Catholic News 2

Lima, Peru, Mar 20, 2017 / 03:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Evangelina Chamorro was swept away for over a third of a mile by an avalanche of mud on the coast south of Lima. But she survived and said that thinking about “God and her daughters” gave her the strength.

In recent weeks, heavy rains have caused avalanches and floods in various parts of the country. Official reports note 70 dead and 70,000 victims throughout the country.

Evangelina, 32, was swept away from the Peruvian forest by a mudslide that reached the Punta Hermosa resort area about 25 miles south of the Peruvian capital.

She lived with her husband and daughters in a small house in a forested area near the resort. Evangelina and her husband were swept away by the mudslide when they both left their house to feed their animals in their nearby corral.

In a statement quoted in La Republica newspaper, Evangelina's husband, Armando Rivera, said that “we went out to feed the animals when in the distance we heard a loud noise. I thought two trucks had crashed into each other on the highway.”

“We managed to grab onto the trunk of a eucalyptus tree, but the force of the avalanche made us lose our grip. I saw the mud carrying away my wife. I didn't think I would find her alive. God is great, it's a miracle she's alive!” he said after being discharged from the hospital.

Evangelina is still hospitalized but making a remarkable recovery. Her body was struck by lumber, nails and other debris swept away by the mudslide.

She said that while she was swept away by the avalanche, “I thought of giving up, but the whole time I was asking God to give me the strength to keep on fighting.”

The Church in Peru is continuing to mobilize to help the thousands of people affected by the rains and floods which since January have been hitting different parts of the country especially the northern coast and part of the capital.

Since Jan. 14, rains caused by the El Nino Effect have made rivers overflow and avalanches of rocks and mud, affecting a number of areas.

So far the climactic phenomenon – which will continue the next few weeks – has caused the deaths of 62 people, 11 missing and 170 injured.

According the the report from the Center for National Emergency Operations, there are 552,866 people affected on the national level; 62,642 victims, 115,748 damaged homes, of which 7,974 have collapsed and 7,925 are uninhabitable.

In response, the various dioceses along with local Caritas organizations have launched solidarity and prayer campaigns on behalf of the victims.

Cardinal Juan Cipriani, Archbishop and Primate of Peru, announced the definitive cancellation of the 2017 March for Life in order to concentrate efforts on helping the victims of the natural disasters the country is suffering from.

Pope Francis expressed his “closeness to the people of Peru hard hit by the devastating rains.”

“I am praying for the victims and those involved in relief work,” he said.

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Washington D.C., Mar 20, 2017 / 04:34 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The bill drafted to replace the Affordable Care Act has good pro-life measures but still presents “grave challenges” that must be remedied, said one leading bishop in a recent statement.

“Laudably, the AHCA [American Health Care Act] proposes to include critical life protections for the most vulnerable among us,” Bishop Frank Dewayne of Venice, chair of the U.S. Bishops’ Domestic Justice and Human Development committee, stated last Friday of the new bill that would make changes to the Affordable Care Act.

However, there are also “some very troubling features” in the new law, like restrictions on health care “access for those most in need,” Bishop Dewayne continued.

The American Health Care Act, currently under consideration in Congress and set for a floor vote soon, would be the biggest overhaul of health care policy since the Affordable Care Act passed under President Obama.

It would keep in place certain provisions, like insurers not being able to deny coverage based on pre-existing conditions, but would also phase out the expansion of Medicaid coverage from the old law and could substantially reduce Medicaid coverage.

Pro-life groups have in general been pleased with the language in the bill, particularly its stripping federal funding of Planned Parenthood for one year and its protections against taxpayer funding of abortion coverage in health plans.

Pro-life groups are also concerned that the Senate Parliamentarian could remove the language from the bill because, as it is to be passed through the budgetary procedure of reconciliation, such pro-life language could be interpreted as not pertaining to the budget.

These pro-life protections would be important, Bishop Dewayne insisted.

And the bill gives greater flexibility to the states, which could be good, although if it affects the “effectiveness or reach” of the “social safety net” it could be bad, the bishop wrote.

