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Quito, Ecuador, Sep 11, 2024 / 09:50 am (CNA).

The secret of the strength and resilience of the Ukrainian people in the midst of the ongoing war with Russia comes "from union with God" and from the Eucharist, affirmed the auxiliary bishop of Sambir in Ukraine, Hryhoriy Komar, during a Sept. 9 address to the International Eucharistic Congress in Quito, Ecuador.

"We have parishes where they have not stopped praying in the church for almost three years. People have their turn to pray day and night. Our strength is the Eucharist. The Eucharist is an invitation to communicate and forge communion with others. That is, to be with the people in the most difficult moments and to give one's life for the people," the prelate said in his remarks about the war that began on Feb. 24, 2022, with the Russian invasion.

At the Congress, the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic prelate said "the Eucharist is an invitation to participate in the suffering and resurrection of Christ… It is an encounter with the risen Christ, conqueror of death, with the One who gives life. Only he can heal shattered families, broken lives, and change death into life."

At the beginning of his talk, Komar thanked the organizers of the Quito 2024 International Eucharistic Congress for the opportunity to "bear witness to the pain and tragedy."

"The life of our people is divided into two parts: before and after that date [Feb. 24, 2022]. And now we know very well that our life will never be the same as before."

According to data from the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), more than 10 million Ukrainians have fled their homes since the invasion began. Of the total, more than 6.4 million are refugees abroad.

Komar spoke of the magnitude of the suffering his people are experiencing. "It is difficult to find words to describe all the horrors of the war in Ukraine. For many people in the world, war is something abstract, but for us it is a terrible reality that we live every day, experiencing the danger of losing our own lives or the lives of our relatives," he said.

The prelate also underlined the mission of the Church to proclaim the truth and rejected any kind of malicious or manipulated narrative regarding the origin of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

"Some tell us that Ukraine provoked Russia to start this war. That is like saying something similar to a woman who has been raped. It's unfair to describe the genocide that Russia is carrying out in Ukraine with the word crisis. It's a lie. It's false witness," he emphasized.

'Our priests are heroes'

Faced with this reality, the Church has had to reinvent itself to offer spiritual and material support in the midst of chaos. "Our churches are not only a place of prayer but also a place where one can find advice or take shelter during bombings," Komar said.

He also recognized the heroic work of priests in his country: "I admire the fervor and sacrifice of our priests. They are heroes because with their prayers and daily deeds they support their people."

Despite the immense suffering, the Ukrainian bishop said he maintains a firm hope in the prayer of Catholics around the world. "To overcome evil, we need a prayer for the conversion of all of us. In Ukraine, in Europe, in Ecuador, in the world," he said.

He also called on the international community not to forget the pain of his people: "The war in Ukraine is not only Ukraine's problem."

Komar concluded his talk by asking the world to pray for Ukraine and to continue searching for the truth.

"May the world be stronger" thanks to solidarity with his country, he said, imploring: "Lord, king of peace and the universe, protect our people and Ukraine."

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 11, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Nearly 3,000 names are engraved in bronze at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. But 10 of the victims in the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks are different: They have no names. Instead, each is remembered as an "unborn child." 

Among those memorialized this way are "Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas and her unborn child."

On Sept. 11, Jack Grandcolas lost the two people he held most dear: his wife, Lauren, and their unborn child. His pregnant 38-year-old wife died on United Airlines Flight 93, which crashed in Pennsylvania after the passengers fought back against hijackers redirecting the flight to Washington, D.C. Grandcolas recounts his loss and search for hope in a memoir called "Like a River to the Sea: Heartbreak and Hope in the Wake of United 93."

The book was published by Rare Bird on Sept. 6, 2022, and opens with a dedication to his lost child.

"Dear Son … or Daughter," he begins. "I am writing this book at the advice of my therapist. She felt it would be helpful to share a little bit about your mom and dad, and why you will always have your place in history."

Today, that child would be 22 years old. Her name would be Grace, if a girl — Gavin, if a boy.

Lauren was three months pregnant, Grandcolas recalls, when she flew from their home in California to New Jersey for her grandmother's funeral. At her insistence, he stayed behind to care for their sick cat.

"We were giddy at the thought of becoming parents, having spent the previous decade trying to get pregnant," he writes. "There had been plenty of heartbreak along the way, including a miscarriage in 1999, when Lauren was 36. Two years later, we had pretty much resigned ourselves to raising only cats ... and then a miracle happened."

Lauren and their "miracle" were supposed to return to California on Sept. 11, 2001.

That morning, Grandcolas woke up to the sound of the answering machine. He fell back asleep, only to wake up again and spot what he calls the "shape of an angel." 

Had someone he knew recently died?

It must be Lauren's grandmother, he thought. Then he realized it was Lauren.

When he checked the answering machine, he heard a message that would change his life forever. 

