2014-08-22T19:19:00+00:00

Vatican City, Aug 22, 2014 / 01:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has given $1 million as a personal contribution to help Christians and other religious minorities in Iraq who have been forced from their homes, according to his personal envoy to the country. Cardinal Fernando Filoni, prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, visited Erbil as Pope Francis' envoy from Aug. 12-20. Erbil, where more than 70,000 Christians have fled from the Islamic State, is the capital of Iraqi Kurdistan and is within 50 miles of territory held by the Islamic State. Cardinal Filoni met in private with Pope Francis the day after he returned to Rome, and spoke to CNA Aug. 22. Cardinal Filoni said he had carried with him one tenth of the Pope's contribution, and that “75 percent of the money was delivered to Catholics, and the remaining 25 percent to the Yazidi community.” The Islamic State is a recently established caliphate that has persecuted all non-Sunnis in its territory, which extends across swaths of Iraq and Syria. “Pope Francis gave me a humanitarian mission, not a diplomatic mission, and this is what I always emphasized to Iraqi authorities,” Cardinal Filoni said. The Pope's decision to send a personal envoy to Iraq, the cardinal said, “meant to me that if he had been able to go, he would have.” Cardinal Filoni recounted that Pope Francis entrusted him with letters for Kurdish president Masoud Barzani and Iraqi president Fuad Masum presenting him “as his personal envoy and expressing his concern for what Christians and minorities in general are suffering, because they have been uprooted from their lands and persecuted.” The Islamic State has forced more than 1.2 million Christians, Yazidis, and Shia Muslims from their homes in Iraq, under threat of death or heavy fines if they do not convert. In the face of such violence, Cardinal Filoni said intervention to stop the aggressor is a legitimate option. “The Church does not back any war. The right to defend one's self is legitimate. But our Christians in Iraq have no arms. Therefore, it is necessary that someone – in this case the legitimate authorities of the country – should defend minorities, especially those most in danger.” He suggested that “in an international framework, the United Nations should decide” whether to intervene or not, but added that “the Church will not tell the United Nations what they have or they do not have to do.” Cardinal Filoni recounted that he heard displaced Christians say, “if the international authorities provide a protected zone for us around our villages, our territory, we should go back there.” The Pope's envoy also emphasized that in his meetings with Iraqi authorities, he had always been accompanied by representatives of the local Churches. “At every meeting, I was accompanied by Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, the Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Mosul Youhanna Moshe, and the apostolic nuncio to Iraq, Giorgio Lingua, as well as others.” Cardinal Filoni said their meetings addressed concrete issues such as that of the children unable to take their final exams so as to pass to the next year of their schooling. “The Church deals with the concrete needs of people, but it has to continue caring for the moral and spiritual assistance of our Christians, as well.” “As long as our Christians remain in the region, we cannot abandon them. As long as even one only Christian lives in Iraq, we will be there.” “This is Pope Francis' line,” he said. “That we, as shepherds, should carry our sheep on our shoulders and lead them, but we also must walk with them.” “We must walk in front of them to lead them, walk among them to spur them, walk behind them to encourage them.” Read more

