Catholic aid workers killed in latest wave of Sri Lankan violence
Vatican City, Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) - On
Monday, two tsunami aid workers from the Catholic group, Caritas
Internationalis were killed when an anti-personnel mine exploded near
their vehicle. It is the latest in ongoing series of violence in Sri
Lanka’s largely rebel-controlled Jaffna peninsula.
According to the
Reuters news service, shrapnel from the explosion killed Mr.
Shanmugaratham Pathmanathan and Mr. Chelvendra Pradeepkumar, both
workers at Caritas’ Human Development center in Jaffna. Five soldiers
in a nearby military vehicle were also killed.
“We are broken
hearted for the families of Mr. Pathmanathan and Mr. Pradeepkumar,”
Father C.G. Jeyakumar, Director of Caritas Jaffna, told Reuters.
“Mr
Pathmanathan”, he said, “had three young children who will now grow up
without their father. Mr. Pradeepkumar was engaged and planning to
visit his fiancée in Canada in a few weeks…It is a very tragic thing
that yet more civilians have been killed in the crossfire of the
conflict in Sri Lanka. Their deaths show that aid workers in Sri Lanka
are very vulnerable. We are all very frightened about the situation
here.”
Duncan MacLaren,
Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis condemned the attack
saying that “Targets of any sort are unacceptable, but when innocent
civilians who are working to rebuild after such devastation is an
outrage.”
Many say that a recent surge of violence may lead the still tsunami devastated country back into civil war.
Pope Benedict: Easter liturgy assures us that evil does not have last word
Vatican City, Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) - As
Christians prepare to celebrate the Easter Triduum, which begins
tomorrow evening, with the Holy Thursday service, Pope Benedict
dedicated his weekly audience to this most holy of liturgical
celebrations.
The Holy Father
began by telling the 40,000 pilgrims who had gathered in St. Peter’s
Square to hear him, that "Through the sacred rites we relive the
passion, death and resurrection of our Lord, reawakening the desire to
follow Jesus more closely."
He explained the
meaning behind Holy Thursday, saying that the day “commemorates
Christ's total giving of Himself to humanity in the sacrament of the
Eucharist. Through the washing of feet, it also recalls in a dramatic
way the new commandment to love one another. The day concludes with
Eucharistic adoration in memory of Our Lord's agony in the Garden of
Gethsemane.”
"On Good
Friday,” he went on, “we listen to the account of the Passion and
contemplate Christ on the Cross. This is love in its most radical form:
God gives His very self, in order to raise us up and save us.”
Benedict then
called Holy Saturday the day in which “the Church is spiritually united
with Mary, praying by the tomb of the Son of God who lies at rest after
completing His work of redemption.”
“Then, at the
solemn Easter Vigil,” he said, “the joyful Gloria and Easter Alleluia
rise forth from the hearts of the whole Christian community, because
Christ is risen and has defeated death!"
The Pope challenged the gathered pilgrims to prepare for Easter through the Sacrament of Confession.
"We know we are
sinners," he said, "but we trust in divine mercy. Let us be reconciled
with Christ in order to enjoy more intensely the joy He communicates to
us with His resurrection.”
The Holy Father
said that Christ’s forgiveness, “which is given to us in the Sacrament
of Penance, is the source of interior and exterior peace and makes us
apostles of peace in a world still marked, alas, by divisions and
suffering, and by the drama of injustice, hatred, violence and the
incapacity to achieve reconciliation and begin again in sincere
forgiveness."
Concluding his
weekly catecheses Pope Benedict stressed that the celebration of the
death and resurrection of Christ "gives us the certainty that evil does
not have the last word; supported by this certain knowledge we can
commit ourselves with greater courage and enthusiasm to creating a
fairer world."
