Catholic News 2

Vatican City, Dec 15, 2016 / 05:17 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Thursday Pope Francis accepted the credentials of six new ambassadors to the Holy See, urging them to work toward promoting the common good in their respective countries by adopting tactics of nonviolence at a political level.

“In a particular way, those who hold public office on the national and international levels are called to cultivate a nonviolent style in their consciences and in the exercise of their duties,” the Pope said in the Dec. 15 audience.

“This is not the same as weakness or passivity; rather it presupposes firmness, courage and the ability to face issues and conflicts with intellectual honesty, truly seeking the common good over and above all partisan interest, be it ideological, economic or political.”

The six new ambassadors met with Pope Francis in the Clementine Hall in the Vatican. They are from Sweden, Fiji, Moldova, Mauritius, Tunisia and Burundi.

His audience with the diplomats took place as violence and instability plague many areas of the world, including Burundi, which has maintained only a precarious peace in the 10 years since the country underwent an incredibly violent 12-year long civil war.

It also fell just three days after the release of his message for the next World Day of Peace, celebrated Jan. 1 of every year, and which in 2017 will focus on the theme of nonviolence. Instituted by Bl. Paul VI in 1968, the message is sent to all foreign ministers around the world, and indicates the Holy See’s diplomatic tone during the coming year.

Speaking to the ambassadors, Francis stressed that despite the various conflicts raging throughout the world, peace is achievable, as seen in the examples and efforts of some national and international leaders in the world.

“In the course of the past century, marred by wars and genocides of unheard-of proportions, we have nonetheless seen outstanding examples of how nonviolence, embraced with conviction and practiced consistently, can yield significant results, also on the social and political plane,” he said.

Specific figures cited by the Pope in his message for peace included St. Teresa of Calcutta, Mahatma Ghandi, Pashtun independence activist Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Martin Luther King Jr. and Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee.

“Some peoples, and indeed entire nations, thanks to the efforts of nonviolent leaders, peacefully achieved the goals of freedom and justice,” he said.

Francis then explained that peace can’t be achieved merely through words alone, but must be pursued through the refusal to participate in a politics of domination and in arms trafficking. This is especially true, he said, when many people in the country may be lacking in the basic necessities for life, such as the case in Venezuela.

“This is the path to pursue now and in the future. This is the way of peace,” he said.

The fact that the new ambassadors come from very different parts of the world, “is always a source of satisfaction” in Rome, the Pope said, “since the horizon of the Holy See is intrinsically universal.”

“This is due to the vocation and mission entrusted by God to the Successor of the Apostle Peter, a mission that is essentially religious, yet in the course of history has also involved relations with states and those who govern them.”

Although the Holy See governs the Vatican City State, the Pope explained that its primary values are spiritual and moral, not temporal, as is usually the case for Sovereign States.

In the Holy See is found the “center of unity and direction of the Catholic Church,” he said.

Because of this, it is called “to pass on and bear witness to those spiritual and moral values grounded in the very nature of human beings and society, and which, as such, can be shared by all those committed to the pursuit of the common good.”

Full Article

Vatican City, Dec 15, 2016 / 10:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Thursday announced the theme for the 25th World Day of the Sick, “Amazement at what God has accomplished,” explaining that in difficult circumstances we should look to Mary as an example of how to embrace God’s will for our lives.

“I encourage all of you,” he said Dec. 15, “the sick, the suffering, physicians, nurses, family members and volunteers, to see in Mary, Health of the Infirm, the sure sign of God’s love for every human being and a model of surrender to his will.”

“May you always find in faith, nourished by the Word and by the Sacraments, the strength needed to love God, even in the experience of illness.”

Instituted by St. John Paul II in 1992 – and first celebrated at Lourdes Feb. 11, 1993 – this year’s theme for the World Day of the Sick centers on a line from the Magnificat: “the Almighty has done great things for me.”

The next World Day of the Sick is an opportunity, Pope Francis said, “to reflect in particular on the needs of the sick and, more generally, on the needs of all those who suffer.

It’s also a chance for everyone who assists the sick: family members, health care workers and volunteers, to give thanks to God for their vocation of accompanying the suffering and unwell, and for a renewal of this fundamental part of the Church’s mission, he noted.
 
Mentioning St. Bernadette Soubirous, a 19th century saint who experienced visions of Mary as a young girl in Lourdes, the Pope said that like her, “we stand beneath the watchful gaze of Mary.”

“The humble maiden of Lourdes tells us that the Virgin, whom she called ‘the Lovely Lady,’ looked at her as one person looks at another. Those simple words describe the fullness of a relationship,” he said.

Although St. Bernadette was poor, ill, and illiterate, she felt that Mary looked at her “as a person” and spoke to her with “respect.”

“This reminds us that every person is, and always remains, a human being, and is to be treated as such. The sick and those who are disabled, even severely, have their own inalienable dignity and mission in life,” he emphasized. “They never become simply objects.”

The Pope said God, who became a man and suffered with men, is united with us in our suffering. Christ became an “expression of God’s merciful omnipotence” made manifest in our life “above all when that life is frail, pain filled, humbled, marginalized and suffering.”

In this way, Christ fills our lives with the “power of hope that can sustain us and enable us to get up again.”

