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Bishops Launch Novena for Haiti, 1 Year Post-Quake
Knights of Columbus Continue Helping Children Who Lost Limbs
WASHINGTON, D.C., - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is inviting the faithful to ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to help Haiti, one year after the devastating earthquake the destroyed the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, Florida, chairman of the Special Advisory Group for Haiti at the USCCB, confirmed that the island nation is still in need of "prayers and solidarity" as the Jan. 12 one-year anniversary date approaches.
He noted solidarity among Catholics in all sorts of organizations, remembering "the tragic events of that fateful afternoon" and responding "in a faith-filled way."
The USCCB is inviting Catholics to start a nine-day novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe on the anniversary date, next Wednesday. The novena will culminate with Mass on the weekend of Jan. 22-23, which is the official date for the National Collection for Latin America, including Haiti and all of the Caribbean.
Changing life forever
Meanwhile, the Knights of Columbus are preparing to mark the anniversary with a continued effort in their "Healing Haiti's Children" program.
The Knights contributed more than 1 million to the Haiti relief effort, specifically through this program, which is supplying prosthetic care with rehab for at least two years without cost for every child who suffered an amputation as a result of the earthquake. The Knights are collaborating with Project Medishare for the program.
"We are honored to be able to give the important gift of hope to the children of Haiti," said Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson. "It is rare to be able to give a gift that changes a life forever. Providing mobility does just that, for few things can change a child’s life as completely as the ability to regain freedom of movement."
More than 100 children have already been fitted with prostheses and have begun therapy, while hundreds more will soon receive a prosthetic through the program.
However, since the prosthetic limbs are for growing children, they require two or three new ones each year, "which makes it essential to continue this life and limb saving project,” said Dr. Barth Green, founder of Project Medishare.
"Project Medishare is proud of its partnership with the Knights of Columbus," he said, "which has allowed us to launch hundreds of Haitian children from wheelchairs to standing up and facing the many challenges of their devastated nation."
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South African Cardinal to Observe Sudanese Referendum
PRETORIA, South Africa,- The archbishop of Durban, South Africa, will be in Sudan on Sunday to form part of an ecumenical monitoring team that will observe Southern Sudan's referendum on secession.
The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference is reporting that Cardinal Wilfrid Napier will be a guest of Archbishop Paulino Lokudu Loro, the archbishop of Juba, and that the ecumenical monitoring team will be comprised of representatives from all over Africa.
Cardinal Napier said the vote will be "historic, as it allows ordinary people who have endured the brunt of civil war and development exclusion a chance to reclaim their own dignity."
The vote for secession is expected to pass, which would mark the beginning of splitting the large African country in two.
The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference has been strongly supportive of the people of Southern Sudan since 1994, according to a press statement: "Initially, this was by hosting a Sudan desk as part of the Justice and Peace Department of the Conference at the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Secretariat in Pretoria."Later, with the formation of the Denis Hurley Peace Institute as an Associate Body of the Conference, much work has been done to facilitate peace building in Sudan."
The conference reported that in 2010, it conducted six solidarity visits to Sudan.
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Bishops Launch Novena for Haiti, 1 Year Post-Quake
Knights of Columbus Continue Helping Children Who Lost Limbs
WASHINGTON, D.C., - The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops is inviting the faithful to ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to help Haiti, one year after the devastating earthquake the destroyed the capital, Port-au-Prince.
Archbishop Thomas Wenski of Miami, Florida, chairman of the Special Advisory Group for Haiti at the USCCB, confirmed that the island nation is still in need of "prayers and solidarity" as the Jan. 12 one-year anniversary date approaches.
He noted solidarity among Catholics in all sorts of organizations, remembering "the tragic events of that fateful afternoon" and responding "in a faith-filled way."
The USCCB is inviting Catholics to start a nine-day novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe on the anniversary date, next Wednesday. The novena will culminate with Mass on the weekend of Jan. 22-23, which is the official date for the National Collection for Latin America, including Haiti and all of the Caribbean.