Hoops for God: Priests take vocational awareness to the court
Kansas City, Mo., Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) - Kansas
City’s Runnin’ Revs basketball team recently overcame the Serra All
Stars at Bishop Miege High School in Roeland Park. It was a close game,
with the team of priests and seminarians catching the win, 54 to 52
over a team of junior high and high-school players from area Catholic
schools.
Speaking with
Kansas City’s diocesan newspaper, The Leaven, Fr. Brian Schieber
compared his team to the Harlem Globetrotters. But while the goal of
the Globetrotters is entertainment, the goal of Revs is to plant the
seed of vocational possibility in the minds of young players and
spectators.
“The kids might
think that being a priest means they have to give up their hobbies and
interests,” said Fr. Schieber. “But with the Revs, they can see, ‘Wow,
priests can play basketball and do fun things.’”
Of course, the
Revs’ games, like the Globetrotters, always include some shenanigans,
like: controversial calls, including whistles blown for no particular
reason, arbitrary fouls, the substitution of a referee with someone out
of the stands and too many players on the court, anywhere from six to
30.
The games also includes some fundraising, including passing the hat at the end of the first quarter, and an auction
In the entire 11-year history of the series, the youthful Serra All Stars have never won a game against the Revs.
The Revs and the Serra All Stars will take to the court again May 1 at Hayden High School in Topeka.
Archbishop calls for reaction against ‘shameless wave’ of hatred toward Jesus and the Church
Buenos Aires, Argentina, Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) -
Archbishop
Hector Aguer of La Plata, Argentina, has exhorted Catholics to avoid
laziness and to respond with “noble firmness” to the “dominant and
shameless” wave of hatred against Jesus Christ and the Church which he
says has spread across the world.
During Palm
Sunday Mass at the archdiocesan cathedral, Archbishop Aguer noted that
a wave of hatred against Jesus Christ has been unleashed upon the
world. “We not talking about isolated incidents,” he said, but
rather a series of simultaneous events that bear the “markings of a
conspiracy.”
The archbishop
mentioned several examples of attacks on Christianity, such as a recent
issue of Rolling Stone magazine in which a famous rapper appears
wearing a crown of thorns; a short movie on Christmas in which Jesus
and Santa Claus get into a fist fight; obscene cartoons about Jesus in
a French newspaper, and the logo of a popular Swedish brand of jeans
depicting a skull with an inverted cross.
“More than
200,000 pairs of the jeans have been sold and the designer has said his
intention was to speak out against Christianity,” the archbishop stated.
Other examples
sited by Archbishop Aguer included the “infamous fables of ‘The Da
Vinci Code,’ which will gain new strength with the upcoming release of
the film,” and the so-called Gospel of Judas, a Gnostic writing that
was refuted by St. Iraneus in the year 180. “It has been
presented as something new by National Geographic Magazine, thus taking
advantage of the occasion of Holy Week. It also promises to be a
successful economic move.”
“To all this one
can add the numerous profanations of the Sacred Scriptures, the
blasphemies against the Most Holy Virgin and the growing, ubiquitous
pressure to remove crosses and other Christian symbols from public
places,” the archbishop added.
He noted the
widespread condemnation and rejection of recently published cartoons
depicting Mohammed, as well as the rapid activation of democratic
mechanisms condemning discrimination and infringement upon religious
freedom whenever there is the slightest attack against the Jewish
community.
And yet, he
continued, “the apathy, the leniency, the suspicious silence in
response to attacks on the Christian faith stands out. It seems
that Christianity, and specifically Catholicism, can be attacked with
impunity,” Archbishop Aguer said.
He said the lack
of response by Christians to the insults and attacks upon the Lord are
even more surprising and are a “sad sign of how the faith has been
weakened” in cultures that once were proud of their link to the Church
of Christ.
Lastly,
Archbishop Aguer exhorted Christians to “offer serene and cordial
witness to the truth, which does not exclude when necessary a noble
firmness in demanding that the sacred treasure of catholicity be
respected in accord with decency, justice and the law.”