“Let us ask Mary Immaculate for the grace always to relate to the sick as persons who certainly need assistance, at times even for the simplest of things, but who have a gift of their own to share with others,” he said.

Pope Francis also met Dec. 15 with staff and around 150 children and their parents from the Bambino Gesu Pediatric Hospital in Rome.

Asked his advice for those who daily encounter suffering in their work, especially doctors and nurses, the Pope said simply to “daily rediscover the value of gratitude.”

“Saying thank you nourishes hope – that hope by which St. Paul said we are saved,” he noted. “Hope is the fuel of Christian life, you can’t go without it. The fuel that makes you go forward every day.”

Francis explained how this is something that even children know, and that to live as “grateful people, as happy, small, simple and joyful children of God” is beautiful.

We can learn a lot by watching children and trying to be like them, he said, especially in the way they “fight for life,” as nurses, doctors, and parents often witness.

Full Article

Washington D.C., Dec 15, 2016 / 03:20 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Groups reputedly founded for a “Catholic Spring” revolt within the Church have a history of criticizing Catholic bishops on LGBT issues and other topics, while taking money from wealthy, strategically minded LGBT activists who have helped reshape American religion, politics and the definition of marriage.

Catholics United and Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good came to prominence in mid-October when WikiLeaks published a 2012 email exchange apparently involving John Podesta, President Bill Clinton’s former chief-of-staff and Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign manager. Podesta appeared to suggest he and his allies had founded the groups to sow religious revolution.

Today, Catholics in Alliance’s Pennsylvania-based advocacy organization is Keystone Catholics. The state director, Stephen Seufert, has held his position since 2014 and has been Catholics in Alliance’s national project manager since 2015. The Keystone Catholics website links to many of his essays published at the Huffington Post and elsewhere.

Seufert’s July 14, 2016 Huffington Post piece, titled “Guidelines without Love,” criticized Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput’s guidelines on Pope Francis’ post-synodal apostolic exhortation Amoris Laetitia and depicted the archbishop as acting contrary to the Pope.

“Catholics like Archbishop Chaput want society to respect their religious beliefs and freedoms while actively engaging in public advocacy that seeks to weaken and/or eliminate civil liberties for LGBT people,” Seufert wrote. “This sort of blatant contradiction does immense damage to the Catholic Church’s credibility.”

According to Seufert, “the more Archbishop Chaput resists civil liberties for non-traditional families, the more likely Catholics will push for internal change within the Church on marriage and the family.” He claimed this is because Catholics like himself are taking the time to “live with and unconditionally love their LGBT brothers and sisters.”

The archbishop was a delegate of the U.S. bishops to the 2015 Synod on the Family and chairs the U.S. bishops’ working group on Amoris Laetitia. The synod voted him to be a member of the council to plan and organize the Catholic Church’s next synod.

Keystone Catholics also criticized Archbishop Chaput in the run-up to the World Meeting of Families when he said the event would not provide a platform for people “to lobby for positions contrary to the life of our Church.” In a June 2015 statement the group said the archbishop’s comments “highlight an unwillingness by some to engage in respectful, open dialogue” with those who identify as LGBT.

Citing the Supreme Court decision mandating legal recognition of same-sex marriages, the group said the Church had to decide whether to “isolate itself from lay Catholics and society at large” or instead “work to love and embrace the entire human person.”

In May 2016, Keystone Catholics claimed that Pope Francis is “quietly shifting the Church’s pastoral stance on LGBT issues.” Seufert charged that U.S. Catholic institutions wrongly fired employees fired for engaging in homosexual relationships or voicing support for such relationships and related political causes.

Christopher Hale, who has served as Catholics in Alliance’s director since late 2013, spoke with CNA about its affiliated groups and their actions.

Asked about Seufert’s expertise to speak on Catholic controversies, Hale said that the commentator had the right from baptism “to engage and participate in the life of the local Church.” He compared it to New York Times columnist Ross Douthat’s criticism of the Pope.

“There is no theological prerequisite to engage in these conversations,” Hale said. He contended that Seufert’s criticism is “similar” to that of Cardinal Kevin Farrell, the new Prefect of the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life. Hale claimed the cardinal thought Archbishop Chaput implemented guidelines for Amoris Laetitia “in a way that was contrary to the vision of Pope Francis.”

“That being said, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good has renewed its relationship with Archbishop Chaput in the past year,” Hale continued, calling the bishop a “strong shepherd” who was trying to lead his flock while showing candor, honesty and a willingness to engage others.

CNA sought comment from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, which said Archbishop Chaput declined to comment. In an Oct. 13 column, the archbishop recounted a 2008 encounter with two Catholics United leaders he said “not only equaled but surpassed their Republican cousins in the talents of servile partisan hustling.”

“Thanks to their work, and activists like them, American Catholics helped to elect an administration that has been the most stubbornly unfriendly to religious believers, institutions, concerns and liberty in generations,” the archbishop charged.

In a February 2012 email exchange, leading Democrat John Podesta suggested that he and his allies had founded Catholics in Alliance and Catholics United for moments of controversy involving Catholic bishops, like the religious freedom controversy over federally mandated contraceptive coverage in health plans. Podesta said the two groups lacked leadership for such a role, and suggested involving Kathleen Kennedy Townsend of the famous Kennedy family.

