Madrid, Spain, Nov 16, 2016 / 03:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Critics of a Spanish judge say he wrongly dismissed charges against an artist who stole consecrated Hosts for an exhibit that disrespected the Catholic faith. The Spanish Association of Christian Lawyers announced it would file an appeal and be prepared “to go to the highest court necessary in the face of what is becoming a campaign of serious offenses against the Christian faith and religious freedom.” Abel Azcona stole more than 240 consecrated hosts from Masses celebrated in the cities of Madrid and Pamplona. He later took nude photos of himself arranging them on a floor to spell the word ‘pederasty.’ In November 2015, he displayed the photos as part of an art display in a city-owned exhibition hall available for public use. When that exposition was over, the would-be artist sold the consecrated hosts for more than $268,000. Azcona was charged for an alleged offense against laws respecting religious sentiments. However, Judge Fermín Otamendi of the Pamplona Second District Court of Discovery closed the case against Azcona. In his ruling, the judge described the consecrated and stolen hosts as “small white round objects.” He claimed that there had been no desecration of the sacred hosts because according to the Spanish Royal Academy dictionary desecration is defined as “treating something sacred without due respect or using it for profane purposes.” He rejected charges that the accused treated something sacred without due respect, claiming “lack of respect should not be confused with not doing what the Catholic Church requires its faithful to do with the consecrated hosts in the act of Communion.” The judge claimed Azcona made use of the hosts “discreetly, without his conduct being able to be characterized as disrespectful, offensive or irreverent.” The exhibition of the artwork “does not constitute derision of the beliefs, rites or ceremonies of the Catholic Church nor is it an affront to those who profess or practice said beliefs,” according to the judge. Polonia Castellanos, president of the Christian Lawyers Association, objected to the ruling. She considered the judge’s description of the consecrated Hosts to be an effort to “rule out deliberate harmful intent.” Even though the perpetrator stated on several occasions that he used consecrated Hosts, the judge said in his ruling that “nowhere in the exhibit was it indicated that the hosts with which he had spelled out the word 'pederasty' were consecrated hosts.” The Association of Christian Lawyers cited Article 525 of the Spanish Penal Code, which protects religious freedom against  those who “in order to offend the religious sentiments of the members of a religious confession, publicly deride by word, in writing, or through any type document their dogmas, beliefs, rites or ceremonies.” The 110,000 petition signatures delivered to the Pamplona city council objecting to the exhibit also constitutes evidence of an offense against religious sentiments, the group said. The petition asked the city's mayor, Joseba Asirón, to pull the exhibit. There were also numerous public protests against the display. Archbishop Francisco Pérez of Pamplona offered a Mass of Reparation that more than 4,500 faithful attended. The Association of Christian Lawyers said the facts were sufficiently serious that, at minimum, oral arguments should be held. “Dismissing the case without even hearing from the parties in court is to have the least consideration for the fundamental right of religious freedom,” the group said. Read more

Rome, Italy, Nov 16, 2016 / 11:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Silvano Tomasi said the election of Archbishop Jose Gómez as vice president of the U.S. bishop’s conference will serve as a great resource on immigration, especially in wake of the presidential election of Donald Trump – known for his “fiery” comments on the issue. Head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, Archbishop Gómez “has written and spoken very clearly on the rights of migrants and the need to respect their family structure, the family unit,” Archbishop Tomasi told EWTN News Nightly Nov. 16. When it comes to immigration, the archbishop said he believes Gómez will be “a good resource” not only for the Latino community, but for the entire Church due to “his own personal experience and also because of his flock, because the huge diocese of Los Angeles is made up of a lot of immigrants, millions of them.” Archbishop Tomasi was present at a news briefing for the international conference “Business leaders, agents of social and economic inclusion,” organized by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. Former Holy See Permanent Observer to the United Nations in Geneva, Tomasi currently serves as secretary-delegate of the Council for Justice and Peace, which is set to merge with several other Vatican dicasteries in January. His comments come after Tuesday's election of Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston as president of the USCCB and Archbishop Gomez as its vice-president. With more than 4 million Catholics, Los Angeles is the largest U.S. diocese. Gómez himself is the highest-ranking Latino bishop in the United States. Born in Monterrey, Mexico in 1951, Gómez was appointed auxiliary bishop of Denver, and made Archbishop of San Antonio in 2004. In 2010 he was appointed coadjutor archbishop of Los Angeles, succeeding as its ordinary the next year. In all of his roles Gómez has worked extensively in Hispanic ministry and played a key role in creating the Catholic Association of Latino Leaders. He has also been outspoken on pro-life issues, immigration, and the death penalty. In 2008, he was appointed as a consultant to the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He has served in various roles for the U.S. bishops' conference, including in cultural diversity, doctrine, and Hispanics and liturgy. Significantly, the election of Gómez and the rest of the U.S. bishops’ new leadership team took place just one week after Donald Trump was elected the next president of the United States following a campaign that was at times especially