Spread 'joy' of Jesus' friendship, Pope tells teens

Vatican City, Dec 20, 2013 / 04:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis encouraged teens to be living witnesses of their faith in his remarks during an audience with young members of the Italian Catholic Action movement.

“Dear young people, Jesus loves you, he wants to be your friend, he wants to be the friend of all young people,” the Pope said Dec. 20. “If you are convinced of this, surely you know to spread the joy of this friendship to all: at home, in the parish, at school, with your friends.”

The Pope said he had heard the Catholic Action movement’s theme for this year is “to discover (in) Jesus the presence of a friend in your life.”

“Christmas is really the celebration of the presence of God who comes into our midst to save us,” he explained, emphasizing the reality of Christmas.

“The birth of Jesus is not a fable! It is history that really happened, at Bethlehem, two thousand years ago. Faith makes us recognize in this baby, born of the Virgin Mary, the true son of God, who for love of us was made man.”

The pontiff further reflected on the importance of Christmas.

“In the face of the little (baby) Jesus, we contemplate the face of God, who does not reveal himself in strength, in power, but in the weakness and fragility of an infant. This baby shows us the faithfulness and the tenderness of the boundless love with which God envelops each one of us.”

“For this reason we celebrate Christmas, reliving the same experience of the shepherds of Bethlehem,” he noted.

“Together with many fathers and mothers who work hard every day, dealing with many sacrifices; together with children, the sick and the poor, we celebrate this holiday.”

The Pope then urged the youth to “witness” to the love of Christ, “carrying yourselves as true Christians: ready to lend a hand to those in need, without judging others, without speaking badly.”

“I encourage you to always be ‘living stones’ in the Church, united to Jesus,” he said.

Pope Francis closed by thanking the members of Catholic Action for their Christmas greeting. He offered his well-wishes and blessing to them in return.

Christianity helps women rise out of poverty, economist finds

Rome, Italy, Dec 20, 2013 / 05:04 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A researcher at Washington D.C.'s Georgetown University has found that impoverished women in India are more likely to improve their economic circumstances after converting to Christianity.

“Conversion actually helps launch women on a virtuous circle. A woman feels better, she's part of an active faith community, she works more, she earns more money: the extra money she earns and saves encourages her to earn more and save more and plan and invest in the future,” said Rebecca Samuel Shah, research fellow at Georgetown's Berkley Center for Religion, Peace, and World Affairs.

Shah presented her initial findings of a pilot study looking at “patterns and directions where conversion had an impact” on Dalit women in Bangalore, India at a conference on “Christianity and Freedom” held in Rome on Dec. 13-14.

Shah and her team studied 300 women who lived in a Dalit slum community over the course of 3 years. When they began their research, they did not know that 23 percent of the women being interviewed were actually converts to Christianity.

Dalits are considered the “outcasts” of or “pariahs” of society in India.

“One is actually born a Dalit, you cannot leave a Dalit status. You’re born and you live and you die a Dalit,” Shah explained. “Dalits are employed in the some of the worst jobs…they scavenge, they sweep, they’re tanners. They do the smelliest, dirtiest work, and therefore they 'polute'... they’re 'untouchables.'”

Moreover, “Dalits are not allowed to go near a (Hindu) temple, or touch a religious object that is used in worship.”

Because “they don’t want to live on the margins” of society, “they are converting to Christianity,” she noted.

Shah's study yielded some surprising results about the impact of Christian conversion on the lives of Dalit women in “a very violent urban slum.”

The majority of Hindu, Muslim and Christian Dalit women interviewed were illiterate. Many belong to a microfinance program which gives them access to loans which they then use towards their children's education or to run a small business.

The first “unexpected pattern” Shah encountered was in housing. “The converts converted their loans to purchasing houses, and turned dead capital into resources to generate additional capital.”

Housing is an exceptionally important issue because “these people live in a slum community. It’s a transient community, they’re originally migrant workers, they had de facto rights to the property, but did not have legally enforceable title,” said Shah.

The impact of home ownership is crucial, since “by being able to own a house, these poor women were able to get bank loans, commercial loans, which they didn’t have access to before that. When you have a house you can get a loan at 3 percent, instead of from a money lender at 18 percent.  So having a house is a very important investment in your future, so you can have access to very affordable credit.”

The second “dramatic” finding in Shah’s study concerned domestic violence.  

