Articles by CNA Daily News

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Cardinal Tobin denies knowledge of ‘gay subculture’ in Newark

August 20, 2018 CNA Daily News 9

Newark, N.J., Aug 20, 2018 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- In an Aug. 17 letter to the priests of Newark, Cardinal Joseph Tobin has said he has not been told by priests about a “gay sub-culture” in the Archdiocese of Newark.

The letter was written in response to a CNA report published the same day, in which Newark priests described their experience in seminary and ministry in the archdiocese. Tobin’s letter specifically addressed allegations, included in CNA’s report, of sexual misconduct on the part of two priests.

CNA’s article included testimony about homosexual activity in the Archdiocese of Newark, from six priests who spoke to CNA on the condition of anonymity. The priests’ experience spanned across several decades under the leadership of Archbishop Theodore McCarrick and Archbishop John J. Myers.

CNA reported that, in 2014, Fr. Mark O’Malley was – according to multiple sources – removed from his position as rector of the archdiocesan college seminary, and placed on medical leave following an incident in which he was accused of hiding a camera in the bedroom of a young priest.

Cardinal Tobin’s letter, which surfaced on the internet over the weekend, addressed the matter directly.

“In April 2014, Father Mark O’Malley, who was serving at St. Andrew’s College, experienced a serious personal crisis for which he received a psychological evaluation and subsequent therapy. In April 2015, he was deemed fit for priestly ministry. He hopes to serve as a hospital chaplain.”

CNA also reported last week that Fr. James Weiner, currently pastor of the parish of St. Andrew’s in Westwood, NJ, was under renewed investigation by archdiocesan authorities. Weiner was identified as the previously unnamed man referred to in the allegations of sexual assault made by Fr. Desmond Rossi, now a priest of the Diocese of Albany, NY.

Rossi has alleged that, in 1988, he was sexually assaulted by two transitional deacons. In 2004, Rossi received an out-of-court settlement of approximately $35,000.

Recently, Rossi said that his allegation was found “credible” by an archdiocesan review board but that no action was taken.

Tobin’s letter confirmed that Weiner’s case had been examined by a review board in 2003 “even though it did not involve an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor.” The cardinal also confirmed that he had ordered the matter reopened earlier this month because of “new information and out of an abundance of caution in these most difficult times.”

This weekend, the bulletin at Fr. Weiner’s parish carried a notice that Cardinal Tobin’s office had indefinitely delayed the ceremony formally installing Weiner as pastor of the parish because of a scheduling conflict. Tobin had been scheduled to install Weiner in the post on Sept. 15.

Addressing reports of harassment and active sexual behavior by some priests, both in the seminary and in the archdiocesan presbyterate, Cardinal Tobin said that “no one – including the anonymous ‘sources’ cited in the article – has ever spoken to me about a gay subculture in the Archdiocese of Newark.”

Tobin began his letter by acknowledging the ongoing scandal of sexual abuse in the Church, following the allegations against Archbishop McCarrick and the release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report. The cardinal said that these events “have shaken and saddened the bishops and priests of the Archdiocese of Newark.”

Turning to the CNA report, Tobin said that while there was “much more to communicate about these open wounds,” he was writing the letter in response to “allegations of misconduct” against the two priests of the archdiocese, Weiner and O’Malley.

The cardinal closed his letter by expressing his hope that CNA’s sources were not actually priests of the archdiocese. However, CNA confirms that the sources for the story were priests of the Newark archdiocese, along with one priest member of a religious order.

The Archdiocese of Newark declined to offer comment or respond to questions from CNA regarding the letter.

Tobin’s letter concluded by encouraging priests to refer media inquiries to the archdiocesan director of communications.

Added Cardinal Tobin, “I repeat my willingness to meet with any brother who wishes to share his concerns regarding allegations in the press or personal experience in our local Church.”

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Authentic Christianity changes culture, US nuncio says

August 20, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Rimini, Italy, Aug 20, 2018 / 05:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Many have forgotten that authentic Christianity has a positive influence on history and brings about greater human fulfillment, Archbishop Christophe Pierre said Sunday at a cultural event organized by the lay movement Communion and Liberation.

