Category Archives: World News

Pope beatifies Blessed Paul VI, ‘great helmsman’ of Vatican II

Posted on by
Reply

[Show slideshow]

 

By Francis X. Rocca
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Beatifying Blessed Paul VI at the concluding Mass of the Synod of Bishops on the family, Pope Francis praised the late pope as the “great helmsman” of the Second Vatican Council and founder of the synod, as well as a “humble and prophetic witness of love for Christ and his church.”
The pope spoke during a homily in St. Peter’s Square at a Mass for more than 30,000 people, under a sunny sky on an unseasonably warm Oct. 19.
“When we look to this great pope, this courageous Christian, this tireless apostle, we cannot but say in the sight of God a word as simple as it is heartfelt and important: thanks,” the pope said, drawing applause from the congregation, which included retired Pope Benedict, whom Blessed Paul made a cardinal in 1977.
“Facing the advent of a secularized and hostile society, (Blessed Paul) could hold fast, with farsightedness and wisdom — and at times alone — to the helm of the barque of Peter,” Pope Francis said, in a possible allusion to “Humanae Vitae,” the late pope’s 1968 encyclical, which affirmed Catholic teaching against contraception amid widespread dissent.
The pope pronounced the rite of beatification at the start of the Mass. Then Sister Giacomina Pedrini, a member of the Sisters of Holy Child Mary, carried up a relic: a bloodstained vest Blessed Paul was wearing during a 1970 assassination attempt in the Philippines. Sister Pedrini is the last surviving nun who attended to Blessed Paul.
In his homily, Pope Francis did not explicitly mention “Humanae Vitae,” the single achievement for which Blessed Paul is best known today. Instead, the pope highlighted his predecessor’s work presiding over most of Vatican II and establishing the synod.
The pope quoted Blessed Paul’s statement that he intended the synod to survey the “signs of the times” in order to adapt to the “growing needs of our time and the changing conditions of society.”
Looking back on the two-week family synod, Pope Francis called it a “great experience,” whose members had “felt the power of the Holy Spirit who constantly guides and renews the church.”
The pope said the family synod demonstrated that “Christians look to the future, God’s future … and respond courageously to whatever new challenges come our way.”
The synod, dedicated to “pastoral challenges of the family,” touched on sensitive questions of sexual and medical ethics and how to reach out to people with ways of life contrary to Catholic teaching, including divorced and civilly remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and those in same-sex unions.
“God is not afraid of new things,” Pope Francis said. “That is why he is continually surprising us, opening our hearts and guiding us in unexpected ways. He renews us; he constantly makes us new.”
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Obispo Kopacz se reune con el papa y otros obispos en Roma

Posted on by
Reply
El Obispo Joseph Kopacz saluda al Papa Francisco el 18 de septiembre en la Ciudad del Vaticano. El obispo pasó 10 dias en Roma aprendiendo sobre su oficina. La visita culminó con la oportunidad de asistir a una misa con el papa y luego saludarlo, el cual le dijo, “Ama a Dios, ama a tu pueblo, y regresa a tu trabajo”. (CNS foto/El Observatorio Romano)

El Obispo Joseph Kopacz saluda al Papa Francisco el 18 de septiembre en la Ciudad del Vaticano. El obispo pasó 10 dias en Roma aprendiendo sobre su oficina. La visita culminó con la oportunidad de asistir a una misa con el papa y luego saludarlo, el cual le dijo, “Ama a Dios, ama a tu pueblo, y regresa a tu trabajo”. (CNS foto/El Observatorio Romano)

