Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) Archbishop Joseph W. Tobin is asking for prayers as he prepares to be installed in the College of Cardinals in November.

The Archbishop of Indianapolis is one of the 17 nominated by Pope Francis to become a new Cardinal during the Consistory on 19 November in St. Peter’s Basilica.

A statement was released immediately after the announcement on Sunday by the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

The statement also carries a message from the Archbishop himself:

“Early this morning I learned that Pope Francis had appointed me to the College of Cardinals. I will formally be installed in that service in a ceremony in Rome next month. I will continue as the Archbishop of Indianapolis. I have come to love deeply the people of the Catholic communities of central and southern Indiana and count as a precious blessing the numerous friendships I have with civic and religious leaders throughout the state. I ask all people of faith to pray for me. I hope this new responsibility will make me a better servant of all Hoosiers. I also offer my prayers and support to the other Cardinals-elect, especially Archbishop Blase Cupich of Chicago and Archbishop Kevin Farrell, of Dallas, who was recently appointed to a new position in Rome.”

Please find below a biography of Cardinal-designate Joseph W. Tobin:

The Most Reverend Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., was appointed Archbishop of Indianapolis by Pope Benedict XVI on October 18, 2012.

Before his appointment as Archbishop of Indianapolis, Archbishop Tobin served as the Archbishop Secretary of the Vatican Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Archbishop Tobin, a Redemptorist priest, is a native of Detroit. He was born May 3, 1952 and is the oldest of 13 children. He was educated at Catholic schools. He studied at Holy Redeemer College in Waterford, Wis., where he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy in 1975. He also studied at Mount Saint Alphonsus Seminary in Esopus, N.Y., where he received a master’s degree in religious education in 1977 and a master of divinity degree in 1979.

Archbishop Tobin professed perpetual vows as a member of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (the Redemptorists) on August 21, 1976 and was ordained a priest on June 1, 1978. He was ordained an archbishop on October 9, 2010 in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome following his appointment on August 2, 2010 by Pope Benedict as the Archbishop Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

As Archbishop Secretary of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Archbishop Tobin worked in the Vatican to oversee the more than 1 million men and women in the world’s religious orders.

Archbishop Tobin has served as a parish priest in the inner city in Detroit and Chicago. As associate pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish in Detroit from 1979 to 1984, Father Tobin was responsible for ministering to the Hispanic community. 
He served as pastor of Holy Redeemer Parish from 1984 to 1990. He then served as pastor of St. Alphonsus Parish in Chicago from July 1990 until October 1991.
Archbishop Tobin served as General Consultor of the Redemptorist congregation from 1991 to 1997 and as its Superior General from 1997 to 2009. He was appointed by the Pope to five Synods of Bishops in 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005 and 2008.

Archbishop Tobin has served as the Co-Chairman of the North American Orthodox-Catholic Theological Consultation since June 2013. He has also been a member of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Sub-committee on the Church in Africa since June 2013. He is the chairmen-elect of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations and will become chairman following the USCCB’s fall general assembly in 2016.

On March 29, 2014, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Tobin a member of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

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(Vatican Radio) The recently appointed Prefect for the Pontifical Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life is one of the 17 men who will receive a red hat in the Vatican during the next Consistory.

Bishop Kevin J. Farrell was nominated by Pope Francis to become a new Cardinal during the Consistory on 19 November in St. Peter’s Basilica.

Bishop Farrell just left Dallas on October 6th to take up residence in Rome where he will serve as the new Prefect for the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.  He had served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Dallas since March of 2007.
 
Immediately after learning the news of his appointment, Bishop Farrell said in a statement:

“I am humbled by the news this morning that our Holy Father Pope Francis has named me to the College of Cardinals. I ask all in the Diocese of Dallas to please pray for me that I may to the best of my ability fulfill this sacred duty to our Church.”
 
Meanwhile, the Apostolic Administrator in the Diocese of Dallas, Bishop Greg Kelly announced the news to the priests of the Diocese saying, “It is with great joy that I share the news that Bishop Farrell will be made a cardinal in the next Vatican consistory on November 19, 2016.  Please pray for him during this important moment in his priesthood and let us once again thank God for his nine years of service here with us.”

