CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD: FRI. OCT. 29, 2010

CATHOLIC NEWS WORLD: FRI. OCT. 29, 2010: HEADLINES-

VATICAN: POPE: PRAYER INTENTION FOR NOVEMBER AND STATS FOR SPAIN -

ASIA: PHILIPPINES: PRIEST ON HOLIDAY DROWNS -

AMERICA: BRAZIL: FR. MORAIS MURDERED IN CAR -

EUROPE: SPAIN: ARCHITECT OF CHURCH TO BE BEATIFIED -

AUSTRALIA: BISHOP CALL FOR COMPASSION TO REFUGEES -

AFRICA: ZAMBIA: NATIONAL MISSIONARY CONGRESS -

TODAY'S SAINT: OCT. 29: ST. NARCISSUS -

TODAY'S GOSPEL: OCT. 29: Luke 14: 1 - 6 -

VATICAN: POPE: PRAYER INTENTION FOR NOVEMBER AND STATS FOR SPAIN

STATISTICS FOR THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN SPAIN VATICAN CITY, 29 OCT 2010 (VIS report) - For the occasion of Benedict XVI's apostolic trip to the Spanish cities of Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona, due to take place on 6 and 7 November, statistics have been published concerning the Catholic Church in that country. The information, updated to 31 December 2009, comes from the Central Statistical Office of the Church. Spain has a surface area of 505,992 square kilometres and a population of 45,929,000 of whom 42,470,000 (92.5 percent) are Catholic. There are 70 ecclesiastical circumscriptions and 22,674 parishes. Currently there are 124 bishops, 24,849 priests, 54,599 religious, 2,786 lay members of secular institutes and 101,261 catechists. Minor seminarians number 1,943 and major seminarians 1,963. A total of 1,596,429 students attend 5,585 centres of Catholic education, from kindergartens to universities. Other institutions belonging to the Church or run by priests or religious in Spain include 93 hospitals, 72 clinics, 788 homes for the elderly or disabled, 435 orphanages and nurseries, 301 family counselling centres and other pro-life centres, 3,036 centres for education and social rehabilitation, and 400 institutions of other kinds.OP/ VIS 20101029 (190)

BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR NOVEMBER VATICAN CITY, 29 OCT 2010 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for November is: "That victims of drugs or of other dependence may, thanks to the support of the Christian community, find in the power of our saving God strength for a radical life-change". His mission intention is: "That the Churches of Latin America may move ahead with the continent-wide mission proposed by their bishops, making it part of the universal missionary task of the People of God".BXVI-PRAYER INTENTIONS/ VIS 20101029 (90)

