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As part of a series looking at "The Other Disappeared" in Mexico, The Associated Press interviewed a man who has participated in disappearances to shed light on how and why they happen....
IGUALA, Mexico (AP) -- The killer says he "disappeared" a man for the first time at age 20. Nine years later, he says, he has eliminated 30 people - maybe three in error....
Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Tuesday:...
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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Washington D.C., Dec 14, 2015 / 03:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In an effort to address uneasiness about the Common Core, a developer of the curriculum says that a traditional Catholic education should prepare students regardless of new changes to the SAT and other standardized tests. “As president of The College Board it is my conviction that a child excellently trained in traditional liberal arts will do superbly on relevant sections of the SAT and other aspects of Advanced Placement work,” David Coleman told the Cardinal Newman Society in an interview published Dec. 14. The College Board is the non-profit that administers the SAT and Advanced Placement tests. Coleman, the organization’s president, was also a lead developer of the Common Core curriculum at Student Achievement Partners. Coleman emphasized that the intention of the curriculum standards is not “a stultifying sameness.” He also focused on the need for a wise implementation of the standards....
Washington D.C., Dec 14, 2015 / 03:13 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In an effort to address uneasiness about the Common Core, a developer of the curriculum says that a traditional Catholic education should prepare students regardless of new changes to the SAT and other standardized tests.
“As president of The College Board it is my conviction that a child excellently trained in traditional liberal arts will do superbly on relevant sections of the SAT and other aspects of Advanced Placement work,” David Coleman told the Cardinal Newman Society in an interview published Dec. 14.
The College Board is the non-profit that administers the SAT and Advanced Placement tests. Coleman, the organization’s president, was also a lead developer of the Common Core curriculum at Student Achievement Partners.
Coleman emphasized that the intention of the curriculum standards is not “a stultifying sameness.” He also focused on the need for a wise implementation of the standards.
“The vulgar implementation of anything can have a reductive and destructive effect,” Coleman said. He said he wanted to celebrate the “beauties and distinctive values of a religious education” in order to avoid a “leveling quality.”
According to the official site of the Common Core State Standards, the curriculum aims for high-quality academic standards in math and English language arts and literacy. The goals intend to outline student achievement by the end of each grade.
The Cardinal Newman Society is dedicated to a strong religious identity for Catholic schools. It is among the critics of Common Core education. Those concerned have questioned the quality of its recommended curriculum and its rapid implementation by many U.S. state legislatures.
Common Core also has strong backing from education policy influencers such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Obama administration, the National Governors’ Association and the school superintendent leadership organization the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Dozens of Catholic dioceses have decided to implement the curriculum, as have most U.S. states. Some state laws also have an impact on religious schools’ curriculum standards, such as rules for schools that receive tax vouchers.
The Cardinal Newman Society and like-minded parents and education experts have voiced concern that the Common Core curriculum could undermine the Catholic identity and liberal arts emphasis of many Catholic schools. They also worry the curriculum has a utilitarian emphasis on career preparation and college skills
The new SAT revision, to be launched in March 2016, is aligned with the Common Core.
Coleman said the SAT revision aims for a deeper educational value and is not geared exclusively towards a careerist education mindset.
He said the new revision includes a section that will focus on one of five “founding documents in the great conversation of human dignity and liberty that it inspires.” These include the speeches of President Abraham Lincoln and civil rights leader Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Besides the Bible, these documents are a common reference point for “the conversation of human liberty and dignity,” Coleman said. These texts help inspire a conversation that opens up “so many domains of learning that might be closed to you.”
Coleman also had advice for Catholic education.
“Don’t be in a defensive crouch. I say that to every group I talk to of religious educators,” he said. “I say, share what you do that is beautiful and distinctive. Don’t just defend your right to exist. Be proud of what you have to offer, which is different.”
Coleman has previously defended the religious freedom of Christian colleges. He told the Cardinal Newman society he is “trying to get people involved in secular education to take a much more serious look at the depth and beauty offered by religious education.”
