Washington D.C., Jun 28, 2012 / 02:07 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the 2010 health care law, a leading religious freedom law firm has new confidence in the future of its lawsuits against the federal contraception mandate.
Hannah Smith, senior counsel at The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, explained that the arguments against the law that were recently rejected by the court are “separate and distinct legal challenges” from those being brought against the contraception mandate.
In a June 28 press call shortly after the Supreme Court announced its ruling, Smith said that in this case, the court was not asked to review the religious liberty issues surrounding the contraception mandate.
Rather, its decision dealt solely with the overarching law itself, particularly a requirement that virtually everyone must buy health insurance and a provision dealing with the expansion of Medicaid.
The high court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act by a vote of 5-4, but did not rule on the contraception mandate, a separate requirement issued by the Department of Health and Human Services under the authority of the act.
This controversial mandate will require employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and early abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences. Failure to comply will result in crippling fines.
The mandate has been criticized by members of various religions and political affiliations, including bishops from every diocese of the U.S., who warned that it could force Catholic hospitals, schools and charitable agencies to close down.
More than 50 plaintiffs – including nonprofit organizations, Catholic dioceses, religious universities and private business owners – have filed lawsuits against the mandate, arguing that it violates the religious liberty of individuals and organizations that object to its requirements.
If the court had struck down the health care law, the mandate would have disappeared by default. Since it did not, Smith explained, the legal battles will move forward, untouched.
However, she said, two statements in the June 28 decision hint at what the court’s future ruling on the contraception mandate could be.
She pointed to the majority opinion, penned by Chief Justice John Roberts, which states, “Even if the taxing power enables Congress to impose a tax on not obtaining health insurance, any tax must still comply with other requirements in the Constitution.”
The opinion of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Stephen Breyer and Elena Kagan, was even more explicit, she said.
Ginsberg wrote, “A mandate to purchase a particular product would be unconstitutional if, for example, the edict impermissibly abridged the freedom of speech, interfered with the free exercise of religion, or infringed on a liberty interest protected by the Due Process Clause.”
The direct mention of religious freedom as a reason to find such a mandate unconstitutional is a hopeful sign in the battle over the contraception requirement, Smith said.
She explained that these two statements are “essential” in suggesting that the court may strike down the contraception mandate if asked to rule on it, a positive indication for defenders of religious freedom.
Mark Rienzi, law professor at The Catholic University of America and senior counsel at the Becket Fund, added that it is “commonplace” for courts to find a regulation unconstitutional even when the law under which it was issued is constitutionally acceptable.
The Becket Fund, a non-profit law firm that works to protect religious freedom for all people, has paved the way in challenging the mandate, representing four different clients in filing lawsuits against it.
In a statement shortly after the ruling, Smith explained that the Becket Fund’s lawsuits will continue making their way through the court system.
“Never in history has there been a mandate forcing individuals to violate their deeply held religious beliefs or pay a severe fine, a fine which could force many homeless shelters, charities, and religious institutions to shut their doors,” she said.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Thursday, June 28, 2012
US bishops urge Congress to 'fix' problems in health care law
Washington D.C., Jun 28, 2012 / 05:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has renewed its call for Congress to correct problems within the 2010 health care law, now that the legislation has been upheld by the nation’s highest court.
The conference said that it did not join in “efforts to repeal the law in its entirety” after it was passed in 2010 and added that “we do not do so today.”
However, it argued, the Affordable Care Act contains “fundamental flaws” that were not addressed by the Supreme Court’s decision. Further legislation is necessary to fix the law’s problems with abortion funding, conscience protection and treatment of immigrants, the group said.
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including an individual mandate that requires virtually all people to buy health insurance. The court ruled by a vote of 5-4 that this mandate does not fall within the acceptable range of Congressional power under the commerce clause, but it can stand instead as a valid tax on those who refuse to buy insurance.
In its statement shortly after the decision was announced, the bishops’ conference noted that for almost 100 years, the Catholic bishops have been advocating “for comprehensive health care reform to ensure access to life-affirming health care for all, especially the poorest and the most vulnerable.”
The group explained that while it did not participate in the case before the Supreme Court and “took no position on the specific questions presented to the Court,” it had opposed the final passage of the Affordable Care Act for several reasons.
First, it said, the law contradicts “longstanding federal policy” by allowing “federal funds to pay for elective abortions and for plans that cover such abortions.”
Pro-life advocates have objected to the “abortion surcharge” that is required for all people enrolled in plans covering elective abortions. This surcharge must be at least one dollar per month, but can be significantly higher than this, as there is no maximum rate.
Furthermore, the bishops’ conference said, the law fails to “provide essential conscience protection, both within and beyond the abortion context.”
It pointed to the “preventive services” mandate issued under the Affordable Care Act. That mandate, announced by the Department of Health and Human Services, will require employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and early abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.
