APRIL 19, 2015, Vol 65, No 08

SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2015

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Humility is key to understanding Easter: pope Pontiff also prays for end to violence against Christians at Easter Mass VATICAN CITY – To enter Christ’s

empty tomb like the disciples and see that He has risen, Christians today also must “bend down”, Pope Francis said in his Easter message.

“Love has triumphed over hatred. Life has conquered death.

Light has dispelled the darkness,” he told tens of thousands of raindrenched pilgrims in St Peter’s Square on April 5.

Rain fell hard throughout most of the outdoor Mass. While most people had umbrellas, their Àimsy plastic ponchos were no match for the wind and downpour.

Still, they stayed for the Mass and for the pope’s solemn Easter blessing urbi et orbi (to the city and the world).

Pope Francis did not give a homily during the morning Mass, but his Easter message before the blessing picked up a theme he had begun at the Easter vigil the night before: The mystery of Easter cannot be understood – and the Christian faith cannot be lived fully – without humility.

“Only those who humble themselves can go towards the ‘things that are above’, toward God,” he said.

To enter into the mystery of God’s love, he said, “we need to ‘bend down’, to abase ourselves.

Only those who abase themselves understand the glori¿cation of -esus and are able to follow him on his way.”

Obviously, he said, that often involves being countercultural. Instead of putting ourselves ¿rst, he said, “Christians, by the grace of Christ, dead and risen, are the seeds of another humanity, in which we seek to live in service to one another, not to be arrogant, but rather respectful and ready to help.”

“This is not weakness, but true strength!” the pope said. “Those

INSIDE HOME St Pat’s chapel rededicated 82-year-old chapel underwent renovations

ASIA Severance pay for ex-priests and nuns?

Indian Church debates the issue Page 8

WORLD Underway: World Youth Day preparations Poland’s infrastructure being boosted for 2016 event Page 13

POPE FRANCIS Synod on family Pray for event, don’t gossip, advises pope

Easter Vigil

Continued on Page 16

NO. 08

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who bear within them God’s power, His love and His justice, do not need to employ violence; they speak and act with the power of truth, beauty and love.”

As is traditional for the urbi et orbi message, Pope Francis offered prayers for an end to war and violence in speci¿c countries, mentioning by name Syria, Iraq, the Holy Land, Libya, Nigeria, South Sudan, Congo, Yemen and Ukraine.

In better news, the pope said, “in hope, we entrust to the merciful Lord the framework recently agreed to” in order to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. The pope prayed that it would be “a de¿nitive step toward a more secure and fraternal world”.

As he had at every Holy Week and Easter service, Pope Francis offered special prayers for persecuted Christians, asking that “-esus, the victor over death,” would ease their suffering.

Pope Francis’ Easter celebrations began in the dark of a rainy April 4 night in the atrium of St Peter’s Basilica. Hot embers glowed until the Easter ¿re was lit and with it the paschal candle. As a deacon carried the candle into the church, Pope Francis followed with a large taper.

Although only the pope and the deacon had candles, the basilica was aglow with smartphone and tablet displays as people tried to get photos. However, as the pope neared the front of the basilica, the congregation – mostly nuns, priests, bishops, cardinals and ambassadors close to the altar – was more disciplined and the impact of scattered lit candles grew.

VOL 65

Pope Francis incenses the altar as he celebrates Easter Mass in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on April 5. CNS photos

Page 15

OPINION Easter and Christmas How one feast leads to another Page 18

FEATURE Understanding the roles of archdiocesan RIÀFHV A look at the Chancery Faithful attending the Mass in the pouring rain.

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Archbishop William Goh, apostolic nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli and about 50 priests celebrated the Mass at St Joseph’s Church (Victoria St).

Archdiocese holds memorial Mass for Lee Kuan Yew

By Lorna O’Hara “Intelligent, wise and a visionary.”

This was how Archbishop William Goh described the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew at a memorial Mass held for him on March 27.

More than 5,000 people packed St Joseph’s Church (Victoria St), spilling out onto the church grounds, to pray for the founding father of Singapore who died on March 23.

Other celebrants at the 1.15 pm Mass were apostolic nuncio Archbishop Leopoldo Girelli and about 50 priests.

Mr Lee “was not just a great statesman”, Archbishop Goh said in his homily, “he was a great man in himself because he was a man of principles. He was a man who followed his conscience and his convictions. Rightly or wrongly, he stood by his convictions.”

It was because of Mr Lee’s principles that Singapore has “remained united”, said the archbishop. “We have different religions, different races and he has done his job as a political leader... He has preserved order, unity among ourselves.”

Archbishop Goh noted that Mr Lee promoted interreligious dialogue, and did not “tolerate fundamentalism when a religion tries to impose its faith and values on others”.

And although he professed himself to be an agnostic, “deep in his heart, he was a man searching also for God,” said Archbishop Goh, adding that Mr Lee took up Christian meditation later on in life.

In Mr Lee’s last will, he requested for part of his ashes to be mixed with his wife’s, said Archbishop Goh. “For me, it’s a veiled desire for fullness of life, for union, for love.”

Archbishop Goh also de-

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scribed Mr Lee as a person “totally devoted to making the lives of others richer”, a man who “lived for others”.

“This legacy is really the spirit of the Gospel. The spirit of Jesus Christ. That we need to die for others. No man must live for himself,” said Archbishop Goh. “The best legacy that he has left behind and the greatest hon-

Archbishop Goh noted that there are many who disagreed with some of the policies Mr Lee introduced, such as the “Stop At Two” programme, the legalisation of abortion and casinos, as well as his eugenics theory, which supports the idea that educated Singaporeans should get married in order to produce more intelligent children.

He was a man who followed ‘ his conscience and his convictions.

Rightly or wrongly, he stood by his convictions.

’

– Archbishop Goh on Mr Lee Kuan Yew

our we can give to him is to make sure that we too give up our lives for the service of others, for the service of the country and for the service of God. But always remembering the principles of integrity, honesty, justice.”

However, the archbishop also stressed in his homily, “We are not canonising Mr Lee Kuan Yew...

Like us all, he had his Àaws, he had his limitations.”

Under the late statesman’s leadership, the Catholic community, in 1987, also faced a “dark period when we had to deal with this ‘Marxist conspiracy’”, said Archbishop Goh. “We can disagree with him”, said Archbishop Goh, but if “he should be faulted, he should be faulted for being overprotective of his children in Singapore”.

