Paris, France, Mar 3, 2017 / 12:54 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic and Orthodox leaders in a joint statement urged Europeans to remember their Christian roots, and to return to them during this time of “widespread concern for (the) future” of… […]
Trieste, Italy, Mar 2, 2017 / 02:52 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As Catholics continue to debate pastoral and doctrinal approaches to marriage, they should remember that the Catholic approach to marriage and the Eucharist has a direct impact on what the Church… […]
Rome, Italy, Mar 2, 2017 / 11:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis met Thursday with priests of the Diocese of Rome, delivering a lengthy meditation on St. Peter and his example of faith – which, though imperfect, grows and develops throughout his discipleship.
Looking at the Gospels, “we see that the faith of Simon Peter has a special character: it is a proven faith, and with it he has a mission to confirm and strengthen the faith of his brothers, our faith,” he said March 2.
St. Peter had moments of both weakness and greatness in his faith, the Bishop of Rome pointed out.
But in the end, if we follow his example and have the same “awareness of having ‘little faith,’ along with the humility to let ourselves be helped … this is the point of healthy self-esteem in which is rooted the seed of that faith ‘to confirm others,’” he said.
As well as to ability to follow the command “‘to build upon this rock’ which is what Jesus wants from Simon Peter and from us who participate in the ministry” of priesthood, the Pope explained.
The meeting between Pope Francis and priests of the Diocese of Rome takes place annually at the start of Lent at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, the cathedral church of Rome.
After hearing the confessions of 15 priests, the Pope said he would give a slightly abbreviated version of the lengthy meditation he had prepared, although printed versions of the full text were handed out to the clergy to read during “these days of Lent.”
He concluded the meeting by leading the Angelus.
His meditation reflected on the theme of faith in general, and how the priests can help it grow and mature within themselves in order to better lead others to grow in their faith, and focused, in-depth, on scenes between Christ and St. Peter in the Gospels.
Because if we priests don’t have the habit of growing and maturing our faith, Francis asked, how can we expect to help grow and develop the faith of others?
“The faith of Simon Peter is less than that of many of the small faithful people of God,” he said. “There are even the pagans, like the centurion, who have greater faith in time to ask for the healing of a sufferer of their family.”
“Simon’s faith is slower than that of Mary Magdalene and John. John believes just seeing the sign of the shroud and recognizes the Lord on the shore of the lake just listening to his words.”
But St. Peter’s faith “has moments of greatness” as well, the Pope said, such as when he confesses that Jesus is the Messiah.
“I would say that is a sharable faith, perhaps because it is not so admirable. The faith of one who had learned to walk on water without tribulations would be fascinating, but maybe push us away,” he said.
“Instead, this faith from a good friend, aware of his smallness and who fully trusts in Jesus, raises our sympathy and – this is his grace – confirms us!”
The Pope’s meditation also emphasized the importance of prayer in a priest’s life, pointing out how Christ himself says he has prayed for St. Peter in Luke 22:31-32: “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift all of you like wheat, but I have prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back, you must strengthen your brothers.”
“The fact that the Lord expressly says that he prays for Simon is extremely important, because the most insidious temptation of the devil is that, along with some special test, we feel that Jesus has abandoned us, that somehow he has left us alone and he did not help us as he should have,” Francis said.
“The Lord himself has experienced and overcome this temptation, first in the garden and then on the cross, trusting in the Father’s hands when he felt abandoned.”
“It is in this point of the faith that we need to be specially and carefully strengthened and confirmed,” he said. But in the Lord’s care “we find the strength we need.”
“The Lord asks us to pray continually and persistently,” he continued.
“As priests who take part in the Petrine ministry, in what he is to us, we take part in the same mission: not only do we have to wash the feet of our brothers, as we do on Holy Thursday, but we have to confirm them in their faith, showing how the Lord prayed for ours.”
Madrid, Spain, Mar 2, 2017 / 05:43 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pablo Ráez was just 21 years old when he died last Saturday in Spain. But the young man, a devout Catholic, made a difference in the world, helping increase bone marrow donations in his home city by more than 1,000 percent.
