2017-02-01T10:02:00+00:00

Last updated on: February 1, 2017 at 10:02 am   By

Rome, Italy, Feb 1, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The archdiocese that once sent St. John Paul II to the papacy has a new archbishop: Marek Jedraszewski. The archbishop has special memories of the sainted Pope and the Divine Mercy devotion he brought to the world. “Thanks to Cardinal Karol Wojtyla, later St. John Paul II, the message of mercy became very important for the world. And this is a message really close to Pope Francis, too,” Archbishop Jedraszewski told CNA. Krakow is a major center of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy devotion, based on private revelations of Jesus Christ to St. Faustina Kowalska. It hosts Sister Faustina's convent and a shrine dedicated to Divine Mercy. St. John Paul II was himself a devotee and a popularizer of the Divine Mercy. But the devotion itself began in the Archdiocese of Lodz, Archbishop Jedraszewski's previous assignment. “It is really symbolic that I am coming from Lodz, where the Divine Mercy devotion began, to Krakow, where the devotion flourished. In the Lodz cathedral, Sr. Faustina saw Jesus who told her to enter the convent in Warsaw. The beginning of her spiritual life started in Lodz.” For this reason, he added, “I feel committed to prolong this mission of mercy in Krakow, even to welcome all of the people coming to Krakow to pray over Sr. Faustina tombs, and actually touch the places Sr. Faustina lived.” Archbishop Jedraszewski leads the archdiocese that at one time was headed by Cardinal Wojtyla, elected Pope John Paul II in the 1978 conclave. The archbishop recalled his friendship with the late Pope.   The new archbishop of Krakow said that their relationship started back in 1975, when he was living at the Polish College in Rome to study philosophy at the Pontifical Gregorian University. “Cardinal Wojtyla used to come often to Rome, and stayed at the same college,” he said. “Cardinal Wojtyla was really interested in young Polish students, he spent much time with them, and so he did with me,” he recounted. “As I was studying philosophy, a subject he was very fond of, there were many possibilities to talk and discuss with him about philosophy.”   After Cardinal Wojtyla was elected Pope, Archbishop Jedraszewski kept a personal correspondence with him, “in particular when I was appointed bishop, since John Paul II always wanted Polish bishops who passed in Rome to spend a lunch or a dinner with him.”   The installation Mass of Archbishop Jedraszewski came in a favorable moment for Polish Catholicism. The latest figures of the Polish Church’s yearbook show a slight increase in the numbers of Sunday Mass attendance, as well as the number of communicants. About 40 percent of Poles attend daily Mass, while about 17 percent receive Holy Communion each Sunday. The research also stressed the strong commitment of lay people in the Church. In Poland there are some 60,000 organizations involving about 2.5 million people.   Archbishop Jedraszewski told CNA that World Youth Day 2017 was “a convincing testimony that Poland cannot be considered a de-Christianized country.” He noted that the statistics indicate growth not only in the traditionally devout southern Poland, but also in Lodz, a “highly secularized area.” He concluded that “in the end, we may say that there is an increase of faith in Poland. On the other hand, it is true that challenges given from the secularizing trends are big.”   Archbishop Jedraszewski raised the issue of secularization with Pope Francis, during the Polish bishops’ meeting with the pontiff July 27. During that meeting, Pope Francis stressed the danger of gender ideology. The archbishop also saw this approach to gender as a threat. He said Benedict XVI had affirmed gender theory as more dangerous than Marxist and Communist ideology because “it breaks with the anthropological vision of what the man his according the work of the Creator God.”   “God created the man as male and female, while gender ideology does everything possible to cancel differences between man and woman,” Archbishop Jedraszewski said. “This is absurd from a biological point of view, and it does not deals just with the human being: gender ideology has dramatic consequences in social life and in current culture.”   In the end “we cannot be open to this ideology, that is profoundly against God the Creator and against everything Christ himself taught us.” Read more

2017-02-01T02:37:00+00:00

Last updated on: February 1, 2017 at 2:37 am   By

Manila, Philippines, Jan 31, 2017 / 07:37 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic bishops of the Philippines voiced strong objections to proposals intended to reinstate the death penalty in the country. “The Gospel of the Lord Jesus is the Gospel of L... Read more