A national family health survey in India in 2005-2006 indicated that 86 percent of the women interviewed nationally had never told anyone that they had been abused.  

According to Shah, this large scale study indicated that a woman’s religion was an important indicator of whether or not she would seek help. “Only 24 percent of Hindu women sought help, and 22 percent of Muslim women, but 32 percent of Christian women sought help,” she noted.

Shah’s own study “echoed” the national health data, in that “57 percent of women – a very large number of women – actually tell their pastor” about domestic violence.

She pointed to two key factors in the higher reporting of abuse. “These women are very closely involved, very actively involved, in their faith community. When they arrive in their weekly prayer meetings and they’ve got a gash across their face, or they’re lacking a few teeth, they get noticed.”

Furthermore, “pastors that are usually male visit the homes, and they repeatedly visit the homes, so at some point, the husband who’s beating up his wife is shamed into stopping beating his wife.”

This indicates a “very interesting connection” between home ownership and seeking help for domestic abuse, “because many of those women literally open the doors and bring their pastors into this very violent and very dark situation of their homes.”

“It was a unique finding. We were not looking for this,” added Shah.

The Georgetown researcher then pointed to the underlying factors that accompany an improvement in circumstances after conversion.

“Conversion activates in the converts a powerful new concept of value and initiative,” she explained.

It offers “a radically different way of seeing themselves: seeing themselves as a new creation, a new identity, made in the image of God, seeking a better life for themselves.”

“Poverty is inherently depressing. It’s discouraging. It’s debilitating. It breeds hopelessness: ‘why bother?’” she reflected.

Yet with a new Christian vision, “The future is not terrifying. It can be achieved. Because God is with them, they can invest in the future. It’s not something to ignore, not something to be terrified of.”

Moreover, through the combination of a new sense of identity and access to credit in microfinance, “the converts may harness their agency and capability into investing in the future to improve their lives.”

Conversion, then, first “changes who they believe themselves to be, it changes their self-conception, their belief in who they are, and secondly, it changes how they can change their family’s future and themselves.”

Shah noted that although she has completed a pilot study, “we’re in the process of doing more rigorous research which will confirm these findings.”

Pope: Contemplate St. Joseph’s 'greatness of soul'

Vatican City, Dec 22, 2013 / 03:48 pm (CNA).- In his Sunday Angelus, Pope Francis reflected on the Christian witness of St. Joseph, who was faithful to God’s call despite impossible circumstances.

St. Joseph “was not stubborn in following his own life plans, he did not allow resentment to poison his soul, but he was prepared to make himself disposed to the news that, in a disconcerting way, was presented to him,” said the Pope on Dec. 22.

Referring to the gospel story which recounts St. Joseph’s plans to divorce Mary quietly after learning about her pregnancy, and his subsequent dream regarding the miracle of the Incarnation, Pope Francis reflected on “the greatness of St. Joseph’s soul.”

“He was following a good life plan, but God had kept a different design for him, a greater mission. Joseph was a man who always listened to the voice of God, profoundly amenable to God’s secret will, a man attentive to the messages that came from the depths of the heart and from above,” explained Pope Francis.

St. Joseph’s faithfulness did not mean that his path was easy, however. When he became aware that Mary was pregnant, “he remained disconcerted.”

“The gospel does not explain what his thoughts were, but it tells us the essentials: that he seeks to do the will of God, and he is ready for a radical renunciation,” noted the Pontiff.

The decision to then divorce Mary quietly represents for Joseph “an enormous sacrifice,” when “we think of the love that Joseph had for Mary!” Pope Francis exclaimed.

This was “a trial similar to the sacrifice of Abraham, when God asked for his son Isaac: to renounce the most precious thing, the most loved person.”

In preparation for Christmas, “we must meditate on these words (of the gospel) in order to understand the trial that Joseph had to sustain in the days preceding the birth of Jesus,” encouraged Pope Francis.

“But as in the case of Abraham, God intervened. He found the faith that he was looking for and opened a different way, a way of love and happiness.”

The Pope continued, “accepting the Lord’s plan, Joseph fully found himself, beyond himself… his full interior openness to the will of God challenges us and shows us the way.”

“Let us thus prepare ourselves to celebrate Christmas contemplating Mary and Joseph: Mary, the woman full of grace who had the courage to entrust herself fully to the word of God; Joseph, the faithful and just man who preferred to believe the Lord rather than listen to the voices of doubt and human pride.”

