Catholic News 2

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Sunday offered prayers for the victims of Saturday’s bombing in southern Turkey.  At least 50 people were killed when a suspected suicide bomber detonated his explosives among people at a wedding party in the southern Turkish city of Gaziantep.  Women and children were among those killed.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said it was likely that so-called Islamic State militants carried out the late-night attack.

Speaking after the recitation of the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis said, “Sad news has reached me about the bloody attack” that was carried out yesterday in “dear Turkey.”  “Let us pray for the victims, for the dead and the injured, and we ask for the gift of peace for all,” the Pope said, leading pilgrims present in the square in the recitation of the Hail Mary prayer.

Full Article

(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Sunday said “life is not a video game or a soap opera; our life is serious and the goal to achieve is important: eternal salvation.”  Speaking to pilgrims gathered for the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square, the Pope focused on the theme of eternal salvation and referred to the day’s Gospel reading in which a man asks Jesus how many people will be saved. “It doesn’t matter how many,” the Pope noted, “but it is important that everyone knows which is the path that leads to salvation.”  And the door to salvation lies in Jesus, he said, and we can cross the threshold of God's mercy through love, and by overcoming pride, arrogance and sin.

Below, please find a Vatican Radio translation of the Pope’s Angelus address:

“Dear brothers and sisters, good morning!

Today's Gospel passage invites us to meditate on the theme of salvation. The Evangelist Luke tells us that Jesus is on the way to Jerusalem and along the way is approached by a man who asks him this question: "Lord, will only a few people be saved?" (Luke 13:23). Jesus does not give a direct answer, but takes the discussion to another level, with suggestive language that at first, the disciples don’t understand:   "Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter, but they will not succeed" (v.24 ). With the image of the door, He wants to explain to his listeners that it is not a question of numbers – how many people will be saved.   It doesn’t matter how many, but it is important that everyone knows which is the path that leads to salvation: the door.

To go along this path, one must pass through a door. But where is the door?  What is it like?  Who is the door?  Jesus himself is the door (cf. Jn 10,9).  He himself says it, ‘I am the door’ in John’s Gospel.  He leads us in communion with the Father, where we find love, understanding and protection. But why is this door narrow? One can ask. Why is it narrow?  It is a narrow door not because it is oppressive - no, but because it asks us to restrict and limit our pride and our fear, to open ourselves with humble and trusting heart to Him, recognizing ourselves as sinners, in need of his forgiveness.   For this, it is narrow: to contain our pride, which bloats us.  The door of God's mercy is narrow but always wide open, wide open for everyone! God has no favorites, but always welcomes everyone, without distinction. A door, that is narrow to restrict our pride and our fear.  Open because God welcomes us without distinction.   And the salvation that He gives us is an unceasing flow of mercy…which breaks down every barrier and opens up surprising perspectives of light and peace.  The narrow but always open door:  do not forget this.  Narrow door, but always open.

Jesus offers us today, once again, a pressing invitation to go to him, to cross the threshold of a full life, reconciled and happy. He waits for each of us, no matter what sin we have committed, no matter what!  To embrace us, to offer us his forgiveness. He alone can transform our hearts, He alone can give full meaning to our existence, giving us true joy. Upon entering the door of Jesus, the door of faith and of the Gospel, we can leave behind worldly attitudes, bad habits, selfishness and the closing ourselves off. When there is contact with the love and mercy of God, there is real change. And our life is illuminated by the light of the Holy Spirit: an inextinguishable light!”

Pope invites faithful to examine their consciences

“I’d like to make you a proposal,” the Pope said to the pilgrims in the square, and invited them to think in silence  for a moment about the things they have inside that prevent them from passing over the threshold: pride, arrogance, sin. “And then, let us think about that other door, the one open to God’s mercy and He is waiting on the other side to forgive us,” Francis added. 

“The Lord offers us many opportunities to save ourselves and to enter through the door of salvation,” the Pope continued.  “This door is an opportunity that must not be wasted: we must not make an academic discourse of salvation, as did the man who questioned Jesus, but we must seize the opportunities for salvation. Because at a certain moment "the landlord got up and locked the door" (v.25), as mentioned in the Gospel. But if God is good and loves us, why does he close the door - he will close the door at a certain point? Because our life is not a video game or a soap opera; our life is serious and the goal to achieve is important: eternal salvation.

