Catholic News 2

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By Cindy Wooden

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The bishop who leads the apostolic vicariate that includes Yemen said he has "strong indications" that Salesian Father Tom Uzhunnalil "is still alive in the hands of his kidnappers."

Bishop Paul Hinder, head of the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia, told Catholic News Service March 28, "I have no confirmation that anything happened Good Friday" and added that the rumors appear to be untrue.

Father Uzhunnalil, an Indian, was kidnapped March 4 from the home for the aged and disabled run by the Missionaries of Charity in Aden, Yemen. Four Missionaries of Charity and 12 others were murdered in the attack.

Speaking from his office in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, Bishop Hinder said it appeared that in late March a rumor began in India that militants connected to the so-called Islamic State group planned to crucify Father Uzhunnalil on Good Friday. The rumor spread around the world through social media.

Leaders of the Salesian order in India said March 21 that there was no evidence to support the reports and asked people to refrain from "spreading false rumors."

Rumors that the murder was carried out began to circulate after Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schonborn of Vienna mentioned Father Uzhunnalil in his homily at the Easter Vigil March 26. The next day, the Vienna archdiocesan website posted a piece quoting Bishop Hinder and Indian Salesians as saying there was no evidence the priest was killed; Cardinal Schonborn had spoken to church leaders in the region and believed "there is still hope."

Bishop Hinder told CNS March 28, "Nobody knows exactly what is happening." However, he said, "I have sufficient reason to doubt" the reports of Father Uzhunnalil's death.

The bishop refused to comment further, saying the situation is "too delicate."

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NEW YORK (AP) -- Though congressional Republicans' bid to defund Planned Parenthood was vetoed by President Barack Obama, anti-abortion activists and politicians are achieving a growing portion of their goal with an aggressive state-by-state strategy....

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- As North Korea rattles its nuclear saber, threatening to bomb the U.S. at "any moment," a nerve-jangling question hangs in the air: If Pyongyang did launch a nuclear-armed missile at an American city, could the Pentagon's missile defenses overcome their spotty test record and shoot it down beyond U.S. shores?...

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DAMASCUS, Syria (AP) -- The recapture of Syria's ancient city of Palmyra from the Islamic State group has brought new revelations of the destruction wreaked by the extremists, who decapitated priceless statues and smashed or looted artifacts in the city's museum....

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- Donald Trump wants to win the White House in the fall. Paul Ryan wants to save his own vision of the Republican Party for the future....

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WASHINGTON (AP) -- A gunman was taken into custody after shots were fired in the U.S. Capitol complex on Monday, Capitol officials said, and visitors and staff were shut in their offices and told to "shelter in place."...

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LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) -- In an emotional televised address, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed Monday to hunt down and defeat the militants who have been carrying out attacks like the Easter bombing that targeted Christians and killed 72 people....

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(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis said “we also stand today before the empty tomb of Jesus, and meditate with wonder and gratitude on the great mystery of the Resurrection of the Lord” during his  Easter Monday Regina Coeli address.

“Life has conquered death. Mercy and love have conquered sin! There is need of faith and hope to open this new and wonderful horizon,” Pope Francis said.

“And we know that faith and hope are a gift from God, and we have to ask: ‘Lord, give me faith, give me hope! We have so much need!’. Let us by pervaded by the emotions that resonate in the Easter sequence: ‘Yes, we are certain: Christ is truly risen.’ The Lord has risen among us! This truth marked in an indelible way the lives of the Apostles who, after the Resurrection, again felt the need to follow their Master and, receiving the Holy Spirit, went without fear to proclaim to all what they had seen with their own eyes and personally experienced.”

The Holy Father said “in this Jubilee Year we are called to rediscover and to welcome with particular intensity the comforting announcement of the resurrection: ‘Christ, my hope, is risen!’”, adding “if Christ is risen, we can look with new eyes and hearts at every event of our lives, even the most negative.”