Ráez was a native of Marbella in Malaga, Spain. After being diagnosed with leukemia two years ago, he began to share his daily struggles and positive attitude with his more than 300,000 followers on Facebook.
With a strong faith and a desire to live, he fought to encourage donations of bone marrow, which are critical in fighting leukemia.
About 1,000 people attended the funeral Mass for Ráez, which was held at the Incarnation parish in Marbella.
Fr. José López Solórzano, pastor of the church and godfather to Ráez, presided over the Mass.
“I don’t know how to bury Pablo, what I want to do is weep with all of you,” the priest said, visibly moved, according to Diario Sur.
In his homily, he recalled that the young man “grew up in an atmosphere of simplicity; from that simplicity comes forth great things.”
Ráez, the priest said, “did what he had to do, he has left his mark on this world.”
Fr. López recalled how the young man used to say, “Leukemia is teaching me more than it has taken from me,” and “Death is part of life, and so you shouldn’t fear it but love it.”
In a report filmed some time ago, the priest said that “when I hear that Pablo is thankful for his leukemia, it shakes me up…Many times things happen to us that slip by in our lives and so it is, but Pablo learns every day from what is happening to him.”
Fr. López also related that he met Ráez at the church of the Incarnation when they boy turned 14 years old and asked to receive the sacraments of Baptism and First Communion.
“I told him it was a personal decision of his. So he began a formation process that culminated with Baptism, Confirmation and First Communion,” the priest recalled.
In the same report, Ráez commented on his friendship with the priest. “He’s my godfather but above all, he’s my friend. He’s a great friend to me and has been very present in my illness, he has really been one of the people closest to me, and always, always, always he has been able to be there to see me.”
Ráez had recalled that one of the most difficult days of his life was when “they were doing a transplant on me and I was very afraid and he (Fr. Lopez) arrived at the hospital. When I saw him, I cried a lot and then I knew that I was going to get better and I was going to be well. Besides all the people that were praying for me, that happened to me and made me recover.”
The young man, who became an icon in the fight against leukemia, was going to be awarded the City Medal on Tuesday, February 28. The medal commemorates the 1980 referendum which secured autonomy within Spain for Andalusia, the region where the city of Marbella is located.
An online petition has been launched to name a street in honor of the young man. That petition has more than 100,000 signatures and says that “Pablo increased donations of bone marrow in Malaga 1,300% in 2016, with a total of 11,201 new donors.”
It recalls Ráez as a “valiant fighter who has saved many lives. To remember him for posterity is an act of justice, as his was an immense act of courage, solidarity and love.”
Rome, Italy, Mar 2, 2017 / 12:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The theological legacy of Benedict XVI continues, four years after his pontificate came to an end.
A group of graduate students has gathered around the Ratzinger Foundation to further their studies… […]
Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Feb 28, 2017 / 04:12 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The bishop of the local Church where Medjugorje is located reiterated on Sunday his long-held belief that the alleged Marian apparitions at the site are false.
“The position of this Curia throughout this period has been clear and resolute: these are not true apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary,” Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno wrote in a Feb. 26 statement on his diocesan website.
He referred to investigations into the authenticity of the supposed apparitions that began with the diocese in 1982, and which have continued to the present time at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
The alleged apparitions originally began June 24, 1981, when six children in Medjugorje, a town in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina, began to experience phenomena which they have claimed to be apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
According to these six “seers,” the apparitions contained a message of peace for the world, a call to conversion, prayer and fasting, as well as certain secrets surrounding events to be fulfilled in the future.
These apparitions are said to have continued almost daily since their first occurrence, with three of the original six children – who are now young adults – continuing to receive apparitions every afternoon because not all of the “secrets” intended for them have been revealed.
Since their beginning, the alleged apparitions have been a source of both controversy and conversion, with many flocking to the city for pilgrimage and prayer, and some claiming to have experienced miracles at the site, while many others claim the visions are non-credible.
The bishop holds the supposed apparitions to be nothing but a manipulation of the visionaries and the priests who work with them.
Bishop Peric, who was ordained a priest of the diocese which he now heads in 1969, emphasized his devotion to Mary, and his incredulity regarding the alleged apparitions in Medjugorje.
