Seoul, South Korea, Mar 9, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The first Bishop of Pyongyang, an American born-bishop, and numerous priests and laity are among the 213 who could be beatified and advanced on the process to sainthood under a process begun in South Korea.Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik of Daejon predicted it will take at least ten years before any beatification or canonization, “but for our people, these people are already holy.”The bishop heads the Korean bishops’ committee considering the beatifications. He told Asia News that important parts of the path to beatification are the Catholic faithful’s prayer and “desire to follow the spirit of the martyrs.”One group under consideration for beatification includes Servant of God Bishop Francis Borgia Hong Yong-ho and 80 companions. This broad group ranges from the martyrs of the 1901 Jeju massacre, in which about 300 Catholics were killed, to the victims of persecution following the division...
Seoul, South Korea, Mar 9, 2017 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The first Bishop of Pyongyang, an American born-bishop, and numerous priests and laity are among the 213 who could be beatified and advanced on the process to sainthood under a process begun in South Korea.
Bishop Lazarus You Heung-sik of Daejon predicted it will take at least ten years before any beatification or canonization, “but for our people, these people are already holy.”
The bishop heads the Korean bishops’ committee considering the beatifications. He told Asia News that important parts of the path to beatification are the Catholic faithful’s prayer and “desire to follow the spirit of the martyrs.”
One group under consideration for beatification includes Servant of God Bishop Francis Borgia Hong Yong-ho and 80 companions. This broad group ranges from the martyrs of the 1901 Jeju massacre, in which about 300 Catholics were killed, to the victims of persecution following the division of Korea following the Second World War.
Bishop Hong, born in 1906, was ordained a priest in 1933 under Japanese occupation. He was named the first native Bishop of Pyongyang in 1944. He was an apostolic vicar to a region considered mission territory by the Church. With the rise of communism, he was imprisoned in 1949. His fate is unknown, but he is believed to have died in a concentration camp in North Korea.
Until 2013, when he would have been 107, the Vatican considered him missing. Acknowledgment of his death opened the path to possible beatification.
Bishop Patrick James Byrne, a native of Washington, D.C., is also among the group. The Maryknoll missionary was born in 1888. He was ordained a priest in 1915, then served in Korea and Japan before the Second World War. In April 1949 he was named the first apostolic delegate to Korea, and ordained a bishop at the age of 60 in 1949.
In July 1950 he was arrested by communists and put on trial. He and other priests were put on forced marches. During a four-month-long forced march, suffering from bad weather and a lack of food and shelter, he died Nov. 25, 1950.
Altogether, the group associated with Bishop Hong includes two bishops, 48 priests, three seminarians, seven religious sisters, and 21 lay people.
The second group, Servant of God John Baptist Yi Byeok and his 132 companions, were all lay people killed for their faith between 1785 and 1879. Yi was from a family of court dignitaries who under the Joseon dynasty converted to Catholicism and helped evangelize Korea. He was martyred at the age of 33.
One of their number, Alexius Hwang Sa-yeong, died by martyrdom when his arms and legs were tied to four animals which were then driven away in opposite directions, dismembering him.
Another in the group died in exile and his martyrdom must be verified.
The Korean bishops' conference has set up a special committee for the causes of saints with a Vatican mandate to consider martyrs who belong to different dioceses.
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(Vatican Radio) “I too know moments of emptiness.” In an interview for German newsweekly Die Zeit, Pope Francis spoke about the “spiritual dark moments” in his own life, times when he has said, “Lord, I don’t understand this.”Asked about how the faithful can help when people experience crises of faith, the Holy Father said, “One cannot grow without crises: in human life, the same thing happens. Even biological growth is a crisis, no? The crisis of a child who becomes an adult. And faith is the same.”Pope Francis’ admission of his own doubts was perhaps the most striking moment in the interview with Die Ziet’s editor-in-chief, Giovanni di Lorenzo. “Faith is a gift,” the Pope said when asked how one returns to the faith. One cannot recover one’s faith on one’s own, but must ask it from God: “I ask, and He responds. Sooner or later, eh? But at times, you have to wait, in a crisis.”Th...
(Vatican Radio) “I too know moments of emptiness.” In an interview for German newsweekly Die Zeit, Pope Francis spoke about the “spiritual dark moments” in his own life, times when he has said, “Lord, I don’t understand this.”
Asked about how the faithful can help when people experience crises of faith, the Holy Father said, “One cannot grow without crises: in human life, the same thing happens. Even biological growth is a crisis, no? The crisis of a child who becomes an adult. And faith is the same.”
Pope Francis’ admission of his own doubts was perhaps the most striking moment in the interview with Die Ziet’s editor-in-chief, Giovanni di Lorenzo. “Faith is a gift,” the Pope said when asked how one returns to the faith. One cannot recover one’s faith on one’s own, but must ask it from God: “I ask, and He responds. Sooner or later, eh? But at times, you have to wait, in a crisis.”
The conversation covered a wide range of topics, from the Pope’s devotion to Mary, Untier of Knots; to the vocations crisis (“optional celibacy is not the solution); to the question of whether men are intrinsically good or evil.