To the Virgin Mary, Door of Heaven, we ask help so that we seize the opportunities that the Lord gives us to cross the threshold of faith and thus to enter into a wide road: it is the path of salvation that can accommodate all those who allow themselves to love and be loved (it: si lasciano coinvolgere dall’amore). It is love which saves;  the love that is already here on earth is a source of happiness to those who, in meekness, patience and justice, forget themselves and give themselves to others, especially the weakest.”

Full Article

Washington D.C., Aug 21, 2016 / 04:48 am (CNA).- According to proposed federal rules, homeless shelters partnering with the government might soon have to compromise the privacy and safety of their clients – and Catholics have voiced their concerns.

“No person should be denied a safe place to live,” counsels for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops stated in comments on the proposed rule made in January, in conjunction with other religious groups like the National Catholic Bioethics Center.

Yet, they added, “while the regulations purport to protect health and safety, they fail to advance, and in fact positively undermine, these and other legitimate interests, including expectations of privacy.”

In September, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is expected to rule that homeless shelters receiving federal funds must accept clients as the gender they currently self-identify with, and allow them “equal access” to facilities like beds and bathrooms. The proposed rule is titled “Equal Access in Accordance With an Individual’s Gender Identity in Community Planning and Development Programs.”

Thus, clients who are biologically male but who identify as female would be housed with women; those who are biologically female but identify as male would be housed with men.

One exception to the rule would be if a person identifying as transgender, and meeting certain conditions, requested that they be housed separately. No exception would exist for other clients who lodged complaints, like women who are concerned about their privacy and safety when a biological male is placed in their housing.

Both Catholic Charities USA and the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops commented on the proposed rule in January. They expressed serious concerns both for the privacy and safety of homeless persons, as well as the religious freedom of faith-based groups that provide emergency shelter and transitional housing.

For the shelters that rely on shared sleeping quarters and bathrooms in single-sex housing, the proposed rules state that all persons should have equal access here, according to the gender with which they identify.

“The proposed rule, then, is that a man who asserts that he is a woman may not be refused access to shared women’s sleeping quarters and bathing areas,” the comments stated. “Similarly, a woman who asserts that she is a man may not be refused access to shared men’s sleeping quarters and bathing areas.”

HUD has explained the need for such a policy by pointing to surveys showing that the number of self-identified LGBTQ homeless is abnormally high.

As much as 40 percent of the youth homeless population identifies as LGBTQ, according to a 2011 report by the National Transgender Discrimination Survey cited by HUD.

Also, a survey of homeless youth by Washington, D.C. recently found that 43 percent of them identified as LGBTQ. Some studies have found that many of the homeless youth reported either running away from home or being kicked out of the house by their family because of their orientation.

Once they reach shelters, they can still encounter problems. “Transgender individuals in particular are impacted by violence and discrimination in ways that both contribute to their homelessness and keep them from accessing necessary shelter and services,” a HUD report on “Equal Access for Transgender People” stated.

In addition, “nearly 30% of homeless transgender individuals report being turned away from a shelter due to their transgender status and 22% report experiencing sexual assault perpetrated by staff or other shelter residents,” HUD reported, citing the 2011 survey again.

However, the bishops’ conference and other groups stated, “it is not clear how the proposed regulations would remedy the high reported incidence of assault on persons claiming to be transgender and, in fact, the regulations may exacerbate the problem.”

They added that “this is a client population with serious vulnerabilities,” citing statistics showing a high rate of mental health and substance abuse disorders among homeless populations.

Catholic Charities USA brought this concern up in its comments as well, noting that shelter staff must be able to handle requests for shared housing together on a “case-by-case” basis given the vulnerabilities of the inhabitants, like women who have been abused.

“Will staff be placed in an untenable position of pressure to accede to a request or demand, which is contrary to both their situational awareness and the reasonable concerns of other (often traumatized) shelter clients?” they asked.

Privacy of men and women at shelters is not an unreasonable concern, counsels for the bishops’ conference added.

“Just as a patient may insist that a health care provider be of the same sex when this protects the patient’s bodily privacy, a client’s biological sex is relevant to decisions about single-sex housing and shared sleeping and bathing areas,” they stated.

“Even prison inmates retain legitimate interests in such privacy.”

The proposed rule could also infringe on the religious freedom of both homeless persons and the faith-based groups that shelter them, they explained.

For instance, a person seeking shelter might conscientiously oppose having “to share sleeping and bathing areas with adults to whom they are neither married nor related and who are biologically of the opposite sex.”

Also, forcing faith-based housing providers to treat biological men as women, or biological women as men, “could substantially burden their religiously-motivated mission to provide housing to those who need it,” the comments continued.

