Catholic News 2
BROOKFIELD, Wis. (AP) -- Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz won the endorsement of Wisconsin governor - and former GOP rival - Scott Walker Tuesday as all five candidates converged on his state ahead of its key primary....
LARNACA, Cyprus (AP) -- An Egyptian wearing a fake explosives belt who hijacked a domestic EgyptAir flight and forced it to land in Cyprus on Tuesday surrendered and was taken into custody after releasing all passengers and crew unharmed following an hours-long standoff....
Irondale, Ala., Mar 29, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA).- Paul Darrow went to his first gay beach when he was 15.Soon after, he hitchhiked his way to New York, where there was a thriving gay scene and where he could pursue a career in modeling. Once there, he landed a high-end job as an international model and rubbed elbows with celebrities at clubs in the city.When he wasn’t at the studio or at the gym, Darrow spent his time looking for partners. He found himself going through dozens, and then hundreds, and then thousands of lovers.“It became frantic, and it was never my intention...but I became insensitive to what it means to be with a partner, both body and soul,” he said in the documentary film, “Desire of the Everlasting Hills.”But after the AIDS epidemic claimed around 90 percent of his friends, a disease he himself narrowly and miraculously escaped, Darrow decided to move to San Francisco for a fresh start. He met his partner, Jeff, there and they moved to...
Irondale, Ala., Mar 29, 2016 / 03:02 am (CNA).- Paul Darrow went to his first gay beach when he was 15.
Soon after, he hitchhiked his way to New York, where there was a thriving gay scene and where he could pursue a career in modeling. Once there, he landed a high-end job as an international model and rubbed elbows with celebrities at clubs in the city.
When he wasn’t at the studio or at the gym, Darrow spent his time looking for partners. He found himself going through dozens, and then hundreds, and then thousands of lovers.
“It became frantic, and it was never my intention...but I became insensitive to what it means to be with a partner, both body and soul,” he said in the documentary film, “Desire of the Everlasting Hills.”
But after the AIDS epidemic claimed around 90 percent of his friends, a disease he himself narrowly and miraculously escaped, Darrow decided to move to San Francisco for a fresh start. He met his partner, Jeff, there and they moved to a cabin in Sonoma County.
It was in their shared home that Darrow accidentally discovered a one-eyed, straight-talking “pirate nun” wearing an eye-patch who would change his life forever.
“It was so strange that I said 'Jeff Jeff come in here! You gotta see this!'” he said, pointing to the image on the T.V.
Unbeknownst to them at the time, it was Mother Angelica on EWTN. She had just had a stroke, which pulled the left side of her face into a slump and required her to wear a black eye patch over one eye.
“So (Jeff) comes in and I'm laughing mockingly at this nun with a patch over her eye, a distorted face…and a complete old fashioned habit,” Darrow said. “We both mocked her and laughed at her, you know, 'Gosh these crazy Christians.'”
Jeff left the room and Darrow was about to change the channel, when Mother Angelica “said something so intelligent, so real, and so honest, that it really struck me,” he said.
“You see God created you and I to be happy in this life and the next,” Mother Angelica said through slumped lips, her good eye still twinkling behind her glasses.
Mother Angelica's words struck a chord with Darrow that day, and he found himself secretively snatching glimpses of her episodes every chance he got.
“He cares for you. He watches your every move. There's no one that loves you can do that.”
Mother Angelica's words struck a chord with Darrow that day, and he found himself secretively snatching glimpses of her episodes every chance he got.
Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation, foundress of the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), passed away on March 27 after a lengthy struggle with the aftereffects of a stroke. She was 92 years old.
“She really had…a huge influence on my life, and I learned to love her,” he said, “but at the same time, I had to hide her.”
“So when I turned off the TV, I would always change the channel so that when Jeff or whoever was watching that TV came in, they would never see that I was watching Mother Angelica. And it reminded me as I was doing this of when I used to turn the channel when I was watching porn because I didn't want Jeff or anyone else to see a porn station come up.”
Eventually, Mother Angelica's influence convinced Darrow to go back to church after decades of absence. It was a move that made Darrow very wary; he was sure he would lose friends and clients if they saw him going into a Catholic Church.
And in some ways, he was right.
“I lost clients, I lost friends,” he told CNA in a 2014 interview, at the premiere of the documentary.
“People were in shock that an educated, relatively intelligent man could believe in Jesus Christ. These were the few friends that were aware that I was back in the Church.”
But it's a move that he’s never regretted. Since his conversion, Darrow has shared his experience through talks and conferences. Mother Angelica also led Darrow to discover Courage International, the
Vatican-approved apostolate that reaches out to Catholics with same-sex attraction with the goals of growing closer to God, engaging in supportive friendships, and learning to live full lives within the call to chastity.
It was through Courage International that Darrow became involved with the film “Desire of the Everlasting Hills,” which he saw as a chance to share his story and to give others the same hope that he found in the Catholic Church.
“I was not discriminated against at the beginning of my journey back to the Catholic Church, I was never told that I was a bad person, that I was doing something wrong, even in confession,” he said.
“The Catholic Church really is, according to its teachings, open to everybody.”
