News Briefs

Cardinal Tauran, leader in Catholic-Muslim dialogue, dies at 75

July 6, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Vatican City, Jul 6, 2018 / 04:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After a long battle with Parkinson’s Disease, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, a seasoned Vatican diplomat who announced Pope Francis’ election to the world in 2013, died Thursday at a hospital in the United States.

According to Italian newspaper Vatican Insider, Tauran, who until his July 5 death served as president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, had traveled to Connecticut for treatment, staying with the Franciscan Sisters of the Eucharist in the Archdiocese of Hartford.

Despite a progressive decline in his health, Tauran made a lengthy and historic visit to Saudi Arabia in April to advance the Holy See’s relationship with Saudi authorities, and to reinforce dialogue between Christians and Muslims.

Born in Bordeaux, France in 1953, Tauran turned 75 April 3 and has a long track record of diplomatic service in the Vatican.

Ordained a priest in September 1969, the late cardinal held licentiate degrees in philosophy and theology, and he also held a degree in canon law.

After serving as parochial vicar for a period of time after his ordination, Tauran in 1975 entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See when he was named the Vatican’s ambassador to the Dominican Republic.

He was then sent as a papal envoy to Lebanon, and later represented the Holy See at the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), participating in multiple conferences throughout the continent.

In 1988 he was named undersecretary for the then-Council for the Public Affairs of the Church – now known as the Section for Relations with States in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State – and in 1991 Pope John Paul II appointed him secretary of the dicastery and made him an archbishop.

In that role, which is equivalent to a Foreign Minister, Tauran led delegations from the Holy See to numerous international conferences.

The cardinal was appointed archivist and librarian for the Vatican in 2003, and in October of that year was given a red hat by Pope John Paul II.

In 2007, he was named by Pope Benedict XVI as president of the council for interreligious dialogue.

Benedict in 2011 named him “cardinal protodeacon,” a role usually given to a senior prelate who is then tasked with announcing the name of a new pope after his election. Tauran held this position when Francis was elected in March 2013, meaning it was his voice that carried the words “habemus papam” to the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and locals awaiting the announcement in St. Peter’s Square.

After his election, Pope Francis established the Pontifical Referring Commission to the Institute of Religious Works (IOR), also called the “Vatican bank,” to study ways of reforming the institute, and named Tauran a member.

In December 2014 Francis named Tauran as Camerlengo of the Holy Roman Church, meaning he was the prelate tasked with keeping the Vatican running after the death of a pope.

Several diplomats, priests and fellow prelates have reacted to the cardinal’s death, taking to social media to praise him not only for his kindness and humor, but for his longstanding service to the Church.

In a July 6 tweet, British Ambassador to the Holy See Sally Axworthy said she was sad to hear about Taruan’s death, and said he had shown the embassy “great support” at an event organized in January.

“He was both an intellectual giant and a man of great warmth and humour, who worked tirelessly to build relations with the Muslim world. We will miss him greatly,” she said.

Eduard Habsburg, Hungarian ambassador to the Holy See, also showed his sympathy by retweeting a
“RIP” to Tauran saying he was “a great man of the Church.”

Cardinal Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Vatican Council for Culture, also tweeted a “RIP” for Tauran accompanied by one of the late cardinal’s quotes: “What is threatening us is not the clash of civilizations, but rather the clash of ignorance and radicalism. To know yourself is to recognize yourself.”

Fr. Manuel Dorantes, a Chicago priest and a strategic advisor to the Vatican dicastery for communications, tweeted out a prayer for the prelate, asking: “may the Lord embrace lovingly this kind and gentle man who served the Church so faithfully.”

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Venerable Carlo Acutis: A patron of computer programmers?

July 6, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Jul 6, 2018 / 03:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Carlo Acutis, who died of leukemia at the age of 15, offering his suffering for the pope and for the Church, was among four laypeople whose heroic virtues were recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on Thursday.

Pope Francis authorized the congregation to promulgate the decree July 5, which advances Acutis’ cause and names him Venerable.

Acutis was born in London May 3, 1991, to Italian parents who soon returned to Milan. He was a pious child, attending daily Mass, frequently praying the rosary, and making weekly confessions.

Exceptionally gifted in working with computers, Acutis developed a website which catalogued Eucharistic miracles. This website was the genesis of The Eucharistic Miracles of the World, an international exhibition which highlights such occurrences.

Acutis died of leukemia in Monza, near Milan, Oct. 12, 2006.

Acutis stated that “To always be close to Jesus, that’s my life plan. I’m happy to die because I’ve lived my life without wasting even a minute of it doing things that wouldn’t have pleased God.”

