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Los Angeles, Calif., Jun 30, 2016 / 09:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Los Angeles archdiocese is set to launch a new media platform called Angelus News, and it looks to California’s sainted missionary priest for inspiration.

“Following on the footsteps of St. Junípero Serra, a man of heroic virtue and holiness who had only one burning ambition – to bring the good news of Jesus Christ to the peoples of the New World – we now need to send missionaries to proclaim the Gospel in this new digital era,” Archbishop José Gomez said June 29.

He reflected that the Gospel’s message never changes, but Christians “need to always be looking for the ‘language’ that best communicates our Lord’s saving truths.”

The new multimedia platform will include news about the archdiocese’s scores of parishes, schools, and ministries. Its international news coverage will be provided through a partnership with Catholic News Agency.

Angelus News will launch July 1, Junipero Serra's first feast day since his canonization. The Franciscan founded many of the missions that later became the centers of major Californian cities. He was the first saint to be canonized on U.S. soil, during Pope Francis’ visit in September 2015.

Users of the archdiocese’s media platform will find a weekly newsmagazine Angelus, a complete daily digital edition at AngelusNews.com, a daily digital newsletter, and social media channels on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

AngelusNews.com will include video, audio, photo galleries and slideshows updated throughout the day.

The Angelus News name was taken from the name of the archdiocese’s patroness, Mary the Queen of the Angels, as well as from St. Gabriel the Archangel, for whom the first mission built in the archdiocese was named.

The Vatican reporters John Allen and Inés San Martín of the news site Crux will be printed in Angelus magazine. The daily digital newsletter, to launch on July 18, is named “Always Forward,” St. Junípero Serra's motto.

J.D. Long-Garcia, editor-in-chief of Angelus News, credited the media platform’s origins to “the hard work of dozens of committed Catholics in the Church in Los Angeles.”

“The team came together to find a way to update our news and reporting platforms to better serve contemporary Catholics,” he said.

Other Angelus News contributors include Ruben Navarrette, Kathryn Jean Lopez, Grazie Pozo Christie, and Mike Aquilina. Dr. Scott Hahn will write a weekly Scripture column.

Angelus News will continue to host longtime columnists from The Tidings such as Archbishop Jose Gomez, Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron, Father Ronald Rolheiser, and Heather King.

The Los Angeles archdiocese says its current digital media offerings reach 3-7 million people online each week.

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Washington D.C., Jun 30, 2016 / 05:36 pm (CNA).- The U.S. government released its annual human trafficking report Thursday, drawing praise but also some criticism for allegedly giving some offending countries a political pass.

“When we talk about ‘human trafficking,’ we’re talking about slavery – modern-day slavery that still today claims more than 20 million victims on any given time,” Secretary of State John Kerry stated at the report’s ceremony on June 30.

“And all 20 million are people just like everybody here. They have names. They have or had families in many cases,” he continued. “And they are forced to endure a hell – a living hell in modern times that no human being should ever have to experience.”

The Trafficking-in-Persons report is an annual update on human trafficking in 188 countries and territories worldwide, published by the U.S. State Department and created with the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000.

A global refugee crisis and violent conflicts have created whole populations who are vulnerable to be trafficked as sex slaves, wage slaves, or child soldiers, the report said. There are over 20 million trafficking victims worldwide, Secretary Kerry noted.

Yet much work is being done to fight this injustice, as Secretary Kerry noted in his remarks the “growing network of NGOs and advocacy groups who work hard every single day to bring modern-day slavery to a permanent end.”

One official at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was glad the report highlighted the work of these non-governmental organizations.

Hilary Chester, associate director of the Anti-Trafficking Program at the conference’s Migration and Refugee Services committee, told CNA their project fights maritime trafficking in collaboration with other Church entities across the globe.

With Thailand, for instance, Church groups were helping the government improve the maritime trafficking problem. Chester said she was “happy to see that work and those partnerships being highlighted in the report.”

