Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Academy of Sciences has issued a statement following its summit on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism which was held in Rome this week. In it the participants resolve "to combat these crimes against humanity through comprehensive efforts that involve all stakeholders around the world."

Below find the English language statement

In accordance with the Resolutions of the United Nations and the World Health Assembly, the 2015 Vatican Summit of mayors from the major cities of the world, the 2014 joint declaration of faith leaders against modern slavery, and the Magisterium of Pope Francis, who in June 2016, at the Judges’ Summit on Human Trafficking and Organized Crime, stated that organ trafficking and human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal are “true crimes against humanity [that] need to be recognized as such by all religious, political and social leaders, and by national and international legislation ,” we, the undersigned participants of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Summit on Organ Trafficking,  resolve to combat these  crimes against humanity through comprehensive efforts that involve all stakeholders around the world.

Poverty, unemployment, and the lack of socioeconomic opportunities are factors that make persons vulnerable to organ trafficking and human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal.  Destitute individuals are victimized  in schemes of organ trafficking  when induced to sell their organs in a desperate search for a better life. Similarly, desperate are the patients who are willing to pay large amounts and travel to foreign destinations as transplant tourists to obtain an organ that may keep them alive--- oblivious of the short and long-term health  consequences  of  commercial  transplantation.  Unscrupulous  brokers  and  health  care  professionals  make  organ  trafficking possible,  disregarding the dignity  of human beings. The  operative procedures  are performed  in  unauthorized facilities that clandestinely serve transplant tourists. But organ trafficking  can also occur  at legitimate facilities,  in situations where individuals  who are willing to sell their organs  present themselves  to transplant centers  as a relative  or altruistic friend of the recipient.    The media have made an important  contribution  to  public  understanding  in  highlighting  the  plight  of  trafficked  individuals  by  publishing  their  independent investigations of transplant-related crimes and corrupt healthcare professionals and unregulated facilities.

A number of international legal instruments  define,  condemn,  and criminalize these  practices, namely the  United  Nations Protocol against Trafficking in Persons (Palermo Protocol), the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Beings, and the Council of Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs. We support these documents,  which assert  that the transplant professionals who commit or abet these crimes should be held legally accountable whether the offenses take place domestically or abroad.

The legal instruments  of the recent past are an important link to emerging  innovative policy to combat social inequality.  Trafficking in human beings for the purpose of organ removal and organ trafficking are contrary to the United Nations General Assembly 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development as an issue of human rights and social justice because the poor are exploited for  their organs and yet not able to receive a transplant if they suffer organ failure. Jeffrey Sachs has written that  “Sustainable development argues that economic policy  works  best  when  it  focuses  simultaneously  on  three  big  issues:  first,  promoting  economic  growth  and  decent  jobs;  second, promoting social fairness to women, the poor, and minority groups; and third, promoting environmental sustainability” . Countries in conflict and without domestic stability can become the locations of transplant-related crimes.  

Progress has been made by healthcare professionals aligned with the Declaration of Istanbul to curtail organ trafficking.  Nevertheless, a number of  destinations for transplant tourism remain around the world  where appropriate legislation  to curtail these crimes  and protect the poor and vulnerable do not exist or are poorly enforced. These practices also persist because some states have failed in their responsibility to meet the need of their citizens to obtain an organ transplant. 

Thus, aware of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, the UN Palermo Protocol  on Human Trafficking, the Resolutions of the World Health  Assembly  (2004  and  2010),  the  Council  of  Europe  Convention  against  Trafficking  in  Human  Beings,  the  Council  of  Europe Convention against Trafficking in Human Organs, the Madrid Resolution on Organ Donation and Transplantation, and the Declaration of Istanbul, and as a result of the data on organ trafficking presented at this PAS Summit on Organ Trafficking, we the undersigned pledge our commitment to combat these illicit and immoral practices as a community of stakeholders fulfilling the directive of Pope Francis to combat human trafficking and organ trafficking in all their condemnable forms.

The  following  recommendations  from  the  PAS  Summit  on  Organ  Trafficking  are  proposed  to  national,  regional  and  municipal governments, ministries of health, to the judiciary, to the leaders of the major religions, to professional medical organizations, and to the general public for implementation around the world:

1.  That all nations and all cultures recognize human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal and organ trafficking, which include

the use of organs from executed prisoners and payments to donors or the next of kin of deceased donors, as crimes that should be

condemned worldwide and legally prosecuted at the national and international level.

