Mosul archbishop says Christians live in panic, targeted in killings
LONDON – The killings of four Iraqi Christians in as many days could prompt a wave of refugees fleeing northern Iraq, where Christians live in constant state of panic, said a Catholic archbishop.
Chaldean Archbishop Emil Shimoun Nona of Mosul, Iraq, said he knew of about 10 Christian families who already had fled the violence.
But he said there was a risk that “all the (Christian) people will leave” the Nineveh region, of which Mosul is the capital, unless the attacks against Christians were brought to an end.
“It is very difficult to live in this kind of situation,” the archbishop said in a Feb. 18 telephone conversation with the British branch of Aid to the Church in Need, a charity set up to help persecuted Christians.
“It is panic – panic always,” he said. “The Christians don’t know what will happen to them. It is the same everywhere – in the office, at school or even at home. They don’t know if somebody is going to kill them.
“What we are seeing is an effort to force Christians to leave Mosul. We don’t know who is behind the attacks,” Archbishop Nona added. “We think that they are politically motivated – that some group has something to gain if all Christians go.”
He spoke a day after the Feb.17 murder of a 20-year-old student teacher, whose body was discovered by police in the city. One day earlier, gunmen opened fire on two other Christians, killing one of them – an engineering student at the University of Mosul.
On Feb. 15 gunmen burst into a grocery store and killed its Christian owner, and on Feb. 14 a Christian man was shot dead outside his home.
Archbishop Nona was installed Jan. 22 as successor to Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho, who died in March 2008 after he was taken hostage by kidnappers.
Although the identities of the gunmen in the latest attacks are not known, the surge in violence against Christians comes as Iraqis prepare to vote in March 7 elections.
The Iraqi legislature has a quota for Christian seats, but some Arab politicians are concerned that Christian candidates might enter into an alliance with their Kurdish rivals, according to media reports.
An al-Qaida-affiliated group of Sunni Muslims indicated that it would seek to disrupt the election because it is opposed to Iraq’s Shiite majority gaining political power.
Catholic woman spearheads campaign to help homeless during Olympics
VANCOUVER, British Columbia – When most people think of the Olympic visitors flocking to this city, they imagine athletes and spectators from around the world. But that’s not what sprang to mind for Carolyn Wharton of Star of the Sea Parish in White Rock, nearly 30 miles outside Vancouver.
Instead, Wharton immediately thought of all the homeless people making their way to Vancouver for what they see as an opportunity to roam a greener pasture. Wharton noted that the homeless population of every Olympic Games host city increases by 300-400 during the games.
Wharton is the coordinator of her parish’s volunteer group, the Helpers of St. Anne. Every year they hand-make 25-30 convertible coats for homeless men and women – the thick and heavy garments convert to sleeping bags. Wharton decided to increase this year’s quota. She had to get the coats commercially made because the workload was too high for Star of the Sea’s volunteers. With that came great cost.
“We raised over $20,000 for the project” to have 144 multipurpose coats made, Wharton said. “We used 100 percent Canadian fabrics only.”
The knee-length coat comes in a shoulder bag, made from the same durable material as the coat, that doubles as the bottom of the sleeping bag. There are also many pockets in the jackets, inside and out. Instructions for using the coat are sewn into an inside seam.
“Our volunteers pray all year long for the people who receive these coats,” noted Wharton. “We hope they understand that Our Lord has not forgotten them.”
When the Helpers of St. Anne hand out the coats, they usually stuff the pockets with toiletries, gloves, scarves and small food items.
“She’s the spark plug,” Allan Whyte, past grand knight of the Knights of Columbus Council 7015, said of Wharton. The council donated $2,600 to the effort.
Archbishop O’Brien will celebrate Ash Wednesday Masses
As Catholics mark the beginning of Lent, Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien will celebrate two Ash Wednesday Masses on Feb. 17 in Baltimore – a 12:10 p.m. liturgy at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin and a 5:30 p.m. liturgy at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen.
Lent is the 40-day period when the Catholic Church asks the faithful to pray, read the Scripture, fast and give alms in preparation for Easter. For the second consecutive year, the archdiocese is promoting the sacrament of Reconciliation, also known as penance or confession, during the Lenten season. All parishes will make the sacrament available on Wednesdays beginning Feb. 24. Each parish will set its own schedule.
The campaign is called “The Light is on for You” and was first initiated in the Archdiocese of Washington several years ago. It utilizes billboards, bus, Internet and TV ads to encourage Catholics in the Archdiocese of Baltimore to reconnect with the sacrament.
For more information about “The Light is on for You,” contact your parish or visit www.archbalt.org.
