Catholic News 2
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump and his cabinet often avoid talking about the science of climate change, but when pressed what they have said clashes with established mainstream science, data and peer-reviewed studies and reports....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The two-year-old U.S. diplomatic relationship with Cuba was roiled Wednesday by what U.S. officials say was a string of bizarre incidents that left a group of American diplomats in Havana with severe hearing loss attributed to a covert sonic device....
SAN JOSE, California (AP) -- Threatening language between the U.S. and North Korea is flaring this week. After President Donald Trump vowed to respond with "fire and fury" if Pyongyang continued to threaten the U.S., the North's military said it is finalizing a plan to fire four midrange missiles to hit waters near the strategic U.S. territory of Guam....
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea on Thursday announced a detailed plan to launch a volley of ballistic missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, a major military hub and home to U.S. bombers, and dismissed President Donald Trump's threats of "fire and fury" if it doesn't back down....
Erbil, Iraq, Aug 9, 2017 / 04:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After three years in exile from Iraq's Nineveh Plain while it was occupied by the Islamic State, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena are returning to their homeland to face the daunting challenge of rebuilding their destroyed communities.“Three years ago, we left our homes at night to the unknown. We started a journey of displacement, exile and questioning,” stated an Aug. 6 open letter from the Dominican Sisters in Erbil.“Despite everything, we always dreamed of going back and finding our houses safe and sound, just as we left them. We strongly wished that we would return and kindle our candles for prayers, harvest our grapes, and read our books,” the letter continued.In 2014, the Nineveh Plain was overtaken by the Islamic State, forcing tens of thousands into exile and displacement. The Nineveh Plain territory lies between the city of Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, and Ir...
Erbil, Iraq, Aug 9, 2017 / 04:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After three years in exile from Iraq's Nineveh Plain while it was occupied by the Islamic State, the Dominican Sisters of St. Catherine of Siena are returning to their homeland to face the daunting challenge of rebuilding their destroyed communities.
“Three years ago, we left our homes at night to the unknown. We started a journey of displacement, exile and questioning,” stated an Aug. 6 open letter from the Dominican Sisters in Erbil.
“Despite everything, we always dreamed of going back and finding our houses safe and sound, just as we left them. We strongly wished that we would return and kindle our candles for prayers, harvest our grapes, and read our books,” the letter continued.
In 2014, the Nineveh Plain was overtaken by the Islamic State, forcing tens of thousands into exile and displacement. The Nineveh Plain territory lies between the city of Mosul, the country’s second-largest city, and Iraqi Kurdistan.
In the fall of 2016, two years after the Islamic State claimed the Nineveh territory, Iraqi forces made significant military gains and liberated the Nineveh Plain. Many scattered families were able to return to their towns with hope for the future.
“God showered us with His graces as our towns were liberated, one after the other; ISIS was defeated and the Plain of Nineveh seems to have been liberated,” the Dominican Sisters wrote.
While the territory is now seemingly safe from Islamic State forces, the Sisters said that it “does not mean that the Plain of Nineveh is entirely cleansed from that mentality.”
Upon returning to their homes, many found graffiti on the walls in their towns that read “we’re going to break your crosses,” and “you have no place with us.” Some churches were found to have battle instructions etched on the walls, with piles of deadly chemicals in the corners.
In addition, the physical damage left behind is overwhelming. Upwards of 6,000 homes are in need of repair or complete rebuilding just in the city of Bakhdida, also known as Qaraqosh. The families who still have standing houses are few and far between.
“We were so much stunned by the damage we saw. It was badly painful to see all that overwhelming destruction,” the sisters said.
“We immediately realized that it was not military forces or smart weapons that caused all the damage, but hate,” the sisters wrote, saying “hate leaves both oppressed and oppressor deeply winded.”
Some towns, such as Batnaya, were left 90 percent destroyed and the process of cleaning up has only begun. Another town, Bakhdida, was only 30 percent destroyed, but the NGOs who are helping with its repairs “are not enough compared to the destruction.”
Volunteers and locals hope to rebuild or repair as many homes as they can by September, which would be the beginning of the school year. However, the sisters noted that only the Church and some NGOs are actively involved in the long and expensive rebuilding process.
Many families have decided not to return to their communities due to the overwhelming loss of their homes. Others don’t return because they can no longer trust their neighbors. The sisters said that “we knew that it was our neighbors who betrayed us and did us harm, even before ISIS did.”
“It is not easy to decide whether to go back,” the Sisters continued, saying that their own convent in Bakhdida was also partially destroyed.
