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CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2024 / 17:55 pm (CNA).

A Catholic parish in Ventura County, California, has been serving as an evacuation shelter in recent days as a major wildfire continues to burn nearby, destroying homes and displacing community members. 

The blaze, dubbed the Mountain Fire, erupted last week amid high winds and dry, fire-prone conditions. According to the local VC Star newspaper, the fire has burned roughly 32 square miles, destroyed dozens of homes, sent residents to the hospital, and forced widespread evacuations. 

An army of some 2,800 fire personnel had the conflagration about one-third contained as of Monday morning. Conditions are expected to worsen Tuesday, with dry and gusty conditions forecasted before a cooldown and possible showers later in the week. 

Padre Serra Parish in Camarillo, California, was designated as an official evacuation site by Ventura County Emergency Services and the American Red Cross beginning on Nov. 6. The large parish — a popular wedding venue — sheltered dozens of evacuees overnight, while the Red Cross provided food and water, medical care, sleeping cots and blankets, and trained staff. 

Teresa Runyon, a pastoral associate at Padre Serra, told CNA in an email that after local fires in 2017 and 2018, pastor Father Patrick Mullen "felt our parish should do more to help our community in a time of crisis and disaster."

"Our hall, known as Serra Center, is one of the largest venues in Ventura County. With multiple rooms, ample space, parking, patio, and grass area, we felt it could serve as an evacuation shelter in the future," Runyon said. 

By Wednesday afternoon, over 100 evacuees were in the center, she said, including many Padre Serra parishioners. People waited there for news about their homes, making plans to either stay at the parish or with family or friends. Approximately 50 people spent the first night in the center, Runyon said. 

At the same time, Runyon said the parish's phone began to ring off the hook. Parishioners and Ventura County residents and businesses were offering to come and volunteer to help the people at the shelter, or offering gifts of money, water, clothing, children's toys, rooms, or pet sheltering.

Ironically, though, Runyon said the offers of help turned out to not be necessary as the Red Cross "had everything needed, and wanted to keep the traffic at the parish limited to evacuees and essential volunteers."

Still, "our receptionist, Sister Lana, took every call and returned every message with gratitude and information about how to help … I estimate over the three days our parish office and staff received upwards of 300 calls, emails, and texts [offering help]," Runyon said. 

Runyon said she knows of at least five parishioners who lost their homes. Mullen, the pastor, is away from the parish on sabbatical through the end of November but has "called these parishioners personally. He is praying and helping as best he can from a distance," she said. 

By the weekend, the number of evacuees was less than 25. The evacuation shelter officially closed on Sunday afternoon, Nov. 10, only after every evacuee was rehomed, she said. 

"Now efforts shift to recovery. Our parish has established a disaster relief fund. Donations will go towards recovery efforts, assisting those families through these next weeks and months of rebuilding. Our conference of St. Vincent De Paul is also standing by to help," Runyon continued. 

She noted that the Gospel reading for Nov. 3, the Sunday before the Mountain Fire began, was Christ's explanation of the two greatest commandments: to love God and to love one's neighbor. 

"No greater example of living these commandments could be seen than by the generosity and care for the Camarillo community demonstrated last week. Witnessing the response from parishioners, neighbors, and strangers alike has been humbling, overwhelming, and heartwarming," she commented. 

The fire is roughly six miles from Thomas Aquinas College, a Catholic school that has been threatened by wildfire before. The Thomas Fire, named for the school, sparked in early December 2017 less than a mile from campus, and on its first day spread at a rate of one acre per second.

That fire ultimately burned nearly 300,000 acres, including hundreds of residences in the town of Ventura, making it the largest wildfire in state history up to that point. The school later installed a helipad on its campus, with the goal of assisting local firefighters by giving them a spot to refill their helicopters' water tanks.

Late last week, Thomas Aquinas spokesman Chris Weinkopf told CNA by email: "Mercifully, our California campus has never been in serious danger from the Mountain Fire."

"We were able to continue with our regular class schedule on Thursday and Friday. We pray, though, for all the firefighters and those who have lost homes and property," Weinkopf said. 

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Vatican City, Nov 11, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

To mark the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the arrival of the image of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii on Nov. 13, Pope Francis has encouraged Catholics to contemplate the life of Christ "through the gaze of Mary" during the 2025 Jubilee Year of Hope.

