Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) The Cardinal Secretary of State, Pietro Parolin, under the mandate of Pope Francis, has approved new Regulations for the Medical Board of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints.

The Regulations were published on Friday, signed by Cardinal Angelo Amato, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, and Archbishop Marcello Bartolucci, secretary of the same dicastery.

In a brief introduction it is explained that the miracle required for the beatification of Venerable Servants of God and for the canonisation of Blesseds has always been examined with the utmost rigour. Already in medieval times consultation was sought from medical experts for whom, on 17 September 1743, a specific Order was created by Benedict XIV. More recently, Pious XII instituted, at the Congregation of Sacred Rites, on 20 October 1948, a Commission of Doctors to which he added, on 15 December 1948 a special Medical Council.

On 10 July 1959 John XXIII unified these two bodies to form a Medical Board, approved by the Regulation. In the light of new demands and on the basis of the Apostolic Consultation Sacra Rituum Congregatio of 8 May 1969, a further revision of the provisions of the Regulation was undertaken, and approved by Paul VI on 23 April 1976.

The promulgation of John Paul II’s Apostolic Constitution Divinus perfectionis Magister on 25 January 1983 and the experience of recent years on the part of this Congregation have demonstrated the need to further update the Regulation of the Medical Board. To this end, revised provisions of the Regulation of the Medical Board of the Congregation for the Causes of Series have been drafted.

The current text, explains Archbishop Bartolucci, “is inspired by the previous Regulation approved by Paul VI on 23 April 1976 and, aside from the linguistic and procedural updating, introduces some new elements, such as: the qualified majority, to proceed ad ulteriora to the examination of a presumed miracle, is at least 5/7 or 4/6; the case cannot be re-examined more than three times; for the re-examination of the presumed miracle a Board of nine members is required; the mandate of the president of the Board can be renewed only once (five years, plus another five year term); all those who are occupied with a presumed miracle (promoters of the cause, tribunal, postulators, experts, officials of the Dicastery) are held to secrecy; remuneration for experts shall be paid only via bank transfer; and the under-secretary shall perform for miracles the functions that the Apostolic Constitution Divinus perfectionis Magister attributes to the Relator.”

“The purpose of the Regulation can be none other than the good of the Causes, which can never neglect the historical and scientific truth of the alleged miracles. Just as it is necessary for the legal checks to be complete, convergent and reliable, it is also necessary that their study be performed with serenity, objectivity and sure competence by highly specialised medical experts and then, at a different level, by the Congress of theological consulters and by the Session of cardinals and bishops, eventually reaching the decisive approval of the Holy Father, who has the exclusive competence of acknowledging an extraordinary event as a true miracle. This Regulation obviously concerns only the good functioning of the Medical Board, whose task appears increasingly delicate, demanding and, thanks be to God, appreciated both inside and outside the Church.”

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(Vatican Radio) Catholic and Orthodox theologians have reached agreement on a new joint  document entitled "Synodality and Primacy During the First Millennium: Towards a Common Understanding in Service to the Unity of the Church". The announcement was made at the conclusion of a plenary session of the Joint International Commission for Theological Dialogue between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches which took place in the Italian town of Chieti from September 15th to 22nd.

Mgr Andrea Palmieri, undersecretary of the Pontifical Council for Christian Unity, told Vatican Radio the new agreement is the result of a long process which began with the so-called Ravenna document, published in 2007 on the role of primacy in the early Church. The new document looks closely at the relationship between the primacy exercised by the bishop of Rome and other Church leaders, he said, and can therefore point to ways of “resolving problems still existing between Catholics and Orthodox today”.

This document, Mgr Palmieri said, “opens the way” to a new phase of the dialogue but does not clearly resolve all the issues on the table. A note on the website of the Moscow Patriarchate, said consensus was reached, even though the Georgian Orthodox Church "disagreed with the individual paragraphs" of the document. The Georgian objections, it said, are contained in a note in the final communiqué adopted by the plenary session.

No agreement was reached in Chieti about the focus of the next plenary assembly which is due to be held in two years’ time in a predominantly Orthodox country.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent a message marking the fortieth anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Quilmes in Argentina.

“I know that you are preparing enthusiastically for this anniversary,  and I join you in thanksgiving to God for the gifts received from His divine goodness,” – Pope Francis wrote to Bishop Carlos José Tissera – “He has remained faithful, giving you shepherds, from the first bishop, Jorge Novak, to this day; many priests and consecrated persons have given their lives to make Christ present among you. This fills me with joy.”

Pope Francis said he urged the people of the Diocese to be attentive to the Lord “passing before them,” and to help Him present in those who are “oppressed, exploited, disillusioned, sick, or suffering because of any other needs.”

Pope Francis also sent a message to the Diocese of San Carlos de Bariloche to mark the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the Argentinian town, Ingeniero Jacobacci.