Using a phrase of his interlocutor, progressive leader Sandy Newman, Podesta suggested a “Catholic Spring” could be organized within the Church. The phrase invokes the imagery of the so-called Arab Spring uprisings.

Hale reflected on the “Catholic Spring” moniker.

“If people think that we’re part of a ‘Catholic Spring’ to revolutionize and change the Catholic Church, I want no part of it,” he told CNA. “If people think we’re part of a ‘Catholic Spring’ to transform our nation and the world into a vision that is more consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ, I’m all in.”

Keystone Catholics was founded as a Pennsylvania affiliate to Catholics United, a now-dissolved group that effectively merged with Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good in 2015. Funding records, however, appear to connect the dissolved group to a larger network.

The Catholics United Education Fund had received at least $160,000 from the Gill Foundation, founded by the millionaire businessman and politically savvy LGBT activist Tim Gill. The funding began in 2012, the foundation’s annual reports and tax forms show.

The Arcus Foundation’s 2014 grant listings say it gave $50,000 to the Catholics United Education Fund to provide “one year of support to work with the LGBTQ movement to lift up progressive faith voices.” A $75,000 grant in 2015 aimed to support “an LGBT equality agenda within the Catholic Church, in Pennsylvania and throughout the United States.”

That foundation, founded by billionaire heir Jon Stryker, on its website lists the Catholics United Education Fund among its several dozen partners, along with the Podesta-founded Center for American Progress and Catholics for Choice.

The foundation website outlines its strategy in the global religions section of its social justice program: strategic investment in religious communities “which, while still resistant to LGBT acceptance, still afford opportunities for making limited but significant progress.” It lists Roman Catholic churches as one such community, as well as Evangelical communities and historically black churches.

The foundation says it seeks to build “vibrant networks of clergy and lay advocates who are fully committed to fostering greater LGBT acceptance” and protecting the rights of “people of diverse sexual orientations and gender identities.”

The Arcus Foundation also partnered with the Swiss Catholic Lenten Fund Fastenopfer to fund a project of the European Forum for LGBT Christian Groups to counter the influence of West African bishops at the 2015 Synod on the Family.

Through its grantee Dignity USA, the foundation funded efforts to “counter the narrative of the Catholic Church” in connection with the Synod on the Family and World Youth Day. It is also funding Dignity USA’s Equally Blessed coalition “to combat the firing of “LGBT staff and allies, who support marriage equality, at Catholic Institutions,” grant listings show.

Hale said that Catholics in Alliance and its entities are not currently sponsored by either Stryker’s or Gill’s foundation. In his view, the past grants tried “to lift up Pope Francis’ vision of a Church that is inclusive to those on the margins.”

“During those grants we did not use it to support same-sex marriage in the public sphere, to try to change the sacramental or the magisterial teaching of the Catholic Church,” he said, claiming the focus “was, and still is in some capacity, to ensure that LGBT Catholic voices are heard and included in the life of the Church.”

He cited as inspiration the 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family mid-term report’s section on the welcoming of homosexual persons.

“That language obviously was very controversial but our simple goal was to make sure that LGBT Catholics are heard and included in the life of the Church,” Hale said.

Both Gill and Stryker have been key figures in funding the redefinition of civil marriage. In late 2014, the Inside Philanthropy website ranked Gill as the first and Stryker as the second most influential funder in redefining marriage. The website characterized Gill as the “strategic mastermind” and Stryker as someone who “brought some of the deepest pockets to the marriage equality fight.” Both funders are major political donors, and both are linked to a multi-million dollar effort to end broad religious freedom protections they consider discriminatory.

Hale tried to address concerns about the funders’ influence on Catholics in Alliance and related groups.

“The reality of it is, we work with people who disagree with a lot of the work we do. But they think we are a compelling group and have a compelling message and are somehow worthwhile. I get money from folks who I disagree with intensely on a variety of questions in political and ecclesial spheres,” he said.

He cited an October statement of President John Garvey of Catholic University of America, who was responding to critics of the university’s acceptance of funding from the wealthy libertarian businessmen the Koch brothers. Garvey had said the university would work with the foundations of wealthy financier George Soros if it could still adhere to its own mission.

Catholics in Alliance itself received about $450,000 funding from Soros’ controversial Open Society Foundations from 2006-2010.

Hale said his organization works with a variety of priests and bishops. He reported meeting with 20 bishops and archbishops in the last year to speak about his group’s work and to understand “how we best can fit into the life of the Catholic Church in the United States.” He characterized these as “pastoral conversations that are not fit to publicize.”
     
“Some bishops have had criticisms of certain aspects of our work, and have communicated that to me directly. Some of those same bishops applaud other areas of our work,” Hale added.

“Sometimes it’s messy, sometimes we make mistakes. But I think that the heart of what we do is clear and overall we are faithful stewards of the gospel.”

Keystone Catholics was not entirely critical of the U.S. bishops. It backed Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik’s support for gun control legislation in response to gun violence. It has opposed drone use and advocated for environmental issues and a “big tent” for pro-life Democrats.

In recent years Catholics in Alliance has voiced criticism of Planned Parenthood’s alleged involvement in the illegal sale of unborn baby parts. Catholics for Choice criticized Hale’s group.

At other times, these related groups have been outspoken against the bishops.