"It is providential that the jubilee of the image of Our Lady of Pompeii coincides with the imminent jubilee year, focused on Jesus our hope," the pope said in a message to Archbishop Tommaso Caputo of Pompeii. 

"The rosary, a simple instrument within everyone's reach, can support the renewed evangelization to which the Church is called today," the Holy Father asserted. 

"We are aware of how it is necessary to rediscover the beauty of the rosary in families and in homes. This prayer is of aid in building peace, and it is important to propose it to the young so that they do not hear it as repetitive and monotonous but as an act of love that never tires of being poured out." 

In addition to the 150th anniversary of the arrival and veneration of the image of Our Lady of the Rosary in Pompeii, this year also marks the 1,700th anniversary of the Council of Nicea.

"With the 17th centenary of the Council of Nicaea (325), which gave particular prominence to the divine-human mystery of Christ in the light of the Trinity, it is good to rediscover the rosary, in this perspective, in order to assimilate the mysteries of the Savior's life," the pope shared with Caputo.

In an interview with EWTN Vaticano, Caputo, who is also the pontifical delegate for Pompeii's Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Holy Rosary, emphasized that the rosary is "a prayer rooted in the Gospel [and] in the word of God." 

Approximately 3 million pilgrims travel to the Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Holy Rosary each year to venerate the image of Our Lady of Pompeii, which depicts the Mother of God and the Child Jesus giving rosaries to St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena.

Calling the shrine's founder, Blessed Bartolo Longo, "an apostle of the rosary" whose faith was reinvigorated by the motto "If you seek salvation, spread the rosary," Pope Francis said he hopes Catholics will continue his "most beautiful spiritual legacy" throughout the world.

According to Caputo, the mission of Blessed Bartolo Longo to spread devotion to Our Lady and the rosary is known worldwide, "as there are many churches dedicated to Our Lady of Pompeii across the Americas, Asia, Europe, and even Africa and in the Middle East."

In his message, the pope highlighted the need for people to "find comfort and hope in the gentle face of the heavenly mother."

"May the Lord speak again today, to humanity in need of rediscovering the path of concord and fraternity, through the message of Our Lady of Pompeii," the Holy Father shared.

"It is my hope that her numerous devotees scattered throughout the world will adhere ever more faithfully to the Lord, bearing witness to their brothers and sisters, especially those most in need."

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CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2024 / 14:35 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Oakland, California, has announced that it will pay up to $200 million to settle hundreds of abuse claims filed against it. 

The diocese said in a Friday update on its website that it had filed a proposal in bankruptcy court that would create a survivors' trust "to provide compensation of between approximately $160 million and $198 million or more for approximately 345 claims."

Just over $100 million will be provided by the diocese directly, the announcement said, while up to $81 million would come from property in the diocesan real estate portfolio.

An additional $14.25 million would be contributed by "Roman Catholic Welfare Corporation/Schools" (RCWC) along with "possible contributions of cash from other entities."

The diocese filed for bankruptcy in May of last year after hundreds of child sexual abuse lawsuits were brought amid a three-year legal window implemented by the California state government. 

The rule, passed by the state Legislature in 2019, granted a three-year exemption to the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse lawsuits. 

Oakland Bishop Michael Barber said last year at the time of the filing that the diocese would be "challenged to put aside our personal preferences and work together for the good of the whole community and the future of our beloved Church."

The bishop this week said the process was an "extremely difficult challenge" but that the diocese sought to "honor our obligation to survivors."

"We recognize that no amount of money can fully and satisfactorily compensate survivors for the abuse they suffered," he said. "Bearing that in mind, we believe the plan compensates survivors in a fair and equitable way and allows the Diocese of Oakland to set a path forward to continue to spread the Gospel, serving the faithful and the poor."     

In official filings, the diocese said it would initially contribute $63 million in cash to the trust followed by $10 million per year for four years afterward. The RCWC would contribute additional amounts.

Some advocates criticized the proposal. Dan McNevin, a volunteer with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, told local ABC affiliate KGO-TV that the proposed settlement was "pretty pathetic" and "pretty low."

"This is a really, really wealthy diocese, and there [are] a lot of victims," he argued. "... They have 82 parishes. We think they have $3 to $4 billion in real estate."

Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents abuse survivors in several states including California, argued that the plan was a "shell game" and a "scam and a sham."

"The bishop's reorganization plan is a familiar playbook designed to suppress survivors' voices and avoid accountability," Anderson claimed, alleging that the diocese was "trying to force a plan on survivors without their approval or consent."

In its filing, meanwhile, the diocese said that "the abuse of children and vulnerable adults has no place in the Diocese of Oakland, specifically, or the Roman Catholic Church, generally."

The diocese "will do everything in its power to prevent such abuse," it said.

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ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 11, 2024 / 15:05 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis on Nov. 9 appointed Father Roberto Pasolini, OFM Cap, as the new preacher of the Papal Household, replacing Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, 90, who held that position for 44 years.

Cantalamessa, who was elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Francis in 2020, has been preacher of the Papal Household since 1980, when he was appointed by St. John Paul II.

His successor is a professor of biblical exegesis at the Theological University of Northern Italy in Milan and is now tasked with giving the Friday meditations of Advent and Lent, among other tasks, as Cantalamessa did for years, serving three popes (John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis) and the Vatican Curia.

Pasolini was born on Nov. 5, 1971, in Milan and just turned 53. According to the Vatican Press Office, he made his perpetual vows in the Franciscan Order of Friars Minor Capuchin on Sept. 7, 2002, and was ordained a priest on Sept. 23, 2006.

The Franciscan earned a doctorate in biblical theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome and has been a professor of biblical languages ??and sacred Scripture at the Laurentianum Interprovincial Theological Institute of the Capuchins in Milan and Venice. He works with the Archdiocese of Milan in the formation of religion teachers and with the Italian Conference of Major Superiors.

Pasolini is the author of various articles and books on biblical spirituality and dedicates himself to the preaching of spiritual retreats and exercises.

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, Nov 11, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

President-elect Donald Trump's victory over Vice President Kamala Harris could prompt major changes to the federal government's promotion of transgender ideology and the endorsement of gender transitions for children, according to scholars closely watching the issue.

"The left-wing gender insanity being pushed in our children is an act of child abuse," Trump said earlier this year in a campaign video. "... On Day 1, I will revoke [President] Joe Biden's cruel policies on so-called gender-affirming care."

In 24 states, doctors can still legally facilitate gender transitions for minors through transgender drugs and surgeries. Twenty-six states have either banned or put limits on gender transitions for minors. 

Although most legislative debates about so-called gender transitions for children occur at the state level, Biden's administration used regulatory agencies and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to try to expand access. Before his presidency, the issue was not on the minds of most Americans or most politicians.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), for example, issued a regulation that interpreted "sex discrimination" bans within the Affordable Care Act to include discrimination based on a person's self-asserted gender identity.

Under the rule, any health care provider or insurer not covering surgeries or drugs for gender transitions would lose federal funding. This rule applies regardless of whether the patient is an adult or a minor but is currently unenforceable because it has been blocked by a judge.

Biden's DOJ also sued Tennessee because the state does not allow doctors to facilitate surgical or drug-induced gender transitions on children. The DOJ based its arguments on laws that prohibit sex discrimination and the case will be heard by the United States Supreme Court.

The administration also revised Title IX protections to redefine sex discrimination to include any discrimination based on gender identity. This could have forced publicly funded schools and colleges to allow biological men in women's locker rooms, dormitories, and athletic competitions but was blocked by multiple court rulings.

"Those regulations are where they have their teeth," Marie Hillard, a registered nurse and senior fellow at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA. 

According to Hillard, Trump's first step in tackling this issue should be to throw out Biden-era policies promoting gender ideology and then subsequently harness the power of regulatory agencies to protect children from irreversible transgender drugs and surgeries.

"I think it's going to be through the regulatory agencies because the current administration has used these regulations to basically distort what sex means," Hillard added.

First step: reversing Biden's policies

A reversal of Biden's regulations would be an important first step, according to Mary Rice Hasson, who works as the director of the Person and Identity Project at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

"Then it needs an agency-by-agency effort to delete 'gender identity' language, reverse policies that sweep self-defined 'identities' into the protected category of 'sex,' and which promote or fund medicalized 'gender transitions,' particularly in minors," Hasson told CNA.