2014-08-22T16:33:00+00:00

Washington D.C., Aug 22, 2014 / 10:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Department of Health and Human Services issued on Friday new rules regarding its contraception mandate, after the Supreme Court ruled against its application to certain companies this summer. The rules create a new way for non-profit groups to state their objections to the required coverage, prompting their insurance company to pay for their employees’ contraceptives. For closely held for-profit companies such as Hobby Lobby, the federal department said it is asking for ideas on how to extend the same accommodation being offered to non-profits. Friday's news rules deal with the federal contraception mandate – issued under the 2010 Affordable Care Act – which requires employers to offer health insurance covering contraception, sterilization and some drugs that can cause early abortions. The mandate has been met with controversy since its introduction, leading to more than 300 lawsuits from individuals and groups who say that it forces them to violate their religious beliefs. For non-profits, the newly-issued rules “lay out an additional way for organizations eligible for an accommodation to provide notice of their religious objection to providing coverage for contraceptive services,” the Health and Human Services department stated Aug. 22. Previously, religious groups were instructed to sign a form voicing their objection to the coverage, which would authorize their insurer or a third-party administrator to pay for the products. Many religious groups had objected to this arrangement, saying that it still required them to violate their religious beliefs by authorizing an outside organization to pay for the products they found to be immoral. The new rule announced Friday allows these non-profit groups to notify the Department of Health and Human Services of their objections. The federal government will then contact insurers and third party administrators to provide the coverage. The non-profit rule goes into effect immediately, although it is an “interim final rule,” meaning that it is open to comments from the public and has not yet been finalized. Regarding closely held for-profits, such as Hobby Lobby, HHS said it is asking for comments on how it might extend to them “the same accommodation that is available to non-profit religious organizations.” “The proposal seeks comment on how to define a closely held for-profit company and whether other steps might be appropriate to implement this policy.” Friday’s announcement is the latest in a series of revisions to the controversial mandate. While the mandate includes a narrow religious exemption for houses of worship and their affiliated organizations, many faith-based groups – such as soup kitchens, hospitals and schools – do not qualify for the exemption because they are not affiliated with a specific house of worship. Instead, objecting non-profit organizations have been offered an “accommodation,” under which they can sign a form prompting their insurer or a third-party administrator to provide payments for the products they find immoral. Religious individuals running for-profit companies did not qualify for the exemption nor the accommodation. In June, however, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against the mandate as it applied to two “closely held” for-profit corporations, Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Services. The court found that the owners of the companies are protected from the demands of the mandate by the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act. It ruled that the federal government had failed to prove that the mandate was the least restrictive means of advancing its goal of providing free birth control to women. Last month, the Supreme Court also granted a temporary injunction to Wheaton College, a Christian college in the Chicago area. The Department of Health and Human Services said Friday that the new rules “are in response to recent court decisions.” Sylvia Burwell, HHS secretary, said that the new rules will ensure access to free contraception, “while respecting religious considerations raised by non-profit organizations and closely held for-profit companies.”   Read more

2014-08-22T16:06:00+00:00

Milwaukee, Wis., Aug 22, 2014 / 10:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Executed journalist James Foley was fearless in his quest to advance justice in the world, and his courage inspired many students at his alma mater, a professor at his former university reflected. “We are a campus in mourning. He was a bright light,” Marquette University journalism professor William Thorn told CNA Aug. 21. The professor said Foley was “offended by social injustice, poverty, and related problems.” “He thought that his video documentaries on the problems that these people faced in war-torn areas, the injustices, would lead to change. That was his whole agenda. He wanted to be a journalist to change the world,” Thorn said. The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant – known as ISIS or ISIL – on Aug. 19 released a video titled “A Message to America” showing Foley’s beheading by a member of the militant group. The group said the execution was in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes against its military insurgency, which has killed religious minorities and displaced hundreds of thousands of civilians. Foley, a resident of New Hampshire, was 40 years old. He had been in Syria reporting on its civil war when he was kidnapped by armed militants in November 2012. He was a 1996 graduate of Wisconsin’s Marquette University, run by the Society of Jesus. He returned to the university in 2011 to speak about his 44-day imprisonment in Libya by loyalists to Muammar Gaddafi. Foley’s appearance at Marquette was “electric,” Thorn recalled. “He was quite the celebrity on campus because we had had prayer vigils when he was held prisoner in Libya,” the professor explained. “He was a friendly, cheerful guy, a friend to everybody he met,” Thorn continued. “But he came back a bit different. He was much more reflective. He had this internal confidence in what he was doing.” “He said that being imprisoned in Libya made him a man of prayer. That was where he learned the value of saying the rosary, on his knuckles, because he didn’t have beads.” Thorn said students peppered Foley with questions: “What was it like in prison? How did you survive? Why do you want to go back? Why should we care?” “He kept talking about the injustice he saw, and the ability of a journalist to make a difference,” Thorn said. “He was unafraid,” the professor recalled. “His heart went out to the people who were suffering in the villages, who were getting bombed out or shelled out, who didn’t have food or clean water. That was his focus.” “He was right there in the middle of it. And unafraid. That’s one of the things that his former student friends have said. The guy just had no fear.” “He was motivated to do the right thing. For him, that was exposing the problems that came from, in Libya, the civil war that people were suffering there. I think it was the same in Syria.” The Marquette professor said that as a student, Foley followed the advice of the university leadership to become involved in social justice work, “whether it is a meal program or tutoring immigrant kids.” Foley taught at a Milwaukee public middle school down the block from Marquette. He worked on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota and in Mississippi though Jesuit programs. “He said, ‘I never realized how privileged I was until I got involved in those activities. Then I decided to do something about it’,” Thorn recounted. “He said Marquette changed him. When he came back, he told the students that they could expect to do a lot of hard work, that this was not an easy life, but they could make a big difference in the world.” Thorn said a teacher at Marquette asked Foley, “Are you sure you want to go back and risk your life?” According to Thorn, Foley replied “I’m strong, I don’t worry about it.” “It was Marquette that really strengthened his faith,” continued Thorn, his voice cracking with sadness. “And it was in prayer that he found confidence and was able to survive the prison. He wasn’t really worried about going back.” The professor said Foley’s death was “brutal” and “shouldn’t have happened.” “He was a pawn in an international political ploy. Those Jihadists know their media. They know how to get attention. I think they used him,” Thorn said. “They got the attention that they wanted. Their goal, of course, is to put pressure on Obama to stop the bombings, and to prove that they are powerful.” The militant group is believed to be holding captive at least one other American journalist and two Italian reporters. Marquette University will host a prayer vigil for Foley at 6 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Chapel of the Holy Family at the Alumni Union building. Thorn said Foley’s death has “cast a pall” over the start of the new school year, and “has just dominated all the conversations.” The students who heard Foley as freshmen in 2011 are now seniors. The professor explained that Foley’s life of service is an example of how Marquette hopes its students will become involved in social ministry and “become a man for others.” Foley spoke of his Libyan imprisonment and his gratitude for prayer in a fall 2011 letter in Marquette Magazine. “If nothing else, prayer was the glue that enabled my freedom, an inner freedom first and later the miracle of being released during a war in which the regime had no real incentive to free us,” the journalist wrote. “It didn't make sense, but faith did.” Thorn said he believes Foley’s family is doing well, despite facing unimaginable pain. “They understand that he is now in eternal life. They are grieving their loss, as the university is.” The journalist’s parents, John and Diane Foley, voiced their pride in their son and gratitude for his life in an Aug. 20 press conference. “It's not difficult to find solace in this point in time” John said. “We know he is in God's hands, and we know he’s done God’s work.” “Jim would never want us to hate or be bitter. We’re praying for the strength to love like he did,” Diane stated. Read more

