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How This Mother’s Love Helps Her Son Endure a Rare Genetic Disorder

Anthony Filipazzo’s words have power – they represent hope for a community of people.

Anthony,11, has Williams Syndrome, a rare genetic disorder and his mother Camille Fortunato has been fighting for him since the moment he was born. 

The way he lives today is a product of his mother’s love and sacrifice, not only for her son but generations to come. 

“When you have a child who’s sick, that’s always something that’s in my mind, I go to bed with it at night and wake up with it every morning,” Fortunato said. “There’s not a second of the day that I don’t think it could be today.”

Williams Syndrome affects Anthony’s entire body. 

Fortunato has dedicated herself to raising money for research that without her foundation, would never have been conducted. 

“Shifting my efforts into Williams Syndrome research was a dream fueled by the fear of losing my child, that was it,” Fortunato said. “I was scared, really, really scared.” 

Now she and her family are letting their faith carve out a path they’re hoping leads to a medical breakthrough.

Fortunato is a lifelong parishioner of St. Bernard’s Parish in Bergen Beach. She says her faith is what keeps her motivated but that wasn’t always the case.

“I’d say you could have done anything to me, why did you have to hurt him?” she said. “But part of how I’ve healed has been my way of coming to terms with maybe this is God’s plan. He knew we could take something that is really painful and personal and make good on it.” 

Catholic News Headlines for Wednesday 04/19/2023

 

A woman whose son is battling Williams Syndrome is leaning on her faith while raising money to research the disorder.

There seems to be tension between the White House and House Republicans on the debt ceiling.

The FBI is investigating a Lutheran church fire in Massachusetts to see if it was intentionally set.

Catholic News Headlines for Tuesday 04/18/2023

An 84-year-old Missouri man has been charged after cops say he shot a black 16-year-old after the teen rang his doorbell.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the GOP rolled out their plan to address the debt ceiling today.

A pro-life pregnancy center in Bowling Green, Ohio is the latest pro-life pregnancy center to be vandalized.

A Michigan couple is celebrating the birth of their baby girl –  the first on her father’s side in 130 years.

Pope Francis Condemns ‘Offensive, Unfounded’ Allegations Against JPII in ‘Vatican Girl’ Case

By Elise Ann Allen

ROME — Pope Francis on April 16 criticized what he said were groundless and offensive accusations against his predecessor, St. John Paul II, after the brother of a missing Italian teen aired an audiotape with the allegations on national television.

Speaking to the faithful gathered in St. Peter’s Square for his Sunday Regina Coeli address, the pope noted that the day marked the Catholic feast of Divine Mercy, instituted by St. John Paul II in 2000.

“Certain of interpreting the sentiments of the faithful from all over the world, I direct a grateful thought to the memory of St. John Paul II, who in recent days has been the object of offensive and unfounded allegations,” he said.

Pope Francis’ remarks marked the first time he has spoken out publicly about the allegations, which arose several days ago when Pietro Orlandi, the brother of missing Italian teen Emanuela Orlandi, gave Vatican prosecutors investigating his sister’s disappearance an audiotape containing the alleged testimony of an Italian mobster saying St. John Paul II used to go out at night with some Polish monsignors to harass underage girls.

Orlandi later had the tape aired on Italian television network La7, one of the country’s leading nightly news programs, sparking intense backlash not just from the pope but several top Vatican personalities.

The daughter of a Vatican employee, Emanuela, disappeared while returning from a music lesson in June 1983 at the age of 15.

Since her disappearance nearly 40 years ago, the case has become Italy’s most famous unsolved mystery and has been a source of countless conspiracy theories over the years, having been linked to the plot to kill St. John Paul II, to Vatican financial scandals, and to the Italian criminal underworld.

In the four decades since her disappearance, her brother Pietro Orlandi has been the main protagonist in pushing for the truth and ensuring that her case has not been forgotten.

Earlier this year, the Vatican’s Promoter of Justice, its prosecutor’s office, reopened the case into Emanuela’s disappearance. That decision coincided with a decision by the Italian Parliament to reopen a parliamentary commission of inquest into the case.

The decision also comes in the wake of the airing of a popular new Netflix series, “Vatican Girl,” which explores the Orlandi case and delves into the various conspiracies that have surrounded it since the beginning.

