Currents News Staff
The measles emergency that gripped New York City for months has been declared over, as health officials have announced that no new infections have been detected.
More than 650 cases of measles hit the city in the past year, mostly center in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods.
The city’s health commissioner is continuing to warn parents to vaccinate their children ahead of school. Measles is one of the most contagious diseases on the face of the earth.
By Carol Glatz
VATICAN CITY (Catholic News Service) — Medical advancements do not help if they treat people as objects or when they are applied only to those people who are not considered a burden and “deserve” to be helped, Pope Francis said.
In addition, euthanasia, which is legal in a number of places, “only seemingly promises to promote personal freedom; in reality it is based on a utilitarian view of the person, who becomes useless or may be equated with a cost if, from a medical point of view, there is no hope for improvement or pain can no longer be avoided,” he said.
The pontiff was speaking Sept. 2 to doctors, patients and members of the Italian Association of Medical Oncology. Pope Francis praised the nonprofit group for its work in promoting cancer prevention, personalized care for patients and cooperation among all medical and scientific fields for the common good.
This customized and multifaceted kind of oncological care focuses not just on the illness, but also on the patient, utilizing medical advancements to serve the person, he said.
“Technology is not at the service of people when it reduces them to things, when it distinguishes between who still deserves to be cured and who doesn’t because they are considered to be just a burden” and something to be “thrown away,” Pope Francis said.
After criticizing the practice of euthanasia, the Holy Father underlined the importance of accompanying patients throughout their illness and providing palliative care and hospice, which all help contribute to “a culture and practices more attentive to the value of every person.”
He asked members of the group to resist becoming discouraged by the lack of understanding they may face or by the “relentless proposal for more radical and hasty paths” to take.
Pope Francis encouraged them to find ways to always “translate hope” and offer it even in the most difficult cases.
He also recognized the important role of raising greater public awareness about cancer prevention, regular testing and healthy habits.
“The best and truest prevention, in fact, is a healthy environment and a lifestyle that respects the human body” and how it works, he said.
“As we know, this does not always depend on individual choices, but also on the places where people live, especially in major city centers, that subject the body to constant stress” because of their fast-paced lifestyle and exposure to pollutants.
This, too, highlights the need to take care of the natural world, “our common home which we have to respect so that it respects us back,” he said.
“Safeguarding the environment and the fight against tumors then become two sides of the same problem, two complementary aspects of the same battle of civilization and humanity.”
By Sarah Mac Donald
DUBLIN (Catholic News Service) — The Catholic Church in Ireland has confirmed that a woman who was seriously ill with multiple sclerosis experienced a complete healing of all her symptoms at Knock shrine in September 1989.
The cure of Marion Carroll 30 years ago is the first officially recognized healing associated with Ireland’s national Marian shrine since an apparition witnessed by 15 people occurred there in August 1879.
On Sept. 1, Bishop Francis Duffy of Ardagh announced to a packed basilica that the church had officially recognized 68-year-old Carroll’s healing.
“Without doubt, there was a healing, a cure of the illness that beset Marion for several years,” Bishop Duffy told the congregation, many of whom were taking part in the annual diocesan pilgrimage.
Carroll, her husband Jimmy, their two children and five grandchildren were in the congregation.
“I recognize that Marion was healed from her long-standing illness while on pilgrimage in this sacred place,” Bishop Duffy said. It was his predecessor, Bishop Colm O’Reilly, who administered the blessing after which Carroll experienced “something beautiful.”
Speaking to Catholic News Service from her home in Athlone, Carroll recalled that on the day she was healed, she had been taken into the basilica on a stretcher because she was “completely paralyzed.”
“I was doubly incontinent, I was blind in one eye and had very little sight in the other eye. I couldn’t eat right, I couldn’t talk right, and I had epilepsy,” she said.
She said she felt she was dying, not from multiple sclerosis, but from its ancillary complications, including persistent kidney infections.
At the blessing of the sick, Bishop O’Reilly blessed her with the monstrance as she lay on her stretcher.
