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Newark, N.J., Sep 22, 2016 / 11:06 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Archbishop emeritus Peter Leo Gerety of Newark, the oldest Catholic bishop in the world, passed away Sept. 20 at the age of 104 – 77 years after his ordination as a priest and after 50 years as a bishop.

“Today this local Church of Newark mourns a remarkable Churchman whose love for the people of God was always strong and ever-growing,” Archbishop John J. Myers of Newark said.

“He served as shepherd of this great Archdiocese during a time of spiritual reawakening in the years after the Second Vatican Council, and a time of deep financial difficulties. He very carefully led the Church, her people and institutions through those challenges,” Archbishop Myers continued.

The archbishop was born July 19, 1912 in Sheldon, Conn. He was the eldest of nine sons of New Jersey natives Peter L. and Charlotte Daly Gerety.

He grew up in Shelton and attended public schools. He won scholastic honors and captained the football team.

Gerety went on to work for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the New Jersey Transportation Department before entering St. Thomas Seminary in Bloomfield, Conn. He was sent abroad to study at St. Sulpice Seminary in Issy, France. On June 29, 1939 he was ordained a priest at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris for service in the Archdiocese of Hartford.

He served as a priest in the archdiocese for 27 years, mostly in New Haven. He especially focused on the needs of the black Catholic community. He founded the St. Martin de Porres Center, an interracial social and religious center. In 1956, the center became St. Martin de Porres Parish, with Fr. Gerety as its pastor.

The priest was an active member of the civil rights movement and took part in the March on Washington led by Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.  He founded the New Haven chapter of the Urban League. He served on the Connecticut State Committee on Race and Religion and the National Catholic Conference on Interracial Justice.

In 1963, Pope Paul VI named Fr. Gerety a monsignor. In March 1966, the Pope named him Coadjutor Bishop of Portland, Maine. His episcopal ordination took place June 1, 1966 and he became Bishop of Portland in 1969 when his predecessor, Bishop Daniel J. Feeney, passed away.

Paul VI then named him Archbishop of Newark in 1974.

As Archbishop of Newark, he worked on outreach to Latin American and Black Catholic communities. As part of his efforts in adult faith formation, he established Renew International in 1978.  His work also included putting the archdiocese on a stable financial footing.

Msgr. Franklyn Casale, now the president of St. Thomas University in Florida, served Archbishop Gerety as secretary, chancellor and vicar general of the Newark archdiocese.

“He saw the priesthood as a gift and that propelled his church leadership. He needed to share that gift,” Msgr. Casale told the New Haven Register. He said the archbishop “empowered the laity to take its part in the Church.”

Archbishop Gerety served on many committees of the U.S. bishops’ conference. He also worked with the Call to Action Committee, formed in 1976 during the American bicentennial to consider the needs of the Church. Call to Action was later notoriously co-opted by activists who campaigned against Catholic teaching.

He retired from active ministry in 1986 and was succeeded by Archbishop Theodore McCarrick, who would become Archbishop of Washington and a cardinal.

As Archbishop emeritus, Gerety officiated at baptisms, confirmations and other events as long as his health allowed. He partnered with Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University to establish The Archbishop Gerety Fund for Ecclesiastical History. The fund supports studies of Catholic Church history in the U.S.

Archbishop Gerety passed away in the care of the Little Sisters of the Poor at St. Joseph’s Home for the Elderly in Totowa, N.J.  

He is survived by numerous nephews and nieces.   

Newark’s Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart will receive the archbishop’s body at 3 p.m. on Sunday, followed by a viewing of the body. There will be another viewing period from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday, with a Mass of Christian Burial celebrated at the cathedral at 3 p.m..

With the archbishop’s death, Archbishop Bernardino Piñera Carvallo of Chile, age 101, is now the oldest living bishop, according to the website Catholic Hierarchy.

 

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Washington D.C., Sep 22, 2016 / 03:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has released a list of 33 prominent conservative Catholic advisers for his campaign, according to reports from Philly.com, a website of The Inquirer and Daily News.

The announcement comes in the midst of a highly contentious election season and at a time when Trump is struggling in the polls among Catholic voters, according to some reports.

Among the released names of advisers are former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, who ran for president in 2012 and 2016. When he left the race in February, Santorum originally endorsed Sen. Marco Rubio. When Rubio left the race in March, Santorum endorsed Trump, citing the vacant Supreme Court seat as a key reason.

Another key person reported as a new Catholic adviser for Trump is Joseph Cella, founder of the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast who reportedly will be the chief liaison to the Trump campaign for Catholic affairs.

