Denver, Colo., Jul 14, 2015 / 11:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Little Sisters of the Poor have reiterated their commitment to following their conscience as they care for the poor and dying, following a federal appeals court ruling that they must obey the... Read more
Vatican City, Jul 14, 2015 / 07:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After global powers reached an agreement with Iran Tuesday limiting the country’s nuclear activity, the Vatican said the deal was an important step and expressed their hope the fruits would spread to more than just the nuclear field. “The agreement on the Iranian nuclear program is viewed in a positive light by the Holy See,” Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ said in a July 14 statement, shortly after the announcement of the deal. “It constitutes an important outcome of the negotiations carried out so far, although continued efforts and commitment on the part of all involved will be necessary in order for it to bear fruit.” He said the Holy See hopes these fruits will not be limited to just the nuclear sphere, “but may indeed extend further.” On Tuesday representatives of the United States, Iran and other nations met in Vienna, reaching a long-awaited deal aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of international economic sanctions. Negotiations between Iran and six world powers – the U.S., the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany official began in 2013 with the election of Hassan Rouhani, the seventh and current president of Iran. The formal July 14 announcement of the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” comes at the end of more than two weeks of intense discussion, during which negotiators surpassed three self-imposed deadlines, the original having been set for June 30. According to CNN, the U.S. congress is reported to have 60 days to review the plan. After the April 2 agreement on the initial framework of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the head of the U.S. Bishops' international peace committee, Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, N.M., offered his support, and called on the U.S. Congress not to “undermine” the deal. His warning came as the Senate was set to debate the bipartisan Corker-Menendez bill, S. 615, which allowed congress to make the review of the final agreement with Iran. The framework set in April reduced the number of Iran's centrifuges by two-thirds, down to just over 6,000. It limited the level of uranium that may be enriched and the amount of low-enriched uranium stockpiled. No new uranium enrichment facilities may be constructed for 15 years. The underground nuclear facility at Fordow must be turned into a research facility, and cannot research uranium enrichment there for 15 years. Nuclear-related sanctions on Iran will be lifted if the country abides by the framework, but sanctions related to “terrorism, human rights abuses and ballistic missiles” will remain. Bishop Cantu warned Congress not to get in the way of the final agreement, the “alternative” to which “leads toward armed conflict.” “(O)ur Committee continues to oppose Congressional efforts that seek to undermine the negotiation process or make a responsible multi-party agreement more difficult to achieve and implement. The alternative to an agreement leads toward armed conflict, an outcome of profound concern to the Church,” he said. Iran's hostility to its neighbors in the Middle East is all the more reason for the international agreement on its nuclear program, Bishop Cantu insisted. “As we have noted in the past, Iran’s statements and actions have threatened its neighbors, especially Israel, and contributed to instability in the region,” he said. “We hope the agreement is a first step in fostering greater stability and dialogue in the Middle East.” Pope Francis also praised the plan in his “Urbi et Orbi” blessing on Easter Sunday, saying that “in hope we entrust to the merciful Lord the framework that had been recently been agreed to in Lausanne, that it may be a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world.” Read more
Denver, Colo., Jul 14, 2015 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A few months ago, Erin McCroy was walking the streets of Denver with Andrew Murphy, a 20-something missionary with Christ in the City, an outreach for people who are homeless. McCroy, who had just become the Managing Director for the group, was trying to learn what the daily life of a missionary looked like. “I was out walking with him to get familiar with the ministry, and they’re all so happy to see him,” she said. “He’s only 22, and all of these 50 or 60 year-old men, they look to him like a spiritual father. He’s the only non-homeless person they interact with who talks to them, who knows anything about them.” On this particular day, one of Murphy’s friends pulled him aside and asked if he could talk. “Later, I asked Murphy what they wanted to talk about, and he said, ‘Oh, his mom had just passed away, and he just really hadn’t been able to process those feelings with anyone. So I just listened to him and empathized.” That day, McCroy saw firsthand what the Christ in the City mission is all about – friendship with the poor comes first, material support is secondary. But it all could come to an end, should Christ in the City and other religiously affiliated non-profits lose their tax exempt status in the coming months and years following the Supreme Court’s decision on gay marriage. Just days after the June 26 decision, New York Times columnist Mark Oppenheimer declared in a column that “now is the time” to abolish tax exempt status for religious institutions that do not recognize same-sex marriages. Even prior to the Supreme Court’s Obergefell decision, Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. told Justice Samuel Alito that tax exemption statuses for religious schools and universities opposed to same-sex marriage is “certainly going to be an issue.” The Catholic Church is among the largest charitable organizations in the country. A 2013 report by Forbes ranked Catholic Charities alone as number five in the nation, and this doesn't account for other Catholic charitable organizations such as Christ in the City, St. Vincent de Paul societies or charities run by religious orders or local parishes. But according to Oppenheimer, the holes left in the public service arena by all the non-profits that would have to downsize, or even close, could be filled by the government. “Defenders of tax exemptions and deductions argue that if we got rid of them charitable giving would drop. It surely would, although how much, we can’t say. But of course government revenue would go up, and that money could be used to, say, house the homeless and feed the hungry. We’d have fewer church soup kitchens — but countries that truly care about poverty don’t rely on churches to run soup kitchens,” he argues. But Christ in the City is about so much more than mouths to feed and bodies to house, said Irma Montes, outreach coordinator and former missionary with the ministry. The Christ in the City missionaries are able to be involved in aspects of their friends’ lives (they call them friends, not the homeless) that government programs simply could not reach, due to liability and funding limitations. “What needs to happen first is you need to befriend the people on the streets and show them that you love them and that they have dignity and they deserve to live a better life,” Montes explained. “I don’t think the government, because it is the government, has that capacity of showing people that they have human dignity and that they deserve to have a better life,” she added. “It’s much more about cost-effectiveness. It’s going to be cheaper for the government to build housing units to put people in, but now you have isolated people that don’t have community. So they might be out of sight, but that doesn’t solve the problem of that person changing and living a different kind of life.” As part of their mission, Christ in the City hosts lunch