Public option vital to health care reform
Contrary to recent comments that question whether a health care public option can reduce or eliminate competition, the opposite is obvious fact. Who controls compensation for physicians? Carefirst Blueshield Bluecross and United Healthcare control 80 to 85 percent of the market. Their premium structure is forcing doctors out of Maryland. Small businesses are dropping or cutting back or increasing employees’ costs for health care.The public option by its nature is competition to the so-called competitive free enterprise system. When corporations impact the public, our only option is for government to act in our behalf. Oblate Sisters express gratitude to archdiocesan schools
Referring to “Wanted: 93,000 Bricks” (CR, Oct. 22, 2009) by Sister Mary Alice Chineworth, O.S.P., Dr. Ronald Valenti , archdiocesan schools chief, reminded students of the service and ministry of the Oblate Sisters of Providence for more than 180 years to the Archdiocese of Baltimore. The article described the Oblates’ need for a building in which to provide health care for sick and aging sisters. Caught in the national economic meltdown, the building had ground to a halt due to lack of resources.Catholic school presidents, principals, staffs and students throughout the archdiocese stepped up to the plate. The sisters received more than $13,000, or500 bricks, to lessen the need. The task remains daunting, to provide a facility to care for those who have given their all as catechists, educators, counselors-consecrated witnesses to the gospel, but hope is higher because of the generosity and compassion exhibited by Catholic school students and personnel of the archdiocese.
We will hold a chicken dinner for the building fund Feb. 27, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., at the St. Frances Academy Community Center on E. Chase Street. Come, socialize, renew friendships and get a great meal.
Lobby Night, Harambee celebration among events disrupted by historic snows
Two heavy snowfalls in the span of six days have made for the snowiest winter in Maryland history and created a number of cancellations and postponements in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. For only the second time in the event’s 26 years, the Maryland Catholic Conference has canceled Lobby Night, which was scheduled for Feb. 15 in Annapolis. The MCC made the decision due to ongoing concerns about driving and pedestrian conditions in and around the state capital.
Information on alternative ways to reach legislators will be made available at www.mdcathcon.org Feb 12.
Two events connected to Black History Month, the Feb. 12 Mother Mary Lange awards banquet at Martin’s West and the Feb. 13 11:30 a.m. Mass honoring the 25th anniversary of the Harambee organization at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Baltimore, will not be held as planned.
Information about possible rescheduling of the two events was not available.
The archdiocesan development office, meanwhile, after conferring with Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, has delayed two important weekends in the Archbishop’s Annual Appeal. Commitment weekend has been moved back to Feb. 20-21, and follow-up weekend will be Feb. 27-28.
Monsignor J. Bruce Jarboe was to be installed rector of the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen at a Saturday Mass. His installation has been moved to March 21, at the 11 a.m. Mass.
Ruling on same-sex marriage in D.C. called ‘partisan paternalism’
WASHINGTON – By refusing to allow residents of the District of Columbia to vote on same-sex marriage, a district board is undermining religious freedom and promoting “partisan paternalism under the guise of righteousness,” according to an analysis by the Archdiocese of Washington. The analysis was sent by Auxiliary Bishop Barry C. Knestout to priests of the archdiocese Feb. 5, the day after the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics turned down a request for reconsideration by voters of the district’s new law allowing same-sex couples to marry.
An interfaith coalition of religious leaders had asked the board to approve a ballot initiative affirmatively defining marriage as between a man and a woman and a referendum overturning enactment of the same-sex marriage bill.
The board turned down both requests, citing a district law that forbids any initiatives or referendums that would “authorize discrimination” prohibited by the district’s Human Rights Act. The District of Columbia Superior Court upheld the board’s action on the initiative and is considering its decision on the referendum.
The human rights law prohibits discrimination on the basis of “race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family responsibilities, genetic information, disability, matriculation or political affiliation.”
But by placing the rights of same-sex couples over the right of religious freedom, the board and the district’s City Council are failing in their duty to balance competing interests, the analysis said.
“Although supporters of same-sex marriage have framed its legalization as a simple matter of equality and civil rights, the task of the City Council was to weigh the interests of persons of the same sex to marry each other under civil law against the constitutionally protected interest of persons with deeply held religious beliefs to be able to practice their religion freely,” it said.
The law offers “only paltry protections for religious freedom” by permitting members of the clergy to decline to participate in same-sex marriage ceremonies, the analysis said.
But, it added, “a Catholic caterer, for example, should not have to condone a same- sex union by catering the wedding or a marriage counselor should not be required to provide counseling to a same-sex couple if it violates his religious beliefs.” The analysis also noted that the district’s elections and ethics board currently has only two members.
While the district’s human rights law “seems well-intentioned” in aiming to protect minorities from the prejudices of the majority, the analysis said, “it also permits paternalism by a small group of government officials who believe they know better than their constituents what a human right is.”