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(Vatican Radio) One of the first names Pope Francis pronounced when he announced 17 new cardinals was that of the Apostolic Nuncio in Damascus, Archbishop Mario Zenari, who - even after the Consistory of 19 November – will stay in his current post so he can continue to be close to the suffering people of Syria.

Cardinal designate Zenari spoke to Vatican Radio soon after learning of his nomination, his voice trembling with emotion:

“For me it was an emotional moment… It was a surprise! I sincerely thank the Holy Father, because this purple (gown) is for Syria, for the victims of Syria, for all those who suffer because of this terrible war. It’s for these people, for the many children who are suffering, for the many poor people who are paying the consequences of this tremendous conflict” he said.

Zenari says Pope Francis pronounces very strong messages regarding the situation in Syria and he says – in this case – by creating a Cardinal who is a Nuncio in the country, he is saying something very strong: “it is almost a warning”.

Zenari, who for many years has committed himself to seeking peace for the ravaged nation describes himself as a simple and humble person. He hopes – he says – that this nomination by Pope Francis is received as a signal and “used as much as possible”. 

He says his commitment continues “encouraged and fortified” by the Pope’s support:

“This sign of closeness on the part of the Pope will most certainly produce some benefits as I pursue my mission” he said. 

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Cardinal Tagle called for ‘societal change that rejects violence’  during a thanksgiving Mass for the recent canonization of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta at the Manila Cathedral on Friday.

The Cardinal said peaceful efforts for the transformation of society must be made as essential demands of faith and the Gospel. “Let us show the so-called revolution of love… not the revolution through weapons and violence but a revolution for change caused by love,” said the prelate.

Doing acts of mercy, such as helping the poor or feeding the hungry, should not be treated as "extracurricular activities," said Cardinal Tagle.  But our faith life won't be complete if we don't work for the restoration of justice, if we don't love and show compassion to the poor  he added.

He said many people today are banking on the power of money, influence, and violence, forgetting “faith” as a source of social change. To live the faith, he said, people must perform works of mercy.

He emphasized that faith finds expression in concrete everyday actions meant to help others, especially the poor. “Let us not dismiss our faith. Let’s take Jesus and His love seriously,” said Cardinal Tagle.

“Love has the force for change. That’s what Jesus and the saints have been doing,” he added.

Tagle also called on the faithful to imitate Mother Teresa who made faith and works of mercy the guide of her life.

“Look at this power of faith,” he said. (CBCPNews)

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(Vatican Radio) Germany's police say a Syrian man who was detained after a two-day manhunt appears to have links to Islamic State group and was preparing a major attack. The arrest came amid concerns in other European Union member states such as Hungary over a perceived lack of coordination between counter terrorism authorities. 

Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:

German officials say key suspect Jaber al-Bakr, who arrived in Germany as a refugee, was detained in a flat in the eastern city of Leipzig early on Monday. The man had reportedly sought help from another Syrian, who alerted police after letting al-Bakr sleep at his flat. 

The hunt began after police found very volatile explosives at al-Bakr's flat in Chemnitz, south of Leipzig. In the initial raid in Chemnitz early on Saturday, 22-year-old al-Bakr evaded capture as officers fired a warning shot in a botched attempt to stop him.

Yet, police managed to detain three other suspects in connection with a bomb plot allegedly planned by al-Bakr prompting evacuations, explained Tom Bernhardt, press spokesperson for the Saxony criminal investigation office. "It is necessary to mention that we have evacuated people in the area," he added. 

"The cordoned-off area is so wide that we can almost rule out a threat to the local population, which has co-operated with the police."

MASSIVE ATTACK 

With the key suspect now also in custody, police hope to learn more about what could have been a massive attack on German soil. Police found a detonator, explosives and a kilo of chemicals in the Chemnitz flat, and said an explosives belt may have been nearly ready. Similar explosive were used in the deadly jihadist attacks in Paris last year and Brussels in March.

