Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) Leaders of the World Communion of Reformed Churches met with Pope Francis on Friday stressing a new urgency for Christians to work together to bring unity and justice to a suffering world.

After their first papal audience in ten years, the delegation of Reformed Church leaders said this urgency for a common Christian witness is inspired by the forthcoming 500th anniversary of the Reformation and by the continuing economic and environmental crises which oppress and destroy human life.

Speaking at  a press conference following their meeting with the Pope, the President of the WCRC, Rev Jerry Pillay and Secretary General, Rev Chris Ferguson, shared perspectives on their priorities ahead of the next General Council to be held in Leipzig, Germany, in the summer of 2017.

These include working for greater communion, increased mission and ecumenical engagement, as well as a strong focus on economic, environmental and gender justice within the Church and within wider society. While not all Reformed Churches allow women in ministry, the WCRC has committed itself to full equality of women in leadership and says it hopes to engage others in dialogue around this critical issue.

To find out more, Philippa Hitchen spoke with President Jerry Pillay, professor of theology at the University of Pretoria in South Africa:

Listen: 

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(Vatican Radio) The Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, Archbishop Arthur Roche, says Pope Francis’ decision to raise the celebration of the memorial of St Mary Magdalen to the dignity of a liturgical Feast reflects the importance of this female disciple and women in general within the life of the Church.  Archbishop Roche was interviewed by Susy Hodges:

Listen to the interview with Archbishop Roche, Secretary of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments:  

Asked to explain the significance of the Pope’s decision and the message it sends, Archbishop Roche said it reflects the Holy Father’s view about “the importance of women and their role within the life of the Church.”

He said it also reflects the valuable role women can play in the new evangelization because they can reach places to spread the gospel where men do not readily go. 

The archbishop also drew attention to Mary Magdalen’s important role as the first witness to Christ’s Resurrection and as the person who announced that momentous event to the Apostles.  He noted it was Mary Magdalen’s sense of compassion, love and anxiety that drew her to Christ’s tomb. 

“Christ showed her (Mary Magdalen) a very special mercy by appearing to her and also by giving her this remarkable role of telling the apostles that the Lord had risen,"  Archbishop Roche said. 

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The Catholic Church in Bangladesh is planning to start a new ministry to assist Christian domestic migrant workers and fill a gap in providing spiritual and social care, and to save them from abuse and exploitation.  "Migrant Christians often don't get proper sacramental, pastoral or social services because they are busy supporting their families and lose touch with the church," said Theophil Nokrek, secretary of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Bangladesh (CBCB). "Most domestic migrant workers who come from rural areas are poorly educated and unaware about the challenges of city life, which makes them vulnerable to various kinds of abuse and exploitation," Nokrek said. He was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar for domestic migrant workers at the Holy Spirit National Major Seminary in Dhaka on June 10.  The Justice and Peace Commission and Caritas Bangladesh organized the seminar, which drew about 200 participants, mostly from the tribal Garo community.  Nokrek said the seminar is part of a series of programs designed to help an estimated 60,000 migrant Christians living and working in Dhaka and nearby areas. 

CBCB is currently discussing the feasibility of opening a new ministry for migrants in Dhaka, which has the largest concentration of domestic migrant workers, he said.  "The ministry will consist of five priests, several nuns and laypeople, and will serve the needs of a large number of migrant workers," he said.   

Currently, the bishops' conference runs a migrants desk and offers assistance to vulnerable workers with support from Caritas, according to Ranjon Francis Rozario, Caritas Dhaka's regional director. He said migrants face violence especially against women and children, lack of health services, high rate of family breakdowns, scarcity of accommodation and legal support.  According to 2011 Bangladesh Census, about 28.4 percent of the country's 160 million people live in cities and 4.5 percent are migrant workers from rural areas. (Source: UCAN)

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While Indian officials were working with Afghan authorities to secure the release of an Indian Catholic charity worker kidnapped in Kabul on Thursday, the Christian community in the aid worker’s home city of Kolkata have come around the family.   Judith D'Souza, the 40-year-old Catholic woman from the eastern city, works with the Agha Khan Network in Afghanistan to raise awareness about the role of women.  She was hired by the charity which provides education and health assistance in about 30 countries.  

“We pray for her safe release and return. Judith is someone involved in improving the lives of many people in difficulty,” Archbishop Thomas D'Souza of  Calcutta told AsiaNews.   “I assure the family of my prayers and our support. She is from the Fatima Parish, and just last month she visited her parents,” the archbishop said.  He wished that Judith be able to return home to her family soon through the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima. 

