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 WASHINGTON-Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York called on everyone "concerned about the tragedy of abortion" to recommit to a "vision of life and love, a vision that excludes no one" on January 14. His statement marks the 43rd anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion. Cardinal Dolan chairs the Committee on Pro-Life Activities of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

"Most Americans oppose a policy allowing legal abortion for virtually any reason - though many still do not realize that this is what the Supreme Court gave us," wrote Cardinal Dolan. "Most want to protect unborn children at later stages of pregnancy, to regulate or limit the practice of abortion, and to stop the use of taxpayer dollars for the destruction of unborn children. Yet many who support important goals of the pro-life movement do not identify as 'pro-life,' a fact which should lead us to examine how we present our pro-life vision to others."

"Even as Americans remain troubled by abortion," wrote Cardinal Dolan, a powerful and well-funded lobby holds "that abortion must be celebrated as a positive good for women and society, and those who cannot in conscience provide it are to be condemned for practicing substandard medicine and waging a 'war on women'." He said this trend was seen recently when President Obama and other Democratic leaders prevented passage of the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, "a modest measure to provide for effective enforcement" of conscience laws.

"While this is disturbing," said Cardinal Dolan, "it is also an opportunity." Pro-life Americans should reach out to "the great majority of Americans" who are "open to hearing a message of reverence for life." He added that "we who present the pro-life message must always strive to be better messengers. A cause that teaches the inexpressibly great value of each and every human being cannot show disdain or disrespect for any fellow human being." He encouraged Catholics to take part, through prayer and action, in the upcoming "9 Days for Life" campaign, January 16-24. More information on the campaign is available online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxJwfcefUiU

He also cited the Year of Mercy called by Pope Francis as a time for women and men to find healing through the Church's Project Rachel post-abortion ministry.

The full text of Cardinal Dolan's message is available online.
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Keywords: Roe v. Wade, anniversary, Pro-Life, Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, 9 Days for Life, USCCB, U.S. bishops, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Year of Mercy, Project Rachel, Pope Francis
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The nuns who were killed in an attack by gunmen in the war-torn Yemen port city of Aden last week will be remembered as martyrs, Bishop Smaragde Mbonyintege has said.

16 people, including four Catholic nuns, were killed last Friday when gunmen opened fire on an old people’s home.

Two of the deceased nuns were from Rwanda. Sr. Marguerite Mukashema, was from Kivumu Parish in Kabgayi Diocese while Sr. Reginette was from Janja Parish, Ruhengeri Diocese,

The two Rwandan nuns were killed with two other nuns from India and Kenya respectively as were 12 other persons. The old people’s home is run by the Missionaries of Charity, founded by Mother Teresa of Kolkata.

Bishop Smaragde Mbonyintege of the Diocese of Kabgayi told Rwanda’s The New Times that although the deaths of the nuns is a blow to the country and the Church, Rwanda is proud to have Rwandan nuns die as martyrs.

“We were informed of their deaths by the Apostolic Nuncio. We deeply regret their deaths but stay proud for their sacrifice that resulted in deaths. We consider them martyrs and they are,” he told The New Times of Rwanda on Monday.

Bishop Mbonyintege added that the deceased will not be brought to Rwanda but will be laid to rest in Yemen.

“Usually, when missionaries die, they are buried in countries where they have been serving. This means that they will be inhumed in Yemen. Although we are waiting for the decision of the congregation of sisters of charity to which they belonged, there is little chance of their bodies coming,” he said.

Bishop Mbonyintege said the Christian community in Rwanda will visit their families and organise a requiem Mass that will be held in Kivumu Parish, Kabgayi, on 13 March. The Bishop went on to explain that the Mass will be a time to recognise the mission accomplished by those nuns and to let other Christians know of their sacrifice.

“They have set a good example of selflessness, serving in such an unsafe country. That spirit compelled them to stay for the sake of others though they could have left,” Bishop Mbonyintege said

There are nine Rwandan religious sisters serving as Missionaries of Charity around the world, working as charity workers who care for orphans and the elderly.

