JESUS CARITAS EST

CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD : WED. FEB.8, 2012

2012-02-10T12:43:00.001-05:00

VATICAN : POPE : JESUS PRAYER BEFORE DEATH AND OTHER NEWS

AMERICA : ECUADOR : MISSIONARY DIES SAVING LIVES OF 7 CHILDREN

ASIA : PHILIPPINES : RISING DEATH TOLL FROM QUAKE

AFRICA : SENEGAL : BISHOPS CONCERNED OVER ELECTIONS

EUROPE : MASS IN THANKSGIVING FOR RELIGIOUS

AUSTRALIA : DONATIONS TO MISSIONS HELP SEMINARIANS

TODAY'S SAINT : FEB. 8 : ST. JEROME EMILIANI

TODAY'S GOSPEL AND MASS: WED. FEB. 8, 2012

VATICAN : POPE : JESUS PRAYER BEFORE DEATH AND OTHER NEWS

VIS REPORTS: JESUS' PRAYER BEFORE DYING
Vatican City, (VIS) - The prayer of Jesus at the moment of His death, as narrated by St. Mark and St. Matthew was the theme of Benedict XVI's catechesis during his general audience, held this morning in the Paul VI Hall.
"In the structure of the narrative", the Pope said, "Jesus' cry rises at the end of three hours of darkness, which had descended upon the earth from midday to three o'clock in the afternoon. Those three hours of darkness were, in their turn, the continuation of an earlier period which also lasted three hours and began with the crucifixion. ... In biblical tradition darkness has an ambivalent meaning: it is a sign of the presence and action of evil, but also of the mysterious presence and action of God Who is capable of vanquishing all darkness. ... In the scene of Jesus' crucifixion darkness envelops the earth, the darkness of death in which the Son of God immerses Himself, in order bring life with His act of love".
"Insulted by various categories of people, surrounded by a darkness covering everything, at the very moment in which He is facing death Jesus' cry shows that, along with His burden of suffering and death apparently accompanied by abandonment and the absence of God, He is entirely certain of the closeness of the Father, Who approves this supreme act of love and of total giving of Self, although we do not hear His voice from on high as we did in earlier moments".
Yet, the Holy Father asked, "what is the meaning of Jesus' prayer? The cry addressed to the Father: 'my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?'" He explained that "the words Jesus addresses to the Father are the beginning of Psalm 22, in which the Psalmist expresses the tension between, on the one hand, being left alone and, on the other, the certain knowledge of God's presence amongst His people. ... The Psalmist speaks of a 'cry' to express all the suffering of his prayer before the apparently absent God. At moments of anguish prayer becomes a cry.
"This also happens in our own relationship with the Lord", the Pope added. "In the face of difficult and painful situations, when it seems that God does not hear, we must not be afraid to entrust Him with the burden we are carrying in our hearts, we must not be afraid to cry out to Him in our suffering".
"Jesus prays at the moment of ultimate rejection by man, at the moment of abandonment. However, He is aware that God the Father is present even at the instant in which He is experiencing the human drama of death. Yet nonetheless, a question arises in our hearts: how is it possible that such a powerful God does not intervene to save His Son from this terrible trial?"
The Holy Father explained that "it is important to understand that the prayer of Jesus is not the cry of a person who meets death with desperation, nor that of a person who knows he has been abandoned. At that moment Jesus appropriates Psalm 22, the Psalm of the suffering people of Israel, at that moment He takes upon Himself not only the suffering of His people, but also that of all men and women oppressed by evil. ... And He takes all this to the heart of God in the certainty that His cry will be heard in the resurrection. ... His is a suffering in communion with us and for us, it derives from love and carries within itself redemption and the victory of love.
"The people at the foot of Jesus' cross were unable to understand, they thought His cry was a supplication to Elijah. ... We likewise find ourselves, ever and anew, facing the 'today' of suffering, the silence of God - many times we say as much in our prayers - but we also find ourselves facing the 'today' of the Resurrection, of the response of God Who took our sufferings upon Himself, to carry them with us and give us the certain hope that they will be overcome".
"In our prayers", the Holy Father concluded, "let us bring God our daily crosses, in the certainty that He is present and listens to us. The cry of Jesus reminds us that in prayer we must cross the barrier of 'self' and our own problems, and open ourselves to the needs and sufferings of others. May the prayer of the dying Jesus on the cross teach us to pray with love for so many brothers and sisters who feel the burden of daily life, who are experiencing moments of difficulty, who suffer and hear no words of comfort, that they may feel the love of God Who never abandons us.

POPE CALLS FOR SOLIDARITY TOWARDS VICTIMS OF BAD WEATHER
Vatican City, (VIS) - Following his catechises during this morning's general audience, Benedict XVI launched an appeal for solidarity with victims of the current period of extremely cold weather. "Over recent weeks", he said, "a wave of freezing weather has affected a number of regions in Europe causing great disruption and widespread damage. I wish to express my closeness to the people suffering such extreme meteorological conditions, and ask for prayers for the victims and their families. At the same time, I encourage people to show solidarity that, those affected by these tragic events may receive generous assistance".

COOPERATION WITH THE AUTHORITIES IS VITAL IN THE STRUGGLE TO COMBAT SEXUAL ABUSE
Vatican City, (VIS) - Cardinal William Joseph Levada, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, delivered a lecture before the international symposium "Towards Healing and Renewal" being held in Rome's Gregorian University from 6 to 9 February. The event brings together bishops and religious superiors from all over the world and aims to relaunch the Church's commitment to protecting minors and vulnerable people from abuse.
Speaking English, Cardinal Levada affirmed that for Church leaders the question under examination "is both delicate and urgent". It is "important not to lose sight of the gravity of these crimes" as we seek "to form the priests of today and tomorrow to be aware of this scourge and to eliminate it from the priesthood".
Cardinal Levada recalled how Blessed John Paul II's Motu Proprio "Sacramentorum sanctitatis tutela" clarified and updated the list of canonical crimes, explicitly including the sexual abuse of minors by clerics as one of the most serious crimes, or "graviora delicta". Benedict XVI, then prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "was instrumental in implementing these new norms" and supported "approving the Essential Norms for the United States". In 2010 Pope Benedict also approved and ordered the promulgation of stricter revised norms.
"In an effort to aid the Church universal to adopt appropriate measures ... the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a circular letter to assist episcopal conferences in developing guidelines for dealing with cases of sexual abuse of minors perpetrated by clerics". That letter, dated 2011, calls for standards to evaluate the suitability of clergy and other persons who minister in Church institutions and agencies; and for education programmes to be set up for families and Church communities to ensure the protection of children and young people.
"For many if not most victims a first need is to be heard, to know that the Church listens to their stories of abuse, that the Church understands the gravity of what they have suffered, that she wants to accompany them on the often long path of healing, and that she has taken or is willing to take effective steps to ensure that other children will be protected from such abuse", Cardinal Levada said. In this context he also noted the example set by the Holy Father in meeting with abuse victims during his apostolic trips.
The prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith reiterated the fact that bishops and religious superiors must "exercise even greater scrutiny in accepting candidates for the priesthood and religious life, as well as providing formation programmes that provide the necessary foundational human formation, including appropriate formation in human sexuality".
"Certainly no less important than any of the other elements, the cooperation of the Church with civil authorities in these cases recognises the fundamental truth that the sexual abuse of minors is not only a crime in canon law, but is also a crime that violates criminal laws in most civil jurisdictions. ... The Church has an obligation to cooperate with the requirements of civil law regarding the reporting of such crimes to the appropriate authorities".
At the end of his address, Cardinal Levada expressed the hope that the symposium would be "a source of expertise and hope for those who seek to eliminate the scourge of sexual abuse of minors from society at large".

AMERICA : ECUADOR : MISSIONARY DIES SAVING LIVES OF 7 CHILDREN

Agenzia Fides REPORT- On Sunday, February 5, Pedro Manuel died, aged 43, after saving the lives of seven children who had been dragged off into the sea, in front of a beach near the small town of Quinindé, in Ecuador. Pedro Manuel belonged to the Community "Hogar of Nazareth", founded by Maria del Prado Almagro. According to the note sent by the diocese of Cordoba (Spain) to Fides, "Brother Pedro" was a lay consecrated to the Lord, and from 1990 until 1998 he lived in Hogar of Nazareth in Cordoba. This year he was assigned to the mission that the society runs in the village of Quinindé (Ecuador). In this place he helped abandoned children as responsible of the "Holy Family School of Nazareth", a commitment recognized by many.
On the Sunday that Latin America will celebrate the Day of Consecrated Life, this event reminds how far the love for God and neighbor can reach. Mgr. Eugenio Arellano Fernandez, M.C.C.I., Apostolic Vicar of Esmeraldas, said that "Brother Pedro died as he lived, given to God and the children". (CE) (Agenzia Fides 08/02/2012)

AFRICA : SENEGAL : BISHOPS CONCERNED OVER ELECTIONS

Agenzia Fides REPORT- "The presidential elections whose first round is fixed for Sunday, February 26, will be decisive for the future of the country", say the Bishops of Senegal in the message dedicated to the presidential elections.
In the document, which Fides received, it is stressed that "this first election after the 50th anniversary celebrations of sovereignty, is the bearer of important challenges, giving rise to a particularly acute atmosphere of tension, with unforeseeable risks, if the different protagonists will not be able to reason".
The main challenge, according to the Bishops, derives from the "world crisis that spares no nation on the planet" but cannot hide "the internal misrule that has lasted for several decades, marked by public affairs without prospects, partisan, and does not take the needs of the population into consideration".
This has not prevented, the bishops point out, the political upheaval of 2000 (which brought to power the current President Wade, after decades of government of the Socialist Party) through "free and transparent election, accepted by everyone". And that is what is hoped for this year's elections. This is why the message appeals to the candidates, so that they give proof of "great democratic culture, desire for truth, the perspective to improve the living conditions of the population, excluding unnecessary diatribes and demagogic promises". Likewise, voters are asked to consider each candidate with a critical eye with its plans and to exercise discernment in the light of the Word of God
The message ends with the exhortation to prayer, listening and putting into practice the Word of God, entrusting the country to Mary, Our Lady of Poponguine, Queen of Senegal. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 08/02/2012)

AUSTRALIA : DONATIONS TO MISSIONS HELP SEMINARIANS

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese REPORT
9 Feb 2012

Juan Perez is given financial support by

Catholic Mission of Australia to continue his studies

to become a priest

The generosity of Australians and their donations to the Catholic Mission has made it possible for a young Peruvian to study for the priesthood.

But financial support for this future priest in the Amazonian rainforest jungles of Peru is not the only Australian connection.

For the past 20 years Juan Perez' parish priest in the city of Iquitos, Peru has been Father John Andersen from the Archdiocese of Sydney.

Fr Andersen, who is better known as Padre Juan by the 3000-plus parishioners to whom he ministers as part of Iquitos' parish of Santa Rosa baptised the young man when he was a baby and has known his family and been part of their lives ever since.

"With only 24 priests in the vast Iquitos Vicariate, there is a great need for more good men like Juan," says Fr Andersen.

Currently back in Australia to spend a few weeks visiting his 96-year-old father as well as his brother and sisters and large extended family, Fr Andersen remains a diocesan priest and is in Peru as a missionary priest with the full support and blessing of the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell.

Initially when Fr Andersen was first given permission by Cardinal James Freeman, the then Archbishop of Sydney, to work as an associate priest with the Columban Fathers of Peru, he thought he would return to Australia within six years and resume his work as a diocesan priest.

Fr Andersen baptised Juan Perez as

a baby and has known the Peruvian

seminarian throughout his young life

That was 30 years ago and thanks to the encouragement and support of successive Archbishops of Sydney and generosity of members of the Sydney Archdiocese, bringing the message of God's love to the people of Peru, most of whom are poor and lead hard lives, has become his life's work.

