Catholic News 2
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump can't seem to bring himself to say "Hasta la vista, baby" to "Celebrity Apprentice."...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- From a return to higher premiums based on gender, to gaps in coverage for birth control and breast pumps, experts say women could end up paying more for less if the Obama-era health care law is repealed....
BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) -- A crowd protesting a far-right commentator's appearance at the University of California at Berkeley hurled smoke bombs, broke windows and started fires Wednesday night, prompting officials to call off the event....
ALEPPO, Syria (AP) -- Fighting has ended in Aleppo, and now talk is beginning to turn to the question of how to rebuild Syria's largest city, where entire blocks have been smashed to rubble in scenes reminiscent of World War II devastation. The task will take tens of billions of dollars....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republicans suspended Senate committee rules Thursday to muscle President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency toward confirmation after Democrats boycotted a vote....
Pope Francis on Thursday created the new Ecclesiastical Province of Chittagong in Bangladesh. While raising Chittagong Diocese to the status of Archdiocese, he also elevated Bishop Moses Costa of Chittagong to the rank of Archbishop. For administrative purposes, dioceses around the globe are grouped into Ecclesiastical Provinces within countries or regions. Each Ecclesiastical Province is named after the Archdiocese, that includes several dioceses called suffragans. Chittagong Ecclesiastical Province now has been assigned Khulna and Barisal as suffragans. So far all of Bangladesh’s 8 dioceses formed a single Ecclesiatical Province of Dhaka but now with the creation of Chittagong Ecclesiastical Province, Bangladesh has two archdioceses.
Pope Francis on Thursday created the new Ecclesiastical Province of Chittagong in Bangladesh. While raising Chittagong Diocese to the status of Archdiocese, he also elevated Bishop Moses Costa of Chittagong to the rank of Archbishop. For administrative purposes, dioceses around the globe are grouped into Ecclesiastical Provinces within countries or regions. Each Ecclesiastical Province is named after the Archdiocese, that includes several dioceses called suffragans. Chittagong Ecclesiastical Province now has been assigned Khulna and Barisal as suffragans. So far all of Bangladesh’s 8 dioceses formed a single Ecclesiatical Province of Dhaka but now with the creation of Chittagong Ecclesiastical Province, Bangladesh has two archdioceses.
(Vatican Radio) At least 10 people have been killed and dozens wounded this week in renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine.Fighting in the frontline town of Avdiivka has left thousands of residents without water or power in freezing conditions. The Catholic Church’s aid organization, Caritas, is in place in Donetsk - the most affected region - and has sent extra teams of aid workers to the city of Adviivka to help people in need on the frontline.Linda Bordoni spoke to Jorge Nuño Mayer, Secretary General of Caritas Europa about the humanitarian emergency.Listen: Due to the escalation in violence and the increased humanitarian needs, Jorge Nuño Mayer explains, Caritas Ukraine has sent more people to the city of Adviivka which has been suffering the most in the last days starting from the night between Saturday and Sunday with intensified shellings. He explains that out of some 25,000 inhabitants of the city only about 15,000 are left including &ldquo...
(Vatican Radio) At least 10 people have been killed and dozens wounded this week in renewed fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Fighting in the frontline town of Avdiivka has left thousands of residents without water or power in freezing conditions.
The Catholic Church’s aid organization, Caritas, is in place in Donetsk - the most affected region - and has sent extra teams of aid workers to the city of Adviivka to help people in need on the frontline.
Linda Bordoni spoke to Jorge Nuño Mayer, Secretary General of Caritas Europa about the humanitarian emergency.
Listen:
Due to the escalation in violence and the increased humanitarian needs, Jorge Nuño Mayer explains, Caritas Ukraine has sent more people to the city of Adviivka which has been suffering the most in the last days starting from the night between Saturday and Sunday with intensified shellings.
He explains that out of some 25,000 inhabitants of the city only about 15,000 are left including “some 2,000 children and 10,000 elderly and disabled people who have it very difficult to flee from this war scenario so Caritas is there to help, even in these difficult conditions, also because the winter in eastern Ukraine is very harsh”.
Notwithstanding the danger for Caritas people he says the main concern is for the people who are suffering, mainly the children and the elderly.
“Caritas Ukraine has distributed in the last days 1,000 food packs; the idea is to distribute 10 tons of food in these days to the population so they have enough for 2/3 weeks of food” he said.