“With them, let us journey together toward Bethlehem,” urged the Pontiff.

After praying the Angelus with the crowds filling St. Peter’s square, Pope Francis offered his greetings to various pilgrim groups.

Upon seeing one group holding a banner that said in Italian, “The Poor Cannot Wait!” Pope Francis noted the difficult life of the homeless, whose situation is not unlike that of Mary and Joseph who had to flee their home with the infant Jesus to seek safety in Egypt.

“I call on everyone,” said the Pope, “individuals, organs of society, authorities, to do everything possible to assure that every family has a place to live.”

Year of Faith vivified parishes in American Samoa, priest reports

Pago Pago, American Samoa, Dec 19, 2013 / 07:09 am (CNA/EWTN News).- According to a local priest, the Year of Faith was a significant kick start to the Diocese of Samoa-Pago Pago, which serves the 14,000 Catholics who live on the 76 square miles of islands comprising American Samoa.

“The Year of Faith has brought a tremendous impetus of faith life into our parishes and in the pastoral mission of our diocese,” Fr. Faitau Lemantu, pastor of Sacred Heart parish in Alao, told CNA Dec. 12.

Fr. Lemantu explained that at the beginning of his assignment, “there were three to four people for daily Mass, and the parish was pretty much dead.”

“But now, we have around 100 parishioners attending Sunday Mass and liturgical services, and the faith is growing.”

He credits this growth largely to a series of seminars conducted during the Year of Faith, which recently came to a close.

The seminars focused on reflections from Benedict XVI on such topics as the sacraments, devotions, and vocations.

“Now we have to pick up from the seminars and prepare our laity to proclaim the Gospel and to live the life of faith,” said Fr. Lemantu.

Sacred Heart parish is one of 18 in the diocese, which is served by Bishop Peter Brown and 16 priests. Alao is located on the eastern coast of Tutuila, American Samoa's largest island, and Sacred Heart parish serves the villages of Amouli and Aoa as well as Alao.

Sacred Heart is a special name in the territory. Fr. Lemantu explained that “Samoa” itself is a compound of two Samoan words: “sa,” meaning sacred, and “moa,” meaning heart.

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the US located in the South Pacific. It is located east of Samoa, and northeast of Fiji and Tonga.

Nearly all American Samoans are Christian, with Catholics forming about 20 percent of the population.

The Samoa-Pago Pago diocese has lay catechists commissioned for each town to help the local priests in doing catechesis, and Fr. Lemantu said he hopes to train more lay people to spread the Gospel and bring families together.

Vatican documents translated in Tongan spread Church teaching

Auckland, New Zealand, Dec 19, 2013 / 02:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A priest from the Polynesian country of Tonga has translated two Vatican documents into his native tongue, so as to deepen the faith life of his compatriots.

“It is important to have the primary materials of faith in local languages so that the people can enter into a deeper dialogue with the teachings of faith that can touch the heart,” Fr. Lines Folamoelao, the translator, who is a priest of the Diocese of Tonga, told CNA Dec 14.

“This is to help the faithful to continue to carry on the fervor of the Year of Faith.”

Fr. Folamoelao, who is serving as chaplain to the 9,000 Catholic Tongan migrants in the Auckland diocese of New Zealand, released his translations of the Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and of Pope Francis' first encyclical, “Lumen fidei,” at the close of the Year of Faith on Nov. 24.

All the printed copies of Fr. Folamoelao's translations have been acquired already, and he plans a second edition to meet demand.

“It has been my hobby to translate Papal encyclicals and works of the social teaching of the Church  into the Tongan language so that our people can read and follow the teachings of the Church,” he said, adding that he now plans to translate “Evangelii gaudium,” Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation on the new evangelization.

Fr. Folamoelao is a polyglot, able to speak Tongan, Fijian, English, French, German, some Hindi, and the classical languages Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. He attended seminary in Fiji, and holds a licentiate from the Pontifical Biblical Institute.

Tonga is an island nation in the South Pacific, located near Fiji and Samoa, with a population of 103,000. It's official languages are English and Tongan, an Austronesian language. Many Tongans have emigrated to Australia, New Zealand, and the US. Nearly the entire population is Christian.