"Honey, are you there? Jack? Pick up, sweetie," he heard Lauren's voice say. "Okay, well, I just want to tell you I love you. We're having a little problem on the plane. I'm fine and comfortable and I'm okay for now. I just love you more than anything, just know that. It's just a little problem, so I, I'll … Honey, I just love you. Please tell my family I love them, too. Bye, honey."

"In that moment I knew Lauren and our baby were gone," he writes of his college sweetheart and their little one. 

His wife's funeral was held at a Catholic church in Houston. Lauren, he says, was not a religious person. But in the months before her death, she began attending a weekly Bible study.

"One evening she came home and said, 'I finally get it,'" he remembers. When he prodded her by asking, "Get what?" she responded: "The meaning of it all."

While raised Catholic, Grandcolas struggled with his faith. 

"What kind of merciful God would take my sweet Lauren and our child?" he asked. He later concluded that it was not God but human ideology.

He encountered God again after a conversation with Bono, the lead vocalist of the famous rock band U2. Bono performed "One Tree Hill" — Lauren's favorite U2 song — in her memory at a 2005 concert at the Oakland Coliseum. Afterward, Grandcolas opened up to the singer.

"Being brought up Catholic, you're given all this guilt about things that you didn't do right," he told Bono. "I worry that I may have screwed up in this life and mortgaged my opportunity to see Lauren again."

"You'll see her again. I know it. We all screw up in life," he says Bono reassured him. "That's why God grants us forgiveness. It's his most powerful gift."

Bono's words changed him and his faith, he says. 

"Ever since 9/11, I had questioned God and his plan for me," he writes. "The night was a tribute to her but in a very important way it set me free, allowing me to be more forgiving of myself and rekindle my belief in God's mercy."

Grandcolas introduces readers to Lauren as a woman with a beautiful smile, radiant personality, and even a mischievous streak. They married after meeting in college and stayed together as he progressed with a career in the newspaper industry and she took charge as a marketing manager.

After losing her and their baby, he struggled with depression, PTSI (post-traumatic stress injury), heavy drinking, fear of abandonment, and survivor's guilt. With the help of EMDR psychotherapy, he said, he discovered that "for all these years I had been mourning Lauren without fully grieving for the baby we lost."

"Over the years that child grew up in my mind, growing older every year," he writes. "I knew I would not be able to move on until saying goodbye to the baby I never got to hold."

Today, the memory of Lauren and their unborn baby lives on at memorials across the country, through the Lauren Catuzzi Grandcolas Foundation, and, now, his book.

"[A]s I continue to reflect on the highs and lows of the last two decades, I've come to realize that I am very lucky indeed," he says. "I found true love, twice. I've endured a pair of horrific tragedies but still have a resilient spirit and zest for life. I'll always carry the emotional scars of losing Lauren and our child, just as I'll always have the physical scars from my burns, but all of my wounds continue to heal."

"We all suffer loss. We all endure heartbreak. It's how you respond to these cataclysms that define you," he concludes. "Sometimes the most beautiful things grow out of our hardest moments."

This article was first published on Sept. 11, 2022, and has been updated.

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St. Louis, Mo., Sep 10, 2024 / 16:20 pm (CNA).

The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that a proposed constitutional amendment to dramatically expand abortion in the state will remain on the Nov. 5 ballot after a circuit judge blocked the measure earlier this week.  

The ruling dealt a blow to pro-life activists in the state, who had argued that the final proposed language not only violates state law by failing to list which laws it would repeal but also misleads voters about the scope and gravity of what they will be voting for. A Catholic law firm led the legal effort to get the proposed amendment struck from the ballot. 

Missouri's proposed Amendment 3, which originally qualified for the November ballot in August after garnering thousands of signatures, would mandate that the government "shall not deny or infringe upon a person's fundamental right to reproductive freedom," including "prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion care, miscarriage care, and respectful birthing conditions."

Missouri law currently protects unborn babies throughout all of pregnancy with the only exception being cases of "medical emergency." With the Tuesday ruling, Missouri remains one of 10 states that will vote on abortion-related measures in November. 

In a brief order issued in the early afternoon Sept. 10 — just hours before the state deadline for finalizing the November ballot — the Missouri Supreme Court overruled a lower court's opinion that held that the proposed amendment violates state law by failing to mention the specific laws to be repealed if voters approve the measure. The court, under Chief Justice Mary Russell, said opinions would follow. 

The Thomas More Society, a Catholic public interest law firm based in Chicago, had filed the lawsuit challenging the pro-abortion amendment language in August on behalf of Missouri state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, pro-life advocate Kathy Forck, state Rep. Hannah Kelly, and Peggy Forrest, president and CEO of Our Lady's Inn, a St. Louis pro-life pregnancy center. 

The Missouri Catholic Conference (MCC) had urged Catholics to pray and fast for the amendment's removal from the ballot. 