Nuño Mayer says Caritas is also distributing medical kits because the medical services are not functioning in that part of the country.
He expresses gratitude for the support of the whole Caritas family around the world that is supporting Caritas Ukraine as it struggles to be there for people caught in the crossfire where the war is re-igniting.
The Secretary General says the media has ‘forgotten’ the predicament of the people in the area but “we have to remind everyone that that region of eastern Ukraine more than 5 million people are affected, nearly 3 million people have fled from the area, nearly 1.7 million are living in the central and western parts of Ukraine and others have fled to Russia and other neighboring countries.”
“So Ukraine, as a whole, is facing an enormous challenge, relocating people and helping people to find a new future in other parts of the country” he said.
And, he says, coming back to Avdiivka, it is necessary to take into account how difficult it is for people there because “the electricity lines have been destroyed, heating is not working and with temperatures of 17 degrees Celsius below zero, it’s really very difficult to survive.
Looking to the future, Nuño Mayer says “we hope for peace, we hope for dialogue, we hope that people can return to their homes, that people can start living their lives, caring for their children, hoping for a future” he said.
He points out that Caritas is not a political organ “but we are trying to bring tenderness, as Pope Francis would say: we have to implement a revolution of tenderness everywhere and in this difficult situation of conflict and hatred. Tenderness has to be there because only on this tenderness can we rebuild the society”.
Nuño Mayer appeals to listeners and especially to politicians to not forget Ukraine, to not forget this part of Europe that is under threat and that has the right to live in peace.
He also asks for support and says that people can send their contribution to help Ukraine through every national Caritas which will then channel funds through the Caritas Internationalis mechanisms to Caritas Ukraine and to Caritas SPES-Ukraine and they can be sure the money will reach the people in need.
Nuño Mayer concludes recalling the successful collection for the people of Ukraine called for by Pope Francis and organized by the bishops and said that the initiative is still bearing fruit, and in anycase, he says: “prayer will also help very much”.
Pope Francis also made two appointments elsewhere in Asia. In the Philippines, he transferred Bishop Gilbert Garcera of Daet to Lipa Archdiocese as Archbishop. Bishop Garcera is taking over from Archbishop Ramon Argüelles, who has retired. In Laos, the Holy Father appointed Vicar Apostolic Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun of Paksé the Apostolic Administrator of the vacant see of Vientianne. The appointment came after the Vicar Apostolic Jean Khamsé Vithavong of Vientiane retired.
Pope Francis also made two appointments elsewhere in Asia. In the Philippines, he transferred Bishop Gilbert Garcera of Daet to Lipa Archdiocese as Archbishop. Bishop Garcera is taking over from Archbishop Ramon Argüelles, who has retired.
In Laos, the Holy Father appointed Vicar Apostolic Louis-Marie Ling Mangkhanekhoun of Paksé the Apostolic Administrator of the vacant see of Vientianne. The appointment came after the Vicar Apostolic Jean Khamsé Vithavong of Vientiane retired.
It was on Dec. 30, 1841, that a group of 12 young Irish women belonging to the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), better known as the Loreto Sisters, landed in Calcutta, British India, in what is Kolkata today, four months after setting sail from Ireland, never intending to return home. This intrepid band of 7 sisters and 5 postulants, averaging just 18 years of age, were led by Sr. Delphine Hart. After landing in Calcutta, they never looked back, and today the congregation is active in many parts of India, Nepal, Bangladesh. The Loreto Sisters of South Asia, headquartered in Kolkata, are currently marking 175 years of their presence in the region. “Remember, Reimage, Renew,” is the theme of the year-long celebration that began on December 17. To know more about them, we called Indian Sr. Sister Anita Braganza, the superior of the Loreto Province of South...
It was on Dec. 30, 1841, that a group of 12 young Irish women belonging to the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary (IBVM), better known as the Loreto Sisters, landed in Calcutta, British India, in what is Kolkata today, four months after setting sail from Ireland, never intending to return home. This intrepid band of 7 sisters and 5 postulants, averaging just 18 years of age, were led by Sr. Delphine Hart. After landing in Calcutta, they never looked back, and today the congregation is active in many parts of India, Nepal, Bangladesh. The Loreto Sisters of South Asia, headquartered in Kolkata, are currently marking 175 years of their presence in the region. “Remember, Reimage, Renew,” is the theme of the year-long celebration that began on December 17. To know more about them, we called Indian Sr. Sister Anita Braganza, the superior of the Loreto Province of South Asia, on her phone in Kolkata. Today, in the first of a 2-part interview, she begins by narrating the saga of this first batch of Loreto nuns in Calcutta.