He told the Cardinal Newman Society that there are strengths in religious schools not shared by other schools.
Coleman has addressed educators at the National Catholic Educational Association, and he will speak again to their annual convention next March in San Diego.
The NCEA received a $100,000 grant in 2013 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to support teacher training and materials on common core implementation. The foundation has dedicated at least $160 million to the curriculum’s development and promotion.
Coleman said his remarks to the Catholic educators’ upcoming convention will not be about Common Core. They will be about “the distinctive and potentially widely valuable benefits of religious training and religious education.” He told the Cardinal Newman Society he believes non-religious schools have “much to learn” from the best of religious schools.
Photo credit: www.shutterstock.com.
El Paso, Texas, Dec 14, 2015 / 04:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Diocese of El Paso, Texas announced Monday that a cross-border Mass will take place during Pope Francis’ visit to Mexico in February. The Holy Father’s schedule for the trip, released Sunday by the Vatican, includes a Feb. 17 Mass in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, at Benito Juarez Stadium near the border. Bishop Mark J. Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso said in a statement that he and other area bishops are working to have lay faithful present at a Mass that includes both sides of the border. The dioceses of both El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, NM are across the Rio Grande river from Juarez. “I am presently in conversation with our local civic leaders about celebrating Mass with Pope Francis at the border...which will include the faithful on both sides of the border,” he said. The Mass at the Mexico-U.S. border is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from both countri...
El Paso, Texas, Dec 14, 2015 / 04:46 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The Diocese of El Paso, Texas announced Monday that a cross-border Mass will take place during Pope Francis’ visit to Mexico in February.
The Holy Father’s schedule for the trip, released Sunday by the Vatican, includes a Feb. 17 Mass in the border city of Ciudad Juarez, at Benito Juarez Stadium near the border.
Bishop Mark J. Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso said in a statement that he and other area bishops are working to have lay faithful present at a Mass that includes both sides of the border. The dioceses of both El Paso, Texas and Las Cruces, NM are across the Rio Grande river from Juarez.
“I am presently in conversation with our local civic leaders about celebrating Mass with Pope Francis at the border...which will include the faithful on both sides of the border,” he said.
The Mass at the Mexico-U.S. border is expected to draw hundreds of thousands of pilgrims from both countries and would be a significant milestone in Pope Francis’ February trip. The Benito Juarez Stadium has a capacity of 220,000, and tickets for the event are expected to be made available sometime in the next week.
While the Diocese of El Paso is not organizing a pilgrimage to Mexico for the Pope’s visit, the faithful are being encouraged to check with their local parishes about organized trips to the event.
Bishop Seitz said he is “thrilled” that the Pope is making a stop at the border region, and that he has “many hopes” for the Holy Father’s visit.
“In spite of the borders and boundaries that exist, we see ourselves as one great Catholic community, and so we are immensely grateful and honored that our Universal Pastor, Pope Francis, has chosen to come to our area,” he said.
“Pope Francis’ visit will undoubtedly call attention to many realities that are lived on both sides of the U.S. – Mexico border, particularly the plight of so many migrants and refugees fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries, in search of better lives for themselves and their children.”
Bishop Seitz also expressed his “great excitement” for the Mexican people upon the announcement of the Pope’s trip. As a country with an 80 percent Catholic population, Mexicans are known for their “special love and affection for our popes,“ the bishop said, which he expects will be as strong as ever with the first Latin American pope.
Other highlights of the Pope’s Feb. 12-18 trip to the country include the veneration of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mass with the indigenous community of Chiapas, and a visit to a prison in Ciudad Juarez.
Besides the Mass, Bishop Seitz said he is also calling on all parishes in his dioceses to take up special collections in order to financially support the Diocese of Juarez’s expenses in hosting Pope Francis.