In a statement to CNA, MCC executive director Jamie Morris expressed disappointment with the court's ruling.

"Missourians should have the right to know what laws will be overturned when they are asked to sign an initiative petition. The Missouri Catholic Conference will continue to educate the public on the dangers this amendment poses to women's health by removing even basic safeguards currently in law," Morris said.

"We encourage the faithful to continue to pray for a conversion of hearts and minds so that the pro-abortion Amendment 3 is defeated."

In his Sept. 6 ruling, Cole County Circuit Judge Christopher Limbaugh wrote that the defendants' failure to "include any statute or provision that will be repealed, especially when many of these statutes are apparent, is in blatant violation of" state law. 

Ahead of the Supreme Court's Tuesday ruling, Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft had on Monday decertified Amendment 3 from the November ballot, citing the lower court's ruling. Following the Supreme Court's opinion, Ashcroft will be required to recertify the proposed amendment. 

A hearing before the Missouri Supreme Court took place this morning at 8:30 a.m.

During the oral arguments before the Missouri Supreme Court, Charles Hatfield of Stinson LLP in Jefferson City, arguing for the pro-amendment side, said Article 3, Section 49 of the Missouri Constitution reserves to the people the right to propose amendments through an initiative process — a right that he said ought to be upheld.

Mary Catherine Martin of the Thomas More Society countered by arguing that voters need to be fully informed to exercise their rights properly and argued that the amendment's failure to disclose significant impacts misleads voters.

Martin said in a statement following the ruling that the decision "is a failure to protect voters by not upholding state laws that ensure voters are fully informed going into the ballot box."

"Missouri's Amendment 3 will have far-reaching implications on the state's abortion laws and well beyond, repealing dozens of laws that protect the unborn, pregnant women, parents, and children — a reality that the initiative campaign intentionally hid from voters. We implore Missourians to research and study the text and effects of Amendment 3 before going to the voting booth," Martin said.

This is a developing story. 

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Toronto, Canada, Sep 10, 2024 / 17:08 pm (CNA).

More than 2,200 people gathered for the annual EWTN Family Celebration held this year in Toronto.

This year's gathering, which took place on Sept. 7, featured various EWTN personalities, including network commentator and contributor Father Raymond de Souza; Father Chris Alar, MIC, host of "Living Divine Mercy"; "Women of Grace" host Johnnette Williams; EWTN Chairman of the Board and CEO Michael Warsaw; and EWTN News President and COO Montse Alvarado. 

Cardinal Thomas Collins, archbishop emeritus of Toronto, was the principal celebrant of the event's closing Mass.

Faith before politics 

The morning program featured a talk by de Souza, known for his regular columns at the National Catholic Register, CNA's sister news partner, as well as his EWTN feature presentation "The Seven Last Words of Christ."

De Souza highlighted the importance of putting faith before politics, offering an examination of conscience of sorts for political action.

"Paul instructs us clearly not to delight in sin. That includes not delighting in the sins of others because they will suffer bad effects from it," de Souza reflected. "Should I be pleased if a political candidate, a performer, or prelate suffers a scandal because it benefits my preferred political candidate, performer, or a prelate? We know we shouldn't, but the temptation is strong. We need to resist it."

De Souza also reflected on 1 Corinthians 13 as it relates to the mission of communicators.

"All of us journalists desire to get the story right and to get the story fast. That's our business. The two things have always been in tension," he said. "In the digital age, getting the story fast often means getting it wrong. This applies not only to professional journalists, my colleagues at EWTN, but to everyone who uses social media." 

"Doing all things in love means a measure of patience in an age that is very, very impatient," de Souza continued. "Speaking in haste risks not speaking in charity."

He also reflected on speech in regard to politics, following the standard of love offered in 1 Corinthians 13.

"Is our speech kind, even as we remain firm in the faith? Do we boast because we have been given the gift of faith, because we have a greater insight? Are we arrogant? Are we rude? Do we call other people names? Do we belittle them or demean them? Do we insult others?" he reflected. "The tide of arrogant, unkind, insulting, rude speech is a tsunami that overwhelms us. It is very hard not not to get swept up in it."

De Souza said we should pursue Cardinal John Henry Newman's definition of the manners of a "true gentleman." 

"From a long-sighted prudence, [a gentleman] observes the maxim of the ancient sage that we should ever conduct ourselves toward our enemy as if he were one day to be our friend," de Souza concluded.

'Family Talk'

Later in the day, a "Family Talk" session was held to discuss Mother Angelica's legacy, share stories, and reflect on the unique mission of EWTN. The panel included Warsaw and Alvarado as well as Franciscan Missionaries of the Eternal Word Fathers Joseph Mary Wolfe and Leonard Mary. 