“When he blessed me, I got this beautiful feeling — it was a magnificent feeling — and then the whispering breeze telling me that if the stretcher was opened that I could get up and walk.”
After Mass, the young mother was taken in her stretcher to St. John’s Rest and Care Centre in Knock. The nurses and doctors were surprised by her request that her stretcher be opened. The nurse told her afterward that she only agreed to do it to “pacify” her.
But as soon as the stretcher was opened, Carroll swung her legs to the ground.
“I stood up straight and didn’t even feel stiff” despite years of paralysis. Her voice had returned perfectly, as had the use of her arms.
Bishop Duffy said it was “a healing for which there is no medical explanation at present; it is definite and yet defies medical explanation.”
Father Richard Gibbons, rector of Knock shrine, who has overseen the celebrations of the 140th anniversary of the apparition at Knock, told CNS the announcement came “after many years of investigation by a medical committee set up by Knock shrine to examine the case, and (it) is the first official healing in the 140-year history of the shrine.”
Addressing the congregation Sept. 1, Archbishop Michael Neary of Tuam explained the length of time it took for the formal acknowledgment of the healing.
“In these situations, the Church must always be very cautious,” he said.
The medical bureau at Knock shrine is headed up by Dr. Diarmuid Murray, who told RTE News that that it had taken 30 years to determine that there was no medical explanation for the cure because a formal diagnosis of Carroll’s condition had not been made.
Carroll said: “There was less information about multiple sclerosis at the time. My daughter has been diagnosed with it, but nowadays they can give a diagnosis quickly thanks to MRI scans.”
A letter from a consultant gastroenterologist to the medical bureau in Knock stated “regardless of whether her condition is organic or psychological, the dramatic improvement from the time of her visit to Knock is unexplained.” The letter adds, “My feeling is that her improvement is very unlikely to be explained by conventional medical wisdom.”
Carroll now dedicates time to helping the sick in Knock as well as talking about her cure at home and overseas. She serves as a eucharistic minister in her parish and accompanies the ill and the dying.
“My healing in Knock does not belong to me. This is a special gift to let people know that Jesus and Mary are there,” she said.
By Andrew Pugliese
CROWN HEIGHTS — Steady rain didn’t stop the celebration of Caribbean culture along Eastern Parkway in Crown Heights on Labor Day.
And the Catholic community was near the front of the West Indian Day Parade on Sept. 2 to proclaim their Caribbean Catholic culture and religion and invite others to join them.
Dozens of parishioners originally from Caribbean islands, such as Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago, made their way down the parade route singing their praise to God. They were unified by their red Diocese of Brooklyn T-shirts amid other parade participants who were dressed in vibrant colors, as many displayed pride for their native island.
The Catholic community also made presence known through songs of worship. Many groups followed trucks that had loud sound systems playing music, including a group from the Diocese of Brooklyn. Members of the diocesan group passed out rosaries and prayer cards, and even Mass schedules.
The morning began for the Catholics with a Mass at St. Matthew’s, Crown Heights, near the beginning of the parade route.
Angelica Vigil, a parishioner at St. Matthew’s, celebrated the Mass and parade with her son Roemello Joseph, who was the altar server at the Mass. Vigil distributed rosaries and prayer cards along the parade route, while also engaging those she passed by in brief discussions about the faith.
Others in the group sang about the great things God had done in their lives, while waving their native flags proudly.
Norma Felix, who attends church at both St. Teresa of Avila, Crown Heights, and St. Augustine’s, Park Slope, is originally from Haiti. She said, “Our flag is our life in Haiti.”
Felix appreciated the opportunity to praise the Lord in public and show what God’s light can do.
“We are putting our faith out there,” Felix said. “We are not afraid of who we are as Catholics, so I think today is a day for everyone who is not a Catholic to become one, and to see the joy we have on the parkway. We are people from different parts of the Caribbean.”
At the Mass at St. Matthew’s, Father Herman Sharplis, the celebrant who is visiting from Brooklyn from Dominica, urged all “to love their neighbor,” as he reflected on the Good Samaritan.
