MIRROR NO MERE CHRISTIANS Bearing Witness to the Truth We proclaim Your Death, O Lord, and profess Your Resurrection, until You come again. Contents

No mere Christians but Martyrs Dr. Michael Kinsella 2

4 Death does not have the Last Word Pakistan 4

The Resurrection of Al-Tahira Iraq 6

6 Helping them to Bear their Cross Burkina Faso 8

Deeds of Love in Aleppo Syria 10

12 ‘So that We may Raise up Others’ Nigeria 11

Despite all the Assaults on the Faith Latin America 12

14 Pope Francis Remembers the Martyrs of Nagasaki Hannah Brockhaus 14

Nagasaki’s Unworthy Witness to the Truth Robert Corzine 16 16 A Young Boy Bears Witness to the Truth Meg Hunter-Kilmer 20

A Mother Bears Witness to the Holiness of her Son 20 Bree A. Dail 24

Editor: Dr. Michael Kinsella. Design: Ronan Lynch. Publisher: ACN Ireland, 151 St. Mobhi Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9. Printed in Ireland. www.acnireland.org

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 1 No Mere Christians But Martyrs DR. MICHAEL KINSELLA

Dear Friends, the first 20 years of this 21st Century. To this day, Christians around the World continue od invites us to ‘do the Right Thing’, to shed their blood for the Love of Truth, to choose Life over Death, Light over for the Love of God. Darkness. G In the Post-Christian West, core Christian He invites us to always bear witness in Charity Truths are constantly being undermined and to the Truth that are widely violated. Christianity is increasingly regarded as outdated and unwanted. And the • Christ Has Died Church, no longer a significant societal pres- • Christ Is Risen ence, is merely regarded as a political pressure • Christ Will Come Again group like so many others.

Today this Truth of Christ, this Mystery of So it is that in the ‘Spiritual deserts’ of the our Faith, is being denied, ridiculed and Post-Christian West, Christians endure chronic oppressed all over the World. So it is that in (and sometimes intense) cultural oppression. these times the Church of Christ is very much To faithfully live as a Christian in such strange a Church of Martyrs (i.e. Witnesses) and in lands in these strange times is to endure a form need of our Witness. of ‘White Martyrdom’. (Historically the Church referred to such witnesses, who suffered for the In many parts of the world this Witness mani- Faith but were not required to shed their blood, fests itself in the physical shedding of blood as ‘Confessors’. ) (‘Red Martyrdom’). Professor Robert Royal’s ‘The Catholic Martyrs of the 20th Century: A Com- We are not being ‘mere’ Christians when in prehensive World History’1, documents how our World of today we profess the incon- the number of Martyrs dying for Christ in the 20 venient Truth of Christ by our words and Century dwarfed those of all Martyrdoms prior by our deeds, whether as ‘White’ or as ‘Red’ to 1900. This situation has not improved during Martyrs. On the contrary we are following in the

1 Crossroad Publishing Company, New York, 2000. Pp 415.

2 NO MERE CHRISTIANS footsteps of the Lord, along the Via Dolorosa, ability, condition of life, is required to be an ‘the Way of the Cross’, we are living Holy Week. authentic Witness to the Truth, (i.e. a Martyr), We are ascending the Cross in the full knowl- a Saint. Each of us, without exception, is called edge that ‘the Cross comes before the Crown’.2 upon to share the Mystery of our Faith within Indeed the Cross must come before the Crown. our families, among our friends and with the world at large. Quite simply sharing the Joy of Dear Friends, death will come to us all and we the Gospel is ‘the Right Thing to Do’. will be judged. And we will be judged as to how we have lived and witnessed to the Truth of In all of this let us remember that none of us are Christ. Profiled herein is Paul Takashi Nagai ‘mere’ Christians. Our Witness is needed and (1908-1951) and Carlo Acutis (1991-2006), two we need to help others bear Witness to the outstanding Confessors who bore magnifi- Truth. The reward for doing so is ever-lasting cent Witness until death to the Truth of Christ. both for us and for them. These were no mere Christians: they took the opportunities they were given to radiate God’s Your Brother in Christ, Light in the World.

As fellow Christians, we are similarly called to bear Witness to the Gospel Truth whenever 3 and wherever we are given the opportunity. Dr. Michael Kinsella Every true follower of Christ, irrespective of age, DIRECTOR, ACN IRELAND

‘The root of all good works is the Hope of Resurrection.’

St. Cyril of Jerusalem

2 C. S. Lewis ‘The Weight of Glory’ Sermon given University Church of St. Mary, Oxford June 8, 1941. 3 ‘Who best bears their mild yoke, they serve Him best’ – John Milton Sonnet, ‘On His Blindness’.

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 3 Death Does Not Have The Last Word PAKISTAN

ope Francis was praying the Way of the him back, saying ‘You’re not getting through, Cross with the young people in Rio de even if I have to die for it.’ Those were his last PJaneiro. At the second Station (Jesus words; the killer detonated his bomb. That receives the Cross) he said: ‘With Christ, evil, was during Lent five years ago. For the young suffering, and death do not have the last people of Lahore diocese Akash Bashir is a word, because He gives us Hope and Life: hero. They will never forget him. Many of them He has transformed the Cross from being an have decided to volunteer as security guards instrument of hate, defeat and death to being outside their churches. They are ready to give a sign of love, victory, triumph and life.’ their lives for Christ, just as Bashir did. The same is true in other dioceses of Pakistan. This is exactly what the Martyrs do, in imita- tion of Christ. In Lahore, young Akash Bashir And there is the ever-present possibility knew that the Islamist extremist wearing a that Christians in Pakistan will suffer suicide belt was trying to get into St. John’s harassment, or even lose their lives, Church and that he was the only person who because of their Faith. They face the stood between the killer and the 2,000 people constant threat of Islamist attacks on their praying inside at Sunday Mass. So he held Churches, or of being arbitrarily thrown into prison if they are accused of blasphemy. And yet these young people are happy to be able to serve the Church, even in this hostile anti- Christian environment.