"Catholic Mission is helping support the Vicariate of Iquitos through its works with communities, Church leaders and children," says Martin Tuelan, National Director of Catholic Mission. "With input from Fr Andersen, supporters of Catholic Mission are assisting in the growth of faith throughout the region with the training of priests and catechists, and in particular young men such as Juan Perez."

Juan and his fellow seminarians at the Iquitos St Augustine Seminary benefit from the financial support given to them by Australia's Catholic Mission, enabling them to continue with their priestly studies in a region where the average wage for many is just $700 per year.

Fr Andersen recalls baptising Juan when the Perez family brought him to the Church of Santa Rosa, and again later when Juan became one of his altar servers.

Peruvian seminarian with Sydney diocesan priest,

Father John Andersen

"Each Saturday evening he would be part of a group of young people who would meet at the church to pray and reflect on the reading for Sunday Mass," he remembers, impressed with the teenager's faith, piety and his often profound and insightful reflections on the scriptures.

At 14, Juan told his mentor, friend and family priest Fr Andersen that he was considering a vocation to the priesthood. Then after two years of discernment, he entered St Augustine's Seminary.

"The people who live on the river and its tributaries may see a priest only a few times a year and they need pastoral and spiritual sustenance," says Martin Tuelan and expresses his gratitude to Catholic Mission's supporters which has enabled the Mission to join in this important cause of training priests and bringing God's kingdom on earth to the people of Iquitos.

To donate to Catholic Mission in Australia to support the work of priests worldwide, and in particular the mission in Peru where Sydney Archdiocesan priest, Fr Andersen is mentoring, encouraging and helping a new generation of young men become tomorrow's priests and messengers of God log on to www.catholicmission.org.au

ASIA : PHILIPPINES : RISING DEATH TOLL FROM QUAKE

ASIA NEWS REPORT: In the island’s east coast city hundreds of people digging with their bare hands in search of hundreds still buried under rubble. Caritas Philippines warns that food supplies are running low. Landslides and mudslides block roads and make it impossible for the arrival of humanitarian aid. The local Catholic Church opens churches, chapels and schools to provide shelter to hundreds of displaced families.

Manila (AsiaNews) – The death toll from the 6.9 magnitude earthquake that struck the islands of Negros and Cebu (Central Philippines) on 6 February has risen to 48 dead and 92 missing. In the eastern part of the island the quake destroyed dozens of towns and villages. Hundreds of people are buried under the rubble. Alvin Futalan, head of the Guihulngan police (100 thousand inhabitants), explains that there are in the hundreds of collapsed buildings in the towns and people are digging with their bare hands. The National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (Ndrrmc) has recorded over 700 aftershocks, that two days after the earthquake are causing landslides, blocking rescue teams and the arrival of humanitarian aid.

Sister Mapet spokesperson for Caritas Philippines (National Secretariat of Social Action, Nassa), told AsiaNews that "to help the earthquake survivors, the parishes of the Diocese of Dumaguete and San Carlos (Negros Island, central Philippines) are using up stocks, that are running out. "

The nun says that the situation is dramatic. The earthquake has made roads impassable, five bridges have collapsed and another five can only carry light vehicles or on people foot. "The parishes - says Sr. Mapet - have opened churches, chapels and schools to accommodate the hundreds of displaced families and organized collections of food, blankets and clothes among the parishioners not affected by the earthquake. We are still waiting for the aid requested from Caritas International and the government. " (Sc)'
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Death-toll-from-Negros-and-Cebu-earthquake-rises-to-48-dead-and-92-missing-23912.html

EUROPE : MASS IN THANKSGIVING FOR RELIGIOUS

CATHOLIC HERALD REPORT: A solemn Mass for the religious of the Diocese of Westminster is held at Westminster Cathedral

By STAFF REPORTER on Thursday, 9 February 2012

Archbishop Vincent Nichols is pictured with representatives of female religious communities in the Archdiocese of Westminster after the solemn Mass for religious of the diocese (Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk)

A Solemn Mass for the religious of the Diocese of Westminster was held at Westminster Cathedral on Thursday, February 2, the feast of the Presentation of the Lord.

Representatives from most of the 107 female religious communities in the diocese attended.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols was the principal celebrant at the Mass, delivering a homily that praised the brave undertaking of religious life by the Sisters, 24 of whom were celebrating jubilee anniversaries.

The Archbishop of Westminster quoted the Prophet Malachi, saying that the consecrated life teaches us that “the work of the Lord is to purify and refine ourselves, until we are like gold in His eyes”.

He went on to say that it takes great effort to permit the Lord into our lives so completely and acknowledged the dedication of the Sisters to helping those in need.

The archbishop concluded his homily by saying: “We thank God for our vocation and for all who led us to that decision in life and we cheerfully dedicate ourselves anew today.”

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/catholiclife/2012/02/09/archbishop-thanks-god-for-sisters/

TODAY'S GOSPEL AND MASS: WED. FEB. 8, 2012

Mark 7: 14 - 23
14	And he called the people to him again, and said to them, "Hear me, all of you, and understand:
15	there is nothing outside a man which by going into him can defile him; but the things which come out of a man are what defile him."
17	And when he had entered the house, and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable.
18	And he said to them, "Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a man from outside cannot defile him,
19	since it enters, not his heart but his stomach, and so passes on?" (Thus he declared all foods clean.)
20	And he said, "What comes out of a man is what defiles a man.
21	For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery,
22	coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.
23	All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man."

TODAY'S SAINT : FEB. 8 : ST. JEROME EMILIANI

St. Jerome Emiliani

FOUNDRESS OF THE ORDER OF SOMASCHA

Feast: February 8

Information:

Feast Day:	February 8
Born:	1481, Venice
Died:	8 February 1537, Somasca
Canonized:	1767 by Pope Clement XIII
Patron of:	orphans

Founder of the Order of Somascha; b. at Venice, 1481; d. at Somascha, 8 Feb., 1537; feast, 20 July; son of Angelo Emiliani (popularly called Miani) and of Eleonore Mauroceni, joined the army, and in 1508 defended Castelnuovo against the League of Cambray. Taken prisoner and miraculously liberated, he made a pilgrimage to the shrine of Our Lady of Treviso, in fulfillment of a vow. He was then appointed podestà of Castelnuovo, but after a short time returned to Venice to supervise the education of his nephews. All his spare time was devoted to the study of theology and to works of charity. After his ordination to the priesthood in 1518, the hospitals and the hovels of the poor were his favourite resorts. In the year of plague and famine (1528), he seemed to be everywhere, and showed his zeal especially for the orphans, whose number had so greatly increased. He rented a house for them near the church of St. Rose and, with the assistance of some pious laymen, ministered to their wants. To his charge was also committed the hospital for incurables, founded by St. Cajetan. In 1531 he went to Verona and induced the citizens to build a hospital; at Brescia he erected an orphanage, at Bergamo one for boys and another for girls. Here also he founded the first home for fallen women who wished to do penance. Two priests, Alessandro Besuzio and Agostino Bariso, now joined him in his labours of charity, and in 1532 Jerome founded a religious society, placing the motherhouse at Somascha, a secluded hamlet between Milan and Bergamo. In the rule, Jerome puts down as the principal work of the community the care of orphans, poor, and sick, and demands that dwellings, food and clothing shall bear the mark of religious poverty. Jerome fell a martyr to his zeal; contracting a disease at Bergamo, he died at Somascha. He was beatified by Benedict XIV in 1747, and canonized by Clement XIII in 1767. The Office and Mass in his honour were approved eight years later. His biography was first written by Scipio Albani (1600); another by Andreas Stella (1605). The best was written by Aug. Tortora (Milan, 1620; in "Acta SS.", Feb., II, 217 sq.).

After the death of Jerome his community was about to disband, but was kept together by Gambarana, who had been chosen superior. He obtained the approval (1540) of Paul III. In 1547 the members vainly sought affiliation with the Society of Jesus; then in 1547-1555 they were united with the Theatines. Pius IV (1563) approved the institution, and St. Pius V raised it to the dignity of a religious order, according to the Rule of St. Augustine, with solemn vows, the privileges of the mendicants, and exemption. In 1569 the first six members made their profession, and Gambarana was made first superior general. Great favour was shown to the order by St. Charles Borromeo, and he gave it the church of St. Mayeul at Pavia, from which church the order takes its official name "Clerici regulares S. Majoli Papiae congregationis Somaschae". Later the education of youth was put into the programme of the order, and the colleges at Rome and Pavia became renowned. It spread into Austria and Switzerland, and before the great Revolution it had 119 houses in the four provinces of Rome, Lombardy, Venice, and France. At present the order has ten houses in Italy two of which are in Rome. The general resides in Rome at S. Girolamo della Carita.

(Taken frrom Catholic Encyclopedia)

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/J/stjeromeemiliani.asp#ixzz1m03K9SY1

CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD : TUES. FEB. 7, 2012

2012-02-07T19:40:00.002-05:00

VATICAN : POPE : LENT MESSAGE AND OTHER NEWS

AMERICA : GUATELMALA : RIP FR. DONIS KILLED

ASIA : CHINA : UNDERGROUND PRIEST FR. WENCHANG DIES

EUROPE : GREEN CHRISTIANS LOAF FOR LENT

AUSTRALIA : SISTER BECOMES LEADER OF GOOD SHEPHERD

AFRICA : TANZANIA : SNAKE DISRUPTS CHURCH SERVICE

TODAY'S GOSPEL AND MASS ONLINE : TUES. FEB. 7, 2012

TODAY'S SAINT : FEB. 7: ST. COLETTE OF CORBIE

VATICAN : POPE : LENT MESSAGE AND OTHER NEWS

VIS REPORTS:
PRESENTATION OF HOLY FATHER'S LENTEN MESSAGE FOR 2012
VATICAN CITY, 7 FEB 2012 (VIS) - This morning in the Holy See Press Office, a press conference was held to present the Holy Father's 2012 Lenten Message. Participating in the conference were Cardinal Robert Sarah, president of the Pontifical Council "Cor Unum"; Msgr. Giampietro Dal Toso and Msgr. Segundo Tejado Munoz, respectively secretary and under secretary of the same council. (IMAGE SOURCE: RADIO VATICANA)
"We know that the Lenten Message contributes to maintaining the faithful's sense of concern for others, communion, compassion and fraternal sharing of the sufferings of those in need", said Cardinal Sarah. "However, over and above this important issue, there is another aspect of Christian life which this year's text highlights: fraternal correction".
"Charity teaches us that we are responsible not only for the material well being of others, but also for their moral and spiritual good. ... We cannot overlook the fact that a certain ideology which exalts the rights of the individual can have the consequence of creating isolation and solitude. ... When the call to communion is denied in the name of individualism it is our humanity that suffers, deceived by the impossible mirage of a happiness obtainable alone. Therefore we can help one another by discovering our reciprocal responsibility the one for the other".
"The Church's activity in the modern world must also be seen in the light of fraternal correction in truth and charity", the cardinal went on. "Sometimes it is thought that the Church's concerns, her tenacious resistance to certain fashionable ideas, are moved by thirst or nostalgia for power This is not the case. The Church is moved by a sincere concern for mankind and for the world. Her activities are not moved by a desire to condemn or recriminate, but by a justice and mercy which must also have the courage to call things by their name. Only in this way can we expose the roots of evil, which continue to intrigue the mind of modern man. This task of the Church is called prophetic mission".
In the Old Testament, Cardinal Sarah explained, "a prophet was a man called and sent by God to announce His will to the people. ... Clearly the call for greater social justice is part of mission of the Church", which "cannot remain silent in the face of the fact that too many people die because they lack basic necessities while others grow rich exploiting their fellows. Yet the prophetic dimension of our words and deeds cannot be limited to these external phenomena without going to the moral roots of these injustices. Corruption, accumulation of riches, violence, unduly living at the expense of the commonwealth without contributing are all tumours that consume a society from within. Nor can we remain silent ... about the fact that the roots of the current financial crisis lie in greed, unrestrained and unscrupulous thirst for money without considering those who have less and who must bear the consequences of the mistaken choices of others. Suchattachment to money is a sin, and the Church is prophetic in her condemnation of that sin, which harms both individuals and society".
"Yet the Holy Father ... identifies an even more profound dimension. The Church is a prophet in this world to denounce the absence of God. ... Our secularised society lives and organises itself without reference to God because it is affected by a poverty more tragic even than material want; a poverty represented by the rejection and complete exclusion of God from social and economic life, by the revolt against divine and natural laws. ... The primary responsibility of the Church is to remind each generation that this spiritual dimension is vital. The prophet of today must tell the world that God exists, that without this Father who stirs us to solidarity and sharing life dies and fraternity dissolves into empty utopia, that man has a supernatural vocation, that we have a conscience in which the voice of God speaks and to which we must one day respond".
"Today's message", the cardinal concluded, "aims to awaken people's consciences with respect to the rights and duties of our fellows, but also with respect to our duties towards the 'rights' of God. All this comes about in the context of Christian communion ruled by the principle of reciprocity and fraternal correction, with a view to the temporal good of mankind and his eschatological salvation".