Hasson encouraged a complete overhaul of the agenda of the last four years. 

This includes ending programs "that tell children to 'self-identify' according to sexual orientation and 'gender identity'" and the collection of such data by the government, according to Hasson. It includes removing all publications from agencies that promote transgender surgeries and drugs for minors and ending the DOJ's efforts to prevent states from restricting transgender drugs and surgeries for children.

"Ending these disabling, disfiguring, and sterilizing interventions in minors will require derailing the 'transgender train' at the station as well as shuttering all the stops down the line," Hasson said. 

Hillard agreed, saying the Biden administration used the anti-discrimination argument to force people to violate their conscience and "cooperate in what we know are mutilating activities."

Trump signaled support for such actions earlier this year, saying: "I will sign a new executive order instructing every federal agency to cease all programs that promote the concept of sex and gender transition at any age."

Next step: using executive authority

After reversing the Biden administration's actions, the next step would be to use regulatory agencies to prevent gender transitions of children across the country. 

"The Trump administration should stop feeding this monster with federal funds," Hasson told CNA. 

Hasson said the administration should end grant funding for "unethical 'gender' experiments" on minors and impose federal funding restrictions "on hospitals that do 'transgender' experiments on minors." 

Hillard noted that withholding Medicaid funding for hospitals that perform gender transitions on minors could be an effective approach, saying "that's where they can use their money" to hold these hospitals accountable. 

Hasson added that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could "prohibit the off-label use of sterility-inducing puberty-blocking and 'transgender' hormones in otherwise healthy minors."

Hillard similarly suggested using the FDA to restrict gender transition drugs, noting that "regulations are being misused right now to advance the whole agenda of gender identity." She said the drugs have "good moral uses" for helping children born with sex development disorders but should be regulated to prevent the "mutilating use" of gender transitioning minors.

Jane Anderson, the vice president of the American College of Pediatricians, told CNA the Trump administration should hold federal agencies accountable to "follow the science that European countries are endorsing."

"We and other organizations launched the Doctors Protecting Children Declaration to call on prominent U.S. medical organizations to stop promoting these [transgender surgeries and drugs] that harm our children," Anderson said.

Father Tadeusz Pacholczyk, a senior ethicist at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told CNA that Trump should "establish a president's bioethics council to address critical ethical issues arising in medicine and the biosciences." 

"This advisory council would assist the administration in policy decisions and in raising the profile of important issues of the day before the public," he said. "The president could task the bioethics council to begin its work with a mandate to address the matter of suitable and unsuitable treatments for young people facing gender dysphoria."

Earlier this year, Trump said he supported a DOJ investigation of "Big Pharma and the big hospital networks to determine whether they have deliberately covered up horrific long-term side effects of sex transitions in order to get rich at the expense of vulnerable patients." 

The president-elect has said he would support congressional action to prohibit transgender surgeries for children and prohibit any taxpayer money from being used to support transgender procedures. He also urged lawmakers to support people who want to file lawsuits against doctors who performed gender transition procedures on them while they were children.

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ACI MENA, Nov 11, 2024 / 11:00 am (CNA).

As a leading voice for Middle Eastern Christians, Bishop Bashar Matti Warda, head of the Chaldean Eparchy of Erbil, expressed hope that the election of a new U.S. president would positively impact the efforts for peace in the region.

Speaking with ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, Warda noted that "Christians in the region have borne the brunt of ongoing conflicts and wars in their homelands. Despite fears that rising tensions could bring more violence, they continue to hold on to a realistic yet profound hope of living in safety alongside their compatriots. They believe their shared future hinges on the promise of peace, prosperity, and nation-building."

Warda said people around the world now have their eyes fixed on Washington, D.C., watching closely to see if the president-elect will fulfill his campaign promises to end conflicts in the Middle East.

"Christians hope the American administration will maintain its commitment to supporting peace, guaranteeing stability to these ancient communities in their homelands, and cooperating with local governments to ensure their persistence and prosperity — especially in areas where Christians are relatively present."

Warda recalled a previous meeting with Trump in December 2018 at the White House during the signing ceremony for H.R. 390, a bill that officially recognized the atrocities committed against Christians and Yazidis as genocide.

