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Krakow, Poland, Jul 26, 2016 / 03:43 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In response to the murder of Father Jacques Hamel by believed Islamic State sympathizers, the French bishops have designated Sunday, July 31, as a Day of Fasting.

Msgr. Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, secretary general of the French Bishops Conference, discussed the decision July 26.

“What happened in France had happened in other countries before, and actually we see Christians laying down their lives in the interests of their faith,” he told journalists gathered in Krakow, Poland for World Youth Day.

“They die because they are objects of hate and this for a fact gives us an additional motivation to live the life of fraternity we are called to.”

Earlier in the day, two armed gunmen stormed a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in the Normandy region. The assailants entered the church during Mass and took the priest and four others hostage.

Police sources said the 86-year-old priest’s throat was slit in the attack. Both of the assailants were shot dead by police. One of the hostages was critically wounded.

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack, and one of the attackers has been identified as a 19-year-old man who was under house arrest with a tracking bracelet after being caught attempting to travel to Syria.

The murder comes on the tail of numerous attacks in recent weeks.

Saying the attackers were terrorists, Msgr. Dumas stressed that in the midst of shock and sadness following the attack, Christians must not let evil and violence dominate.

“A priest is a symbol of peace and fraternity, and he was an old priest, more than 50 years as a priest in France, so tonight we are sad and we are shocked by this,” the priest acknowledged.

“But we are also something which is very strong. We want to maintain and develop dialogue between the different people in our country. We need peace, we need fraternity, we need to build a society where people love each other, and we will continue this path,” he said. “The Catholic Church in France wants that.”

World Youth Day, which officially begins today, offers a special chance for reflection, he added: “We should see the horizon, the horizon of peace, of joy, brotherhood and prayer. We are rooted in our faith and in Christ and we believe that evil and violence will not have the upper hand.”

According to Msgr Dumas, the French contingent at World Youth Day received the news with sadness. About 300 youth are from the Diocese of Rouen, out of 3,000 French pilgrims total at the international gathering this week.

The French priest believes that World Youth Day needs to go forward “with even greater intensity.”

He stressed the importance of fraternity, hope in the future, and “the desire to create a world in which violence and hate don’t have any place.” He said the young pilgrims “want to live it here, and they say that to all French people.”

Msgr. Dumas voiced confidence in Polish authorities’ efforts to ensure security at World Youth Day.

He also noted that in other parts of the world, many people are killed because they are Christians or because they are Muslims.

“Many more Muslims than Christians are killed because they are Muslims, so we pray and we are going to pray at Mass in a few minutes for peace and for all those who are killed because they believe in God.”

Msgr. Dumas said the Church most foster dialogue among different people.

“It’s a bit hard, difficult, so we do it with hope,” he said. “It’s a Christian attitude because we think that the Catholic religion can involve all of our society, and that is very important for us. Violence is not the answer, the only answer is really love. We cannot do anything else. Love, love and love. Dialogue and dialogue. And also have mercy for all those who are totally distracted by violence.”

Pope Francis, in his response to the attack, has condemned “every form of hatred.” A Vatican statement said the Pope “participates in the pain and horror of this absurd violence.”

The Vatican statement said it was especially moving that the “barbaric murder” took place in a church

Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen also reacted to the attack from Krakow.

“I cry out to God, with all men of good will. And I invite all non-believers to unite with this cry ... The Catholic Church has no other weapons besides prayer and fraternity between men,” he said.

 

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Washington D.C., Jul 26, 2016 / 04:36 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After Senator Tim Kaine, a Catholic from Virginia, was named Hillary Clinton’s running mate last week, several bishops spoke out on the sanctity of life – implicitly criticizing the nominee's pro-choice stance.

Bishop Francis X. DiLorenzo of Kaine’s home diocese of Richmond, Virginia released a statement regarding Catholics in public office July 22.

“The Catholic Church makes its position very clear as it pertains to the protection of human life, social justice initiatives, and the importance of family life,” he said.

“From the very beginning, Catholic teaching informs us that every human life is sacred from conception until natural death. The right to life is a fundamental, human right for the unborn and any law denying the unborn the right to life is unequivocally unjust.”

Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence, Rhode Island also commented on the subject, mentioning Kaine by name and lamenting that “apparently, and unfortunately, his faith isn’t central to his public, political life.”

Kaine has been described as a devout Catholic and has attended St. Elizabeth Catholic Church in Richmond for decades.

His record on the issue of abortion is complicated. While he says that he personally opposes abortion, he supports it politically.