“Our country has always sought checks and balances to prevent the concentration of power in the hands of a few,” it added.
The archdiocese said its support for district residents’ right to a referendum did not represent “an objection to the concept of representative democracy or an endorsement of pure majority rule.”
“Rather, our position promotes transparent and straightforward government by our elected representatives, who dishonor the dignity of the votes cast for them when they actively circumvent the will of their constituents,” the analysis said.
The same-sex marriage legislation was signed into law Dec. 18 and the district is scheduled to begin issuing marriage licenses for same-sex couples in March.
Two members of Congress from Utah have introduced legislation that would require that a referendum be held on the issue of same-sex marriage in the district.
Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, introduced the District of Columbia Referendum on Marriage Act Jan. 13; Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, offered identical legislation in the Senate Feb. 2.
The legislation would bar the District of Columbia from issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples until after a referendum is held on the issue.
“The definition of marriage affects every person, and should be debated openly, lawfully and democratically,” Bennett said in announcing his sponsorship of the Senate bill.
Saying that the ethics board’s decision “was incorrect and reminiscent of the judicial activism that has imposed gay marriage by fiat and stimulated such discord in other venues,” Bennett added that Congress “should act to ensure that the question is settled by a democratic ballot initiative process.”
Pius XII feared outcry against atrocities would worsen situation
VATICAN CITY – Pope Pius XII wanted to speak out against Nazi atrocities, but was advised not to for fear of worsening the wartime situation, said the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano.
“If the pope was silent, it was not out of fright or self-interest, but concern for worsening the situation of those oppressed” by the Nazi regime, it said.
With continuing criticism of Pope Pius’ wartime activities, especially given the advancement of his sainthood cause, the newspaper Feb. 2 republished an article that had first appeared in a special June 28, 1964, edition of the Vatican’s weekly periodical, L’Osservatore della Domenica.
The article, written by the late Jesuit Cardinal Paolo Dezza, gave a firsthand account of the cardinal’s conversations with Pope Pius during the war. Cardinal Dezza, who was rector of the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome at the time, conducted spiritual exercises for Popes Pius XII and John Paul I.
During a lengthy audience with Pope Pius in December 1942, the cardinal said the pontiff was pained by the Nazi atrocities unfolding in Germany and was distressed by criticisms that he was not speaking out publicly against them.
The pope had recently sent letters to three bishops in Poland in which he deplored the Nazi’s criminal acts, but the bishops had written back, first thanking the pope for his concern, but adding that they would not make the letters public “because it would worsen the situation,” according to the late cardinal.
“If I speak out, I will do them harm,” the pope said, according to Cardinal Dezza.
The cardinal said the pope told him, “People lament that the pope doesn’t speak out. But the pope can’t speak out. If he did it would be worse.”
When the Germans occupied Rome in 1943, the late Italian cardinal said Pope Pius encouraged him to use the pontifical university as a refuge for “civilians, Jews and the persecuted.”
Who is accounting for millions sent to Haiti?
Many Americans are confused about the disaster in Haiti and where the millions of dollars being sent are going, in particular the vast sums of money contributed to Catholic Relief Services.
We hear about $9 million pledged to CNN, $58 million to the two-hour solicitation by entertainers. Where do these millions of dollars end up, what bank is being used, who is the administrator? It seems to us that there is more than enough cash to take care of food and medical supplies; what about rebuilding the entire area?
More advice for Weigel on Prayer of the Faithful
I have some problems with George Weigel’s (CR, Jan. 21) expressions of concern about the daily Prayer of the Faithful. If is he so attuned to the words that he sees the omissions and commissions, he is missing the spirit of the prayer. I don’t disagree with any of the prayers he proposes, but I don’t think they should be ritualized. Some are already covered in the Mass prayers; most get represented in the course of time; and we must remember that the Prayer of the Faithful should not be the same every day.
To get to the particulars of the examples he writes about: We are praying for the person who sees abortion as an “option,” we are praying for a person considering terrorism. If our prayers are answered, we have banned abortion and have won the war on terrorism. No government will accomplish those results.
Finally, let me add a prayer: “That George Weigel will see that the Prayer of the Faithful gives voice to the concerns of the faithful, let us pray to the Lord.”
Government eliminates competition
Father Joseph Breighner, you wrote (CR, Jan. 21) about your difficulty finding the unmarked Social Security office on West Street in Towson and then having to wait two hours in that office before being told that they couldn’t wait on you. You mentioned that a funeral home and two auto dealerships nearby had clearly visible signs out front. People inside those business establishments would have been eager to wait on you, possibly offering more service than you ever wanted. The difference is, those businesses have competition and Social Security, a government agency, does not. Competition does wonders. I’m not suggesting that we have two Catholic Reviews, but even nonprofits such as hospitals serve better because of competition. The point of this letter, which you couldn’t possibly have figured out, is the so-called public option in the proposed federal health care plan. A government-run program, if subsidized by tax dollars, can reduce or even eliminate competition. People are leery, not because they don’t want needy people to have access to health care, but because of the possible negative effect on their health care. They don’t want to replace the gentle fib, “The doctor will be with you shortly,” with “Congratulations on finding our office. Come back tomorrow.” The public option needs to be thought out and drafted carefully, probably more than this letter, to preserve competition.
