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Nicaraguan bishops cancel annual pilgrimage, but mayor reportedly goes ahead

CNA Staff, Mar 31, 2020 / 06:01 pm (CNA).- Local media in Nicaragua are reporting that despite the nation’s bishops’ conference suspending Mass and prohibiting large gatherings, the mayor of Granada is going ahead with an annual pilgrimage that the bishops had canceled.

For more than 150 years, Catholics in Nicaragua have venerated an image of Jesus del Rescate (Jesus of the Rescue) in Popoyuapa, near the city of Rivas. The image represents the crowning of thorns and the flogging of Christ.

Normally there is an annual pilgrimage to the image, which pilgrims make by wagon and on foot, during the "Week of Sorrows" that marks "the final stretch" of the time of Lent, according to ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish language news partner.

However, the bishops have said that this year it will not be possible to carry it out in the traditional way, given the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

Nevertheless, Julia Mena, mayor of Granada, has organized and funded a group of pilgrims to do the pilgrimage, providing them with food and personal hygiene supplies, according to the Nicaraguan news website Confidencial. The priest at the shrine told Confidencial that he has “no plans to receive the pilgrimage.”

The Nicaraguan Episcopal Conference has not commented publicly on the matter.

Nicaragua has five confirmed cases of COVID-19. The government has not yet decreed any kind of alert or emergency regarding the pandemic, nor has it ordered a suspension of classes, Confidencial reports.

The country’s Ministry of Health has maintained that the internal movements of travelers arriving from countries with outbreaks of coronavirus would not be restricted, La Prensa reports.

President Daniel Ortega has been president of Nicaragua since 2007, and oversaw the abolition of presidential term limits in 2014.

The Church had suggested that elections, which are not scheduled until 2021, be held this year, but Ortega has ruled this out.

Ortega was a leader in the Sandinista National Liberation Front, which had ousted the Somoza dictatorship in 1979 and fought US-backed right-wing counterrevolutionaries during the 1980s. Ortega was also leader of Nicaragua from 1979 to 1990.




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Canadian archbishop offers prayers after mass shooting

CNA Staff, Apr 21, 2020 / 11:00 am (CNA).- The Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth in Canada has offered prayers for the victims of a weekend shooting rampage in a small town in Nova Scotia, including a member of the country’s Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

In a letter addressed to the commissioner of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) dated April 20, Archbishop Anthony Mancini of Halifax-Yarmouth expressed condolences for the death of Constable Heidi Stevenson, a 23-year veteran of the force. 

“I wish to express on my behalf, as Archbishop of Halifax-Yarmouth, and in the name of Catholic faithful, our sincere condolences on the loss of life of Constable Heidi Stevenson,” said Mancini. 

“Her death in the line of duty indicates the highest sacrifice that one can make on behalf of the citizens she served,” he added. The archbishop said that he would be praying for her family, and for the officers of the RCMP who are mourning her life. 

In a video message posted on Tuesday, April 21, Mancini offered condolences, prayers, and assurances to the people of his archdiocese after, according to police, denture-fitter Gabriel Wortman went on a 14-hour shooting attack which spread across Saturday and Sunday.

“These last few days have been a shock, as we have all been affected by the useless and premature death of so many of our fellow citizens,” he said. “Try as we will to understand this tragedy, it remains incomprehensible. We are experiencing a great sense of loss, frustration, and even anger,” he added. 

As of Monday morning, 18 people have been confirmed to have been killed by the shooter, making it the deadliest mass shooting in Canadian history, stunning a province which typically sees fewer than 15 homicides total per year. 

Authorities have not yet determined a motive for why the 51-year-old denture fitter committed the attack. The suspect is now deceased, although it has not yet been determined how he died. 

Mancini acknowledged that the existing circumstances related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has made the grieving process more complicated.

“This loss of life comes upon us at a time when we are already weighed down by the threat of the coronavirus. In this time of mourning, we ought to be able to come together to experience the comfort of community care and its support. Yet here we are, in isolation in order to stay safe, making the present circumstances even more tragic,” he said. 

The archbishop encouraged people to use “technological means” to offer support to each other throughout the grieving process, and reminded Nova Scotians that “love is greater than tragedy and death.”

“I wish to extend to all the families and friends of those who have died our prayers and our expression of solidarity,” he said. “In this time, when we celebrate the resurrection, it is good to recall that death is not the last word.”

Mancini also suggested that his flock pray for “the growing number of COVID-19 victims” and “for those on the front lines doing all they can to protect us--the doctors, the nurses, and of course, the police.”