The Diocese of Tonga serves the entire country, where there are more than 13,000 Catholics, or about 13 percent of the population.

Health group slams push for abortion in Catholic hospitals

Washington D.C., Dec 18, 2013 / 05:03 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The New York Times was “inaccurate and irresponsible” to claim that Catholic hospitals' refusal to perform abortions threatens pregnant mothers in obstetric emergencies, the Catholic Health Association says.

“Catholic hospitals in the United States have a stellar history of caring for mothers and infants,” the association said Dec. 9. “Hundreds of thousands of patients have received extraordinary care – both in the joy of welcoming an infant or in the pain of losing one.”

The health association said that in many communities, the Catholic hospital is “the designated center for high-risk pregnancies.”

Several independent organizations have oversight responsibility for all hospitals, including the Joint Commission and state licensing agencies that accredit and certify hospitals. These organizations have “robust standards and inspections” and would not “in any circumstance” accredit or license a hospital unsafe for mothers or infants.

The association – which is the largest U.S. organization of Catholic health care systems and facilities – stressed that health professionals are also committed to care for these mothers and “would not tolerate working in a clinical setting that is detrimental to their patients.”

Its statement comes in response to a Dec. 8 editorial in the Sunday New York Times that claimed mergers between Catholic hospitals and non-Catholic hospitals is a “threat.” Catholic hospitals' refusals to perform abortions, the newspaper editorial board claimed, harm their ability to “provide care for women in medical distress.”

The newspaper's editorial board relied heavily upon the American Civil Liberties Union's federal lawsuit against the U.S. bishops on behalf of  Tamesha Means, a Michigan woman. The lawsuit claims that Means was negligently treated at a Catholic hospital in 2010 when her water broke when she was 18 weeks pregnant.

Means made three visits to the emergency room, delivering the baby on the third visit. Her baby died less than three hours after birth, while she herself suffered severe pain and an infection. The lawsuit claims that the hospital should have told Means an abortion was an option and “the safest course.”

The legal group, which has a history of targeting Catholic institutions, is suing the U.S. bishops rather than the hospital on the grounds that the bishops set ethical practices for Catholic hospitals. Catholic teaching, reflected in the “Ethical and Religious Directives,” recognizes that abortion kills an innocent life and that the lives of both the mother and of the unborn baby deserve care.

In its editorial, the New York Times noted that Catholic hospitals have about 15 percent of the hospital beds in the country and are often the only facilities available in many communities.

The editorial claimed it is a violation of medical ethics and existing law to allow “religious doctrine to prevail over the need for competent emergency care and a woman’s right to complete and accurate information about her condition and treatment choices.”

The piece also denigrated religious freedom arguments, saying only that “the bishops are free to worship as they choose and advocate for their beliefs.” It added that religious beliefs should not “shield the bishops from legal accountability when church-affiliated hospitals following their rules cause patients harm.”

In their response, however, the Catholic Health Association strongly criticized the editorial.

“It is inaccurate and irresponsible to assert that these wonderful community services are unsafe for mothers in an obstetrical emergency, simply because a Catholic hospital adheres to the Ethical and Religious Directives,” the association said.

Such an assertion, the association said, “can be frightening to families and is grossly disrespectful to the thousands of physicians, midwives and nurses who are so devoted to their patients and to the care they deliver.”

The health group also questioned the New York Times editorial board’s assumption that abortion is a solution. In obstetric emergencies, the association noted, the unborn infant is “almost always much desired” and parents want “every option for saving their baby.”

“This is not a simple clinical situation that you ‘take care of’ and then move on,” the association said. “Anyone who has ever cared for these parents knows that this will always be the child they lost.”

The Catholic bishops’ ethical directives do not prevent the provision of quality care for mothers and infants in obstetrical emergencies, the Catholic Health association said.

“Their experience in hundreds of Catholic hospitals over centuries is outstanding testimony to that.”

The merits of the ACLU lawsuit have been challenged on both medical and legal grounds. U.S. bishops' conference president Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz on Dec. 6 said the lawsuit is “a clear violation of the First Amendment.”

Dr. Brian C. Calhoun, a professor and vice-chair in the obstetrics and gynecology department at West Virginia University-Charleston, told CNA Dec. 2 that abortion is “never necessary to save the life of the mother.”

