Friday, Dec. 9, 2011

Documentary tells story of Polish priest born a Jew during Holocaust

Washington--If someone were to make a movie about a Polish priest who was born a Jew during the Holocaust, adopted by Polish parents who didn’t tell him until he was in his 30s of his parentage, his pilgrimage to Israel to reclaim his Jewish heritage, and his stubborn insistence to Israeli authorities that he be considered simultaneously both a Jew and a Catholic, “Torn” would be the perfect title. Ronit Kertsner is on the film festival circuit with her documentary, which examines the life of Fr. Romauld Jakub Weksler-Waszkinel. The Weksler surname comes from his Jewish parents, who gave him up for adoption March 25, 1943. “I must have been eight days old, I’m not sure,” he said in a 1993 interview. The Waszkinel surname comes from the Polish couple who adopted him before the rest of the Weksler family perished at the hands of the Nazis. Kertsner said she first ran across Fr. Weksler-Waszkinel in the late 1990s when she was making a documentary called “The Secrets,” about Catholics in Poland who found out they had been born Jewish. “When I started making ‘Torn,’ I was finding out what had happened to these people” 10 years after “The Secrets” had been released, Kertsner told Catholic News Service in a telephone interview from New York, where “Torn” had been screened at a festival. ©CNS

Vatican official urges end of violence, ‘real reforms’ in Syria

Vatican City--A Vatican official deplored the growing violence in Syria, and called on political leaders there to enact “real reforms.” Abp. Silvano Tomasi made the remarks Dec. 2 to a special session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, which was discussing the Syrian crackdown on regime opponents that has left an estimated 4,000 people dead in recent months. Abp. Tomasi, the Vatican’s representative to UN and other agencies in Geneva, said the Vatican was following “with great concern the dramatic and growing episodes of violence in Syria, which have caused many victims and grave suffering.” He said the anti-government protests that began in Syria last spring arose from legitimate aspirations for “better future of economic well-being, justice, freedom and participation in public life. They point to the urgent necessity of real reforms in social, economic and political life.” he added. Abp. Tomasi said it was important that such changes take place without intolerance, discrimination or conflict, but instead through respect for truth and for the “legitimate rights of individuals and groups.” He said: “Such principles must guide leaders while taking account of the aspirations of civil society as well as the instances of the international community.” ©CNS

‘Ad limina’ is time of reflection, renewal, bishop says

Rome--A bishop’s “ad limina” visit to Rome should be a time of reflection, renewal and inspiration to return home to preach the Gospel with joy, said Bp. Paul G. Bootkoski of Metuchen, NJ. Preaching to his brother bishops from New Jersey and Pennsylvania Dec. 3 at Rome’s Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. Bp. Bootkoski said, “If we have a sense of joy and convey that message, that will attract the people of our society because, by and large, today it seems to be a joyless society.” With Pope Benedict XVI and bishops around the world focusing on the “new evangelization”--finding new ways to preach the Gospel to people who have heard of Christ, yet never believed or have stopped practicing their faith--Bp. Bootkoski said the bishops must reflect on how they preach, teach and live. “It’s a difficult age for all of us,” he said. As recent popes have noted, “Western society has forgotten the concept of sin” and many people see themselves primarily as “victims” of things that have gone wrong, rather than as people responsible for making good or bad choices. And, the bishop said, the sense of victimhood “creeps into our own personal lives” and ministry, unless each one is honest with himself and with God. Bp. Bootkoski said that echoing St. John the Baptist’s cry, “Prepare the way of the Lord,” in the modern world is difficult when people do not believe they have to change. The key to effective preaching and teaching is to have “a sense of joy. Sin abounds. It’s all around, but it does not overtake us because we have the message of Jesus Christ,” he said. ©CNS

