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Paris, France, Jul 29, 2016 / 12:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At a Mass said for the victims of Tuesday's church attack in France, the Archbishop of Paris appealed for hope as he remembered Father Jacques Hamel, who was killed by two Islamic State terrorists as he was celebrating the Eucharist.

At the July 27 Mass for the victims of Saint-Étienne du Rouvray said at Notre Dame de Paris, Cardinal Andre Vingt-Trois recalled the words of one of the readings of the day from the prophet Jeremiah: “Would you be a mirage for me, like doubtful waters?”  

“In this terrible time we're going through, how can we make our own this cry to God of the prophet Jeremiah, in the midst of attacks of which he was the object?  How can we not turn against God and not demand an account from him?” the cardinal reflected.

He also said that to cry out to to the Lord “is not to lack faith in God. It is, on the contrary, to continue to speak to him and to call upon him in the precise moment when events seem to call into question his power and his love. It is to continue to affirm our faith in him, our trust in the Face of love and mercy he has shown in his son Jesus Christ.”

“Those who wrap themselves in the trappings of religion to mask their deadly project, those who want to proclaim to us a God of death, a Moloch who would rejoice in the death of a man and who would promise paradise to those who kill while invoking him, those people cannot expect humanity to yield to their mirage.”

In his homily, Cardinal Vingt-Trois recalled that “the hope written by God on the heart of man has a name: it is called life. Hope has a face, the face of Christ giving his life in sacrifice so that men may have life in abundance.”

“Hope has a project, the project of gathering humanity into one people, not by extermination but by  conviction and by the call to freedom. It is this hope in the midst of trial that forever blocks for us the path to despair, vengeance, and death.”

For the cardinal “it's this hope that animated the ministry of Father Jacques Hamel when he celebrated the Eucharist, during which he was savagely executed. It is this hope that sustains the Christians in the Middle East when they have to flee in the face of  persecution and they choose to leave everything behind rather than renounce their faith.”

Referring to World Youth Day being held in Poland, the cardinal also said that “it is this hope that dwells in the hearts of hundreds of thousands of young people gathered around Pope Francis in Krakow. It's this hope to allows us to not succumb to hatred when we are caught up in the storm.”

“It is this conviction that was savagely wounded at Saint-Étienne du Rouvray, and it is thanks to this conviction that we can resist the temptation to nihilism and a taste for death. It is thanks to this conviction that we refuse to become delirious with conspiracy theories and allow our society become gangrenous with the virus of suspicion.”

“Where shall we find the strength to face dangers if we cannot rely on hope?” he then asked.

Finally, the Archbishop of Paris emphasized that “for we who believe in the God of Jesus Christ, this hope is trusting in the word of God as the prophet Jeremiah received it and relayed it: 'Though they fight against you, they shall not prevail, for I am with you,to save and rescue you. I will rescue you from the hand of the wicked, and ransom you from the power of the violent.'”

Fr. Hamel was killed July 26 after two armed gunmen stormed a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Normandy during Mass.

The assailants entered the church and took the celebrating priest and four others hostage.

Local law enforcement reported that the priest’s throat was slit in the attack, and that both of the hostage takers were shot dead by police.

The French bishops designated July 29 as a day of fasting following the attack.

Fr. Hamel, who was 86, was ordained a priest in 1958. His funeral Mass will be said Aug. 2 in the cathedral of Rouen.

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Krakow, Poland, Jul 29, 2016 / 01:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Speaking from the balcony of the bishop's palace in Krakow, Pope Francis told youth gathered below that the horror lived by prisoners in the Auschwitz extermination camp isn’t over, but still continues in those who suffer various forms of cruelty today.

“I don't want to make you bitter, but I have to tell the truth. The cruelty of Auschwitz and Birkenau has not ended. Even today many people are tortured,” the Pope said July 29.

Many prisoners, he said, “are tortured immediately, in order to make them talk. Today there are men and women in overcrowded prisons. They live like animals. This cruelty is there today.”



He spoke at the close of his second full day in Poland, where he is spending July 27-31 for World Youth Day. He’s appearing on the balcony of the archbishop’s palace each night after he returns in order to address the crowd of youth gathered below.

St. John Paul II began the tradition by speaking to youth from the balcony each time he visited his homeland as Pope. It was continued by Benedict XVI when he visited Poland in 2006, and is now Francis is following in the steps of his predecessors.

Earlier in the morning Francis went to the Auschwitz and Birkenau extermination camps, where an estimated 1.5 million people lost their lives during the Nazi occupation. He later stopped by a children’s hospital to visit with the young patients and give them his blessing.

After leaving the hospital, Pope Francis traveled to Krakow’s Blonia Park, where the youth participating in WYD performed a live reenactment of the Stations of the Cross.