He added that an abortion at 18 weeks is usually performed through “surgical dismemberment” and surgical abortions have “numerous” complications for a pregnant woman. The physician suggested the lawsuit is an attempt “to make abortion seem like a great idea.”

An unborn baby at 18 weeks is “essentially fully formed,” Calhoun said. The baby has a small human profile and is about 5.5 inches long and seven ounces in weight. He or she can make sucking motions with his or her mouth and can begin to hear, the Mayo Clinic website says. The mother can often feel the baby’s motions.

Catholic University of America law professor Mark Rienzi told CNA Dec. 4 said that the ACLU lawsuit ignores federal and state laws that protect the right of religious providers to refrain from providing or referring to abortions.

He said the lawsuit from the pro-abortion rights legal group was “an effort to drive people with different views out of the health care field.”

Should the lawsuit succeed, it would mean “a lot fewer health care providers,” said Rienzi, who specializes in constitutional law and religious liberty issues.

Pope affirms traditionalist fraternity for unity with Peter

Paris, France, Nov 15, 2013 / 02:47 am (CNA).- Congratulating them on their 25th anniversary, Pope Francis has expressed his appreciation for the devotion to the Bishop of Rome exhibited by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter.

“It was in a moment of great trial for the Church that the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter was born,” read an Oct. 28 letter from Archbishop Luigi Ventura, apostolic nuncio to France, to Fr. Vincent Ribeton, French district superior of the fraternity.

“The Holy Father encourages them to pursue their mission of reconciliation among all the faithful, whatever may be their sensibility, and this to work so that all welcome one another in the profession of the same faith and the bond of an intense fraternal charity.”

The letter, translated into English at Rorate Caeli, opened by stating that “Pope Francis joins the thanksgiving of her members for the work accomplished in this quarter-century spent at the service of ecclesial communion 'with Peter and under Peter'.”

“In a great spirit of obedience and hope, her founders turned with confidence to the Successor of Peter so as to offer the faithful attached to the Missal of 1962 the possibility of living their faith in the full communion of the Church.”

The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter was founded in 1988 by 12 priests of the Society of St. Pius X. The founders left the Society of St. Pius X to establish the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter after the society's leader, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without the permission of Blessed John Paul II.

The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter forms priests for the use of the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, and having formed them, deploys priests in parishes for the service of the Church.

The letter from Archbishop Ventura continued, noting the importance of the FSSP in the work of the Second Vatican Council.

“By the celebration of the sacred Mysteries according to the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite and by the orientations of the Constitution on the Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, as well as by passing on the apostolic faith as it is presented in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, may they contribute, in fidelity to the living Tradition of the Church, to a better comprehension and implementation of the Second Vatican Council.”

The nuncio noted that Pope Francis “exhorts them, according to their own charism, to take an active part in the mission of the Church in the world of today through the testimony of a holy life, a firm faith, and an inventive and generous charity.”

The letter concluded by noting that Pope Francis granted “with an open heart” an apostolic blessing upon pilgrims who visited Lourdes or St. Sulpice parish in Paris for the fraternity's 25th anniversary.

Colorado Obamacare ad criticized even by Planned Parenthood

Denver, Colo., Nov 15, 2013 / 05:54 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- A Colorado ad campaign to encourage young people to purchase the insurance plans offered under Obamacare have garnered criticism for their glib attitude and promotion of risky behaviors.

Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado, a subsidiary of Planned Parenthood, tweeted Nov. 12 that an ad entitled "Let's get physical" was "unfortunate"for its " #slutshaming #women who use #birthcontrol" incorrectly assuming that the campaign was a parody by "anti-obamacare folks."

It was only after two hours that PPVotesColorado realized the ads were not parodies, and tweeted that “to be clear, ads encouraging women to be healthy are good! So is dialogue about birth control”.

The ad in question featured a "Hot to Trot" millennial woman with a date and birth control pills, who expressed that she hoped the man is "as easy to get as this birth control," and that all she has "to worry about is getting him between the covers.”

"It's degrading to women, and it says a lot about what they think of America's youth today," said Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., to Fox News.

The ads were commissioned by Colorado Consumer Health Initiative and ProgressNow Colorado Education, targeting younger generations to join the Affordable Care Act's healthcare exchanges.

The exchanges have been the subject of criticism since their opening on Oct. 1 due to their expense, lack of coverage, difficult-to-navigate website, and the cancelation of millions of already-existing plans due to new regulations.

