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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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(Vatican Radio) English Cardinal Vincent Nichols will preside at Vespers in the Chapel Royal of Hampton Court Palace on Tuesday, for the first Catholic service to be held there in over 450 years. The Anglican bishop of London Richard Chartres will preach the sermon at the service, which will be preceded by a conversation between the two Church leaders, focusing on the history and unique musical tradition of the Chapel Royal.

World renowned ensemble ‘The Sixteen’ which specializes in early English polyphonic music, will perform works from the Reformation period, highlighting how – in the cardinal’s words - “music can help us rediscover our roots and shared heritage”.

Listen to Cardinal Vincent Nichols talking to Philippa Hitchen about the religious, historical and musical significance of this historic event: 

Like much of English history, the cardinal says, this event has a complicated origin. Partly it is inspired by the forthcoming 500th anniversary of the Reformation, partly it stems from a desire to find a fitting setting to explore the music of the period, and partly it is because Bishop Chartres is also Dean of the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court.

Chapel Royal captures 'fluidity' of Reformation period

Cardinal Nichols notes that the music has been chosen to fit the history of the Chapel Royal, featuring composers like Thomas Tallis who “lived through all the turbulence of the Reformation of 1535” and the subsequent decades during which, he says, the situation in England was “quite porous and quite subtle”. Tallis and others wrote both Catholic and Anglican music and in many ways, the Cardinal says, “the Chapel Royal captures the fluidity and ambiguity of the age”.

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(Vatican Radio) On Monday February 8th the Church marks the 2nd International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Human Trafficking, an initiative promoted particularly by women religious committed to the struggle against this modern form of slavery.

Two years ago an alliance of religious congregations, bishops and international police chiefs met with Pope Francis in the Vatican and set up a network, known as the Santa Marta group, to better coordinate their work of prevention, protection of victims and prosecution of the trafficking gangs.

Kevin Hyland is the UK’s first Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner and former head of the London Metropolitan Police Service’s Human Trafficking Unit. He was responsible for the convictions of numerous international crime groups and now works closely with the Santa Marta network.

Hyland was in Rome this week to talk about the UK’s experience, including a new Modern Slavery Act and his own strategic plan stressing the potential for working in partnership, putting the needs of the victims centre-stage.

Listen to Kevin Hyland in conversation with Philippa Hitchen: 

Hyland notes the Modern Slavery Act 2015 became effective last August and is still being rolled out but has already seen a significant rise in numbers of victims identified for referral and of traffickers being prosecuted and convicted.

Modern Slavery Act 2015

Beyond acting as a deterrent to traffickers, he says the new legislation – especially requiring companies to ensure transparency of their supply chains – will change the culture and way people do business, “demanding they look after their staff, no matter where they are in the world”.

Fishing industry implements new system

“When we’re talking about putting peoples’ lives at risk”, Hyland says, “nothing is too hard” in trying to change the way industries work. He cites the fishing industry, which has been badly tainted, but is now starting to implement a responsible fishing programme where vessels are kite-marked to show that people working on board are being paid properly and treated with dignity.

Santa Marta group implementing partnerships in countries worldwide

Pope Francis was clear in his instructions to the Santa Marta group, Hyland says, and police forces are now working more closely with Churches and civil society groups in many countries around the world  - he cites Lithuania, Poland, Nigeria, Argentina, the U.S. and the Philippines - to offer better protection to victims and implement prevention programmes in countries of origin.

Individual suffering behind statistics

In the UK, statistics speak of up to 13.000 victims of human trafficking, while the global figure is estimated at between 26 and 31 million men, women and children. Hyland says it’s vital to keep in mind the individuals behind those figures: he talks of a 7-year-old Romanian girl kept in a North London flat and forced to work up to 18 hours a day until police and charitable organisations intervened.

He also shares the story of a 14 year old Nigerian girl, trafficked into the UK and raped repeatedly but then arrested on charges of possessing false documents, a victim of both the traffickers and the legal system, yet she is now studying to be a lawyer and talking to others about her experience.

Don't be afraid to act on concerns

Hyland encourages everyone to be aware of “what slavery look(s) like in your neighbourhood”. He notes there is a UK help line (0800 0121 700) and says people shouldn’t be afraid of calling if they see signs of people living or working in slave like conditions. “That little piece of information could help in rescuing someone from modern slavery”, he says. 

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz Muth

By Chaz Muth

DRIGGS, Idaho (CNS) -- Father Adrian Vazquez bolted out of his rectory in St. Anthony on a cold November morning, brushed a thin layer of snow off of his Subaru Outback, started the engine and raced down the road to make the 50-mile drive to his mission chapel in Driggs.

The scenery along the way was stunning, with spectacular vistas of the Grand Teton mountain range.

Father Vazquez said he never gets tired of being surrounded by the rustic beauty of rural eastern Idaho.

It's the amount of driving he does each week that wears on him.

He makes the 100-mile round-trip drive to Driggs at least twice a week to tend to his flock.

That's in addition to 30-mile-round-trip drive Father Vazquez makes to another mission chapel in Rexburg and the 85-mile-round-trip drive to another in Island Park.

