Women Religious Speak Out on Voting in Amazon Synod

By Melissa Butz

Inside the meeting hall for the Synod on the Amazon, there are 35 women participants in various roles. At the conclusion of the first week of the Synod, women are speaking out.

Members of the religious female communities attending have stated that if non-ordained religious male communities are given a vote at the Synod, then religious female communities should be given one too.

One religious sister said October 11 that they are seeking more leadership within the Church.

At the conclusion of the first week of the Amazon Synod, women are speaking out. Sister Birgit Weiler, one of the female religious participants who works in Peru, also said that women are seeking equality both inside the Church and the synod hall.

“There is no real reason why not. When the brethren can vote, well, women religious are equal. Both have votes and are not ordained, so really it would be good,” she said.

Sr. Birgit said the idea is especially important for the Synod on the Amazon, an area where Catholicism is majority women-run due to a priest shortage.

To her, voting signifies a desire to participate in the Church’s formative decisions.

“Pope Francis already, in the last Synod made it possible, saying, it’s not necessary that only the ordination to priesthood to be able to vote when you have participated fully in the whole process of sharing faith, of discerning together,” she explained.

Yet, in the first week of the Synod, Sr. Birgit said she has found an open attitude inside the synod hall.

“We experience that we are really accepted as part of the group. There is not a clerical attitude,” she said. “There is a lot of freedom of speech and it is a beautiful experience really to discern together.”

Sr. Birgit assured that women are not interested in a power struggle, but rather in equality. This doesn’t necessarily mean ordination, but rather leadership positions in different ministries.

Despite her desire for more, she really expressed her gratitude for where women are in the Church and wanted to honor the steps taken in that direction, most especially by Pope Francis.

Pope Francis to Canonize Five New Saints

By Melissa Butz

Tapestries of the faces of the five new saints Pope Francis will name on Oct. 13 now adorn the facade of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Each of these future saints bear very different stories. Cardinal John Henry Newman has one such story. The famous intellectual and theologian was baptized Anglican, but decided to be received in the Catholic Church at the age of 45. He became a priest and worked for Catholics’ rights in England.

Four women will also be canonized, among them a Brazilian, Sister Irma Dulce. Sr. Dulce died in 1992. Her canonization is the third-fastest in history. Her spirit of service resulted in her nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1988. Many compare her to Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Also to be canonized is Roman religious Giuseppina Vannini, co-founder of the Congregation of the Daughters of St. Camillus. She is known for her witness of charity toward the sick, poor and imprisoned.

Sister Mariam Thresia Chiramel will also be added to the list of new saints. She was born in India and founded the Congregation of the Sisters of the Holy Family in Thrissur, a group dedicated to serving the most marginalized. She bore the stigmata, a sign of the Passion of the Lord.

Marguerite Bays, a seamstress who also bore the stigmata, will also be declared a saint. The Swiss Franciscan tertiary dedicated her life to the apostolate and to catechesis.

Military Dad Surprises Daughter in Long-Awaited Reunion

Currents News Staff

A heartfelt reunion between a father and daughter — months in the making — was caught on camera.

On October 9, Commander Kornelius Murray surprised his daughter Holly at St. Francis DeSales Catholic Academy in Belle Harbor, Queens after being stationed in Afghanistan for eight months.

Holly wasn’t sure when he would be home, but near the end of the school day her father snuck into class and took his daughter home to spend his first day back together.

Commander Murray is expected to stay with his family for the next few months.

Mother Cabrini to be Honored on Float at Columbus Day Parade

By Tim Harfmann and Allyson Escobar

MANHATTAN — It’s not a statue, but it is an honor.

The Diocese of Brooklyn will have a float of St. Frances Xavier Cabrini at Manhattan’s Columbus Day Parade on Oct. 14. The float will be two or three car-lengths long, and will include youth and adults, according to a report.

“It’s very fitting that the Diocese of Brooklyn will feature a float with Mother Cabrini. In conjunction with Futures in Education, because one of Mother Cabrini’s greatest gifts is working with the poor, children and immigrants, which is exactly what Futures in Education tries to do — we educate children and those in need,” said John Heyer, director of the diocese’s Annual Catholic Appeal and special assistant to the vicar for development.

“To have her on that float to honor and tell her story, so that others could see her as a model and celebrate her, especially on a day that we celebrate Italian-American culture and heritage,” he said.

Catholics and local Italian- Americans have publicly expressed their outrage over the snub of Mother Cabrini by first lady Chirlane McCray’s She Built NYC program that’s overseeing a project to build statues of women throughout the city.