in the park every Wednesday and every second Saturday. They ask local parishes and church groups to take turns preparing and serving the food, and everyone sits down to share the meal in downtown Denver. McCroy said pulling off lunch in the park, without the free food and volunteer hours from local parishes, would cost the organization around $260,000 a year. “That figure would be if you only had one employee who oversaw it and still had volunteers to help,” she said, “and we do it for nothing.” But without tax exempt status? “I don’t think we would exist,” said Montes. In a July 13 article for The Week, correspondent Damon Linker wrote an opinion piece about why everyone – conservatives and liberals – should fight to maintain tax exempt status for religious institutions. The whole purpose of the exemptions, he said, came about because it is assumed that churches and their outreaches do something the government cannot when it comes to forming good morals and values in people, making them better citizens. “That might sound quaint to our cynical, hyper-modern ears,” Linker writes. “Some of the most secular among us may even think that this thumb on the scale in favor of encouraging faith smacks of the government ‘establishing’ religion.” “But of course the First Amendment doesn't just preclude a religious establishment. It also protects religious ‘free exercise,’ and it is on those grounds that the elimination of tax exemptions for churches should be opposed by all Americans, liberal and conservative alike. The issue lies in the definition of ‘free exercise.’ Robert Gilligan, executive director of the Catholic Conference of Illinois, said his perspective on the matter may be a bit jaded because of what happened to the Catholic foster care system in Illinois just a few years ago. In 2011, Illinois began denying contracts for most of Illinois’ Catholic Charities affiliates that were involved in foster care and adoption, because they refused to place children with same-sex couples. The result: the Catholic Church was forced out of a service in which they had played a vital role for more than 40 years, and hundreds of children were moved to other non-profit adoption and foster care agencies. “In the name of tolerance, we’re not being tolerated,” Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield told the New York Times in 2011. If attacks against tax exemption became more widespread against other Church charities and institutions, it’s not hard to imagine that many other Catholic ministries would be similarly forced out of business, Gilligan said. “It’s simple math. If our institutions are taxed, that money will have to come from somewhere, they will begrudgingly comply, therefore less money will be available to provide the services that we once provided. And the ones who will suffer the most are those most in need.” “And then the next step is, one could argue the most dangerous, is the growth in government to now do those services,” Gilligan added. “Is that the society we want in the quest for redefinition of marriage? I don’t know. We’re concerned about the answer to that question.” At the parish level, Fr. Javier Nieva, DCJM, of St. Mary’s in Littleton, Colo., is concerned about tuition at his school and the parishes various outreaches, should their tax exempt status come under fire. “Tuition would go up: it probably wouldn’t be affordable anymore, at least for the majority of people who are currently enrolling their children in the school,” he said, adding it could displace many of the school’s 470 students. “I would have to let many people go, reduce the staff to the bare minimum, and get rid of some programs,” he added. “We would also have to downsize. We have property, about 20 acres or so, so we’d have to pay taxes on it, and it’s not cheap.” A loss of tax exempt status could also mean a loss in revenue for the parish and school, since the tax break on charitable giving is among the motivations for some people’s donations. “If the parishioners are really committed and they don’t mind that much, it won’t be so radical; but it would probably change the face of the Church,” Fr. Nieva explained. Not only would the parish have to rely on people’s now-taxed donations, they would also need to lean more heavily on their parishioners for volunteer support for various programs and ministries in case they would need to let people go. “The Church has been around for 2,000 years as a divine institution, so we wouldn’t disappear,” Fr. Nieva said, “but it would change. Economically we know the consequences of paying taxes.” In the meantime, Fr. Nieva said that Catholics need to be more vigilant about what the Church teaches and why, and to be prepared to defend it in the public arena. “What many people don’t realize is that things most likely are not going to stop with this decision, and everybody goes back home,” he said. “Most likely they’re going to be pushing, and they’re going to see how it’s going to affect the services that the Church can offer, but we cannot be silent about it.” The best thing Catholics can do is to listen to their bishops, to pray for conversion, and to fight the temptation to hide from the world. “We still have to be visible, to fight for these and other rights in the public arena.”Updated 7/16/15 Read more
Washington D.C., Jul 14, 2015 / 12:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Plagued by wars, terrorism, and repressive governments, sub-Saharan Africa is in the throes of a humanitarian crisis that the international community is not ready to address, witnesses testified on Washington, D.C.'s Capitol Hill last Thursday. The number of displaced persons has reached an all-time high of 60 million, but a quarter of those are in sub-Saharan Africa. “Of that total, 3.7 million are refugees and 11.4 million are internally displaced,” Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) stated July 9 at a Congressional hearing on “Africa’s Displaced People.” Smith chairs the Global Human Rights Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. “African refugees and internally displaced people face numerous issues – from security in the places in which they seek refuge, to death and mayhem trying to reach places of refuge, to conflict with surrounding populations to warehousing that consigns generations to be born and live in foreign countries,” he continued. Witnesses from the State Department and international humanitarian organizations testified that social chaos in sub-Saharan Africa has created a full-blown humanitarian crisis. African host countries already cannot meet the needs of refugees pouring across their borders, and the international community is also stretched thin having to address the soaring number of refugees across the world. This creates an urgent problem, explained Natalie Eisenbarth, policy and advocacy officer for the International Rescue Committee in her testimony, because displaced persons, many of whom are women and children, are “particularly vulnerable to economic shocks, at risk of human rights violations, without access to basic services.” Once they leave home, they are dependent upon friends, family, governments, and international organizations for basic needs. And their needs are myriad. Not only must they receive water, food, and shelter to survive, but they also face long-term problems like finding a livelihood in a new country. They also need psychological assistance, many of them having experienced severe trauma along their route or having fled violence and torture in their country of origin. The rise of the terror group Boko Haram in Nigeria, along with the state’s military response, has displaced upto 3.2 million Nigerians. Violent conflict in South Sudan between the government and rebels – both entities have terrorized the populace through mass killings, torture, and rape – has driven masses of people into refugee camps but also into the “bush,” a wilderness area where they are completely dependent on humanitarian aid to survive. But South Sudan, said Natalie Eisenbarth, policy and advocacy officer for the International