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Source: www.thegatewaypundit.com - Friday, May 08, 2020
  By Wayne Allyn Root Dear President Trump, here’s an important message from your supporters. First it was “Stormy Daniels.” Then, “Russian Collusion.” Followed by “the Ukrainian Hoax.” Now, it’s “Coronavirus pandemic” and the resulting economic catastophe. “THEY” never give up. But who is “THEY?” “THEY” can’t possibly be Pelosi, Schumer, Schiff, Nadler, Maxine Waters, AOC, et al. Their IQ totaled together and multiplied by 1000 isn’t enough brainpower to take you down, Mr. President. In my opinion “THEY” is a very wealthy, very cunning, globalist, elitist cabal- led by George Soros. Talk about Deep State. Thank God it’s you, as President of the United States, or “THEY” would have already won. There are those who think this pandemic was a planned attack. It wasn’t. It’s not a hoax. It’s very real- as I’ve said from day one. While Coronavirus is a very real pandemic, it was quickly turned into a “target of opportunity.” Likely an off-shoot of the socialist/communist Cloward- Piven plan I learned from my America-hating classmates at Columbia University three decades ago. The goal of Cloward-Piven was to overwhelm the US economic system; bury the economy under a mountain of debt; take down capitalism; bankrupt every business owner in America; and turn America into a socialist basket case like Cuba. Sound familiar? It’s all happening right now. I believe Soros and his socialist, globalist, elitist, America-hating cabal saw the Coron




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Source: www.thegatewaypundit.com - Friday, May 08, 2020
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African cardinal tests positive for coronavirus as pandemic spreads across the continent

Vatican City, Mar 31, 2020 / 10:28 am (CNA).- Cardinal Philippe Ouédraogo of Burkina Faso has tested positive for the coronavirus, his archdiocese announced Tuesday. He is the second cardinal known to have tested positive for the virus, which is now a global pandemic.

Ouédraogo, 75, has been admitted to a medical clinic in Burkina Faso’s capital Ouagadougou.  He is “in good condition and his close collaborators are reported to be self-isolating,” a spokesman for Burkina Faso’s bishops’ conference, Fr. Paul Dah, told ACI Africa on March 31.

The cardinal is president of the African continental bishops’ conference, the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM). He was elected to the post in July 2019. He has been Archbishop of Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso for ten years, and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2014.

Ouédraogo is the second bishop from Burkina Faso known to have contracted COVID-19, as countries across Africa implement lockdowns and restrictions to slow the spread of the virus across the continent.

Another Burkina Faso bishop, Archbishop Emeritus Séraphin François Rouamba of Koupela, tested positive for COVID-19 after being admitted to Our Lady of Peace clinic for urgent treatment on March 19.

The 78-year-old archbishop has since been transferred to another hospital and is reportedly in stable condition, according to a March 25 statement from Bishop Laurent Birfuore Dabire of Dori, Burkina Faso.

Burkina Faso has the largest documented coronavirus outbreak in West Africa, with 249 documented cases as of March 31, according to Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

The coronavirus has spread throughout the African continent to 47 countries, according to the Africa Center for Disease Control. In North Africa, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco each have more than 500 documented cases, and the South African government has reported more than 1,300.

Three Nigerian states began two-week mandatory lockdown this week to combat the spread of the virus, including Lagos, Africa’s most populous city with more than 20 million people.

Zimbabwe and Mauritius have also implemented national shut-downs, and the bishops in South Sudan and Zimbabwe have suspended public Masses.

Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, vicar general of the Diocese of Rome, tested positive for coronavirus on March 30.

Other bishops in Italy, France, China, and the United States have also tested positive for COVID-19, and Bishop Angelo Moreschi, 67, died in the Italian city of Brescia on March 25 after contracting the coronavirus.

 

 



  • Middle East - Africa

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Tabernacle desecrated during South African cathedral robbery

CNA Staff, Apr 20, 2020 / 10:40 am (CNA).- The cathedral of the Archdiocese of Cape Town, South Africa, was vandalized on Saturday and the tabernacle desecrated. In a statement on the incident, issued on Sunday, an auxiliary bishop of the diocese requested prayers from the faithful and donations to help feed the poor of Cape Town. 

“It is with great sadness and alarm that we confirm the news that has been doing the rounds on Social Media that the Cathedral has been vandalized,” said a message from Bishop Sylvester David, OMI, published Sunday, April 19. David is an auxiliary bishop of the Cape Town archdiocese. 

Bishop David said that various sacred objects had been stolen in the course of the break-in including “a ciborium, a pyx, four silver candelabra, a gold plated chalice, and two gold plated patens.” Money was also taken from the votive offering box, he said.