Por Carol Glatz
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Los obispos de hoy deben ser tan vigilantes y valientes como centinelas que velan por la fe, y tan clementes y pacientes como Moisés, quien llevó a pecadores a Dios por arduos desiertos, dijo el Papa Francis.
Su vocación no es la de ser los guardianes de un estado de fracaso  “sino custodios del “evangelii gaudium” (la alegría del Evangelio); por tanto, no puede estar sin el único tesoro que realmente tenemos que dar y que el mundo no puede dar: la alegría del amor de Dios”, le dijo a nuevos obispos.
El papa hizo sus comentarios el 18 de septiembre en un saludo escrito a 138 obispos de todo el mundo nombrados recientemente, incluyendo al Obispo Joseph Kopacz, a otros 13 obispos de los Estados Unidos. El papa dijo que estaba contento de poder poner una cara a sus nombres y a sus resumes.
En un largo discurso, el papa Francisco esbozó una serie de recomendaciones de lo que deben y no deben hacer en su nuevo papel como obispos, recordándoles su verdadera misión y exhortándolos a volver a casa “con un mensaje de aliento” incluso con los problemas que les esperan.
Al igual que la llama siempre se mantiene encendida en frente de cada sagrario para decirle al fiel que Cristo está presente en el interior, los sacerdote también necesita tener la luz de Cristo resplandeciendo en su mirada para que la gente pueda “encontrar la llama de la presencia de Cristo resucitado”. “Permanezcan en su palabra, en su Eucaristía, en las cosas de su padre y, sobre todo, en su cruz”, les dijo.
(Derechos de autor © 2014 Servicio de Noticias Católicas (CNS)/ Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos. Los servicio de noticias de CNS no pueden ser publicados, transmitidos, reescritos o de ninguna otra forma distribuidos, incluyendo pero no limitado a, medios tales como formación o  copia digital o método de distribución en su totalidad o en parte, sin autorización previa y por escrito del Servicio de Noticias Católicas)

Sínodo afirma tradición, deja abiertas cuestiones controversiales

Posted on by
Reply
El papa Francisco asistió a la sesión matutina del último día del Sínodo de Obispos Sobre la Familia en el Vaticano el 18 de octubre. A su izquierda está el Cardenal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretario general del Sínodo de Obispos, y a su derecha el Cardenal Peter Erdo de Esztergom-Budapest, Hungría, (Foto de CNS/Paul Haring)

El papa Francisco asistió a la sesión matutina del último día del Sínodo de Obispos Sobre la Familia en el Vaticano el 18 de octubre. A su izquierda está el Cardenal Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretario general del Sínodo de Obispos, y a su derecha el Cardenal Peter Erdo de Esztergom-Budapest, Hungría, (Foto de CNS/Paul Haring)

Por Francis X. Rocca,
CIUDAD DEL VATICANO (CNS) – Después de varios días de animado debate sobre un informe de mediados del término, el Sínodo de Obispos Sobre la Familia acordó sobre un documento final cimentado más claramente en la doctrina católica tradicional. La asamblea no logró el consenso de dos tercios en cuestiones de la Comunión para los divorciados y recasados civilmente ni de en la atención pastoral a los homosexuales.
La última sesión de trabajo del sínodo, el 18 de octubre, también presentó un discurso del papa Francisco en el cual él celebró los francos intercambios entre los miembros, mientras advertía contra el extremismo en la defensa de la tradición o la búsqueda del progreso.
Las discusiones en la sala sinodal se habían tornado candentes después de la presentación de un informe del 13 de octubre que usó un lenguaje conciliador hacia las personas que llevan estilos de vida contrarios a la enseñanza eclesiástica.
Los resúmenes de las discusiones del grupo de trabajo, publicados el 16 de octubre, mostraron que una mayoría quería que el documento final fuera más claro acerca de la doctrina eclesiástica relevante y prestara más atención a las familias cuyas vidas ejemplifican esa enseñanza.
El papa Francisco dijo que agradecía las expresiones de desacuerdo de la asamblea. “Personalmente, me hubiese preocupado y entristecido mucho si no hubiese habido estas tentaciones y estas discusiones animadas y si todos hubiesen estado de acuerdo o permanecido en silencio en una paz falsa y quietista”, les dijo.
“Tantos comentaristas o personas que hablan, imaginaron que vieron a la iglesia peleando, una parte contra la otra, o hasta dudando del Espíritu Santo, el verdadero promotor y garante de la unidad y la armonía en la iglesia”, dijo.
El papa Francisco advirtió contra las tentaciones de la “rigidez hostil” y el ‘hacerbienismo’ destructivo”, de los cuales dijo que habían estado presentes durante el sínodo de dos semanas.
El primero busca refugio en la letra de la ley, “en la certeza de lo que sabemos y no de lo que todavía tenemos que aprender y lograr”. Esta tentación, dijo, es característica de los “celosos, los escrupulosos, los atentos y, hoy día, de los supuestos tradicionalistas y también de los intelectuales”.
“El ‘hacerbienismo’ destructivo, el cual en nombre de una equivocada piedad venda las heridas sin tratarlas ni medicarlas primero, trata los síntomas y no las causas ni las raíces. Es la tentación de los supuestos bienhechores, de los timoratos y también de los supuestos progresistas y liberales”.
Los participantes votaron sobre cada uno de los 62 párrafos del documento. Todos recibieron una simple mayoría, pero tres no pudieron obtener los dos tercios requeridos normalmente para los documentos sinodales.
Dos de estos trataban sobre una propuesta presentada por el cardenal alemán Walter Kasper que haría más fácil que los católicos divorciados y vueltos a casar  civilmente recibieran la Comunión. El documento señaló desacuerdos sobre el tema y recomendó un estudio adicional.
La sección del documento sobre la homosexualidad, que también se quedó corta de la aprobación por la mayoría, fue cambiada significativamente desde el informe de mediados del sínodo.
El título original de la sección, “acogiendo a homosexuales”, fue cambiado a “atención pastoral a personas de orientación homosexual”. Una declaración de que las uniones homosexuales podrían ser un “valioso apoyo a la vida de los compañeros” fue removida.
El informe final citó un documento del 2003 de la Congregación Para la Doctrina de la Fe: “Absolutamente no hay fundamento para considerar que las uniones homosexuales sean de alguna manera similares, ni siquiera remotamente análogas al plan de Dios para el matrimonio y la familia”.
El informe final del sínodo servirá como agenda para el sínodo mundial sobre la familia de octubre del 2015, el cual le hará recomendaciones al papa.
(Derechos de autor © 2014 Servicio de Noticias Católicas (CNS)/ Conferencia de Obispos Católicos de los Estados Unidos. Los servicio de noticias de CNS no pueden ser publicados, transmitidos, reescritos o de ninguna otra forma distribuidos, incluyendo pero no limitado a, medios tales como formación o  copia digital o método de distribución en su totalidad o en parte, sin autorización previa y por escrito del Servicio de Noticias Católicas)