That's right, this priest is the administrator of Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in St. Anthony and three mission chapels located in about a 200-mile radius.

Seem like an enormous job for one U.S. priest?

It's not uncommon in U.S. Catholic home mission dioceses for a lone cleric to care for several faith communities spread out over great distances.

"Some of our priests in our country put on 50,000 miles a year to get to these parishes so they can bring the sacraments and teach the word of God, as do other catechists and lay leaders," said Boise Bishop Peter F. Christensen.

The early American missionaries also traveled extensively to bring Catholicism to small populations spread out over great distances, a tradition that helps keep the faith vibrant in rural areas today, Bishop Christensen told Catholic News Service during an interview in Boise.

Some of today's priests travel in nontraditional ways to reach their faith communities.

For instance, in Alaska, where the roads don't always connect to the towns, church leaders have been known to kayak to their mission chapels and others are required to fly, said Juneau Bishop Edward J. Burns.

Shortly after Bishop Burns arrived in Alaska to assume leadership of the diocese in 2009, his new staff gave him a parish visit itinerary. When he asked what time Mass began at St. Francis Chapel in Tenakee Springs, they laughed and told him that it started when he arrived.

"To go out to Tenakee Springs, I had to go out to the dock to get onto the float plane. ... It takes off and we fly 20 to 25 minutes out to the village," he said. "Well, the people there hear the float plane arrive ... so the people don't gather at the chapel until 20 minutes after the plane lands. So, the plane becomes the modern-day church bell."

Spending many hours behind the wheel of a car does create hazards for priests in home mission dioceses, said Lynne Green, a parishioner of Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Driggs.

The long hours of ministry and driving caused her former pastor to fall asleep at the wheel on his way home from Mass one evening, and though it ended up being a minor accident, it made Green aware of some of the vulnerabilities involved in this kind of pastoral care.

"It's difficult," she said. "Our priests are stressed. A lot of them end up completely burned out by the time they finish with this assignment."

The burden of distance doesn't just fall on church leaders. Many loyal parishioners, like Anatolia Romero of Shoshone and her family, drive 45 minutes or longer each way to get to church.

Romero and her husband routinely work 12 hours a day as ranch hands but make the 45-minute drive to Jerome two to three times a week to attend Mass at St. Jerome Catholic Church, take their children to religion class, attend social events and help out with funerals.

"I don't see the time as a sacrifice," she said following an October social function at the parish. "We need to be here. We need to be here for God. We need to be here for us. It's like home for us. It's where we belong."

In some ways, the long travel times encourage parishioners to invest a deeper commitment to the church, said Father Rob Irwin, pastor of St. Jerome.

Since it takes so long to travel to the church, these parishioners are not in a hurry to drive home, so they spend more time in the parish socializing, participating in other events, becoming active in the parish council, volunteering in social ministry or taking faith-enrichment classes, Father Irwin said.

"It's a special privilege ... to have people come in from great distances, to experience this missionary faith," he said. "People make a choice to come and make a choice to be engaged and involved. We don't take them for granted. Neither do they take their faith for granted."

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Follow Chaz Muth on Twitter: @Chazmaniandevyl.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Chaz Muth

By Chaz Muth

RALEIGH, N.C. (CNS) -- When Aida Sarkisian and her family left their home in Iraq for the U.S., it wasn't because they wanted to. It was because their survival depended on it.

The refugees received death threats as far back as 2006 in their homeland because of Sarkisian's work as an interpreter for the U.S. military in Baghdad.

They applied for refugee status with the International Organization for Migration to relocate to the United States in 2008, but they were not approved until mid-2015.

Their long journey to Raleigh included a move into the Kurdistan region of Iraq, where they endured the continuing dangers of increasing violence from the Islamic State, and as Christians they were more vulnerable to attack.

Sarkisian and her husband, son, daughter and mother left behind their loved ones, their careers, their culture, their church and all of their belongings to start a new life in an unfamiliar land where they knew no one. But, they were free of danger.

They met another Iraqi family living in the U.S. who invited them to attend Sunday Mass at St. Sharbel Maronite Church, a mission chapel on the grounds of the Catholic Community of St. Francis of Assisi in Raleigh.

Though the Maronite Catholic faith wasn't the same denomination as their Armenian Apostolic Church, the traditions were similar and the celebration of Mass in Arabic allowed them to worship in a familiar language.

"We found many nice friends in that church," Sarkisian told Catholic News Service. "It finally feels like a new beginning now that we have found them."

This religious and social connection has helped ease the family's collective homesickness.

Continuous offers of help from fellow parishioners and church leaders also have provided them with a more secure feeling in their new domicile.

As the threat of Islamic State violence in the Middle East intensifies, it forces more Iraqis and Syrians to flee their homeland and the Eastern Catholic churches in the U.S. are seeing an increase of refugees arrive in their faith communities, said Chorbishop Michael G. Thomas of the Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, New York, a Catholic home mission diocese for Maronite Catholics living along the U.S. East Coast. Its territory stretches from Maine to Florida.