Pope Francis also received praise Thursday from the State Department’s Susan Coppedge, the Ambassador-at-Large in the Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons.

Coppedge praised the Vatican’s human trafficking summit held earlier in June, which “explored the need for victim-supported services instead of punishments for crimes committed under duress.”

“While Pope Francis has a unique ability to gather and rally diverse groups, leaders across communities – businesses, governments, and NGOs – can likewise demonstrate the power of collaboration in fighting the scourge of modern slavery,” she said.

Another focus of the report was the tier rankings of countries. The U.S. government, in cooperation with embassies around the globe, foreign governments, and non-governmental organizations, researches the practice of trafficking worldwide and ranks countries in a tier system based on the seriousness of their trafficking problems and the governments’ responses to curb trafficking.

Tier 1 countries meet the “minimum standards” of fighting trafficking, set forth in the 2000 law, which include prohibition of and sufficient punishment for trafficking.

Tier 3 countries, the lowest tier, not only fail to meet the U.S. government’s trafficking standards but also are not fighting enough to prevent trafficking. For such countries the U.S. President has the authority to withhold official “non-humanitarian, nontrade-related foreign assistance,” among other possible actions.

Countries currently on the Tier 3 list include Russia, Iran, Venezuela, Syria, and Zimbabwe. Countries like Burma and Uzbekistan were downgraded in 2016 to Tier 3 countries, as well as Djibouti, Haiti, Suriname, and Papua New Guinea.

The 2016 report’s tier rankings received some praise but also measures of criticism from the author of the law that first mandated the report, Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.). He said that despite some accurate ratings in the 2016 report the administration based some of its rankings on politics.

For example, China and Cuba should have been placed on the worst offenders tier, an omission attributable to politics, he said. They instead remained on the next tier up, the Tier 2 Watch List reserved for countries who are “making significant efforts” to fight trafficking but need to be watched closely because of the seriousness of their trafficking problems.

“China is the black hole of human trafficking,” Rep. Smith contested, adding that it is not making acceptable progress in fighting trafficking -- its convictions have fallen over 60 percent in six years.

Yet China’s one-child forced family planning policy – now a two-child policy for many families – has brought about a demographic crisis of about 118 boys born per 100 girls born, more than the world normal 103-106 boys per 100 girls. This has created a market for sex trafficking, he said.

Other human rights abuses in China include North Koreans working in “slave-like conditions” and organ harvesting and slave labor inflicted upon the prison population, he said, which completely merit a Tier 3 grade for the country.

“Tier rankings must be earned, not meted out as gifts to economic and security partners,” he insisted.

“The President continues to turn a blind eye to the suffering of the Cuban people for the sake of his fanciful friendship with the Castro brothers,” Rep. Smith said of Cuba remaining on the Tier 2 watch list instead of being downgraded.

The government “benefits from the forced labor of its own medical personnel abroad, the sale abroad of Cuban blood and organs, and sex tourism,” he said.

Yet Secretary of State John Kerry claimed on Thursday that the agency’s tier rankings were not politically-motivated. “The tier rankings that I have designated reflect our department’s best assessment of a government’s efforts to eliminate human trafficking. They don’t take into account political and other factors,” he said.

Smith did praise the administration’s downgrading of Burma, calling it “justified and long overdue” because of the complicity of state and military officials in trafficking there. He added that “Uzbekistan's record is now accurately ranked” at Tier 3 because its government “openly, notoriously, and unapologetically traffics its own citizens every year in the cotton harvest.”

Last year, Rep. Smith and other members of Congress criticized the administration for upgrading Malaysia’s status for it to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership. The move was unwarranted and political, human rights advocates claimed. Malaysia retained its position on the Tier 2 watch list in the 2016 report.

The upgrade was “egregious,” Rep. Smith said, as it came during the Malaysia’s “continued failure to convict sex and labor traffickers.”

There are some particularly serious challenges to fighting trafficking today, the report noted, like religious persecution, violent conflicts, and a global refugee crisis.

