Catholic News 2
LOS EBANOS, Texas (AP) -- All along the winding Rio Grande, the people who live in this bustling, fertile region where the U.S. border meets the Gulf of Mexico never quite understood how Donald Trump's great wall could ever be much more than campaign rhetoric....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- As a senator, Jeff Sessions became Congress' leading advocate not only for a cracking down on illegal immigration, but also for slowing all immigration, increasing mass deportations and scrutinizing more strictly those entering the U.S. As attorney general, he'd be well positioned to turn those ideas into reality....
NEW YORK (AP) -- British and German TV productions each won three International Emmys Monday night, including acting honors for Dustin Hoffman and Christiane Paul....
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) -- Japan's prime minister said Monday the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal would be "meaningless" without U.S. participation, as Donald Trump announced he planned to quit the pact....
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Hundreds of capitalistic markets, each with thousands or even tens of thousands of stalls, form the glue that holds North Korea's socialist planned economy together, say defectors who sold medicinal herbs, skinny jeans, TV sets, foreign drama CDs and other goods there to make a living....
BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) -- Education Secretary John B. King Jr. is urging governors and school leaders in states that allow student paddling to end a practice he said would be considered "criminal assault or battery" against an adult....
TOKYO (AP) -- Coastal residents fled to higher ground as a powerful earthquake sent a series of moderate tsunamis toward Japan's northeastern shore Tuesday and fueled concerns about the Fukushima nuclear power plant destroyed by a much larger tsunami five year ago....
A manhunt for a suspect in the fatal shooting of a veteran Texas police detective ended Monday with an arrest in the killing that was one of several weekend attacks against law enforcement in multiple states, authorities said....
Lima, Peru, Nov 21, 2016 / 03:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When a deadly fire broke out at a mall in Lima, Peru last week, fire fighters responded to put out the flames and rescue those trapped inside the building.With them was Fr. Christopher Dunn Mahardy, the 62-year-old American Franciscan priest who serves as chaplain of the Volunteer Firemen's Company in the San Juan de Miraflores district in Lima.“I was praying the Rosary for the victims and for the firemen as they were working,” Fr. Christopher told CNA. “I also assisted the relatives of the people who died so they could regain their composure. When they pulled out one of the bodies I offered the final prayers.”On Nov. 16, a fire was reported in the movie theater at the Larcomar mall, located in the Miraflores district of Lima. At least four people were killed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.The Expreso Peruvian daily reported that the fire occurred in the morning hours in Auditorium...
Lima, Peru, Nov 21, 2016 / 03:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- When a deadly fire broke out at a mall in Lima, Peru last week, fire fighters responded to put out the flames and rescue those trapped inside the building.
With them was Fr. Christopher Dunn Mahardy, the 62-year-old American Franciscan priest who serves as chaplain of the Volunteer Firemen's Company in the San Juan de Miraflores district in Lima.
“I was praying the Rosary for the victims and for the firemen as they were working,” Fr. Christopher told CNA. “I also assisted the relatives of the people who died so they could regain their composure. When they pulled out one of the bodies I offered the final prayers.”
On Nov. 16, a fire was reported in the movie theater at the Larcomar mall, located in the Miraflores district of Lima. At least four people were killed. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The Expreso Peruvian daily reported that the fire occurred in the morning hours in Auditorium 10 of the UVK theater chain, shortly before a special press screening of the “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” film.
According to the newspaper, “the authorities reported that the flames spread because of a highly flammable type of insulation which covers the wall of this movie theater to contain sound.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="es" dir="ltr">Infierno en Larcomar <a href="https://t.co/IJrlZKEdCC">https://t.co/IJrlZKEdCC</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CGBVP_Oficial">@CGBVP_Oficial</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/congresoperu">@congresoperu</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PoliciaPeru">@PoliciaPeru</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/fzavalal">@fzavalal</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/ppkamigo">@ppkamigo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MuniMiraflores">@MuniMiraflores</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/pcmperu">@pcmperu</a> <a href="https://t.co/UsfqshugaU">pic.twitter.com/UsfqshugaU</a></p>— Diario Expreso Perú (@ExpresoPeru) <a href="https://twitter.com/ExpresoPeru/status/799299759362154496">November 17, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Fr. Christopher was among those who responded. In addition to working as a parish priest in a church on the outskirts of Lima, he also works as chaplain for the Miraflores Volunteer Fireman’s Company three part-days per week.
The priest came to Peru in 1981 and joined the Peruvian Fire Department after the earthquake that leveled the city of Pisco in 2007.
Certified in several courses by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) in the United States, Fr. Christopher has also completed certification in psychology and patient management in disasters, strengthening his commitment to the firemen's company.
