Catholic News 2

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis met Monday morning with Bishops from western Canada, who are in Rome for their visit ad limina Apostolorum (to the threshold of the [basilicas] of the Apostles).

The Bishops collectively form the Assembly of Western Catholic Bishops (AWCB). Established in 1974, the Assembly gathers the Bishops of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic Churches of the four Western Canadian provinces, the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut.

In total, it serves eighteen Roman Catholic [Latin-rite] dioceses (Calgary, Churchill-Hudson Bay, Edmonton, Grouard-McLennan, Kamloops, Keewatin-Le Pas, MacKenzie-Fort Smith, Nelson, Prince Albert, Prince George, Regina, Saint-Boniface, Saint-Paul, Saskatoon, Vancouver, Victoria, Whitehorse, and Winnipeg) and four Ukrainian Greek Catholic eparchies (Edmonton, New Westminster, Saskatoon, and Winnipeg).

Archbishop Richard Gagnon, the Latin-rite Archbishop of Winnipeg, is the current President of the AWCB.

The Bishops of Canada are making their ad limina visits by region, beginning with the Bishops of the Atlantic Episcopal Assembly; the AWCB is the second regional group to come to Rome. In the course of the upcoming weeks, Pope Francis will receive Bishops from the Assembly of Catholic Bishops of Ontario, followed by the Bishops of Quebec, members of L’Assemblée des évêques catholiques du Québec.

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Loreto girls secondary school in Rumbek, South Sudan, recently graduated 29 girls, the largest class of girls to graduate from the school in South Sudan since the country’s independence of 2011.

In 2014, the United Nations (UN) lauded the school for graduating 23 girls, the first time 23 girls had graduated at once from a single secondary school in South Sudan.

Over one thousand people, among them donors of the school; representatives of the traditional leaders and state government; members of the clergy and the religious of Rumbek Diocese all gathered to witness the continuation of the school’s achievement of graduating more and more South Sudanese girls.

The well-attended event, which started with the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, was marked by cultural song and dance from various South Sudanese ethnic groups and speeches.

“To my sisters (graduating classmates): Go forward and show the world what you can do. To those who are not graduating today, do not lose hope. To our parents: Let us stay in school, let us go to University," said Josephine Nyanajong who spoke on behalf of her colleagues.

"Our donors and all Loreto partners, you are rarely seen, but your impact is great,” Nyanajong continued in her speech and added, “I can assure you that your effort is not being wasted."

The theme of the graduation was: I am Transformed; I seek to Transform

Loreto school principal, Sr. Orla Treacy of the Loreto Sisters, expressed her joy saying, "We are proud of what you have achieved today, and to be part of these last years with you.”

Sr. Treacy told the graduating class, “Remember Mary Ward’s words: ‘Women in time will do great things.’ Today you are those women."

Mary Ward founded the religious congregation of nuns better known as the Loreto Sisters in 1609.

With most schools in South Sudan experiencing as high as 71 percent dropout rate of girls, Loreto School in Rumbek diocese recorded a dropout rate of only 2.9 percent in the year 2016.

The local Chief, Mangar Manyeil Dhal saw the graduating students as future leaders of South Sudan.

In his address to the graduating students, the Chief said, “Education is something important. Graduates, (you) have shown a great example to the rest of the students who are coming after you. The first person to know the importance of education is you, yourself, then the society will learn from you. (These Loreto) graduates will become leaders of South Sudan."

Parents present at the gruduation ceremony acknowledged, with gratitude, the efforts of the school administration in providing education to their daughters.

(Father Don Bosco Onyalla, CANAA in Nairobi)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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In the first-ever meeting held at the KCCB’s Catholic Secretariat in Nairobi, twelve representatives from different Kenyan Dioceses recently came together with the Bishop of Nyahururu, Joseph Mbatia. Bishop Mbatia is the official KCCB delegate for the Africa Biblical Apostolate.

Led by the Bishop, the group discussed ways and means of disseminating the messages of the Bible to the faithful. They compared notes about pastoral activities in dioceses with thriving Biblical apostolates.

Bishop Mbatia said the Bible is a tool for evangelization; source of knowing God and an instrument to help Christians understand God more. He added that once the faithful understand the Word of God, the people would witness a transformation in their lives.

 The Nyahururu Bishop revealed that the Second Vatican Council encouraged the faithful to study the Bible and so Bishops are implementing what has been said by the universal Church.

“Vatican II is clear that Christians must understand the Bible as the Word of God,” He encouraged the gathering.

