Catholic News 2
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Ilhan Omar spent four years in a Kenyan refugee camp as a young girl, fleeing with her family from civil war in Somalia. Two decades later, after forging a new life in Minnesota, she appears on the brink of becoming the nation's first Somali-American state legislator....
PUNTA GORDA, Fla. (AP) -- A police "shoot/don't shoot" demonstration in Florida went shockingly awry when an officer shot and killed a 73-year-old former librarian with what police said was real ammunition used by mistake at an event designed to bring police and the public together....
BALTIMORE (AP) -- With startling statistics, a federal investigation of the Baltimore Police Department documents in 164 single-spaced pages what black residents have been saying for years: They are routinely singled out, roughed up or otherwise mistreated by officers, often for no reason....
ABINGDON, Va. (AP) -- In the 2016 presidential campaign, it's long been an article of faith: The rules of political gravity don't apply to Donald Trump....
Washington D.C., Aug 10, 2016 / 10:17 am (CNA).- Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence was met with heated criticism after suggesting that a Trump administration may ban Christian and Jewish refugees fleeing from terrorism.Speaking on a conservative radio show Monday, Pence was asked about his support for religious liberty in light of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s previous proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S.Pence responded that a general halt on immigration from certain countries would be “appropriate” for security concerns.“The position that Donald Trump is advocating today is that we should temporarily suspend immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism, which I think is altogether fitting and appropriate,” he said.“The simple fact is that both our Homeland Security and the FBI have said there are countries like Syria where people are coming in through routine means, the ref...
Washington D.C., Aug 10, 2016 / 10:17 am (CNA).- Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence was met with heated criticism after suggesting that a Trump administration may ban Christian and Jewish refugees fleeing from terrorism.
Speaking on a conservative radio show Monday, Pence was asked about his support for religious liberty in light of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump’s previous proposal for a temporary ban on Muslims entering the U.S.
Pence responded that a general halt on immigration from certain countries would be “appropriate” for security concerns.
“The position that Donald Trump is advocating today is that we should temporarily suspend immigration from countries that have been compromised by terrorism, which I think is altogether fitting and appropriate,” he said.
“The simple fact is that both our Homeland Security and the FBI have said there are countries like Syria where people are coming in through routine means, the refugee program and otherwise, that we simply cannot know who they are for sure,” he continued, “and so suspending that program from those countries, I think is in the best interest of the security of our people.”
Pence was then asked if the suspension would include Christian and Jewish immigrants and refugees. He simply reiterated his previous point of “temporary suspension of immigration from countries or territories compromised by terrorism.”
His statements immediately came under fire from Catholic immigration advocates.
The proposal flies in the face of Church teaching and is misinformed, said Dr. Susan Weishar, a migration fellow at the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University New Orleans who directed immigration and refugee services for Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New Orleans for 14 years.
“Because everyone has the right to life and the conditions worthy of life, the Church teaches that people threatened by poverty, religious intolerance, and armed conflict, have a right to flee their home countries to realize a dignified life, and that wealthier countries have an obligation to receive them whenever possible,” Dr. Weishar told CNA.
Refugees are fleeing “the very terror that we abhor,” she added, and the U.S. can accept them without “compromising our national security.”
“The U.S. vetting process for refugee is rigorous and thorough, involving multiple background checks, several in-person interviews, and an average wait time of 12-18 months before entering the United States,” Dr. Weishar added.
Fr. Thomas Reese, chair of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, also voiced strong disagreement with the Trump-Pence proposal.
“USCIRF is on record supporting the continued resettlement of refugees into the U.S, including those who are fleeing religious persecution,” he said, stressing that the U.S. should be “generous” in admitting refugees.
The particular situation for religious minorities in Syria is dire, Fr. Reese said, and the U.S. should “prioritize the resettlement of Syrian refugees based on their vulnerability.”
“Throughout the region, ISIL has targeted for persecution, and in some cases genocide, members of religious minority communities – because of their faith. At the same time, ISIL also has targeted both Shia and Sunni Muslims who have resisted their violent ideology. And the Assad regime has targeted multiple religious communities,” he said.
“Given the scale of the Syrian refugee crisis, USCIRF also has called for resettling 100,000 refugees from Syria.”
As governor of Indiana, Pence tried to halt the resettlement of refugees there last fall, citing security concerns. He ordered state agencies to not pass on federal grant dollars to refugee resettlement programs there.
Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis still had the Catholic Charities in the diocese to resettle a Syrian refugee family that had been through the vetting process and was cleared by the U.S. federal agencies for resettlement.
The archbishop met with Pence in December, after which the governor said he “respectfully disagrees with their decision to place a Syrian refugee family in Indiana at this time.”
Vatican City, Aug 10, 2016 / 11:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Fr. Bonifacio Buzzi, a Brazilian priest convicted of child abuse and who was mentioned in the Oscar-winning film ‘Spotlight,’ committed suicide in his prison cell over the weekend.According to Reuters, Fr. Buzzi, 57, hung himself with a sheet inside his jail cell in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais Aug. 7 after having been arrested Friday.In 1995 the priest was found guilty of abusing several youth in a mental hospital, and sentenced to four years of house arrest. In 2004, he was convicted of molesting a 10-year-old boy in Mariana, Minas Gerais and was jailed from 2007-2015 for the crime.He was arrested Aug. 5 in the southern state of Santa Catarina following criminal complaints that he had molested two more boys, aged 9 and 13, and taken back to Minas Gerais.The Vatican was in the process of taking action against the priest, but the process had not yet concluded at the time of his death.Fr. Buzzi was among the c...
Vatican City, Aug 10, 2016 / 11:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Fr. Bonifacio Buzzi, a Brazilian priest convicted of child abuse and who was mentioned in the Oscar-winning film ‘Spotlight,’ committed suicide in his prison cell over the weekend.
According to Reuters, Fr. Buzzi, 57, hung himself with a sheet inside his jail cell in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais Aug. 7 after having been arrested Friday.
In 1995 the priest was found guilty of abusing several youth in a mental hospital, and sentenced to four years of house arrest. In 2004, he was convicted of molesting a 10-year-old boy in Mariana, Minas Gerais and was jailed from 2007-2015 for the crime.
He was arrested Aug. 5 in the southern state of Santa Catarina following criminal complaints that he had molested two more boys, aged 9 and 13, and taken back to Minas Gerais.
The Vatican was in the process of taking action against the priest, but the process had not yet concluded at the time of his death.
Fr. Buzzi was among the cases of pedophilia listed at the end of the 2015 Oscar-winning film “Spotlight.”
The movie covers the Boston Globe’s investigation into sex abuse of minors by Catholic figures in the archdiocese, as well as cover-up by some members of the hierarchy. The film won an Oscar for Best Picture at the Academy Awards on Feb. 28.
“Spotlight” ends with the Boston Globe printing an explosive exposé, before listing all the other cities where sex abuse was later found to be a problem in the Catholic Church, including the parish in Mariana where Fr. Buzzi had served.
In the years following the exposé, the Catholic Church has since established several safety measures in order to prevent abuse, including a “zero tolerance” policy for abusers, safe environment training and oversight, and mandatory background checks for any individual who has contact with minors.
The Vatican has also restructured its proceedings regarding abuse charges. From 2004-2011, there were 3,400 U.S. cases of alleged clergy abuse reported to Rome for review. Of the accused priests, 848 were laicized and 2,572 were permanently removed from ministry.
Vatican City, Aug 10, 2016 / 12:11 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Each of us must respond to the gift of mercy in our hearts by getting up and putting mercy into action, Pope Francis said Wednesday.Speaking about a bishop who had in his cathedral one Holy Door of mercy for entering and one for exiting, Pope Francis said: “Let us also do the same with the journey that goes from the heart to the hands.”“Let us enter the church through the door of mercy, to receive the forgiveness of Jesus, who tells us: ‘Arise! Go, go!’ And with this ‘Go!’ – on foot – let us leave through the exit door,” he continued.Pope Francis gave this reflection at the end of his General Audience in the Vatican's Paul VI audience hall Aug. 10.Pope Francis reflected on the pain of the mother of the young boy who died in Luke 7 and the compassion that Christ felt for her, saying it is the mother’s great pain which moved Christ to perform the miracle of rev...
Vatican City, Aug 10, 2016 / 12:11 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Each of us must respond to the gift of mercy in our hearts by getting up and putting mercy into action, Pope Francis said Wednesday.
Speaking about a bishop who had in his cathedral one Holy Door of mercy for entering and one for exiting, Pope Francis said: “Let us also do the same with the journey that goes from the heart to the hands.”
“Let us enter the church through the door of mercy, to receive the forgiveness of Jesus, who tells us: ‘Arise! Go, go!’ And with this ‘Go!’ – on foot – let us leave through the exit door,” he continued.
