Europe

Florence, Italy, Feb 23, 2017 / 06:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- She is one of the oldest religious sisters in the world, but this week, she turned 110 years young. 

Despite her advanced age, Sister Candida Bellotti retains the enthusiasm of a young woman. On Monday, Feb. 20, she celebrated her 110th birthday and received a special message from Pope Francis.

“To the Reverend Sister Candida Bellotti, Sister Minister of the Sick, who with gratitude to God is celebrating her 110th birthday, the Holy Father Francis spiritually participates in the joy we all share for this happy occasion and sends warm congratulations and heartfelt wishes,” said the pontiff in his message.

At age 80, Pope Francis is 30 years her junior.

Sister Bellotti celebrated her birthday with the Bishop of the Italian Diocese of Lucca, Benvenuto Italo Castellani. She resides in the diocese along with the convent’s sisters and the provincial superior, Sister Giuliana Fracasso.

In a recent interview, she said that her vocation was “sown” in a Christian family. 

“Love, love and love still more, with joy,” is the advice she gives everyone, especially the new generations. She has a special invitation for young people: “Have confidence in the future, and strive to the utmost to accomplish your desires.”

Sister Bellotti belongs to the Congregation of San Camillus de Lellis, which this year observes the 150th anniversary of the death of its founder, Blessed Maria Domenica Brun Barbantini.

The 110-year-old sister was born in Quinzano, in the Italian province of Verona, on February 20, 1907. Since the 1930s, she has dedicated herself to serving those in need as a professional nurse in various Italian cities. Since the year 2000 she has been living Lucca, at her congregation’s mother house.

[…]

Paris, France, Feb 22, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- An international group of Catholic physicians is protesting a law passed by France’s parliament last week sanctioning pro-life websites that aim to dissuade women from abortion by using “misleading claims.”

The law constitutes “a clear violation of the freedom of expression and cannot be approved, especially when it comes from a country which prides herself on being tolerant, broad-minded, and always fighting in the defense of human rights,” the World Federation of the Catholic Medical Associations (FIAMC) stated.

“In this instance, it would appear that the French government interprets ‘human rights’ as a kind of a privilege to be enjoyed only by women seeking a medical procedure that, from a health standpoint, is not in their or their unborn child’s best interest.”

It continued: “FIAMC protests this immoral law and its future consequences, and denounces the abuse it constitutes. Such a law contradicts the universal moral law and cannot be obeyed in conscience. It is hoped that a future French government will abolish it quickly in order to restore the now tarnished image of this great democratic nation.”

The lower house of the French parliament, which is dominated by the Socialist Party, passed the bill Feb. 16. It was also supported by most Union of Democrats and Independents members of parliament.

The Republicans, who dominate the French Senate, opposed the law. The party has said it will challenge the law in the courts.

The law provides for a penalty of up to two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euro ($31,800) against the directors of publication of websites which run afoul of the law.

#delitdentraveivg @laurossignol CELA PEUT SERVIR DE SYNTHESE A TOUT CE CIRQUE DELIRANT ; Prochaine étape : le conseil constitutionnel ! pic.twitter.com/g8N28Uw3y2

— IVG (@ivg_infos) February 16, 2017

Laurence Rossingol, the French minister for women’s rights, said the law targets pro-life organizations which operate “websites imitating the state websites”; infos ivg is reportedly the site targeted by the law.

Rossingol said pro-life activists can freely express themselves “under the condition they sincerely say who they are, what they do, and what they want.”

The French minister of health and social affairs, Marisol Touraine, said the law is aimed at “preventing these websites from disseminating disinformation.” She also denounced the “cultural climate that tends to make women feel guilty when they consider” abortion.

The bill was introduced in October 2016, and the Catholic Church in France quickly opposed it. Archbishop Georges Pontier of Marseille, president of the French bishops’ conference, wrote Nov. 22 to President Francois Hollande registering the Church’s concerns, saying the proposal “call into question the foundations of our liberties and most particularly the freedom of expression … Can the slightest encouragement to keep one’s child be described as ‘psychological and moral pressure’?”

