Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) The President of Costa Rica, Luis Guillermo Solís, spoke with Vatican Radio in the wake of Pope Francis’ appeal for prayer and concrete solidarity with all those affected in his country and throughout the region by hurricane Otto, which passed through the southern parts of Central America late last week.

Pope Francis made his appeal during remarks to the faithful gathered for the Angelus prayer on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square.

“The people and the government of Costa Rica have received with great joy the message of His Holiness, Pope Francis, who remembered the difficult times we have endured just a few days ago, as we experienced the passing of hurricane Otto,” President Solís told Vatican Radio.

Click below to hear the extended remarks of Costa Rica's President Luis Guillermo Solís to Vatican Radio

“The words of the Pope have brought joy,” he explained, “and also a balm of understanding to our people, thousands of whom have been severely affected by this climactic phenomenon.”

Solís went on to say, “We are now in the phase of recuperating: material goods, but most importantly the lives of these thousands of Costa Ricans, who were left without a home [in which] to live, or without any possessions – and in that context, the words of the Pope have become a ray, a beam of light, of hope, for my country [and] my fellow citizens. I would like to convey to His Holiness our word of adhesion, of adherence, of love – and [to] thank him very much for remembering us in his prayers.”

At least nine people were killed by Otto in Costa Rica, as some areas recorded over a month’s worth of rain in just a few hours, forcing the evacuation of more than 5 thousand people. Several towns were completely inundated.

Otto was the southernmost hurricane on record to hit Central America: it made landfall in southern Nicaragua as a category-two storm on Thursday of last week, before losing strength and becoming a tropical storm as it moved into the Pacific. At peak force, Otto had wind speeds of up to 175km/h.

Since the keeping of records began in 1851, Costa Rica had never taken a direct hit from a hurricane.

Full Article

The University of Zimbabwe students’ Catholic Commission for Justice and Peace celebrated the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy with generous book donations to Chikurubi maximum prison.

The visit is the second this year where the young and motivated Catholic students interacted with inmates under the theme, “Donate a book, help mend a broken life”.

According to Zimbabwe’s classification at Chikurubi maximum prison, the D- Class Section includes inimates convicted of murderer and those whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or national security. Most people might, therefore, wonder why university students would donate books to D- Class Section prisoners who have no hope of ever being re-integrated back into society. The answer lies in our history: Some of the unique ideas that have led to great changes in the world came from men and women who were serving time.

From the Bible, we see that Joseph, who was wrongly imprisoned for rape, became one of the masterminds that saved Egypt from a famine of seven years. The great statesman Nelson Mandela, unjustly imprisoned for 27 years, fostered a peaceful transition to independence in South Africa and helped put a stop to the Apartheid government. 

It is pertinent we remember that our brothers, sisters and relatives currently incarcerated desrve to be treated with human dignity and respect, just like all other persons we meet every day.

The Chaplain of the National Movement of Catholic Students, Fr Tinashe Mhaka, was part of the #teamjustice delegation that visited Chikurubi. In line with the Corporal Works of Mercy, the Catholic students at UZ, under the Commission for Justice and Peace, have made an undertaking that ‘project Chikurubi’ will be an ongoing activity even though the Jubilee Year of Mercy has ended. 

The twenty-four students who visited Chikurubi Prison attest to the fact that there are human beings at Chikurubi maximum prison and these brothers and sisters need our prayers, love and support. To make their stay in prison bearable, we all should donate useful items and make time to visit them. 

 (Chiedza Tsikira is the President of the National Movement of Catholic Students, Harare Region)

Jesuit Province of Zimbabwe-Mozambique

Full Article

(Vatican Radio) The eminent physicist Stephen Hawking was among those present at an audience with Pope Francis for the Pontifical Academy of Sciences.

The Academy is meeting in Rome for its plenary session, on “Science and Sustainability: Impacts of Scientific Knowledge and Technology on Human Society and its Environment.” On Saturday, Dr Hawking gave a presentation on his No-Boundary proposal concerning the beginnings of the universe.

The plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences concludes on Tuesday. 

Full Article

Priests of the Catholic Church have been called upon to see their vocation as a call that emanates from God out of his Fatherly love for them to be part of the Salvific mission of Christ. The call was made by the Catholic Bishop of Ijebu-Ode Diocese, Albert Fasina in his homily at the celebration of the Mass to declare open the meeting of the priests of the Ecclesiastical Provinces of Lagos and Ibadan.

The celebration of the Mass was held at the St Sebastian Catholic Cathedral, Ijebu-Ode and attended by priests from all dioceses that constitute the two Ecclesiastical provinces. The meeting after the Mass was a fruitful deliberation held at the Bishop Anthony Sanusi Hall.

Pointing out that Jesus is the only one who redeems, restores and revives Bishop Fasina; noted that every moment of Jesus' life was in complete relationship with his Father adding that, “Jesus lived his life in total consecration to his father.” He continued, “Even when Jesus was personally attacked, he did not allow the attacks to change his mind from what he came to do.”