“If we are serious about being Christians, we must make compassion a way of life,” Father Sharplis said. “On this Labor Day, the call is for us to be compassionate. I am saying to you, and I am saying to myself, ‘Everyone is our neighbor.’”
By Inés San Martín
ROME (CRUX) — A quick internet search for Madagascar, Mozambique and Mauritius would lead travelers to believe they’ve found three gems, with paradise-like beaches that stretch on forever, avenues of sprawling Baobab trees, crystal blue lagoons, rainforests, unique wildlife and incredibly welcoming people.
In fact, that’s all true. Search deeper, however, and you’ll find the other side of the coin – poverty that “surpasses reason,” corruption, jihadism, political and social instability, financial scandal, civil war and harsh weather that scientists believe will become steadily more extreme.
Arguably, those are the real reasons Pope Francis has decided to visit “the three M’s” of the Indian Ocean Sept. 4-10, stopping in each country’s capital – Maputo, Antananarivo and Port Luis – as well as a special “city” Akamasoa, dubbed “the city of friendship” and home to 18 villages and 30,000 people, located in what used to be a garbage dump in Madagascar’s capital.
Though every one of these countries is unique, all three badly need peace, which is why the official themes for each include the word.
Mozambique, Seeking Peace and Reconciliation – Again
Pope Francis’s return to sub-Saharan Africa begins in Mozambique, a nation which, according to the United Nations, ranks among the world’s poorest and least developed despite being rich in natural resources. Locals hope the pontiff’s visit inspires “Hope, Peace and Reconciliation,” as the country is still feeling the effects of a bloody civil war from 1977 to 1992.
In Mozambique, Pope Francis will meet President Filipe Nyusi just five weeks before voters go to the polls. Nyusi is running for reelection against the two main opposition leaders, one of whom is the leader of a former militia group.
Ossufo Momade, leader of the National Resistance party (RENAMO), and Nyusi signed a peace accord Aug. 1. Several members of the international community, including the European Union, have warned that if the election is not conducted properly, it could reignite conflict.
“The bloody civil war … is far from over,” said Erika Dahl-Bredine, an American who lives in Lesotho, coordinating Catholic Relief Services (CRS) aid. “In the last couple of days there’s been a lot of internal conflict within RENAMO suggesting that they don’t consider the peace deal valid.”
Father Ignacio Jussa, a Jesuit from Mozambique, told Crux that Mozambique “has the privilege of receiving popes in times when reconciliation becomes an imperative.”
St. John Paul II visited Maputo in 1988 “when the civil war was ending,” Fr. Jussa said, and the Holy Father will arrive “a month after the government and Renamo signed a peace agreement.”
Mozambique’s civil war began in 1977 and officially concluded in October 1992 in Rome, with an accord to end a conflict that claimed a million lives and left four million displaced. Negotiations took place in the headquarters of the Community of Sant Egidio, a lay movement founded in Italy by Andrea Riccardi.
Fr. Jussa believes the papal visit will “energize” Catholics because Pope Francis’s voice “unites, builds communion between different social classes in a country like Mozambique.”
Of the 29 million inhabitants, a majority are Christian but there are significant minorities who follow Islam and African traditional religions.
In recent months there’s been an uptick of Jihadist attacks, most of them in northern Cabo Delgado province, where an intensifying insurgency pits a little-understood network of militants- some of whom profess allegiance to ISIS- against local security forces.
Dahl-Bredine believes the underlining reason behind the conflict is poverty. Even though there’s been an uptick in exploitation of natural resources in the region, she said, it hasn’t translated into any improvement in life for inhabitants.
The country is also still reeling from catastrophic Cyclone Idai, which caused devastation in Mozambique, Malawi and Zimbabwe. It killed at least 1,300 people in March and affected three million, destroying crops that people relied on for survival. In Mozambique the situation was so dire that rescuers had to let some people die to save others.
“The country took enormous steps backwards, and there’s going to be a very long process of rebuilding,” the CRS agent said. “His visit comes at a difficult time, and some have questioned it.”