As Governor of Virginia, he often spoke of adoption as the best solution to unwanted pregnancy, and approved the sale of “Choose Life” license plates, whose proceeds help fund pro-life clinics. He supported abstinence-only sex education for a time (although he later cut funding saying the program was not working), and backed Virginia’s informed consent law, which requires women seeking an abortion to receive an ultrasound of the developing fetus prior to the procedure.

However, since entering the Senate in 2010, he has maintained a consistently pro-abortion voting record, earning him a 100 percent rating from NARAL Pro-Choice America, whose president, Ilyse Hogue, voiced her support for the candidate after he was picked.  

"While Senator Kaine has been open about his personal reservations about abortion, he’s maintained a 100% pro-choice voting record in the U.S. Senate,” she said in a statement. “He voted against dangerous abortion bans, he has fought against efforts to defund Planned Parenthood, and he voted to strengthen clinic security by establishing a federal fund for it.”

In an interview with MSNBC, Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards called Kaine “not only a solid vote but really an ally."

Recently, Kaine has voiced support for the Supreme Court’s striking down of Texas laws that would have required abortion clinics to meet the standards of surgical centers, among other standards. In a statement, he called the ruling a “major win…(in) the fight to expand reproductive freedom for all.”

He has also supported the Affordable Care Act on numerous occasions, and spoke out against the Supreme Court’s Hobby Lobby decision after it found that the Act violated the religious freedom rights of Hobby Lobby and similar employers who were forced to comply with the federal contraception mandate against their religious beliefs.

Church teaching does not dictate which party or candidate a Catholic should choose. It does, however, offer guidelines for the faithful to use in making their decision.

In their document, “Forming Consciences for Faithful Citizenship,” the U.S. bishops outline an understanding of political responsibility based upon developing a “well-formed conscience.”

Catholic teaching holds that the “right to life” is paramount. St. John Paul II described it as “the most basic and fundamental right and the condition for all other personal rights.” The bishops’ document stresses that the direct and intentional destruction of innocent human life “is not just one issue among many. It must always be opposed.”

In the document, the bishops also stated their opposition to “contraception and abortion mandates in public programs and health plans, which endanger rights of conscience and can interfere with parents' right to guide the moral formation of their children.”

In his statement, Bishop DiLorenzo added that elected officials in Virginia are made aware of the Church’s stance on various issues because he and Bishop Loverde of the Diocese of Arlington advocate for Catholic policies before the Virginia General Assembly, U.S. Congress, and the Virginia Catholic Conference, a public policy advocacy organization.

“We continue to maintain an open communication with public officials who make on-going decisions impacting critical, moral and social issues. This is a responsibility I take seriously, along with my brother bishops, to reach out to public leaders to explain Catholic principles and encourage them to protect human life and dignity in all decisions they make,” Bishop DiLorenzo said in the statement.

“We always pray for our Catholic leaders that they make the right choice, act in the best judgment and in good conscience, knowing the values and teachings of the Catholic Church.”

Bishop Tobin of Providence also weighed in on Saturday on Tim Kaine’s stance on various issues in a Facebook post titled “VP Pick, Tim Kaine, a Catholic?”

“Democratic VP choice, Tim Kaine, has been widely identified as a Roman Catholic. It is also reported that he publicly supports ‘freedom of choice’ for abortion, same-sex marriage, gay adoptions, and the ordination of women as priests,” Bishop Tobin wrote.

“All of these positions are clearly contrary to well-established Catholic teachings; all of them have been opposed by Pope Francis as well. Senator Kaine has said, ‘My faith is central to everything I do.’ But apparently, and unfortunately, his faith isn’t central to his public, political life.”

In past election years, several bishops have stressed that Catholic politicians who support abortion should not receive Communion.

While Bishop DiLorenzo’s statement did not address Kaine specifically, he said “(i)t is the duty of all Catholics, no matter their profession, to decide through an upright and informed conscience as to their worthiness to receive the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist.”

 

 

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Bob Roller

By Jonathan Luxmoore

KRAKOW, Poland (CNS) -- St. John Paul II's former secretary urged young Catholics to share their faith, experiences and hopes and spread a "message of divine mercy" worldwide during World Youth Day.

"We come from every nation under heaven, like those who came in great numbers to Jerusalem on Pentecost Day, but there are incomparably more of us now than 2,000 years ago, because we are accompanied by centuries of preaching the Gospel," Krakow Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz said during the July 26 opening Mass.

"We bring experience of various cultures, traditions and languages. But what we also bring are testimonies of faith and holiness of our brothers and sisters, followers of the risen Lord, of past generations as well as the current generation," he said.