“When faced with change, conflict, relativism, and bleak prospects for the future, people are beginning to despair under the burden of daily life and have forgotten how to be protagonists in history,” the apostolic nuncio to the US said Aug. 19 at the Rimini Meeting.

“Meeting Christ and being changed by Him – the revolution of the heart – this is what turns the wheel of history! This is the true revolution!”

This year’s Rimini Meeting, held Aug. 19-25, explores the theme “The forces that move history are the same that make man happy”.

Archbishop Pierre addressed the encounter beginning with a discussion of the meeting of the Samaritan woman with Christ at the well.

He emphasized that the woman experienced an event which offered happines, and this experience caused her to evangelize her community.

He said the woman at the well, who eased her suffering with unsatisfactory desires, is a person who is similar to many people in the culture. Some people, he said, attempt to cope with pain and weakness with drugs, pornography, wealth, or power.  

“We will take anything we can to help us feel better, but in the end, it doesn’t satisfy. Just as when Jesus was approached by the disciples of John and asked, ‘What do you seek?’ Jesus is now asking the woman to identify her real thirst.”

Archbishop Pierre said Christ encounters the woman with the truth that he is fulfilling, and her previous idolatry lacked the ability to accomplish her hopes and dreams. Rather, he said the encounter with this truth and the presence of Christ leads “her to discover her own humanity and the possibilities for her future.”

Similarly, he said Christ gives people the ability to make proper judgements of the world, distinguishing between temporary pleasures and lasting happiness, as well as good and evil.

“A humanity reawakened by Christ can generate new protagonists in the history of the world – new witnesses able to make judgments, able to discern right from wrong, good from evil, true good from passing pleasure.”

This new ability is a powerful event, he said, which verifies the faith to others. However, he said this must extend beyond a knowledge of doctrine and become an example of a joyful Christian witness.

“A reawakened humanity has an ability to see – not only with the eye but also with the heart – and can verify the truth of the faith and propose it in this time of epochal change. A joyful Christian witness shows forth the attractiveness of Christ that makes others say, ‘What makes that person tick? What moves that person to act?’”

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Bishop who ministered to indigenous Peruvians dies at 84

August 20, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Callao, Peru, Aug 20, 2018 / 04:25 pm (ACI Prensa).- The bishop emeritus of Callao, Peru died Sunday at the Deusto Passionist community in Bilbao, Spain, where he had resided since 2015. He was 84 years old.

Bishop Emeritus Miguel Irizar Campos “was characterized by a missionary personality,” said a communique from the coastal Peruvian Diocese of Callao, responding to the prelate’s death.

“Callao will remember Bishop Miguel Irizar as a pastor close to his people and faithful to the mission, with his episcopal motto ‘Sent to give the Good News.’”

The Diocese of Bilbao, where Irizar lived out his last years, described the bishop as a man who was able to fit in anywhere. During more than 50 years of service in Peru, including 17 years ministering to the indigenous population in the jungle, he proved himself to be a “people’s pastor,” the diocese said.

While in recent years his health had declined, Irizar’s Passionist brothers described the late bishop as “optimistic and a person close to others.”

Born May 7, 1934 in Spain’s Basque country, Irizar was ordained a priest March 16, 1957 at the shrine of the Virgin of Aránzazu, where his mother had consecrated him to God years before.

He arrived in Peru in 1960 and began his pastoral work there at the Virgin of Pilar parish in the San Isidro district.

Between 1961 and 1965, he was professor of the Social Doctrine of the Church and Ethics at the Catholic University of Peru. From 1969 to 1972, he was the Regional Superior of the Passionist Congregation in Peru.

Blessed Paul VI named him the Missionary Bishop of the Yurimaguas Vicariate (Upper Amazon Province), and he was consecrated a bishop on July 25, 1972.

Pope John Paul II appointed him in 1989 as Coadjutor Bishop of Callao, the diocese he took full possession of on August 17, 1995.