Pope Francis gave this reflection at the end of his General Audience in the Vatican's Paul VI audience hall Aug. 10.
Pope Francis reflected on the pain of the mother of the young boy who died in Luke 7 and the compassion that Christ felt for her, saying it is the mother’s great pain which moved Christ to perform the miracle of reviving the boy from death.
St. Luke, Pope Francis said, writes that upon seeing the woman, “the Lord was moved by great compassion for her and said to her, ‘Do not cry!’”
During this Jubilee Year it would be good for pilgrims to remember this story from the Gospel when entering the Holy Door, “the Gate of Mercy,” Pope Francis explained.
“We are confident that, at the Holy Door, the Lord is near to meet each one of us, to bring and offer his powerful word consoling: ‘Do not cry!’ This is the door of the meeting between the pain of humanity and compassion of God.”
Pope Francis told those present that crossing the threshold is the beginning of our journey in God’s mercy, a mercy which tells us to “arise,” just as Christ told the boy in the Gospel of Luke.
At the Holy Door, each person brings his or her life, with all of its “joys and sufferings, projects and failures, doubts and fears,” Pope Francis reminded pilgrims. “Present it at the mercy of the Lord,” he told them.
“In passing through the Holy Door, we try to feel in our heart this word: ‘Get up!’”
Pope Francis explained that Christ heals us of our failures, revives us, and gives us hope. In the Holy Door, each of us can find the “inexhaustible treasure of God’s mercy.”
At the word of Christ, the dead boy sat up and began to speak. “What Jesus did is therefore not only an action of salvation destined to the widow and her son, or a gesture of kindness limited to that town,” he said. “Today too the Church recognizes a visit from God.”
“Mercy, both in Jesus and in us, is a journey that starts from the heart to get to the hands. What does this mean? Jesus looks at you, heals you with his mercy, tells you: ‘Get up!’, And your heart is new,” Pope Francis concluded.
By Cindy WoodenVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis "snuck" out ofthe Vatican Aug. 9 for a drive, a walk in the woods and lunch with an Italianbishop at a small convent.Long after the pope had returned to the Vatican from twosmall towns near Rieti -- about 50 miles northeast of Rome -- the Vaticanconfirmed the pope had made a "private visit" to the area.According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis was accompanied byBishop Domenico Pompili of Rieti in his visits to a convent of the Sisters ofthe Reparation of the Holy Face in Carsoli and the Franciscan convent of St.Filippa Mareri in Borgo San Pietro.A local newspaper, writing about the visit to Carsoli, saidPope Francis greeted each of the sisters before heading to their chapel to praywith them and Bishop Pompili. After the prayers, the pope and bishop went for awalk around the wooded, park-like property, returning for lunch at noon sharp."He tasted and appreciated all the dishes prepared bythe sisters and complimented them," according t...
By Cindy Wooden
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis "snuck" out of the Vatican Aug. 9 for a drive, a walk in the woods and lunch with an Italian bishop at a small convent.
Long after the pope had returned to the Vatican from two small towns near Rieti -- about 50 miles northeast of Rome -- the Vatican confirmed the pope had made a "private visit" to the area.
According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis was accompanied by Bishop Domenico Pompili of Rieti in his visits to a convent of the Sisters of the Reparation of the Holy Face in Carsoli and the Franciscan convent of St. Filippa Mareri in Borgo San Pietro.
A local newspaper, writing about the visit to Carsoli, said Pope Francis greeted each of the sisters before heading to their chapel to pray with them and Bishop Pompili. After the prayers, the pope and bishop went for a walk around the wooded, park-like property, returning for lunch at noon sharp.
"He tasted and appreciated all the dishes prepared by the sisters and complimented them," according to the Aquila edition of the newspaper Il Centro.
St. John Paul II regularly left the Vatican unannounced. In his early years, he would spend an afternoon skiing or hiking. As he aged, he would go for picnics in the hills and visits to little churches and convents. Such private escapes seem to be much rarer for Pope Francis; at least, they have not been reported.
- - -
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.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- After he escaped unharmed from the burning wreckage of an Emirates airplane that had crash-landed in Dubai, Mohamed Basheer already considered himself lucky....
BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) -- U.S.-backed Libyan forces said on Wednesday they have taken over the Islamic State group's headquarters in Sirte, the militants' final bastion in Libya, breaking a weeks-long stalemate with the help of U.S. airstrikes....