In addition to the robbery and damage, and more concerning to the Church, the vandalism included Eucharistic desecration.

“The consecrated hosts from the ciborium have been left inside the tabernacle but the host from the pyx has been removed,” said David. “There has been desecration.” 

The vandalism of St. Mary’s Cathedral occurred sometime of the early hours of Saturday, April 18. The damage was reported to the Cape Town Central Police when it was discovered the following day by the cathedral caretaker. 

South African media reported that in addition to the thefts, vandals ripped the tabernacle door off the hinges, and tore up carpets. Media reports estimated that the damage to the cathedral was more than R100,000, approximately $5,400 USD. 

This was the second time the cathedral has been targeted for a break-in.

Bishop David acknowledged that while the archdiocese was itself the victim of a crime, the acts of vandalism and desecration meant that “reparation has to be done,” and that each parish church of the archdiocese would be sent special prayers to offer.

“We request that all the faithful in the Archdiocese to join with the Cathedral parishioners and to engaged in the prayer which will be sent out to the Parish priests for distribution. It is important that the entire local Church engage in this as the Cathedral is the Mother church,” he said. “This prayer does not replace other daily prayers but supplements them.”

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the Archdiocese of Cape Town suspended the public celebration of Mass on March 17.

Additionally, David requested that those who are able make a donation to the Archdiocese of Cape Town’s account in order to provide food for the poor. 

“We wish to thank you for the many expressions of the faith especially during this difficult time of the shutdown and wish you a meaningful Easter season,” he said. 



  • Middle East - Africa

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The North American Martyrs

By Sr. Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J.

Some the most breathtaking scenery in the United States is found throughout Upper New York and northward to the St. Lawrence Seaway.      Two famous pilgrimage shrines are located in this area and deserve special attention for their historic and religious significance.  In this country, October 19th is the feast of the North American Martyrs. First, some history.

New France

In the seventeenth century, French authorities sent a number of expeditions to conduct fur trading in this territory and named it New France.  Soon, French Jesuit missionaries followed to minister to their own and to convert the Native Americans to the Catholic faith. Today this direct form of proselytism toward a native people would be considered out of step with ecumenical norms.

The Jesuit missions began their work early in the 1630s. Our story picks up twelve years later with eight French Jesuits who were martyred while working among these Native Americans.  Here is their story.

The Huron Indians

By the seventeenth century, the Huron Indians, who belonged to the Iroquois Federation, had developed a fairly high way of life. They spoke in the Wendat language, and their religious beliefs had been fixed for years.  Perhaps the Jesuits did not fully appreciate this fact. The Hurons encountered both the Dutch and the French. The Dutch were primarily merchants who established trading posts at the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson; the French came south from present-day Quebec to establish fur trading posts.

Jesuit Relations: Instructions to the French Jesuit Missionaries

Much of what we know about the Jesuits’ work among the Hurons was recorded in annual reports, “Jesuit Relations,” written by Fathers Paul LeJeune, S.J. and Paul Ragueneau, S.J.  The “Relations” gave the Jesuits a long list of practical instructions to be followed when ministering to the Hurons.  Three of the many are:

“You must have sincere affection for the Savages, looking upon them as ransomed by the blood of the Son of God, and as our brethren, with whom we are to pass the rest of our lives.”

“You must so conduct yourself as not to be at all troublesome to even one of these Barbarians.”

“You must bear with their imperfections without saying a word, yes, even without seeming to notice them.  Even if it be necessary to criticize anything, it must be done modestly, and with words and signs which evince love and not aversion.  In short, you must try to be, and to appear, always cheerful.”    

By 1642, Father Isaac Jogues, S.J., leader of the missionary group, planned to work among the Hurons along the south side of the Mohawk River from east to west. It was only natural for the Native Americans to resent the overtures of the missionaries despite the respect given to them. Why would “black-robed” foreigners want to change their way of life and their religious beliefs? Suspicious, they eventually blamed the Jesuits for the outbreak of small pox and other diseases.
 
At various times, between1642-1649, the Jesuits were brutally tortured – accused as witch doctors.  Most of them were bludgeoned to death under the tomahawk.  

First Group of Jesuit Missionaries

The first group of French Jesuits answered the call to minister in this region.  These included Father Isaac Jogues, and two donnés, René Goupil and John Lalande.  Due to deafness, Goupil could not be ordained a Jesuit but was trained as a doctor and surgeon.  After years of ministering to the Indians along the St. Lawrence River, Jogues and Goupil were captured.  Goupil was the first of the eight to be martyred – he was bludgeoned to death.  

For thirteen months, Jogues lingered from brutal torture. Knowing that his index fingers and thumbs were essential to the celebration of Mass, his captives mangled them.