AUDIENCES VATICAN CITY, 29 OCT 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father today received in separate audiences: - Archbishop Giovanni d'Aniello, apostolic nuncio to Thailand and Cambodia, and apostolic delegate to Myanmar and Laos. - Eight prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, on their "ad limina" visit: - Archbishop Jose Belisario da Silva O.F.M. of Sao Luis de Maranhao. - Bishop Armando Martin Gutierrez of Bacabal F.A.M., accompanied by Bishop emeritus Henrique Johanpotter O.F.M. - Bishop Enemesio Angelo Lazzaris F.D.P. of Balsas. - Bishop Jose Valdeci Santos Mendes of Brejo. - Bishop Jose Soares Filho O.F.M. Cap. of Carolina. - Bishop Vilson Basso S.C.J. of Caxias do Maranhao, accompanied by Bishop emeritus Luis D'Andrea O.F.M. Conv. - Participants in a congress promoted by the "Romano Guardini" Foundation of Berlin, Germany. This evening he is scheduled to receive in separate audiences seven prelates from the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil, on their "ad limina" visit: - Bishop Sebastiao Bandeira Coelho, coadjutor of Coroata. - Bishop Franco Cuter O.F.M. Cap. of Grajau, accompanied by Bishop emeritus Serafino Faustino Spreafico O.F.M. Cap. - Bishop Gilberto Pastana de Oliveira of Imperatriz. - Bishop Ricardo Pedro Paglia M.S.C. of Pinheiro. - Bishop Xavier Gilles de Maupeou d'Ableiges, emeritus of Viana. - Bishop Carlos Ellena of Ze Doca.
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ASIA: PHILIPPINES: PRIEST ON HOLIDAY DROWNS
AsiaNews REPORT - On holiday in Lubango, the priest drowned after being swept away by a strong current. Originally from the United States, 53, in the Philippines since 1998. A life to devoted to others and serving the people of GodManila Father Steven Baumbusch, 53, rector of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME) seminary in Tagaytay, died yesterday, in the Philippines.He had left for a short holiday with the seminarians and had gone to visit Fr. Bossi and Fr. Carrara the island of Lubang. Yesterday afternoon he went for a swim: beautiful weather and a calm sea. An expert swimmer, along with a couple of seminarians they swam away from the shore where they encountered a strong current. The seminarians were able to return with some difficulty to calmer waters. But then they realized that Fr. Steven was not with them. This morning a fisherman found his lifeless body.Father Steven was born December 23, 1956 in Columbus, Ohio (USA). In 1970 he entered the PIME seminary in Newark. He later said the years were essential for him and that he was deeply inspired by the example of Father Cesare Colombo and his work among the lepers in Burma (now Myanmar).On 25 June 1983 he was ordained a priest in his hometown. For six years he taught at the seminary in Newark. He was then appointed superior of the Region of the United States, also dealing with the formation of seminarians.He co-founded the mission of PIME in Cuanacaxtitlan, Mexico, where the Mixtec people live.In 1998 he was assigned to the region of the Philippines, initially Columbio mission on the island of Mindanao, then Paranaque (Manila metropolitan area) in the parish of Mary Queen of the Apostles.In May 2009 he was appointed rector in Tagaytay, south of Manila.He loved to say that "your life will have more meaning and fulfillment the more you give yourself to others. You can change the world and the lives of the people of God. "
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Fr.-Baumbusch,-rector-of-Tagaytay,-dies-in-a-tragic-accident-19862.html
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AMERICA: BRAZIL: FR. MORAIS MURDERED IN CAR
IND. CATH. NEWS REPORT: Another priest has been murdered in Brazil: Father Josenir Morais, age 48, pastor of the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Fortaleza, State of Ceara (CE). The crime occurred on the morning of October 25, near the city of São Luís do Curu (77 km from Fortaleza), where he had attended a celebration. According to the police, the priest was killed by a single shot to the heart while he was at the wheel of his car. He lost control of the vehicle, veered off the road.and crashed into a traffic sign.According to the director of Social Communications of the Archdiocese of Fortaleza, Fr Gilson Soares, as there were no signs of a bullet on the outside of the car, it is suspected that the priest was shot while the vehicle was stopped on the road, perhaps by someone whom he had given a ride. Fr Josenir's body, after examination by the coroner, was brought to his parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, where the funeral was presided by Archbishop Antonio José Aparecido Tosi Marques of Fortaleza.Father Josenir Morais Santana was ordained a priest on July 1, 1995 and, according to the Archdiocese of Fortaleza, "was known for his simplicity, his joy that won everyone over, even those who were far away from the community. He was also known for his priestly commitment, his dynamism and creativity. He was very expressive and always encouraged the community to live the teachings of Jesus and His love for the poor." http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=17009
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EUROPE: SPAIN: ARCHITECT OF CHURCH TO BE BEATIFIED
CNA REPORT - The Association for the Beatification of Antoni Gaudi stated this week that the architect could possibly be beatified in 2016. The date would coincide with the 90th anniversary of his death.The association said Gaudi, the architect who designed Barcelona's Church of the Holy Family, could be beatified on June 10, 2016, after the association presents a 1,200 page biography on the architect in Rome next spring. The author of the biography, Josep Maria Tarragona, noted during a press conference that the document will be used by the Congregation for the Causes of the Saints to determine if Gaudi’s devotion and the miracles that have taken place through his intercession are sufficient for his beatification.Two miracles cited in the biography have yet to be examined by the Vatican congregation. The first surrounds the cure of Spanish man from Canet de Mar who suffered from stomach ulcers. The second is related to the case of a woman from the town of Reus, Spain who lost her sight but later regained it after praying for Gaudi's intercession. The association noted that the Pope's Nov. 7 visit to Barcelona to dedicate Gaudi's Church of the Holy Family will not accelerate the architect's cause for beatification.http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/architect-of-barcelonas-church-of-holy-family-could-be-beatified-in-2016/
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AUSTRALIA: BISHOP CALL FOR COMPASSION TO REFUGEES
Cath News report: The community needs to show "compassion and understanding" over government plans to move asylum-seekers into new detention centres near Perth and Adelaide, says the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference delegate for refugee and migrant issues."You can understand any change in people's lives is going to cause an uncomfortableness and anxiety," Bishop Joseph Grech told The Catholic Weekly. "On a human level, any change will do that.""I would hope though people can have some compassion and understanding for the challenges that confront asylum-seekers."He said the government is obliged to provide the necessary assistance so that the local community "will not experience hardship and strain on local services".The report said immigration officials were jeered as they tried to reassure residents at a recent public meeting in the Adelaide Hills that having the asylum-seekers in their communities would be a positive and rewarding experience.Residents fear schools could be overwhelmed and crime could rise. http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=23985