Agnes D'Souza, Judith’s distressed sister tweeted several messages seeking help from the Indian government.  One read: “My sister Judith D'Souza abducted in Kabul. Request your immediate help to rescue her. My old parents are very distressed.”  External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted in response: "She is your sister and India's daughter. We are doing everything to rescue her. Pl take care of your sick father."

Judith is not the first Indian Catholic aid worker to be kidnapped in Afghanistan. Jesuit Father Alexis Prem Kumar from Tamil Nadu state was kidnapped in June 2014 and kept in capitivity for more than 8 months before the Indian government secured his release in Feb. 2015.   Another priest, Fr. Tom Uzhunnalil, a Salesian from southern India, who was abducted by unknown gunmen in Yemen on March 4th this year  is still in capitivity.  The Indian government has confirmed that Fr. Tom is alive and that it is holding talks with the abductors for his release.

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Santiago, Chile, Jun 10, 2016 / 06:12 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Saturday, June 4, right around lunch time, Chilean priest Father Francisco Rencoret Mujica received an unexpected call.

The 35-year-old priest, who is suffering from metastasized lung cancer, received encouragement in the form of a surprise phone call from Pope Francis.

Fr. Rencoret, who was studying Canon Law at the Gregorian University in Rome, returned to Chile this year to treat his illness.

At first, his mother said, she thought the phone call was from a Spanish priest, Father Arturo, who called frequently to inquire about the state of her son’s health.

“Hello, Father Arturo,” she recalled saying.

“It's not Fr. Arturo, it's the Holy Father. Yes, it's His Holiness, it's the pope!”

Then his father, Gustavo joined the conversation. Quite moved, he said that they had a photograph of Pope Francis in their home.

Fr. Rencoret explained to CNA that the reason for the call was to “inquire about my health, to tell me that he was praying for me, to give me a lot of support, encouragement and the love of the Church.”

Among other topics of conversation, the diocesan priest recalled to the Pope that on the day that the 2015 Synod on the Family closed at the Vatican, he had given the Pope a portrait that he had made of the pontiff’s parents.



Before ending their conversation, the priest told the Holy Father that he is “offering some of my pains for his vocation, difficulties and sorrows” and that they were “very much in communion because God is in fact merciful.”

He described the phone call as “beautiful, surprising, moving.”

The contact between Pope Francis and Fr. Rencoret came about after the former extraordinary ambassador and plenipotentiary of Chile to the Holy See, Mónica Jiménez, asked the Pope to give the priest a call.

Fr. Rencoret lives in Santiago with his parents and is praying to Servant of God Pope John Paul I for “his healing and salvation.”

“He's been my friend since childhood. My dad had on his nightstand a book called Ilustrísimos Señores, and in the seminary I read his discourses while he was pope. I saw the film 'God's Smile' and I went to see him (where he is buried) when I came to Rome,” the priest recalled.

Fr. Rencoret is the fourth of five children. He graduated from law school in 2005 and that same year entered the Pontifical Seminary in Santiago de Chile.

He was ordained a priest on April 13, 2013 and has stayed connected with the Divine Word School, where he studied.

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IMAGE: CNS/Paul Haring

By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will send high-level observers to the pan-Orthodox council meeting in Crete as a sign of respect, support and encouragement of the Orthodox Church.

The Holy and Great Council of the Orthodox Church was scheduled to open June 19, which is Pentecost on the Julian calendar, and run through June 26.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople invited Pope Francis to send observers to the meeting on the Greek island of Crete, and the pope chose Cardinal Kurt Koch and Bishop Brian Farrell, respectively the president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.

Sending the Vatican's top ecumenical officers demonstrates that "it is the Holy Father's judgment that this is supremely important for the Orthodox, for our relationship with the Orthodox Church and, beyond that, it's supremely important for the Christian witness in a world that is ever more confused about the role of religion," Bishop Farrell told Catholic News Service June 8.

Council members -- 24 bishops from each of the 14 autocephalous Orthodox churches -- are scheduled to approve six documents, including statements on: the mission of the Orthodox Church in the contemporary world; the pastoral care of Orthodox living outside their church's traditional homeland; how the autonomy of new Orthodox churches is determined; rules regarding marriage; the importance of fasting; and relations with other Christians.