"In 2001, [Mother Angelica] and I were sitting one afternoon when I asked her, 'What's the witness of EWTN? What is the story?'" Warsaw recalled. "And she didn't hesitate for a minute. She said, 'It's not how many television satellites we're on. It's not how many radio stations. It's about how we've done what we've done, which is by relying completely and totally upon God's providence.' And that was her witness to all of us."

Alvarado shared her profound admiration for how Mother Angelica "invested so much time in prayer."

"She invested so much more time in prayer than she did 'doing things,' the way the world would define productivity," Alvarado continued. "So we have to take that model. And I always loved that in her witness."

"[She] makes herself available to us in the legacy of the network but also in the virtue of these prayers," Alvarado said. "She understood the power of generational prayers and the investment that is made in adoration and how those graces fill your life."

Any young woman who looks at the Church and loves the Blessed Mother and encounters Mother Angelica sees her "feminine genius," Alvarado added. 

Joy in the face of challenges

Cardinal Collins, a vocal opponent of physician-assisted suicide in Canada, said that Catholics should respond to the issue by engaging with the faith and living a life of joy. 

The cardinal noted that people have a "coldness in the soul" and "a hopelessness" that stems from a "lack of meaning" in their own lives. 

"We don't have meaning in life if we let go of the reality of the faith that gives us guidance," he said.

He recalled how physician-assisted suicide became accepted in Canada. "It started out with extreme cases, and that's how they got it through the Supreme Court and through Parliament, but now it spreads, it spreads, it spreads," he said. 

"It also has resulted in the increase in what we strangely call 'medical assistance in dying.' I mean, that's not what it is. Medical assistance in dying is when you're helping people who are dying: You help them medically, not cause them to die."

In spite of the prevalence of assisted suicide, Collins still sees hope. 

"When you chase after nothingness, you find nothing. This is where I think it's a bad thing, certainly," he said. "But it's a good thing in the sense that it shows a hunger of people for meaning and direction — and that they can find in Our Lord Jesus."

It was an energetic and lively crowd, clapping in excitement throughout the speeches, whooping at some parts, and murmuring "awww" when Canada's beloved Cardinal Collins had to leave the stage.

One couple in attendance, Paul Le and Anne Hoang, married for 38 years, shared their excitement about the event. 

"Actually, COVID is what brought me close to the Catholic Church," said Le, who started listening to Collins and Bishop Robert Barron's homilies during COVID "almost every day." Since then, Le said, he understands the meaning of Catholicism more deeply. 

He said the global Catholic network's Family Celebration is an "extension of my learning process." 

When asked about his takeaways, Le said there were "many wonderful things," including a discussion of the meaning of freedom, which Le said is "very crucial."

"What is the meaning of freedom? And why is society in trouble now?" he said. "People say, 'Don't tell me what to do.' And eventually, what they find is trouble and misery."

"I think it will pull a lot of people back, an event like this, because I think people are hungry for something, something," Hoang said. "And this can satisfy it."

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Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Sep 10, 2024 / 17:38 pm (CNA).

The "spiritual darkness" that Mother Teresa describes in her writings can be difficult to comprehend, but this feeling of emptiness was not caused by either depression or a loss of faith, according to a lecturer at an academic conference organized by the Mother Teresa Institute.

St. Teresa of Calcutta's "dark night of the soul" was a distinct charism that helped her build her faith and serve others rather than a mere chemical imbalance that induces depression or an abandonment of the Catholic faith, said Loyola University Maryland philosophy professor Derek McAllister at a Sept. 6 symposium held at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., one day after the saint's feast day. 

"If it's a mental emotional problem, they do not of themselves promote virtue or increase depth of relationship with God," McAllister said. "Whereas we know with the dark night, the nights do of themselves greatly increase love, humility, patience, and the like. And they decidedly prepare one for deeper prayer."

The lecture focused on some of Mother Teresa's letters, which describe an emptiness and a spiritual darkness — essentially an inability to feel the presence of God. St. Teresa, who founded the Missionaries of Charity, was an Albanian sister who spent most of her life serving the poor in Calcutta, India. She was canonized in 2016.

"The darkness is so dark, and I am alone," St. Teresa wrote. "Unwanted, forsaken. The loneliness of the heart that wants love is unbearable. Where is my faith? Even deep down, there is nothing but emptiness and darkness. My God, how painful is this unknown pain? It pains without ceasing."

St. Teresa wrote that "the place of God in my soul is blank, there is no God in me" and "I just long and long for God and then it is that I feel he does not want me — he is not there."

McAllister noted that other saints have had such feelings and referenced St. John of the Cross' 16th-century poem "Dark Night of the Soul" and his subsequent commentaries on that poem. It describes the Spanish mystic's crisis of faith and an inability to feel the presence of God even though God was truly present and guiding the experience.

"In darkness and secure, by the secret ladder, disguised — oh, happy chance! — in darkness and in concealment, my house being now at rest," St. John's poem reads.

