Catholic News 2
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- It was not long ago that the woman accused of crashing her car into pedestrians on the Las Vegas Strip seemed to have turned her life around....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump labeled Democrat Hillary Clinton "disgusting" for using the restroom during a commercial break at the last Democratic debate and used crude language to describe her primary loss to now-President Barack Obama in 2008....
BAGHDAD (AP) -- Iraqi forces on Tuesday reported progress in the military operation to retake the city of Ramadi from the Islamic State group, saying they made the most significant incursion into the city since it fell to the militants in May....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Five days after Paul Ryan was sworn in as House speaker, the White House promised to invite him to meet President Barack Obama for a perfunctory but traditional photo opportunity. It would be a chance for the leaders to shake hands for the cameras and exchange pledges to work together....
WASHINGTON- The United States has a moral obligation to protect unaccompanied children and families from persecution in Central America, said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, October 21. Bishop Seitz is an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration and a member of the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC).The humanitarian outflow, driven by organized crime in the northern triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, continues, with nearly 40,000 unaccompanied children and an equal number of mothers with children having arrived in the United States in Fiscal Year 2015."If we do not respond justly and humanely to this challenge in our own backyard, then we will relinquish our moral leadership and moral influence globally," Bishop Seitz said.Bishop Seitz pointed to the human consequences of U.S. policies which are designed to deter migration from the region, i...
WASHINGTON- The United States has a moral obligation to protect unaccompanied children and families from persecution in Central America, said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, October 21. Bishop Seitz is an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration and a member of the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC).
The humanitarian outflow, driven by organized crime in the northern triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, continues, with nearly 40,000 unaccompanied children and an equal number of mothers with children having arrived in the United States in Fiscal Year 2015.
"If we do not respond justly and humanely to this challenge in our own backyard, then we will relinquish our moral leadership and moral influence globally," Bishop Seitz said.
Bishop Seitz pointed to the human consequences of U.S. policies which are designed to deter migration from the region, including U.S. support for Mexican interdiction efforts which are intercepting children and families in Mexico and sending them back to danger, in violation of international law.
Bishop Seitz recommended an end to these interdictions and the introduction of a regional system which would screen children and families for asylum in Mexico and other parts of the region. He also called for Congress to approve and increase a $1 billion aid package proposed by the Administration.
"If we export enforcement," Bishop Seitz said, "we also must export protection."
Bishop Seitz recalled the words of Pope Francis before Congress in September, when he invoked the golden rule in guiding our nation's actions toward those seeking safety in our land.
Quoting the Holy Father, Bishop Seitz repeated to the committee, "'The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.'"
"Mr. Chairman, I pray that time, and history, will conclude that we honored this rule in meeting this humanitarian challenge," Bishop Seitz concluded.
Bishop Seitz' testimony can be found at http://www.usccb.org//about/migration-policy/congressional-testimony/upload/seitz-ongoing-migration.pdf
Keywords: Bishop Mark J. Seitz, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Congress, Senate, Committee on Migration, migration, unaccompanied children, violence, Pope Francis
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Norma Montenegro Flynn
O: 202-541-3200
(Vatican Radio) Russia says it is tightening trade sanctions on Ukraine and will ban Ukrainian food products from January 1 in retaliation for Kiev's sanctions and its free trade deal with the European Union. The move comes shortly after the EU agreed to extend for at least another six months its economic sanctions against Russia because of its role in an ongoing conflict in Ukraine.Listen to Stefan Bos' report: Besides a bloody conflict in the east, Ukraine now faces a trade war with Russia. Moscow says it will apply new tariffs on Ukrainian exports from January 1, when Kiev's free trade deal with the European Union takes effect.Earlier Russia announced a ban on imported Ukrainian food - also from New Year's Day - because Ukraine blacklisted many Russian banks, defence firms and airlines, in line with EU sanctions.The wide ranging EU sanctions were triggered by Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its support for pro-Russian separatists in eas...
(Vatican Radio) Russia says it is tightening trade sanctions on Ukraine and will ban Ukrainian food products from January 1 in retaliation for Kiev's sanctions and its free trade deal with the European Union. The move comes shortly after the EU agreed to extend for at least another six months its economic sanctions against Russia because of its role in an ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Listen to Stefan Bos' report:
Besides a bloody conflict in the east, Ukraine now faces a trade war with Russia. Moscow says it will apply new tariffs on Ukrainian exports from January 1, when Kiev's free trade deal with the European Union takes effect.