Alliance Vita, a pro-life group, has denounced the law as an infringement on freedom of speech.

More than 50,000 pro-life supporters marched in Paris Jan. 22 to protest the bill.

“Obstruction to abortion” had been criminalized in 1993. That law prevented pro-life activists from physically blocking access to abortion clinics, and had an identical penalty for offenders, of up to two years in prison and a 30,000 euro fine. The new law had been proposed as an update the 1993 law for cyberspace.

In January 2016 France also abolished a one-week reflection period before a requested abortion could be carried out.

The AFP reports that 220,000 unborn children are aborted annually in France, where abortion was legalized in 1975. It added that approximately one-third of Frenchwomen undergo abortion.

[…]

Paris, France, Feb 21, 2017 / 02:36 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A French diocese announced that Dominican Sister Marie Bernardette, the oldest sister in her order, passed away last week at 110 years of age.

The religious sister died Feb. 13, according to the Diocese of Aire-et-Dax, France.

Funeral rites for the beloved sister were held in the monastery chapel in the town of Dax where she lived. Sister Marie Bernardette had turned 110 on January 5. She would have been a religious sister for 90 years on April 18.

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The religious sister had spent 44 years at the Dax convent, near Bayonne. She lived through two world wars and was able to see 10 popes.

Sister Marie Bernardette was born Jan. 5, 1907 in Orsanco, a small village in French Basque Country. Her parents named her “Gracious,” and she was one of 12 children. Three of her sisters would also go on to become religious sisters.

Last year, the French Catholic newspaper La Croix featured the sister in an article. In that piece, Prioress Sister Véronique explained that age has changed Sister Marie-Bernadette’s tasks: “When she could no longer do house work, she made rosaries. And since she can’t make them anymore, she prays (the rosary) all day” in French, Latin and Basque.

“She prays a lot for the pope, for vocations and for our order,” the prioress said.

At the Dax monastery, the Dominican sisters lead a life of prayer, contemplation and also do sewing and baking to support themselves.

In 2016, the Dominicans – whose formal name is the Order of Preachers – marked the 800th anniversary of their founding by Saint Dominic.

This order has produced many blesseds and saints, including Saint Rose of Lima, Saint Martin de Porres, Saint John Macias, Saint Vincent Ferrer, Pope Saint Pius V, and Saint Thomas Aquinas, a Doctor of the Church.

[…]

London, England, Feb 21, 2017 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- You may recognize the sound of the London Oratory Schola Cantorum Boys Choir from epic motion picture soundtracks like The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, or The Phantom of the Opera.

But the heart of the world-renowned Schola, which includes voices of boys ages 7-18, has always been liturgical music.

Now, the boys choir hopes to bring the sacred tradition of Renaissance liturgical music to a wider audience with their debut album, “Sacred Treasures of England”, produced in a partnership with AimHigher Recordings/Sony Classical, a sister label of De Monfort Music.

AimHigher Recordings CEO Kevin Fitzgibbons said he was impressed with the choir “from the first note.”

“Mirroring the majestic beauty of The Oratory itself, the repertoire from this debut recording is gorgeous and timeless,” he said.

The album features English Tudor-era motets by composers such as William Byrd and Thomas Tallis, as well as the magnificent Missa Euge bone by Christopher Tye, and is the first part of a series of albums of sacred music the choir will be producing.

Charles Cole, Director of The London Oratory Schola Cantorum Boys Choir, told CNA that the idea for the album series came from a desire to share the Schola’s large repertoire of liturgical music, comprised largely of music from Renaissance composers, with the world.

“The Schola’s primary role is the singing of this Liturgy at the Oratory and we will always be focused above all on that,” Cole said.

“However, the opportunity to work on new recordings gives us a wonderful opportunity to work with great intensity on particular areas of the repertoire and hopefully bring these wonderful works to be heard by a far larger audience.”

The album series is grouped by region or country, he said, allowing listeners “to delve into a particular sound world, and the English music on this first recording has some very beautiful characteristics.”