2.   That  religious  leaders encourage ethical organ  donation and condemn human trafficking for the purpose of organ removal and

organ trafficking.

3.  That nations provide the resources to achieve  self-sufficiency in organ donation at a national level—with regional cooperation as

appropriate—by  reducing  the  need  for  transplants  through  preventive  measures  and  improving  access  to  national  transplant

programs in an ethical and regulated manner.

4.  That  governments  establish  a  legal framework that  provides  an explicit basis for the  prevention and  prosecution of transplantrelated crimes, and protects  the victims,  regardless of the  location where the  crimes  may have been committed, for example  by

becoming a Party to the Council of Europe Convention against Organ Trafficking.

5.   That healthcare professionals perform an ethical and medical review of donors and recipients that takes account of their short- and

long-term outcomes.

6.  That  governments  establish registries of  all  organ  procurement and  transplants  performed within their jurisdiction as well as all

transplants  involving  their citizens and residents  performed  in another jurisdiction, and share appropriate data with international

databanks.

7.   That governments develop a legal framework for healthcare and other professionals to communicate information about suspected

cases of transplant-related crimes, while respecting their professional obligations to patients.

8.  That responsible authorities, with the support of the justice system, investigate transplants that are suspected of involving a crime

committed within their jurisdiction or committed by their citizens or residents in another jurisdiction.

9.  That  responsible  authorities,  insurance providers, and charities  not cover the costs of  transplant procedures that  involve human

trafficking for the purpose of organ removal or organ trafficking.

10.   That  healthcare  professional  organizations  involved  in  transplantation  promote  among  their  members  awareness  of,  and

compliance with, legal instruments and international  guidelines against organ trafficking and human trafficking for  the purpose of

organ removal.

11.  That the World Health Organization, the Council of Europe, United Nations agencies, including the United Nations Office on Drugs

and Crime, and other international bodies cooperate in enabling  a comprehensive collection of information on transplant-related

crimes, to yield a clearer understanding of their nature and scope and of the organization of the criminal networks involved.  

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Thursday met with a delegation from the Anti-Defamation League encouraging them to cultivate justice and foster accord and telling them “the fight against anti-Semitism can benefit from effective instruments, such as information and formation.” 

Listen to Lydia O’Kane's report 

The Anti-Defamation League was founded in 1913 "to stop the defamation of the Jewish people and to secure justice and fair treatment to all,” and on Thursday just like his predecessors, Saint John Paul II and Benedict XVI, Pope Francis received a delegation from the organization, which has maintained relations with the Holy See since the Second Vatican Council. 

Speaking to those gathered the Pope recalled his visit last year to the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp saying, “there are no adequate words or thoughts in the face of such horrors of cruelty and sin; there is prayer, that God may have mercy and that such tragedies may never happen again.”

Denouncing anti-Semitism, in all its forms, the Holy Father reaffirmed that “the Catholic Church feels particularly obliged to do all that is possible with our Jewish friends to repel anti-Semitic tendencies”.

Today more than ever, Pope Francis continued, “the fight against anti-Semitism can benefit from effective instruments, such as information and formation.” 

Faced with too much violence spreading throughout the world, the Pope underlined, “we are called to a greater nonviolence, which does not mean passivity, but active promotion of the good”, which he added, included the dignity of human life from conception to natural end.

The Holy Father encouraged the delegation sow the seeds of goodness by cultivating justice, fostering accord, and sustaining integration. Only in this way, he said, “may we gather the fruits of peace.”

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has urged all those involved in Catholic education to be builders of a more united and peaceful world.

In an address on Thursday morning to the Congregation for Catholic Education that is holding its Plenary Assembly, the Pope pointed out that institutes of education have meaning only in relation to the formation of the person. 

Thus, he called on all educators to help young people to be builders of a more united and peaceful world. 

And, the Pope reminded those present, more than others, Catholic institutions have a mission to offer horizons that are open to transcendence. 