hostile to immigrants. In his comments to EWTN, Archbishop Tomasi noted that the rhetoric of Trump’s campaign was “is a bit fiery because of the nature of the campaign itself, to shake up the voters and force them to take a stand.” “The language used by Trump has been very incendiary regarding the question of immigration,” he said, but observed that in his most recent statements after claiming victory the president-elect has been “much more balanced and moderate.” “We hope that this line will prevail both in his own personal attitude and in the selection of persons responsible to administer the different sectors of the life of the United States,” whether it be for the migration issue, the economy or relations with other countries. Archbishop Tomasi noted that the Church in the United States has always kept an open channel of communication with the government, which is essential because she “is arguing from the evidence and the experience on the ground.” The advantage of the faith communities, both Catholics and those from other Christian denominations, is that “they represent the grassroots, they are in touch with the families and their everyday problems.” “They can argue for the good of the country, both the good as the image, the humanitarian tradition, of the United States, and the good of the economy,” he said, noting how many undocumented immigrants are now “in the structure of the economy” and contribute by paying taxes, working and consuming goods produced in the U.S. In this sense, the various Christian Churches “can be really a good service to both the country and the immigrants.” When it comes to relations with the Trump administration, Tomasi, who spoke at the U.S. Bishops’ plenary assembly Monday, said that since it was largely white Catholics who elected Trump, “now they can ask in return (for) a sense of balance in addressing the issues that are important for them.”Mary Shovlain contributed to this report. Read more

Rome, Italy, Dec 26, 2016 / 02:02 pm (CNA).- When it comes to talking about women and their role in the Church, discussion tends to focus almost exclusively on getting ordained or being placed in high ranking, decision making positions. However, amid all the buzz, it's easy to get lost in the debate and miss the fact that the entire discussion is rotating around the wrong axis. In simply addressing ordination or curial positions – a line that reduces both women and the discussion about them to clericalism – everyone on both sides of the issue has overlooked that the question is actually much larger, and demands a much greater involvement on the part of the laity. Ana Cristina Villa, a consecrated laywoman with the Marian Community of Reconciliation who works in the office for women of the new mega-dicastery for Laity, Family and Life, told CNA that what a woman does in the Church is “not just a role, but a vocation...it’s what God calls women to do in the Church.” She said that as it stands, women don't really have a big presence in important or decision making positions, “so that should be promoted, and current Canon Law allows this in a good number of ways,” but she also cautioned that the discussion surrounding women in the Church is wider, involving the laity as a whole. Villa, who is from Colombia but has lived in Italy for close to 20 years, said she sees that many people in their daily lives still move forward with the attitude that “the Church should do this,” but when they refer to the Church, they “are speaking of the clergy.” “I think that is a big distortion for the vocation of women, because women are obviously not the clergy,” she said, explaining that “when you get into this discussion about women in the Church you have to understand that there is a wider context.” In her view, Catholic faithful need to grow in their understanding that, “according to their own vocation,” all “baptized are the Church and all baptized are called to feel the Church as their own and to contribute to the Church.” “It's the laity in the Church,” she emphasized, “and the laity have to grow in their sense of responsibility which comes from their baptism, and their baptism makes them full members of the Church.” Although a lot of headway has already been made in this area, Villa said the Church “still needs to go much more down that path.” She emphasized the need for stronger mutual cooperation, “because when laity and clergy collaborate on a mission they bring each other's gifts to problems or situations they need to face, and it is mutually enriching and it makes the Church more present.” If it is always priests in the Church and never a layperson, and if priests “are always taking responsibility for things where laity are competent, then this mentality that the Church is priests keeps growing and expanding,” she said, noting that this is more common in countries with stronger traditional Catholic roots such Italy and as those in South America. However, on the other hand, Villa noted that when it comes to women specifically, they are already doing a lot in the Church, most of which is largely unknown. Women, she said, “are already doing a lot and many times they do it in silence, just responding to God's vocation wherever God puts them...but there is always a lot happening,” especially in mission territories. Just because a woman teaching catechesis or caring for the sick in a poor country isn't visible to the rest of the world, it “doesn’t mean she isn’t there and that the Church isn’t growing because of her daily work and giving of herself,” Villa said. It’s important to know that these things are already happening, she said, but cautioned that while on one hand it’s good to make them visible, “on the other hand you wonder, is it really necessary to make them visible? For whom?” “God knows. God calls them, they are responding and the Church is growing because of them,” she said, explaining that not all women are meant to be in the global spotlight. “When they come out to the public like Mother Teresa, that’s wonderful, but not all of them are called to have a public dimension to their vocation,” she said, and pointed to the example of women contemplative orders, who are “always hidden,” but