“During the course of my episcopal ministry, first as coadjutor (1992/93) and later as ordinary, with preaching and the publication of books, as well as with more than fifty Marian and Mariological articles, I have tried to present the role of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the incarnation and the work of the Son of God and Her Son, and her intercession for the whole Church, of which she is mother according to grace. At the same time I have highlighted, as was done by my predecessor of happy memory, Bishop Pavao Zanic, the non-authenticity of the apparitions, which by this time have reached the number of 47,000.”
The statement delves extensively in what Bishop Radic considers the ambiguousness of the apparition.
“The female figure who supposedly appeared in Medjugorje behaves in a manner completely different from the real Virgin Mother of God in the apparitions currently recognized as authentic by the Church: usually she does not speak first, she laughs in a strange way, before some questions she disappears and appears again, she obeys the ‘visionaries’ and the local pastor who make her come down from the hill into the church even against her will. She doesn’t know with certainty how many more times she will appear, she allows some of those present to step on her veil extended on the ground, and to touch her dress and her body. This is not the Virgin of the Gospels.”
The bishop also takes issue with the visionaries’ request for a “visible sign” from the Virgin and the promise from one the visionaries that there will be a sign at the top of the hill in the form of water.
“After almost four decades there is no sign whatsoever, nor water, just fantasies,” the bishop wrote.
The statement also makes detailed reference to the inconsistencies among the various visionaries regarding the purpose of the apparitions, as well as their duration.
“All the ‘visionaries’ but one agreed that the Virgin would appear for three more days … but she appeared to have changed her mind and still ‘appears’ for 37 years,” Bishop Radic said.
The statement mentions other irregularities, such as a strange trembling in the apparition, a false anniversary of the beginning of the apparition, inconsistencies in whether the apparition has a child, inexplicable silences, strange messages, discrepancies in dress, nervousness rather than peace among the seers, scandalous touching of the apparition, and intentional manipulation of the apparition.
“Considering everything that has been examined and studied by this diocesan Curia, including the investigation of the first seven days of the alleged apparitions, we can affirm in peace: the Madonna has not appeared in Medjugorje! This is the truth that we sustain, and we believe in the word of Jesus, according to which the truth will set us free.”
In April 1991, the bishops of the former Yugoslavia determined that “on the basis of the research that has been done, it is not possible to state that there were apparitions or supernatural revelations.”
On the basis of those findings the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith directed in October 2013 that clerics and the faithful “are not permitted to participate in meetings, conferences or public celebrations during which the credibility of such ‘apparitions’ would be taken for granted.”
In January 2014, a Vatican commission completed an investigation into the supposed apparitions’ doctrinal and disciplinary aspects, and was to have submitted its findings to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
Pope Francis visited Bosnia and Herzegovina in June 2015, but declined to stop at Medjugorje during his trip.
Earlier this month, Francis appointed Archbishop Henryk Hoser of Warszawa-Praga as a delegate of the Holy See to look into the pastoral situation at Medjugorje. The Polish archbishop is to “suggest possible pastoral initiatives for the future” after acquiring a deeper knowledge of the local pastoral situation.
Armagh, Northern Ireland, Feb 27, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of Northern Ireland’s assembly elections, the region’s Catholic bishops have reflected on situation facing voters and the importance of voting with well-formed consciences.
“Far from separating us from concern about society and its development, the Gospel commandment to love one’s neighbor as oneself commits us ‘to work for the good of all people and of each person, because we are all really responsible for all’,” said the bishops, citing the Compendium on the Social Doctrine of the Church.
The Feb. 22 message was signed by Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland, and other leading Catholic bishops.
Northern Ireland’s Assembly elections will take place March 2. The vote for the region’s legislative body follows political controversies regarding overspending on a renewable energy heating program, which called into question the power sharing agreement between the Democratic Unionist Party and Sinn Fein.
Deputy First Minister, Sinn Fein’s Martin McGuinness, resigned in protest Jan. 10 over allegations that First Minister Arlene Foster of the Democratic Unionist Party mishandled the project. The resignation triggered the elections.