Quoting from the Gospel of John 15:16 that the Priests did not choose themselves, Bishop Fasina reminded the priests that, “We do not choose the places where we do pastoral ministry but find ourselves there by the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Bishop Fasina emphasised, “God has chosen us in spite of our nothingness just as he did with the Apostle Paul and the Blessed Virgin Mary.” He then charged all present to go out to spread the Good News and never take it for granted that everyone has heard the Gospel. The Bishop told the priests that the people of God feel God's hand through the instrumentality of His priests. 

(Catholic News Services of Nigeria)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

Full Article

Washington D.C., Nov 28, 2016 / 07:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Bishop Gregory John Mansour, a Maronite bishop with experience in Middle East issues, will be the next chairman of Catholic Relief Services, the foreign aid arm of the U.S. bishops.

“It is my honor and privilege to be appointed as chairman of the CRS board of directors,” Bishop Mansour said Nov. 22. “As a member of the CRS board, I've witnessed CRS’ tremendous work among the most vulnerable. I have seen firsthand the suffering of Christians and others violently forced from their homes in the Middle East. Witnessing their plight was difficult, but it is heartening to see the compassionate work that CRS continues to do in the midst of chaos.” 

Since 2004, Bishop Mansour has headed the Maronite Eparchy of Saint Maron of Brooklyn. He is currently on the relief agency’s board.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, the new president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, named Bishop Mansour to his position at CRS.

“We are grateful for Bishop Mansour in accepting the appointment of chairman of the board of CRS and in overseeing the important work they do throughout the globe to bring aid and hope to so many,” Cardinal DiNardo said.

He praised the bishop’s long service for CRS and his “pastoral concern” for the agency’s humanitarian efforts in the Middle East and on behalf of Middle East Christians, the U.S. bishops’ conference said.

Dr. Carolyn Woo, President of Catholic Relief Services, welcomed the appointment.

“It will be an honor to work with Bishop Mansour in his new capacity as chairman of the board as we continue to build upon past successes in serving the poor and the marginalized throughout the world,” she said.

CRS was founded by the U.S. bishops in 1943. It aids 130 million people in over 90 countries and territories around the world.

Bishop Mansour was born in Flint, Michigan to a family with ancestral roots in Lebanon, the Syrian capital of Damascus, and the city of Nazareth in present-day Israel. He is part of the Maronite Catholic Church, a large Lebanon-based Eastern Catholic Church with over 3.3 million members worldwide.

He received a bachelor’s degree in health education from Western Michigan University in 1977 and studied at Our Lady of Lebanon Maronite Seminary in Washington, D.C., his eparchy’s  website said. He has received a postgraduate degree in theological studies from the Catholic University of America and a Degree in Spiritual Theology after studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. From 1998 to 2001 he pursued graduate studies in the University of California-Los Angeles’ Near Eastern Languages Program, with an emphasis on Islamic Studies.

The bishop is on the boards of Aid to the Church in Need, Caritas Lebanon, and the Lebanon-based Christian television broadcaster Telelumiere/Noursat. He is on the board of trustees of the Catholic University of America. He is also involved with the group In Defense of Christians, which supports and advocates for Christians of the Middle East.

Other roles for Bishop Mansour have included time on the U.S. bishops’ pro-life committee and the catechesis and evangelization committees.

Bishop Mansour’s eparchy includes 16 eastern U.S. states and the District of Columbia, with 45 churches, a seminary, a monastery, and a convent.

Cardinal DiNardo thanked the outgoing CRS board chairman, Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, for his “tireless work” over his three-year term.

“His leadership, most particularly in those areas of assistance to those in regions of conflict and poverty, is deeply appreciated.”

Archbishop Coakley will remain on the CRS board. The U.S. bishops at their fall general assembly elected two new board members: Bishop Gregory L. Parkes of Pensacola-Tallahassee and Archbishop Jerome E. Listecki of Milwaukee.

Departing members of the board are Bishop William P. Callahan of La Crosse and Bishop Frank J. Dewane of Venice in Florida, who are stepping down after finishing their three-year terms at the end of the year.

 

Full Article

IMAGE: CNS/L'Osservatore Romano

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Humanity does not own God's gift of creation and has no right to pillage it, Pope Francis said.

"We are not custodians of a museum and its masterpieces that we have to dust off every morning, but rather collaborators in the conservation and development of the existence and biodiversity of the planet and human life," he said Nov. 28.

The pope addressed experts attending a plenary session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences Nov. 25-29 to discuss the impact of scientific knowledge and technology on people and the planet.

People in the modern world have grown up "thinking we are the owners and masters of nature, authorized to plunder it without any consideration for its secret potential and evolutionary laws, as if it were an inert substance at our disposal, causing, among other things, a very serious loss of biodiversity," he said.