Leaders of the Orthodox churches have been discussing hopes for such a meeting for almost 100 years. Planning meetings began in the 1960s, but even as the start date drew near, there were some fears that not all 14 self-governing Orthodox churches would send delegations.

The Orthodox Church of Bulgaria demanded June 1 that the meeting be postponed until a discussion could be held on its list of concerns, which included criticism of the how little the texts under consideration could be amended. The Bulgarians also objected to the invitation of observers from non-Orthodox churches and said they would not participate if the meeting went ahead as scheduled.

After the Antiochian Orthodox Church also asked for a delay and signaled a willingness to stay away from the meeting, a Russian Orthodox leader asked June 3 that a pre-council meeting be held by June 10 to work out some of the remaining concerns.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate, however, issued a statement June 6 saying the process already agreed upon by the heads of the 14 churches would not change and calling upon all 14 churches "to rise to the occasion and participate, on the pre-determined dates, in the sessions of the Holy and Great Council."

The Catholic Church is hopeful that the council will take place, Bishop Farrell said.

"Every process that highlights and strengthens unity among Christ's followers is in line with the Gospel and every process that does not bring about unity is a negation of the prayer of Jesus at the Last Supper" that his disciples be one, the bishop said. "It is hugely important for Christianity and, therefore, for the Catholic Church that the pan-Orthodox council be an effective sign of the unity of Orthodoxy."

Bishop Farrell said the Orthodox decision to open the meeting on Pentecost is not simply symbolic, but is a spiritual affirmation that the meeting and its deliberations must be guided by the Holy Spirit.

Among all the churches and Christian communities the Catholic Church has formal relations with, the Orthodox are unique. The Catholic Church recognizes the Orthodox as a "sister church," which has maintained apostolic succession of its bishops, a valid priesthood and sacraments. However, different Orthodox churches and, especially different sectors within those churches, do not always recognize the Catholic Church as a "sister church" with valid sacraments; the draft Orthodox document on relations with other Christian churches does not directly address the issue, but insists ecumenical dialogue is "imperative."

"In the Catholic view," Bishop Farrell said, "Orthodoxy is the Eastern part of the church and, as Pope John Paul often repeated, we long for the day that the church can breathe with both lungs" -- East and West. The council could be "a big step in the right direction," he said.

"We would like our presence to be a sign of our great support for the unity of the Orthodox Church," he said, "and for their efforts to respond to the many challenges of living in today's society and their intention to do that as a body rather than as separated into independent churches."

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Follow Wooden on Twitter: @Cindy_Wooden

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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

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By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Growing acceptance of euthanasia does not indicate increased compassion, but highlights the rise of a selfish "throwaway culture" that casts aside the sick, the dying and those who do not satisfy the perceived requirements of a healthy life, Pope Francis said.

In a culture that is increasingly "technological and individualistic," some tend to "hide behind alleged compassion to justify killing a patient," the pope told health professionals from Spain and Latin America June 9.

"True compassion does not marginalize, humiliate or exclude, much less celebrate a patient passing away," the pope said. "You know well that would mean the triumph of selfishness, of that 'throwaway culture' that rejects and despises people who do not meet certain standards of health, beauty or usefulness."

Thanking doctors who care for "those who suffer in body and spirit," Pope Francis insisted physicians' identity as doctors does not depend solely on their knowledge or competence, but mainly on their compassion and mercy toward the sick.

"Compassion does not mean pity, it means 'suffering with,'" the pope said. When physicians share in the suffering of their patients, he added, the "sacred value of the life of the patient does not disappear or become obscured."

Pope Francis reminded the medical professionals of the biblical tradition of health care, citing the example of the good Samaritan "who does not pass by the injured person at the roadside, but rather moved by compassion, cures and attends to him."

"The Christian medical tradition has always been inspired by the parable of the Good Samaritan, the pope said. It is about identifying with the love of the son of God, who 'went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.'"

However, he said, care for the sick requires patience, and doctors must not give in to "the functionalist temptation" of applying quick solutions that are motivated by "false compassion" or cost-efficiency.

"The dignity of human life is at stake; the dignity of the medical vocation is at stake," the pope said. "Nothing must prevent you from 'putting more heart into your hands.'"

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Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju.

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Copyright © 2016 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. www.catholicnews.com. All rights reserved. Republishing or redistributing of CNS content, including by framing or similar means without prior permission, is prohibited. You may link to stories on our public site. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. To request permission for republishing or redistributing of CNS content, please contact permissions at cns@catholicnews.com.

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