As of Nov. 13, little more than 106,00 people have signed up for an Obamacare plan, the majority of them middle-aged or older, and policymakers have expressed concern over the program's future because of a lack of healthy, young people participating in the exchanges to offset the healthcare costs of the older individuals.

The ad campaign featured a tongue-in-cheek treatment of young persons engaging in risky behavior, including two bloodied pre-teen girls gathered together after a particularly violent game of soccer; college "bros" doing keg stands; ayoung boy carving a pumpkin with a machete; women taking "shotskis" off of skis; and two young women looking to "run away" with a cardboard cutout of Ryan Gosling after gaining "easy access to birth control."

One of the ads featuring college-aged men drinking, entitled "Brosurance," proclaimed: "Kegstands are crazy. Not having insurance is crazier. Don't tap into your beer money to cover those medical bills."

Adam Fox, the director of strategic engagement for the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative told Business Insider that it has "been fun to watch how it all plays out."

“We wanted to come up with a campaign that would attract attention and inject a bit of humor, and try to approach educating people about health insurance a little bit differently," he continued.

"It was really just brainstorming, 'OK, what are some of those risky activities we could work with that would tie it all together?'"

Dr. Janice Shaw Crouse, Senior Fellow at the Beverly LaHaye Institute, however, commented that the emphasis on risky behavior was less than entertaining. On a Nov. 13 post on the Concerned Women for America Facebook page, Crouse questioned the "encouragement for young people to destroy themselves and their futures."

She explained that among youth, "there is an STD epidemic (20 million NEW cases every year in the 15-25 bracket)," and binge drinking among youth sends many "teens to the hospital with alcohol poisoning — some to their deaths, not to mention the assaults, depression, suicide and wasted years," that come with risky behavior.

She added that the glorification of people's desires was not a positive trend for culture at large.

"While we glorify all sorts of strange, weird, off the wall 'spiritual' ideas, we denigrate and poke fun at Judeo-Christian values and the people who live by those tenets of faith," she commented.

"While we claim to love children and give them every material thing they could possibly want, we deny them the chance for meaningful, fulfilling lives. While we claim we want to empower women, we treat them as though they are ignorant, non-thinking fools and/or sex objects."

Pope Francis cancels meetings due to having a cold

Vatican City, Nov 15, 2013 / 09:55 am (CNA/EWTN News).- It was announced earlier today that Pope Francis cancelled all of his morning meetings due to a cold, but still presided over a scheduled Mass in which he ordained a bishop in the afternoon.

In a statement issued to journalists on Nov. 15, Vatican Spokesman Father Federico Lombardi noted that although the Pope had four audiences scheduled with various heads of dicasteries within the Curia, he decided to postpone them because the officials live in Rome and can be met with at any time.

However, despite his illness, Fr. Lombardi revealed that the Pope still decided to preside, as previously planned, over a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica in the afternoon.

During the Mass, which occurred at 4:30pm local time, Pope Francis ordained Monsignor Fernando Vergez Alzaga, Secretary General of the Vatican City State’s Governing Body, as a bishop.

Msgr. Alzaga is a member of the Legionaries of Christ, and was appointed to his position as Secretary General by the Pope earlier this fall.

It was noted upon his appointment that bishop-elect has not been appointed as a titular bishop, which is a traditional custom for the position, causing some to question the possibly that this is a signal of a new policy of Pope Francis.

Born in Salamanca in 1945, Msgr. Vérgez made his perpetual profession with the Legionaries in 1965, receiving his priestly ordination in 1969. He studied philosophy and theology at Rome’s Pontifical Gregorian University, and obtained a diploma from the School of Archives at the Vatican’s Secret Archives.

Fr. Vérgez first began his work for the Vatican over forty years ago, in 1972, at the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life.

Afterwards, in 1984, he was transferred to the Pontifical Council for the Laity, before becoming the head of the Holy See’s internet office ten years later. He served there until becoming head of the telecommunications office in 2008.

There are no current dates set for the morning’s audiences to be re-scheduled.

Reports of a more lax one-child policy in China 'misleading'

Beijing, China, Nov 15, 2013 / 02:39 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Recent news that the Chinese government is easing its one child policy is “very misleading” because they do not address the human rights violations at the policy's core, a leading critic says.