Fr. George Bowen, Chaplain of the London Oratory School and a priest of the London Oratory, said the album series offers the Schola a unique chance to evangelize.

“St. Philip Neri (founder of the Oratory brotherhood of priests) always wanted the Oratory to be outward looking; to evangelise. Sacred Music has always played a vital part in the work of evangelisation, and we hope that this CD will continue the tradition,” he told CNA.

The London Oratory Schola Cantorum Boys Choir, founded in 1996, is one of three choirs associated with the London Oratory. It provides school age boys with an education immersed in the experience of learning and performing sacred liturgical music.

The choir is in high demand, and sings frequently on tours throughout the world and for projects such as the CD, movie soundtracks or philanthropic concerts for organizations such as Aid to the Church in Need. They also sing for every Vigil Mass at the London Oratory during the school year.

It all takes an incredible amount of hard work and discipline, Cole said. The boys choir rehearse every morning before school for an hour, as well as several other times throughout their school day at the Oratory.

This discipline transfers into other areas of the boys’ lives – academics, athletics – but most importantly, their immersion in the liturgy “gives them a heaven-sent opportunity to develop a love of their Faith.”

“It is a very immersive experience for them, both musically and liturgically, allowing them to experience the beautiful repertory which adorns the major feasts of the Church year,” Cole said.

“We hope that this album will bring more and more people into contact with the beautiful musical treasures of the Church.”

The Schola will be going on tour to promote their new album, which will include a leg in the United States in October. For more information about the album, including the track list, visit: http://aimhigherrecordings.com/loscbc.php/. The album is available on Amazon and iTunes.

[…]

Rome, Italy, Feb 20, 2017 / 02:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- There are about three million people without heath care in war-torn Syria, and the papal envoy to the country has launched a project to help some of them.

Cardinal Mario Zenari launched the Open Hospitals project to enhance and empower three Catholic hospitals in Syria. He visited Rome’s Gemelli Hospital to help promote the initiative.

“It is just a drop, albeit a very precious drop, in our sea of necessities,” the cardinal told CNA. “It is a sign of the solidarity of the Church toward so many poor people.”

“In the end, Catholic means ‘universal,’ that is, open to anyone who is in need. A Catholic hospital is, by its own nature, an open hospital,” he added.

Since March 2011, the Syrian Civil War has ravaged the country, killing hundreds of thousands and driving millions from their homes.

“A great number of health care facilities have been knocked out by warfare,” the cardinal said. “This is the moment to enhance and help three Catholic hospitals, managed by the religious congregation, that have been working in Syria for more than 100 years.”
 
Cardinal Zenari has been papal nuncio to Syria since 2008. Pope Francis made him a cardinal during the last consistory, an unusual honor for a residential nuncio that showed papal support for Syria.

The cardinal conceived the idea of the Open Hospitals effort with Msgr. Giampetro Dal Toso, secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, who visited Aleppo at the end of conflict in the city. The initiative is operated by the Catholic NGO AVSI, with the contribution of the Gemelli Foundation.
 
The project will collect and financially support three Catholic hospitals in Syria: the French Hospital in Damascus, owned by the Congregation of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul; the Italian Hospital ANSMI, managed by the Daughters of Mary Auxiliatrix; and St. Louis Hospital in Aleppo, managed by the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition.
 
“These hospitals are held in great esteem for their professionalism, but they are also facing great economic difficulties because of the warfare,” Cardinal Zenari said. “As they are private institutes, they also need patients to pay for their care, even with a minimum amount of money. But these sick people cannot even give a minimum economic contribution, as 80 percent of the Syrian population is currently living in poverty.”
 
About 400,000 Syrians are estimated to have died in the war.
 
“However, the death toll for lack of health care and medicines is even larger,” the cardinal said. “Yes, it is necessary to repair and rebuild houses and infrastructure. But above all we should ‘repair’ the physical health of people.”
 
There are an estimated two million people without health care in Aleppo, and one million more in Damascus. Hence, the necessity to enhance and supply the three Catholic hospitals.