In May and June 1987, 22

people, including many with connections to the Catholic Church, were arrested under the Internal Security Act, accused of plotting to overthrow the government under the cover of the Church.

In a separate statement to CatholicNews later, Archbishop Goh said that Catholics in Singapore should use the “Marxist Conspiracy” incident “to teach us forgiveness and most of all to learn from this lesson”.

“Only by seeing the events in the light of Christ’s redemptive innocent suffering on the cross can we be healed of our memories and psychological pains. It means that remembering this event will no longer hurt us but give us occasion to praise and thank God for this event which has helped us all to grow in truth and love,” he said.

Archbishop Goh told CatholicNews that this was what he meant by forgiving and forgetting, in comments made to secular media earlier.

Among the invited guests who attended the memorial Mass was Mr Alphonsus Tan Chok Kian, a retired top civil servant who served as permanent secretary in

various ministries under Mr Lee’s administration.

He cited Mr Lee’s wisdom and vision as outstanding traits that made him an extraordinary leader.

“He could foresee not just the big picture two, three years ahead, but also the details,” said the 84-year-old Catholic who also served as chairman of the Central Provident Fund and POSB Bank.

As for Mr Lee’s view of the Catholic Church, he said: “I think it is fair to say he had a favourable impression of the Church and a high regard for Catholics. In fact, many who served under him from the early years to modern-day are Catholics.”

Ms Jacintha Teo, 75, told CatholicNews, “It’s very right and a great gesture taken by the Catholic Church to offer a Mass for Lee Kuan Yew. He made giant efforts to ensure that we live in a peaceful and prosperous city.”

The Mass also saw 1,000 prayer cards, containing handwritten messages by Catholics in honour of Mr Lee, placed at the foot of the altar. lorna.ohara@catholic.org.sg

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Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

St Pat’s chapel rededicated Br Robert Schieler, Superior General of the La Salle Brothers, and Archbishop Goh holding the FHUWL¿FDWH RI rededication of the chapel.

Photo: VINCENT CHIA

La Salle Superior General visits

Archbishop Goh and six priests, mostly former students, celebrated the March 24 Mass to rededicate the newly renovated chapel. Photo: DANIEL THAM

After two years of renovation work, the 82-year-old St Patrick’s School chapel was rededicated

by Archbishop William Goh on March 24.

Br Robert Schieler, the Superior General of the La Salle Brothers, attended the ceremony together with more than 170 other people.

In his address, the American Brother said the event signi¿ed the La Salle Brothers’ continued efforts at renewal and rededicating of themselves to their mission of educating the young.

Six priests, most of whom are St Patrick’s School alumni, concelebrated the Mass, assisted by

12 altar servers who are current and former students of the school.

The chapel is part of the original St Patrick’s School building constructed in 1933 in Katong on a plot of land the Brothers bought in 1897. The chapel is on the second Àoor of the Brothers’ Block and is on the same Àoor as the Brothers’ residence and HopeHouse, a halfway house for men aged 18 and above.

The chapel committee raised $440,000 for the renovations, thanks to contributions from many old boys and girls as well as well-wishers from the East District parishes.

The renovations include the installation of a white wooden and metal structure housing the tabernacle and topped by a large cruci¿x. The altar table top has been extended, and a marble tablet containing a saint’s relic was sealed inside during the ceremony.

The chapel has been given a fresh coat of paint and the many leaks in the building mended. It also has new oak pews.

In addition, the coloured glassed windows placed there by the late Br Joseph McNally are now protected and covered with perspex.

New air-conditioners have also been installed.

Coming up: a Bible symposium A Bible symposium that celebrates Bible Sunday on an archdiocesan level will be held on July 11.

The event has the theme, The Word is Alive (Hebrews 4:12) and is organised by the newly established Archdiocese Biblical Apostolate Of¿ce to promote a greater love for the Scripture.

“Over the years, there have been a greater hunger as well as a deeper appreciation for the Word of God among Catholics in Singapore,” said Verbum Dei Missionary Sr Sandra Seow, director of the Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate.

“And so, we hope that through this symposium, Catholics in Singapore can celebrate the gift of God’s Word and ignite or reignite the passion of a life lived according to the Word of God.” Five workshops, conducted by overseas and local presenters, will be held simultaneously at different locations at the venue,

Catholic Junior College Performing Arts Centre.

The workshop titles are: The Word Prayed by Sr Maria Jose M Egido, FMVD; The Word Sung

by Sr Maeve Heaney, FMVD, from Ireland; The Word in Asia

by Sr Leticia Candelario Lopez, FMVD; The Word Proclaimed by Fr Filipe Vaz Pardal, FMVD, from Portugal; and The Word Through

There has been deeper appreciation for the Word of God among Catholics, says Verbum Dei Sr Sandra Seow.

Time by Fr Gerard Theraviam from Kuala Lumpur.

Participants can select the workshop they wish to attend.

There will also be a talk, The Word is Alive, given by Sr Sandra, and a concert titled We Must Talk, led by Sr Heaney, a well-known musician, composer and lecturer. She will lead participants to experience the transforming power of the Word of God, through music and words.

The symposium, which will last from 8 am-5 pm, will end with Mass celebrated by Archbishop William Goh. To register, download the registration form or register online at https://biblicalapostolate.wordpress.com, or call 6280-0354 (Mon-Fri, 9am to 6pm) for more information.

Participants who register before June 12 pay $70 per person.

Those who register after that pay $80.

Br Robert Schieler, Superior General of the La Salle Brothers, visited Singapore from March 23-26.

He was accompanied by the General Councillor, Br Ricky Laguda.

During this trip, Br Schieler met the principals of De La Salle School, St Stephen’s School, St Anthony’s Primary School, SJI Junior and St Patrick’s School as well as the school leaders of SJI Independent and SJI International.

Br Schieler, who was recently elected the 27th successor to St John Baptist de La Salle, the founder of the La Salle Brothers,

also met with the president and management team of La Salle College of the Arts, which is a member of the International Lasallian Universities Association (YALU).

The American Brother is no stranger to Asia having spent 12 years in De La Salle University in the Philippines.

