Catholic Leaders Condemn Trump Administration’s Move to Execute Inmates

By Christopher White, The Tablet’s National Correspondent

NEW YORK — Attorney General William Barr’s announcement on Thursday that the federal government would resume executing death row inmates after a nearly two decade hiatus is coming under fire from national Catholics leaders.

Bishop Frank Dewane, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development, said he is “deeply concerned” by the move and urged the Trump administration to reconsider.

“In 2015 Pope Francis, echoing the views of his predecessors, called for ‘the global abolition of the death penalty.’ He went on to state that, ‘[A] just and necessary punishment must never exclude the dimension of hope and the goal of rehabilitation.’ The Catholic Bishops of the United States have echoed this call for many years, including their 2005 statement, ‘A Culture of Life and the Penalty of Death,’” Dewane said.

“In light of these long held and strongly maintained positions, I am deeply concerned by the announcement by the United States Justice Department that it will once again turn, after many years, to the death penalty as a form of punishment, and urge instead that these Federal officials be moved by God’s love, which is stronger than death, and abandon the announced plans for executions,” he continued.

Barr, a Catholic, ordered the Bureau of Prisons to schedule the executions of five inmates. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, 62 individuals are on the federal death row.

The last federal execution took place in 2003.

“Under administrations of both parties, the Department of Justice has sought the death penalty against the worst criminals,” Barr said in a statement. “The Justice Department upholds the rule of law – and we owe it to the victims and their families to carry forward the sentence imposed by our justice system.”

In August 2018, Pope Francis announced that he was formally changing the Catechism of the Catholic Church to declare the practice “inadmissible.”

“The death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person,” reads the Catechism now, with the addition that the Church “works with determination for its abolition worldwide.”

This is a development from what the document, approved under St. John Paul II in 1992, said on the matter, which allowed for it under the condition that it is necessary as “the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor.”

Last month, the USCCB voted 194-8 to update the U.S. Catholic Catechism for Adults (USCCA) to reflect the updated language.

News of the announcement comes at a time when statewide executions are at an all-time low, with only 23 executions occurring in 2018.

Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, Executive Director of the Catholic Mobilizing Network against the Death Penalty responded to Thursday’s announcement by noting that “Resuming federal executions – especially by an administration that identifies itself as ‘pro-life’ – is wrong-headed and unconscionable.”

“In the 16 years since the federal government last conducted an execution, the American public has changed its collective thinking on the death penalty. As of October 2018, a record low of 49% of Americans believe the punishment is applied fairly, a result of mounting evidence of racial bias, arbitrariness, innocence, and other factors,” he continued in a statement.

“Twenty-five states have distanced themselves from the death penalty in some formal capacity, the two most recent being the state of California which fell under a governor-imposed execution ban in March, followed by the New Hampshire which repealed the practice by legislative override in May,” she observed.

“The actions of the Federal government are meant to represent the values of the American people – values of equality, fairness, and for Catholics, above all, a belief in the sanctity of all human life,” Vaillancourt Murphy concluded. “The resumption of executions at the federal level flies in the face of these values, and promotes a culture of death where we so desperately need a culture of life.”

Long-time death row advocate and anti-death penalty activist, Sister Helen Prejean also weighed in, taking to Twitter to say she heard the news as she was about to board a flight to Alaska.

“The DOJ regresses as the rest of our country evolves,” she wrote.

“It is disheartening that the administration has chosen to follow the death road, when the life road calls us to work for justice for all,” she said in a statement. “Admittedly, following the life road demands more from us. It demands that we spurn myth-based thinking; that we educate ourselves on issues, policies and practice; that we reflect deeply; and that we commit ourselves to justice built from the ground up.”

Good Samaritan Leaves Millions Behind in Will, Sending 33 Kids to College

Currents News Staff

An Iowa man has offered a life changing gift not once, but 33 times.

The generosity of a simple carpenter who lived in Ames has altered the future for people he’s never met.

Four years ago, Winterset, Iowa native Kira Conard was stuck. She had the grades to be a therapist, but not the tuition money.

“I grew up in a single parent household and I had three older sisters, so paying for all four of us was never an option,” she explained.

At her high school graduation party, she was preparing to break the news that college wasn’t possible.

“It almost made me feel powerless. Like, I want to do this. I have this goal, but I can’t get there just because of the financial part.”

That’s when her phone rang, and Kira says she “broke down into tears immediately.”

The man on the other end of the call dropped the name ‘Dale Schroeder.’

