Catholic News 2

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article

 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.
---
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
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT
Don Clemmer
O: 202-541-3206

Full Article

(Vatican Radio)  Germany is considering taking away benefits from asylum-seekers if they refuse to try to learn the language and integrate. The plan comes after several other European Union member states announced controversial measures to tackle the influx of refugees including seizing valuables and cutting payments, while countries such as Hungary plan to erect more fences along borders.

Listen to Stefan Bos' report:

German Labor Minister Andrea Nahles says just as long-term unemployed are forced to take jobs if they're offered, asylum-seekers should be expected to take German language and integration classes. The minister, who wants to change the asylum law, demands that migrants fleeing war and poverty start working when they're able. But she adds they will not be asked to give up their religion, views or traditions.

However rights group Amnesty International says Germany has signed international agreements that compel nations to provide refugees with an adequate standard of living. A German high court has reportedly ruled that "migration criteria" cannot play a role in assessing social benefits.

Yet the minister's controversial proposals come amid growing tensions in Germany after foreigners were involved in massive sexual assaults against German women over the New Year.

Housing troubles

And authorities are struggling to accommodate more than one million refugees who entered Germany last year alone, admits Emily Haber, the state secretary of Germany's Interior Ministry. "I believe the challenge is huge if is challenge is huge usually it will trigger fears and concerns. We have to address them," she said.

"And the first step in addressing them is reducing the numbers [of refugees and migrants]. We will not do it alone, we will do it with other European partners," the minister added.

Germany isn't the only Western nation reconsidering its approach towards refugees.

Denmark just approved a measure to let police seize valuables from migrants to help cover their housing and food costs; and an Austrian province this week is expected to more than halve payments to many refugees. 

Several Eastern European countries go even further to halt the influx of refugees, though most of them move towards Western nations.

New fence

Hungarian Defense Minister István Simicskó has confirmed that the right-wing government is ready to build an anti-migration fence along Hungary's border with Romania if necessary.

The country already erected barbed wire fences along its frontiers with Serbia and Croatia.

Other nations are unveiling similar plans. 

However European officials have expressed fears that these and other measures will eventually lead to the collapse of the European Union's passport-free Schengen Zone. The head of Germany's national railway already warned Tuesday that cross-border train services could be scrapped if Europe's open-borders system collapses.

EU leaders say there is little time left to save Schengen and hope to agree on a plan to tackle Europe's most serious refugee crisis since the Second World War.

Full Article

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Tuesday called on consecrated men and women to make courageous and prophetic choices, to not be afraid of getting their hands dirty and of walking the geographical and existential peripheries of mankind today. 

The Pope was speaking to consecrated men and women during the closing Mass of the Year of Consecrated Life in St. Peter's Basilica.

The Year, which was celebrated throughout the world, began on the First Sunday of Advent in November 2014 and came to a close on the World Day of Consecrated Life on 2 February 2016.

The initiative, called for by Pope Francis, aimed to be an occasion of renewal for men and women in consecrated life, of thanksgiving among the faithful for the service of sisters, brothers, priests, and nuns, and an invitation to young Catholics to consider a religious vocation.

During his homily the Pope described the just-ended Year of Consecrated Life as "a river", saying "it now flows into the sea of mercy, into the immense mystery of love that we are experiencing through the Extraordinary Jubilee".

The final days of the Year of Consecrated Life were marked in the Vatican with a theological symposium on religious life, on the theme Consecrated Life in Communion. A common foundation in the diversity of styles.

Please find below Vatican Radio translation of the Pope's homily:

Today, before our eyes is a simple, humble and great fact: Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem. He is a child like many others, just like the others, but He is unique: He is the Lord’s only son who has come for all mankind. This Child has brought the mercy and the tenderness of God: Jesus is the face of the Father’s Mercy. This is the icon the Gospel offers us at the conclusion of the Year of Consecrated Life, a year which has been lived with much enthusiasm. Like a river, it now flows into the sea of mercy, into the immense mystery of love that we are experiencing through the Extraordinary Jubilee.