 (By Steven Muvunyi, The New Times, Rwanda)

Email:engafrica.vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio) Google has marked International Women’s Day with a special live-action Google Doodle featuring real women discussing their hopes for the future, and a famous scientist mentions Pope Francis.

Google Doodles are  the usually animated drawings the internet giant uses to mark holidays and important anniversaries.

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This year, the theme of International Women’s Day is "Planet 50-50 by 2030", an independent campaign that aims to put gender equality at the centre of global sustainability plans.

Staff from Google visited 13 countries and asked 337 women and girls to complete the sentence, “One day I will…”, and used the resulting video to create a 90-second Google Doodle.

One of the more notable women featured is anthropologist Jane Goodall – who said she wants to meet the Holy Father.

“I will discuss the environment with Pope Francis,” she said during the video.

Other people featured on the video include Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai and Muzoon Almellehan, who say  "One day we will see every girl in school."

"International Women's Day is a celebration of the women who are here today working towards a better future, and in that sense it was important for me to make sure that we celebrate the real women," Google’s Liat Ben-Rafael told Mirror Online, explaining why she chose not to use the usual animated characters.

"It's the unsung heroes, this is what we're celebrating, so not showing the real women behind this would be a big loss."

Google invites all women to use the hashtag #OneDayIWill to share their aspirations with the world on International Women’s Day.

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(Vatican Radio) The priest leading the spiritual exercises for Pope Francis and the Roman Curia says the Church must not shine the spotlight on herself but instead on Christ. Father Ermes Ronchi’s reflections came during his meditations on Tuesday morning that were delivered at the ‘Divin Maestro’ centre in the town of Ariccia, south of Rome, where the Pope and the Roman Curia are spending their Lenten retreat.

The inspiration for Tuesday morning’s reflections by Father Ronchi came from the gospel account of where Peter professes his faith in Christ as the Son of God. Noting that this was preceded by Jesus asking the disciples who they thought He was, Father Ronchi said in this way Christ is not giving lessons or suggesting replies based on what other people say about him but instead is urging his apostles  to look inside their own hearts. Jesus wants to know if his disciples have opened their hearts to God who is living inside them. Our hearts, explained Father Ronchi, “can be the cradle or the tomb of God.”

He went on to say that Jesus also warned his apostles that following him means an appointment with a man on the Cross. Christ spills his own blood not that of anybody else and he doesn’t sacrifice other people, just himself.

Turning to the Church’s role, Father Ronchi said we are “the mediators between God and humanity.”  Like John the Baptist, we must prepare the path and then step to one side. He said “think of the beauty of a church that does not shine the spotlight on herself” but instead on Christ, and warned that we still have some progress to make on this point.  

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(Vatican Radio) Imagine a world where rainbows abound and reds, blues and yellows are vivid splashes of color brightening up the canvas of your life. That’s the dream world – the very real one – in which Sabriye Tenberken has found herself since she went blind at age 12.

Born in Germany, Sabriye is luckier than most; she went to a school where her teachers believed she and her blind classmates “could do anything.”  Besides reading and writing, she learned how to play ball, ride a horse and even to go white water rafting – guiding her craft alone down the rapids. She went on to earn a degree in Tibetology and Central Asian Studies from Bonn University.

Sabriye is one of more than a dozen women speaking at the International Women’s Day event 8 March in the Vatican, “Voices of Faith.”  The third annual story-telling event celebrating women from around the globe and their often unsung achievements is sponsored by the Catholic philanthropic Fidel Goetz Foundation and hosted by the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences in the heart of the Vatican.

In 1997, Sabriye’s sense of adventure led her to Tibet where she discovered that the blind were often ostracized “like sinners” because popular belief held that in a past life, they had committed some horrible crime.  “Some people believe that blind people must have been murderers in their past life.”

