Catholic News 2
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Aleppo, Syria, Jun 21, 2016 / 02:57 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- For children growing up in Aleppo, Syria, life is anything but easy. In a city devastated civil war, bombings are common and death is never far away.But for some 350 Christian children in the city, there is a light amid the chaos: Vacation Bible School.The children gather under the motto “Be merciful as our Father is merciful” to pray for their country and to pray for the conversion of the jihadists.“We're not afraid because every day we challenge the bombs and death with our joy of living,” Father Firas Lutfi told Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference.The priest is in charge of the Vacation Bible School at Saint Francis Roman rite parish in Aleppo.The Vacation Bible School is made of up children from different Christian confessions, both Catholics and Orthodox. They range in age from 3 to 15. During school time they also sing, play and make friends.<blockquote class=&quo...
Aleppo, Syria, Jun 21, 2016 / 02:57 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- For children growing up in Aleppo, Syria, life is anything but easy. In a city devastated civil war, bombings are common and death is never far away.
But for some 350 Christian children in the city, there is a light amid the chaos: Vacation Bible School.
The children gather under the motto “Be merciful as our Father is merciful” to pray for their country and to pray for the conversion of the jihadists.
“We're not afraid because every day we challenge the bombs and death with our joy of living,” Father Firas Lutfi told Avvenire, the newspaper of the Italian Bishops' Conference.
The priest is in charge of the Vacation Bible School at Saint Francis Roman rite parish in Aleppo.
The Vacation Bible School is made of up children from different Christian confessions, both Catholics and Orthodox. They range in age from 3 to 15. During school time they also sing, play and make friends.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="it" dir="ltr">Una luce bambina nella notte di <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Aleppo?src=hash">#Aleppo</a> un oratorio estivo in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Siria?src=hash">#Siria</a> <a href="https://t.co/9jBS9919ef">https://t.co/9jBS9919ef</a> <a href="https://t.co/1fqClyG2iN">pic.twitter.com/1fqClyG2iN</a></p>— Avvenire (@Avvenire_NEI) <a href="https://twitter.com/Avvenire_NEI/status/739150340331819008">June 4, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Fr. Lutfi said the initiative is “a light for a martyr city of the Syrian civil war.”
Over 250,000 have died in the war and millions of people have been displaced.
This year, the Pro Terra Sancta Association, which serves the Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land, asked Italian parishes to join the efforts. They can hold similar “Vacation Bible School” as a work of mercy so the Syrian children feel they are not alone.
Organizers hope that through this initiative, Italian children will learn what life is like for Christians in the Middle East.
Fr. Lutfi reflected on the outreach to Italy, saying “we need this communion with you.”
Father Ibrahim Alsbagh, the pastor at Saint Francis church, said that even in a partially destroyed Aleppo, Christians can manage to overcome their circumstances with the joy of being together and through an experience of life and friendship in the name of Jesus.
Dublin, Ireland, Jun 21, 2016 / 03:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Fighting Irish are headed to the Emerald Isle, with plans to establish a new center for dialogue between faith and reason in Dublin.The Archbishop of Dublin made the announcement June 20 that Notre Dame University will head the initiative at University Church in St. Stephen’s Green.“I see the establishment of the Notre Dame-Newman Centre for Faith and Reason as an opportunity for University Church to return to its original vocation as a focal point for the reflection on faith and reason,” Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said.The Centre will focus on reaching out to young people. It will give attention to liturgy and music, a lecture series, and other activities that integrate faith and reason, service, and cultural events in and around Newman University Church. Chuck Lamphier, the Director of Church Affairs at Notre Dame, told CNA that the Indiana-based university accepted the archbishop’s invita...
Dublin, Ireland, Jun 21, 2016 / 03:38 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Fighting Irish are headed to the Emerald Isle, with plans to establish a new center for dialogue between faith and reason in Dublin.
The Archbishop of Dublin made the announcement June 20 that Notre Dame University will head the initiative at University Church in St. Stephen’s Green.