In fact, Pope Francis’s looming arrival in Mozambique has drawn some criticism, including from local observers who see it as a partisan photo op for Nyusi.
“But [Francis] says the Church shouldn’t be afraid to get its hands dirty,” she noted. “And that might be why he’s coming at a time of political turmoil and conflict, to bring a forceful message to the country’s leaders about their obligations.”
Fr. Jussa said he hopes the world sees the “many positive things” about Mozambique, and Africa as a whole, such as “the virtues of ordinary people [and] the way they share different aspects of social life. The way they believe in God and manifest their faith; the way African people receive their brothers and sister from America, Asia, Europe with kindness and the virtue of hospitality.”
Madagascar, Where Poverty ‘Escapes Reason’
On Sept. 6, the pontiff will travel to Madagascar, an island nation some 250 miles off the coast of East Africa. It’s the world’s fourth-largest island, and its rich, unique fauna and flora include the lemur and many other one-of-a-kind species that flourish nowhere else.
The country is also on the United Nations’s list of most underdeveloped nations, and it’s here that Pope Francis will encounter a fellow Argentinian, Father Pedro Opeka, a missionary priest who’s been in Madagascar for the past 50 years.
Often called “God’s Mason” and “the apostle of garbage,” Fr. Opeka has received France’s Legion of Honor and several papal awards. Speaking with Crux, he said that the 30,000 people living in Akamasoa, the capital city, are getting ready by “praying in every neighborhood” and by preparing a song in Spanish that children will sing to the pope.
“When the people of Akamasoa found out about the papal visit, they exploded in screams of joy and happiness,” the priest said. “Our population realizes that it’s a special grace to welcome the pope in this place where, in other times, there was so much violence, poverty, suffering, dramas and deaths of innocent people.”
“This visit will be an incredible ray of light for our people who fight every day to prepare a better future for their children,” he said.
Fr. Opeka believes that the papal visit will be a reminder for the people he serves of the fact that they are part of the universal human family, and “loved within the Church,” despite the fact that “they’re so poor and have long been forgotten by many.”
Pope Francis will visit Akamasoa on Sunday, Sept. 8, after celebrating Mass on the diocesan grounds of Soamandrakizay.
Asked if he had any advice for his fellow Argentine, the missionary said the pontiff knows what to say, due to the extensive work he did in the slums of Buenos Aires, when Pope Francis was Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio.
“I’m sure he’s going to tell them to always have faith in the God of Love, to have hope and love towards their children, and to continue fighting,” Fr. Opeka said. “He’ll probably tell those in government to be honest, sensible, audacious and faster to help their forgotten countrymen, forgotten and excluded, living in extreme poverty.”
James Hazen is an American who’s been living in Madagascar for the past six years as the representative of CRS, the United States bishops’ foreign aid agency. He told Crux that since he’s been there, some things such as deforestation have gotten worse due to slash-and-burn agriculture.
“When you have a political and economic crisis, people look to survive, and sometimes the forest is a way to do so,” he said. With slash and burn agriculture, “the soil loses its properties and, after a few years, people cut more trees and grow crops there. We’re working on helping people restore the soil to prevent further deforestation.”
The Malagasi people, he said, are very excited to have a world leader such as Pope Francis visit them.
“Somebody is looking out for them, coming all this way, when sometimes they feel forgotten, in the middle of nowhere,” Hazen said. “A lot of people think of Madagascar in terms of lemurs and Boababs trees, but people here realize that he’s coming to meet with them, not the lemurs.”
Mauritius and Hidden Inequality
On the morning of Sept. 9 the pontiff will fly to Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, for an eight-hour visit before returning to Rome. Also an island country, it’s some 1,200 miles off the southeast coast of Africa.
With a much smaller population -1.2 million, half of whom are Hindu, a third Christian and 17 percent Muslim – Mauritius is highly ranked in terms of economic and political freedom.
“Mauritius is a beautiful island, with very warm and friendly people, even if we’re lacking natural resources … we are rich through the diversity of our people,” Patricia Adèle Félicité, an official of Caritas Mauritius told Crux. “As a small island we have the opportunity to take care of each other.”
