Author: Eric Deabill

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The oldest member of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Jozef Tomko, died in Rome at the age of 98.

The late cardinal had been hospitalized since the end of June after a fall, and he suffered further complications from COVID-19. He returned to his Vatican apartment Aug. 6 for continued care and died early Aug. 8.

In a telegram with his condolences published by the Vatican later the same day, Pope Francis praised “this esteemed and wise brother who, sustained by deep faith and great foresight, served the Gospel and the church with humility and self-sacrifice.”

The pope praised the late cardinal for his long and fruitful service and for his devotion and witness, exemplified by his praying the rosary every evening in St. Peter’s Square.

A funeral Mass will be celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica Aug. 11, and his remains will be buried at St. Elisabeth Cathedral in Košice, Slovakia.

He served nearly 16 years as the head of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, which was responsible for coordinating church activities in mission territories, especially Africa and Asia. After he retired in 2001, at the age of 77, he was appointed president of the Pontifical Committee for the International Eucharistic Congresses, until retiring in 2007.

Pope Benedict XVI continued to rely on the retired cardinal’s expertise, appointing him in 2010 to the Vatican commission studying the alleged Marian apparitions at Medjugorje, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In 2012, Pope Benedict appointed him and two other cardinals to lead a wide-ranging investigation into the so-called “Vatileaks scandal,” a series of leaks of letters exchanged among Vatican officials and between the officials and the pope himself. The cardinals were tasked with helping the pope understand the reasons behind the leaks and the problems they appeared to indicate.

As titular cardinal of the Basilica of Santa Sabina on Rome’s Aventine Hill, it was Cardinal Tomko who distributed ashes to the pope at the traditional Ash Wednesday Mass there.

He served that role for the past three popes, starting in 1996, and he once said he found it “truly difficult” to have to recite to each pope the formula, “Repent and believe in the Gospel!”

“He’s the one who has the full right to say that to me and everyone else,” Cardinal Tomko said.

Cardinal Tomko was born March 11, 1924, in Udavské, Slovakia. During the height of World War II, he came to Rome to finish his studies at the Pontifical Lateran University and the Pontifical Gregorian University, where he earned doctorates in theology, canon law and social sciences.

He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Rome in 1949 after a coup led by the communist party of Czechoslovakia in 1948 meant he was unable to return to his homeland. He was vice rector and later rector of the Czech seminary, the Pontifical Nepomucenum College, between the years of 1950 and 1965.

He worked at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith for 13 years, starting in 1966. He also taught at Pontifical Gregorian University from 1970 to 1978, and he served as grand chancellor of Rome’s Pontifical Urban University from 1985 to 2001.

Cardinal Tomko was named undersecretary of the Congregation for Bishops in 1974 and then secretary general of the Synod of Bishops in 1979.

He was ordained a bishop later that year in the Sistine Chapel with St. John Paul II as principal consecrator. The Polish pope elevated him to the College of Cardinals in 1985.

He co-founded a religious journal and the Slovak Institute of Sts. Cyril and Methodius, which later became the pontifical college for priests from Slovakia.

When he became head of the evangelization congregation, he traveled extensively to mission territories, and he helped support the establishment of nearly 180 new dioceses.

Despite his many responsibilities at the Vatican, the late cardinal remained active in pastoral ministry at a number of parishes in Rome. He also was active on an international level in the area of ecumenism, serving as delegate of the Holy See at the World Lutheran Federation and the World Council of Churches in Geneva in 1972. He was part of the executive committee of the Pontifical Mission Societies focusing on challenges facing consecrated life, the laity, and justice and peace.

His death leaves the College of Cardinals with 206 members, 116 of whom are under the age of 80 and eligible to vote in a conclave.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) – The passing of time in one’s life is meant to be lived as a God-given grace and not a meaningless pursuit to preserve one’s youthfulness, Pope Francis said.

Men and women are “apprentices of life” who amid trials and tribulations “learn to appreciate God’s gift, honoring the responsibility of sharing it and making it bear fruit for everyone,” the pope said Aug. 10 during his weekly general audience.

“The conceit of stopping time – of wanting eternal youth, unlimited well-being, absolute power – is not only impossible, it is delusional,” he said.

The pope continued his series of talks on old age and reflected on Jesus’ farewell to his disciples during the Last Supper, in which he promised to “prepare a place” for them.

The time of life that remains for the disciples, the pope said, mirrors that of old age, which is “the fitting time for the moving and joyful witness of expectation” for one’s true destination: “a place at the table with God, in the world of God.”

Old age, he continued, should not be lived “in the dejection of missed opportunities” but in seeing that “the time of aging that God grants us is already in itself” one of God’s great works.