“Each of these hospitals is going to open new departments to face needs and urgencies that came out after the conflict: special departments for traumatized children, for women who were subjected to violence and rape during the conflict, and for those mutilated by war,” the cardinal said.

Reflecting further on the situation in Syria, he said that “suffering in Syria is universal, as every religious and ethnic group had its victims, its martyrs.” But, he added, “Christians are the minority group most at risk, as they have no weapons to defend themselves.”
 
The papal ambassador recounted that “Christian communities saw their villages and blocks invaded and there were churches damaged and destroyed.”
 
However, emigration represents the “biggest wound” to the community.

“For example, two-thirds of the Christian in Aleppo emigrated. This is an incalculable loss for the churches. Even if sacred buildings will be rebuilt, the question is whether Christian communities will be rebuilt the way they were before,” the cardinal said.
 
The churches are committed to charitable works for the whole community, an effort that is appreciated.

When Cardinal Zenari arrived in Syria eight years ago, he said, “there was a certain progress in the economic field, although not all society could benefit from that.”

“Yes, an improvement was needed in terms of respecting human rights and fundamental freedoms, but in general Syria was a mosaic of good coexistence among the ethnic-religious groups.”
 
Now, Syria is “profoundly lacerated by grave external wounds and grave internal wounds.”
 
Thinking about the future, the papal nuncio saw a need for a Syria that could enjoy the support of all social sectors and avoid the risk of dividing society between winners and losers.

For Cardinal Zenari, the Christian community could act as a bridge in a post-war Syria.

The new Syria should be “reconciled, more respectful of human rights and fundamental freedoms, more democratic,” with a “guaranteed territorial unity and integrity,” he said. He lamented that external forces like the Islamic State group have entered the Syrian conflict, among other regional and international powers.

Cardinal Zenari said that the most urgent challenge for Syria is to stop the violence and guarantee access to humanitarian aid.

Citing United Nations data, there are 13.5 million people in need of humanitarian aid, including 4.9 million who live in hard-to-access places. There are 640,000 people living in 13 places under military siege.

There are 6.1 million internally displaced Syrians and 4.8 million Syrians who have become refugees in other countries.

The cardinal stressed the need for determination to reach a political solution to the conflict. After the conflict, will require restoring the social fabric and working for reconciliation. He emphasized the need to rebuild houses, villages, and infrastructure.

[…]

Rome, Italy, Feb 17, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic Church puts a lot of effort into having excellent schools and hospitals, but what about its orphanages? For Caroline Boudreaux, conditions in orphanages are too often overlooked – something we all have the ability and opportunity to help change.

The Miracle Foundation, founded by Boudreaux, is a nonprofit which operates on the principle that orphaned children have the same fundamental rights as every other child, and that we help them the most when we help and support the institutions they live in.

One way the organization does this is through teaching those who run orphanages the “best practices” for facilitating the mental, physical, and spiritual well-being of the children in their care.

“The idea is to get a model in every single Catholic orphanage around the world. To give every single Catholic orphanage the support that we would be giving our churches and our schools and our hospitals. That’s what I’m trying to do,” Boudreaux told CNA.

Compared to most of our Catholic hospitals and schools, the conditions in orphanages around the world, even those run by religious orders, are appalling, she explained.

We’ve left the religious sisters running these institutions “out to dry: We leave them with not enough resources, overcrowded orphanages, underfunded…”

But Boudreaux is optimistic that this is something people can change.

“I want to stop short of saying we should be ashamed, but you have a Catholic school or you have a Catholic hospital and you know that they’re going to be pretty excellent … and you can’t say that for our orphanages,” she said.

Part of the Miracle Foundation’s method is also based on the belief that, if possible, it is always best for a child to be in a family setting, so they strive to facilitate this as much as possible.

“Growing up without your family is a tough, tough, tough way to grow up,” Boudreaux said. “It scars more than just your stomach and your mind, it scars your heart, which is really the tough part.”

“We help orphanages reunite children with their families, we help orphanages put children in the adoption stream, and for the children that have to be there, until they have a family, we make the standards solid, so that they can thrive in real time.”

