Syrian children to unite in prayer for an end to violence

Last updated on: September 26, 2016 at 10:17 pm By CNA Daily News

Aleppo, Syria, Sep 26, 2016 / 04:17 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Christian and Muslim children of Aleppo, Syria will gather together in prayer on October 6 to plead for an end to the violence and devastation in their city and country. Archbishop Boutros Marayati, the head of the Armenian Catholic archieparchy in Aleppo, told a mission society news agency that the initiative will involve mostly primary school-aged children, who will add their signatures and fingerprints to an appeal to all world leaders, asking them to help stop the violence. "But above all, they will pray. They will pray for all of their peers,” the Archbishop told Agenzia Fides, the information service for the Pontifical Mission Societies. “And we trust in the fact that children's prayer is more powerful than ours," he added. Last month, the bloodied, dusty face of five-year-old Omran Daqneesh, sitting shell-shocked in the back of an ambulance after his house had been bombed, brought new attention to the plight of Syrian children caught in the crossfires of the ongoing war. Since then, many more photos and videos of children caught or killed in the rubble have emerged, sparking increased humanitarian pleas on their behalf. The already dire situation in Syria has only worsened in recent days and weeks as an attempted ceasefire collapsed and other diplomacies failed. Since Friday morning, hundreds of airstrikes have battered neighborhoods in rebel-held eastern Aleppo, killing an estimated 100 people and leaving at least 50 more, including children, trapped under the rubble. The recent use of so-called bunker-busting bombs, which weigh about a ton and can blast through two meters of underground, reinforced concrete have only added to the horror and destruction in the past few days. A humanitarian truce, called for by the United Nations and brokered this month by the United States and Russia, fell apart less than a week after its institution after U.S. forces struck a Syrian position killing dozens of soldiers, though the move was reportedly unintentional. The Syrian civil war, which began in March 2011, has claimed the lives of between and estimated 280,000 and 470,000 people, and forced 4.8 million to become refugees, about half of them children. Another 8 million Syrians are believed to have been internally displaced by the violence. The civil war is being fought between the Syrian government’s regime and a number of rebel groups. The rebels include moderates, such as the Free Syrian Army; Islamists such as the Army of Conquest and the Islamic State; and Kurdish separatists. Catholic leaders in the city, including Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart of Aleppo, have made continual appeals to the international faith community for prayers and humanitarian aid. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last week that the continued fighting and horror in Aleppo shows the failure of the international community. "The Syrian tragedy shames us all," he said. "The collective failure of the international community should haunt every member of this Council." Read more