Changing life forever
Meanwhile, the Knights of Columbus are preparing to mark the anniversary with a continued effort in their "Healing Haiti's Children" program.
The Knights contributed more than 1 million to the Haiti relief effort, specifically through this program, which is supplying prosthetic care with rehab for at least two years without cost for every child who suffered an amputation as a result of the earthquake. The Knights are collaborating with Project Medishare for the program.
"We are honored to be able to give the important gift of hope to the children of Haiti," said Knights of Columbus Supreme Knight Carl Anderson. "It is rare to be able to give a gift that changes a life forever. Providing mobility does just that, for few things can change a child’s life as completely as the ability to regain freedom of movement."
More than 100 children have already been fitted with prostheses and have begun therapy, while hundreds more will soon receive a prosthetic through the program.
However, since the prosthetic limbs are for growing children, they require two or three new ones each year, "which makes it essential to continue this life and limb saving project,” said Dr. Barth Green, founder of Project Medishare.
"Project Medishare is proud of its partnership with the Knights of Columbus," he said, "which has allowed us to launch hundreds of Haitian children from wheelchairs to standing up and facing the many challenges of their devastated nation."
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South African Cardinal to Observe Sudanese Referendum
PRETORIA, South Africa,- The archbishop of Durban, South Africa, will be in Sudan on Sunday to form part of an ecumenical monitoring team that will observe Southern Sudan's referendum on secession.
The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference is reporting that Cardinal Wilfrid Napier will be a guest of Archbishop Paulino Lokudu Loro, the archbishop of Juba, and that the ecumenical monitoring team will be comprised of representatives from all over Africa.
Cardinal Napier said the vote will be "historic, as it allows ordinary people who have endured the brunt of civil war and development exclusion a chance to reclaim their own dignity."
The vote for secession is expected to pass, which would mark the beginning of splitting the large African country in two.
The Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference has been strongly supportive of the people of Southern Sudan since 1994, according to a press statement: "Initially, this was by hosting a Sudan desk as part of the Justice and Peace Department of the Conference at the Southern African Catholic Bishops’ Conference Secretariat in Pretoria."Later, with the formation of the Denis Hurley Peace Institute as an Associate Body of the Conference, much work has been done to facilitate peace building in Sudan."
The conference reported that in 2010, it conducted six solidarity visits to Sudan.
Pakistani Church Leader Urges Faithful to Be Careful
Tensions High Over Blasphemy Laws After Slaying of Local Politician
LAHORE, Pakistan, JAN. 9, 2011 (Zenit.org).- As some 50,000 supporters of Pakistan's anti-blasphemy laws marched today in Karachi, local Church leaders were urging Christians to caution, and exhorting them to avoid anything that could incite more violence.
Today's march in Karachi was organized some time ago, but its tone was marked by last Tuesday's killing of the governor of Punjab Province, Salman Taseer. The politician was killed by a bodyguard, Mumtaz Qadri, who later told a court that he considered Taseer a blasphemer. The marchers chanted in favor of Qadri, with one speaker saying that Taseer was responsible for his own murder, according to the Associated Press.
Taseer was a proponent of changing Pakistani anti-blasphemy laws, which stipulate the death penalty for insulting Mohammed, or life imprisonment for blaspheming the Quran.
The laws, long held by human rights leaders as a means to violate the freedom of religious minorities, brought international attention again just months ago when a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, was condemned to death after a quarrel with Muslim neighbors over water led to an appeal to the anti-blasphemy laws. Bibi's fate depends on a pending high court decision.
Benedict XVI was among those who appealed for Bibi's release, and Taseer had tried to obtain clemency for her.
Staying low
Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, said that Taseer's murder meant the loss of a "great friend" and "a bold crusader against the blasphemy law,” the National Catholic Register reported.