Bishops from every diocese in the U.S. have joined those of various religious political and religious backgrounds in speaking out against the mandate, warning that it poses a severe threat to religious liberty and could force Catholic schools, hospitals and charitable organizations to shut their doors rather than compromise their beliefs.
More than 50 plaintiffs from across the country – including numerous Catholic dioceses – are currently challenging the mandate. Those lawsuits were not within the range of questions considered by the court on June 28, so they are not affected by the court’s ruling and will continue moving forward in the judiciary system.
In addition, the bishops’ conference warned, the Affordable Care Act is unfair to immigrant workers and their families, leaving them “worse off by not allowing them to purchase health coverage in the new exchanges created under the law, even if they use their own money.”
This contradicts the law’s stated purpose of offering access of basic health care to all people, especially the most needy, the group said.
“The decision of the Supreme Court neither diminishes the moral imperative to ensure decent health care for all, nor eliminates the need to correct the fundamental flaws described above,” it emphasized.
Stressing both of these moral obligations, the bishops’ conference urged “Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, legislation to fix those flaws” that remain in the law.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
The conference said that it did not join in “efforts to repeal the law in its entirety” after it was passed in 2010 and added that “we do not do so today.”
However, it argued, the Affordable Care Act contains “fundamental flaws” that were not addressed by the Supreme Court’s decision. Further legislation is necessary to fix the law’s problems with abortion funding, conscience protection and treatment of immigrants, the group said.
On June 28, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, including an individual mandate that requires virtually all people to buy health insurance. The court ruled by a vote of 5-4 that this mandate does not fall within the acceptable range of Congressional power under the commerce clause, but it can stand instead as a valid tax on those who refuse to buy insurance.
In its statement shortly after the decision was announced, the bishops’ conference noted that for almost 100 years, the Catholic bishops have been advocating “for comprehensive health care reform to ensure access to life-affirming health care for all, especially the poorest and the most vulnerable.”
The group explained that while it did not participate in the case before the Supreme Court and “took no position on the specific questions presented to the Court,” it had opposed the final passage of the Affordable Care Act for several reasons.
First, it said, the law contradicts “longstanding federal policy” by allowing “federal funds to pay for elective abortions and for plans that cover such abortions.”
Pro-life advocates have objected to the “abortion surcharge” that is required for all people enrolled in plans covering elective abortions. This surcharge must be at least one dollar per month, but can be significantly higher than this, as there is no maximum rate.
Furthermore, the bishops’ conference said, the law fails to “provide essential conscience protection, both within and beyond the abortion context.”
It pointed to the “preventive services” mandate issued under the Affordable Care Act. That mandate, announced by the Department of Health and Human Services, will require employers to offer health insurance plans that cover contraception, sterilization and early abortion-inducing drugs, even if doing so violates their consciences.
Bishops from every diocese in the U.S. have joined those of various religious political and religious backgrounds in speaking out against the mandate, warning that it poses a severe threat to religious liberty and could force Catholic schools, hospitals and charitable organizations to shut their doors rather than compromise their beliefs.
More than 50 plaintiffs from across the country – including numerous Catholic dioceses – are currently challenging the mandate. Those lawsuits were not within the range of questions considered by the court on June 28, so they are not affected by the court’s ruling and will continue moving forward in the judiciary system.
In addition, the bishops’ conference warned, the Affordable Care Act is unfair to immigrant workers and their families, leaving them “worse off by not allowing them to purchase health coverage in the new exchanges created under the law, even if they use their own money.”
This contradicts the law’s stated purpose of offering access of basic health care to all people, especially the most needy, the group said.
“The decision of the Supreme Court neither diminishes the moral imperative to ensure decent health care for all, nor eliminates the need to correct the fundamental flaws described above,” it emphasized.
Stressing both of these moral obligations, the bishops’ conference urged “Congress to pass, and the Administration to sign, legislation to fix those flaws” that remain in the law.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
SSPX letter indicates refusal of Vatican reconciliation effort
Washington D.C., Jun 27, 2012 / 01:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A recent letter leaked online suggests that leaders of the Society of St. Pius X, a breakaway traditionalist group, have rejected a proposed Vatican document to aid in reconciliation efforts.
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal celebrates Spanish shrine's elevation to minor basilica
Avila, Spain, Jun 27, 2012 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- A Vatican official celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving on June 25 after the Shrine of St. John of Avila in Spain was elevated by Pope Benedict to the status of a Minor Basilica.
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
SSPX letter indicates refusal of Vatican reconciliation effort
Washington D.C., Jun 27, 2012 / 01:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A recent letter leaked online suggests that leaders of the Society of St. Pius X, a breakaway traditionalist group, have rejected a proposed Vatican document to aid in reconciliation efforts.
