Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) An Islamic religious leader from India was to be repatriated from Singapore on April 6 folowing offensive remarks he reportedly made against Christians and Jews during a Friday sermon.  Imam Nalla Mohamed Abdul Jameel was handed a fine of S$ 4,000 at the State Courts on April 3 after he pleaded guilty to committing the offence in his sermon on Jan. 6 at the Jamae Chulia Mosque in Singapore, where he was chief imam. The 46-year old imam was reported to have recited a prayer in Arabic that said, "God help us against Jews and Christians", among other things. 

A video of the prayer was circulated online in February, causing concern in the Muslim community as well as the wider public, and prompting a police investigation.  Under the Penal Code, Jameel could have been jailed for up to three years, fined or both.  The court papers said: "The accused knew what the words meant and knew that the phrase may also be interpreted as asking God to grant Muslims victory against the Jews and Christians." 

Jameel met representatives of Singapore’s Christian, Sikh, Taoist, Buddhist and Hindu communities earlier on March 31 and clarified that the additional prayer he read was not from the Quran, but an old Arabic text originating from his village in India.   He however apologized saying he was "filled with great remorse" for the inconvenience, tension and trauma caused by his remarks.  Jameel had also visited Rabbi Moderchai Abergel at the Maghain Aboth Synagogue April 2 to apologize, local media reported. The Rabbi accepted the imam's apology and emphasized the need to be constantly conscious of Singapore's delicate harmonious co-existence, given its diversity.

Shortly after the hearing, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said in a statement that the imam would be repatriated. The phrase he recited, it added, "was and is unacceptable in a multiracial and multi-religious society."  "Any religious leader from any religion who makes such statements will be held accountable for their actions," the MHA said.

The Islamic Religious Council of Singapore said in a statement that Nalla's supplication "is not from the Quran and does not constitute part of the divine message". The Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP) of Singapore, in a statement issued April 1, urged Singaporeans to move forward from the incident, and not allow differences in opinion on the matter to cause divisions.

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Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle will wash the feet of drug addicts and policemen during the traditional Holy Thursday foot-washing ceremony at the Manila Cathedral next week.  In the past years, the Archbishop of Manila observed the Holy Thursday tradition washing the feet of the elderly, women, and people with disabilities.  Father Roy Bellen, spokesman of the Archdiocese of Manila, said the 12 people selected for the Holy Week ritual include former drug addicts and relatives of victims of drug-related killings.

The Holy Thursday ritual is the enactment of the gesture of Jesus at the Last Supper, before his passion and death, where he washed the feet of his apostles, as an example of humble service and love, asking them to do the same to others. The Holy Week which begins with Palm Sunday, is the most solemn period of the year for Christians that culminates into their greatest feast, Easter, the resurrection of Christ from death.  Christians prepare themselves for Easter with a 40-day Lenten period of fasting, abstinence, prayers and good works that ends with the Holy Week and Easter. 

Most communities in the predominantly Catholic Philippines observe Spanish-influenced Catholic rituals such as processions, church visits, and prayer marathons during the Holy Week.  A Lenten exhibit dubbed "Pasion Gloria," which features Filipino Lenten images from the 17th century to the present, opened at the Manila Cathedral last month.  The exhibits depict events and persons connected to the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus.  In Manila's Chinatown district, church-run Radio Veritas opened a Lenten exhibit that features images and replicas depicting the passion and death of Jesus Christ and images of the Virgin Mary.  At the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Manila's Quiapo district, new features have been added to the church to help Lenten reflections.  Cardinal Tagle will lead Holy Week services starting on Palm Sunday. (Source: UCAN)

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Indonesian Muslim, Catholic and Protestant groups have pledged to join forces to stand up against slavery and human trafficking in Indonesia's maritime and fishing sector.  They signed a joint declaration recently to end slavery at the vice president's office.  The joint effort is "our effort to show that we want to work together with the government to end the problem," said Father Paulus Christian Siswantoko, executive secretary of the Indonesian bishops' Commission for Justice, Peace and Pastoral for Migrant People. 