"This bill was the culmination of our campaign to bring the world's attention to the suffering of Christians and Yazidis, with the support from friends in both the Republican and Democratic parties," Warda explained. "It enabled government and human rights agencies to investigate ISIS' horrific crimes, prosecute its members, and directly support religious institutions in helping their communities heal from the aftermath of destruction."

The bishop also noted with appreciation the close collaboration with the Knights of Columbus since 2014, gathering and documenting case files and testimonies for the cause. He remarked that "two years of collaboration with members of Trump's team on this issue demonstrated their understanding of the suffering of these religious communities and their sincere desire to offer support."

He emphasized that over the past eight years, official visits of prominent former Trump administration members to Erbil, their engagement with displaced families, their attentiveness to their experiences, and their direct contact with Church leaders and civil society representatives reflected an effort to bring stability to the region.

Warda concluded with a prayer that Washington's leadership will continue to stand by vulnerable communities and work to address the root causes of migration in cooperation with Middle Eastern governments. Such efforts, he said, could ensure a brighter future for all, ending the region's prolonged suffering from wars and conflicts because "the people deserve a better life."

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

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CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

On Nov. 11, the Catholic Church honors St. Martin of Tours, who left his post in the Roman army to become a "soldier of Christ."

Martin was born around the year 316 in modern-day Hungary. His family left that region for Italy when his father, a military official of the Roman Empire, was transferred there. Martin's parents were pagans, but he felt an attraction to the Catholic faith, which had become legal throughout the empire in 313. He received religious instruction at age 10 and even considered becoming a hermit in the desert.

Circumstances, however, forced him to join the Roman army at age 15, when he had not even received baptism. Martin strove to live a humble and upright life in the military, giving away much of his pay to the poor. His generosity led to a life-changing incident, when he encountered a man freezing without warm clothing near a gate at the city of Amiens in Gaul.

As his fellow soldiers passed by the man, Martin stopped and cut his own cloak into two halves with his sword, giving one half to the freezing beggar. That night, the unbaptized soldier saw Christ in a dream, wearing the half-cloak he had given to the poor man. Jesus declared: "Martin, a catechumen, has clothed me with this garment."

Martin knew that the time for him to join the Church had arrived. After his baptism, he remained in the army for two years but desired to give his life to God more fully than the profession would allow. But when he finally asked for permission to leave the Roman army, during an invasion by the Germans, Martin was accused of cowardice.

He responded by offering to stand before the enemy forces unarmed. "In the name of the Lord Jesus, and protected not by a helmet and buckler, but by the sign of the cross, I will thrust myself into the thickest squadrons of the enemy without fear."

But this display of faith became unnecessary when the Germans sought peace instead, and Martin received his discharge.

After living as a Catholic for some time, Martin traveled to meet Bishop Hilary of Poitiers, a skilled theologian and later canonized saint. Martin's dedication to the faith impressed the bishop, who asked the former soldier to return to his diocese after he had undertaken a journey back to Hungary to visit his parents. While there, Martin persuaded his mother, though not his father, to join the Church.

In the meantime, however, Hilary had provoked the anger of the Arians, a group that denied Jesus was God. This resulted in the bishop's banishment, so Martin could not return to his diocese as intended. Instead he spent some time living a life of severe asceticism, which almost resulted in his death. The two met up again in 360, when Hilary's banishment from Poitiers ended.

After their reunion, Hilary granted Martin a piece of land to build what may have been the first monastery in the region of Gaul. During the resulting decade as a monk, Martin became renowned for raising two people from the dead through his prayers. This evidence of his holiness led to his appointment as the third bishop of Tours in the middle of present-day France.

Martin had not wanted to become a bishop and had actually been tricked into leaving his monastery in the first place by those who wanted him to the lead the local Church. Once appointed, he continued to live as a monk, dressing plainly and owning no personal possessions. In this same spirit of sacrifice, he traveled throughout his diocese, from which he is said to have driven out pagan practices.

Both the Church and the Roman Empire passed through a time of upheaval during Martin's tenure as bishop. Priscillianism, a heresy involving salvation through a system of secret knowledge, caused such serious problems in Spain and Gaul that civil authorities sentenced the heretics to death. But Martin, along with the pope and St. Ambrose of Milan, opposed this death sentence for the Priscillianists.