Members of religious minorities in a country with a state religion or majority religion might not have due process. This means that they could be trafficked and might not be able to take legal action or enjoy the protection of the state because of their religious affiliation. They are especially vulnerable to forced marriages, or they might not have access to a job and become trapped in sex trafficking or wage slavery.

Refugees fleeing violence are vulnerable to be pushed into forced labor or sex trafficking by smugglers. The United Nations refugee arm UNHCR estimated that out of the 7.4 billion people in the world, one out of every 113 “is now either an asylum-seeker, internally displaced, or a refugee – putting them at a level of risk for which UNHCR knows no precedent,” in a quote cited in the report.

Terror groups who are displacing mass numbers of people take advantage of their vulnerable condition, like ISIS taking women and girls as sex slaves.

Other criminals might take advantage of them. For example, in one Syrian town recruiters promised job opportunities in Lebanon; women jumped at the opportunity to leave their war-torn country. The recruiters successfully trapped over 70 girls in sex slavery and raped and tortured them if they didn’t comply with their demands, the report said.

Conflict zones – which exist across the globe – are also prime areas for human trafficking, the report said, because legal and civic structures are either frayed or non-existent. Resources are diverted to filling immediate humanitarian and military needs, creating a black market for trafficking, especially in refugee camps with a lack of proper oversight.

Another problematic area is maritime trafficking, Kerry noted, where criminals use the isolation of the ocean to hide their use of slaves on fishing boats.

He gave one example of a Cambodian man who went to Thailand to find work to support his family, but who was caught in the fishing industry.

“[Lang] Long was forced to work on a fishing vessel. He was beaten regularly with a metal pole, compelled to drink water from fish barrels, allowed little rest. And when he wasn’t working, he was chained by a rusty metal collar around his neck to an anchor post, so that he couldn’t escape,” Secretary Kerry said.

And there are “many, many stories of this,” he added. “Enslaved crew members – most of whom are under 17 years of age – they’re forced to work 18-to-20-hour days. They’re denied medical care, they’re force-fed amphetamines to help them work through the pain.”

Ultimately, the report, while very “technical,” is also a “really fascinating and a really inspiring document,” pointing out “great successes” and “effective and positive programs,” Chester said.

One section deals with “TIP heroes,” those “who have devoted their lives to the fight against human trafficking.” Their stories are important too, Chester insisted, because while the lists of the trafficking abuses worldwide might be “tough to read,” she added that “it’s also important, and it’s really inspiring, to see the positive outcomes and the positive changes.”
 

Photo credit: Shutterstock.

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IMAGE: CNS illustration/Liz Agbey

By Chaz Muth

SAN DIEGO (CNS) -- There is something distinctive about the chapel where Father William J. Brunner now celebrates Mass.

It floats.

To be more precise, it's in a space aboard the U.S. Navy's warship USS America docked in San Diego.

The fresh-faced, 31-year-old priest is one of the newest members of the Navy's chaplain corps, having graduated from chaplaincy school last November. Though he hasn't served on the ship long, he's already seen how different his new ministry is compared to his former parish in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The obvious difference is the worship space. Instead of a church, he shares a small room that serves as both a library and a chapel with other religions denominations, aboard a ship where fighter planes land on deck.

Though the cheery young priest with the megawatt smile celebrates Mass in traditional vestments, when he peals the garb off after his religious service is concluded, he doesn't reveal traditional black clerics with a white collar.

Instead, he is sporting a blue camouflage uniform with the name "Brunner" embroidered above his right breast pocket and "U.S. Navy" stitched above the left, similar to every other sailor on the ship, except he has a cross on his left collar to signify his role as chaplain.

"I administer the sacraments on the ship similarly to the way I did at my parish, but the way I conduct my ministry is very different," Father Brunner told Catholic News Service shortly before celebrating daily Mass aboard the USS America in May.