This priest, martyred in a concentration camp, is now a blessed

Last updated on: September 26, 2016 at 8:29 pm By CNA Daily News

Würzburg, Germany, Sep 26, 2016 / 02:29 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig, a priest of the Mariannhill Mission society who was interred in the Nazi's Dachau concentration camp and has been recognized as a martyr, was beatified during a Mass on Saturday. Bishop Friedhelm Hofmann of Würzburg said during his homily for the Sept. 24 Mass at the city's cathedral that Fr. Unzeitig, known as the "Angel of Dachau", brought the light of God's goodness to the place where his presence “is least expected.” Fr. Unzeitig lived under a “dehumanizing dictatorship,” Bishop Hofmann noted, saying, “we can learn from him not to subject ourselves to a dictatorship, even a dictatorship of opinions.” The following day, before leading pilgrims to Rome in the Angelus, Pope Francis made note of the beatification, saying that “Killed in hatred of the faith” Fr. Unzeitig “opposed hatred with love, and answered ferocity answered with meekness. May his example help us to be witnesses of charity and hope even in the midst of tribulations.” Fr. Unzeitig was born in what is now the Czech Republic in 1911, and he joined the seminary at the age of 18 and became a priest for the Mariannhill Mission Society, whose motto is: “If no one else will go: I will go!” He was arrested by the Nazis in 1941, when he was only 30 years old and had been a priest but two years, serving in Germany and Austria. His crime was having preached against the Third Reich from his pulpit, particularly against their treatment of the Jewish people. He encouraged his congregation to be faithful to God and to resist the lies of the Nazi regime. As punishment, Fr. Unzeitig was sent to what has been called the “largest monastery in the world”: Dachau concentration camp, which became renowned for the number of ministers and priests within its walls. The camp housed some 2,700 clergy, roughly 95 percent of whom were Catholic priests from Poland, making it one of the largest residences for priests in the history of the Church – hence the name. While imprisoned at the camp, Father studied Russian in order to be able to help the influx of prisoners from Eastern Europe, and had a reputation at the camp as a holy man. For several years, Fr. Unzeitig was able to remain in relatively stable health despite the poor treatment he received. However, when a wave of the often-fatal typhoid fever swept through the camp in 1945, he and 19 other priests volunteered to do what no one else wanted to – care for the sick and dying in the typhoid barracks, an almost-certain death sentence in and of itself. He and his companions spent their days bathing and caring for the sick, praying with them, and offering last rites. Despite his bleak circumstances, Fr. Unzeitig found his hope and joy in his faith, as evidenced in letters to his sister from the camp: “Whatever we do, whatever we want, is surely simply the grace that carries us and guides us. God’s almighty grace helps us overcome obstacles … love doubles our strength, makes us inventive, makes us feel content and inwardly free. If people would only realize what God has in store for those who love him!” he wrote. In another letter he wrote: "Even behind the hardest sacrifices and worst suffering stands God with his Fatherly love, who is satisfied with the good will of his children and gives them and others happiness." Eventually, on March 2, 1945, Fr. Unzeitig succumbed to typhoid fever himself. Dachau was liberated by American soldiers just a few weeks later, on April 29. In recognition of his heroic virtue, Fr. Engelmar Unzeitig was declared venerable by Benedict XVI in 2009, and Pope Francis acknowledged him as a martyr in January, which opened the path for his beatification. Some 1,800 people participated in the beatification Mass at the Würzburg cathedral. Several representatives of the Czech government were present, as well as members of the Mariannhill missionaries and the bishop of an Austrian diocese where Fr. Unzeitig had served. His feast is to be celebrated March 2, the anniversary of his death. Read more

Mexicans flood the capital to defend marriage – with Pope Francis’ blessing

Last updated on: September 26, 2016 at 8:15 pm By CNA Daily News

Mexico City, Mexico, Sep 26, 2016 / 02:15 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Some 400,000 people filled the streets of Mexico City on Saturday to protest the Mexican government’s attempt to redefine marriage as anything but a union between one man and one woman. Juan Dabdoub Giacoman, president of the Mexican Council of the Family, which helped organize the event, told CNA on Sept. 10 that the march was “historic” and an “example of the awakening of Mexico.” “It is a march to express to politicians and leaders of the country that this is really what Mexican society is searching for, which is not what gender ideology and the international LGBT movement is promoting.” After Mass on Sept. 25, Pope Francis voiced his support of the Mexican bishops’ role in supporting the march, and their efforts for society “in favor of family and life, which at this time require special pastoral and cultural attention throughout the world.” The size and reach of the protests came as a surprise, even for event organizers, Dabdoub told CNA. “Mexico really isn’t characterized as being a country with great social participation,” he explained. “Civically, we have been very apathetic and this awakening to the national level was shocking and surprised us.” “The family is the fundamental cell of society,” Dabdoub said. “But what the president proposed not only fails to protect it, but shatters it.” “If we send our message and show that there are many people willing to go out and face what is happening now, we will have the opportunity for politicians to reverse the situation and begin to make the changes Mexicans need,” he asserted. Sept. 24 marked the country’s second March for the Family. The march brought together more than 400,000 people to protest against efforts by Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto to push for same-sex marriage and to show the Mexican people’s support for marriage and the family. During this year’s event, the organization announced that it would create a permanent civic movement in defense of the family and marriage. The organization also relayed their request to meet with President Peña Nieto in order to promote a Citizens' Initiative to strengthen the family and also to create the National Institute of the Family. Mario Romo, director of Family Network, said after the event that “the response was overwhelming. This is a great gift that we all made to our country.” He also pointed to the existence of two citizens’ initiatives “seeking to protect marriage between man and woman.” “One in the Senate, which came this year in in February with more than 250,000 signatures, and another in the Congress that 30,000 people went to present on September 1, and was signed by 50 federal deputies,” he told CNA. Romo encouraged Mexican citizens not to be afraid and to “say what they want and what they do not want. This is a sign that when we unite, citizens can be heard. “ In addition, Jose Enrique Guzman, counsel for ADF International in Mexico, highlighted the importance of defending the rights of parents to educate their children, “according to our convictions and principles.” “Our children have a right to be educated in a natural way. We all come from mom and dad, we all have the right to be educated by a father and mother, and to education in schools that conforms to our convictions and principles as Mexicans,” Guzman told CNA. “We are not marching to be homophobic, we are not marching to spit on someone nor to discriminate against someone. On the contrary, we are here to demonstrate and that in a democracy such as that of Mexico, biology is enforced and not an ideology,” he said. Read more