Family Synod midterm report: welcome gays, nonmarital unions

Posted on by
Reply

By Francis X. Rocca
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In strikingly conciliatory language on situations contrary to Catholic teaching, an official midterm report from the Synod of Bishops on the family emphasized calls for greater acceptance and appreciation of divorced and remarried Catholics, cohabitating couples and homosexuals.

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis and prelates listen as Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, relator for the synod, addresses the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 13. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis and prelates listen as Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest, Hungary, relator for the synod, addresses the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 13. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

“It is necessary to accept people in their concrete being, to know how to support their search, to encourage the wish for God and the will to feel fully part of the church, also on the part of those who have experienced failure or find themselves in the most diverse situations,” Hungarian Cardinal Peter Erdo of Esztergom-Budapest told Pope Francis and the synod Oct. 13.
Cardinal Erdo, who as the synod’s relator has the task of guiding the discussion and synthesizing its results, gave a nearly hourlong speech that drew on the synod’s first week of discussions.
“Homosexuals have gifts and qualities to offer to the Christian community,” the cardinal said. “Often they wish to encounter a church that offers them a welcoming home. Are our communities capable of providing that, accepting and evaluating their sexual orientation, without compromising Catholic doctrine on the family and matrimony?”
The statement represents a marked shift in tone on the subject for an official Vatican document. While the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls for “respect, compassion and sensitivity” toward homosexuals, it calls their inclination “objectively disordered.” A 1986 document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith called homosexuality a “more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil.” In 2003, the doctrinal congregation stated that permitting adoption by same-sex couples is “gravely immoral” and “would actually mean doing violence to these children.”
While Cardinal Erdo said that same-sex unions present unspecified “moral problems” and thus “cannot be considered on the same footing” as traditional marriage, he said they also can exemplify “mutual aid to the point of sacrifice (that) constitutes a precious support in the life of the partners.”
He noted that the “church pays special attention to the children who live with couples of the same sex, emphasizing that the needs and rights of the little ones must always be given priority.”
The cardinal said a “new sensitivity in the pastoral care of today consists in grasping the positive reality of civil marriages and … cohabitation,” even though both models fall short of the ideal of sacramental marriage.
“In such unions it is possible to grasp authentic family values or at least the wish for them,” he said. “All these situations have to be dealt with in a constructive manner, seeking to transform them into opportunities to walk toward the fullness of marriage and the family in the light of the Gospel. They need to be welcomed and accompanied with patience and delicacy.”
Similarly, the cardinal said, divorced and civilly remarried Catholics deserve an “accompaniment full of respect, avoiding any language or behavior that might make them feel discriminated against.”

