Catholic News 2
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Despite disturbing allegations that he struck his ex-girlfriend, troubled Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel has not been charged with a crime and two Texas police departments have closed their cases on a possible assault....
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Luck may have run out for the winner of a California Lottery jackpot: The person has apparently let $63 million slip away....
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A California official outlined a plan Thursday to cap a massive Los Angeles-area gas leak by the end of next week....
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Brazilian Carnival could be called a hungry mosquito's dream - five days of non-stop street parties that bring together millions of revelers in an inviting mass of bare ankles, uncovered legs and denuded torsos. So the mosquito-borne Zika virus might be expected to dampen this year's debauchery....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Hillary Clinton cast the financial industry as an adversary in her presidential campaign - despite the money that industry has poured into her White House effort. Bernie Sanders once again mischaracterized the share of the wealth taken by the very richest Americans....
DURHAM, N.H. (AP) -- Fireworks flying in their first one-on-one debate, Hillary Clinton accused Bernie Sanders Thursday night of subjecting her to an "artful smear" while Sanders suggested the former secretary of state was a captive of America's political establishment....
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 rema...
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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MEDIA CONTACT
Don Clemmer
O: 202-541-3206
WASHINGTON-The Office of General Counsel of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) filed an amicus curiae brief in the U.S. Supreme Court, February 1, on behalf of USCCB, the Texas Catholic Conference and several Christian partners in support of a Texas law mandating health and safety standards protecting women who undergo abortions. Other groups joining the brief include the National Association of Evangelicals, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, and the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention. The case is Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, currently before the U.S. Supreme Court."There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health," said the brief. "When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise."The brief noted that some abortion clinics have decla...
"There is ample evidence in this case that hospital admitting privileges and ambulatory surgical center requirements protect women's lives and health," said the brief. "When such requirements are not enforced, abuses detrimental to women's lives and health arise."
The brief noted that some abortion clinics have declared the standards too strict, although the standards are similar to those issued by the abortion industry. It added that abortion providers "should not be allowed to rely upon their own failure to comply with health and safety laws" as a reason to strike such laws down. The brief said the providers' resistance to such regulations is not in the best interests of women's health and safety. It also noted that over 40 years of precedent, including the Court's 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey, reaffirms that states may regulate abortion to protect maternal life and health.
Full text of the brief is available online: www.usccb.org/about/general-counsel/amicus-briefs/upload/Whole-Woman-s-Health-v-Hellerstedt.pdf
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Keywords: General Counsel, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Texas law abortion, amicus curia, National Association of Evangelicals, Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptists of Texas Convention, Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, U.S. Supreme Court
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Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Feb 4, 2016 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Évila Quintana Molina is a single mother in a Mexican prison. She has never spoken in public, to protect her little daughter from being teased by other children. But when she was chosen to give her testimony to Pope Francis, her eight-year-old daughter encouraged her to go ahead.“What’s more, I want to be there with you,” her daughter Camilla told her.On Feb. 17, she will address Pope Francis on the last day of his visit to Mexico. Évila Quintana is imprisoned at Social Rehabilitation Center Number Three in Ciudad Juarez. About 800 prisoners are housed there, including some 100 women. Around 200 of the inmates’ relatives will also be in attendance.Évila Quintana had been a university student who worked in a bank and took care of her daughter. In 2010, she was jailed on accusations of money laundering.She said going to prison was her entrance into very hostile territory. She h...
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, Feb 4, 2016 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Évila Quintana Molina is a single mother in a Mexican prison. She has never spoken in public, to protect her little daughter from being teased by other children. But when she was chosen to give her testimony to Pope Francis, her eight-year-old daughter encouraged her to go ahead.
“What’s more, I want to be there with you,” her daughter Camilla told her.
On Feb. 17, she will address Pope Francis on the last day of his visit to Mexico. Évila Quintana is imprisoned at Social Rehabilitation Center Number Three in Ciudad Juarez. About 800 prisoners are housed there, including some 100 women. Around 200 of the inmates’ relatives will also be in attendance.
Évila Quintana had been a university student who worked in a bank and took care of her daughter. In 2010, she was jailed on accusations of money laundering.
She said going to prison was her entrance into very hostile territory. She had never been in jail, not even to visit someone. It was a very difficult stage that she managed to overcome, especially for the sake of her child.
