Filipino Catholic has gift of making sacred images appear on rose petals

SANTA MARIA, Philippines – In the early afternoon on a recent Saturday, an endless line of believers gathered at the altar of the Shrine of the Mother of the Eucharist and Grace.

Heavy rain started to fall while a lay minister dressed in jeans and a T-shirt worked the line, carrying a metal bowl of freshly plucked white rose petals in one hand. The minister, Carmelo Cortez – or Brother Carmelo as he is called – pressed petals just below each person’s collarbone. The hundreds of worshippers filed out, digging into the collars of their shirts to look at the petals intently.

“Here, we have new petals today. It’s Mary again … always Mary,” said 32-year old Andrea, a regular at the first Saturday healing service at the shrine. Her petals bear images of the Mary, a profile of her wearing a crown of 12 stars or holding a rosary.

Other people’s petals have images of the risen , Jesus on a cross, various , a heart surrounded by a crown of thorns, among others. These tiny imprints look scored onto the petals, and they only appear once Cortez places them on a person’s chest – “near the heart,” he explained.

For a little more than 20 years, Cortez has been praying over people in this manner.

“I wasn’t focused on healing,” said the 42-year-old. “But what happened was if a person believed in what I was sharing – like what happens with the rose petals and that I had seen the Blessed Virgin – they asked me to lay hands.”

For a six-year period in the 1990s, he said, the Virgin Mary appeared to him 101 times and asked him each time to “pray for the priests.” She also asked him to build a house of worship, which is now the shrine in Santa Maria, half paid for by Cortez and half by donations. Cortez recalled the first time he had any contact with Mary. He said at 3 a.m. June 12, 1991, he woke up with an upset stomach and heard instrumental music. He looked around for the source of the music and found it came from a photo of one of St. Luke the Evangelist’s paintings of the Blessed Virgin. Cortez said it became three dimensional, and he saw Mary crying tears of blood.

“I was scared,” he said. “I asked the beloved Virgin, ‘Why me? Why am I the only one seeing this?’ I wanted to know why this was happening to me of all people … I was just a regular Catholic.”

Cortez immediately contacted a priest, who told him to pray continuously and said he should attend a spiritual retreat. Within a few months, word got out about his ability to cause sacred images to appear on rose petals, and Cortez said he was thrust into the spotlight.

“I never even dreamed or hoped to be a famous person,” said Cortez. “I just wanted a simple life.”

Instead, more and more people learned about his gifts, as they are called, and soon Filipino-American religious and clergy from the U.S. visited and started seeking him out. He has since received numerous invitations from high-ranking government officials and ordinary people in the Philippines and the U.S. and began traveling there on a regular basis. But he did it only with permission from his local .

Bishop Jose Oliveros of Malolos has known Cortez for seven years and is now the third to endorse him. He described Cortez as a simple and humble person who is “very helpful” to others.

“It’s a gift,” he said. “You have to be cautious, first of all, to explain it in an ordinary way or in a normal way. How could the petals bear such images? And when you cannot make a rational or normal explanation, at least you should thank God that he makes his presence known.”

Bishop Oliveros said he has numerous testimonials from people who claim to have been healed by Brother Carmelo. The bishop and his predecessors follow guidelines of the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, which include instructions for prayers for healing.

The rules state “that whenever there’s a prayer for healing, explicit permission of the local bishop must be given to ensure purity of doctrine and also to ensure that the person is not somebody who is a fraud.” Bishop Oliveros said from his observations of Cortez’s gifts, “He’s no fraud.”

Juliet Cruz does not think Cortez is a fraud either, but she called herself “Doubting Thomas” and a Catholic with average faith before she first experienced the phenomenon of the petals. She said she cried when she first saw the images, “I said ‘God, I’m sorry!’ I call it a miracle. It’s a painting made in heaven.”

The question of whether this is indeed a miracle remains because the church is not so quick to confer such designations. Bishop Oliveros said he asked Cortez to write about his experiences so they could be officially investigated because the church will “have to certify” through a laborious process whether his gifts truly come from the supernatural.

Will healing of 15-month-old be considered a miracle?

PEORIA, Ill. – Boxes wrapped in ribbon and a happy little boy are Christmas images, but the combination had another joyful meaning Dec. 11 during ceremonies closing the Diocese of Peoria’s inquiry into an alleged miraculous healing through the intercession of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen.

“May God, who has begun this great work, bring it to fulfillment,” said Peoria Bishop Daniel R. Jenky after affixing a wax seal on a box containing evidence gathered in the past three months by an investigative tribunal. The assembly gathered for the special Mass at St. Mary’s Cathedral responded with sustained applause. That evidence is now on its way to Rome for consideration by the Congregation for Saints’ Causes. The congregation is studying the sainthood cause of Archbishop Sheen, a central Illinois native and priest of the Peoria Diocese who became an internationally known evangelist, radio/TV personality, writer and missionary.

In a pew just outside the cathedral sanctuary, the focus of the testimonies contained in the box – 15-month-old James Fulton Engstrom – sat contentedly with his parents and two older siblings, squirming occasionally as all healthy little boys will do.

“For a lot of us it felt like a full-circle moment,” said James’ mother, Bonnie Engstrom, of the official ceremonies that took place at the start of Mass. Among those in attendance were members of the tribunal as well as the Archbishop Sheen Foundation.