Boudreaux was first inspired with the idea for the Miracle Foundation after she went to India with a friend and witnessed the poor living conditions of orphanages there. The place was “like a concentration camp for kids,” she said, “very gray, very dark.”

The beds were wooden slats with no mattresses and the children, “bald and filthy,” were starved for attention. “I just decided somebody better help them, somebody needs to step in here, and that was it – that was the beginning – almost 17 years ago on Mother’s Day,” she said.

Inspired by the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Miracle Foundation created its own list of 12 Fundamental Rights of a Child, focusing specifically on the rights of orphaned children, such as the right to a “stable, loving and nurturing environment.”

In addition to practical issues, such as proper nutrition, clean water, electricity and a clean environment, the Miracle Foundation trains caregivers in the areas they can improve themselves, and for others, helps them to bring in qualified experts, like counselors and doctors.

The children in these institutions are often suffering from grief, trauma, or other psychological issues, Boudreaux said, but the religious sisters who watch over them aren’t prepared to deal with the significant psychological problems they have, let alone “watch them go to bed hungry every night” because of the lack of resources.

The Miracle Foundation isn’t a religious organization and will serve anyone in need of help, she said, but they’ve also found that working with specific religious orders who run multiple orphanages throughout a country, or around the world, is one way to make a large impact and quickly.

The Miracle Foundation has been following their current model since 2011, and has experienced great success, with religious orders asking for their help in all of their institutions. For this, the organization’s principle to “train the trainer” has helped them reach even more children.

For the moment they are mostly based at orphanages in India, but are also helping some in Ethiopia, Sierra Leone, and Uganda.

Nivedita DasGupta, head of their operations in India, gave an overview of a typical day in one of the children’s homes in which they’ve helped implement these “best practices.”

In general, the goal is to make the environment as home- and family-like as possible.

For this reason, there is usually one “house mother” for about every 20 children, who drops them off and picks them up from the bus stop on their way to and from school, who eats dinner with them, and generally spends the day supervising them all.

The organization made it mandatory for a healthy snack to be served after school and for there to be a period of physical activity and playtime. They also implemented different monthly sessions for the children focused on life skills with topics appropriate for different ages, such as career counseling, goal-setting, how to deal with peer pressure, and responsible sexual behavior.

As a way for the kids to have a say in the community, they also have children’s committees (run with supervision by an adult, of course) that are responsible for things like planning meals and organizing sports.

One thing the Miracle Foundation does when they come in to an orphanage is to chart the health of the children, Boudreaux said, which they then train the house mothers to measure and record monthly, so that they have real knowledge about the health of the children and their progress on growth charts.

“We help orphans reach their full potential, that’s what we’re all about,” she said.

A Catholic, Boudreaux said she grew up hearing about the importance of being pro-life, but that after going to these orphanages and seeing the children, you realize that maybe we’ve “succeeded” in one way, so-to-speak, but are failing in another.

These children have all been born, but, she said, you have to ask: “Now what? Now they’re just going to be hungry? We’ve got to step up here.”

“We have an opportunity,” she said. “This is something right here, right now!”

Boudreaux explained that this isn’t something we have to go looking for: It’s easy “because they’re right there, and our nuns are right there, waiting for our help, ready to accept our help.”

“We’re not pro-orphanage, we’re not pro-institution,” she said. “We wish that every child in the world had a family.”

“But the real question is, what happens if we’re not there?”

“Between now and when they can find a family, we must support children, we must support them,” she said.

Elise Harris contributed to this article. 

[…]

Rome, Italy, Feb 17, 2017 / 02:50 am (CNA/EWTN News).- While many in different sectors of the Church are pulling out their hair trying to resolve the Amoris Laetitia communion debate, Papua New Guinea’s new cardinal said his country has a much more immediate problem.

“For us, Amoris Laetitia will always be there,” Cardinal John Ribat told CNA Feb. 11.

“You can have time to talk about this,” he said, but stressed his country is facing one major problem that can’t wait for a solution: climate change.