No stranger to isolation and exclusion as a child growing up herself, Sabriye remembers the heartache of humiliation for an adversity over which she had no control.

Changing the mindset became her goal. She coded the Tibetan alphabet in Braille and with government support and together with her friend, Netherlands-born Paul Kroneburg , she opened Tibet’s very first school for the blind.  The two friends founded Braille without Borders and have seen some 300 students pass through their doors.

Braille without Borders: A springboard into new worlds

We are sitting in a cramped, drab Vatican Radio studio but Sabriye’s earnest green eyes are pools of light, open wide as if they are taking in a world far wider and immensely fuller than the one we mortals are in.

“I wanted to create a springboard to empower the children to understand that they can do a lot despite the fact that everybody believes that blindness is the end of the world.  That they can understand that they don't have to be ashamed to be blind, that they can shamelessly jump back into society and say, ‘ hey, I’m blind – so what ? I can do so many things!’”

Sabriye is surprisingly grateful for her own blindness, calling it “a precious gift.”  Though “it was years of sorrow… and I was terrified of living in the dark,” she says  when she decided to embrace it, “you learn how to imagine things that are not obvious.”

“Darkness never came.  And because of my imagination… the world surrounding us become much more colorful and much more beautiful because we paint our own pictures.”

United in adversity to fight against discrimination

A successful engineer, Paul dropped his job in 1998 to follow Sabriye and her dream to Tibet. He too had a past littered with challenges.

The wrong medication had left Paul terribly scarred at age eleven.  “The problem was gone but my skin was gone as well.  I had no skin on my back for about six years and that led to exclusion... and kids can be very mean.  To Sabriye they would say ‘you can walk straight’ and she’d fall down the stairs and they’d have fun.  And to me, they’d come and smack me on the back and they would have fun.”

A taxi driver in a dream factory where nothing is impossible

Paul and Sabriye call their school the “dream factory.”  “The most beautiful thing about dreaming is that there are no limits,” Paul says, “anything is possible.”

He tells the story of one of their blind students, an eight year old boy, who dreamt of being a taxi driver.  Rather than quash the child’s dream, they encouraged him in his studies.  After all, Sabriye quips, “all taxi drivers are blind!”

Two years later, Paul asked the boy about his dream job. The child admitted that perhaps being a taxi driver wasn’t the wisest choice for a blind person – but, he said, “I can set up a taxi company to run the business!”

Empowerment: the trust to explore your own talents, overcome limits

“And that’s what empowerment is about: to give people the trust to explore their own talents and their own limits and hopefully even overcome those,” Paul affirms. 

Empowered by their dreams and armed with education, the first four of the school’s blind students took their university entrance exams together with sighted kids three years ago.

Many of the kids who have gone through the program have started their own businesses or their own social entrepreneurships.  One, Paul explains, is running her own kindergarten for blind and sighted kids and another is now running the Braille without Borders school.

“These kids had nothing to lose but their own dignity. They had only to win – no one was expecting anything from them,” Sabriye explains.  “So whatever they did was a plus already – they were so free and so full of dreams – because we taught them to dream.”

Since the school opened its doors back in 1998, the communities where the kids have come from have seen big changes, Paul observes.  Before, he says, “everyone believed that blind people cannot do anything.”

I’m the only one in my village to read and write, surf the internet – all because I’m blind!

Paul recounts how one day he asked a 9 year old boy why he was looking so pleased with himself.  The boy responded that he is the only one in his village who can read and write, and is the only one for miles around who knows English, Tibetan and Chinese.  “And I’m the only one in an area the size of Holland who knows that the world is round and who surfs on the internet and sends emails – and all this because I am blind!” the boy laughed.

Perceptions towards the boy changed dramatically as people in his village realized he knew a lot more than they did.  It is “a great mindset shift that has happened in many villages.” 

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(Vatican Radio) Did you know that there is a platform for “International Women’s Day” in the heart of the Vatican?