Bonnie Engstrom recalled sitting in the same cathedral – where Archbishop Sheen had been ordained in 1919 – a few days after James’ birth and “begging for a miracle” during a holy hour attended by family and friends.

Considered stillborn on Sept. 16, 2010, after a routine pregnancy, James was without a pulse for the first 61 minutes of his life. It was only when doctors at OSF St. Francis Medical Center in Peoria were ready to call the time of death that his heart started beating. The doctors had warned the parents he might not be able to function normally, but they were proved wrong.

“It’s an amazing story,” said Jason Gray, who served as episcopal delegate to the investigative tribunal and was responsible for guiding the process. An oath of secrecy sworn by tribunal members kept Monsignor Gray from commenting further about the findings of the tribunal or expectations regarding its review in Rome.

But family members are free to talk, and Travis and Bonnie Engstrom – residents of Goodfield and members of St. Luke’s Parish in Eureka – have widely shared the story of their son and how they believe he is alive and well because of a healing by Christ and the intercession of Archbishop Sheen.

The Engstroms were familiar with the famed orator – perhaps best known for his popular “Life Is Worth Living” television show seen by millions in the 1950s – and Bonnie had asked him to watch over her pregnancy. They decided that if their baby was a boy, his middle name would be Fulton. Travis made good on that intention during an emergency baptism as they awaited an ambulance after James was born in crisis at their home.

Bonnie remembers praying to Archbishop Sheen as CPR was performed on her newborn son, and asking family and friends to seek his intercession when doctors warned James might be blind and unable to function normally after his heart began beating.

Fifteen months later, James is medication-free, has just been released from physical therapy, and continues to meet growth milestones.

“He’s just a normal kid,” said Bonnie, who credits Christ with healing her son “for his greater honor and glory.”

She told The Catholic Post, Peoria diocesan newspaper, that she and her husband were “amazed and impressed” by the thoroughness of the tribunal’s inquiry. The evidence includes both medical records and witness testimonies.

“With every step they wanted to flesh out the details, and do it with integrity and honesty,” said Bonnie. “Not that we wouldn’t expect that from the church, but the extent was really impressive.”

Members of the tribunal included Andrea Ambrosi, of Archbishop Sheen’s cause, who will deliver the documents to Rome; Monsignor Gray; Monsignor James Kruse, vicar general of the diocese and promoter of justice; Dr. Louis Varela, medical expert; Janice Vicary, notary; and Ann Hill, copyist.

A large painting of Archbishop Sheen was placed in the cathedral sanctuary near the Advent wreath for the Dec. 11 Mass and ceremonies. Among the concelebrants was Father Andrew Apostoli, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal from New York who is vice postulator for the cause.

Patricia Gibson, chancellor of the Diocese of Peoria, invited tribunal members into the sanctuary for the ceremonies, and Bishop Jenky was assisted in sealing the boxes with traditional hot wax by Monsignor Stanley Deptula, executive director of the Sheen Foundation.

A second box of original copies was sealed to be preserved in the archives of the Diocese of Peoria.

Transparency still lacking

In response to Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien’s column, “Painful Lesson Learned” (CR, Nov. 24), I am grateful for his admission of the obvious similarities between the church and Penn State. I am grateful for the archbishop’s efforts to protect children in the Archdiocese of Baltimore. However, I take issue with his sweeping comments that credit the church as a whole for its sweeping institutional reforms.

Not every diocese has been as vigilant or compliant with its reforms to protect children. One has only to look at the recent cases in (the Diocese of) Kansas City-St. Joseph and Joliet, Ill., to see that transparency is still lacking. Not all are as diligent as Archbishop O’Brien appears to have been. The church is far from transparent on this issue. I am also troubled by the words “credibly accused.” Who decides what is credible? This has been the issue all along.

We must not confuse an intellectual conversion with a moral conversion.

Editor’s note: Elizabeth Murphy was sexually abused at the Catholic Community School in Baltimore by John A. Merzbacher during the 1970s. Merzbacher, a teacher at the school, was sentenced to four consecutive life terms for his crimes. The Catholic Review wrote about Murphy in 2010. Deacon reaches out to troubled youths at detention center

PARKVILLE – Two years ago, Deacon Russell Matthews was taking Communion to a homebound woman in a tough section of West Baltimore when he saw two teens walking in his direction.

With his mind on the Blessed Sacrament, the then-74 year-old deacon thought nothing of the approaching figures until he heard a voice shout to them from across the street.

“Don’t even think it!” the voice boomed.

With those sharp words, the teens darted off.

The warning came from one of Deacon Matthews’s former students, whom he had counseled as the chaplain at what was then the Maryland Training School for Boys and what is now the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School in Parkville.

By intervening on the street, the former student had prevented his mentor from being robbed – or worse.

“I look at that and I say, ‘Lord, as long as you give me strength,” Deacon Matthews said, “I’ll always be there for those kids.’ ”

Ever since Archbishop William D. Borders appointed him chaplain of the training school in 1974, Deacon Matthews has been a constant presence for delinquent youths who live at the detention center while awaiting trial or before receiving other placements.

Ranging in age from 13 to 18, the Hickey youths face a broad range of charges including drugs, assault, battery, theft and carjacking. In his earlier years at the center, some of the boys had been charged with murder and rape.

