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PARIS (AP) -- A gunman opened fire on police on Paris' iconic Champs-Elysees boulevard Thursday night, killing one officer and wounding three people before police shot and killed him. The Islamic State group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack....
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) -- The Latest on Arkansas' efforts to carry out executions before the end of April (all times local):...
Vatican City, Apr 20, 2017 / 10:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Time Magazine has released its 2017 list of the world’s 100 most influential people, and Pope Francis is among the leaders highlighted by the publication.The nomination included a brief reflection on Pope Francis, written by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, who reflected on the Pope’s humility, saying that his powerful witness is what attracts so many people to his message.Cardinal Cupich recalled that in his first interview after being elected to the pontificate, Pope Francis acknowledged himself as a sinner, and that when he hears confessions in St. Peter’s Basilica, he also goes to confession himself, “because one cannot accompany a suffering world without acknowledging one’s own faults.”“The same goes for the church Francis leads,” the cardinal reflected. “Before being elected Pope, Francis gave a speech to his fellow Cardinals warning against becoming a ‘self-...
Vatican City, Apr 20, 2017 / 10:33 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Time Magazine has released its 2017 list of the world’s 100 most influential people, and Pope Francis is among the leaders highlighted by the publication.
The nomination included a brief reflection on Pope Francis, written by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich of Chicago, who reflected on the Pope’s humility, saying that his powerful witness is what attracts so many people to his message.
Cardinal Cupich recalled that in his first interview after being elected to the pontificate, Pope Francis acknowledged himself as a sinner, and that when he hears confessions in St. Peter’s Basilica, he also goes to confession himself, “because one cannot accompany a suffering world without acknowledging one’s own faults.”
“The same goes for the church Francis leads,” the cardinal reflected. “Before being elected Pope, Francis gave a speech to his fellow Cardinals warning against becoming a ‘self-referential’ church, rather than one that goes out of itself to the margins of society to be with those who suffer.”
“That is where God is working in the world and where he calls us to be. This has rung especially true this year, as Francis has spoken out on the need to welcome refugees amid a global crisis,” he continued.
Other people on the Time Magazine list include U.S. President Donald Trump, actress Viola Davis, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, NBA star LeBron James, and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Chicago, Ill., Apr 20, 2017 / 11:24 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on April 20 appointed Bishop Venedykt (Valery) Aleksiychuk as Bishop of the Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Eparchy of Chicago.Bishop Venedykt, 49, was born in Borshchivka, Ukraine in January 1968. He graduated from Rivne medical college in 1987, and worked as a physician’s assistant for several years. He also served in the Ukrainian military for two years.He attended the seminary of Drohobych and was ordained a priest of the Ukrainian Archeparchy of Lviv in 1992, at the age of 24. Until 1994 he was responsible for organizing missionary work in eastern Ukraine, and he also served in Belarus.He was professed as a member of the Ukrainian Studite Monks in 1995, and earned a master's degree in theology at Lublin Catholic University the following year.Bishop Venedykt was transferred to St. Catharines, Canada in 1996 to found a monastery, and while there he served at several parishes of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Toron...
Chicago, Ill., Apr 20, 2017 / 11:24 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis on April 20 appointed Bishop Venedykt (Valery) Aleksiychuk as Bishop of the Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Eparchy of Chicago.
Bishop Venedykt, 49, was born in Borshchivka, Ukraine in January 1968. He graduated from Rivne medical college in 1987, and worked as a physician’s assistant for several years. He also served in the Ukrainian military for two years.
He attended the seminary of Drohobych and was ordained a priest of the Ukrainian Archeparchy of Lviv in 1992, at the age of 24. Until 1994 he was responsible for organizing missionary work in eastern Ukraine, and he also served in Belarus.
He was professed as a member of the Ukrainian Studite Monks in 1995, and earned a master's degree in theology at Lublin Catholic University the following year.
Bishop Venedykt was transferred to St. Catharines, Canada in 1996 to found a monastery, and while there he served at several parishes of the Ukrainian Eparchy of Toronto.
In 1999 he returned to Ukraine after being elected hegumen of the Holy Dormition Univ Lavra religious community, serving three terms in this position.
Continuing his theology studies in Lublin, he received a licentiate and a doctorate in 2006 and 2008, respectively. He has written on St. John of Kronstadt, a Russian Orthodox priest of the 19th century, and St. Theodore the Studite, a Byzantine monk of the 9th century who was a defender of icons.
