Catholic News 2

Chicago, Ill., Sep 1, 2016 / 06:04 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A woman with a dislodged intrauterine device claims she was turned down for removal of the device at a Catholic hospital because her doctor said the procedure went against Catholic rules on contraception.

However, relevant directives from the U.S. bishops do not prevent the removal of contraceptive devices.

Melanie Jones, 28, slipped and fell in her bathroom, dislodging her copper IUD to the point that it needed removal. She visited her doctor at Mercy Medical Group at Dearborn Station, an off-site location of Chicago's Mercy Hospital and Medical Center.

She claims her doctor said she could not remove the IUD due to the hospital’s policy of following the U.S. Catholic bishop’s ethical and religious directives for health care. Jones said the doctor also told her that every other hospital in her network followed the same restrictions.

Distraught, Jones filed a complaint with the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois, and contacted her insurance, after which she was able to find a hospital that removed her IUD five days later.

If the doctor at Mercy did refuse to remove the IUD on grounds of Catholic teaching, the doctor acted in error and did not follow the Catholic bishop’s directives or Mercy Hospital policy, the hospital said in a statement to Rewire.

“Generally, our protocol in caring for a woman with a dislodged or troublesome IUD is to offer to remove it,” the statement said.

Eric Rhodes, senior vice president of administrative and professional services for the hospital, said Mercy was reviewing its education process on Catholic directives for physicians and residents.

“That act [of removing an IUD] in itself does not violate the directives,” Marty Folan, Mercy’s director of mission integration, told Rewire.

The Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services published by the U.S. bishops' conference reaffirm ethical standards for health care and provide authoritative guidance on moral issues facing Catholic health care.

Regarding contraception, the directives state that “Catholic health institutions may not promote or condone contraceptive practices,” but they do not prohibit the removal of long-acting contraceptive devices.

The ACLU has long opposed Catholic hospitals operating according to Catholic teaching. The ACLU and the group the MergerWatch Project co-authored a 2013 report that claimed the growth of Catholic hospitals was a “miscarriage of medicine.”

In 2015, the ACLU sued Trinity Health Corporations, one of the largest Catholic health care operations in America and of which Mercy hospital is a member, for their refusal to perform abortions and tubal ligations. The lawsuit was dismissed.

More recently, a 2016 ACLU report found that one out of every six beds in the country's acute care hospitals is in a hospital with Catholic affiliations and that Catholic hospitals make up 15 percent of the country's hospitals. The report claims that because these hospitals follow Church teaching in regards to reproductive care, they put women at risk.

After news of the recent report broke in May, Marie Hilliard, the director of public policy for the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told the Guardian that if the directives are properly followed, a woman’s life should not be at risk.

“If the directives are properly applied, there should be no compromise of the wellbeing of human beings,” Hilliard said.

CNA contacted Mercy Hospital for comment on this story, but did not receive a response by deadline.

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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Sep 1, 2016 / 08:35 am (CNA).- Making a living is tough in parts of Ethiopia, but a Catholic-run program aims to change that.

“When we first began people said to us that we were wasting our time and we would not be successful but we were not discouraged and continued to strive. Within just a year look at what a different story it has become,” said Addisu Mutturu, a beneficiary of the program.

The program, called Supporting Horn of Africa Resilience, is run under the Ethiopian Catholic Church Social and Development Commission in association with Caritas Ethiopia, the Catholic News Agency for Africa reports.

The program aims to encourage personal savings through small savings groups. It encourages young people to save 20 percent of startup capital costs for small business then helps them raise the rest of the costs. It connects them to a local microfinance institution that can train them on business plans and management based on their situation.

The program has a project in Ethiopia’s Boloso Sore District that helps youth raise seedlings and pays them daily wages as laborers. It especially aims to help women and young people.

Mutturu, who heads the local project team, said the project has extended into poultry production and cattle breeding. It purchased 16 oxen for fattening without taking out a loan.

He recounted the many difficulties he faced after he finished high school and failed to pass the university entrance exam. He could not get a job in his home village, so he moved to the national capital, Addis Ababa, where life was “very difficult.”

He worked as a vendor and a taxi assistant but fell into substance abuse and became a petty thief.

After he returned home, he became a beneficiary of the project. He is working every day and supporting his family’s household.

“I realize that being employed by the government and migrating are not the only means, and if you work hard enough there are many opportunities for making money and growing right in my home village,” he said.