However Hungary has suggested that more coordination is needed between different European authorities to avoid attacks in the EU. The Hungarian Anti-Terrorism Center (TEK) said it had eight telephone numbers that were used by terrorists involved in bombings in Brussels and Paris. Six of these numbers were activated by SIM cards for mobile phones that were purchased in the name of a homeless person. 

Hungarian media reported some 200,000 SIM cards were bought but it remained unclear how many had been taken by militants.  

But TEK claimed  that  French  and  Belgian authorities  had   not   even noted  suspicious  calls  from  Hungarian  telephone  numbers and had not informed their Hungarian counterparts about these suspicion activities.

TEK says 14 of the terrorists  who participated in recent attacks in Paris in November last year which killed at least 130 people and in Brussels in March that claimed the lives of 32 people from around the world. Hungarian authorities also claim that 14 terror suspects traveled through Hungary between the spring and autumn of 2015.

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Vatican City, Oct 10, 2016 / 11:40 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In this transitory and often difficult life, it is necessary to have Christ as the center of everything you do, working to increase your own faith in Jesus and the faith of those you serve, Pope Francis said Monday.

“Contemplating the life of Jesus and looking at our life as pilgrims in this world with so many challenges, we feel the need of a profound conversion and the urgency of reviving faith in Him,” he said.

In a private audience Oct. 10 with members of the Society of the Catholic Apostolate – also called Pallottines after their founder St. Vincent Pallotti – the Holy Father spoke about how we can only have love for our neighbor if we have faith in Jesus first.

“Every day we are called to renew our trust in Christ and his life to be inspired to fulfill our mission,” he said.

Quoting the apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, the Pope said this is because “Jesus is the first and greatest evangelizer. In any form of evangelism it is always the primacy of God, who wanted to call us to collaborate with him and inspire us with the power of his Spirit.”

The Society is part of the Union of the Catholic Apostolate, which was founded by the Roman priest St. Vincent Pallotti in 1835. Its charism is to assist all people in finding and living out their apostolic vocation in life.

The Pallottines, made up of around 2,300 priests and brothers, can be found in more than 40 countries. Their motto is taken from the words of St. Paul in his second letter to the Corinthians: “the love of Christ urges us.”

Pope Francis told the members of the Society that their founder, St. Vincent Pallotti, “has become an enlightening and inspiring beacon in the Church.”

“In this Holy Year of Mercy, I like to remember that Vincent Pallotti was blessed to recognize that Jesus is the Apostle of the Father, rich in mercy and full of mercy, he is the one who fulfills its mission by revealing to everyone the tender love and the infinite mercy of the Father.”

The mystery of the fatherhood of God, the Pope noted, is what opens us all up to the Father’s love and compassion. And this takes on special significance in the current time, when we are constantly encountering scenes of violence, a lack of mercy and “hardened and desolate hearts.”  

“So we need to remind ourselves of that Father, whose heart thinks of all and desires the salvation of every man,” he said.

The Pope pointed out how the Society’s founder liked to say that the apostolate call is not reserved for some, but is addressed to everyone, “regardless of their status, their condition, their profession, their luck.”

Calling them to renew their vigor for reawakening the faith and rekindling charity, especially among the materially and spiritually poor, Pope Francis reminded those present that they are supported by the example of their brothers, who were “authentic witnesses of the Gospel.”

In 2005, Pope Francis, then-Cardinal Bergoglio, opened the causes for sainthood for three Pallottine priests and two seminarians who were brutally beaten and shot to death on July 4th, 1976.

Pope Francis sent a message to Argentina July 17 for a Mass marking the 40th anniversary of the death of Servants of God Alfredo Leaden, Pedro Duffau, Alfredo Kelly, Salvador Barbeito Doval and Emilio Barletti.

“I knew Father Alfie Kelly personally, a priest who thought only of God and, as you know, I followed his tragedy with a sense of faith, as this is the key to his life, and also to his death,” Francis wrote.

Pope Francis was Kelly’s spiritual director and confessor at the time of his death.

Speaking to the Pallottines, Francis said it is their job to help those in their ministry to “rediscover the immense love of God” in their lives.

“I encourage you to continue with joy and hope your path, committing yourselves with all your heart and with all your strength, so that the charism of your Founder may bear abundant fruit also in our time.”

 

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