The La Salle Brothers manage about a thousand educational institutions and centres in more than 84 countries of the world, reaching out to more than a million young people.

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Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

Archbishop addresses priests’ ‘woundedness’ during Chrism Mass

Married couples take part in special Stations of the Cross

By Lorna O’Hara Archbishop William Goh acknowledged the challenges that priests face in their ministries and gave them words of encouragement during the annual Chrism Mass.

Sometimes the joy of sharing the Good News “gets taken away because we [priests] are disillusioned”, said Archbishop Goh at the Mass held on Maundy Thursday morning at the Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace.

“In the process of trying to heal the wounds of others, very often we are wounded ourselves.

We get hurt,” said the archbishop, addressing the crowd which included more than 200 priests and Religious.

“Sometimes, we feel that the work we put in, the efforts that we put in, are not appreciated,” he said in his homily. “And sometimes, the bishop misunderstands us [priests] so we [priests] get angry.”

Archbishop Goh invited his fellow priests to renew their calling and to “remember why we became priests”.

“We have responded to the call of God” to bring the Good News to others as there is “so much brokenness and despair” in the world, he said.

If priests feel “a lot of edginess” in their ministry, they should “take time to pray. At least one hour before the Lord,” he advised. “Otherwise, you will lose your joy.”

He also reminded priests that celebrating the Eucharist should not “become a routine”.

If every priest and layperson celebrates the Eucharist fervently, they would become like Jesus, he said.

The archbishop acknowledged that priests should ensure that “every person is nurtured by the Lord”. Nevertheless, “don’t worry too much about success,” he advised. “The Lord will make sure that we are fruitful in our love.”

During the Mass, archbishop blessed the oil of the sick and the

The Stations of the Cross for Couples at the Church of the Holy Spirit.

Archbishop William Goh pouring perfume into the chrism oil at the Chrism Mass.

oil of the catechumens, as well as consecrated the chrism which will be used for baptism, con¿rmation and Holy Orders.

In his closing address, the archbishop noted that priests “are often misunderstood. But they work really hard for you.”

He urged laypeople to “be patient with us”.

“Pray for us priests for the mistakes we make,” he said.

The annual Chrism Mass, usually held on Maundy Thursday worldwide, signi¿es the unity of the priests with their bishop and is an expression of the fullness of the bishop’s priesthood. lorna.ohara@catholic.org.sg

Pray for us priests ‘ for the mistakes we make.’

– Archishop William Goh

Thought-provoking. It made us think deeply about our relationship.

Mr Carl Pillay and his wife, Sharon, shared these thoughts with CatholicNews after attending a special Stations of the Cross for Couples at the Church of the Holy Spirit.

The spiritual exercise, held on the evening of March 27, was jointly organised by Worldwide Marriage Encounter (ME) Singapore and the parish.

It aimed to help married couples reÀect on their marriages in light of the Stations of the Cross.

For example, at the 14th station (when Jesus is buried) the reÀection question for participants was, “If I were to be laid to rest tomorrow, would I have loved you enough for you to experience God’s love?”

The experience was refreshing for Mr Mark Lim and wife, Janice.

“The reÀection questions were very well thought-out, especially in relation to our relationship,” said Mrs Lim. “It is a nice programme to do as a couple without the presence of our children so we can really focus on each other.”

Nearly 80 couples attended the service, more than half for the ¿rst time.

The Stations of the Cross for Couples was initiated by ME two years ago. This year, the organisation collaborated with the Church of the Holy Spirit to invite couples outside the ME community.

“ME hopes to work with more parishes to bring more of such programmes to the wider Catholic community in future,” said Mr Alphonsus Gregory.

He and his wife, Cyrine, are ME’s National Coordinating Couple.

CHANCERY NOTICE APPOINTMENTS

OTHER MATTERS

1. The following clergy have been appointed to the Pastoral Vision Implementation Team of the Archdiocese with effect from 29 January 2015 for a term of two [2] years:

Erratum 1. Fr Emmanuel Danjoux MEP has decided to leave the priesthood and has left the Church of St Teresa. The Superiors of the MEP Society has competence to make all future arrangements regarding the canonical status of Fr Emmanuel Danjoux MEP.

a. Mgr Ambrose Vaz (Chair) – Vicar General (Pastoral) b. Fr Terence Pereira – Episcopal Vicar (Of¿ce for New Evangelization) c. Fr John-Paul Tan OFM – Chancellor 2. Mr James Boss has been appointed to undertake a feasibility study on the redevelopment of St Joseph’s Church, 143 Victoria Street, Singapore 188020 from 1 April 2015 to 30 October 2015.

3. Mr Michael Khoo has been appointed to undertake a feasibility study on the redevelopment of St Joseph’s Church, 143 Victoria Street, Singapore 188020 from 1 April to 30 October 2015.

CHANCERY MATTERS Collection Exercise The Chancery will be conducting its ¿rst Archival Records and Materials Collection Exercise from April to June 2015. This follows the implementation of the Archdiocese Retention Policy 2015, with effect from 1st April 2015.

Parishes and archdiocesan enti-

April 4, 2015

ties should look out for the Retention Schedule handbook and circular to be sent by the Chancery Archives Of¿ce following Easter Sunday.

Oral History Archives The Chancery will be embarking on its oral history archives programs this April, as part of its efforts to collect and preserve local Church history. All retired clergy and religious are invited to participate as interviewees, please look out for communications from the Chancery Archives.

Volunteer opportunities for the laity are also available. Please see the Chancery feature article in the Catholic News, April 12 2015, or go to http://www.catholic.org.sg/offer-opportunities/ for more details.

Fr John-Paul Tan, OFM, JCL, Chancellor, Chancery of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore #07-01 Catholic Centre, 55 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187954 Email: chancery@catholic.org.sg

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

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Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

Baptisms in newly-renovated church Ms Jeanne Aw gestures in joy after Fr Timothy Yeo baptised her in the new baptismal font of the Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace.

Ms Aw was among the 21 adults and three children who received the Sacrament of Baptism by immersion in the church’s built-in-the-ground font during the Easter Vigil.

The celebration was

joyfully witnessed by the congregation.

Ms Zenn Chua, a nonCatholic who had been visiting the newly-renovated Tanjong Katong church many times, said that the vigil celebration and baptism service “made me so proud to be attending this church and inquiring on its new RCIA journey”.