Slavery, human rights violations and human trafficking are rife in the maritime and fishing sector that employs some 210,000 Indonesian people, according to the International Labor Organization.  Furthermore, the 2014 Global Slavery Index ranked Indonesia 10th out of 167 countries on the number of people in modern slavery. With over 700,000 people trapped, Indonesia has the highest number of modern slaves in Southeast Asia, followed by Myanmar with 515,100 people and Thailand with 425,500.

"Regulation is important to save people so that they are not slavery victims. The government [must] not only sink illegal fishing boats but also slavery ones," Father Siswantoko said.  The church has been warning local people of the problem. "The local church has been advocating that people who live in poor regions around the coast don't work in dangerous sectors including fishing ships," he said.

Jeirry Sumampow, from the Communion of Churches in Indonesia, a Protestant ecumenical body that is members of the World Council of Churches (WCC), said the slavery figures were higher because many cases were not exposed.  It was not only a concern for Indonesia but also the international community. "The Protestant Church and other religions have encouraged boat owners and the government to protect people," he said, noting human rights violations also in the fishing industry.  "We have encouraged the government to make strict regulation to protect them," he said.

Amidan Shaberah, chairman of the Indonesian Ulema Council, the country’s Muslim clerical body, said the regulation was important to end slavery.  "We have to report to United Nations Commission for Human Rights because other countries are concerned about our case," he said.  "We interreligious leaders are determined to end slavery and we have asked our local ulema council to monitor people who work on ships," he added. (Source: UCAN)

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As a way of responding to the three pillars that the Catholic faithful are encouraged to observe during the Lenten period, members of staff at Malawi’s Catholic Secretariat this Thursday took time off their busy schedule to interact with children at Tikondane Care for Children Centre in the capital, Lilongwe.

During the visit, members of staff participated in the Holy Eucharist along with the children and later donated assorted items including a refrigerator, bags of Maize, Beans, Rice and bales of Sugar.

During the Season of Lent, Catholics strive to observe periods of fasting; try to lead a more prayerful life and at the same time share what they have with those most in need.

“It is for this reason that we, members of staff at the Catholic Secretariat decided to come here and of course to fulfill two of our obligations as Catholics which are: Praying along with you and at the same time sharing with you the little that we have,” said Fr. Regis Kamera, Deputy Secretary General for ECM.

He said management and staff at the Catholic Secretariat understand the numerous challenges the Tikondane Centre is facing.

“I would like to encourage you, Sisters and members of staff here, that you continue looking after these children. Love and care for them, because these are the future leaders of the Church and the nation at large, “said Fr. Kamera who is also the Director of ECM’s Pastoral Commission.

Earlier, during the Mass, ECM’s National Communications and Research Secretary, Fr. Godino Phokoso stressed the need to value life as a gift from God. He said children including those on the street as well as orphans ought to be protected as they are the image of God.

“We are all children of God. No matter how and what circumstances we face (in life). The bottom line should be to love one another and share the little resources that we have. In so doing, we demonstrate the value of life,” said Fr. Phokoso.

For her part, Sister Anna Massawe, Project Coordinator at the children’s home commended Catholic Secretariat members of staff for their donation which she said was timely because the centre is facing many problems.

She challenged well-wishers including individuals, the private and public sector in Malawi to emulate the kind gesture demonstrated by members of the Catholic Secretariat.

“Let me sincerely thank you all for thinking about our children here. You may wish to know that this is a street children’s transit centre where we keep children on a daily basis before we send them to schools and various houses. We face a lot of challenges,” said Sister Massawe.

Tikondane Care for Children Centre is a project of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa (MSOLA). The Sisters started the centre in 1997 in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Lilongwe.

 (Prince Henderson in Malawi)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio) Pope-emeritus Benedict XVI turns 90 years of age on April 16^th. To mark the occasion the Vatican Foundation Joseph Ratzinger – Benedict XVI has edited a special festschrift volume of essays by Ratzinger Prize-winning theologians, which was presented on Thursday afternoon at the Augustinianum Patristic Institute of Rome.

Titled Cooperatores veritatis: Tributes to Pope emeritus Benedict XVI on his 90^th Birthday, assembled under the editorship of Pierluca Azzaro and Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ and published by the Vatican Publishing House, the volume is at once a testament to the profound influence of the thought of the Pope emeritus across intellectual disciplines, and a genuine contribution to scholarship and intellectual endeavour.

