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Little Rock, Ark., Apr 17, 2017 / 02:49 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- As judges halted the planned executions of eight inmates in 10 days in Arkansas, Catholics around the country pointed to messages of mercy and life in the Easter Triduum.

“After the darkness of Good Friday has come a great light,” Karen Clifton, executive director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, which works to end the death penalty, stated.

After the executions were halted, Bishop Anthony Taylor of Little Rock said, “I would like to thank everyone who has prayed and worked so hard to prevent these scheduled executions from taking place. Let us continue to pray and work for the abolition of the death penalty in Arkansas and throughout the country.”

After not executing anyone since 2005, Arkansas had scheduled eight executions in 10 days, starting April 17, Easter Monday. The state’s supply of the drug midazolam, a sedative used in the lethal injection process, will expire at the end of April.

However, on the evening of April 14, a state circuit court judge halted the planned executions with a temporary restraining order. Federal judge Kristine G. Baker followed up on April 15 with a preliminary stay of executions. The state is appealing her ruling.

The state supreme court also halted the execution of one of the inmates, Bruce Ward. His lawyers claim he is mentally disabled and unfit for the death penalty.

Opponents of the death penalty insisted that Arkansas was unjustly rushing its execution process and clamored for a halt to the executions.

“A drug’s expiration date should not be the contingent factor for the expedited execution of these 8 men,” Catholic Mobilizing Network had stated. “There is no way this unprecedented number of executions can be carried out without complications.”

Bishop Taylor and Bishop Frank Dewane of Venice, the chair of the U.S. bishops’ domestic justice and human development committee, have both spoken out against the planned executions.

The Benedictine Sisters of St. Scholastica Monastery in Fort Smith, Ark. planned a novena from April 9 to April 17 for those set to be executed, and for clemency to be granted in their cases.

Before the executions were halted, Bishop Dewane had contrasted the practice with the message of the Easter Triduum, the holiest time of the Church’s liturgical calendar.

“On Good Friday, Christians around the world recall the agony of Our Lord’s Passion, as He became the ‘spotless victim’ for us, taking upon Himself all our sins and bearing their weight on the cross. On Holy Saturday, we remember how Jesus descended into Hell to set prisoners free,” Bishop Dewane stated April 13.

“And, through the liturgy of Easter Sunday, we join the Lord in His triumphant Resurrection by which He conquered sin and death for all peoples and for all time,” he continued.

“So often, the images of Christ’s saving action stand in contrast with the activities of the world. Beginning on Easter Monday, the state of Arkansas is prepared to give us a striking and distressing example.”

“The schedule of executions was not set by the demands of justice, but by the arbitrary politics of punishment,” he said.

Catholic Mobilizing Network said it gathered more than 157,000 signatures calling for the executions to be stopped. Clifton said the network “is grateful for everyone who used their voice to stand for life this Lent.”

A rally, at which Bishop Taylor was present, was held outside the state capitol April 14 calling for the executions to be stopped.

Arkansas’ schedule of executions was unprecedented in recent history, the Death Penalty Information Center noted.

Since states resumed executions in 1976 after the Supreme Court suspended use of the death penalty in 1972 and then reinstated its use four years later, only twice have eight inmates been executed within a single month. Arkansas planned to complete the executions in 10 days.

The state would use a three-drug lethal injection protocol. First, midazolam, a sedative, would be given to render an inmate unconscious. Then vecuronium bromide would be given to paralyze them. Finally, potassium chloride would be administered to stop the inmate’s heart.

Arkansas had run out of its supply of potassium chloride in January, but Governor Asa Hutchinson said they would be able to procure a supply for the executions.

However, Pulaski County circuit Judge Wendell Griffin ruled April 14 that the second drug, vecuronium bromide, could not be used in the process.

The drug supplier, McKesson Corporation, had stated that the drug manufacturer prohibited vecuronium for use in executions, and that Arkansas had purchased it under false pretenses.

McKesson said the Arkansas Department of Corrections “purchased the products on an account that was opened under the valid medical license of an Arkansas physician, implicitly representing that the products would only be used for a legitimate medical purpose.”