In this climate, the bishops said, “the premature collapse of our political institutions is a serious matter for all of us.” Despite progress towards peace and prosperity in the 20 years since the pivotal Good Friday Agreement, they saw a return of “bitter language and tone of conflict” to political discourse.
They noted the sacrifices political leaders make, but also reflected on politicians’ duties “to help shape a healthy, positive and peaceful society in which there are ample, quality jobs, decent housing, comprehensive healthcare, and first-class education for all.”
Northern Ireland’s bishops encouraged voters to reflect on Catholic social teaching in their decisions.
They stressed the need to build a culture that loves and cares for others, especially the most vulnerable. They cited Pope Francis’ call for a “revolution of tenderness” that replaces hardened hearts with “a sensitivity and active concern to protect all and care for all.”
Noting pressures to introduce legal abortion in Northern Ireland, the bishops rejected a “throwaway culture” that treats human beings as disposable. They said the region’s laws should equally value the life of both mother and unborn child, and not “diminish our humanity by destroying another human life.” They warned against efforts to portray legal abortion as “limited,” as the procedure always intentionally takes the life of an innocent.
“Central to the good news that the Church proclaims is that the life of every person is sacred and inviolable, irrespective of the stage or state of that life,” they said. This is a fundamental principle that every other human right presumes.
The bishops lamented “disturbing levels” of child poverty, with almost 110,000 children in Northern Ireland living below the poverty line. The region has some of the highest levels of the numbers of working poor and the disabled, in addition to other features of income inequality.
The bishops said voters should prioritize “the systemic and comprehensive eradication” of childhood poverty and the provision of other social needs.
They advocated for a constructive political culture based on “a shared commitment to the common good” instead of the constitutional issues that have traditionally played a key role in Northern Irish politics.
Many Catholics have found it increasingly difficult to find a political party for which they can vote in good conscience. The bishops said that in the absence of clear alternatives, Catholics should “maximize the good” and limit any potential harm through their election choices.
Northern Ireland’s bishops stressed the importance of recognizing marriage as the union of one man and one woman. To recognize other relationships equally undercuts the importance of the biological bond and natural ties between parents and children.
They cited Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia, which said same-sex unions are in no way similar to marriage and are not analogous to God’s plan for marriage and the family.
The bishops encouraged a welcoming attitude towards refugees who flee dangers including persecution, war, and natural disaster. They advocated an increase in the number of refugees resettled from Syria to Northern Ireland.
Similarly, the bishops voiced concern for the persecution of Christians abroad, as well as “subtle forms of exclusion and discrimination” against Christians in western democracies. They reported that local Christians have described a chilling effect in the region’s law and public policy that excludes church and faith groups from public funding or caricatures them in public debate because of their beliefs regarding marriage or their pro-life stand.
They noted the failure of the Northern Ireland Assembly to protect the right of a Catholic adoption agency to act in accord with its religion and voiced hope that this could change in the future.
They also rejected some views of “integrated” education that suggest Catholic schools do not contribute to reconciliation, tolerance, and understanding. In fact, the bishops contended, these schools have a Christian ethos that is “inclusive, welcoming and tolerant.” Some approaches to education reject parents’ rights to ensure a faith-based education for their children, and even cloak “a deep-seated hostility to the Catholic faith itself.”
Recommendations for voters also drew on Pope Francis’ encyclical on care for creation, Laudato si’, points out the challenges of environmental degradation and climate change. Northern Ireland’s bishops said caring for creation is good in itself and something owed to future generations.
They praised Northern Ireland’s leading role in the development of renewable energy technologies, and suggested the next Assembly should focus on further improving this aspect of the economy, while also encouraging protection for natural landscapes, fisheries, and other resources.
Further, the bishops noted the dangers of human trafficking and the “disturbing levels” of homelessness.
They noted the publication of an important report on historical institutional abuse in Northern Ireland and acknowledged that both Church and society failed to protect the vulnerable.
“We apologize unreservedly to all those who suffered from their experience in Church-run institutions, and to their loved ones,” the bishops said, acknowledging the inadequacy of apology while urging the report’s recommendations against abuse be rapidly established.