Pope Francis talks with Italian Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, before the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 13. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Pope Francis talks with Italian Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the Synod of Bishops, before the morning session of the extraordinary Synod of Bishops on the family at the Vatican Oct. 13. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Cardinal Erdo noted that various bishops supported making the annulment process “more accessible and flexible,” among other ways, by allowing bishops to declare marriages null without requiring a trial before a church tribunal.
One of the most discussed topics at the synod has been a controversial proposal by German Cardinal Walter Kasper that would make it easier for divorced and civilly remarried Catholics to receive communion, even without an annulment of their first, sacramental marriages.
Cardinal Erdo said some synod members had spoken in support of the “present regulations,” which admit such Catholics to Communion only if they abstain from sexual relations, living with their new partners as “brother and sister.”
But the cardinal said other bishops at the assembly favored a “greater opening” to such second unions, “on a case-by-case basis, according to a law of graduality, that takes into consideration the distinction between state of sin, state of grace and the attenuating circumstances.”
As a historical example of the “law of graduality,” which he said accounts for the “various levels through which God communicates the grace of the covenant to humanity,” the cardinal quoted Jesus’ words in the Gospel of St. Matthew (19:8) acknowledging that, “because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.”
Critics of Cardinal Kasper’s proposal commonly cite the Gospel’s following verse, in which Jesus states that “whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”
At a news conference following the synod’s morning session, Cardinal Erdo said no one at the synod had questioned church teaching that Jesus’ prohibition of divorce applies to all Christian sacramental marriages.
Also at the news conference, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila, one of the assembly’s three presidents chosen by Pope Francis, said Cardinal Erdo’s speech “is not to be considered a final document from the synod,” but a pretext for the further discussion, which concludes Oct. 18.
The synod is not supposed to reach any definitive conclusions, but set the agenda for a larger world synod to be held Oct. 4-25, 2015, which will make recommendations to the pope. Cardinal Lorenzo Baldisseri, general secretary of the synod, announced Oct. 13 that the theme of next’s year assembly will be: “The vocation and mission of the family in the church and in the modern world.”
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

God of surprises invites us on journey

Posted on by
Reply

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – God’s laws are meant to lead all people to Christ and his glory, and if they do not, then they are obsolete, Pope Francis said in a morning homily.
In fact, the scholars of the law in Jesus’ day were so wrapped up in doctrine as an end in itself, they were unable to see that Jesus was leading people down a new and surprising path toward his glory, the pope said Oct. 13 during his morning Mass in the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he lives.
Jesus did “strange things,” like “walk with sinners, eat with tax collectors” – things the scholars of the law “did not like; doctrine was in danger, that doctrine of the law” that they and the “theologians had created over the centuries,” he said, according to Vatican Radio.
The scholars were safeguarding the law “out of love, to be faithful to God,” the pope said, but “they were closed up right there,” and forgot all the ways God has acted in history.
“They forgot that God is the God of the law, but is also the God of surprises,” he said.
“God is always new; he never denies himself, he never says that what he had said is wrong, but he always surprises us,” the pope said.
The scholars of the law had forgotten how many times God surprised his people, like when he freed them from slavery in Egypt, he said. They were too wrapped up in their perfect system of laws – “a masterpiece” where everyone knew exactly what he or she was supposed to do; “it was all settled. And they felt very secure there,” he said.
They couldn’t see beyond “this system made with lots of good will,” and they could not read the “signs of the times,” the pope said.
They couldn’t see that what Jesus was doing was a sign indicating “that the time was ripe,” he said. This is why in the day’s Gospel reading (Lk 11:29-32) Jesus said, “This generation is an evil generation,” because it sought the wrong kind of sign, the pope said.
The scholars of the law also forgot that the people of God are a people on a journey, “and when you journey, you always find new things – things you never knew before,” he said. But the journey, like the law, is not an end in itself; they are a path, “a pedagogy,” toward “the ultimate manifestation of the Lord. Life is a journey toward the fullness of Jesus Christ, when he will come again.”
The law teaches the way to Christ, and “if the law does not lead to Jesus Christ,” he said, “and if it doesn’t get us closer to Jesus Christ, it is dead.”
Pope Francis asked people to reflect, “Am I attached to my things, my ideas. Am I closed?”
“Am I at a standstill or am I a person on a journey? Do I believe in Jesus Christ, in what Jesus did,” dying for humanity’s sins and rising again? he asked.
“Am I able to understand the signs of the times and be faithful to the voice of the Lord that is manifested in them?” he asked.
Pope Francis urged people to pray to be able to walk “toward maturity, toward the manifestation of the glory of the Lord” and to have a heart “that loves the law, because the law is God’s.”
But may people also be able to “love God’s surprises and to know that this holy law is not an end in itself,” he said.
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)
(Editor’s note: in future issues of Mississippi Catholic look for reflections and excerpts from Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation, “The Joy of the Gospel ,”in this space.)