Noting the damage to the town once caused by the Puyehue volcano in nearby Chile, Pope Francis said “after the ashes came the cloud of solidarity and a renewed effort to move forward,” and he noted the “creative solidarity” expressed by the town’s citizens.

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The untold atrocities that Christians in eastern India’s Odisha state were subjected to in 2008, are the result of careful planning by Hindu nationalist groups of the "Sangh Parivar" network at the highest level, an Indian journalist and rights activist told the media on Thursday, alleging illiterate masses of militants were manipulated by propaganda and incited to kill.  Thanks to the investigation carried out by Anto Akkara, "one can rewrite the history of Kandhamal", the district in Odisha where the atrocities were concentrated. 

Violence rained down on ‎Christians ‎with ‎untold savagery, with Hindu extremists ‎blaming the August 23, ‎‎2008 assassination of ‎Hindu leader ‎Swami Saraswati Laxmanananda on Christians, ‎despite Maoist rebels ‎claiming the murder. ‎ Seven innocent Christian men were sentenced to life imprisonment in 2013 over the murder. Presenting his latest investigative book entitled: "Who killed Swami Laxmanananda ?" at a press conference in Odisha capital, Bhubaneshwar on Sept. 22, Akkara said, “it is a disgrace for the nation and the judiciary that seven innocent Christians are in prison for a crime they did not commit".   Akkara denounced the sentence "without any proof" as an authentic "travesty of justice". The Supreme Court has yet to set a date for the appeal, "but the alleged Christian conspiracy against Hindus is totally unfounded", noted the journalist. 

Akkara explained how the anti-Christian violence was orchestrated to pave the way for the victory of Hindu nationalist groups and the BJP in the 2009 elections, which was ultimately won by the Congress Party.  Akkara also lamented that the National Commission for Human Rights has not even issued a statement on Kandhamal in eight years.  He said that the "seven innocent Christians in prison are a stain on the judicial system of the country", and "Kandhamal remains a blot on the face of Odisha and Indian secularism".

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Amid unprecedented public outrage over its handling of a child abuse case, Myanmar's National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) is facing scrutiny from the government after the office of President U-tin Chaw (Htin Kyaw)  said it was reviewing its actions. Lawyers, activists and politicians are calling for commission members to stand down after they allegedly failed in their duty when told about the abuse of two girls employed at a tailor shop in Yangon, the commercial capital. The girls, aged 16 and 17, told reporters they were held against their will for five years and denied wages. Photographs showed they had suffered burns and their arms were lined with scars from knife wounds.

The office of President Htin Kyaw - who was nominated by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi following her party's election victory in November - said it was monitoring the case.    The commission is the main organisation addressing the rights abuses that monitoring groups still frequently report in Myanmar.  Suu Kyi addressed the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday for the first time as the country's de facto leader, affirming her government's "faith in fundamental human rights".  The case has also drawn criticism of the police, who failed to act for some three months after a reporter tipped them off about the case, the commission has said.    When the reporter went to the commission, its response was to negotiate a financial settlement, allowing the suspected abusers to escape prosecution by paying about $4,000 to the victims and their families.  (Source: Reuters)

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Washington D.C., Sep 23, 2016 / 06:56 am (CNA/EWTN News).- New clarifications about Department of Veterans Affairs rules have resolved a dispute about religious Christmas carols, gifts and displays in veterans’ hospitals, a chaplains’ group has said.

“No one should try to water down Christmas for our veterans just because they object to any religious references or items. I am most grateful that the VA has clarified their policy prior to the upcoming holidays,” Chaplain Ron Crews, a retired Army Reserve colonel, said Sept. 21.

The chaplain is executive director of Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty, a group of Protestant Christian organizations and ministries that provide over 2,600 chaplains for the U.S. military.

“This should make clear that churches may sing Christmas carols and distribute Christmas cards at VA hospitals,” Chaplain Crews continued. “The guidelines state that hospital administrators may allow this and provide reasonable guidance as to where displays may be set up and where and how long a church choir may sing.”

 He said the new policy “should put a stop to those organizations that complain without basis about any mention of faith in VA facilities.”

The Veterans Affairs department had attracted controversy for some hospital policies applied at Christmastime.

In December 2013, A Veterans’ Affairs hospital in Georgia barred high school Christmas carolers from singing religious songs. The hospital required them to sing from a list of 12 Christmas songs its pastoral service deemed appropriate. The ban was enacted on the grounds that each veteran had the right to be protected from unwelcomed religious material.

The new guidance says that once a director allows holiday singing in a designated location, the department “must remain neutral regarding the views expressed by the group or individual generally or in its holiday songs.”

The guidance says that Veterans Health Administration facilities may receive cards and gifts with religious messages for distributions to patients and residence in accordance with their individual preferences.

It also allows veterans’ groups to set up displays with religious items on VA property.