“The moments of darkness, of failure, and also of sin can be transformed and announce a new path. When we have reached the base of our misery and our weakness, the risen Christ gives us the strength to lift ourselves up. If we have faith in Him, His grace saves us!” – Pope Francis continued – “The crucified and risen Lord is the full revelation of mercy, present and active in history. This is the Easter message that still resonates today and that will resonate throughout the time of Easter until Pentecost.”

The Pope said “the silent witness to the events of the Passion and Resurrection of Jesus was Mary.”

“She was standing next to the cross: She did not collapse in the face of grief, but her faith made her stronger” – he explained – “In the broken heart of a mother, there was always the flame of hope. We ask her to also help us to accept in fullness the Easter proclamation of resurrection, to embody it concretely in our daily lives.”

He then invoked Our Lady before reciting the Regina Coeli prayer, which is prayed instead of the Angelus during the Easter season: “May the Virgin Mary give us the certainty of faith that suffered every step of our journey, illuminated by the light of Easter; that it will become a blessing and joy for us and for others, especially for those who suffer because of selfishness and indifference.”

After reciting the Regina Coeli, Pope Francis condemned the “reprehensible” terrorist attack in Lahore, Pakistan, and called on civil and other authorities to “do everything possible to restore security and peace to the population and, in particular, to the most vulnerable religious minorities.”

At the end of his address, the Holy Father encouraged everyone to spend a little bit of time every day reading from the Gospels.

“It takes no more than five minutes to read a passage from the Gospel. Remember this!...And do not forget to pray for me!” Pope Francis concluded.

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The Indian government said it was still actively trying to rescue a Salesian priest kidnapped in Yemen in early March amid unconfirmed reports that the missionary had been crucified on Good Friday. Indian foreign minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted on March 26 that the government was continuing efforts to rescue Father Thomas Uzhunnalil. "We are making all efforts to secure his release," said Swaraj's tweet.

The Washington Times reported March 27 that Father Uzhunnalil had been crucified by the so-called Islamic State on Good Friday, and that the priest's death was confirmed at an Easter Vigil Mass in Vienna.

Father Joseph Chinnayan, the deputy secretary general of the Indian bishops' conference told ucanews.com March 28 that he has contacted "all authentic sources" within the church and government. "As of now, there is absolutely no basis for this talk of crucifixion," he said. Father Chinnayan said he will be meeting with foreign ministry officials late March 28, where he expects "a clearer picture will emerge."

Father Mathew Valarkote, spokesman for the Salesian's Bangalore province, said the government statement "definitely shows that no harm has been done to" Father Uzhunnalil. Father Valarkote said reports of Father Uzhunnalil's crucifixion were baseless. "We do not know the basis of such reports. As far as we know, efforts are on to rescue him," he said.

Father Uzhunnalil was kidnapped in the port city of Aden March 4 during a raid by suspected Islamic terrorists in Yemen on a nursing home run by Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity, in which 16 people were gunned down, including four nuns.

The 56-year-old Salesian priest hails from the southern state of Kerala and is a member of the Salesians' Bangalore province.

(Source: UCANews)

 

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(Vatican Radio) Mother Angelica, the foundress of the EWTN Catholic Television Network, died on Easter Sunday at the age of 92, years after suffering a debilitating stroke.

The Poor Clare nun started the Eternal Word Television Network in 1981, and since then it has grown into one of the largest religious media enterprises in the world, comprising television and radio stations, websites, and publishing entities.

Mother Angelica was born Rita Rizzo on April 20, 1923, in Canton, Ohio. She joined the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration in Cleveland in 1944.

In 1961, she founded Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Alabama, and began a taped series a few years later, which led to her first radio program in 1971. This led to work in television, and later to the founding of EWTN. The television network succeeded where other ventures, often better-funded failed.

Mother Angelica retired from her leadership role in 2000, and suffered her stroke the following year.

“In passing to eternal life, Mother Angelica leaves behind a legacy of holiness and commitment to the New Evangelization that should inspire us all,” Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus told the EWTN-owned Catholic News Agency. “I was honored to know and be able to assist Mother Angelica during the early days of EWTN. Over the years, that relationship grew, and today the Knights of Columbus and EWTN partner regularly on important projects.”

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