2017-02-01T00:19:00+00:00

Last updated on: February 1, 2017 at 12:19 am   By

Dallas, Texas, Jan 31, 2017 / 05:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Citing legal and community changes, the Boy Scouts of America have said self-declared gender identity now determines youth eligibility for its scouting programs. The move could add new difficulties for Catholic sponsors of scout troops trying to adapt to the organization’s relatively new policy on homosexuality. “Starting today, we will accept and register youth in the Cub and Boy Scout programs based on the gender identity indicated on the application,” the Boy Scouts of America said Jan. 30. The statement said its local councils will “help find units that can provide for the best interest of the child.” The statement said Cub Scouting and Boy Scouting are “specifically designed to meet the needs of boys.” In previous years, the organizations have used individuals’ birth certificates to determine whether they are eligible for single-sex programs. “However, that approach is no longer sufficient as communities and state laws are interpreting gender identity differently, and these laws vary widely from state to state,” the statement said. The new policy comes after a transgender child in New Jersey was asked to leave the Cub Scouts late last year. The child's pack was hosted by Immaculate Conception parish in Secaucus. The child had told CNN that “it's not fair because my friends get to do it, but I can't.” CNA contacted the National Catholic Committee on Scouting for comment but did not receive a response by deadline. The Boy Scouts of America had announced in July 2015 that it would adopt a non-discrimination policy allowing homosexuals to be scout leaders and volunteers. The decision promised that churches with objections to homosexual behavior could set their own standards for affiliated organizations. Bishop David Kagan of Bismarck, himself a former boy scout, in summer 2015 reluctantly told his North Dakota diocese to disaffiliate from the Boy Scouts of America due to the legal risks and the moral confusion its leadership policy could cause for Catholics. He said the policy could risk lawsuits for church-sponsored troops that attempt to hold their leaders and volunteers to Catholic moral standards. Bishop Kagan lamented the goals of those who sought the policy change to “redefine what is acceptable and unacceptable in society.” At the same time, the bishop suggested that the Boy Scouts of America would not be able to defend the previous policy in court given trends in the American legal system. However, Bishop Robert Guglielmone of Charleston, a leading member of the National Catholic Committee on Scouting, had recommended “cautious optimism” towards that policy change, voicing hope that Catholic churches could still use Boy Scouts of America programs in a way consistent with Church teaching. He said Catholic-chartered scouting units are “the only way we can have a direct influence” on Catholic youth involved in scouting. At the same time, the bishop acknowledged there is no way Catholics can control the material in Boy Scout programs, merit badge material, and its Boys’ Life magazine. Bishop Kagan recommended alternatives to the Boy Scouts, enumerating the Federation of North American Explorers, the Columbian Squires, and Trail Life USA. He also recommended alternatives to the Girl Scouts, listing American Heritage Girls, Little Flowers’ Girls Clubs, and the Federation of North American Explorers. There are about 2.3 million members of Boy Scouts of America groups between the ages of 7 and 21. President Donald Trump’s nominee for Secretary of State, Rex W. Tillerson, is a past national president of the Boy Scouts of America and served on its executive board in 2013 when it voted to lift the ban on homosexual scouts, The New York Times reports. Read more

2017-01-31T23:28:00+00:00

Last updated on: January 31, 2017 at 11:28 pm   By

Vatican City, Jan 31, 2017 / 04:28 pm (CNA).- In the first days of U.S. president Donald Trump’s administration, Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark said he has seen encouragement on pro-life matters, but cause for concern when it comes to refugees. ... Read more

2017-01-31T23:09:00+00:00

Last updated on: January 31, 2017 at 11:09 pm   By

Brooklyn, N.Y., Jan 31, 2017 / 04:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Parishioners were distressed after a priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn posted a meme on Facebook that encouraged Trump opponents to commit suicide. “Show your hate for Trump. Do it for so... Read more