Deacon Matthews leads an ecumenical Scripture service every Sunday and devotes many hours encouraging students to develop a sense of self-worth. He has been reaching out to troubled teens for half a century, first volunteering as a big brother through the Holy Name Society at St. Francis Xavier in East Baltimore.

“You’d be amazed at the number of boys here who care nothing at all about themselves,” said Deacon Matthews, a former Baptist deacon who converted to Catholicism and joined St. Francis Xavier in 1958. He was ordained a Catholic deacon in 1973.

“If they don’t have feeling for themselves,” he asked, “you think they’re going to have feeling for you?”

Hickey teens long for honesty, according to Deacon Matthews, who said they have been raised in environments filled with broken promises.

The deacon’s words of encouragement are powerful, according to Mary Slechter, head of volunteer services at Hickey.

“There are kids who have thought about committing suicide one day,” she said, “and then decided not to the next day because they talked to him.”

Slechter called Deacon Matthews the most non-judgmental and forgiving person she has ever met – a man who shows genuine love for children and who has also been supportive of the staff, she said.

“He brings God with him,” said Slechter, whose own journey into the Catholic faith from Methodism was inspired partly by the loving ministry of Deacon Matthews. “He’s a very special man of God – chosen for us.”

Deacon Matthews, a native North Carolinian who moved to Baltimore in 1957 after serving in the Navy, is a driving force behind an annual Christmas event at Hickey that features a magician.

“The one most blessed thing you can give a child is letting him or her feel that you love them and you care about them,” said Deacon Matthews, who has ministered at St. Ann in Baltimore and St. Francis Xavier.

Although he has suffered several heart attacks and has some difficulty walking, Deacon Matthews has no intention of retiring from his role at Hickey. As the widower put it, once he “kicks off” or can’t work anymore, he prays that someone will step forward to maintain a chaplaincy at Hickey.

“These legs sometimes won’t walk when I get up,” Deacon Matthews said. “They hurt, but it hurts worse to know the boys are not going to be exposed to Scriptures. I pray I can last a little longer.”

Philadelphia leader: ‘Painful’ year may bring school, parish closings

PHILADELPHIA – Three months after his installation, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput of Philadelphia warned Catholics that the archdiocese faces “very serious financial and organizational issues that cannot be delayed.”

In a pastoral letter dated Dec. 8, the archbishop called Advent “a season of self- examination in the light of God’s word” and said there was “no better time to speak frankly about the conditions we now face as a community of believers.”

The letter hinted at coming closings or mergers of parishes and schools, and said the operating budget of each archdiocesan department will receive “careful scrutiny.”

“To whatever degree complacency and pride once had a home in our local church, events in the coming year will burn them out,” he said. “The process will be painful. But going through it is the only way to renew the witness of the church; to clear away the debris of human failure from the beauty of God’s word; and to restore the joy and zeal of our Catholic discipleship.”

Archbishop Chaput also said the first months of 2012 will see the resolution of all the cases of priests who have been suspended following allegations of sexual misconduct with minors, as well as the start in March of the abuse-related criminal trial of four priests or former priests of the archdiocese and a lay teacher.

“The harsh media environment likely to surround” the trial “will further burden our laypeople and our clergy,” the archbishop said. “But it cannot be avoided.”

Archbishop Chaput stressed that the “overwhelming majority” of priests “have served our people with exceptional lives of sacrifice and character.”

“The hard truth is that many innocent priests have borne the brunt of the church’s public humiliation and our people’s anger,” he said.

He also emphasized the role of church leaders as stewards of church resources “for the whole Catholic community, to carry out our shared apostolic mission as believers in Jesus Christ.”

“This means that as archbishop, I have the duty not just to defend those limited resources, but also to ensure that the church uses them with maximum care and prudence; to maximum effect; and with proper reporting and accountability,” he said.

Although the archdiocese “remains strongly committed to the work of Catholic education,” Archbishop Chaput said that mission “is badly served by trying to sustain unsustainable schools.”

He said a blue-ribbon commission would make its recommendations in January and “will likely counsel that some, and perhaps many, schools must close or combine.” A similar “careful scrutiny must be applied to every aspect of our common life as a church, from the number and location of our parishes, to every one of our archdiocesan operational budgets,” he said.

“This honest scrutiny can be painful, because real change is rarely easy; but it also restores life and health, and serves the work of God’s people,” Archbishop Chaput said. “We cannot call ourselves good stewards if we do otherwise.” Our Lady of Guadalupe has home in Highlandtown

Father Robert Wojtek is getting used to overflowing crowds at Sacred Heart of Jesus in Highlandtown during Spanish Masses.

One of the biggest gatherings there came Dec. 11, when the parish celebrated the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which marks Mary’s appearance to a Mexican peasant in 1531.

Sacred Heart, which is now the center of the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Hispanic outreach in Baltimore City, was filled for the feast Mass, celebrated by Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien, apostolic administrator of the archdiocese.

Father Wojtek, a Redemptorist, has been in Highlandtown since August.

“They feel at home,” he said of the crowds flocking to the parish. “They see something of their own and something they’re familiar with. That means a lot to them.”

The actual feast day is Dec. 12, when Spanish-speaking Catholics in the archdiocese gathered in parishes to sing “Mañanitas” to Our Lady of Guadalupe, an annual custom on the actual feast day.