The Pontiff spoke once again about what he has called the “Third World War,” being waged piecemeal, drawing attention to ongoing conflicts in Africa, Ukraine, Asia, Iraq, and elsewhere. He spoke, too, about contemporary currents of populism, warning against “a messianism” that always lurks behind such phenomena.
Current events in the Church, including criticisms of Pope Francis, were also touched on in the interview. “I will make a confession about this, a sincere one,” he said. “From the moment I was elected Pope I have never lost my peace. I understand that someone might not like [my] way of acting, and I even justify it: there are so many ways of thinking; it is licit, it is human, and it is even a richness.” In particular, he complimented the “cultured” Roman dialect used in notorious posters that appeared in Rome, accusing the Pope of not being merciful.
“It’s good that you can laugh at these things,” his interviewer said, to which Pope Francis responded, “But of course! [It’s] one of the things I pray for each day, with the prayer of St Thomas More: I ask for a sense of humour.”
The conversation ended with a discussion of possible future travels, with the Holy Father confirming his plans to visit India, Bangladesh and Colombia, as well as Fatima in Portugal. He said, however, that a hoped-for trip to South Sudan might not be possible after all.
Pope Francis concluded the interview with an apology: “I’m sorry if I haven’t met your expectations… Pray for me!”
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 9, 2017 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The deaths of seven inmates in a fire at a police station in Pergamino, Argentina has brought renewed criticisms of the “inhumane situation” experienced in prisons in the country.On March 2, seven people died inside Police Station No. 1 in Pergamino in an incident ending with a fire that was caused, according to preliminary information, by a fight between the prisoners.In their statement entitled “Where is your brother?” the National Secretariat of Prison Pastoral Care invited “everyone to become aware of this inhumane situation that so many of our brothers live in, and we make an urgent demand to those directly and immediately responsible: ‘Don't put off actions that cannot wait!’”The secretariat expressed its sorrow to the families and renewed its “commitment for life” in addition asking that “God in his great mercy may grant us the gift to discov...
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mar 9, 2017 / 12:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The deaths of seven inmates in a fire at a police station in Pergamino, Argentina has brought renewed criticisms of the “inhumane situation” experienced in prisons in the country.
On March 2, seven people died inside Police Station No. 1 in Pergamino in an incident ending with a fire that was caused, according to preliminary information, by a fight between the prisoners.
In their statement entitled “Where is your brother?” the National Secretariat of Prison Pastoral Care invited “everyone to become aware of this inhumane situation that so many of our brothers live in, and we make an urgent demand to those directly and immediately responsible: ‘Don't put off actions that cannot wait!’”
The secretariat expressed its sorrow to the families and renewed its “commitment for life” in addition asking that “God in his great mercy may grant us the gift to discover every person as a brother and act accordingly.”
“We cannot remain indifferent. These are seven lives taken away by the fire, they have names: Sergio, Federico, Alan, Franco, John Mario, Juan Carlos and Fernando Emanuel, they have families, they have histories, they are from our homeland,” the statement said.
According to reports, a fight among the prisoners broke out and led to mattresses being set on fire. The firefighters arrived late on the scene, and seven prisoners died.
However, the secretariat of prison pastoral care said, “We can't just stop at a simplistic account of what happened” and “much less can we think…'seven less thieves.' With shame, much grief and indignation we want to ask forgiveness for expressions like that.”
“In such a tragic event, there are many questions that have been waiting for answers for a long time, they require urgent decisions and concrete actions.”
“Even when there are so many overcrowded prisoners and in inhumane conditions in the police stations, how can it be that they are not prepared for this? This reality has been going on for some time and it is increasing even though it has been repeatedly pointed out as inadmissible and therefore prohibited,” the statement said.
“Police stations are not a suitable place for long term detentions, far from minimum standards,” it continued. “Police stations don't have the preparations and the requirements demanded by the needs of a prison program.”
The prison ministry secretariat reiterated that places of detention must protect life, “preserve and maintain psycho-physical integrity,” and have adequate sanitation, potable water, places for eating, resting, and access to education, among other things.
“Can it be admitted that there is no emergency protocol for situations like these, knowing that it is a public place, a police station, and even more so where there are people imprisoned under the responsibility of the state?” the secretariat said.
CATSKILL, N.Y. (AP) -- Not only did Thomas Cole paint the lush mountain landscapes that inspired the Hudson River School art movement of the 19th century, he also painted on the walls of his home....
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The IRS strikes back: The tax agency reports that the number of identity theft victims plummeted last year after agents struggled for years to combat what has become a multibillion-dollar industry....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The IRS strikes back: The tax agency reports that the number of identity theft victims plummeted last year after agents struggled for years to combat what has become a multibillion-dollar industry....
CITE SOLEIL, Haiti (AP) -- A few dozen Brazilian troops wearing the blue helmets of the U.N. military force stroll through a dense warren of shacks in Haiti's most notorious slum, facing no greater threat than a few barking dogs along some of the same streets where pitched gunbattles between gangs and peacekeepers used to be a daily occurrence....
CITE SOLEIL, Haiti (AP) -- A few dozen Brazilian troops wearing the blue helmets of the U.N. military force stroll through a dense warren of shacks in Haiti's most notorious slum, facing no greater threat than a few barking dogs along some of the same streets where pitched gunbattles between gangs and peacekeepers used to be a daily occurrence....