It’s called “Voices of Faith”, it’s at its third edition, and it takes place at the beautiful “Casina Pio IV” in the Vatican gardens.
 
The Gotz Foundation's “Voices of Faith” is described as a storytelling event dedicated to the empowerment of women who have experienced trafficking, forced displacement, violence, forced early marriage, lack of education… simply for being female.

Chantal Gotz, founder of the “Voices of Faith” initiative and executive Director of the Fidel Gotz Foundation explains why she thinks it is important to bring women’s voices into the Vatican and how she hopes it will ultimately help to build a more just world.

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She says that looking at the Church we see that one of its biggest concerns is social justice “and we have to admit that most of the work done is through women, but most of the women’s voices are not heard, the women are not visible”.

Gotz says her experience that has brought her into contact with many of these women on the field has so inspired her that she thinks that “maybe bringing in these stories, into the Church, into the heart of the Church (…) is worthwhile”.

She says that ultimately she hopes it will bring change because ‘storytelling’ touches the hearts and the souls of people and “finally it may also change the minds of persons” leading to a more just and right world.

One of the Gotz Foundation’s partners in this venture is Jesuit Refugee Service with its focus on education – and in particular the education of girls - as a key contribution to the needs and hopes of refugees.

Fr. Tom Smolich SJ is actually present at the “VoF” event on March 8, moderating a discussion which is headlined: “What women want – a multigenerational conversation expanding women’s leadership in the Church”.

Fr Joaquin Martinez SJ, JRS’s International Education Coordinator spoke to Linda Bordoni about the JRS “Mercy in Motion” campaign and of how education gives refugees hope and the tools not only to contribute to their new communities, but also to rebuild their old ones. And of how important it is in empowering girls and women – and even in keeping them safe!

Fr Martinez explains that the Gotz Foundation has been a strong supporter of JRS and that one of the goals of the “Mercy in Motion” campaign is to increase the number of students by another 100,00. 

“Our especial emphasis on the education on the education of young women and girls” he says.

This, he points out, is of particular interest to the Gotz Foundation. He explains that JRS believes that education gives hope to people and it allows them to transend some of the situations in which they find themselves.

“It’s a lot harder for young women and girls because – for example – in a refugee camp access to the school, having to cross the camp can be unsafe if you are a young girl” he says.

And often girls, he said, are expected to help with household chores or to help with livelihood for the community, or are perhaps married off when very young: they are all denied the right to education. 

“The number of girls who are refugees and are in primary education, in secondary education drops very steeply due to a number of factors in their lives” he says.

Fr Martinez says that of the estimated 60 million people who are on the move today less than one percent of them go on to obtain access to higher education.
He says that what JRS is trying to do is to increase the numbers of people who receive secondary education because that allows them to access higher education afterwards.

And TRS, he says, operates across all divides.

“About 70 percent of the people we work with are Muslim because most of the refugees in the world today are Muslim and we run schools irrespective of the religious affiliation of the people we serve” he says.
   
     

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Vatican City, Mar 8, 2016 / 03:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis acknowledged a miracle worked through the intercession of Blessed Elizabeth of the Trinity, a Carmelite nun of the 20th century, paving the way for her canonization likely later this year.

“The Lord has chosen to answer her prayers for us…before she died, when she was suffering with Addison's disease, she wrote that it would increase her joy in heaven if people ask for her help,” said Dr. Anthony Lilles, academic dean of St. John's Seminary in Camarillo.

Lilles earned his doctorate in spiritual theology at Rome's Angelicum writing a dissertation on Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity.

“If her friends ask for her help it would increase her joy in heaven: so it increases Elizabeth's joy when you ask her to pray for your needs,” he told CNA. "That's the first reason (to have devotion to her): the Church has recognized the power of her intercession."

Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity was born in France in 1880, and grew up in Dijon close to the city's Carmelite monastery. Lilles recounted that when one time when Bl. Elizabeth visited the monastery when she was 17, “the mother superior there said, 'I just received this circular letter about the death of Therese of Lisieux, and I want you to read it.' That circular letter would later become the Story of a Soul; in fact, what she was given was really the first edition of Story of a Soul.”