The bishops concluded their statement with ten questions drawn from Catholic social teaching that voters should ask candidates.
Rome, Italy, Feb 25, 2017 / 03:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis will tomorrow become the first Roman Pontiff to set foot in an Anglican parish in Rome, marking a symbolic act the church’s pastor said is hugely significant, yet surprisingly normal for two communities that are close to one another.
“Personally, as a parish priest of 17 years in this place, I can’t imagine a more fulfilling moment in my ministry,” Jonathan Boardman, pastor of All Saints Anglican Church in Rome, told CNA.
“It’s the most exciting thing that’s ever happened, except it isn’t,” he said, explaining that it’s a very “natural and normal thing” for a group of Christians to welcome the leader of their brethren to their house.
For Pope Francis to become the first Roman Pontiff to step inside an Anglican parish in Rome, then, is “the most exciting thing, and it’s the most normal thing,” he said, saying it’s a gesture “that explains a truth about our Christian living.”
Both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, he said, have to find “the excitement of the Gospel and the fulfillment of it” in everything they do, “from the most rare thing to the most ordinary thing,” such as giving to the poor and offering prayers together.
Pope Francis’ visit coincides with the 200th anniversary of the foundation of the Anglican parish community in the heart of the Eternal City, and will consist of a short choral Evensong service, during which the Pope will bless and dedicate an icon of “St. Saviour” commissioned for the occasion.
The symbolic “twinning” of All Saints Anglican Church with the Catholic parish of “Ognissanti” – the only Catholic parish in Rome dedicated to All Saints – will also take place during the liturgy, forming strong ecumenical ties between the two.
Ognissanti is the parish where Bl. Paul VI, on March 7, 1965, celebrated the first Mass in Italian following the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council.
After the singing of Evensong during his visit to All Saints, Pope Francis is expected to deliver a brief homily before taking questions from the congregation.
Established in 1816, All Saints contains the largest Anglican congregation in Italy, and is headed by Boardman and his assistant chaplain, Dana English. Both pastors will be present to welcome the Pope for his visit Sunday, as well as Robert Innes, the Anglican Bishop in Europe, and his suffragan, David Hamid.
In his comments to CNA, Boardman said that in his opinion, the reason a papal visit to an Anglican parish is possible now rather than in the past is likely due to “the fact that we’ve got Pope Francis.”
Francis “really determinately seeks to exhibit, to show the way in which he’s the Bishop of Rome and how that can be celebrated by other Christians who are present in Rome,” he said, noting that the visit builds on 50 years of dialogue between Catholics and Anglicans.
This positive dialogue the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion have enjoyed shows that Anglicans “are serious in giving honor to the Pope, in recognizing him as the leader of Christendom in some way, although obviously not in the juridical way,” Boardman said, explaining that this point “still keeps us separated.”
But from both the Catholic and Anglican sides, “I think both the Pope’s ability to recognize and accept and celebrate that (dialogue) with us, and our willingness to receive him and celebrate that (dialogue), are the two factors that have led us to where we are today.”
Pointing to Benedict XVI’s establishment of the Anglican Ordinariate in 2009 as a means of helping Anglicans who wish to become Catholic while maintaining certain elements of their liturgy and customs, Boardman called the move “a real generosity and attempt to meet some of the deficiencies, as they were conceived, of what kept us apart.”
While some on the Anglican side initially viewed the act as “hostile and invasive,” the pastor said for him that wasn’t the case, and that in his own personal view, the time has come “to settle down” and appreciate the gesture as “an act of generosity”.
“The degree to which Anglican patrimony truly has been inserted into the Roman Catholic world is something that’s ongoing,” he said, and noted that after the Pope’s visit to his parish this weekend, a Choral Evensong of the Anglican rite will be sung inside St. Peter’s Basilica March 13.
When it comes to progress Catholics and Anglicans have made toward unity, Boardman said he thinks the communities have grown closer, and that in his view “we’re closer to unity than we ever were before simply because time has passed and we’re nearer to God’s gathering us all in.”