POPE'S LENTEN MESSAGE: CHARITY AS A MEANS TO SALVATION
VATICAN CITY, 7 FEB 2012 (VIS) - Made public today was the 2012 Lenten Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI, the title of which is taken from the Letter to the Hebrews: "Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works". Extracts from the English-language version of the document are given below:
"The Lenten season offers us once again an opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity. This is a favourable time to renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with the help of the word of God and the Sacraments".
"This year I would like to propose a few thoughts in the light of a brief biblical passage drawn from the Letter to the Hebrews: 'Let us be concerned for each other, to stir a response in love and good works'".
(1) Let us be concerned for each other: responsibility towards our brothers and sisters.
"This first aspect is an invitation to be 'concerned'. ... The verb which introduces our exhortation tells us to look at others, first of all at Jesus, to be concerned for one another, and not to remain isolated and indifferent to the fate of our brothers and sisters. All too often, however, our attitude is just the opposite: an indifference and disinterest born of selfishness and masked as a respect for 'privacy'. ... Even today God asks us to be 'guardians' of our brothers and sisters, to establish relationships based on mutual consideration and attentiveness to the well-being, the integral well-being of others. The great commandment of love for one another demands that we acknowledge our responsibility towards those who, like ourselves, are creatures and children of God. Being brothers and sisters in humanity and, in many cases, also in the faith, should help us to recognise in others a true alter ego, infinitely loved bythe Lord. If we cultivate this way of seeing others as our brothers and sisters, solidarity, justice, mercy and compassion will naturally well up in our hearts".
"Concern for others entails desiring what is good for them from every point of view: physical, moral and spiritual. Contemporary culture seems to have lost the sense of good and evil, yet there is a real need to reaffirm that good does exist and will prevail, because God is 'generous and acts generously'. The good is whatever gives, protects and promotes life, brotherhood and communion. Responsibility towards others thus means desiring and working for the good of others, in the hope that they too will become receptive to goodness and its demands. Concern for others means being aware of their needs. Sacred Scripture warns us of the danger that our hearts can become hardened by a sort of 'spiritual anaesthesia' which numbs us to the suffering of others. The Evangelist Luke relates two of Jesus' parables by way of example": the parable of the Good Samaritan and the parable of Dives and Lazarus. Both "show examples of theopposite of 'being concerned', of looking upon others with love and compassion. What hinders this humane and loving gaze towards our brothers and sisters? Often it is the possession of material riches and a sense of sufficiency, but it can also be the tendency to put our own interests and problems above all else. We should never be incapable of 'showing mercy' towards those who suffer. Our hearts should never be so wrapped up in our affairs and problems that they fail to hear the cry of the poor. ... Reaching out to others and opening our hearts to their needs can become an opportunity for salvation and blessedness.
"'Being concerned for each other' also entails being concerned for their spiritual well-being. Here I would like to mention an aspect of the Christian life, which I believe has been quite forgotten: fraternal correction in view of eternal salvation. Today, in general, we are very sensitive to the idea of charity and caring about the physical and material well-being of others, but almost completely silent about our spiritual responsibility towards our brothers and sisters. This was not the case in the early Church. ... Christ Himself commands us to admonish a brother who is committing a sin. ... The Church's tradition has included 'admonishing sinners' among the spiritual works of mercy. It is important to recover this dimension of Christian charity. We must not remain silent before evil. I am thinking of all those Christians who, out of human regard or purely personal convenience, adapt to the prevailing mentality, rather thanwarning their brothers and sisters against ways of thinking and acting that are contrary to the truth and that do not follow the path of goodness. Christian admonishment, for its part, is never motivated by a spirit of accusation or recrimination. It is always moved by love and mercy, and springs from genuine concern for the good of the other. ... In a world pervaded by individualism, it is essential to rediscover the importance of fraternal correction, so that together we may journey towards holiness. ... It is a great service, then, to help others and allow them to help us, so that we can be open to the whole truth about ourselves, improve our lives and walk more uprightly in the Lord's ways".

(2) Being concerned for each other: the gift of reciprocity.
"This 'custody' of others is in contrast to a mentality that, by reducing life exclusively to its earthly dimension, fails to see it in an eschatological perspective and accepts any moral choice in the name of personal freedom. A society like ours can become blind to physical sufferings and to the spiritual and moral demands of life. This must not be the case in the Christian community!"
"The Lord's disciples, united with Him through the Eucharist, live in a fellowship that binds them one to another as members of a single body. This means that the other is part of me, and that his or her life, his or her salvation, concern my own life and salvation. Here we touch upon a profound aspect of communion: our existence is related to that of others, for better or for worse. Both our sins and our acts of love have a social dimension. This reciprocity is seen in the Church, the mystical body of Christ: the community constantly does penance and asks for the forgiveness of the sins of its members, but also unfailingly rejoices in the examples of virtue and charity present in her midst. ... Christians can also express their membership in the one body which is the Church through concrete concern for the poorest of the poor. Concern for one another likewise means acknowledging the good that the Lord is doing in others".

(3) To stir a response in love and good works: walking together in holiness.
"These words of the Letter to the Hebrews urge us to reflect on the universal call to holiness. ... The time granted us in this life is precious for discerning and performing good works in the love of God. In this way the Church herself continuously grows towards the full maturity of Christ. Our exhortation to encourage one another to attain the fullness of love and good works is situated in this dynamic prospect of growth.
"Sadly, there is always the temptation to become lukewarm, to quench the Spirit, to refuse to invest the talents we have received, for our own good and for the good of others. All of us have received spiritual or material riches meant to be used for the fulfilment of God's plan, for the good of the Church and for our personal salvation. The spiritual masters remind us that in the life of faith those who do not advance inevitably regress".
"In a world which demands of Christians a renewed witness of love and fidelity to the Lord, may all of us feel the urgent need to anticipate one another in charity, service and good works. This appeal is particularly pressing in this holy season of preparation for Easter".

PROMOTING A CHURCH CULTURE OF SUPPORT FOR ABUSE VICTIMS
VATICAN CITY, 7 FEB 2012 (VIS) - An international symposium entitled "Towards Healing and Renewal" began yesterday evening in Rome's Gregorian University. The event, which will run until 9 February and brings together bishops and religious superiors from all over the world, aims to relaunch the Church's commitment to protecting minors and vulnerable people from child abuse. During the opening session a message was read out, sent in the Holy Father's name by Cardinal Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone S.D.B. to Fr. Francois-Xavier Dumortier S.J., rector of the Gregorian.
In his English-language message, Cardinal Bertone notes that, "as His Holiness has often observed, healing for victims must be of paramount concern in the Christian community, and it must go hand in hand with a profound renewal of the Church at every level. ... The Holy Father therefore supports and encourages every effort to respond with evangelical charity to the challenge of providing children and vulnerable adults with an ecclesial environment conducive to their human and spiritual growth. He urges the participants in the symposium to continue drawing on a wide range of expertise in order to promote throughout the Church a vigorous culture of effective safeguarding and victim support".
The Pope also prays to the Lord that the symposium may help the Church "to respond in a truly Christ-like manner to the tragedy of child abuse".

AMERICA : GUATELMALA : RIP FR. DONIS KILLED

Agenzia Fides REPORT - Bishop Bernabe de Jesus Sagastume Lemus, O.F.M .Cap., Bishop of St. Rose of Lima, in Guatemala, celebrated Mass in the Church of the Holy Family in memory of the priest, Father David Donis, who was assassinated on 27 January. The celebration in memory of Fr. Donis began on Sunday morning, on February 5, at 10, in a symbolic way, a commitment was maintained that the priest had every Sunday with the faithful, including the marriage of a young couple belonging to his parish, in the village of El Guayabo. The Bishop also celebrated the baptisms according to agreements made by the priest murdered with their families.
"I am here with you because the pastor, Father David Donis, is not here anymore. He should be here to celebrate the Eucharist, but unfortunately he was killed. We are saddened for his violent death," said Mgr. Sagastume. The Bishop recalled some passages from the book of Job, where it says that "life is like breath to our eyes, we see it only go by", referring to the transience of life on earth. So he asked the faithful to be united in these violent times. "We are not asking you to pay those responsible with the same money, but we ask them stop killing people," said Bishop Sagastume, who praised the authorities for the arrest of the alleged murders and asked for investigations to be carried out well, because "the murder of a priest is a case of great impact". However, he also asked to investigate quickly on most violent acts that occur daily in Guatemala.
Father David Donis Barrera, 70, had been pastor for two years in the parish of the Sagrada Familia, in Santa Rosa. Guatemala is now one of the countries with the highest rates of violence in Latin America: there are an average of 16 murders a day in a population of just 14.3 million inhabitants. In 2011 about 6,000 people were killed, according to data from the local press. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 07/02/2012)
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=30945&lan=eng

ASIA : CHINA : UNDERGROUND PRIEST FR. WENCHANG DIES

UCAN NEWS REPORT: Funeral for Father Lawrence Zhang Wenchang, 92, to be held next week

ucanews.com reporter, Kunming
China
February 7, 2012

Father Lawrence Zhang Wenchang

Father Lawrence Zhang Wenchang, apostolic administrator of the three ecclesiastical territories in southwestern Yunnan province – Kunming, Dali and Zhaotong – has died aged 92.
He was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in October and died in his home town in Shilin Yi autonomous county on Sunday.
The Sani-ethnic priest’s body will be on view for seven days so people can pay their last respects according to tribal custom of Sani, a subgroup of Yi-ethnic.
The “underground” administrator, who had no affiliation with the government-sanctioned “open” Church, had lived in Kunming city under police surveillance for years.
Kunming diocese has had no legitimate bishop for 60 years since French Archbishop Alexandre Derouineau was expelled in 1952. Fathers Kong Lingzhong and Joseph Ma Yinglin were ordained bishops of Kunming without a papal mandate in 1962 and 2006 respectively.
The news of his death has sparked heated words on the popular Chinese website Tianzhujiao Zaixian (Catholic Church online). Some netizens praised Fr Zhang’s fidelity to Rome.
“We don’t want anybody from the [open community’s] Catholic Patriotic Association offering condolences or having a hand in Fr Zhang’s funeral service. Kunming diocese needs a new bishop who is loyal to the pope. Ma Yinglin, please leave Yunnan,” another said.
Others said it was unfair to criticize the Patriotic Association, which paid the costs of Fr Zhang’s medication and hospitalization, while another poster said the costs were donated by Catholics from different places.
Born in 1920, he entered the diocesan minor seminary at the age of 12. He graduated from Kunming major seminary and received priestly ordination in 1946. After serving at the cathedral for a few years, he was forced to be a chicken and rabbit breeder in 1953 during a period of political turmoil.
He was arrested in 1958 and sent to prison for counter-revolutionary crimes. He received reform-through-labor in a farm from 1962-82, after which he began to visit Catholics and work part-time. In 1987 he returned to serving the Church after rehabilitation.
The Holy See appointed him to administer Kunming diocese, Dali diocese and Zhaotong apostolic prefecture in 2000.
http://www.ucanews.com/2012/02/07/await-lucias-imprimatur-check-%e2%80%98underground%e2%80%99-administrator-of-yunnan-dies/