According to Bishop Joseph Arshad, the President of the Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, the level of vocations to the Priesthood and Religious life is at a high level. In his own diocese of Islamabad- Rawalpindi alone, there are currently over Pakistan: The youth programme is for 30 seminarians. The blood of the Martyrs is everyone, also and especially for girls. indeed the seed of the Church.

4 NO MERE CHRISTIANS The Catholic Church in Pakistan is a It also covers such things as cyber bullying, youthful Church. The great majority of those social networks, and relations with Islam. attending Mass are young adults, adoles- During weekend courses, summer camps and cents and children. That is why the Church in workshops young people will be made aware Pakistan has proclaimed the year 2020 as the of the potential dangers of the Internet, learn Year of Youth. One of the Church’s greatest more about their own faith and that of their challenges is educating young people. Muslim neighbours, and discover the impor- tance of the human and Christian virtues. ACN Akash Bashir attended the Salesian school. is supporting the programme, with €7,150. He was one of the lucky ones. For most Christian children and teenagers attending ‘The future lies with the young’, said Father school is no more than a dream. There are Khalid Mukhtar, the coordinator of the too few of schools and their parents can’t programme. And it was for this future afford the fees. However, the Diocese of likewise that Akash Bashir gave his life. Faisalabad has organised a programme for Because, as Pope Francis said in Rio, ‘The all the young people, in order to help them Cross gives us a treasure that no one else to find answers to the social and religious can give: the certainty of the faithful Love issues facing them. which God has for us.’

PAKISTAN: The joy of serving the Church and living the Faith: Akash Bashir is an inspiration for these young Christians too.

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 5 The Resurrection of Al-Tahira IRAQ

n the Third Station of his Way of the Cross remained suffered, many were murdered (Jesus falls for the first time), Pope Saint or enslaved, their homes were set fire to, IJohn Paul II begins his contemplation in 11 Christian Churches and 70 other Church- these words: ‘Jesus falls beneath the burden Iraq owned buildings were systematically of the Cross. He falls to the ground. He does not torched, and all the Christian religious seek refuge in His supernatural powers, does symbols were destroyed. not call on the strength of the Angels.’ Even the largest Christian Church in Iraq, There was no power to help the Christians in Al-Tahira Cathedral – dedicated to the Iraq, when in August 2014 they were forced Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin to flee the town of Qaraqosh, then the largest Mary – was desecrated and torched. The Christian town in the country, and leave it to Islamists carried out target practice in the fall into the bloody hands of IS. Those who Cathedral’s great outer courtyard.

IRAQ: The Divine Liturgy in Al-Tahira Cathedral – the walls still blackened and partly open to the elements.

6 NO MERE CHRISTIANS Two years later, after the terrorists had been expelled, the people began to return to Qaraqosh. By now almost half the original Christian population are back, and – thanks to your generosity – many of the houses have already been repaired or rebuilt.

Now they want to restore the Cathedral of Al-Tahira. Its symbolic importance extends well beyond the city of Qaraqosh. Despite the destruction, the Christians have been gathering in the burnt-out ruins to celebrate the Divine Liturgy.

At the end of his meditation, Saint John Paul II wrote: ‘Through the repeated falls of Christ beneath the Cross, God will win healing and salvation for mankind.’ It is the power of Love that heals. We are helping with €200,000.

‘Lord by your Cross and Resurrection you have set us free. You are the Saviour of the World.’

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 7 Helping Them To Bear Their Cross BURKINA FASO

ope Benedict XVI composed a set of The diocese’s 61 Seminarians are standing Stations of the Cross. In his Fifth Station firm. They know that the 130,000 Catholics P(Simon of Cyrene helps to carry the in the diocese are going to need them to Cross of Jesus) he writes: ‘Whenever we show minister to them in these difficult times. In kindness to the suffering, the persecuted and July some of them will be ordained to the defenceless, and share in their sufferings, we Priesthood. They long to fulfil their vocation help to carry that same Cross of Jesus.’ of serving God and their fellow men – even if it should cost them their lives. In Burkina Faso we are helping 16 Seminar- ians to bear their own personal Crosses, by Our support of €30,000 for their formation helping them and their families to survive. was never more needed than today, when the Like many other Christians, these families in diocese is having to contend with a refugee the diocese of Ouahigouya in the north of problem. the country were forced to flee their villages when Islamist terrorists from Mali and Niger As Pope Benedict’s prayer for the Fifth Station attacked them, murdering, burning homes says, ‘Help us to realise that it is a grace to and driving them out. Now they have nothing be able to share the Cross of others and, in left. Forced to flee into the towns, they are this way, know that we are walking with You sheltering in schools and parish centres. along the way.’

Previously these families were able to support their sons in the seminaries. Now they don’t know how they themselves will survive from day to day. The diocese is overwhelmed by the problem. And it is also a huge psychological burden for the 16 Seminarians concerned. We are providing emergency humanitarian aid of €8,000 for their families and thereby helping the Seminarians at the same time. BURKINO FASO: Bishop Justin Kientega and his future priests, ready for ordination.