Notably, Cella is a signatory of “An Appeal to Our Fellow Catholics”, an open letter written by George Weigel and Robert P. George in March during the primaries and signed by more than 30 Catholic intellectual and readers, including Robert George, law professor at Princeton University; Mary Rice Hasson, director of the Catholic Women’s Forum at the Ethics and Public Policy Center; and Thomas Farr, director of the Religious Freedom Project at Georgetown University.

The letter denounced Trump as a man “manifestly unfit to be president of the United States” who has “driven our politics down to new levels of vulgarity.” Citing Trump’s ethnic prejudices, promises to punish the families of terrorists, and his sudden about-face on pro-life issues, among other issues, the signatories pleaded with Catholics not to vote for Trump in the primaries.

The new list of Trump’s Catholic advisers also reportedly includes Tom Monaghan of Michigan, founder of Domino’s Pizza and the Ave Maria University; Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the anti-abortion group Susan B. Anthony List; Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback; Matt Schlapp, president of the American Conservative Union; former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating (R); U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, Republican of Ohio; Jim Nicholson, former Republican national chairman, secretary of veterans affairs and ambassador to the Vatican; and longtime conservative leader Richard Viguerie.

The election season has thus far been a tumultuous one for Catholics, as leaders such as Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia have noted.

“Only God knows the human heart, so I presume that both major candidates for the White House this year intend well and have a reasonable level of personal decency behind their public images. But I also believe that each candidate is very bad news for our country, though in different ways,” he said at the University of Notre Dame earlier this month.

“One candidate, in the view of a lot of people, is a belligerent demagogue with an impulse control problem. And the other, also in the view of a lot of people, is a criminal liar, uniquely rich in stale ideas and bad priorities,” he added.

Many Catholic leaders continue to debate whether Catholics can in good conscience vote for Trump, following the voting guidelines laid out by the United States Bishops.

The first debate between Trump and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton will take place on Monday September 26 at Hofstra University on Long Island in New York.

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New York City, N.Y., Sep 22, 2016 / 03:09 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- While genocide, war crimes, and violence against humanity continue to plague individuals across the globe, Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin called for the protection of victims of atrocities and urged both religious leaders and national authorities to step up preventive measures.

“In the face of these grave crimes, there exists a grave responsibility, first for nation States and then for the international community,” Cardinal Parolin said in a Sept. 20 address.

“It seems entirely appropriate, therefore, to reflect on the responsibility of religious leaders, especially in an ever more interconnected world, to help counter the spread of hatred and violence in the name of religion and to promote more inclusive and peaceful societies,” he continued.

Cardinal Parolin’s words came during a keynote address at the “Upholding the Responsibility to Protect: The Role of Religious Leaders in Preventing Atrocities” event, sponsored by offices of the Holy See and United Nations.

Throughout his speech, Cardinal Parolin drew attention to the popularization of extremism in religion, saying that some religions have been manipulated into becoming a champion for violence, genocide, war crimes, and ethnic cleansing.

While freedom of religion is an “inalienable fundamental human right,” Cardinal Parolin said that the international sphere must reject the restrictive interpretations of religion that condone violence, while also allowing religion to take a stance in the public square. He argued that religion is not the root of atrocities, but rather, that they stem from a quest for power.

“Religions are not the cause of these ills, that result instead from some political, geopolitical, and economic interests, and from the desire for power and domination,” he said.

“All religions aspire to peace,” the cardinal continued, but warned that vicious and misguided use of religion can “lead to conflicts and wars.”

Because of this, Cardinal Parolin urged religious leaders and national authorities to work together in undertaking the heavy responsibility of preventive measures and by condemning the use of religion to promote violence.

“An urgent stance is necessary on the part of religious leaders to condemn without delay all forms of abuse of religion or of religious texts to justify violence and the violation of human dignity carried out in the name of God or a religion,” Cardinal Parolin stated.

He asked religious leaders to shed light on “principles and ethical values written in the human heart by God, known as the natural moral law.” He also encouraged them in their vocations to “carry out and inspire actions aimed at helping the building of societies based on respect for life.”

The cardinal also stated that it is the primary - but not exclusive - duty of national authorities to prevent atrocities by ending the trafficking of arms and affirming the dignity of life. He noted an integral part to their responsibility as leaders also means “refraining from supplying weapons, financing or other assistance to the perpetrators of such crimes.”

Cardinal Parolin additionally pointed to Pope John Paul II’s 1986 meeting in Assisi, Italy, where the belated pope gathered religious leaders from around the world to pray for peace - an event which Pope Francis recently imitated.

Moving forward, Cardinal Parolin noted that “the Holy See will continue to promote both the fundamental moral and juridical principle of the Responsibility to Protect and the right understanding of the social consequences of religion.”