Even in old age, Martin continued to live an austere life focused on the care of souls. His disciple and biographer, St. Sulpicius Severus, noted that the bishop helped all people with their moral, intellectual, and spiritual problems. He also helped many discover their calling to the consecrated life.

Martin foresaw his own death and told his disciples of it. But when his last illness came upon him during a pastoral journey, he felt uncertain about leaving his people.

"Lord, if I am still necessary to thy people, I refuse no labor. Thy holy will be done," he prayed. He developed a fever but did not sleep, passing his last several nights in the presence of God in prayer.

"Allow me, my brethren, to look rather toward heaven than upon the earth, that my soul may be directed to take its flight to the Lord to whom it is going," he told his followers, shortly before he died in November 397.

St. Martin of Tours has historically been among the most beloved saints in the history of Europe. In a 2007 Angelus address, Pope Benedict XVI expressed his hope "that all Christians may be like St. Martin, generous witnesses of the Gospel of love and tireless builders of jointly responsible sharing."

This story was first published on Oct. 6, 2011, and has been updated.

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CNA Staff, Nov 11, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

As a new film about U.S. military chaplains was released in theaters on Nov. 8, the nephew of heroic priest and chaplain Servant of God Father Emil Kapaun spoke about his uncle's virtue and sense of mission during the Korean War.

"Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain's Journey" tells the story of former Army chaplain Justin Roberts as he travels to the funeral of Kapaun. Along the way, Roberts is inspired by the lives of the 419 other U.S. military chaplains who have given their lives in service. The documentary explores the stories of several of these chaplains, including the beloved Catholic priest.

Kapaun was a priest of the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas. Ordained on June 9, 1940, he began training in the U.S. Army Chaplain School at Fort Devens four years after his ordination. In January 1950, he was sent to Japan as a chaplain in the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. In July 1950, he was then sent to Korea, where he brought the sacraments to troops, tended to the injured, and prayed with soldiers in the foxholes. At times he celebrated Mass on the battlefield using the hood of a jeep as a makeshift altar.

During the Battle of Unsan, Kapaun was captured along with other soldiers and taken to a Chinese-run prison camp in Pyoktong, North Korea. While there, he regularly stole food for his fellow prisoners and tended to their spiritual needs despite a prohibition on prayer.

After being taken to what prisoners called the "death house," Kapaun died on May 23, 1951, after months of malnutrition and pneumonia.

His cause for sainthood is being promoted by the Diocese of Wichita and is currently being reviewed by the theological committee for the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in Rome.

A nephew of the heroic priest, Ray Kapaun, told CNA that growing up he heard stories about his uncle from his grandmother. He recalled hearing about his uncle's devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and how his vocation to the priesthood was clear from a young age: He would stack cardboard boxes on top of one another, throw a towel over them, and pretend to say Mass at his makeshift altar. 

"He was the most unselfish person I think I've ever heard of," Ray Kapaun said. "He just always put everybody else ahead of his own needs."

One story that Ray remembers was told to him by his father. Shortly before Father Kapaun was about to head out to the Korean War, he went to visit his family in his hometown of Pilsen, Kansas. He pulled Ray's father aside and told him: "I don't think I'm going to be coming back from this one."

"Dad was like, 'No, don't talk like that. You can't,'" Ray recalled. "And he said, 'I'm not telling you that to make you sad or feel sorry for me,' he said, 'I just have that feeling that I'm not coming back from this one.'" 

Ray believes it was this feeling that allowed his uncle to "do the things he did to help the guys in the prison camp, to run out across the battlefield when bombs were exploding — he knew that is exactly where he needed to be and he did it with compassion, but he didn't do it with fear. He did it with a knowing that God was going to take care of him and that was exactly where he needed to be."

In March 2021, after 70 years, the skeletal remains of Father Kapaun were identified among 866 other unknown Korean soldiers buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. These remains were handed to American forces in 1954 by North Korea. 

Ray said receiving the call that his uncle's remains had been found was something he "never ever envisioned." He called it truly "miraculous" that when Father Kapaun's casket was opened for his body to be identified, "his [skeletal] remains were 98% intact."