AFRICA : TANZANIA : SNAKE DISRUPTS CHURCH SERVICE

ALL AFRICA REPORT: By Anorld Swai, 7 February 2012

Hai — A huge snake emerged at the high table in a church during special fund-raising service in Hai District on Sunday, leading to commotion and stampede as hundreds of worshippers scrambled for their way out.
The incident occurred at Sanya-Juu Parish of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Tanzania (ELCT) in Kilingi Ward, where the Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Office (Regional Administration and Local Government), Mr Aggrey Mwanri, was the chief guest.
The "uninvited guest" emerged in the church as Bishop Martin Shao of ELCT Northern Diocese was delivering a sermon shortly before the laying of the foundation stone of one of the buildings at the parish.
The Deputy Minister, who is also Hai legislator, was accompanied by his wife and both were seated at the high table where the serpent appeared, making worshippers to take to their heels.
Several people sustained minor bruises while struggling to get out of the church.
A few worshippers who managed to gather courage threw chairs, stones and other items at the snake. It, however, disappeared into the nearby bush.
Mr Mwanri said he was surprised that the snake which it is believed entered from the back row, where the church door is located, managed its way unnoticed up to his table and started spitting venom.
The deputy minister was representing the Monduli Member of Parliament and former Prime Minister, Mr Edward Lowassa, who was to be the chief guest at the ceremony.
Mr Lowassa had asked to be excused as he was attending other official matters.
SOURCE: ALLAFRICA.COM

EUROPE : GREEN CHRISTIANS LOAF FOR LENT

IND. CATH. NEWS REPORT: Throughout Lent, Christian Ecology Link (CEL) is asking supporters to think and act on food sourcing in their local church communities and further afield. They have launched a leaflet on the 'LOAF programme principles' in time for Shrove Tuesday on 21 February. The key LOAF principles are that food should where possible be: L- Locally produced; O- Organically grown; A- Animal friendly; and F- Fairly traded

CEL's Secretary, Barbara Echlin said: "Start the LOAF ball rolling in your own church by serving pancakes on Shrove Tuesday and make them with local free range eggs, organic milk and Fair Trade sugar."

Guidance for LOAF campaigners includes the suggestion to send the campaign letter to local church leaders and regional church administrators; and asking cathedrals, conference centres, educational venues and large churches with a refectory or cafe to take part.

CEL's Information and Analysis Officer, Jo Abbess said: "Good food is holy food - and good food comes from well-treated plants, animals and workers."

CEL is asking supporters to send a letter to their church leaders asking that their community LOAF during Lent, and then carry on LOAFing throughout the following year. A sample letter can be downloaded here: http://www.christian-ecology.org.uk/loaf-letter.doc

Green Christians are being encouraged to order free copies of the new LOAF leaflet to distribute during Fair Trade Fortnight, which runs from 27 February to 11 March 2012, by sending an e-mail to : jill-publications@christian-ecology.org.uk The leaflet can also be downloaded from http://www.christian-ecology.org.uk/use-your-loaf.pdf

Green Christians are being asked to submit LOAF-themed recipes which will be uploaded to the new website: http://www.greenchristian.org.uk/archives/category/food/recipes

Source: CEL
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=19784
http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=19784

AUSTRALIA : SISTER BECOMES LEADER OF GOOD SHEPHERD

ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE REPORT:

Good Shepherd welcomes new Province Leader

Tuesday 7 February 2012
By Rosie Hoban
Sr Anne Manning took over as leader of the Good Shepherd Australia New Zealand Province on Saturday 4 February, following the inauguration Mass at the Good Shepherd Chapel in Abbotsford.
View gallery
Read Sr Anne's inaugural talk
Anne (pictured right) is known widely within Good Shepherd as the person who began The Trading Circle, Fair Trade Company, in the 1990s. Today, Good Shepherd has Trading Circle stores in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, selling products made by women in developing countries.
But Anne’s Good Shepherd life spans several decades and countries. She entered the Good Shepherds in Johannesburg in December 1963, and came to Australia from South Africa in February 1980.
In South Africa she worked in residential care facilities for girls in Johannesburg, Pretoria and Hartbeespoort. She also helped establish a community development program in a slum area outside of Johannesburg, aimed at getting children off the streets and into some sort of schooling.
The “school” quickly grew from 14 children in the garage of the priest’s house, to 500 children inside a small community centre which the City Council had built and which had been a white elephant until Good Shepherd took it over.
Anne, who delivered the Homily at Saturday’s inauguration Mass, referred to her adventure last year of walking the Camino, an 800km pilgrimage trail in Spain. She said the Camino walk helped her “let go” of many of life’s unimportant trappings.
“I also came to understand that the one absolute essential is love. This is found in the readings of today’s Eucharist – love. Of course we need food, clothing, shelter to survive – but a life, even with an abundance of these things, without love is a very poor thing.
St Paul tells us that without love we are nothing and what we do is worth nothing. Jesus says simply: ‘What I command you is to love one another’,” Anne said.
“So this is our challenge – in the midst of all else that we are engaged in, to adhere firmly to this one big essential. St Mary Euphrasia, the Good Shepherd foundress, with all that she had accomplished, felt moved to say: ‘I have not done great things. I have only loved, but I have loved with all my heart’. If at the end we can echo those words for ourselves, then, whatever be our achievements or even our failures, we will have fulfilled to the best of our ability, our Good Shepherd mission.”
Anne’s six-year term will provide many challenges and possibilities as Good Shepherd Sisters and mission partners work together through their agencies and communities in New Zealand, Victoria, Western Australia and Queensland, to continue the work which first began in Australia 149 years ago.
To read Anne’s homily in full click here.
Photos by Casamento Photography
http://www.cam.org.au/melbourne-news/good-shepherd-welcomes-new-province-leader.html

TODAY'S GOSPEL AND MASS ONLINE : TUES. FEB. 7, 2012

Mark 7: 1 - 13
1	Now when the Pharisees gathered together to him, with some of the scribes, who had come from Jerusalem,
2	they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands defiled, that is, unwashed.
3	(For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they wash their hands, observing the tradition of the elders;
4	and when they come from the market place, they do not eat unless they purify themselves; and there are many other traditions which they observe, the washing of cups and pots and vessels of bronze.)
5	And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, "Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with hands defiled?"
6	And he said to them, "Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, `This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me;
7	in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.'
8	You leave the commandment of God, and hold fast the tradition of men."
9	And he said to them, "You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God, in order to keep your tradition!
10	For Moses said, `Honor your father and your mother'; and, `He who speaks evil of father or mother, let him surely die';
11	but you say, `If a man tells his father or his mother, What you would have gained from me is Corban' (that is, given to God) --
12	then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother,
13	thus making void the word of God through your tradition which you hand on. And many such things you do."

TODAY'S SAINT : FEB. 7: ST. COLETTE OF CORBIE

St. Colette of Corbie

FOUNDRESS OF THE COLETTINE POOR CLARES

Feast: February 7

Information:

Feast Day:	February 7 or March 6
Born:	13 January 1381, at Corbie in Picardy, France
Died:	6 March 1447, Ghent
Canonized:	24 May 1807

Founder of Colettine Poor Clares (Clarisses), born 13 January 1381, at Corbie in Picardy, France; died at Ghent, 6 March, 1447. Her father, Robert Boellet, was the carpenter of the famous Benedictine Abbey of Corbie; her mother's name was Marguerite Moyon. Colette joined successively the Bequines, the Benedictines, and the Urbanist Poor Clares. Later she lived for a while as a recluse. Having resolved to reform the Poor Clares, she turned to the antipope, Benedict XIII (Pedro de Luna), then recognized by France as the rightful pope. Benedict allowed her to enter to the order of Poor Clares and empowered her by several Bulls, dated 1406, 1407, 1408, and 1412 to found new convents and complete the reform of the order. With the approval of the Countess of Geneva and the Franciscan Henri de la Beaume, her confessor and spiritual guide, Colette began her work at Beaume, in the Diocese of Geneva. She remained there but a short time and soon opened at Besancon her first convent in an almost abandoned house of Urbanist Poor Clares. Thence her reform spread to Auxonne (1410), to Poligny, to Ghent (1412), to Heidelberg (1444), to Amiens, etc. To the seventeen convents founded during her lifetime must be added another begun by her at Pont-a-Mousson in Lorraine. She also inaugurated a reform among the Franciscan friars (the Coletani), not to be confounded with the Observants. These Coletani remained obedient to the authority of the provincial of the Franciscan convents, and never attained much importance even in France. In 1448 they had only thirteen convents, and together with other small branches of the Franciscan Order were suppressed in 1417 by Leo X. In addition to the strict rules of the Poor Clares, the Colettines follow their special constitutions sanctioned in 1434 by the General of the Franciscans, William of Casale, approved in 1448 by Nicholas V, in 1458 by Pius II, and in 1482 by Sixtus IV.

St. Colette was beatified 23 January, 1740, and canonized 24 May, 1807. She was not only a woman of sincere piety, but also intelligent and energetic, and exercised a remarkable moral power over all her associates. She was very austere and mortified in her life, for which God rewarded her by supernatural favours and the gift of miracles. For the convents reformed by her she prescribed extreme poverty, to go barefooted, and the observance of perpetual fast and abstinence. The Colettine Sisters are found today, outside of France, in Belgium, Germany, Spain, England, and the United States

source: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/C/stcoletteofcorbie.asp#ixzz1lkBI6YNp

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CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD : MON. FEB. 6, 2012

2012-02-06T22:32:00.000-05:00

VATICAN : POPE : FACE SICKNESS WITH TRUST IN GOD AND OTHER NEWS

EUROPE : IRELAND : ARRIVAL OF NEW PAPAL NUNCIO

AUSTRALIA : FR. BILL UREN JESUIT HONOURED AT AUSTRALIA DAY

AFRICA : KENYA : PRAYERS FOR CONSECRATED

ASIA : INDONESIA : STEPS TO CLOSE RED LIGHT DISTRICTS

AMERICA : HONDURAS : ARCHBISHOP CALLS FOR RESPECT FOR LIFE

TODAY'S MASS AND GOSPEL ONLINE : MON. FEB. 6, 2012

TODAY'S SAINT : FEB. 6 : ST. PAUL MIKI AND COMPANIONS

VATICAN : POPE : FACE SICKNESS WITH TRUST IN GOD AND OTHER NEWS

NOTE OF GOVERNORATE ON LETTERS OF ARCHBISHOP VIGANO

VATICAN CITY, 4 FEB 2012 (VIS) - Given below is the text of a declaration released at midday today by the Presidency of the Governorate of Vatican City State. The declaration bears the signatures of Cardinal Giovanni Lajolo, president emeritus of the Governorate; Archbishop Giuseppe Bertello, current president; Bishop Giuseppe Sciacca, secretary general, and Bishop Giorgio Corbellini, former vice secretary general. (IMAGE SOURCE: RADIO VATICANA)

(1) The illicit publication of two letters by Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, the first addressed to the Holy Father on 27 March 2011 and the second to the Cardinal Secretary of State on 8 May, is a cause of great bitterness for the Governorate of Vatican City State.

The assertions contained in those letters cannot but give rise to the impression that the Governorate of Vatican City State, rather than being an instrument of responsible government, is a body unworthy of trust, at the mercy of obscure powers. Having carefully examined the contents of the two letters, the Presidency of the Governorate feels the duty to declare publicly that the aforesaid assertions are the result of incorrect evaluations, or are based on fears not backed up by evidence, indeed openly contradicted by the principle figures called to witness them.

Without entering into the merits of the individual assertions, the Presidency of the Governorate feels the need to draw attention to the following proven elements.

(2) The consolidated budget and financial statements of the Governorate, following approval by the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State, are regularly submitted to the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, which examines them in its own offices as well as having them examined by its college of international auditors. Moreover, the Prefecture has at all times the power to examine, without prior warning, the documentation of all offices of the Governorate, in the process of their preparation.

