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Catholics in Bangladesh last week thanked God for their first Cardinal, Arch. Patrick D'Rozario, who received his red hat from Pope Francis on Nov. 19 in the Vatican.  At a thanksgiving Mass on Nov. 9, some 5 thousand faithful joyfully received him with festivities, dances and prayers in the Cathedral of St. Mary in Dhaka.  Among those who felicitated the new cardinal were many Christian associations, four Indian bishops including Archbishop Thomas D'Souza of Calcutta, nine Bangladeshi Bishops and Apostolic Nuncio to Bangladesh, Archbishop George Kocherry. On behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Gowher Rizvi, her advisor for international affairs, was present.

Card. D'Rozario noted that Pope Francis has honoured Bangladesh by electing its first cardinal. “We are happy and full of joy because the Creator has blessed our country," he said. However, he stressed that his appointment is not a personal success, but an honour for the entire nation.  In his homily Arch.. D'Souza said, "Card. Patrick is a source of pride for all the Bengali people. Now he is a spiritual leader for the whole world. We are really proud of him. I hope he can be a symbol of peace for the country. "

The cardinal was born October 1, 1943 in the village of Padrishibpur in Barisal district, into a deeply Catholic family.  Card. D’Rozario has worked in parishes and also taught moral theology at the major seminary of the Holy Spirit in Dhaka.  He was Bishop of Rajshahi and Chittagong, before his appointment as Coadjutor Archbishop of the capital in Nov. 2010.  He succeeded as Archbisop of Dhaka in Oct., 2011.  He is also the current president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Bangladesh.  (Source: UCAN)

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Catholic parishes, organizations and individuals in Indonesia are raising funds and collecting essential items to distribute among thousands of earthquake survivors in Indonesia's Aceh province.  A 6.5 magnitude earthquake devastated the Muslim-majority province on Dec. 7. Over 100 people were killed, 750 were injured and more than 3000 left homeless.

In a statement on Dec. 12, Caritas Indonesia said that people needed emergency tents, mattresses, blankets, kitchen utensils, clean water, emergency toilets and food for adults and infants, according to their assessment.  Divine Word Father Paul Rahmat, executive director of VIVAT International Indonesia, a human rights advocacy group, said that many Catholic organizations, parishes and individuals in Jakarta and other parts of Indonesia have started collections.  "We have received blankets and we will send them to Medan next week," he said.  However, Father Rahmat also said that distributing aid to Aceh must be done with prudence because some residents resist help from non-Muslims. 

In Jakarta, VIVAT has also been cooperating with a Catholic lay group and Catholic young people to collect materials. They are storing them at St. Joseph Church in Matraman, East Jakarta ready to be sent to Medan.  Similar initiatives are also being held in Ende Archdiocese

On Dec. 8, Pope Francis offered prayers for the victims and families of the disaster.  (Source: UCAN) 

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Ahmed Jallanzo, EPA

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Calling for a new style of politics built on peace and nonviolence, Pope Francis also called for disarmament, the eradication of nuclear weapons and an end to domestic violence and abuse against women and children.

"Violence is not the cure for our broken world," he said in his annual message for the World Day of Peace Jan. 1.

"It is a challenge to build up society, communities and businesses by acting as peacemakers. It is to show mercy by refusing to discard people, harm the environment or seek to win at any cost," he added.

The message, released by the Vatican Dec. 12, said building a world of peace requires a "willingness to face conflict head on, to resolve it" and to make it part of a new process of choosing solidarity and building friendships.

"Active nonviolence is a way of showing that unity is truly more powerful and more fruitful than conflict," the pope said. While differences will sometimes lead to difficulties, "let us face them constructively and non-violently," so that tension and opposition can turn into "diversified and life-giving unity," preserving "what is valid and useful on both sides."

His message, which the Vatican sends to heads of state around the world, invited everyone "to banish violence from our hearts, words and deeds, and to becoming nonviolent people and to build nonviolent communities that care for our common home."

Building a new politics of nonviolence starts in the human heart and the home, he said.

It is in the family that people can learn how to communicate, be generous and caring, and resolve conflicts "not by force but by dialogue, respect, concern for the good of the other, mercy and forgiveness."