"They actually sent us a photo of the remains laid out as the skeleton and he was just missing a couple of fingertips, one of his toes, and the kneecap was all he was missing. So that in and of itself was pretty much a miracle" he said.

Father Kapaun's funeral Mass was held on Sept. 29, 2021, at Wichita's Hartman Arena, where over 5,000 people came together to remember him.

In the days leading up to the funeral, Ray and his wife hosted two of the POWs (prisoners of war) who spent time with Father Kapaun in the prison camp and are the last two still alive. 

Ray shared "an incredible moment" with the POWs: They were taken to the mortuary to have a moment alone with Father Kapaun and before entering, one of them, Col. Michael Dowe, turned to Ray and asked: "Am I going to get the chance to hold Father in my arms just one last time?"

"So, we had opened up the casket, and Mike is there, and he just starts crying and he was talking to Father and he's like, 'When they came to take you away we just didn't stand up enough for you, we just didn't stand up enough,'" Ray recalled.

"I know Father had his hands on his shoulders then as he did in the camp and I know he told him, 'Oh, it's OK Mike. You just gotta let me go. I'm where I wanted to be. So it's OK,'" Ray said. "Those moments were probably the most memorable, the most touching for me."

When asked how Father Kapaun can be a source of inspiration for not only chaplains but also for everyone, Ray said: "Father gives hope, and Father gives a meaning to find the right in the world, Father always looked for the good in the world."

"I think especially now with all the division and all the hate and all the things going on in this world, he only saw the person. It wasn't that you needed to be Catholic; he saw the person, he saw what their soul was and how they treated others." 

He added: "He saw the compassion that was needed, he saw somebody needed help and he would help them at whatever sacrifice to his own health."

As for what he hopes people will take away from the new film about his uncle, Ray said he hopes people would "see others and not judge others" and that "you don't have to do anything grandiose to do kind and great things in this world." 

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Rome Newsroom, Nov 10, 2024 / 11:34 am (CNA).

During his Angelus address Sunday, Pope Francis asked his listeners to consider the qualities necessary for good leadership.

"Brothers and sisters, can we ask ourselves: How do I behave in my fields of responsibility? Do I act with humility, or do I vaunt my position? Am I generous and respectful with people, or do I treat them in a rude and authoritarian way?" he asked pilgrims gathered in St. Peter's Square. 

Reflecting on Sunday's Gospel reading from St. Mark, Pope Francis said that Jesus denounced people esteemed in the temple, including scribes, who possessed a "hypocritical attitude" and "feigned piety" to attract attention and gain approval from people.

"People revered them beyond appearances, however their behavior often did not correspond to what they said. They were not coherent." 

In contrast to the "corrupt" behavior of some temple officials, the Holy Father highlighted the qualities of Jesus' leadership that should be imitated by all Christians, particularly those who hold positions of responsibility.

"Indeed with his word and example, as we know, he taught very different things about authority. He spoke about it in terms of self-sacrifice, humble service, maternal and paternal tenderness towards people, especially [towards] those most in need," the pope elaborated.  

During his Nov.10 Angelus address, the Holy Father also encouraged Christians to turn to Our Lady and seek her intercession to overcome the temptation of imposing one's will, might, and authority over others who are weaker than ourselves.

"May the Virgin Mary help us fight the temptation of hypocrisy in ourselves," he prayed from the window of the Apostolic Palace.

Prayers for the world

Following the Angelus prayer in Latin, Pope Francis continued to ask people to pray for the victims of flash floods in Valencia, Spain, and asked them to consider contributing towards charitable and disaster relief efforts in the country to assist families.   

The Holy Father also prayed for communities in Flores, Indonesia, following recent volcanic eruptions which have forced thousands to flee their homes. 

He also expressed his concern and hope for the people of Mozambique to not "lose trust in justice and in democracy" after weeks of deadly violence following the country's Oct.9 general elections. 

The ongoing conflicts affecting Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, and Sudan were also included in the prayers of the Holy Father on Sunday.

"Let us pray for peace throughout the world today," he said.        

  

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Ann Arbor, Michigan, Nov 10, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Catechism and good food were combined on election night 2024 in Michigan as an Alpha evangelization course introduced the Catholic faith to Chinese inquirers in an atmosphere of love and understanding, according to its organizers.