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Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

Philippines mulls over proposed divorce law

Aid groups stretched to help 120,000 displaced in southern Philippines

Church and lawmakers against the move

MANILA – Catholic relief workers and Religious communities are aiding thousands of people displaced by military manoeuvres designed to root out a Muslim rebel faction in Mindanao, Philippines.

The United Nations High Commission for Refugees said on March 20 that more than 120,000 residents Àed their homes in towns throughout Maguindanao province on the island in the Muslim majority southern Philippines.

The commission said a humanitarian crisis was looming as the number of displaced people was expected to grow.

“We visited and interviewed families who were just right there, under the trees,” said Sr Alejandra Villarosa, a member of the Oblates of Notre Dame based in Cotabato City, Philippines. “They had no basic necessities... They are innocent victims. Their neighbourhood associations just told them to vacate their homes because of the military operations against the BIFF [Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters].”

Since late January, the Armed Forces of the Philippines has stepped up its campaign against the rebels that authorities believe

MANILA – Lawmakers said a pro-

posed law to legalise divorce in the Philippines would face stiff opposition in Congress despite growing public support for the measure.

“The proposal to legalise divorce will not pass under my watch,” said House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr, reported the Asian Catholic news portal ucanews.com.

Marriage “should be saved and should guarantee the proper guidance of children”, he said.

Deputy Speaker Giorgidi Aggabao said there was little support for the measure among legislators. “[The law] will shred the fabric of our society and will encourage Àippant marriages,” she said.

The proposed law was introduced in 2014 by the Gabriela Women’s Party to help resolve the issue of irreconcilable separations.

Divorce was legal in the Philippines and widely practised, especially among tribal commu-

A recent survey shows growing support for legalising divorce in Philippines, the only country aside from the Vatican that does not allow divorce. nities until 1950, when the new Civil Code prohibiting it was adopted.

However, legal separations, in which spouses live apart but cannot remarry, are permissible under the code, as are annulments.

The Philippines is the only country, aside from the Vatican, that does not allow divorce.

Despite the strong inÀuence of the Church in the predominantly Catholic Philippines, a recent survey shows strong and growing support for legalising divorce.

The survey conducted by the

polling group Social Weather Stations (SWS) and released on March 23 found that at least 60 percent want divorce to be legalised.

Most respondents agreed that “married couples who have already separated and cannot reconcile anymore should be allowed to divorce so that they can get legally married again”, according to the survey. Twenty-nine percent of respondents disagreed, while 11 percent were undecided on the issue.

SWS said that 62 percent of men and 57 percent of women who responded supported legalising divorce – up from 52 percent among males and 49 percent among females in a similar survey in 2011.

Catholic leaders said that despite the strong sentiments of the people to legalise divorce, the Church would never change its position.

Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales, retired archbishop of Manila, said that “even if 99 percent [support legalised divorce], what is wrong is wrong”. CNS

are harbouring internationally wanted terrorists.

Sr Alejandra told Catholic News Service that most residents had no food and that she saw a few people Àeeing only with cucumbers they grabbed from their gardens.

She said she visited displaced families on March 5 in rural Shariff Aguak. She added that members of her congregation joined the Religious of the Virgin Mary, Marist Brothers and Oblates of Mary Immaculate priests in assembling and distributing rice, canned goods and sleeping mats for about 200 families, The government has provided basic goods and services but only to larger groups of people who are centrally located, she said.

Mr Joe Curry, Philippines country director for Catholic Relief Services, said his agency began distributing shelter supply kits, household relief goods and hygiene kits on March 25. Water and sanitation were the most pressing issues, he said.

The Philippine military chief has said operations against BIFF were expected to continue through June. CNS

8 ASIA

Sunday April 19, 2015 „ CatholicNews

Tenth Anniversary In loving memory of

REV FR BALTHAZAR CHANG, CICM (1925 - 2005) Chaplain of Mariners’ Club at St Teresa’s (1976-1991).

Ordained a priest in 1949 in Ningxia, China, he joined CICM and made his Âżrst religious profession in 1951.

Missionary in the Philippines, Hong Kong and Singapore since 1976.

Retired in 1991, ¿rst at Lady Hill CICM house and subsequently at St Theresa’s Home, where he passed away peacefully on 17 April 2005.

Fondly remembered as a friend to many lonely and stranded people.

Ashes kept at the Church of St Michael’s Columbarium.

Memorial Mass at St Teresa Church, 17 April 2015 at 6pm.

SCHEUT MISSIONS – CICM

Indian Church urged to establish severance plan for former priests, nuns COCHIN, INDIA – An expelled nun’s ¿ght for compensation has led to calls from former priests and nuns in India for the introduction of severance similar to that offered to employees.

They say people who leave Religious life – either of their own free will or who are expelled – have a right to some form of support as they adjust to their new situation after years in ministry, and they are calling top clerics to introduce a severance system, reported the Asian Catholic news portal ucanews.com.

Under canon law, the Church is not obliged to provide severance. Instead it asks an institution to “show equity and evangelical charity towards the member who is separated from it�.

The recent moves in India come after a Kerala nun belonging to the Syro-Malabar Church was expelled from the Italy-based Sisters of St Agatha in February after making repeated claims that a priest sexually assaulted her while doing mission work in Madhya Pradesh state in 2011.

The former nun, known only as Anitha, had demanded compensation since her expulsion and threatened legal action.

In late March, Church ofÂżcials offered her US$20,000 (S$27,000) in what has been seen as an unprecedented settlement. They said the

Nuns at India’s Fort Kochi beach. A campaign for severance pay for former priests and nuns has been gaining media coverage recently. &16 ¿OH SKRWR

money was not offered as compensation but out of Christian charity. “Please understand. This is not compensation. It is the money her congregation offered in real Christian charity to help her settle in life,� said Fr Paul Thelakkat, spokesman for the Syro-Malabar Church.

The payout has added extra impetus to calls by former priests and nuns for severance.

Their campaign has been gaining media coverage since about 700 former priests and nuns gathered in Cochin on Feb 28 to urge the Church to change its practice.

Hundreds of priests and nuns leave ministry every year for a variety of reasons, but are left with “no money, no family backing, no

social security system or job�, Mr Reji Njallani, one of the gathering’s organisers, said in an interview on March 31.

