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(Vatican Radio) A leader of Russian backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has vowed to retaliate against Ukrainian government forces after a fellow commander died in rebel-controlled Donetsk in an apparent assassination. Arseny Pavlov, who once boasted about killing more than a dozen captured soldiers, died following a bomb attack, authorities said.  

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

Pro-Russian separatists said Arseny Pavlov, a Russian citizen better known by his nickname Motorola, died of serious injuries after an improvised explosive device detonated as he entered the elevator of his apartment building in the separatist stronghold of Donetsk in war-torn eastern Ukraine. A bodyguard reportedly also died in Sunday's blast.

The attack ended the life of a man who once boosted to have killed as many as 15 prisoners of war. He was the latest among several rebel figures known to have been killed recently amid reports of fighting among the seperatists. 

However Aleksandr Zakharchenko, who heads the separatist entity that calls itself the Donetsk People's Republic has blamed Ukraine's central authorities for the blast that killed Pavlov, who headed a fighting force called the Sparta battalion.

Zakharchenko said the killing amounted to a "declaration of war" by President Petro Poroshenko. He vowed to retaliate against members of Ukraine's military and security services, as well as their families. "All Ukrainian officers, lieutenant colonels, majors who operate on our territory, all your agents, families, are beyond the law as of now," he said during a press briefing. 

MORE ATTACKS

"Not only here but in Zhytomyr, [the capital] Kiev, Kharkiv, Dnepropetrovsk," he added, listing cities that are under government control. 

"And I would add: when we come to your home, there will be no mercy towards you, believe me."

But Ukraine's Interior Ministry said Pavlov got what he deserved.

Pavlov, who was 33, was born in Russia's northern Komi Republic and was reported to have once lived in Rostov-on-Don, near the Ukrainian border. 

He was married with two children, who were reportedly inside the family's Donetsk apartment at the time of the blast. The marriage, celebrated with guns and roses in Donetsk, was reportedly his second and conducted without him having divorced his first wife. 

Hours after Pavlov's death was reported, an unverified video showing four masked, armed men taking credit for the killing was shared online by Russian media and separatist supporters.

NEO-NAZI GROUP

Standing in front of a Ukrainian flag as well as one representing a neo-Nazi group with roots in Ukraine and Russia, one man vows to come also after leader Zakharchenko and Luhansk separatist leader Ihor Plotnitsky next, before the four men make a Nazi salute. 

Critics cautioned that the authenticity of the video could not be confirmed, and said Russian media have used faked footage in the past during the conflict. 

Yet the latest bloodshed has underscored the difficulties to reach peace in eastern Ukraine. 

The conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces has been raging in the region since April 2014, killing more than 9,600 people. 

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Vatican City, Oct 17, 2016 / 10:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In their forewords to a new book about the head of the Eastern Orthodox Church Patriarch Bartholomew I, Pope Francis and retired Pope Benedict XVI praised the faith and goodness of the ecumenical patriarch.

“Today, we brothers in the faith and hope that does not disappoint, we are deeply united in the desire that Christians of the East and the West can feel part of the one and only Church,” Pope Francis wrote.

The forewords were contributions to the book Bartholomew, Apostle and Visionary by John Chryssavgis, written in honor of the 25th anniversary of the patriarch’s election as head of the Eastern Orthodox Church. It was released Oct. 11.

In the messages, Pope Francis and Benedict both reflected on their meetings with Patriarch Bartholomew and on the things which unite them.

“My first meeting with my beloved brother Bartholomew took place the same day in which I started my papal ministry, when he honored me with his presence in Rome,” Pope Francis recalled.

Patriarch Bartholomew’s presence at the inaugural Mass of Pope Francis on March 19, 2013 was the first time that an ecumenical patriarch had attended the inauguration of a pope since the schism between the Eastern Orthodox and Catholics in 1054.

“I felt I was meeting a man walking in the faith,” Francis continued, “who in his person and in his manner expresses deep human and spiritual experience of the Orthodox tradition. On that occasion we hugged with sincere affection and mutual understanding.”

Pope Francis and Patriarch Bartholomew have met together frequently since Pope Francis’ election, including during the Pope’s visit to a refugee camp on the Greek island of Lesbos April 16. They have also met in Jerusalem, Rome and Constantinople.

These meetings “not only strengthened our spiritual affinity, but above all deepened our shared understanding of the common pastoral responsibility we have in this moment in history, before the urgent challenges that Christians and the entire human family must face today,” Francis said.