(3) As is well known, the financial investments of the Governorate, entrusted to external managers, suffered significant losses during the great international crisis of 2008. According to the accounting standards established by the Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See, which accord with the criteria followed in Italy, those losses were also distributed over the financial year of 2009 which, therefore, showed a loss of euro 7,815,000. However, it must be made clear that, despite the financial loses, the economic and functional administration of the Governorate remained in the black. The move from the negative euro 7,815,000 of the consolidated budget of 2009 to the positive (final) result of euro 21,043,000 for 2010 was mainly due to two factors: the management of the financial investments of the Governorate, which the cardinal president entrusted to the Extraordinary Section of APSA in 2009 and, to an even greater extent, to the excellent results of the Vatican Museums.

(4) Tenders for works of a certain importance (such as, for example, the ongoing restoration of the Colonnade of St. Peter's Square or the construction of the St. Joseph Fountain) are assigned via standard bidding procedures and after examination by an "ad hoc" commission, instituted on each occasion by the cardinal president. For works of lesser importance, the Directorate of Technical Services uses its own personnel, or well known and well qualified external firms, on the basis of the prices in use in Italy.

(5) The Presidency of the Governorate of Vatican City State expresses its complete trust in, and respect for, the members of the Finance and Management Committee. It thanks them for having made such an essential contribution, with great professionalism and giving up no small amount of their time, without any expense to the Governorate, and trusts it will be able to continue to draw on their advice in the future.

The Presidency likewise confirms its complete trust in its administrative offices and collaborators. All suspicions and accusations have, following careful examination, been shown to be unfounded, as have(almost to the point of seeming laughable) news reports - fruit of a certain kind of highly superficial journalism - that telephones were tapped and rooms bugged as part of a merely administrative and disciplinary procedure!

(6) The presidency is well aware of the fact that the administration of the Governorate, though already well organised and productive, could be further improved in accordance with the recommendations made by the McKinsey management consultancy firm, commission by the cardinal president in 2009 at the suggestion of the Finance and Management Committee. The implementation of the improvements suggested by McKinsey, which began some time ago, will continue in the same spirit. It must be highlighted that the transparency and rigour, so meritoriously pursued by the previous Presidency, is also being practised by the current directors with the same commitment and serenity.

(7) The entire Governorate - Presidency, directors, bureau chiefs, officials and workers - wishes to reaffirm its firm and joint desire to continue to dedicate all its energies to serving the Supreme Pontiff with complete faithfulness and integrity, aware of the great honour and responsibility it has in being at the service of the Pope.
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FACING SICKNESS BY TRUSTING IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD

VATICAN CITY, 5 FEB 2012 (VIS) - At midday today, Benedict XVI appeared at the window of his study to pray the Angelus with faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square.

The Pope commented on today's Gospel reading which narrates Jesus' healing of St. Peter's mother-in-law and of many other sick people of Capernaum. "The four Evangelists", he said, "all agree that, along with preaching, healing from sickness and infirmity of all kinds constituted the main activity of Jesus during His public life. ... Jesus Christ came to defeat evil at the very root, and the healings were an anticipation of the victory He achieved through death and resurrection.

"One day Jesus said: 'those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick'", the Holy Father added. "On that occasion He was referring to sinners, whom He had come to call and to save, yet it is nonetheless true that sickness is a typically human condition wherein we experience our lack of self-sufficiency, our need of others. In this context we could say, paradoxically, that sickness can be a 'healthy' moment in which to receive attention from others and to give attention to them! Yet it is still a trial, and can become long and difficult. When healing does not come and suffering continues, we can become crushed and isolated, our lives sink and become dehumanised. How should we react to this attack of evil? Certainly with the appropriate cures - over recent decades medicine has made enormous progress for which we are grateful - but the Word of God teaches us that there is a decisive and basic attitude with which to face sickness: faith in God and in His goodness".

Pope Benedict went on: "Even in the face of death, faith can make possible what is humanly impossible. But faith in what? In the love of God! This is the true response which radically defeats evil. ... We all know people who have borne terrible suffering because God gave them profound serenity. I think of the recent example of Blessed Chiara Badano, who died in the flower of her youth because of a terrible illness. When people went to visit her, they received light and faith from her! Yet nonetheless, when we are sick we all need human warmth. What sick people need even more than words is serene and sincere proximity".

The Holy Father concluded by recalling that 11 February, Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes, also marks the World Day of the Sick. "Let us too act like the people who lived in Jesus' time", he said. "Let us spiritually present all sick people to Him, trusting in His desire and power to heal them. And let us invoke the intercession of the Blessed Virgin, especially upon people undergoing the most extreme forms of suffering and abandonment".

After praying the Angelus, Benedict XVI recalled that today in Italy marks the Day for Life, "which was established to protect nascent life and later extended to cover all phases and conditions of human existence. The message of bishops this year proposes the theme: 'Young people open to life'. I join the pastors of the Church in Italy in affirming that true youth lies in welcoming and loving others, and in serving life".

The Pope also reminded French-speaking pilgrims of next Saturday's Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and World Day of the Sick. "Together with all those who are facing sickness, let us ask God to grant us the grace of trusting patience. With the help of Our Lady of Lourdes and of St. Bernadette, may we discover that true happiness exists only in God". Finally, speaking to Polish pilgrims he said: "I ask God that sick people may be attended with care by their relatives, health care workers and all men and women of good will. May human suffering always be surrounded by love".
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AUDIENCES

VATICAN CITY, 6 FEB 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in audience:

- Laurence Argimon-Pistre, head of the delegation of the European Union, for the presentation of her Letters of Credence.

- Cardinal Marc Ouellet, prefect of the Congregation for Bishops.
AP/ VIS 20120206 (50)

OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 6 FEB 2012 (VIS) - The Holy Father appointed Msgr. Edward John Weisenburger of the clergy of the archdiocese of Oklahoma, U.S.A., vicar general and rector of the cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, as bishop of Salina (area 69,087, population 342,000, Catholics 48,255, priests 76, permanent deacons 7, religious 167), U.S.A. The bishop-elect was born in Alton, U.S.A. in 1960 and ordained a priest in 1987. Having studied in Belgium and Canada, he worked as a pastor, vicar general and official of the archdiocesan general tribunal of Oklahoma

On Saturday 4 February it was made public that he appointed Fr. Froilan Tiberio Casas Ortiz of the clergy of the archdiocese of Tunja, Colombia, rector of the major archdiocesan seminary, as bishop of Neiva (area 10,523, population 470,000, Catholics 447,000, priests 82, religious 88), Colombia. The bishop-elect was born in Chiquinquira, Colombia in 1948 and ordained a priest in 1972. He has worked as a seminary professor and as pastor in parishes of the archdiocese of Tunja. He succeeds Bishop Ramon Dario Molina Jaramillo O.F.M., whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese the Holy Father accepted, upon having reached the age limit.
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EUROPE : IRELAND : ARRIVAL OF NEW PAPAL NUNCIO

BISHOPS CONFERENCE OF IRELAND RELEASE:

The new Papal Nuncio to Ireland, Archbishop Charles John Brown, arrived in Ireland today and was greeted at Dublin Airport by Cardinal Seán Brady Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of all Ireland, and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin.
Please see below a summary of the ministry of Archbishop Brown.
ENDS
Notes to Editors

Archbishop Charles John Brown was born in New York, United States of America, on 13 October 1959.
He was ordained priest for the Archdiocese of New York in Saint Patrick’s Cathedral on 13 May 1989.
He served as curate in the Parish of Saint Brendan, in the Bronx, New York, from 1989 to 1991.
From 1994 Monsignor Brown has been attached to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome.
He was appointed Chaplain to His Holiness on 6 May 2000.
He was appointed Assistant Secretary to the International Theological Commission in September 2009.
He was ordained an archbishop by Pope Benedict XVI in St Peter’s on 6 January 2012.
Monsignor Brown holds the following academic degrees:

BA in history, University of Notre Dame, Indiana (USA)
MA in Theology, Oxford University (England)
MA in Medieval Studies, Toronto University (Canada)
M.Div., St Joseph’s Seminary, New York (USA)
STL and STD in Sacramental Theology, Saint Anselm Pontifical Athenaeum (Rome)
http://www.catholicbishops.ie/2012/01/31/papal-nuncio-arrives-ireland/

AUSTRALIA : FR. BILL UREN JESUIT HONOURED AT AUSTRALIA DAY

ARCHDIOCESE OF MELBOURNE REPORT: Monday 6 February 2012

Cabrini Health’s Father Bill Uren, a Jesuit priest, has been honoured with an Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia in the 2012 Australia Day Honours List.

The honour was conferred for “distinguished service to education as a philosopher and bioethicist, as a commentator on contemporary issues in Australian society, as a scholar and mentor and to the Catholic Church in Australia”. He is also a Doctor of the University, Australian Catholic University (2009).

Fr Uren was surprised and humbled to receive the award, describing it as a “bonus”.

“The true benefit I gain through my work, whether it is serving on ethics committees or working with tertiary students, is the people – an award such as this is just a bonus.”

For six years, Fr Uren has been a member of the Cabrini Health Board of Directors. He also serves on two other Cabrini Health Board Committees: he chairs the Mission and People Committee and is a member of the Health Ethics Committee.

Since 2006, Fr Uren has been Rector of Newman College at the University of Melbourne and a Board Member at the Melbourne College of Divinity.
In 1954, Fr Uren (then aged 17 years) entered the Society of Jesus and was ordained in 1968. He is a graduate in moral philosophy, jurisprudence and theology from Melbourne, Sydney and Oxford universities and the Melbourne College of Divinity.

Services to education Fr Uren has lectured extensively in moral philosophy and bioethics at Australian universities including the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, Claremont Teachers’ College, Catholic Adult Education of Western Australia, the Catholic Pastoral Institute of Western Australia and Murdoch University.

Services to health Fr Uren was a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council Australian Health Ethics Committee from 2000-06. Fr Uren has served on both clinical and research ethics committees in hospitals, universities and research institutes including the Royal Melbourne Hospital’s Clinical Ethics Committee (1990-97) and the WA Health Department’ Ethics of In Vitro Fertilisation Committee (1982).

He has published widely on issues such as the law and abortion, moral and ethical aspects of assisted reproduction, euthanasia, stem cell research, treatment of the human embryo, gene therapy, ethical dilemmas in rationing the health dollar and informed consent for research.

Fr Uren's Biographical details

Former President, Catholic Moral Theology Association of Australia and New Zealand; Founding Director, L J Goody Centre for Bioethics, St John of God Hospital, Subiaco, WA, 1985-86; Member, Australian Health Ethics Committee, 2001-06; Member, Working Committee, Review of the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Research Involving Humans, National Health and Medical Research Council, 2007; Hospital Ethicist, Mater Misericordiae Health Services, Brisbane, 2000-03; Rector, Newman College, University of Melbourne, 1987-1990 and since 2006; Dean, 1968-70 Rector, St Leo’s College, University of Queensland, 1998-2000; Rector, St Thomas More College, University of Western Australia, 1979-84; Dean, 1977-1979; Catholic Chaplain, 1977-80 Acting Head, St Catherine’s College, University of Perth, 1986; Rector, The Jesuit Theological College of the Society of Jesus, The United Faculty of Theology, Melbourne College of Divinity, 2003-05; Dean, 1997; Council Member, since 2006 Superior, Australian Province of the Society of Jesus, 1991-96; Board Member, Boystown, Brisbane 2002-04; Member, National Commission of Catholic Health, 2000-01; Member, Prison Reform Sub-Committee, Catholic Commission for Peace and Justice, 1984-86.

About Cabrini Health

Cabrini Health is a Catholic private, not-for-profit health service provided from seven sites in the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Founded in 1948, it is owned by the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. We have 3850 staff, 180 volunteers, 1225 specialist doctors and 832 inpatient beds. Our services span aged care, cancer care, cardiac services, emergency medicine, health promotion, home-based care, maternity services, paediatric services, palliative care, rehabilitation, research and education.