According to its complaint filed with the Pulaski County court, McKesson discovered that the drug was to be used for executions and demanded the state return the drug, promising a refund. The supplier said it refunded the state, which never returned the drug.

Mckesson has said it will continue its “efforts to facilitate the return of our product and ensure that it is used in line with our supplier agreement.”

As for the first drug, midazolam, it has been used in botched executions in the past. Some medical experts have claimed it is not proven to be effective as an anesthetic, thus exposing an inmate to the risk of severe pain as the other drugs are administered.

“This Easter season it is clear the Spirit is calling all to respond with mercy and justice to the egregious attacks on life like those in Arkansas and throughout our country,” Clifton stated.

She pointed to the National Catholic Pledge to End the Death Penalty, an initiative of the Catholic Mobilizing Network, as something that “allows all people of good will to better educate, advocate, and pray for an end to the use of the death penalty.”

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Vatican City, Apr 17, 2017 / 03:24 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- At his birthday party on Monday, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI told his guests that “My heart is full of gratitude for the 90 years which the good God has given me.”

The April 17 gathering at the Vatican's Mater Ecclesiae Monastery was held in observance of Benedict's 90th birthday, which fell on Easter Sunday, the day prior.

Some 50 guests from his homeland of Bavaria were present, including his elder brother, Fr. Georg Ratzinger.

Today #BenedictXVI celebrated his 90th #birthday with a big Bavarian-style festa, and a pint via @oss_romano pic.twitter.com/CfzjT2Lb18

— Elise Harris (@eharris_it) April 17, 2017 Pope emeritus Benedict XVI celebrated his 90th birthday with Bavarian beer and pretzels today! ???? Although his actual birthday was yesterday, the celebration was postponed until today to observe Easter Sunday. Happy birthday, Benedict XVI! ????: L'Osservatore Romano #happybirthday #celebrate #cheers

A post shared by Catholic News Agency (@catholicnewsagency) on Apr 17, 2017 at 2:25pm PDT

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St. Louis, Mo., Apr 17, 2017 / 04:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Missouri has announced that it will start allowing religious groups to be eligible for certain state grants, although the decision may not affect a religious freedom case before the U.S. Supreme Court this week.

“We commend Governor Greitens for reversing a policy of discrimination against religious groups applying for neutral and widely-available grants to do important work for the state of Missouri,” said Ashley McGuire, senior fellow with The Catholic Association, on Friday.

She responded to an announcement from the state’s new governor, Eric Greitens, that religious groups will now be eligible for grants from the state’s department of natural resources.

It is unclear whether the decision will affect the case of Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia v. Comer, which is scheduled for oral arguments at the Supreme Court on Wednesday. The case centers around a playground owned by a Missouri church and used by its preschool. The playground is used by both members and non-members of the church.

In order to make upgrades to the playground’s surface as a safety measure, the church applied for a grant through a state program that provides materials from used tires to resurface playgrounds.

However, the playground was ruled ineligible for the state grant because the church, which runs the preschool, is a religious group. The state’s constitution includes an amendment barring religious groups from receiving taxpayer funds.

“The safety of all children matters, whether they attend a religious school or a nonreligious school,” Alliance Defending Freedom senior counsel David Cortman stated on Thursday. ADF is representing the church before the Court.

“The state of Missouri denied the Trinity Lutheran Child Learning Center’s access to a public program that would have made their playground safer – and did so on the basis of religious status, a direct violation of the U.S. Constitution and Supreme Court precedent,” Cortman said.

Opponents of Trinity Lutheran’s case insist that the state’s constitution bars churches from receiving taxpayer funds as a measure prohibiting the unconstitutional establishment of religion.

However, supporters of the church insist that the amendment was drafted during a time of anti-Catholicism and was meant as a measure to prevent Catholic schools from receiving the public benefits that the largely-Protestant public school system received.

Today, religious freedom advocates say the amendment is used by secularists to cut off all religious groups from state funding.