Rescue Committee, “is a difficult aid delivery environment in the best of circumstances.” Eritreans have suffered egregiously on their journey out of what some call the “North Korea of Africa,” noted John Stauffer of the America Team for Displaced Eritreans in his written testimony. They flee one of the most oppressive governments in the world. The U.N. Human Rights Council in June reported “systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations” to have been committed by the Eritrean government. There is “organized repression of the freedoms of opinion, expression, assembly, association and religion,” the report added. The government forces many men and women into “abusive, essentially unpaid endless” military service, referred to by survivors as “slave labor,” Stauffer noted. Soldiers are tortured for slight infractions. However, those fleeing Eritrea face a quagmire of hopelessness in refugee camps in Sudan and Ethiopia, with no positive future outlook, he continued. Some ran into a horrific system of torture where traffickers would capture them in Sudan and sell them to Bedouins in Egypt, where they would be taken to torture camps in the Sinai Peninsula. Victims were subject to gruesome suffering while a ransom was demanded of their families. The advent of the el-Sisi government in Egypt resulted in a greater security presence in the Sinai which helped stop the tortures, Stauffer noted. “The plight of Eritrean refugees is so dire, so complex, so little known, and in some countries so misunderstood that it shocks all normal sensibilities,” he said in his written testimony. Other persons decide to making the dangerous crossing to Europe through the Mediterranean, but even then many are trafficked by their smugglers and their families are forced to pay more for their release. Some are forced to pay more and board an obviously unsafe boat under threat of death. Over 1,000 migrants have died trying to make the passage because of “gross overloading or grossly inadequate boats,” Stauffer testified. Elsewhere in Africa, the Central African Republic was gripped by violence for two years after Muslim-supported rebels ousted the regime in March 2013 and terrorized the populace. Largely Christian militia groups formed to resist their reign of terror and have carried out violent acts of revenge. Almost a million people have been displaced there and almost a half million are living as refugees in neighboring countries. Countries that have not seen extensive violence lately, such as Chad, have borne the burden of taking in refugees from war-torn areas. But Chad is one of the poorest countries in the world and does not have the infrastructure capable of sustaining the myriads of refugees that are pouring in by the month, said Ann Hollingsworth of Refugees International. In addition, the World Food Program cut its rations for Sudanese refugees in Chad by 50 percent in 2014, she said. Mothers left their children for weeks on end to find work for food, putting both themselves and their children at risk of exploitation. Ultimately, international aid must focus on the long-term needs of refugees and displaced persons on the continent, Eisenbarth argued. Parents must be able to provide for their children, and children must have access to education and professional development. Read more
Washington D.C., Jul 13, 2015 / 04:34 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Medical professionals, attorneys and disabilities rights advocates have united in opposition to a proposal that would legalize assisted suicide in Washington, D.C., warning that it preys on the... Read more
Aboard the papal plane, Jul 13, 2015 / 11:43 am (CNA).- In the course of his 64 minute in-flight press conference while en route to Rome, Pope Francis answered questions ranging from politics, his upcoming trip to the Unites States, and his feelings about taking selfies. The Pope responded in Italian to 14 questions posed by journalists during his July 12 overnight flight from Asuncion to Rome. Paraguay was the last of the three stops on the Pope's trip to South America. He visited Ecuador July 5-8 and spent a few days in Bolivia before heading to Paraguay on July 10 to finish his visit.Please read below the full text of the Pope’s inflight interview:Fr. Federico Lombardi: The Holy Father has said that he can give us an hour of his time and no more. So, know that this is the limit. We’ll move forward to that limit and then at a certain point, we’ll finish. Now, for the first question, let’s give the floor to Anibal Velazquez from Paraguay, unless you want to say something to us first.Pope Francis: Good evening to everyone and thanks for the work you’ve done. It was tiring for you. Thanks!Anibal Velazquez: Hello, Holiness. Anibal Velazquez of Paraguay. We thank you for elevating the shrine of our Lady of Caacupe to a basilica, but the people of Paraguay ask: Why don’t we have a cardinal? What is the sin of Paraguay that we don’t have a cardinal? Is it far off for us to have a cardinal?Pope Francis: Well, not having a cardinal isn’t a sin. Most countries in the world don’t have a cardinal – the majority. The nationality of the cardinals, I don’t remember them, how many there are, but they are a minority compared to the whole. It’s true, Paraguay has never had a cardinal up until now, but I wouldn’t be able to give you a reason. Sometimes an evaluation is made, the files are studied one by one, you see the person, the charisma, especially, of the cardinal that will have to advise and assist the Pope in the universal government of the Church. The cardinal, though he belongs to a particular Church, is incardinated to the Church of Rome, and needs to have a universal vision. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t a bishop in Paraguay who has it. But you always have to elect up to a number, you can’t have more than a limit of 120 cardinal electors, so it will be for that. Bolivia has had two. Uruguay has had two. Antonio Maria Barbieri (editor’s note: he served as Archbishop of Montevideo 1940-1976 and was created cardinal in 1958) and the current one (editor’s note: Fernando Sturla). And other Latin American countries… some Central American countries haven’t had one either. I don’t remember well, but it’s no sin, and it depends on the circumstances and the people, the charisma to be incardinated. This doesn’t represent an insult, or that the Paraguayan bishops have no value. There are some that are great. The two [inaudible] made history in Paraguay. Why weren’t they made cardinals? Because there wasn’t an opportunity. It’s not a promotion, certainly. I ask another question: Does Paraguay deserve a cardinal, if we look at the Church of Paraguay? I’d say that yes, they deserve two. It doesn’t have anything to do with its merits. It’s a lively Church, a joyful Church, a fighting Church with a glorious history.Fr. Federico Lombardi: Thanks a million. And now we give the floor, a single question they tell me, to our two colleagues from Bolivia who are Priscilla and Cecilia, who are here.Priscilla Quiroga Sarmiento (Cadena “A” Red Nacional): Holiness, please, we would like to know your criteria on if you consider the yearning of the Bolivians just to have sovereign access to the sea, to return to having a sovereign access to the Pacific.Cecilia Dorado Nava, (El Deber): And, Holiness, in the case that Chile and Bolivia asked for your mediation, would you accept?Pope Francis: Answering the question, the issue of mediation is a very delicate one. And, it would be a last step. It’s to say that Argentina lived that with Chile, and it was truly to stop a war, a very extreme situation, and (it was) dealt with very well by those appointed by the Holy See, behind whom was always John Paul II, being interested, and with the good will of the two countries which said “let’s see if this works out.” It’s curious, there was, at least in Argentina, a group that never wanted this mediation, and when the president (Raul) Alfonsin called for a plebiscite to see if the proposal for a mediation would be accepted, obviously the majority