2014-08-22T15:35:00+00:00

Cincinnati, Ohio, Aug 22, 2014 / 09:35 am (CNA).- Chances are you've viewed at least one video this week of someone dumping a bucket of ice water over their head and challenging others to do the same. The now-viral “ice bucket challenge” was started by the ALS association, a leader in funding research for prevention, treatment and an eventual cure of Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).   Sometimes referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS is a fatal neuro-degenerative condition for which there are no proven treatments or cure. But when Jim Rigg, superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, accepted the ice bucket challenge Aug. 20, the archdiocese announced its donations would be going toward the John Paul II Medical Research Institute in Iowa City, Iowa rather than the originator of the challenge. In a statement released Aug. 20, the archdiocese voiced concerns over the ALS association's support of embryonic stem cell research, which requires the destruction of embryonic life. “The archdiocese is not dissuading individual Catholics from making donations, but they are encouraged to be fully informed and make their own prudential judgments.” “The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has determined that its Catholic schools will not, as organizations, donate to that particular charity,” it read.   “To quote St. John Paul II, 'Any treatment which claims to save human lives, yet is based upon the destruction of human life in its embryonic state, is logically and morally contradictory, as is any production of human embryos for the direct or indirect purpose of experimentation or eventual destruction.'”The John Paul II Medical Research Institute (JP2MRI) is a secular non-profit research institute “grounded in a pro-life bioethic that respects the dignity of every human life,” according to their website. They conduct research to advance technology to treat diseases such as ALS, cancer, Alzheimer's and other more rare diseases. The JP2MRI wrote on Twitter Aug. 20, “Over the past 5 days – The Institute has received 350 donations for $15,000 dollars. Thank you.” Read more