Most who leave ministry have spent all their lives within the Church, trained only in Church disciplines and have “no skills or education to work in the wider world�, said Mr Njallani, who heads the Kerala Church Reformation Movement. “It is their right to receive severance.�

Mr Mani Parampatt, 70, a former priest, said, “Church ofÂżcials always speak of kindness and charity, but refuse to see things in the way of human rights.â€? He was a priest for 34 years and left the priesthood at 60.

If changes do not occur, people will be forced to take their cases to court and that will “cost the Church much more than they imagine�, he added.

Cardinal Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal of Trivandrum, major archbishop of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church and president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, has defended the current arrangement. Each case is unique and should be settled in a “humane and just manner by the immediate superiors�, he told ucanews.com.

Fr Joseph Chinnayyan, deputy secretary-general of the bishops’ conference, said, “The priesthood and Religious life are not professions... They are a free and total commitment to the call of God to serve. Therefore, its systems should not be compared with trade union laws and other existing severance provisions.� „ CNS

+XQGUHGV RI SULHVWV DQG QXQV OHDYH PLQLVWU\ HYHU\ \HDU IRU D YDULHW\ RI UHDVRQV EXW DUH OHIW ZLWK ¾QR PRQH\ QR IDPLO\ EDFNLQJ QR VRFLDO VHFXULW\ V\VWHP RU MREœ – Mr Reji Njallani, head of the Kerala Church Reformation Movement

ASIA 9

Sunday April 19, 2015 „ CatholicNews

Cardinal from Yangon addresses Myanmar’s ‘unresolved issues’ YANGON, MYANMAR – In his

Easter message, Cardinal Charles Maung Bo, Archbishop of Yangon, spoke about the country’s many unresolved issues, from the loss of natural resources to unful¿lled peace deals between the central government and the country’s ethnic minorities.

Indeed, there is reason to worry, the archbishop of Yangon said. “We call for a new resurrection of peace and prosperity for all the people,� he said.

Meanwhile, innocent people continue to die in conÀicts in the northern states of Kachin and Shan. In Rakhine state, thousands of people, including Rohingya Muslims are still displaced, forced to emigrate or survive in makeshift conditions.

For Cardinal Bo, “reconciliation between ethnic groups and the army is possible� and the Myanmar Church has been working for dialogue and peace between the parties.

The archbishop also expressed his solidarity and closeness with students calling for democratic educational reforms, which so far have been met with repression The students “want to give birth to a new nation, full of hope and opportunities�, the cardinal said. “A new generation struggles to come out of those dark graves [of the past]. Let us not send them back to the graves again.�

He added, “The Church stands Âżrmly with our people in their

File photo of Cardinal Charles Bo of Yangon, Myanmar. &16 SKRWR

7KH DUFKELVKRS H[SUHVVHG KLV VROLGDULW\ DQG FORVHQHVV ZLWK VWXGHQWV FDOOLQJ IRU GHPRFUDWLF HGXFDWLRQDO UHIRUPV ZKLFK VR IDU KDYH EHHQ PHW ZLWK UHSUHVVLRQ dream to come out of their enforced graves.� “Those who thought the Church in Myanmar was buried in the 1960s were rudely woken during the 500-year jubilee. Ours is a resurrected Church. We were buried, but rose in faith,� he added.

The Church here concluded its jubilee celebrations last November.

“We were the angels of mercy, reaching out to thousands of the poor through education, health and human development. We saw God in our suffering brothers and sisters,� said the cardinal.

Ultimately, for the cardinal, hope is alive today in Myanmar because Easter brings hope.

The Archdiocese of Yangon is home to about 100,000 Catholics in 39 parishes.

Myanmar has a population of some 14 million people.

Myanmar is a multi-ethnic nation with more than 135 different ethnic groups. Although there is no of¿cial state religion, Buddhists represent 89 percent of the population while Christians make up 4 percent. Out of this, only 1 percent of Christians are Roman Catholics. „ ASIANEWS

Christians accuse Pakistan police of illegal arrests Police have illegally detained dozens of Christians following riots in the aftermath of the deadly suicide bombings on Catholic churches in Lahore, a Christian rights activist said on March 31. “Police have rounded up more than 100 Christians in connection with the riots and the killing of two terror suspects,â€? said Mr Joseph Francis, National Director for the Centre for Legal Aid and Assistance, a non-proÂżt law Âżrm, which takes up cases of persecuted Christians.

At least 16 people were killed on March 15 when twin suicide bombers detonated themselves at a Roman Catholic Church and a Christ Church during a Sunday Service in Youhanabad, a Christian neighbourhood of Lahore.

Enraged Christians across Pakistan took to the streets to protest

LAHORE, PAKISTAN –

‘

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’

– Mr Joseph Francis, National Director for the Centre for Legal Aid and Assistance

the bombings. In Lahore, several demonstrators allegedly killed two men suspected of being accomplices in the attacks.

In the days that followed, dozens of Christians were picked up and have been held since then without being brought before the courts, Mr Francis said.

He said most of those arrested have been detained for more than 10 days without being produced in courts.

“We have Âżled a petition in the Lahore High Court, seeking the release of Christians being detained illegally by the Punjab police,â€? he told the Asian news portal, ucanews.com. “So far we have received 43 applications from Christian families about the detention of their relatives,â€? he said.

Pakistan’s independent human rights commission also expressed serious concern over the mass arrests within the Christian community. “The commission has called upon the law enforcement agencies to conduct their operations, especially those involving the search for and arrest of suspects, in a manner that does not aggravate the Christian community’s feelings of insecurity and undue interference with their privacy and liberty,� it said in a statement. „ UCANEWS.COM

Asia Bibi asks pope for ‘special prayer’ for world peace ROME AND PAKISTAN – After a petition for her freedom surpassed over half a million signatures, Ms Asia Bibi has sent a letter in which she describes her state of mind before the start of the Easter season as well as renewing her appeal to Pope Francis. “At Easter, Jesus Christ gives us an example of peace and forgiveness. All of us must learn from the teaching and sacriÂżce of Christ who was cruciÂżed for us and who forgave all those who harmed Him,â€? the imprisoned Pakistani Catholic woman condemned to death for blasphemy wrote. “On this special day I ask Christians in Pakistan to live and pray for peace,â€? she continued.