Orlandi was interrogated by Vatican prosecutors for eight hours on Tuesday as part of their inquiry into his sister’s disappearance, during which he handed over evidence and documentation pertinent to the case, including the audiotape with the mobster testimony alleging that St. John Paul II had molested teenage girls.

Soon after, he gave an interview to La7 during which that portion of the audiotape was played, prompting the Vatican’s Editorial Director, Andrea Tornielli, to release a statement blasting the decision, saying the allegations were baseless and grounded on mere “hearsay.”

“Evidence? None. Clues? Least of all. Witnesses at least second or third hand? Not even the shadow. Only anonymous defamatory accusations,” he said, calling it a “media massacre” and suggesting that a formal defamation complaint be made.

A full investigation into Emanuela’s disappearance is needed, he said, but insisted that “no one deserves to be defamed in this way, without even a trace of evidence, based on the rumors of some unknown character from the criminal underworld or some sleazy anonymous comment broadcast on TV.”

The allegations also drew criticism from St. John Paul II’s longtime secretary and the former Archbishop of Krakow, Polish Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, who called the insinuations “rash” and “ignorable,” saying that far from credible, the allegations are, in fact, “ranting accusations, false from beginning to end, unrealistic, laughable, border on comical if they weren’t tragic, indeed criminal themselves.”

Dziwisz criticized those who he said have sought to profit from Emanuela’s case and the media interest it has generated, voicing hope that the inquiries into her disappearance would be free from “the maelstrom of misdirection, mythomanias, and profiteering” that have dominated the search for the truth thus far.

He also suggested legal action be taken. In the wake of his and Tornielli’s statements, Orlandi’s lawyer, Laura Sgrò, who accompanied him to his deposition with Vatican prosecutors on Tuesday, issued a statement walking the allegations back, saying Orlandi “did not intend to make accusations against any person,” and that his only interest was the unconditional search for the truth.

In the wake of the media firestorm the allegations generated, the Vatican’s Promoter of Justice summoned Sgrò back on Saturday, asking that she provide information on the source of the audiotape and evidence of the person’s credibility.

Sgrò did not provide the information but rather invoked privilege, and in a statement afterward, accused the Vatican’s formal information platform, Vatican News, of publishing false information in an article stating that she refused to give Vatican prosecutors the names they had requested, arguing that she was bound by privilege.

In response, the head of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communications, Italian layman Paolo Ruffini, issued a statement Saturday evening saying he spoke with the Vatican’s Promoter of Justice, who confirmed that neither Sgrò nor Orlandi had provided the information requested about the audiotape.

Pope Francis’ defense of St. John Paul on Sunday marked his first public intervention in the matter and his most direct response to a Vatican-related media controversy to date.

New Discovery Finds Hidden Text Between the Lines of Biblical Passages

Reading between the lines of a couple of biblical passages, a researcher has rediscovered a hidden chapter within the text, according to a report from last month’s New Testament Studies.

The findings stem from the research of Grigory Kessel, a medievalist from the Austrian Academy of Sciences, who believes the hidden texts may date back 1,750 years.

The original text was believed to be curated during the 3rd century, but then later copied in the 6th century.

“The tradition of Syriac Christianity knows several translations of the Old and New Testaments,” Kessel said in a statement. “Until recently, only two manuscripts were known to contain the Old Syriac translation of the gospels.”

Kessel was able to rediscover the hidden text, which could be found in Matthew chapters 11 and 12, with ultraviolet photography. The hidden words were found under three layers of text in a manuscript.

While the Greek text in Matthew chapter 12 verse 1 reads: “At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat,” it’s newly discovered Syriac translation reads: “[…] began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands and eat them,” according to a note on Phys.org.

The text was likely erased from the parchment and written over with new texts because of its scarcity, according to the New York Post, who reported the discovery made by Kessel.

Kessel’s newest finding received praise from Claudia Rapp, the director of the Institute for Medieval Research at the Austrian Academy of Sciences.

“Grigory Kessel has made a great discovery thanks to his profound knowledge of old Syriac texts and script characteristics,” Rapp said in a statement. “This discovery proves how productive and important the interplay between modern digital technologies and basic research can be when dealing with medieval manuscripts.”

But Kessel’s discovery isn’t exactly new. Researchers have pointed out that scholars made the discovery as far back as 1953. It was again discovered in 2010, just 10 years before it was digitized in the Vatican Library, which included the use of both natural light and UV images.