Meanwhile, Auxiliary Bishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore said Pakistanis around the nation were shocked by Taseer's death.
The bishop told Aid to the Church in Need that he is urging the faithful to avoid any action that could be used to justify violence.
"All of our people need to be very careful," he told the international charity. "Saying anything can incite the mob.
“We must not live in fear. We must have faith in God. But if we go on the streets to express ourselves at this time, it will create a negative reaction.
“If people make statements and take actions that cause incitement, it may not be them that suffer most but their communities.”
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Pope: Today's Families Need Help From Parishes
Baptizes 21 Infants; Notes Challenges Facing Parents
VATICAN CITY, JAN. 9, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The social context that Christian families face today demands collaboration from the Christian community and increasing support from parishes, according to Benedict XVI.
The Pope asserted this today when he celebrated Mass in the Sistine Chapel for the feast of the Baptism of the Lord. Following tradition, he baptized a group of infants during the celebration.
Reflecting on the gift of the sacrament, he told the parents of the 21 infants that baptism "inserts them into this reciprocal exchange of love that exists in God between the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; by this gesture that I am going to perform, the love of God is poured out upon them, inundating them with his gifts."
"By being bathed in the water, your children are inserted into the life itself of Jesus, who died on the cross to free us from sin, and rising, conquered death," the Pontiff added. "So, spiritually immersed in his death and resurrection, [these children] are freed from original sin and in them the life of grace begins, which is the very life of the risen Jesus."
A gift for babies
The Holy Father noted that the Church, understanding the "magnitude of this gift," has from the earliest centuries baptized newborns.
"Certainly, there will also be the need of a free and conscious adherence to this life of faith and love," the Pontiff acknowledged, saying that the children must be "educated in faith, instructed according to the wisdom of sacred Scripture and the Church's teachings, so that the seeds of faith that they receive today can grow, and they can reach full Christian maturity."
He affirmed that in this effort, the Church itself plays a crucial role: "The Church, who welcomes them among her children, is responsible, together with the parents and godparents, for accompanying them on this path of growth."
In fact, the Bishop of Rome stated, today the Church's collaboration is needed in a particular way.
"The collaboration between the Christian community and the family is much needed in the current social context in which the institution of the family is threatened from many sides and finds itself faced with many difficulties in its mission to teach the faith," he said. "The disappearance of stable cultural references and the rapid transformation that society continually undergoes, make the educational task truly difficult.
"Therefore, it is necessary that parishes increasingly strive to support families, the little domestic Churches, in their work of passing on the faith."
Benedict XVI concluded his homily by joining with the parents in thanking God for the gift of baptism. "[I]n lifting up our prayer for them," he said, "we invoke the abundant gift of the Holy Spirit, who today consecrates them in the image of Christ as priest, prophet and king. Entrusting them to the maternal intercession of Mary Most Holy, we ask for them life and health so that they can grow and mature in the faith, and bear, with their lives, the fruits of holiness and love."
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Benedict XVI: Religious Freedom is a Right of Everyone
Respect for religious freedom plays a central role in the defense of human rights: this was the theme reiterated by the Pope this morning in his traditional yearly address to the Diplomatic Corps accredited to the Holy See. Muslim countries must recognize that Christians have the right to live in security, the Pope said, and he referred to recent atrocities against Christians in Iraq, Egypt, and the Middle East. He said a blasphemy law in Pakistan should be repealed and that South East Asian countries of a religious nature should not discriminate against citizens of other faiths. Benedict XVI spoke about violations in China and Cuba, while in the West he criticized the growing marginalization suffered by followers of religion. But he welcomed a Council of Europe resolution protecting the right to conscientious objection regarding acts that harm life. Benedict XVI referred to a tendency to marginalize or eliminate religious symbols and holidays. But he stressed the Church's teaching on religious freedom is not abstract but rather recognizes social and civil role Christian communities and institutions play in promoting the common good, and in cooperating in the growth of countries where they exist