She also asked the Holy Father “to send out a special prayer for peace in the world and for me.â€? A Âżrst letter to the pope was sent by Ms Bibi on Oct 25, 2014.

According to the Vatican Insider website, Mr Joseph Nadeem, director of Lahore’s Reinassance Education Foundation that provides Ms Bibi with legal assistance, met with her recently alongside her husband, Ashiq. “Asia is OK both physically and mentally� and “spends her days between pain and hope, a hope rooted in Christ which does not abandon her�, Mr Nadeem told the Italian news agency.

At the same time, she “seemed very worried after the attacks on the Church in Youhanabad, she was especially concerned for her family�.

An undated photo of Pakistani Catholic, Asia Bibi. &16 ÂżOH SKRWR

“She asked us at the Foundation to guarantee her husband and children’s safety. We are doing all that we can.�

In the meantime, the city of Paris has declared her an honorary citizen. “To be an honorary citizen is to embody the values of Paris, the values of liberty and tolerance. By this bold gesture, I wish to testify to the solidarity of Paris towards the numerous women around the world of all confessions who are victims of religious obscurantism and political extremism,� said Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo. „ ZENIT

Philippine cardinal pushes for Muslim autonomous region MANILA – A Philippine cardinal

has pooled a team of peace advocates to help push legislation that would see the creation of an autonomous region in the Muslim-majority section of Mindanao Island.

Cardinal Orlando Quevedo of the Cotabato Archdiocese, whose population is half Muslim, announced the formation of “Friends of Peace� on April 6 in Manila. It includes more than 30 individuals, peace advocacy groups and nongovernmental organisations. “Our concern, as friends of peace, is how to restore a certain amount of sobriety, moderation and rationality as well as objectivity in order that legislators can look at the BBL [Bangsamoro Basic Law] very closely on its own merits, reading closely the provisions,� said Cardinal Quevedo.

Lawmakers had already started preliminary hearings on the proposed BBL before the end of last year, but those talks stalled after a botched police operation on

Jan 25 to capture internationally suspected terrorists resulted in a deadly battle between commandos and Muslim rebel factions.

Forty-four of the raiding force died, while 17 Moro Islamic Liberation Front Âżghters and four civilians were also killed in the 18hour Âżght.

The government and the Front signed a peace agreement last year after 17 years of negotiations, and a years-long cease-Âżre between them was broken during the clash.

Various investigations into the event show the commandos entered the rebel community inside Mamasapano town without any prior warning, as is required by terms of the cease-Âżre agreement.

Investigations also found that, by design, only a handful of people knew about the police operation.

The incident raised doubt about sincerity on the part of each side to pursue peace. It also caused lawmakers to question the law, citing certain facets of the clash. „ CNS

10 WORLD

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

Call for global effort to stop Boko Haram Nigerian Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama presents relief material to internally displaced persons in Jos, Nigeria, in the wake of Boko Haram attacks. &16 SKRWR

GENEVA – The Holy See’s per-

manent observer to the United Nations in Geneva called on the international community to assist Nigeria and neighbouring countries to rid the region of Boko Haram insurgency.

“The Holy See urges an international collaborative effort to address this crisis situation with urgency so as to prevent the extension of Boko Haram and other terrorist groups and their strategy of inÀicting suffering on local people and to destabilise Africa even further,” Archbishop Silvano Tomasi told a session of the UN Human Rights Council on April 1.

Nigeria and its neighbours, including Cameroon, Benin, Chad and Niger have been beset

by Boko Haram’s violent campaign to impose Islamic rule in

the region. Based in northeastern Nigeria, leaders of the insurgents have claimed credit for a series of bombings and gun attacks on public markets, churches and isolated communities since 2009.

The archbishop also expressed concern that Boko Haram’s recent announcement that it was aligning with the Islamic State militant group in Iraq and Syria shows that “such extremist groups are growing like cancer, spreading to other parts of the world”.

“Before such violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws we cannot afford to have a posture of indifference that would lead to the widening contagion of violence and also set a dangerous precedent of ‘non-action’ in response to such horri¿c crimes,” said Archbishop Tomasi. CNS

English cardinal urges debate on family synod to stay out of the press MANCHESTER, ENGLAND – Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster urged priests to end debating the upcoming synod on the family in the press after more than 450 priests published a letter calling on the Catholic Church to retain the prohibition on divorced and remarried Catholics receiving communion.

“Every priest in England and Wales has been asked to reÀect on the synod discussion. It is my understanding that this has been taken up in every diocese, and that channels of communication have been established,” Cardinal Nichols, president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said in a statement on March 25.

“The pastoral experience and concern of all priests in these matters are of great importance and are welcomed by the Bishops. Pope Francis has asked for a period of spiritual discernment. This dialogue, between a priest and his bishop, is not best conducted through the press,” the statement said.

The priests’ letter, signed by 461 priests, appeared on the London-based Catholic Herald

Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster responded after 461 priests wrote a letter to the Catholic Herald. &16 ¿OH SKRWR

website on March 24.

The signatories said the letter was written partly to counter “confusion” over the moral teaching of the Catholic Church as a result of some synod fathers pushing for a relaxation of the ban on divorced and remarried Catholics receiving Communion.

“We wish, as Catholic priests,

to restate our unwavering ¿delity to the traditional doctrines regarding marriage and the true meaning of human sexuality, founded on the word of God and taught by the Church’s magisterium for two millennia,” the priests wrote.

“We commit ourselves anew to the task of presenting this teaching in all its fullness, while reaching out with the Lord’s compassion to those struggling to respond to the demands and challenges of the Gospel in an increasingly secular society,” the letter continued.

“Furthermore we af¿rm the importance of upholding the Church’s traditional discipline regarding the reception of the sacraments, and that doctrine and practice remain ¿rmly and inseparably in harmony,” the letter added.

The priests concluded their letter by urging all participants of the Oct 4-25 synod on the family at the Vatican “to make a clear and ¿rm proclamation of the Church’s unchanging moral teaching, so that confusion may be removed, and faith con¿rmed”. CNS See related story on Page 15

WORLD 11

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

Priests, nuns remain in <HPHQ GHVSLWH FRQÁLFW VATICAN CITY – Despite rising

tensions in Yemen and continued ¿ghting between government and rebel forces, Catholic of¿cials said the six Salesian priests and the 20 Missionaries of Charity assigned to the country have remained.

