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BEIRUT (AP) -- Weeks of Russian airstrikes in Syria appear to have restored enough momentum to the government side to convince President Bashar Assad's foes and the world community that even if he doesn't win the war he cannot quickly be removed by force....
HAVANA (AP) -- The United States and Cuba have reached an understanding on restoring regularly scheduled commercial flights, Cuban and American officials said Wednesday on the eve of the anniversary of detente between the Cold War foes....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve is raising interest rates from record lows set at the depths of the 2008 financial crisis, a shift that heralds modestly higher rates on some loans....
BALTIMORE (AP) -- The latest on the trial of a Baltimore police officer who is charged with manslaughter in the death of Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man who was injured in the back of a police transport van (all times local)....
 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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Vatican City, Dec 16, 2015 / 10:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Church is the “living sign” of God's love and mercy in the world, Pope Francis said during his Wednesday general audience. He reflected on the universality of communion as demonstrated by the global scale of the Jubilee of Mercy.“May this ecclesial communion become more and more intense, because the Church is in the world the living sign of the love and mercy of the Father,” the Pope said in his Dec. 16 catechesis.This “mystery of communion,” which is a sign of the “Father's love” for the Church, “grows and matures in our heart when love, which we recognize in Christ's Cross and in which we immerse ourselves, causes us to love as we ourselves are loved by Him.”“It is an endless Love, which has the face of forgiveness and mercy.”The Jubilee of Mercy is an Extraordinary Holy Year that officially commenced Dec. 8 – the Solemnity of the Im...
Vatican City, Dec 16, 2015 / 10:05 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The Church is the “living sign” of God's love and mercy in the world, Pope Francis said during his Wednesday general audience. He reflected on the universality of communion as demonstrated by the global scale of the Jubilee of Mercy.
“May this ecclesial communion become more and more intense, because the Church is in the world the living sign of the love and mercy of the Father,” the Pope said in his Dec. 16 catechesis.
This “mystery of communion,” which is a sign of the “Father's love” for the Church, “grows and matures in our heart when love, which we recognize in Christ's Cross and in which we immerse ourselves, causes us to love as we ourselves are loved by Him.”
“It is an endless Love, which has the face of forgiveness and mercy.”
The Jubilee of Mercy is an Extraordinary Holy Year that officially commenced Dec. 8 – the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter's Basilica. It will close Nov. 20, 2016 with the Solemnity of Christ the King.
Although the Jubilee of Mercy officially began last week, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran this past Sunday.
During his Wednesday catechesis, the Pope noted how every Holy Door – or “door of Mercy” has been opened in the cathedrals of every dioceses worldwide, as well as in individual churches and shrines by the respective bishops.
He reiterated his desire for the Holy Door to be available at the local level, “in order that the Jubilee of Mercy may become a shared experience for every person.
By extending the celebration of the Jubilee of Mercy to all dioceses – here the Pope cited especially his opening of the Holy Door in Bangui, Central African Republic during his visit November – the Holy Year becomes a “visible sign of universal communion.”
The start of the Jubilee coincided with the 50th anniversary of the close of the Vatican II council, which – Pope Francis observed -- had drawn attention to the theme of communion within the Church.
“In effect, the Council contemplated and presented the Church in the light of the mystery of communion,” the Pope said.
The pontiff said forgiveness and mercy are more than just nice words; they must be lived out in daily life.
“Loving and forgiving are concrete and visible signs that the faith has transformed our hearts,” allowing us “to love and forgive as God loves and forgives.”
During the Jubilee of Mercy, Pope Francis said, the Holy Door is a sign of faith in Jesus, who came who came to save, not to judge.
The pontiff warned against those who suggest that one must pay for salvation. “You do not buy salvation! The door is Jesus, and he is free! Salvation is free! It is a sign of true conversion in our hearts.”
Those who walk through the open Holy Door should ask the Lord for help in keeping their hearts open, whereby they share the Lord's love with others, the Pope continued.
“Just as the Holy Door remains open, in order for it to be the sign of welcome which God Himself reserves for us, so too may our door always be wide open in order to exclude no one,” including those we find annoying.
