Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 / 04:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Christian survivors of the ISIS genocide have serious humanitarian needs, but their faith remains strong, one congressman said after his visit to displaced Christians in the Kurdistan Region of ... Read more
Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 / 02:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As the 115th Congress is underway, a pro-life group is touting a new means of holding pro-life members accountable – a scorecard. “The Scorecard will help ensure accountability of Members to their constituents while identifying true defenders of the unborn in U.S. Congress,” March for Life Action announced on Wednesday. “At March for Life Action we aren't just looking for politicians who vote pro-life - we are looking for pro-life champions in the mold of Henry Hyde,” Tom McClusky, vice president of government affairs at the pro-life group March for Life Action, stated. Hyde was a congressman who successfully inserted into federal policy a prohibition on Medicaid dollars funding abortions. The Hyde Amendment has been supported by members of Congress in both parties for 40 years. Other advocacy groups, including National Right and Life and Planned Parenthood Action, use scorecards to inform voters of how members of Congress vote on various issues. March for Life Action hopes to not only record pro-life votes, but also to record initiatives by members such as sponsorship of pro-life bills and speaking out about a pro-life matter on the House or Senate floor. McClusky noted that “we aren't just looking to maintain the pro-life status quo by only tallying votes.” A stream of pro-life legislation is expected to come up in Congress after the change of presidential administrations. President-elect Donald Trump made promises on the campaign trail that he would sign pro-life legislation into law, including the defunding of Planned Parenthood by federal tax dollars because it is the nation’s largest abortion provider. However, he had also praised Planned Parenthood early in 2016 as doing “very good work” for women. Vice president-elect Mike Pence enjoys the backing of pro-life groups for his pro-life record as a congressman, from 2001 to 2013. One of the first bills expected to come up in Congress is the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would expand prohibitions of federal funding of abortions and solidify the Hyde Amendment’s policy, which has been passed every year by Congress as a rider to appropriations bills, as permanent federal law. “We are hoping our first score will be on the House of Representatives putting forth and passing No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act during the month of January,” McClusky said. A Knights of Columbus/Marist poll from earlier in 2016 showed 62 percent of Americans opposing taxpayer funding of abortion. That poll also demonstrated that 78 percent of respondents “support substantial restrictions on abortion” and want it limited to at least the first term of pregnancy. Other bills that are expected soon include a pain-capable bill banning abortions when the unborn baby has been found to feel pain, at around 20 weeks of pregnancy. The House has previously passed a pain-capable bill and voted to defund Planned Parenthood, but both initiatives failed to receive the necessary votes to move through the Senate. Read more
Lahore, Pakistan, Jan 6, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Supporters of Pakistan’s strict blasphemy law attempted to march in Lahore on Wednesday, but were thwarted when police made more than 150 arrests. The nation's blasphemy laws impose strict punishment on those who desecrate the Quran or who defame or insult Muhammad. The Jan. 4 demonstrations would have fallen on the sixth anniversary of the 2011 assassination of Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer, a prominent advocate of changing the strict blasphemy law. He was killed by his own security guard, Mumtaz Qadri, for his stance on the law. Some backers of the strict anti-blasphemy law consider Qadri a hero. Protesters from several religious parties had planned the march in the capital of Punjab province. The arrested were members of the Islamist coalition Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah. Authorities said that more arrests would be made and no one had permission to hold a rally in Lahore, the Pakistani newspaper Dawn reports. Police barricades set up to prevent the march caused severe traffic jams. Other protests had been planned in Rawalpindi. Taseer’s assassination was followed by the March 2, 2011 assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, another critic of the misuse of the blasphemy law. Bhatti, a Catholic and the only Christian in the Pakistani cabinet, worked as the federal minister for minorities and spoke out against religious persecution. A Pakistani Catholic diocese has opened an inquiry into whether to declare him a martyr. Pakistan's state religion is Islam, and around 97 percent of the population is Muslim. The blasphemy laws are said to be often used to settle scores or to persecute religious minorities: though non-Muslims constitute only three percent of the Pakistani population, 14 percent of blasphemy cases have been levied against them. Many of those accused of blasphemy are murdered, and advocates of changing the law, such as Taseer, are targeted by violence. Read more
Vatican City, Jan 6, 2017 / 04:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis Friday, the Feast of the Epiphany, said that the Magi are not just men who sought out and worshiped the Christ-child a long time ago – they exemplify everyone who has a restless ... Read more
Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- While the hustle and bustle of Christmas ends for many people on Dec. 26, throughout Christian history Christmas lasts for twelve days – all the way until Jan. 6. This feast marking the end of Christmas is called “Epiphany.” In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, Epiphany celebrates the revelation that Jesus was the Son of God. It focuses primarily on this revelation to the Three Wise Men, but also in his baptism in the Jordan and at the wedding at Cana. In the Eastern rites of the Catholic Church, Theophany – as Epiphany is known in the East – commemorates the manifestation of Jesus' divinity at his Baptism in the River Jordan. While the traditional date for the feast is Jan. 6, in the United States the celebration of Epiphany is moved to the next Sunday, overlapping with the rest of the Western Church’s celebration of the Baptism of Christ. However, the meaning of the feast goes deeper than just the bringing of presents or the end of Christmas, says Fr. Hezekias Carnazzo, a Melkite Catholic priest and founding executive director of the Virginia-based Institute of Catholic Culture. “You can't understand the Nativity without Theophany; or you can’t understand Nativity without Epiphany.” The revelation of Christ as the Son of God – both as an infant and at his baptism – illuminate the mysteries of the Christmas season, he said. “Our human nature is blinded because of sin and we’re unable to see as God sees,” he told CNA. “God reveals to us the revelation of what’s going on.”Origins of Epiphany While the Western celebration of Epiphany (which comes from Greek, meaning “revelation from above”), and the Eastern celebration of Theophany (meaning “revelation of God”), have developed their own traditions and liturgical significances, these feasts share more than the same day. “The Feast of Epiphany, or the Feast of Theophany, is a very, very early feast,” said Fr. Carnazzo. “It predates the celebration of Christmas on the 25th.” In the early Church, Christians, particularly those in the East, celebrated the advent of Christ on Jan. 6 by commemorating Nativity, Visitation of the Magi, Baptism of Christ and the Wedding of Cana all in one feast of the Epiphany. By the fourth century, both Christmas and Epiphany had been set as separate feasts in some dioceses. At the Council of Tours in 567, the Church set both Christmas day and Epiphany as feast days on the Dec. 25 and Jan. 6, respectively, and named the twelve days between the feasts as the Christmas season. Over time, the Western Church separated the remaining feasts into their own celebrations, leaving the celebration of the Epiphany to commemorate primarily the Visitation of the Magi to see the newborn Christ on Jan. 6. Meanwhile, the Eastern Churches' celebration of Theophany celebrates Christ’s baptism and is one of the holiest feast days of the liturgical calendar.Roman Traditions The celebration of the visitation of the Magi – whom the Bible describes as learned wise men from the East – has developed its own distinct traditions throughout the Roman Church. As part of the liturgy of the Epiphany, it is traditional to proclaim the date of Easter and other moveable feast days to the faithful – formally reminding the Church of the importance of Easter and the resurrection to both the liturgical year and to the faith. Other cultural traditions have also arisen around the feast. Dr. Matthew Bunson, EWTN Senior Contributor, told CNA about the “rich cultural traditions” in Spain, France, Ireland and elsewhere that form an integral part of the Christmas season for those cultures. In Italy, La Befana brings sweets and presents to children not on Christmas, but on Epiphany. Children in many parts of Latin America, the Philippines, Portugal, and Spain also receive their presents on “Three Kings Day.” Meanwhile, in Ireland, Catholics celebrate “Women's Christmas” – where women rest from housework and cleaning and celebrate together with a special meal. Epiphany in Poland is marked by taking chalk – along with gold, incense and amber – to be blessed at Mass. Back at home, families will inscribe the first part of the year, followed by the letters, “K+M+B+” and then the last numbers of the year on top of every door in the house. The letters, Bunson explained, stand for the names traditionally given to the wise men – Casper, Melchior and Balthazar – as well as for the Latin phrase “Christus mansionem benedicat,” or, “Christ, bless this house.” In nearly every part of the world, Catholics celebrate Epiphany with a Kings Cake: a sweet cake that sometimes contains an object like a figurine or a lone nut. In some locations lucky recipient of this prize either gets special treatment for the day, or they must then hold a party at the close of the traditional Epiphany season on Feb. 2. These celebrations, Bunson said, point to the family-centered nature of the feast day and of its original celebration with the Holy Family. The traditions also point to what is known – and what is still mysterious – about the Magi, who were the first gentiles to encounter Christ. While the Bible remains silent about the wise men’s actual names, as well as how many of them there were, we do know that they were clever, wealthy, and most importantly, brave. “They were willing to take the risk in order to go searching for the truth, in what they discerned was a monumental event,” he said, adding that the Magi can still be a powerful example. Lastly, Bunson pointed to the gifts the wise men brought – frankincense, myrrh and gold – as gifts that point not only to Christ’s divinity and his revelation to the Magi as the King of Kings, but also to his crucifixion. In giving herbs traditionally used for burial, these gifts, he said, bring a theological “shadow, a sense of anticipation of what is to come.”Revelation of God Fr. Hezekias Carnazzo explained to CNA the significance of the feast of the Theophany – and of Christ’s Baptism more broadly – within the Eastern Catholic churches. “In our Christian