Irizar promoted the creation of new parishes and founded the first monastery of Discalced Carmelites in Callao. He ordained more than 100 priests and received seminarians from other ecclesiastical jurisdictions for formation in the Heart of Christ diocesan seminary.

The bishop also promoted the Pachacútec Foundation, through which the Center for Community Studies and Development was created. Today, thousands of low income children, youths and families benefit from the center’s large educational complex.

Irizar was the Secretary General of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference for two periods. He also served as president of Caritas Peru, and a member of the Cor Unum Pontifical Council, and headed the Council of Latin American Bishops’ ecclesial movement section.

Bishop Irizar’s funeral was celebrated Aug. 20 in the parish of Pasión and San Felicísimo in the Deusto district of Bilbao. Local Bishop Mario Iceta presided over the Mass.

 

This article was originally published by our sister agency, ACI Prensa. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Bishop’s murder draws attention to tensions in Coptic Orthodox Church

August 20, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Alexandria, Egypt, Aug 20, 2018 / 02:48 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Last month’s murder of Bishop Epiphanius, the abbot of St. Macarius Monastery in the Egyptian desert, has highlighted tension in the Coptic Orthodox Church over monasticism, ecumenism, and reform.

Bishop Epiphanius’ body was found July 29, with injuries to his head and back that suggest that he had been hit by a sharp object.

Isaiah al-Makary, whose name in the world is Wael Saad, was charged with the bishop’s murder Aug. 11, and confessed to the murder the following day. Saad said another monk, Faltaous al-Makary (Raymond Rasmi Mansour), assisted in the crime. Faltaous attempted suicide in recent weeks, and was being treated at a Cairo hospital.

Saad was expelled from the monastery Aug. 5, for “inappropriate actions which violate monastic behavior and way of life.” The Coptic Orthodox Church said that his dismissal had been decided on before the bishop’s death.

Bishop Epiphanius’ murder has led to the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate issuing several decrees on monasticism.

Tawadros II, Coptic Orthodox Patriarch of Alexandria, announced Aug. 1 that the Church’s monasteries would stop accepting new brothers for one year. Those who established monasteries unapproved by the patriarchate will be stripped of their priesthood and monastic state. No new monasteries may be founded except as a revival of old monasteries, and this is to be done under the care of a recognized monastery.

The Church has also instructed its monks to close their social media accounts, and has suspended the ordination of monks for three years. Permissions for monks to attend outside functions is also being restricted.

And on Aug. 16, the Church announced that unrecognized monasteries have one month to submit to the supervision of the patriarchate. This will allow Tawadros “to supervise spiritual, financial, and managerial aspects,” the Egypt Independent reported.

The Coptic Orthodox Church is an Oriental Orthodox Church, meaning it rejected the 451 Council of Chalcedon, and its followers had historically been considered monophysites – those who believe Christ has only one nature – by Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox, though they are not considered so any longer.

Samuel Tadros, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told the New York Times that Bishop Epiphanius was “a senior figure in a reformist Coptic movement” that has been favored under Tawadros.

“His appointment, in May, to position in which he would work as a liaison with the Catholic Church was seen as a sign that conservatives were being sidelined, Mr. Tadros said.”

Pope Francis visited Egypt last year, and signed a joint declaration with Tawadros announcing that their Churches will recognize the validity of each other’s baptisms.

Previously, the Coptic Orthodox Church had repeated baptism if a Catholic had sought to join it.

Conservative members of the Coptic Orthodox Church have reportedly resisted such reforms under Tawadros. According to a commentary by Engy Magdy in the Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn’s The Tablet, these conservatives are associated with Shenouda III, the immediate predecessor of Tawadros as Coptic Orthodox Patriarch.

The dispute goes back to tensions between Shenouda and Fr. Matta El Meskeen.

Fr. Matta was tasked by Cyril VI in 1969 with reviving monastic life at St. Macarius Monastery. The monk was focused on the spiritual life, openness to the thought of other Churches, and ressourcement.