2017-01-31T21:50:00+00:00

Last updated on: January 31, 2017 at 9:50 pm   By

Caracas, Venezuela, Jan 31, 2017 / 02:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When asked by a reporter about the threat of civil war in his country, Archbishop Ubaldo Santana of Maracaibo responded starkly: “there is already a bloodbath of considerable proportions in Venezuela.” “We're talking about 30,000 people murdered a year, and if we don't manage to find peaceful ways to understand each other, that number can increase,” he said in a recent interview. Archbishop Santana, the former head of the Venezuelan bishops' conference, made his remarks to the Alpha and Omega news weekly during a visit to Spain, in which he discussed various issues related to the grave crisis affecting Venezuela. In the wake of Nicolas Maduro succeeding former socialist president Hugo Chavez after the latter died from cancer in 2013, the country has been marred by violence and social upheaval. Poor economic policies, including strict price controls, coupled with high inflation rates, have resulted in a severe lack of basic necessities such as toilet paper, milk, flour, diapers and medicines. Venezuela's socialist government is widely blamed for the crisis. Since 2003, price controls on some 160 products, including cooking oil, soap and flour, have meant that while they are affordable, they fly off store shelves only to be resold on the black market at much higher rates. The Venezuelan government is known to be among the most corrupt in Latin America, and violent crime in the country has spiked since Maduro took office. In response to a question about the possibility of a civil war in the South American country, Archbishop Santana said that a potential conflict “would be in very asymmetrical terms.” “The party that possesses weaponry belongs to the government,” he clarified. “I can't say the opposition groups don't have weapons, because today arms trafficking is uncontrollable, but perhaps not in the number and quantity of the other groups.” “That doesn't mean there can't be a bloodbath. In fact, we can say that in Venezuela there already is a bloodbath of considerable proportions,” the archbishop said. He noted added that “there are armed groups all over the country. In Maracaibo, we have in addition groups of criminals and gang members that would seem to enjoy a certain impunity. We know that there's a lot of overcrowding in the prisons and at times the authorities have opted for a massive release of prisoners to reduce the congestion.” There are also “extortion rings,” he noted, “that operate in the city, many are undercover in the security forces, not infrequently backed by operatives in some of those groups who by day keep order and at night are robbing.” To this “is added is the presence of irregular armed groups on the border who come from Colombia,” he said. “They ensure protection, order and the resolution of small neighborhood conflicts upon payment of what we call a 'vaccine.'” A “vaccine” is an illegal charge that armed groups in Venezuela and Colombia use to allow passage through territory they control. Archbishop Santana said that these are paramilitary groups, the National Liberation Army (ELN) and some factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) that have not demobilized. Despite the country's problems, a recent assembly of bishops and lay people held in Venezuela had an upshot that “was highly positive,” he said. “You could feel a great deal of consensus  in the lay people's feeling regarding the need for political change in the country.” “We talked about how the laity could play a more important role in the Church and in their transformative action in diverse social environments,” he said. The meeting also discussed “the formation being offered to lay people and its impact because we see they are not sufficiently present as Catholics in the political, economic and cultural worlds. The time was short, but it resulted in proposals for future meetings.” Pope Francis also met with President Maduro in October of last year, According to the official Vatican communique on the meeting, Francis invited the president “to undertake with courage the path of sincere and constructive dialogue.” He also invited the Venezuelan dictator to make it a priority “to alleviate the suffering of the people – first of all, those who are poor – and to promote a climate of renewed social cohesion which would offer a vision forward with hope for the future of the nation.” Read more

2017-01-31T15:49:00+00:00

Last updated on: January 31, 2017 at 3:49 pm   By

Vatican City, Jan 31, 2017 / 08:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Jesus wasn’t worried about his polling results, Pope Francis said Tuesday – instead, he was concerned with each and every person, seeing everything about them, even those things which ... Read more