A man kira had never met grew up poor, never married and worked as a carpenter for 67 years at the same Des Moines business. Ten years before Kira’s dilemma, he had walked into his lawyer’s office.

“He said, ‘I never got the opportunity to go to college, and so I’d like to help kids go to college,’” said Dale’s friend Steve Nielsen.

“He was very quiet. dale was shy,” Steve added.

“He was that kind of a blue collar, lunch pale kind of a guy. Went to work every day, worked really hard, was frugal like a lot of Iowans.”

When Dale died in 2005, the guy who had only “church jeans and work jeans,” according to Steve, left behind a rusty chevy truck and instructions to send small town Iowa kids to college.

“He wanted to help kids that were like him that probably wouldn’t have an opportunity to go to college but for his gift,” Steve explained.

Then came the jaw-dropper.

“Finally, i kinda was curious. I said, ‘How much are we talking about Dale?’ And he said, ‘Oh, just shy of three million dollars.’ And I nearly fell out of my chair,” he recalled.

Now, what Dale left behind is helping kids like Kira.

“Realistically, if it wasn’t for this scholarship I would be here,” she said. “For a man that would never meet me, to give me basically a full ride to college, that’s incredible. That doesn’t happen.”

But for 14 years, it has.

Dale Schoeder’s obituary says he died having no descendants, and on a Saturday night the 33 Iowans he put through college gathered around his old lunch box and dubbed themselves Dale’s kids.

The man they never met had changed the course of every life in the room, allowing these doctors, teachers and therapists to start their careers with no college debt.

But, they found out there was a string attached.

“All we ask is that you pay it forward. You can’t pay it back, because Dale’s gone. But you can remember him and you can emulate him,” said Steve.

Now, those professionals are making sure the generosity of an Iowa carpenter reaches patients, students and strangers all over.

After paying the full $80,000 college tab for Kira and 32 other Iowans, Dale’s account finally just ran out of money.

Vatican Turning More Benevolent Eye to Medjugorje Apparitions

ROME (Crux) – For years the credibility of the Eastern European Marian pilgrimage site of Medjugorje and the miraculous happenings that allegedly occur there, have been the subject of questioning and doubt. But its continued following and devotion have pushed the Vatican into recognizing its validity.

Well, sort of.

“Medjugorje is an international reference point for prayer where extraordinary spiritual fruits can be touched by hand,” said Polish Archbishop Henryk Hoser, the Holy See’s Special Envoy to Medjugorje, in a July 22 interview with the publication of the Italian bishops, Avvenire.

The prelate pointed to the number of conversions, vocations and sacraments that take place at the pilgrimage site as an example of the positive effects that this place has on the Catholic community, adding that he doesn’t believe “there are traces of heresy.”

Hoser, 76, was appointed to his role by Pope Francis in February 2017 and is today in charge of administering to the pastoral needs of pilgrims and serving as a liaison between the local Franciscan community and the Catholic hierarchy.

One year after his appointment, the Polish prelate announced that pilgrimages were allowed once again to Medjugorje, the last step of an ongoing debate regarding how much official Vatican backing should be given to the popular – albeit ambiguous – site.

“People claim to feel the presence of Mary,” Hoser said, “but allowing pilgrimages must not be interpreted as an authentication of the known events tied to the name Medjugorje.”

He continued to state that the site is “a place, blessed by God, of encounter and dialogue with the Lord through the Virgin.”

Beloved by Catholic faithful, especially from Italy and Eastern Europe, this Marian site is Europe’s third most popular pilgrimage destination after Lourdes, France, and Fatima, Portugal. According to media reports, over 30 million believers have come to Medjugorje since the first apparitions were reported.

On June 24, 1981, six youths between the ages of 10 and 16 claimed to have witnessed the apparitions of the Virgin Mary on the Podbrdo hill in Medjugorje, Southern Bosnia. They said that Mary introduced herself as the “Queen of Peace” and that she continues to speak to them cyclically.

Hoser said that the witnesses are older today, with wives and children, and many of them have dedicated themselves to the welcoming of pilgrims. “When I spoke to one of them, he started crying like a child because he believed to have been wounded by so many voices,” he said.

Three of the visionaries claim that Mary appears to them each day, while the remaining three say they have the same experience once a year. Following three diocesan commissions, the then-Yugoslavian bishops decided that it was “impossible to determine whether we are dealing with apparition or supranatural revelations” in a 1991 declaration in Zara.

The local bishop clashed with the Franciscans who had been associated with the visionaries, and the friars were expelled in 1999. In 2008, the spiritual director for the visionaries was suspended “for the diffusion of dubious doctrine, manipulation of consciences, suspicious mysticism, disobedience toward legitimately issued orders.”