Listen to the report by Linda Bordoni:

“Gravissimum educationis” he recalled highlights the fact that education is at the service of an integral humanism and that the Church, as a mother and an educator, always looks to the younger generation from the perspective of an integral formation of the human person, both in view of his own ultimate goal, and for the good of society of which he is a member.

Pope Francis stressed the need for a culture of dialogue saying our world has become a global village in which each person belongs to humanity and shares in the hope for a better future for the whole family of nations. 

Unfortunately, he said, there are many forms of violence, poverty, exploitation, discrimination, marginalization and restrictions on freedom that create a culture of waste. 

“Within this context, Catholic educational institutions are called to be on the front line in practicing a grammar of dialogue” which, he said, is the basis of encounter and of the enhancement of cultural and religious diversity. 

Dialogue, the Pope said, is constructive when it takes place in an authentic atmosphere of respect, esteem, sincere listening, without the need to blur or mitigate one’s identity.

So it is encouraging, he continued, to hope that the new generations, who are brought up to know how to engage in  Christian dialogue, will leave school and university classrooms with the motivation to build bridges and find new answers to the many challenges of our time. 

Referring to the methodology of St. Thomas, the Pope said that in a more specific sense, Catholic schools and universities are called to teach a method of intellectual dialogue which is aimed at revealing the truth.

Concluding, Pope Francis said “there is a final expectation that I would like to share with you: the contribution of education in sowing hope”.

“Man cannot live without hope and education generates hope. In fact, education gives birth, it helps grow, it’s part of the dynamics of giving life” he said. 

A life that is born, he explained, is the most gushing source of hope; it reaches out in search of beauty, goodness, truth and communion with others for a common growth. 

“I am convinced that young people today need above all to lead a life that builds the future” he said.

So educators, Francis pointed out, must listen to young people, something we are preparing to do at  the next Synod of Bishops which is dedicated to them.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met on Thursday with Jesuits who write for the 'Civiltà Cattolicà' magazine, currently celebrating its 4000th edition. Founded in 1850 and originally available only in Italian, the publication is now adding editions in English, French, Spanish and Korean.

As well as sending the writers a hand-signed note, the Pope reflected at length on the importance of poetry, art and pioneering intellectual research, as the magazine seeks to build bridges with many peoples and cultures.

Listen to Philippa Hitchen's report:

Your writing must not just defend Catholic ideas, but must witness to Christ in the world with a restless, open-ended and imaginative spirit.  That’s was the Pope’s message to his Jesuit colleagues as he encouraged the work of this “ancient and precious” publication, a copy of which, he confided, “is often on my desk”.

Remain on open seas

Describing the Civiltà Cattolica’s long history as a boat’s voyage on the open seas, the Pope told its current contributors never to be afraid of the storms, but to proceed courageously, guided by the Spirit, into uncharted waters.

He noted how the magazine has always had a particular link to the popes of the past century and a half, starting with Pope Pius IX who approved the original statutes in 1866. Since then, he said, the publication has been the expression of a group of writers who share not only their intellectual experiences, but also a charismatic inspiration and daily life together in the community where they live.

Mission to the frontiers

All Jesuits, Pope Francis continued, are called to carry out their mission on the frontiers and margins of society, in a spirit of dialogue and discernment. Civiltà Cattolica, he said, can help build bridges across those frontiers, with the new language editions serving to “broaden your horizons” and enter into dialogue with people in different parts of the globe.

Restlessness

The Pope focused on the need for Catholic writers to be restless, reminding them that Christian traditions are not rare treasures to be locked away in a museum display case. In this restless spirit, he said, they should draw inspiration from the French Jesuit St Peter Faber, co-founder of the order and a pioneer of ecumenism in the 16th century.

Openness

The second quality he urged them to strive for was that of openness in order to face the challenges of a world caught in a crisis of mediocrity, relativism, rigidity and a throw-away culture. Only an open-minded spirit, like that of the pioneering Italian Jesuit Matteo Ricci, who helped bring Christianity to China, will be able to confront the complex political, economic and humanitarian crises of our world, beginning with the drama of global migration.

Imagination

Finally Pope Francis urged the writers to be imaginative, like the versatile Jesuit painter and architect Andrea Pozzo. Reflecting on the importance of poetry, painting and other art forms, the Pope said the Church must rediscover its human genius, helping us to see that life is not black and white, but rather a colour painting with subtle shading. Use your imagination, he concluded, to remain flexible, with a sense of humour, a merciful heart and an interior freedom.