This multiculturalism is rooted in centuries of occupation, with the island nation being possessed at one time or another by the Dutch, the French, and the British. The Hindu presence in the islands dates from the British era, when the English brought hundreds of thousands of people from India as cheap, slave-like labor. Until abolition in 1835, slaves came from Mozambique, which saw an estimated one million people sold during the slave-trading years.
The island is so small, Félicité noted, that “sometimes it’s not even on the map.” This makes the population “even more grateful,” she said, for the Holy Father’s decision to come as a “Pilgrim of Peace.”
In an interview with Vatican media ahead of the trip, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, said the island’s “multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multicultural composition” offers a prime example of what Pope Francis calls the culture of encounter, and will be something the pontiff will emphasize.
The main pillars of the economy are manufacturing, financial services, tourism, and information and communications technology. Mauritius provides free universal health care, free education up to the high school level and free public transportation for students, senior citizens, and the disabled.
Officially, per-capita income averages $20,000, but most estimates put the real number closer to $5,000. The difference reflects the fact that the island’s main business, in all honesty, is acting as a tax haven for wealthy depositors from abroad.
However, Mauritius hardly qualifies as rich. It’s a teardrop in the Indian Ocean, with its share of tin-roofed hovels and illiteracy. According to Félicité, ten percent of the population lives in poverty and 30 percent of primary-level students drop out every year.
In addition, she said, the country is officially bi-lingual, with people learning English and French. However, there are many who only speak the local language, Creole, spoken by the descendants of African slaves.
The Catholic Church has made a “very rich contribution” in the development of the country, Félicité said, particularly in education and social development.
Pope Francis is expected to say Mass, meet civil authorities and visit the shrine of Père Bienheureux Laval, a French missionary who lived more than 150 years ago. Known as the “Apostle of Mauritius” due to his tireless work in aiding the poor and ill and educating former slaves, he remains a very popular figure today.
Regardless of the pontiff’s official focus, some believe merely attending the papal events will be life-altering.
“The impact will be human and spiritual,” Opeka said. “What Pope Francis says reaches your guts, it moves you and makes you react.”
Currents News Staff
Hurricane Dorian wreaked havoc on the Bahamas for over 24 hours, swirling in place, causing massive flooding, damage, and with some reported fatalities. While the strength of the storm has been downgraded, it is still a major hurricane, and authorities are warning residents along the Florida coast to expect dangerous weather conditions.
As of September 3, a storm surge of four to seven and feet is expected. Mandatory evacuation orders are in place for the barrier islands, with some 700 people in shelters.
“Even if it stays off the coast, of four to seven feet of storm surge. I mean, that is deadly,” said Sen. Rick Scott from Florida.
Dorian has shown its potential for massive destruction after pounding the Bahamas for more than 24 hours, leaving buildings in ruin and residents without homes.
“Basically, just debris everywhere. Down stairs everything is completely destroyed. Wiped out,” said Kellie Mackey, a resident of the Bahamas.
Some families have lost loved ones.
“When we came across our neighbor’s house, they told us that they passed away. But we’re not certain. The home isn’t there anymore. We don’t know,” said resident Sharon Rolle.
The storm is expected to brush along Florida’s east coast before heading north, bringing the potential for significant damage and life-threatening storm surge to Georgia and the Carolinas.
“Because this storm is anticipated to pick up the speed, time is running out to get ready,” said North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper.
For now, residents in Florida have done all they can do to prepare. Some have evacuated and others are hunkering down and waiting it out.
“A lot of people left Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So, the ones that are sheltering in place, they know the risk. We’re all in this together,” said Mayor Linda Hudson of Fort Pierce, Florida.
By Tim Harfmann
August 31 was a big day for Brennen Bailey and other new students at St. John’s University.
They moved into their dorms, where special neighbors waited to greet them.
Brennen is from Colorado and traveled across the country to the school in Queens because St. John’s is a Catholic university.