McAllister cited St. John's descriptions of his experience, noting that "he identifies, by name, melancholy and says that's not what I'm talking about." McAllister argued that an "affective condition that overwhelms people" does not accurately describe those experiences, but rather that the experience actively pushed St. John to grow closer to God.

"While you may experience desolation of God's felt presence of the senses, you're being purgated and drawn closer to God, but you don't feel that you are while you're experiencing that," McAllister explained.

In the case of Mother Teresa, McAllister compared and contrasted the symptoms described in her writing with the criteria used to diagnose major depressive disorder.

According to McAllister, depression often includes an unhealthy introspection and a lack of realism, which he said "advice does little to remedy." Further, someone who has clinical depression, he noted, will often experience chronic fatigue, insomnia, and a depressive affect. He also argued that depression does not promote virtue in and of itself: "That's why it's called a disorder."

He cited her writing to show that she was seeking answers to her spiritual darkness, as when she said to her confessor: "Each time your yes or no [to a question] has satisfied me as the will of God." He also said that she did not experience the other symptoms that commonly accompany depression or depressive affect in everyday activities. The fruits of her experience, he noted, also do not point to a disorder such as depression. 

"What's this [spiritual darkness] for in and of itself?" McAllister asked rhetorically. "Does it bring about humility, charity, kindness, and growth in Christ? And just look at what happened. Yes, absolutely [it did]."

The conference was attended by numerous sisters in the Missionaries of Charity along with lay members of the order, some priests, and a few professors and graduate students.

It was held a short walk from the St. John Paul II National Shrine, which is displaying a Mother Teresa exhibit until Nov. 11. The exhibit contains a first-class relic of St. Teresa and many of her personal items. 

Father Brian Kolodiejchuk, the president of the Mother Teresa Institute, told CNA that the organization functions as "the academic arm of the Mother Teresa Center" that focuses on her writings and her words. He said there is "a lot more depth to Mother Teresa's holiness" than many realize. 

"I think she has a message for the Church," Kolodiejchuk said. "She was one of the great figures of the last century."

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Quito, Ecuador, Sep 10, 2024 / 18:08 pm (CNA).

Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Diocese of Crookston, Minnesota, who is in Quito, Ecuador, for the International Eucharistic Congress, shared several "surprising" fruits of the recent National Eucharistic Congress, the first the U.S. has held in 83 years.

In an interview with ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, Cozzens said the blessings flowing from the July event in Indianapolis exceeded all expectations.

"People experience this love of Jesus. And this love that comes when the entire Church is gathered to adore and love Jesus. In those moments, the blessings of God that come to us are great and change us," said the prelate, who served as chairman of the National Eucharistic Congress.

Cozzens made reference to stories of profound healing and renewal, including couples who after the congress want to pray more every day, "priests who were thinking of leaving their ministry and who changed during this Eucharistic Congress," or "bishops who normally experience burdensome and difficult things in their lives and who feel the courage that only comes from Jesus."

Cozzens emphasized that when the "Church gathers and congregates around the Eucharist, Jesus wants to bring us many blessings."

"It was a moment that changed our Church in the United States, and that is why I am here."

Secularization: the challenge of our time

Cozzens identified secularization as one of the biggest challenges facing the Church today. He described it as a worldview in which people live as if "the world were all there is and God is not real."

However, he reminded Catholics that "the sacraments are the strongest way in which God enters the world and wants to enter our lives."

"But many people do not know that they need this encounter and think there is no benefit in this encounter," he lamented.

Faced with this challenge, the prelate called on the faithful to be witnesses of the transforming power of Christ: "All of us who know that this encounter with Jesus in the Eucharist is important have the responsibility to witness to this reality in the world today."

'Jesus wants to change us and convert us in the Eucharist'

The bishop of Crookston also elaborated on Christ's desire to transform man's heart of stone into a heart of flesh through the Eucharist. "Jesus wants to change us and convert us in the Eucharist," he said with conviction.

He highlighted how this encounter with Christ not only changes people individually but also has a social impact: "When we experience this love of Jesus for each one of us, it changes me. And when I change, I can experience the fraternity [that exists] in the world."

"The heart is the part of us that makes the blood circulate, and that is what love is like," Cozzens commented, noting that the main message of the Quito congress is that Christians must be "the heart of the world."

"It's not only human fraternity that is going to [be the agent of] love; it is the love of Christ that can heal the world," he added.

Three keys to a deeper encounter with the Eucharist

Finally, Cozzens gave three recommendations to Catholics to deepen their relationship with the Eucharist and more fully experience its fruits. 

"First, go to confession," he advised, explaining that confession purifies the heart and prepares it to receive the grace of the Eucharist.

Secondly, he invited the faithful to attend Mass not only on Sundays but also during the week. "The more you experience, the more your love will grow," he said.