The Dec. 11 Mass featured an artistic likeness of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which appeared on St. Juan Diego’s cloak in what is now Mexico City. The image has become a symbol of hope for Latin Americans and for those who seek to protect the dignity and sanctity of human life.

Feast celebrations often include dancing, music and roses left in front of the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Eighteen archdiocesan parishes have Spanish Masses. St. Gabriel in Woodlawn had hundreds participate in its Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrations, according to pastor Monsignor Thomas L. Phillips. Sacred Heart of Jesus became the city’s Hispanic hub in August, when Spanish- speaking parishioners from St. Michael in Fells Point and Our Lady of Pompei in Highlandtown were encouraged to transfer there. It is now known as Sacred Heart of Jesus-Sagrado Corazón de Jesús.

This was the first Our Lady of Guadalupe celebration at Sacred Heart of Jesus since the changes.

“It’s a great honor,” Melissa Pelaez said. “With all the transition that’s been happening, to have the presence of our bishop here is just wonderful.”

Although Our Lady of Guadalupe is important to the Mexican culture, many Latinos and Hispanics have embraced the day as well. Guatemalans, like Pelaez, are no different.

“Our Lady of Guadalupe is the Lady of the Americas, so it’s everywhere,” she said. “I’m more familiar with it more here in the than in my country.”

Wendy Valles, 23, a former parishioner of St. Michael, said Sacred Heart is starting to feel like home.

According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, Latinos will eventually become a majority in the U.S. , as more than 50 percent of American Catholics under the age of 25 are Latino.

The Our Lady of Guadalupe celebrations brought many of those young people to Sacred Heart of Jesus.

“I think we are blessed to have it here because this is a new church for us,” said Valles. “We moved here and we’re so happy to share with our community and with our young adults group. It’s so important that we come.” ‘You are not alone,’ Hispanic bishops tell undocumented immigrants

WASHINGTON – An emotional pastoral letter to immigrants from the U.S. Hispanic and Latino Catholic bishops offers love, encouragement, welcome, sympathy and assurance that “you are not alone or forgotten.”

“We recognize that every human being, authorized or not, is an image of God and therefore possesses infinite value and dignity,” begins the strongly worded letter released on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12. “We open our arms and hearts to you, and we receive you as members of our Catholic family. As , we direct these words to you from the depths of our heart.”

“We urge you not to despair,” said the letter signed by 33 bishops. “Keep faith in Jesus the migrant who continues to walk beside you. Have faith in Our Lady of Guadalupe, who constantly repeats to us the words she spoke to St. Juan Diego, ‘Am I, who am your mother, not here?’ ”

The letter thanks immigrants for “the Christian values you manifest to us with your lives – your sacrifice for the well-being of your families, your determination and perseverance, your joy of life, your profound faith and fidelity despite your insecurity and many difficulties.”

Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, Calif., told Catholic News Service the bishops wanted “to reach out to the immigrant community and express our concern for them, to speak to them in a spirit of solidarity.”

Though there’s been interest in such a form of outreach for a while, Bishop Soto said there was a sense that it might especially be needed now, because from a political standpoint, it “does not look promising” for government action to improve the legal situation of millions of undocumented immigrants.

“Christian solidarity is not based on political optimism, but it is based on religious hope,” he said. The release date of the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe was chosen because she “is such a powerful symbol of solidarity and hope, particularly in difficult times.”

The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe comes from the likeness of Mary that appeared on a cloak worn by a poor Indian to whom she appeared on a hillside in Mexico in 1531. Her coloring and features resemble those of an indigenous woman, which at the time and since then has been seen as a message of hope and solidarity to the poor.

Bishop Soto said letter was the result of a collaborative writing process among the Hispanic bishops. And they hope it will be used broadly around the country by all U.S. bishops.

In the letter, they expressed regret that some people have reacted to the economic crisis by showing disdain for immigrants. Some “even blame them for the crisis,” they said. “We will not find a solution to our problems by sowing hatred. We will find the solution by sowing a sense of solidarity among all workers and co-workers – immigrants and citizens – who live together in the United States.”

“Your suffering faces” show the “true face of Jesus Christ,” the bishops said, noting they are well aware of the great sacrifices they make for their families.

“Many of you perform the most difficult jobs and receive miserable salaries and no health insurance or social security,” they continued. “Despite your contributions to the well-being of our country, instead of receiving our thanks, you are often treated as criminals because you have violated current immigration laws.”

The bishops also acknowledged the pain suffered by families who have had someone deported or are threatened with deportation; the anxiety of waiting for legal residency status; and the frustration of young people who have grown up in the U.S., but lack the legal immigration status that would allow them to go on to college and get good jobs.

“This situation cries out to God for a worthy and humane solution,” they said.

They reiterated the position they as individuals and as members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops have taken in support of comprehensive immigration reform. Such legislation should respect family unity and provide “an orderly and reasonable process for unauthorized persons to attain citizenship.” It should include a program for worker visas that protect immigrant’s rights and that provides for their basic needs, they added.

The letter also acknowledged the difficult and dangerous path people take to come to the United States. “As pastors concerned for your welfare,” they asked them to “consider seriously whether it is advisable to undertake the journey here until after just and humane changes occur in our immigration laws.”