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(Vatican Radio) “Without women, there is no harmony in the world.” That was the message of Pope Francis in his homily at the morning Mass at the Casa Santa Marta. At the center of his reflection was creation of woman, as told in Genesis. Men and women are not equal; the one is not superior to the other. But it is the woman, and not the man, who brings that harmony which makes the world a beautiful place.

Pope Francis was continuing his reflections on creation, the subject of the Readings for the past few days, taken from the Book of Genesis. The Lord had formed every sort of animal, but the man did not find a companion in any of them; he was alone. Then the Lord took a rib and created woman, who the man recognized as “flesh of his flesh.” “But before seeing her,” the Pope said, “the man dreamed of her… In order to understand a woman, it is necessary first to dream of her.”

Without women, there is no harmony

“Often when we speak about women,” the Pope said, we think of them in a ‘functionalist’ manner. Instead, we should see women as bearers of a richness that men do not possess: women bring harmony to creation:

“When women are not there, harmony is missing. We might say: But this is a society with a strong masculine attitude, and this is the case, no? The woman is missing. ‘Yes, yes: the woman is there to wash the dishes, to do things…’ No, no, no! The woman is there to bring harmony. Without the woman there is no harmony. They are not equal; one is not superior to the other: no. It’s just that the man does not bring harmony. It’s her. It is she who brings that harmony that teaches us to caress, to love with tenderness; and who makes the world a beautiful place.”

Exploiting people is a crime, but exploiting women is worse: it destroys harmony

In his homily, the Pope considered three moments in Creation: the solitude of the man, the dream, and the destiny of both the man and the woman: to be “one flesh.” The Holy Father gave a concrete example: Once, during an audience, while he greeted the people, he asked a couple who were celebrating their 60^th wedding anniversary, “Which of you has had the most patience?”

“And they looked at me, they looked me in the eyes – I’ll never forget those eyes, eh? – then they turned and they told me, both together: ‘We are in love.’ After 60 years, this means ‘one flesh.’ And this is what the woman brings: the capacity to love one another. Harmony for the world. Often we hear: ‘No, it is necessary in this society, in this institution, that here there should be a woman because she does this, she does these things.’ No, no, no, no! Functionality is not the purpose of women. It is true that women should do things, to do things as we all do. The purpose of women is to make harmony, and without women there is no harmony in the world. Exploiting persons is a crime of ‘lèse-humanité’: it’s true. But exploiting a woman is even more serious: it is destroying the harmony that God has chosen to give to the world. It is to destroy.”

Exploiting a woman, then, is not only a crime: it amounts to “destroying harmony,” the Pope said, referring also to the day’s Gospel story of the Syrophoenician woman.

God has created woman so that we would all have a mother

Pope Francis concluded his reflection with a personal note:

This is the great gift of God: He has given us woman. And in the Gospel, we have heard what a woman is capable of, eh? She is courageous, that one, eh? She went forward with courage. But there is more, so much more. A woman is harmony, is poetry, is beauty. Without her the world would not be so beautiful, it would not be harmonious. And I like to think – but this is a personal thing – that God created women so that we would all have a mother. 

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Washington D.C., Feb 9, 2017 / 02:59 am (CNA).- Walt Heyer remembers the moment when he started desiring to be a girl.

When he was just 4 years old, Heyer’s grandmother would crossdress him while she was babysitting. She loved seeing Heyer in dresses, and even made him his own purple chiffon dress.

But it was their secret, grandma said - don’t tell mom and dad.

At age 7, Heyer brought the purple chiffon dress home with him, and hid it in his bottom dresser drawer.

Heyer’s mom soon found the dress, and confronted him about it. That’s when he told his parents that grandma had been dressing him like a girl for years.

“You could have set off an atomic bomb in the house for the conflict between my dad and my mom, and my mom and her mom, my dad and his mother in law,” he said.

Heyer’s parents didn’t have the vocabulary or the resources to know how to handle the situation. His dad reacted out of fear, and implemented very stern disciplinary measures. An uncle of Heyer’s found out about the story, and started teasing him about it. Eventually, he sexually abused Heyer.