“Our life is not made to be wrapped up in itself, in an imaginary earthly perfection,” the pope said. “It is destined to go beyond, through the passage of death – because death is a passage. Indeed, our stable place, our destination is not here, it is beside the Lord, where he dwells forever.”

True fulfillment in one’s life, he added, can only be found in God, and “old age brings closer the hope of this fulfillment.”

Old age, the pope said, departing from his prepared remarks, does not need to beautify itself to show its nobility. Instead, it serves as a reminder of one’s mortality and is an invitation “to rejoice in the passing of time” which “is not a threat, it is a promise,” the pope said.

Pope Francis encouraged Christians, especially the elderly, to live their final years of life “in the expectation of the Lord” because in old age, Jesus’ promise becomes “transparent, projecting toward the Holy City of which the Book of Revelation speaks.”

“The elderly are a promise, a witness of promise,” the pope said. “And the best is yet to come. The best is yet to come: It is like the message of elderly believers: the best is yet to come. May God grant us all an old age capable of this!”

LAGOS, Nigeria (CNS) – Nigerian officials identified six suspects arrested in connection with the June 5 attack that killed 40 people at St. Francis Catholic Church in Owo.

Maj. Gen. Jimmy Akpor, defense department spokesman, said all were linked to the Islamic State West Africa Province group. He said the arrests were made through a joint effort of military and defense officials.

Akpor said a preliminary investigation showed that “Idris Abdulmalik Omeiza was the mastermind of the terror attack on the Catholic Church in Owo as well as the attack on a police station” in Kogi state June 23. In the second attack, a police officer was killed and weapons were stolen.

Omeiza is sometimes known as Bin Malik. Police also arrested Momoh Otohu Abubakar, Aliyu Yusuf Itopa and Auwal Ishaq Onimisi for the Owo attack, in which attackers sneaked into a Pentecost Mass with explosives. Akpor confirmed Aug. 10 that the four were arrested Aug. 1.

On Aug. 11, Akpor said officials had arrested two more suspects: Al-Qasim Idris and Abdulhaleem Idris.

Officials did not release a motive for the attack.

Ondo Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu said the owner of the house where the attackers stayed before the June 5 attack in Owo also had been arrested.

Nigerian Catholic officials have decried violence against Catholic targets and urged government authorities crack down on armed groups that are carrying out kidnappings and attacks on faith communities.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – The Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade “presents a historic opportunity to reshape society for the better,” said the chairmen of U.S. bishops’ committees on pro-life activities, religious liberty, marriage and family, and domestic policy.

“The injustice of abortion has loosened its grip on our nation’s Constitution,” they said in an Aug. 1 joint statement. “We call on Congress to seize this hopeful moment by coming together around the dignity of every human person and the common good.”

“This begins with the recognition that every human life is an inestimable gift from God with an inalienable right to life deserving of full legal protection,” they said. “We must also recognize that the family — founded upon the love and mutual self-gift of husband and wife — is the first building block of society, and that raising children is both a great gift and a lifelong responsibility.”

The joint statement was issued by the chairmen of four U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committees: Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, Pro-Life Activities; New York Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, Religious Liberty; San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone, Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth; and Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul S. Coakley, Domestic Justice and Human Development.

“The health, safety and support of the family should be the focus of all good policymaking,” they said.

However, the bishops said, the House has been focused on bills to codify Roe into federal law; require the U.S. government to recognize the validity of same-sex marriages; and create a statutory right for people to access birth control and protect a range of “contraceptive methods,” including chemical abortions.

All of these measures will soon be taken up by the Senate.

They also noted the House is advancing appropriations bills that exclude long-standing provisions prohibiting federal taxpayer funding for abortion and protecting the conscience rights of health care providers.

Meanwhile, they said, Congress has taken no action since Dobbs on measures the USCCB has previously endorsed and continues to support, all of which they said would help to build up a culture of life.

These include:

— The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which prohibits employment practices that discriminate against making reasonable accommodations for qualified employees affected by pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions.

— The Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act, which would help low- and middle-income families adopt children by making the current credit fully refundable.

— An expanded child tax credit, including for pregnant women, and a federal paid family leave policy.

“A principled commitment to being pro-life entails a commitment both to protecting all human life, especially the most vulnerable, and to advancing policies that help families to flourish,” the bishops said. “As we accompany every family with prayer and support, those led by single or adoptive parents are close to our hearts.”

They pointed to what they said was “one positive note”: lawmakers’ “meaningful consideration of needed investments in care for our common home in a possible reconciliation framework,” referring to what is now being called the Inflation Reduction Act, which would allocate $369 billion to address climate change.