Today's feast, especially in the East, is called the Feast of the Encounter. As a matter of fact, in the Gospel we can read of several encounters (cf. Lk 2,22-40). In the temple Jesus comes towards us and we go to meet him. We contemplate the encounter with the aged Simeon who represents Israel that trustingly awaits the coming of the Lord and the exultation of the heart for the fulfillment of the promise. We can also admire the encounter with the prophetess, Anna, who upon seeing the Child exults with joy and praises God. Simeon and Anna are the awaiting and the prophecy, Jesus is the good news and the fulfillment: He presents himself to us as God’s perpetual surprise; in this Child who was born for all, the past, made of memory and promise, and the future, which is full of hope, meet.

In this we can see the beginning of consecrated life. Consecrated men and women are called first and foremost to be men and women of encounter. Vocation, in fact, is not motivated by a project that has been planned “at the drawing table”, but by the grace of the Lord who comes to us through a life-changing encounter. Those who really meet Jesus cannot stay the same as before. He is the novelty that makes all things new. He who lives this meeting becomes a witness and makes the meeting possible for others; he also becomes a promoter of the culture of encounter, avoiding a self-referential attitude that causes one to remain closed within oneself.

The passage from the Letter to the Hebrews that we just heard, reminds us that Jesus himself, in his meeting with us, did not hesitate to share our human condition: " Since the children have flesh and blood, Christ too shared in their humanity" (v. 14). Jesus did not save us "from the outside", He did not stay out of our drama, he wanted to participate in our life. Consecrated persons are called to be a concrete and prophetic sign of God’s closeness, of this sharing in a condition of fragility, of sin and of the wounds of  man in our time. All forms of consecrated life, each according to its characteristics, are called to be in a permanent state of mission, sharing “The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted” (Gaudium et Spes, 1).

The Gospel also tells us that "Jesus’ father and mother were amazed at what was said about Him" (v. 33). Joseph and Mary safeguard the wonder for this encounter which is full of light and hope for all people. And we too, as Christians and as consecrated persons, we are custodians of wonder. A wonder that asks to be constantly renewed; woe betide routine in spiritual life; woe betide the crystallization of our charisms in abstract doctrine: the charisms of the founders - as I have said before - are not to be sealed in a bottle, they are not museum pieces. Our founders were moved by the Spirit and they were not afraid to get their hands dirty with everyday life, with people’s problems, they were not afraid to courageously walk the geographic and existential peripheries. They did not stop before the obstacles and misunderstandings of others, because they kept the wonder of their encounter with Christ in their hearts. They did not tame the grace of the Gospel; they had a healthy yearning for the Lord in their hearts, the yearning to bring Him to others, just as Mary and Joseph did in the temple. We too, are called today, to make prophetic and courageous choices.

Finally, we learn from today's feast to live the gratitude for the encounter with Jesus and for the gift of a vocation to consecrated life. To thank, to give thanks for the grace: the Eucharist. How beautiful it is when we meet the happy face of consecrated persons, who are perhaps already advanced in years, like Simeon and Anna, happy and full of gratitude for their vocation. This is a word that can sum up everything we have lived in this Year of the Consecrated Life: gratitude for the gift of the Holy Spirit, which always inspires the Church through its various charisms.  The Gospel ends with this expression: "The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him" (v. 40). May the Lord Jesus, through the maternal intercession of Mary, grow within us, and each increase in each of us the desire of encounter, the custody of wonder and the joy of gratitude. Then others will be attracted by His light, and will be able to meet the Father's mercy.

Full Article

Vatican City, Feb 2, 2016 / 11:44 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis presided over Mass on Tuesday for the conclusion of the Year for Consecrated Life, reminding religious men and women of their call to be “custodians of wonder” as they promote a culture of encounter with Christ.

“All forms of consecrated life, each according to its own characteristic, are called to be in permanent states of mission,” the Pope said in his Feb. 2 homily at St. Peter's Basilica for the feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple.