The Pope highlighted the “shared commitment” between the two leaders, exemplified in the two joint statements they signed in Jerusalem and Phanar to build a world “more just and more respectful of dignity and fundamental freedoms, the most important of which is the freedom of religion.”

Benedict XVI, who first met Bartholomew in 2002, while still Cardinal Ratzinger, said he also was immediately moved by the personal warmth and openness of the patriarch.

“It did not take a great effort to draw close to one another. His interior openness and his inspired simplicity suffered a welcoming intimacy.”

The meeting took place on a train to Assisi for the international prayer meeting with Pope John Paul II. “For me,” Benedict wrote, “this meeting – along the way – it’s more of an accidental expression of the state of faith.”

Pope Francis also compared unity between the Eastern and Western Churches as a gradual journey.

“The Church of Rome and the Church of Constantinople are joined by a deep and ancient bond that not even centuries of silence and misunderstanding have been able to break,” he said.

They now have “the sacred task to walk back along the path that led to the separation of our churches, healing sources of our mutual estrangement, and to proceed towards the restoration of full communion in faith and love, conscious of our legitimate differences.”

Francis praised the patriarch’s commitment to increasing awareness regarding the “protection of creation,” saying that they were “fundamentally united” in this commitment.

“I found a deep spiritual sensitivity in Patriarch Bartholomew for the painful condition of humanity today, so deeply wounded by unspeakable violence, injustice and discrimination.”

Patriarch Bartholomew has also praised Pope Francis on several occasions, notably for his humility, his care for the environment, and his concern for the plight of Christians in the Middle East.

“This is precisely why the path toward unity is more urgent than ever for those who invoke the name of the great Peacemaker,” Patriarch Bartholomew said Nov. 30, 2014, and prayed that restoration of full communion between the Catholic and Orthodox churches “will not be prolonged.”

He urged greater collaboration, saying that “we no longer have the luxury of isolated action” due to the current persecution of Christians, who are targeted regardless of which church they belong to.

The two leaders “are both greatly troubled by the grave sin against God, which seems to grow by the day, which is the globalization of indifference before the disfigurement of the image of God in man,” Francis said.

“It is our belief that we are called to work for the construction of a new civilization of love and solidarity.”

“We are both aware that the voices of our brothers and sisters, now at the point of extreme anguish, force us to move more quickly on the path of reconciliation and communion between Catholics and Orthodox, so that they can credibly proclaim the Gospel of peace that comes from Christ.”

 

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Erbil, Iraq, Oct 17, 2016 / 11:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Hours after Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a ground offensive to retake Mosul from the clutches of Islamic State, a priest working in the thick of the country’s refugee crisis said people are happy with the advances, but unsure what the future will hold.

“We are so happy because yesterday the war began between the Iraqi army and the Peshmerga with ISIS,” Father Roni Momika told CNA Oct. 17.

He relayed how shortly before, they had received the “good news” that the ancient Monastery of the Martyrs Saint Behnam and his Sister Sarah, also known as the Mar Behnam monastery, near Nimrud “is free,” though it has suffered significant damage from Islamic State forces.

There are still many Christians living in the villages surrounding Mosul, he noted, but said soldiers from the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga are with them.

“We hope that (soon) we will hear good news about Qaraqosh, a big center for Christians, that it will be free and that there is no ISIS there,” he said, but admitted that it might not be that easy.

Fr. Momika is a Syriac Catholic priest serving in the Kurdish capital of Erbil, where he works in the city’s Aishty camp for the displaced.

He and his sister were among the victims wounded in a 2010 bombing of buses transporting mainly Christian college students from the Plains of Nineveh to the University of Mosul, where they were enrolled in classes.

In 2014, while he was in seminary, Momika and his family were forced to flee Qaraqosh, also known as Bakhdida, when Islamic State militants attacked, taking over the city after storming it in the middle of the night with bombs and gunfire.

Since his seminary was closed following Islamic State's assault, he completed his studies in Lebanon, and returned to Iraq for his diaconate ordination, which took place March 19. On Aug. 5 he was ordained a priest in the Aishty camp, where he continues to serve the people by leading women's groups and working with youth.

He said the people are happy the offensive has finally started and are hopeful of returning home, but cautioned that going back “is very dangerous now because we don’t know if our homes and churches have been destroyed or bombed,” or if there are mines hidden throughout their cities.