“Our priests are safe” and the Sisters continue to work in four cities, “including the hot spot” of Sanaa, said Capuchin Fr Gandolf Wild, secretary of the vicariate of southern Arabia.

The vicariate covers the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Yemen.

He spoke to Catholic News Service on March 25 by telephone from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where the vicariate is based.

“There are not many Christians left” in Yemen, the Capuchin said. Before Iranian-backed Houthi Shia militants took control of the capital Sanaa in September and launched a major offensive, the country had about 2,000 Catholics, including foreign embassy personnel.

There may be 1,500 Catholics still in the country, he said, “but most cannot come to church – and that includes the embassy personnel” who have not been recalled by their governments. “It is a very poor country and very unsafe – not just for Catholics.”

Four Catholic parishes still exist in Yemen, he said, although the

Yemenis receiving food at a distribution centre in Sanaa in February. Most of the estimated 1,500 Catholics in the country are unable to come to church because of the unrest. CNS photo

The priests ‘are safe’ and the Sisters continue to work in four cities, including the ‘hot spot’ of Sanaa. only parish with a church for the past 40 years is in Aden.

Bishop Paul Hinder, apostolic vicar of southern Arabia, in his pastoral letter for Holy Week and Easter, called on the vicariate’s estimated 1 million Catholics – almost all foreign workers – to de-

vote Wednesday of Holy Week to prayer and fasting for persecuted Christians throughout the Middle East.

“We can say the novena of Our Lady of Perpetual Help with this special intention as we also call Mary ‘Help of Christians.’ Let us remind ourselves that she is the patroness of our parish in Sanaa,” he said in his letter.

He asked the region’s Catholics to celebrate Holy Week and Easter with special prayers for “all who are discriminated against, tortured, expelled from their homes, abused and killed”. CNS

Brother of slain aid worker meets pope VATICAN CITY – The brother of

that. “So he made me feel at ease a British aid worker, who was by speaking to me ¿rst.” beheaded by members of the so“I have a little knowledge of called Islamic State (IS) in Syria, Islam, and I know that the faith, said Pope Francis told him how he like many other faiths, is about had prayed for his late brother. understanding and tolerance. It’s The pope, said Mr Michael about welcoming. It’s about givHaines, said he had prayed for Da- ing strength,” he told Vatican Ravid, for his whole dio. family and for What the IS his work of ¿ghtrebels are doing ing the Christianand what they Muslim tensions did in the case sown by the Isof his brother, he lamic State rebels, said, “is using and other terrorthe name and the ists who “are tryreligion of Islam ing to polarise our for justifying communities”. their actions, and Mr Michael it’s wrong. They Haines met the are not Muslim, pope on March they are not reli25 at the end gious. They are of the pope’s not men. They weekly general Mr Michael Haines, brother are trying to force audience.

He of British aid worker David our communities was accompanied Haines, who was beheaded by apart.”

by Ms Barbara the Islamic State. CNS photo Muslims have Henning, widow apologised for of aid worker Alan Henning, an- what the IS terrorists have done, other of the IS victims, and by he said. But he tells them, “There Mr Shahnawaz Haque, a Muslim is nothing to forgive. ‘They [IS] scholar and psychotherapist. aren’t of your people, they aren’t In a tear-¿lled interview with of your religion. They are using it Vatican Radio’s Philippa Hitchen, as an excuse.”

Mr Haines said that as soon as Mr Haines said one Muslim he went up to the pope, his mind told him the terrorists not only went blank. “I get quite nervous,” decapitated David, but “they’re he said, and the pope could see decapitating our religion.” CNS

12 WORLD

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

Cardinal calls Kenyans to prayer after college attack NAIROBI, KENYA – The president

of the Kenyan bishops’ conference called on Easter worshippers to commit themselves to praying for peace and security in their homeland after militants attacked a college campus recently.

Cardinal John Njue of Nairobi also condemned the April 2 attack by the Somalia-based al-Shabaab militants at Garissa University College in which Christian students were targeted.

After reading a message of condolence from Pope Francis to the congregation at Holy Family Basilica in Nairobi, Cardinal Njue urged worshippers to commit themselves to praying for peace and security in the country.

“We need to constantly invoke God’s name, following common attacks in the country by the alShabaab militia group, including the most recent one at Garissa,” the cardinal said.

“In union with all people of good will throughout the world, his holiness condemns this act of senseless brutality and prays for a change of heart among its perpetrators, “said the pope’s message in a statement sent by the Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state.

Cardinal Njue said the assault, which left 148 people dead, shocked the bishops’ conference and Bishop Paul Darmanin of Garissa in particular.

“I have assured [him] of the bishops’ support, through prayers

Cardinal John Njue of Nairobi, Kenya, delivers the homily during a special Easter Mass on April 5 at Holy Family Basilica in Nairobi for victims of the massacre at Garissa University College. CNS photo

and any other [means],” Cardinal Njue said.

He reminded Christians that Christ was persecuted and suffered for the sake of people’s sins and told them never to give up even in the face of terror.

“We as a nation are undergoing through many challenges and we must remain ¿xed to things above. Let us pray for the families and victims of the Garissa terror attack,” Cardinal Njue said.

The cardinal called for a global response to terrorism and

urged Kenyans not to look at the massacre through a religious lens.

“Even in the wake of the insecurity in the country, we must remain united and not give a few people the impression that this is a war between Christians and Muslims,” Cardinal Njue said.

Meanwhile, Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta on April 4 announced three days of national mourning, in the wake of the attack.

WORLD 13

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

Preparations for World Youth Day 2016 in Poland underway WARSAW, POLAND – A new air-

port, improved road and rail links, a Àeet of dream buses and “Youth Bible” are among features projected for the Catholic Church’s 14th international celebration of World Youth Day in Krakow, Poland, in 2016.

“It’s still 16 months to go, but the planning is well advanced,” said Msgr Bronislaw Fidelus, a co-organiser of the event scheduled for July 26-Aug 1.

“There’s huge interest abroad, and we’ve already registered large church groups from the US, Europe and Latin America. We’re sure the theme of Divine Mercy, chosen specially by the pope, will create a real openness to Christ among young participants,” Msgr Fidelus said.

World Youth Day organisers expect the 13th international event will attract more than 2 million people from around the world.