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AFRICA: ZAMBIA: NATIONAL MISSIONARY CONGRESS
Agenzia Fides REPORT– First National Missionary Congress: “God's mission is our mission.”Lusaka The local Church, in cooperation with the Pontifical Mission Societies (PMS) in Zambia and the religious institutes in the country, has organized the First Missionary Congress in Zambia, held October 13 to 16. According to reports sent to Fides by Fr. Bernard Makadani, National Director of the PMS in Zambia, the purpose of Congress was to "reflect on the Church's missionary experience over the course of these 119 years since the first missionaries arrived in Zambia, as well as on our reality and the challenges of today's mission.”“Around 80 priests, religious and lay faithful, met at the Christian Brothers’ Centre in Lusaka from the 13th to 16th October 2010 to reflect, celebrate and plan for the future of Mission in Zambia,” says Fr. Makadani.At the end of the encounter, a declaration was published reaffirming the missionary commitment of the local Church. “The Mission is first of all God’s Mission,” the document says. Then “God’s Mission becomes our Mission,” and thus, “the missionary torch has been handed over to us,” write the Congress participants.“We are challenged to be more rooted in our Catholic identity, through ongoing faith formation at all levels and an adequate catechesis leading to a personal encounter with Christ,” the document affirms. Catholics should become “authentic witnesses” of Christ, living their faith in communion, “like a family,” learning to “read the signs of the times.”The Congress participants have determined various challenges to the mission: the change of religious context, which becomes more pluralistic; the social-economic context changes, “with its positive and negative developments,” that require greater teaching of the Church's Social Doctine; and social changes, whose “rapid changes and outside influences bring about a confusion of values.”
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TODAY'S SAINT: OCT. 29: ST. NARCISSUS
St. NarcissusBISHOPFeast: October 29Information:Feast Day:October 29Born:99Died:215St Narcissus was born towards the close of the first century, and was almost fourscore years old when he was placed at the head of the church of Jerusalem, being the thirtieth bishop of that see. Eusebius assures us that the Christians of Jerusalem preserved in his time the remembrance of several miracles which God had wrought by this holy bishop, one of which he relates as follows. One year, on Easter-eve, the deacons were unprovided with oil for the lamps in the church, necessary at the solemn divine office that day. Narcissus ordered those who had care of the lamps to bring him some water from the neighbouring wells. This being done, he pronounced a devout prayer over the water; then bade them pour it into the lamps, which they did, and it was immediately converted into oil, to the great surprise of the faithful. Some of this miraculous oil was kept there as a memorial at the time when Eusebius wrote his history. The veneration of all good men for this holy bishop could not shelter him from the malice of the wicked. Three incorrigible sinners, fearing his inflexible severity in the observance of ecclesiastical discipline, laid to his charge a detestable crime, which Eusebius does not specify. They confirmed their atrocious calumny by dreadful oaths and imprecations; one wishing he might perish by fire, another that he might be struck with a leprosy, and the third that he might lose his sight, if what they alleged was not the truth. Notwithstanding these protestations, their accusation did not find credit; and some time after the divine vengeance pursued the calumniators. The first was burnt in his house, with his whole family, by an accidental fire in the night; the second was struck with a universal leprosy; and the third, terrified by these examples, confessed the conspiracy and slander, and by the abundance of tears which he continually shed for his sins, lost his sight before his death.Narcissus, notwithstanding the slander had made no impression on the people to his disadvantage, could not stand the shock of the bold calumny, or rather made it an excuse for leaving Jerusalem and spending some time in solitude, which had long been his wish. He spent several years undiscovered in his retreat, where he enjoyed all the happiness and advantage which a close conversation with God can bestow. That his church might not remain destitute of a pastor, the neighbouring bishops of the province after some time placed in it Pius, and after him Germanion, who dying in a short time was succeeded by Gordius. Whilst this last held the see, Narcissus appeared again, like one from the dead. The whole body of the faithful, transported at the recovery of their holy pastor, whose innocence had been most authentically vindicated, conjured him to reassume the administration of the diocese. He acquiesced; but afterwards, bending under the weight of extreme old age, made St. Alexander his coadjutor. St. Narcissus continued to serve his flock, and even other churches, by his assiduous prayers and his earnest exhortations to unity and concord, as St. Alexander testifies in his letter to the Arsinoites in Egypt, where he says that Narcissus was at that time, about one hundred and sixteen years old. The Roman Martyrology honours his memory on the 29th of October.If we truly respect the church as the immaculate spouse of our Lord, we will incessantly pray for its exaltation and increase, and beseech the Almighty to give it pastors according to his own heart, like those who appeared in the infancy of Christianity. And, that no obstacle on our part may prevent the happy effects of their zeal, we should study to regulate our conduct by the holy maxims which they inculcate; we should regard them as the ministers of Christ; we should listen to them with docility and attention; we should make their faith the rule of ours, and shut our ears against the language of profane novelty. SOURCE: http://www.ewtn.com/saintsHoly/saints/N/stnarcissus.asp
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TODAY'S GOSPEL: OCT. 29: Luke 14: 1 - 6
Luke 14: 1 - 61One sabbath when he went to dine at the house of a ruler who belonged to the Pharisees, they were watching him.2And behold, there was a man before him who had dropsy.3And Jesus spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath, or not?"4But they were silent. Then he took him and healed him, and let him go.5And he said to them, "Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well, will not immediately pull him out on a sabbath day?"6And they could not reply to this.
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