In October 2014 Catholics United tried to rally opposition to the Archdiocese of Los Angeles’ leasing of land to oil extraction companies, claiming it would harm poor and minority communities and created major risks like pollution and increased risk of earthquakes. Andrea Leon-Grossmann, a California spokesperson for the group, attacked Archbishop Jose Gomez by name, saying “Archbishop Gomez’s actions are in direct violation of Pope Francis’ beliefs in protecting the most vulnerable.”

Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark’s September 2012 pastoral letter on marriage, Catholics United claimed, was an example of the U.S. bishops’ “far right politics” that drive Catholics away from the faith.

Catholics United has a history of challenging some Catholics’ involvement in politics.

Ahead of the 2012 elections, its education fund sent mailings to Florida pastors claiming to have recruited a network of volunteers to monitor for reputed illegal political activity in Catholic churches. State Catholic leaders saw this as an effort to silence the Church.

In October 2012, Catholics United strongly criticized the Knights of Columbus, a popular Catholic fraternity more than a century old, for supporting ballot measures to defend the legal definition of marriage as a union of one man and one woman. Catholics United claimed the Knights of Columbus was funding a “far-right political agenda” and engaging in a “divisive culture war.”

Its criticism was based on a report from the Equally Blessed Coalition, another Arcus Foundation grantee, which includes dissenting Catholic groups like Call to Action, Dignity USA, New Ways Ministry and Fortunate Families.

Another funder of Catholics United suggested strong political connections.

According to a spring 2014 briefing book acquired and published by Politico, Catholics United was listed as one of the 172 groups then supported by the Democracy Alliance. The alliance is a national network of funders of Democratic Party-aligned NGOs and other groups based on the political change model of the Colorado Democracy Alliance, pioneered by Tim Gill and Jon Stryker’s sister, Pat Stryker, among others.

In October 2014, then-executive director of Catholics United James Salt told CNA that the relationship with the Democracy Alliance was not materially beneficial for his group “from 2011 forward.” He said the Gill Foundation grant was independent of the Democracy Alliance and suggested the alliance’s funding for his group was minimal.

Salt himself has been harshly critical of Catholic teaching on homosexuality. In an August 2014 statement, he claimed that the Catholic Church “perpetuates mental illness by referring to gay and transgender people as ‘intrinsically disordered’,” an apparent reference to the Catechism of the Catholic Church’s description of homosexual orientation, not persons.

Salt claimed that the suicide of a self-identified transgender Catholic teen in Pennsylvania underscored a lack of support services for LGBT Catholics. He claimed that Catholic teaching “contributes to lower self-esteem” and “certainly” contributes to a higher suicide rate among LGBT individuals.

As of October 2016, Salt was listed as a board member of Catholics in Alliance. LGBT advocate Arthur Fitzmaurice was also listed as a senior fellow with the group.

More recently, Catholics in Alliance co-sponsored the 2013 and 2014 Catholic Tipping Point speaking tours. The tours publicized Austrian priest Fr. Helmut Schuller and Irish priest Father Tony Flannery, who have voiced dissent on matters like the ordination of women to the priesthood, Catholic teaching on contraception, homosexuality, or giving the sacraments to divorced and remarried Catholics.

Hale said his group hosts “a variety of different voices that have contrary opinions on how the Church should focus or operate.”

“But we don’t endorse those opinions,” he said, rejecting an endorsement of Fr. Schuller’s support for women’s ordination to the priesthood.

“Occasionally we like to engage in conversations on the internal workings of the church. But that’s not the focus of our work.”

 

 

Full Article

Vatican City, Dec 15, 2016 / 03:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- While violent persecution against Christians assails swaths of territory the Middle East and Africa, one Vatican official says that Western nations face a different type of oppression, marked by the push to eliminate religion from public life.

“To act and speak out publicly as a committed Christian in one's professional life has never been more threatened,” Msgr. Antoine Camilleri, Under-secretary for relations with the States, said Dec. 14.

He gave the keynote address at the opening of daylong conference hosted by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in Vienna titled “Towards a Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration: A Regional Perspective.”

Religious freedom is the “litmus test” of respect for all other fundamental human rights, since it is their “synthesis and keystone,” he said, adding that safeguarding this freedom ensures that other rights will also be guaranteed to all people, regardless of belief, since it involves consciousness and dignity.

Pointing to the “barbaric persecution of Christians” happening in the Middle East, he said “the atrocities committed against Christians in Syria and Iraq are so horrific that words cannot adequately respond, and their plight must not be forgotten.”

He referred to the gruesome bombing of a Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo Sunday that killed at least 25, saying it offers proof of the “shadow of violent extremism and terrorism” in the country. Yet, he also cautioned that such persecution is also taking place “at the very doorstep” of the OSCE headquarters in Vienna.

“We must recognize that discrimination and intolerance, including hate crimes, impact many Christians and Christian communities, despite a frequently encountered notion that in this part of the world such discrimination or intolerance does not occur,” he said.

Simply belonging to the majority religion seems to exclude Christians from being considered victims of intolerance, Camilleri said, but stressed that such a view “is not based on reality.”

“The continuous attacks against Christian churches and religious buildings, time and time again...easily disprove the notion that Christians do not suffer intolerance,” he observed.