But, they added, “we are not going to wait until the law changes to welcome you who are already here into our churches, for as St. Paul tells us, ‘You are no longer aliens or foreign visitors; you are fellow citizens with the holy people of God and part of God’s household.’ ”

As members of the church, part of the body of Christ, “we offer you spiritual nourishment. Feel welcome to holy Mass, the Eucharist, which nourishes us with the word and the body and blood of Jesus. We offer you catechetical programs for your children and those religious education programs that our diocesan resources allow us to put at your disposal.”

Citizens and permanent residents of the U.S. “cannot forget that almost all of us, we or our ancestors, have come from other lands and together with immigrants from various nations and cultures, have formed a new nation,” they said. “Now we ought to open our hearts and arms to the recently arrived, just as Jesus asks us to do when he says, ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was an alien and you took me into your house.’”

The presence of immigrants “challenges us to be more courageous in denouncing the injustices they suffer. In imitation of Jesus and the great prophets we ought to denounce the forces that oppress them and announce the good news of the Kingdom with our works of charity. Let us pray and struggle to make it possible for these brothers and sisters of ours to have the same opportunities from which we have benefitted. “We see Jesus the pilgrim in you migrants,” they said.

The day the bishops issued their statement, a ceremony at St. Monica’s Catholic Church in Tucson, Ariz., was scheduled to kick off a rally in support of more than 60 undocumented immigrants and their families who were planning to personally petition the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency to close their deportation cases.

In June, the Obama administration announced that ICE would shift focus away from “low priority” deportation cases and establish a way of deferring the pending deportations of people who pose no risk to the community and who have strong ties to the United States. The Tucson event is one of several staged around the country recently to draw attention to the slow pace of this new policy and the effects of deportation on families, which often consist of U.S. citizens and legal residents.

In addition to Bishop Soto, the letter was signed by Archbishops Jose H. Gomez of Los Angeles and Gustavo Garcia-Siller of San Antonio; Bishops Gerald R. Barnes, San Bernardino, Calif.; Alvaro Corrada del Rio, apostolic administrator of Tyler, Texas, and newly named bishop of Mayaguez, Puerto Rico in July; Felipe de Jesus Estevez, St. Augustine, Fla.; Richard J. Garcia, Monterey, Calif.; Armando X. Ochoa, bishop of El Paso, Texas, who has been named to Fresno, Calif.; Placido Rodriguez, Lubbock, Texas; James A. Tamayo, Laredo, Texas; Daniel E. Flores, Brownsville, Texas; Fernando Isern, Pueblo, Colo.; Ricardo Ramirez, Las Cruces, N.M.; and Joe S. Vasquez, Austin.

Signers included: Auxiliary Bishops Oscar Cantu, San Antonio; Arturo Cepeda, Detroit; Manuel A. Cruz, Newark, N.J.; Rutilio del Riego, San Bernardino, Calif.; Eusebio Elizondo, Seattle; Francisco Gonzalez, Washington; Eduardo A. Nevares, Phoenix; Alexander Salazar and Gabino Zavala, Los Angeles; Octavio Cisneros, Brooklyn, N.Y.; Edgar M. da Cunha, Newark; Cirilo B. Flores, Orange, Calif.; Josu Iriondo, New York; Alberto Rojas, Chicago; Luis Rafael Zarama, Atlanta; and retired Bishops Raymundo J. Pena, Brownsville; Arthur N. Tafoya, Pueblo; and Carlos A. Sevilla, Yakima, Wash.; and David Arias, Newark. A year after late-term abortionists’ arrival, 600 march for life

Under a full moon on a cold, dark evening, they walked and prayed together, an estimated crowd of 600 people, holding candles and praying the rosary as they marched Dec. 10 from Mother Seton Church in Germantown to a nearby late-term abortion clinic.

Helping to lead the candlelight prayer procession was Washington Cardinal Donald Wuerl, just after he presided at a Mass for Life at Mother Seton Church, marking one year since the arrival of late-term abortionist Dr. LeRoy Carhart in the neighborhood. A standing-room crowd of more than 1,000 people attended the Mass, where Cardinal Wuerl said, “Countless unborn infants are reaching out to hold on to us with all of their strength, since we are the only voice they have in their struggle to find a place, a home, a life in this world.”

The prayer procession wound for several blocks, with the flickering points of candlelight shining in the darkness, held by people of all ages, ranging from senior citizens to small children, who marched four people abreast on the sidewalk, as cars drove by. Members of a Knights of Columbus honor guard also marched near the front of the procession. Two seminarians held a large banner that read, “Pray to end abortion.”

The marchers then stood and prayed before the abortion clinic, and Cardinal Wuerl said, “Let us ask God’s blessing on all of us, all who are gathered here, all who speak for life, who walk for life, who defend life.”

Moments later, the cardinal said he was inspired by the large crowd of people who witnessed to life at the Mass and procession. “It says that the future is with life. Our task is to keep holding up the Gospel of Life.” Christa Lopicollo, the executive director of Life Issues for the Archdiocese of Washington, also praised the witness of the great numbers of people who stood and prayed for life at the Mass and marched together in the candlelight procession. “The power of the symbolism of the light (shining) in darkness was beautiful,” she said.