The Bible caucus at KCCB was attended by Kenya’s Biblical Scholars, Pastoral Coordinators and other representatives mostly drawn from dioceses where the Biblical apostolate is active. Such dioceses include the Dioceses of Bungoma, Meru, Kitale and Machako

(Rose Achiego in Nairobi)

Email: engafrica@vatiradio.va

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(Vatican Radio)  Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, has reopened the earthquake-damaged Cathedral of Carpi in Italy.

Pope Francis is scheduled to make a pastoral visit to the northern Italian town on 2 April, where he will meet with communities struck by the 2012 earthquake and visit the reopened Cathedral.

Cardinal Parolin concelebrated Mass on Saturday at the Cathedral along with Cardinal Angelo Bagnasco, Archbishop of Genova and President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference.

In his homily, Cardinal Parolin said, “An earthquake can strike and wound, but it cannot defeat and annihilate. It can damage and make the ground shake, but it cannot break up and disperse a community that is committed to rebirth.”

The 5.8-magnitude earthquake that hit the Emilia Romagna region in 2012 killed 20 people and heavily damaged dozens of farms, castles, and churches.

“An earthquake like other dramas in society, with their mourning and devastation,” Cardinal Parolin went on, “do not have the last word. Through the help of the Lord along with perseverance in hard work and courage, life is reborn, wounds heal, and people return to journey together, to hope, and to design and build.”
In conclusion, Cardinal Parolin said, “The reopening of a temple of stone will be that much more important if we open our hearts and minds to Christ and to his message of peace, salvation, joy, and true liberation.”

While visiting the town of some 70,000 inhabitants on 2 April, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass, pray the Angelus, give his blessing to three new diocesan buildings, and speak with priests and consecrated persons.

Click here to see the Pope’s full schedule for the visit.

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(Vatican Radio) Peru’s Bishops have urged flood-stricken communities to keep hope alive and warn against the exploitation of land which derives from disregard towards “sister nature”.

In a letter published by the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference (CEP), the bishops invite all Peruvians to increase solidarity and works of charity to help those who have lost everything in the floods. 
 
Floods and landslides in the nation have caused devastation across large swathes of the country, and a growing number of deaths have been reported. At least 85 people have reportedly been killed and almost 12,000 are affected by displacement and loss of land according to a report by Peru’s National Emergency Center.  

“It is not the time to point fingers at those who may be responsible, it is the time to pray, to show solidarity and to join forces” they write.
 
Calling for increased solidarity, the bishops urge the population not to be afraid, but to trust in God’s providence.

“It is time, they warn, to respect sister nature and to take action to prevent the planning of new cities.”  
 
The bishops also invite the victims of the floods to take care of each other, especially of the most vulnerable, bearing in mind the needs of children, elderly people and women when aid is distributed.
  
And to those who are still facing the fury of nature they say: “you must be courageous, like the Virgin Mary before the cross, be steady in your faith and certain that this terrible moment will pass”.

Pointing to the work carried out by parishes and local Caritas offices, the bishops end their message inviting those who have not been directly affected to be generous, “even if this means making sacrifices”.

“Peru has been called in the past to show its strength and must continue to do so because its people are courageous and have faith in the Lord and in His mercy” they conclude.

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(Vatican Radio) The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors [PCPM] met for its eighth Plenary Assembly from March 24-26, 2017. The resignation of founding member Marie Collins was a key topic on the agenda. The Commission expressed its gratitude to her and supported her continuing work to promote healing for victims of abuse and the prevention of all abuse of minors and vulnerable adults. During the Plenary the Commision also discussed  the importance of responding directly and compassionately to victims/survivors when they write to offices of the Holy See. The Plenary Assembly followed the Education Day on March 23, at the Gregorian University, co-sponsored in partnership with the Centre for Child Protection and the Congregation for Catholic Education.

Please find below the Concluding Statement 

The Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors [PCPM] met for its eighth Plenary Assembly from March 24-26, 2017. 

A central topic in this Plenary Assembly was the resignation of founding member Marie Collins. The Commission members expressed strong support for her and her continuing work to promote healing for victims of abuse and the prevention of all abuse of minors and vulnerable adults.  They also expressed their particular gratitude that Marie Collins has agreed to continue working with the Commission’s educational programs for new bishops and the offices of the Roman Curia.

Commission members have unanimously agreed to find new ways to ensure its work is shaped and informed with and by victims/survivors. Several ideas that have been successfully implemented elsewhere are being carefully considered for recommendation to the Holy Father.