Body of third kidnapped priest found in Mexico

Last updated on: September 26, 2016 at 1:21 pm By CNA Daily News

Vatican City, Sep 26, 2016 / 07:21 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Less than a week after two Catholic priests in Mexico were found murdered after having been abducted from their parishes, the body of a third slain priest, Fr. José Alfredo López Guillén, has been found. Fr. López Guillén, pastor of Janamuato in Mexico’s central state of Michoacan, was taken from the rectory of his parish by unknown persons Monday, Sept. 19. His car had been found overturned on a road nearby. According to a message written on the archdiocese’s Facebook page, the priest had been killed several days before his lifeless body was found near the town of near Puruandiro. His abduction occurred on the same day that authorities found the lifeless bodies of previously-kidnapped Fathers Alejo Nabor Jiménez Juárez and José Alfredo Juárez de la Cruz, in the Diocese of Papantla, in Veracruz state. According to the Catholic Multi Media Center, 15 priests have been killed in Mexico in less than four years. The majority of the killings have taken place in areas plagued by drug violence, which continues to terrorize country and frequently targets priests, since the Catholic Church is one of the most vocal in speaking out against cartel crimes and activities. Pope Francis, who has often condemned drug related crime and violence in Mexico, voiced his closeness to the country’s bishops in his Sunday Angelus address. He offered his support to the commitment of the Church and of civil society in Mexico to “in favor of the family and of life, which in this time require special pastoral and cultural attention throughout the world.” “I also assure of my prayer for the dear Mexican people, so that the violence which has in these days also affected some priests, ceases.” In a video posted on YouTube Sept. 22, Cardinal Alberto Suárez Inda of Morelia, capital of Michoacan and one of the most troubled cities in Mexico, said that “after sharing in the enormous pain over the murder of two young priests in the Diocese of Papantla in Veracruz, today we are suffering anguish firsthand over the disappearance, the kidnapping of one of our priests.” The cardinal offered prayers for the kidnapped priest and asked that the captors would “respect his person and his life, so that he can return soon to the exercise of his ministry.” “We join in prayer for his family members and parishioners who are going through this distressing time,” he said, and prayed for peace, for respect for life, and for the conversion “of those who dedicate themselves to doing evil.” “Our community suffers the death, the anguish of any one of our faithful. In this case, it's a good man, dedicated to doing good and who is peaceful. This barbarity is in no way justifiable, I ask for your prayers.” Read more

Our elders are lonely – do we care?