The Roman Pontiff explained how the grace of vocation is borne out of a life-changing encounter with Christ, who “is the novelty that makes all things new.”

Those who experience this encounter, he said, become witnesses who reach out to others and promote a culture of encounter, rather than remaining closed in on themselves.  

The Pope also emphasized the importance of gratitude on the part of consecrated men and women.

“This is a word that can summarize all that we have seen during this Year for Consecrated Life: gratitude for the gift of the Holy Spirit, which always enlivens the Church through the different charisms.”

The Year for Consecrated Life began Nov. 30, 2015, and concludes Feb. 2.  

Pope Francis reflected on the day's Gospel reading, which recounts Christ's presentation at the Jewish Temple by Mary and Joseph.

“This child has brought to us God's mercy and tenderness: Jesus is the face of the Father's Mercy,” he said.

This is the “icon” offered at the conclusion of the Year for Consecrated life, which in turn flows like a river into “the sea of mercy, into this immense mystery of love, which is being experienced with the extraordinary Jubilee.”

Reflecting on the encounter with the prophets Simeon and Anna told in the Gospel reading, the Pope said the child Jesus “is presented as the perennial surprise of God.”  

Through him, he added, we encounter “the past, made of memory and promise, and the future, full of hope.”

“We can see in this the beginning of the consecrated life,” the Pope said: consecrated persons are, “above all, called to be men and women of encounter.”

Pope Francis reflected on the day's epistle, from the letter to the Hebrews, which shows how Christ “did not hesitate to share in our human condition.”

In turn, consecrated men and women “are called to be concrete and prophetic signs of this closeness to God,” sharing in the fragility, sin, and woundedness of men and women today.

Pope Francis reflected on Mary and Joseph being amazed at the words of Simeon, and how they protect the sense of wonder of this encounter.

Likewise, “as Christians and consecrated men women, we are custodians of wonder,” the Pope said.

This wonder calls for constant renewal, the Roman Pontiff stressed, reminding consecrated persons that the charisms of their founders are not meant to be “sealed in a bottle” as though they were museum pieces.

Rather, they were “moved by the Spirit, and not afraid to get their hands dirty with daily life, the problems of the people,” as they courageously went to the “geographic and existential peripheries.”

The founders of religious orders were not deterred by obstacles or misunderstandings from others, nor did they attempt to “domesticate the grace of the Gospel.”

Instead, they maintained a “healthy concern for the Lord” and a desire to bring him to others.

“We too are called to make prophetic and courageous choices,” he said.

Pope Francis reflected on the day's feast as an opportunity to learn how to live out our gratitude for the encounter with Christ in the Eucharist, and for the grace of the consecrated vocation.

“How beautiful is it when we encounter the happy face of consecrated persons, perhaps already advanced in years like Simeon or Anna, content and full of gratitude for their vocation,” the Pope said.

He concluded: “May the Lord Jesus, through the maternal intercession of Mary, grow in us, and increase in each of us the desire for encounter, the protection of wonder, and the joy of gratitude.”

In this way, others may be “attracted to his light, and be able to encounter the Father's mercy.”

Full Article

By Carol Glatz

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Catholic Church must respect "with a capital 'R'" China's rich traditional culture and "age-old" wisdom, Pope Francis said.

Dialogue between China and the rest of the world, including the church, is necessary because it is the only way to achieve peace, he said.

"Dialogue does not mean that we end up with a compromise, half the cake for you and the other half for me."

"No, dialogue means 'Look, we have got to this point, I may or may not agree, but let us walk together.' This is what it means to build," he said in a lengthy interview with Asia Times.

The interview, published online in English Feb. 2, took place at the Vatican Jan. 28 with Francesco Sisci, a longtime Italian correspondent based in China and senior researcher at China's Renmin University.

The pope also included "my best wishes and greetings to President Xi Jinping and to all the Chinese people" for Chinese New Year Feb. 8.

"I wish to express my hope that they never lose their historical awareness of being a great people, with a great history of wisdom, and that they have much to offer to the world," the pope said.