Among other provisions, the proposal would extend and expand many existing renewable energy credits and create new tax credits for investments in clean energy technologies or energy production. The House has passed the bill and it now awaits a Senate vote.

“Care for creation is also integral to care for human life, and we encourage continued efforts to advance proposals that will protect our common home and promote the well-being of human life and the environment for years to come,” the bishops said.

But with regard to the measures the USCCB supports that would protect all human life and help pregnant moms, single mothers, adoptive families and other families in need, they said that “since Dobbs, too many in Congress have ignored bills that would advance these worthy goals and have focused instead on bills that would attack them.”

“Such legislation places no value on the lives of children until their moment of birth, severs sex and marriage from their meaning, promotes using people as means to ends, and would strip rights of conscientious objection from those who oppose these hallmarks of the throwaway culture,” the bishops said.

They urged “all our elected officials to take action to reach consensus and pass” on the measures they outlined, from an expanded child tax credit to a federal paid family leave policy.

They also called for “further supports for the health and well-being of pregnant and parenting women, assistance with nutrition and affordable housing, environmental restrictions on chemicals that cause birth defects, and provisions to assist low-income families.”

“These are building blocks of our vision for ‘Standing with Moms in Need,'” they said, referring a statement the USCCB issued earlier this year, as the nation awaited the outcome of the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

The “Standing with Moms in Need” vision “upholds the truth that every human life is sacred and inviolable — a society in which the legal protection of human life is accompanied by profound care for mothers and their children.”

“Families and individuals, civil society, businesses, nonprofits and religious groups, government officials at all levels — and especially members of Congress — should ask themselves how they are supporting families at this moment, particularly around welcoming new life and raising children through adulthood,” the four USCCB committee chairmen said Aug. 1.

“Catholic social teaching shows the way to a better place — a society marked by justice, mutual support, civility, friendship, mercy and love — than where Congress is now leading,” they added. “We pray that Congress will rise to meet this generational moment.”

 

SCRANTON – In less than one week, the Most Reverend Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, along with Father Gerald Shantillo, Vicar General, and Father Brian J.T. Clarke, Director of the Pontifical Missions Office for the Diocese of Scranton, will begin a journey that will take them more than 5,000 miles from home.

The trio will travel to Africa, participating in a pastoral visit to the Diocese of Sunyani in Ghana.

For many years, the Diocese of Sunyani has generously shared its priests with the Diocese of Scranton. Currently, there are seven priests from Ghana ministering in the parishes of northeastern and north central Pennsylvania.

“It really means a great deal for me, on behalf of the clergy and the faithful of our diocese, to go to the Diocese of Sunyani and to share with their bishop and with all of their people, our deep gratitude for their presence here. It’s a sacrifice to travel halfway around the world and to live in a land that you don’t necessarily understand and know as well as your own home,” Bishop Bambera said.

On Aug. 1, Bishop Bambera invited all of the priests from Ghana who are currently serving in the Diocese of Scranton to join him in celebrating the 12:10 p.m. Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton.

As he reflected on the day’s Gospel from Saint Matthew, where Jesus multiplies the loaves and fishes, Bishop Bambera expanded on the importance of the Eucharist and all priests who make it available to the people.

That includes our brothers from Africa who so generously minister among us.

“We give thanks for all those priests from Ghana and throughout other parts of the world who are generous enough to share with us their ministry, to keep the Eucharist alive and available to all of our people,” the bishop said. “In turn, nourished by the sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood, each one of us can go forth and proclaim our belief in the Kingdom of God.”

Bishop Bambera, Father Shantillo and Father Clarke will be on their pastoral visit to the Diocese of Sunyani from Aug. 10-19. During the trip, Bishop Bambera is scheduled to celebrate several Masses with the faithful of the Diocese of Sunyani.

Depending on communication capabilities, Bishop Bambera plans to send updates home to the Diocese of Scranton regarding his visit as often as possible. Those messages will be shared with the faithful of the Diocese on the Diocese of Scranton website and social media channels.

WILKES-BARRE – Every Wednesday this summer, young adults have been coming together inside the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center to “cook up” something special.

This week, the kids made Italian Chicken, stuffing and green beans to share with other kids in their community who might be less fortunate.

The preparation and cooking is new to many of them.

“First, we had to cut the chicken and make sure there was no excess skin. Then we had to season it and cook it,” Jackie Barba, 14, of Wilkes-Barre said.

This effort is known as the “For Kids, By Kids” Food Program.

It was an idea developed from youth involved in community service through the Luzerne County Juvenile Wellness Court.

Other kids, like John Prater, who attends the Catholic Youth Center on a regular basis, wanted to participate in the effort.