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Catholic Charities mobilizes against growing Colorado fires
Colorado Springs, Colo., Jun 27, 2012 / 05:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Both evacuees and residents of the Colorado Springs area are in “utter shock and disbelief” at the major fire threatening the outskirts of the city, a local Catholic Charities official says.
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal celebrates Spanish shrine's elevation to minor basilica
Avila, Spain, Jun 27, 2012 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- A Vatican official celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving on June 25 after the Shrine of St. John of Avila in Spain was elevated by Pope Benedict to the status of a Minor Basilica.
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Father of forcibly aborted Chinese baby reported missing
Washington D.C., Jun 28, 2012 / 01:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The father of a Chinese baby that was forcibly aborted has reportedly disappeared, while his wife is being held in the hospital and intimidated by the local government, family members say.
“It appears that the government’s previous apology and the suspension of three officials may have been insincere,” warned Reggie Littlejohn, founder of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an international organization that works to oppose Chinese forced abortion, gendercide and sex slavery.
Feng Jianmei, a seven-month pregnant Chinese woman, gained international attention in early June when she was taken to a hospital and forced to undergo an abortion for violating the nation’s strict one-child policy.
Now her husband, Deng Liyuan, may be in danger.
According to Fox News, Deng’s sister, Deng Jicai, believes that the government is lashing out at the family in anger at her brother’s contact with reporters.
She explained that last week, her brother tried to travel to Beijing in order to meet with journalists and civil lawyers there. However, he was stopped by a large crowd and several men in cars, who proceeded to beat him, she said.
Deng has now been missing for several days, she added.
Although she said that she got a brief call from him on June 26 saying that he was safe and telling her not to worry, she said that he would not reveal his location and the family is "still worried.”
She also said that 23-year-old Feng, the mother of the aborted baby, is under constant surveillance and is not being permitted to leave the hospital.
Furthermore, she reported, a group of local townspeople, led by the local government authorities, have conducted a protest outside the hospital, where they raised a banner calling the family “traitors” and demanding that they be “severely” beaten and expelled from the town.
The incident began several weeks ago when Feng and Deng were unable to pay the 40,000 yuan fine – equivalent to about $6,300 – for having an “illegal” pregnancy. Because the couple already had one daughter, they were not authorized to have an additional child.
Chinese family planning officials reportedly surrounded the couple’s house on June 2 and forced Feng to go to the hospital for an abortion.
Graphic photos of Feng lying next to her aborted fetus in a hospital bed began to spread online, generating international attention and protest.
In response, Chinese authorities said that they had apologized to Feng, suspended the individuals involved and would be conducting a disciplinary investigation.
However, Litteljohn told CNA she believes that these steps might have been “mere propaganda aimed at creating the illusion that the Chinese Communist Party adheres to the rule of law.”
She said that she has heard the reports of Deng being beaten and disappearing, of the protests being organized against the family and of guards patrolling Feng’s hospital room and holding her there “against her will.”
Littlejohn said that these reports remind her of the surveillance surrounding blind pro-life activist Chen Guangcheng, whom she recently helped in his efforts to escape house arrest and come to the U.S. with his immediate family.
“In many areas, Family Planning Officials are lawless thugs, accountable to no one,” she warned.
“The forced abortion of a seven month pregnant woman is illegal under Chinese law, and yet it still happens as local officials struggle to meet family planning quotas,” she explained.
The Chinese Communist Party “relies on forced abortion to keep the Chinese people down through terror,” Littlejohn said, adding that she believes “the Family Planning Police function as domestic terrorists.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
“It appears that the government’s previous apology and the suspension of three officials may have been insincere,” warned Reggie Littlejohn, founder of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an international organization that works to oppose Chinese forced abortion, gendercide and sex slavery.
Feng Jianmei, a seven-month pregnant Chinese woman, gained international attention in early June when she was taken to a hospital and forced to undergo an abortion for violating the nation’s strict one-child policy.
Now her husband, Deng Liyuan, may be in danger.
According to Fox News, Deng’s sister, Deng Jicai, believes that the government is lashing out at the family in anger at her brother’s contact with reporters.
She explained that last week, her brother tried to travel to Beijing in order to meet with journalists and civil lawyers there. However, he was stopped by a large crowd and several men in cars, who proceeded to beat him, she said.
Deng has now been missing for several days, she added.
Although she said that she got a brief call from him on June 26 saying that he was safe and telling her not to worry, she said that he would not reveal his location and the family is "still worried.”
She also said that 23-year-old Feng, the mother of the aborted baby, is under constant surveillance and is not being permitted to leave the hospital.
Furthermore, she reported, a group of local townspeople, led by the local government authorities, have conducted a protest outside the hospital, where they raised a banner calling the family “traitors” and demanding that they be “severely” beaten and expelled from the town.
The incident began several weeks ago when Feng and Deng were unable to pay the 40,000 yuan fine – equivalent to about $6,300 – for having an “illegal” pregnancy. Because the couple already had one daughter, they were not authorized to have an additional child.