Despite these setbacks, the apparition site continued to attract up to 1 million pilgrims each year.

Another probe to determine the validity of the pilgrimage site was launched in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI and led by the former Vicar of Rome Cardinal Camillo Ruini. The commission finished its work in 2014 and handed in their results to the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.

The results of the inquiry were kept secret and Francis sent Hoser to oversee Medjugorje, waiting on the decision of whether or not to sanction the pilgrimage site. Still, the Argentinian pontiff known for being partial to popular devotions, expressed a few concerns about the Marian site.

“Personally, I am more skeptical,” Francis said aboard the papal plane returning from the Marian shrine at Lourdes in June 2015. “I prefer Our Lady to be a Mother, our Mother, and not a telegraph operator who sends out a message every day at a certain time… this is not the mother of Jesus.”

“Who thinks that Our Lady would say: ‘Come tomorrow at this time and I will give a message to that seer.’ No,” he added.

The pope said that the Ruini report expressed the need for more investigation on the original apparitions and “expressed doubts” concerning the yearly apparitions that have occurred since. But Francis added that the “real core” of the report was the spiritual devotions elicited by the pilgrimage site.

“For this there is no magic wand, this spiritual-pastoral fact cannot be denied,” he said.

The papal representative to Medjugorje seconded that feeling by illustrating the many cases where miracles occur on the Marian site without having to refer to the supernatural. In the past weeks, 400 priests gathered in Medjugorje for an international clerical retreat. Near the site, the “Village of the Mother” hosts orphans, women in crisis, the disabled, drug addicts and all those in need.

“I can testify that at Medjugorje the Mother of God is at the heart of everything, independently from eventual supernatural occurrences,” said the Vatican’ s Apostolic Nunzio to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Archbishop Luigi Pezzuto, in the same Avvenire story.

“The farsighted decision of the pope to disconnect the closeness to the pilgrims to the recognition or not of the alleged visions shows the care that the Church has toward all those who entrust themselves with a sincere heart to the maternal intercession of Mary, also by going to this small town in Herzegovina.”

In the coming days two close papal allies will be visiting Medjugorje. Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, who heads the Italian episcopal conference and is currently at the Marian site, while the Vicar of Rome, Cardinal Angelo De Donatis, will be inaugurating the International Youth Festival there on August 1.

Currents News for Thursday, July 25, 2019

On the newscast: The separation of families at the U.S. southern border is the hot topic under the spotlight on Capitol Hill as the migration crisis intensifies; Medjugorje is where many Catholics believe the Blessed Virgin Mary has appeared. Tonight, the changing Vatican opinion about the popular pilgrimage site; The gift of life that made its way through Times Square; The two great men from Brooklyn on the path to sainthood.

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.

United for Life: Kidney Donor and Recipient Meet Thanks to Times Square Billboard

By Tim Harfmann

Thanks to one man, two strangers have now been united for life.

A Times Square billboard lit the way for a July 24 face-to-face meeting at Citi Field, as long-time Mets fan Ruth Tisak met NYPD Detective Michael Lollo for the first time after a successful kidney transplant last December.

Ruth said she’s “blessed” that she was able to receive Michael’s kidney.

The donation of Michael’s kidney to Ruth was made possible by Marc Weiner, a Long Island resident in need of the organ himself.

Currents News first brought you Marc’s story last year after he put up a 5,000 square foot billboard in Times Square. An aggressive cancer removed Marc’s kidneys, prostate, and bladder. He now undergoes dialysis three times a week.

The billboard read, “My name is Marc. I need a kidney. You can help!”

It caught the NYPD detective’s eye, and Michael attempted to donate. The two weren’t a match, but he didn’t give up.

“Even though he wasn’t a match to me and he was a match to Ruth, it’s great I was able to, some type of awareness with my billboard, do this,” Marc said.

“When I first found out, I was extremely proud and grateful that there was a match,” he said.

Across the country, over 113,000 men, women, and children are on the waiting list for a transplant. Every 10 minutes, another person is added to the list. About 20 people die each day waiting for an organ.

That was one of Marc’s main goals: bringing awareness to the need and lack of organ donations.

“My time will come, but the idea that we bring more awareness to what’s going on is proof that this worked and that the billboard did something,” said Marc.

“It’s just surreal knowing that an organ of mine is standing right next to me, but not in my body,” said Michael.

Michael donated his left kidney. As Ruth waited, she had faith in God.