Then last week, Gov. Greitens said that churches and religious groups were now eligible for public grants from the state’s department of natural resources for purposes such as improving recreational facilities and field trips.

“Before we came into office, government bureaucrats were under orders to deny grants to people of faith who wanted to do things like make community playgrounds for kids,” Gov. Greitens stated, adding “that’s just wrong.”

“We have hundreds of outstanding religious organizations all over the state of Missouri who are doing great work on behalf of kids and families every single day. We should be encouraging that work. So, today we are changing that prejudiced policy,” he continued.

The state’s Catholic Conference praised the announcement.

“We applaud the Governor’s move to make sure these non-sectarian DNR grants and programs are available to all children without religious discrimination,” Mike Hoey, executive director of the Missouri Catholic Conference, stated.

The announcement is “an important step for the state of Missouri away from anti-religious Blaine Amendments,” McGuire insisted.

However, the statement did not officially mean that Trinity Lutheran was retroactively eligible for grants for its playground.

“Just as today’s announcement from the governor states, his new directive doesn’t resolve the discriminatory actions that were taken against Trinity Lutheran’s preschool and the attempt to deny Trinity Lutheran its constitutionally protected freedom to participate equally in society,” Cortman stated.

Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for this week, although the Supreme Court last Friday reacted to Gov. Greitens’ announcement by ordering the church and the state to determine whether or not his new policy would affect Trinity Lutheran’s eligibility for the playground grants.

The deadline for both parties to submit their letters to the Court is by noon on Tuesday, April 18.

“As people across the nation celebrate Holy Week and Passover, Alliance Defending Freedom looks forward to advocating for the equal treatment of all Americans of faith at the Supreme Court,” Cortman said.

 

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Salina, Kan., Apr 17, 2017 / 04:10 pm (The Register).- In 2015, Shannon found herself swimming in debt from a title loan. She faithfully made the $200 monthly payments. Unfortunately, the entire $200 went to interest.

“I kept paying the interest on it and wasn’t getting anywhere,” she said.

None of it went to pay down the original $900 loan.

“The first time I took a loan out, I was behind on rent,” Shannon said. “Then something else came up and it got out of control. I could never see getting myself out of the hole. I thought the loan would be a burden that would be over me forever.”

The Kansas Loan Pool Project, which began in 2013, has assisted 127 people get out of predatory debt. The program is a collaboration with Sunflower Bank in which the predatory debt is refinanced into a traditional loan. In all, more than $80,000 worth of debt has been refinanced through the program.

Shannon came to Catholic Charities of Northern Kansas because she heard about the predatory debt relief program via word of mouth.

Her loan ballooned from the original $900 title loan to nearly $1,300 from the interest and service charges.

It was April 2015 when Shannon first sat in the office of Claudette Humphrey, Director of Stabilization Services at Catholic Charities. Humphrey oversees the KLPP, which helps those like Shannon who are trapped in a cycle of payday lending.

“Most people who go to a predatory lender go to pay a necessity such as rent, mortgage, a car payment or to repair a vehicle so they can continue to work,” Humphrey said.

She said payday or title loans are marketed as a one time ‘quick fix’ for people facing a cash crunch. When the client cannot pay the loan back, they ‘re-loan’ with an additional service fee. Payday loans are balloon notes, with up to 391 percent APR. Title loans are secured with the vehicle’s title, with an average interest rate of 260 percent.

Once a client completes the appropriate paperwork and is approved to participate in the Kansas Loan Pool Project, the client begins monthly coaching with KLPP staff. Each office of Catholic Charities: Hays, Salina and Manhattan, has staff to assist with predatory debt relief. The first order of business is a budget.

“For people who live paycheck to paycheck, budgeting isn’t something they’ve used previously,” Humphrey said. “They often pay the bills they can. We look at a budget to see where exactly the money is going.”

Shannon said grasping her budget was difficult in the beginning.

“When we started, I couldn’t even go out to eat with a friend, my money was so messed up,” Shannon said.

“If she went out to eat, she’d have extreme guilt,” Humphrey added. “She knew she used the money she alloted for the water bill, and now there was no way to pay the utility bill.”