Earlier Russia announced a ban on imported Ukrainian food - also from New Year's Day - because Ukraine blacklisted many Russian banks, defence firms and airlines, in line with EU sanctions.
The wide ranging EU sanctions were triggered by Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its support for pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. But Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied denied sending troops and weapons to the rebels. "First, we never said that none of our people were there [in east Ukraine], deciding some military questions, but it does not mean that the regular Russian army was there, notice the difference," he said.
EU extends sanctions
EU leaders also decided to extend the sanctions until mid-2016- because the Minsk peace deal, aimed at settling the eastern Ukraine conflict, had not been fulfilled as planned by the end of this month.
Analysts say Russia views the close cooperation between Ukraine and the EU as an extension of Western influence towards its borders and a major threat to its trade and political national interests.
But Svitlana Zalishchuk, a ruling party legislator in Ukraine, claims Russia has nothing to fear. “I don’t think we have to (in any way) consider the situation in Ukraine as the sphere of legitimate interest of Moscow, Russia or any other player, big country, stakeholder in the region.”
Yet Russia argues that the upcoming trade agreement between Kiev and Brussels, known officially as the 'EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area', threatens to turn Ukraine into a backdoor for cheap EU exports to Russia. It is now scrapping its preferential terms for Ukrainian exporters.
Separately, the Russian government said on Monday it would take legal action over Ukraine's failure to repay a $3 billion dollar debt. There's more bad financial news for Moscow: Ukraine's imports of Russian natural gas - for years a thorny issue in their relations - have declined to a bare minimum.
Ukrainian officials claim Ukraine's natural gas dependency on Russia has been reduced through energy efficiency measures and diversifying energy supplies.
London, England, Dec 22, 2015 / 05:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- When the Titanic began to sink on April 15, 1912, Father Thomas Byles had two opportunities to board a lifeboat.But he forewent those opportunities, according to passengers aboard the sinking ocean liner, in order to hear confessions and offer consolation and prayers with those who were trapped aboard. Now, a priest at the former church of Fr. Byles in England is asking that his beatification cause be opened.Some 1,500 people died when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912. Believed at the time to be “unsinkable,” the ship lacked adequate lifeboats for all the passengers on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.Fr. Byles was traveling on the Titanic to preside at his brother’s wedding in New York. The 42-year-old British priest had been ordained in Rome 10 years prior and had served as a parish priest at Saint Helen’s Church in Essex since 1905.Miss Agne...
London, England, Dec 22, 2015 / 05:26 am (CNA/EWTN News).- When the Titanic began to sink on April 15, 1912, Father Thomas Byles had two opportunities to board a lifeboat.
But he forewent those opportunities, according to passengers aboard the sinking ocean liner, in order to hear confessions and offer consolation and prayers with those who were trapped aboard.
Now, a priest at the former church of Fr. Byles in England is asking that his beatification cause be opened.
Some 1,500 people died when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank in the Atlantic Ocean in 1912. Believed at the time to be “unsinkable,” the ship lacked adequate lifeboats for all the passengers on its maiden voyage from Southampton to New York City.
Fr. Byles was traveling on the Titanic to preside at his brother’s wedding in New York. The 42-year-old British priest had been ordained in Rome 10 years prior and had served as a parish priest at Saint Helen’s Church in Essex since 1905.
Miss Agnes McCoy, a third class passenger and survivor of the Titanic, said Fr. Byles had been on the ship, hearing confessions, praying with passengers and giving his blessing as the vessel sank.
McCoy’s testimony, and that of other passengers onboard, has been collected at www.fatherbyles.com.
Helen Mary Mocklare, another third class passenger, offered more details about the final hours of the priest’s life.
“When the crash came we were thrown from our berths ... We saw before us, coming down the passageway, with his hand uplifted, Father Byles,” she recalled. “We knew him because he had visited us several times on board and celebrated Mass for us that very morning.”
“'Be calm, my good people,' he said, and then he went about the steerage giving absolution and blessings...”
Mocklare continued: “A few around us became very excited and then it was that the priest again raised his hand and instantly they were calm once more. The passengers were immediately impressed by the absolute self-control of the priest.”