He also said that “our aim has to be the infinite and not the finite. The Infinite is our homeland. We have always been expected in Heaven,” and he called the Eucharist “my highway to heaven.”

Abbot Michelangelo Tiribilli, the then-Abbot of the Territorial Abbey of Montel Oliveto Maggiore, wrote in the foreword to a biography of Acutis that “By looking at this adolescent as one of them and as someone who was captivated by the love of Christ, which enabled him to experience pure joy, [today’s adolescents] will be in contact with an experience of life that doesn’t take anything away from the richness of their teenage years, but which actually makes them more valuable.”

 

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Bishop urges reconsideration of end-of-life care at English hospitals

July 5, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

Portsmouth, England, Jul 5, 2018 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In a pastoral letter last Friday, Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth challenged Catholics to review England’s end-of-life care after a report tied negligent drug prescriptions to hundreds of elderly deaths.  

An independent panel reported June 20 that at least 450 patients at Gosport War Memorial Hospital died amid “an institutionalised regime of prescribing and administering ‘dangerous doses’ of a hazardous combination of medication not clinically indicated or justified, with patients and relatives powerless in their relationship with professional staff” between 1989 and 2000.

The report added that there had been a “disregard for human life” at the hospital.

Bishop Egan wrote June 29 that “Whilst the lessons to be learnt in this case will be many, it seems clear that as a society we need urgently to review our geriatric care and our end of life care, specifically in relation to fundamental moral principles.”

He urged prayers “for the repose of those who have died, for their families, and for justice and reconciliation” and extended “love, sympathy and prayers” to the bereaved families.

The bishop cited the failed campaign for assisted suicide in Guernsey, and the case of Alfie Evans, as evidence that “we cannot leave awkward decisions to the courts alone. We need to reprise our basic human values.”

He expressed disease with the concept “quality of life”, saying it “seems to invest experts and judges with power over the life and death of an individual.”

Better, he said, is the term “‘dignity of life,’ which reminds us of the absolute good of the person and their infinite worth.”

While the National Health Service is a “huge blessing,” he added that “we must ever be vigilant to the policies, values, priorities and procedures that operate within it.”

He noted the Liverpool Care Pathway for the Dying Patient, guidelines for palliative care developed in the 1990s and widely used until an independent review led to its abandonment in 2013.

Bishop Egan commended the “noble intentions” of the LCP, but added that in England’s busy hospitals, “the pressure to save money and to utilise beds, together with an emotive empathy for those suffering, might suggest the need to hasten death.”

“We need to go back to basics,” he urged. “As Catholics, we believe that life from conception to natural death is a gift of God. It is sacred, and so every person on earth has an inviolable dignity as God’s creation. Frailty, pain and sufferings are always a difficult trial.”

We must both unite these sufferings with those of Christ, and “turn to doctures and nurses in the hope that … they can alleviate and heal our condition.”

“Indeed, in today’s world, we can thank God for amazing advances in modern health-care, and not least in palliative care and pain-management at the end of life.”

The bishop made three concluding points, beginning with an exhortation to pray daily “for our doctors, nurses and health-care professionals, asking God to bless and guide the wonderful and generous work they do. Pray too for the sick, the dying, those in hospital, and anyone suffering pain mental, emotional or physical. If a Catholic is seriously ill … please call the priest so that s/he can be offered the sacraments.”

Bishop Egan then recommended that “if you or a loved one is terminally ill, consider whether it might be praticable to die at home. Ask whether it is possible for drugs to be used that do not totally withdraw consciousness and a chance to pray and commune with family and friends. As next of kin, gently insist on being involved in decisions. It might be appropriate to ask staff for a second opinion or a re-evaluation of treatment.”

While life “cannot be prolonged indefinitely … it is not morally permissible until the very last to withdraw feeding and hydration. If the medical team suggests there is little more they can do, that is the moment, if not done already, to call the priest to offer the sacraments.”

Finally, he urged that everyone pray daily “for a happy death, that is, to die in a state of grace, aided by the sacramental care of Mother Church and supported … by family and friends.”

“Let us accept whatever death the Lord has prepared for us … let us prepare ourselves by persevering in the practice of our Faith, by attending Mass and making a regular confession, by daily prayer and faith-formation, and by living a good life in justice and charity.”

“Indeed, as a child, I was taught every night to pray the following prayer, which I also commend to you: Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, assist me in my last agony. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you.”

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UK appoints first religious freedom envoy

July 5, 2018 CNA Daily News 1

London, England, Jul 5, 2018 / 02:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- For the first time, a Special Envoy on Freedom of Religion or Belief has been appointed in the UK to promote international religious liberty and fight persecution.