The Commission discussed the importance of responding directly and compassionately to victims/survivors when they write to offices of the Holy See.  Members agreed that acknowledging correspondence and giving a timely and personal response is one part of furthering transparency and healing.  They acknowledged that this is a significant task due to the volume and nature of the correspondence and requires clear and specific resources and procedures. They have agreed to send further recommendations to Pope Francis for consideration.

This Plenary Assembly followed the Education Day on March 23, at the Gregorian University, co-sponsored in partnership with the Centre for Child Protection and the Congregation for Catholic Education.  Titled “Safeguarding in schools and homes: learning from experience worldwide”, it had a particular focus on Latin American countries that have large Catholic school systems, and presentations concerning efforts in Australia and Italy.  The academic seminar was attended by more than 150 people.  These included prefects and representatives from Vatican dicasteries including the Secretary of State Cardinal Parolin, seminary rectors, educators, formators and authorities from Italian State Police and the Vatican gendarme who are all seen as key collaborators in the PCPM’s educational efforts.  The Commissioners reiterated their sincere gratitude to the invited guests and speakers:  Fr Friedrich Bechina, FSO, Undersecretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education; Mónica Yerena Suárez - Provincia Marista de México Central; Fr Wilfredo Grajales Rosas, SDB – Director del Instituto Distrital para la Protección de Niños, Niñas, Adolescentes y Jóvenes, Bogotá, Colombia; Juan Ignacio Fuentes, CONSUDEC Argentina; Francis Sullivan, CEO, Truth Justice and Healing Commission, Australia and Dott. Giovanni Ippolito, Direttore Tecnico Capo Psicologo, Questura di Foggia.  The speakers were also invited to address the opening session of the PCPM Plenary Assembly.  

The Commission members continue the work entrusted by Pope Francis to assist local Churches with their responsibility for the protection of all minors and vulnerable adults (Statutes, art. 1).  As our Holy Father wrote to the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences and Superiors of Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, “I now ask for your close and complete cooperation with the Commission for the Protection of Minors. The work I have entrusted to them includes providing assistance to you and your Conferences through an exchange of best practices and through programmes of education, training, and developing adequate responses to sexual abuse” (2 February 2015).  The Commission is also receiving representatives of bishop’s conferences around the world who are in Rome for their Ad Limina visits.

Commissioners continue to visit episcopal conferences and local churches throughout the world to assist in policy development and implementation of best practices to create a safer environment. So far this year, these include workshops with the Church leadership, formators, catechists and child protection officers in Zambia and Colombia. Members are currently preparing to present to the first European Conference on Formation and Prevention in Seminaries co-organized by the Archdiocese of Florence and the Centre for Child Protection of the Gregorian University, and the upcoming meeting of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences in Bangkok, Thailand this Spring, and the May meeting of the Directors of CELAM and the Presidents of the Episcopal Conferences of Latin America and the Caribbean Islands.

An essential element of these presentations is the PCPM Guidelines template. The Holy Father wrote, “every effort must also be made to ensure that the provisions of the Circular Letter of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dated 3 May 2011 are fully implemented” (2 February 2015).  Thus, at the plenary meeting, the members spoke again of their willingness to work together with the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith communicating a “Guidelines Template” to episcopal conferences and religious congregations, both directly and through the CommissionWebsite (www.protectionofminors.va).

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Rome, Italy, Mar 27, 2017 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A veteran Vatican official praised EWTN foundress Mother Angelica as a pioneer of the New Evangelization, saying the way in which the Church speaks to the men and women of today wouldn't be the same without her influence.

“I think Mother Angelica was a New Evangelizer ante litterum (before her time),” Monsignor Graham Bell told CNA.

An official of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization who has spent around three decades in Rome, Msgr. Bell said that while St. John Paul II coined the phrase some 30 years ago, Mother Angelica had been an active player “long before.”

“She just fits into that so well, because why do we have the New Evangelization? Not because the Gospel is new – the Gospel is ever-new, but it’s also unchanging, and the 'new' in the New Evangelization is essentially seeking to find new languages with which to communicate the Gospel to the men and women of our time.”

Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation founded EWTN in 1981, and it has since become the largest religious media network in the world. She died March 27, 2016 after a lengthy struggle with the aftereffects of a stroke. She was 92 years-old.

Mother Angelica, Msgr. Bell said, was able to talk about even difficult or sensitive topics in a meaningful way that always brought people “back to the center, which is Christ.”