From within the family, "the joy of love spills out into the world and radiates to the whole of society," he said.

This "ethics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence" can never be "based on the logic of fear, violence and closed-mindedness, but on responsibility, respect and sincere dialogue."

"Hence, I plead for disarmament and for the prohibition and abolition of nuclear weapons: nuclear deterrence and the threat of mutually assured destruction are incapable of grounding such an ethics," he said. "I plead with equal urgency for an end to domestic violence and to the abuse of women and children."

The church contributes by seeking to limit the use of force by applying moral norms, and many Christians contribute by drafting legislation.

"To be true followers of Jesus today also includes embracing his teaching about nonviolence," he said, and follow his practice of tackling evil with love and truth.

In fact, an important "manual" for peacemaking, he said, is Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, where he presented the Beatitudes.

Applying the Beatitudes, which outlines how to be blessed, good and authentic, "is also a program and a challenge for political and religious leaders, the heads of international institutions, and business and media executives," the pope said.

The "politics of nonviolence," he said, also begins with each individual, who will never miss an opportunity to offer a kind word, smile or simple gesture that "sows peace and friendship."

"I ask God to help all of us to cultivate nonviolence in our most personal thoughts and values. May charity and nonviolence govern how we treat each other as individuals, within society and in international life."

When victims of violence resist the temptation to retaliate, "they become the most credible promotors of nonviolent peacemaking" in the tradition of those who struggled actively and nonviolently for change such as St. Teresa of Kolkata, Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and the thousands of women in Liberia who helped end their nation's civil war, Pope Francis wrote.

Many religious traditions contribute by promoting compassion and nonviolence and protecting victims of injustice, he said. For that reason, "I emphatically reaffirm that 'no religion is terrorist'" and the name of God can never be "used to justify violence. Peace alone is holy. Peace alone is holy, not war!"

"In the most local and ordinary situations and in the international order," he wrote, "may nonviolence become the hallmark of our decisions, our relationships and our actions, and indeed of political life in all its forms."

Speaking with reporters at the Vatican, Cardinal Peter Turkson said the pope's message is meant to remind people that active nonviolence is not "a utopian idea" but is a truly "feasible path."

Diplomacy and the hope for peace negotiations must never be neglected because "the diplomatic channel always gives us the possibility for dialogue" where all sides can speak face-to-face, said the cardinal, who is president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. He will serve as prefect of the new Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, which will consolidate the work of four pontifical councils.

He said the new dicastery will be conducting a deeper reflection on the appropriateness of how the traditional Catholic just-war theory is being used today.

While there are no plans for a papal encyclical on the subject, he said the dicastery will organize a number of seminars and events to bring in experts to discuss various "points of view" on the theory that some wars can be justified in order to "analyze" the findings and publish the conclusions.

A deeper reflection is needed, he told reporters, because just-war criteria are not always used for their original intent of preventing or discouraging war. "Now it is used for other different reasons," he said.

The cardinal also said while the new dicastery was set to begin Jan. 1, 2017, he said he asked Pope Francis if they could extend that date to "around Easter" given the amount of work in re-organizing and building a new approach with the help of an outside consultant.

Some of the councils' former offices will continue their work in research and study and a new department will be established to apply or put into practice different projects. He said he hoped the new dicastery would have a better communications strategy with a specialized office dedicated to sharing information and reaching out to media.

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Editors: The text of the pope's message in English and Spanish can be found online at: http://w2.vatican.va/content/francesco/it/messages/peace.index.html

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Mohamed Hossam, EPA

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis phoned Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria Dec. 12, expressing his prayers and condolences for the previous day's terrorist attack at the Cairo cathedral that left 25 people dead.

"We are united in the blood of our martyrs," the pope told the Orthodox patriarch, according to a Vatican statement.

The patriarch thanked Pope Francis for his closeness at such a sad time and asked his continued prayers for the Copts and for peace in Egypt, the statement said.

On a December weekend bloodied by terrorist attacks in Egypt and Turkey, Pope Francis condemned the violence and urged people to hold fast to their faith and renew their commitment to upholding basic human values.