He referred to the many cases of premeditated acts of destruction against churches and religious spaces and symbols, including crosses and other Christian artifacts, as well as the theft and “sacrilegious misuse” who what Christians consider holy, as an example.

All of these, the priest said, are examples “of not only disrespectful, but intolerant, and in most cases criminal acts committed with a bias motive.”

Camilleri then pointed to new forms of intolerance popping up in Western nations. Quoting Pope Benedict XVI, he said that religion “is not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation.”

“There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere,” he said, noting that others argue “that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none.”

A recent example is the case of a priest who serves as chaplain of the cemetery in the Italian city of Cremona, who refrained from setting up the traditional Nativity scene for fear of offending Muslims and those of other faiths.

Still others “paradoxically” argue with the intention of eliminating discrimination that Christians who have public profiles “should be required at times to act against their conscience,” Camilleri said.

These examples are all part of “what may rightly be called 'anti-Christian sentiment,'” and represent “a new form of intolerance and discrimination against Christians...based on setting the freedom of religion or belief against some general notion of tolerance and nondiscrimination.”

When it comes to tolerance and non-discrimination, these things should never be used or interpreted in a way that would restrict religious freedom or belief, he said.

“Every right entails obligations and duties,” he said. “Therefore, a self-professed Christian cannot claim that freedom of religion or belief entitles him to call for violence against non-believers.”

However, the same goes for the other side, Camilleri said, explaining that a Christian preacher “who respectfully and faithfully teaches the religious or moral tenets of his Church” is still protected by freedom of religion, even if the majority of people are “uncomfortable” with what he has to say.

“We must raise awareness of discrimination against Christians even in regions where international public opinion would normally not expect this to exist,” he said, adding that Christians, as well as others, must be allowed to express their religious identity publicly, “free from any pressure to hide or disguise it.”

Any discomfort or opposition the public role of religion, he said, is what Pope Francis has referred to as “the polite persecution of Christians” in many countries.

“In the guise of 'political correctness,' Christian faith and morals are considered to be hostile and offensive, and therefore, something to be removed from public discourse,” the priest noted, stressing that this fear of Christianity playing its “legitimate role” in society “betrays a reductionist view or approach to the freedom of religion or belief, confining it merely to the freedom of worship.”

Despite challenges intolerance brings, Camilleri stressed that religion, Christianity included, has an endless capacity for good, not only for individuals and communities, but for society as a whole.

The Church, he said, “does not pretend...to substitute for politics. Nor does the Church claim to offer technical solutions to the world’s problems since the responsibility of doing that belongs elsewhere.”

What religion does, then, is offer specific guidelines to both the community of believers, and to society as a whole.

Religion by its nature “is open to a larger reality and thus it can lead people and institutions toward a more universal vision” and a “horizon of fraternity” capable of enriching humanity, Camilleri said.

The Holy See, then, “is convinced that for both individuals and communities the dimension of belief can foster respect for fundamental freedoms and human rights, support democracy and rule of law and contribute to the quest for truth and justice.”

Dialogue and partnerships between religions and with religions, he said, “are an important means to promote confidence, trust, reconciliation, mutual respect and understanding as well as to foster peace.”

Full Article

Chicago, Ill., Dec 15, 2016 / 04:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As secularists look to abolish a religious tax exemption, a pastor whose life is dedicated to serving those in need fights for what he calls a critical – and constitutional – support for his ministry.

“My church and the community are my lifeblood,” Bishop Ed Peecher of Chicago Embassy Church has stated. “The hungry, the lost, the lonely – they are my family. I spend my days serving them, praying, talking and offering hope and an alternative to violence. This is my job, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.”

Peecher founded a church in one of the most notorious parts of Chicago for crime. He works with gang members to stop violence and establish peace in the neighborhoods through the Chicago Peace Campaign, but also serves the local homeless population and is a mentor for young residents in the Journeymen program.

“This work is possible because the church supports Bishop Peecher through a small housing allowance, permitting him to focus on and live minutes from his congregation and surrounding communities in need,” explained the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty.

His allowance is tax-exempt through what is referred to as the “Parsonage Allowance.”

The law actually dates back 100 years, said the Becket Fund, which is representing Bishop Peecher. Basically, if an employee needs to live close to work and this poses an added burden for them, they can receive a tax-exempt housing allowance.

Many types of employees make use of this exemption for secular purposes, Smith explained, like military employees or persons who have to move to other countries for their work. “Ministers who live in the communities they serve shouldn’t be left out in the cold,” Smith said.

While ministers receive a tax-exempt housing allowance for living close to their parish, these instances make up only a small percentage of all housing allowances in the tax code, Smith pointed out.

But the secularist Freedom from Religion Foundation is suing the Secretary of the Treasury Jack Lew and the head of the IRS John Koskinen over this exemption, claiming it violates the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

They also challenged the allowance in court in 2011, winning at the district court level but ultimately losing at the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in a case where Becket Fund filed a friend-of-the-court brief on the side of the churches.

“Not only is this explicitly discriminatory against religious groups when so many secular businesses and organizations receive similar tax treatment, but it hurts churches and the communities they serve,” Becket Fund stated of the newest lawsuit.

