Rimini, Italy, Aug 19, 2016 / 03:45 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A teddy bear, a diploma, a menu – items owned, achieved and touched by Christians who were brutally killed in attacks this year – are on display in an exhibit aimed at drawing people into a visceral experience of the persecuted faithful.     The display was created by the Italian branch of Aid to the Church in Need at the ecclesiastical movement Communion and Liberation's annual meeting in Rimini from Aug. 19-25.   A swing and a small carousel for children, six university desks, and a restaurant table set represent the three most recent scenarios where the anti-Christian persecution reached a peak: the suicide attack on Easter Sunday in a park in Lahore, that resulted in 72 deaths and 280 injured; the April 2 Garissa University massacre in Kenya, with a toll of 149 Christian students assassinated; the July 1st attack in a cafe in Dhaka, Bangladesh.   The relics of the martyrdom are also significant: the exhibit will show the teddy bear of one of the 30 children killed in Lahore; the graduation certificate that Muchire Shee was not able to complete, as she was killed in Garissa; the menu of the Holey Artisan Bakery of Dhaka the victims browsed before being held as hostages, tortured and assassinated. Visitors will will also pass through “a tunnel of martyrs,” a dark space that will show images and audio of nine of the martyrs of our time. Among those, Fr. Jacques Hamel, the 85-year-old priest recently assassinated in Rouen; Fr. Andrea Santoro, the Italian priest killed in Turkey in 2006; Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani ministry for Religious Minorities killed in 2011 because of his opposition to local blasphemy laws.   There will be also living testimonies of the Christian persecution taking place all over the world.   Seven witnesses will be present at the exhibit, to testimonies visitors the situation of Christians in their countries: Msgr. Mtanios Haddad will talk about the situation in Syria; Professor Shaheed Mobeen will provide details of the situation in Pakistan; Fr. Issa E.H. Abusada will discuss the Holy Land; the plight of Christians in Iraq will be recounted by Fr. Rebwar Basa.   Fr. Herman Tanguy will talk about the Central African Republic, a land that was blessed by Pope Francis’ visit last November while enduring a difficult and long term political situation. Fr. Martino Serrano will provide updates on the peace process in Colombia, while Fr. Olekasandr Khalayin will talk about the “forgotten conflict” in the Ukraine, that Pope Francis recently brought under the spotlights with the promotion of an extraordinary collection for the Ukraine Apr. 24.   Talking to CNA, Fr. Basa underscored that what is going in Iraq must be called a “genocide” as “our houses were seized and labeled with the ‘N’ of Nazarene; our churches have been turned into mosques, or into military headquarters or even in places where women are sold, raped and treated like slaves; many of our faithful were attacked and killed, or kidnapped and tortured and liberated after a very high ransom; many of us were assassinated for the only reason that they were wearing a cross.”   In the end, he said, “there is a serious attempt to cancel everything that links us to our land: our language, religious identity, places of worship, properties, traditions, culture, liturgy, monuments, manuscripts.”   Aid to the Church in Need also showed in the exhibit its response to the dire situation: the delivery of the Child's Bible, printed in 52 million copies and translated into 180 languages (include Pakistan's urdu and Central Africa's sango) and its supports the formation of 11,000 seminarians, more than one third of those are Africans. Additionally in Dhaka, Aid to the Church in Need is building a church in Bangladesh together with the family of Simona Monti, one of the victims. The Church will be dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, and will be built in Harintana.   Communion and Liberation's Rimini event this year will host 106 conferences, 14 shows, 17 exhibitions and 22 sporting events. More information can be found at: http://www.meetingrimini.org/eng/. Read more

Trier, Germany, Aug 19, 2016 / 12:34 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Accusations have been raised in a number of German media that Cardinal Reinhard Marx of Munich and Freising failed to remove from office a priest accused in 2006 of sexually abusing a minor. The alleged abuser, it appears, was allowed to stayed on as parish priest for a number of years, even going on overnight excursions with youth. A spokesperson for Cardinal Marx has said that the prelate had acted in accordance with relevant guidelines that were in place at the time. Saarland public broadcaster SR reports that Cardinal Marx, who was then Bishop of Trier, knew authorities were investigating a parish priest – identified only as "M" –  for allegedly sexually abusing a 15 year old boy. Citing the victim's legal counsel as a source, SR reports that “M”, who was then 52, had partially confessed the crime to authorities. However, he appears to have avoided prosecution because the alleged crime fell just outside the statute of limitations. The Church was duly informed by authorities of this in 2006, but never requested the case files, several media report. When nonetheless questioned by the diocese, “M” denied the allegations, SR reports, and then-Bishop Marx closed the matter and moved on. It appears the accused continued to serve as parish priest in the community where the alleged abused took place until 2015. According to the German news magazine "Focus", state authorities initiated two further investigations into the priest's conduct, in 2013 and 2015. Both times, the lines of inquiry stalled and finally were abandoned due to a lack of evidence.   