the Roman Curia.

The new norms introduce a mandatory reporting req… […]

Vatican City, Oct 26, 2017 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In her own words, Bridget Brown is “a self-advocate, an inclusion advocate, an actress… and a young woman with Down syndrome.” She also loves her life and wants others to know that each and every person is precious.

“The world needs to know that I don’t ‘suffer’ from Down syndrome,” she wrote in a letter to Pope Francis. “I have a full and wonderful life, and I am filled with joy to be alive.”

“I absolutely love my life.”

Brown met Pope Francis Oct. 21 as part of a Vatican-sponsored conference dedicated to catechesis for those with intellectual disabilities.

Titled “Catechesis and Persons with Disabilities: A Necessary Engagement in the Daily Pastoral Life of the Church,” the conference took place Oct. 20-22 at the Pontifical Urbanianum University in Rome.

Brown told CNA Oct. 20 that she was very excited to meet the Pope with her parents. She was also looking forward to speaking with him about “the right to life of babies with Down syndrome.”

Tragically, children with Down syndrome are often aborted, she said, pointing to the example of an August article from CBS News declaring that Iceland is “eradicating Down syndrome” through abortion.

“People with Down syndrome are so precious,” she said. “I love babies, and I especially love babies with Down syndrome.”

In a letter to Pope Francis, she said that her heart breaks when she thinks that she might be part of the last generation of people with Down syndrome and that “the world will never again benefit from our gifts.”

Brown noted that people with disabilities are often the first to be killed during genocides, and observed that Adolph Hitler’s mass killings began with the murder of disabled children.

“It seems to me we are doing the same thing to children with disabilities today in our country,” she said.

Even though Brown finds this to be discouraging at times, she said she still has hope, praying for those who think people with disabilities don’t have the right to live.  

“I believe in the sacred dignity of all people. And most people I know with disabilities can lead full and productive lives, just like me,” she said.

The right to life of people with disabilities should never be disregarded, Brown told CNA. “God said…that we have a purpose, no matter who we are. It’s not right to exclude or kill anybody, because we are part of the human race.”

Quoting Meister Eckhart, a medieval Dominican theologian, she said, “If the only prayer I say in my life is ‘thank you,’ that would be enough.”

Brown, who spoke at the conference Oct. 21, noted that she attended to help promote inclusion in parishes, hoping they will open their doors “to allow people with disabilities to be included in the Church.”

She hopes people walk away from the conference with a deeper realization that “people with disabilities have a purpose.”

More than that, she wants to move the conversation about people with disabilities beyond inclusion.

It’s about more than just the right to survive, she said, but about being able “to dwell in the possibilities, to have fun and full, exciting lives,” just like anyone else.

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Related news:

#Iceland is ‘eradicating’ Down syndrome…by aborting everyone who has it https://t.co/tGRZFpj8rN

— Catholic News Agency (@cnalive) August 17, 2017

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Vatican City, Jan 11, 2019 / 03:53 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Vatican confirmed Friday that Pope Francis will travel to Romania to the cities of Bucharest, Iaşi, and Blaj, and to a Marian shrine in eastern Transylvania, at the end of May and beginning of June.

The trip is set for May 31 to June 2 and will include a stop at a Marian shrine located in the Șumuleu Ciuc neighborhood of the city of Miercurea Ciuc, which is in a Hungarian ethno-cultural region of Romania.

CNA reported in November that Pope Francis had told the Romanian bishops during their ad limina meeting Nov. 9 that he would be visiting their country this year, though the precise date was not confirmed at the time.

Francis’ visit to the country follows exactly 20 years after Pope St. John Paul II was the first pope to go to Romania in 1999.

The motto of the visit is “Let’s Walk Together.” The trip’s logo, in blue and gold, depicts a group of Romanian people walking beneath an image of Our Lady, which according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, evokes the Virgin Mary’s care and protection of the Romanian people.

The press office also noted that Romania has often been called “the garden of the Mother of God,” which is a phrase also used by Pope St. John Paul II during his visit to the country.

“The visit of Pope Francis takes up this Marian accent, inviting everyone to join forces under the protective mantle of the Madonna,” the statement continued.

As of 2011, the Catholics in Romania numbered 870,774; making up 4.3 percent of the population. The Catholic Church is the second largest denomination after the Romanian Orthodox Church.

The Romanian bishops’ conference is composed of 17 bishops, including both bishops of Roman Catholic dioceses and Greek Catholic dioceses, that is, dioceses of the Byzantine rite.

The pope will be in Romania just one week before the Feast of Pentecost, which is for many Romanian and Hungarian people an important day of pilgrimage to the Șumuleu Ciuc neighborhood.

The pilgrimage is made in commemoration of the Catholic Szekely population’s resistance to pressure from the Hungarian King John II Sigismund Zapolya to convert to Protestantantism. The group refused to abandon the Catholic faith and emerged victorious in a battle which took place on the Saturday before Pentecost in 1567.

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