“My little daughter sees this... I ask her if she’s ashamed of me and she says no, that she never would be. On the contrary, (she says) that I’m a very brave woman,” Évila said.
The 34-year-old woman told the Mexican daily news outlet Presencia Digital that her case is still in legal proceedings and so she held back details of her case. However, she says that she now believes she has a God of justice who will determine how much time she will spend in prison.
She recounted the day she heard she had been chosen to speak to the Pope. She was working in the store at the women’s prison when she was called in for a hearing. She did not know what it was for.
“I thought: ‘what’s happened now?’”
She read a piece of paper they gave her. After a few hours they told her she had been chosen to give a testimony to the Pope.
Évila Quintana asked the hearing: “Do you think I really deserve this? Because I’m really a sinner. To stand up in a public place and offer him a few words, I think this is a huge responsibility, and I am a sinner for real.”
The person at the hearing answered: “I’m not the one who chose you, it was God.”
The woman acknowledged that she is not a practicing Catholic. But she said she knows that “God is always with me, this is part of my getting closer to his Church again, to come back.”
Writing her speech for the Pope was another matter.
“They told me you’ve got to tell him what was it like going to prison, your time there, your feelings as a mom, how you’re getting through it, how you feel, what a visit is like for you. They gave me three topics to talk on and I had to develop them, and I said, ‘how am I going to relate to a holy person?’” she told Presencia Digital.
The young mother could not find anything to write about. Then she remembered that when she was arrested in Mexico City, she read a Bible verse she paraphrased as saying, “you need to talk to the prisoners, as if you were in the jail with them.”
“I think this is what I’m going to base my speech on,” Évila Quintana thought.
More than material things, she emphasized, prisoners need “a phone call, and occasionally asking you how you’re doing. Those things are important.”
In Pope Francis’ travels as “a missionary of mercy” he is “emulating the footsteps of Christ,” she said. “He’s trying to be with everyone who has a spiritual need.”
“I’m part of his people, and so he serves as a pastor who starts to gather together his little sheep to get them back on the path... we’re part of the people of God, we’re part of society, we need a period of time to rejoin society, but we’re not outside of God’s people,” she reflected.
To prepare for her speech, Évila Quintana tried to think of what she had in common with the Pope. Help came in the form of a phone call from Camilla.
“My daughter told me, ‘you and the Pope have the same birthday.'”
Évila Quintana was still concerned that children will be cruel to her daughter if they learn her mother is in jail. She tried her best to keep the news quiet that she was going to speak in front of the Pope.
However, her daughter had a different view.
“Mommy, I’m not going to be ashamed at all. What’s more, I want to be with you,” were Camilla’s words. She will be next to her mother on Feb. 17, when she addresses the Pope.
Évila Quintana said that Pope Francis’ visit will help all of Mexico. Ciudad Juarez, as a border city, has been “very much harmed by violence.”
“I believe that he is bringing a message of peace,” she said.
Los Angeles, Calif., Feb 4, 2016 / 04:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- For months, Erwin Mena donned vestments, called himself “Padre,” and convinced Southern California Catholics that he was a priest, police say.He was good at it, too, reportedly. He attended seminary in El Salvador for a time years ago before dropping out, so he was able to convincingly officiate Masses, funerals, and even at least one wedding. He had a likeable personality and said all the right things. On Tuesday, he was arrested by Los Angeles police for allegedly impersonating a Roman Catholic priest and on suspicion of grand theft. Mena allegedly conned parishioners into buying thousands of dollars’ worth of fake tickets to see Pope Francis in the fall, and he would sell religious CDs and books only to line his own pockets with the profit. He has been charged with 22 felonies and 8 misdemeanors, according to a criminal complaint filed by the L.A. County district attorney’s office.For 5 or...
Los Angeles, Calif., Feb 4, 2016 / 04:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- For months, Erwin Mena donned vestments, called himself “Padre,” and convinced Southern California Catholics that he was a priest, police say.
He was good at it, too, reportedly. He attended seminary in El Salvador for a time years ago before dropping out, so he was able to convincingly officiate Masses, funerals, and even at least one wedding. He had a likeable personality and said all the right things.
