Catholic News 2
WASHINGTON (AP) -- FBI Director James Comey told Congress Wednesday that revealing the reopening of the Hillary Clinton email probe just before Election Day came down to a painful, complicated choice between "really bad" and "catastrophic" options. He said he'd felt "slightly nauseous" to think he might have tipped the election outcome but in hindsight would change nothing....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House easily passed a $1.1 trillion governmentwide spending bill on Wednesday, awarding wins to both Democrats and Republicans while putting off until later this year fights over President Donald Trump's promised border wall with Mexico and massive military buildup....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House will vote Thursday on the GOP's long-sought legislation to repeal and replace portions of former President Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act, Republican leaders announced on Wednesday. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy confidently predicted success after a day of wrangling votes and personal arm-twisting by President Donald Trump....
(Vatican Radio) Armenia backed separatists have condemned joined military exercises by Turkey and Azerbaijan. The drills, which last until Friday, come amid tensions between Armenia and neighboring Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh. Listen to the report by Stefan Bos: Defense officials confirmed that at at least 1,000 Azerbaijani and Turkish troops began the drills in Azerbaijan on Monday, which will last last to Friday May 5, despite criticism. They are said to also include armored vehicles, artillery batteries, airplanes and helicopters as well as air defense systems. Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said the exercise is part of a broader military agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan to improve coordination between the armed forces of both countries. Yet Azerbaijan's breakaway province of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has a majority Armenian population, has condemned the military activities. The spokesman for the region's p...
(Vatican Radio) Armenia backed separatists have condemned joined military exercises by Turkey and Azerbaijan. The drills, which last until Friday, come amid tensions between Armenia and neighboring Azerbaijan over the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Listen to the report by Stefan Bos:
Defense officials confirmed that at at least 1,000 Azerbaijani and Turkish troops began the drills in Azerbaijan on Monday, which will last last to Friday May 5, despite criticism.
They are said to also include armored vehicles, artillery batteries, airplanes and helicopters as well as air defense systems.
Azerbaijan's Defense Ministry said the exercise is part of a broader military agreement between Turkey and Azerbaijan to improve coordination between the armed forces of both countries.
Yet Azerbaijan's breakaway province of Nagorno-Karabakh, which has a majority Armenian population, has condemned the military activities. The spokesman for the region's pro-Armenian leadership, David Babajan, warned in a statement: "If there are provocations, we will react."
DECLARING INDEPENDENCE
Armenian separatists declared their independence from Azerbaijan in the 1990s. They formed the unrecognized Nagorno-Karabakh Republic, which includes some of Azerbaijan's seized borderlands.
Despite a cease-fire dating from 1994, there are regularly clashes on the heavily fortified frontier, with some 120 people dying in fighting a year ago.
The latest drills also come while relations between Turkey and Armenia have been strained for decades over the mass killing and deportation of some 1.5 million mainly Christian Armenians during World War I by the Ottoman Empire.
Those atrocities suffered by Armenians have been described as genocide by more than a dozen states and leaders, including Pope Francis.
But Turkey denies that the mass killings amounted to genocide.
Washington D.C., May 3, 2017 / 11:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- College educated Christians are more likely to be churchgoers than their less educated counterparts, and seem to show about the same level of religious commitment as other American Christians, a survey says.“The tendency for Christian college graduates to exhibit rates of religious observance that are at least on par with their less highly educated counterparts is evident across a variety of Christian traditions,” the Pew Research Center said April 26.Christians who are college graduates are more likely to attend religious services weekly, with 52 percent saying they do so. This compares to 45 percent of Christians with some college education, and 46 percent with a high school education or less.Pew’s survey also created a scale of religious commitment incorporating measurement of practices like reported religious service attendance, reported daily prayer, statements that religion is very important, and belie...
Washington D.C., May 3, 2017 / 11:28 am (CNA/EWTN News).- College educated Christians are more likely to be churchgoers than their less educated counterparts, and seem to show about the same level of religious commitment as other American Christians, a survey says.
“The tendency for Christian college graduates to exhibit rates of religious observance that are at least on par with their less highly educated counterparts is evident across a variety of Christian traditions,” the Pew Research Center said April 26.
Christians who are college graduates are more likely to attend religious services weekly, with 52 percent saying they do so. This compares to 45 percent of Christians with some college education, and 46 percent with a high school education or less.
Pew’s survey also created a scale of religious commitment incorporating measurement of practices like reported religious service attendance, reported daily prayer, statements that religion is very important, and belief in God with absolute certainty.
About 70 percent of Christians with college degrees show a high level of religious commitment on this scale. Their levels are about the same as Christians with some college or a high school education or less.
While Catholics show less religious observance than other Christian groups like Evangelicals, Catholics show a similar level of religiosity when compared to other Catholics by education levels. College educated Catholics have a level of religious commitment ranked at 62 percent, according to Pew’s scale.
However, college graduates overall are less likely to identify with Christianity. About 64 percent said they were Christians, compared to 71 percent of those with some college and 75 percent of those with high school education or less.