Chinese family planning officials reportedly surrounded the couple’s house on June 2 and forced Feng to go to the hospital for an abortion.
Graphic photos of Feng lying next to her aborted fetus in a hospital bed began to spread online, generating international attention and protest.
In response, Chinese authorities said that they had apologized to Feng, suspended the individuals involved and would be conducting a disciplinary investigation.
However, Litteljohn told CNA she believes that these steps might have been “mere propaganda aimed at creating the illusion that the Chinese Communist Party adheres to the rule of law.”
She said that she has heard the reports of Deng being beaten and disappearing, of the protests being organized against the family and of guards patrolling Feng’s hospital room and holding her there “against her will.”
Littlejohn said that these reports remind her of the surveillance surrounding blind pro-life activist Chen Guangcheng, whom she recently helped in his efforts to escape house arrest and come to the U.S. with his immediate family.
“In many areas, Family Planning Officials are lawless thugs, accountable to no one,” she warned.
“The forced abortion of a seven month pregnant woman is illegal under Chinese law, and yet it still happens as local officials struggle to meet family planning quotas,” she explained.
The Chinese Communist Party “relies on forced abortion to keep the Chinese people down through terror,” Littlejohn said, adding that she believes “the Family Planning Police function as domestic terrorists.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Catholic Charities mobilizes against growing Colorado fires
Colorado Springs, Colo., Jun 27, 2012 / 05:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Both evacuees and residents of the Colorado Springs area are in “utter shock and disbelief” at the major fire threatening the outskirts of the city, a local Catholic Charities official says.
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Father of forcibly aborted Chinese baby reported missing
Washington D.C., Jun 28, 2012 / 01:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The father of a Chinese baby that was forcibly aborted has reportedly disappeared, while his wife is being held in the hospital and intimidated by the local government, family members say.
“It appears that the government’s previous apology and the suspension of three officials may have been insincere,” warned Reggie Littlejohn, founder of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an international organization that works to oppose Chinese forced abortion, gendercide and sex slavery.
Feng Jianmei, a seven-month pregnant Chinese woman, gained international attention in early June when she was taken to a hospital and forced to undergo an abortion for violating the nation’s strict one-child policy.
Now her husband, Deng Liyuan, may be in danger.
According to Fox News, Deng’s sister, Deng Jicai, believes that the government is lashing out at the family in anger at her brother’s contact with reporters.
She explained that last week, her brother tried to travel to Beijing in order to meet with journalists and civil lawyers there. However, he was stopped by a large crowd and several men in cars, who proceeded to beat him, she said.
Deng has now been missing for several days, she added.
Although she said that she got a brief call from him on June 26 saying that he was safe and telling her not to worry, she said that he would not reveal his location and the family is "still worried.”
She also said that 23-year-old Feng, the mother of the aborted baby, is under constant surveillance and is not being permitted to leave the hospital.
Furthermore, she reported, a group of local townspeople, led by the local government authorities, have conducted a protest outside the hospital, where they raised a banner calling the family “traitors” and demanding that they be “severely” beaten and expelled from the town.
The incident began several weeks ago when Feng and Deng were unable to pay the 40,000 yuan fine – equivalent to about $6,300 – for having an “illegal” pregnancy. Because the couple already had one daughter, they were not authorized to have an additional child.
Chinese family planning officials reportedly surrounded the couple’s house on June 2 and forced Feng to go to the hospital for an abortion.
Graphic photos of Feng lying next to her aborted fetus in a hospital bed began to spread online, generating international attention and protest.
In response, Chinese authorities said that they had apologized to Feng, suspended the individuals involved and would be conducting a disciplinary investigation.
However, Litteljohn told CNA she believes that these steps might have been “mere propaganda aimed at creating the illusion that the Chinese Communist Party adheres to the rule of law.”
She said that she has heard the reports of Deng being beaten and disappearing, of the protests being organized against the family and of guards patrolling Feng’s hospital room and holding her there “against her will.”
Littlejohn said that these reports remind her of the surveillance surrounding blind pro-life activist Chen Guangcheng, whom she recently helped in his efforts to escape house arrest and come to the U.S. with his immediate family.
“In many areas, Family Planning Officials are lawless thugs, accountable to no one,” she warned.
“The forced abortion of a seven month pregnant woman is illegal under Chinese law, and yet it still happens as local officials struggle to meet family planning quotas,” she explained.
The Chinese Communist Party “relies on forced abortion to keep the Chinese people down through terror,” Littlejohn said, adding that she believes “the Family Planning Police function as domestic terrorists.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
“It appears that the government’s previous apology and the suspension of three officials may have been insincere,” warned Reggie Littlejohn, founder of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an international organization that works to oppose Chinese forced abortion, gendercide and sex slavery.