In his homily, Cardinal Wuerl encouraged people to continue to witness to the dignity of all human life through their prayers and actions. “Prayer does change hearts … Prayer does work, and it must be our instrument of change,” the cardinal said.

Cardinal Wuerl noted that just as St. John the Baptist was a voice crying out in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord, so too has the Catholic Church in the past 20 centuries continued that mission, to be that voice, and to follow Jesus’ call for his disciples to be his witnesses. “What brings us here is the recognition we’re called to share our faith, to share what we believe. We’re called to proclaim the Gospel of Life proclaimed by Jesus.”

The cardinal called abortion “the single greatest blight on our nation since the age of slavery. How is it possible in history for atrocities to take place, for those things to happen? How could it be there were concentration camps dedicated to the extermination of people? How could we have in our nation slavery – the reduction of people to property?”

Then, the cardinal continued, people could ask how it is possible today to have “the wholesale destruction of human life” through abortion.

“How did such atrocities come to be ever accepted by any people, anywhere, at any time? Silence. Silence is the ally of atrocity,” Cardinal Wuerl said.

Today, the cardinal continued, “We are confronted with the evil of abortion on demand. It’s almost inconceivable in our city, in our society (that) it would be legal to kill an almost fully formed child.”

After Nebraska passed legislation to prohibit abortions after 20 weeks after conception, Dr. Carhart set up a late-term abortion practice in Germantown, in Maryland which has some of the least restrictive abortion laws in the country. Since his arrival last December, Dr. Carhart has performed an estimated 700 abortions at the Germantown clinic.

In his homily, Cardinal Wuerl said that “taking life in the womb” can never be justified. He said it was important to reach out in compassion to mothers and fathers contemplating abortion or grieving afterward. And he called on people to stand up for unborn children whose lives are at risk. “We’re the ones who can speak for the child yet to be born, for the child not yet able to say his or her first words.”

The cardinal told the story of visiting a mission in another country some years ago, where he held a newborn child who “held on with all his strength to my finger,” as if not to let go.

“Countless unborn babies are reaching out to hold onto us with all of their strength, since we are the only voice they have in the struggle to find a place, a home, a life in this world,” Cardinal Wuerl said.

Noting the power of prayer, the cardinal said, “That’s why we speak, that’s why we pray, that’s why we march” for life.

Cardinal Wuerl noted the spiraling violence in homes and on streets throughout the country. “If it’s ever going to be broken, we need a new vision. Christ invites us to see that way that recognizes the gift of life, the wonder of life. Truly you and I are capable of life-giving compassion … (and) life-giving support for mothers and children.”

Calling on people to be witnesses for life, through their prayers and actions, the cardinal said, “Life is God’s good gift to you and me. It’s God’s gift to all of us,” who are called to “see with the eyes of faith, the eyes of compassion, the eyes of love.”

Seven priests concelebrated the Mass. After the homily and the Creed, prayers were offered for the unborn, for the elderly and for people with disabilities, that people might recognize “their right to life as children of a loving God.”

After Communion, Father Carlos Benitez, the pastor of Mother Seton Parish, thanked people for coming to the Mass and praying in the candlelight procession, and he invited people to come to the weekly prayer vigils near the abortion clinic from 8-10 a.m. every Monday at Executive Park Circle and Wisteria Drive.

Dr. Grace Morrison, a parishioner of St. in Gaithersburg who has helped coordinate the Monday morning prayer vigils outside the abortion clinic for the past year, said the participation of the cardinal and the great crowd of people at the Mass for Life and rosary procession offered them great encouragement and support to continue their efforts. “As he (the cardinal) said, ‘We need to give these babies a voice.’”

She noted that in the past year, there have been “18 saves we know of,” of women who changed their minds and left the abortion clinic without undergoing the procedure. “In order to close this place down, our faithfulness out there is essential … I believe it is our prayer, our fasting and our sacrifice that is what it will take to pierce the darkness,” she said.

As the candlelight procession wound its way back to the church, the last group of marchers included Pete Holter, who carried his 1-year-old son and guided his other three little boys, ages 6,4 and 3, along the sidewalk. Holter, whose wife was unable to join the march, attends St. Mary Parish in Hagerstown with his family. When he heard about the candlelight prayer vigil, “I thought I’ve got to get the boys out here,” and they made the one-hour drive to the Mass and procession.

Holter, who works as a quality analyst for a highway construction company, said, “We wanted to witness for Jesus” and pray for life, for the unborn children and their mothers.

“Everything is depending on our prayers,” said the father, as he carefully shepherded his young sons on the path back to the church.

Their prayers, he said, were especially directed toward the mothers who are drawn to that clinic. “We’re praying for them,” he said. “We want them to know we love them, and we are praying for their babies.” Lawsuit challenging HHS contract with USCCB awaits judge’s decision

WASHINGTON – A lawsuit pending in a Massachusetts federal court may determine if the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services can allow religiously based restrictions on reproductive health services in agreements with private agencies to provide social services.

The suit, filed by the American Civil Liberties Union in Boston in January 2009, stems from a now ended five-year contract that HHS signed with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to provide case management services to foreign-born victims of human trafficking through its Migration and Refugee Services.

ACLU claims that the bishops’ conference dictated terms of the contract it received from the government to serve trafficking victims in violation of the separation of church and state provisions of the U.S. Constitution. ACLU attorneys maintain that the government, because it is spending taxpayer dollars, must set the terms of the contract.