Pope prays for migrants, encourages international assistance

Vatican City--Pope Benedict XVI expressed concern for the millions of migrants around the world, and encouraged the agencies trying to help them. “I entrust to the Lord all those who, often forcibly, must leave their homeland, or who are stateless,” the pope said at his noon blessing Dec. 4. “While I encourage solidarity for them, I pray for all those who are doing their utmost to protect and assist these brothers and sisters in emergency situations, even if it means exposing themselves to serious hardships and dangers,” he said. The pope noted the upcoming anniversaries of international conventions dedicated to assisting migrants worldwide. In early December, government representatives were to meet in Geneva to mark the 60th anniversary of the International Organization for Migration and discuss migration issues. The next day, the Vatican announced that the international organization had accepted the Holy See as a full member state. Abp. Silvano Tomasi, the Vatican representative to international organizations based in Geneva, told Vatican Radio Dec. 5, “At a time when we’re seeing a continuous increase in migrants, refugees and people on the move for various reasons, it’s important to be present and participate in the efforts of the international community to bring something specific, which is typical of the Holy See: an ethical voice.” The archbishop said for centuries Catholics have generously assisted migrants and refugees “independently of their religious faith, their color and their legal situation. It is the human person, the dignity of the human person that counts and frequently is at risk in the situations of marginalization created in moving from one country to another.” ©CNS

Judge turns down request to question Vatican officials in US abuse case

Portland, OR--A federal judge in Portland has declined to order face-to-face questioning of Vatican officials in a lawsuit claiming that the Vatican was the employer of an abusive priest in the 1960s. US District Judge Michael W. Mosman ruled Dec. 1 that attorneys for the plaintiff in the case, John V. Doe v. Holy See, had not proven the need for an exception to the immunity given to foreign nations under US law. The Vatican has published Online more than 70 pages of documents which, it said, prove the Vatican had no knowledge of a priest’s sexual misconduct until he and his religious order petitioned for his laicization. It also has provided more than 1,800 pages of documentation to the court. The case involves the late Andrew Ronan, a former Servite priest who was laicized in 1966. A man, now 63, who says he was abused by Ronan in Oregon in 1965 is seeking to hold the Vatican legally responsible, saying Ronan was a Vatican employee. In June 2010, the US Supreme Court left standing a lower court ruling that Doe could try to hold the Vatican financially responsible for his sexual abuse by Ronan, if he could persuade the court that the priest was an employee of the Holy See. When the Online posting was made in mid-August, Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman, said in a statement that it was being done “to assist those in the public who wish to study the matter carefully, and to assist the United States court in resolving the remaining issues in the case.” ©CNS

Guadalupe procession, Mass in Los Angeles honor ‘mother of our roots’

Los Angeles--Los Angeles Abp. Jose H. Gomez Dec. 4 urged a crowd of 25,000 people from throughout the archdiocese to immerse themselves in a deeper conversion and to view and help each other as brothers and sisters of the “familia de Dios” (family of God). “The beautiful woman of Tepeyac is Jesus’ mother and she is also our mother. She is the mother of the Americas and mother of all the people,” Abp. Gomez said during his homily at Mass following the 80th annual procession in honor of the Virgin of Guadalupe in East Los Angeles. “She is the ‘Mother of Our Roots,’” he said, translating this year’s theme, “Madre de Nuestras Raices.” As has been traditional for the past eight decades, parish groups, decorated floats, equestrians and indigenous dancers escorted the image of the Virgin of Guadalupe in a two-mile walk that ended at East Los Angeles College Stadium, where they gathered for the Mass at which Abp. Gomez presided. Card. Roger M. Mahony, who is the retired archbishop of Los Angeles, Los Angeles Auxiliary Bp. Gerald E. Wilkerson and Bp. Alexander Salazar and more than 20 priests concelebrated. Accompanied by mariachis, people chanted “Viva la Virgen de Guadalupe! Viva San Juan Diego! Viva la Virgen de las Americas!” during the oldest religious procession in Los Angeles that recalls Mary appearing to St. Juan Diego 480 years ago at Tepeyac Hill, in what is now the northern part of Mexico City. “We are so excited to be here,” said Humberto Turckheim, a parishioner of Precious Blood Church in Los Angeles who was dressed as St. Juan Diego. ©CNS

