The confessional is not a “laundromat” that removes sins. It is not “a torture session” where beatings are inflicted. Confession is indeed a meeting with Jesus when we can feel his tenderness. We must approach the sacrament without tricks or half-truths, but with mildness and cheerfulness, trusting and armed with “blessed shame”, the “virtue of humility” which allows us to recognize ourselves as sinners. Pope Francis dedicated his homily at Mass in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae on Monday morning, 29 April, to reconciliation.

Among those con-celebrating was Cardinal Domenico Calcagno, President of the Administration of the Patrimony of the Apostolic See (APSA), with the Secretary, Mons. Luigi Mistò; Archbishop Francesco Gioia, President of Peregrinatio ad Petri Sedem; Archbishop Anthony Obinna of Owerri, Nigeria; and the Procurator General of the Verbites, Fr Gianfranco Girardi. Bishop Eduardo Horacio García, Auxiliary and Pro-Vicar of Buenos Aires, also con-celebrated. Among those present were the Sister Disciples of the Divine Master who work in the Vatican and a group of employees of APSA.

Melissa Ohden, a survivor of an attempted abortion, spoke at the May 1 protest, saying she was thankful that the doctors at the abortion facility where she was born “didn’t subscribe to Dr. (Cesare) Santangelo’s credo that children like me should be left to die.”

“They didn’t see me as a liability, they didn’t hate me for surviving, they saw my humanity,” Ohden said.

Lila Rose, president of the undercover reporting organization Live Action, called Santangelo’s comments “a great injustice.”

“This is something that we can all agree needs to stop, and we’re not going to stop doing this work until we see an end to these grave injustices,” she said.

Live Action is releasing a series of undercover videos filmed in abortion clinics across the country. The videos reveal a willingness to commit infanticide in the event that a baby survives an abortion procedure.

Video footage and transcripts released by the organization on April 29 show Santangelo – a doctor who runs an abortion practice at George Washington University – and a clinic nurse promising that if an infant were to survive a late-term abortion, they would treat the child as if he or she had “do not resuscitate orders” and, as if they were treating someone with terminal cancer, “wouldn’t do any extra procedures to help that person survive.”

This latest investigation coincides with the trial of Philadelphia abortionist Kermit Gosnell, who is currently charged with the murder of one woman under his supervision and several additional charges of murder for infants who were allegedly born alive and then killed by Gosnell or his staff members.

Rose warned that “Gosnell is not an outlier,” but that Live Action has documented a similar willingness to kill or fail to care for infants who survive abortions in clinics throughout the country.

“We can do so much better as a country, and we can do better for women than this,” Rose stated.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, also spoke at the protest, calling Santangelo’s comments “an unacceptable and inhumane tragedy.”

“If this is not rank discrimination and unspeakable cruelty, what is?” she asked.

Dannenfelser and several other speakers asked the building to evict Santangelo, and called on authorities to prosecute abortionists who break the law.

Dyllan Harrington, a protest participant, told CNA that he was moved by the testimonies of the speakers, who each “had a story of a personal experience to tell.”

He explained that he was driven to attend the protest by Santangelo’s comments, because “when infanticide is acceptable it’s just proof that abortion is murder – it’s something that’s inhuman and cruel.”

Other participants explained that the Catholic chaplaincy at George Washington University has gathered with students every week for years to pray the rosary outside of the clinic.

Lisa Campbell, a student at the university, said that many students “don’t know there’s an abortion clinic on campus.” The public protest helped draw attention the clinic’s presence, she observed, noting that “it was nice to see the students stop as they walked by and take note of what’s going on.”

Some counter-protesters also appeared at the event. Freshman Alicia Little told CNA that while she had not heard of Santangelo or Gosnell, she knew “that there have been protests here before” and thought that it was important for “both sides to be represented” at the event.

“I just personally think that it should be a person’s choice to have an abortion or to have a baby at all,” said Little, adding that she believes that “it should be available whenever” and that “any reason is a valid reason” to abort.