Shannon filled out paperwork, including a budget, as Humphrey assisted her in paying off her original loan. The monthly payment went from $200 per month, which covered only the interest, to $88 per month. The loan was paid off in 18 months.

The process hasn’t always been easy. Figuring out her household budget took some time.

“I would come in and could only account for some of my money,” Shannon said. “(The budget) made me more aware of how much I spent on pop at the quick shop.”

With guidance from Humphrey, Shannon said she learned how to adapt her spending habits.

“She asked if I could buy a 12-pack (of pop) and keep it at my house,” Shannon said. “Before, when I would go grocery shopping, I would try to stock up for the month. Now I go once a week, and I spend less overall on groceries.”

She’s also learned to decipher between a need and a want, especially in a social situation when friends are spending money.

“I’ve learned I can go out and enjoy myself and have a glass of water, not have to have a few beers,” Shannon said.

During their monthly meeting, Shannon and Humphrey review the budget, update her employment status, and also review future goals.

“I want to get a savings account started,” Shannon said. “I would never have thought about saving because I like to spend money.”

But the meetings with Humphrey have helped her to see how saving will help prevent returning to a predatory lender.

In addition to helping Shannon get out of her predatory loan, Catholic Charities has a pilot program that grants small loans up to $1,000.

“Rather than go to a payday loan to get a battery or alternator fixed, we have started to give loans to prior clients to prevent them from getting another predatory loan,” Humphrey said. “It’s the same terms as our other loans. This is to keep people from going (to get a payday loan) in the first place.”

Shanon is one of three people in the pilot program.

“You can’t go to the bank for a $130 loan,” she said.

Shannon said the $24 monthly payment to cover the cost of a new car battery is manageable, especially since she paid off the previous payday loan.

“Because she’d been a great client and had paid her loan payments on time, came to all of her meetings and did everything we asked, she was a perfect candidate for the pilot program,” Humphrey said.

Shannon hopes she can start saving the amount she pays for the loan.

“If I save it, when the battery goes out, I’ll have (the money I need),” she said. “The (KLPP) payment was $88; that’s $1,000 a year I’d have in a savings account. That’s a lot to have in case something happens.

“Before, I would think ‘I have this extra $88, I can go out to eat or get a new pair of pants.’ I’m now more conscious about wanting to have money saved up to do things.”

Shannon has her daughter and granddaughters living with her. She said the information she learned during her sessions with Humphrey are lessons she is passing along to her family.

“My daughter is now trying to look where she wants to spend her money and thinking about saving money,” Shannon said.

Humphrey said financial acumen is something that is often learned in one’s family.

“What we know is what we pass down,” she said. “I have two of the greatest parents in the world, but we were extremely poor. They didn’t mean to not teach us, but they were too busy trying to figure out how to keep the lights on. When we went into the world, we didn’t know how to manage money.”

Seeing Shannon improve her personal situation, and help her family, is rewarding.

“She has done a wonderful job,” Humphrey said. “With the program, Shannon has developed a different way of looking at money. It’s difficult to understand how to make money work for them instead of just working for the money.”

“I tell my clients, ‘You can’t do better until you know better.’ This program is about helping people know better.”


 

This article first appeared in The Register of the Catholic Diocese of Salina and is re-printed at CNA with permission.

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IMAGE: CNS photo/Sarah Webb, CatholicPhilly

By Gina Christian

NORRISTOWN, Pa. (CNS) -- For immigrants in the country without legal permission, a routine doctor's visit can be an occasion for panic. Without papers, immigrants fear deportation when they enter the waiting room.

Unwilling to take such a risk, they avoid seeking medical attention even in life-threatening cases.

Language barriers that make it difficult to describe their ailments or to understand medical advice, lack of transportation to health care facilities and working long hours at jobs that don't provide paid time off all add up to many immigrants missing out on vital health care.

St. Patrick Parish in Norristown is working to change this situation with help from local clinicians, volunteers -- and Our Lady of Guadalupe.