Darrow said he felt he owed it to God to share his story through courage and through the film because of all that God had done in his life.
“I wanted to express my love to God and my appreciation for all that He has done for me,” Darrow said, “that He had never forgotten me during the decades that I had forgotten him or turned against him.”
The full documentary is available for free online at: https://everlastinghills.org/movie/
BOSTON (AP) -- Archeologists in Boston are digging at the boyhood home of slain black rights activist Malcolm X....
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea fired a short-range projectile from an area near its eastern coast on Tuesday, South Korean officials said, in what appears to be another weapons test seen as a response to ongoing military drills between Washington and Seoul....
CAIRO (AP) -- The Latest on the hijacked EgyptAir plane that has landed in Larnaca in Cyprus. (all times local):...
Brussels, Belgium, Mar 29, 2016 / 12:47 am (CNA).- “...I just want to tell you that life is a wonderful thing, and the world is really full of remarkable people.”So starts a letter written by one of the survivors of the bomb attacks at the Brussels Zaventem international airport last week, according to CNN. The author of the letter, Sneha Mehta, penned those words to her child, who was only 16 weeks old in utero.When Sneha and her husband Sameep Mehta arrived in Brussels from Abu Dhabi last Tuesday, they were abruptly greeted with screams and chaos as the ceiling of the airport started to collapse.The couple was faced with the split-second decision to either remain in the shambles of the arrival section, or try to leave for the hospital to check on their baby.“I absolutely didn't know which direction to run in,” Sneha told CNN.Amidst all the uncertainty, Sneha said that she knew one thing “for sure” - that she would survive for the sake of the...
Brussels, Belgium, Mar 29, 2016 / 12:47 am (CNA).- “...I just want to tell you that life is a wonderful thing, and the world is really full of remarkable people.”
So starts a letter written by one of the survivors of the bomb attacks at the Brussels Zaventem international airport last week, according to CNN. The author of the letter, Sneha Mehta, penned those words to her child, who was only 16 weeks old in utero.
When Sneha and her husband Sameep Mehta arrived in Brussels from Abu Dhabi last Tuesday, they were abruptly greeted with screams and chaos as the ceiling of the airport started to collapse.
The couple was faced with the split-second decision to either remain in the shambles of the arrival section, or try to leave for the hospital to check on their baby.
“I absolutely didn't know which direction to run in,” Sneha told CNN.
Amidst all the uncertainty, Sneha said that she knew one thing “for sure” - that she would survive for the sake of their unborn baby.
Sneha and Sameep fled the airport and ran straight to the highway, where a cab driver stopped to take them to the Sint Augustinus hospital.
Despite the traumatic chaos of the day, the ultrasound exam showed the Mehtas' baby peacefully sucking its thumb - almost unaware of the terror happening outside the womb.
Unlike many memories from that day, Sneha recalled not the hatred and violence that broke loose upon the city, but rather the kindness she encountered from complete strangers.
She remembered the police and rescue crews who were quick to aid the wounded. She recalled the cab driver who not only brought them to the hospital, but talked to them the whole way there. She thought of the traumatized victims scattered along the highways who were helped by random drivers.
“People are still coming together, regardless of race, color or background,” Sneha said, according to CNN.
Now that she is a survivor, and safely back home in Antwerp, Sneha decided to write a letter to her unborn baby as a reminder of all that had happened. According to CNN, the letter reads:
"Hi Sweetheart,
I don't know if we already acknowledged this with you in person, but when you were 16 weeks old, mum and dad were in an explosion at Brussels Airport.
And no matter where humanity is today, I just want to tell you that life is a wonderful thing, and the world is really full of remarkable people.
You didn't just give mum and dad faith and reason to live, you gave the awareness and presence of mind like never before.
I felt more alive than I ever have, and I knew I had to protect you, so I was calm, composed and fully aware that we will survive.
When we reached Sint-Augustinus emergency, and we saw you oblivious and sucking at your thumb at the ultrasound, and doing your general acrobatics, all the mistrust, hate and angst for the terrorist attack vaporized.
I do hope with all my heart that you are born into a better world, and if not, then you do absolute best to make it that.
You are absolutely precious to us, and have already been a hero today.
I guess the world has sent so much love and hope your way, you owe your life to reciprocating that goodness.
May you always be brave and healthy.
We love you beyond words, Mum and Dad."
CNN reported that Sneha might give the sealed letter to their child at age 16, or they may wait until a later time. Either way, Sneha wants her child to know that love is victorious over hatred.
“It's a very unfortunate event. But it's still largely a beautiful world.”
DEKALB, Ill. (AP) -- A 76-year-old former security guard serving a life sentence in the 1957 slaying of a 7-year-old Illinois girl could go free soon after a prosecutor found fault with the investigation and new evidence corroborated an alibi....
WENZHOU, China (AP) -- The email seemed unremarkable: a routine request by Mattel Inc.'s chief executive for a new vendor payment to China....
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Miles from the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the red carpet, Steve Shin belts out tunes on a piano scarred with nicks and love notes written in scratches, teaching children how to sing....