“I see the establishment of the Notre Dame-Newman Centre for Faith and Reason as an opportunity for University Church to return to its original vocation as a focal point for the reflection on faith and reason,” Archbishop Diarmuid Martin said.
The Centre will focus on reaching out to young people. It will give attention to liturgy and music, a lecture series, and other activities that integrate faith and reason, service, and cultural events in and around Newman University Church.
Chuck Lamphier, the Director of Church Affairs at Notre Dame, told CNA that the Indiana-based university accepted the archbishop’s invitation, in part, because of its longstanding history in Ireland.
“Notre Dame has the largest program of Irish language studies outside of Ireland,” he explained.
“We also recognize that Notre Dame was built by many Irish immigrants and Irish Americans, and we feel a certain responsibility to contribute to the Irish Church if we can.”
Notre Dame already has a presence in Ireland along with Rome, Beijing, Jerusalem, and London, as part of its “Global Gateways” network. The university offers programs for undergraduate and graduate studies in Ireland. It also started a partnership with the Benedictine Community at Kylemore Abbey in 2015.
Lamphier said Notre Dame is blessed to be part of the Church that Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman built and opened in 1856.
“Newman is a great hero of the Church in the 19th century and we are grateful that Archbishop Martin invited us to be a part of lifting up his legacy in Ireland,” he said.
According to Lamphier, having a Centre of Faith and Reason in Ireland is one more way for Notre Dame to contribute to the Church, “to the faith understanding of young people in Dublin, and for Notre Dame’s own students.”
The Centre will begin running later this year. Lamphier said Notre Dame is undertaking this project in Dublin right now, but added that showing the complementary of faith and reason will follow the university wherever it works.
Washington D.C., Jun 21, 2016 / 05:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A relic tour currently taking place in the United States highlights the virtues of two English saints who stood up for conscience and paid the ultimate price.The “Witness to Freedom” relic tour is being held in conjunction with the U.S. bishops’ Fortnight for Freedom, which take place across the nation June 21-July 4. The fortnight aims to stress the importance of defending religious freedom in the U.S. and to raise awareness of religious persecution around the world.The relics come from two English saints executed in the year 1535.St. Thomas More, a renowned author and philosopher who had held the position of Chancellor, and St. John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester, refused to sign the Act of Supremacy that purported to recognize King Henry VIII as the supreme head of the Church of England.“Both More and Fisher were patriots. They never rose up to incite rebellion or foment revolution. They were no t...
Washington D.C., Jun 21, 2016 / 05:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A relic tour currently taking place in the United States highlights the virtues of two English saints who stood up for conscience and paid the ultimate price.
The “Witness to Freedom” relic tour is being held in conjunction with the U.S. bishops’ Fortnight for Freedom, which take place across the nation June 21-July 4. The fortnight aims to stress the importance of defending religious freedom in the U.S. and to raise awareness of religious persecution around the world.
The relics come from two English saints executed in the year 1535.
St. Thomas More, a renowned author and philosopher who had held the position of Chancellor, and St. John Fisher, the Bishop of Rochester, refused to sign the Act of Supremacy that purported to recognize King Henry VIII as the supreme head of the Church of England.
“Both More and Fisher were patriots. They never rose up to incite rebellion or foment revolution. They were no traitors,” the U.S. bishops’ Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty said.
“But when the law of the king came into conflict with the law of Christ, they chose Christ. These men gave their lives for the freedom of the Church and for freedom of conscience. They bear witness to the truth that no government can make a claim on a person’s soul.”
Normally kept at Stonyhurst College – a Jesuit school in Lancashire, England – the relics will tour Miami, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Denver, Phoenix, and Los Angeles before ending in Washington, D.C.
They will stop at Los Angeles’ Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels July 1-2. Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles will say a Mass celebrating their arrival on July 1 at 12:10 p.m.
Other activities during the fortnight include local prayers, talks, rallies and Masses throughout the country.
The official opening Mass of the Fortnight for Freedom will be celebrated by Archbishop William Lori on June 21 at 7 p.m. at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, Maryland.
Both Masses will be broadcast on EWTN Global Catholic Network.