Curiously enough, his escape to France prompted a desire to return to his mission.  Accompanied by John de Lalande, the nineteen-year old donné, Jogues returned to the Mohawk Mission in New York. With papal approval, he celebrated Mass even with stubs as fingers.  On his return to the region, he resumed his work but was soon tortured again.  This time he succumbed.  The date was October 18th, 1646.  Lalande himself was killed the next day.  

Second Group of Jesuit Missionaries

The second group of Jesuits was martyred within the confines of Midland at Martyrs’ Shrine, Sainte Marie. In 1635, Father Anthony Daniel founded the first Huron Boys’ College in Quebec and worked among the Hurons for twelve years until, on July 4th, 1648, still wearing Mass vestments, he was attacked as he ended the celebration of Mass.  His martyred body was thrown into the flames of the burning church.  

The thirty-three year old, Father Jean de Brébeuf was a gifted linguist and mastered the Huron language. Gentle in manner, massive in body, it is said he had the heart of a giant.  Like Brébeuf, Father Gabriel Lalemant was a gifted scholar, professor and college administrator, but unlike Brébeuf, his body was frail.  Eventually both were captured, tied to stakes and underwent one of the worst martyrdoms ever recorded in history. The Jesuit Relations describes in detail how grisly were their tortures: “The Indians dismembered their hearts and limbs while they were still alive, and feasted on their flesh and blood” (L. Poulot, “North American Martyrs,” New Catholic Encyclopedia, 507).

Brébeuf suffered for three hours before dying on March 16th, 1649. Lalemant died the next morning.   Father Charles Garnier was assigned to the Huron mission at Sainte Marie for thirteen years and then to the mission at Saint Jean.  He was beloved by his congregants, but in 1649, was tomahawked to death about thirty miles from Sainte Marie.

Father Noël Chabanel, S.J.

Perhaps the saddest and most poignant story of all is reserved for twenty-eight year old Father Noël Chabanel who was assigned to work with Father Charles Garnier.  Though he was a brilliant professor of rhetoric and humanism at home in southern France, he had no ear whatsoever for the Huron language. Plagued by a sense of uselessness, he was convinced that his ministry had failed. Feeling a strong repugnance to the life and habits of the Huron, and fearing it might result in his own withdrawal from the work, he bound himself by vow never to leave the mission. Today, in all likelihood, superiors would frown on this extreme position. Chabanel was martyred on December 8, 1649, by a “renegade” Huron.  Yet to the end, he persevered in his missionary activity.

In 1930, Pius XI canonized the North American Martyrs.  The Canadian Catholic Church celebrates their feast day on September 26th.    

The Shrines at Midland and Auriesville

Because the two shrines are not far from one another, they are popular places to visit at the same time during the summer months or during October when the fall foliage is at its peak period. Martyrs’ Shrine at Midland has a church and museum that feature seventeenth-century maps, songs written by Brébeuf, a history of the shrine, and the stories of the Canadian martyrs. It offers the pilgrim a walking tour to get a sense of how the Jesuits lived, worked, and prayed among the Huron Indians.  One can see the simulated rustic village that comprised a chapel, living quarters, and classroom where the Jesuits carried out their apostolates.

The shrine at Auriesville has a similar layout.  One of its most popular features is the expansive outdoor Stations of the Cross, a familiar feature of Jesuit retreat houses.  There is a large auditorium which seats 6,000 pilgrims.

“The Blood of the Martyrs … the Seed of the Church”

From the earliest days of Christianity, martyrdom for the faith has always been part of the Christian psyche. It was understood that those who openly professed their faith might have to suffer for this pearl of great price. But, it was better to stay alive.

When the missionaries were assigned to work in New France, martyrdom could not be ruled out, just as danger and death cannot be ruled out for policemen or firefighters.  Missionaries were expected to die for the sake of Christ, though they did not seek it out. It is a stark reality that remains a constant for missionaries today. But let us not forget that there are so many ways to be martyred, real and metaphorical.

The North American Martyrs were high-minded men, cultured, refined, and well educated.  For them, the savage, bloody road of martyrdom was transformed into a way of beauty, a road that remains sacred ground.  Our Lady of Martyrs Shrine at Auriesville and Martyrs’ Shrine at Midland are among the most frequently-visited pilgrimage sites in the world – both sacred ground.  Those who do visit them are disposed to receive special favors from the saints for whom the shrines are named.  It is said that during her lifetime, Dolores Hope, wife of comedian Bob Hope, made a pilgrimage to Auriesville almost every year.



  • CNA Columns: The Way of Beauty

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