Its main title, Cooperatores veritatis is taken from Pope emeritus Benedict XVI’s episcopal motto.

In remarks to Vatican Radio ahead of the presentation, the President of the Ratzinger Foundation, Fr. Federico Lombardi SJ, explained that the choice of the motto as the volume’s main title encapsulates the life, work, and legacy of the man who became the 264^th Successor to St. Peter. “It is a[n episcopal] motto that came from his whole life prior [to consecration as a bishop], and represented his identity, his commitment as a theologian and as a servant of theology in the Church,” Fr. Lombardi said.

Joseph Ratzinger was born in the Bavarian town of Marktl on the morning of April 16^th, 1927 – Holy Saturday of that year – and baptised the same day. He was ordained a priest in 1951, and was present at the II Vatican Council as a theological advisor to the Cardinal-Archbishop of Cologne, Josef Frings. He became Archbishop of Munich and Friesing in 1977, was made a Cardinal later that year, and participated in the two conclaves of 1978. He came to Rome in 1981 to head the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and served in that office until the death of Pope John Paul II in 2005, after which Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger was elected to the See of Peter and reigned from April 19^th, 2005 until 8:00 PM Rome Time on February 28^th, 2013.

In retirement, he lives a live of quiet prayer in a refurbished monastery within the walls of Vatican City.

Cooperatores veritatis brings together contributions from Msgr. Inos Biffi, the French philosopher Rémi Brague, the Anglican Biblicist Richard Burridge, the Polish theologian Msgr. Waldemar Chrostowski, the American Jesuit Brian E. Daley, the Brazilian Jesuit Mario De França Miranda, the Spanish theologian Olegario González de Cardedal, the Cistercian abbot of Heiligenkreuz in Austria Maximilian Heim, the Lebanese scholar Nabil el-Khoury, the Greek theologian Ioannis Kourempeles, the French theologian Anne-Marie Pelletier, the German theologian Christian Schaller, editor of the Opera Omnia of Joseph Ratzinger – Benedict XVI, and the Italian patristics scholar Manlio Simonetti.

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Vatican City, Apr 6, 2017 / 07:48 am (CNA/EWTN News).- On Thursday the Vatican announced that Pope Francis has chosen Msgr. Daniel H. Mueggenborg, a priest of the Diocese of Tulsa, to be an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Seattle.

Over the course of his life, Msgr. Mueggenborg has met St. John Paul II and St. Teresa of Calcutta, as well as served Mass for Fr. Stanley Rother, the first recognized martyr to have been born in the United States.  

The Vatican announced his appointment April 6. He will join Bishop Eusebio Elizondo, a fellow auxiliary bishop, under Archbishop of Seattle J. Peter Sartain.

Bishop-elect Mueggenborg, 55, was born in Okarche, Okla. on April 15, 1962. Growing up he participated in Boy Scouts of America, eventually receiving the Eagle Scout Award.

One early event in his life, which impacted him greatly, he said, was meeting Fr. Stanley Rother, a native of Oklahoma who was martyred while working as a missionary in Guatemala and will be beatified in Oklahoma City in September.

According to an auto-biography on the website of the parish where he serves, Christ the King in Tulsa, during his first year of college in 1981, Msgr. Mueggenborg was asked to serve at Mass for the anniversary celebration of an aunt and uncle, which he agreed to, but only “reluctantly.”

The priest saying Mass turned out to be Fr. Rother. Though he did not know who he was at the time, “it turned out to be one of the most pivotal decisions of my life,” he said.

“I was captivated by the deep spiritual presence that surrounded” Fr. Rother, Bishop-elect Mueggenborg wrote. “There was a spirit of profound peace and love that filled the room when he entered.”

“He possessed the qualities of character that I desired most yet had not found in my secular pursuits of college life. As a result of that Mass I began allowing myself to once again consider the possibility of becoming a priest.”

After graduating with his Bachelors of Science in Geology from Oklahoma State University in 1984, he entered St. Meinrad Seminary in southern Indiana. After one year, he was appointed by his bishop to continue his studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Other adventures during his college and seminary years includes two missionary trips, one to Tanzania in Africa, where he had the opportunity to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

After his ordination to the diaconate, Pope John Paul II invited the new transitional deacons from the North American College, with their parents, to an audience with him at the Vatican – a moment he will never forget – Bishop-elect Mueggenborg said.  