If the effort to liberate Mosul is successful, “I think it will take some time” to go back, the priest said, explaining that if they see that the situation is safe “we will go,” but if they see that things aren’t safe, they will have to stay until things are more stable.

Fr. Momika spoke to CNA shortly after Al-Abadi announced the start of the highly-anticipated offensive to retake Mosul, which has been months in the making, in the early hours of Monday morning. Mosul has been under the control of the Islamic State since June 2014.

According to the Guardian, in a televised address Al-Abadi told Iraqi citizens that “we have been battling ISIS for more than two years. We started fighting ISIS in the outskirts of Baghdad, and thank God we are now fighting them in the outskirts of Mosul, and God willing the decisive battle will be soon.”

“These forces that are liberating you today, they have one goal in Mosul which is to get rid of Daesh (ISIS) and to secure your dignity. They are there for your sake,” he said.

In addition to the Kurdish Peshmerga forces, U.S. troops, British and French Special Forces, and a number of Turkish soldiers are supporting the Iraqi army in the battle, which is expected to take between several weeks to several months to complete, the Guardian reports. Many of the Iraqi troops are based in Qarrayah, a town 45 miles south of Mosul which was recaptured in August.

Mosul is the last major stronghold the Islamic State has in Iraq. They have been steadily retreating since the end of last year in battles against Iraqi and Peshmerga forces, as well as airstrikes from the U.S-led coalition.

For several days Mosul has been surrounded by some 30,000 ground troops who were prepping for the initial attack.

As a warning to the roughly 600,000 residents left in Mosul, a city of 2 million before Islamic State's 2014 assault, the Iraqi government Sunday dropped thousands of leaflets throughout the city warning civilians to avoid certain parts of the city, and cautioned them not to listen to rumors spread by the Islamist militants that could cause panic.

The Guardian reports that Islamic State is estimated to have nearly 6,000 fighters ready to defend Mosul.

Rueters News reports that the Mosul offensive is the one of Iraq’s largest military operations since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion overthrowing Saddam Hussein. Should the battle for Mosul be successful, Islamic State's last main stronghold will be Raqqa in Syria.

However, given the number of civilians left in Mosul and the ease with which Islamic State militants commit human atrocities, several organizations, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the U.N., have said they are bracing for a severe humanitarian crisis in which up to 1 million people could be left homeless, displaced, or used as human shields.

According to Rueters, there are already more than 3 million people who have displaced inside Iraq due to conflicts with the Islamic State.

In his comments to CNA, Fr. Momika said while the people are hopeful that the battle will be successful, they know that their homes and cities will not be in the same state when the fled two years ago, and are prepared to start again from zero.

“If all is bombed, as it is now in Qaraqosh, they will have destroyed everything,” he said, “They will have destroyed our homes, the churches, schools, pharmacies, hospitals.”

With nothing left, the priest said they will need many things, including money, to rebuild, and that “our youth, they will build and do everything.”

“Please pray for us,” he asked, explaining that there are still Christians in Iraq who want to stay.

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Vatican City, Oct 17, 2016 / 01:40 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop Alberto Ortega, the Pope's Apostolic Nuncio in Iraq and Jordan, has said that in the midst of a drawn-out humanitarian crisis and ongoing feelings of mistrust and betrayal, Christians can be a sign of reconciliation where political efforts continue to fall short.

In order for current conflicts destroying much of the Middle East to come to an end, “there is first of all the political will,” Archbishop Ortega told CNA in an interview.

“If the international community, if they really want to make peace, to promote peace, they can engage more intensively and to reach the agreements necessary to reach peace,” he said, stressing that dialogue is also important.

However, in order for dialogue to be effective, one must “put aside personal interests or the interests of a group or of a country, (and) put in the center the attention to the people, to every single person, because behind all these numbers...there are concrete people with a face and a family.”

Christians, he said, can play a “very important role,” especially in the context of the Holy Year of Mercy.

“Even if as a number they are a minority, they can play a very important role as wielders of reconciliation, of peace, of unity, as they have done in the past,” he said, adding that “they have always been a factor of stability and a factor of development in the country.”

Archbishop Ortega was present in Rome for a Sept. 29 symposium on the humanitarian crisis in Iraq and Syria, organized by the Pontifical Council Cor Unum.

Marking the fifth such meeting, the symposium gathered 80 representatives from various Catholic charitable organizations in the Middle East, as well as those in religious congregations who work in crisis areas.