8 NO MERE CHRISTIANS I II Via Crucis The Way of the Cross III IV V VI

VII VIII IX X

XI XII XIII XIV

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 9 Deeds of Love in Aleppo SYRIA

SYRIA: In their bombed-out home, Mary and her blind brother Sarkis live next door to the Jesuits.

t the Sixth Station (Veronica wipes the locals can find a shady spot to shelter from face of Jesus) Saint John Paul II wrote: the summer heat. The Jesuits will also give A‘On every deed of Love, as on the face- them a little bread to eat. Because most of cloth of Veronica, the Redeemer imprints the them have neither food nor shelter from the mark of His Countenance.’ weather in their bombed out houses. For the moment, this is all that can be done, since Such deeds of Love are seen in Aleppo, where nobody knows how or when the rebuilding of Jesuit Father Sami Hallak has begun to the city will be carried out. restore what is left of Saint Wartan’s, the former Jesuit centre in this north Syrian city, But the poor of Aleppo need our love and making it a centre of peace as it was before. care today. The young people, most of whom The building was on the front line of the are Christians, also need a sign of our loving conflict, as one can see from looking at it. But care – no matter how small, just like Veronica some of the rooms can be repaired, so that with her veil. We are helping with €30,000. For youth groups can study and stay overnight. the restoration works on the centre and in And a section of the garden can be restored the little Peace Park are deeds that bear the to make a small rectangular park, where poor imprint of Christ’s Face.

10 NO MERE CHRISTIANS ‘So That We May Raise Up Others’ NIGERIA

Nigeria: Bishop Hilary Dachelem: this ruin will become a place of worship once more.

t the Seventh Station (Jesus falls for needed to celebrate Holy Mass, as it is hard the second time) Pope Benedict XVI to say it in the open air, exposed to the heat Awrites: ‘The Lord falls, over and over and the rain. With 51 Priests, 18 Religious, 25 again, in order to meet us. He gazes on us, Seminarians and 96 Catechists, this diocese He touches our hearts; He falls in order to of 70,000 Catholics is relatively rich in voca- raise us up.’ tions, though materially it is extremely poor. Bishop Hilary has asked our help. He said: During Christmas 2018 in the diocese of ‘The rebuilding work will give us a fitting place Bauchi in northeast Nigeria, Islamist terror- of worship once more, will restore our confi- ists of Boko Haram attacked and destroyed dence and strengthen our Faith in Christ.’ six Christian Churches. The people fled. Now they are returning – but while the security We have initially promised €19,000 to rebuild situation has improved, the Churches still lie the first of these Churches. And we pray, in ruins. It is time to raise them up again. together with Pope Benedict, ‘Lift us up, Walls and a roof are the barest minimum so that we may lift others up.’

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 11 A God With A Human Face: Despite All The Assaults On The Faith LATIN AMERICA

ne particular form of persecution tianity is set against an impersonal and is watering down Catholic teaching pseudo-scientific alternative universal reli- Oto the point of making it unrec- gion. Beneath the camouflage of seemingly ognisable. The Soviets used this method, Christian ideals, it presents itself as close to and the communists in China continue the indigenous peoples and their traditions to do so. But in Latin America, left-wing and is aggressively promoted by the state-run authoritarian regimes are also seeking to media and social networks. wrest the ‘cultural hegemony’ to themselves. This is what the Italian communist Antonio This year, in order to counter this false Gramsci called for a hundred years ago. ideology, the Diocese of Matagalpa has In Nicaragua the regime is attempting to do established a formation programme for 250 this through a false, New Age ideology. It is Catechists, Pastoral Workers and Lay Helpers the most rapidly growing ideology in Latin from the Catholic Religious Movements. America at the present time. The personal Over the course of 12 weeks participants relationship with God promoted by Chris- are taught to see through the nature of this false ideology with the help of teaching and NICARAGUA: Armed against attacks by false doctrine from the Vatican. ideologies: studying in secure surroundings. In his introduction, Bishop Rolando Alvarez quotes these words of warning from Pope Francis: ‘To whom am I praying? To the cosmic God?… This polytheistic way of thinking, that springs from a superficial culture.’ Because, as Pope Benedict XVI states in his encyclical Deus Caritas Est, ‘Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction.’

12 NO MERE CHRISTIANS Thus equipped with solid Christian argu- ments, the participants will then be able to return to their communities and defend the Catholic Faith in all its purity. We are supporting this programme with €8,200. CUBA: You can find the In Cuba, where the Church is banned from calendar everywhere: disseminating any Christian teachings in offices, workshops, markets and even outside the walls of its Churches, the Bishops hospitals. have found a simple way of gaining entrance nevertheless to the public spaces and the the walls of a number of public offices. private homes of the people. They have done so by combining the good with the useful – Last year the focus was on the family, and a simple wall calendar, which is allowed to before that on the Ten Commandments, the be distributed even though it also contains Creed, and even the role of the Laity in the Christian images and catechetical texts. Church and in society. The vast majority of the 438,000 calendars are distributed free of This year the emphasis is on the youth apos- charge. But the cost of paper, printing and tolate, and the calendar features youthful role distribution is too much for the impover- Models of Faith, surrounded by excerpts from ished local Church, so we are helping with the papal exhortation Christus Vivit. Demand for €35,000. So in this way Cuban culture will the calendar is considerable, even among non- not entirely loose its Christian inheritance, Catholics. And it can even be found hanging on even in public spaces.

NICARAGUA: Bishop Rolando José Álvarez Lagos: ‘the only answer to false teachings is the Truth’.