“I’ve always had a passion for cooking. I’ve always liked cooking. I’ve always liked the idea of cooking for other people,” the 16 year old said.

Each week, the kids prepare and package up 150 meals that are donated to the community outside Kistler Elementary School.

“They may depend on our meals to help them through the day because you never know what is going on in somebody’s life. They may really need that meal,” Prater said. “They may want to give it to somebody else that they know who really needs it. Just the knowledge that you may be helping someone is enough to keep me going and keep cooking.”

With inflation at its highest level in decades, the students know their efforts are making a difference.

“It is kind of hard right now,” Fox Barba, 12, of Wilkes-Barre explained. “With gas prices that are high, they can’t really afford much food because they need to get to work and that is a lot of money for gas.”

Besides helping the hungry in the community, the program is also teaching the young adults life-long culinary skills.

The kids taking part range in age from 12 to 18.

While this is the first year for the “For Kids, By Kids” food program, Mark Soprano, executive director of the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center, hopes it will not be the last.

“This is a pilot program. We have funding for this summer. We don’t know what next summer is going to bring and it’s certainly something we want to do again next summer and even expand on the program so we’re always looking for other funding sources to help support the program and more volunteers. We hope to grow this program. We’re serving 150 meals today. We hope we can double that for next year,” Soprano explained.

For more information on the “For Kids, By Kids” program, contact Soprano at the Wyoming Valley Catholic Youth Center, 36 South Washington Street, Wilkes-Barre, or call (570) 823-6121.

WASHINGTON (CNS) – The chairmen of four U.S. bishops committees said July 27 that proposed regulations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on abortion, transgender services and other procedures threaten the Catholic Church’s ability “to carry out our healing ministries” and others’ ability “to practice medicine.”

They called the proposed regulations — a 308-page document released July 25 by HHS — “a violation of religious freedom and bad medicine.”

“They mandate health care workers to perform life-altering surgeries to remove perfectly healthy body parts,” the bishops said. “Assurances that HHS will honor religious freedom laws offer little comfort when HHS is actively fighting court rulings that declared HHS violated religious freedom laws the last time they tried to impose such a mandate.”

They added: “The proposed regulations announce that HHS is also considering whether to force health care workers to perform abortions against their will or lose their jobs. We call on HHS to explicitly disavow any such intent.”

The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released the joint statement from Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, chairman, Committee on Pro-Life Activities; Archbishop Paul S. Coakley of Oklahoma City, chairman, Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development; Archbishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco, chairman, Committee on Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth; and Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan of New York, chairman, Committee for Religious Liberty.

The proposed HHS regulations would apply to implementation of the Affordable Care Act’s Section 1557, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability or sex – including pregnancy, sexual orientation and gender identity – in covered health programs or activities.

In 2020, the Trump administration put in place a final rule that eliminated the general prohibition on discrimination based on gender identity and also adopted abortion and religious freedom exemptions for health care providers. But the courts blocked this rule change.

In 2021, shortly after he was inaugurated, President Joe Biden issued an executive order declaring that his administration would apply the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2020 ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County in all areas of government — including the ACA.

In a 6-3 ruling, the court held that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity is necessarily also discrimination “because of sex” as prohibited by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Biden administration’s so-called “transgender mandate” required that doctors and hospitals perform gender-transition procedures on any patient despite any moral or medical objections of the doctor or health care facility.

Last year a number of Catholic health care organizations filed a lawsuit challenging the mandate. A federal court blocked it mandate last August, granting the plaintiffs’ request for a permanent injunction.

The court permanently enjoined HHS, HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra and all HHS-related divisions, agencies and employees “from interpreting or enforcing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act.”

Also last year, lawyers for the plaintiffs discovered a 74-page legal memorandum attached to a court filing from a consortium of 30 sexual rights groups revealed that HHS had promised to revise its mandates on health plan coverage and performance to include surgical abortion, cross-sex hormones, gender-transition surgeries, gender-affirming cosmetic surgeries and voice modification — along with a host of expanded services dealing with fertility treatments, contraception, abortifacients and sterilizations.

Once the newly released HHS proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register, a period for public comment will begin. HHS said this period will be 60 days after publication. As of July 27, the HHS proposal had not yet been published on the website https://www.federalregister.gov.

“Catholics have been called to care for the sick since the earliest days of our faith,” said the USCCB committee chairmen. “Today, the various agencies and social service ministries of the Catholic Church taken together are equivalent to the largest nonprofit health care provider in the country.”

The church does “this work in fulfillment of the direct command of Jesus Christ and in imitation of his divine ministry here on earth,” they said.