Fr. Greg Shaffer, Catholic chaplain at George Washington University, told CNA that while he has become accustomed to seeing evil over the past 20 years of involvement in the pro-life movement, “this goes to another level.”

“To defend infanticide – you can’t do it,” said Fr. Shaffer, adding that he was “very happy” at the prospect of the abortionist’s possible removal from campus.

“It’s really an answer to our prayers and we know that something is happening here,” he said.

Abortionist Laura Mercer tells a Live Action reporter, posing as a woman seeking an abortion, that she should not go to a hospital if she goes into labor, because “they would intervene and do all kinds of crazy things that you don’t need to have done to you” in an effort to save the life of the baby. Mercer is show on the video assuring the woman that the child will not survive a late-term abortion in her clinic.

Phoenix, AZ Late-Term Abortion Center Exposed (Live Action)

That was clearly the case with architect Antoni Gaudi and his designs for a towering church — now a basilica — called Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, Spain.

It has been described by journalists (including 60 Minutes) as one of the most extraordinary architectural feats in history.

Gaudi, who died in 1926, was a genius who sought, with the huge, astonishing structure, to glorify God.

So sophisticated were the designs that only now, with the most modern technology, can they seek to complete this basilica that has been been under construction for 128 years.

They called him “God’s architect.” His designs were as advanced as they were complicated. He saw space in a wholly different way, one that caused space to explode. It is said that there is the sensation, as one heads toward the altar and peers upward at branched, stone columns, of a forest — which is where he believed men were closest to the Lord.

It was Gaudi’s way of atoning to God for the sins of modern mankind, said a biographer.

Pope Benedict traveled to Spain to consecrate it as a basilica in 2010; it was the first Mass ever celebrated there, alive with an 800-member choir.

One Buddhist builder converted by simply working there — and will be working there the rest of his life, as the exterior is still not completed. 

Gaudi’s design models were so complex that his models had to be reverse-engineered; the most advanced aeronautical software programming has been deployed to figure out how to implement his astounding details. In other words, the most sophisticated programming currently available is needed to interpret the architectural “language” Gaudi conceived back in the 1800s.

He was a man who was often mistaken for a homeless beggar — rumpled, bearded, and using string to keep up his pants, his only concern glorifying the Lord.

Every inch of the church has meaning, reflecting on Scripture as well as the Liturgy. His geometries fit to a fraction of an inch. It is both modern and ancient.

Today massive cranes lift beams into precise place. It will soon be the tallest church on earth — but three feet shorter than the nearest mountains, in deference to God.

It was started on the feast of Saint Joseph and initially inspired by a bookseller who had returned from visiting the miraculous church of Loreto in Italy.

The basilica has eighteen spires, representing the twelve apostles, the four evangelists, the Blessed Mother, and (tallest) Jesus.

It will be at least thirteen more years in the making.

Asked about the extremely long construction period, Gaudi once replied, “My client is not in a hurry.”

[resources: A Life of Blessings]

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Administering the sacrament of confirmation to 44 people, including two teenagers from the United States and two from Ireland, Pope Francis encouraged them to “swim against the tide; it’s good for the heart.”

In a partially improvised homily at Mass April 28 in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis encouraged young people to hang on to their ideals and pursue them. “We Christians weren’t chosen by the Lord to do little things,” he said.

After making the sign of the cross with chrism oil on the foreheads of those being confirmed, Pope Francis rubbed the oil all over their foreheads, sealing them with the Holy Spirit. After wishing them peace, he gave each a quick kiss on the cheek.

The two U.S. teens confirmed were Brigid Miniter, 14, and Anthony Merejo, 17, from Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish in Ridgewood, N.J. The two young people from Ireland were Edmond Roche, 13, and Emily Mulcahy, 12, from the Diocese of Cloyne.

Msgr. Ronald J. Rozniak, pastor of the Ridgewood parish, said he didn’t know how his community was chosen by the archdiocese and he did not ask. “You don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” he told Catholic News Service.