The cardinal preached to an estimated 200,000 pilgrims from 187 countries in Krakow's Blonia Park, a day before the scheduled arrival of Pope Francis.

He said a special clock had been fitted to the front of the city's cathedral, "counting the days, hours, minutes and seconds," since 2013, when the city was announced as the venue for World Youth Day this year.

He added that Krakow was the city from where St. John Paul "set off to preach the Gospel," as well as where St. Faustina Kowalska helped spread devotion to Divine Mercy worldwide in the 20th century.

"You have come from all continents and nations, from the East and West, North and South of our globe," said Cardinal Dziwisz, who was personal secretary to St. John Paul for 39 years.

"You bring with you many experiences. You bring many desires. You speak numerous languages. But starting today, we are going to communicate with each other in the language of the Gospel -- a language of love, brotherhood, solidarity and peace."

Up to 2 million young people were expected to attend World Youth Day July 26-31. Nearly 50 cardinals, 800 bishops and 20,000 priests from around the world also were to attend.

The opening Mass was partially disrupted by heavy rain, which forced the temporary closure of Krakow's airport. The Mass site featured giant portraits of Sts. John Paul and Faustina by the main altar.

A Catholic teacher from the pope's native Argentina, Clara Retta, told Catholic News Service she counted on Pope Francis to encourage young people to "go out to people and do things for others" and to bring a "message of joy and simplicity."

She added that she believed the 7,000 Argentines attending World Youth Day had been warmly welcomed in Poland and were "very excited and proud" to be seeing the pope.

Carolina Alraheb, a Catholic from the war-torn city of Homs, Syria, said she hoped her countrymen would come to see themselves as "part of one family" by somehow maintaining a "deep relationship with God."

"I hope the pope will also ask our people to deepen their own relations with themselves and find meaning in life again," said the 25-year-old physics student, who was among two dozen Syrian Catholics at World Youth Day with two Jesuit priests from Aleppo.

"Home is full of orphans and widows, and many people have asked where God is. But I realized he's still here, suffering with us and staying with the young Syrians, who'll one day rebuild their country as a house of God," she said.

In his homily, Cardinal Dziwisz said young people had come to Krakow from peaceful countries, "where families are communities of love and life and where young people can pursue their dreams," but also "from countries whose people are suffering due to wars and other kinds of conflicts, where children are starving to death and where Christians are brutally persecuted."

He added that young Catholics would bring to World Youth Day their experiences of "living the Gospel in a difficult world, as well as their "fears and disappointments, hopes and yearning, and desire to live in a more human, more fraternal and solidary world."

"Among us are young pilgrims from parts of the world that are ruled by violence and blind terrorism, and where authorities usurp power over man and nations, following insane ideologies," the cardinal told young pilgrims, who waved flags and banners during the Mass.

"May the flame of love engulf our world and rid it of egoism, violence and injustice, so that a civilization of good, reconciliation, love and peace will be strengthened on our earth."

Pope Francis was to arrive in Krakow July 27 on his first visit to Poland. He was scheduled to travel to the former Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz-Birkenau during his stay, as well as leading an open-air Mass at the country's Jasna Gora national sanctuary. He planned to pray before the relics of St. Faustina at Krakow's Divine Mercy center.

A Polish World Youth Day ambassador, Jan Mela, who founded a youth support group after losing an arm in a road accident, said he hoped Pope Francis would help young people to "find sense in life" and overcome a widespread sense of "dissatisfaction and fatalism."

Meanwhile, a Catholic from neighboring Ukraine, Elisabeth Dotsenko, said she and other members of the 5,000-strong Ukrainian Catholic delegation had got along well with Russian pilgrims in Krakow, despite the war currently raging in their country. She said she believed "human connections" could help overcome most political conflicts.

Archbishop Jean-Claude Hollerich of Luxembourg told CNS he believed the pope was able to "speak in the language of the Gospel, but not in complex theological language," and would discourage notions that Christians were "up against a bad secular world" by showing young people that God's love was "for everyone equally."

Boston Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley told CNS he was impressed by the huge numbers who had come to "the city of John Paul II," as well as the enthusiasm of young Americans attending the festival, adding that he was sure the pope would offer "many resonating messages."

"Participating at World Youth Day makes an enormous difference in a person's life -- over a third of our own U.S. seminarians helped discover their vocations while at World Youth Day," the cardinal said.

"In our more and more secularized society, it's very reaffirming for the faith of young people to be surrounded by hundreds of thousands of others like this. It can have an important long-lasting effect on their relations with the church and Holy Father, as well as on their experience of the church's catholicity."

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