Catholic Charities USA helps provide shelter for tens of thousands across the country. In 2014, the group reported, “member agencies provided transitional housing and shelter services to over 147,000 vulnerable individuals, including over 13,000 children. These member agencies operated 238 shelters with over 10,000 available beds.”

Some shelters have already had to adjust to local laws on this issue. For instance, Washington, D.C. enacted a law in 2014 requiring housing exclusively for transgendered persons.

 

Full Article

Vatican City, Aug 21, 2016 / 05:16 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After an explosion in southern Turkey lit up a wedding ceremony, killing 50 people and wounding nearly 100 more, Pope Francis offered his prayers for the victims, and asked for peace to be given to all.

“Dear brothers and sisters, I have heard of the sad news of the bloody attack yesterday which struck the beloved Turkey,” the Pope said Aug. 21, after leading pilgrims in praying the traditional Angelus prayer.

He offered his prayers for the victims, both “living and dead,” and led those gathered in a moment of silence and a Hail Mary, asking for “the gift of peace for all.”

According to news agency Aljazeera, at least 50 people have been killed and 94 wounded after what is believed to be a suicide bomber blew themselves up at a wedding ceremony in Turkey's southeastern province of Gaziantep, near the Syrian border, Aug. 20.

The blast, which took place at roughly 11p.m. local time, happened in the Akdere neighbourhood of Sahin Bey district as those celebrating were dancing in the street, which is common for wedding ceremonies in the south of Turkey.

Gaziantep is a major city roughly 37 miles from the Syrian border, and has become a hub for Syrians  fleeing the civil war that’s tearing their country apart.

Although no one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, Aljazeera reports that Ali Yerlikaya, the governor of Gaziantep, referred to it as a “terror attack,” and Turkey’s president Recep Tayyip Erdogan said “Daesh is the likely perpetrator,” using the Arabic name for ISIS.

In his address before the Angelus, Pope Francis reflected on the day’s Gospel passage from Luke, in which Jesus, as he was teaching in Jerusalem, was asked if only a few people would be saved.

Pope Francis noted that in his response Jesus didn’t give a direct answer to the question, but instead referred to a door, telling the crowd to “strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter but will not be strong enough.”

By giving the image of the door, Jesus is telling his listeners “it’s not a question of numbers.” Knowing how many will be saved is not important he said, but knowing the path that leads to salvation is.

This path requires that we pass through a door, Francis said, explaining that this door is “Jesus himself… he says it; he leads us into communion with the Father, where we find love, understanding and protection.”

Reflecting on why the door is “narrow,” the Pope said it’s not because it’s “oppressive,” but rather because it challenges us to “us to restrict and contain our pride and our fear, to open ourselves with a heart that’s humble and faithful to him, recognizing that we are sinners in need of his forgiveness.”

While the door of salvation is narrow, the door of God’s mercy is “always wide open” for everyone to enter, he said, adding that God doesn’t have preferences, but welcomes all “without distinction.”

Jesus, he said, “awaits each one of us, whatever sin we have committed, to embrace us, to offer us his forgiveness. Only he can give full meaning to our existence, giving us true joy.”

By entering through the door that is Jesus, we are able to let go of “worldly attitudes, of bad habits, of selfishness and closure,” and experience an authentic change through the Holy Spirit, he said.

In off-the-cuff comments, Pope Francis urged pilgrims to pause for a moment to reflect on what impedes them from opening the door to Jesus, as well as the door of mercy he offers to us.

“The Lord offers us many occasions to save ourselves and enter through the door of salvation,” the Pope said, adding that “this door is the opportunity that must not be wasted.”

Francis stressed that giving “academic speeches” on salvation isn’t necessary to enter through the gate, but instead we must “seize the opportunities of salvation” that are given to us.

He turned to the Gospel passage, in which Jesus recounts how the master of the house “has arisen and locked the door,” telling those who knock outside asking to be let in “I do not know where you are from.”

If God is merciful and loves us, “why does he close the door?” Francis asked, explaining that he does it “because our life is not a videogame or a soap opera; our life is serious and the goal to achieve is important: eternal salvation.”

Pope Francis closed his address by asking Mary to intercede in helping all to “seize the opportunities” the Lord offers us to enter by the wide road. This road, he said, is one “of salvation capable of welcoming all those who allow themselves to be involved with love.”

“It’s love that saves, love which already on earth is a source of beatitude for those, in meekness, patience and justice, forget about themselves and give themselves to others, especially the most vulnerable.”

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article