“Let us hope that through the combined efforts of the leaders and believers of all religions and all people of good will, in conjunction with State institutions, based on respect for life and human dignity, and oriented to the good of the human person, it will be possible, one day, to put an end to the atrocities, which for too long have shaken the conscience of humanity, undermined its moral and spiritual fiber and turned people away from the plan of God.”

 

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Vatican City, Sep 22, 2016 / 05:05 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Emphasizing the importance of respect for human dignity, Pope Francis told journalists Thursday that their profession can never be used as a destructive weapon, nor should it be used to nourish fear.

“Certainly criticism is legitimate, and, I would add, necessary, just as is the denunciation of evil, but this must always be done respecting the other, his life, and his affect. Journalism cannot become a 'weapon of destruction' of persons or even nations,” the Pope said Sept. 22 at the Vatican's Clementine Hall.

“Neither must it nourish fear in front of changes or phenomena such as migration forced by war or by hunger.”

He was meeting with Italy's National Council of the Order of Journalists, and he commented that “there are few professions which have such influence on society as does journalism. The journalist has a role of great importance, and at the same time a great responsibility. In a certain sense you write the ‘first draft of history' … introducing persons to the meaning of events.”

While acknowledging the increased role of digital media, which has come at the expense of print journalism and television, the Pope said that “journalists, when they are professional, remain a key pillar, a crucial element for the vitality of a free and pluralistic society.”

Pope Francis reflected on how journalism “can serve for the betterment of the society in which we live,” noting that it is indispensable for everyone “to stop and reflect on what we are doing and how we are doing it … even in the professional life there is a need for this, a bit of time to pause and reflect. Certainly, this is not easy in the realm of journalism, a profession which lives on continuous deadlines and 'expiration dates'. But, at least for a brief moment, let us reflect a bit on the reality of journalism.”

He highlighted loving the truth, living with professionalism, and respecting human dignity as the three key elements in practicing a journalism which serves society.

“To love the truth means not only to affirm, but to live the truth, to bear witness to it in one’s work. To live and work, then, with coherence in respect to the words that are used for an article in the paper or a television service. The question here is not one of being or not being a believer. The question here is being or not being honest with oneself and with others,” he said.

Francis called relationship “the heart of every communication,” noting that “no relationship can stand and endure over time if it is based on dishonesty. I realize that in journalism today – an uninterrupted flow of events recounted 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – it’s not always easy to arrive to the truth, or at least get close to it. Not everything in life is black or white. Even in journalism, one needs to know how to discern between the shades of gray in the events you are called to cover.”

“Political debates, and even many conflicts, are rarely the result of a distinct, clear dynamic in which it is possible to recognise precisely and unequivocally who is wrong and who is right.”

He said that “comparison and conflict are, indeed, born precisely from this difficulty of synthesis between different positions. This is the difficult and at the same time necessary work – we could also say mission – of a journalist: to arrive as close as possible to the truth of the facts and never to say or write what one knows, in their conscience, is not true.”

Turning to his second point, living with professionalism, Pope Francis said this means, “beyond what we can find written in the codes of ethics, to understand, to internalize the profound sense of one’s work.”

“From this arises the necessity of not submitting one’s profession to the logic of partisan interests, be they economic or political.”

The Pope said that “the task of journalism – dare I say, its vocation – is therefore to nurture the social dimension of man, favouring the building of true citizenship.”

Working with professionalism “means not only responding to the preoccupations, while legitimate, of one class, but keeping at heart one of the pillars in the structure of a democratic society,” he said. “We should always reflect that, throughout history, dictatorships – of every orientation and type – have always sought not only to take control of means of communication, but even to impose new rules on the profession of journalism.”

Finally, Pope Francis noted that respect for human dignity is of particular importance in journalism because “even behind the simple account of an event there are feelings, emotions, and, ultimately, the lives of persons.”

He recalled how he often speaks of gossip as a “terrorism” which kills with the tongue. “If this applies to individuals, with family or at work, it applies all the more to journalists, because their voice reaches everyone, and this is a very powerful weapon.”

“Journalism must always respect the dignity of the person. An article is published today and tomorrow it is replaced with another, but the life of a person unjustly defamed can be destroyed forever.”

He added that criticism and the denunciation of evil can be legitimate and, indeed, necessary, but always within a framework of respect for the person.

Neither may journalism “nourish fear in front of changes or phenomena like migration forced by the war or by hunger,” Pope Francis exhorted.

The Pope concluded, saying, “I hope that more and more journalism everywhere is a tool of construction, a factor for the common good, an accelerator of processes of reconciliation; that it may know how to reject the temptation of stirring up confrontation, with language that fans the flames of division, instead favoring the culture of encounter.”

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