Please see below CNA's full interview with Msgr. Bell:

One of the reasons I wanted to speak to you about this is because of the frequent remarks you’ve made in the past about Mother Angelica and what she accomplished. Why is she such a striking and important person for you?

I came to Mother Angelica not through her television programs, but maybe at the beginning of the 2000s, there was a craze – maybe it was more popular then, I’m not sure, but there was a kind of podcast craze, and what EWTN did at that time is they would put out Mother Angelica live as a podcast, so I faithfully downloaded this every week. I didn’t know this nun before I started listening to the podcasts, and what immediately became clear is that there’s nothing original in Mother Angelica, she’s not trying to be original, all she’s trying to do is she’s taking the Word of God, she’s taking the teaching of the Church and she’s applying them to people’s lives. And the more I listened to this lady, the more I was reminded of Cardinal Newman’s motto: Cor ad cor loquitur, heart speaks to heart. And she has this phenomenal capability of speaking to your heart, and that comes across. Obviously I was listening to it as a podcast, I couldn’t see how people were reacting in the studio to what she was doing, but this great humanity came out. I think Newman got his motto from Saint Francis de Sales, and I think Francis de Sales said heart speaks to heart, whereas the tongue just hits the ear. You always had the impression with Mother Angelica that her heart was behind what she was saying. It struck people as true because she recognized it as true, and I think this is a phenomenal gift. It’s a gift every preacher should seek to have, but it’s also a gift that every Christian should seek to have. This phenomenal capacity to communicate and to communicate the unchanging truth of the Gospel in a way that’s relevant for men and women today, and that’s an art, it’s a grace.

Do you think this is a reason she’s been so attractive and appealing to so many people?

Yes, I do. Because language changes, and it changes now at a greater pace than it’s ever changed, and Mother Angelica in my opinion was able to bridge the gap. Sometimes the institutional Church isn’t good at speaking to people, but I think Mother Angelica, first of all with her many books, and then when she got the television and radio thing going, she was capable of bridging that gap. I can think of many things she said about people with addictions, you know? Sometimes the Church isn’t good at doing that, but she was good at looking at things which were difficult to talk about, but talking about them in a way that was very, very meaningful and always bringing people back to the center, which is Christ. I listened to all of her podcasts, and I just thought it was phenomenal. It certainly helped me in my preaching, and also helped me in the living of my priesthood.

In view from your position on the Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization, how do you think Mother Angelica has influenced the New Evangelization? Clearly she’s been a huge personality …

I think Mother Angelica was a New Evangelizer ante litterum (before her time). I think John Paul II coined the expression himself in 1979 when he was in Poland, and what Mother Angelica had been doing long before that was certainly New Evangelization, certainly. She just fits into that so well, because why do we have the New Evangelization? Not because the Gospel is new, the Gospel is ever-new, but it’s also unchanging, and the “new” in the New Evangelization is essentially seeking to find new languages – I use the term language in the extended sense – with which to communicate the Gospel to the men and women of our time, who obviously have to hear the Gospel in a language which can understand. But the thing about Mother Angelica is, it was never the case of communicating a content which really didn’t concern her. Her communicating the Gospel was she was really communicating a part of herself, because Christ was so much a part of her and a part of her religious vocation. In communicating Christ through television, through radio, through her many books, she was actually communicating a part of herself, she was so identified with Christ, and I think that’s the heart of the New Evangelization. Obviously another thing I think is very close to the heart of the New Evangelization is the whole question of witness. Because how did Jesus communicate the Gospel to his disciples? He is the Gospel in himself and in his person. It was done through what he said and what he did, and what he said and what did find their center in his very person. So it must be for those who witness to the Gospel. It’s not enough just to speak about Christ, and it’s not enough just to do good works. There has to be a relationship so that what we say is explained by what we do, and what we do is explained by what we say. And I think in Mother Angelica, as in the great saints, this is exemplified, this is exemplified very, very strongly.

A lot of people see the impact she had specifically in the Church in the Unites States and say that she changed the Church in the U.S. during a really critical time, but we also see that this is spreading very internationally. With your experience and in your time following EWTN, how do you see that she’s influenced culture even here in Europe?