And third, he urged Catholics to spend time in Eucharistic adoration. "We need that time in silence with Jesus to speak heart to heart," he said, noting that adoration is an opportunity for an intimate dialogue with the Lord.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Dili, East Timor, Sep 10, 2024 / 13:21 pm (CNA).

An estimated 600,000 Catholics attended Pope Francis' Mass on Tuesday in East Timor, a small island country that is 98% Catholic.

The pope celebrated the youthfulness of East Timor at the massive outdoor Mass where the crowd appeared like a sea of yellow-and-white Vatican-themed umbrellas used for protection from the island's scorching midday sun. 

"I have been thinking a lot about what is the best thing about Timor …  The best thing is its people. … The best thing about this place is the smiles of the children," Pope Francis said in off-the-cuff remarks in Spanish at the end of the Mass. 

"I wish for you peace, that you keep having many children, and that your smile continues to be your children," the pope told the Timorese.

East Timor is one of the world's most Catholic countries, with 98% of its 1.3 million people identifying as Catholic. The country gained independence in 2002 after a long struggle with Indonesia, during which the Catholic Church played an important role advocating human rights.

The local government declared the three days of the pope's visit as a national holiday in which nearly all of the streets and local businesses were closed with people flocking to the Esplanade of Taci Tolu in the capital city of Dili to take part in the papal Mass. 

Best friends Lareina Rosa Marcia Claver Da Cruz and Zuizina Abigael Maria Fatima de Jesus arrived at the Taci Tolu field with their families at 4:30 a.m. for the Mass that started at 4:30 p.m. to claim their spot in the front of the crowd. The 12-year-old girls said the wait in the hot sun was totally worth it, adding that it helped that they could keep each other company during the wait.

Both girls come from large families. East Timor is among the countries with the highest fertility rates in the world. In the years immediately following the country gaining its independence, the fertility rate was nearly seven children per woman.

Throughout Pope Francis' time in East Timor he has celebrated the country's high birth rate and big families.

"In East Timor it is beautiful, because there are many children: You are a young country where in every corner you can feel life pulsating and exploding. And this is a gift, a great gift: The presence of so much youth and so many children, in fact, constantly renews our energy and our life," Pope Francis said.

"But even more it is a sign, because making space for children, for the little ones, welcoming them, taking care of them, and making ourselves small before God and each other, are precisely the attitudes that open us to action of the Lord."

Despite East Timor's offshore oil and gas reserves, the country's population remains one of the poorest in Southeast Asia. 

During his visit, Pope Francis encouraged the developing country not to be blinded by the pursuit of prosperity at the expense of the poor.

"Let us ask together, in this Eucharist, each of us, as women and men, as a Church, as a society, to be able to reflect in the world the strong light, the tender light of the God of love, of that God who, as we have prayed in the Responsorial Psalm, 'lift the weak from the dust, raise the poor from the rubbish, to make him sit among the princes,'" Pope Francis said in his homily.

The dusty field of Taci Tolu is the same spot where Pope John Paul II offered Mass in 1989 when East Timor was still under Indonesian occupation. Many Catholics in East Timor point to John Paul II's visit as an important moment in their fight for independence.

Fernando Egidio Amaral told CNA that he believes John Paul II's visit "blessed" East Timor with its freedom.

Like many Catholics in Dili, Amaral traveled on foot with his wife and children from their house in Dili before waiting hours for the Mass to begin.

Prayers of the faithful were offered in six local languages: Mambae, Makasae, Bunak, Galole, Baiqueno, and Fataluku, reflecting the linguistic diversity of the small nation.

Pope Francis delivered a strong message to the crowd at the conclusion of the Mass using crocodiles, a revered animal in East Timorese culture who have also overrun some of the island's beaches.

"Be careful! Because I've been told that on some beaches crocodiles come; crocodiles come swimming," the pope said. "Be careful! Be careful of those crocodiles who want to change your culture, who want to change your history. Stay faithful. And don't go near those crocodiles because they bite, and they bite hard."

This Mass marked the culmination of Pope Francis' visit to Asia's newest country, which began on Monday when he arrived to enthusiastic crowds lining the streets of Dili for miles. 

East Timor is the third stop on the pope's 11-day trip to four countries in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Earlier, he visited Indonesia and Papua New Guinea. He will conclude his journey on Friday in Singapore.

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CNA Staff, Sep 10, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio is set to launch a Washington, D.C., program for its students, including residential and learning facilities, the university announced last week.  

The Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald Franciscan University Homeland Mission (FUHM) is part of the university's new "Encounter" initiative, designed to extend Franciscan University's mission and impact beyond its campus in Steubenville, Ohio. It is designed to equip students for "advancing the great global missionary cause of positively impacting the principles and policies guiding the United States government."