For interviews/media enquiries please contact: Jackie Meiers (03) 9508 1915 or 0419 009 146
http://www.cam.org.au/melbourne-news/australia-honours-rev-fr-bill-uren-ao.html

AFRICA : KENYA : PRAYERS FOR CONSECRATED

CISA REPORT:

Posted by admin in Cisa News

NAIROBI, February 03, 2012 (CISA) – “Life of consecrated men and women is not an easier one; it calls for prayers and serious commitment,” John Cardinal Njue has said.
Presiding over the Mass to mark the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, on February 1, a day of the Consecrated people at Nairobi’s Holy Family Minor Basilica, the Cardinal urged the faithful to pray for all those in the religious life.
“The faithful must feel obliged to pray for and materially support the life of our consecrated men and women. This is how they will succeed in their missionary work,” he said.
More than ever before religious life today is being challenged by various forces, one of them being secularism, added the Cardinal.
Describing parents as first catechists, he urged them to ensure that they guide their children well on matters pertaining to religious life.
“In this way we shall manage to promote religious vocations among the growing generation” he observed.
“Play your part well and the end result will be more young people coming in to join the Church as religious men and women,” emphasized Cardinal Njue.
The Cardinal paid glowing tribute to the pastoral work of the missionaries in the country and the entire African continent.
“It is now up to us to ensure that the spiritual seed planted by our missionaries is well watered and weeded,” he advised.
http://www.cisanewsafrica.com/

ASIA : INDONESIA : STEPS TO CLOSE RED LIGHT DISTRICTS

UCAN REPORT: But steps must be taken to help sex workers lead a better life afterwards

Parulian Tinambunan, Surabaya
Indonesia
February 6, 2012

Father Antonius Luluk Widyawan

The head of the Commission for Laity in Surabaya diocese has welcomed a pledge by East Java’s deputy governor to close down all red-light districts in the province, saying it would be an important step in respecting human dignity.
“Prostitution is not only about morality but also about social, economic and human dignity. Indeed, this practice must be stopped since it insults humanity and causes modern slavery and exploitation,” Father Antonius Luluk Widyawan said on Saturday.
According to reports, Deputy Governor Saifullah Yusuf last week promised to close down all brothels across the province. This would be done in several steps and in cooperation with the Indonesian Ulema council.
He also pledged to find new jobs for sex workers and said the council would deal with the moral aspects of the campaign.
Surabaya, the provincial capital, is home to the Dolly red-light district, which is regarded as one of the biggest in Southeast Asia.
Father Luluk suggested that along with closing brothels, authorities should also address what drove the women into prostitution in the first place.
“The urgency is that they can regain their dignity and live a better life among their families and within society,” he said.
He called on all parishes and Catholic organizations to work together in taking steps to help save sex workers.
“An awareness program about the nobleness of human dignity, gender and the Church’s social teachings will help Catholics become more sensitive to their situation. Also, an economic development program through a credit union has been proven to help [sex workers],” he added.
http://www.ucanews.com/2012/02/06/church-supports-end-to-red-light-districts/

AMERICA : HONDURAS : ARCHBISHOP CALLS FOR RESPECT FOR LIFE

Agenzia Fides report - Cardinal Oscar Andres Rodriguez Maradiaga, Archbishop of Tegucigalpa, said before the highest authorities of Honduras that the country is bleeding, mortally wounded by violence, increasing poverty, lack of respect for life and corruption among the police. The violence in Honduras is also the product of "the impact of narco-business subculture, unstoppable migration and of religious confusion, a result of the invasion of the sects", the Cardinal said during the celebration of the Eucharist on February 3 for the 265th anniversary of discovery of the Virgin of Suyapa, patroness of the Central American country. The celebration was attended by Honduran President Porfirio Lobo, his ministers, the heads of the legislative and judicial powers, other local authorities, diplomats, and thousands of Honduran Catholics from different regions of the country.
The Cardinal said that the living conditions in Honduras suggest that only faith and hope can bring peace, tranquility, security and mutual trust. In his opinion the cleaning of the National Police, which has been implicated in various crimes and misdemeanors, is an "urgent imperative" and a "hard job" to be executed. Appealing to those who have responsibilities in the government, the Cardinal said: "We cannot let ourselves be overcome by evil, but we must overcome evil with good; we cannot live in fear, insomnia, nightmares and grief". The Archbishop of Tegucigalpa also reminded that we must teach children that there is "a commandment of God's law which says: Thou shalt not kill".
Honduras, with 8.2 million inhabitants, is living a wave of violence that, according to human rights organizations and the local press, is causing an average of 20 deaths per day. According to data from the Monitoring of violence of the National Autonomous University of Honduras, in 2011 the country had 81.5 murders per 100,000 residents, well above the world average of 8.8 according to data provided by the United Nations. The government is carrying out a cleaning operation within the National Police, prosecutors and even the judiciary.
The Cardinal concluded by saying that the Catholic Church has announced a citizen campaign to promote a culture of peace and respect for life, the campaign organized together with Caritas Honduras and the Episcopal Conference is aimed at supporting the construction of a society that places at its center respect, welfare and safety of the human person. (CE) (Agenzia Fides 06/02/2012)
http://www.fides.org/aree/news/newsdet.php?idnews=30934&lan=eng

TODAY'S MASS AND GOSPEL ONLINE : MON. FEB. 6, 2012

Mark 6: 53 - 56

And when they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennes'aret, and moored to the shore.

And when they got out of the boat, immediately the people recognized him,

and ran about the whole neighborhood and began to bring sick people on their pallets to any place where they heard he was.

And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or country, they laid the sick in the market places, and besought him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment; and as many as touched it were made well.
well.

TODAY'S SAINT : FEB. 6 : ST. PAUL MIKI AND COMPANIONS

St. Paul Miki & Companions

MARTYR OF JAPAN WITH TWENTY-FIVE COMPANIONS

Feast: February 6

Information:

Feast Day:	February 4
Born:	1562, Tsunokuni, Japan
Died:	5 February 1597, Nagasaki, Japana
Canonized:	8 June 1862 by Pope Pius IX

In 1592 the persecution was renewed, and several Japanese converts received the crown of martyrdom. The emperor Tagcosama, one of the proudest and most vicious of men, was worked up into rage and jealousy by a suspicion suggested by certain European merchants desirous of the monopoly of this trade, that the view of the missionaries in preaching the Christian faith was to facilitate the conquest of their country by the Portuguese or Spaniards.

Three Jesuits and six Franciscans were crucified on a hill near Nangasaqui in 1597. The latter were partly Spaniards and partly Indians, and had at their head F. Peter Baptist, commissary of his order, a native of Avila, in Spain. As to the Jesuits, one was Paul Miki, a noble Japanese, and an eminent preacher, at that time thirty-three years old. The other two, John Gotto and James Kisai, were admitted into the Society in prison a little before they suffered. Several Japanese converts suffered with them. The martyrs were twenty-six in number, and among them were three boys who used to serve the friars at mass; two of them were fifteen years of age, and the third only twelve, yet each showed great joy and constancy in their sufferings. Of these martyrs, twenty-four had been brought to Meaco, where only a part of their left ears was cut off, by a mitigation of the sentence, which had commanded the amputation of their noses and both ears. They were conducted through many towns and public places, their cheeks stained with blood, for a terror to others. When the twenty-six soldiers of Christ were arrived at the place of execution near Nangasaqui, they were allowed to make their confession to two Jesuits of the convent in that town, and being fastened to crosses by cords and chains about their arm. and legs, and an iron collar about their necks, were raised into the air, the foot of each cross falling into a hole prepared for it in the ground. The crosses were planted in a row, about four feet asunder, and each martyr had an executioner near him with a spear ready to pierce his side; for such is the Japanese manner of crucifixion. As soon as all the crosses were planted, the executioners lifted up their lances, and at a signal given, all pierced the martyrs almost in the same instant; upon which they expired, and went to receive the reward of their sufferings. Their blood and garments were procured by Christians, and miracles were wrought by them. Urban VIII ranked them among the martyrs, and they are honoured on the 5th of February, the day of their triumph.

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/P/stpaulmiki.asp#ixzz1lf4AWK00

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CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD : SUN. FEB. 5, 2012

2012-02-05T15:52:00.000-05:00

VATICAN : POPE : JESUS BRINGS HEALING

EUROPE : BBC CATHOLICISM SERIES FILMS

AMERICA : USA : BISHOPS RESPONSE TO WHITEHOUSE

AFRICA : SOUTH SUDAN : RIP FR. SILVESTRO

AUSTRALIA : PAY INCREASE FOR WORKERS

ASIA : VIETNAM : SISTERS HELP THE POOR IN COLD

TODAY'S SAINT : FEB. 5 : ST. AGATHA

TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : SUN. FEB. 5, 2012

VATICAN : POPE : JESUS BRINGS HEALING

RADIO VATICANA REPORT: St Peter’s Square was very much the picture postcard scene this Sunday as a blanket of snow covered the ground and monuments.

Pope Benedict as he greeted the estimated 10 thousand faithful gather was wrapped up warm in a white coat to guard against the chill in the air.

At weeks Angelus Pope Benedict took his inspiration from Sunday’s Gospel

“In the Gospel this Sunday, we learn of the healing that Jesus brought to many who were suffering from diseases of one kind or another. We commend to him all those known to us who are in need of healing and we ask him to take away our own hardness of heart, so that we may respond more generously to his love.”

The Holy Father went on to describe disease as “a sign of Evil in the world and in man”, and he added that, “healing shows that the Kingdom of God is near.”

In sickness, said the Pope "you can experience the attention of others”, but he also said that you have the chance to “give attention to others."

Empathizing with those who suffer, the Holy Father described disease, as a condition, that "can become too long and difficult", and "when healing does not come and suffering is extended, we can remain isolated and overwhelmed."

The Holy Father made his reflections, a few days before the liturgical memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes, and the World Day of the Sick, saying, we must react to illness, "with the appropriate care," but also with faith.

"In sickness the Pope said we all need human warmth." He also pointed out that on Sunday the 5^th in Italy the Day for Life is celebrated.