2014-08-22T10:01:00+00:00

Erbil, Iraq, Aug 22, 2014 / 04:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Iraqi Christians' faith is not diminished, even as they face exile from their homes and profound suffering, an official with a Catholic pastoral charity has said after visiting Kurdistan, where many have taken refuge. “The faith is the reason for their lives. And despite the persecution, children wear rosaries around their necks and the people do not hide their tattoos of crosses or their medals that identify them as Christians,” Maria Lozano, adjunct communications director for Aid to the Church in Need, told CNA following her Aug. 12-16 visit to Erbil. “They are not going to renounce their faith, even though that is the reason why they are being persecuted.” More than 70,000 Christians have been displaced to Erbil from their homes in Mosul, Bakhdida, and other towns in Nineveh Province by the advent of the Islamic State, a recently established caliphate that has persecuted all non-Sunnis in its territory, which extends across swaths of Iraq and Syria. Lozano traveled to Erbil along with Aid to the Church in Need's president, Johannes Heereman, and the organization's program director, Regina Lynch, on a fact-finding mission to assess the needs of the displaced persons. One of the most powerful moments during the trip, Lozano reflected, was when she met a 90 year-old woman who said the only thing she could bring with her as she fled from her home was a small package with her prayer books. “She showed us those books with so much care. They were written in Aramaic by hand. And I thought, 'this is precisely what they want to save: their faith.'” Aid to the Church in Need's mission to Erbil was done also to “show our solidarity with these people have left everything out of defense of the faith,” Lozano said. “They need to know that we are with them and that we have not forgotten them.” “The church that is by the refugee camp was completely full, so much that I couldn’t even enter. From outside I could hear them pray and sing in Aramaic … and I thought, 'this is the voice that they want to silence in Iraq.'” “Something needs to be done so that they can keep praying, praising, and singing in that language and in that land.” She urged that people “pray that these refugees will receive consolation, the help of God, and the strength to endure everything.” In an Aug. 19 statement, Heereman called on the international community to “respond decisively now” to the Islamic State, “if we do not want to be silent witnesses to the last chapter of the history of Christendom in Iraq.” “This cannot remain simply the concern of the Church in Iraq. We must not be silent witnesses to a destruction that is now reaching the scale of a disaster of civilization.” The Aid to the Church in Need delegation also visited Dohuk, a Kurdish city which is hosting more than 60,000 additional displaced persons. “We took a more mountainous route passing at times less than 12 miles from ISIS forces,” Lozano wrote in a description of the trip. “However, there were only a few military check-points through which we passed very easily. In the distance we could see the Christian town of Alqosh, which has for the most part been abandoned by its inhabitants in anticipation of the arrival of ISIS.” They were accompanied by the Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, Emil Nona, who was born in Alqosh. “The archbishop, too, is a refugee, as he was caught outside of Mosul attending a youth meeting in another Christian village when ISIS overran the city in early June. Like so many of his faithful, he had to leave everything behind.” They visited also Mangesh, a village near Dohuk, where 300 Christian families are hosting an additional 77 Syrian Orthodox families who fled the Alqosh area. “They were very thankful when the parish priest of Mangesh, Fr. Yoshia Sana, offered them the Catholic catechetical center as a temporary home. At the center, we met their Orthodox priest who expressed his gratitude to Mgr. Nona for the kindness and generosity his people have received,” Lozano said. “They are still in need of more tents and some ventilators and Mgr. Nona promised to get some for them. Just as in Erbil, temperatures were soaring to more than 110 degrees and in one case seven families were sharing one tent.” “We saw the cramped conditions under which (the refugees) live and we heard of the generosity of other Christian families, who share their own often humble homes with one or two other families.” In response to the crisis – in total, there are more than 1.2 million internally displaced persons in Iraq, and more than 9 million displaced Syrians – the U.S. branch of Aid to the Church in Need has pledged more than $1 million to help those countries persecuted Christians. The funds it has pledged will deliver emergency aid to Iraqi Christians in Erbil and the plains of Nineveh. Aid to the Church in Need is seeking donor support for its goal of $1 million in aid; donations can be made through this website or by calling (800) 628-6333. The situation "is not only a problem for the Church but for all of humanity,” Lozano told CNA. “We are witnessing a cultural, human and religious genocide, a tragedy of which we are silent witnesses. For this reason we must raise our voices and tell our governments to act against this barbarism.”   Read more