On Tuesday, he was arrested by Los Angeles police for allegedly impersonating a Roman Catholic priest and on suspicion of grand theft. Mena allegedly conned parishioners into buying thousands of dollars’ worth of fake tickets to see Pope Francis in the fall, and he would sell religious CDs and books only to line his own pockets with the profit. He has been charged with 22 felonies and 8 misdemeanors, according to a criminal complaint filed by the L.A. County district attorney’s office.
For 5 or 6 months beginning in January of last year, Mena, who would also go by Menacastro, showed up at St. Ignatius of Loyola parish in Highland Park, claiming to be a visiting priest covering for the pastor, who was on vacation, according to police reports.
When priests assist at parishes for any significant length of time (more than one Mass), they have to file the appropriate paperwork to prove their priestly credentials. LAPD Det. Gary Guevara told CNA that Mena’s paperwork would sporadically trickle in, enough to raise suspicions but not completely sound the alarm for the parish secretary.
“Some of it was coming in, he would say everything’s in San Bernardino, so it was trickling in,” Guevara said.
During his time in the archdiocese, Mena would also travel around from parish to parish, selling $25 videos and fundraising for a project he said he was working on - producing CDs about Pope Francis, the Los Angeles Times reports. He also reportedly asked for anywhere from $500-$1,000 from parishioners for a package deal trip to see Pope Francis during his U.S. visit. The cost supposedly included lodging at convents and airfare, and more than two dozen people signed up.
Michelle Rodriguez, who heard about the trip from a friend who would host Mena for dinner, originally thought it sounded like a great deal and gave him more than $900 in cash. But when she pressed Mena for details about the trip, he would dodge the specifics, assuring her that she just needed to be patient.
Now, she is among those who have filed criminal complaints against Mena.
“He used us, he stole from us, and that's it,” Rodriguez told the Los Angeles Times.
When a priest approached Mena about his production project, he had an explanation – he claimed he was a Paulist priest.
It’s clear he had done his homework, Guevara said, because Paulists specifically focus on evangelization through media.
“Everything he said always made sense,” Guevara said, “So it was kind of like the perfect storm in that nobody wanted to pull the trigger, as far as confronting him.” He always had enough of an explanation to be plausible, and people generally liked him.
“There were people who thought he was a great priest, that they really liked him, he looked like a priest, he walked like a priest, he could talk like a priest all the way to the very end,” Guevara added.
But Mena couldn’t fool what Guevara called the “professional Church ladies.” It was a feast day with particular Mass parts, and Mena just wasn’t getting it right, he said.
“It was a complicated Mass that some of the real professional church ladies have memorized, and literally the jig was all up,” Guevara said.
“He was screwing up and everybody was like, what’s going on here?”
Within hours, phone calls were being made, and the archdiocese was officially alerted of Mena’s suspicious activities. Soon after, the archdiocese reported him to the police.
“They were collecting information and they were very transparent about it,” Guevara said. “They contacted the police department really quickly and provided us with everything we needed, so it was a really good partnership with us and them.”
It seems that Mena may even be a repeat offender – Guevara said that according to Archdiocesan documents, there were issues with Mena as far back as the 1990s. His name has been on a list of unauthorized priests and deacons since 2008, when the record was started. The current investigation is only focusing on his recent alleged transgressions.
It’s important to note that Mena was arrested because he was allegedly masquerading as a Roman Catholic priest, Guevara said. A defrocked or retired priest could theoretically start up their own “storefront church” with a ministry certificate from the internet, but he said Mena’s offense is specifically that he pretended to be a Roman Catholic, sacrament-distributing priest.
The archdiocese has already reimbursed some of Mena’s alleged victims, and more could be reimbursed at the conclusion of the case. Because of the nature of the ongoing criminal investigation, the archdiocese could not provide much further comment, but asked that anyone with additional information come forward.
“We are grateful to the Los Angeles Police Department for working to ensure that Erwin Mena was brought to justice. Our prayers go out to all the victims of his scam. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles is committed to providing pastoral care and sacramental support to the victims and others impacted by this situation,” the Archdiocese said in a statement.
“If anyone in the Archdiocese has any questions regarding the validity of any priest’s credentials, or the credentials of any employee of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, please call the Archdiocese Catholic Center, at (213) 637-7000.”