Catholic Home Missions Appeal to focus on rural, impoverished U.S. dioceses
Washington D.C., Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) - “Support
the Mission Church Here in America” is the theme for this year’s
national Catholic Home Missions Appeal, sponsored by the U.S.
Conference of Catholic Bishops. It is scheduled for the weekend of
April 29-30.
Most Catholics
in the U.S. live in urban centers where the local parish is only a few
blocks away and the congregation numbers in the hundreds or even in the
thousands.
But there are
areas where the Church community is poor and destitute and where
resources are very slim. The Diocese of Fargo, for example, recently
announced a plan to close about 30 of its 160 parishes. In the Wyoming,
Montana and Idaho, there is a total of only seven Catholic high
schools. In Alaska, remote parishes might see a priest only once a
month. Finally, there are also the traditional mission areas of
Appalachia and the Deep South, where there is usually only one Catholic
parish, with 20 or 25 families, in each county. There are many places
in America where being Catholic is not so easy.
In a letter,
Bishop J. Peter Sartain of Little Rock, chairman of the Committee on
Home Missions, urged all U.S. bishops to give particular attention to
the collection this year and to ask their pastors to personally explain
its purpose of “sharing the wealth” to their parishioners.
The bishop said
the 2005 CHMA will yield $9.4 million, a 12 percent increase over 2004.
But, at a recent allocations meeting, the committee was faced with the
difficult decision to reduce its maximum grant to the neediest U.S.
dioceses from $175,000 to $150,000, and to reduce the amount of support
given to other Home Mission dioceses.
Among the reasons for this decision was the $3 million given to the five dioceses walloped by the hurricanes.
The Bishops’
Committee on the Home Missions was founded as the American Board of
Catholic Missions in 1924. In cooperation with the Black and Indian
Missions Board (1885) and the Catholic Church Extension Society (1905),
the Committee provides financial support for missionary activities that
strengthen and extend the presence of the Church in the United States,
in its island territories in the Caribbean and the Pacific.
German bishops speak out against MTV cartoon which mocks Pope, Vatican
Berlin, Germany, Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) - Catholics
in Germany are challenging the good taste of MTV in its decision to air
a British-born cartoon series mocking the Vatican and the Pope.
The series,
called “Popetown” depicts an infantile pontiff who bounces around the
Vatican on a pogo stick, a group of money-hungry cardinals and its main
character, Father Nicolas, a Vatican clerk who tries to control the
pope and his own attraction to a vixen-like nun.
In 2004, the BBC scrapped the program following a petition campaign with signatures from some 6,000 Catholics.
A statement from
the German Bishop’s Conference said that "We have not given up hope
that dialogue with the direction of MTV will lead to a decision to
cancel the screening of the series and to consideration for the
feelings of Christians in our country."
The bishops also raised serious concern about an advertisement for the cartoon which they say mocks Christianity.
"MTV's
advertisement for 'Popetown' in several television programming
magazines constitutes a provocation for Germany's Christians just a few
days before Good Friday and Easter," the statement said.
The ad, which
depicts a laughing man with a crown of thorns watching television,
"mocked and ridiculed the central tenets of the Christian faith," they
added.
Rising church attendance in Connecticut
Bridgeport, Conn., Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) - Despite
a widespread priestly sexual abuse scandal which has shaken the
Catholic Church in the U.S. over recent years, Mass attendance is
actually on the rise in a number of dioceses. In the Diocese of
Bridgeport, Connecticut for example, attendance at 87 parishes is up by
14 percent this year, reported WTNH TV.
Diocesan
officials say they can't pinpoint why exactly attendance is up other
than the fact that priests in the diocese have been working hard to
reach out to their church communities with different programs and
activities to nurture the faith.
Msgr. William
Shultz told WTNH TV that the diocese had to rebuild the faith of the
community after the 2001 sexual abuse scandal. He said it involved much
dialogue and reconciliation.