The decision to exclude Mother Cabrini from the first phase of the project was made despite a citywide vote in August in which Mother Cabrini received the most nominations of any of the 320 women on the list. Only seven were chosen.

On Oct. 6, more than 1,000 people rallied in Carroll Gardens in support of a statue for Mother Cabrini, and the Catholic Foundation is raising money to build its own statue at Brooklyn Borough Hall.

Currents News for Thursday, October 10, 2019

On the newscast: The campaign for Mother Cabrini is now set to take over Fifth Avenue…thanks to the Brooklyn Diocese; A hero cardinal is known as the ‘Uncrowned King of Poland.’ Tonight, why he’s so important to Catholics; The news about Social Security benefits… The government is deciding the size of the checks; And a heartwarming story that you’ll only see here… Tears of joy in a Catholic classroom.

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Bishop DiMarzio Visits Buffalo in Fact-Finding Mission

The Tablet Staff and Currents News

PARK SLOPE — Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio visited Buffalo, N.Y., earlier this week as part of the apostolic visitation that was announced on Oct. 3.

He interviewed more than 30 individuals and plans to return for additional meetings later this month.

The Vatican had asked Bishop DiMarzio to conduct a fact-finding mission in the Diocese of Buffalo, where Bishop Richard Malone faces accusations of covering up sexual abuse of minors by priests.

Some groups have called for Bishop Malone to resign after his former secretary leaked hundreds of pages of diocesan records alleging that the bishop allowed accused priests to remain active in ministry. Bishop Malone has pledged to cooperate with Bishop DiMarzio’s investigation.

As part of the mission, laypeople and clergy, as well as members of the Buffalo Diocese’s staff, have been invited to be a part of the process so that Bishop DiMarzio can gather information from several perspectives.

Upon completion of the visitation, Bishop DiMarzio will submit a report to the Congregation for Bishops at the Vatican.

Click here to read the statement from the Diocese of Brooklyn.

While Trump Administration Bars Use of Human Tissue For Research, Scientists Are Trying To Push Ahead

Currents News Staff

On Capitol Hill, the Trump administration is barring the use of human tissue for stem cell research. Meanwhile, some scientists are trying to push ahead.

But the Catholic Church strongly opposes using the cells of unborn babies for science, and argues there’s a better way: umbilical cord research.

The National Correspondent for the Tablet and Crux, Christopher White joins us now to discuss the field of stem cell research, which has been developing for over a decade.

Indigenous Peoples Honor the Blessed Mother as a Symbol of the Amazon

By Melissa Butz

Before the Amazon Synod even began, one wooden figure had been the cause of questions and even controversy.

Amongst feather headdresses, candles and dancing, a particular figure of a woman stood out as the centerpiece during a tree planting ceremony inside the Vatican on the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on Oct. 4

A wooden statue of a pregnant young woman was presented to Pope Francis by 20 indigenous populations from the Amazon Region who are in Rome for the Synod.

It was seen again on October 7, the first day of the Synod, inside St. Peters Basilica. Now, the feminine figure can be found on display at an exhibition in a church located near the Vatican, Santa Maria in Traspontina.

The exhibition’s organizer — Father Roberto Carrasco Rojas — a missionary priest for indigenous peoples in Peru, assured that the image is very symbolic to indigenous Catholics in the Amazon.

“They carved in wood an image of a Blessed Mother, who is pregnant. She is the Virgin, and we have called her Our Lady of the Amazon,” he explained. “She represents the Amazon, because what is the Amazon? The Amazon is a woman, she is female, she has a female face. Why? Because the earth is a mother, the earth gives life. So that is the Amazon.”

He said the figure’s symbolism represents the fact that the Amazon unites countries, peoples and cultures. It cares for the people, and provides everything from modes of transportation to the food they eat.

According to Fr. Carrasco Rojas through exhibitions like this indigenous peoples hope to teach others the importance of the Amazon as a source of drinking water and a natural filter for harmful carbon dioxide output.

Its benefits aren’t only for the people in those regions, but rather for the world at large.

During the month of October, there are 247 similar exhibitions in Rome, with 60 organizations putting them on. Their mission is to share their traditions with those who don’t know them.

Parish Central: New Evangelization in the Brooklyn Diocese

Currents News Staff

A first-of-its kind project is happening right now in the Brooklyn Diocese as part of a new way for local parishes to highlight how they’re evangelizing the Catholic faith.