Last updated on: July 8, 2017 at 12:02 pm By CNA Daily News

Denver, Colo., Jul 8, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- It was August in Rome, the dog days of summer, and most people had left the Eternal City for the beach or another summer holiday destination. It happens every year, essentially slowing the city t... Read more

Pope Francis: The truth can’t be forced on people

Last updated on: September 25, 2016 at 1:33 pm By CNA Daily News

Vatican City, Sep 25, 2016 / 07:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- God is shared with the world through love and authentic relationships, not by forcing the truth on people, Pope Francis said Sunday. “God is proclaimed through the encounter between persons, with care for their history and their journey. Because the Lord is not an idea, but a living person,” the Pope said in his homily at the Mass for the Jubilee of Catechists Sept. 25. “His message is passed on through simple and authentic testimony, by listening and welcoming, with joy which radiates outward.” Referencing St. Paul's first letter to Timothy, Pope Francis called the Resurrection the “beating heart which gives life to everything.” “The Lord Jesus is risen, the Lord Jesus loves you, and he has given his life for you; risen and alive, he is close to you and waits for you every day. We must never forget this.” Nothing is more important than the fact that the Lord is risen, the centerpiece of our faith, he explained. But we cannot keep it to ourselves. “We are called always to live out and proclaim the newness of the Lord’s love: 'Jesus truly loves you, just as you are. Give him space: in spite of the disappointments and wounds in your life, give him the chance to love you. He will not disappoint you,'” Francis said. “It is by loving that the God-who-is-Love is proclaimed to the world: not by the power of convincing, never by imposing the truth, no less by growing fixated on some religious or moral obligation,” he continued. In the day's Gospel, a rich man doesn't notice the poor Lazarus outside the door to his house, his spiritual blindness and worldliness are like a black hole that “swallows up what is good, which extinguishes love, because it consumes everything in its very self.” “Today’s callousness causes chasms to be dug that can never be crossed,” Francis said. “And we have fallen, at this time, into the sickness of indifference, selfishness and worldliness.” The Lord asks us, today, to meet and help all of the Lazaruses we encounter. We cannot delegate to others, “saying: 'I will help you tomorrow; I have no time today, I’ll help you tomorrow.' This is a sin,” he said. “The time taken to help others is time given to Jesus; it is love that remains: it is our treasure in heaven, which we earn here on earth.” After Mass, the Pope led pilgrims in the Angelus, and expressed his solidarity with the bishops of Mexico in supporting the efforts of the Church in favor of family and life. On Saturday an estimated 215,000 people marched through the streets of Mexico City to oppose President Enrique Pena Nieto's push to legalize same-sex marriage. Pope Francis also offered his prayers for the Mexican people in the wake of the kidnapping and murder of two priests whose bodies were found Sept. 19 – the same day a third priest was kidnapped. The Pope also spoke of the beatification of Engelmar Unzeitig, a German priest killed in the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau, and greeted all of the deaf people present on the “World Day of the Deaf,” encouraging them to do their part to make the world better. Read more