"I hope they
realize we all need faith and Christ in our lives, especially when you
look around the world and see what's happening," the monsignor told the
television station.
The nearby Archdiocese of Hartford says it has also seen an increase in attendance.
Idaho passes ‘abortion-information’ legislation
Washington D.C., Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) - The
Idaho House passed legislation Monday that requires doctors to provide
women with information about the medical risks of abortion at least 24
hours prior to the procedure, as well as the anatomical and
physiological characteristics of the unborn child at that time.
The Senate had previously approved the bill, which now goes to the desk of Gov. Dirk Kempthorne for his signature.
Fr. Frank
Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, lauded the move. He says
this legislation will give women important information that will enable
them to choose life for their unborn children rather than abortion.
“More children
will live thanks to the Idaho legislature,” he said, adding that more
women will also be saved from the psychological trauma that usually
follows abortion.
Cardinal Medina encourages Christians not to contribute to success of Da Vinci Code movie
Santiago, Chile, Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) - The
former prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the
Discipline of the Sacraments, Cardinal Jorge Medina Estevez, is calling
on Christians not to contribute to the box office success of “The Da
Vinci Code,” as the movie presents a “distorted, falsified and
blasphemous image of Jesus Christ.”
“Christians”,
the cardinal said during an interview with a Chilean television
program, “should not see this film” and “should not contribute to the
colossal profits that the person who invented this thing is going to
receive.”
Referring to the
book that has inspired the movie, set to debut in May, Cardinal Medina
said it was “simply blasphemous” in claiming there was a romantic
relationship between Jesus and Mary Magdalene.
Spanish cardinal calls on priests to defend faithful against imposition of secular culture
Toledo, Spain, Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) -
The
archbishop of Toledo, Spain, Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera called
on priests this week to come to the defense of their flocks against the
imposition of an increasingly secular culture.
During the
celebration of the annual Chrism Mass, the cardinal said everyone was
aware of the ongoing attempts to change society and culture.
Secularism, the breakdown of values, the eradication of the Christian
roots of society, dissent in the Church all require that “we priests
place ourselves in front of the flock as good shepherds and defend,
even to the point of sacrificing our own persons,” those “that have
been entrusted to us.”
Priests should
provide the faithful with the spiritual nourishment they need and lead
them to “the fountains of living water,” especially “young people, who
are most in need at this time.”
“Preaching right
doctrine in season and out of season is key at this moment, as well as
strengthening the unbreakable ecclesial communion with the Pope and
defending the family,” he said.
Therefore, the
cardinal encouraged priests to strongly promote participation in the
World Meeting of Families with Pope Benedict XVI, due to be held in
Valencia.
Venezuelan cardinal renews call for justice and reconciliation on anniversary of violent April 11th coup
Caracas, Venezuela, Apr 12, 2006 (CNA) - As
Venezuelans recalled the fourth anniversary of the April 11 crisis of
2002, which left President Hugo Chavez out of office for 47 hours, and
numerous more dead, the archbishop of Caracas, Cardinal Jorge Urosa
Savino, issued a strong call for reconciliation, justice and peace
among all Venezuelans.
In his message,
the cardinal recalled the need to “learn how to forgive. We don’t gain
anything by holding resentment and anger in our hearts. It is
important that we seek out understanding, reconciliation and peace.”
Cardinal Urosa
exhorted Venezuelans to reject hatred and that justice be handed down
to those responsible for the deaths of April 11 in a fair and
non-political process. He expressed regret that a commission to
investigate the 2002 crisis, which left 19 people dead, has never been
established, and he underscored the importance that no further
injustice add to the pain that has already been suffered by the
Venezuelan people.
The courts “have
a very grave responsibility,” the cardinal warned, “and no judge should
ever be like Pontius Pilate, who simply condemned Jesus Christ in order
to please the crowds.”
“We must always seek the truth, which is the way of justice and peace,” he said in conclusion.