About 11 percent of college graduates described themselves as atheists or agnostics, compared to 4 percent of those with a high school education or less.
At the same time, only about 24 percent of college graduates overall identified as unaffiliated in religion. College graduates were no less likely than other Americans to say they attend religious services.
Pew said the patterns largely hold if those with postgraduate degrees are examined separately from those with only bachelor’s degrees.
The Pew Research Center used the results of the 2014 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, conducted June 4-Sept. 30, 2014.
New York City, N.Y., May 3, 2017 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On September 11, 2001, Justine Cuccia was nine months pregnant when she watched in horror as two hijacked planes crash into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City.Her neighborhood, Battery Park City, was just across the street, including her parish, St. Joseph’s chapel, located in the bottom of an apartment building along with coffee shops and other storefronts.In the weeks following the disaster, the small chapel became a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) command station. First responders tore out the pews to provide a space for food, shelter and counseling for the next several weeks of clean-up. Even the altar cloths were torn up and used as bandages. Priests of St. Joseph’s celebrated Mass in a nearby gym. Afterwards, the chapel’s interior, severely damaged by the smoke, debris, and the nature of the work in the command center, needed a complete remodeling, which a group of de...
New York City, N.Y., May 3, 2017 / 12:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On September 11, 2001, Justine Cuccia was nine months pregnant when she watched in horror as two hijacked planes crash into the World Trade Center buildings in New York City.
Her neighborhood, Battery Park City, was just across the street, including her parish, St. Joseph’s chapel, located in the bottom of an apartment building along with coffee shops and other storefronts.
In the weeks following the disaster, the small chapel became a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) command station. First responders tore out the pews to provide a space for food, shelter and counseling for the next several weeks of clean-up. Even the altar cloths were torn up and used as bandages. Priests of St. Joseph’s celebrated Mass in a nearby gym.
Afterwards, the chapel’s interior, severely damaged by the smoke, debris, and the nature of the work in the command center, needed a complete remodeling, which a group of dedicated parishioners saw to completion by the next year.
Today, the chapel itself is in danger. High rent could force the closure of the chapel and the corresponding Catholic memorial to 9/11 unless an agreement is reached or a “miracle” happens.
But Cuccia and a small group of parishioners, most of whom lived through the 9/11 attacks, will not let the chapel and memorial go without a fight.
“We promised never to forget, and we’re forgetting,” Cuccia told CNA.
The group’s first hope is that a sustainable rent can be agreed upon by the Pastor and Archdiocese and LeFrak and its partners (the landlord).
“We have asked for the assistance of the Battery Park City Authority. Through their intervention, the landlord offered to reduce the rent from $80 per square foot to $70 per square foot, retrospective to January 1, 2017 until the lease ends in March, 2019. The Pastor and financial committee maintain that this is still not sustainable and have told us they countered at $17 per square foot,” Cuccia said.
Further frustrating the group of parishioners is that pastor Fr. Jarlath Quinn seems to not want the chapel to stay open, Cuccia said. He has told them that the chapel will close by June, barring miraculous intervention.
New buildings and luxury apartments in the area changed that area of Battery Park City from a middle class neighborhood to an upper-class neighborhood, raising rent beyond what the small parish could afford.
According to a financial statement published on the parish website, the Archdiocese of New York loaned the parish $540,431 during the 2016 fiscal year to pay the bills, bringing the parish net deficit for the year to $91,868 and the parish’s total indebtedness to the Archdiocese to $1,348,000.
“The trustees and the members of the Finance Council believe that this significant operating loss is not sustainable and that parish expenses must be brought in line with operating revenues,” the statement said.
St. Joseph’s chapel is a part of the parish of St. Peter and Our Lady of the Rosary. The parish referred all questions to Joseph Zwilling, director of communications for the Archdiocese of New York.
The decision about what to do with St. Joseph’s chapel “would be a parish decision, as Saint Joseph’s Chapel is a part of Saint Peter’s Parish,” Zwilling said. “The parish is still determining next steps, but at this point it appears as if only some kind of ‘miracle’ would keep the Chapel going.”
“Father Quinn is making plans to properly preserve the 9/11 memorial, should Saint Joseph’s Chapel close,” he added.
But the chapel is the memorial, the parishioners argue, and an effort to preserve it by relocating the art, but vacating the space, would be beside the point.
During the post-9/11 reconstruction, everything that went into the chapel’s interior spoke of hope and resurrection, Cuccia said.
“From the floor, to the wood on the walls and the altar, the windows - it was specifically designed to be a symbol of rebirth, renewal and growth, to say we’re back, we got knocked down after 9/11 and we’re back,” Cuccia said.
“The church itself is the memorial. They say a church is made up of the people, and we will be a parish and a church wherever we go, but the 9/11 memorial will cease to exist if it’s not (at St. Joseph’s).”
The preservation of the Catholic 9/11 memorial is especially important to people like Cuccia who are unable to pay their respects at the World Trade Center memorial across the street, because they find it too upsetting.