Listen:
(Vatican Radio) Building walls and banning immigrants means “deporting the heart of America” and “letting the politics of fear rule us”. That’s the view of American theologian and author Father Dan Groody, who heads a centre for Latino spirituality and culture at Notre Dame University in Indiana.After spending time running retreat programmes for immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border, Fr Dan has been developing a theology of migration, challenging Christians to view themselves as migrants and Jesus as an illegal immigrant who “put Mary outside the law”.Philippa Hitchen sat down with Fr Dan to hear how new U.S. legislation will affect his country’s immigrant communities and how global migration can be viewed from a theological perspective...Listen: Fr Dan’s interest in Latino spirituality began when he lived in Uruguay, Argentina and Chile during the dictatorship years. Following his ordination, he worked with the Valley Mis...
(Vatican Radio) Building walls and banning immigrants means “deporting the heart of America” and “letting the politics of fear rule us”. That’s the view of American theologian and author Father Dan Groody, who heads a centre for Latino spirituality and culture at Notre Dame University in Indiana.
After spending time running retreat programmes for immigrants on the U.S.-Mexico border, Fr Dan has been developing a theology of migration, challenging Christians to view themselves as migrants and Jesus as an illegal immigrant who “put Mary outside the law”.
Philippa Hitchen sat down with Fr Dan to hear how new U.S. legislation will affect his country’s immigrant communities and how global migration can be viewed from a theological perspective...
Listen:
Fr Dan’s interest in Latino spirituality began when he lived in Uruguay, Argentina and Chile during the dictatorship years. Following his ordination, he worked with the Valley Missionary Program in southern California, offering retreats in migrant camps and discovering “the life, the faith and the vibrancy” of the Latino communities.
Politics of fear
As well as being inspired by the joy and generosity of the people, he also saw the poverty and suffering of many who died in the desert trying to cross the border into the U.S. President Trump’s pledge to continue sealing off the U.S. – Mexico border, he says, resolves nothing and is simply “closing us off….deporting the heart of America… and letting the politics of fear rule us”
The poor, he notes, will feel the brunt of the latest anti-immigrant measures, which he terms “political bravado, trying to sound tough”. Furthermore he says, the legislation may “put a target on our back” by being offensive to Mexicans, Muslims and others, leaving “more people wanting to harm us” instead of “globalizing solidarity” as Pope John Paul II called for.
Broad ethic of life
Fr Dan applauds Catholic communities and leaders who’ve been protesting against the legislation which he sees as deeply divisive. While Donald Trump won the presidential election, Fr Dan says real authority “compels by virtue of goodness, not by fear, and in this case, I’m yet to see it”. While praising the new administration’s “movement in the right direction” on abortion, Fr Dan says the “ethic of life is a broad issue”, including problems of poverty, inequality and migration.
Jesus as 'illegal' migrant
From a theological perspective, Fr Dan speaks of the Incarnation in terms of Jesus as a migrant, moving “into the otherness of human skin as the divine spirit”. Scripture, he continues, “challenges us at a deep level” to see Jesus as “illegal from the beginning, because when the Annunciation happened, Mary was betrothed to Joseph” and to be found pregnant by somebody else “would have put Mary outside the law”. “Why would God choose that moment to migrate into Mary’s womb and become human?”, he asks, suggesting that God is opening up “a space for hope for all those outside the law, even for those considered illegal”.
Fr Dan reflects on Pope Francis’s visit to the island of Lampedusa, celebrating Mass with a chalice made from the wood of a refugee boat. While most of those on board were saved, some died, making the chalice both “a cup of suffering” but also a symbol of salvation and hope, he says.
Immigrants save the Church
In a similar way, Fr Dan speaks of the annual Mass celebrated each November by bishops on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border fence. This is not politicizing the liturgy, he says, but rather a “strong spiritual statement which has political implications”, stressing that “even though these walls are here, we do profess….we are one body, regardless of our nationality”.
Fr Dan says “when borders become barriers” and we “disconnect from our neighbour in need”, then “we become alien to who we’re called to be as human beings”. The faith of migrants amidst the most desperate of situations, he concludes, reminds us that “it’s not that the church saves the immigrant, it’s the immigrant who saves the church”.