“The influence of Saint John Paul II on my life as a Catholic and as a priest cannot be overestimated. The Holy Father gave witness of what a courageous priest does when he creatively carries out his ministry in face of obstacles and oppression.”

During his time in Rome, Mueggenborg also became very involved with the Missionaries of Charity, which is how he met St. Teresa of Calcutta. Though it started as just a weekly commitment of one hour at their soup kitchen, his time volunteering with them eventually increased to much more.

After his ordination to the priesthood on June 14, 1989, he was asked to serve as a chaplain for their small convent at San Gregorio in Rome. Mother Teresa was present at three of the Masses that year, he wrote in the biography. After one of the Masses, she came to the sacristy and then joined Bishop-elect Mueggenborg and a classmate for breakfast.

“It was a remarkable experience to be in the presence of a woman who radiated the very presence of Christ,” he said.

Bishop-elect Mueggenborg received a License in Biblical Theology in 1990 and returned to Tulsa. He served as parochial vicar and pastor at various parishes in the diocese, as well as chaplain of Bishop Kelly High School and Saint Philip Neri Newman Center at the University of Tulsa.

In 2005 he returned to Rome to serve as the Assistant Director of Formation at the Pontifical North American College, and then as Vice Rector of the college, from 2006-2011.

Since 2011 he has been pastor of Christ the King Parish in Tulsa, a member of the diocesan priests and financial councils and a member of the Board of Governors of the diocesan chapter of Caritas.

In addition to English, he speaks Spanish and Italian.

He is the second priest from the Diocese of Tulsa and Eastern Oklahoma to be appointed bishop recently, after Oklahoma native Msgr. Peter Wells was made a bishop in 2016, Bishop David A. Konderla of Tulsa wrote in a statement on the diocese’s website.

“These appointments are a great statement of confidence from the Holy Father for the Church in Eastern Oklahoma, and the appointment of Msgr. Mueggenborg will only strengthen our communion with the universal Church,” he said.

“We congratulate Msgr. Mueggenborg on his appointment and knowing we will miss him, we wish him a fruitful ministry in the Archdiocese of Seattle.”

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MEDJUGORJE, Bosnia-Herzegovina (CNS) -- While he said he had no authority or expertise to discuss the authenticity of the alleged apparitions of Mary at Medjugorje, Pope Francis' envoy to the town said it was clear "there is a special spiritual climate here."

Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser of Warsaw-Praga, named by Pope Francis in February to study the pastoral situation in the small town and the needs of pilgrims, held a news conference April 5 after a week in Medjugorje.

The archbishop repeatedly told reporters he could not respond to questions about the authenticity of the claims of six young people who said Mary had appeared to them daily beginning in 1981. Some of the six say Mary still appears to them and gives them messages each day, while others say they see her only once a year now.

"It is not my task to discuss whether these phenomena are true or not, because the church has not yet defined them. This is the work of the commission," which now-retired Pope Benedict XVI established in 2010.

Archbishop Hoser told reporters he hoped "the ultimate decision of the commission and of Pope Francis" would be published soon.

However, he did tell reporters, "the biggest miracle of Medjugorje are the confessions" of hundreds of people each day.

Evangelization obviously is occurring in Medjugorje, the archbishop said, and that is clear from the packed celebrations of the Mass, eucharistic adoration, conversion stories and the reports of hundreds of Catholics who cite an experience in Medjugorje as key in their following a vocation to the priesthood or religious life.

The archbishop confirmed that he had met with the six so-called seers, as part of his look at the pastoral needs of the townspeople and pilgrims, but not to discuss the authenticity of the apparitions.

According to the six, he said, "the phenomena still persist, which present difficulties in making a final judgment."

Archbishop Hoser also met with Bishop Ratko Peric of Mostar-Duvno, whose diocese includes Medjugorje. In a statement released two weeks after the archbishop's appointment, Bishop Peric affirmed his belief that nothing supernatural occurred or was occurring in Medjugorje.

"Taking into account all that was examined and studied by this diocesan curia, including the study of the first seven days of the presumed apparitions, one calmly can affirm: The Virgin Mary has not appeared in Medjugorje," he said.

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