The university has purchased a $3 million property on Massachusetts Avenue in the District of Columbia for the program thanks to a $10 million gift from Ward and Kathy Fitzgerald. Their donation helps fund the Outreach and Evangelization component of the university's ongoing $110 million Rebuild My Church Capital Campaign. 

"The Franciscan charism of ongoing conversion, which invites everyone to continually and humbly draw closer to Christ, will be key to carrying out this mission," said university president Father Dave Pivonka, TOR, in a Sept. 3 press release. 

"The Franciscan University Homeland Mission will invite others to deeper conversion through three pillars grounded in the university's mission: Evangelization and Joyful Presence, Intellectual and Personal Formation, and Support for Human Dignity," Pivonka said.

FUHM's operation will be headed by Stephen Catanzarite, executive director of Encounter, along with the political science department and other Franciscan departments and partners. 

The program is intended to bring Gospel values as well as Catholic social teaching "to bear on the political and social atmosphere of Washington, D.C.," the press release said. "This engagement will not only bring the Church's witness to the legislative and political process, but it will also serve to draw more people to Christ and his Church."

"Programs and events at the FUHM will challenge students to work and witness ongoing, systematic change in federal government, placing the sacred human dignity of all people at the center of the work."

Ward Fitzgerald is the CEO of international real estate private equity firm fund investment group EQT Exeter. The Fitzgeralds are members of the Trustees to the Papal Foundation.

"We have been provided great Providence to be able to be vessels of the Holy Spirit by participating with such a worthy university and its students, faculty, and administration," Kathy Fitzgerald said in a statement. "We are too well mindful that nothing we have created or hold is our own but graces and gifts from Our Lord to do his work."

Student rotations at the new center in Washington, D.C., are set to begin this fall on a limited basis and expand in spring 2025. 

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CNA Staff, Sep 10, 2024 / 14:50 pm (CNA).

A foundation that supports a prominent Catholic movement in France is changing its name after revealing nearly 20 fresh abuse allegations against the famed Abbé Pierre, a formerly beloved Capuchin priest who died in 2007. 

A Sept. 6 statement released by Emmaus International, a solidarity movement with over 400 member associations that seeks to combat poverty and homelessness worldwide, detailed new allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct by Pierre, who founded the movement in 1949.

A previous July 17 report from Emmaus had detailed allegations involving at least seven victims, including one who was a minor at the time of her alleged assault. Emmaus France said it first received a report from a woman accusing Pierre of sexual assault in 2023.

The group said it commissioned consulting firm Groupe Egaé to set up a system to allow additional alleged victims to come forward. Since then, Groupe Egaé said, at least 17 additional victims have come forward alleging "sexual violence committed by Abbé Pierre against girls and women."

In light of the allegations against its founder, the Abbé Pierre Foundation, which provided nearly 4 million euros (about $4.4 million) in funding to Emmaus in 2023, has "decided to change its name and has begun the necessary paperwork," Emmaus International said last week. 

In addition to the foundation name change, the Emmaus France board will submit a proposal for the removal of "Abbé Pierre, founder" from its logo at an extraordinary general assembly that will take place in December. 

A museum and cultural center at the house where Pierre lived in Esteville, France, meanwhile, will "remain closed for good" while discussions take place about what to do with it. 

Finally, the group said, a panel of independent experts will be commissioned to "apprehend and explain the flaws in the movement that allowed Abbé Pierre to behave as he did for more than 50 years."

"Our movement knows what it owes to Abbé Pierre. He inspired our organizations and led them for many years. He was a tireless advocate who sparked waves of solidarity. He is a historic figure for the significance of his actions for good," Emmaus International said in its statement. 

"Now, we must also confront the unacceptable suffering that he forced upon others. We must take decisions: first, out of respect for the victims who spoke up; but also for the volunteers, employees, and companions of the Emmaus movement, as well as its supporters and donors. Their daily work for the movement, which is both invaluable and necessary, would be profoundly tarnished if nothing changed."

Groupe Egaé's full report, dated Sept. 4, details allegations of Pierre's forcible touching, rape, sexual remarks, and other sexual contact with adult women and with children. (Warning: The full report contains explicit descriptions of abuse.) The allegations received "took place between the 1950s and the early 2000s." 

Most of the alleged incidents took place in France but also in the U.S., Belgium, Switzerland, and Morocco. The group also received tips from anonymous victims — whom they were unable to contact for follow-up information — about additional alleged abuse. 

Several victims told Groupe Egaé' that "members of Abbé Pierre's close circle would presumably have been informed of some of these acts."

"We reaffirm today our full support of the victims. We commend their courage and thank them for their trust. We believe them and we stand with them," Emmaus said in its Sept. 6 statement. 

The tipline email and phone number set up by Groupe Egaé in July will remain active and available through the end of 2024, Emmaus said. All victims will be offered a session with a psychologist specializing in psychological trauma, and "those who wish to speak with leaders of the Emmaus movement will be welcomed."