“The core of the policy is coercion,” Reggie Littlejohn, president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, told CNA Nov. 15.

“The problem is, that the government is telling people how many kids they can have, and it is enforcing that limit coercively, including forcibly aborting women up to the ninth month of pregnancy.”

“Earlier this month a woman died in a forced abortion,” Littlejohn added, saying this fact is “startlingly absent” from the latest news report from the Chinese government-run news agency Xinhua.

The Chinese government on Nov. 15 said it would allow couples in which one parent is an only child to have a second child, Reuters reports. The change could affect millions of families.

The policy was implemented in the 1970s to control population growth. Officials now believe the policy harms economic growth and has rapidly aged the population without young people to support them, Reuters reports. China’s working age population decreased in 2012 for the first time in many years.

The population control measures have also created a sex imbalance. Due to a cultural preference for boys, unborn baby girls are more likely to be aborted. There are now 118 boys born for every 100 girls.

Some Chinese officials’ use of coercive abortion to meet population goals has also drawn significant domestic and international opposition.

Wang Feng, a sociology professor at Fudan University who specializes in demographics, said the policy change will have “minimal” impact on demographics but has “substantial” political significance.

“This is one of the most urgent policy changes that we've been awaiting for years. What this will mean is a very speedy abolishment of the one-child policy,” Wang told Reuters.

However, Littlejohn characterized the policy change as “a mere tweaking” based only on economic and demographic considerations, not a rejection of coercion.

“We have not seen any reduction in forced abortion or forced sterilization in the countryside,” she said. “It’s still rampant.”

She also criticized sex-targeted abortions that disproportionately kill unborn girls, terming this “gendercide,” and adding that major media should not ignore the coercive aspects of the policy.

“It’s really hard to sustain a movement to end a human rights atrocity when everyone thinks it’s ended already,” she said. “It’s really destructive to human rights for them to fail to address the human rights aspect of the  one-child policy.

Previous news reports have also wrongly claimed an end to the policy was near, Littlejohn noted.

Pope Francis most popular name online, survey says

Rome, Italy, Nov 13, 2013 / 11:42 am (CNA/EWTN News).- A new global survey has revealed that Pope Francis has topped the list of names most mentioned on the internet so far this year, with his twitter account also receiving a high ranking on a list of most mentioned words.

“It’s official: Pope Francis is the most talked about person on the planet,” CNN’s “Belief Blog” co-editor Daniel Burke wrote in a Nov. 12 post.

“More folks have been chatting about the popular new pontiff online this year than Edward Snowden, Kate Middleton or even Miley Cyrus.”

The statistics, noted by Burke in his post, come from the 14th annual survey of the Global Language Monitor, which is a company based in Texas that tracks “top talkers” on the worldwide web.

According to Burke, the Monitor divides its research into the categories of “top words, top phrases and top names,” and base their research on the analysis of “English-language blogs, social media and 275,000 electronic and online news media.”

In this year’s survey, the Monitor found that Pope Francis came out as number one on the list of the most talked about names, followed by Obamacare, The National Security Agency, Edward Snowden, and Kate Middleton.

On the list of the most popular words mentioned online, the Monitor found that the Pope’s twitter handle, @Pontifex, came in fourth, stating that it was beat out by the words “404” – the code for a broken webpage – along with “fail” and “hashtag,” which is used to denote different topics on twitter.

President of the Global Language Monitor Paul Payack revealed that the words “’404’ and ‘fail’ got a big boost from the problematic launch of the Obama administration's website for purchasing health care under the Affordable Care Act,” Burke wrote.

In separate post written on the “Belief Blog” earlier this month, Burke spoke of the fact that the new pontiff seems to be gaining popularity even amongst atheists.

In light of the Pope’s “spontaneous acts of compassion,” Burke noted that Pope Francis has not only “earned high praise from fellow Catholics,” but that “even atheists love him.”

During a Nov. 7 video interview posted on the blog, Burke expressed his opinion that the pontiff’s popularity is growing because “we see a lot of religious leaders who talk about reaching out to the poor and the marginalized…but we finally see a religious figure who actually putting his hands on it, who's actually embracing these people physically.”

Burke then quoted several twitter posts from atheists written on the same day as the interview, including one by a woman who states that “I may be an atheist, but there's something about Pope Francis that makes me want to be Catholic. He's so inspiring.”