“In that sense we’re nearer,” he said, but added that if they want to continue growing closer to one another, it can’t happen without taking on a more prayerful attitude.
There has to be greater openness “to God’s surprising demands on us, and our alignment with his will where all of us, all Christians” make the sacrifices and take the steps needed in order “to truly align ourselves with God’s will.”
Dialogue “has flourished” in the past 100 years, particularly after the Second Vatican Council, he said, acknowledging that unity is closer, but there is still a long way to go.
“We’re only just beginning truly to be real friends and being able to talk about our differences and our problems as friends,” he said, adding that “we’ve got a ways to go to resolve them.”
Some of the biggest hurdles that still need to be overcome exist on both a spiritual and practical level, he said, noting that the first challenge is always “to be faithful to God and to grow in spiritual depth.”
Apart from this, major issues from the Catholic standpoint include the ordination of women and homosexual individuals, whereas for Anglicans, how to accept papal primacy without “changing the nature” of Anglicanism is still a looming concern.
But putting the hurdles aside, Boardman said he hopes the twinning of his parish with the Catholic parish of Ognissanti will help to foster “greater friendship between our two communities.”
The gesture will offer both communities a way to experience the spiritual life of the other while staying “true to our … disciplines” and growing together through various activities, such as service to the poor.
“We’ve already started in sharing some of the feeding programs to the homeless in Rome,” he said, explaining that Ognissanti has already launched various projects, “but now we are participating in them.”
Madrid, Spain, Feb 24, 2017 / 02:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Fr. Arturo López, 77, was brutally beaten by three masked men during an assault on Wednesday at the rectory of Saint Peter and Saint Paul Church in Coslada, a city in Spain’s Community of Madrid.
The three unidentified men tied up and assaulted Fr. Lopez when they entered his rectory Feb. 22 to steal valuables and money around 8:50 pm. The criminals used a rope to bind the priest in one of the rooms.
One of the assailants threatened and beat the priest to give them money while the other two searched the house. As the priest later reported, the assailants spoke perfect Spanish and did not seem to be foreigners.
According to El Mundo, officers of the National Police from Coslada who are investigating the assault described the attack on the parish priest as “brutal.” He had to be taken to the hospital because of injuries from the beating to his face and head.
Fr. Arturo was given stitches and underwent medical tests to see if he had suffered any brain damage. He was kept in the hospital overnight and was discharged Thursday since no complications were noted.
The assailants took more than 800 euros ($845), various keys, and the priest’s cell phone. It is currently being investigated if they went into the church to take valuables.
The assailants left the rectory after about 25 minutes, leaving the priest tied up. However, Fr. Arturo was able to free himself from the ropes and notify the police, who found him stunned and bloodied.
Fr. López belongs to the Priestly Society of the Holy Cross, and has served in Coslada since 1993.
Rome, Italy, Feb 24, 2017 / 03:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Obstetrician Maria Pollacci holds a very special record.
She’s delivered 7,642 babies and after a 72-year career – despite now being 92 years-old – is still receiving newborns coming into the world in Padavena, a small town in northern Italy.
Dr. Pollacci considers her work to be “the most beautiful in the world,” and calls it a true “mission.”
“It’s an occupation that you have to do with love, kindness and skill. When I’m in front of a little one, I’m not working. I’m loving,” she said. “To be an obstetrician you need love, passion and professionalism.”
Maria Pollacci still remembers her first day at work on Sept. 3, 1945, and the name of the child she delivered. He was named Francesco and today he is 72 years-old.
“I met him when he was 25. I was in Lama Mocogno, a town in the province of Modena, Italy, where I was born. There was a party and people were dancing,” she recalled.
“A handsome young man came up to me and said, ‘May I have the honor of dancing with the person who delivered me?’ Since then we see each other every year.”
“Also at my house, every once in awhile, boys and girls that were born into my hands come to see me. I am very moved when they tell me that I’m their second mother,” she said.
The Spanish daily ABC interviewed Dr. Pollacci when she was honored for her career at the famous San Remo Music Festival.
The last birth she assisted at was at the end of January in the town of Pedavena, in the province of Belluno, in northern Italy where she lives and works.
© Catholic World Report