As part of the new initiative, on October 6 around 1,300 people went to St. Brigid’s Catholic Church in Bushwick, Brooklyn for a picture day.

Photos and videos were taken of the parish, families, ministries and the St. Brigid school to be featured on the new platform being launched by NET-TV’s parent company, DeSales Media Group.

If you would like more information about the new evangelization platform, you can send an email to [email protected], and type “Parish Central” in the subject line.

Syria Under Attack: Christianity Could Disappear

By Dale Gavlak

AMMAN, Jordan — (Catholic News Service) Turkish warplanes have begun attacking northeastern Syria, causing widespread panic among Christian and other religious communities caught up in the aerial bombardments.

“Christians and others are extremely worried,” Syriac Christian political leader Bassam Ishak told Catholic News Service by phone Oct. 9. “The Turkish bombing seems designed to push people out of their towns, if, in fact, they manage to escape alive.”

Ishak heads the Syriac National Council. A graduate of The Catholic University of America in Washington, he is also a member of the political bureau of the Syrian Democratic Council.

Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces reported civilian casualties but provided no specific numbers.

Ishak has warned for months about a possible Turkish military incursion to settle scores with its perceived enemy, the Kurds, who were staunch allies of the United States and largely responsible for successfully battling Islamic State militants in Syria.

Despite very strong bipartisan U.S. Congressional disapproval of President Donald Trump’s abrupt decision to pull back U.S. troops from northeastern Syria, the president did not back down. He said it was too costly to keep supporting Kurdish-led forces in the region fighting Islamic State militants.

Trump made the decision during a phone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyib Erdogan during which Trump was meant to pressure Erdogan over a purchase of Russian warplanes.

Instead, Erdogan got a pledge from Trump to pull back U.S. troops who had worked alongside the Kurds and Syriac Christians fighting Islamic State. This decision also went against the advice of officials at the Pentagon and State Department. Turkey took it as a green light to proceed with its incursion.

An Islamist newspaper, Yeni Akit, which supports Erdogan’s ruling party, posted a warning ahead of the invasion, “Go and tell the unbelievers that the army of (Islam’s Prophet) Muhammad is back,” essentially declaring religious war by Turkey. Erdogan permitted foreign jihadists to cross into Syria at the start of the war in 2011. He also employed al-Qaida and Islamic State militants along with his troops in the 2018 takeover of Afrin, where 300,000 Christians, Yazidis and Kurds were displaced.

Observers say Trump may have unwittingly helped Turkey to unleash Islamist fighters against Kurds, Christians and Yazidis. On Sept. 23, he vowed to protect freedom of religion and belief as well as vulnerable religious groups. But the Turkish invasion is likely to destroy the freedom of religion practiced in northeast Syria, the only area in the Arab world permitting people to choose their faith, according to Christian leaders in northeastern Syria.

“The decision by President Trump took the Christian community of northeast Syria by surprise. It is viewed negatively, and it revives fears of the Turkish massacres of (Armenians and other Christians) of 1915,” said Ishak. Ancestors of the present-day Christians in northeastern Syria fled those massacres.

“There is no trust of Turkey, especially after what Syria and its allied forces did in Afrin in 2018, where they forced religious minorities – Yazidis and Christians – out (of villages and homes) and those who stayed on were persecuted and forced to convert to Islam,” he said.

“The Turkish invasion is expected to be very harsh, not only on the traditional Christian community, but also on the Kurds who have converted in recent years to Christianity and were allowed to openly practice their faith by the self-administration (composed of Kurds and Syriac Christians). These people would be in the most danger because, according to Islamic law, they are to be killed,” Ishak said.

Father Emanuel Youkhana, a priest, or archimandrite, of the Assyrian Church of the East, told CNS by phone from northern Iraq he was expecting a wave of refugees.

“Definitely, many people will try to flee to Iraq, and the borders are expected to be open from the Iraqi side to innocent civilians,” he said.

Father Youkhana runs Christian Aid Program Northern Iraq, a Christian program for displaced Iraqis around the city of Dohuk.

“It’s crazy, this northeast area was the most peaceful, the most stable of all of Syria,” Father Youkhana said. “Now Turkey has come to destabilize all of that, this is clear.”

“Erdogan says he is creating a ‘safe haven’ in northeast Syria to bring Syrian refugees back. Actually, it is a demographic change policy by forcing Kurds, Christians, and Yazidis out and putting Sunni Muslims in their place,” Father Youkhana said.