2014-08-22T08:02:00+00:00

Orlando, Fla., Aug 22, 2014 / 02:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Actor Gary Sinise's respect and admiration for military men and women goes far beyond his role as Lieutenant Dan in the popular 1994 film, “Forrest Gump.” For generations, members of his family and his wife's family have served their country, which inspired Sinise to support veterans for years and ultimately start the Gary Sinise Foundation in 2011. This past year, the Knights of Columbus donated $200,000 to help build a “smart home” for U.S. Army Corporal Kyle Hockenberry, who lost three of his limbs in combat. “They are a great, tremendous charitable organization and have demonstrated that for over one hundred years,” Sinise told CNA Aug. 7, “so to get their support is very meaningful and appreciated by me and the members of my foundation team.” The words – “For those I love, I will sacrifice” – were tattooed on Hockenberry's side when he lost both legs and his left arm to an IED attack in Afghanistan. His new home, where he will live with his wife Ashley in Ohio, is custom-built to accommodate a wheelchair and other needs he faces. “You have shown that you will be a shining light of hope for those who have served and sacrificed like Kyle Hockenberry when they are in their darkest moment,” Sinise told the Knights in an address at their Supreme Convention in Florida. In his touching and personal talk, Sinise told of his memories of veterans in his own life. A high school student during the Vietnam War, Sinise said he didn't fully realize the gravity of the sacrifices being made by his friends and family in the military at the time. “I had been more interested in girls, a band I was involved in, just enjoying my freedom in life as a kid without thinking much about the cost of that freedom,” he said. But after spending time with the veterans in both his family and his wife's and listening to their stories, he felt compelled to take action. “I let those early failures drive me for a new mission,” Sinise said. “That mission is to have the courage to take determinate action for those who have sacrificed so much in defense of our freedom and liberty, and to stay that course no matter how the political winds may blow, or even though it might not be the most popular thing to do in the place you work or the circles you run in.” He started working with a local veterans group in the Chicago area in the 1980's, and saw the chance to play Lieutenant Dan as a way to serve veterans by telling an amusing story of a veteran who eventually succeeds in life after war. He continued serving veterans after the film by forming the Lieutenant Dan band and traveling to entertain troops. “It is simply the right thing to do for those who volunteer to fight our nation’s wars and we must learn the hard lessons from Vietnam and the shameful way our county treated our veterans returning from that war and ensure that that never happens again.” Sinise also told the story of the faith journey of his family, starting with his wife rediscovering her Irish Catholic roots and attending Mass regularly as a family. The Church became the family's sanctuary as the Sept. 11 attacks brought on a new war, and Sinise grew closer to the faith. In December 2010, he was officially confirmed in the Catholic Church. “I see now that my work with veterans over the past 30 years and my journey being confirmed in the Catholic Church are very much a part of the same story.” Shortly after being confirmed, Sinise felt there was still more he could be doing to serve veterans. “I felt called by God and compelled to use all the tools and notoriety that I had been blessed with and all the work I had done with the military over the years to serve in a more substantial way to create something that could be here for the long haul,” Sinise said, and in 2011 the Gary Sinise Foundation began. Besides building custom Smart Homes for numerous veterans, the foundation provides multiple programs and resources honoring and helping veterans and their families successfully adjust to life after combat. The partnership of the Knights of Columbus will continue as well. “They made a commitment to helping us in the future and I'm very grateful for that, looking forward to a great teaming up of the two organizations in support of our veterans,” Sinise said. “It's very important that we take care of these heroes.” Those interested in learning more about the Gary Sinise foundation can find more information on the website www.garysinisefoundation.org. Read more