IMAGE: CNS photo/ReutersBy Carol GlatzVATICAN CITY (CNS) -- PopeFrancis will visit some of the most marginalized communities in Mexico and seekto bring hope to a country deeply suffering from crime, corruption andinequality when he visits in February.The Vatican announced Dec. 12details about the pope's Feb. 12-17 trip to Mexico, during which he will stopin six cities, including two in the state of Chiapas and -- across from ElPaso, Texas -- Ciudad Juarez, which just five years ago was considered the "murdercapital of the world" as drug cartels disputed a trafficking corridor.The pope said in November thathe wanted to visit cities where St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI neverwent. But he said he will stop at the capital of Mexico City to pray at theBasilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. "But if it wasn't for Our Lady I wouldn't"go there, he had told reporters.The pope will fly out of andreturn to Mexico City each day after celebrating Mass at the basilica on thesecond day of his tr...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Reuters
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis will visit some of the most marginalized communities in Mexico and seek to bring hope to a country deeply suffering from crime, corruption and inequality when he visits in February.
The Vatican announced Dec. 12 details about the pope's Feb. 12-17 trip to Mexico, during which he will stop in six cities, including two in the state of Chiapas and -- across from El Paso, Texas -- Ciudad Juarez, which just five years ago was considered the "murder capital of the world" as drug cartels disputed a trafficking corridor.
The pope said in November that he wanted to visit cities where St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI never went. But he said he will stop at the capital of Mexico City to pray at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. "But if it wasn't for Our Lady I wouldn't" go there, he had told reporters.
The pope will fly out of and return to Mexico City each day after celebrating Mass at the basilica on the second day of his trip.
Over the following four days, he will visit a pediatric hospital in the capital as well as families and indigenous communities in the southernmost state of Chiapas, Mexico's poorest state, which gained worldwide attention for the 1990s Zapatista rebellion.
He will visit young people and religious in Morelia, celebrate Mass on the Mexican-U.S. border in Ciudad Juarez and visit its infamous Cereso state prison, where at least 20 people were killed during riots in 2009 triggered by rival gangs among the prisoners.
"We are certain that the presence of the Holy Father will confirm us in the faith, hope and charity and will help the church move ahead in its permanent mission," the Mexican bishops' conference said in a Dec. 12 statement. "It will encourage believers and nonbelievers and commit us to the construction of a just Mexico, with solidarity, reconciliation and peace," the statement said.
Father Oscar Enriquez, parish priest and director of the Paso del Norte Human Rights Center in Ciudad Juarez, told Catholic News Service that Juarez is often seen as an example of overcoming extreme violence. "The pope always looks for the peripheries. Juarez is the periphery of Mexico and it's a place migrants pass through."
Father Patricio Madrigal, pastor of the Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in the Michoacan city of Nueva Italia said by visiting Morelia, the pope "wants to be closer to an area beaten down by violence. He wants to bring comfort and also closeness."
The pope's meeting with young people and religious in Morelia is important, Father Madrigal told CNS, as the church there works to keep kids out of the cartels and provide priests with support and "strengthen us in the faith and our work in attending to victims of violence." Priests in the rugged Tierra Caliente region there had lent moral and spiritual support to vigilantes arming themselves to run off a drug cartel in 2013.
Pope Francis "wants to give young people a message of hope and that they stay away from the temptation of violence," the priest said.
Here is the pope's itinerary as released by the Vatican. Times listed are local, with Eastern Daylight Time in parentheses. The places the pope will visit are on Central Time except Ciudad Juarez, which is on Mountain Time.
Friday, Feb. 12 (Rome, Mexico City)
-- 12:30 p.m. (6:30 a.m.) Departure from Rome's Fiumicino airport.
-- 7:30 p.m. (8:30 p.m.) Arrival at "Benito Juarez" International Airport in Mexico City. Officials to greet pope.
Saturday, Feb. 13 (Mexico City)
-- 9:30 a.m. (10:30 a.m.) Welcoming ceremony at the National Palace. Courtesy visit with the president of the republic.
