San Diego, Calif., Sep 18, 2014 / 06:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- San Diego’s late Bishop Cirilo Flores was “a man of the Beatitudes” with a deep affection for the people of his diocese, Archbishop Jose Gomez of Los Angeles said at the bishop’s Sept. 17 funeral Mass. “We thank God today for the life of our brother and friend, Bishop Cirilo. What a beautiful example he was for all of us,” Archbishop Gomez said in his homily at Saint Therese of Carmel Church in San Diego. “He showed us how to be a priest, how to be a bishop — and how to be a Christian,” the archbishop continued. “He tried to live with humility, simplicity and purity of heart. He tried to be a merciful man with a heart for the poor and vulnerable.” Bishop Flores died Sept. 6 at the age of 66 at San Diego’s Nazareth House, a senior care facility. He had suffered a stroke in April and was still recovering from its effects. The diocese announced in August that he had also begun treatment for prostate cancer. More than 1,000 people attended the bishop’s funeral Mass, including about 400 priests and 50 bishops. Archbishop Gomez told the congregation that Bishop Flores helped teach Christians “the newness of life” even in his suffering and death. “I think he was surprised by his illness but he took it well. His first trial came when he had the stroke during Holy Week and then, just recently when he learned that he had cancer,” the archbishop said. “He was at peace when he learned that the cancer was terminal and could not be treated. He put himself in the hands of God,” he continued. “What a beautiful way to live and to die!” Archbishop Gomez voiced sadness at the bishop’s death. “We are going to miss him a lot. His smile, his peaceful way,” the archbishop said. “But we are happy for him, too. Because he has reached his goal! The goal that we are all striving for. The goal of Heaven, eternal life.” “He wanted Jesus Christ to always be present to his people. So he went out to be with you, as often as he could.” Bishop Flores was born in 1948 in Corona, Calif., 22 miles northeast of Orange, the child of Cirilo and Armida Flores. He has three brothers and two sisters, all of whom live in California. He studied law at Stanford University and practiced law in Riverside and Los Angeles counties prior to entering St. John's Seminary in Camarillo in 1986. Bishop Flores was ordained a priest of the Orange diocese in 1991, at the age of 43. He served in several parishes of the diocese. He was then consecrated as an auxiliary bishop for the diocese in 2009. In 2012, Bishop Flores was appointed coadjutor bishop of the Diocese of San Diego, becoming its head in September 2013 upon the retirement of Bishop Robert Brom. Archbishop Gomez said that Bishop Flores’ last weeks “taught me to want to center my life more on loving God and loving others.” He encouraged the congregation to focus on “bringing the joy of Jesus to others” and “getting to heaven and helping people to be with God – now and forever.” “We entrust Bishop Cirilo to the welcoming arms of our Blessed Mother Mary. And we ask her to pray for all of us, that we might have the grace to follow his example and to always walk in the newness of life!” Archbishop Gomez said.   Read more

Austin, Texas, Sep 18, 2014 / 04:22 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A pair of Catholic authors has found a new way to give mothers some time off while helping break the social isolation that can sometimes come with modern parenting: throw a weekend-long party jus... Read more

Washington D.C., Sep 18, 2014 / 02:18 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The head of the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee has renewed a call for Congressional action after a new report verified the bishops’ repeated warnings of taxpayer-funded abortion in the Affordable Care Act. “This report confirms the U.S. bishops’ longstanding concern about abortion coverage that we raised both before and after enactment of the Affordable Care Act by Congress,” said Cardinal Seán O’Malley of Boston, chairman of U.S. bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities. In a Sept. 16 statement, Cardinal O’Malley responded to a report by an independent government watchdog detailing how abortions are covered by most subsidized health plans offered under the health care law, despite promises to the contrary by President Barack Obama. The report by the non-partisan Government Accountability Office, released Monday night, revealed abortion coverage present in more than 1,000 qualified health plans in the insurance exchanges created under the law. In addition, mechanisms set up under the law to separate abortion coverage from public funding were not being enforced, the report found. President Obama had promised in an executive order that no federal funding would go to abortions covered in the law’s health insurance exchanges. The action was meant to quell concerns of a dozen pro-life Democrats who supported the law but opposed any federal funding of abortion. Those congressmen were the last votes needed to pass the law through the House. The bishops, however, were among pro-life advocates who had warned that the order carried no legal weight since it was not part of the legislation itself and appellate courts had repeatedly required that federal health care laws include abortion funding. “Only a change in the law enacted by Congress, not an executive order, can begin to address this very serious problem in the legislation,” the bishops said at the time. Now that these fears have been confirmed, Cardinal O’Malley urged Congress to take renewed action to separate abortion coverage from the rest of the subsidized health plans. “The only adequate solution to this problem is the one the Catholic bishops advocated from the beginning of the health care reform debate in Congress: Bring the Affordable Care Act into compliance with the Hyde amendment and every other federal law on abortion funding, by excluding elective abortions from health plans subsidized with federal funds,” he stated. Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, members of Congress have attempted to pass legislation that would preserve the Hyde Amendment's ban on abortion funding under the Affordable Care Act. Congressional Reps. Chris Smith (R-N.J.) and Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) along with 163 other members of Congress co-sponsored the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, which would exclude insurance plans covering abortion procedures from receiving federal tax funds. Although the bishops have called for health care reform in the U.S. for decades, concerns including abortion funding and conscience rights ultimately prevented them from supporting the Affordable Care Act in 2010. During deliberations over the law, they warned that without provisions to preserve the ban on federal abortion funding required by the existing Hyde Amendment, the legislation would likely require American citizens to pay for others' abortion procedures. In November 2013, an analysis by the bishops’ Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities pointed to a 2012 Obama administration mandate requiring many insurers to charge all enrollees for elective abortions. The bishops’ conference pointed out that through this rule, taxpayers were not only being forced to subsidize insurance plans that cover elective abortions, but individuals were also being forced to help directly pay for other people's abortion procedures.   Read more

Washington D.C., Sep 17, 2014 / 04:58 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- President Barack Obama’s announcement of personnel and other aid to combat the deadly Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa drew praise from relief workers involved in the region. &ldquo... Read more

Washington D.C., Sep 17, 2014 / 02:41 pm (CNA).- The U.S. bishops’ conference has praised federal lawmakers for reaching an agreement to reauthorize legislation that funds child care and job training for low-income families. “Child care ... Read more