After the noon Mass on the first Sunday of each month, the parish hosts a walk-in health fair for area residents, many of whom are Mexican immigrants, in the church's basement hall.

Participants receive free screenings for diabetes, tuberculosis, hypertension, eye and dental conditions.

Pregnant women can also obtain prenatal vitamins and baby boxes ? sturdy, cardboard cribs designed to prevent SIDS, or sudden infant death syndrome.

The monthly health fair is vital to the local community's underserved members.

"The people who come here have total and complete trust in the priests," said Father Gus Puleo, pastor of St. Patrick Parish and an adjunct professor of Spanish at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary. "They always come to me with concerns about immigration and medical matters. I think this trust is due to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who is a major force in the Mexican community. We work with her."

The parish also works with area medical practitioners who train leaders within the community as "promotores de la salud," or "health promoters."

The promotores receive a year of "education and practical training in health and nursing care," Father Puleo told CatholicPhilly.com, the news website of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. "They come from the community, and they take ownership of this program."

Because they are community members, fluent in both the language and the culture of those they assist, the promotores serve as critical links between the program's clients and health care services.

"Having this here in the church is more confidential, more calming, more convenient," Carla, a parishioner, said after the most recent health fair at St. Patrick's April 2. "It's very necessary to have these services for the Spanish community."

Prenatal care is key among those services. In 2014, Father Puleo buried five infants who died because of a lack of proper medical attention, and he was determined not to bury any more.

"When I started this program here, I had to learn about pregnancy through scientific research, and I have a better understanding of it now than most biological fathers do," he said.

Throughout the summer of 2014, he announced the program to his parishioners, and in October 2014, the first screening session was held.

To implement the program in his parish, Father Puleo coordinated with Mercy Sister Ann O'Connell and Jesuit Father Peter Clark, director of the Institute of Clinical Bioethics and a professor of medical ethics at St. Joseph's University.

Based on health care models he observed in the Dominican Republic, Father Clark had already instituted similar programs for the Nigerian and French-speaking West African communities at St. Cyprian Parish in West Philadelphia.

His team partnered with nearby Mercy Catholic Medical Center, and Sister O'Connell, a retired vice president of mission for what is now Suburban Community Hospital in Norristown, suggested extending the program to the Mexican community in central Montgomery County.

The program has already saved lives. A stroke patient who came to the March clinic was referred immediately to the hospital by a resident helping at the clinic. In another case an ambulance was called to take a man whose eye was hemorrhaging to the hospital, said Father Clark. "These men were both undocumented, so they're not going to run immediately to the emergency room. But a resident (physician) called ahead, and he knew the residents in the ER, and they just took care of them."

Any case requiring formal medical treatment is referred to local practitioners and clinics, which often charge on a sliding-scale basis.

"For those patients who do not have insurance, we provide information and ask them to come into our office," said Dr. Patrice Ekperi, a practitioner at Suburban Community Hospital's Family Medicine Office. "We can provide treatment services there, and we do offer uninsured rates, so that we can at least attend to those who do not have insurance or who may be underinsured."

"The hospitals in Philadelphia have been very good," Father Puleo added. "We pay something, but we try for minimal payment. We rely on clinics. We use our connections."

The list of agencies willing to help with the program continues to grow. For instance, St. Patrick's now offers dental health education, thanks to volunteers from Montgomery County Community College's dental hygiene program.

Students from both the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and the Institute of Clinical Bioethics at St. Joseph's University routinely staff the monthly clinic. A Delaware Valley nonprofit organization, coordinates mammograms and pelvic exams for women at area hospitals.

The Mexican consulate has joined the monthly health fair to assist clients with immigration issues, legal documentation and domestic violence concerns.

By ministering to the medical needs of the underserved, the promotores program also serves as a means of evangelization.

"We're called to take care of both the spiritual and physical needs of the person," said Father Puleo. "They're not separate; they're one."

"We walk the talk," added Sister O'Connell. "It's not just something preached, but it's something lived."

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Christian writes for CatholicPhilly.com, the news website of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

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