of the country said “yes,” but there was a group that resisted, that always resisted. In the case of mediation, hardly ever is a whole country in agreement. But it’s the final resort, there are other diplomatic tools that can help in this case, facilitators, et cetera. At this point, I have to be very respectful about this because Bolivia has made an appeal to an international court. So right now if I make a comment, as a head of state, it could be interpreted as me trying to mingle in the sovereignty of another state and as disrespectful of the decision of the Bolivian people who made this appeal. Isn’t that right? I also know that there have been previous instances of wanting to dialogue. I don’t remember well. I was told once something like that: once they were very close to a solution. It was in the times of president Lagos, Chilean president Lagos, but I say it without having exact details. It was a comment made to me by Cardinal Errazuriz, but I don’t want to say something foolish about this. But there’s something I want to make very clear: I, in the Cathedral of Bolivia, touched on this issue in a very delicate way, taking into consideration the situation of the appeal to the international court. I remember the context perfectly – brothers have to dialogue, the Latin American peoples to have dialogue. In order to create the Great Homeland, dialogue is necessary. I stopped, made a silence, and said, “I’m thinking of the sea,” and then I continued, “dialogue and dialogue.” I think it was clear that my intervention was referring to this problem, though respecting the situation as it’s presented now. It’s in an international tribunal, one can’t speak of mediation or facilitation. We have to wait for that. [Inaudible follow-up question from Bolivian journalists]Pope Francis: There’s always a base of justice when there’s a change in the territorial borders, particularly after a war. So, there’s a continuous revision of this. I’d say that it’s not unfair to present something like this, this desire. I remember that in the year 1960, no, 1961, during my first year of philosophy, we were passed along a documentary about Bolivia, from a Father who had come from Bolivia. I believe it was called 'The Twelve Stars'. How many provinces has Bolivia?Dorado Nava: Nine departments.Pope Francis: So it was called 'The Ten Stars'. And it presented each one of the nine departments, and at the end, the tenth department, and you saw the sea without any word. That remained in my mind, so it’s visible that there’s a desire. After a war of this kind, losses come up and I believe it’s important: first dialogue, the healthy negotiation. But at this point dialogue is stopped because of this appeal to The Hague.Fr. Federico Lombardi: A thousand thanks, Holiness. Now, we give the floor to Freddy Paredes of Ecuador.Freddy Paredes (Caceres, Teleamazonas): Holiness, good evening. Many thanks. Ecuador was convulsed before your visit, and after you left the country those who oppose the government went back to the streets. It would seem that they would like to use your presence in Ecuador politically, especially because of the phrase you used, “the people of Ecuador has stood up with dignity.” I would like to ask you, if it’s possible, what do you mean by this? Do you sympathize in President Correa’s political project? Do you believe that the general recommendations you’ve made during your visit to Ecuador, that look to improve development, dialogue, the construction of a democracy in the hopes of leaving behind the throw away culture, as you call it, is already practiced in Ecuador?Pope Francis: Evidently, I know there were some political problems and strikes. I know that. I don’t know the complications of politics of Ecuador. It would be obnoxious of me to give an opinion. Afterward, they told me that there was a type of parenthesis during my visit, for which I’m thankful, because it’s the gesture of a people on their feet, a certain respect for the visit of a Pope. I’m thankful for and value this. But if things resume, obviously, the problems of political debates … and concerning the phrase you talk about: I refer to the greater consciousness the people of Ecuador has been gaining, it’s courage… There was a border war with Peru not long ago, so there’s a history of war. Then, there’s been a greater awareness of Ecuador’s variety of ethnic diversity, and this gives dignity. Ecuador isn’t a country of throwing away, so it refers to the people as a whole and to all of the dignity of that people who after the border war stood up and once again took more consciousness of its dignity and the wealth it has in its diversity and variety, so it cannot be attributed to one concrete political situation, from one sign or another because that same phrase, someone told me, I didn’t see it, was used to explain both situations. That Ecuador stood up or that those contrary to the government … One sentence can be manipulated, and I believe that in this we must be very careful. And I thank you for your question because it’s a way to be careful. You’re giving an example of being careful. And if you allow me, and no one asked me this, but I give you five extra minutes more as a concession, if we need them. In your job, the hermeneutics of a text is very important. A text can’t be interpreted only in one sentence. The hermeneutic has to be applied to the entire context. There are phrases that are exactly the keys to the hermeneutic, and others that aren’t, that are spoken “by the way” or “plasticas.” So, in all of the context, looking at the situation. So looking at the history, so being the history from that moment or if we’re looking at the past we need to interpret an event with the hermeneutic of that time. I don’t know, for instance the crusades – let’s interpret the crusades with a hermeneutic of how they thought in that time, no? It’s key to interpret a speech, any text, with a comprehensive hermeneutic, not isolated. Forgive me, I don’t want to play the “plum teacher” (editor’s note: ‘maestro ciruela;’ Argentine idiom that refers to the teacher who is constantly giving lecturing rants), but I say this to help you. Now, shall we move on to Guarani?Fr. Federico Lombardi: Now we give the floor to Stefania Falasca of Avvenire for the Italian group and we await the response in Guarani. In the meantime, Anna Matranga, is getting prepared for the English group.Stefania Falasca, (Avvenire): So, we thought this: you, in the speech you gave in Bolivia to the popular movements, you spoke of the new colonialism and of the idolatry of money that the economy subdues and of the imposition of methods of austerity that always adjust the “pocket,” the “belt” of the poor. Now this week in Europe, we have this case of Greece and the destiny of Greece, which risks leaving the European currency. What do you think about what is happening in Greece and how it concerns all of Europe?Pope Francis: First of all, why this intervention of mine at the conference of the popular movements? It was the second one. The first was held in the Vatican, in the old synod hall. There were more or less 120 people. It is something that (the Pontifical Council of) Justice and Peace organizes, but I am close to this because it is a phenomenon in the whole world, in the whole world, also in the East, in the Philippines, in India, in Thailand. These are movements that organize among themselves, not just to protest but to move forward, to be able to live, and they are movements that have strength. These people, and there are many, many of them, don't feel represented by the unions because they say that unions now are a corporation and they do not struggle – I am simplifying a bit – but the idea of many people is that they don't fight for the rights of poorest. The Church cannot be indifferent. The Church has a social doctrine, and dialogues with these movements, and dialogues well. You saw it. You saw the enthusiasm of feeling that the Church is not far from us, the Church has a doctrine that helps us in the struggle with this. It is a dialogue. It is not that the Church has