2017-01-31T10:02:00+00:00

Last updated on: January 31, 2017 at 10:02 am   By

Washington D.C., Jan 31, 2017 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Tens of thousands of pro-life advocates went to the national March for Life this past weekend, but that should only be the beginning of a year-round witness to life, one pro-life leader says. “The bishops call Catholics to witness to the beauty of life all year around,” Deirdre McQuade, assistant director for pro-life communications at the U.S. Bishops' Secretariat on Pro-Life Activities, told CNA in an interview. The March for Life “is a particular moment, but I encourage people to be energized by it,” she said, calling on Catholics “to really take this beautiful vision of human life that we have and really invite others into it.” Friday marked the 44th annual March for Life in Washington, D.C., the world’s largest annual pro-life rally. Pro-life advocates from all over the country braved the cold winter weather to advocate for the protection of human life in the womb. Thousands also attended the national Prayer Vigil for Life on Thursday at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Northeast Washington, D.C. An estimated crowd of around 12,000 attended the vigil mass Thursday evening said by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, as well as 40 bishops and hundreds of priests, deacons, and seminarians. The mass began a 14-hour overnight prayer vigil that was concluded with a closing mass on Friday morning. At the 2017 march, the theme was “the power of one.” Officials for the march explained that this referred to the good that just one person can accomplish by choosing to bring a baby into the world, adopt a baby, or pass a pro-life law that reduces abortions. The pro-life movement must make sure to support the life of the unborn child but also the well-being of the mother, McQuade said. “Being authentically pro-life doesn’t pit women against their unborn children,” she said. “Really, if we’re united with the most oppressed” and “the most disenfranchised, if we have a progressive view of life, we’re going to stand with the unborn in solidarity with his or her mother.” “As Catholics, we can be united with others who stand with women and say ‘women deserve better than abortion’,” she said. Many Catholics also participated in the U.S. bishops’ “9 Days for Life” campaign of prayer and advocacy “for the protection of human life from conception to natural death.” The campaign included prayers for the end to abortion but also “for healing for those who have been involved in an abortion,” McQuade explained, and a prayer intention “to end domestic violence, which is so important and also tied to abortions.” “It’s a beautiful way for Catholics and other people of faith to join in with all the tens of thousands of people who are across the country demonstrating in person,” she noted, “it’s kind of a virtual pilgrimage.” However, the campaign and the march should only be the beginning of year-round prayer, advocacy, and works of mercy to build a culture of life, she insisted. “Your prayers and actions make a difference,” she told participants in the March for Life and the 9 Days for Life campaign. Catholics should be “educating people about the dignity of human life from conception until natural death,” she said. They should also be “praying for that protection and for a culture that would find abortion unthinkable, assisted suicide unthinkable and everything in between,” she added, and they should support laws that protect human life from evils like abortion, euthanasia, and assisted suicide. Catholics can learn more about present-day issues through signing up for the bishops’ “action alerts” at HumanLifeActionCenter.org, she said, and by following their own state’s Catholic conference. And lastly, Catholics must work on “putting mercy into action with practical support for women who are pregnant, people who are sick or dying, people who are prisoners on death row,” she said. “We need to be present to all of them, and according to our gifts and talents, serve them.” Read more

2017-01-31T07:08:00+00:00

Last updated on: January 31, 2017 at 7:08 am   By

Morelia, Mexico, Jan 31, 2017 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The head of an archdiocese in the western Mexican state of Michoacan has said the country needs to seek forgiveness for failing to provide for its people who seek a better life in the United States. “We have to ask the migrants for forgiveness because they couldn't find job opportunities or adequate conditions in Mexico for  their families to get ahead,” Archbishop Carlos Garfias Merlos of Morelia told the weekly Desde la Fe. Mexico has been unable to “create an environment where justice reigns, where there are well-paid jobs and opportunities for the future,” he commented. “So we ask forgiveness from those we have driven from our places by not eradicating poverty, and who are now facing the threat of exclusion and discrimination.” To all of them, Archbishop Garfias continued: “a word of gratitude for everything you are doing for your families and your communities. Also a word of encouragement in face of  the difficulties you are up against. Know that you are not alone.” Archbishop Garfias also said now is time to stand in solidarity with the migrants in face of the  announcement by the President of the United States, Donald Trump, who has ordered the continuation of the construction of a border wall started by Bill Clinton's administration. Regarding his new mission as Archbishop of Morelia – he was appointed Nov. 5, 2016 – he emphasized that “in this time our country is going through, we need more than ever to find a path to reconciliation to give an effective and long-lasting response to the violence, injustice, corruption and impunity that has settled over our homeland and has become the breeding ground for growing discontent.” “Although this violence is the product of many distortions in society and the uncontrolled action of organized crime, the fact does not escape me, and I take it up as a challenge, that the decisive action of Christians has been lacking in this environment, who have not been able to respond in time and with strength to the disintegration of the social fabric,” he lamented. “We have not known how to give an effective and living witness to the mission and the evangelization that the Lord has entrusted to us in this world.” Read more

2017-01-31T01:07:00+00:00

Last updated on: January 31, 2017 at 1:07 am   By

Washington D.C., Jan 30, 2017 / 06:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Despite recent legislative successes, the pro-life movement must reach hearts and minds to build a lasting culture of life, a panel of pro-life leaders maintained following Friday’s March... Read more

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