understanding in the East, we are looking at creation through the eyes of God, not so much through the eyes of Man,” Fr. Carnazzo said. In the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, he continued, there is special divine significance. With this feast day, the pastor explained, “God has come to reclaim us for himself.” Because of original sin, he continued, humanity has inherited “a human nature which has been dislocated from its source of life.” Sin also effected parts of creation such as water have also been separated from their purpose and connection to God’s plan for life, Fr. Carrazzo said, because its original purpose is not just to sustain our bodies, but our souls as well. “With the fall, however, it has been dislocated from its source of life, it is under the dominion of death- it doesn’t have eternal life anymore. So God comes to take it to himself.” “What Jesus did was to take our human nature and do with it what we could not do – which is, to walk it out of death, and that’s exactly what He did with His baptism.” As it is so linked to the destruction of death and reclaiming of life, the Feast of Theophany is also very closely linked to the Crucifixion – an attribute that is reflected in Eastern iconography of both events as well. The feast of the Theophany celebrates not only Christ’s conquering of sin through baptism, but also God’s revelation of Christ as his Son and the beginning of Christ’s ministry. “The baptism of the Lord, just like the Nativity, is not just a historical event: it’s a revelation,” Fr. Carrazzo said. To mark the day, Eastern Catholics begin celebrations with Divine Liturgy at the Church, which includes a blessing of the waters in the baptistry. After the water is blessed, the faithful drink the water, and bring bottles of water to bring back to their homes for use and not only physical but spiritual healing, he explained. Many parishes hold feasts after Liturgy is over. In many Middle Eastern cultures, people also fry and eat awamat – dough that is fried until it floats, and then is covered in honey. During the Theophany season, priests also try to visit each home in the parish to bless the house with Holy Water that was blessed at Theophany. Fr. Carrazzo invited all Roman Catholics to come and become familiar, “to be part of a family” and join in celebrating Eastern Catholic traditions. Read more
Washington D.C., Jan 6, 2017 / 12:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The year 2016 marked a major decline in the number of executions and sentences to capital punishment in the United States, a new report says. Last year there were 20 executions in the U.S., the... Read more
Minneapolis, Minn., Jan 5, 2017 / 04:49 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Two Minnesota parents are facing charges of child neglect after they prayed over their severely ill son rather than seeking medical attention just prior to the child’s death. A criminal complaint says the couple, Sarah Johnson, 38, and Timothy Johnson, 39, found their son Seth, 7, unresponsive and covered in vomit one morning in March 2015. The parents told authorities they had decided to pray over Seth and treat him with vitamins and honey the night before his death rather than call 911 because they had “issues with doctors.” The Johnsons said in social media postings that have since been deleted that they relied on their strong faith to overcome their son’s death, according to local news reports. But should the Johnson’s attempt to use a religious freedom defense in court, it almost certainly will fail, a legal counselor told CNA. “No religious freedom statute or law has ever been successfully used in that way,” said Kellie Fiedorek, who serves as legal counsel for the group Alliance Defending Freedom. “First of all, both child abuse and domestic abuse are both crimes, and those who engage in that kind of behavior will be prosecuted,” Fiedorek said. “And secondly, the government has a well-documented compelling interest in ensuring that children are safe and protected...so that will always supersede any religious teaching or religious belief or any kind of belief that would try to allow that kind of abuse or contact to happen,” she added. Religious freedom jurisprudence considers the government's “compelling interest” as one of several factors in determining if the right to religious liberty is being exercised properly or abused. Autopsy reports state that the child was suffering from numerous medical ailments including open sores and bruises all over his body. According to court documents, in the weeks leading up to his death, Seth had stopped sleeping, took hours to eat meals, and would occasionally shake and throw himself down the stairs. His cause of death was listed as pancreatitis and possible sepsis. Seth first joined the family as a foster child at the age of 3, and was adopted by the Johnson’s when he was 4. Prior medical records showed that Seth was a healthy and “thriving” child with no pre-existing conditions. In a statement, Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman said despite a yearlong investigation, Seth’s illness and death could not be linked to the actions or inactions of the Johnsons. Therefore, the highest possible charge authorities were able to bring against the Johnsons was one charge each of child neglect resulting in substantive bodily harm, which would result in a gross misdemeanor. Read more
Washington D.C., Jan 5, 2017 / 01:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic Church can be a force for healing race relations, said the U.S. bishops’ task force on racism and peace in a newly released report. “We find ourselves at a critically i... Read more