Since he's a Navy officer, he has duties in addition to religious functions, which include inspecting portions of the ship while the sailors are conducting routine cleaning.

It doesn't, however, distract him from his role as chaplain, Father Brunner said. It gives him an opportunity to interact with people he may not otherwise come into contact with. Plus, their religious traditions are varied and sometimes nonexistent.

"It's an opportunity for these folks to connect with a priest," he said. "Sometimes it's the first time they've ever had a conversation with a priest."

Occasionally the dialogue takes on a theological theme and other times the sailor has a personal issue that requires a sympathetic, compassionate and confidential ear, something the ship's chaplain is equipped to handle.

Father Brunner said most of his ministry takes place while he is doing something the Navy calls deck plating -- walking throughout the ship, making his presence known and eagerly connecting with the men and women on board.

The ministry of presence makes the military chaplaincy unique and several chaplains told CNS it answers the call from Pope Francis for priests to get out of the rectory and smell like the sheep.

In this message to priests, the pope is calling on them to go out into the world, away from the church, and connect with people where they work, reside, play and live life.

That pretty much describes the role of the military chaplain, who frequently works side-by-side with his fellow soldiers, airmen, sailors, Marines or "Coasties" (members of the Coast Guard), said Father John Reutemann, chaplain at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana.

The connection with the men and women he serves with is intensified during a war-zone deployment, because the chaplain shares the same risks and living conditions.

"When Pope Francis starts talking that way, you know, we were joking whether or not he got that from us or we got that from him," Father Reutemann said with a laugh.

The mantra for military chaplains is they nurture the living, care for the wounded and honor the dead.

They do that by living the life of a soldier, an airman, a sailor, a Marine or a Coastie, said Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio of the U.S. Archdiocese for the Military Services in Washington.

That earns the priest credibility among members of the military, said Father Michael A. Mikstay, a Navy chaplain who currently serves at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego.

Each time Father Mikstay has been assigned to a Marine Corps unit that has been deployed to a war zone, he has gone along with them.

Though he is considered a noncombat member of the military and is not issued a weapon, he still trains, travels and sometimes shares living quarters with members of his unit.

"To become one of them makes us effective and gives us entrance into the lives of those we serve," Father Mikstay said.

Smelling like the sheep is what drives Father Lukasz J. Willenberg in his ministry as a chaplain in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division's 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment located at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

Though Father Willenberg is not required to participate in the mandatory 6:30 a.m. formation with the other soldiers, he does it anyway to forge camaraderie.

Following formation, he leads a group of men through morning physical training, better known as PT, a staple in military life.

Father Willenberg is as devoted to physical fitness as he is to his Catholic faith, which has helped him connect with the soldiers, said 1st Sgt. Robert Frame of the Headquarters Company in the 82nd Airborne Division.

"I think that helps soldiers to want to seek the chaplain out a little more," Frame told CNS during a March interview at Fort Bragg. "It's easier for them to talk to him, that is if they can keep up with him."

Though Father Willenberg said soldiers do seek his counsel frequently by coming to his office, he said many also approach him during morning formation and PT.

"I think it's very important for me to be there, to be part of morning formation, but also to be part of their struggle," the 34-year-old priest said. "Sometimes it's cold, sometimes it's raining, sometimes you simply just don't feel like being there at 6:30 a.m.

"By simply being there, you can prove to them that I care. That I'm here for you no matter what."

The parish priest does know his parishioners and has made it his job to be there for them spiritually and emotionally, said Father Andrew Lawrence, program manager for the U.S. Army's Chaplain Basic Officer Leader Course in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.

"But, you're not sleeping in the same tent with them, you're not sharing the same risks as them," Father Lawrence said, "whereas in the army you get to know them even before the deployment begins. You're doing the same exercises they're doing, you're going to PT with them, you're getting to know them on a much more personal level.

"You have a shared experience and I would say that shared experience is amplified when combat is involved."

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Follow Chaz Muth on Twitter: @Chazmaniandevyl.

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