Mother Angelica, it must never be forgotten, was a woman religious. And women religious have a very, very, very important role to play in the New Evangelization and in the Church generally, because people react so favorably to them, because they express the maternity of the Church in a way in which priests and men religious really aren’t capable of doing. Mother Angelica, I think, is exemplary in this, and in her clarity of identity. What you see is what you got, there was no mystification there. You saw this nun with her habit, and she was always the same, the message was always the same, and this sense of authenticity I think absolutely captivates people. And I think that’s a big part of her secret and why she’s so popular. It’s this capacity of expressing maternity in an age in which maternity is not very fashionable.

Being here in the Vatican for so long – you’ve been here for about 30 years, right? – have you seen any impact that she’s made here specifically?

I don’t know about that, about what impact she’s made here. I think she’s made a positive impact to the extent that I think women religious always make a positive impact. When women religious are faithful to their vocations and faithful to the Church, they always make an impact, and I think the history of the Church demonstrates this. I wouldn’t be able to say what her impact has been on the various dicasteries. Certainly I do consider her one of the forerunners of the New Evangelization, and it would be difficult to imagine the New Evangelization without figures like her. I think one of the keys to the success of the New Evangelization will be how we can involve women religious in this project. I think the more we involve them, the more the New Evangelization will be successful.

So in your opinion, aside from EWTN, what do you think is the core of the legacy she has left that and that we’re continuing to see grow?

I would say this very, very humble, that I think today in the Church we are very much concerned, I would even say obsessed, by the question of communications, because we want to keep up with the times and we realize that this is very, very important; communications are a very important part of how the modern world works, and it’s important that the Church should be there. But what we must never forget, in my opinion, is that content always has a primacy over the technical aspect. The technical aspect is absolutely wonderful, but if you’ve got nothing to communicate it's completely useless, and I think Mother Angelica, she wasn’t just the person who founded this fantastic, hotshot television network that was financed completely by the people who listened to it. It wasn’t just that. It was the fact that she always put content first, and I think that’s a great part of her legacy. But I also think another equally important part of her legacy is the eternal truth of our Catholic faith. It always has been and always will be until Christ comes again, it’s a question of a man or a woman who believes in the Resurrection of Christ, looks into the eyes of another man or another woman and says ‘I believe’, and asks you to believe, too. And Mother Angelica exemplifies this; the transmission of the revelation, the transmission of our faith will always be an interpersonal relationship, and all of the hardware and all of the software and all of the gadgetry will never be able to replace that. And she never imagined that EWTN or her various initiatives would ever substitute this interpersonal transmission of the faith. So I think her legacy will be discovered 10, 20 years down the way. I really do.

Would you say that part of the appeal and effectiveness of how she communicated the Gospel and the Resurrection had to do with how she experienced it in her own life?

Yeah. She suffered. I can’t remember all the details of her biography, but I know early on in her life she had a serious medical conditions, and these were overcome and they were overcome through prayer. She might also have been the subject of a miracle, thinking about her very early life before she decided to become a nun. And then all through her life she battled through ill health. One of the things that makes her so authentic is that when you listen to – one of the things I used to love about EWTN was listening to all the podcasts, and you could hear her coughing, and she would put a cough sweet into her mouth, and if you look at the big, sleek media operations like the BBC, you very rarely hear people coughing and at EWTN you could hear all this, and it was so human. With technology, I think a television lens transforms everything, and it really is – if it’s the great observer, it’s also the great betrayer because you look at these television studios and how they come through the lens of the camera, but when you actually go there and you see how they’re built with all the cables everywhere that people never see, and the lighting makes it seem much bigger than it is, it’s smoke and mirrors, it really is from start to finish. You never got that impression with EWTN. You got the impression that here’s a lady in her parlor, speaking to you in your parlor, that’s what it came across as. So she coughed, and she put in a cough sweet and it was wonderful.

Did you ever get to meet her personally?

I didn’t, no. I always used to ask – sometimes we got people coming up from EWTN – I would always ask how is she, and I think the most of the latter half of her life she was bedridden. And sometimes you wonder what did God want from her in that time? What was her vocation in that time? That’s very difficult to discern.

It was striking to me that the culmination of those last few years and then to pass away on Easter after what I understand were very excruciating last days. There was clearly something at work …

Her oneness with Christ … Another chap who greatly influenced me when I was listening to Mother Angelica about 10-12 years ago was Father Benedict Groeschel, because he had Sunday Night Live. That would come out as a podcast and I would download that too. He is another one, I think they’ll both be saints. With Benedict, I know something happened at the end of his life, but that will be forgotten. In fact, it should probably be forgotten right away, because I don’t think he said what he was intending; an old man – and a young man – can make mistakes. But I am convinced that both of them will be beatified, I’m absolutely convinced.

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