sustain the Church constantly with their daily prayer and devotion. “They are there in the monastery living their daily fidelity...they sustain the Church and nobody knows about it,” she said, explaining that this is part of the beauty of how women serve, and that this must be valued. Villa’s instinct that a dangerous and largely unrecognized clericalism often drives the discussion on women, as well as her insistence that those who adopt this attitude have got it wrong, mirror Francis’ own take on the issue. When Pope Francis told journalists on the way back from Sweden Nov. 1 that women will never be ordained priests, he was likely acting against “the ‘disease’ of clericalism, and the danger of clericalism setting the tone for discussions of women in the Church,” John Allen of Crux wrote. “Despite the fact that he stands today at the apex of the clerical pecking order, there's a sense in which Pope Francis is the most anti-clerical pontiff in Catholic history,” Allen said, adding that “one has the sense when he uses the word 'clericalism' that he's virtually talking about the sin against the Holy Spirit.” Pope Francis' innate disdain toward clericalism, particularly surrounding women, can be seen from almost the beginning of his pontificate. In an interview with Vatican Insider in December 2013, Francis responded to a question on whether or not he'd ever consider naming a woman a cardinal. In his answer the Pope said that “I don’t know where this idea sprang from. Women in the Church must be valued not 'clericalised.' Whoever thinks of women as cardinals suffers a bit from clericalism.” Throughout the three years since, Francis has consistently called for a more “incisive” feminine presence in the Church, yet has refrained from limiting this presence to a mere position. In a May 16, 2015, speech to men and women consecrated of the diocese of Rome, the Pope said that when people tell him “women must be dicastery heads,” his immediate thought is “Yes, they can, in certain dicasteries they can; but what you are asking is simple functionalism.” Simply putting a woman in charge of a department “is not rediscovering woman’s role in the Church. It is more profound,” he said, explaining that while women are certainly able to hold leadership positions and that this is happening more often, “this is not a triumph.” “This is a great thing, (but) a functional thing,” he said, noting that “what is essential to the woman’s role is – speaking in theological terms – acting in a manner which expresses the feminine genius.” “When we face a problem among men we come to a conclusion, but when we face that same problem with women the outcome will be different. It will follow the same path, but it will be richer, stronger, more intuitive,” he said. “For this reason women in the Church should have this role, they must clarify, help to clarify the feminine genius in so many ways.” When we look at what Pope Francis says, it’s obvious that what he envisions for women is not just structural insertion into the Church, but involves opening doors so that the very fiber of what makes a woman “womanly,” her most unique and innate qualities, can flourish. One of these qualities Francis has never ceased to bring up with praise and adulation is that of intuition and maternity; i.e., that natural maternal instinct each woman has no matter her state or position in life. In his speech to the men and women consecrated of Rome, the Pope pointed to maternity, saying it isn’t just having children, but involves accompanying people in their growth: “maternity is spending hours next to a sick person, a sick child, a sick brother; it is spending one’s life in love, with that love of tenderness and maternity.” “On this path we will find even more the woman’s role in the Church. Mary’s love and the love of the Church is a concrete love! Concreteness is the quality of this maternity of women.” In a speech to theologians in 2014, after appointing several women to the Vatican’s International Theological Commission, an advisory body which assists the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in examining questions of doctrine, he said women have the ability to prompt reflections that men cannot. “By virtue of their feminine genius, women theologians can take up, for the benefit of all, certain unexplored aspects of the unfathomable mystery of Christ,” he said, and urged commission members to take “full advantage” of the specific contribution that women give to “the intelligence of faith.” In a 2015 address to the Pontifical Council for Culture, Francis said that women “know how to incarnate the tender face of God, his mercy, which translates into availability to give time more than to occupy spaces, to welcome instead of excluding.” While speaking to journalists on board his return flight from Sweden Nov. 1, the Pope said that when it comes to theology and the mysticism of the Church, Mary’s role is more important than that of the Apostles on the day of Pentecost. Women, he said, “can do so many things better than men, even in the dogmatic field,” but he clarified how it is still a separate dimension from that of priests and bishops in the Petrine dimension. Again and again Pope Francis has repeated the same message that Villa herself expressed: women are more than just what position they hold, and the discussion on them is much wider than what it’s been reduced to. While the question still looms as to what he will do with the female deaconate, having formed a commission to study the issue and its relevance in modern Church life, it’s clear that he won’t proceed with a “clerical” vision in mind, yet is open and willing to investigate what the different options for women might be. So, all in all, it’s safe to say that the discussion on women in the Church has so far been fairly limited, and it’s clear that a shift in focus in needed. It seems that we’re only beginning to scratch the surface of what the debate should really entail, and with Francis at the helm, we’re guaranteed to have a few surprises.  This article was originally published on CNA Nov. 16, 2016. Read more