“It is really the biggest issue for us. We cannot keep quiet about it. We have to come out with it,” he said, noting that the “king tides, king waves” and rough winds “belting” the island nation are already forcing many people from their homes.

These are the things “we cannot stop. They continue to come, and they are more powerful than us,” the cardinal said, explaining that while temporary sea walls have been set up, “they won’t hold.”

“Our situation, it’s timely, you either talk about it or you see these people finished…There’s not timing for it. The time is either now or never.”

Cardinal Ribat, a member of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, was one of the 19 prelates that got a red hat from Pope Francis in November’s consistory, and is a prime example of the Pope’s affinity toward the global peripheries.

Not only does Ribat come from a small island nation with an equally small Catholic population, he is the first prelate from the country to ever be named cardinal, giving voice to a sector of the Church whose concerns might otherwise go unheard.

The cardinal said he didn’t know that he had been named a cardinal until the country’s nuncio came and told him.
 
“For me it was absolutely unexpected. I never dreamt about it, never, I never wrote for this. It just came. So it was really a shocking news for us,” he said, explaining that the appointment sent “a great message” to Papua New Guinea.

Not only did he get congratulations from the country’s Catholics, but he also received celebratory calls and messages from other Christian denominations as well as the nation’s small Muslim minority. Prime Minister Peter O’Neill also offered his congratulations in local papers and on TV.

For the cardinal, his appointment is “timely and it gives us a chance to come to the center and hear our voice, to listen to our voice.”

“It’s really looking at the small Church, the small area, and bringing it to the center. So the periphery, bringing us to the center where we are listened to, we are recognized, where we are appreciated, where our situation is also understood.”

Ribat said his red hat was timely above all because it allows him to have more heft when voicing the country’s concerns, particularly on the issue of climate change.

The phenomena is something new that most islanders have found themselves entirely unprepared for, he said, explaining that “we were happily living and it was not a concern for us. But at this time we cannot be quiet.”

“It’s happening at this time and we don’t know where it is coming from and why it is happening…we have islands disappearing, being washed because of the high-rise sea level and people there, they have to move,” he said, noting that many of the smaller islands “are not able to sustain themselves” for much longer.

Papua New Guinea is among the nations considered most at risk for the effects of climate change. For several years the country has been affected by rising sea levels and changes in temperature, rainfall patters and the frequency of tropical storms.

According to the Australian Government’s 2011 Pacific Climate Change Science Program report, temperatures in the capital city of Port Moresby have increased since at a rate of 0.11 degrees Celsius per decade since 1950, causing sea levels to rise at a rate of 7mm per year since 1993, since water expands as it gets warmer.

Predictions for the future look grim, anticipating that the trends will carry forward as temperatures continue to increase, leading to hotter days and more volatile rainy days, with sea levels continuing to rise.

Islands such as Carteret and Tuvalu have reportedly already begun to feel the sting, with rising sea levels leaving food gardens flooded while homeowners seek to transfer to higher ground. Coconut farms – the country’s primary agricultural product – have so far been most heavily affected.

The report also states that inconsistent weather and rain patterns have already led to more frequent onsets of malaria and the common flu, and will soon start to have an impact on the economy, since the country’s agricultural production is being affected.

In his comments to CNA, Cardinal Ribat, who met with Pope Francis right before coming to the interview, said he brought the issue up with the Pope during their meeting, and that Francis was sympathetic to their plight.

“His response was that the nations are not listening, that’s what he said,” Ribat explained, recalling how the Pope told him that while “we do our best, we try to voice our concerns,” the answer ultimately depends on other nations.

Pope Francis has often spoken out about the need to make more firm commitments in trying to find solutions to climate change, focusing on the issue at length in his 2015 environmental encyclical Laudato Si.

He also issued several strong statements on the issue ahead of the 2015 COP21 climate summit in Paris, which was attended by Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin.

Speaking of Laudato Si, Cardinal Ribat said the encyclical helped the world to see “the importance” of the problems they face not just in Papua New Guinea, but “in the whole Pacific.”