An estimated 70,000 young people who have been confirmed or will be confirmed this year also were present for the Mass in St. Peter’s Square, one of the major events scheduled months ago for the Year of Faith. The Vatican said more than 100,000 people gathered in and outside the square, and in neighboring streets for the Mass and the recitation of the “Regina Coeli” prayer afterward.

The 44 people receiving confirmation came from 22 countries and ranged in age from 11 — two Italians and a Romanian — to 55-year-old Maria Silva Libania from Cape Verde. The usual age for receiving confirmation is set by local bishops, not the Vatican. Malia Petulisa Malani, 18, traveled the greatest distance for the Mass; she is from Tonga in the South Pacific.

Malani and several other confirmation candidates wore their native dress, while most wore crisp suits and new dresses. Their peers watching from the square, however, mostly wore T-shirts and jeans on the warm, sunny spring day.

The Pontifical Council for Promoting New Evangelization, which is organizing the major Year of Faith events, asked the candidates’ 22 bishops to choose representatives. The U.S. teens are from the Archdiocese of Newark.

Archbishop Rino Fisichella, council president, said the candidates were chosen to reflect “the face of the church present where people live and suffer in order to give everyone hope and the certainty of a future.”

After the Mass, each of those confirmed received a silver-framed photograph of the pope, personally signed by Pope Francis.

In his homily, Pope Francis said the Holy Spirit brings “the new things of God. He comes to us and makes all things new; he changes us.”

If Christians allow it and are open to it, he said, the Holy Spirit starts making things new now, in this life, in preparation for “the ultimate newness which awaits us and all reality: the happy day when we will see the Lord’s face — his beautiful face — and be with him forever in his love.”

Pope Francis told the young people that the new things the Holy Spirit brings are not like the new trends and fads of modern life; the newness of the Holy Spirit lasts forever. “The Holy Spirit is truly transforming us and through us, he also wants to transform the world in which we live.”

“How beautiful it would be,” he said, if each person allowed himself or herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit. Each night he or she would be able to review the day and say, “Today at school, at home, at work, guided by God, I showed a sign of love toward one of my friends, my parents, an older person.”

Pope Francis said he wanted to be realistic; “the journey of the church and our own personal journeys as Christians are not always easy; they meet with difficulties and trials.”

But the Holy Spirit gives believers the strength and courage to overcome trials, Pope Francis said. “Let us trust in God’s work. With him we can do great things; he will give us the joy of being his disciples, his witnesses.”

“Let’s not get discouraged,” he said. “We have the strength of the Holy Spirit to conquer these tribulations.”

“Remain steadfast in the journey of faith,” the pope said. “Listen carefully, young people, swim against the tide; it’s good for the heart, but it takes courage.”

The Holy Spirit is the source of the necessary courage, he said. “There are no difficulties, none, no trials or misunderstandings to fear if we remain united to God.”

At the end of the Mass, the pope entrusted the newly confirmed to the care of Mary, saying she “teaches us what it means to live in the Holy Spirit and what it means to welcome the newness of God into our lives.”

Pope Francis told the young people that Mary “will help you be attentive to what the Lord is asking of you and to live and walk always according to the Holy Spirit.”

Before reciting the “Regina Coeli” prayer, Pope Francis also prayed for the more than 350 people in Bangladesh who were killed April 24 when an eight-story building housing garment factories collapsed. The search for survivors continued April 28.

After offering his condolences to the families of the victims and to the injured, Pope Francis said he wants to make “a strong appeal that the dignity and safety of workers would always be protected.”

CAPITALS, (SANA)- Archbishop of the Sebastian Roman Orthodox Church, Attallah Hanna, called for exerting all efforts as soon as possible to release Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo and Iskenderun, Bishop Paul Yazigi, and the Syriac Orthodox Metropolitan of Aleppo, Bishop John Ibrahim who were abducted by the armed terrorist groups in Aleppo.

Hanna hailed the two bishops’ humanitarian stances and their pioneer role in rapprochement and dialogue among religions as they work for consolidating the Christian and Islamic national unity.