Archbishop Gomez: It’s time to end the death penalty

Last updated on: September 24, 2016 at 10:04 pm By CNA Daily News

Los Angeles, Calif., Sep 24, 2016 / 04:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Californians should vote for Proposition 62, a ballot measure to end the death penalty, the Archbishop of Los Angeles has said in a reflection on justice, Catholic teaching and American society. “It is time for us to end the death penalty – not only in California but throughout the United States and throughout the world,” Archbishop Jose H. Gomez said Sept. 21. “In a culture of death, I believe mercy alone can be the only credible witness to the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person.” His essay is part of a special issue of the Los Angeles archdiocese's newsweekly Angelus dedicated to the Church and the death penalty. Rather than condemn criminals to death, he said, Christians “should pray for their conversion and encourage their rehabilitation and ultimate restoration to society.” Those who seek an end to the death penalty must not forget the victims of crime and their loved ones. “We entrust them to the Father of mercies and we pray that he grant them healing and peace,” the archbishop continued. California’s ballot measure Prop. 62, which is on the November ballot, would replace the death penalty with lifetime in prison without parole. Public opinion survey results have been mixed. A Sept. 1-8 online poll of 1,909 registered voters sponsored by the USC Dornslife College and the Los Angeles Times found that only 40 percent of registered voters would approve the proposal. Another survey, run by the Field Poll, polled 942 likely voters Sept.7-13. It found support from 48 percent of voters and opposition from 37 percent. Another ballot measure, Prop. 66, would limit the appeal process for death row inmates and shorten the time from sentencing to execution. Archbishop Gomez cited St. John Paul II’s words in his final U.S. visit in 1999, in which the Pope called the death penalty “cruel and unnecessary.” “The reason is that every life is sacred and every person has a dignity that comes from God,” the archbishop explained. “This is true for the innocent and it is true for the guilty. It is true even for those convicted of the most violent crimes.” He acknowledged historical Catholic support for the death penalty. “The Catholic Church has always taught that legitimate governments have the right to impose the death penalty on those guilty of the most serious crimes. This teaching has been consistent for centuries — in the Scriptures, in the writings of the Church Fathers and in the teachings of the Popes,” he said. “But in recent years, there has been a growing consensus that the use of the death penalty can no longer be accepted.” Archbishop Gomez cited a “strange appetite for violence” in American culture, violent video games, demeaning music and entertainments. “In this cultural context, I do not see how the death penalty can ever again express society’s ultimate value for human life. In this cultural context, the death penalty can only function as one more killing.” Archbishop Gomez and the Los Angeles archdiocese’s Office of Life, Justice and Peace have established a website supporting a Yes vote on Proposition 62, www.killingisntjustice.org. Read more

Catholic event aims to answer ‘challenging’ sexuality questions with charity

Last updated on: September 24, 2016 at 6:02 pm By CNA Daily News

Phoenix, Ariz., Sep 24, 2016 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Catholic-run conference aims to help clergy, lay ministers, and medical and mental health professionals provide better support for people who experience same-sex attraction or confusion about ... Read more

Love can be only response to evil, Pope tells attack survivors

Last updated on: September 24, 2016 at 3:49 pm By CNA Daily News

Vatican City, Sep 24, 2016 / 09:49 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In the face of the devil's assaults, we must respond as God would, promoting respect for others and extending love and forgiveness to those who have harmed us, Pope Francis said in a Saturday audience with survivors of the terror attack in Nice, France in July. “When the temptation to turn in on themselves, or to answer hatred with hatred and violence with violence is great, authentic conversion of heart is necessary,” he said Sept. 24. “This is the message that the Gospel of Jesus addressed to all of us.” Pope Francis received the nearly 1,000 survivors of the July 14 attack in Nice in the Pope Paul VI hall at the Vatican. After his speech he greeted them each one by one. Eighty-six people were killed and over 400 were wounded in the Nice terror attack in July after a Tunisian man, Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, intentionally drove a large truck through the crowded seafront Promenade des Anglais. The crowds had been celebrating Bastille Day, which marks the day of France’s independence and is traditionally the country’s biggest public holiday. “I wish to share your pain, a pain that becomes even stronger when I think of the children, even entire families, whose lives have been torn suddenly and dramatically. To each of you I assure my compassion, my closeness and my prayer,” the Pope told those gathered. “The Church remains near and accompanies you with great mercies,” he said. “With its presence next to you in these moments so heavy to deal with, she asks the Lord to come to your aid and to put in your hearts feelings of peace and brotherhood.” In his speech, Pope Francis praised all those who went to the aid of the wounded, the victims, and their families, after the attack, both Catholic and organizations of other religions. “I am glad to see that among you interreligious relations are very much alive, and this can only help to alleviate the hurt of these dramatic events,” he said. “In fact, establish a sincere dialogue and fraternal relations among all, particularly among those who confess one and merciful God, it is an urgent priority that those responsible, both political and religious, should seek to encourage and which everyone is called to implement around him.” Pope Francis also met with the Hospital Sisters of Mercy Sept. 24, praising them for their dedication to serving the sick and dying, regardless of race or religion. “In front of the weakness of the disease can be no distinctions of social status, race, language and culture; Everybody grows weak and we must trust the other,” he said. “You dedicated your life above all to the service of brothers and sisters who are in hospitals, who thanks to your presence and professionalism will feel better supported in the disease,” the Pope said. “And to do this there is no need for long speeches: a caress, a kiss, stand by in silence, a smile.” “On that hospital bed always lies Jesus, present in the person who is suffering, and it is he who asks for help from each of you.” Read more