US bishops to address 'pervasive' challenges of pornography

Baltimore, Md., Nov 12, 2013 / 04:49 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. bishops have overwhelmingly approved the creation of a statement on pornography to address the “serious pastoral challenges” and consequences that it poses on a spiritual, social and personal level.

“Pornography comes in many forms but leaves its effects on all those exploited by or exposed to it. It is a great temptation that ravages men, women and children,” Bishop Richard J. Malone, chairman-elect of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, told the bishops’ fall assembly Nov. 12.

“The number of men, women and children who have been harmed by pornography use is not negligible, and we have an opportunity to offer healing and hope to those who have been wounded.”

The growing awareness of pornography’s “grave” impact means the bishops have “an opportunity to educate and to shine light on the mercy and freedom found in Christ,” he said.

Bishop Malone, who heads the Buffalo diocese, noted that the U.S. bishops have not issued a statement explicitly addressing pornography. He asked the assembled bishops to approve his committee’s request to write a statement on the issue to encourage more pastoral attention to it.

The U.S. bishops approved his request by a vote of 226 to 5.

Bishop Malone said that pornography poses “serious pastoral challenges” for clergy and the faithful. Pornography is widespread and “more accessible than in the past,” affecting people of younger and younger ages. Fewer people disapprove of it, and its use is increasing among both men and women.

Pointing to statistics that pornography is “a significant factor” in nearly 60 percent of divorces, the bishop cautioned that it is “highly addictive” and capable of altering brain chemistry and causing harmful social consequences.

The average age of first exposure to pornography is 10-11 years old, an alarming fact, he said.

“Love resonates in the human heart, because we were made for it,” Bishop Malone explained. “But we also know that there are many obstacles to true, lasting love. There are many counterfeit versions of love that promise much but deliver little.”

“There are many ways in which the body, created in the image of God as male and female, becomes a place of exploitation and ‘use’ instead of a place of communion and love.”

Bishop Malone’s proposal drew strong support and suggestions from the floor of the assembly.

In the question period, Bishop David Ricken of Green Bay, Wis., spoke “very much in favor” of the proposal.

“There are great advantages to the advances in social media. This is the dark side of all of that,” he said.

He warned that pornography “captures younger and younger people” and is “destroying marriages and families at a very rapid rate.”

He praised his diocese’s anti-pornography addiction initiative Reclaiming Sexual Health, noting that there are many new resources and ministries on the topic.

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of Kansas City said that his diocese’s Catholic Charities affiliate reports that over 50 percent of family counseling clients had pornography use as a problem that impaired their marriages and family life. He suggested that awareness of this issue should be raised at Sunday Mass, if it can be done through lay witness.

Bishop David Foley, retired head of the Diocese of Birmingham, Ala., praised the Sacrament of Reconciliation for combating pornography.

“I have found the power of the Sacrament of Penance in overcoming pornography is tremendous,” he said.

“It’s true confessors are hearing of this sin more often, but they are working with their penitents. The regular practice of confession is an answer, a strong answer, to this problem.”

Archbishop George Niederauer called attention to the Cincinnati-based Religious Alliance against Pornography, a 30-year-old organization co-founded by Cardinals Joseph Bernardin and John O’Connor.

In addition, Bishop James Conley of Lincoln, Neb., recommended the Covenant Eyes anti-pornography filtering and accountability computer program.

“I think it is the best out there,” he said.

Salt Lake City Bishop John Wester noted that the bishops’ Committee on Communications has been working on anti-pornography legislation. Bishop Curtis Guillory of Beaumont, Texas, said his diocese recently held a workshop on the issue for priests. Many of his priests said that they previously lacked information on pornography.

Another speaker, Bishop Jaime Soto of Sacramento, asked that the statement highlight social aspects of pornography, including exploitation of women and children in the U.S. and abroad.

Bishop Malone said that possible statement topics include chastity and sexuality; basic information about pornography, its use and its effects on users and users’ families; the negative effects of pornography on society; an “authentic vision” of the human person; and “the mercy, grace of conversion and freedom Christ offers through his Church, especially through the sacraments and prayer.”

He said the statement could also recommend “proven practical resources” for pornography users, their loved ones, and clergy.

Now that the proposal for the statement has been approved, it must be drafted by bishops working in committee and then presented to the bishops at a future meeting.