Catholic News 2
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- More than a third of U.S. states have created school voucher programs that bypass thorny constitutional and political issues by turning them over to nonprofits that rely primarily on businesses to fund them. But the programs are raising questions about transparency and accountability at a time when supporters are urging that they be expanded into a federal program....
RED OAK, Iowa (AP) -- Republican Rep. David Young angered conservatives in Iowa when he initially opposed a House Republican health care bill then weeks later backed it. Independents were frustrated with the two-term congressman's embrace of a partisan approach to repealing and replacing Barack Obama's Affordable Care Act....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump has spent much of the week feuding with his top Senate partner, suggesting that Majority Leader Mitch McConnell might have to rethink his future if he doesn't deliver on the president's agenda of health care, taxes and infrastructure....
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- President Donald Trump tweeted that military solutions are "locked and loaded" as officials said Friday they plan to move ahead with large-scale U.S.-South Korea exercises later this month that North Korea, now finalizing plans to launch a salvo of missiles toward Guam, claims are a rehearsal for war....
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has ordered the Belgian arm of the Brothers of Charity religious order to stop offering euthanasia in its psychiatric hospitals.Listen to Devin Watkins’ report: The Holy See Press Office confirmed that the Pope gave his personal approval to a Vatican letter sent at the beginning of August, which gives the Catholic charity until the end of August to stop the practice at all of its 15 centers in Belgium.Euthanasia is legal in the country, and in May the Brothers of Charity Group which administers the Belgian hospitals announced it would allow doctors to perform euthanasia on psychiatric patients.The charity said in a statement it would be performed only if there were “no reasonable treatment alternatives”.Joint letter affirming magisteriumPope Francis also ordered Brothers of Charity who serve on the group’s board to sign a joint letter to their Superior General declaring that they “fully support the vision of the magi...
(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has ordered the Belgian arm of the Brothers of Charity religious order to stop offering euthanasia in its psychiatric hospitals.
Listen to Devin Watkins’ report:
The Holy See Press Office confirmed that the Pope gave his personal approval to a Vatican letter sent at the beginning of August, which gives the Catholic charity until the end of August to stop the practice at all of its 15 centers in Belgium.
Euthanasia is legal in the country, and in May the Brothers of Charity Group which administers the Belgian hospitals announced it would allow doctors to perform euthanasia on psychiatric patients.
The charity said in a statement it would be performed only if there were “no reasonable treatment alternatives”.
Joint letter affirming magisterium
Pope Francis also ordered Brothers of Charity who serve on the group’s board to sign a joint letter to their Superior General declaring that they “fully support the vision of the magisterium of the Catholic Church, which has always confirmed that human life must be respected and protected in absolute terms, from the moment of conception till its natural end.”
Brothers who refuse to sign the joint letter renouncing the practice of euthanasia will face sanctions under canon law, while the Catholic charity group can expect to face legal action and even expulsion from the Church if it fails to change its policy.
Brothers of Charity statement
Bro. René Stockman, General Superior of the Brothers of Charity, released a statement in response to the position of his Belgian brothers.
“The central point and the foundation within Christian ethics is that life is absolute, which cannot be touched. Life is a gift from God and entails an assignment. And because life is absolute, it is a state worthy of protection,” he wrote.
Mattias De Vriendt, a spokesman for the Belgium charity, said it had received the Vatican's request but had not yet responded.
He confirmed the charity's hospitals had received requests from patients seeking euthanasia recently but could not say whether any procedures had been performed.
St. Louis, Mo., Aug 11, 2017 / 12:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After the Syrian city of Aleppo lost over half its Christian population during the conflict among government forces and various rebel groups, its Melkite archbishop is determined to rebuild from the ashes. “Dear friends, I am determined now, more than ever – and like I have never done before – to apply myself and to act in order to restore the Christian prestige of our ancestral city, Aleppo, pearl of the East and the West, cradle of the civilizations and Christianity, the birthplace of cultures,” Melkite Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart of Aleppo said at the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention Aug. 2.“I am determined more than ever to stand by our young people in that devastated place to help them rebuild what was destroyed and recover what was lost,” he said.Archbishop Jeanbart addressed Knights from all over the world at the organization’s 135th Supreme Convention in St. Lo...
St. Louis, Mo., Aug 11, 2017 / 12:03 am (CNA/EWTN News).- After the Syrian city of Aleppo lost over half its Christian population during the conflict among government forces and various rebel groups, its Melkite archbishop is determined to rebuild from the ashes.