HHS secretary says girls under 17 must consult doctors to get Plan B

Washington--The US bishops’ pro-life spokeswoman said she was relieved that the Obama administration has decided not to allow the Plan B One-Step “morning-after pill” to be sold without a prescription to those under 17. “Luckily, things did not go from bad to even worse,” Deirdre McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications at the USCCB Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities, told Catholic News Service Dec. 8. “We’re pleased that they did not expand access to this very powerful drug.” McQuade said Plan B One-Step, known generically as levonorgestrel, “is 40 times more potent than comparable progestin-only birth control pills for which a prescription is required” even for adult women. Announcing the decision Dec. 7, Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, said the drug manufacturer, Teva Women’s Health, had not proven that those under 17 were sufficiently mature to use Plan B One-Step properly. “There are significant cognitive and behavioral differences between older adolescent girls and the youngest girls of reproductive age,” who could be as young as 11, Sebelius said. Although “science has confirmed the drug to be safe and effective with appropriate use,” she said, “the switch from prescription to over-the-counter for this product requires that we have enough evidence to show that those who use this medicine can understand the label and use the product appropriately. “I do not believe that Teva’s application met that standard,” Sebelius said. “The label comprehension and actual use studies did not contain data for all ages for which this product would be available for use.” ©CNS

Pope taps tablet, lights world’s largest Christmas ‘tree’

Vatican City--Pope Benedict XVI tapped a tablet computer and successfully lit the world’s largest electronic Christmas “tree” located in the Italian town of Gubbio. Before turning on the tree with a tap on the Sony S Tablet, the pope addressed the citizens of Gubbio via a video link from his apartment in Vatican City Dec. 7, calling on Christians to serve as a light in the lives of others. In his talk, the pope said that just as the tree design in Gubbio was made up of tiny individual lights, each person needs to bring light to the people and places in their lives, to their family, workplace, neighborhood, town or city. “Every small act of kindness is like a light in this big tree: together with the other lights it can bring light to even the darkest of nights,” the pope said. Located on the face of Mount Ignio, the electronic tree extends more than 2,000 feet and contains more than 900 lights, illuminating the side of the mountain. ©CNS

Vatican official calls for a world day against Christian persecution

Vatican City--A top Vatican official called for the establishment of a world day dedicated to raising awareness of religious injustices suffered by Christians. Abp. Dominique Mamberti, the Vatican’s top foreign affairs official, addressed members at the 18th meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, or OSCE, Dec. 6 in Vilnius, Lithuania. “There may be more than 200 million Christians, of different confessions, who are in difficulty because of legal and cultural structures that lead to their discrimination,” the archbishop said. “The celebration of an international day against persecution and discrimination of Christians might prove to be an important sign that governments are willing to deal with this serious issue,” he said. The Lithuanian OSCE chairmanship had organized a conference held in Rome in September themed, “Preventing and Responding to Hate Incidents and Crimes against Christians.” In his December speech to the OSCE, the archbishop called that event “successful and hopeful” because it recognized the need for dialogue between Christians, other religious groups and nonbelievers. ©CNS

Church should fear sin of members more than persecution, pope says

Rome--The church should fear the sin of its own members more than hatred against Christians, Pope Benedict XVI said. While the church has suffered from persecution throughout its history, it “is supported by the light and strength of God” and will always end up victorious, he said. Overcoming trials and outside threats shows how the Christian community “is the presence, the guarantee of God’s love against all ideologies of hatred and selfishness,” he said on the feast of the Immaculate Conception Dec. 8. “The only danger the church can and should fear is the sin of her members,” the pope said. Pope Benedict marked the feast day by making an afternoon visit to a statue of Mary erected near the Spanish Steps. He went from the Vatican to the heart of Rome’s tourist and shopping district to pay homage to Mary by praying before the statue, which commemorates Pope Pius IX’s proclamation in 1854 that Mary, by special divine favor, was without sin from the moment she was conceived. The pope offered a large basket of white roses, which was then set at the foot of the column topped by the statue. He also greeted and blessed the infirm and their caregivers. He told the crowds gathered for the event that Mary is “free from every stain of sin (and) the church is holy, but at the same time is marked by our sins.” ©CNS