2014-08-22T06:01:00+00:00

Detroit, Mich., Aug 22, 2014 / 12:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Cardinal Edmund Casimir Szoka, who had served as Archbishop of Detroit and president of the Vatican City State, died of natural causes at the age of 86 at the local Providence Park Hospital. “We mourn the loss of a dedicated shepherd. For sixty years, Cardinal Szoka gave himself totally to his priestly service of Christ and his Church.” “He has gone home to the Heavenly Father with our prayers. May the Lord give him the reward of his labors,” said Archbishop Allen H. Vigneron, current archbishop of Detroit. Born on Sept.14, 1927, Edmund Casimir Szoka grew up in Grand Rapids as the child of Polish immigrants. He attended St. Joseph Seminary and was ordained a priest on June 5, 1954 in Marquette. He served his first years as an assistant priest at St. Francis in Manistique, Michigan. Cardinal Szoka attended the Faculty of Canon Law at the Pontifical Urban University at Rome from 1957-1959. After returning to the states, he served again in the diocese of Marquette until 1971. On June 11, 1971 he became the first bishop of the newly created diocese of Gaylord in Michigan. Ten years later, in May 1981, he was named Archbishop of Detroit, where he closed and merged many parishes within the diocese. Cardinal Szoka served on the administrative council of the provincial seminary at St. John in Plymouth, as well as St. Cyril and Methodius seminary near Orchard Lake. During this time, he was also elected president of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops. Pope John Paul II appointed Archbishop Szoka as cardinal in 1988, after which he was selected to oversee the economic affairs at Vatican City State. He was also appointed President of the Governatorate of Vatican City State and of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State by Pope John Paul II, where he served until 2006. Just after he turned seventy-nine, Cardinal Szoka resigned and officially retired from active ministry on Sept.15, 2006 with Pope Benedict XVI’s approval. Following his retirement, he lived in Northville, Michigan until his death o n Aug. 20, 2014. This year he celebrated the 60th anniversary of his priesthood. Archbishop Szoka's funeral will take place at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit, where mass will be celebrated on Tuesday morning at 11:00 am. He will be buried at the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Southfield. Read more

2014-08-21T22:35:00+00:00

Oklahoma City, Okla., Aug 21, 2014 / 04:35 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Oklahoma City's archbishop voiced relief that satanists organizing a black mass in the city returned a stolen Host which was to be desecrated, restating his concern that the event should happen at all. The Host was given to a priest Aug. 21 by an attorney representing Adam Daniels, who organized the black mass. “I am relieved that we have been able to secure the return of the sacred Host, and that we have prevented its desecration as part of a planned satanic ritual,” Archbishop Paul Coakley said Aug. 21. “I remain concerned about the dark powers that this satanic worship invites into our community and the spiritual danger that this poses to all who are involved in it, directly or indirectly.” The occult group Dakhma of Angra Mainyu has scheduled a black mass at the Oklahoma City Civic Center Music Hall Sept. 21. A black mass is a sacrilegious ceremony that invokes Satan and mocks the Mass, involving the desecration of the Eucharist, generally by stealing a consecrated Host from a Catholic church and using it in a profane, sexual ritual. Daniels had said that as far as he knew, the Host was consecrated and that it had been “mailed to us by (a) friend.” His decision to return the Host quickly followed upon the Aug. 20 filing of a lawsuit filed on behalf of the archdiocese, charging that the Host had been stolen from the Church. The archbishop has repeatedly asked that civic leaders cancel the satanic event. In July, an official with the Oklahoma City music hall defended the decision to permit the black mass there, citing the hall’s neutrality policy. She told CNA that as long as no laws were broken during the event itself, the city hall was not concerned with whether laws may be broken in obtaining a consecrated host ahead of time. She said that similar events scheduled in previous years had poor or no attendance. “I have raised my concerns,” Archbishop Coakley said, “and pointed out how deeply offensive this proposed sacrilegious act is to Christians and especially to the more than 250,000 Catholics who live in Oklahoma.” The archbishop has asked that every parish add the well-known prayer to St. Michael the Archangel at the end of every Mass from Aug. 6, the Feast of the Transfiguration, through Sept. 29, the Feast of the Archangels. He has also asked each parish to hold a Holy Hour with Benediction from Aug. 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, through Sept. 21. The archbishop will hold a Holy Hour, a Eucharistic Procession, and Benediction at Oklahoma City’s St. Francis of Assisi parish at 3 p.m. Sept. 21, the same day the satanic event is scheduled to take place. Tulsa’s Bishop Edward Slattery and Bishop Carl Kemme of Wichita have also called on the faithful to respond to the threatened desecration with their prayers. A similar black mass scheduled by Harvard Extension School’s Cultural Studies Club in May was “postponed indefinitely” amid protest among students and the local community. Asked about the lawsuit and the stolen Host, the civic center’s public information manager Jennifer Lindsey-McClintock said the facility is “glad to see that the Archbishop and Mr. Adams have come to an agreement on the matter of the host.” However, she contended, “Any decision to cancel the event itself would have to come from Mr. Adams directly. As we have previously stated, as a government-operated facility, we cannot deny rental space to any group based upon the content of their message. This includes the cancellation of any event already booked in our facility.” Lindsey-McClintock did not respond to CNA’s questions regarding the stealing of a consecrated Host being necessary for a black mass to occur.   Read more