Only as of May 2015, the alleged abuser is no longer allowed to be in contact with minors or to publicly say Mass, Focus reports, as both civil authorities and the Trier diocese are yet again investigating the matter under both legal and canonical auspices. Cardinal Marx, who was Bishop of Trier from 2001 to 2007, has not yet spoken about the accusations levelled against him. Spokespersons for both the Diocese of Trier and for Cardinal Marx have confirmed that the then-Bishop of Trier knew of the case in 2006. However, the spokesperson for Cardinal Marx emphasised that he "had acted in accordance with the guidelines of the German Bishops' Conference". These guidelines were reformed in 2010 and then again in 2013.   "Such a case would be dealt with differently today; the Church would conduct her own investigation", the spokesperson said. "The German bishops have acted on the bitter experiences and introduced new guidelines that apply to all dioceses". Cardinal Marx is also president of the German bishops' conference, a member of the Council of Cardinals advising Pope Francis on the reform of the Roman Curia, and coordinator of the Vatican's Council for the Economy. Read more

Czestochowa, Poland, Aug 19, 2016 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Representatives from the United States military joined troops from five other countries in a walk for peace in Poland last week. The ten-day trek culminating Aug. 15 was part of the annual pilgrimage to the Black Madonna, the common name for the icon of Our Lady of Czestochowa, Queen of Peace, the most important Marian icon in Polish Catholic history. Auxiliary Bishop F. Richard Spencer, Episcopal Vicar for Europe and Asia of the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA, joined the United States delegation along with 843 troops and clergy from Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania, and Latvia at the event. In the week leading up to Aug. 15, which is Poland's Armed Forces Day as well as the Assumption of Mary, pilgrims of all ages make their way to the shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, located on the grounds of the Pauline Jasna Góra monastery. This year, tens of thousands of Polish pilgrims are believed to have made the trek during the 305th anniversary of the annual pilgrimage. Its roots date to 1711, when the bubonic plague wiped out a large portion of Warsaw’s population. After the epidemic abruptly ended, a brotherhood of knights trekked from the capital to the shrine to offer thanks to the Virgin Mary, and the tradition has continued ever since. According to tradition, the icon of Our Lady of Czestachowa was painted by St. Luke or St. John on a table made by Christ. The icon shows two slashes on the face of Mary, left from when the image was seized and attacked by a soldier of the Hussites. Repeated attempts to repair the scars have failed, as they continue to reappear on the image. The dark skin of the icon is attributed mostly to age, and to exposure to smoke from candles. Bishop Spencer concelebrated an outdoor Mass for about 2,500 pilgrims Aug. 14 with Bishop Józef Guzdek, the Military Ordinary of Poland, and more than 60 priests. Bishop Spencer and the military representatives then drove back to Warsaw for an Aug. 15 Mass celebrating the Assumption. Polish President Andrzej Duda and his wife, along with other Polish government representatives, attended the Mass in Warsaw. Afterwards, the various dignitaries attended a wreath-laying ceremony at Poland’s Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. "The universality of the Catholic Church is well represented in the partnership of these two military dioceses by participating together in this pilgrimage for peace. I stand in admiration of the Polish soldiers who practice very openly and with great pride their Catholic faith and heritage. We all can also be proud of our U.S. soldiers who completed the ten-day walking pilgrimage," Bishop Spencer said following the event. The pilgrimage came just a couple weeks after Poland finished hosting Pope Francis and as many as 2 million international pilgrims for the 31st World Youth Day. Pope Francis prayed before the icon at the shrine of Czestochowa July 28. Three days prior, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the U.S. Military Archdiocese celebrated Mass under the icon while leading a pilgrimage of U.S. military Catholics to the World Youth Day. The icon also was a significant place of pilgrimage for the St. John Paul II, who prayed before the icon during his historic 1979 visit to his homeland, which at the time was under the reign of communism. Read more