In his speech to youth at the balcony window, Pope Francis noted how they are closed the day uniting to the suffering Jesus. However, Jesus didn’t just suffer 2,000 years ago, but “he suffers today,” the Pope said.

There are many people who suffer, including “the sick the homeless, the hungry, those who are doubtful in life, who don't feel happiness or salvation, or who feel the weight of their own sin,” he said, noting that Jesus also suffers in the sick children he visited at the hospital earlier in the day.

“Jesus also suffers there, in many children...and that question always comes to mind: why do children suffer? There are no answers for these things.”

Francis then reflected on his visit to Auschwitz and Birkenau, where there was so much pain and “cruelty,” asking “is it possible that us men, created in God's image, are capable of doing these things?”

The same cruelty exists today, he said, explaining that this can be seen wherever there is war. “In many places in the world, where there is war the same thing happens,” he said.

However, Francis also noted that Jesus chose to come into this reality, and to carry the weight of this cruelty on his shoulders. He also asks us to pray, the Pope said, offering his prayers for “all of the Jesus' there are in the world: the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, those in doubt, those who are alone, who feel the weight of many doubts and wounds.”

These people, he said, “suffer a lot,” and asked the youth to also pray for the many sick children in the world, “who carry the cross as a child,” and for all men and women “who today are tortured in many countries in the world, for the prisoners who are piled up as if they are animals.”

Jesus took all of this upon himself, including our sin, Pope Francis said. He stressed the fact that we’re all sinners who carry the weight of our sins, and jestingly told the youth that if they don’t feel like a sinner, to raise their hand.

“We are all sinners, but Jesus loves us. And when there are tears, the child looks for their mother,” he said, and led the youth in praying a Hail Mary, each in their own language, before giving his blessing and wishing them a good night.

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Philadelphia, Pa., Jul 29, 2016 / 03:26 pm (CNA).- As the 2016 Democratic Party platform insists on a “progressive” notion of religious freedom, what might that look like in policy?

The platform’s language must be interpreted “within the wider context of both the platform and what they [Democrats] have actually done over the last eight years,” Dr. Matthew Bunson, an EWTN senior contributor, explained to CNA.

The platform, being a “far-left document,” he said, should be “seen through that lens of placing the rights of LGBT people at a clear legal advantage. Politically as well, and as far as they’re concerned, socially.”

As the Republican Party platform included two sections on domestic and international religious freedom, the Democratic Party platform featured two sections on promoting LGBT rights both at home and abroad.

Most of the platform’s focus on domestic religious freedom had to do with Republican nominee Donald Trump’s rhetoric towards Muslims, as well as his proposal of religious tests for immigrants and refugees looking to enter the country. Trump has previously advocated for an indefinite ban on Muslims from entering the country, for security reasons.

Although “conscience” was specifically mentioned in the 1996 Democratic platform on abortion – “we respect the individual conscience of each American on this difficult issue” – there is no mention of “conscience” in the current platform, Bunson noted. Clinton has gone so far as to say at the 2015 Women in the World Summit that “deep-seated cultural codes, religious beliefs, and structural biases have to be changed,” after discussing “critical access to reproductive health care.”

After the party affirmed its support for “religious freedom” in 2008, the term disappeared entirely from the 2012 platform, only to re-appear in 2016 in a different light.

Within the LGBT rights section, one sentence mentioned religious freedom:“We support a progressive vision of religious freedom that respects pluralism and rejects the misuse of religion to discriminate.”

As Bunson stated, a “progressive” take on religious freedom could cede the ground to LGBT concerns when they come into conflict with the free exercise of religion. This is already playing out – or has played out – in some cases, as when Catholic Charities adoption agencies in Illinois and the Distric of Columbia were forced to close because they wouldn’t match children with same-sex couples. A florist in Oregon had to shutter her business for refusing to serve a same-sex wedding.

Rights of conscience might be trampled by LGBT rights in courts and in federal regulation, Bunson explained. “So it’ll be enshrined in health care, it’ll be enshrined in civil rights legislation,” he said.

Earlier this year, the Office of Civil Rights proposed expanding anti-discrimination protections in health care under the Affordable Care Act. The proposals would include prohibiting discrimination for “sex stereotypes,” meaning that certain sex-specific treatments like for “gender transition” would have to be performed if requested.

Democrats have also been pushing the Equality Act, also endorsed by Hillary Clinton, in the House and Senate, though they have not had the majority needed to advance the bill. The act would set up sweeping anti-discrimination protections for sexual orientation and gender identity in many areas, such as housing, education, and health care.
    
The problem with the bill’s language is that it is so broad it could easily infringe on the religious beliefs of those morally opposed to same-sex marriage or transgenderism, legal experts warned.

Elsewhere in the platform, the party condemned the GOP nominee Donald Trump’s rhetoric about Muslims, in the name of religious freedom:

“We reject Donald Trump’s vilification of Muslims. It violates the religious freedom that is the bedrock of our country and feeds into ISIS’ nefarious narrative.”

Regading religious minorities, the platform says the party is “horrified by ISIS’ genocide and sexual enslavement of Christians and Yezidis and crimes against humanity against Muslims and others in the Middle East. We will do everything we can to protect religious minorities and the fundamental right of freedom of religion.”

The platform also insists on promoting LGBT rights abroad. “Democrats believe that LGBT rights are human rights and that American foreign policy should advance the ability of all persons to live with dignity, security, and respect, regardless of who they are or who they love,” it stated.

“We will continue to stand with LGBT people around the world, including fighting efforts by any nation to infringe on LGBT rights or ignore abuse.”

The Obama State Department has already been doing this, Bunson explained, in putting LGBT rights “at the top of their list for international diplomatic initiatives.”

“If that’s the case, then we will see a continuation and probably an expansion of that, as an instrument of American diplomatic efforts that could equal the disenfranchising of countries that continue to support traditional marriage, that place limitations on certainly what the State Department and White House would view as LGBT rights,” he continued.

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Bielsko-Biala, Poland, Jul 29, 2016 / 05:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A survivor of the Auschwitz concentration camp welcomed Pope Francis’ Friday visit and asked the world to remember the suffering that took place there.

“It is important for me and I am very excited,” Lidia Maksimovic, 75, told journalists at the camp July 29. “It is not possible to forget about these horrible things and it is important also that people would come here and would see and learn what happened here. So that all that happened here would never happen again.”

Maksimovic is a survivor of the Auschwitz-Brikenau concentration camp run by the Nazis in Poland. As many as 1.5 million people died at the Auschwitz complex, including St. Maximilian Kolbe.

On Friday Pope Francis visited several parts of the complex. He prayed in silence for several minutes at the courtyard of the original camp, known as Auschwitz I. He was then taken by car to the infamous Block 11 building. There, he was welcomed by Poland’s Prime Minister, Beata Szydlo.

He prayed for a moment in silence.

Among those present for his visit was a group of ten men and women who had survived the Holocaust, among whom was Maksimovic.

Her family was of Russian origin living in Nazi-occupied territory in what is now Belarus. The Nazis suspected them of collaborating with the Soviet Union, and they were shipped to Auschwitz with about 1,500 other civilians.

She was stripped naked and tattooed with a number on her arm. She was three years old.

“I was numbered in my left hand as a prisoner. I have it from my childhood,” she told CNA.

Part of the camp served as a laboratory for Nazi doctor Josef Mengele’s human experiments.

“We were divided into two groups. I belonged to the group of strong and healthy children from which Doctor Mengele personally choose the children for his targets for medical experiments,” Maksimovic said.

“The most difficult time for us, for mothers and children was the moment of numbering and division,” she said. “They divided children from the mothers. Moms hugged their children and did not want to leave them, but babies were pulled out from their embraces and thrown out as animals. All women were crying. Kicking them, the Nazis forced them to go out to the specially prepared barracks.”

“We as children saw our mothers take off all their clothes and then they were shaved. We children could not recognize our mothers because we have never seen them in that conditions,” she said.
 
“Then our moms were dressed in those clothes which you can see here presented at the museum. They were blue and gray uniforms with wooden shoes.”

The children were sent to the children’s barracks.

“We were looking to the other children, to the places where they lived and it was horrible, not like you see it now,” she said. “Now everything is clean… at that time, it was dirty and excrement was around. There were no toilets or clean water.”

It took nearly 20 years for her to be reunited with her mother following the liberation of the camps by Allied forces.

Pope Francis chose to maintain silence in prayer and not give remarks at Auschwitz.

Maksimovic considered this a good choice.

“This place is the place of silence,” she said. “If someone can say something, they have to say that people have suffered here and were lowered to the very bottom.”

 

  "In the hands of young people is the future of the world, and what the world will look like depends on them. It is important that the youth know what happened here in this place, (so that they do) not allow it to happen again." Lidia Maksimovic (Bocarova) 75 years, is one of the survivors of the Birkenau concentration camp. Born into a Russian family, Lidia was not a Jew; nonetheless, the Nazis imprisoned her in the camp for 2 years. The ID number tattooed on her arm has remained her whole life. ???? by Alan Holdren / @catholicnewsagency

A photo posted by Catholic News Agency (@catholicnewsagency) on Jul 29, 2016 at 6:36am PDT

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