Catholic News 2

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(Vatican Radio) The Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said he “imagines that even the Pope has some desire to escape out of the Vatican” during an interview on the Italian television programme La Strada dei Miracoli [“The Road of Miracles”] that was scheduled to be aired on Tuesday evening.

He gave the example of a recent trip to an optician near Rome’s famous Spanish Steps to get his lenses replaced for his glasses.

However, Cardinal Parolin said the Holy Father’s sojourns outside the Vatican Walls are “mostly for work.”

During the interview, the Cardinal said the Pope has always enjoyed a “truly great freedom,” even if “it has had to be adapted a little to life in the Curia.”

“Even the fact of his moving into the Casa Santa Marta, where he finds himself most at ease, has obviously helped him feel at home,” Cardinal Parolin said.

“From what I can see, the Pope seems to be doing very well,” he said.

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(Vatican Radio) Methodist Bishop Mary Ann Swenson, Vice Moderator of the World Council of Churches' (WCC) Central Committee, says Christian congregations have a vital role to play in helping to respond to the current refugee crisis but more still could be done by them. Bishop Swenson was among the participants at a high-level conference hosted by the WCC in partnership with the UN agencies to discuss how they can proactively influence and shape coordinated collective practical responses to the crisis. The 2-day conference in Geneva was attended by some 80 leaders of governments, UN agencies and NGO’s from countries affected by the ongoing refugee crisis in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Listen to the interview with Methodist Bishop Mary Ann Swenson:  

Bishop Swenson said the various Christian denominations have a vital role to play in responding to the refugee crisis and are doing a great deal.  However she said she believed that probably they "could step up and do more.”

Bishop Swenson said there was a lot of valuable ecumenical collaboration between the various Christian denominations and stressed that it was important for them “to work together” and “look for signs of hope” for these refugees who are “suffering so much.”

Asked about the sharp divisions within the European Union over how to respond to the ongoing refugee and migrant crisis, Bishop Swenson praised Germany for its hospitality and generosity. “I really want to applaud Germany’s welcoming role” ….. it’s a model for the other (EU) countries who, she said, “need to step up and be welcoming as well.”

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By Junno Arocho Esteves

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Welcoming thousands of migrants and refugees to the Vatican for their own Year of Mercy celebration, Pope Francis urged them to resist everything that would rob them of hope and joy.

"Each of you is the bearer of a history, culture and precious values and, unfortunately, also often of experiences of poverty, oppression and fear," the pope said Jan. 17. But gathering in St. Peter's Square for the Holy Year "is a sign of hope in God. Don't allow yourselves to be robbed of hope and the joy of living, which spring from the experience of divine mercy, also thanks to the people who welcomed and helped you."

The pope prayed that passing through the Holy Door and attending a special jubilee Mass "will fill your hearts with peace." He also thanked the inmates of a maximum security prison in Milan who prepared the hosts consecrated at the Mass.

According to the Italian news agency, ANSA, an estimated 7,000 migrants from 30 countries were present. The group passed through the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica, following a 9-foot tall, 3-foot wide wooden cross made out of the wreckage of boats carrying migrants from northern Africa to Lampedusa, Italy's southernmost island.

The Mass was celebrated by Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, president of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Travelers, who said in his homily that the cross was "an expressive symbol" of the tragic circumstances facing migrants who risk their lives seeking a better future.

The World Day of Migrants and Refugees, he said, was "a fitting occasion to remember that the church has always contemplated in migrants the image of Christ. Moreover, in the Year of Mercy, we are challenged to rediscover the works of mercy where, among the corporal works, there is the call to welcome the stranger."

The presence of migrants is a visible sign of the universality of the church and the integration of newcomers is not about "assimilation" but an opportunity to recognize "the cultural patrimony of migrants" for the good of the universal church.

"Everyone has something new and beautiful to contribute, but the source and steward is the Spirit," he said. "No one should feel superior to the other, but all must realize the need to collaborate and contribute to the good of the sole family of God."

Recalling Pope Francis' message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Cardinal Veglio compared the plight of migrants to the Holy Family exiled in Egypt, which serves as a reminder that the "welcoming of the stranger means welcoming God himself."