While Shenouda was a disciple of Fr. Matta early on, after he was elected Pope of Alexandria in 1971 the two came into conflict. Shenouda restricted Fr. Matta to his monastery, and discouraged the reading of his books, according to an essay by Mina Thabet in Middle East Eye.

It was during this time, in 1984, that Epiphanius joined St. Macarius and became a monk. Epiphanius was a disciple of Fr. Matta, and was involved in ecumenism.

Fr. Matta died in 2006.

St. Macarius Monastery was long independent of the Coptic Orthodox hierarchy, but Shenouda restored it under the Church’s authority in 2009, and appointed some 70 conservative monks, among them Saad and Faltaous.

In the year after Shenouda’s 2012 death, Epiphanius was elected abbot of St. Macarius, and consecrated a bishop.

The murder of Bishop Epiphanius in his cell at St. Macarius may well only heighten tensions within the Coptic Orthodox Church, especially as Tawadros continues to extend his oversight of the monasteries in the desert of Egypt.

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How a teen who fought a tumor showed ‘you can be holy living your daily life’

August 19, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Madrid, Spain, Aug 19, 2018 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- A young woman whose cause for sainthood is being considered by the Church demonstrated by her life that “you can be holy living your daily life,” according to one of her closest friends.

Alexia González-Barros was recently declared “venerable” by Pope Francis, a step in the Church process that could lead to canonization. González-Barros died in 1985 at the age of 14, after a ten-month battle with cancer.

Begoña Hernandez, Alexia’s classmate and one of her best friends, recalled that the youth lived out her illness “with joy” and trust in God. Hernandez said that she had the “conviction that [González-Barros] was a saint” from the moment that she died in 1985.  

Alexia González-Barros was born in Madrid, Spain, in 1971 and was the youngest of seven siblings, two of whom died before they were born. Her parents, Francisco and Moncha, were supernumeraries in Opus Dei.

In February 1985, she was diagnosed with a malignant spinal tumor that quickly led to paralysis. She died in December that same year, just ten months after her diagnosis, in the University of Navarre Clinic in Pamplona, Spain.

During her sickness, the young girl offered her suffering for the Church and for the pope. Several biographies highlight her fortitude, peace and joy despite the severe pain she suffered.

In June, Pope Francis recognized her heroic virtues, the first step in the process of canonization.

The friendship between Begoña and Alexia began in nursery school. “We were in the same class since we were 4 or 5 years old until she died, and we were very close  friends,”  Hernandez recalled in an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language sister agency.

“Alexia was a lovely person, joyful, friendly, a normal girl. I remember when I was a teenager I had a diary and I wrote down ‘the people that especially help me’ and on that list was Alexia. They were very simple things, but she helped me be a better person, to share with others and to not be capricious,” she said.

Hernandez said that “when we learned she could not move, all of us girls in her class went to see her. During her convalescence I continued to visit her and I sincerely say  she always exhibited joy.  With her you found peace and that was very surprising.”

“You left the hospital with joy and not with anguish or suffering,” Hernandez recalled.

A great help in maintaining hope despite the difficulties was González-Barros’ mother, who “always trusted in God and reminded that we are in his hands,” Hernandez said.

During her illness, González-Barros used to repeat “Jesus I want to be healed, but if you don’t want that, I want what you want.”

Hernandez said that González-Barros’ fortitude was rooted in her faith, because “she took everything that happened to her from the point of view of faith and that’s is why she endured all the suffering so well.”

The process of canonization for González-Barros was opened in the Archdiocese of Madrid in 1993 and was sent on to Rome that same year.

“When Alexia died I had the conviction that my friend was a saint. Since then I have commended myself to her and I know that it has been through her intercession that she helped me on many occasions,” Hernandez said, and assured that that is a common feeling among her other classmates.

Alexia’s example shows  the world that you can be holy living your daily life in a normal way. And she demonstrated that with her life,” she emphasized.

 

 

 

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After roadblocks, film on abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell releases preview

August 18, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Washington D.C., Aug 18, 2018 / 06:04 am (CNA).- The trial of a Philadelphia abortion doctor, whose shoddy clinics and gruesome practices led to his conviction of three counts of murder and one count of involuntary manslaughter, is the subject of a movie due to be released in October.