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 13 Pope Francis Remembers the Japanese Martyrs of Nagasaki4 HANNAH BROCKHAUS

uring his apostolic visit to Japan in November 2019, Pope Francis ‘May we never forget the heroic Dhonoured the many Martyrs who died sacrifice!’ of the hundreds of Martyrs in Japan during two centuries of persecution, who ‘consecrated the ground by their encouraging Catholics in the country to use suffering and death.’ their heroic witness as inspiration to spread the Gospel. Speaking at the memorial of ‘May it not remain as a glorious relic Nishizaka Hill in Nagasaki, where hundreds of of the past, to be kept and honoured Christians from the end of the 16th through in a museum, but rather as a living the 18th century lost their lives for the Faith, memory, an inspiration for the works of including St. Paul Miki and his 25 compan- the apostolate and a spur to renewed ions, who were crucified on the hill in 1597 Evangelisation in this land.’ Pope Francis prayed:

JAPAN: Pope Francis at the memorial of Nishiszaka Hill in Nagasaki.

4 Adapted and edited from an article by Hannah Brockhaus. The original article can be accessed at: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-francis-honors-heroism-of-japanese-martyrs-of-nagasaki-61203

14 NO MERE CHRISTIANS Francis placed a wreath of flowers in front of the memorial, which includes a reliquary ‘This shrine is above all a monument to holding the relics of three martyred Jesuit Easter, for it proclaims that the last word missionaries, as well as an original letter -- despite all evidence to the contrary -- of St. Francis Xavier. He then said a silent belongs not to Death but to Life.’ prayer before incensing the relics. The message of the Martyrs, he said, is that Nagasaki, and specifically the Urakami man’s destiny is not Death, but the fullness neighbourhood, have been the centre of of Life. ‘The blood of the Martyrs becomes Catholicism in Japan for four centuries. the seed of the new Life that Jesus wishes The area was home to the so-called ‘hidden to bestow on us.’ Christians’, who preserved the Faith throughout waves of fierce persecution. ‘May the Church in Japan of our own day, amid all its difficulties and signs of ‘This shrine does more than speak of Hope, feel called to hear anew each day death; it also speaks of the triumph of the message proclaimed by Saint Paul Life over Death,’ Pope Francis said. Miki from the Cross, and share with all men and women the Joy and Beauty of the Gospel,’ he urged.

JAPAN: Pope Francis ‘The Blood of Martyrs in Nagasaki. is the seed of Church’ Tertullian (155-220AD)

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 15 Nagasaki’s Unworthy Witness To The Truth5 ROBERT CORZINE

aul Takashi Nagai (1908-1951) was spirit, he tried the experiment of living like Japanese, Scientist, Professor, Poet, a Christian. PConvert and great Witness to the Truth of the Jesus Christ, an Everyday Saint. On a trip home for Christmas, the Moriyamas’ daughter Mori invited him to the midnight Born in 1908 and raised in rural Japan in service at the Cathedral. ‘I felt instinctively traditional Confucian and Shinto religion, there was a Living Presence in the commu- Takashi imbibed the materialist assump- nity,’ he wrote later. There was ‘a Living tions of his professors while studying to be Someone present in the Urakami Cathedral.’ a physician. ‘I was so sure that there was no such thing as a soul,’ he wrote. But when his The Priest talked about the Son of God’s mother died, ‘my mother’s eyes told me that humility in becoming man, and made him the human Spirit lives after death. I could feel with shame the selfishness and mate- not but believe this. All this was by way of an rialism inside himself. ‘Here is the humility intuition, an intuition carrying conviction.’ that our minds know is the Truth to make us free. Here is the Salvation for which our hearts A LIVING PRESENCE yearn. How can we complain about hard- He started medical school in Nagasaki ships when the Holy in 1928. He found Christ through the Family accepted the Moriyamas, a family of Japan’s ‘Hidden darkness and pain Christians’, Catholics who had maintained of this night because the Faith for two and a half centuries of it was the Father’s persecution and isolation from the rest loving plan?’ of the World. He had been struggling with Christianity, intrigued by the Cathedral bells rung at noon to call people to Prayer and having read the great Christian mathemati- cian Blaise Pascal’s Pensees. In the scientific

5 Adapted and edited from a May 2019 article by Robert Corzine. Robert’s original article can be accessed at: https://stream.org/nagasaki- christian-hero-paul-takashi-nagai/

16 NO MERE CHRISTIANS AFTER THE BOMB DESTROYED THE CITY

‘In a flash I had a change of heart. Even foundation stone on which we would one precious life was worth saving. built a new society. Japan was defeated; but the wounded Our people had been told that they were still alive. The war was over; but must suffer these terrible wounds to win the work of our relief team remained. the war; but in fact they had suffered Our country was destroyed; but medical . Now they were thrown science still existed. in order to lose into the most pitiable and desperate Wasn’t our work only beginning? situation. Irrespective of the rise and fall of our country, wasn’t our main duty to And there was no one to console them, attend to the life and death of each no one to help them except us. We must single person? … stand and come to their aid. I stood there unsteadily on my tottering legs. Precisely because we Japanese had treated human life so simply and so And then the whole group stood up carelessly — precisely for this reason beside me. Our courage came back. we were reduced to our present The determination to continue our miserable plight. Respect for the life work gave us strength and joy.’ ― Paul of every person — this must be the Takashi Nagai, The Bells of Nagasaki.

‘Christ Has Died, Christ Has Risen, Christ Will Come Again.’

JAPAN: Dr. Paul Takashi Nagai Surveys the Ruins of Nagasaki.