Pope to bishops: Guard the faith, build hope

Posted on by
Reply

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Today’s bishops must be as vigilant and courageous as sentinels keeping watch over the faith, and as forgiving and patient as Moses, leading a sinning people across harsh deserts to God, Pope Francis said.
Their vocation is not to be wardens of a failed estate, “but custodians of ‘evangelii gaudium’ (the joy of the Gospel); therefore, you cannot be without the only treasure we really have to give, and that the world cannot give itself: the joy of God’s love,” he told new bishops.
The pope made his comments Sept. 18 in a written address to 138 recently appointed bishops from around the world, including Bishop Jospeh Kopacz, 13 other bishops from the United States and two from Australia. The pope said he was happy finally to put a real face to their names and resumes, which he told them he was closely familiar with.
In a lengthy address, Pope Francis outlined a series of do’s and don’ts in their new role as bishops, reminding them of their true mission and urging them to return home “with a message of encouragement” even with the problems awaiting them.

Pope Francis arrives for a meeting with 138 new bishops from around the world at the Vatican Sept. 18. Bishop Kopacz attended the meeting. (CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano)

Pope Francis arrives for a meeting with 138 new bishops from around the world at the Vatican Sept. 18. Bishop Kopacz attended the meeting. (CNS photo/L’Osservatore Romano)

Their approach must always be positive, he said, especially with each other. “Though jealously safeguarding the passion for truth, do not waste your energy in opposition and arguments, but in building and loving,” he said.
The bishops must strike a balance between being audacious sentinels, ready 24/7 to wake up a slumbering world, and gentle, forgiving fathers who unconditionally love the sinning people “God has given you.”
The only way to fulfill this mission, he said, is to be constantly in search of and completely bound to Christ, which takes “familiarity, dedication, perseverance and patience.”
“It’s necessary to always dwell in him and never run away from him: Dwell in his word, in his Eucharist, in the things of his father and, above all, in his cross,” he said.
Just as a flame is always kept lit in front of every tabernacle to tell the faithful that Christ is present inside, every priest, too, needs to have the light of Christ shining in his gaze so the flock can “encounter the flame of the risen one.”
That is why the church cannot have bishops who are “switched off or pessimists” or who rely only on themselves and have “surrendered to the darkness of the world or resigned to the apparent defeat of the good, screaming – at this point, in vain – that the tiny fort has been attacked,” he said.
But they do have to be like sentinels, he said, “capable of waking up your churches, getting up before dawn or in the middle of the night to bolster the faith, hope and charity, without letting yourselves be lulled to sleep or conforming to the nostalgic complaint of a golden past that’s already gone.”
“Don’t be bishops with an expiration date,” who are always on the lookout for a new assignment somewhere else, or “like a medicine that will stop being effective or like perishable food to be thrown out,” he said.
Like Moses, bishops need to be with their people no matter what, he said.
“I also beg you to not let yourselves be deceived by the temptation to change the people. Love the people that God has given you, even when they will have committed great sins.”
Like Moses, the bishop must “come up to the Lord” and advocate on his people’s behalf, praying for forgiveness and a fresh start, he said.
“I am well aware of how our times have become a desert,” he said. And that’s why the people need someone who will patiently guide them and help them mature, and who will not “fear death as exiles, but deplete your last energies, not for yourselves, but to let those you guide enter into God.”
Nothing is more important than bringing people to God, he said. The pope urged the bishops to truly be present and available for their priests.
A bishop who is “reachable” isn’t the one who has endless means of communication at his disposal. He’s the one who always has room in his heart to really welcome and listen to all of his priests and their “concrete needs, giving them the entirety and breadth of church teaching and not a list of complaints.”
“And, please, do not fall into the temptation of sacrificing your freedom by surrounding yourself with courtiers, climbers and yes-men, since the church and the world have the right to always find on the lips of the bishop the Gospel, which makes them free.
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Brookhaven pastor seeks assistance for homeland