In fact, Kessel’s recent discovery is referred to as the “fourth textual witness,” according to the Post.

A recent finding of similar hidden texts came from manuscripts in St. Catherine’s Library by the Sinai Palimpsests Project, which used imaging to recover the hidden texts.

Of the two manuscripts known to contain the Old Syriac translation of the gospels, one is kept in the British Library in London, while the other is kept in St. Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai, which is the world’s oldest continually operating monastery.

A 16-Year-Old Went to the Wrong Address to Pick Up His Siblings; The Homeowner Shot Him in the Head

A community is venting their anger after a teen was shot for knocking on the wrong door in Kansas City, Missouri.

The teen went to the wrong address at 115th Street instead of 115th Terrace, a one block difference, to pick up his younger siblings on Thursday, April 13th. He was greeted by a gunshot, according to police. 

The 16-year-old black victim, Ralph Yarl, is recovering, while the 84-year-old white suspect, Andrew D. Lester is facing serious charges.

Two felony counts were filed according to the Clay County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

“The defendant, Andrew D. Lester is charged with a class A felony of assault in the first degree,” Zachary Thompson, the Prosecuting Attorney, said. “The defendant is charged with armed criminal action.” He added,”I can tell you there was a racial component to the case.”

According to a probable cause statement filed with the prosecuting office, Lester said he was scared to death by Yarl’s size and his inability to defend himself at age 84.

He also told investigators he was in bed when he heard his doorbell ring and grabbed a handgun before answering the door.

He stated he believed someone was attempting to break into the house and shot twice through an exterior storm door within a few seconds of opening the main door, a police detective wrote in the court document.

If convicted on assault charges prosecutors say Lester could go to jail for the rest of his life. 

This Man Survived The Holocaust Thanks to a Catholic Priest That His Mother Met at Confession

By Jessica Easthope
PROSPECT HEIGHTS — Mark Schonwetter considers himself fortunate to still be alive, given his family history.

Schonwetter, along with his mother and sister, fled Brzostek, Poland in 1942, when being Jewish meant your life was in danger.

“The Nazis that at this period of time were getting rid of all the Jewish people, [they were] taking them to concentration camps, labor camps,” Schonwetter, said. “We were lucky that we escaped and were not taken but we had to hide.”

Flashes of dead bodies, the thought of his father in a mass grave, and dark, cold nights hiding in the forest are just some of what Schonwetter endured. When his mother was forced to deny her faith after people suspected she was Jewish, it was a Catholic priest who protected her.

“Sunday came and we had to go to confession. She sits down in front of the priest and she says ’Father, I know when you go to confession your answers have to be the truth.’ She said ‘I am Jewish and I am hiding with two little kids here.’ He looks at her and he tells her ‘My child you do the right thing. You will survive. Have faith in God, He’s going to help you.’” Schonwetter said.

“After services were done, the priest comes to my mom, takes and puts his hands on her shoulder. So, from that point on nobody anymore mention any suspicion about her,” he continued.

Now 80 years later, Schonwetter gives hundreds of speeches every year all over the country educating people about The Holocaust. For him, that priest was proof that interfaith collaboration can make a difference.

“It shows you that the Church can do a lot like he did, be friendly, respectful to other people and make sure that being a human being like we all are, everyone should live in peace and harmony with each other, not in hatred,” Schonwetter said.

In 2019, Schonwetter’s two daughters Isabella and Ann started The Mark Schonwetter Holocaust Education Foundation, raising grant money for schools to bring in educational material, new curriculum and guest speakers.

They’ve reached more than 70,000 students across 28 states and have given out close to $180,000.

“We’ve seen the power of education. There are so many districts who have no Jewish people. They’ve never met a Jewish person and it’s those schools that the teachers realize how valuable it is to teach about the past,” Isabella added.

According to Statista, there were nearly 3,700 incidents of anti-Semitism in the United States in 2022.

Ann’s book, Together: A Journey for Survival, has become more of a learning tool than a biography of her father amid a modern rise of Jewish hate.

“We are stronger together than we are apart and as long as we all decide to use our voices for goodness, we one day will drown out the voices of violence and hatred if we all come together,” said Ann.

Mark Schonwetter can’t erase the past, but his legacy will help others learn from it, to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself.