Catholic News 2

Chair of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops (KCCB) and the Bishop of Homabay, Philip Anyolo has said injustices, corruption, violence, acts of terror and destruction of property and the current wave of arson and unrest in some Kenyan schools are problems fuelled by a lack of moral values.

Bishop Anyolo was speaking at the closing ceremonies of a workshop for major seminary rectors and other seminary formators. The workshop that took place at the  Resurrection Garden in Nairobi ended this week.

The Homabay Ordinary called on formators to teach upcoming priests chastity, self-restraint, charity, diligence, forgiveness, kindness and humility so that they would, in turn, radiate the best of these virtues to the faithful who would be entrusted to them for pastoral care.

Speaking at the same occasion, Rome-based Secretary General of the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle, Fr. Fernando Domingues called on the formators gathered to always give of their best to seminarians and to accept their calling with humility and generosity without retreating from their responsibilities.

The workshop brought together about 70 participants among them rectors and formators from Kenya’s minor and major seminaries.

(By Rose Achiego in Nairobi, Kenya)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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Christians in India have lauded an Indian Dalit Christian for winning the Ramon Magsaysay award for his 32-year crusade to eliminate manual scavenging.  Bezwada Wilson, a member of the Church of South India from Karnataka state, was announced on July 27 as one of the six recipients of the 2016 Ramon Magsaysay Award.   Wilson recruited volunteers and worked with Dalit activists to organize a people's ‎movement called Safai Karmachari Andolan (SKA) that has filed cases and liberated hundreds of thousands from manually removing human excrement from dry latrines.‎ The Safai Karamchari Andolan that Wilson founded in 1994, has grown into a network of 7,000 members in 500 districts across the country.‎  Despite the Indian government banning the job in 2013, the practice continues as hundreds of thousands of people have no other source of income.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award, established in 1957 in commemoration of the third Philippine president, is considered Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize and one of Asia's ‎highest honours.  The award recognized Wilson’s work in "asserting the inalienable right to a life of human dignity. “Of ‎the estimated 600,000 scavengers in India, Wilson’s movement has liberated about half of them the ‎award citation read.

"This is a great honor for the Church. It is a sign that people can come up in society despite all odds," Auxiliary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas of Ranchi, secretary-general of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI), told UCANEWS. The Church appreciates the work Wilson has been doing among manual scavengers. "He has lived the teachings of Christ in his life through his work," the bishop said.

Reverend Y. Moses, a minister of the Church of South India and board member of Safai Karmachari Andolan foundation, told UCANEWS that in the initial days, it must have been really painful for Wilson as he was all alone. Rev. Moses said he would be accompanying Wilson to Manila for the award ceremony on Aug. 31.  Although Wilson’s family had been engaged in manual scavenging for generations, he was spared the labour to be the first in his family to pursue a higher education.

Father Z. Devasagayaraj, secretary of the Indian Catholic bishops' Office of Dalit and Indigenous People, lauded Wilson’s "moral energy and prodigious skill in leading a grassroots movement to eradicate the degrading servitude of manual scavenging in India."  He said that the award is an "acknowledgement for his dedicated and committed service for the downtrodden to eradicate the subhuman work of manual scavenging."   It is also an encouragement for the people who are working for social change, he said.  

Salesian Father John Tharakan who is associated with Wilson and his work for the past two decades said Wilson "truly deserves this (award) and much more recognition for his work."  "No one has ever worked like him — with the abused and oppressed manual scavengers aiming only at their betterment," he said.  "The world has taken note of his commitment and contribution. I do hope that people of our country also respond likewise," Father Tharakan said.

The Ramon Magsaysay Award is given every year in various categories to individuals or organizations in Asia who manifest "selfless service."  Other winners of this year’s awards are Conchita Carpio-Morales of the Philippines for her anti-corruption crusade, Dompet Dhuafa an Indonesian philanthropic organization,  Vientiane Rescue an emergency aid provider in Laos, and Indian Carnatic musician Thodur Madabusi Krishna who is advocating art's power to heal the nation’s deep social divisions and the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers group that sends young adults abroad to volunteer in other communities.   (UCAN/AP)

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis welcomed young people gathered in Krakow for World Youth Day, in an official ceremony on Thursday evening.

Vatican Radio’s Lydia O’Kane, who is in Poland with Pope Francis, spoke with Bishop John Keenan-Paisley, who has travelled from Scotland with a group of young pilgrims, immediately after the ceremony to gauge the reaction to the Pope’s words.

Listen:

Bishop Keenan referred to Pope Francis’ “beautiful words”, which encouraged young people to celebrate their faith, particularly in this jubilee year of mercy. He inspired them to believe that they can change the world for the better, instilling in them a “great joy and trust” and giving them the confidence and courage to make a difference.

Pope Francis is the leader that young people can follow, says Bishop Keenan. His words were “a genuine dialogue” with the young pilgrims who gathered in Krakow, who responded to the Pope’s call to be strong. Pope Francis reminded the young people that it is not those who fall who fail, but those who forget to get up, and encouraged those gathered to turn to the mercy of Jesus in times of need.

Young people who have come together for World Youth Day, have been “blown away” said Bishop Keenan. He explained that nowadays, many young people “live their faith in isolation”, and many view it as an escape from reality. He emphasized Pope Francis’s message of community, encouraging young people to “stick together” when they return home. He concluded that “we can do anything when we are together in Christ”.

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New York City, N.Y., Jul 29, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Mike Piazza, the newest inductee of the National Baseball Hall of Fame, has given a shout-out to Pope Benedict XVI and his mother Veronica.

“She gave me the gift of my Catholic faith, which has had a profound impact on my career and has given me patience, compassion and hope,” Piazza said in his induction speech Sunday.

“Pope Benedict XVI said, ‘One who has hope, lives differently.’ Mom, you raised five boys, and you were always there for me.”

Piazza, 47, played catcher for the New York Mets and other teams. He hit 427 home runs in his professional career. He began his professional baseball career with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1992 and played with the Mets from 1998-2005. He was a 12-time All Star player and a 10-time Silver Slugger Award winner. He retired in 2007.

He is only the second Hall of Fame player to be inducted as a Met.

Piazza had attended 7:30 Mass at Cooperstown’s Our Lady of the Lake Catholic Church, the New York Post’s sports columnist Kevin Kiernan reported.

Afterward, he asked for a special blessing from the priest, Father John Rosson.

“Yes, it was quite humbling,” Fr. Rosson said on the church website. “Mike was very humble…I was tongue tied when he asked for a blessing and I did not realize that I had a live ‘mike’ on.”

The baseball star signed autographs and took pictures with parishioners. The church is only a 10-minute walk from the hall of fame.

About 50,000 people attended the induction ceremony, including many of Piazza’s past teammates and 48 returning Hall of Famers. Piazza was inducted into the hall of fame alongside Ken Griffey, Jr., a past star for the Cincinnati Reds and Seattle Mariners.  

Piazza also thanked his father, Vince, who was present at the ceremony.

“My father’s faith in me, often greater than my own, is the single most important factor of me being inducted into this Hall of Fame. Thank you, Dad.”

Piazza noted that his father had had a major stroke several years before.

“We made it, Dad. The race is over. Now it’s time to smell the roses,” he said.

The Mets star also thanked the team’s fans.

“How can I put into words my love and appreciation for New York Mets fans. Looking back into this crowd of blue and orange brings me back to the greatest time of my life,” he said. “The thing I miss most is making you cheer.”

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Friday sent a video message for young Cubans who organized their own youth gathering to coincide with the official World Youth Day events in Krakow, Poland. In his message the Pope praised the young people for taking this initiative and urged them to unite together in “a social friendship,” regardless of their differences and be “carriers of hope” and “builders of bridges.”

Around 1,400 young Cubans are taking part in their own youth gathering in the capital Havana that’s being attended by young people who for economic reasons cannot afford to travel to the WYD in Poland. They have adopted the same themes as the WYD in Krakow and the event includes catechesis sessions, a Way of the Cross procession and passing through the Holy Door. 

Pope Francis told the young Cubans that he trusted this event will be an opportunity to promote a culture of encounter, respect, understanding and mutual forgiveness. He went on to urge them “not to be afraid of anything” and “to free themselves from the chains of this world” to announce the Good News.

Saying they must be “carriers of hope, the Pope told the young Cubans that in order to be this, they must retain their ability to dream, warning that whoever can’t dream is already like an old-age pensioner.

“Do not be afraid, do not be fussy or choosy,” he declared. “Dream that through your help, Cuba can be different and improve each day.”

Turning to the importance of hope, Pope Francis said hope brings people together to build “a social friendship,” and stressed that it isn’t necessary for them to all think alike to do this. What is important, he said, is that they all share “that desire to dream” and that “love for their nation” and together they can “build bridges” by stretching out their hands to others.   

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(Vatican Radio) During his Apostolic Voyage to Poland, Pope Francis, following in the footsteps of his predecessors Pope St John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, will pay a visit to the Auschwitz-Birkenau memorial and museum, the site of a former Nazi concentration and extermination camp.

Lydia O’Kane is in Poland with Pope Francis. She visited Auschwitz earlier this week, and filed this reflection:

A steady stream of young people passes through metal detectors, making their way to Auschwitz I and through the infamous entrance that reads “Arbeit macht frei” — “work sets you free”. Many will have studied at school the horrors that took place here at this former Nazi concentration camp, but it is only by coming to this place of terror that you can truly comprehend the full extent of the brutality that took place.

From 1940 until the camp was liberated 1,100,000 people were murdered at Auschwitz, the majority were Jews but also Poles, Roma, as well as other nationalities, perished. The prisoners here were housed in red brick block buildings, in sub-human conditions. Walking past them from the outside today they don’t give much away about their terrible past, but look closer and there are clues. On one of the blocks an inscription reads, “Extermination of European Roma”. One of the most infamous blocks here at Auschwitz is Block 11, also known as the death block. It was here that Franciscan priest Fr Maximillian Kolbe was killed by lethal injection after offering up his life for a complete stranger.

Continuing along the guided route there is the stark realization that you are walking in the footsteps of those many prisoners whose fate was sealed the moment they came here. The silence is deafening as one’s imagination tries to make sense of the stories of suffering and hardship.

All around the camp there are photos and drawings that tell a story more poignant than any words, drawings of prisoners being shot or living in overcrowded conditions. One picture even shows the camp orchestra playing as the prisoners file past; it was thought that the music would keep them in step and make it easier for them to be counted by guards.

At Auschwitz II Birkenau the horror escalated. Seventy-five percent of people who came here were murdered in the gas chambers. It is in this purpose-built concentration camp that you see the train tracks that led only one way and those chilling carriages that transported terrified men, women, and children here following their deportation. Only the fittest survived; the elderly, handicapped, and even pregnant women were given no chance at all.

A photo outside one of the blocks, taken by the Nazis, shows the guards making the choice between who lives and who dies. An old man is among the group waiting to hear his fate. One guard can be seen talking to the man and his shadow is clearly visible in the sunlight. In this dark outline the guard’s hand is raised. It is pointing in the direction of the gas chamber.

This tour ends in the worst of places here, the gas chambers. They are now only burnt out shells, having been destroyed by the Nazis just before the Soviet liberation. As you stand looking at them, it’s very difficult to even contemplate just what happened here and as you look around you can see people just standing and staring in disbelief.

The mood of the young people has altered now from what it was at the beginning of this tour, it is a more sombre tone befitting what they have witnessed. As they leave, there is a chance to look at the monument and plaques in 20 languages which commemorate the victims of Auschwitz Birkenau, a living symbol of man’s inhumanity to man.

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