"As Jesus faced the devil, Pope Benedict said, the power of love came from the Father, so we can face and overcome disease by keeping the heart immersed in the love of God."
http://www.radiovaticana.org/en1/Articolo.asp?c=560593

AMERICA : USA : BISHOPS RESPONSE TO WHITEHOUSE

USCCB REPORT:
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has issued the following response to the February 2 post on the White House blog.
Full text follows:
The Obama administration, to justify its widely criticized mandate for contraception and sterilization coverage in private health plans, has posted a set of false and misleading claims on the White House blog (“Health Reform, Preventive Services, and Religious Institutions,” February 1).In what follows, each White House claim is quoted with a response.
Claim: “Churches are exempt from the new rules: Churches and other houses of worship will be exempt from the requirement to offer insurance that covers contraception.”
Response: This is not entirely true.To be eligible, even churches and houses of worship must show the government that they hire and serve primarily people of their own faith and have the inculcation of religious values as their purpose.Some churches may have service to the broader community as a major focus, for example, by providing direct service to the poor regardless of faith.Such churches would be denied an exemption precisely because their service to the common good is so great.More importantly,the vast array of other religious organizations – schools, hospitals, universities, charitable institutions – will clearly not be exempt.
Claim: “No individual health care provider will be forced to prescribe contraception: The President and this Administration have previously and continue to express strong support for existing conscience protections.For example, no Catholic doctor is forced to write a prescription for contraception.”
Response: It is true that these rules directly apply to employers and insurers, not providers, but this is beside the point:The Administration is forcing individuals and institutions, including religious employers, to sponsor and subsidize what they consider immoral.Less directly, the classification of these drugs and procedures as basic “preventive services” will increase pressures on doctors, nurses and pharmacists to provide them in order to participate in private health plans – and no current federal conscience law prevents that from happening.Finally, because the mandate includes abortifacient drugs, it violates one of the “existing conscience protections” (the Weldon amendment) for which the Administration expresses “strong support.”
Claim: “No individual will be forced to buy or use contraception: This rule only applies to what insurance companies cover.Under this policy, women who want contraception will have access to it through their insurance without paying a co-pay or deductible.But no one will be forced to buy or use contraception.”
Response: The statement that no one will be forced to buy it is false.Women who want contraception will be able to obtain it without co-pay or deductible precisely because women who do not want contraception will be forced to help pay for it through their premiums.This mandate passes costs from those who want the service, to those who object to it.
Claim: “Drugs that cause abortion are not covered by this policy: Drugs like RU486 are not covered by this policy, and nothing about this policy changes the President’s firm commitment to maintaining strict limitations on Federal funding for abortions. No Federal tax dollars are used for elective abortions.”
Response: False.The policy already requires coverage of Ulipristal (HRP 2000 or “Ella”), a drug that is a close analogue to RU-486 (mifepristone) and has the same effects.[i] RU-486 itself is also being tested for possible use as an “emergency contraceptive” – and if the FDA approves it for that purpose, it will automatically be mandated as well.
Claim:“Over half of Americans already live in the 28 States that require insurance companies cover contraception: Several of these States like North Carolina, New York, and California have identical religious employer exemptions.Some States like Colorado, Georgia and Wisconsin have no exemption at all.”
Response: This misleads by ignoring important facts, and some of it is simply false.All the state mandates, even those without religious exemptions, may be avoided by self-insuring prescription drug coverage, by dropping that particular coverage altogether, or by taking refuge in a federal law that pre-empts any state mandates (ERISA).None of these havens is available under the federal mandate.It is also false to claim that North Carolina has an identical exemption.It is broader:It does not require a religious organization to serve primarily people of its own faith, or to fulfill the federal rule’s narrow tax code criterion.Moreover, the North Carolina law, unlike the federal mandate, completely excludes abortifacient drugs like Ella and RU-486 as well as “emergency contraceptives” like Preven.
Claim: “Contraception is used by most women: According to a study by the Guttmacher Institute, most women, including 98 percent of Catholic women, have used contraception.”
Response: This is irrelevant, and it is presented in a misleading way. If a survey found that 98% of people had lied, cheated on their taxes, or had sex outside of marriage, would the government claim it can force everyone to do so? But this claim also mangles the data to create a false impression.The study actually says this is true of 98% of “sexually experienced” women.The more relevant statistic is that the drugs and devices subject to this mandate (sterilization, hormonal prescription contraceptives and IUDs) are used by 69% of those women who are “sexually active” and “do not want to become pregnant.”Surely that is a minority of the general public, yet every man and woman who needs health insurance will have to pay for this coverage.The drugs that the mandate’s supporters say will be most advanced by the new rule, because they have the highest co-pays and deductibles now, are powerful but risky injectable and implantable hormonal contraceptives, now used by perhaps 5% of women.The mandate is intended to change women’s reproductive behavior, not only reflect it.
Claim: “Contraception coverage reduces costs: While the monthly cost of contraception for women ranges from $30 to $50, insurers and experts agree that savings more than offset the cost.The National Business Group on Health estimated that it would cost employers 15 to 17 percent more not to provide contraceptive coverage than to provide such coverage, after accounting for both the direct medical costs of potentially unintended and unhealthy pregnancy and indirect costs such as employee absence and reduced productivity.”
Response: The government is violating our religious freedom to save money?If the claim is true it is hard to say there is a need for a mandate: Secular insurers and employers who don’t object will want to purchase the coverage to save money, and those who object can leave it alone.But this claim also seems to rest on some assumptions: That prescription contraceptives are the only way to avoid “unintended and unhealthy pregnancy,” for example, or that increasing access to contraceptives necessarily produces significant reductions in unintended pregnancies.The latter assumption has been cast into doubt by numerous studies (see http://old.usccb.org/prolife/issues/contraception/contraception-fact-sheet-3-17-11.pdf).
Claim: “The Obama Administration is committed to both respecting religious beliefs and increasing access to important preventive services. And as we move forward, our strong partnerships with religious organizations will continue.”
Response: False.There is no “balance” in the final HHS rule—one side has prevailed entirely, as the mandate and exemption remain entirely unchanged from August 2011, despite many thousands of comments filed since then indicating intense opposition.Indeed, the White House Press Secretary declared on January 31, “I don’t believe there are any constitutional rights issues here,” so little was placed on that side of the scale.The Administration’s stance on religious liberty has also been shown in other ways.Recently it argued before the Supreme Court that religious organizations have no greater right under the First amendment to hire or fire their own ministers than secular organizations have over their leaders– a claim that was unanimously rejected by the Supreme Court as “extreme” and “untenable.”The Administration recently denied a human trafficking grant to a Catholic service provider with high objective scores, and gave part of that grant instead to a provider with not just lower, but failing, objective scores, all because the Catholic provider refused in conscience to compromise the same moral and religious beliefs at issue here.Such action violates not only federal conscience laws, but President Obama’s executive order assuring “faith-based” organizations that they will be able to serve the public in federal programs without compromising their faith.

[i] See A. Tarantal, et al., 54 Contraception 107-115 (1996), at 114 (“studies with mifepristone and HRP 2000 have shown both antiprogestins to have roughly comparable activity in terminating pregnancy when administered during the early stages of gestation”); G. Bernagiano & H. von Hertzen, 375 The Lancet 527-28 (Feb. 13, 2010), at 527 (“Ulipristal has similar biological effects to mifepristone, the antiprogestin used in medical abortion”).
http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-020.cfm

AUSTRALIA : PAY INCREASE FOR WORKERS

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese REPORT
3 Feb 2012

Around 150,000 mostly female social and community
workers have received a pay rise

Catholic Social Services Australia (CCSA), St Vincent de Paul Society and CatholicCare unanimously welcomed this week's decision to raise salaries of workers in the community sector from 19% to 41%.
For the 150,000 largely female workforce in the social services and community sector across Australia, the FairWork Australia ruling means a rise in income of between $6324 and $24,346 per year.
However there is concern in the welfare workforce that although the decision recognises the proper remuneration for the great work carried out by those in the social and community sector and is long overdue there are warning signs.
Many are concerned that unless both state and federal governments commit to extra funding to meet the costs imposed by these wage increases, some of the vital services provided to society's most vulnerable would be put in jeopardy.
Without such commitments, some welfare providers say they will struggle to maintain services in the mid to longer term and may even struggle to survive.

Social services help the aged
and vulnerable

Other leaders of not-for-profit welfare agencies are equally concerned and believe that without additional financial help to cope with the increased costs, the programs most at risk will be the ones funded by the organisations themselves through donations and similar avenues.
Paul O'Callaghan, Executive Director of CSSA, the national body for 69 Catholic social service organisations says throughout the entire almost two year process when wage adjustments for the sector were under review by FairWork Australia, he and others in the field met constantly with senior federal government ministers and bureaucrats about the critical need for full funding supplementation to help agencies meet the costs of any wage increase.
Finally, late last year the Federal Government said it would contribute more than $2 billion to fund the large pay rises for community sector workers expected to be handed down by Fair Work Australia. But so far no details of how the promised $2 billion would be spread across the social services sector have been given, nor the sum been increased after the announcement that the expected pay increase of 20%, on which the Government figure is based, is higher with some workers receiving up to a 41% increase in earnings.

CatholicCare's parenting program is just one
of many services it provides to Sydney families

"At this stage we have no idea what the real cost to our agencies will be and we have concerns that costs incurred as a result of these recent and welcome wage adjustments may in fact turn out to be far bigger than currently estimated," says Paul O'Callaghan.
Details of where and how the Federal Government's promised $2 billion will be used, he believes is essential to enable individual agencies to work out the full impact of this week's ruling and the effect it will have on their bottom line.
Agencies also wish to know as soon as possible if part of the Commonwealth's $2 billion will not be handed to the agencies themselves but instead will become part of the Federal Government's social grants and paid directly to States and Territories.
But even more important, Mr O'Callaghan believes, is to discover what additional funding Territory and State governments are prepared to commit to supplement the increased wage costs to agencies.
Currently 45% of all funding for social service organisations such as CatholicCare and the St Vincent de Paul Society comes from State or Territory governments with the Federal Government contributing a further 25%, leaving around 30% to be raised by the agencies themselves.

CatholicCare programs help teenagers
at risk find new hope and a future

Some of the States, such as Victoria, have already committed a sum to help not-for-profit agencies such as St Vincent de Paul and CatholicCare cope with increased salary costs but so far NSW has made no such promise.
To help agencies adjust, the implementation of the payrises will be made over a nine year period which Mr O'Callaghan says provides a viable pathway.
But Bernard Boerma at CatholicCare disagrees and while applauding the wage increase, admits he would like to see them implemented over a far shorter time period.
"There is no doubt the pay increase will make a real difference to workers and their families. However we were hoping for a shorter implementation phase to enable us to attract and retain staff in the sector," he says.
Of CatholicCare's staff of 850, just over 400 are community sector workers affected by the Fair Work Australia equal pay ruling.

CEO of Catholic Social
Services Paul O'Callaghan

"The ruling is a long overdue move in the right direction for gender equity in rates of pay," Mr Boerma says and gives full praise to the entire team at CatholicCare, for their hard work, commitment and dedication.
Each year CatholicCare helps change the lives of more than 50,000 Australian men, women and children. The agency, founded 71 years ago, offers help and support across a wide range of locally-based intervention and prevention programs. The areas in which CatholicCare is involved range from aged care, counselling, housing, employment, disability services, child protection, family and parenting support, respite and out of home care. CatholicCare also provides support for drug, alcohol and other dependencies and offers care and support for people with Dementia and their families.
http://www.sydneycatholic.org/news/latest_news/2012/201223_1703.shtml

AFRICA : SOUTH SUDAN : RIP FR. SILVESTRO

Cisa News REPORT:

TORIT, February, 03, 2012 (CISA) -Christians of the Catholic Diocese of Torit on Wednesday 01 laid the late Monsignor Silvestro Laharanya to rest at St Peter and Paul Cathedral cemetery, in Torit town.
Hundreds of Christians turned up for the memorial mass at Our Lady of Assumption Church and traveled to Saints Peter and Paul’s Cathedral cemetery, to pay their last respect.
Msngr Silvestro died on SundayJanuary 22, in a Catholic home for the aged, having been there for the last six years.
The late priest who hailed from the Diocese of Torit was born at Isohe in 1932 to Marko Loyee and Lotiye of Imotong, Omogoro Village.
According to the Vicar General of the Catholic Diocese of Torit, Fr Celestino Muras, the deceased was baptized in 1942 before joining Okaru Seminary and later Gulu.
He studied Theology at Tore River Major seminary and was ordained on 18th December, 1960.
He became the Vicar General and later Apostolic Administrator of Juba after the expulsion of missionaries from the Sudan.
Later, Msngr Silvestro worked in Loa where the SPLA forces captured him during the war.
Fr Silvestro died two months after the death of Fr Andrew Madrama in November last year and coincided with the memorial celebration of late Fr Saturlino Ohure, who is considered the founder of South Sudan liberation struggle.

http://www.cisanewsafrica.com/

EUROPE : BBC CATHOLICISM SERIES FILMS

IND. CATH. NEWS REPORT:

Archbishop Nichols with four new priests

The Catholic Church in the Diocese of Westminster is set to feature in a new series of three films to be shown on BBC 4 Television in February and March 2012.

Produced by documentary film maker Richard Alwyn, 'Catholics' goes behind the headlines to explore what it is like to be Catholic today. Each of the three films - one about men, one about women, one about children - is an intimate portrait of a different Catholic world, revealing Catholicism to be a rich and complex identity and observing how this identity shapes people's lives.

The series starts on Tuesday February 21, 9pm, with 'Priests' filmed over six months and an intimate behind-the-scenes portrait of Allen Hall seminary in London.