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By Judith Sudilovsky

JERUSALEM (CNS) -- One week after a Christian cemetery was desecrated outside of Jerusalem, two more Christian sites were vandalized in the city.

Several anti-Christian slogans in Hebrew were discovered scrawled along the walls of the Benedictine Dormition Abbey monastery and the neighboring Greek Orthodox seminary, both located on Mount Zion next to the walls of the Old City.

The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem denounced the acts, which occurred Jan. 16 and 17, and repeated its belief in the importance of education toward tolerance while urging "follow-up" against those who incite intolerance against Christians.

"It is regrettable that such episodes of hatred come 50 years after 'Nostra Aetate' which initiated the interreligious dialogue of the Catholic Church with other religions, and turned a new page between Catholic Church and Judaism," the patriarchate said in a statement Jan. 17. "We hope that the perpetrators will be arrested before proposed threats are carried out."

For the Dormition Abbey, which is believed to have been built on the spot where Mary died, it was the fifth time the building was vandalized in recent years. A fire that broke out at the monastery in February was determined to be arson, and another arson incident took place just after Pope Francis' visit to the monastery in May 2015. In 2012 and 2013, anti-Christian graffiti also appeared on abbey walls.

Authorities said the graffiti appeared to be written by different hands. Photographs depicting the graffiti showed statements such as "Christians go to hell," "Death to the heathen Christians, the enemies of Israel" and "Let his (Jesus') name and memory be obliterated."

Benedictine Father Nikodemus Schnabel, spokesman for the abbey, said in a statement Jan. 17 that the red and black paint the Israeli police used to crudely and unsuccessfully try to cover up the graffiti did even more damage.

He noted that between the nights of Jan. 16 and 17, there had been a loud and aggressive gathering with music and chanting by "Jewish right-wing radicals" in their neighborhood near the contested Tomb of David site. He said such disruptive gatherings have taken place nearly every Saturday for three years.

The graffiti, he said, was found in an area of the monastery that is not monitored by security cameras despite what he said was promised by Israeli security authorities in the summer 2013 when several monastery cars were badly damaged and hate graffiti was discovered on monastery walls.

Mickey Rosenfeld, Israeli police spokesman, said he was unaware of such a promise about cameras and that police were investigating the most recent.

"We call on the security agencies to take appropriate measures against this hate crime and to work toward an improvement of the security situation on Mount Zion as it has been promised since summer 2013," Father Schnabel said in his statement. "We are grateful for the overwhelming solidarity of all our friends in Israel. We as monks of Dormition Abbey will not cease to pray for reconciliation, justice and peace -- and also for the perpetrators of tonight, that hatred may disappear from their hearts."

As they have done since 2011 after other incidents, Tag Meir, a faith-based organization working to end racism in Israel, sent a delegation of members in support of the monastery and seminary to denounce the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attacks during a weekly cabinet meeting, saying "there is no place for actions like these."

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CINCINNATI (AP) -- Pete Rose is headed into the team hall of fame in his hometown of Cincinnati, the Reds said Tuesday....

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Some Twitter users had to do without early Tuesday after sporadic outages knocked the social media site offline in the U.S. and Europe....

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BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraq witnessed a sharp increase in civilian deaths following the fall of large swaths of territory to the Islamic State group in the summer of 2014. Now despite a string of recent battlefield losses for IS, civilians in Iraq continue to die at a "staggering" rate, according to a new United Nations report....

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court agreed Tuesday to an election-year review of President Barack Obama's executive action to allow up to 5 million immigrants living in the U.S. illegally to "come out of the shadows" and work legally in the United States....

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LANDSTUHL, Germany (AP) -- Former U.S. Marine Amir Hekmati, who was one of four Americans released by Iran as part of a prisoner swap, is in good health and looking forward to getting home soon, a congressman said Tuesday....

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TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -- Iran successfully transferred some of the billions of dollars' worth of frozen overseas assets following the implementation of the nuclear deal with world powers, the head of the country's central bank said Tuesday. But ordinary Iranians are still waiting to see how their daily lives will improve and how fast Iranian companies will gain access to financial markets worldwide....

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