2014-08-21T21:01:00+00:00

Vatican City, Aug 21, 2014 / 03:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has called the family of U.S. journalist James Foley, who was beheaded by ISIS militants earlier this week, a Vatican spokesman has confirmed. Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Holy See press office, confirmed to CNA in an Aug. 21 email that Pope called the Foley family about the death of James. On Aug. 19, the Islamic State (ISIS), a militant group that controls territory in Syria and Iraq, released a graphic video titled “A Message to America” which shows the beheading of Foley, who had gone missing in Syria in 2012. U.S. officials have now confirmed the authenticity of the video. The insurgents said that Foley’s execution was in retaliation for U.S. airstrikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq. They warned that they have another missing American journalist, Steven Joel Sotloff, in captivity, saying that his life depends on U.S. President Barack Obama’s actions. Foley’s parents, John and Diane, had said Aug. 20 that the Pope was due to call them soon, according to The Daily Mail. They have voiced gratitude for the prayers offered for their son and the entire family. “We thank God for the gift of Jim. We are so, so proud of him,” said Diane. She added that they prayed to God for strength and were grateful that “God has given us so many prayers” throughout James’ captivity. “Jim would never want us to hate or be bitter. We’re praying for the strength to love like he did,” she said. “It's not difficult to find solace in this point in time,” John stated. “We know he is in God's hands, and we know he’s done God’s work.” “We need the courage and prayers now to continue without him.”   Read more

2014-08-21T20:07:00+00:00

Vatican City, Aug 21, 2014 / 02:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- “Slaves no more, but brothers and sisters” is the title of the message Pope Francis will deliver for the 2015 World Day of Peace, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace stated Thursday. “Slavery is a terrible open wound on the contemporary social body, a fatal running sore on the flesh of Christ,” the pontifical council said in an Aug. 21 statement. The World Day of Peace is observed annually on Jan. 1, and was initiated by Paul VI. It's celebration in 2015 will be the 48th iteration of the event. Pope Francis chose the theme of slavery from a set of three proposed by the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, but himself added the reference to fraternity to the title. This is in continuity with his message for this year's World Day of Peace, “Fraternity, the Foundation and Pathway to Peace.” And by choosing the theme of slavery, Pope Francis confirms his focus on human trafficking, which has surfaced throughout his pontificate. “Many people think that slavery is a thing of the past. In fact, this social plague remains all too real in today’s world,” the statement of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace noted. “Slavery deals a murderous blow to … fraternity, and so to peace as well. Peace can only exist when each human being recognizes every other person as a brother or sister with the same dignity.” The note anticipates some of the main issues with which the papal message will deal: human trafficking, trade in migrants and prostitutes, exploitation, slave labour, and the enslavement of women and children. The note reads that “shamefully, individuals and groups around the world profit from this slavery. They take advantage of the world’s many conflicts, of the economic crisis and of corruption in order to carry out their evil.” The pontifical council stressed that to effectively counter slavery, “the inviolable dignity of every person must be recognized above all … being children of God gives all human beings equal dignity as brothers and sisters.” “Fraternity requires us to reject any inequality which would allow one person to enslave another. It demands instead that we act everywhere with proximity and generosity, thus leading to liberation and inclusion for everyone.” In addition, achieving a civilization “based on the equal dignity of every person without discrimination” will require the commitment of the media, education, and culture to a society pledged to freedom and justice, the dicastery stated. The message will be sent to the foreign ministers of all the world, and is an indication of the Holy See's diplomatic line throughout the year, the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace noted. This year is the first time that slavery will be the theme of the day. According to an official of the pontifical council who spoke to CNA, the 2015 message should be shorter than those of recent years. Over time, the length of papal messages for World Days of Peace has ballooned: Paul VI's last, for 1978, was around 2,900 words; St. John Paul II's, for 2005, was 3,500; Benedict XVI's for 2013 was 3,800; and Pope Francis' message for 2014 was nearly 5,000 words. Read more




Browse Our Archives