Bishop Venedykt also completed courses in psychology and mental disorders at three institutions in eastern Europe.
In 2010 he was consecrated a bishop, and appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Ukrainian Archeparchy of Lviv. He has served as chief of staff of the archeparchial curia, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church's liturgical commission, and is chair of the synodal committee on liturgy.
Since 2014 Bishop Venedykt has been a member of the Saint Sophia charitable religious community in Rome.
In June 2016 he received a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Ukrainian Catholic University.
Bishop Venedykt was preceeded as Bishop of Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Eparchy by Bishop Richard Stephen Seminack, who died Aug. 16, 2016.
The eparchy is responsible for all Ukrainian Catholics in the United States west of Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Mississippi. There are currently around 70 priests and deacons working in the eparchy in 46 parishes and mission stations.
Since the death of Bishop Richard, Saint Nicholas Ukrainian Eparchy had been served by Fr. Richard Janowicz as administrator.
The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church is an Eastern Catholic Church of the Byzantine rite which is in full communion with the Bishop of Rome.
Nashville, Tenn., Apr 20, 2017 / 01:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The state of Tennessee has agreed to stop enforcing two abortion restrictions which are similar to those in Texas that were struck down by the Supreme Court last year.State Attorney General Herbert Slatery III, said the laws’ enforcement will cease immediately “in light of the Supreme Court's current case law and to avoid the expense and utilization of resources on continued litigation.”One of the Tennessee laws, introduced to the state in 2012, required doctors who perform abortions to receive admitting privileges at a local hospital in case there were any serious complications during or after the procedure. According to The Tennessean, two abortion clinics were forced to close after physicians failed to receive clearance.Another restriction was added in 2014, which required clinics performing over 50 surgical abortions a year to meet the same safety requirements as ambulatory surgical care centers.Su...
Nashville, Tenn., Apr 20, 2017 / 01:44 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The state of Tennessee has agreed to stop enforcing two abortion restrictions which are similar to those in Texas that were struck down by the Supreme Court last year.
State Attorney General Herbert Slatery III, said the laws’ enforcement will cease immediately “in light of the Supreme Court's current case law and to avoid the expense and utilization of resources on continued litigation.”
One of the Tennessee laws, introduced to the state in 2012, required doctors who perform abortions to receive admitting privileges at a local hospital in case there were any serious complications during or after the procedure. According to The Tennessean, two abortion clinics were forced to close after physicians failed to receive clearance.
Another restriction was added in 2014, which required clinics performing over 50 surgical abortions a year to meet the same safety requirements as ambulatory surgical care centers.
Supporters of the laws say they help ensure that women’s health and safety are protected.
In striking down the similar Texas legislation, the Supreme Court said that the laws were not medically necessary and were an unconstitutional limit on woman’s “right to an abortion.”
Three Tennessee clinics challenged the laws in 2015, but Nashville’s federal court agreed to halt the proceedings until the Supreme Court resolved a similar case in Texas last summer. That case led to the abortion regulations being struck down.
The Tennessee attorney general’s office says it will continue to defend a separate law requiring a 48-hour waiting period and counseling for those seeking an abortion. That regulation was also challenged in the lawsuits, which will proceed in the court system.
Tennessee is currently debating another pro-life measure. Entitled the “Tennessee Infants Protection Act,” the proposed legislation would bar abortions of babies who would be able to live outside the womb, except in cases of medical emergency.
IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler OrsburnBy Dennis SadowskiWASHINGTON (CNS) -- For all his love of politics and the "frothy media excitement" that surrounds it, Stephen F. Schneck is hardly a political animal.He's more the thoughtful type, bringing a calm demeanor and insights formed by his Catholic faith to the high-volume and often contentious debates on important public policy issues since becoming director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America in 2005.Schneck, 63, was set to retire April 28, but he doesn't expect to go silent.While he won't have quite the stage the institute offered in exploring various aspects of the ever-changing political scene through symposia, lectures and guest columns, he is expecting to draw from a network of contacts nationwide to seek new opportunities to accentuate that politics must be a moral endeavor working for the common good.Schneck admitted that such a basic standard in the country's current polar...
IMAGE: CNS photo/Tyler Orsburn
By Dennis Sadowski
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- For all his love of politics and the "frothy media excitement" that surrounds it, Stephen F. Schneck is hardly a political animal.