“You see people who have such disordered thinking (gender dysphoria) are hurting,” Heyer said.  “The problem is that we don’t know what to do with them.”  

The desire to be a woman - to be someone other than the abused and hurt little boy - stayed with Heyer into adulthood, even though he had married a woman and had two children. At age 42, he surgically transitioned to a woman and asked his friends to start calling him Laura.

“But it began as a fantasy and it continued as a fantasy, because surgery doesn’t change you to a female. It’s no more authentic than a counterfeit $20 is authentic. You can’t change a biological man into a biological woman.”

After less than 10 years, and a conversion experience, Heyer regretted his transition and desired to live as a man again. He now runs a website called sexchangeregret.com, where hundreds of people contact him every year, sharing their own experiences and regrets of sex change surgeries. Most of them follow the pattern of feeling affirmed by their sex change for a time, only to have underlying psychological problems come roaring back after about 10 years, Heyer said.

Heyer told his story in a talk last month at a Courage conference in Phoenix, where dozens of clergy and those in ministry from throughout the country gathered to learn how to best serve those with same-sex attraction in the Church.

Just recently, the ministry has been including talks and resources not just on same-sex attraction, but also on the issue of transgenderism, as transgender advocates continue to garner attention in the public sphere.

How can the Church help transgendered people?

There are few Catholic ministries that exist today that minister particularly to those struggling with transgenderism and gender dysphoria. Other than a handful of local ministries, Courage - the Church’s outreach to people with same-sex attraction - is one of the few ministries addressing the issue of transgenderism on a national and international level.

“Until recently, pastoral care to individuals who struggle with their sexual identities as male or female has largely occurred at a local and personal level,” said a spokesperson for the U.S. Bishop’s Conference Office of Public Affairs.  

“As attention to and awareness of this experience has grown, we are seeing more efforts regionally and nationally to respond in a way faithful to the Catholic understanding of the human person and God’s care for everyone.”

Part of the problem is that the issue of transgenderism and its acceptance in popular culture is so new that mental health experts are still trying to catch up to the trend, said Dr. Gregory Bottaro, a Catholic psychologist with the group CatholicPsych.

“I think the mental health profession hasn’t really had time to really thoroughly catch up on it, besides those in the field who kind of just flow with the current of whatever is popular in the moment,” he said.

But mental health professionals who are willing to follow any current trend are only “furthering the divide” between Catholic and secular practitioners, he added.  

At the moment, the biggest concern regarding the popularising and normalizing of transgenderism is the effect it’s having on children, Dr. Bottaro said.

“With kids, it’s really important to recognize that their sexual development is so fragile, and the influence of what’s popular in the culture needs to be really, strongly filtered and studied and understood,” he said.

“The Catholic response is a return to true anthropology -  male and female he made them - to understand that our biology and our psychology are not separate things, and so to encourage the development of a curriculum of human nature that is consistent with a true anthropology,” he said.

And it’s not just the Catholic Church that is concerned with the effects of transgenderism on children.

In a paper entitled “Gender Ideology Harms Children,” The American College of Pediatricians lays out specific reasons that they are concerned about the popularising and normalising of transgenderism among kids.

“A person’s belief that he or she is something they are not is, at best, a sign of confused thinking. When an otherwise healthy biological boy believes he is a girl, or an otherwise healthy biological girl believes she is a boy, an objective psychological problem exists that lies in the mind not the body, and it should be treated as such. These children suffer from gender dysphoria,” the group said in its paper.

To encourage a child into thinking that “a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthful is child abuse,” they added.  

“So while there are biological abnormalities (children born with ambiguous genitalia or an extra chromosome), they’re certainly not circumstances to build philosophical systems on, so we see those as abnormalities and anomalies,” Dr. Bottaro explained.

Learning how to best serve transgendered persons

When asked, the U.S. Bishop’s Conference Office of Public Affairs referred back to Courage as an example of a ministry that was providing pastoral care and guidance on transgenderism at a national and international level.

Dioceses that have their own chapters of Courage to accompany those with same-sex attraction are also “in a good position to help people who have questions regarding their sexual identity as well,” the spokesperson said.