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 17 Takashi was baptised in 1934. He took ‘Paul’ In 1945, Takashi learned that, as a result of his as his baptismal name, after Paulo Miki, work, he had incurable leukaemia. He would one of the twenty-six martyrs of Japan who soon leave his beloved Midori a young widow were crucified for their Faith in Nagasaki in and mother. Her response: ‘We said before 1597. Becoming a Christian cost him his we were married … that if our lives are spent friendship with his father, still a traditional for the Glory of God, then life and death are believer in Shinto. beautiful. You have given everything you had for work that was very, very important. It was POURED OUT HIS LIFE for His Glory.’ He said, ‘Midori’s acceptance has A few months later, he and Midori married. freed me. I can now face death because Midori They had a son the next year and a daughter is beside me.’ two years later. A pioneer in radiology and professor at Nagasaki Medical College, Paul But she died first. Two months later she poured his life out in service to the sick and was gone, taken in the flash that levelled to the training young doctors, despite the their city and marked the end of the Second known risks of exposure to gamma radiation. World War. The hospital was only a few The equipment leaked radiation and hundred yards from ground zero. Dr. Nagai radiologists died young. was injured but survived — ironically, because the radiology department was the In the 1930’s he knew the young Fr. Maxi- most strongly walled part of the hospital. He milian Kolbe, who was founding a monastery was only wounded in the chest. nearby. A few years later St. Maximilian gave his life for a stranger at Auschwitz. UNLESS YOU HAVE SUFFERED The surviving nurses and doctors set up a tent hospital in a field near the hospital. They did what they could caring for the stricken, though, as he wrote, ‘All we have left is our knowledge, our love, and our bare hands.’ He used his own blood to make a Japanese flag to mark the way to the new hospital. A little later he and others found one of the Cathedral bells and set it up to ring again.

It was only two days later could he go looking JAPAN: for his wife. He found their home obliterated. Dr. Nagai and his Then he found some of her charred bones, children in Nyokodo. her hand clutching her Rosary. He prayed:

18 NO MERE CHRISTIANS Emperor Hirohito, Helen Keller, and a ‘Dearest God, thank you for allowing Cardinal sent by Pope Pius XII. her to die praying. Mother of Sorrows, thank you for being with faithful Midori Paul spoke repeatedly against war, especially at the hour of her death. … Ah, gracious nuclear war. ‘Men and women of the world, Jesus our Saviour, you once sweat blood never again plan war! … Let us follow the and bore the heavy Cross to your Cruci- commandment of love and work together. fixion. And now you have shed peaceful The people of Nagasaki prostrate themselves light on the mystery of suffering and before God and pray: Grant that Nagasaki may death, on Midori’s and my own.’ be the last atomic wilderness in the history of the World.’ Later, he wrote: In 1951, with the end clearly approaching, ‘Unless you have suffered and wept, you he penned his farewell song: ‘Good-bye really don’t understand what compas- my flesh. I must now journey beyond as the sion is, nor can you give comfort to fragrance must leave the rose.’ On May 1st, someone who is suffering. at the age of only 43, he went to his eternal reward and was laid to rest, his epitaph If you haven’t cried, you can’t dry chosen from the Gospel of Luke, a fellow another’s eyes. physician. ‘We are unworthy servants; we Unless you’ve walked in darkness, you have only done what was our duty.’ can’t help wanderers find the way.

Unless you’ve looked into the eyes of menacing death and felt its hot breath, you can’t help another rise from the dead and taste anew the joy of being alive.’

AN APOSTLE OF PEACE For the few years he had left, Paul was an apostle of peace and reconciliation. His first book, The Bells of Nagasaki: A Message of Hope From a Witness, was published in 1949, JAPAN: After the bomb, after the allied censors suppressed it for three Mary stands by the years. Though bedridden, he continued to Cross in Nagasaki write and to receive visitors. They included Cathedral.

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 19 A Young Boy Bears Witness To The Truth6 MEG HUNTER-KILMER

arlo Acutis (1991-2006) had a PlaySta- Antonia was diving into her Faith, and all tion. He made awkward videos with because of Carlo. ‘He was like a little saviour Chis friends. His favourite cartoon was for me,’ she said ‘Pokémon.’ And he will be Beatified in Assisi sometime before the end of 2021. Acutis’ FOSTERING A LOVE OF THE FAITH intercession reportedly helped to heal a Carlo’s longing for the Eucharist drove him Brazilian child suffering from a rare condition to ask permission to receive earlier than of the pancreas in 2013. was customary. At 7, Carlo received his first Communion and never missed Mass again. Carlo’s mother, Antonia, doesn’t know how he Not just Sunday Mass, either. Every day of his came to love Jesus. He’d been Baptised as a life, Carlo went to Mass. Every day, he took baby, but the family didn’t practice the Faith. a few minutes to pray in silence before the Perhaps it was their Polish nanny who told Tabernacle. And while his parents sometimes Carlo about Jesus. Regardless of the source, went with him, Carlo often went alone. When Carlo had a deep love for Jesus even as a pre- they travelled, Carlo’s first order of business schooler, asking his bemused mother if they was to find a Church and figure out Mass could stop in to see Jesus when they walked times. Whether or not his parents joined him, past Churches in their Milan neighbourhood Carlo would be there. Every day. — and even insisting on taking flowers to place at the feet of the Blessed Mother. And they travelled quite a bit. Carlo’s deep love of Mary led the family to Marian Antonia wasn’t sure what to do with this piety apparition sites all over Europe. But their in her young son, and she wasn’t prepared to pilgrimages became more intentional when answer his many questions. But as he asked, Carlo was 11 and got an idea. she began to wonder as well. His curiosity eventually prompted her to take Theology After receiving his First Communion, Carlo classes; beyond just being back at Mass, had begun to lament the many, many people

6 Adapted and edited from an original article by Meg Hunter-Kilmer. The original article can be accessed at: https://www.osvnews.com/2020/02/24/with-a-miracle-approved-beatification-awaits-computer-programer-carlo-acutis/