Another participant, Melese Morebo, can now support his family. He said the business group helped develop a collaborative culture to achieve its progress.

Alemitu Alemu, another project beneficiary, failed to finish high school and left home for a job opportunity that never developed. She ended up having to become a peanut vendor.

She returned home with the intention it would be temporary, but the project now provides her a living income and a bit of savings. She no longer needs to worry about poverty and does not see a need to leave home.

“Today is great and tomorrow will be better,” she said.

 

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By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Calling for concrete actions that benefit human life and the environment, Pope Francis proposed adding the care and protection of creation to the traditional list of corporal and spiritual works of mercy.

As a spiritual work of mercy, the pope said, care for creation requires "a grateful contemplation of God's world," while as a corporal work, it calls for "simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness."

The pope reflected on the need for an integral ecology in Christian life in his message for the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, Sept. 1.

The message, titled "Show Mercy to our Common Home," reflects on the day of prayer as an occasion for Christians to "reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation" and to thank God "for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care."

Presenting the pope's message at a news conference Sept. 1, Cardinal Peter Turkson, president of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said the day of prayer follows the example of the Orthodox Church, which initiated the prayer day in 1989.

Pope Francis' message, the cardinal told journalists, calls on Christians to be "honest with ourselves" and acknowledge that "when we hurt the earth, we also hurt the poor" and thus commit "a sin against creation, against the poor and against those who have not yet been born."

"This means that we must examine our consciences and repent. I realize that this is not the way we traditionally think about sin. These are sins, Pope Francis says, that we have not hitherto acknowledged and confessed," Cardinal Turkson said.

In his message, the pope said concern for the planet's future unites religious leaders and organizations and draws attention to "the moral and spiritual crisis" that is at the heart of environmental problems.

"Christians or not, as people of faith and goodwill, we should be united in showing mercy to the earth as our common home and cherishing the world in which we live as a place for sharing and communion," the pope said.

Pollution and global warming, due partly to human activity, he said, has turned the beauty of God's creation into a "polluted wasteland" that impacts the world's poor, who have suffered the brunt of "irresponsible and selfish behavior."

"As an integral ecology emphasizes, human beings are deeply connected with all of creation. When we mistreat nature, we also mistreat human beings," the pope said.

The Year of Mercy, he added, offers Christians an opportunity to experience not only an interior conversion but also an "ecological conversion," one that recognizes "our responsibility to ourselves, our neighbors, creation and the Creator."

The first step on the path of conversion is to reflect on the harm done to creation by lifestyles inspired by "a distorted culture of prosperity," which brings about a "disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary," he said.

Ecological conversion, the pope said, requires a serious examination of conscience, recognizing one's sins "against the Creator, against creation and against our brothers and sisters," and sincere repentance.

Sincere conversion and repentance are shown by a firm resolve to change course and bring about concrete actions that respect creation, such as energy conservation, recycling and caring concern for others.

"We must not think that these efforts are too small to improve our world. They call for a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread and encourage a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle," he wrote.

A change of course also requires governments to take steps to protect the environment. While praising the adoption of the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals, Pope Francis called on world leaders to honor their commitments in halting the rise of global temperatures and on citizens to hold them accountable and "advocate for even more ambitious goals."

Pope Francis said that adding care for creation to the corporal and spiritual works of mercy acknowledges human life and everything that surrounds it as "an object of mercy."

"In our rapidly changing and increasingly globalized world, many new forms of poverty are appearing," Pope Francis said. "In response to them, we need to be creative in developing new and practical forms of charitable outreach as concrete expressions of the way of mercy."

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Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has issued a Message to mark the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Taken from the Extraordinary Jubilee Year and his encyclical letter, Laudato si’, the theme of the Holy Father’ Message is: Show mercy to our common home.

Below, please find the full text

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MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS
POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE CELEBRATION OF THE 
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE CARE OF CREATION
1 SEPTEMBER 2016

Show Mercy to our Common Home

United with our Orthodox brothers and sisters, and with the support of other Churches and Christian communities, the Catholic Church today marks the “World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation”. This Day offers “individual believers and communities a fitting opportunity to reaffirm their personal vocation to be stewards of creation, to thank God for the wonderful handiwork which he has entrusted to our care, and to implore his help for the protection of creation as well as his pardon for the sins committed against the world in which we live.” ^[1]