Feng Jianmei, a seven-month pregnant Chinese woman, gained international attention in early June when she was taken to a hospital and forced to undergo an abortion for violating the nation’s strict one-child policy.
Now her husband, Deng Liyuan, may be in danger.
According to Fox News, Deng’s sister, Deng Jicai, believes that the government is lashing out at the family in anger at her brother’s contact with reporters.
She explained that last week, her brother tried to travel to Beijing in order to meet with journalists and civil lawyers there. However, he was stopped by a large crowd and several men in cars, who proceeded to beat him, she said.
Deng has now been missing for several days, she added.
Although she said that she got a brief call from him on June 26 saying that he was safe and telling her not to worry, she said that he would not reveal his location and the family is "still worried.”
She also said that 23-year-old Feng, the mother of the aborted baby, is under constant surveillance and is not being permitted to leave the hospital.
Furthermore, she reported, a group of local townspeople, led by the local government authorities, have conducted a protest outside the hospital, where they raised a banner calling the family “traitors” and demanding that they be “severely” beaten and expelled from the town.
The incident began several weeks ago when Feng and Deng were unable to pay the 40,000 yuan fine – equivalent to about $6,300 – for having an “illegal” pregnancy. Because the couple already had one daughter, they were not authorized to have an additional child.
Chinese family planning officials reportedly surrounded the couple’s house on June 2 and forced Feng to go to the hospital for an abortion.
Graphic photos of Feng lying next to her aborted fetus in a hospital bed began to spread online, generating international attention and protest.
In response, Chinese authorities said that they had apologized to Feng, suspended the individuals involved and would be conducting a disciplinary investigation.
However, Litteljohn told CNA she believes that these steps might have been “mere propaganda aimed at creating the illusion that the Chinese Communist Party adheres to the rule of law.”
She said that she has heard the reports of Deng being beaten and disappearing, of the protests being organized against the family and of guards patrolling Feng’s hospital room and holding her there “against her will.”
Littlejohn said that these reports remind her of the surveillance surrounding blind pro-life activist Chen Guangcheng, whom she recently helped in his efforts to escape house arrest and come to the U.S. with his immediate family.
“In many areas, Family Planning Officials are lawless thugs, accountable to no one,” she warned.
“The forced abortion of a seven month pregnant woman is illegal under Chinese law, and yet it still happens as local officials struggle to meet family planning quotas,” she explained.
The Chinese Communist Party “relies on forced abortion to keep the Chinese people down through terror,” Littlejohn said, adding that she believes “the Family Planning Police function as domestic terrorists.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
SSPX letter indicates refusal of Vatican reconciliation effort
Washington D.C., Jun 27, 2012 / 01:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A recent letter leaked online suggests that leaders of the Society of St. Pius X, a breakaway traditionalist group, have rejected a proposed Vatican document to aid in reconciliation efforts.
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal celebrates Spanish shrine's elevation to minor basilica
Avila, Spain, Jun 27, 2012 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- A Vatican official celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving on June 25 after the Shrine of St. John of Avila in Spain was elevated by Pope Benedict to the status of a Minor Basilica.
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Catholic Charities mobilizes against growing Colorado fires
Colorado Springs, Colo., Jun 27, 2012 / 05:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Both evacuees and residents of the Colorado Springs area are in “utter shock and disbelief” at the major fire threatening the outskirts of the city, a local Catholic Charities official says.
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Father of forcibly aborted Chinese baby reported missing
Washington D.C., Jun 28, 2012 / 01:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The father of a Chinese baby that was forcibly aborted has reportedly disappeared, while his wife is being held in the hospital and intimidated by the local government, family members say.
“It appears that the government’s previous apology and the suspension of three officials may have been insincere,” warned Reggie Littlejohn, founder of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an international organization that works to oppose Chinese forced abortion, gendercide and sex slavery.
Feng Jianmei, a seven-month pregnant Chinese woman, gained international attention in early June when she was taken to a hospital and forced to undergo an abortion for violating the nation’s strict one-child policy.
Now her husband, Deng Liyuan, may be in danger.
According to Fox News, Deng’s sister, Deng Jicai, believes that the government is lashing out at the family in anger at her brother’s contact with reporters.
She explained that last week, her brother tried to travel to Beijing in order to meet with journalists and civil lawyers there. However, he was stopped by a large crowd and several men in cars, who proceeded to beat him, she said.
Deng has now been missing for several days, she added.
Although she said that she got a brief call from him on June 26 saying that he was safe and telling her not to worry, she said that he would not reveal his location and the family is "still worried.”
She also said that 23-year-old Feng, the mother of the aborted baby, is under constant surveillance and is not being permitted to leave the hospital.
Furthermore, she reported, a group of local townspeople, led by the local government authorities, have conducted a protest outside the hospital, where they raised a banner calling the family “traitors” and demanding that they be “severely” beaten and expelled from the town.