“Dear friends, I am determined now, more than ever – and like I have never done before – to apply myself and to act in order to restore the Christian prestige of our ancestral city, Aleppo, pearl of the East and the West, cradle of the civilizations and Christianity, the birthplace of cultures,” Melkite Archbishop Jean-Clement Jeanbart of Aleppo said at the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention Aug. 2.
“I am determined more than ever to stand by our young people in that devastated place to help them rebuild what was destroyed and recover what was lost,” he said.
Archbishop Jeanbart addressed Knights from all over the world at the organization’s 135th Supreme Convention in St. Louis. The see of his archdiocese has been decimated in the more than six year-long Syrian civil war, culminating in the final push of pro-government forces to take back the city from rebel forces, which they successfully did in December.
However, the conflict resulted in horrific civilian casualties, with reports of atrocities like the bombing of hospitals and chemical gas attacks. Over half the Christians have left Aleppo because of the fighting, Archbishop Jeanbart said, and he expects only around one-quarter of those to return.
Civilians who remained in the city were at risk of starvation, and a UN humanitarian convoy was bombed by pro-government aircraft in September in the Aleppo area. Rebel groups also reportedly hid stockpiles of food while other civilians suffered from want of food.
“The game of the nations in that part of the world and the tough confrontations of many powerful countries, induced us in a terrible turmoil and has transformed our peaceful region into a battlefield, where mercy and pity have nothing to offer at all,” Archbishop Jeanbart said.
“When you go to my place and look around, you do not see but demolitions, human tragedies, tears and sorrow.”
The Syrian government has gained hold of around 75 percent of the country, the archbishop told CNA in an interview after his address. Large cities like Aleppo have been “freed” from infiltration of terror groups like the Islamic State, a relief to Christians who were targeted by Islamic State for genocide.
On May 13, the 100th anniversary of the Marian apparitions at Fatima, Aleppo was consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima in a Mass said in St. Francis of Assisi Roman Rite Cathedral, concelebrated by bishops and priests of the city.
After the conflict ends and Syria is rebuilt, Christians must be considered full citizens and entitled to all the rights that are entailed therein, the archbishop said.
“What we want is to be considered as citizens, that we may have all the rights, give us what all the human rights give us,” he said. “We want to have full citizenship, with all the duties, but also all the rights.”
The fundamentalism and fanaticism that could threaten this freedom of religion must be extinguished, he said in his address to the Knights. Good education for the youth and the rebuilding of homes and hospitals must also be accomplished to ensure a sound future for Syria, he said.
More than 330,000 have perished in the Syrian civil war, 5 million refugees have fled the country, and over 6 million are displaced within the country. In addition, more than 4million people are in “besieged or hard to reach areas,” the UN has reported.
Yet amid the death and destruction in Aleppo, Archbishop Jeanbart still has hope for the rebuilding of Syria.
“Yes I think that it will be possible if we say ‘No’ to despair, to nonchalance and indifference,” he said.
“Many reasons permit us to say that we have great hope and that success is possible. We have proven in the past that we are determined citizens and capable workers and in these last years we have shown that we are able to surmount obstacles and face adversity with courage.”
In addition, past examples of groups like the Knights of Columbus coming to the aid of the Syrian people give hope that the country can be rebuilt, he said. The “Build to Stay” project has already produced good results, he said, and 580 apartments have been restored and over 100 long-term interest-free loans have been issued for men to start small businesses.
“This has given comfort to many faithful, employment to some hundred people and a new sense of confidence to a good number of Christians living in the city,” he said.
The archbishop has also publicized the motto “Aleppo is waiting for you,” for Christians who have left and are weighing return.
For those who have inquired about returning, “if this trend continues and gets stronger, we can hope that the bloodletting – and the exodus of so many Christians – that has been threatening us can stop, so that we can help people live in their beloved country,” he said.
“We will continue to work hard on this, with the help of God and the support of those like the Knights of Columbus who wish us well and want us to stay where we are, were we belong, where the long history of the Church began!”
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Jordan Spieth only needs to win the PGA Championship to complete the career Grand Slam....
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has clamped down on social media and news websites - the main outlets for debate and dissent in the West Bank - with a vaguely worded decree that critics say allows his government to jail anyone on charges of harming "national unity" or the "social fabric."...
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) -- Google CEO Sundar Pichai has canceled an internal town hall meant to address gender discrimination on Thursday after employee questions for management began to leak online from the company's internal messaging service....
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Message to President Donald Trump and congressional Republicans: It's time to make the Obama health care law more effective. Stop trying to scuttle it....