It is most encouraging that concern for the future of our planet is shared by the Churches and Christian communities, together with other religions. Indeed, in past decades numerous efforts have been made by religious leaders and organizations to call public attention to the dangers of an irresponsible exploitation of our planet. Here I would mention Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople who, like his predecessor Patriarch Dimitrios, has long spoken out against the sin of harming creation and has drawn attention to the moral and spiritual crisis at the root of environmental problems. In response to a growing concern for the integrity of creation, the Third European Ecumenical Assembly in Sibiu in 2007 proposed celebrating a “Time for Creation” during the five weeks between 1 September (the Orthodox commemoration of God’s creation) and 4 October (the commemoration of Francis of Assisi in the Catholic Church and some other Western traditions). This initiative, supported by the World Council of Churches, has since inspired many ecumenical activities in different parts of the world. It is also encouraging that throughout the world similar initiatives promoting environmental justice, concern for the poor and responsible social commitment have been bringing together people, especially young people, from diverse religious backgrounds. Christians or not, as people of faith and goodwill, we should be united in showing mercy to the earth as our common home and cherishing the world in which we live as a place for sharing and communion.

1. The earth cries out …

With this Message, I renew my dialogue with “every person living on this planet” (Laudato Si’, 3) about the sufferings of the poor and the devastation of the environment. God gave us a bountiful garden, but we have turned it into a polluted wasteland of “debris, desolation and filth” (ibid., 161). We must not be indifferent or resigned to the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of ecosystems, often caused by our irresponsible and selfish behaviour. “Because of us, thousands of species will no longer give glory to God by their very existence, nor convey their message to us. We have no such right” (ibid., 33).

Global warming continues, due in part to human activity: 2015 was the warmest year on record, and 2016 will likely be warmer still. This is leading to ever more severe droughts, floods, fires and extreme weather events. Climate change is also contributing to the heart-rending refugee crisis. The world’s poor, though least responsible for climate change, are most vulnerable and already suffering its impact.

As an integral ecology emphasizes, human beings are deeply connected with all of creation. When we mistreat nature, we also mistreat human beings. At the same time, each creature has its own intrinsic value that must be respected. Let us hear “both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor” (Laudato Si’, 49), and do our best to ensure an appropriate and timely response.

2. … for we have sinned

God gave us the earth “to till and to keep” (Gen 2:15) in a balanced and respectful way. To till too much, to keep too little, is to sin.

My brother, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew has courageously and prophetically continued to point out our sins against creation.  “For human beings… to destroy the biological diversity of God’s creation; for human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, by stripping the earth of its natural forests or destroying its wetlands; for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins.” Further, “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves and a sin against God.” ^[2]

In the light of what is happening to our common home, may the present Jubilee of Mercy summon the Christian faithful “to profound interior conversion” (Laudato Si’, 217), sustained particularly by the sacrament of Penance. During this Jubilee Year, let us learn to implore God’s mercy for those sins against creation that we have not hitherto acknowledged and confessed.  Let us likewise commit ourselves to taking concrete steps towards ecological conversion, which requires a clear recognition of our responsibility to ourselves, our neighbours, creation and the Creator (ibid., 10 and 229).

3. An examination of conscience and repentance

The first step in this process is always an examination of conscience, which involves “gratitude and gratuitousness, a recognition that the world is God’s loving gift, and that we are called quietly to imitate his generosity in self-sacrifice and good works… It also entails a loving awareness that we are not disconnected from the rest of creatures, but joined in a splendid universal communion. As believers, we do not look at the world from without but from within, conscious of the bonds with which the Father has linked us to all beings” (Laudato Si’, 220).

Turning to this bountiful and merciful Father who awaits the return of each of his children, we can acknowledge our sins against creation, the poor and future generations. “Inasmuch as we all generate small ecological damage,” we are called to acknowledge “our contribution, smaller or greater, to the disfigurement and destruction of creation.”^[3] This is the first step on the path of conversion.

In 2000, also a Jubilee Year, my predecessor Saint John Paul II asked Catholics to make amends for past and present religious intolerance, as well as for injustice towards Jews, women, indigenous peoples, immigrants, the poor and the unborn. In this Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, I invite everyone to do likewise. As individuals, we have grown comfortable with certain lifestyles shaped by a distorted culture of prosperity and a “disordered desire to consume more than what is really necessary” (Laudato Si’, 123), and we are participants in a system that “has imposed the mentality of profit at any price, with no concern for social exclusion or the destruction of nature.”^[4] Let us repent of the harm we are doing to our common home.