He called for holding prayers at all churches in occupied Jerusalem fir the release of the two Bishops.

On Tuesday, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Patriarch Cardinal Mar Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, denounced as a crime the abduction of the two Bishops in Aleppo and all forms of violence, killing, kidnapping and terrorism in Syria.

He held a prayer at the Greek Orthodox Church in Buenos Aires for the release of the kidnapped Bishops.

Cardinal al-Rahi made a phone call with Patriarch John X Yazigi expressing his solidarity and denunciation of the kidnapping of the two Bishops.

In the same context, Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia called upon Russian President Vladimir Putin to interfere for releasing the Greek Orthodox Bishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox Bishop Yohanna Ibrahim who were kidnapped by the armed terrorist groups in Da’el village in Aleppo countryside last Monday.

In a letter directed to President Putin posted on his electronic website, Patriarch Kirill called upon the Russian President to take measures within the Russian state’s powers to accelerate the release of the two Syrian bishops.

Syrian Network for Monitoring Human Rights: Kidnapping Bishops Yazigi and Ibrahim Heinous Crime

The Syrian Network for Monitoring Human Rights condemned in the strongest terms the abduction of Bishops Yazigi and Ibrahim by the armed terrorist groups.

In a statement issued Wednesday, the network considered the abduction of the bishops and the killing of their driver as “a heinous crime and a flagrant violation of the heavenly messages.”

The Network added that the armed terrorist groups which are killing citizens and sabotaging the homeland reflect the real intentions of “the Opposition of Istanbul and Qatar”  and those who support them.

Patriarch Laham: Abduction of Bishops Yazigi and Ibrahim is Aggression against all Syrians

Patriarch Gregory III Laham, Patriarch of Antioch and Alexandria and Jerusalem for Roman Melkite Catholics denounced the abduction of bishops Yazigi and Ibrahim, stressing that this criminal act is an aggression against all Syrians.

Patriarch Laham held on Wednesday two phone calls with,Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch and All the East and Syriac Orthodox John X Yazigi, and Patriarch of Antioch and All the East for the Church and Supreme Head of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church Ignatius Zakka I Iwas and expressed his condemnation and denunciation of this crime.

In the same context, the Higher Council of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church condemned the abduction of the bishops and killing their driver in Aleppo.

In a statement issued today, the Council called on the international community to move to release the bishops, asserting the necessity of respecting the message of religious scholars.

English Bulletin

http://sana.sy/eng/22/2013/04/24/478969.htm

Washington D.C., Apr 24, 2013 / 05:19 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The recent kidnapping of two Orthodox bishops in Syria has a former diplomat urging the U.S. government to make religious liberty a greater priority in its foreign policy.

“U.S. foreign policy with respect to religious freedom consists almost entirely, when it consists of anything, of rhetorical condemnations of acts such as this,” said Dr. Thomas Farr, director of Georgetown University’s Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs.

However, it is not always clear that these condemnations “have any effect whatsoever,” Farr told CNA April 24.

Archbishop John Ibrahim of the Syriac Orthodox Church and Archbishop Paul Yagizi of the Greek Orthodox Church were kidnapped April 22 near Aleppo, Syria by armed men who appear to have killed their driver.

It remains unclear who carried out the kidnapping. The Syrian government and rebel groups have both traded accusations over who is to blame.

On April 23, both Al Jazeera and l’Oeuvre d’Orient, a French agency serving Christians in the Orient, reported that the bishops had been returned. But a joint statement of the Greek and Syriac Orthodox patriarchs contradicted this.

Al Jazeera has not reported on the matter since, but l’Oeuvre d’Orient said April 24 that “the situation is extremely complex and information is difficult to obtain. The Greek Orthodox patriarch of Damascus confirmed by telephone this morning that there was no release.”

“L’Oeuvre d’Orient calls again on the Syrian opposition forces, the Syrian government and international authorities to make every effort to obtain the release of these two bishops, and two priests, who are foreign to the conflict which tears Syria.”