After reciting the Angelus Dec. 11, Pope Francis offered prayers for the "victims of savage terrorist attacks" in Egypt, which also wounded dozens, and Dec. 10 in Istanbul, which killed close to 40 people, mainly police.

"The places are different, but the violence is the same," Pope Francis said. In response to the "death and destruction," there is only one response: "faith in God and unity in human and civil values."

The pope also told the crowd in St. Peter's Square that each day in prayer he is close to the people of the besieged city of Aleppo, Syria.

"We must not forget that Aleppo is a city and that there are people there: families, children, elderly, sick," he said. "Unfortunately we have become used to the war and destruction, but we must not forget that Syria is a country full of history, culture and faith. We cannot allow this to be negated by war, which is a pile of abuse and falsity."

Around the world, Christians reacted to the bombing at St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral complex with messages of condolences.

In Washington, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, noted that St. Mark himself was no stranger to the persecution of Christians.

"Those who gathered to worship the Lord at his cathedral this morning in Cairo are family to us," he said in a Dec. 11 statement. "We draw near to our Coptic brothers and sisters in prayer, sorrow and comfort. And we are confident in the healing power of our Lord Jesus Christ. The lives lost strengthen the faith of Christians everywhere and offer a testament to the great privilege of worshiping God in peace.

He, too, referred to attacks in other countries.

"This weekend has witnessed the darkness of violence reach into many places, including Turkey, Somalia and the church building collapse in Nigeria. But the light still shines! Today let us offer a special prayer for all those facing persecution," he said.

Egyptian Catholics were quick to condemn Sunday's church attack.

"Our heart is with Patriarch Tawadros II ... and our brother church, and we wish for goodness in Egypt, and call on the heads of state to quickly bring those responsible to justice," said official spokesman of Egypt's Catholics, Father Rafic Greiche.

Father Greiche called the attack "a cowardly, terrorist act on a house of God," adding that "the church in our country is suffering due to the murder and spilling of blood of innocents."

His statements appeared on Church of Alexandria, an official website of Egypt's Coptic Catholic Church, which accounts for a tiny percentage of the country's larger Coptic Orthodox minority.

On the same site, Coptic Catholic Bishop Butros Fahim Awad Hanna also condemned the attack and addressed those behind it.

"We tell the terrorist that no matter what you do, Christians will remain steadfast in their faith and in adherence to their country, Egypt" said Bishop Fahim, whose province of Minya is a traditional Christian stronghold in the predominantly Muslim North African nation.

Egyptian TV showed horrific images of the attack's aftermath: toppled pews and floors stained and covered in blood.

"I thought it was Judgment Day," said 59-year-old Magdi Ramzi, who was in the back of the church at the time of the explosion.

"It was the loudest noise I have ever heard," he told the Egyptian TV program "90 Minutes."

The bomb, which reportedly detonated in the women-only section of the church, killed his wife, and gravely wounded his granddaughter who was fighting for her life in a Cairo hospital, Ramzi said.

In an address at the Dec. 12 funeral for victims of the attack, Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi called for three days of mourning.

He said a 22-year-old suicide bomber was behind the attack. The president also said four people, including one woman, had been arrested, for alleged involvement the attack, and that two more people were being sought.

In Jerusalem, Wadie Abunassar, director of the Media Committee of the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, called the attacks "barbaric."

"I was contacting my Turkish friends to express my solidarity with them after (Saturday night's) attack when I got the news about the explosion inside the church (Sunday morning.) Surely those who are responsible for such barbaric attacks do not know who God is and what his messages are," he said.

Father Antonious Aloshlemey, general secretary of the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Jerusalem, expressed condolences about the attack.

"We are not afraid, but this is something barbaric and inhuman, to do an attack against people who just love the church and God and who came to worship on Sunday," he said.

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Contributing to this story were Judith Sudilovsky in Jerusalem and James Martone in Washington.

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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.

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IMAGE: CNS/Jaclyn Lippelmann, Catholic Standard

By Kelly Seegers

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- People on the sidewalks of Washington momentarily stopped their holiday shopping and paused in the cold Dec. 10 to take in the sight of hundreds of pilgrims processing through the streets alongside images of Mary.

