Pope Francis urges marriage and family institute: Use the gospel to spread salvation

Vatican City, Mar 19, 2021 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- Among the seven clerics and religious whose heroic virtues were recognized by the Vatican on Thursday are three Italian religious sisters who died while serving victims of the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1995.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints promulgated a decree March 18 recognizing the heroic virtues of seven clerics and religious.

The religious sisters — Sr. Annelvira Ossoli, Sr. Vitarosa Zorza, and Sr. Danielangela Sorti — were members of the Sisters of the Poor, Palazzolo Institute. They contracted and died of Ebola while serving the poor. Three of their fellow religious who also died of Ebola were recognized for their heroic virtue Feb. 20.

The six religious sisters died while attending to Ebola patients at a hospital in the Diocese of Kikwit between April 25 and May 28, 1995.

They had reportedly assisted in an operation on a patient who, unbeknownst to them, had the Ebola virus.

Following the death of the six religious and the resultant uncertainty about the Ebola epidemic, the Palazzolo Sisters in the DRC wrote a fax to their Mother General in Bergamo, saying, in part, “We understand your trepidation, but we are totally in God’s hands. No evacuation can be done. It is very hard for you and us to accept this separation from the Sisters.”

They continued, “Painful events have overwhelmed us but the life of the Congregation must continue; the situation is quite dramatic especially inside. But it is necessary to remain calm. In Kinshasa there are no outbreaks and all the roads towards the interior are blocked.”

Founded in 1869 by Italian Priest, Blessed Luigi Maria Palazzolo, the Sisters of the Poor serve the poor, orphans, and the sick.

The March 18 decree also recognized the heroic virtues of Mercurio Maria Teresi, Archbishop of Monreale from 1802 to 1805; Cosme Muñoz Pérez, a diocesan priest who founded the Congregation of the Daughters of the Patronage of Mary and who died in 1636; Salvatore Valera Parra, a diocesan priest who died in 1889; and Leone Veuthey, a Conventual Franciscan who died in 1974.

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Pope Francis invoke the Virgin Mary as the Queen of Peace and Mother of Mercy at a prayer vigil for peace in St. Peter’s Basilica, Friday, Oct. 27. / Credit: Courtney Mares

Rome Newsroom, Oct 28, 2023 / 10:03 am (CNA).

Pope Francis said Saturday he is praying for strength and peace for the community of Lewiston, Maine, after the city experienced two deadly mass shootings earlier this week.

The Wednesday shootings at a restaurant and a bowling alley in Maine’s second most populous city, in the southern part of the state, left 18 people dead and 13 people injured.

The victims ranged in age from 14 to 76, according to officials, who released the names and photographs of victims on Friday.

The man suspected of the shooting, 40-year-old Robert Card, was found dead of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound on Friday evening after a days-long manhunt, the New York Times reported.

Pope Francis “was deeply saddened to learn of the terrible loss of life resulting from the mass shooting in Lewiston, and he expresses his spiritual closeness to all those suffering from this unspeakable tragedy, especially the families who lost loved ones,” said an Oct. 28 telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

“With first trust that aided by God’s grace we can overcome evil with good (c.f. Romans 12:21),” it continued, “the Holy Father invokes upon the people of Lewiston and indeed the entire country, almighty God’s blessings of strength and peace.”

The message said the pope is praying for the recovery of the wounded, for the medical personnel caring for them, and for the souls of the dead.

“He likewise commends the noble efforts of first responders who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the community.”

Lewiston police said on Facebook late on Wednesday that the shootings occurred at local establishments Schemengees Bar and Sparetime Recreation.  

In a statement posted to Facebook, Portland Bishop Robert Deeley said it was “heartbreaking to hear of lives lost and dozens injured and to know of the pain and grief that so many families are experiencing.”

“We pray for all those impacted by this terrible violence, that the Lord may provide them with consolation in the midst of their sorrow,” Deeley said. “In this moment of trial and uncertainty, let us raise up our prayers, asking God to give strength to them and to our community now and in the coming days, and we ask him to protect our law enforcement officers as they seek to prevent further harm.”

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Vatican City, Sep 20, 2017 / 06:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An exhibit at the Vatican this month shows the 230-year history of the Catholic Church on the Korean peninsula, highlighting the faith of its martyrs and promoting a message of peace.

Fr. Matthias Hur Young-yup , a spokesperson of the Archdiocese of Seoul, told CNA that with the exhibit they want to promote peace and teach people about Korean culture.