An "ecological conversion" is needed in which people recognize their responsibility for caring for creation and its resources, for trying to bring about social justice and for overcoming "an unfair system that produces misery, inequality and exclusion," the pope said. In fact, with sustainable development, the tasks of taking care of both people and the planet are inseparable, he said.

The pope said there was a "weak response" in most international policies to promoting the common good.

He lamented how easily well-founded scientific counsel is "disregarded" and how politics tends to obey technology and finance instead.

The proof of that, he said, is the way countries are still "distracted" or delayed in applying international agreements on the environment as well as the "continuous wars of dominance masquerading as noble declarations that cause increasingly serious harm to the environment and the moral and cultural wealth of peoples."

Pope Francis told the scientists that it was up to them to "build a cultural model to tackle the crisis of climate change and its social consequences so that enormous productive capacities are not reserved only to the few."

To do that, he said, the scientists would have to be free of political, economic and ideological interests, too.

Because scientists have been able to study and demonstrate many crises facing the planet, the pope called on them to be leaders in proposing solutions to the many problems, such as water, energy and food security.

He said it would be "indispensable" for the world's scientists to collaborate and create "a regulatory system that includes inviolable limits and guarantees the protection of ecosystems before new forms of power derived from the technological-economic paradigm produce irreversible damage not just to the environment but also to coexistence, democracy, justice and freedom."

- - -

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/Reuters

By

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- As a towering spruce tree was erected in St. Peter's Square, the Vatican released Pope Francis' liturgy schedule for Advent, Christmas and the month of January.

The 82-feet-tall Christmas tree arrived in the square Nov. 24.

According to the papal calendar released by the Vatican the same day:

-- Pope Francis will celebrate an evening Mass Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Mass will include ancient liturgical hymns composed in indigenous languages, including Nahuatl, Quechua, Mapuche and Guarani. The Sistine Chapel Choir be will joined the Latin American Choir under the direction of conductor Eduardo Notrica.

-- The pope will celebrate Christmas Mass at 9:30 p.m. Dec. 24 in St. Peter's Basilica.

-- Pope Francis will give his Christmas blessing "urbi et orbi" (to the city and the world) at noon Dec. 25 from the central balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square.

-- Dec. 31 in St. Peter's Basilica, the pope will preside over evening prayer and the singing of the "Te Deum" in thanksgiving for the year that is ending.

-- The pope will celebrate a Morning Mass in St. Peter's Basilica Jan. 1, the World Day of Prayer for Peace and the feast of Mary, Mother of God.

-- On Jan. 6, the feast of the Epiphany, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in St. Peter's Basilica.

-- On the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Jan. 8, the pope will celebrate Mass in the Sistine Chapel and baptize several babies.

-- Pope Francis will preside over an ecumenical evening prayer service Jan. 25, the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul. The service concludes the annual Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.

- - -

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

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Just as "the habit does not make the monk," taking a vow of poverty does not automatically mean a consecrated person lives with a detachment from material things and in solidarity with the poor, Pope Francis said.

In fact, "the hypocrisy of consecrated men and women who live like the rich wounds the consciences of the faithful and damages the church," the pope said in a written message Nov. 26 to treasurers of religious orders.

Taking a vow of poverty and having no personal property is not fulfilling the vow "if my institute allows me to manage or enjoy all the goods I desire," the pope told the religious, who were in Rome for a symposium on economics and religious life.

The founding "charism" -- literally "grace" -- or ideal of a religious order is not "static or rigid," the pope said. Rather, members of orders must continually look at the world and the church and discern how God wants that original grace to be lived in the world today with the human and material resources the order has.

In the world at large, but particularly in religious life, he said, what one does with money is never morally neutral: "Either it contributes to building relationships of justice and solidarity or it generates situations of exclusion and rejection."

Inspired by the founding charism and realistic about an order's resources, the pope said, "we are called to create fraternity, communion and solidarity with the poorest and most needy" without being distracted or waylaid by the "diabolical logic of profit -- the devil often enters through the wallet or credit card."

As the majority of members of many religious orders age and as building maintenance costs increase, he said, orders have to be serious about discerning whether or not a particular work or project is an authentic response both to the order's charism and to the needs of people today.

Projects that are not sustainable should be closed or the order should find other religious orders or church groups with a similar focus to help continue the work.

Sometimes, he said, discernment will lead an order to keep open a work that will never be financially self-supporting.

Works that are always worth continuing, the pope said, "give dignity back" to those whom society often discards: "the unborn, those who are sick and aged and those with serious disabilities."

Members of religious orders are called to be models for the world of a Christian way of dealing with money and economic decisions, he said. "It must start with the little daily choices. Everyone is called to do his or her part, to use goods in a way that promotes solidarity, to care for creation" and to ensure that a religious community is not living extravagantly better than the people in the neighborhood.

- - -

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