20 NO MERE CHRISTIANS who don’t go to Mass. ‘They’ll stand in line When he was only 8 or 9, he had gotten a hold for hours to go to a concert’, he would say, of a university-level computer science text- ‘but won’t stay even a moment before the book, using it to teach himself to code. From Tabernacle.’ there, he moved into animation and video editing, making videos with his friends and Eager to do something to draw souls to Jesus, dubbing voice-overs on videos of his dogs. young Carlo began to research Eucharistic Miracles. He was convinced that people Carlo had the tech savvy, the information wouldn’t be able to stay away from the and the drive and he developed a website Holy Mass if they knew about the Miracles documenting nearly 150 Eucharistic of Lanciano and Poznan and the dozens of Miracles as well as an exhibit which has since others recognized by the Church. So Carlo travelled the world. began to research, dragging his parents from one shrine to another in order to take pictures CARING FOR THOSE AROUND HIM for the website he was building. But Carlo was no computer geek closeted in a back bedroom. For all his technological skill, This was only 2002, but Carlo was something Carlo was a friendly, outgoing kid. He was so of a prodigy when it came to technology. friendly that his family was reluctant to go

Dying You destroyed our death, rising You restored our life. Lord Jesus, come in Glory.

Carlo Acutis.

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 21 on walks with him; Carlo knew everybody, it with Carlo, while many others returned to seemed, and couldn’t help but stop to talk the Faith. to every person he passed. He had a sensi- tive heart and was always looking out for Carlo was particularly close to the homeless those who were suffering: classmates whose people in his neighbourhood, packing up parents were going through a divorce, kids food most days to take out to his friends on who were being bullied. the street. Though his family was wealthy, Carlo had no patience for excess. He saved Carlo’s approach was always friendship. up his pocket money to buy a sleeping bag And through that friendship, people for a homeless friend, and when his mother were always drawn to Jesus. As pure and suggested they buy Carlo such ‘luxuries’ as as pious as he was, nobody felt judged by another pair of shoes, he revolted. the young Saint. His uncle says that being with Carlo filled your heart. And that joy left Technology, though, wasn’t a luxury. It was people seeking and wondering, as Carlo’s an important part of his apostolate, and mother had years before. A young Hindu Carlo had no qualms about using three man who worked for Carlo’s family was computers when building his website. Baptised as a direct result of his friendship

‘When we eat this Bread and Drink this Cup we proclaim Your Death, Lord Jesus, until You come in Glory.’

22 NO MERE CHRISTIANS Through all this, every day: Mass, the ‘I can die happy,’ he told his mother, Rosary, silent time before the Tabernacle. ‘because I haven’t wasted even a minute on Carlo insisted that Holiness was impossible things that aren’t pleasing to God.’ Within otherwise. ‘The Eucharist is my highway to three days, Carlo Acutis was dead. Heaven,’ he would say, and nothing could get between him and his daily appointment with THE FIRST RULE FOR BECOMING HOLY the Lord. ‘The more we receive the Eucha- He was a remarkable young man, but he was rist, the more we will become like Jesus,’ an ordinary man. He had no visions. He didn’t Carlo said. levitate when he prayed. He just lived like Heaven was real. He was completely himself, ‘I CAN DIE HAPPY’ video games and computer programming How did he have the time? In between and all, but entirely Christ’s. teaching himself to code, playing soccer, riding his bike around Milan to visit the poor, On his website, Carlo wrote a list of instruc- teaching himself the saxophone, patiently tions for becoming Holy, encouraging people explaining technology to his older relatives to go to Mass daily and Confession weekly. and making one movie after another? But his First Rule for Becoming Holy was: ‘You must want it with all your heart.’ According to his mother, Carlo didn’t waste time on useless things. He limited himself to an hour a week of video games (because, he said, he didn’t want to become a slave to them) and focused the rest of his time on things that were valuable. But that didn’t exclude silly animations or videos of his dogs — Carlo knew that something doesn’t need to be catechetical to be valuable, and he enjoyed leisure all the more because its greatest value was in being fun.

Carlo hungered for Heaven. ‘We have always been awaited in Heaven,’ he said, and throughout his life his eyes were fixed on eter- nity. So when, at 15, he went to the hospital with the flu and was diagnosed instead with Carlo Acutis’ mortal an acute and untreatable leukaemia, Carlo remains interred in the Shrine of Spogliazione wasn’t upset. He was ready to go Home. in Assisi.

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 23 A Mother Bears Witness to the Holiness of Her Son7 BREE A. DAIL

he National Catholic Register inter- revealed that Carlo had received certain viewed Antonia Acutis by phone on mystical experiences that drew him to the Tthe 22 February 2020, the day after the Holy Eucharist, even at a very young age. Vatican announced that her son Carlo was to Acutis said her son, although extraordinarily be Beatified. obedient and mature for his age, was a young man who struggled with defects, like Acutis shared with the Register details anyone else. of Carlo’s personality and the graces she believed let him live his young life ‘filled with Sharing with the Register a few of her last God.’ Explaining his draw toward docu- memories with her son, Acutis emphasised menting Eucharistic Miracles, his mother that, without her Faith, which she believed was inspired and increased by the life of her son, she would not have been able to fully accept his death.

She also related how his intercession allowed her to have more children. She met her husband while in England studying. They married at 24, and she had Carlo within that first year. At 44 years old, she believes Carlo interceded for her, and she became pregnant with fraternal twins, Francesca and Michele. They are also very religious. They pray the Rosary each day and go to daily Mass. Antonia believes they will have a mission to continue Carlo’s work in Antonia Acutis. some way.