When the alarm sounds at the fire station, the chaplain leads the medical unit, making use of the medical knowledge he gained when he participated as a volunteer in an emergency medical unit in New York.
“I am always watching out for the welfare of the fire fighters,” he said. “I also help them with everything related to their faith, their family life, and with their stress management training. I'm with them, I pray with them, I accompany them, I encourage them.”
Regarding the spiritual life of a fireman, Fr. Christopher said that they must have a “strong faith” because they have to “live on the edge of death every day.”
“To be a fireman is a form of disinterested service and of mercy, to help those in a difficult situation. What has touched my heart is to see the service the firemen perform in extreme situations,” the priest told CNA.
“Even though the Fire Department is very poor and does not have much equipment, its members are very big-hearted,” the priest emphasized.
Speaking to the Peruvian Volunteer Firemen's Journal in 2009, Fr. Christopher said that “serving as a chaplain serves the local community” and allows him to “stand in solidarity with all the firemen in the world who risk their lives to save others and their property.”
Kigali, Rwanda, Nov 21, 2016 / 03:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic bishops of Rwanda have apologized for Christians' role in the deadly 1994 genocide.“We apologize for all the wrongs the Church committed. We apologize on behalf of all Christians for all forms of wrongs we committed. We regret that church members violated (their) oath of allegiance to God’s commandments,” said Rwanda's Conference of Catholic BishopsThe statement, read at parishes across Rwanda, said that some Catholics planned, assisted, and executed the genocide. Hutu extremists killed over 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.Clergy members were included in the ranks of both perpetrators and victims. In some cases, Hutu priests, bishops and religious helped to hide and protect Tutsis. In other cases, they took up arms against them. They ushered victims into church buildings with false promises of security and then trapped and betrayed them, facilitating their massacre.“Forgiv...
Kigali, Rwanda, Nov 21, 2016 / 03:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Catholic bishops of Rwanda have apologized for Christians' role in the deadly 1994 genocide.
“We apologize for all the wrongs the Church committed. We apologize on behalf of all Christians for all forms of wrongs we committed. We regret that church members violated (their) oath of allegiance to God’s commandments,” said Rwanda's Conference of Catholic Bishops
The statement, read at parishes across Rwanda, said that some Catholics planned, assisted, and executed the genocide. Hutu extremists killed over 800,000 ethnic Tutsis and moderate Hutus.
Clergy members were included in the ranks of both perpetrators and victims. In some cases, Hutu priests, bishops and religious helped to hide and protect Tutsis. In other cases, they took up arms against them. They ushered victims into church buildings with false promises of security and then trapped and betrayed them, facilitating their massacre.
“Forgive us for the crime of hate in the country to the extent of also hating our colleagues because of their ethnicity. We didn’t show that we are one family but instead killed each other,” the bishops said.
Bishop Phillipe Rukamba, spokesman for the Catholic bishops, said the statement's release was timed to be released at the end of the Catholic Church's Year of Mercy, according to the Associated Press.
There were complex causes for the violence, including decades of ethnic tension dating back to Belgian colonialism. The violence was inflamed by hate-filled propaganda broadcast by political extremists.
The genocide began April 7, 1994 after controversy over the plane crash that killed the then-president of Rwanda, a Hutu.
About 57 percent of Rwanda is Catholic, with another 37 percent Protestant or Seventh-Day Adventist. The churches have worked to bring about healing and reconciliation as well.
As the country sought to recover from the genocide, the Catholic Church suggested the revival of traditional communal court system called Gacaca, to relieve the burden on the nation’s justice system in adjudicating charges. Well-respected elders served as judges and aimed to facilitate justice for both victims and perpetrators.
In a 2013 interview, Fr. Celestin Hakizimana, general secretary of the Rwandan bishops’ conference, described the current relationship between Church and State in Rwanda as generally good. Efforts are ongoing to repair relationships that were damaged during the genocide, and the Church is dealing with modern challenges, including a recent law to legalize abortion, which the bishops vocally opposed.
Although obstacles do exist, the Church in Rwanda is strong, Fr. Hakizimana said. With the help of Catholic Relief Services, the national bishops’ conference has improved its structure and organization, and many dioceses are working with the international agency to strengthen their efficiency, professionalism and financial management capabilities.
In addition, Fr. Hakizimana explained that he knows the Church is growing “because every Sunday, there are baptisms.”
As of October 2013, the seminaries in the small country were filled to capacity, with 530 men studying in major seminaries. Church leaders have been forced to limit the number of applicants while one facility is being expanded. As Rwanda works to rebuild, the local Church grows as well.