Michael O. Leavitt, then Secretary of Health and Human Services, was named as the chief defendant. Since then Kathleen Sebelius, current health and human services secretary, has replaced Leavitt as the government’s defendant.

The USCCB joined the case as an intervenor and, through its attorney, argued that its intention under the contract not to fund abortion or contraceptive services was permitted because of religious freedom and conscience provisions in federal law.

The parties submitted final arguments to Judge Richard G. Stearns Oct. 18. He is expected to issue his decision early in 2012.

The contract in question, which expired Oct. 10, permitted MRS to adhere to church teaching and restrict agencies subcontracted to work with trafficking victims from providing services that were contrary to church teaching.

ACLU attorney Brigitte Amiri told CNS the case was filed because it is not the government’s prerogative to restrict access to health services that are legal.

“We believe it’s a violation of the separation of church and state to allow a religious entity to dictate the terms of a federal contract on how money should be spent,” Amiri said. “Not all trafficking victims need such services, but they need a host of reproductive services including contraception and, if pregnant, abortion.”

She added that the civil liberties organization found it “disturbing that the Catholic bishops forced this on the case managers even if they themselves have no objection to referring for such services.”

Attorney Henry C. Dinger, representing the USCCB, told CNS that a key argument focused on whether the ACLU was permitted to challenge the provisions of the contract because it was not an injured party.

The judge ruled that ACLU was within its rights to file the suit.

“If they have standing, then we’ve argued that the decision to award the contract was not a violation of the Establishment Clause (in the Constitution),” Dinger said.

“Health and Human Services awarded the contract in spite of the conscience exemption over abortion and contraceptive services,” he explained. “They didn’t view the unwillingness to fund abortion and contraceptive services as an impediment and that the other positives (MRS provided) outweighed that.”

U.S. Department of Justice attorneys argued that the contract had expired, making the case moot.

A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment on the case.

Dinger and Amiri said it was in both organizations’ interest to get a decision because it is likely the issue will surface again. An appeal is expected no matter how Stearns rules.

The suit has moved slowly because of numerous freedom of information requests filed by the ACLU to obtain public documents related to the contract award and subsequent motions by both parties. Among the documents cited in the lawsuit was the church agency’s Feb. 23, 2006, technical proposal to the HHS office that administers human trafficking programs. It said, “As we are a Catholic organization we need to ensure that our victim services funds are not used to refer or fund activities that would be contrary to our moral convictions and religious beliefs. … Specifically, subcontractors could not provide or refer for abortion services or contraceptive materials.”

The HHS office then asked the USCCB, according to the lawsuit, whether a “‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policy (would) work regarding the exception. What if a subcontractor referred victims supported by stipend to a third-party agency for such services?”

In response, the lawsuit said, the USCCB explained it “cannot be associated with an agency that performs abortions or offers contraceptives to our clients. If they sign the written agreement (the subcontract), the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ wouldn’t apply because they are giving an assurance to us that they wouldn’t refer for or provide abortion service to our client using contract funding.”

The USCCB program received slightly more than $19 million during the five-and-a- half years of the contract, assisting nearly 2,783 trafficking victims and family members.

MRS officials have maintained that requests for services the church opposes were rare during the contract term.

Archbishop O’Brien praises leadership of Cardinal Foley

Archbishop Edwin F. O’Brien issued the following statement Dec. 11, regarding the death of Cardinal John P. Foley and his contributions to the church.

In his almost 50 years as priest and bishop Cardinal John Patrick Foley was totally and singularly dedicated to Christ and His Church.

As editor of Philadelphia’s Catholic Standard and Times and later as President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in the Vatican, the Cardinal’s professionalism and integrity was universally respected among his peers. For members of the press and for the English-speaking public around the world, in press conferences and radio and television commentaries, he was a gifted evangelizer, explaining Catholic teaching and practice clearly and thoroughly and often with a self-deprecating humor.

He has long been regarded as the patriarch of the American Catholic press.

During his four years leading the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulcher of Jerusalem – years he compared to “a spiritual retreat” – the order grew significantly in lieutenancies and numbers throughout the world, largely due to his devoted commitment to the Church in the Holy Land and his constant travel. I will be ever grateful for his words of support and counsel these three brief months since my appointment as Pro-Grand Master of the Order.

The Cardinal frequently expressed his gratitude in being able to spend his final months in his beloved Philadelphia and among his brother priests. His love for the priesthood was extraordinary. He faced his impending death with remarkable serenity, looking forward in Christian hope to the reward that awaited him in Christ.

Though very many of us will miss him, we prayerfully offer him back to God with gratitude for his friendship, his sterling priestly example and his many contributions to the kingdom of God on earth.

May he rest in peace. On feast of Immaculate Conception, Towson parish welcomes back statue

One by one, hundreds of parishioners of Church of the Immaculate Conception in Towson filed outside to surround the parish’s beloved statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary Dec. 8.

Singing the words of “Immaculate Mary,” they saw the statue’s shadow cast to more than 20 feet tall on a nearby bell tower. The message was clear: Mary was back where she belonged and ready to welcome all to the parish on Bosley Avenue.