Vatican City, Jan 5, 2017 / 11:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During an audience with people from the areas devastated by earthquakes in Central Italy, Pope Francis emphasized the need to move forward with hope, closeness and solidarity, rather than a false sense of optimism. “The pain is great...the wounds of the heart are there,” the Pope told thousands of people gathered in the Vatican's Paul VI Hall for the Jan. 5 audience. He recalled how when visiting the earthquake zones in October he met the sister and parents of a little boy who was crushed under the rubble, as well as a couple who had lost their small twins. “Now I meet you who have lost the center of your families,” he said, explaining that while the process of rebuilding is important, it's not something superficial. Rebuilding the heart, above all, is not the rosy idea that “tomorrow will be better, it isn't optimism,” he said, adding that “there’s no room for optimism here.” While an optimistic attitude is useful for brief moments to energize or to carry a person forward, “it’s not substantial,” he said, noting that what is needed above all is hope. “Yes for hope, but no for optimism...Today hope is needed to rebuild, which is done with your hands.” Pope Francis met with thousands of individuals and families from the towns devastated when a 6.2-magnitude quake hit the town of Norcia, about 65 miles northeast of Rome, Aug. 24, killing nearly 300 people. Most of the victims were from the town of Amatrice, known for being the birthplace of the common “Amatriciana” pasta dish. During the audience, Pope Francis listened to two testimonies and took notes, tossing his prepared speech and speaking off-the-cuff to the families, many of whom are still without homes. In his speech, Francis said when he woke up the morning of the quake and saw the news, he felt both the need to go to the people in the area, as well as “a lot of pain. And with this pain I went to celebrate Mass that day.” After setting his speech aside, the Pope took words and phrases mentioned by the two men who gave their testimonies – a husband and father named Raffaele, and a parish priest named Fr. Luciano – and offered his own reflection on them. “I wanted to take your words and make them mine,” he said, adding that in their situation, “the worst thing you can do is give a sermon! It’s the worst. So I wanted to take what your hearts said and make it my own and say it with you.” The Pope first turned to the importance of “rebuilding,” which was the focus on Raffaele's testimony, specifically the need to “rebuild hearts even before houses. To rebuild the social and human fabric.” Starting again doesn't mean staying rooted in one's pain or letting it consume, but rather moving forward and allowing oneself to “rebuild that pain” into something new, he said, adding “no letting oneself be.” He then turned to the image of hands, specifically of how hands were used to embrace loved ones, to guide them to safety and to free people from the rubble. In order to really rebuild, both the “heart and the hands” are necessary, he said, pointing to the hands “with which God, like an artisan, made the world. The hands that heal.” Francis said he always likes to bless the hands of doctors and nurses, because they are used to heal people, and pointed to the hands of the many people who have helped the quake victims “to go out of this nightmare, this pain.” At times the thought of asking “why?” comes to mind, he said, but noted that there are some questions “that don’t have an answer.” Turning to the testimony given by the priest, Pope Francis recalled how in his speech Fr. Luciano said that despite the devastation, many people chose to stay in order “to not hurt our land more...to not hurt more what is already wounded.” Focusing on the word “wound,” the Pope noted that “everyone has suffered something,” whether it is the loss of a house, parent or child. In these instances, “the tenderness of the heart” expressed in “silence and in caresses” helps to not make the wound worse, he said. However, he pointed to how this tenderness also “makes miracles in the moment of pain,” noting that there were also moments of reconciliation between people, who put their differences aside and came together in a moment of suffering through a hug, a kiss and even through tears. “Crying only does good; it’s an expression to ourselves and to God,” he said, but added that “crying together is better.” Pope Francis then pointed to how in his testimony, Raffaele said that while his family is safe, “our life is not the same” after the quake. “It’s true, we came out healthy, but we lost. Saved, but defeated,” Francis said, noting that “the wounds heal, but the scars will remain forever. And they will be a reminder of this moment of pain” and that things will never be like they were before. However, the Pope also highlighted the virtues Fr. Luciano said he saw in the people after the earthquake. The priest said he was especially moved by the “fortitude, patience and mutual solidarity of my people.” Francis said that just as Fr. Luciano was proud of his people, he is also proud of the priests in the area who chose to stay, rather than abandoning their people and their land in a time of need. “This is good, to have pastors who when they see a wolf don't run away. We lost, yes, we lost many things; houses, families, but we have become a great family in another way.” The Pope closed his speech by focusing on the importance of closeness, explaining that to stay close to one another “makes us more human, good people, more courageous.” He also told the people not to lose the ability to dream in the process of rebuilding, urging them to have “the courage to dream one more time” as they move forward. Read more
Vatican City, Jan 5, 2017 / 06:39 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A fresh and courageous perspective is needed when it comes to helping youth discern and discover their vocation, Pope Francis said Thursday, emphasizing the importance of personal holiness and the ... Read more
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