“Catholic health care ministries serve everyone, no matter their race, sex, belief system or any other characteristic,” the bishops continued. “The same excellent care will be provided in a Catholic hospital to all patients, including patients who identify as transgender, whether it be for a broken bone or for cancer, but we cannot do what our faith forbids. We object to harmful procedures, not to patients.”

The bishops said they “will continue to review these proposed regulations and will file more thorough comments at the appropriate time.”

EDMONTON, Alberta (CNS) – After a flight of more than 10 hours from Rome, Pope Francis landed in Edmonton and met briefly at the airport with Indigenous leaders, Canada’s governor general and prime minister before heading to the local seminary for a rest.

Governor General Mary Simon and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau walked alongside the pope as an aide pushed him in a wheelchair into an airport hangar for the informal welcome. Four Indigenous drummers heralded the arrival of their special guest.

The pope, governor general and prime minister were greeted by: RoseAnn Archibald, national chief of the Assembly of First Nations; Gerald Antoine, regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations; Natan Obed, president of Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami; and Audrey Poitras, president of the Métis Nation of Alberta.

On the long flight from Rome, Pope Francis kept his habit of making a few brief remarks to reporters traveling with him and then – leaning heavily on a silver cane – walking all the way down one aisle and back up the other to personally greet the more than 75 reporters, photographers and camera operators traveling with him.

“I’m happy to greet you like always,” he said. “I think I can get around.”

The pope had boarded the plane by “ambulift,” a platform that lifted him in his wheelchair to the ITA plane.

Pope Francis told the reporters his visit to Canada July 24-29 would be “a penitential trip” to meet with, listen to and apologize to members of Canada’s First Nation, Métis and Inuit communities, especially those who experienced abuse or attempts at forced assimilation at church-run residential schools.

Pope Francis also noted that he would be flying to Canada when he usually would lead the recitation of the Angelus prayer. “But let’s do an Angelus here,” he said, referring mainly to his customary Sunday midday address.

With the Catholic Church around the globe marking the World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly July 24, the pope’s mini-, airborne-Angelus address focused on how “grandfathers and grandmothers are those who have handed on history, traditions, customs — many things.”

“Young people need contact with their grandparents, to go back to them, to their roots, not to remain there, not, but to carry them forward,” he said, like a tree that draws nourishment from its roots to flower and produce fruit.

As a Jesuit, Pope Francis said he also wanted to urge members of religious orders to treasure their elderly members – “the grandparents of consecrated life.”

“Please, don’t hide them away,” the pope said.

The importance of elders as the keepers of wisdom and as educators of the young was expected to be a recurring theme during the pope’s visit to Alberta, Quebec and Nunavut.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, was accompanying Pope Francis on the trip. He told Vatican News July 23 the pope’s focus would be on acknowledging and apologizing for the past, but also looking at the present and future.

When the pope met April 1 at the Vatican with First Nation, Métis and Inuit representatives, the cardinal said, “the pope expressed shame and indignation at the actions of not a few Christians who, instead of bearing witness to the Gospel, conformed to the colonial mentality and past government policies of cultural assimilation, which severely harmed indigenous communities.”

“Especially painful was the role of some Catholics in the so-called residential school system, which resulted in the removal of many indigenous children from their families,” the cardinal said. Many children endured emotional, physical and sexual abuse at the schools, in addition to being cut off from their native languages, customs and ceremonies.

That past, Cardinal Parolin said, is why Pope Francis described his trip as a “penitential pilgrimage” and will focus on “healing wounds and reconciliation.”

However, he said, the pope’s visit also will include a reflection on Indigenous values that can and should be shared with the wider society and church today.

“Indeed, it can be fruitful for everyone to rediscover many of their values and teachings,” such as concern for family and community, care for creation, the importance of spirituality, the strong bond between generations and respect for the elderly, the cardinal said.

The pope’s trip was planned around the feast of Sts. Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus. Pope Francis is scheduled to join Indigenous pilgrims on the feast day, July 26, at Lac Ste. Anne.

At a news conference broadcast on YouTube before the pope’s arrival, Archbishop Richard Smith of Edmonton told reporters, “I believe that this will be a very important moment in the history of our country.”

Father Cristino Bouvette, an Indigenous priest from the Diocese of Calgary, said everything about the papal visit was planned around the Indigenous communities, especially the survivors of residential schools, and their search for justice, healing and reconciliation.

The program, he said, “has been designed with the explicit intention of highlighting and remaining present to the needs and concerns that have inspired the pope to come here in the first place. He probably likes Canada, but he’s not coming here because he likes Canada. He is coming here to address this specific and particular pastoral need as a pastor.”