Who was Abbé Pierre?

Prior to these recent allegations and findings, the Catholic priest and Capuchin friar, born Henri Groues in 1912, was one of the Church of France's most beloved and iconic figures. 

After being part of the French Resistance in World War II, the priest took on the name "Abbé Pierre" as a cover for his work in manufacturing fake identity papers and helping Jews cross the French border into Switzerland.

Pierre was particularly applauded for his efforts to assist the homeless population in France, often raising large sums of money and persuading the French Parliament to pass laws acting on behalf of the homeless, including a 1950s law forbidding landlords from evicting tenants during the winter. This "Trêve Hivernale," or "Winter Truce," law still exists in France today.

Despite his popularity, Pierre faced other controversies before the most recent one of alleged sexual assaults. The priest faced public scrutiny in 1996 after defending a friend's book, "Founding Myths of Israeli Politics," which questioned the number of Jewish people killed by the Nazis in World War II.

In a 2005 book of interviews by Frederic Lenoir titled "My God… Why?" Pierre suggested he had broken his vow of celibacy by having sex as a younger man. Among other comments made in the book, Pierre expressed his support for married clergy and the ordination of women.

Pierre is the latest French founder of a well-known Catholic movement to face serious sexual and spiritual abuse allegations, with other recent notable examples being Jean Vanier, the founder of L'Arche, and Father Marie-Dominique Philippe, founder of the Brothers of St. John Community.

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Middlesbrough, England, Sep 10, 2024 / 15:35 pm (CNA).

The Irish government has promised to set up an official investigation to examine historical abuse in religious-run day and boarding schools in the light of "appalling" abuse accounts.

The announcement comes as an initial 802-page, five-volume Scoping Inquiry report from the Irish government revealed that 2,395 allegations of abuse had been made in 308 schools between 1927 and 2013. The total number of allegations is believed to be far higher. The allegations were made against 884 abusers. It is believed that half of them have died.

The Scoping Inquiry was set up in the aftermath of a 2022 radio documentary called "Blackrock Boys," which revealed how extensive abuse took place at the Spiritan-run Blackrock College in Dublin.

"I am announcing today that the government has accepted the principal recommendation of the Report of the Scoping Inquiry, which is for the establishment of a Commission of Investigation," Minister for Education Norma Foley said Sept. 3. "Historical sexual abuse is a profoundly serious matter and needs to be examined in detail. The Report of the Scoping Inquiry is a harrowing document, containing some of the most appalling accounts of sexual abuse.

The Scoping Inquiry, written by senior counsel Mary O'Toole, contains extensive accounts of sexual abuse, rape, and sexual assault, and there are warnings in the report that it "may be distressing to read."

Foley acknowledged the experiences of David Ryan and his late brother Mark, whose testimonies were featured in Blackrock Boys. She said they were both "instrumental in the establishment of the Scoping Inquiry."

Some of the "harrowing" allegations mentioned by Foley concerned schools for disabled pupils. There are also descriptions of "physical punishment and violence" in some schools.

Central to the Scoping Inquiry was a survivor engagement process to ascertain the extent of the allegations of historical child sexual abuse in the schools. This involved consultation with survivors in order to "learn what is important to survivors now and what the next steps should be."

The Catholic Education Partnership, which represents the entire Catholic education community across Ireland, acknowledged "the significance of this report, the grave harm caused to survivors and their families, and those who suffered but are no longer with us." Lamenting the safeguarding failings, the partnership denounced the "gravely dysfunctional and abusive education system with respect to child safeguarding."

"It is painfully clear that children and the trust of their families were betrayed in the most devastating of ways," the partnership added. It promised to "fully cooperate" with the Commission of Investigation and pointed out that safeguarding practices have improved significantly in recent years. 

"Catholic schools have robust child safeguarding procedures, most recently reviewed in 2023," the partnership said, adding that it is "fully committed to maintaining effective child safeguarding."

Bishop Kevin Doran from the Irish Bishops' Conference described the report as a "tragedy," given the large numbers of people affected.

"The tragedy of the report is not simply that there are so many of them but that so many of them had to carry their experience alone for so many years before they felt sufficiently free to tell someone else," Doran said. "I am conscious that behind every paragraph is the experience of real people who, as children, suffered abuse and violence in a place where they should have been safe."

The bishop also offered an apology to those affected but acknowledged that the words "may sound hollow to survivors and their families" and said that "actions speak louder than words."

Doran, who is both bishop of Elphin and apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Achonry in Ireland, said: "Together with the safeguarding teams in both dioceses, I am committed to ensuring that the policies and procedures which have been put in place for the safeguarding of children will continue to be fully implemented."

The Irish government is yet to announce who will chair the Commission of Investigation or a time frame for the investigation.

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