an option for the anarchic way. No, they not anarchists. They work. They try do many jobs, even connected with waste, the things that are left behind. They are real workers. That is the first thing, the importance of this. Then, the other. Tell me. (Inaudible, clarifying question)Pope Francis: On Greece and the international system, I have a great allergy to economic things, because my father was an accountant and when he did not manage to finish his work at the factory, he brought the work home on Saturday and Sunday, with those books in those day where the titles were written in gothic. When I saw my father I had a great allergy and I didn’t understand it very well. Certainly, it would be all too simple to say that the fault is only on one side. If the Greek government has brought forward this situation of international debt, also they have a responsibility. With the new Greek government we see a revision and it’s a bit right ... I hope that they find a way to resolve the Greek problem and also a way to have oversight so that the same problem will not fall on other countries. And this will help us move forward because that road of loans and debts, in the end, it never ends. They told me something about a year and a half ago but it is something that I heard, I don't know if it’s true, that there was a project at the U.N. – if any of you know anything about it, it would be good if you could explain it – there was a project whereby a country could declare itself bankrupt, which is not the same as default. It is a project, they told me, that was in the United Nations. I don't know how it ended it up or whether it was true or not ... I am just using it to illustrate something that I heard. But, if a company can declare bankruptcy why can’t a country do it and we go to the aid of others? And, this is one of the foundations of the project, but I can’t say anything more about this. And then the new colonizations. Evidently, all of them are about values. It’s the colonization of consumerism. The habit of consumerism was a product of colonization. It’s the habit, no? It brings about a habit that is not yours and it even causes disequilibrium in the personality; consumerism causes disequilibrium the internal economy and social justice and even physical and mental health, just to give an example. Fr. Federico Lombardi: Now, Anna Matranga, if you can take a seat here.Anna Matranga, (CBS News): Your Holiness, one of the strongest messages of this trip was that the global economic system often imposes a profit mentality at any cost, to the detriment of the poor. This is perceived by Americans as a direct criticism of their system and their way of life. How do you respond to this perception, and what is your evaluation of the impact of the United States in the world?Pope Francis: What I said, that phrase, it’s not new. I said in Evangelii Gaudium. This economy kills. I remember that phrase well. It had a context. And I said it in Laudato Si'. It’s not a new thing, this is known. I cannot say … I heard that there were some criticisms from the United States. I heard about it, but I haven’t read about it, I haven’t had the time to study this well, because every criticism must be received, studied, and then dialogue must be ensue. You ask me what I think. If I have not had a dialogue with those who criticize, I don’t have the right to state an opinion, isolated from dialogue, no? This is what comes to mind.Matranga: But now you are going to the U.S.Pope Francis: Yes, I will go.Matranga: Now you will go the United States. You must have an idea how it will be, you must have some thoughts about the nation.Pope Francis: No, I have to begin to study now. Until now I studied these three beautiful countries [Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay]. Such richness, such beauty…Now I must begin to study Cuba, I will go for two and a half days. And then the United States. The three cities, the east. I cannot go to the west because … Washington, New York, Philadelphia, no? Yes, I must begin studying these criticisms, no? And then dialogue a bit with this.Fr. Federico Lombardi: Now we give the floor to Aura Miguel from the Portuguese, whom you know well.Aura Vistas Miguel, (Radio Renascenca): Well, there’s no group. It’s just me from Portugal. (laughing) Holiness, what did you think when you saw the hammer and sickle with Christ on it? And where did this object end up? What did you think when you saw the hammer and sickle with the Christ on it, given to you by Evo Morales? And where did this object end up?Pope Francis: Ah, yes, truly. I heard 'mantello' (editor’s note: mantle, cloak: ‘mantello’ is similar to ‘martello,’ the Italian for hammer, that’s why the Pope needed the question repeated), and I didn't understand. It’s curious, I didn't know this, nor did I know that Fr. Espinal was a sculptor and also a poet. I learned this in these days. I saw it and for me it was a surprise. Secondly, you can qualify it in the genre of “protest art” – for example in Buenos Aires, some years ago, there was an exhibit of a good sculptor, creative, Argentine, who is now dead. It was protest art, and I recall one, it was a crucified Christ on a bomber that was falling down, no? It’s Christianity, but a criticism that, let's say, Christianity allied with imperialism, which is the bomber. The genre that first I didn’t know, and secondly, I would qualify it as protest art, which in some cases can be offensive, in some cases. Thirdly, in this concrete case, Fr Espinal was killed in 1980. It was a time when liberation theology had many different branches. One of the branches was with Marxist analysis of reality. Fr Espinal belonged to this, this. Yes, I knew because I was in those years rector of the theology faculty and we talked a lot about it, about the different branches and who were the representatives, no? In the same year, the general of the Society (of Jesus), Fr. Arrupe, wrote a letter to the whole Society on the Marxist analysis of reality in theology. Stopping on this point saying, “it’s no good, these are different things, it’s not right, it’s not correct.” And, four years later in 1984, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith published the first small volume, the first declaration on liberation theology that criticizes this. Then comes the second, which opens to a more Christian perspective. I’m simplifying, no? Let’s do the hermeneutic of that time: Espinal was an enthusiast of this Marxist analysis of the reality, but also of theology using Marxism. From this, he came up with this work. Also the poetry of Espinal was of this kind of protest. But, it was his life, it was his thought. He was a special man, with so much human geniality, who fought in good faith, no? Making a hermeneutic like this, I understand this work. For me it wasn’t an offense, but I had to do this hermeneutic, and I say it to you so that there aren't any wrong opinions.Vistas: Did you leave it there?Pope Francis: No, it’s traveling with me. Maybe you heard that President Morales wished to give me two honors, the most important of Bolivia (editor’s note: the Condor of Andes) and the other of the Order of Fr. Espinal, a new order (editor’s note: the Senate of Bolivia approved it June 30). If I ... first, I’ve never accepted honors. I don’t do it. But, he did it with so much good will and with so much pleasure to please me. And, I thought that this comes from the people of Bolivia. So I prayed about it, what I should do. (I thought,) If I bring it to the Vatican it'll go to the museum and end up there and no one ... I thought about leaving it with Our Lady of Copacabana, the Mother of Bolivia, which will go to the sanctuary. The two honors will be in the Shrine of Our Lady of Copacabana, the Madonna, while the Christ is coming with me. Thanks.Fr. Federico Lombardi: Now we give the floor to Anais Feuga from the French group.Anais Feuga, (Radio France): Good evening. During the Mass in Guayaquil, you said that the synod needed to help a true discernment to mature to find concrete solutions to the difficulties of the family, and