Rome, Italy, Nov 16, 2016 / 12:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- While rarely talked about, Neglected Tropical Diseases are the most widespread ailment among the world's poorest of the poor – yet also ironically the most prevalent in top global economies, experts say. Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) are “the most important diseases you've never heard of. These are the most common afflictions of the world's poor,” Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, told CNA Nov. 11. “Every single person who lives in poverty, profound poverty, has at least one of these diseases,” he said, noting that since they typically don't lead to death, they are “neglected but they’re not rare,” with many people suffering not just from “a single disease, they have multiple diseases at the same time.” Hotez is President of Sabin Vaccine Institute and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. He also serves as the U.S. Science Envoy. Founded in 1993, the institute is nonprofit that focuses on medical research to reduce the impact of vaccine-preventable and neglected tropical diseases. Scientists, researchers and advocates are all part of the team seeking to end needless suffering through these ailments. Joined by hundreds of others, Hotez was in Rome for a Nov. 10-12 conference organized by the Pontifical Council for Healthcare Workers titled “For a culture of welcoming and supportive health at the service of people with rare and neglected diseases.” The conference was held in two different sessions, one focusing on rare diseases, while the other, at which Hotez was a keynote speaker, focused on NTDs, which infect over 1 billion of the world’s across the globe. Specifically addressed were the 18 most prominent NTDs, including Ascariasis, Hookworm Disease, Schistosomiasis, Dengue, Chagas disease, Onchocerciasis, Rabies and Hansen’s Disease (leprosy).   In his comments to CNA, Hotez noted that when the Sabin Institute was founded the primary focus was in poor countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and poverty-stricken countries in Latin America, the problem has shifted. “One of our new findings is that it’s the poor living among the wealthy that paradoxically account for most of the world’s neglected tropical diseases,” he said. “If you look on the total numbers basis, it’s the G20 countries, the 20 largest economies together with Nigeria...that now account for the world’s neglected tropical diseases,” he said, stressing that the diseases are spread among the poor, so “it’s the concentration of intense poverty.” NTDs “reinforce poverty” in that they often consist of debilitating conditions that make people too sick to work, disproportionately affect women and children and in some cases “actually shave IQ off of kids to ruin their future wage-earning potential.” Pointing to Brazil as an example, Hotez noted that although Brazil is the largest economy in Latin America, the northeast is plagued by intense poverty, and therefore disease. “That’s where you have Zika, and Zika arose out of there not by coincidence but because of poverty,” he said. Hotez said recent data also shows that Catholic countries “are disproportionately suffering from these diseases,” and stressed the need for the Church to be involved as part of the solution. Pope Francis has made his “intense drive to do something about poverty” known, he said, adding that if we want to take on poverty, “the most cost-efficient way to do it is to take on the poverty-promoting disease.” He voiced his hope that the Church would take action in addressing the problem of NTDs, advocating to G20 leaders to promote medical treatments that already exist and to push for further research and development to come up with vaccines. One strong sign of the Church’s commitment to the fight against NTDs was the presence of Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin at the conference, who “seems very committed to this,” Hortez said. Increased collaboration with Cardinal Peter Turkson and his new dicastery for Integral Human Development is also part of the plan, he said, explaining that Sabin Institute will likely be providing “the background information and being a conduit for that dicastery to make it actually happen.” “The action that I would like to see is engagement by the Church of the G20 leaders. And if anybody can do it, it’s this Pope.” Pope Francis spoke to conference participants on the last day of the gathering, telling them that each person, “above all a person who suffers, because of a ‘rare’ or ‘neglected’ disease as well, without any hesitation deserves every kind of commitment in order to be welcomed, treated and, if possible, healed.” He praised the efforts of doctors and researchers in looking for solutions and further cures, and stressed the need to care for the environment in order to better care for the poor. “The relationship between these diseases and the environment is decisive,” he said, noting that while many of the diseases have a genetic cause, for others “environmental factors have a major importance.” “Even when the causes are genetic, a polluted environment acts as a multiplier of damage. And the greatest burden falls on the poorest populations,” he said, stressing the need to have greater respect for “our common home.” He also spoke of the need for justice in the sense that while care for those suffering from rare or neglected diseases typically centers around an impersonal, doctor-patient relationships, “it is equally true that the approach, at a social level, to this health-care phenomenon requires a clear application of justice, in the sense of ‘giving to each his or her due.’” This basically means “equal access to effective care for equal health needs, independently of factors connected with socio-economic, geographical or cultural contexts,” he added, and assured of his prayer and blessing for all those suffering from disease, as well as those present and their work.  Read more

Rome, Italy, Nov 15, 2016 / 05:30 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Religious freedom is under threat worldwide from phenomena like Islamic “hyper-extremism,” but there are also other dangers, a new report from Aid to the Church in Need says. “Th... Read more