So Bishop Peecher and other clients like Holy Cross Anglican Church in Wisconsin and the Diocese of Chicago and Mid-America of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia are asking to join the government’s side of the lawsuit as “intervener defenders.”

They want the court not only to hear the government’s case, but the cases of ministers who directly benefit from the exemption.

What is their case? The ministers need the tax-exemption to avoid taking on a second job that would cut into their ministry, and the churches can’t afford to spend more on their pastors without spending less on religious activities.

For instance, regarding Peecher’s situation, he “uses his home to fulfill his pastoral duties,” Becket Fund stated in its request to intervene in the case. “He invites members of the Church into his home for individual spiritual counseling, prayer meetings, and social events. Bishop Ed’s pastoral team meets in his home, and he prepares his sermons in his home office.”

Thus, “the parsonage allowance also allows him to devote himself full-time to the ministry,” they added.

“Without the parsonage allowance, Bishop Ed would likely have to take a part-time job to cover the increased tax burden. Alternatively, if the Church were to increase his pay to compensate for the tax, the Church would need to cut back its vital community ministries.”

Regarding the Orthodox clergy, the Becket Fund stated that “a priest must be present to lead multiple divine services every week, and is called to counsel his flock and visit the sick regardless of the day of the week or the time of day that the need may arise.”

To do this, they “are required by Church regulations to live within the geographic boundaries of that parish.”

“The majority of parishes in the Diocese have budgets of less than $100,000, and most priests are bivocational – meaning they work secular jobs to support their families,” they added.

“Striking down the parsonage allowance would place a severe financial strain on the parishes’ ability to provide for their clergy and would likely force some priests to cut back on their priestly work to take additional secular work.”

This could have a devastating spiritual impact upon a parish, the memorandum explained:

“Priests also have the responsibility to ensure that none of their parishioners ‘dies without a final confession and the Holy Mysteries of Christ.’ Secular employment makes it more difficult for a priest to ‘drop whatever [he] is doing to respond to a parishioner who is ill and at risk of dying.’

“Forcing priests to take on additional secular work would take away even more from the time that they can spend performing their pastoral duties, and magnify the risk of the ‘great spiritual tragedy’ that would occur if the priest ‘did not make it in time and one of [his] parishioners died without a final confession.’ Thus, for the Intervenors, losing the parsonage allowance would restrict, minute for minute, dollar for dollar, the modest resources that they have to carry out their religious missions.”

 

Full Article

IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn

By Rhina Guidos

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- At a Mass packed mostly with immigrants, Washington Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville tried to get the crowd to focus on the plight of the Holy Family. 

They had no home, he said. Many closed their doors to them when they were seeking shelter and running from persecution, he said. But he reminded them also of God's promise.

"We might be poor, but we'll never be alone," Bishop Dorsonville said to those in the pews, some who were likely facing similar situations.

At a weekend Mass to mark the Dec. 12 feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, he assured them that God and the Catholic Church would be with them "in these difficult moments." Millions, he acknowledged, are waiting for relief in the form of immigration reform. But with a president-elect who made campaign promises to form "deportation forces" and remove 11 million immigrants, many are facing 2017 with trepidation.

The landscape for immigrants in 2016 already had been a rough one. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court States deadlocked on a case dealing with plans by President Barack Obama to shield 4 million from deportation through executive action. Without being able to break the 4-4 tie, the high court essentially left in place an injunction blocking the immigration policy from being implemented.

Various polls also reflected an increasing reluctance by some groups in the country to welcome immigrants from the Middle East. The Brookings/Public Religion Research Institute Immigration Survey, released in June, showed that while 58 percent of Americans surveyed opposed a temporary ban on Muslims from other countries entering the U.S., non-white Americans were the ones most opposed.

"Close to half (46 percent) of whites express support for a temporary ban on Muslims coming to the U.S.," the survey said, "while only 30 percent of Hispanics and 25 percent of blacks support a ban."

Some say these views in part helped President-elect Donald Trump and his running mate, Mike Pence, win, since they were able to mobilize those who felt fears and concerns about immigrants from Latin America and Muslims.

But just what will happen after Trump takes over the presidency in January remains a mystery. In a TV interview shortly after his election, he said he would deport 2 million to 3 million "people that are criminal and have criminal records" but didn't mention the 11 million in the country without legal permission that he had originally quoted as deportation targets. He also removed his call for a "Muslim ban" from his website shortly after winning the presidency.

In a recent Time magazine interview, after the publication chose him as "Person of the Year," Trump said he is "going to work something out" on childhood arrivals, young people who were brought into the U.S. as children by their parents but have no legal documentation.

Using executive action, Obama in 2012 created the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, also known as DACA, which allows certain undocumented young people to have a work permit and be exempt from deportation.

More than 720,000 have been approved for the program. In November 2014, Obama took executive action to expand DACA to allow more young people to benefit from its provisions. He also implemented a program for parents of citizen children -- the Deferred Action for Parents of Americans and Lawful Permanent Residents program, or DAPA.

Trump said he would end these policies. Some who meet the qualifications to apply for the DACA have not done so, fearful of what the new administration could do to them and those who already have enrolled. But in the December Time magazine interview, Trump said some of the youths were good students, some have wonderful jobs.

"And they're in never-never land because they don't know what's going to happen," he said, adding that "we're going to work something out that's going to make people happy and proud."