The six-foot statue had been knocked down, some believe by crowbar, March 19. In addition, the statue’s left hand was knocked off and lights were damaged. The statue was repaired and beautified during recent months and formally dedicated by Auxiliary Bishop Denis J. Madden Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception.

Parishioner Marci Towel, a member of the pastoral council and a parishioner of 41 years, said “we were all just so deeply saddened that it happened.”

Added pastor Joseph F. Father Barr: “I would hope that Towson would be known as a place for respect for all houses of worship – Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, Muslim or whatever – and not a place where there would be vandalism.”

Sadness turned to gladness, though, as the restored Mary returned.

“We’re just very blessed,” Towel said. “Look at that. Isn’t it beautiful?”

The statue stands on a pedestal behind new stone signage naming the parish.

“We have a beautiful sign that announces the church and the beautiful woman behind it,” Towel said.

Bishop Madden celebrated the preceding feast day Mass, welcoming people by saying, “It’s nice to have Mary up there again. It’s wonderful.” At the start of Mass, Father Barr noted that Monsignor Edward J. Lynch, who was pastor at the time, received the donation for the statue of the Blessed Mother 26 years ago. Monsignor Lynch concelebrated the Mass, along with Father Barr and other priests.

The statue had been erected on a hillside at Immaculate and, through the years, the area surrounding it became damaged by storms.

“When I arrived in July 2010, it was ugly down there. It was really a mess,” Father Barr said. “I was hoping we could do something, but we didn’t have it in the budget.”

While the vandalism was unfortunate, it allowed the parish to beautify the area surrounding the statue. Father Barr put out an appeal- what he called “a begging letter” – to parishioners to contribute to the statue’s restoration. In total, the project raised more than $32,000.

“I was overwhelmed,” Father Barr said of their kind response. “They basically gave me double what it was going to cost and so that helped to do a plan for a better quality of security lighting.”

The artist who worked on Mary’s hand went through different versions before finding the perfect one, Father Barr said.

Father Barr said that the restored statue’s placement, in front of the bell tower, is a message to all who drive up to Immaculate Conception.

“It’s meant to be a welcoming sign,” Father Barr said, “with both hands greeting people.” In his class, instructor requires students to keep cellphones on

WASHINGTON – Most colleges require students to put away their cellphones during class. However, for one class at The Catholic University of America, not bringing a cellphone to class can result in loss of points from their participation grade.

Cellphone photography is a new class at Catholic University in Washington that allows students to see photography in a fresh way and explore a device they carry with them every day in a different way. Students are told to turn their everyday lives into a book of photographs. For example, one assignment was to take photos on their phone at their Thanksgiving dinner celebration with their families.

Only a handful of other universities offer a class like the one taught at Catholic University. The class encourages students to post the photos taken in class on their social media sites and is taught by professional photographer Matthew Barrick.

“The goal of this class is to show the true creative art of photography using a cellphone. You have your camera with you 24 hours a day,” Barrick said.

The class assignments consist of weekly blog entries that must include pictures students took that week on their phones, as well as ongoing work on their final project.

The class’s final project is called “100 photographs in 100 days,” and the students can take pictures of anything they want with their phones over the course of the semester. Then, they pick the best photos and put them into an online photo book for the professor to review and grade.

Barrick emphasizes that it does not matter what type of phone students use, as long as it has a camera. He thinks the most important part is that students use their eyes and imagination to take the best photos possible.

Models range from brand new iPhones to old flip phones with cracked screens. Students who have newer phones are allowed to download applications to help them edit the photos they take.

“One student has an old flip phone and it actually produces very nice photos,” Barrick said.

Said student Maggie Sanborn, “I don’t have a smart phone, but I still find myself taking pretty decent photos with my Verizon Envy.”

The class has similarities to a regular photography class, because it focuses on the general knowledge of photography. Barrick said the general message and goal of the class is the same as a regular photography class: to learn the rules of composition and take good pictures.

The class also has some differences. Photos taken with cellphones can be immediately uploaded to social networking sites and blogs, unlike those taken with digital cameras. Also, the cameras on cellphones do not have the same features as regular digital cameras, so photos come out differently.

“Cellphone photography allows for a natural form of picture taking, and photography with a digital camera is more forced,” Barrick said.

Along with being a lecturer on the adjunct faculty of Catholic University’s art department, Barrick works as a commercial photographer in the home health care and hospice industry. He travels around the world taking pictures of people who are suffering from an illness and depend on home health care to stay alive. He then posts the pictures to a site where publications and agencies can purchase them.

Barrick came up with the cellphone photography class accidentally. He was teaching a digital photography class at Catholic University last year when his students started complaining about not being able to finish their final projects. To prove to his students they could do it, he completed in one week the exact project they had a full semester to do. The only difference was that he used an iPhone to take the photos for the project.

Barrick realized that a class on cellphone photography might be of interest to students. He talked to university officials and they agreed. Since last year when the first cellphone photography class was taught at Catholic university, it has had a growing waiting list and students continue to inquire about making the class bigger.

Currently, the class holds 16 students, the maximum number of seats in the photo lab.

Barrick is hopeful the class will spread to other universities and that people will see how a cellphone can be a great vehicle in the world of photography.

“This class is unlike anything I have ever experienced before. I look at my cellphone camera in a whole new light and I find myself taking pictures on it all the time now,” said Kathryn Murphy, a student in Barrick’s class.