“As you know there is a nuclear crisis going on in the Korean peninsula, and through this exhibition we wanted to deliver a peace message, especially to our brothers and sisters in the North,” Fr. Hur said.

The exhibit, called “Come in cielo cosi in terra” (“On earth as it is in heaven”), is a first-ever collaboration between the Vatican Museums and the Seoul archdiocese. It is also sponsored by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the South Korean embassy to the Holy See.

It opened in the Vatican’s Braccio di Carlo Magno museum Sept. 8.

The archdiocese also hopes the exhibit will “introduce the unique history and culture of the Korean Catholic Church worldwide, and to take a step forward to fulfill our mission of the evangelization of Asia.”

The exhibit is “only a part of the different projects” on which Korea and the Holy See are partnering, Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, told CNA. In 2012, the Vatican Museums sent Renaissance pieces by artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael for an exhibit in Seoul.

They are also working on several restoration projects within the ethnological museum. But “this is the first time that Koreans expose, in the heart of the Vatican City State, their own history,” she said.

She hopes the exhibit will “show how evangelization can bring peace and more evangelization, and (that) even persecution is not an obstacle to that.”

Korean martyrs & other works at the “Come in cielo così in terra” exhibit at the #Vatican showing history of the #Catholic Church in Korea pic.twitter.com/svmIeXagAF

— Hannah Brockhaus (@HannahBrockhaus) September 19, 2017

The Catholic faith was originally introduced to Korea through Catholic books brought to the country from Beijing. A group of scholars studied the books, from them developing a belief in the Catholic faith. One scholar was baptized in Beijing in 1784, returning to Korea to baptize others.

These scholars formed the first Catholic community in the country.

“As the number of believers increased, they discovered that it was not a very good way, to just spread the faith among the lay people,” Fr. Hur explained. “So that is when they decided to ask for a missionary, a priest, to come to Korea for a more formal evangelization of the country.”

He said that it is very significant to the members of the Church in Korea that Catholicism in their country was begun by lay people.

As they waited for a priest, the faith continued to grow among the lay people, until finally in 1794 they received a missionary priest from Beijing.

But even before this, persecution of Christians in Korea had begun. From the beginning of her history, the Church in Korea has been marked with suffering, including a century of religious persecution resulting in the martyrdom of at least 8,000 Catholics.

“With the 230 years of history in Korea, we believe especially that we have been through all the persecutions and we didn’t die…but we prospered. Especially that the martyrs have become a good role model for all believers…that is the best fruit that has appeared in the country of Korea,” Fr. Hur said.

This exhibit “is not only a very good chance for us to introduce the history of the Korean Catholic Church, but also the culture and the special characteristics of the Korean country itself. I believe that this is a very good introduction for the world to our Korean culture.”

The exhibit outlines, chronologically, the history of Catholicism in Korea from its start through the present time. It includes religious books and objects, as well as Korean religious art.

There are many beautiful works depicting the Madonna and Child, as well as portraits of the martyrs from throughout their history.

Blessed Feast of the Nativity of Mary! (Our Lady as a Korean Madonna and Child, part of an exhibit on the Korean Church now at the Vatican) pic.twitter.com/Cq4oAVGiAo

— Hannah Brockhaus (@HannahBrockhaus) September 8, 2017

Despite persecution, the Catholic population in Korea has continued to grow; in the 1950s they had only 500,000 Catholics (about two percent of the population). As of 2016 there are nearly 6 million (10 percent of the total population).

In the 1950s they only had 290 priests. Today they have approximately 5,100.

Pope Francis visited Korea in August 2014, his first pastoral visit to an Asian country. While there he beatified 230 martyrs during a Mass in Gwanghwamun, with around 1 million people present.

Pope St. John Paul II was the first Pope to visit South Korea when he went to Seoul in May 1984, marking the 200th anniversary of the Church in Korea. During his visit he presided over the canonization of 103 Korean martyrs, the first canonization ever celebrated outside the Vatican.

He again visited South Korea in 1989 to participate in the 44th International Eucharistic Congress in Seoul. And in 2001, during an ad limina visit of the Korean bishops at the Vatican, he said that “inter-Korean reconciliation and solidarity and the evangelization of Asia is the mission of the Korean Church.”

Fr. Hur said through the exhibit they want people to know that no one on the Korean peninsula wants war, but that peace is what they really want.

“That is the message we wanted to share with all the people through this exhibition and we hope that all the people will pray for us and for peace on the Korean peninsula.”

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