Trump also correctly noted during the campaign that President Obama's administration has been fierce on deportations. The Department of Homeland security, which tracks the number of people deported each year, says from fiscal years 2009 to 2014, there have been more than 2.4 million "removals."

But Catholics groups that work with immigrants, such as Washington's Faith in Public Life, say they are concerned about what Trump said as a candidate and they vowed in a statement to continue "advocating for comprehensive immigration reform, and will continue to work with leaders of both parties to ensure that all migrants, regardless of their status, are treated with dignity and respect."

Others joined the organization in the statement, including Jesuit Father Timothy Kesicki, president of the Jesuit Conference of Canada and the United States, who said: "We are deeply concerned by threats and proposals -- such as the increased use of detention and deportation."

Such attitudes, he said, sow fear, and "threaten the unity and well-being of families and communities. Instead, we call on the Trump administration and Congress to develop and uphold humane policies that honor the dignity and contributions of those among us who live at the margins of society."

The U.S. Catholic bishops have not directly spoken out against Trump and what he said while campaigning, but they have voiced their support for immigrants. They declared the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a day of prayer with a focus on the plight of refugees and migrants.

"To all those families separated and far from home in uncertain times, we join with you in a prayer for comfort and joy this Advent season," said Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, who is president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, recognizing in a statement addressing the uncertain future many are fearing.

Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn, New York, addressed a letter to those "who at the present time find themselves in a miserable condition because of a change of the administration of our nation which has threatened many with deportation." Walls are not solutions, he said, and deportations do not guarantee the country's security.

California Bishop Stephen E. Blaire of Stockton also called attention to similar fears and to racism.

"The journey of life is difficult at this time for Hispanics in the United States," he said. "Many have friends and family members who are without papers. Many are without papers themselves. Children in school are being bullied and young immigrants who signed up for DACA are anxious that they might lose their opportunity to work and their protection from deportation."

Racism, too, "has raised its ugly head in many communities," Bishop Blaire continued.

"I wish to say loudly and clearly to all of you that as your bishop I am with you," he said. "You are the church. I will walk with you no matter how hard it gets."

"I also wish to say to our Muslim brothers and sisters, and to our Jewish elder brothers and sisters, and to all our interfaith friends that the hate which destroys the unity and solidarity of the human family cannot be tolerated in any way," he said. "The way of God is the way of love."

Alejandra Catalan, a parishioner at Our Lady Queen of the Americas in Washington, said she felt the support the Archdiocese of Washington and the church in general was trying to convey during Our Lady of Guadalupe. 

The reality for immigrants is difficult as Bishop Dorsonville pointed out, she said, but as she stood Dec. 10 with her husband, Francisco, and son Samuel at Washington's Marian basilica, all dressed in indigenous clothing to honor the Virgin, she said she could only depend on one thing: faith.

- - -

Follow Guidos on Twitter: @CNS_Rhina.

- - -

Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article

IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Ken Hackett, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, is gearing up to try retirement for the second time. The retired president of Catholic Relief Services, the U.S. bishops' overseas aid agency, is leaving his ambassadorial post three years and three months after presenting his credentials to Pope Francis.

For diplomats from around the world, the Vatican is known as a prime "listening post," and what Hackett is listening to a lot these days are questions about what President-elect Donald Trump has in store.

In an interview Dec. 15, Hackett said, "There is a general concern among everybody in the world -- whether you were for Trump or against Trump -- because it's a surprise every day" with his announcements, appointments, meetings and even his Tweets as he assembles his cabinet and prepares for inauguration.

Among other diplomats as well as within the Holy See, he said, "they just don't know that to expect" as far as what President Trump's positions, policies and actions will be on issues as varied as Palestine, human rights and immigration -- just three of the issues of deep concern to the Vatican and the worldwide Catholic Church.

The 69-year-old ambassador will leave Rome Jan. 20 -- Inauguration Day. He has no idea when Trump will nominate a new ambassador, but even after Trump identifies someone, it will take several months for the security vetting and approval by the Senate. In the meantime, the United States will be represented at the Vatican by a charge d'affaires, Louis L. Bono.

Looking back on his three years as ambassador, Hackett has no problem coming up with three highlights. First, without a doubt, the visit of Pope Francis to the United States in September 2015. The other top moments were the visit of President Barack Obama to the Vatican in March 2014 and the canonization this year of St. Teresa of Kolkata, whom Hackett knew well.

Before Pope Francis' trip, he said, "there was a long, long lead in where we had to prepare, work, encourage, offer insight, cautions -- and you never really know if they are going to be heeded, accepted or inculcated into the visit."

The ambassador said he had been nervous about how Pope Francis would be received by Congress and how his speech would go over, but the pope "captured their hearts and I think it had an impact across the nation and maybe across the world," especially the way the pope held up four iconic U.S. citizens as relevant models of virtue for Americans today: Abraham Lincoln, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Dorothy Day and Thomas Merton.

The pope's personality, his rhetoric and his use of the four "icons" allowed everyone to grasp his call for "compassion and engagement" with each other across partisan lines and with the wider world to work for the common good, Hackett said.