Father Philip Bochanski is the executive director of Courage International. He said the organization will continue to discern how best to serve transgendered persons and their families.

“There seem to be some similarities between the experience of confusion regarding one's sexual identity and the experience of same-sex attraction, but there are also many differences,” Fr. Bochanski said.

In the meantime, the ministry’s outreach for parents, called EnCourage, is already actively engaged with parents and families who have a transgendered loved one, Fr. Bochanski said.

The goal of EnCourage is to help parents and family members of those with same-sex attraction, or transgendered persons, to maintain strong family ties while also holding to their understanding and teaching of the faith.

“Our EnCourage members pursue these goals by striving to grow in their own prayer lives, to learn more about what the Church teaches and how to present it in a loving way, and to find ways to show love and support without either condemning their sons or daughters, nor condoning immoral decisions.”

“Like the experience of same-sex attraction, questions regarding sexual identity have a profound impact not just on the individual but on his or her whole family,” he said.

“I'm glad that our EnCourage members and their chaplains have the opportunity to share their experience of speaking the truth in love in their own families with other parents and spouses who are striving to understand and support their loved ones who identify as transgender.”

Heyer said first and foremost, the Church must gently but firmly challenge people, rather than affirm them in their gender dysphoria.

“If we affirm them in changing genders we’re actually being disobedient to Christ, because that’s not who they are. He made them man and woman,” Heyer said.

He also said that pastors and those in ministry in the Church need to be better informed about the long-term physical and emotional consequences of sex change surgery.

“Because we’re not talking about the consequences. We’re only talking about them transitioning, which all looks really good for 8-10 years,” he said, at which point many people desire to go back to their original gender.

“So if we can get a bigger set of glasses and look long term...then we can look and see the destruction that happens and begin to address the destruction.”

Pastors and psychologists, working together

Deacon Dr. Patrick Lappert, a permanent deacon and plastic surgeon, also addressed the clergy and ministry leaders at the recent Courage conference. In his talk, he addressed the medical background of transgender surgeries, as well as the terminology used when discussing the issue.

It’s important for those in ministry to be well versed in the issue, both from a catechetical standpoint and from a medical and secular standpoint, Dr. Lappert told CNA.

“One of the dangers in the subject is that ignorance causes people to respond in unhelpful ways - sometimes in anger, sometimes confusion, revulsion, all kinds of emotional things that do not serve anyone, and certainly do not serve the Church,” he said.

“Be so fluent in the issue (and the terminology) that nothing surprises you, so that you can serve the person justly with the truth and with love,” he advised.

It is also important for priests and Church leaders to have good working relationships with psychologists and psychiatrists who share a Christian anthropological view of the human person, and would not encourage people in their gender dysphoria, Dr. Lappert said.

Dr. Bottaro said he has seen an increase in good working relationships between pastors and psychologists who believe in a true Christian anthropology.

“I think priests are becoming more and more aware of the need for it, the more volatile the situation becomes, the more obvious and pressing the need is for mental health expertise from a Catholic perspective,” he said.  

He said that he thinks Courage is a good place to start as far as ministry goes, because they have the “experience and expertise to sort of bridge the gap.”

“It could become a whole separate ministry, but it’s definitely related to what Courage is already doing, so it could become a branch of it, or they could decide that there’s many more people suffering from the effect of transgenderism,” he said.

But the issue of transgenderism extends beyond just those struggling with gender dysphoria, he added. It’s a cultural issue even more so than a psychological one, and it needs to be addressed on the levels of education and improved family life and catechesis just as much as it needs to be addressed on an individual basis.

Throughout the process of discerning and pastoral care for both people with same-sex attraction and with gender dysphoria, the most important thing is to remember the foundation of everyone’s identity, Fr. Bochanski added: “That of being created in the image and likeness of God the Father, and of being called to share in God's grace as his sons and daughters.”

 

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Vatican City, Feb 9, 2017 / 05:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- As the historic Jesuit-run paper La Civilta Cattolica for the first time rolled out four new language editions other than Italian, Pope Francis praised their work, urging the writers to have a healthy dose of restlessness, openness and imagination.

Even with its 167 year history, the paper “continues with courage it’s navigation in the open sea,” the Pope told the publication’s writing staff Feb. 9, urging them to “stay in open water!”