 

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IMAGE: CNS photo/courtesy Bright Stars

By Rhina Guidos

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- When he was a child, Bassem Hazboun loved helping his mother prepare French delicacies in their Bethlehem kitchen. But it was his father who kept trying to steer him to study engineering as he reached his teens.

"You don't need this," his father said when Hazboun told him he wanted to take a cooking course. But the passion he found while cooking by this mother's side never left.

"My food is my identity," said Hazboun, a Catholic Palestinian who traveled in September from his native Bethlehem in the West Bank to showcase food from his homeland to various U.S. cities, including Washington and Connecticut, part of the "Room for Hope" festival. The festival aims to raise money for scholarships to help youth in the Holy Land study music, dance, cooking and other arts.

Chef Hazboun, 39, studied at Bethlehem University, a Catholic university in the Holy Land, and is the head of the culinary arts program at Dar al-Kalima University's College of Arts and Culture in Bethlehem, which helps youth in the Holy Land hone skills in arts and culture.

Hazboun said food from the Holy Land is in a way unique for Christians because some of it hails from biblical times. Sometimes he prepares biblical menus, he said, for those who arrive in the Holy Land for religious pilgrimages. This may mean a menu that includes a lentil soup, a dish of lamb and yogurt, too. Food from the Holy Land also features lots of olives, which are abundant in the region, he said, and spices you won't find elsewhere.

"All the foods are special," he told Catholic News Service.

In the U.S., Hazboun did several public food demonstrations and also cooked large-scale dinners so others could learn about the richness of food from the Holy Land. He prepared "musakhan," a Palestinian roasted chicken dish served with onions, pine nuts and spices over flatbread; "maqluba," which is "upside-down rice, meat and vegetables"; "mansaf," lamb with yogurt sauce served with flatbread and rice; and 14 types of Arabic salads.

It's important for him, he said, to help his students develop a love for the food of their region and to see something positive about their identity as Palestinians through the craft. It's a love that many of them can share with others and can also allow them to stay in the Holy Land, where work for Palestinians is scarce. Luckily, with tourism, many of them are able to find jobs at restaurants in Bethlehem, he said.

"Sometimes I visit the restaurant and they feed me good," said Hazboun.

Beth Nelson Chase, executive director of Bright Stars Bethlehem in the U.S., the nonprofit that sponsored the festival, said programs such as the ones chef Hazboun teaches in Bethlehem help students learn skills that are useful for the economy of their homelands, where coming across a job can sometimes prove difficult.

"It gives people hope," Chase said.

The Rev. Mitri Raheb, a Lutheran pastor and president of Bright Stars of Bethlehem, said in a statement that the events focusing on the arts and food of the Holy Land were part of the mission of building cultural bridges "important for both the U.S. and Palestine."

"We are excited to expose our friends in the U.S. to Palestinian culture and art," he said.

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Follow Guidos on Twitter: @CNS_Rhina.

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In an effort to ensure transparency as well as historical and scientific accuracy, Pope Francis has approved revised norms for the Congregation for Saints' Causes regarding medical consultations on healings alleged to be miracles.

Among the regulations published by the Vatican Sept. 23 was the requirement that the medical panel have a quorum of six experts and that a two-thirds majority is needed to approve a statement declaring a healing has no natural or scientific explanation.

Previously, the declaration -- a key step in a pope's recognition of a miracle attributed to the intercession of a candidate for sainthood -- required the approval of a simple majority of the consultation team members present.

"The purpose of the regulation is for the good of the (saints') causes, which can never be separated from the historical and scientific truth of the alleged miracles," Archbishop Marcello Bartolucci, secretary of the congregation, said in a Sept. 23 statement.

Archbishop Bartolucci presided over a seven-member commission that began revising the regulations in September 2015 to update the norms established by St. John Paul II in 1983. Except in the case of martyrs, in general two miracles are needed for a person to be declared a saint -- one for beatification and the second for canonization.

The new regulations, which were approved with the pope's mandate Aug. 24 by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, also state that an alleged miracle "cannot be re-examined more than three times."

For each alleged miracle, the Medical Consultation team is comprised of a maximum of seven experts; when the promoter of a cause appeals a negative judgment, a new team of physicians and medical experts must be appointed, the new norms say. The members of each consultation will remain unknown to the postulator, as the promotor of the specific cause called.

A presumed miracle is first reviewed by two medical experts within the congregation, and with their recommendation is then sent to the Medical Consultation team.

While the medical experts receive compensation for their work, the new regulations state that they will only be paid through wire transfer. Prior to the approval of the new norms, experts were given the option to receive cash payments for their work.

Archbishop Bartolucci said the regulations will further ensure that the consultations will be carried out with "serenity, objectivity and complete security" by the medical experts.

"This regulation obviously concerns only the proper functioning of the Medical Consultation, whose task is always more delicate, demanding and, thank God, appreciated inside and outside the church," he said.

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Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.

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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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