Posted on by
Reply

BROOKHAVEN – Father Alphonse Arulanandu, pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, is asking for help for the people of his homeland who are facing a natural disaster familiar to many in Mississippi, severe flooding.
Father Arulanandu is from the Catholic diocese of Jammu-Srinagar. The diocese has missions in all three regions flooded right now – Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. His bishop, Bishop Peter Celestine, sent a letter detailing the damage and asking the priests from his diocese serving abroad for help.
“The flood has hit five missions in Jammu region, namely, Mandal, Akalpur, Poonch and Rajouri leaving complete or partial devastation of Christian houses, school and church buildings along with many people.

091914floodindia

This aerial view taken Sept. 10 shows houses submerged by floodwater in Srinagar, India. While nearly 250 people have perished in the floods following rains in the Kashmir Valley in the foothills of the Himalayas, more than 700,000 people have been maroo ned on rooftops, trees and hills since Sept. 7. (CNS photo/EPA; cover photo – CNS photo/Reuters)

The missions in Kashmir are located in flood-hit Srinagar and Baramulla. In Srinagar there are two educational institutions, namely, Presentation Convent School and Burn Hall School which are submerged up to the first floor (18-20 feet). As per the last communication we had with the priests and sisters, they have taken shelter in attics of the school buildings. They still await for rescue team for evacuation, even after five days. The mission has also 32 catholic families within the vicinity of Srinagar city and they too are affected badly. As per reports coming in, the Holy Family Catholic Church located in Srinagar city also has submerged in water. There are no whereabouts of the priests residing in priest house in the church campus.”
Bishop Joseph Kopacz has approved a special collection in Brookhaven for the people of the Diocese of Jammu-Srinagar, and invites all the faithful to contribute as well. Checks can be directed to the Diocese of Jackson, PO box 2130, Jackson, MS, 39201. Please mark that the donation is for flood victims in the Diocese of Jammu- Srinagar.
Nationally, Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India has appealed to Catholics to mobilize funds and materials to augment church relief work in northern Jammu and Kashmir state, devastated by floods.
While nearly 250 people have perished in the floods following torrential rains in the Kashmir Valley in the foothills of the Himalayas, more than 700,000 people have been marooned on rooftops, trees and hills since Sept. 7.
Media reported that the casualty figures could mount as many areas have no communication links and the extent of death and devastation is not known yet. Even in the state capital, Srinagar, floodwaters had risen up to the fourth floor of buildings, and some people had to swim to safety.
The bishops’ Sept. 10 appeal expressed “sympathy and solidarity with those thousands of people who lost their homes, shelters and other establishments due to the unprecedented deluge,” the worst in 60 years.
In the appeal to the bishops and other leaders of the church, the conference president, Cardinal Baselios Thottunkal, exhorted “the community of faithful, institutions and people of good will to contribute generously to rebuild the lives of the people.”
With heavy presence of security forces in the Kashmir region plagued by Islamic militancy, security forces have been leading the evacuation of the marooned people by boat or by airlifting them.
Caritas India, social action wing of the Indian church, said people are “with no means to communicate their location to the rescuers as the power and telephone lines (including) mobile links are down for three days in a row.”
Father Frederick D’Souza, director of Caritas India, told Catholic News Service his agency also already helped 4,000 affected families.
“Five members of our emergency team are in Kashmir now assessing the situation. They are in touch with government officials to coordinate the relief work,” he said. Babita Alick, Caritas India’s team leader for disaster management, told CNS that “two Caritas staff who flew to (worst-hit) Srinagar could not move out of the airport surrounded by floodwater. They were stranded there for two days.”
“Based on results of the assessment, CRS will provide emergency relief to address priority unmet needs,” Castleman said.
(Anto Akkara of Catholic News Service contributed to this report)
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Special Collection aids Christians in Middle East