Ribat called on nations to take greater action, specifically asking “powerful” countries in the West “to respond in a positive way to help us, because this high-rise sea level, we’ve never experienced it before (and) we are wondering what is happening to us, why all this is happening.”

For those who doubt the effects of climate change or think that it’s a myth, the cardinal said his response would be to “come and see” if they “really want to be sure about what is happening.”

“This is where you really see the effect of what is happening,” he said. “So when you talk about climate change, maybe here because you have a big land mass you are talking about it and waiting for it to come in the future. For us, it is right now.”

[…]

Rome, Italy, Feb 17, 2017 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis will visit All Saints Anglican Church in Rome Feb. 26 to mark the 200th anniversary of the foundation of the Anglican parish community in the heart of the Eternal City.

Jonathan Board… […]

Madrid, Spain, Feb 16, 2017 / 08:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Eulogio Martínez and Martina Abian are 100 and 95 years-old, respectively.

They were married Nov. 26, 1942, in Guadalajara, Spain, and they will soon celebrate their 75th anniversary. On the occasion of World Marriage Day, which coincides with the feast of Saint Valentine, the Marriage Encounter movement gave them the “2017 Lifetime of Love” award.

But in a world where nuptial unions fall tragically apart – or increasingly fail to happen in the first place – how did this couple stay married, and happily at that?

In an interview with the Spanish ABC daily, Eulogio and Martina both agreed that the key to success that keeps them together and in love after 75 years is “patience” and above all, “loving each other a lot.”

“People don’t put up with anything, with the slightest trouble, it’s over,” Martina lamented. In fact, she finds herself baffled at how marriages can break up so quickly: “We always discuss things, and why not? … You have to have patience.”

Eulogio recalled when they started going out together – she was 18 and he was 23. “I asked her if we could have a relationship and I realized that she had already been looking forward to it,” he laughed.

“Yes, it’s true, I liked him a lot,” Martina responded, “he was very handsome, very formal, he captivated me. He’s 100 years old and look at him!”

They got married a year later. “It was a really big day, as it is for all engaged couples in love that marry – not like today, where people get married and then just change spouses,” Martina said.

They had seven children. Eulogio joined the Civil Guard, a police force in Spain, and because of his work and promotions he had to move several times. “I went with him everywhere,” Martina told ABC.

After a lifetime together, they said they were sure “they couldn’t live without each other,” not because it is a routine, or they are used to it, but because of love. One of their children told the newspaper that Martina recently had a hip operation and Eulogio could not wait to visit her at the hospital.

Even though they still have a lot of energy, Eulogio said that he would prefer “to go before she does so she can enjoy life and look for another man.” Martina laughed, but insisted, “I’m dying with him, there’s no body else like him.”

Marriage Encounter said that Eulogio and Martina “are proof that love can last a lifetime.”

“It’s not a question of luck: You have to want to love, to cultivate the relationship, to work through those differences that any couple has. And also it’s that you can learn to love well,” they said in a statement.

The witness of these spouses stands out in Spain when, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics, during 2015, more than 100,000 spouses separated, divorced or obtained an annulment.

Marriage Encounter is a Catholic movement that offers a “Special Weekend” as an experience that contributes to the couple strengthening their love and deepening their relationship. It is open to couple of any religion and also non-believers.

Every year Marriage Encounter gives “A Lifetime of Love” awards to the longest married couples to demonstrate that it is possible to have just one love and have it forever.

Marriage Encounter is present in more than 100 countries and the five continents. Each year, more than 30,000 couples throughout the world are able to renew their love thanks to this experience.

¿Quieres que tu amor dure 75 años? Eulogio, de 100 años, y Martina, de 95, tienen el secreto https://t.co/e3I0kHGPcl #DíaDeLosEnamorados pic.twitter.com/JWxtkFoFvW

— abc_conocer (@abc_conocer) February 14, 2017

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Zurich, Switzerland, Feb 16, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Meet Elina Berglund: a nuclear physicist who will be known as the woman who developed the first natural cycle fertility app that is internationally certified to be as effective as contracep… […]