Concerns over religious freedom have grown in recent years. The federal government has mandated that many Catholic organizations provide drugs and procedures whose use Catholic ethics recognizes as immoral. In some jurisdictions, Catholic adoption agencies cannot operate legally because they will place children only with married mothers and fathers. Catholic schools have also faced political pressure and lawsuit threats for their morals policies for teachers, staff and students.
IMAGE: CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New WorldBy Joyce DurigaCHICAGO(CNS) -- When members of the Chicago Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreachgathered the evening of June 19 for their regular weekly Mass at Our Lady ofMount Carmel Church, they had as their focus the victims of the mass shootingJune 12 at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.Themass shooting left 50 people dead, including the gunman, and more than 50others wounded.Amemorial to the dead stood in front of the altar with photos of the victims.During the prayers of the faithful at Mass, the names and ages of victims wereread while candles were lit for each person. After Mass, many people went up tothe altar to pray before the memorial and to take photos.TheArchdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach began in 1988 as a way to extend thechurch's pastoral outreach to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholicsthroughout the archdiocese. In addition to holding service projects in thecommunity and social events, the commun...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Karen Callaway, Catholic New World
By Joyce Duriga
CHICAGO (CNS) -- When members of the Chicago Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach gathered the evening of June 19 for their regular weekly Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, they had as their focus the victims of the mass shooting June 12 at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida.
The mass shooting left 50 people dead, including the gunman, and more than 50 others wounded.
A memorial to the dead stood in front of the altar with photos of the victims. During the prayers of the faithful at Mass, the names and ages of victims were read while candles were lit for each person. After Mass, many people went up to the altar to pray before the memorial and to take photos.
The Archdiocesan Gay and Lesbian Outreach began in 1988 as a way to extend the church's pastoral outreach to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Catholics throughout the archdiocese. In addition to holding service projects in the community and social events, the community meets each Sunday for an evening Mass.
At Mass June 12, the day of the Orlando shooting, a letter to members of the outreach from Chicago Archbishop Blase J. Cupich was read.
"For you here today and throughout the whole lesbian and gay community, who are particularly touched by the heinous crimes committed in Orlando, motivated by hate, driven perhaps by mental instability and certainly empowered by a culture of violence, know this: The Archdiocese of Chicago stands with you. I stand with you," the archbishop said in the letter.
"Let our shared grief and our common faith in Jesus, who called the persecuted blessed, unite us," he continued, "so that hatred and intolerance are not allowed to flourish, so that those who suffer mental illness know the support of a compassionate society, so that we find the courage to face forthrightly the falsehood that weapons of combat belong anywhere in the civilian population."
The letter was posted on the group's website -- www.aglochicago.org -- and on a pillar outside of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy next door to the church.
That same day, Archbishop Cupich also released a statement to the public.
"Our prayers and hearts are with the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando, their families and our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters," the statement read. "The people of the Archdiocese of Chicago stand with the victims and their loved ones, and reaffirm our commitment, with Pope Francis, to address the causes of such tragedy, including easy access to deadly weapons. We can no longer stand by and do nothing."
Steve Engles, co-director of the archdiocesan outreach, said that their community valued Archbishop Cupich reaching out to them and doing so the same day as the shooting.
"The archbishop made it very clear that he stands with us. We're extremely appreciative of the support he expressed for not only the members of AGLO and the victims in Orlando but the community at large," said Engles told the Catholic New World, Chicago's archdiocesan newspaper.
Leaning on the faith can help people through grieving tragedies, which is something the outreach community understands.
"It's a regular group of people who come here every Sunday. People are here not out of a sense of duty or obligation. They are here because they want to be here," Engles said. "It is a source of comfort to people."
Outreach director Joe Vitek agreed.
"Our faith is a difficult one if we want to walk in the steps of Jesus. He calls us to carry a cross. Especially in the Catholic gay and lesbian community we're always fighting to be a part of the faith to show that we are a part of the church," said Vitek. "What I saw tonight was our church embracing us and helping us carry that cross together."
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Duriga is editor of the Catholic New World, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Chicago.
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