Catholics, Orthodox sign agreement on synodality and primacy

Last updated on: September 23, 2016 at 10:25 pm By CNA Daily News

Chieti, Italy, Sep 23, 2016 / 04:25 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At an ecumenical gathering held this week, representatives of the Catholic and Orthodox Churches signed a joint document regarding synodality and primacy during the first millennium. The agreement can point to ways of “resolving problems still existing between Catholics and Orthodox today,” said Msgr. Andrea Palmieri, undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity. The 14th plenary session of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches was held in the Italian city of Chieti Sept. 15-22. Their agreement was subtitled “Towards a Common Understanding in Service to the Unity of the Church.” The primacy of the Bishop of Rome is among the main points of disagreement between the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches. In the west, Church unity was expressed through being in communion with the Bishop of Rome, as the successor of Saint Peter. Petrine primacy among the apostles was a cornerstone in the west, whereas the east regarded Saint Peter and his successors as Bishop of Rome as “first among equals.” The Eastern Orthodox, on the other hand, have a conciliar or synodal model of the Church. For them, unity is through the common faith and communion in the sacraments, rather than a centralized authority. They do not recognize the authority of the Bishop of Rome over all Christians, but rather consider him equal to other bishops, though with a primacy of honor. The understanding reached this week was approved despite a disagreement regarding particular paragraphs by the Georgian Orthodox Church. When the document is published, the Georgians' objection will be included as a footnote. Moreover, the commission was unable to agree to a focus for the next plenary session, due to be held in two years in an Orthodox nation. According to a statement of the Russian Orthodox Church, its Metropolitan Hilarion of Volokolamsk proposed synodality and primacy in the second millennium – with a stress on the place of the “uniate” Churches, or those which maintain Byzantine rites while having come into communion with the Bishop of Rome. The Russian Orthodox Church says the phenomenon of Eastern Catholic Churches which broke communion with the Orthodox “still constitutes a stumbling stone in the Orthodox-Catholic relations.” The statement noted that Metropolitan Hilarion “reminded the meeting that the Joint Commission was to discuss the issue of ecclesiological and canonical consequences of Uniatism at its plenary session in Baltimore, USA, as far back as the year 2000,” but that “the work in Baltimore was not completed because of disagreements that arose both between the Catholic and Orthodox sides of the dialogue and within each of the sides.” The metropolitan said that the Russian Orthodox agreed to discuss synodality and primacy on the condition that within this context “the Commission will explore the canonical and ecclesiological consequences of Uniatism. However, for ten years from 2006 to 2015 the Commission has never revisited this theme.” He maintained that having talked about primacy and synodality in the first millennium, these themes in the second millennium is the natural next step, and that “here we will have to deal with the issue of the 1054 schism and also the issue of Uniatism as one of the central ones in the second millennium. I can predict that there will be many divisive issues and that we will not agree on every point. However, the aim of our dialogue is not simply to agree on the points of which we agree anyhow, but we have to explore also the points of disagreement. And the issue of Uniatism is one such extremely burning issues.” Metropolitan Hilarion drew attention to statements made by Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, who is head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church – one of the 'uniates'. He said the major archbishop's statements “go against the line of our dialogue, create obstacles on its way and sow distrust between the Orthodox and the Catholics … We have to understand that there are people in our Churches who create obstacles on our way, and we have to bear it in mind when we speak about the future of our dialogue.” The Russian Orthodox statement also said that one member of its delegation, Archimandrite Irenaeus, “stressed that it would be difficult for the Russian Orthodox Church to continue working in the Orthodox-Catholic dialogue if the problem of ecclesiological and canonical consequences of the unia remains unsolved.” Read more

What famous prayer did Jesus teach His followers?