7 Adapted and edited from an article by Bree A. Dail. The original can be accessed at: https://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/mother-of-soon-to-be-blessed-carlo-acutis-jesus-was-his-first-priority

24 NO MERE CHRISTIANS The Vatican announced February 21 Did you raise Carlo to say the daily Q that Carlo will be beatified. You are a Q Rosary, be interested in his Faith — or mother of a boy recognised by the Church as did this come about on his own? worthy of veneration. Tell me about this? Carlo was given special graces. I wasn’t Well, most probably the mama is A particularly devout, but Carlo — from A not so much like the son, but we are the time he was a young child — always instruments of God — and sometimes he wanted to go into the Churches. He always uses even the strangest instruments. I wanted to go inside and visit Jesus, to say don’t consider myself as good as Carlo was; ‘hello’ to Jesus. He was very good, very but of course, I tried my best to raise my son. polite, so generous a young boy. I rarely had I gave him the freedom to live his faith and to say to Carlo, ‘Don’t do this or that.’ He was some good moral rules — but my husband very obedient. He was very special. and I didn’t really need to give him much. Carlo was so young when he died — Carlo was always a very good boy, even Q 15 years old. What first drew Carlo to when he was very young. We are very happy want to deepen his Faith? Did he receive with the news of the Beatification, but to be special Graces from God? honest, we expected this. Some years ago, I had a dream of Carlo, who told me: ‘I will Yes, I believe he did receive special be Beatified soon, and shortly after, A Graces. He didn’t speak much about Canonised.’ this, but he did tell me that when he was in front of the Holy Eucharist, he felt his Soul When he was dying, the last week of his life, ‘elevated’, in a way. He said the sensation he I had a dream of St. Francis of Assisi — who had, very often, was like being in front of a is our family’s patron Saint — he said to me, Source that took his Soul into great heights. ‘Your son, Carlo, will die very soon — but he He said that it was like being transported. will be considered very high in the Church.’ Christ in the Eucharist captured him. I then saw Carlo in a very big Church, high up, close to the ceiling, and I didn’t Yes, I believe Carlo did have visions of Jesus understand then. Of course, now I do. His and Mary, but he didn’t give much impor- death, his illness, his very short life — all was tance to these. He was very grounded. There by the design of God. God had chosen Carlo was a time, however, that he told us he had a as an example for the young people of vision of my father — his grandfather, who he this period in history. had been very close to, but had died. He said his grandfather came to him and asked him to pray for him because he was in Purgatory.

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 25 So, from there, Carlo began Praying for the indulging. He, then, imposed on himself more Souls in Purgatory — always, always, always temperance — to eat and enjoy food, but in he Prayed for these Souls and sought indul- the proper times and proper way. He strug- gences for them. He would always say we gled, but he achieved it. must Pray for the poor Souls in Purgatory, that we shouldn’t forget them, and that they Another thing, he had the habit of talking a will help us very much. lot. He would do it, and he did it well — even when he was in school, he found this difficult. Many stories about the lives of the His teachers would correct him, and he found Q Saints are often hard to relate to. Tell this was a difficult thing to overcome. me about Carlo — what were some of his ‘imperfections’ that young men and women He was also a bit of a class clown, very funny. may be able to relate to? He would write little cartoons, 3-D cartoons on the computer, to amuse his friends, but he also You don’t have to look to Carlo as had to temper that, so to do it at the proper A someone who was perfect. He was a very time. He was a normal boy in many ways. grounded boy. He was a son of his time. He played with his PlayStation, etc. He also under- So he was not perfect, but he had a stood, however, that these things — such as very strong will — and with this will, he the computer or PlayStation — could claim improved himself in many ways. He would a sort of ‘tyranny’ over the Soul. You could say, ‘What does it matter if you can win a become addicted, a slave of these things. So thousand battles if you cannot win against much time could be wasted, and Carlo always your own corrupt passions? It doesn’t matter. had a sense that he couldn’t waste time. So he The real battle is with ourselves.’ imposed on himself that he could only play on his PlayStation an hour per week, maximum. The Catholic Church has always used This gives you a little insight into Carlo. Q technological advances to spread the Gospel. How did Carlo become interested in He was one who would write in his journal technology — and if he were alive, today, do about how to improve himself: ‘How am I with you think he’d be using social media? my parents? How well do I obey my teachers and get along with my classmates?’ He was a Oh, no. I don’t actually believe he little of a perfectionist, but not obsessive. A would have been too much on He always tried to improve. Facebook or Twitter. Carlo was very aware of the need to use time well, and even back So a few imperfections he had. He loved to then — they had instant messaging — he eat, and at one point, he found he was over- thought this was a very bad use of time.

26 NO MERE CHRISTIANS He would say that instant messenger was For Carlo, he also knew when to Evangelise. annoying! He was a programmer. He was asked to help in Catechism [class], and he did — but he never forced this on I think he would have used the internet to others. Many people knew Carlo, and many create websites, but he always saw learning were of other beliefs. That exhibition that he how to do this as a tool for Evangelisation. made — that still goes all over the world, the He also would say that people, with this exhibition on the Most Holy Eucharist — this technology, were losing their freedom. was his gift. He used the gifts he had to Evan- gelise this period of the time. Even then he saw that the internet was When we would go on trips to photograph leading people toward a false sense of the different Eucharistic Miracles — you see, self. Now, we hear of young people commit- for him to create the website, and later, the ting suicide. He saw the internet as a way exhibitions, he knew people (especially young to reach people, but he also would say how terrible that the internet would be people) would want to see them. We would go used by the Devil, especially, even then, on these trips, and the first thing he would do with pornography. when we arrived, was to go find a church that was open, so he could say ‘hello’ to Jesus.