He's more the thoughtful type, bringing a calm demeanor and insights formed by his Catholic faith to the high-volume and often contentious debates on important public policy issues since becoming director of the Institute for Policy Research and Catholic Studies at The Catholic University of America in 2005.
Schneck, 63, was set to retire April 28, but he doesn't expect to go silent.
While he won't have quite the stage the institute offered in exploring various aspects of the ever-changing political scene through symposia, lectures and guest columns, he is expecting to draw from a network of contacts nationwide to seek new opportunities to accentuate that politics must be a moral endeavor working for the common good.
Schneck admitted that such a basic standard in the country's current polarized political environment may be difficult to achieve right now. But he's not giving up and he will continue to share what he considers to be the key guiding principle for politics in any form. It's a principle that he also hopes will reach the hearts and minds of those who have chosen politics as a career.
"At some point I came to realize that politics is the doing of civilization. It really is," he told Catholic News Service in mid-April. "It's not really about who's ahead in the polls or who wins or loses. Politics in the broadest sense is about building civilization."
It's a concept that students, public officials, bishops and the broader public have heard from Schneck since he joined the university faculty in 1984 after completing work on a doctorate degree from the University of Notre Dame. Schneck, who describes himself as a political philosopher, said he also has worked to build the institute around that essential understanding with a healthy dose of Catholic social teaching mixed in.
"I see what we're trying to do here (through politics) isn't just about who gets what when and how," he explained. "It's not just about divvying up resources, but it's really about building civilization. Politics, when it's working, achieves that. When it does happen, it's really magical."
Schneck originally became director of the institute's forerunner, the Life Cycle Institute, 12 years ago. The institute's name changed in 2009 to more accurately reflect its mission as Schneck began transforming the program into the highly regarded think tank that it is today. Schneck also expanded the institute's list of fellows to include experts from a wider array of disciplines and from other organizations and schools.
As the reputation of the institute grew, Schneck gained wider notice in the political realm as well. He was invited to meet with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden at times. Several institute fellows have testified on key issues on Capitol Hill.
Of course, CUA's institute was not the only program to bring Catholic social teaching to public policy discussions. But coming from the U.S. Catholic Church's official national university, the messages shared through the institute's programs seemed to carry a bit more weight, sending a message to Capitol Hill and the White House that Catholic social thought was relevant to the key issues facing the country.
Schneck said such emphasis on church teaching had been the goal of CUA's president at the time, now Bishop David M. O'Connell of Trenton, New Jersey. The bishop credited Schneck for wanting to "grapple with some of the substantive issues that were being faced by the church within the broader marketplace."
"Steve articulated that purpose very well, to engage society and the political world and the movers and shakers in contemporary political life," Bishop O'Connell told CNS. "Steve has a very good insight for that. He brought it forward at the right time."
Schneck's work in the classroom has been recognized as well. He has received several teacher of the year awards from the university.
University President John Garvey said Schneck gained respect across campus because of his selfless commitment to service.
"He's been such a great university citizen," Garvey said, citing a period in 2012 and 2013 when Schneck agreed to serve as acting dean of the National Catholic School of Social Service despite numerous other responsibilties. "He was someone who had immediate credibility with the faculty and did such a fabulous job."
Schneck leaves his position with a couple of unattained goals. He said he would have liked the institute to develop its own capacity to conduct polling to measure public perception on key issues affecting the country. He also thinks history is important to understanding modern-day politics and having more historians in the ranks of institute fellows who could connect the dots from years past to today's realities to create better understanding of the political process, he said.
For now, though, Schneck is ready to move on to the next phase of his career.
"I can't imagine that I'm ready to abandon my effort to bring Catholic insights into American public life," he said. "I have some offers to write columns for some Catholic magazines. I have a book that remains unfinished ... that I'll be turning back to."
Schneck has been traveling around the country as he prepares for retirement, visiting friends at universities and meeting bishops with whom he has worked on institute programs to gain a better sense of how important the Catholic voice can be in influencing public policy choices. He thinks he may work to help bridge the polarizing gaps that exist across political party lines and within the church as well.
"If we can't figure out a way to achieve solidarity or find a way of healing this rift, then I worry profoundly about both American political life and our church," Schneck said. "This I think is the biggest task, the biggest challenge facing us. There are lots of challenges, but none of those challenges can be addressed until we address this and find a way to work together with one another."
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Follow Sadowski on Twitter: @DennisSadowski.
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