In the film, Richard Alwyn meets men who called to the priesthood.

Rob Hunt is in his first year at Allen Hall. A cradle Catholic, he ignored his faith for years, had several relationships and worked in various jobs, spending time as a roadie for a Heavy Metal band, before deciding his life was veering off course. With little education, he thought he had as much chance of becoming a priest as an astronaut.

At the other end of the seminary, Andrew Gallagher is in his final year. Now 30 years old, he worked in a City law firm before joining the seminary. He sees this not as a career change but as a response to a life-long calling – at school, his nickname was “Priest”. Andrew Connick, is also in the last year of his ‘formation’. It was only at the end of his university years that he felt he too could no longer resist a calling that had been with him all his life.

'I will give you shepherds after my own heart', said the prophet Jeremiah, stating God’s chosen method for guiding and caring for His people. Priests examines the lives of those who believe themselves to be God’s shepherds in the 21st Century.

Children

'Show me the child of seven and I'll show you the man', goes the Jesuit proverb. The second film Children, to be shown on Tuesday February 28 at 9pm, observes the truth of this famous saying in a film about children becoming Catholic.

Filmed throughout the period of Lent and into the summer of 2011, it focuses on the children of St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School in the village of Chipping, Lancashire. Sitting at the foot of the dramatic Bowland Fells, this is an area rich in Catholic history where Catholic identity remains strong. The tiny school has just 33 pupils, six of whom are preparing to make their First Holy Communion.

Richard Alwyn’s film observes the essence of Catholicism being distilled into young children’s hearts and minds. Encouraged on the one hand to celebrate the riches of the natural world that surround them and to remember those less fortunate than themselves, the children are also required to reflect on Christ’s death and resurrection.

Women

Women, the third film in the series to be shown on Tuesday March 6 at 9pm, focuses on Catholic women and how Catholicism has shaped their lives.

Filmed at Westminster Cathedral, Richard Alwyn meets the women staff, volunteers and congregation of the Cathedral. Set against the backdrop of the rhythm of Cathedral life, Richard Alwyn film explores what it is like to be a Catholic woman in Britain today.

Rose is second-in-charge of the Cathedral’s sacristy. She is responsible for the smooth running of the Cathedral’s worship and devotional life, preparing the altar for the six daily Masses and making sure that the priests have all they need to administer to the faithful. A convert, for Rose, Catholicism has proved to be an anchor in her life, sheltering her in crisis and protecting her in need.

Elsewhere, Alwyn meets a retired doctor on the steps of the Cathedral for whom Catholicism poses challenges. The church’s teachings have led to her feeling alienated and unable to practise even though she may still occasionally attend. Yet despite these difficulties, she feels her Catholic identity remains strong, providing her with an important moral core that helps her with the chaos of life.

These and other encounters form the backbone of Richard Alwyn’s film in which he explores the complex ways in which Catholicism shapes women’s lives.

Catholics is produced by Wingspan Production in association with Jerusalem Productions.

Source: Archbishops House

http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=19767

ASIA : VIETNAM : SISTERS HELP THE POOR IN COLD

UCAN REPORT:

ucanews.com reporter, Hue
Religious sisters from congregations in Hue have distributed blankets, food and money to the poor to meet rising needs amid plummeting temperatures that have seen hundreds hospitalized for weather-related illness.

Local media has reported that an estimated 1,000 people have been admitted to the state-run Central Hospital in Hue since mid-January for respiratory ailments.
Daughters of Our Lady of Immaculate Conception Sister Mari Vu Thi Ngoc, who runs Kim Long clinic in Hue, said the clinic has been treating 200 patients a day suffering from respiratory infections, colds and flu.
Cold weather, which has seen temperatures drop to 10 degrees Celsius in the evenings, has also damaged crops, according to state media.
Some 800,000 square meters of rice and flower crops have been destroyed by the cold snap, which began early last month, the report said.
http://www.ucanews.com/2012/02/01/nuns-aid-poor-during-cold-season/

TODAY'S MASS ONLINE : SUN. FEB. 5, 2012

Feb 05, 2012 - 5th Sun in Ordinary Time

Job 7: 1 - 4, 6 - 7
1 "Has not man a hard service upon earth, and are not his days like the days of a hireling?
2 Like a slave who longs for the shadow, and like a hireling who looks for his wages,
3 so I am allotted months of emptiness, and nights of misery are apportioned to me.
4 When I lie down I say, `When shall I arise?' But the night is long, and I am full of tossing till the dawn.
6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and come to their end without hope.
7 "Remember that my life is a breath; my eye will never again see good.
Psalms 147: 1 - 6
1 Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is seemly.
2 The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel.
3 He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds.
4 He determines the number of the stars, he gives to all of them their names.
5 Great is our LORD, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure.
6 The LORD lifts up the downtrodden, he casts the wicked to the ground.
1 Corinthians 9: 16 - 19, 22 - 23
16 For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!
17 For if I do this of my own will, I have a reward; but if not of my own will, I am entrusted with a commission.
18 What then is my reward? Just this: that in my preaching I may make the gospel free of charge, not making full use of my right in the gospel.
19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all, that I might win the more.
22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.
23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.

Mark 1: 29 - 39

And immediately he left the synagogue, and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.

Now Simon's mother-in-law lay sick with a fever, and immediately they told him of her.

And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her; and she served them.

That evening, at sundown, they brought to him all who were sick or possessed with demons.

And the whole city was gathered together about the door.

And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons; and he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

And in the morning, a great while before day, he rose and went out to a lonely place, and there he prayed.

And Simon and those who were with him pursued him,

and they found him and said to him, "Every one is searching for you."

And he said to them, "Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also; for that is why I came out."

And he went throughout all Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and casting out demons.

TODAY'S SAINT : FEB. 5 : ST. AGATHA

St. Agatha

VIRGIN, MARTYR

Feast: February 5

Information:

Feast Day:	February 5
Born:	Catania or Palermo
Died:	251, Catania
Patron of:	bellfounders; breast cancer; bakers; against fire; earthquakes; eruptions of Mount Etna; fire; jewelers; martyrs; natural disasters; nurses; rape victims; single laywomen; sterility; torture victims; volcanic eruptions; wetnurses

We have her panegyrics, by St. Aldhelm, in the seventh, and St. Methodius, Patriarch of Constantinople, in the ninth centuries; also a hymn in her honour among the poems of Pope Damasus, and another by St. Isidore of Seville, in Bollandus, p. 596. The Greeks have interpolated her acts; but those in Latin are very ancient. They are abridged by Tillemont, t. 3, p. 409. See also Rocci Pyrrho, in Sicilia Sacra, on Palermo, Catana, and Malta.

The cities of Palermo and Catana, in Sicily, dispute the honour of her birth; but they do much better who, by copying her virtues, and claiming her patronage, strive to become her fellow-citizens in heaven. It is agreed that she received the crown of martyrdom at Catana, in the persecution of Decius, in the third consulship of that prince, in the year of our Lord 251. She was of a rich and illustrious family, and having been consecrated to God from her tender years, triumphed over many assaults upon her chastity. Quintianus, a man of consular dignity, bent on gratifying both his lust and avarice, imagined he should easily compass his wicked designs on Agatha's person and estate by means of the emperor's edict against the Christians. He therefore caused her to be apprehended and brought before him at Catana. Seeing herself in the hands of the persecutors, she made this prayer: "Jesus Christ, Lord of all things, you see my heart, you know my desire-possess alone all that I am. I am your sheep, make me worthy to overcome the devil." She wept, and prayed for courage and strength all the way she went. On her appearance, Quintianus gave orders for her being put into the hands of Aphrodisia, a most wicked woman, who, with six daughters, all prostitutes, kept a common stew. The saint suffered in this infamous place assaults and stratagems against her virtue infinitely more terrible to her than any tortures or death itself. But placing her confidence in God, she never ceased with sighs and most earnest tears to implore his protection, and by it was an overmatch for all their hellish attempts the whole month she was there. Quintianus, being informed of her constancy after thirty days, ordered her to be brought before him. The virgin, in her first interrogatory, told him that to be a servant of Jesus Christ was the most illustrious nobility and true liberty. The judge, offended at her resolute answers, commanded her to be buffeted and led to prison. She entered it with great joy, recommending her future conflict to God. The next day she was arraigned a second time at the tribunal, and answered with equal constancy that Jesus Christ was her life and her salvation. Quintianus then ordered her to be stretched on the rack, which torment was usually accompanied with stripes, the tearing of the sides with iron hooks, and burning them with torches or matches. The governor, enraged to see her suffer all this with cheerfulness, commanded her breast to be tortured, and afterwards to be cut off. At which she made him this reproach: "Cruel tyrant, do you not blush to torture this part of my body, you that sucked the breasts of a woman yourself? "He remanded her to prison, with a severe order that neither salves nor food should be allowed her. But God would be himself her physician, and the apostle St. Peter in a vision comforted her, healed all her wounds,. and filled her dungeon with a heavenly light. Quintianus, four days after, not the least moved at the miraculous cure of her wounds, caused her to be rolled naked over live coals mixed with broken potsherds. Being carried back to prison, she made this prayer: "Lord, my Creator, you have ever protected me from the cradle; you have taken me from the love of the world, and given me patience to suffer: receive now my soul." After which words she sweetly gave up the ghost. Her name is inserted in the canon of the mass in the calendar of Carthage, as ancient as the year 530, and in all martyrologies of the Latins and Greeks. Pope Symmachus built a church in Rome on the Aurelian Way under her name, about the year 500, which is fallen to decay. St. Gregory the Great enriched a church which he purged from the Arian impiety with her relics, which it still possesses. This church had been rebuilt in her honour by Ricimer, general of the Western Empire, in 460. Gregory II built another famous church at Rome, under her invocation, in 726, which Clement VIII gave to the congregation of the Christian doctrine. St. Gregory the Great ordered some of her relics to be placed in the church of the monastery of St. Stephen, in the Isle of Capreae, now Capri. The chief part, which remained at Catana, was carried to Constantinople by the Greek general, who drove the Saracens out of Sicily about the year 1040; these were brought back to Catana in 1127, a relation of which translation, written by Mauritius, who was then bishop, is recorded by Rocci Pyrrho and Bollandus. The same authors relate in what manner the torrent of burning sulphur and stones which issue from mount Aetna, in great eruptions, was several times averted from the walls of Catana by the veil of St. Agatha, (taken out of her tomb,) which was carried in procession. Also that through her inter. cession, Malta (where she is honored as patroness of the island) was pre served from the Turks who invaded it in 1551. Small portions of relics cf. St. Agatha are said to be distributed in many places.

The perfect purity of intention by which St. Agatha was entirely dead to the world and herself, and sought only to please God, is the circumstance which sanctified her sufferings, and rendered her sacrifice complete. The least cross which we bear, the least action which we perform in this disposition, will be a great holocaust, and a most acceptable offering. We have frequently something to offer—sometimes an aching pain in the body, at other times some trouble of mind, often some disappointment, some humbling rebuke, or reproach, or the like. If we only bear these trials with patience when others are witnesses, or if we often speak of them, or are fretful under them, or if we bear patiently public affronts or great trials, yet sink under those which are trifling, and are sensible to small or secret injuries, it is evident that we have not attained to true purity of intention in our patience; that we are not dead to ourselves. We profess ourselves ready to die for Christ, yet cannot bear the least cross or humiliation. How agreeable to our divine spouse is the sacrifice of a soul which suffers in silence, desiring to have no other witness of her patience than God alone, who sends her trials; which shuns superiority and honours, but takes all care possible that no one knows the humility or modesty of such a refusal; which suffers humiliations and seeks no comfort or reward but from God. This simplicity and purity of heart; this love of being hid in God, through Jesus Christ, is the perfection of all our sacrifices, and the complete victory over self-love, which it attacks and forces out of its strongest entrenchments: this says to Christ, with St. Agatha, "Possess alone all that I am."

SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/A/stagatha.asp#ixzz1lWfgarU2