Posted on by
Reply

BALTIMORE – Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has committed an initial $1 million in private funding to help victims of the escalating violence in northern Iraq. With the help of service partners in Iraq, CRS is currently providing food, water and essential living supplies to families in desperate need of the essentials.
Over the next six months, CRS hopes to more than double the initial $1 million commitment and help an additional 30,000 people with social support and trauma counseling, education for children and preparation for longer-term resettlement. The Diocese of Jackson will take up a collection the weekend of Sept. 27-28, to help Catholic agencies in the Middle East assist with humanitarian aid.

091914displaced01

Children flee violence from forces loyal to the Islamic State in Sinjar, Iraq, Aug. 10. Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 Yezidi ethnic minorities, an Iraqi human rights minister said. (CNS photo/Rodi Said, Reuters)

CRS worker Caroline Brennan filed the following report from a refugee camp in Erbil, Iraq:
The news from Iraq can be terrifying from a distance. But up close and in person, Iraqi families could not be more gracious, welcoming and kind — despite the dire backdrop in which they are living.
In a tent where the heat is sweltering and water is in scarce supply, you are offered a bottle of cold water. Under an open sky where a family — who lived in a nice home less than a month ago, and today lives under a tree — you are graciously offered tea. Above all, you are offered apologies that they are not able to offer you anything more.
The humanitarian crisis facing Iraqi families here is something that was unimaginable for many of them just months ago. Since January of this year, 1.2 million Iraqis have been displaced within their country. They come from diverse backgrounds — Christian, Yazidi, and Shia minorities; corporate jobs, farmers and day laborers; grandparents, college students and newborns. They have one thing in common: they have been targeted by the militant group the Islamic State (also known as ISIS), and have fled their homes in fear.
Many left in the middle of the night at a moment’s notice, crowded into small cars with a large number of family members, fleeing for safer cities like Erbil and Dohuk. They made it to some form of refuge after being robbed at check points and walking for hours or days. They find themselves in a life completely foreign to what they knew before.
Local Iraqi priests say all are welcome here for refuge, but their resources are stretched thin. CRS is working with the local Catholic Church and Caritas Iraq to provide relief and care for thousands in the area. To date, Caritas Iraq and CRS have provided living supplies to 4,350 displaced families in Erbil, Ninewa, Dahuk, Zakho and Amedi. But the needs are tremendous.

091914displaced

Displaced people stand outside their tent at St. Joseph Chaldean Catholic Church in Ankawa, Iraq, Aug. 14. (CNS photo/courtesy Aid to the Church in Need-USA)

Fear looms for families who are uncertain what their options will be for the long term. For starters: School is to start in September, but tens of thousands of people have filled classrooms of school buildings that were closed for the summer. Many displaced children weren’t able to take their end of year exams back home so are uncertain they will be able to move up whenever schools do resume. It’s unclear when schools will reopen and, if so, where these families will go.
“We need to go to back to our homes. We want to be safe. We want to be able to go to Church,” says Mary, who now lives in a classroom with another family in Sarsang.
And, driving along the highways, you see hundreds of families, primarily Yazidi, living under overpasses or along the sides of the road.
No matter the backdrop, you are still welcomed with kindness, and offered what little families have from their abundance of their generosity.
“I don’t want you to feel sorry for me,” said Saddam, living in an abandoned building with his six children in Erbil. “I don’t want to hurt your heart. I’m sorry you are meeting me in this circumstance. This is not life, but we are breathing,” he says.
CRS and Caritas are opening a joint office in Erbil as a base for their expanding operations. Program priorities include: Food and shelter; water and sanitation; essential living supplies; psychological and social support; education for the thousands of internally displaced children who have missed months of school; and preparation for longer-term resettlement, including more permanent shelter and livelihood options, such as cash-for-work and vocational training.
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Pope leads global student hangout

Posted on by
Reply

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The wisdom of “It takes a village to raise a child” has been lost as kids are either overprotected by permissive parents or neglected, Pope Francis said. “The educational partnership has been broken” as families, schools and society are “no longer united together for the child,” he said Sept. 4 after holding his first Google Hangout — a live video conversation — across five continents with teenagers who belong to the international network of “Scholas occurentes,” uniting students of all faiths and cultures.