However, the sisters have decided to return to the Nineveh Plain, and they will be living in a family home in Telskuf until their convent has been repaired. The sisters also need to rebuild the orphanage which had been burnt down, and hope to start a kindergarten by the fall.
Although the aftermath of Islamic State's occupation of the Nineveh Plain is significant, the sisters are hopeful for the future. Some families have been able to return to their homes, and the sisters are grateful that some of the rebuilding process that has already begun.
“Today, we see the marvelous work of God,” the sisters reflected.
“God is with us and will not leave us. We thank you for all the support you have shown us. Please pray for us as we start this new phase of our lives.”
El Paso, Texas, Aug 9, 2017 / 04:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Deportation to Mexico of the mother of a cancer-stricken girl would be cruelty, the Bishop of El Paso has said.“It certainly touched my heart to hear about this little girl in the hospital, facing the possibility that her mother would be deported,” the Bishop Mark Seitz told the El Paso Times Aug.7, adding “Clearly it would be a cruel thing for our country to deport her mother.”He has met with Alia Escobedo, 8, and her mother Maria Elena de Loera, who sought asylum in the U.S. in 2014 after her husband was killed in Mexico. She has said she feared for the safety of her children.Bishop Seitz joined other religious leaders and the woman's lawyer at the El Paso Processing Center in asking ICE officials to halt her deportation.Since her mother arrived in the U.S., Alia has since been diagnosed with bone cancer. She has gone through eight surgeries on her leg, lungs and mouth. While the cancer appeared t...
El Paso, Texas, Aug 9, 2017 / 04:50 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Deportation to Mexico of the mother of a cancer-stricken girl would be cruelty, the Bishop of El Paso has said.
“It certainly touched my heart to hear about this little girl in the hospital, facing the possibility that her mother would be deported,” the Bishop Mark Seitz told the El Paso Times Aug.7, adding “Clearly it would be a cruel thing for our country to deport her mother.”
He has met with Alia Escobedo, 8, and her mother Maria Elena de Loera, who sought asylum in the U.S. in 2014 after her husband was killed in Mexico. She has said she feared for the safety of her children.
Bishop Seitz joined other religious leaders and the woman's lawyer at the El Paso Processing Center in asking ICE officials to halt her deportation.
Since her mother arrived in the U.S., Alia has since been diagnosed with bone cancer. She has gone through eight surgeries on her leg, lungs and mouth. While the cancer appeared to be removed and went into remission in February, it has returned with tumors in her lungs.
“Her medical condition is very complicated. Two different kinds of cancer,” the bishop said of the girl. “Her ongoing treatment is something that is extremely important in a situation like this.”
The woman facing possible deportation reflected on her daughter's endurance. “She is very strong,” de Loera said. “She has tremendous strength. She does not give up. She wants to keep living.”
“If we go back to Juarez, she is not going to survive. She has a better chance to live if she stays here,” the mother told the El Paso Times.
The case was the first time Bishop Seitz had intervened directly to prevent an individual's deportation.
“The Church's responsibility is, I think, to speak the gospel and to speak to the conscience of people in our country to call us to something better, to call us to be a place of compassion, even as we deal with these complex issues of immigration,” he said.
In 2015 immigration officials denied de Loera's request to remain in the U.S., but granted her a reprieve while her daughter was undergoing cancer treatments. They have argued that her sister is caretaker of her daughter, but de Loera said that there are no documents guaranteeing her sister is the guardian.
De Loera wears an ankle monitor and immigration officials can access her location any time.
Her attorney, Linda Rivas, has asked immigration officials to reconsider renewal of her permit and to reverse orders to deport her.
Rivas said ICE officials have agreed to consider the evidence to decide whether de Loera can remain in the U.S.
“We find this to be good news and we do appreciate the cooperation from ICE at this time given that Maria is at her daughter's side,” she said.
IMAGE: Victor Aleman, Angelus NewsBy LOSANGELES (CNS) -- Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles told 1,600 Catholic teensgathered for the "City of Saints" conference that their faith and love forJesus was an inspiration."Yourdesireto live your faith and share your faith -- it is so beautiful to witness. Andit is so inspiring," he said in an Aug. 5 homily at the University ofCalifornia at Los Angeles.Thearchbishop and the Office of Religious Education of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles hostedthe third annual "City of Saints" conference for teens, offering them an encounter withChrist through fellowship, praise and worship.Teenagersattended from 80 parishes and schools throughout Los Angeles, Santa Barbara andVentura counties, the three counties that make up the archdiocese.The Aug. 4-6event featured speakers as well as music with contemporary Catholic-Christianband WAL. Attendees had an opportunity to participate in facilitated grouptime and the sacrament of reconciliation. Archbisho...