Pope Francis stressed the importance of the Sacrament of Confession as an important sign of the Jubilee of Mercy.
To receive the sacrament by which we are reconciled with God is to have direct experience of his mercy,” the Pope said. “When we recognize our sins there is a celebration in Heaven!”
The pontiff reiterated that we cannot receive God's forgiveness if we ourselves are unable to forgive.
“Certainly, forgiveness is not easy,” and cannot be accomplished on our strength alone. “If, however, we are open to welcoming God's mercy for us, we too will become capable of forgiveness.”
“Therefore, have courage!” he said. “We live the Jubilee starting with these signs that involve the great strength of love.”
Dallas, Texas, Dec 16, 2015 / 12:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Wednesday appointed Monsignor J. Gregory Kelly, a local priest, to become the newest auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Dallas.“I experience this new call to be an auxiliary bishop more than anything as a new grace from Christ and a new call to serve him, whom I love, and to whom I am especially grateful,” Bishop-designate Kelly said at a Dec. 16 press conference.Citing the start of the Church’s Year of Mercy, he looked to the example of the Pope. He said Pope Francis “constantly reminds us that the path to life on high in Christ Jesus passes through the periphery, passes through going out to other people, our brothers and sisters who are suffering and hurting.”To these people, the monsignor said, “we are called to be signs and instruments of God’s mercy, having received that mercy ourselves.”Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas welcomed the appointment.“I conside...
Dallas, Texas, Dec 16, 2015 / 12:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on Wednesday appointed Monsignor J. Gregory Kelly, a local priest, to become the newest auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Dallas.
“I experience this new call to be an auxiliary bishop more than anything as a new grace from Christ and a new call to serve him, whom I love, and to whom I am especially grateful,” Bishop-designate Kelly said at a Dec. 16 press conference.
Citing the start of the Church’s Year of Mercy, he looked to the example of the Pope. He said Pope Francis “constantly reminds us that the path to life on high in Christ Jesus passes through the periphery, passes through going out to other people, our brothers and sisters who are suffering and hurting.”
To these people, the monsignor said, “we are called to be signs and instruments of God’s mercy, having received that mercy ourselves.”
Bishop Kevin Farrell of Dallas welcomed the appointment.
“I consider the fact that our Holy Father has appointed such an outstanding priest as Greg Kelly to serve as a bishop in our diocese to be an early Christmas gift from Pope Francis,” the bishop said in a statement. He described the bishop-designate as “extremely well-respected by priests and parishioners alike” and has been “outstanding” as a pastor and chaplain.
The 59-year-old priest was born in Le Mars, Iowa to John and Marilean Kelly. He was one of five siblings, and grew up in Colorado and attended Colorado State University, the Diocese of Dallas reports.
Bishop-designate Kelly attended Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas from 1976-1982. He has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in theology from the University of Dallas. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Dallas in May 1982.
He served as chaplaint at the University of Dallas from 1986 to 1996, and was pastor of St. Gabriel Catholic Church in McKinney from 1996 to 2008. Benedict XVI named him a monsignor in 2013.
Msgr. Kelly has served as the diocese’s vocations director and as interim rector for Holy Trinity Seminary, and is presently the diocese’s vicar for clergy.
He will become the diocese’s second currently serving auxiliary bishop, joining Bishop J. Douglas Deshotel. There are about 1.3 million Catholics in the Dallas diocese, whose total population is about 4 million.
His Mass of episcopal consecration will be said Feb. 11 at the Cathedral Shrine of the Virgin of Guadalupe in downtown Dallas.
The bishop-designate voiced gratitude for “the many gifts that God has given me.”
“I am truly overwhelmed and shocked when I think about it,” he added in a statement. “I am confident that God’s grace to do this job comes with this call but ask that you please pray for me.”
HAVANA (AP) -- More than 100 Cuban boys wearing the uniforms of local baseball teams stood in rows, smiling nervously Wednesday as they got tips and training from some of their major league idols - men who were born on the island and were once disdained by the Communist government for defecting to the United States....
BEIRUT (AP) -- The latest news on developments in the Syrian conflict. All times local:...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- For anyone considering whether to buy a home or car, the Federal Reserve's interest rate increase Wednesday shouldn't make much difference....