-- 10:15 a.m. (11:15 a.m.) Meeting with representatives of civil society and the diplomatic corps. Speech by pope.
-- 11:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m.) Meeting with Mexico's bishops in the city's cathedral. Speech by pope.
-- 5 p.m. (6 p.m.) Mass in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Homily by pope.
Sunday, Feb. 14 (Mexico City, Ecatepec, Mexico City)
-- 9:20 a.m. (10:20 a.m.) Transfer by helicopter to Ecatepec.
-- 10:30 a.m. (11:30 a.m.) Mass in the area of the "study center" of Ecatepec. Homily by pope. Pope recites Angelus.
-- 12:50 p.m. (1:50 p.m.) Transfer by helicopter to Mexico City.
-- 1:10 p.m. (2:10 p.m.) Arrival in Mexico City.
-- 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m.) Visit to the Federico Gomez Children's Hospital of Mexico. Greeting by pope.
-- 6 p.m. (7 p.m.) Meeting in the National Auditorium with representatives of culture. Speech by pope.
Monday, Feb. 15 (Mexico City, Tuxtla Gutierrez, San Cristobal de Las Casas, Mexico City)
-- 7:30 a.m. (8:30 a.m.) Departure by plane for Tuxtla Gutierrez.
-- 9:15 a.m. (10:15 a.m.) Transfer by helicopter to San Cristobal de Las Casas.
-- 10:15 a.m. (11:15 a.m.) Mass at the city's sports center with the indigenous community from Chiapas. Homily by pope.
-- 1 p.m. (2 p.m.) Lunch with representatives of the indigenous community and the papal entourage.
-- 3 p.m. (4 p.m.) Visit to the cathedral of San Cristobal de Las Casas.
-- 3:35 p.m. (4:35 p.m.) Transfer by helicopter to Tuxtla Gutierrez.
-- 4:15 p.m. (5:15 p.m.) Meeting with families at the Victor Manuel Reyna Stadium at Tuxtla Gutierrez. Speech by pope.
-- 6:10 p.m. (7:10 p.m.) Departure by plane for Mexico City.
-- 8 p.m. (9 p.m.) Arrival at the Mexico City airport.
Tuesday, Feb. 16 (Mexico City, Morelia, Mexico City)
-- 7:50 a.m. (8:50 a.m.) Departure by airplane for Morelia.
-- 10 a.m. (11 a.m.) Mass with priests, seminarians, religious men and women, and consecrated persons. Homily by pope.
-- 3:15 p.m. (4:15 p.m.) Visit to the city's cathedral.
-- 4:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m.) Meeting with young people at the Jose Maria Morelos Pavon Stadium. Speech by pope.
-- 6:55 p.m. (7:55 p.m.) Departure by plane for Mexico City.
-- 8 p.m. (9 p.m.) Arrival in Mexico City.
Wednesday, Feb. 17 (Mexico City, Ciudad Juarez)
-- 8:35 a.m. (9:35 a.m.) Departure by plane for Ciudad Juarez.
-- 10 a.m. (12 p.m.) Arrival at Abraham Gonzalez International Airport in Ciudad Juarez.
-- 10:30 a.m. (12:30 p.m.) Visit to Cereso prison. Speech by pope.
-- 12 p.m. (2 p.m.) Meeting with workers and employers at the Colegio de Bachilleres of the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Speech by pope.
-- 4 p.m. (6 p.m.) Mass at the fairgrounds of Ciudad Juarez. Homily and greeting by pope.
-- 7 p.m. (9 p.m.) Departure ceremony at the Ciudad Juarez International Airport.
-- 7:15 p.m. (9:15 p.m.) Departure by plane for Rome.
Thursday, Feb. 18 (Rome)
-- 2:45 p.m. (8:45 a.m.) Arrival at Rome's Ciampino Airport.
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Contributing to this story was David Agren in Mexico City.
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