IMAGE: Victor Aleman, Angelus News
By
LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles told 1,600 Catholic teens gathered for the "City of Saints" conference that their faith and love for Jesus was an inspiration.
"Your desire to live your faith and share your faith -- it is so beautiful to witness. And it is so inspiring," he said in an Aug. 5 homily at the University of California at Los Angeles.
The archbishop and the Office of Religious Education of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles hosted the third annual "City of Saints" conference for teens, offering them an encounter with Christ through fellowship, praise and worship.
Teenagers attended from 80 parishes and schools throughout Los Angeles, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, the three counties that make up the archdiocese.
The Aug. 4-6 event featured speakers as well as music with contemporary Catholic-Christian band WAL.
Attendees had an opportunity to participate in facilitated group
time and the sacrament of reconciliation. Archbishop Gomez celebrated an afternoon Mass Aug. 4 to welcome the teens, then led them in an outdoor eucharistic procession to open a area designated as "Sacred Space," where spiritual directors described different paths of prayer for the weekend..
"I want to say, as we heard St. Peter say in the Gospel passage tonight -- 'It is good that we are here, Lord!' Thanks be to God!" the archbishop said in his homily at the Aug. 5 Mass closing the full day of the conference.
"Our Gospel tonight, leads us up the high mountain -- the mountain of God," he continued. "It is almost like we are chosen witnesses to go up with Jesus. Just as he chose the three apostles to go with him in the Gospel -- St. Peter, St. James and St. John."
"We have the privilege tonight in this Gospel to see what they saw, to hear what they heard -- the 'transfiguration' of our Lord Jesus Christ," Archbishop Gomez said.
That scene was amazing, he said, with the face of Jesus "shining like the sun," his clothes turning into "white light," and the prophets Moses and Elijah appearing "out of nowhere."
Imagining what they saw "reminds us that our lives are part of a great mystery -- a cosmic reality -- the loving plan of the living God. My young friends, you and me, we are 'part of the plan,'" the archbishop told the teens.
"The purpose of our lives is to be transformed and transfigured. To become more like Jesus every day of our lives. Until one day we will shine like the sun -- just we saw his face shine like the sun in the Gospel today," Archbishop Gomez explained. "This is God's plan for your lives -- to be his sons and daughters. Just as Jesus was his beloved Son."
"Jesus is the answer" as to how to do this, he said. "Listen to him! This is the best advice you will ever receive, because it comes from God himself. Let Jesus be your teacher -- your 'life coach,' your 'personal trainer.' Enter into his plan for your life. It is a plan of love, a plan that will lead you to happiness."
Archbishop Gomez told the teens about two practical things in his life that he said have helped him listen to Jesus -- prayer and reading the Gospels. He urged them to make those two things a habit in their own lives.
He suggested they download a Bible app onto their smartphones, so "you will have the Gospels with you everywhere you go."
"When you get a minute, you can read a passage from the Gospel," Archbishop Gomez said. "It is way better than checking your Instagram feed."
And "it is true that you can follow me on Instagram, so you should check that out, too!" he added.
"The more we pray, the easier it becomes to open our hearts to God," Archbishop Gomez said. "The more we reflect on the Gospels -- the more we begin to see Jesus alive and working in our lives and in the world."
"The more we try to listen to Jesus, the easier it becomes to hear him," he said. "The more we want to be with him -- in the Eucharist, in the sacrament of reconciliation."
By following these practices, Archbishop Gomez said, "slowly, we have a 'transfiguration' in our lives. That is how it works."
- - -
Copyright © 2017 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.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Wednesday distanced herself from her comment earlier this year about the nation's historically black colleges and universities being pioneers of school choice, saying that in the past "there were no choices" for African-Americans in higher education....
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- The Trump administration's decision on Wednesday to slap sanctions on eight members of Venezuela's all-powerful constitutional assembly brings to 30 the number of government loyalists targeted for human rights abuses and violations of democratic norms since anti-government protests began in April....
DENVER (AP) -- Taylor Swift's mother and confidante took the witness stand Wednesday, saying she and her daughter's managers had told the bosses of a disc jockey accused of groping the singer-songwriter that they hoped he would be fired but didn't ask them to do so....