...it was a lightning moment in her life, where everything kind of crystallized and she understood how to respond to what God was doing in her heart.

“Elizabeth read it and she was inclined towards contemplative prayer; she was a very pious person who worked with troubled youth and catechized them, but when she read Story of a Soul she knew she needed to become a Carmelite: it was a lightning moment in her life, where everything kind of crystallized and she understood how to respond to what God was doing in her heart.”

Elizabeth then told her mother she wanted to enter the Carmel, but she replied that she couldn't enter until she was 21, “which was good for the local Church,” Lilles explained, “because Elizabeth continued to work with troubled youth throughout that time, and do a lot of other good work in the city of Dijon before she entered.”

She entered the Carmel in Dijon in 1901, and died there in 1906 – at the age of 26 – from Addison's disease.

Elizabeth wrote several works while there, the best-known of which is her prayer “O My God, Trinity Whom I Adore.” Also particularly notable are her “Heaven in Faith,” a retreat she wrote three months before her death for her sister Guite; and the “Last Retreat,” her spiritual insights from the last annual retreat she was able to make.

Cardinal Albert Decourtray, who was Bishop of Dijon from 1974 to 1981, was cured of cancer through Bl. Elizabeth's intercession – a miracle that allowed her beatification in 1984.

The healing acknowledged by Pope Francis March 4 was that of Marie-Paul Stevens, a Belgian woman who had Sjögren's syndrome, a glandular disease.

In 2002 Stevens “had asked Bl. Elizabeth to help her manage the extreme discomforts of the pathology she had, and in thanksgiving, because she felt like she had received graces … she travelled to the Carmelite monastery just outside Dijon,” Lilles said. “And when she got to the monastery, she was completely healed.”

Lilles added that a second reason to have devotion to Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity is because she died “believing that she had a spiritual mission to help lead souls to a deeper encounter with Christ Jesus.”

“You could call it contemplative prayer, or even mystical prayer. She said her mission was to lead souls out of themselves and into a great silence, where God could imprint himself in them, on their souls, so that they became more God-like.”

In prayer, he said, “we make space for (God) to transform us more fully into the image and likeness he intended us to become, but which sin has marred. Contemplative prayer is a means towards this transformation, and Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity believed before she died that her spiritual mission would be to help souls enter into that kind of transformative, contemplative prayer, where they could become saints.”

She understood that the way she loved souls all the way was to help them find and encounter the Lord.

During her time in the Carmel of Dijon, Bl. Elizabeth found encouragement from the writings of St. Therese of Lisieux, particularly her “Offering to Merciful Love,” a prayer found in Story of a Soul, Lilles said: “You find references to the Offering to Merciful Love throughout the writings of Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity, it was probably something she herself prayed often.”

“The second way that Elizabeth of the Trinity was influenced by Therese of Lisieux was a poem that St. Therese wrote called 'Living by Love'; in this poem Therese celebrates how the love of Jesus is the heartbeat, the deepest reality of her life, and because he lived to lay down his life for her, she wants to live to lay down her live for human love, which as the poem goes on, means loving all whom he sends her way, without reserve and all the way, giving people the generous love that we have received from Christ, sharing it with others.”

“That idea deeply, deeply influenced Elizabeth of the Trinity and in fact inspired her own way of life and her own spiritual mission to help lead souls into mystical prayer,” Lilles reflected. “She understood that the way she loved souls all the way was to help them find and encounter the Lord.”

“So, the spiritual missions of Therese of Lisieux and Elizabeth of the Trinity coincide: great theologians like Hans Urs von Balthasar recognized that. And these spiritual missions have both greatly influenced the Church in the 20th and early 21st centuries in very powerful ways.”

“I'm so glad that Elizabeth has been recognized for her part in building up the Church in the 20th century.”

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