then you’ve asked the people to pray so that what seems to be impure, scandalous, or scary, that God may transform it into a miracle. Can you explain to us what impure, scary or scandalous situations you were referring?Pope Francis: Here, too, I will do some ‘hermeneutics’ of the text. I was speaking of the miracle of the fine wine. I said the jugs, the jugs of water were full, but they were for the purification. Every person who entered for the celebration performed his purification and left his “spiritual dirt”. It was a rite of purification before entering into a house or the temple, no? Now we have this in the holy water – that is what has remained of the Jewish rite. I said that precisely Jesus makes the best wine from dirty water – the worst water. In general, I thought of making this comment. But, the family is in crisis, you know. We all know it. It’s enough to read the “Instrumentum Laboris” (editor’s note: the “working document” for October’s Synod) – which you know well because it was presented to you – and there – I was referring to all of that, in general. That the Lord would purify us from the crises of so many things that are described in that book of the “Instrumentum Laboris.” But it was in general – I wasn’t thinking of any point in particular. That he would make us better, families that are more mature, better. The family is in crisis, may the Lord purify us, and let’s move forward. But the specifics of this crisis are all in the Instrumentum Laboris of the Synod that is finished and you have it.Fr. Federico Lombardi: Now we pass the floor to Javier Martinez Brocal from the Spanish group, from Rome Reports.Javier Martinez Brocal, (Rome Reports): Holiness, thank you so much for this dialogue which helps us so much personally, and also our work. I pose this question in the name of all of the Spanish language journalists: Seeing how well the mediation went between Cuba and the U.S., do you think it would it be possible to do something similar between other delicate situations in other countries on the Latin American continent? I’m thinking of Colombia and Venezuela. Also, out of curiosity, I have a father who is a few years younger than you and has half your energy. We’ve seen it on this trip and in these two-and-a-half years. What is your secret?Pope Francis: ‘What is your drug?’ is what he wants to ask. That’s the question! The process between Cuba and the United States was not a mediation. No, no, no, it did not have the character of a mediation. There was a desire that had arrived, then on the other side also a desire. And then – and in this I’m telling the truth – there passed – this was in January of last year – three months went by, and I only prayed over this. I didn’t decide to do anything, what could I do with these two who have been going on like this for more than 50 years. Then the Lord made me think of a cardinal, and he went there and talked. Then I didn’t know anything; months went by. One day the secretary of state, who is here, told me, “Tomorrow we will have the second meeting with the two teams.” How’s that? “Yes, yes, they are talking, between the two groups they are all talking, they are making …” It went by itself. It was not a mediation. It was the goodwill of the two countries, and the merit is theirs, the merit is theirs for doing this. We did hardly anything, only small things. And in December, mid-December, it was announced. This is the story, truly, there is no more to it. Right now, I am concerned that the peace process in Colombia not halt. I must say so, and I hope that this process goes ahead. In this sense, we are always disposed to help, we have so many ways to help. It would be an ugly thing if it couldn’t go ahead. In Venezuela, the bishops’ conference is working to make a little bit of peace there, too. But there is no mediation, what you asked about. In the case of the United States, it was the Lord, and then two things maybe by chance, and then it went on. In Colombia, I have hoped and prayed, and we must pray, that this process does not stop. It is a process that has gone on for more than 50 years, too. How many dead? I’ve heard millions. And then, about Venezuela, I don’t know anything. (Inaudible follow up)Pope Francis: The drug! Well, mate helps me but I didn’t try the coca (tea). This is clear, eh!Fr. Federico Lombardi: Good, now Ludwig Ring-Eifel, so we also have a representative of the German group. And then, if we still have time, there would be Vania di Luca.Ludwig Ring-Eifel, (CIC): Holy Father, on this trip, we’ve heard so many strong messages for the poor, also many strong, at times severe, messages for the rich and powerful, but something we’ve heard very little was a message for the middle class – that is, people who work, people who pay their taxes, “normal people.” My question is why in the magisterium of the Holy Father are there so few messages on the middle class. If there were such a message, what would it be?Pope Francis: Thank you so much. It’s a good correction, thanks. You are right. It’s an error of mine not to think about this. I will make a comment, but not to justify myself. You’re right. I have to think a bit. The world is polarized. The middle class becomes smaller. The polarization between the rich and the poor is big. This is true. And, perhaps this has brought me not to take account of this, no? Some nations are doing very well, but in the world in general the polarization is seen. And the number of poor is large. And why do I speak of the poor? Because they’re at the heart of the Gospel. And I always speak from the Gospel on poverty, no? It’s not that it’s sociological. Then on the middle class, there are some words that I’ve said, but a little in passing. But the common people, the simple people, the worker, that is a great value, no? But, I think you’re telling me about something I need to do. I need to do delve further into this magisterium.Fr Federico Lombardi: Good. OK, now the floor goes to Vania de Luca for the Italian group.Vania de Luca, (RAI - News 24): In these days you’ve insisted on the necessity of methods of social integration against the throwaway culture. You’ve also supported projects that go in this direction of living well, also if you’ve said you’ve still got to think of the visit to the United States. Will you touch on these things when you go to the United Nations, to the White House? Were you also thinking of that trip when you mentioned those issues?Pope Francis: No. No, I was just thinking concretely of this trip and of the world in general – that is true. The debt of countries at this moment is terrible; every country has debts. There are one or two countries that have purchased the debt of big countries. It’s a global problem. But I didn’t think specifically of the trip to the United States in this.Fr. Federico Lombardi: Now, we’ve still got Courtney Walsh from the English group. I think it may be the last, the last question. (Inaudible) So, no, two more. Courtney and then after, if we can do another, Benedicte.Courtney Walsh, (Fox News): OK, Holiness, we’ve spoken a bit about Cuba that before you go to the United States and the role the Vatican has had in bringing the two ex-friends back together. Now that Cuba will have a role in the international community, in your opinion should Havana improve its record on human rights, as well as religious freedom? And, do you think Cuba risks losing something in this new relationship with the most powerful country in the world? Thanks a lot.Pope Francis: Human rights are for everyone. And human rights are not respected not only in one or two countries. I would say that in many countries of the world human rights are not respected. Many countries in the world .. and what will Cuba lose or the U.S. lose? Both will gain something and lose something, because this happens in negotiations. Both will gain, this is sure: peace, meetings, friendship, collaboration. These they will gain … but what will they lose, I cannot imagine. They may be concrete things. But in negotiations one always [both] wins and loses. But returning to human