Enthusiasm and apparent joy bubbles up from Caroline Gambale-Dirkes, director of evangelization at St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Parish in Ann Arbor, Michigan, as she described the Alpha course for Chinese-speakers and its results.

"There were a few miracles along the way," Gambale-Dirkes told CNA. "There are a lot of amazing stories."

Alpha began as a course of evangelization within the Anglican Church in England in 1977 and has since expanded to include various Christian traditions, including hundreds of Catholic parishes. It is an 11-week course, online or in person, where committed Christians share their faith in conversation with inquirers. According to AlphaUSA, in 2023 more than 74,000 people participated in parish programs for adults.

Gambale-Dirkes and facilitators joined some dozen Alpha participants at a local restaurant in Ann Arbor on Nov. 5. Each table had at least one Mandarin-speaker trained to facilitate discussion and ensure a friendly atmosphere where talking about faith and the heart can take place. Every Alpha meeting begins with dinner and fellowship, followed by a video presentation about questions of faith and ending with a small-group discussion. 

Gambale-Dirkes said the parish had given Alpha courses for young adults, especially students at the nearby University of Michigan, since 2022. That year, she attended an Alpha national conference with Catholic bishops, priests, and religious. She later asked her pastor, Father Bill Ashbaugh: "What's your dream, what's your hope for evangelization in the parish?" 

She was not ready for his answer: "It's to have a Chinese Alpha." Once she saw videos of the new Alpha course in Mandarin, she recalled, "I started crying and was so moved by it. I felt like God was telling me, 'I'm calling you to do this. This is what I want you to do.'"

The first Chinese Alpha course in Ann Arbor started in the fall of 2023. Participants have come from China, Singapore, Taiwan, and the U.S. 

CNA spoke with Elena Feng, an expectant mother who took the Alpha course last year and is now an Alpha facilitator while participating in Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA) in preparation for baptism during Easter 2025.

In an interview, Feng said that when she married her husband, Nate Murray, she wanted to know more about his Catholic faith. 

"In China, I learned in school about religions from the outside or from history, but not as faith. With my husband, I went to Mass, and now I want more," she said. 

She looks forward to the birth and baptism of their first child later this month. While Feng said she sees common strands in Buddhism and Christian faith, it is the prospect of an afterlife with God in company with her loved ones that has emboldened her faith.

Ashbaugh told CNA that he is very pleased with the progress of Alpha and that an urge to extend it to the Chinese community had been a long-held conviction. The opportunity for evangelization was obvious because of the numbers of Chinese students and faculty in the area.

"I've always had it on my heart. Many years ago, in prayer, I had a dream or a vision in which I very clearly saw a tortured Chinese priest covered with cuts on his body. He turned to me and showed the difficulty he was in. But his posture, with hands extended, was one of 'Please pray and help. In solidarity, please pray for the Church in China,'" he said.

Deeply moved, Ashbaugh spoke no Mandarin but was concerned about how the Church was faring in China; but he doubted that he would ever travel there. With the onset of the Alpha courses, an opportunity opened up to evangelize the Chinese living in Michigan.

"Here they are! Let's go fishing, let's cast the net," he said.

Ashbaugh found willing Mandarin-speaking volunteers to help the 2023 Alpha, which saw several participants enter the Church. Enthusiasm among those touched by Alpha has grown since then. The priest said he was soon to meet again a group of Chinese inquirers who wanted to learn more about the faith that had not been covered otherwise.

"They have much deeper questions. I could have stayed for hours answering their questions," he recalled. 

The message for fellow Catholics and priests, he said, is: "Pray and look at the demographics of your community. As priests, we are responsible for all the souls of our parish territory. We have to ask, 'Who are the sheep? Where are they?' Then get to know them and then ask, 'What can we do to serve these souls?' The Gospel is meant to be shared, it's not meant to be insular."

The efforts have been worth the costs, Ashbaugh said, saying: "Even one soul is worth it. A life is changed forever after meeting Christ. Who can put a value on that?"

"Let's keep praying for the Church in China," he concluded. "My goodness, imagine if the Chinese people came to faith in Jesus Christ! That would be huge. The Lord wants all people to come to know the good news of the kingdom and experience his love and mercy and the faith in the life to come. We need to think broadly and bring the Gospel to Chinese people everywhere."

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