The archbishop provided participants with an update on the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, and how the Church has responded.

In his comments to CNA, he said spoke not only about the concrete material needs of the Iraqi people, but also how each person can work to overcome the general attitude of mistrust that has developed in the region, explaining that peace can and must be achieved at both a political and individual level.

Please read below for the full interview with Archbishop Ortega:

Can you tell us from your perspective on the ground, what are the most immediate needs of the people?

I think there are many needs from the humanitarian point of view. For example in Iraq there are 10 million who are in need of humanitarian assistance. That’s a lot, that’s nearly one-third of the population. There are 3.5 million internally displaced, and there are also many needs from other points of view, especially the need for reconciliation. There is lack of unity, many tensions among different groups, so the biggest need for me is the need of reconciliation and that all groups can build society together, that they agree, at least on the principals, to work together. If they work together it’s easier also to overcome terrorism and extremism. But it’s so important that they work together and look for the common good of the population.  

Trust has been a big issue. Do you think people in this area will eventually be able to trust one another again?

I think this is a big challenge but it is the only way. In this aspect, in this Year of Mercy, mercy is the solution to the problems. Because after so many years of tensions, of conflicts, you need to move forward and the only way is to forgive. At the end, mercy is the only way to reconciliation. In this aspect the Christians can play a very important role. Even if as a number they are a minority, they can play a very important role as wielders of reconciliation, of peace, of unity, as they have done in the past. They have always been a factor of stability and a factor of development in the country.

 Are people on the ground hopeful to be able to return home soon?

There are different kinds of people. Some of them are very tired after so many years, because the last problem with the Islamic State is just the last development of many other problems. Since many years they are suffering the consequences of one war after another, so some of them are tired and they are looking forward to going abroad. Other people, they are very attached to their roots and they want to remain there. We encourage, especially the Christians, we encourage them to remain there because we think that their presence is so important for the country. Not just for the Church, that is so important, but also for society because they can play a very important role. And to encourage them to remain I always tell them that they have a very special mission that no one can play in their place. They have a special mission of being Christians in the Holy Land, of being Christians in a context that is difficult but is very necessary.

In his speech to conference participants the Pope spoke about the need for peace at both a political and individual level. What is needed at a political level to have peace, and what can each person do?

I think that at a political level there is first of all the political will. Because if the international community, if they really want to make peace, to promote peace, they can engage more intensively and to reach the agreements necessary to reach peace. But also dialogue is so important, and to put aside personal interests or the interests of a group or of a country, to put in the center the attention to the people, to every single person, because behind all these numbers or big themes of people suffering, there are concrete people with a face and a family, and every one of them is important. So I think if we put them in the main point of reference, it’s not so difficult to reach an agreement to obtain peace and stability.

From your perspective as someone living in the midst of the situation, is there a specific message you have on behalf of the Christians in Iraq?

It’s important to work together. And to transmit this necessity of continuing to help these people, to assist these people, with prayers and spiritual assistance, but also with concrete assistance...to contact authorities, to engage more in promoting peace and development. Also because it’s the best way to avoid the problem of migration. Instead of trying to cover the emergency here (in Europe), to try to solve the problems at the root so that people don’t have to leave their countries.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Ako Rasheed, Reuters

By Dale Gavlak

AMMAN, Jordan (CNS) -- Iraqi Christians are cautiously welcoming the start of the battle for Mosul and the Ninevah Plain, their ancestral homeland of the past 14 centuries from which they were brutally driven out by the Islamic State group more than two years ago.

"They've been waiting for this day after being forced out in the summer of 2014, and many Christians have been living in very miserable conditions since. A number are eager to go back," Father Emanuel Youkhana told the Catholic News Service. The archimandrite, a member of the Assyrian Church of the East, heads the Christian Aid Program Northern Iraq, CAPNI.

"Of course the military operation is just the first of several phases paving the way for their return. They will need security and other guarantees before they go back," Father Youkhana said. "Also much reconstruction and rehabilitation of the region occupied the Islamic State militants will need to take place."

This summer, the U.N. said that as the Mosul crisis evolves, up to 13 million people throughout Iraq may need humanitarian aid by the year's end -- far larger than the Syrian crisis. This would make the humanitarian operation in Mosul likely the single largest, most complex in the world in 2016.

Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Yousif Thomas Mirkis of Kirkuk, Iraq, told CNS Iraqi Christians view these operations "with hope and fear."

"Everything is complicated. Still, we are waiting for what will happen after Daesh (the Arabic slang name for Islamic State), because maybe those criminals will be thrown out of Iraq, but the mentality remains in those who welcomed them," Archbishop Mirkis said. "So how do we heal the country from this kind of fanaticism, which is very deep in society?"

The Kirkuk Archdiocese has taken in and ministered to hundreds of Iraqi Christians displaced by the brutal attacks of the Islamic State militants, who demanded Mosul residents leave their homes and businesses, convert to Islam or be killed.

Prior to the Iraqi military's capitulation to a small group of Islamic State fighters in 2014, Mosul was inhabited by more than 2 million people. It's believed that only about 1 million residents remain today. Some 130,000 have fled to other areas within Iraq, such as Kirkuk or Kurdistan. Thousands of others are being housed in neighboring countries, such as Jordan and Lebanon, while perhaps hundreds have been resettled or are awaiting resettlement in the U.S., Australia and Canada. Some live in cramped conditions in church basements. Caritas and other Catholic organizations have been working to help them.

International humanitarian organizations are warning that Iraqis, mainly Sunni Muslims, left in Mosul are "now in grave danger." The Norwegian Refugee Council, Save the Children and others are urging the establishment of safe exit routes for civilians to flee the city.

"Unless safe routes to escape the fighting are established, many families will have no choice but to stay and risk being killed by crossfire or bombardment, trapped beyond the reach of humanitarian aid with little food or medical care," said Aram Shakaram, Save the Children's deputy country director in Iraq.

"Those that try to flee will be forced to navigate a city ringed with booby traps, snipers and hidden land mines. Without immediate action to ensure people can flee safely, we are likely to see bloodshed of civilians on a massive scale," Shakaram warned.

The humanitarian groups criticize instructions from Iraq's military urging inhabitants to hunker down inside their homes.

At best, this is impractical in a brutal urban conflict, the groups say. At worst, it risks civilian buildings being turned into military positions and families being used as human shields, they argue.

But even if people do manage to flee, they also face some uncertainty. Although aid agencies have been preparing for months, observers believe camps for the internally displaced are ready for perhaps some 60,000 people, and these camps could be overwhelmed within days.

The U.N. Office of the Coordinator for Humanitarian Affairs reported it is locating additional land for extra camps to be set up. It reported that construction of additional sites, with capacity for 250,000 people, is underway. Food rations for 220,000 families are ready for distribution, 143,000 sets of emergency household items are in stock; latrines and showers are being readied for dispatch and 240 tons of medication are available at distribution points. But funding toward a flash appeal has been insufficient to prepare fully for the worst-case scenario.

Even if the operation rids the area of Islamic State, Archbishop Mirkis said a number of Christians have serious concerns about returning home without iron-clad guarantees for their future safety.

"Who can give such assurances? Maybe the big countries. But those who suffered the most are the Yezidis. The Yezidis and all the minorities face the same problem. How can we have peace with neighbors who looted our houses?" he asked.

He also expressed concerned for civilians inside Mosul.

"All those children, elderly and civilians are caught like in a prison. We have to think about them too. We have to read the book of Jonah. It can explain many things to us," the Catholic Chaldean leader said.

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IMAGE: CNS/Nancy Wiechec

By Nancy Wiechec and Chaz Muth

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- From the dramatic vistas of the Grand Canyon in Arizona to the glistening waters of Cape Cod in Massachusetts, national parks have stood as places of wonder, history and culture.

John Muir, considered the father of our national parks, petitioned U.S. lawmakers to set aside such places for preservation, play and prayer.

"Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike," wrote the 19th-century naturalist and philosopher in his book "Yosemite."

During the 100th year of the National Park Service, Catholic News Service traveled to a few of the nation's most popular parks and discovered sites of spiritual refuge beside some of America's most beautiful landscapes.

Though the U.S. governmental agencies operate within the guidelines of separation of church and state, there are sacred symbols in many of the national parks, mainly because the Catholic Church and other religious institutions are a part of the nation's story.

Religious men and women often use nature's bounty as a backdrop for spiritual connection.

Archbishop Paul D. Etienne, an angler and outdoorsman, said he understands people's longing for nature. Newly named to head the Archdiocese of Anchorage, Alaska, he has for the last seven years overseen the Diocese of Cheyenne, Wyoming, which includes Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.

