Filipino bishops: Attacks on life cry to heaven for divine justice
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&view=post&articleid=142511&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
All attacks on human life, from abortion to acts of terrorism, are sins "which cry to heaven for divine justice" say the Filipino bishops. In a message published yesterday marking the celebration of Our Lady of Sorrows, they express their concern at the escalation of violence that exists in the Philippines. In the last 10 weeks 3,500 people have been killed in the country, 1,400 of whom were suspected drug traffickers gunned down by the police. On 2 September a bomb attack in the city of Davao killed 14 people and injured 60.Msgr. Socrates Villegas, president of the Episcopal Conference, said that "human dignity must always be protected, and the nobility of every human person continues to shine despite the scars of the crime and sin." In late August, the Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan had launched an appeal for the end of the chain of extra-judicial killings of traffickers wanted by the new president Rodrigo Duterte. The bishops have asked the famil...
All attacks on human life, from abortion to acts of terrorism, are sins "which cry to heaven for divine justice" say the Filipino bishops. In a message published yesterday marking the celebration of Our Lady of Sorrows, they express their concern at the escalation of violence that exists in the Philippines. In the last 10 weeks 3,500 people have been killed in the country, 1,400 of whom were suspected drug traffickers gunned down by the police. On 2 September a bomb attack in the city of Davao killed 14 people and injured 60.
Msgr. Socrates Villegas, president of the Episcopal Conference, said that "human dignity must always be protected, and the nobility of every human person continues to shine despite the scars of the crime and sin." In late August, the Archbishop of Lingayen-Dagupan had launched an appeal for the end of the chain of extra-judicial killings of traffickers wanted by the new president Rodrigo Duterte. The bishops have asked the families of the victims not to seek revenge and not to confuse it with the justice system.
“Drug addicts”, says Archbishop Villegas, “are sick brethren in need of healing … deserving of new life not death. They are patients begging for recovery [...].They may have behaved as scum and rubbish, but the saving of love of Jesus Christ is first and foremost for them. No man or woman is ever so unworthy of God’s love. "
For this reason, the archbishop wrote, drug dependents should have a second chance: "Dead in their addictions, ‘living dead’ in the eyes of an unforgiving world, we bid our addicted brethren to rise up and live again".
Citing the saint who raised her voice against abortions, the statement says: Saint Teresa of Calcutta aptly puts it: “If we can accept that a mother can kill her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another?”
Concluding with a powerful note of hope, the statement says: “If peace begins in the heart, so does violence and sin. We are all responsible for the quagmire we are in. If we turn to the Lord, he will heal our land. May our grief be turned to repentance and our repentant sorrow be turned into joy. May darkness of confusion be overcome by His light and may our cold indifference be cured by a new fire of Pentecost. May our repentance turn our paths from death into life!”
(AsiaNews / CBCP)
Full Article
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275363&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
The Augustine Institute's new facilities in Florissant, Missouri. / Credit: Boeing Company and Augustine InstituteCNA Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).The Augustine Institute, a Catholic educational and evangelization apostolate based in Denver for nearly two decades, announced on Tuesday that it will be moving its operations to a new campus in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. The institute, founded in 2005 as a Catholic graduate theology school, currently has an enrollment of 550 students. It says on its website that it exists to serve "the formation of Catholics for the new evangelization" by "equip[ping] Catholics intellectually, spiritually, and pastorally to renew the Church and transform the world for Christ."The organization announced on Tuesday that it had purchased the former Boeing Leadership Center in Florissant, Missouri, just outside of downtown St. Louis. The school will "begin transitioning its operations over the next few years," it said in ...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275362&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Over a year after the earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey in February 2023, restoration of Aleppo's Church of St. George has been completed. / Credit: Abdul Kareem DanielAleppo, Syria, Apr 23, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).This year's feast of St. George was a particularly joyful one in the Syrian city of Aleppo, especially for the Melkite Greek Catholic community. The church is reopening its doors after undergoing restoration due to damage from a February 2023 earthquake. Additionally, Archbishop George Masri of the Melkite Archdiocese of Aleppo and its environs will celebrate his golden jubilee.The celebrations took place during the visit of Patriarch Joseph Absi, the current patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, who presided over the Divine Liturgy in the restored church on the evening of April 23. The evening before, there was a procession along Holy Bible Street followed by vespers.Restoration of the Church of St. George in Aleppo after the February 2023 earthquake...
http://www.myspiritfm.com/apps/articles/default.asp?blogid=0&url=10&view=post&articleid=275361&link=1&fldKeywords=&fldAuthor=&fldTopic=0
Archbishop Luis Argüello and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. / Credit: Archdiocese of Valladolid; La MoncloaACI Prensa Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).The Spanish government approved today in the Council of Ministers a plan to implement recommendations made in a report on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. While recognizing some good points in the plan, the Spanish Bishops' Conference (known by its Spanish acronym CEE) issued a statement strongly objecting to what it called unfair treatment and discrimination against the Church by the government.Before giving details of the government's plan, the minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Legislature, Félix Bolaños, extrapolating data from a survey commissioned by the People's Ombudsman, estimated that in Spain there are about 440,000 adults who were victims of sexual abuse as minors, representing 1.13% of the adult population in Spain."Around half of these abuses would have been committed...