The incident began several weeks ago when Feng and Deng were unable to pay the 40,000 yuan fine – equivalent to about $6,300 – for having an “illegal” pregnancy. Because the couple already had one daughter, they were not authorized to have an additional child.
Chinese family planning officials reportedly surrounded the couple’s house on June 2 and forced Feng to go to the hospital for an abortion.
Graphic photos of Feng lying next to her aborted fetus in a hospital bed began to spread online, generating international attention and protest.
In response, Chinese authorities said that they had apologized to Feng, suspended the individuals involved and would be conducting a disciplinary investigation.
However, Litteljohn told CNA she believes that these steps might have been “mere propaganda aimed at creating the illusion that the Chinese Communist Party adheres to the rule of law.”
She said that she has heard the reports of Deng being beaten and disappearing, of the protests being organized against the family and of guards patrolling Feng’s hospital room and holding her there “against her will.”
Littlejohn said that these reports remind her of the surveillance surrounding blind pro-life activist Chen Guangcheng, whom she recently helped in his efforts to escape house arrest and come to the U.S. with his immediate family.
“In many areas, Family Planning Officials are lawless thugs, accountable to no one,” she warned.
“The forced abortion of a seven month pregnant woman is illegal under Chinese law, and yet it still happens as local officials struggle to meet family planning quotas,” she explained.
The Chinese Communist Party “relies on forced abortion to keep the Chinese people down through terror,” Littlejohn said, adding that she believes “the Family Planning Police function as domestic terrorists.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
“It appears that the government’s previous apology and the suspension of three officials may have been insincere,” warned Reggie Littlejohn, founder of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, an international organization that works to oppose Chinese forced abortion, gendercide and sex slavery.
Feng Jianmei, a seven-month pregnant Chinese woman, gained international attention in early June when she was taken to a hospital and forced to undergo an abortion for violating the nation’s strict one-child policy.
Now her husband, Deng Liyuan, may be in danger.
According to Fox News, Deng’s sister, Deng Jicai, believes that the government is lashing out at the family in anger at her brother’s contact with reporters.
She explained that last week, her brother tried to travel to Beijing in order to meet with journalists and civil lawyers there. However, he was stopped by a large crowd and several men in cars, who proceeded to beat him, she said.
Deng has now been missing for several days, she added.
Although she said that she got a brief call from him on June 26 saying that he was safe and telling her not to worry, she said that he would not reveal his location and the family is "still worried.”
She also said that 23-year-old Feng, the mother of the aborted baby, is under constant surveillance and is not being permitted to leave the hospital.
Furthermore, she reported, a group of local townspeople, led by the local government authorities, have conducted a protest outside the hospital, where they raised a banner calling the family “traitors” and demanding that they be “severely” beaten and expelled from the town.
The incident began several weeks ago when Feng and Deng were unable to pay the 40,000 yuan fine – equivalent to about $6,300 – for having an “illegal” pregnancy. Because the couple already had one daughter, they were not authorized to have an additional child.
Chinese family planning officials reportedly surrounded the couple’s house on June 2 and forced Feng to go to the hospital for an abortion.
Graphic photos of Feng lying next to her aborted fetus in a hospital bed began to spread online, generating international attention and protest.
In response, Chinese authorities said that they had apologized to Feng, suspended the individuals involved and would be conducting a disciplinary investigation.
However, Litteljohn told CNA she believes that these steps might have been “mere propaganda aimed at creating the illusion that the Chinese Communist Party adheres to the rule of law.”
She said that she has heard the reports of Deng being beaten and disappearing, of the protests being organized against the family and of guards patrolling Feng’s hospital room and holding her there “against her will.”
Littlejohn said that these reports remind her of the surveillance surrounding blind pro-life activist Chen Guangcheng, whom she recently helped in his efforts to escape house arrest and come to the U.S. with his immediate family.
“In many areas, Family Planning Officials are lawless thugs, accountable to no one,” she warned.
“The forced abortion of a seven month pregnant woman is illegal under Chinese law, and yet it still happens as local officials struggle to meet family planning quotas,” she explained.
The Chinese Communist Party “relies on forced abortion to keep the Chinese people down through terror,” Littlejohn said, adding that she believes “the Family Planning Police function as domestic terrorists.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
SSPX letter indicates refusal of Vatican reconciliation effort
Washington D.C., Jun 27, 2012 / 01:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A recent letter leaked online suggests that leaders of the Society of St. Pius X, a breakaway traditionalist group, have rejected a proposed Vatican document to aid in reconciliation efforts.
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal celebrates Spanish shrine's elevation to minor basilica
Avila, Spain, Jun 27, 2012 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- A Vatican official celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving on June 25 after the Shrine of St. John of Avila in Spain was elevated by Pope Benedict to the status of a Minor Basilica.