In almost 20 years as president of CRS, Hackett worked with church leaders at every level -- including many at the Vatican -- but he said as ambassador he was surprised by how little Curia offices share information with each other and by how hard people at the Vatican work. For example, he said, the monsignor who serves as the desk officer for U.S. affairs in the Vatican Secretariat of State, also has responsibility for Canada, Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. "That's a big portfolio."

The Vatican staff is "very bright, very intelligent and very committed. They want to make a change for the good," he said. "Pope Francis has inspired so many people in the Vatican," and even if some people seem more interested in hearing about who is not onboard, "the vast majority are saying, 'This is great.' His leadership offers them the opportunities to do what they joined to do."

The U.S. ambassador's job is varied, as well, he said. War and peace, human rights, human trafficking, interstate relations, climate change and nuclear nonproliferation were all on the Vatican's agenda.

Hackett represented the Obama Administration, which meant collaborating with the Vatican on issues such as the defense of Christians in the Middle East and climate change, he said, but it also involved listening to top Vatican officials who echoed the U.S. bishops' criticisms of the contraceptive mandate in the Affordable Care Act and Obama's support for same-sex marriage.

The Catholic Church is "a big tent," Hackett said. "There are a lot of people with different viewpoints under that tent; there are scoundrels and saints."

Personally, serving as ambassador was a "time of growing faith," he said, adding with a laugh that it was not just because he received three plenary indulgences after attending the ceremonies for the opening of three Holy Doors in Rome for the Year of Mercy.

"You see some miraculous things" being the Vatican ambassador, he said. "You read about some horrible things. But the miraculous always overcomes the horrible."

- - -

Follow Wooden on Twitter: @Cindy_Wooden.

- - -

Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article

IMAGE: CNS photo/Gerry Serrano, courtesy St. Mary's College

By Michele Jurich

MORAGA, Calif. (CNS) -- The small space has served over the years as the pastor's office, a reconciliation room and the office of an Episcopal parish-without-walls whose members worship on the St. Mary's College of California campus in Moraga.

Now it has a new purpose as the Interfaith Sacred Space. It provides a place of prayer for students, faculty and staff members who might have otherwise sought out the rare, vacant classroom for prayer at the Catholic college.

The college's Office of Mission and Ministry shepherded the project with input from students. The cozy space, dedicated this fall, can be entered through the back of St. Mary's Chapel or through a door on the arcade facing the front of the campus.

It is simply furnished, with a small chest to hold texts; a basket, which, on a recent visit, held three prayer rugs; and another rug and pillows that soften the space. The lighting is low. A digital clock in the corner displays the times Muslims are called to prayer; the clock is a gift from a faculty family. A small water fountain provides a backdrop. It's a tranquil spot on a bustling campus.

The room is intentionally minimalist, said Karin McClellan, director of the Office of Mission and Ministry, to make it welcoming and appropriate for various faith traditions.

While the enrollment at the 153-year-old St. Mary's College once might have been close to 100 percent Catholic, today's student body defines itself as more diverse in religious beliefs and practices. At the dedication of the Interfaith Sacred Space, for example, blessings were offered by representatives of seven faith traditions.

It's just the sort of space that student Roshun Rahimi has been seeking during her years at St. Mary's.

Rahimi came to St. Mary's as a transfer student two years ago. "I wear a head scarf," she said. "You stick out like a sore thumb." It led her to question whether St. Mary's was the right environment for her.

"My first year I came close to dropping out," she told The Catholic Voice, newspaper of the Diocese of Oakland. "I stayed because I was past the deadline to get a refund. I figured I would come on campus, go to class and leave."

As a transfer student, she had missed out on some of the traditions that connect first-year students.

A flight to Washington to respond to a family emergency had been particularly difficult for Rahimi, her aunt and young cousins. They had been subjected to several searches.

She came back to school at a low point, she said, as she questioned why she had to "jump around from empty classroom to empty classroom" to pray as her faith requires.

In her email, she found an invitation from Christian Brother Charles Hilken, a St. Mary's history professor. In it he expressed support for "our Muslim brothers and sisters" in the wake of the shootings in San Bernardino and invited them to dinner.

"I was skeptical," Rahimi said. She told her mother about the event, and received encouragement to attend.

Rahimi was sitting with Michael McAlpin, interim assistant vice provost and director of media relations, who asked her if there was one thing she had an issue with on campus.

"It's challenging to pray on campus," she told him. "I go find a classroom but then if a class comes in, I have to go reset that prayer."

McAlpin introduced her to McClelland, of the Office of Mission and Ministry, who was dining there with her children.

McClelland recalled the conversation, with Rahimi asking, "Where can I pray on campus?"

Her reply: "We're working on it."

Rahimi's answer might have surprised even herself. "I'd like to help."

McClelland saw her as "exactly who I need."

McClelland said St. Mary's College professor Barbara McGraw had offered her office key to Muslim students seeking a place to pray. But the campus needed something bigger. It also needed to be close to the heart of the campus, McClelland said.

In addition to finding a space -- which was furnished with a grant from the Bishop John S. Cummins Institute for Catholic Thought, Culture and Action -- the work of the group of students, faculty and staff members is not finished.

The hope is that in addition to sacred space, there will be opportunities for people of various faith traditions to "gather around issues of social justice," McClelland said.

- - -

Jurich is on the staff of The Catholic Voice, newspaper of the Diocese of Oakland.

- - -

Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article