What were some of Carlo’s extraordinary Jesus was his first priority. Carlo also liked to virtues? Q make things around him more beautiful. When he was young, when we would go to Carlo was aware, deeply aware, of the sea, he’d bring his mask with him and A others’ struggles. It was as if he could make it a game to ‘go hunting’ for litter on see what sins people carried with them, and he always tried to help people — his friends, with their struggles with purity and experimenting with drugs. He always tried to help them. There were many of his friends, people who knew him, that witnessed how he would help them.

He was a leader when he spoke, because when he spoke, he was filled with God. He would always say he tried to live in the presence of God. He had a special way of Antonia Acutis with approaching people, I think, because of this. her son Carlo.

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 27 the seabed. He would often take the dogs for What would you say to other parents walking in the park and pick up rubbish that Q who may be struggling with raising sons, was there. Just little things to make his corner or who are currently watching their children of the world better. suffer from cancer or disease, some advice?

Did Carlo have to struggle very hard for You know, to live close to someone like Q these virtues, or do you think many were A Carlo means to not remain neutral in your gifts of Grace from God? own Faith. For me, Carlo brought me closer to God. He would ask questions that I would Carlo knew very well the struggles not know the answer to, especially in my own A and worked hard on himself. He used lack of Catechism. So I turned to learning more to say, ‘Every minute that passes is a minute about my Faith, and this was because of Carlo. less for us to qualify ourselves for God.’ He Many other people would witness to this, as didn’t want to waste time and always tried well: people who converted because of his to bring people toward what was essential — example, or his conversations. He really lived the Essential, who is God. what he preached, a witness. Many people will witness, he was really pure This is how he approached his suffering, too. of heart. He had a way of composing himself, Carlo would say, ‘Death is the start of new a way to act and speak that was inspired. life.’ God allows, unfortunately, the Cross and He never disturbed his classmates — many suffering because of original sin. He believed people today, who are within the Church, that the Sacraments are the Mercy of God, they have a way of really disturbing others; to enable our ability to carry our sufferings. overbearing, often not knowing when it is a good moment to Evangelise, or how to speak. Before he died, he said to me, ‘Mama, I would With Carlo, he was really balanced — he was like to leave this hospital, but I know I will not so close to God. He understood how to do so alive. I will give you signs, though, that attract people. That was a Gift of God. I am with God.’ Carlo was aware that his life was lived fully. He said, ‘I die happy, because I did not spend my life wasting my time on things not pleasing to God.’

He was always trying to smile, trying to not complain. When his doctor would ask him if he was suffering, he would say, ‘I know there are others who are suffering more.’ Toward the end of his life, he was unable to move himself, he was so weak. He would worry for

28 NO MERE CHRISTIANS the nurses who would have to lift him, that he way we become Holy. was too heavy for them. Our lives have many opportunities to accept It is interesting, he recorded a video — the [sufferings]; we don’t have to look for them. Vatican has this, now — but in it, two months If I only looked at the death of my son in an before his death, he said, ‘When I weigh 70 earthly way, I would have been unable to be kilos [154 pounds], this is when I will die.’ consoled. Carlo taught me how to look at it through the eyes of Faith. I remember that, also, when he was young, he would say that he knew how he would die — He died without ever having to experience that he would die when a ‘vein would break in such major temptations in life, or face obsta- his brain’; and, in fact, the cause of his death cles alone. He was loved, and he loved really was a haemorrhaging within the brain, an genuinely. It was the way he accepted the Will effect of the leukaemia. of God — with a smile, never complaining. He would say, ‘Not me, but God!’ He used to say, when he was young, that he would ‘be always young,’ and when people He was really centred on God, and I think would ask him what he desired to be when he this was his secret: not looking internally, grew up, and he would say, ‘Who knows?’ becoming sad at his own state, but looking at God. The measure of our acceptance is the For me, as a mother watching her son die, reflection of our sanctification. The way Carlo I recall what Carlo would say: ‘Golgotha is died, it was the death of a Saint. for everyone. No one escapes the Cross.’ He convinced me of this — if I am a good Catholic, how can I be afraid of this? PLEASE JOIN US IN SUPPORTING THE I had friends of mine, when Carlo died, who CATHOLIC CHURCH were very angry at Jesus. They would say, ‘I have a grandfather who is 90 years old. Why THROUGH YOUR PRAYERS, would Jesus take Carlo before him?’ Carlo was FASTING AND ALMSGIVING ready, though. To have a long life doesn’t Aid to the Church in Need, mean that this is a good thing — one can 151 St. Mobhi Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9. live a very long time and live badly. (01) 837 7516 Of course, in the cases of suicide, or where [email protected] people are reckless with their lives with www.acnireland.org drugs or alcohol, these are tragedies. God, IBAN IE32 BOFI 9005 7890 6993 28 however, writes straight with our crooked BIC BOFI IE2D lines. He will make good from our suffer- Registered Charity No: CHY 9492. CRA No: 20023768 ings, but we must accept them. This is the

BEARING WITNESS TO THE TRUTH 29 ‘One could ask: ‘What does the Church need today?’ Martyrs, Witnesses, namely Everyday Saints. The Church is led forward by Saints.’

Homily on 22 April 2017.

SRI LANKA: After the terrorist attacks on Easter Sunday 2019, the statue of the Risen Christ, is spattered with martyrs’ blood. We are all called...... to bear Witness to the Truth...... to be Everyday Saints.

St. Joseph’s, TEL 01 837 7516 Registered Charity No: 151 St. Mobhi Road, EMAIL [email protected] CHY 9492. Glasnevin, Dublin 9. WEB www.acnireland.org CRA No: 20023768

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