“The Catholic must never be afraid of the open sea, must never try to seek shelter in safe havens,” he said, explaining that its especially important for them as Jesuits “to avoid clinging to certainties and securities.”

“The Lord calls us to go out on mission, and to go offshore and not to retire in order to safeguard certainties,” he said, adding that while going offshore means they could face “storms and headwind,” they must be strong and continue “to row in service of the Church.”

Pope Francis Feb. 9 had a private meeting with Jesuit Father General Fr. Arturo Sosa S.J. and close friend Fr. Antonio Spadaro S.J., who is also the director of the historic Jesuit-run paper “La Civilta Cattolica,” before holding an audience with the paper’s team of writers.

Other than Spadaro, additional members of the paper’s “College of Writers” present for the encounter included their vice-director Giancarlo Pani S.J.; chief director Domenico Ronchitelli S.J.and writers Giovanni Cucci S.J.; Diego Fares S.J.; Francesco Occhetta S.J. and Giovanni Sale S.J.

The Pope granted the audience on the occasion of the publication of 4,000th issue of the paper, which was established April 5, 1850, and is known for the special sintony it shares with the Pope and his specific mission.

In addition to reaching the landmark number of editions, the paper will from this issue on publish a monthly edition in four additional languages other than Italian: English, Spanish, French and Korean. They will also be receiving written submissions from Jesuits around the world.

In an uncharacteristically long speech, Pope Francis said 4,000 issues is not just “a collection of paper,” but contains the reflection, passion and struggles and tireless work of so many.

Noting how past writers for the paper referred to themselves simply as “workers” rather than “intellectuals,” Francis said he likes the humble definition, and follows their work closely, often keeping a copy of the paper on his desk.

“The deep and specific sense of your paper is well described and must remain unchanged,” he said, adding this points to the fact that the paper is an expression of a community of all-Jesuit writers who not only share an intellectual experience, but also a shared inspiration and daily community life.

The fact that the paper is for the first time expanding into languages other than Italian signals “an evolution” that has been thought of since the Second Vatican Council, but was never put into action.

“Now that the world is increasingly connected, overcoming language barriers will help to better spread the message on a larger scale,” he said, adding that the contributions received from other Jesuits around the world will also enrich what the paper offers.

Reflecting on what it means to be a Catholic paper, the Pope then offered them three “patrons,” three Jesuits “to whom to look in order to go forward.”

The first figure Pope Francis pointed to was St. Peter Favre, a co-founder of the Jesuits who lived from 1506-1546 and was “a man of great desires, a relentless spirit, never satisfied and a pioneer of ecumenism.”

St. Peter Favre and his deep desire to change the world, he said, can teach the paper’s writers the value of “restlessness,” since without a healthy dose of it “we are sterile.” Only restlessness “gives peace to the heart of a Jesuit,” he said, adding that in order to cross bridges and borders they need to have this type of healthy anxiety in their minds and hearts.

He cautioned that at times the “security of doctrine” can be confused with the “suspicion for research,” but noted that with the writers, this isn’t the case.

“Christian values and traditions of are not rare pieces to close in cases inside a museum,” Francis said, adding that instead, it’s “the certainty of of the faith” that serves as the “motor” driving their work.

“Your paper becomes aware of the wounds of this world and of individual therapies,” he said, and prayed they would each be a writer “who tends to understand evil, but also to pour oil onto open wounds, to heal.”

A second figure Pope Francis pointed to was Matteo Ricci, an Italian Jesuit who lived from 1522-1610 and played a key role in founding the Jesuit missions in China. In 1602 he drew up a map of the world in Chinese characters that included the findings of European exploration in East Asia.

Just as Ricci’s map of the world helped to better introduce the Chinese people to the rest of the world, writers for La Civilta Cattolica, he said, “are also called to compose a world map.”

This map, he said, involves making recent discoveries known, giving names to places and knowing what a Catholic civilization really means. It also means helping Catholics to know that God “is at work even outside the confines of the Church, in every true civilization, with the breath of the Holy Spirit.”

Pointing to the virtue of “incompleteness,” Francis said Ricci is an example of this from which the writers can learn to be journalists who have an “incomplete thought” in the sense that they are open-minded, and not “closed and rigid” in front of modern global challenges.