091914google

Pope Francis video chats with a Salvadoran student in the gang-infested neighborhood of La Campanera, San Salvador, Sept. 4. (CNS photo/ Jose Cabezas, Reuters)


Parents and teachers used to stick together to teach kids important values, the pope said, recalling when he got into trouble in the fourth grade. “I wasn’t respectful toward the teacher, and the teacher called my mother. My mother came, I stayed in class and the teacher stepped out, then they called for me,” he told a group of educators and experts involved with the worldwide Scholas network.
“My mom was really calm. I feared the worst,” he said. After getting him to admit to his wrongdoing, his mother told him to apologize to the teacher. The pope said he apologized and remembered “it was easy and I was happy. But there was an ‘Act Two’ when I got home,” insinuating stiffer punishment had followed.
However, today, “at least in lots of schools in my country,” if a teacher notes a problem with a student, “the next day, the mother and father denounce the teacher,” he said. The family, schools and culture have to work together for the well-being of the child, he said. People have to “rebuild this village in order to educate a child.”
All of society also needs to help children and young people who are homeless, exploited, victims of violence or without any prospects, he said. The pope pointed the blame on today’s “culture of disposal” and “the cult of money” for creating and perpetuating adults’ apathy to or complicity in the mistreatment of kids.
This is why “it’s very important to strengthen bonds: social, family and personal ties” with kids and young adults, and create an environment that helps them approach the world with “trust and serenity.” Otherwise, kids will be “left only with the path of delinquency and addiction,” he said. The pope’s comments came at the end of an afternoon encounter to launch scholas.social — a new social network for students from all over the world to cooperate on environmental and social causes, sport and art initiatives, and charitable activities.
The Scholas initiative was begun in Buenos Aires and supported by its then-Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, who also used to teach high school when he was a young Jesuit priest. When he became pope, he asked fellow Argentine Bishop Marcelo Sanchez Sorondo, chancellor of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, to expand the network’s reach and impact. With a small digital camera and studio lights aimed at him in the Vatican synod hall, the pope took questions from five Scholas members, who were linked in from Australia, Israel, Turkey, South Africa and El Salvador.
The pope urged the young people to build bridges through open and respectful communication, in which they listen carefully to others and exchange experiences, ideas and values.
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)

Feast days set for new saints JPII, John XXIII

Posted on by
Reply

By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – In light of “countless requests from every part of the world,” Pope Francis has approved putting Sts. John Paul II and John XXIII on the church’s universal calendar of feast days.
Called the General Roman Calendar, it is the universal schedule of holy days and feast days for the Latin rite of the Catholic Church.
The two saints’ feast days, both of which have the ranking of an optional – not obligatory – memorial, are Oct. 11 for St. John XXIII and Oct. 22 for St. John Paul II. The Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, published the decree Sept. 11 from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments. The pope determines who makes the universal calendar based on recommendations from the congregation for worship.
In 2007, Pope Benedict approved stricter guidelines for determining which saints will be remembered with mandatory feast days. The new norms were necessary, the congregation had said, because the year does not have enough days to include all the saints in the universal calendar, particularly when Sundays and holy days are subtracted.
Pope Francis, who canonized the two saints in April, approved the optional memorials “given the extraordinary nature of these pontiffs in offering the clergy and the faithful a unique model of virtue and in promoting the life of Christ,” the decree said.
“Taking into consideration the countless requests from every part of the world,” the pope took “as his own the unanimous wishes of the people of God,” it said.
(Copyright © 2014 Catholic News Service/United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. The CNS news services may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed, including but not limited to, such means as framing or any other digital copying or distribution method in whole or in part, without prior written authority of Catholic News Service.)