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Catholic Charities mobilizes against growing Colorado fires
Colorado Springs, Colo., Jun 27, 2012 / 05:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Both evacuees and residents of the Colorado Springs area are in “utter shock and disbelief” at the major fire threatening the outskirts of the city, a local Catholic Charities official says.
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
SSPX letter indicates refusal of Vatican reconciliation effort
Washington D.C., Jun 27, 2012 / 01:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A recent letter leaked online suggests that leaders of the Society of St. Pius X, a breakaway traditionalist group, have rejected a proposed Vatican document to aid in reconciliation efforts.
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal celebrates Spanish shrine's elevation to minor basilica
Avila, Spain, Jun 27, 2012 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- A Vatican official celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving on June 25 after the Shrine of St. John of Avila in Spain was elevated by Pope Benedict to the status of a Minor Basilica.
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Catholic Charities mobilizes against growing Colorado fires
Colorado Springs, Colo., Jun 27, 2012 / 05:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Both evacuees and residents of the Colorado Springs area are in “utter shock and disbelief” at the major fire threatening the outskirts of the city, a local Catholic Charities official says.
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
SSPX letter indicates refusal of Vatican reconciliation effort
Washington D.C., Jun 27, 2012 / 01:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A recent letter leaked online suggests that leaders of the Society of St. Pius X, a breakaway traditionalist group, have rejected a proposed Vatican document to aid in reconciliation efforts.
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal celebrates Spanish shrine's elevation to minor basilica
Avila, Spain, Jun 27, 2012 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- A Vatican official celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving on June 25 after the Shrine of St. John of Avila in Spain was elevated by Pope Benedict to the status of a Minor Basilica.
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Catholic Charities mobilizes against growing Colorado fires
Colorado Springs, Colo., Jun 27, 2012 / 05:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Both evacuees and residents of the Colorado Springs area are in “utter shock and disbelief” at the major fire threatening the outskirts of the city, a local Catholic Charities official says.
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
SSPX letter indicates refusal of Vatican reconciliation effort
Washington D.C., Jun 27, 2012 / 01:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A recent letter leaked online suggests that leaders of the Society of St. Pius X, a breakaway traditionalist group, have rejected a proposed Vatican document to aid in reconciliation efforts.
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
The June 25 letter, written by the society’s general secretary, Fr. Christian Thouvenot, informs leaders within the society that the groups’ superior general, Bishop Bernard Fellay, found the Vatican’s offer “clearly unacceptable” at a meeting earlier this month.
After years of negotiations, the society – which broke with Rome in 1988 – had been considering a Vatican offer that would have brought it back into the Church as a Personal Prelature, which functions as a jurisdiction without geographical boundaries.
The society was being asked to agree to certain doctrinal teachings specified by the Vatican, including full acceptance of the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Benedict XVI’s efforts to reach out to the Society of St. Pius X have been ongoing.
On June 26, the pope appointed Archbishop Joseph Augustine Di Noia, titular archbishop of Oregon City, as vice president of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei,” which has been responsible for leading conciliatory talks with the group.
Three years of negotiations had yielded a “Doctrinal Preamble” from the Vatican last fall, intended to pave a way to overcome disagreements over doctrine between Rome and the society.
Fr. Thouvenot’s letter said that Bishop Fellay had replied with a different version of the preamble in April that had “seemed to satisfy the Supreme Pontiff,” according to “several” sources.
According to the letter, however, Cardinal William J. Levada, prefect of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, presented the bishop’s proposal on June 13, but “amended” in such a way that the bishop “immediately informed him that he could not sign this new document.”
The Society of St. Pius X will discuss the matter at its next general meeting, said Fr. Thouvenot.
He added that Bishop Richard Williamson - a controversial society prelate who caused an uproar several years ago when he denied the atrocities of the Holocaust - is being prohibited from attending that meeting “due to his stand calling to rebellion and for continually repeated disobedience.”
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal celebrates Spanish shrine's elevation to minor basilica
Avila, Spain, Jun 27, 2012 / 02:01 pm (CNA).- A Vatican official celebrated a Mass of thanksgiving on June 25 after the Shrine of St. John of Avila in Spain was elevated by Pope Benedict to the status of a Minor Basilica.
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Cardinal Antonio Canizares, who serves as prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, said the move has strengthened the bond between the shrine and the Pope.
“This temple shall be especially linked to Pope Benedict XVI and his successors,” the cardinal said during the Mass, which was also attended by Bishop Demetrio Fernandez of Cordoba and Archbishop Juan Jose Asenjo of Sevilla.
Cardinal Canizares also praised locals for preserving the shrine, where the remains of St. John of Avila are interred. He called the saint “a holy man who loved the Church so much.”
“We find ourselves before the urgency of a New Evangelization that can’t be delayed any longer,” the cardinal stated, adding that the patron saint of diocesan clergy “has a lot to say to us” in this regard.