On April 24, Archbishop Antonio Chedraui of the Orthodox Church of Antioch in Mexico, Central America, Venezuela and the Caribbean, confirmed to CNA that the two Syrian bishops “remain kidnapped. The reports published yesterday are not correct.”

At its press briefing yesterday, April 23, the State Department believed the bishops to have been released and indicated relief. The topic of the kidnapped bishops was not raised in the April 24 briefing.

“In the past we’ve seen the American government hesitate to speak too assertively about the persecution of Christians, lest they be seen as a vanguard of a kind of Christian imperialism,” said Farr, who directed the State Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom from 1999-2003.

“Hopefully that will not be the case here and we’ll see a vigorous condemnation, whether they’ve been released or not.”

He said the kind of “rhetorical condemnation” of religious persecution typically issued by the U.S. government is “pretty easy to issue.”

The Syrian civil war entered its second year a month ago, and the country’s Christian minority has been caught in its midst.

Many Syrian Christians live in Damascus, Aleppo and Homs, all of which are cities strongly contested by the government and the rebels. Many have fled to nearby Lebanon.

Only about a week before his kidnapping, Archbishop Ibrahim had told BBC Arabic that Syrian Christians are in the same situation as their Muslim neighbors.

“There is no persecution of Christians and there is no single plan to kill Christians. Everyone respects Christians. Bullets are random and not targeting the Christians because they are Christians,” he said.

United Nations estimates indicate that about 70,000 people have been killed in the conflict. More than 1 million refugees have flooded into Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon, Egypt, and Iraq, while another estimated 2.5 million are internally displaced inside Syria.

The Greek and Syriac Orthodox Patriarchs of Antioch stated together April 23 that “the Christians living here are an essential part of their lands. They suffer the pain every person suffers, and work as messengers of peace to lift the injustice off every oppressed person.”

“We call the kidnappers to respect the life of the two kidnapped brothers as well as everyone to put an end to all the acts that create confessional and sectarian schisms among the sons of the one country.”

“We can but call the whole world to try putting an end to the Syrian crisis so that Syria becomes again a garden of love, security and coexistence. Settling accounts should not happen at the expense of the human beings who live here,” they pleaded.

Farr stated that “what the State department should be doing – not yet in Syria, because it’s still a war zone – but in all the countries where such a thing happens with some regularity … we should be working not simply to react after they happen, but to engage with these governments and societies to develop structures of religious freedom.”

In addition to citing Muslim-majority countries, Farr mentioned China, India and other non-Muslim nations which need to be actively encouraged in religious freedom by the U.S. These countries should be urged to develop religious liberty as an important component for a peaceful, flourishing society, he said.

“I think U.S. foreign policy, when it comes to issues like religious persecution…is primarily reactive, and that’s not enough. We need to be working to convince societies that they have to prevent this from happening in the first place, because it harms their interests.”

As an example, he pointed to the April 7 attack of an Islamic mob on the Coptic Orthodox cathedral in Cairo, slaughtering Christians there.

“We shouldn’t just be reacting to that,” Farr emphasized. “We should be getting in front of the problem and convincing the Egyptians that it’s in their interest to develop religious freedom.”

Religious persecution, he concluded, “is going on all the time, so to condemn it is something we ought to do, but we should be getting in front of the problem.”

As a result, few know that in the consistory, Benedict XVI set the date for the canonization of three new saints. It will take place May 12, and will be led instead by Pope Francis.

The new saints are: Antonio Primaldo and 800 fellow martyrs of Otranto, Italy; Mother Laura, of Colombia, founder of the Congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary Immaculate and St. Catherine of Siena; and Maria Guadalupe Garcia Zavala, a Mexican nun known as Mother Lupita, co-founder of the Congregation of the Servants of Saint Margaret Mary and the Poor.

Antonio Primaldo and his 800 fellow martyrs were executed in the 15th Century for refusing to convert to Islam. Mother Laura will be Colombia’s first saint, who dedicated her life to working with indigenous people. Mother Lupita founded a congregation to serve the sick and the poor.