P.S. I too had difficulty finding that office.
British archaeologist: Find shows Turin shroud not from Jesus’ time
JERUSALEM – Results from studies on the remains of a first-century shroud discovered on the edge of the Old City of Jerusalem prove that the famous Shroud of Turin could not have originated from Jerusalem of Jesus’ time, said a prominent archaeologist.
The first-century shroud was discovered in a tomb in the Hinnom Valley in 2000, but the results of tests run on the shroud and other artifacts found with it were only completed in December 2009.
“This is the first shroud from Jesus’ time found in Jerusalem and the first shroud found in a type of burial cave similar to that which Jesus would have been buried in and (because of this) it is the first shroud which can be compared to the Turin shroud,” said British-born archaeologist Shimon Gibson, basing his conclusion on the full study results, which are scheduled to be published in a scholarly volume within the next year.
There are two clear differences between the current shroud fragments and the Shroud of Turin, Gibson, head of the department of archaeology at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem and recently appointed to the Center for Heritage Conservation in Texas A&M University’s School of Architecture, told Catholic News Service.
While the Shroud of Turin is formed from one full piece of cloth, studies on the fragments of the shroud discovered in Jerusalem show that two burial cloths were used for the burial – one made of linen, used to wrap the head, and another made of wool, which wrapped the body – in keeping with Jewish tradition of the time, Gibson said. It is likely that Jesus would have been wrapped in a similar manner with two separate pieces of cloth, he said, as described in the Gospel of St. John.
In addition, Gibson said, unlike the complex twill weave of the Shroud of Turin that, according to archaeological finds, was unknown in this area during Jesus’ time, the discovered shroud fragments have a simple two-way weave.
Gibson said he and Boaz Zissu, professor of archaeology at Israel’s Bar-Ilan University, co-author of the upcoming monograph, “didn’t set out to disprove the Turin shroud.”
Partial details of the molecular research were published Dec. 16 in the online journal PloS ONE.
Gibson told CNS that he and Zissu will include discussion of the Shroud of Turin in the upcoming monograph. He noted that the research had been conducted only on the Jerusalem shroud fragments and not in comparison with the Turin shroud.
The first-century excavation site also contained a clump of the shrouded man’s hair, which had been ritually cut prior to his burial. The hair and the shroud fragments are unique discoveries because organic remains are hardly ever preserved in the Jerusalem area because of high humidity levels in the ground, said Gibson.
Other shrouds have been found in the arid Dead Sea area and in Egypt, he said.
For decades scientists have debated the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, the 14- foot by 4-foot linen cloth that tradition holds is the burial shroud of Jesus. The shroud has a full-length photonegative image of a man, front and back, bearing signs of wounds that correspond to the Gospel accounts of the torture Jesus endured in his passion and death. It is kept in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Turin, Italy, and will be removed from its protective casket for public display this spring, for the first time since 2000.
Its origins are unknown.
In researching the Jerusalem shroud fragments, Gibson and Zissu were joined by an international team of molecular scientists and archaeologists from Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario; the University of New Haven, West Haven, Conn.; University College London; the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.
However, Franciscan Father Eugenio Alliata, professor of archaeology at the Studium Biblicum Franciscanum in Jerusalem, said both shrouds needed to be studied for their own merits, and conclusions about one could not be made based on the other.
“One was found in an archaeological excavation and we have an archaeological context; for the other, the Shroud of Turin, we do not have an archaeological context and its history is murky,” Father Alliata said. “The two objects need to be studied in a different way. You can’t compare one to the other and come up with a conclusion. Maybe the Shroud of Turin is not authentic but the conclusions must be made on studies of the object itself.”
The burial tomb where the Jerusalem shroud was found is part of a first-century cemetery known as Akeldama or Field of Blood, next to the area where Judas Iscariot is said to have committed suicide. The tomb of the shrouded man was located next to the tomb of Annas, the high priest, who was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the high priest who presided at the trial of Jesus.
Bones found in the same burial niche as the fragments were dated to the years A.D. 1-50 by radiocarbon methods, and DNA tests showed that the man buried in the cave had leprosy and died of tuberculosis. Perhaps because of these illnesses, the researchers believe, this part of the tomb was completely sealed off and the man did not receive the secondary burial that was traditional for Jewish burials of that period.