“The world needs the Gospel, otherwise it has no future,” he continued. “What St. John of Avila did in the 16th century is what needs to be done today in the world.”
For his part, Bishop Fernandez said the elevation of the shrine to a Minor Basilica is “an exceptional event for the Diocese of Cordoba.”
He voiced hope that the designation would inspire many of the faithful to travel to Rome for the declaration of St. John of Avila as Doctor of the Church on October 17 and to participate with greater devotion in the Jubilee Year which will begin on October 12.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Catholic Charities mobilizes against growing Colorado fires
Colorado Springs, Colo., Jun 27, 2012 / 05:08 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Both evacuees and residents of the Colorado Springs area are in “utter shock and disbelief” at the major fire threatening the outskirts of the city, a local Catholic Charities official says.
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
Rochelle Schlortt, communications director for Catholic Charities of Central Colorado, said the situation is “just scary.”
“You look up and you see the smoke or you see the flames. It’s like the entire mountainside is on fire,” she told CNA June 27.
Schlortt said the city's residents now “live in a fog of smoke,” which creates difficulties for anyone with respiratory problems, while others feel a “constant burning” in their eyes and throats.
“Smoke has literally descended and engulfed not only the Colorado Springs city but the entire El Paso county.”
Over 30,000 people have evacuated neighborhoods north and west of Colorado Springs, including parts of the Air Force Academy, to escape the Waldo Canyon Fire which began June 23. The fire has burned over 15,000 acres and was only five percent contained as of Wednesday morning, the Denver Post reports.
Colorado has suffered several major fires already this year.
Schlott explained that he first responders to the Colorado Springs fire are the Red Cross, which is setting up shelters, and the Salvation Army, which is providing evacuees with meals. At the request of the Salvation Army, the Colorado Springs Catholic Charities affiliate is helping to prepare and deliver several hundred meals per day.
The Catholic agency is supplying food to three shelters in Colorado Springs and one near the town of Divide. Road closures mean Divide is now a 2.5-hour drive from the city.
Schlortt said June 27 that the situation is “very fluid.”
“This fire is progressing and putting people out of their neighborhoods on an hourly basis.”
Joe Mahoney, executive director of Catholic Charities of Southern Colorado, said his Pueblo-based agency is collecting money to support the Colorado Springs affiliate’s operations.
Mahoney, a former disaster response officer for Catholic Charities USA, told CNA he is heading to Colorado Springs to provide assistance in person.
Schlortt said that every relief agency in Colorado Springs is responding. Many people are donating funds, volunteering and taking others into their homes.
“The entire community is just opening their hearts,” she said.
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Denver has offered financial and staff assistance to its Colorado Springs counterpart to respond to the fires.
The Waldo Canyon Fire forced the cancellation of Sunday Mass at two parishes, the Colorado Catholic Herald reports. The novitiate for the Order of the Holy Cross in Cascade was evacuated, as was Mount St. Francis Nursing Home. Activities at St. Francis of Assisi Parish have been cancelled on orders of the fire department.
Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs offered prayers for those affected by the fire.
“We also pray for the firefighters and volunteers who are working hard to contain the wildfire and serve the needs of those affected,” he said June 26. “We are grateful for your courage, generosity and sacrifice, and we are heartened to see communities rallying together during this trying time.”
The bishop will lead a Holy Hour of prayer for fire victims and first responders on June 28 at 7 p.m. at downtown Colorado Springs’ St. Mary Cathedral.
Bishop James D. Conley, apostolic administrator of the Archdiocese of Denver, has called for prayer and charitable assistance to the victims of the multiple fires in Colorado.
Schlortt also asked for prayers, saying “We need all the prayers we can get.”
Victims of other Colorado fires remain in need.
Catholic Charities of Denver is continuing to help evacuees of the High Park Fire in Larimer County in the mountains of northern Colorado. That fire, the second-largest in state history, began in a June 9 lightning strike. It burned over 87,000 acres and over 250 homes and is still only 65 percent contained. A 62-year-old woman died in the blaze, the Denver Post reports.
Last week, the Denver charity received emergency assistance grants totaling $20,000 from Catholic Charities USA and from United Way of Larimer County. It has also contributed $10,000 of its own funds to provide food, clothing, hotel accommodations and other personal items to the victims.
It is distributing aid in cooperation with the Red Cross and United Way. It is continuing to monitor the new fire in Boulder County, which is burning 230 acres and has prompted pre-evacuation warnings to over 2,000 phone numbers.
“Should the need arise for more extensive relief assistance, Catholic Charities is prepared to respond quickly and effectively to those needs,” the Denver agency said June 27.
Donations to support victims of the Colorado Springs fires may be made through the Catholic Charities of Central Colorado website http://ccharitiescc.org.
Courtesy: CNA Oringinal Post
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