It will also be a historic event for Pope Francis and also for the universal Church.

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The two popes: Francis and Benedict XVI

The similarities between Bergoglio and Ratzinger outnumber the difference

Andrea Tornielli
Vatican City

The images of the two popes (the newly appointed and the Emeritus) hugging, praying together side by side, amiably chatting and exchanging presents are destined to make history. Never before has a pope resigned due to old age and remained to live near his successor, still wearing the papal attire. Never before has the Bishop of Rome had an Emeritus nearby to count on and to ask for advice.

The image of the two popes next to one another, dressed in the same garments (the short cape and belt worn by Bergoglio, and not by Ratzinger, are but inconsequential details perhaps not even worthy of mention) presents a brand new, unprecedented reality, which we can however accept as “normal” thanks to the sensitivity and humility of both protagonists.

In the last few days many commentators have highlighted the new elements that characterize the style of the new pope and the break from his predecessor. On one side, there are people who are worried because the new pope has gathered a lot of consensus among believers and non, as if the only true Catholic inclination ought to be the one that causes discontent, conflict, arguments and dislikes; people who emphasize that Francis is not a “pauperist”, that he draws lines both politically and doctrinally any time poor people are mentioned as if Jesus had never spoken about them. Some people point out that the new pope is against abortion (it would have certainly been news if he had been for it). On the other side there are those who underline the novelty of the new pope, not so much in order to describe Francis’ deeds or to focus on reality, but in order to draw a comparison with his predecessor.
A few hours after he was elected pope Francis was already at the centre of gossip. According to a rumour, right after the election, he had refused to wear the red velvet mozzetta with the (fake) ermine hem and had said to the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations Guido Marini: “ Wear that yourself, the charade is over”. That would have been an unkind remark to the master of ceremonies, a downright rude one in fact. The pope never said those words. Francis simply said to Marini as he offered the mozzetta “ I would rather not”. There was no mention of a charade, nor humiliation for the obedient master of ceremonies.

Gossip over continuity and break based on mozzettas, ermine furs and red shoes is threatening to overshadow the reality of true continuity between Benedict XVI and Francis. Theirs is a continuity that finds proof in several passages, in small deeds and stresses that were seen and heard during the first few days of this pontificate: the humility shown by both, their shared knowledge that the Church is ultimately led by God, their sense of non protagonism. After the election Benedict XVI said that “ everywhere the pope goes he shines the light of Christ, not his own”, Francis too, when talking to journalists, remarked that the protagonist is Christ not the pope.

Another element that the two popes have in common is their awareness of the need to safeguard the environment and all creation, of which mankind is the apex; in fact Benedict XVI had earned the nickname of “Green pope”; not to mention the  concern over career-ambition and the “ spiritual worldliness” within the Church. Only people who have forgotten Benedict XVI’s profound homilies on these matters during consistories and during the ceremonies to appoint bishops might think that there is no harmony between the two popes. Only people who do not know Ratzinger’s writings on liturgy might believe that his philosophy would centre around lace, ermine fur and evermore sophisticated parameters rather than the simple encounter with the mystery of Christ. Some time ago, during a TV show, Bergoglio said that mass is not “ a gathering of friends who come to pray and eat bread and wine… To what great extent a priest needs to prepare to celebrate the holy communion !”

The exceptional footage shot yesterday at Castel Gandolfo shows the pope Emeritus pointing out to his successor the papal kneeling stool and then trying to stand aside, but being prevented from doing so by Francis who took him by the hand to pray side by side because in his eyes they are “brothers”. Those who saw the footage perfectly understand the mutual consideration and harmony that exists between these two men. Those who heard Francis’ voice as he gave his predecessor the picture of Our Lady of Humility and said “ I thought of you because during your pontificate  you gave us many examples of tenderness and humility”  will not hesitate in recognizing humility as one of the common denominators between the two popes.