A trailer previews the movie “Gosnell: America’s Biggest Serial Killer”, a crowd-funded project produced by a team of filmmakers and journalists, some of whom were present for the trial which concluded in 2013.

The name takes its title from the grand jury report in the trial, which detailed the crimes and grisly malpractices of abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell’s clinics, including the snipping of the necks of more than 100 babies who had survived abortion.

The film was given the green light to show in U.S. theaters after the producers settled with Judge Jeffrey Minehart, who was involved in the original Gosnell trial and sued to block the film’s release, arguing that he was portrayed in the film as “Philadelphia’s liberal corrupt government.”

The film’s producers told The Hollywood Reporter that it had been “a really hard road” but that they are anticipating the movie to show in as many as 750 theaters throughout the country.

“No matter what your stance is on abortion, you will have a more informed opinion after you see Gosnell,” director Nick Searcy said.

The filmmakers have said they are hoping to avoid an R-rating by alluding to, but not directly showing, some of the most gruesome details of Gosnell’s practices.

“The fanatic subject matter poses a risk,” executive producer John Sullivan told The Hollywood Reporter. “We were very careful not to make it too graphic. Gosnell saving feet of infants in jars as trophies plays a role, and you’ll see him take scissors out, but that part plays out as theater of the mind.”

After reportedly being kicked off of crowdfunding site Kickstarter because of the film’s anti-abortion content, the multi-million dollar project was crowdfunded on Indiegogo, and was one of the most successfully crowdfunded films of all time, according to Gosnell producers.

“Almost 30,000 people donated over $2.3m in 45 days. When it ended it was the most successful crowdfunding campaign on the Indiegogo website,” the producers note on their website. “We want to thank all of our funders who helped make this project such a success. We literally could not have done it without you. This is your movie.”

Phelim McAleer, one of the film’s producers and a journalist who covered the Gosnell trial, said in an introductory video to the film that part of the motivation for the movie was the lack of attention to the trial in the mainstream media.

“The media have basically ignored his crime and his trial,” he said.

“He ran an abortion clinic in Philadelphia where he delivered live, viable babies and then murdered these newborns by severing their spinal cords with scissors.”

“I’ve been on hard films before, but this one was particularly difficult,” Sullivan told The Hollywood Reporter. “Hollywood is afraid of this content. It’s a true story the media tried to ignore from the very beginning, so I wasn’t surprised to see Hollywood ignore us.”

During Gosnell’s trial, one Philadelphia-area reporter took photos of the courtroom showing that the courtroom benches reserved from the press were empty.

National media covered the case only after pro-life advocates launched a social media campaign to raise awareness about the case.

Gosnell’s clinic had not been subject to oversight by the state of Pennsylvania since 1993. A federal drug raid in 2010 uncovered blood-stained rooms and filthy equipment.

According to the grand jury report, the clinic stored aborted fetuses in a basement freezer in plastic food containers and bags next to staff lunches. Gosnell kept severed feet of unborn babies preserved in specimen jars, allegedly for future identification or DNA samples.

Staff allegedly sent women to give birth into toilets, a doctor allegedly spread sexually transmitted infections to women through poor sanitary standards, and a 15-year-old staffer administered anesthesia to patients. The clinic also allegedly gave preferential treatment to white patients.

In addition to the counts of first degree murder, the abortion doctor was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a patient who died of an overdose in 2009.

Prosecutors had sought a third-degree murder charge in her case, saying Gosnell let his untrained and unlicensed staff give the 41-year-old Bhutanese immigrant woman a fatal combination of drugs.

Several of Gosnell’s former employees have pleaded guilty to murder and other charges. Gosnell himself is now serving several life sentences.

“Gosnell” opens in theaters throughout the country on Oct. 12 through GVN Releasing. It stars Dean Cain as Detective James “Woody” Wood, the main detective on the case, and Earl Billings as Dr. Kermit Gosnell.

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