“I always say I leave it all to Him. He works in His own, mysterious ways. So, everything was left to Him, and He found me somebody.”

For Marc, he’s still waiting. But in that moment, the wait was worth it.

“My time will come,” he said, “but the idea that we bring more awareness to what’s going on is proof that this worked and that the billboard did something.”

Capitol Hill Hearings Focus on Separation of Children at Immigration Detention Centers

Currents News

The immigration crisis at the southern border is once again taking center stage on Capitol Hill. On July 25 another migrant was reported dead while in federal custody, as officials work to improve conditions at detention centers.

The new round of hearings focused on family separation and detention of undocumented migrants, with enforcement agencies defending their work.

“Separation is an incredibly rare occurrence and only takes place in compliance with the President’s June 20, 2018 Executive Order,” said Biran S. Hastings from U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

Officials highlighted improvement, stating that children are now spending about 50 days less in Health and Human Services custody than last year despite an all time high influx of unaccompanied minors.

“As of July 15, DHS has referred more than 61,000 unaccompanied alien children to us, the highest number in the program’s history,” said Jonathan H. Hayes, Director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement.

The scrutiny is not just on the detention of children, but on conditions in detention centers, with reports of overcrowding, unsafe conditions and even allegations of sexual assault.

“Our recent unannounced inspections revealed a situation far more grievous than any our inspectors previously have encountered,” said Diana R. shaw, Assistant Inspector General for Special Reviews and Evaluations.

But lawmakers on both sides of the aisle frustrated.

“Holding hearings until a problem is solved is about like saying ‘I’m gonna scream at that wall until it changes color,’” said Republican Georgia Representative Doug Collins.

“For 52 days that’s the comfort they had no cots, no sleeping bags, cracked lips from exposure. That’s the way we’re handling it?,” asked Democratic Pennsylvania Representative Madeleine Dean.

Meanwhile, a federal judge in California is temporarily blocking a new rule that would bar migrants from claiming asylum if they traveled through Mexico to get to the U.S.

After Twelve Days of Protests, Governor of Puerto Rico Announces Resignation

By Wandy Felicita Ortiz and Emily Drooby

On the eve of Constitution Day in Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló announced via video that on August 2 he will resign as the commonwealth’s governor.

The late-night July 24 Facebook announcement came after 12 days of non-stop protests by Puerto Ricans around the world calling for him to step down. The protests were brought to a head by the Puerto Rico Center for Investigative Journalism’s publication of an 889-page private chat.

In this chat Rosselló mocked the island’s Hurricane Maria death toll and financial crisis. He also spoke ill of Puerto Rican celebrities and fellow politicians, prompting people to demand that he leave office immediately on the basis of corruption, or face impeachment.

Rosselló’s announcement marks the first time in the history of the island that a governor will resign. News of his impending exit came ahead of a culturally and politically significant day in Puerto Rico.

“Constitution Day”, also known as “Occupation Day,” falls on July 25 and commemorates the 1898 arrival of U.S. defenses on the municipality of Yauco to defend the island from the Spaniards during the Spanish-American War.

Following the war the island of Puerto Rico was no longer under Spanish rule and instead became a U.S. territory. On that same date in 1952, the commonwealth’s Constitution was signed into law by Governor Luis Muñoz Marín.

According to the Miami Herald, during the days of protest citizens gathered in front of the governor’s Old San Juan mansion La Fortaleza, and in an act of patriotism read the Constitution in unison outside his home. While waving flags and banging pots and pans, for days they stood in the city’s historic streets and waited for rumors regarding Rosselló’s whereabouts and resignation to turn out in their favor.

Since taking office in 2017 Rosselló has been at the center of post-Hurricane Maria backlash, billed by locals and political leaders as the person responsible for the island’s lack relief and funding following the natural disaster.

On July 10 the FBI had arrested several members of his administration for federal fraud, and on July 13 the private chat was made public. On July 16 Rosselló made a public apology regarding his actions with the added promise that he would not resign.

But for almost two weeks, the pressure from protestors — from Puerto Rico to Brooklyn and beyond — had been on for him to change his mind.

Before the news of his resignation broke, Puerto Ricans in Brooklyn met at Avenue of Puerto Rico in Williamsburg to voice their opinions and lend their support in the same way they did two years ago when Hurricane Maria struck the island.

“It’s because of these particular issues that we’re fighting for today that I had to leave,” said Puerto Rico native Evelis Rivera, a parishioner at St. Joseph’s Co-Cathedral who organized the protest. Rivera serves as the president of Brooklyn Gives Back, an organization that helps combat homeless, hunger and provides relief aid in times of crisis.