Like other financially strapped home mission dioceses, the eparchy scrapes together what little resources it has to assist these refugees in setting up their homes and sometimes in helping them find work, Chorbishop Thomas told Catholic News Service during an August interview in Raleigh.

Mostly, it's the sense of community that these refugees are most in need of and the parishioners with Middle Eastern backgrounds are generous with their fellowship and resources, he said.

"They can relate with the culture and the food," Chorbishop Thomas said. "But, just knowing another family who they can ask, 'Where should I send my kids to school?' or 'Where's a good place for me to move to?' if they know of job opportunities. Those things are so important to find out from people they can trust."

Faith communities in Raleigh were instrumental in helping Iraqi refugee John Youkhanna and his family upon their 2008 arrival in the Southern city.

Youkhanna too had been an interpreter in Iraq, but once he and his family escaped danger for refuge in the U.S., he work menial jobs to help put food on the table and pay the rent.

It was through his connections with the church that helped him eventually land a good-paying job with Habitat for Humanity, an organization that also helped him build an affordable house.

"I thank God for the people in my church," Youkhanna said. "We've been able to build a whole new life here with their help. We've (also) been able to hold onto some piece of our culture, our customs and our old way of life."

Welcoming the stranger and caring for the disenfranchised is a tenet of Catholic teaching, said Bishop Peter F. Christensen of Boise, Idaho, who is the former chair of the U.S. bishop's Subcommittee on Catholic Home Missions.

In a time in the U.S. when some politicians have called for more restrictions on refugees and taken a populist stance to resist immigration reform, Catholic leaders have urged members of Congress to show compassion and hospitality for people in need.

It's the role of a mission church in the 21st century to bring the warm embrace of the faith to the poor, the sick, the alienated and immigrants and receive them, as they would welcome Jesus Christ, Bishop Christensen said, even when those acts are contrary to public sentiment.

Father Carlos J. Gonzalez, a member of the Fraternal Society of Mercy, is heeding that call in the Diocese of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, at the Belen Community, which shelters and cares for homeless men and women who have mental illness, AIDS and cancer.

"Some people say, 'oh, come on, you're giving breakfast to all of these people who should be working,' or 'they're on drugs,' or 'they're working the streets at night.' I don't care," said Father Gonzalez, who is also a doctor. "I'm not here to judge them. I'm here to show them God's love."

Pope Francis has called on clergy to bring spiritual care to the sick, dying and disenfranchised.

The pope also has urged people of all faiths to welcome the stranger.

Aida Sarkisian says she has felt that embrace in her new home in the U.S.

"We are not strangers here," Sarkisian said. "We have some people, they are taking care of us. It's a blessing."

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Contributing to this story was Tyler Orsburn.

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Follow Chaz Muth on Twitter: @Chazmaniandevyl.

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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 Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The papal commission on child protection voted that one of its members -- a survivor of abuse and victims' advocate -- take a leave of absence and consider other ways to contribute to the advisory body.

Peter Saunders, founder and chief executive officer of the National Association for People Abused in Childhood, told reporters, however, that he would not leave his position on the commission.

"I was appointed by His Holiness Pope Francis and I will talk only with him about my position," he said Feb. 6.

Pope Francis established the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors in 2014 to recommend better ways to protect minors and vulnerable adults and how best to promote "local responsibility in the particular churches" concerning abuse perpetrated by members of the clergy.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, confirmed Feb. 8 that the 17-person commission, which includes another abuse survivor, "approved unanimously with one abstention" that Saunders take a leave of absence to think about other ways to help the commission externally.

U.S. Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston -- president of the pontifical commission and one of the pope's top cardinal advisers -- said in a written statement, "Peter Saunders has been asked to advise the commission on the possible establishment of a victim survivor panel to work with the commission."

Saunders told the Associated Press Feb. 6 that the members concluded they could not trust him to stick to the commission's mandate as a purely advisory body.

Father Lombardi told reporters Feb. 8 that it was clear the commission's "course of action is not undertaking a discussion, investigation, judging individual cases" of abuse or lack of accountability.

Saunders has been openly critical of Pope Francis and other top-level church leaders and of the slow pace of the commission's work when it came to bishops' accountability in acting upon suspected and known instances of abuse by priests.

He and a group of Chilean Catholics and clerics have voiced particular concern about the pope's nomination of Bishop Juan Barros in 2015 to the Diocese of Osorno, Chile. The bishop had been accused of covering up for a priest who was known to have committed sexual abuse. Bishop Barros, however, denied having had knowledge of Father Fernando Karadima's criminal behavior, prior to news about the abuse in the press.

The papal commission, meanwhile, released a press release Feb. 8 saying it was preparing the final version of proposals to make to the pope, including "a request for him to remind all authorities in the church of the importance of responding directly to victims and survivors who approach them." Members also were working on a recommendation for a universal day of prayer for abuse victims and preparing materials for a special penitential liturgy.

The commission also is developing a website to share best practices for protecting minors, and "workshops on the legal aspects of the protection of minors to establish more transparency around canonical trials" are being planned for later in the year.

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