“Along with my great education I’m receiving, I’ll also get a moral perspective on the world around me.”
Helping to steer that moral compass are campus ministers — religious leaders who live in the residence halls.
“I’ll say, ‘so, what is your experience of God like?’ Just a simple question like that. I’ve been amazed how that open up possibilities,” said Brother Mike Sherrin, a campus minister who is ready to talk and listen.
Campus ministers have been at St. John’s for 20 years, helping over 33,000 young men and women cope with homesickness, separation from parents, and their faith.
Catholics make up a big chunk of the student body, but the college is open to students of all faiths.
“College is not easy. There are so many deadlines that they would have to meet, and having a strong faith is very helpful,” said Doctor Conrado “Bobby” Gempesaw, university president.
Megan Rodriguez is another campus minister who lives in an apartment with her husband, Jerry, and five-month-old daughter, Gianna.
Megan’s devoted to assisting students get through the early days of college life.
“This is a tough time. This is a time of transition. They’re trying to figure out their vocation, and so as we accompany them in that process, that’s what we’re here to do,” said Megan.
Brennen added; “To have that guidance so close is so valuable and important to seek out that help, so you’re not alone in this thing we call life.”
Besides talking and listening, the ministers reach out to students, encouraging them to attend Mass and participate in retreats.
Brother Mike hopes the students will find Christ in the university’s corridors; “We’re not miracle workers, but we are invitational to consider the reality of God in their lives.”
As the students settled into their new lives, Megan had great advice; “stay close to your faith, find good friends, talk to people if you’re struggling with something, and definitely stay close to the Eucharist.”
On this special edition, the stories of the summer: One church is thriving in the heat, sending parishioners flocking to the shoreline; The Amazin’ Mets– one man is returning home to Ghana a superfan; Getting in shape was a matter of life and death for a young priest. How his weight loss journey became one of faith; He left high school to go to war. Now he’s graduating at the age of 93.
Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.
Currents News Staff
For five Franciscan friars from Brooklyn, spending time at the U.S.-Mexico border was emotional.
“I was changed by this experience,” said Brother Joseph Bach.
They were there to help undocumented migrants in El Paso, Texas and Juarez, Mexico.
For one week, the friars worked with men, women and children. One incident is fixed in Brother Gregory Cellini’s memory.
“I gave someone half an orange. You’d think I had given them the world,” said Cellini.
The brothers watched as asylum seekers arrived at a shelter in El Paso after being released by ICE. The migrants’ belongings were packed into plastic bags, and they were only able to sleep on cots on a warehouse floor.
“These are human beings. How can we take their valued dignity and worth away from them? When you hear their story, you can’t but be touched,” said Bach.
One story Bach recalls is a mother and her two young children fleeing Mexico for Oklahoma to escape death.
“The mother told the story that they had found bodies in the area and the cartels came for the 10-year-old boy. They wanted him to be a drug runner, so she got scared and packed the kids up because that’s not the life that she wanted for her kids,” he said.
What made their journey even more emotional was their first night at the border.
It was the day after the mass shooting in El Paso. The friars attended an interfaith prayer service.
Brother Geoffrey Clement said, “It was a somber and silent testimonial in many ways because the crowd was very sedate, sorrowful. No doubt there were people there who lost loved ones.”
But through a journey full of sorrow, Clement recalls a glimmer of faith at the El Paso shelter, watching asylum seekers point to a U.S. map, searching for their final destination.
“Their eyes lit up with hopefulness. ‘That’s where we’re going! That’s a new life,’” said Clement.
On the newscast: A fresh attack on religious freedom– Feds are investigating if a Catholic nurse was forced to participate in an abortion; Hurricane Dorian is getting stronger and she’s barreling toward Florida; Brooklynites at the border– A team of friars went down to El Paso to help refugees. But there’s a twist…; And a look at Pope Francis’ efforts to stop nuclear testing.
Watch weeknights at 7:00 pm EST on NET-TV in the New York City area on Spectrum, Optimum, and Fios. Subscribe to our YouTube channel to receive notifications about new content.