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Cardinal Bernard Law, formerly of Boston, dies at age 86

December 19, 2017 CNA Daily News 1

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2017 / 09:38 pm (CNA).- Cardinal Bernard Law has died after a brief hospitalization due to congenital heart failure, according to sources close to the cardinal and a report from the Boston Globe. He was 86 years old.

Law was appointed Archbishop of Boston in 1984, and resigned from the position on Dec. 13, 2002, after reports revealed that he did not disclose multiple allegations of clerical sexual abuse to the police or to the public, or intervene to remove priests accused of sexual abuse from priestly ministry.

“It is my fervent prayer that this action may help the Archdiocese of Boston to experience the healing, reconciliation and unity which are so desperately needed,” Law wrote at the time of his resignation.

After his resignation, Law moved to Rome.  He was assigned as the Archpriest of the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in 2004 by Pope John Paul II, a largely ceremonial position from which he retired in 2011, at the age of 80. The appointment was controversial, especially as many in the US continued to call for his criminal prosecution.  

Law was born on November 4, 1931 in Torreon, Mexico, the son of a Catholic father, an Air Force colonel, and a Presbyterian mother.

Law attended high school in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and graduated from Harvard University in 1953. He was ordained a priest on May 21, 1961 for the Natchez-Jackson diocese in Mississippi, and was named vicar general of the diocese ten years later. He also served as a writer and editor for the diocesan newspaper, the Mississippi Register.

In 1973, he was appointed Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, in Missouri.

As a young priest and bishop, he was involved in ecumenism and the civil rights movement. In 1975, he organized the resettlement in his diocese of 166 Vietnamese priests and brothers who had fled Vietnam as refugees.

In the late 1970s, he served as chairman for the U.S. Bishop’s Committee on Ecumenical and Interracial Affairs, and, in the late 1990s, as chairman of the bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities.  

In 1984, Law was appointed Archbishop of Boston, and in 1985 he was made a cardinal by Pope John Paul II.

In 1985, at an Extraordinary Synod of Bishops, Law was among the first to call for a universal catechism, which prompted the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1992.

“I propose a commission of cardinals to prepare a draft of a conciliar catechism to be promulgated by the Holy Father after consulting the bishops of the world. In a shrinking world a global village-national catechisms will not fill the current need for clear articulation of the church’s faith,” Law said at the synod.

Beginning with visits to Cuba in 1985 and 1989, Law was instrumental in laying the diplomatic groundwork that made possible Pope John Paul II’s visit to the country in 1998. Law met with Fidel Castro on several occasions, and arranged aid from the Archdiocese of Boston to support Cuba’s Catholic Church.

In 2001, Cardinal Law became the subject of international criticism after he admitted that he knew of the accusations of serial abuse against retired priest John Geoghan, and responded by moving Geoghan to another parish rather than going to the authorities.

Law apologized to Geoghan’s victims in a press conference in early 2002.

The sexual abuse scandals in the Archdiocese of Boston led to nationwide outrage regarding practices which failed to protect children from abuse in the Catholic Church. In the spring of 2002, American cardinals met in Rome to discuss the matter, at which time Law offered his resignation, which was initially refused by the Vatican. Sexual abuse scandals broke in the media around the country, in a period which many now call the “Long Lent of 2002.”

In June 2002, the United State Conference of Catholic Bishops passed The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, known as the “Dallas Charter,” which established procedures and policies for addressing allegations of sexual abuse in the Church, and for fostering “safe environments” for children and other vulnerable individuals.  

On December 6, 2002, Law was subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury, which was investigating possible criminal violations on behalf of Law and other diocesan officials in the abuse scandal. One week later, his resignation as Archbishop of Boston was accepted by the Vatican.

In September 2002, the Archdiocese of Boston reached a $10M settlement with 86 victims of Geoghan. In 2003, the Archdiocese of Boston agreed to pay $85M to 552 people who claimed to have been abused by Catholic clergy, many of them during Law’s tenure. The Archdiocese has continued to face litigation related to allegations of sexual abuse.

Law was not criminally charged for his involvement in the abuse scandal.

Two weeks ago, Law experienced a decline in health and was admitted to a clinic in Rome to monitor a congenital heart problem.

A few days ago, Law became unresponsive, and, according to reports, he passed away on Tuesday evening.

Funeral details will be made available later this week.

Law will be buried in a tomb at Rome’s Basilica of St Mary Major, which is customary for the priests who have served there.

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Polish cardinal, “Rosary Priest” among sainthood causes moving forward

December 19, 2017 CNA Daily News 2

Vatican City, Dec 19, 2017 / 04:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Tuesday recognized the heroic virtue of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, the former Metropolitan Archbishop of Warsaw, as well as Patrick Peyton, an Irish priest known for his promotion of the Rosary.

The Pope recognized the heroic virtue Dec. 19 of six other people on the path to canonization, as well as the martyrdom of Teodoro Illera Del Olmo, priest of the Congregation of St. Peter in Chains, and 15 companions, who were killed ‘in hatred of the faith’ during the religious persecution in Spain in 1936 and 1937.

Miracles attributed to the intercession of diocesan priest Giovanni Battista Fouque (1851-1926) and Jesuit priest Tiburzio Arnaiz Nunoz, founder of the Misioneras de las Doctrinas Rurales (1903-1977), were also approved, paving the way for their beatification.

Francis met Dec. 18 with the prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Cardinal Angelo Amato, giving his approval for the causes to move forward.

He recognized the heroic virtue of Cardinal Stefan Wyszynksi, now called ‘Venerable,’ who was born in the village of Zuzela in eastern Mazovia (at the time, part of the Russian Empire) on Aug. 3, 1901.

Wyszynski was ordained a priest on Aug. 3, 1924, his 24th birthday, celebrating his first Solemn High Mass of Thanksgiving at the Jasna Gora Shrine in Czestochowa, where the image of the Black Madonna resides.

In 1946 he was appointed Bishop of Lublin and then in 1948 named Metropolitan Archbishop of Gniezno and Warsaw, thus becoming the “Primate of Poland.”

Often called the “Primate of the Millennium,” he is known for his heroic resistance to Nazism and Communism. He was also instrumental in the approval of Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) as bishop of Krakow, and later, in urging him to accept his election as pope.

He is also credited with helping to conserve Christianity in Poland during the persecution by the Communist regime, which ruled from 1945-1989. At one point he imprisoned with other Catholic priests during a wave of anti-Catholic persecution, where he witnessed brutal torture and mistreatment of prisoners.

In 1953 he was made a cardinal by Pope Pius XII. He died of abdominal cancer on May 28, 1981, at the age of 79, and is buried in St. John’s Arch-cathedral in Warsaw.

Another cause moving forward is that of Patrick Peyton, now called ‘Venerable,’ who was born in County Mayo, Ireland on Jan. 9, 1909. In 1928 he and an older brother sailed to the U.S. to join his elder sisters who had already emigrated and were living and working in Pennsylvania.

Peyton worked as a sort-of janitor at St. Stanislaus Cathedral for several years before deciding to pursue the priesthood with his brother Thomas.

In 1938, while still a seminarian, he fell gravely ill with tuberculosis. Thinking he might die, his older sister brought him Marian novenas and reminded him of the Blessed Mother and the power of the Holy Rosary.

Encouraged by his sister and a Catholic priest, he gave himself over to God through the Blessed Virgin Mary. Soon doctors discovered that the spots in his lungs had disappeared and in 1941 he and his brother were ordained priests of the Congregation of the Holy Cross.

He was one of the first pioneers of evangelism via mass media, using radio, film, advertising and eventually television, utilizing the help of Hollywood celebrities and artists. He is most known for his public rallies to encourage families to make pledges to pray the Rosary together, which were attended by thousands of people.

He founded the “Family Rosary Crusade” and popularized the phrase: “The family that prays together stays together.” In addition to working in the US, he also led missions in Latin America and in the Philippines.

Peyton died on June 3, 1992 in San Pedro, California, and is buried on the grounds of Stonehill College in Easton, Mass.

The other people declared ‘Venerable’ are: Jesuit priest Alfonso Barzana (1530-1597); Paolo Smolikowski, priest of the Congregation of the Resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ (1849-1926); Maria Anna of St. Joseph, founder of the Monastery of the Augustinian Recollect Sisters (1568-1638); Luisa Maria Langstroth Figuera De Sousa Vadre Santa Marta Mesquita and Melo, founder of the Congregation of the Ancelle of Our Lady of Fatima (1877-1973); Anna del Salvatore, sister of the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Anne (1842-1885); Maria Antonia Sama, lay woman (1875-1953).

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Pope Francis’ three Christmas ingredients: joy, prayer, gratitude

December 17, 2017 CNA Daily News 0

Vatican City, Dec 17, 2017 / 12:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- With Christmas just eight days away, Pope Francis said three simple attitudes can help prepare us to welcome Jesus Christ.

“Saint Paul invites us to prepare for the coming of the Lord by assuming three attitudes: constant joy, persevering prayer and continual thanksgiving,” the Pope said. “Joy, prayer and gratitude are three attitudes that prepare us to live Christmas in an authentic way.”

Pope Francis’ remarks to the crowds gathered in St. Peter’s Square came ahead of the Angelus for Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, which this year coincided with Pope Francis’ 81st birthday, Vatican News reports.

He said the liturgy in recent Sundays has focused on how to be vigilant and how to prepare for the way of the Lord. For Gaudete Sunday, the liturgy invites Christians to joy.

The Pope cited St. Paul’s First Letter to the Thessalonians, “always be happy.”

“That is to say, always remain in joy, even when things do not go according to our desires,” Francis explained. “Anxieties, difficulties and sufferings permeate our lives, and so many times the reality around us seems to be inhospitable and arid, like the desert in which the voice of John the Baptist resounded, as the Gospel of today recalls.”

John the Baptist’s voice in the desert reveal that Christian joy rests on “the certainty that the desert is inhabited.”

This is Jesus, who in the words of the Prophet Isaiah comes “to bring the good news to the poor, to bind the wounds of broken hearts, to proclaim the freedom of slaves, the release of prisoners, to promulgate the year of grace of the Lord.”

Jesus’ mission in the world consists of “liberation from personal and social sin and the slavery that it produces.”

“He came to earth to give back to men the dignity and freedom of the children of God, which only He can give,” said Pope Francis.

Unceasing prayer helps us enter into relationship with God, the source of true joy.

“The joy of the Christian comes from faith and from the encounter with Jesus Christ, the reason for our happiness,” the Pope continued. “The more we are rooted in Christ, the more we find inner serenity, even in the midst of everyday contradictions.”

The Christian who has met Jesus cannot be “a prophet of misfortune” but must be “a witness and a herald of joy,” said Francis. This is “a joy to share with others; a contagious joy that makes life’s journey less tiring.”

St. Paul also stressed “the grateful love of God,” his generosity, mercy, patience and goodness. Christians are to be “living in an endless state of thanksgiving.”

Pope Francis closed his remarks before the Angelus by entrusting the congregation to the intercession of the Virgin Mary.

“She is ‘the cause of our joy,’ not only because she is the Mother of Jesus, but because she continually leads us to Him,” he said.

After the Angelus, the Pope called for the release of six women religious kidnapped in Iguoriakhi in Nigeria’s southern Edo State.

On Nov. 13 gunmen abducted the sisters, three professed women and three aspirants, from their convent. There have been no claims of responsibility for the crime in a country where kidnapping for ransom has become common.

“I unite my heart to the appeal of the bishops of Nigeria for the liberation of the Sisters of the Eucharistic Heart of Christ,” he said.

“I pray with insistence for them and for all the other persons who find themselves in this painful condition,” he continued, adding “may they all, on the occasion of Christmas, finally return to their homes.”

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