In 2017 the group stood at the avenue for five days straight and collected supplies for hurricane victims, something Rivera says Rosselló dropped the ball on. “I felt the need. Being from there I have to help my people. I can’t stay silent on something this important because this is affecting the future of my people.”

Rivera’s cousin, Sonia Velasquez, who founded the organization and personally advocated for over 200 hurricane evacuees said, “if we have to do it again as Brooklynites, as Puerto Ricans, as New Yorkers, we will do it again.”

Secretary of Justice Wanda Vázquez is next in line to become governor, but few Puerto Rican protestors have expressed faith in her or any politican’s ability to clean up the mess Rosselló is leaving behind. The hashtag #WandaRenuncia or “Wanda Resign” is already trending on social media.

“I’m sure that all the youth, the seniors are doing research and reading up on who she is, what will she bring,” said Velasquez.

“I know I speak for all Puerto Ricans. We don’t trust anyone. Anyone that we put up there, we’re not going to trust right now. This is the governor of Puerto Rico, he had my people in his hands,” Velasquez added.

For them, the protest was not based on politics, but on a humanitarian need they hope will be fulfilled with the turnover of the island’s administration.

“With the sense of not believing our people when there was a desperate need and there’s still a desperate need in Puerto Rico, there should be no politically bound people at this event,” said Cynthia Perez who completes the trio of cousins.

“I think that we should respect those in Puerto Rico right now. They’re fighting against the government there. Our government is no better because it’s the same government. All the officials knew what’s going on in Puerto Rico. You cannot tell me that you didn’t know what was going on in Puerto Rico,” Perez said.

As for Rosselló, “the impeachment process has started,” Speaker of the House of Representatives of Puerto Rico Carlos Johnny Méndez confirmed to Reuters. While Rosselló is expected to leave office on August 2, confidence that he will keep his word is low.

According to an attorney commissioned by Speaker Méndez, four felonies and one misdemeanor may have been committed based upon the contents of the group chat.

Protestors moving for impeachment and a complete overhaul of the current administration — even without Rosselló in it — have vowed on social media to continue “la lucha,” the fight.

Heat Wave Threatens Notre Dame

Currents News Staff

The structure of one of the world’s most famous cathedrals is in jeopardy tonight, and there’s not much anyone can do to save it.

The rebuilding of Notre Dame Cathedral is going up against mother nature and a heat wave that will last all week.

The chief architect of France’s historic monuments says he’s afraid the high temps could cause the vaulted ceiling of the beloved cathedral to collapse.

Specialists are working to stabilize the roof before reconstruction work begins.

Currents News for Wednesday, July 24, 2019

On the newscast: A memorial for the 3 victims of that deadly house fire in Queens as Catholics rally around the tragedy’s sole survivor; Puerto Rican Governor Ricardo Rossello caught up in political turmoil as word swirls that he’s about to resign; The son of 9/11 hero Luis Alvarez speaks out after the compensation fund his dad fought for is saved; The Catholic church bombed on Easter Sunday in Sri Lanka is open again.

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.

Mueller Testifies in Court, Saying Investigation into Russian Interference Did Not Exonerate Trump

Currents News

In one of the most anticipated congressional hearings in decades, former Special Counsel Robert Mueller told Congress that his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election did not exonerate President Trump.

Nearly 100 days after the release of the report detailing Russia’s attempts, Mueller refused to say much more as his testimony frustrated both Democrats and Republicans.

“The finding indicates that the president was not as exculpated for the acts that he allegedly committed. It is not what the report said,” Mueller stated.

Democrats see the testimony as a chance to build the case for Trump’s impeachment, but Mueller says his investigation could not indict the president because of Justice Department guidelines.

“I believe a reasonable person looking at these facts could conclude that all three elements of the crime of obstruction of justice have been met,” said Democratic California Representative Ted Lieu.

“You did not indict donald trump is because of the O.I.C opinion stating that you cannot indict a sitting president, correct?”

Mueller agreed to Lieu’s statement, saying “that is correct.” Hours later the former Special Counsel amended his testimony with the reason that “that is not the correct way to say it.”

“We did not reach a determination as to whether the president committed a crime,” Mueller said.

He refused to say if the president committed a crime, and instead referred Congress to the findings of his 448-page report as Republicans pushed to close this chapter in American history.

“It’s time for the curtain to close on the Russia hoax. The conspiracy theory is dead,” said Republican California Representative Devin Nunes.