rights, and religious freedom. Just think of the world. There are some countries and also some European countries where you cannot make a sign of religion, for different reasons, and on other continents the same. Yes. Religious liberty is not present in all the world, there are many place that do not have it. Fr Federico Lombardi: Now, we pass the floor to Benedicte Lutaud for the French group.Benedicte Lutaud, (I.Media): Holiness, you present yourself as the new world leader of alternative politics. I would like to know: why do you support popular movements so strongly, and not so much the business world? And do you think the world will follow you in your outstretched hand to popular movements, which are very secular?Pope Francis: The world of popular movements is a reality. Popular movements are a very big reality, all over the world. What did I do? What I gave them is the social doctrine of the Church, just as I do with the business world. There is a social doctrine of the Church. If you look back at what I told the popular movements, which is a fairly large speech, it comes from the Church’s social doctrine, applied to their situation. But it’s the social doctrine of the Church. Everything I said is the social doctrine of the Church. And, when I need to speak to the world of business, I say the same, that is the social doctrine of the Church, what does it say to the world of business. In Laudato Si' there is a passage on the common good and also on the social debt of private property, all of this that goes in that sense. But it’s applying the Church’s social doctrine.Lutaud: Do you think the Church will follow you, in your closeness towards popular movements?Pope Francis: It is I who follow the Church! Because I simply preach the Church’s social doctrine to these movements. It’s not an outstretched hand to an enemy. It’s not political, no, it’s a catechetical fact. I want it to be clear.Fr Federico Lombardi: Yet another question, from Cristina Cabrejas from the Spanish group.Cristina Cabrejas, (EFE): Holy Father, the Spanish-speaking journalists want to ask if you are not somewhat scared that you or your speeches might be exploited by governments, by power (lobby) groups, by movements. Thanks.Pope Francis: I repeat a bit what I said at the beginning. Every word, every sentence can be exploited. What the journalist from Ecuador asked me, that very sentence, some said it was for the government, others said it was against the government. That is why I allowed myself to speak of the hermeneutics of the whole (speech). They can always be exploited. At times some news takes a phrase, out of context. I am not afraid. Simply I say look at the context. And if I make a mistake, with a bit of shame I ask forgiveness, and move forward.Cabrejas: Can I ask another quick question? What do you think of people taking selfies at Mass, which young people and children want to take with you?Pope Francis: What do I think of it? I feel like a grandfather! It’s another culture. Today as I was taking leave (from Asuncion), a policeman in his 40s asked me for a selfie! I told him, listen, you’re a teenager! It’s another culture – I respect it.Fr. Federico Lombardi: Now, let’s do a final question and we’ll let a person who knows the Pope knows well do it, Andrea Tornielli from the Italian group.Andrea Tornielli, (Vatican Insider): I wanted to ask you, Holy Father, in synthesis what was the message you wished to give to the Latin American Church during these days and what role can the Latin American Church have also as a sign to the world?Pope Francis: The Latin American Church has a great wealth. It’s a young Church. And this is important. It’s a young Church with a certain freshness. Also, with some informalities, not so formal, no? It also has a rich theology of research. I’ve wished to give encouragement to this young Church and I believe that this Church can give us much. I’ll say something that really struck me. In all three countries, all three, along the streets there were moms and dads with their children, showing their children. I’ve never seen so many kids! So many kids. It’s a people, and also the Church is like this, no? It’s is a lesson for us, isn’t it? For Europe, where the decrease in birthrate is a bit scary, no? And also the policies for helping big families are few. I think of France, which has a good policy for helping big families. It has arrived to a higher than two percent birthrate, but others are at zero percent or less. (Inaudible) In Albania, for example, I believe the level of age is at 45 percent. (In) Paraguay 72 or 75 percent of the population is younger than 40 years old. The wealth of this Church, this nation, but also this living Church. This is a Church of life, no? And, this is important. We also need to learn from this and correct it because on the contrary if children don’t come… For me, it’s the same, waste. Children are thrown away. Elderly are discarded. We all know that the elderly… With the lack of work, we discard young people, no? And these new nations of young people give us more strength in this, no? And for the Church I’d say a young Church with so many problems. It has problems and this is the message I find. Don’t be afraid. This youth has this freshness of the Church. It can also be an undisciplined Church, but with time it will become disciplined. But it will give us so much good. I don’t know if this is what you wanted to ask me. Thanks.Fr. Federico Lombardi: Thanks a lot, Holiness. So, we’ll close the series of questions. As every once in a while when we’re here together, we inform you about the birthdays of our colleagues, between today and tomorrow or yesterday and today we have two. One is Cristiana Caricato of TV2000 and the other is Antoine Marie Izoarde. What’s that? Pablo too, the day before yesterday. Great. (Fr. Lombardi begins singing Happy Birthday) Thanks so much for this answers and questions and for all the work you do. I wish you a good trip. See you tomorrow. (Applause) Read more
Vatican City, Jul 13, 2015 / 09:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Responding to waves of controversy after receiving a “communist crucifix” – a carving of Christ crucified on a hammer and sickle – from Bolivian president Evo Morales, Pope Francis said he took no offense, but understands the work as “protest art.” “I would qualify it as protest art, which in some cases can be offensive,” the Pope said during an inflight news conference on his July 12 overnight flight from Paraguay to Rome. But given the context of this piece of art, he added that he understands the idea behind the crucifix, and “for me it wasn’t an offense.” He recalled an exhibition in Buenos Aires several years ago in which an Argentinian artist he described as “a good sculptor, creative,” and who is now deceased, made a similar piece depicting a crucified Christ on an airplane. “It was protest art, and I recall one, it was a crucified Christ on a bomber (airplane) that was falling down, no? It’s Christianity, but a criticism that let's say Christianity allied with imperialism which is the bomber.” The crucifix, which the Pope revealed was traveling with him back to Rome, was given to him by leftist Bolivian Evo Morales on Thursday, sparking controversy. The cross with a hammer and sickle is a reproduction of another carved during the 1970s by Fr. Luis Espinal Camps, a Spanish Jesuit who was a missionary in Bolivia who was killed in 1980 during the Bolivian dictatorship. The Pope's reaction after receiving the crucifix has been a source of debate since the audio of the video is marred due to the clicking of journalists' cameras. Francis said that he had been unaware that Fr. Espinal, in addition to his work as a journalist, was also a sculptor and a poet. He noted that during his life, Fr. Espinal had sympathies with the Marxist interpretation of Liberation Theology, which at that time was widely popular in South America. It was criticized both within the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits), to which both Pope Francis and Fr. Espinal belong, in 1980, and later in by the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith in their first declaration on Liberation Theology, in 1984. Taking a “hermeneutic” approach to the crucifix – one that involves an interpretive act of understanding with an emphasis on dialogue – the Pope made an analysis of the times, saying that Fr. Espinal “was an enthusiast of this analysis of the Marxist reality, but also of theology using Marxism.” It was from this perspective that Espinal created the work, he said, noting that the priest’s poetry was also “of this kind of protest.” “But, it was his life, it was his thought. He was a special man, with so much human geniality, who fought in good faith, no?” Read more
Vatican City, Jul 13, 2015 / 09:14 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After global powers reached an agreement with Iran Tuesday limiting the country’s nuclear activity, the Vatican said the deal was an important step and expressed their hope the fruits would spread to more than just the nuclear field. “The agreement on the Iranian nuclear program is viewed in a positive light by the Holy See,” Vatican spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ said in a July 14 statement, shortly after the announcement of the deal. “It constitutes an important outcome of the negotiations carried out so far, although continued efforts and commitment on the part of all involved will be necessary in order for it to bear fruit.” He said the Holy See hopes these fruits will not be limited to just the nuclear sphere, “but may indeed extend further.” On Tuesday representatives of the United States, Iran and other nations met in Vienna, reaching a long-awaited deal aimed at limiting Iran’s nuclear activity in exchange for the lifting of international economic sanctions. Negotiations between Iran and six world powers – the U.S., the UK, France, China, Russia and Germany official began in 2013 with the election of Hassan Rouhani, the seventh and current president of Iran. The formal July 14 announcement of the “Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action” comes at the end of more than two weeks of intense discussion, during which negotiators surpassed three self-imposed deadlines, the original having been set for June 30. According to CNN, the U.S. congress is reported to have 60 days to review the plan. After the April 2 agreement on the initial framework of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the head of the U.S. Bishops' international peace committee, Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, N.M., offered his support, and called on the U.S. Congress not to “undermine” the deal. His warning came as the Senate was set to debate the bipartisan Corker-Menendez bill, S. 615, which allowed congress to make the review of the final agreement with Iran. The framework set in April reduced the number of Iran's centrifuges by two-thirds, down to just over 6,000. It limited the level of uranium that may be enriched and the amount of low-enriched uranium stockpiled. No new uranium enrichment facilities may be constructed for 15 years. The underground nuclear facility at Fordow must be turned into a research facility, and cannot research uranium enrichment there for 15 years. Nuclear-related sanctions on Iran will be lifted if the country abides by the framework, but sanctions related to “terrorism, human rights abuses and ballistic missiles” will remain. Bishop Cantu warned Congress not to get in the way of the final agreement, the “alternative” to which “leads toward armed conflict.” “(O)ur Committee continues to oppose Congressional efforts that seek to undermine the negotiation process or make a responsible multi-party agreement more difficult to achieve and implement. The alternative to an agreement leads toward armed conflict, an outcome of profound concern to the Church,” he said. Iran's hostility to its neighbors in the Middle East is all the more reason for the international agreement on its nuclear program, Bishop Cantu insisted. “As we have noted in the past, Iran’s statements and actions have threatened its neighbors, especially Israel, and contributed to instability in the region,” he said. “We hope the agreement is a first step in fostering greater stability and dialogue in the Middle East.” Pope Francis also praised the plan in his “Urbi et Orbi” blessing on Easter Sunday, saying that “in hope we entrust to the merciful Lord the framework recently agreed to in Lausanne, that it may be a definitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world.” Read more
Vatican City, Jul 13, 2015 / 09:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- During a press briefing on the return flight from South America, Pope Francis clarified that his call for prayer ahead of the upcoming Synod on the Family referred to today's family crisis generally – not, as some media have sources speculated, to “any point in particular.” “The family is in crisis, you know,” the pontiff told journalists in reference to remarks made near the beginning of his week-long voyage to the continent of his birth, stressing that he was speaking about this crisis “in general.” The Pope explained his words were a call for prayer “that the Lord would purify us from the crises” among families, such as are described in the Instrumentum Laboris – or “working document” – for October's Synod. “The family is in crisis: May the Lord purify us, and let’s move forward!” he said. Sunday's wide-ranging press briefing on the papal plan en route to Rome came at the conclusion of Pope Francis' July 5-13 trip to Ecuador, Bolivia, and Paraguay. The journalist's question about the Synod on the Family was in reference to the pontiff's July 6 Mass, the first major event of his visit to Ecuador, in which he prayed for Christ to turn what seems “impure, scandalous or threatening” about the Synod into a “miracle.” In the same homily, the Pope said the Synod would examine “concrete solutions to the many difficult and significant challenges facing families.” Some media outlets have interpreted these remarks as heralding changes in the Church's teaching on family issues. These speculations include a more “welcoming” approach to gay couples, and the allowance for divorced and remarried couples to receive the sacraments. However, during the July 12 press briefing Pope Francis explained the context of his remarks were in reference to the Gospel account of the wedding feast of Cana, in which Jesus performed the miracle of turning water into “fine wine” at the request of his mother. The pontiff said he was showing how Jesus had the power to turn the “dirty” water of purification into the finest wine. “The jugs of water were full, but they were for the purification,” Pope Francis said. “Every person who entered for the celebration performed his purification and left his 'spiritual dirt.' It was a rite of purification before entering into a house or the temple, no? Now we have this in the holy water - that is what has remained of the Jewish rite.” “I said that precisely Jesus makes the best wine from the dirty water - the worst water. In general, I thought of making this comment.” This year's Synod on the Family, to be held on Oct. 4-25, will be the second and larger of two such gatherings to take place in the course of a year. Like its 2014 precursor, the focus of the 2015 Synod of Bishops will be the family, this time with the theme: “The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and the modern world.” The 2014 meeting became the subject of widespread media attention, largely owing to proposals by a small number of prelates to rethink the Church's practice regarding the admission to Holy Communion for divorced persons who have remarried without obtaining an annulment. Read more
Portsmouth, England, Jul 13, 2015 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Catholic schools in England could face problems under both a new “British values” government mandate and demands to approve same-sex relationships. But in the Diocese of Portsmo... Read more
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