“It’s too painful to me, and I’m not the only one who has that feeling,” Cuccia said.
“What happened to the people who lost their lives, the sacrifice and the heroism of the first responders, the way that I can respect them and honor them is to go to my chapel and memorial, because that I can manage, and that I can get some solace and comfort from,” she said.
“All I can tell you is that after that horror, I saw the best of humanity that day,” from the first responders to the random acts of kindness of strangers helping each other out on the street, she said.
“I saw the worst of people and the best of people that day, and when I go into that chapel, I see the best of people, and that’s why it needs to be preserved.”
San Francisco, Calif., May 3, 2017 / 12:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After battling lung disease, Archbishop Emeritus George H. Niederauer of San Francisco died May 2 at the age of 80 from pulmonary fibrosis.He had been in residence at the Nazareth House in San Rafael, 18 miles north of San Francisco.Archbishop Niederauer “was known for his spiritual leadership, intelligence and wisdom, compassion and humor, and was always focused on his responsibility to live and teach the faith,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco stated.Bishop Oscar Solis of Salt Lake City echoed these sentiments, saying Archbishop Niederauer “was a great churchman, accepting each position he was given with humility and generosity.”A California native, Archbishop Niederauer was born in Los Angeles on June 14, 1936 to George and Elaine Niederauer as their only child.He attended Catholic schools throughout his childhood education, and was accepted to Stanford University, where he at...
San Francisco, Calif., May 3, 2017 / 12:32 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- After battling lung disease, Archbishop Emeritus George H. Niederauer of San Francisco died May 2 at the age of 80 from pulmonary fibrosis.
He had been in residence at the Nazareth House in San Rafael, 18 miles north of San Francisco.
Archbishop Niederauer “was known for his spiritual leadership, intelligence and wisdom, compassion and humor, and was always focused on his responsibility to live and teach the faith,” Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone of San Francisco stated.
Bishop Oscar Solis of Salt Lake City echoed these sentiments, saying Archbishop Niederauer “was a great churchman, accepting each position he was given with humility and generosity.”
A California native, Archbishop Niederauer was born in Los Angeles on June 14, 1936 to George and Elaine Niederauer as their only child.
He attended Catholic schools throughout his childhood education, and was accepted to Stanford University, where he attended college for one year before entering seminary at St. John’s in Camarillo.
Archbishop Niederauer remained a scholar throughout his priestly formation and received a B.A. in philosophy and sacred theology, and a Master’s in English Literature from Loyola-Marymount University in L.A. After his priestly ordination, he went on to receive a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Southern California.
He was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles April 30, 1962 and served in various positions throughout his priesthood, including in parishes and at the seminary. He was named a Prelate of Honor by St. John Paul II in 1984, receiving the title Monsignor.
He was appointed Bishop of Salt Lake City in 1994, where he served for 11 years.
“During his eleven years he was bishop of Salt Lake City, he was known for his kindness, ecumenical spirit and embrace for the least important of the community,” stated Bishop Solis.
In 2005, Benedict XVI appointed him the eighth Archbishop of San Francisco, where he would actively serve for the following six years. He retired in 2012 and moved to St. Patrick’s Seminary and University in Menlo Park, where he put on retreats for priests and religious.
In January 2017, he was moved to the Nazareth House after being diagnosed with interstitial lung disease.
Archbishop Cordileone included a quote from the late Archbishop Niederauer about his appointment as Archbishop of San Francisco. When he was choosing his coat of arms, Archbishop Niederauer chose the words ‘to serve and to give,’ as his motto.
“I am convinced servant leadership in the Church defines the role of the bishop,” Archbishop Niederauer said during his installation Mass on Feb. 15, 2006.
“Leading by serving: it’s easily misunderstood, but it seems central to me,” he continued.
A viewing service will be held for Archbishop Niederauer at St. Anne of the Sunset Church in San Francisco on May 11 at 3:30 PM, followed by a vigil at 6:30. The Mass of Christian Burial will take place on May 12 at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in San Francisco at 11 AM.
“It was with deep sadness that I learned of the death of a long-time friend and Ordination classmate, Archbishop George H. Niederauer. May God’s warm embrace encircle him unto eternal life,” stated Cardinal Roger Mahony, Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles.
Cardinal William Levada, Archbishop John Quinn, Bishop Bill Justice, Bishop Ignatius Wang, and Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone together requested prayers for the repose of the soul of Archbishop Niederauer.
BILLERICA, Mass. (AP) -- A SUV being shown to prospective buyers at a crowded indoor auto auction suddenly accelerated with a screech of its tires and crashed through a wall Wednesday morning, killing three people and injuring nine....
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- An investigation into the police shooting death of a black man in Baton Rouge found that there was not enough evidence to prove that the white officers acted unreasonably and willfully, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday....
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- Thousands of protesters were met with plumes of tear gas in Venezuela's capital Wednesday, just miles from where President Nicolas Maduro delivered a decree kicking off a process to rewrite the troubled nation's constitution....