"Nature stirs something in the human soul that helps to reveal the Creator to us," he said. "Through creation we come to know the Creator."

He called national parks a "true treasure of this nation" and nature "God's first book."

"To set aside the natural beauty of this country is very important," he said. "It helps us to understand the nature of humanity."

Yellowstone, the first national park, was established by Congress in 1872. Today, 412 parks covering more than 84 million acres in the U.S. and its territories are managed by the National Park Service.

Each year, more than 300 million people venture into the parks for recreation, relaxation and renewal.

President Woodrow Wilson created the National Park Service in 1916 to protect and regulate all federal parks and monuments. Under the Department of the Interior, the Park Service was charged with the conservation of scenery, wildlife and natural and historic objects and to "provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations."

To meet the needs of Catholic visitors, Catholic clergy and laypeople lead weekend liturgical services inside some of the largest parks -- Yellowstone, Yosemite, Grand Teton, Grand Canyon, Zion and Glacier -- during the busy summer season.

Two Catholic chapels, Sacred Heart in Grand Teton and El Cristo Rey at the south rim of the Grand Canyon, not only offer Mass but are open daily for visits and prayer.

Parishes in park gateway communities, such as St. Mary's in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, also cater to throngs of national park visitors.

A majority of those attending Mass at St. Mary's are visitors of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park, the most visited of the national parks with an estimated 10.7 million people annually, said Carmelite Father Antony Punnackal, pastor of the parish.

"We call this parish 'the parish of the Smokies,' because it's basically for the visiting parishioners," Father Punnackal told CNS.

Though the church has about 200 registered families who live within the parish boundaries, an average of 700 people attends Mass each weekend from the spring through fall, he said.

Ed Willis of Delaware, Ohio, said his trip through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park offered him a spiritual experience while witnessing "the creation of God," a vision that stayed with him as he worshipped at St. Mary's after leaving the park for the day.

"Having this park and church within reach has deepened my relationship with God," he told CNS after attending a Saturday evening Mass in August.

The National Park Service not only preserves America's top wilderness areas, but its cultural and historical places as well, including such sites as the Washington Monument, the White House, the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and Independence Hall.

"Most of the national parks are cultural sites," said Kathy Kupper, spokeswoman for the Park Service. "They tell the story of who we are collectively as a people and as a society."

That story includes the role of Catholicism in the building of the nation.

"There are many connections between the National Park Service and the Catholic Church," Kupper told CNS. "Perhaps the most famous Catholic Church association is at the San Antonio Missions."

Established as a national historical park in 1978, it includes Concepcion, San Jose, San Juan and Espada missions and represents a unique collaboration between the park service and the church. The Park Service maintains mission buildings, landscapes and visitor centers, while the Archdiocese of San Antonio cares for the mission churches and oversees religious services. Visitors can learn about Spanish Colonial Texas and also attend Mass in the still active missions.

In the mix of national historical parks and monuments, are those that tell the stories of some prominent Catholics.

-- Kalaupapa National Historical Park in Molokai, Hawaii, a memorial to the secluded settlement of people banished from their homes for having Hansen's disease (leprosy), tells the story of the community and those who served as its caregivers, including St. Damien of Molokai (Father Damien De Veuster) and St. Marianne of Molokai (Mother Marianne Cope).

-- The John Fitzgerald Kennedy National Historic Site in Brookline, Massachusetts, is the Catholic president's birthplace and boyhood home. A reproduction of the baptismal gown worn by JFK and his siblings is among the religious items on display. (The original gown is retained in storage for preservation.)

-- Tumacacori National Historical Park south of Tucson, Arizona, contains the ruins of a mission founded by Jesuit Father Eusebio Francisco Kino in 1691. The park imparts the accounts of European missionaries, settlers and soldiers and the native O'odham, Apache and Yaqui people they met in their explorations and ministry.

-- Cesar E. Chavez National Monument, located northeast of Keene, California, is the home and burial place of the Latino labor leader and civil rights activist. With the rallying call "Si, se puede!" ("Yes, we can!"), his movement led to better working conditions and higher wages for farm workers. The monument is part of the Chavez property known as Nuestra Senora Reina de la Paz (Our Lady Queen of Peace).

The National Park Service also manages the National Register of Historic Places, which includes more than 400 Catholic churches. Among them are the California missions established by Spanish Franciscan missionary St. Junipero Serra.

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