However, there are problematic provisions within the bill, Bishop Dewayne insisted. For instance, it lacks conscience protections that were also lacking under the Affordable Care Act. These could protect doctors, hospitals, and health care providers against mandates under the old law that they perform certain procedures like abortions or gender-transition surgeries.

Also, such a provision could protect employers, especially religious non-profits, against rules like the health care law’s contraceptive mandate that they provide birth control, sterilizations, and drugs that can cause abortions.

The most notable case here was that of Hobby Lobby, an arts-and-crafts chain owned by a Christian family who objected to the mandate because they believed that some drugs they had to cover in employee health plans could cause early abortions. The owners argued that this was a violation of their religious beliefs.  

Also, the Little Sisters of the Poor and other religious non-profits sued over the process of how they had to notify the government of their objection to the contraceptive mandate, saying it still forced them to cooperate with the provision of contraceptive coverage against their religious beliefs.

No conscience protections to nullify the harm caused by these mandates exists in the proposed legislation, Bishop Dewayne said.

Other provisions existing in the new bill are problematic, he continued. The Affordable Care Act provided federal subsidies for low-income persons to buy health insurance, while in the new bill tax credits would be provided.

This new system, though, could reduce the benefits for the elderly and low-income persons and “appears to create increased barriers to affordability,” Bishop Dewayne said.

The Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate – a penalty for not purchasing health insurance – would be replaced with a 30 percent fine on a person’s new premium if there has been a long enough gap in their health coverage.

This could dissuade many from buying new plans if they lose their old health plan, Bishop Dewayne said.

Also in the proposed law are higher comparative limits that the elderly can pay in premiums when compared to younger enrollees. Under the Affordable Care Act, those limits were three to one, whereas under the proposed law the elderly could pay as much as five times the premiums of younger enrollees.

“Some studies show that premiums for older people on fixed incomes would rise, at times dramatically,” the bishop said.

Ultimately, the problematic parts of the Affordable Care Act should not be replaced with equally bad or worse policies, he concluded.

“(I)n attempting to improve the deficiencies of the ACA, health care policy ought not create other unacceptable problems, particularly for those who struggle on the margins of our society,” he said. “As Pope Francis has said, ‘Health, indeed, is not a consumer good, but a universal right which means that access to healthcare services cannot be a privilege.’”

 

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(Vatican Radio)  Pope Francis on Monday received the Prelates of El Salvador, who are in Rome for their 'ad Limina Apostolorum' visit. 

Their visit takes place ahead of the March 24th feast day of the former Archbishop of San Salvador, Blessed Oscar Romero, and the 37th anniversary of his assassination by hired gunmen at the height of El Salvador’s civil war.

El Salvador is a Latin American Republic with a population of around 6.5 million people, nearly 80 percent of whom are Catholic.

In an interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop José Luis Escobar'Alas of San Salvador and President of the Episcopal Conference said the primary pastoral challenges in El Salvador are "the defense of life, understood in its full sense as justice, truth and peace in a society marked by violence."

He said the bishops are "working to recover family values, that is, of a solid and responsible family, which can save the whole of society."

The Prelates who met with Pope Francis are listed below:

Archbishop José Luis Escobar'Alas of San Salvador, with his auxiliary, Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chávez, titular bishop of Mulli;

Bishop Oswaldo Estéfano Escobar Aquilano, O.C.D., of Chalatenango;

Msgr. Emilio Antonio Rivas Segovia, diocesan administrator of San Miguel;

Bishop Miguel Ángel Morán Aquino of Santa Ana;

Bishop William Ernesto Iraheta Rivera of Santiago de María;

Bishop José Elias Rauda Gutiérrez, O.F.M., of San Vicente;

Bishop Constantino Barrera Morales of Sonsanate;

Bishop Elas Samuel Bolaños Avelar, S.D.B., of Zacatecoluca;

Bishop Fabio Reynaldo Colindres Abarca, Military Ordinary.

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