Lord Tariq Mahmood Ahmad, Minister of State for the Commonwealth and the United Nations, was selected for the role. Ahmad also serves as the Prime Minister’s Special Representative on Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict.

In the role, Ahmad “will promote the UK’s firm stance on religious tolerance abroad, helping to tackle religious discrimination in countries where minority faith groups face persecution,” the Foreign and Commonwealth Office said in a statement Wednesday.

Ahmad said he was delighted by the appointment and plans to “use the UK Government’s global network to reach across religious divides, seek the elimination of discrimination on the basis of religion or belief and bring different communities together.”

“In too many parts of the world, religious minorities are persecuted, discriminated against and treated as second class citizens. As a man of faith, I feel this very keenly,” he said in a statement.

“Freedom of Religion or Belief is a human right enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It must be respected. People from all faiths or none should be free to practise as they wish. This respect is key to global stability, and is in all our interests.”

The role of religious freedom envoy, similar to the U.S. position of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, will “demonstrate the country’s commitment to religious freedom by promoting inter-faith respect and dialogue internationally,” the government said in a press release.

“The appointment underscores the Prime Minister’s commitment to tackling religious prejudice in all its forms and follows the government’s recent announcement of a further £1 million funding for places of worship that have been subjected to hate crime attacks.”

Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a coalition of religious freedom advocates, said it was “greatly encouraged by Lord Ahmad’s concern and dedication for those around the world, of all creeds or none, who experience injustice because of their religion or belief.”

The group’s chief executive, Mervyn Thomas, said they “look forward to continuing to work with [Ahmad] to uphold and promote the right to freedom of religion or belief for all.”

In making the announcement, Prime Minister Theresa May stressed that “Religious discrimination blights the lives of millions of people across the globe and leads to conflict and instability.”

“Both here and abroad, individuals are being denied the basic right of being able to practise their faith free of fear,” she said in a statement.

She said that Ahmad has worked “to promote religious liberty in his role as Minister for Human Rights at the Foreign Office” and will now work “with faith groups and governments across the world to raise understanding of religious persecution and what we can do to eliminate it.”
 

 

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Pope taps Italian layman Paolo Ruffini as chief communications officer

July 5, 2018 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Jul 5, 2018 / 04:35 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After the Vatican’s former communications head stepped down in the fallout of a major fake-news scandal, Pope Francis has tapped layman Paolo Ruffini for the job, pulling him from a post with the Italian bishops conference.

Ruffini, born in Palermo in 1956, has until now worked as the director of TV2000, the official television channel for the Italian bishops, and will be responsible for continuing the pope’s overhaul of Vatican communications.

He graduated with a law degree from Rome’s Sapienza University, and has been a professional journalist since 1979. He has been married for roughly 32 years and has worked for various publications, including “Il Mattino” of Naples; “Il Messaggero” in Rome; the radio and television sections for Italian broadcaster “Rai,” among others.

In addition to his hefty background in radio, print and television communications, Ruffini has also received several prizes for journalism and has participated in study conferences about the role Christians play in information, communications ethics and new media.

The July 5 announcement of Ruffini’s appointment comes after the recent decision by Pope Francis to change the Vatican’s communications office from a “secretariat” to a “dicastery,” the general word used for the Vatican’s various offices and departments, which was seen by some as a downgrade.

Ruffini will take over for Msgr. Lucio Ruiz, who has served as an interim leader for the communications office since March, when the former prefect, Msgr. Dario Vigano, stepped down following what has been dubbed the “Lettergate” scandal.

The fiasco took place after the March launch of the 11-book series “The Theology of Pope Francis,” published by Libreria Editrice Vaticana, the Vatican publishing house overseen by the Vatican’s communications department.

A letter from Benedict XVI praising Francis’ theological and philosophical formation was read aloud at the event, however, the secretariat later admitted to tampering with an image of the letter that was sent to media, blurring out lines in which Benedict said that he had not read the full series, and did not plan to do so, and therefore was not able to offer an in-depth analysis of the text.

Days later, it was revealed that further paragraphs had been left out in which Benedict questioned the inclusion in the series of a theologian known for his “anti-papal initiatives.”

After receiving pressure from the media, the secretariat published the full letter March 17, which they said was confidential and never intended to be published in its entirety.

Following Vigano’s resignation, Pope Francis named Ruiz, former secretary of the department, as an interim prefect, but asked Vigano to stay on in an advisory role, which he is expected to keep when Ruffini steps in.

In a recent interview with Reuters news agency, Pope Francis said he had initially offered the job as his communications chief to a woman, but she had declined due to previous commitments.

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