After a serious examination of conscience and moved by sincere repentance, we can confess our sins against the Creator, against creation, and against our brothers and sisters. “The Catechism of the Catholic Church presents the confessional as the place where the truth makes us free.”^[5] We know that “God is greater than our sin,”^[6] than all our sins, including those against the environment. We confess them because we are penitent and desire to change. The merciful grace of God received in the sacrament will help us to do so.

4. Changing course

Examining our consciences, repentance and confession to our Father who is rich in mercy lead to a firm purpose of amendment. This in turn must translate into concrete ways of thinking and acting that are more respectful of creation.  For example: “avoiding the use of plastic and paper, reducing water consumption, separating refuse, cooking only what can reasonably be consumed, showing care for other living beings, using public transport or car-pooling, planting trees, turning off unnecessary lights, or any number of other practices” (Laudato Si’, 211). We must not think that these efforts are too small to improve our world. They “call forth a goodness which, albeit unseen, inevitably tends to spread” and encourage “a prophetic and contemplative lifestyle, one capable of deep enjoyment free of the obsession with consumption” (ibid., 212, 222).

In the same way, the resolve to live differently should affect our various contributions to shaping the culture and society in which we live. Indeed, “care for nature is part of a lifestyle which includes the capacity for living together and communion” (Laudato Si’, 228). Economics and politics, society and culture cannot be dominated by thinking only of the short-term and immediate financial or electoral gains. Instead, they urgently need to be redirected to the common good, which includes sustainability and care for creation.

One concrete case is the “ecological debt” between the global north and south (cf. Laudato Si’, 51-2). Repaying it would require treating the environments of poorer nations with care and providing the financial resources and technical assistance needed to help them deal with climate change and promote sustainable development.

The protection of our common home requires a growing global political consensus. Along these lines, I am gratified that in September 2015 the nations of the world adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, and that, in December 2015, they approved the Paris Agreement on climate change, which set the demanding yet fundamental goal of halting the rise of the global temperature. Now governments are obliged to honour the commitments they made, while businesses must also responsibly do their part.  It is up to citizens to insist that this happen, and indeed to advocate for even more ambitious goals.

Changing course thus means “keeping the original commandment to preserve creation from all harm, both for our sake and for the sake of our fellow human beings.”^[7] A single question can keep our eyes fixed on the goal: “What kind of world do we want to leave to those who come after us, to children who are now growing up?” (Laudato Si’, 160).

5. A new work of mercy

“Nothing unites us to God more than an act of mercy, for it is by mercy that the Lord forgives our sins and gives us the grace to practise acts of mercy in his name.”^[8]

To paraphrase Saint James, “we can say that mercy without works is dead … In our rapidly changing and increasingly globalized world, many new forms of poverty are appearing. In response to them, we need to be creative in developing new and practical forms of charitable outreach as concrete expressions of the way of mercy.”^[9]

The Christian life involves the practice of the traditional seven corporal and seven spiritual works of mercy.^[10] “We usually think of the works of mercy individually and in relation to a specific initiative: hospitals for the sick, soup kitchens for the hungry, shelters for the homeless, schools for those to be educated, the confessional and spiritual direction for those needing counsel and forgiveness… But if we look at the works of mercy as a whole, we see that the object of mercy is human life itself and everything it embraces.”^[11]

Obviously “human life itself and everything it embraces” includes care for our common home. So let me propose a complement to the two traditional sets of seven: may the works of mercy also include care for our common home.

As a spiritual work of mercy, care for our common home calls for a “grateful contemplation of God’s world” (Laudato Si, 214) which “allows us to discover in each thing a teaching which God wishes to hand on to us” (ibid., 85). As a corporal work of mercy, care for our common home requires “simple daily gestures which break with the logic of violence, exploitation and selfishness” and “makes itself felt in every action that seeks to build a better world” (ibid., 230-31).

6. In conclusion, let us pray

Despite our sins and the daunting challenges before us, we never lose heart. “The Creator does not abandon us; he never forsakes his loving plan or repents of having created us… for he has united himself definitively to our earth, and his love constantly impels us to find new ways forward” (Laudato Si, 13; 245). In a particular way, let us pray on 1 September, and indeed throughout the year:

“O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth,
who are so precious in your eyes…
God of love, show us our place in this world
as channels of your love
for all the creatures of this earth” (ibid., 246),
God of mercy, may we receive your forgiveness
and convey your mercy throughout our common home.
Praise be to you!
Amen.

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