She recounted that a sailor “warned the priest of his danger and begged him to board a boat.” Although the sailor was anxious to help him, the priest twice refused to leave.
“Fr. Byles could have been saved, but he would not leave while one (passenger) was left and the sailor's entreaties were not heeded,” Mocklare recounted. “After I got in the boat, which was the last one to leave, and we were slowly going further away from the ship, I could hear distinctly the voice of the priest and the responses to his prayers.”
More than a century later, Father Graham Smith – the current priest at Fr. Byles’ former parish of Saint Helen’s – is the promoter for opening his cause for beatification.
In a statement to the BBC, Fr. Smith announced the beginning of the process seeking the canonization of his predecessor, whom he considers to be “an extraordinary man who gave his life for others.”
Fr. Smith said that in the local community, “We are hoping and praying that he will be recognized as one of the saints within our canon.”
The canonization process first requires that the person in question be found to have lived the Christian virtues to a heroic degree. A miracle attributed to the intercession of the individual must then be approved, for the title of “Blessed” to be bestowed.
Once beatified, another miracle due to the intercession of Fr. Byles would need to be approved, for him to be declared a saint.
“We hope people around the world will pray to him if they are in need and, if a miracle occurs, then beatification and then canonization can go forward,” Fr. Smith said.
This article was originally published on CNA April 14, 2015.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions will have some fond memories of the way they came together this season, even if they regret it took them too long to get rolling....
NEW YORK (AP) -- The far-flung attacks claimed by Islamic State militants and the intensifying global effort to crush them added up to a grim, gripping yearlong saga that was voted the top news story of 2015, according to The Associated Press' annual poll of U.S. editors and news directors....
WASHINGTON- The United States has a moral obligation to protect unaccompanied children and families from persecution in Central America, said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, October 21. Bishop Seitz is an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration and a member of the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC).The humanitarian outflow, driven by organized crime in the northern triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, continues, with nearly 40,000 unaccompanied children and an equal number of mothers with children having arrived in the United States in Fiscal Year 2015."If we do not respond justly and humanely to this challenge in our own backyard, then we will relinquish our moral leadership and moral influence globally," Bishop Seitz said.Bishop Seitz pointed to the human consequences of U.S. policies which are designed to deter migration from the region, i...
WASHINGTON- The United States has a moral obligation to protect unaccompanied children and families from persecution in Central America, said Bishop Mark J. Seitz of El Paso, Texas, in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, October 21. Bishop Seitz is an advisor to the USCCB Committee on Migration and a member of the board of the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC).
The humanitarian outflow, driven by organized crime in the northern triangle countries of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras, continues, with nearly 40,000 unaccompanied children and an equal number of mothers with children having arrived in the United States in Fiscal Year 2015.
"If we do not respond justly and humanely to this challenge in our own backyard, then we will relinquish our moral leadership and moral influence globally," Bishop Seitz said.
Bishop Seitz pointed to the human consequences of U.S. policies which are designed to deter migration from the region, including U.S. support for Mexican interdiction efforts which are intercepting children and families in Mexico and sending them back to danger, in violation of international law.
Bishop Seitz recommended an end to these interdictions and the introduction of a regional system which would screen children and families for asylum in Mexico and other parts of the region. He also called for Congress to approve and increase a $1 billion aid package proposed by the Administration.
"If we export enforcement," Bishop Seitz said, "we also must export protection."
Bishop Seitz recalled the words of Pope Francis before Congress in September, when he invoked the golden rule in guiding our nation's actions toward those seeking safety in our land.
Quoting the Holy Father, Bishop Seitz repeated to the committee, "'The yardstick we use for others will be the yardstick which time will use for us.'"
"Mr. Chairman, I pray that time, and history, will conclude that we honored this rule in meeting this humanitarian challenge," Bishop Seitz concluded.
Bishop Seitz' testimony can be found at http://www.usccb.org//about/migration-policy/congressional-testimony/upload/seitz-ongoing-migration.pdf
Keywords: Bishop Mark J. Seitz, U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Congress, Senate, Committee on Migration, migration, unaccompanied children, violence, Pope Francis
# # #
MEDIA CONTACT:
Norma Montenegro Flynn
O: 202-541-3200