Turning to the figure of Jesuit brother Andrea Pozzo, who lived from 1642-1709 and was an accomplished Baroque painter and architect, the Pope said he can serve as an example for the writers to learn the value of imagination and creativity.

Through his work, Pozzo was able to “open with his imagination open spaces, domes and corridors, where there were only roofs and walls.”

Francis also pointed to the value of poetry, expressing his own appreciation for it and saying he still reads it often. He told the writers, then, to be sure to make space for art, literature, cinema, theatre and music in the paper.

He also spoke of the importance of discernment, which “is always realized in the presence of the Lord, looking at the signs, listening to the things that happen and the feeling of the people who know the humble path of daily obstinacy, especially the poor.”

“The wisdom of discernment rescues the necessary ambiguity of life,” he said, but cautioned that this ambiguity must be penetrated and entered into, just as Christ entered into humanity by taking on our flesh.

“Rigid thought is not divine because Jesus assumed our flesh, which is not rigid if not for the moment of death,” he cautioned.

Pope Francis closed his speech expressing his hope that the paper would be able to obtain a lot of readers in all five editions, and prayed that the Society of Jesus would support this “ancient and precious work,” which is unique due to its bond with the Holy See.

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Portland, Ore., Feb 9, 2017 / 06:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A week after Hispanic Catholics experienced racial harassment and taunts from a group of men during a Spanish Mass, the local community in Portland, Oregon sprang into action to show their support for the churchgoers.

 

Despite the chill and the rain, an estimated 200-300 people created a human barrier on Sunday, Feb. 5, protecting parishioners of St. Peter Catholic Church from possible harassment.

 

It was a different scene than what had greeted parishioners the week before, when a group of about eight men dressed as hunters shouted racial and sexual slurs at parishioners during Spanish Mass, and taunted the congregation for being made up of many immigrants, according to the Catholic Sentinel. The group of men was nowhere to be seen the following week.

 

The harassment came at an already tense time for the parish because of new federal immigration policy proposals. Pastor Fr. Raul Marquez, a native of Colombia who has been pastor at St. Peter’s for 5 years, said he had never seen anything like it.

 

“All that Sunday I felt upset and didn't understand,” he told the Sentinel.

 

But the next Sunday came as a pleasant surprise. News of the previous attacks had spread on social media through two videos of the incident, and local community members banded together, with one post reading: "ATTN WHITE PEOPLE – USE YOUR WHITE BODY TO INTERRUPT RACISM!"  It urged people to place themselves "between violent bigots and people of color" to form a "strong human chain to stand as a buffer between Latino worshippers and those who hate them."

 

And it worked. Catholics, Christians and non-believers showed up in force to provide support, complete with welcoming signs in both English and Spanish and a table of coffee and sweets.

 

Local priest Father Ron Millican from nearby Our Lady of Sorrows parish and Rev. Elizabeth Larson from St Mark Lutheran Church came to show their support for Fr. Marquez, as well as Matt Cato, director of the Archdiocese of Portland’s Office of Life, Justice and Peace.

 

Archbishop Alexander Sample expressed his support to St. Peter’s through a letter to the parish, saying that he was saddened by the harassment and offering his prayers for healing.

 

“Please be assured that I, as your Archbishop and shepherd, stand firmly with you in the face of such ignorant and hateful words. You are our brothers and sisters, and as members of the same family of faith, we must hold fast to our unity in Christ,” he said.

 

He added that the incident was not isolated and that the same group had been harassing other churches in the area. The men were reportedly part of a Portland-based group called "Bible Believers"—hard-right street preachers who appear at protests against President Donald Trump.

 

“Be assured of my love and prayers for all of you. May Our Lady embrace you all in her mantle of love and protection,” Archbishop Sample concluded.

 

Brenda Ramirez, a 21 year-old parishioner, told the Portland Tribune that she was shocked to hear about the attack at her church, but was happy with the large showing of support from the local community.

 

"It's just beautiful. This is what America is — not racism or hate. This is what it should be."

Where have civility and respect for one another gone?Can we please stop demonizing those with whom we (even vehemently) disagree?

— Archbishop Sample (@ArchbishpSample) February 4, 2017

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