One procession began at the Shrine of the Sacred Heart and another at Holy Name Church, and the two converged together to attend Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of the Americas. Her actual feast day is Dec. 12.

The annual "Walk with Mary" event brings together people of all ages and backgrounds, but it is a particularly special event for the Hispanic Catholic community. The apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which is commemorated during her feast, took place in 1531 in present-day Mexico.

Mary appeared to a poor peasant named St. Juan Diego, and asked him to tell the bishop to build her a church on Tepayac Hill in what today is Mexico City. When the bishop did not believe his story, Mary showed Diego roses blooming on a spot where no flowers grow. He gathered them up in his cloak, or "tilma,"and took them to the bishop as a sign of Mary's apparition. As the roses fell, an image of the Mary appeared miraculously on the cloak. His cloak is preserved in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe near the site.

During the Dec. 10 Mass, dancers dressed in traditional Aztec clothing re-enacted the miracle of the roses. They processed down the main aisle and around the church to the accompaniment of drums, and at the end of the procession, one man presented Washington Cardinal Donald W. Wuerl, who was the main celebrant of the Mass, with a tilma given to the archdiocese by the Convent of the Perpetual Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament in the city of Morelia in Michoacan, Mexico. Cardinal Wuerl knelt down to kiss the image of Mary, which was hand-embroidered on the tilma by the sisters.

Monica Ulloa, who was walking in the procession with her husband, Milton, had traveled to Mexico in July to see the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which she said "strikes your soul so deep." She was attending the walk to continue her devotion to Mary.

"She brings different cultures together and different languages," Ulloa told the Catholic Standard, Washington's archdiocesan newspaper. "We all become one with Our Lady."

The couple is a part of Mision San Andres at the Cardinal McCarrick Center, where Milton Ulloa teaches confirmation preparation. He made it a requirement for his students to attend the walk, so they "do not just learn in the classroom," but get to see faith being practiced out in the world. While they may forget what they read in their textbooks, he said, "they'll always remember this moment" of seeing people gathered to witness their faith.

Throughout the roughly two-and-one-half mile walk from the Shrine of the Sacred Heart to the basilica, many participants carried images of Mary that they brought from home or from their parish. A truck drove along with a Marian image on top, and another truck carried musicians playing music for the participants to sing along with. In between songs, participants would pray decades of the rosary together in Spanish.

Parishioners of Our Lady Help of Christians in Waldorf, Maryland, were among those gathered for the walk. The parish's pastor, Father Alain Colliou, is originally from France, and said the walk was a way to show "it doesn't matter what country we come from. ' We are all one people, all sons and daughters of God."

Marlen Coles, the youth and evangelization coordinator at Our Lady Help of Christians, said she grew up in southern Texas, often going to processions like this one, and she saw it as "an opportunity to share our faith as we go down the streets and unite in prayer." And for many participants, it is a way to express their faith and their culture at the same time.

"For many families who live so far away from their country, it is a great way to be reunited with their culture," she said.

Maria Lam, a parishioner of Our Lady Help of Christians, moved to the United States from Guatemala seven years ago because she feared for the safety of her children. During the walk, she said she was seeking the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe to "change the heart" of President-elect Donald Trump, so she and others did not once again have to fear for the future of their families.

During the election campaign, Trump said anyone who enters the United States illegally is subject to deportation. He also pledged to build a wall on the country's border with Mexico.

In his homily that he delivered in Spanish, Washington Auxiliary Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville acknowledged the concern that many people gathered for the procession were feeling, saying that it is a difficult moment in our nation's history for the immigrant community. But he reminded the thousands gathered that Jesus is always with them and his mother is always close by.

As he concluded the main portion of his homily, Bishop Dorsonville shifted to addressing those who could not understand Spanish.

Speaking in English, he said: "The main message I would like to put in your hearts" is "we are ending a Year of Mercy, but that doesn't mean mercy is going to be out of our hearts. ... There is always a way to say, 'Yes, Lord, make me an instrument of your peace and love.'"

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Seegers is on the staff of the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington.

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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.

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