In the hourlong interview, the pope said he has admired China ever since he was a boy and sees it as "a reference point of greatness," as a country and culture "with inexhaustible wisdom."

In fact, he said he became "very emotional, something that does not usually happen to me," when he was told they were about to fly over Chinese airspace and send a papal greeting by telegram to Xi on the flight from Rome to South Korea in 2014.

He said Jesuit Father Matteo Ricci, the 16th-century missionary to China, showed the church that "it is necessary to enter into dialogue with China" because of its wealth of wisdom and history -- as "a land blessed with many things."

"The Catholic Church, one of whose duties is to respect all civilizations, before this civilization, I would say, has the duty to respect it with a capital 'R.' The church has great potential to receive culture," the pope said.

However, when asked about the one-child policy that was introduced in China in 1980, the pope said the impact of that policy, especially on the single child who must care for many elderly relatives, was not "natural."

"The problem for China of not having children must be very painful, because the pyramid is then inverted, and a child has to bear the burden of his father, mother, grandfather and grandmother. And this is exhausting, demanding, disorientating. It is not the natural way."

China recently passed a two-child policy, and Sisci said families in China still face huge challenges by not having the traditional model of the family that existed before state-enforced population control programs.

When asked how families should face these challenges, especially during the Year of Mercy, the pope said the important thing was to not sink into the status quo but to understand the past and keep moving forward. Otherwise, he said, "if one gets tired and stops, one can become bitter and corrupt."

"Looking at this past -- and perhaps the fact of not having children creates a complex -- it is healthy to take responsibility for one's own path: 'Well, we have taken this route, something here did not work at all, so now other possibilities are opened up.'"

Those who preferred not to have children "have to take responsibility for their own path," he said, but in every case, look toward the future, "do not be bitter, but be at peace with your own path, even if you have made mistakes."

It is only by becoming reconciled with one's past and errors can one grow and mature, he said.

It's also "healthy for a person to have mercy toward himself, not to be sadistic or masochistic. That is wrong. And I would say the same for a people; it is healthy for a population to be merciful toward itself," he said.

When asked about how to face the challenges brought by China's explosive economic growth such as environmental disasters and harm to families, the pope said facing reality and talking about it -- not hiding from it -- were the only ways to find possible solutions.

He said accepting reality is like what the goalkeeper must do in a soccer match -- he "must catch the ball from wherever it comes. Reality must be accepted for what it is" without "disguising it, without refining it."

The reality may not be pleasant -- "I am against it, it makes me suffer, but if I don't come to terms with it, I won't be able to do anything. The second step is to work to improve reality and to change its direction," he said.

Pope Francis said China should not be afraid of dialogue and encounter with the rest of the world, and vice versa.

"We must not fear challenges," he said, because everyone can "find ways of coexisting, of respect and mutual admiration."

All of China's cultural, technical and even "age-old medicinal techniques cannot remain enclosed within a country; they tend to expand, to spread, to communicate. Man tends to communicate, a civilization tends to communicate. It is evident that when communication happens in an aggressive tone to defend oneself, then wars result," he said.

"The Western world, the Eastern world and China all have the capacity to maintain the balance of peace and the strength to do so. We must find the way, always through dialogue," he said.

"To dialogue does not mean that I surrender myself, because at times there is the danger, in the dialogue between different countries, of hidden agendas, namely, cultural colonization," he said.

"It is necessary to recognize the greatness of the Chinese people, who have always maintained their culture. And their culture -- I am not speaking about ideologies that there may have been in the past -- their culture was not imposed."

China's concern about outside influence in internal affairs has meant it requires Catholic communities to register with the government-controlled Catholic Patriotic Association, which has ordained bishops without the approval of the pope. Chinese authorities have frequently arrested Catholics who reject government control.

The Vatican has not had diplomatic relations with China since shortly after the country's 1949 communist revolution, however, both sides have regular contact. 

- - -

Follow Glatz on Twitter: @CarolGlatz.

- - -

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.

Full Article

Full Article

Full Article