Msgr Fidelus said the programme was approved on March 13 by a Vatican delegation under Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, president of the Ponti¿cal Council for Laity, adding that the Polish Church counted on the ¿ve-day event to renew the faith among young Catholics everywhere.

Meanwhile, a Krakow of¿cial said work was underway to expand the city’s communication and transport network and road and rail links with Europe as well as to renovate local schools to accommodate pilgrims.

“Having hosted several pilgrimages by the late St John Paul II to his home city, Krakow is well equipped and prepared for largescale events like this,” Mr Filip Szatanik, spokesman for the Krakow City Council, told Catholic News Service.

“It’s also a great church city, full of sacral buildings and objects and closely linked to Poland’s Christian history. We can count especially on this side of its character to make this a major promotional opportunity,” he said.

toward greater ¿nancial transparency, the Holy See signed an agreement with Italy that includes the full exchange of ¿nancial information about Vatican employees, pensioners, foundations and Religious institutes that are subject to Italian taxes.

People and entities that reside in Italy were expected to be liable for Italian taxes on any in-

BOSTON, USA – As the trial of Boston Marathon bombing defendant Dzhokhar Tsarnaev went to the jury on April 6, the Catholic bishops of Massachusetts released a statement reiterating the Church’s teaching on the death penalty.

If convicted, Mr Tsarnaev could be sentenced to death or to life without the possibility of parole.

The Catholic Church opposes the death penalty except “if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor”, but such cases “are very rare, if not practically nonexistent”.

In Mr Tsarnaev’s case, the Massachusetts bishops said, the defendant “has been neutralised and will never again have the ability to cause harm. Because of this, we... believe that society can do better than the death penalty.”

Mr Tsarnaev’s trial in federal court in Boston began on March 4, where prosecutors have presented evidence that he and his older brother, Tamerlan Tsarnaev, planted the bombs that exploded on April 15, 2013, near the ¿nish line at the Boston Marathon.

The attack wounded more than 260 people and killed eight-yearold Martin Richard of Dorchester; 29-year-old Medford native Krystle Campbell; and Lu Lingzi, 23, a Chinese national studying at Boston University.

Later, Massachusetts Institute of Technology police of¿cer Sean Collier was killed as the brothers attempted to escape from the Boston area.

The bishops said that with the defendant behind bars, the interest of protecting public safety has been ful¿lled. CNS

Protesters against the death penalty hold signs on April 6 at the federal courthouse in Boston. CNS photo

Launched by St John Paul II in 1985, World Youth Day is celebrated annually on a local level and every two or three years with an international gathering with the pope.

World Youth Day organisers expect the 13th international event will attract more than 2 million people from around the world.

Krakow was announced as the 2016 venue by Pope Francis at the last World Youth Day in Rio de Janeiro in 2013.

World Youth Day will have the theme, “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy” (Matthew 5:7), and will follow April 2016 Church-state celebrations of the 1,050th anniversary of Poland’s Christian conversion.

Pope Francis is scheduled to lead a televised Way of the Cross procession from the city’s Divine Mercy Sanctuary, followed by a prayer vigil on youth issues near the Wieliczka Salt Mine, and a ¿nal Mass in Krakow’s Blonia Park. CNS

Vatican, Italy sign tax treaty VATICAN CITY – In a key move

Bishops object to death penalty as punishment in Boston bomber case

terest or earnings coming from bonds, investments and savings in Vatican institutions, according to a general outline of the agreement.

The new bilateral convention was meant to clarify and simplify rules and procedures concerning taxation obligations and taxpayer information, and it parallels standard agreements between countries on tax matters.

The Vatican announced the agreement on April 1, the same day representatives of the Holy See signed it in the presence of a delegation representing Italy.

The agreement is part of the Vatican’s larger programme of establishing greater ¿nancial transparency and protocols that are in line with international standards, the Vatican said. CNS

Pontiff encourages ‘work towards peace’ in Colombia VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis

called on the people of Colombia to work towards peace, and maintain hope that negotiations for peace will succeed, said the Vatican secretary of state.

The pope urged them to “not lose energy or hope” at such a crucial time in the peace process and encouraged them “to continue to work for truth, justice and reparation” so that “what went before will never be repeated”, said Cardinal Pietro Parolin in a letter sent on the pope’s behalf to the Colombian bishops for Holy Week. Vatican Radio released excerpts of the letter on April 3.

“We must continue the commitment to the displaced, to survivors of land mines, those who have endured the taking of their property, the kidnapped, with everyone who has suffered,” Cardinal Parolin wrote. “Constructing peace is a complex process that does not come to completion in short-term spaces or plans. Risks need to be taken to cement peace,” the letter said.

Interviewed on Colombian television on April 6, President Juan Manuel Santos said the let-

ter was the latest encouragement from Pope Francis to continue the peace process.

“The pope has supported the peace process from the beginning, from when I ¿rst visited” the Vatican in May 2013. The pope, he said, has sent him several messages, which always encourage him to persevere and “not throw in the towel”.

The 50-year conÀict between the government and Marxist rebels has resulted in an estimated 220,000 fatalities. Colombia opened peace negotiations with the rebel group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, more than two years ago. Negotiators already have reached agreements regarding illegal drug traf¿cking and land reform, and agreements are in the works on the possibility of reparations for victims of the war.

The letter to Colombia’s bishops said Pope Francis wanted to visit Colombia to encourage the people to pursue peace. Mr Santos said on April 6 that the pope will likely visit the country in 2016 during a trip that also may include Peru, Chile and the pope’s native Argentina. CNS

14 POPE FRANCIS

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

Pope sends Easter cakes to displaced in Iraq ...

VATICAN CITY – As Holy Week

and Easter approached, Pope Francis wanted to show his ongoing concern for people persecuted and displaced by violence in Iraq and in northern Nigeria.

Although not specifying the amount, the Vatican press of¿ce said on March 27 that the pope was sending aid money to people seeking shelter in Iraq’s Kurdistan region and to the Nigerian bishops’ conference to assist families in the northern part of the country where the terrorist group Boko Haram has been on a rampage.

In addition, the Vatican said, the people of the Diocese of Rome, “united with their bishop”, Pope Francis, held a special collection and will send traditional Italian “colomba” Easter cakes to the displaced in Iraq.

“In Holy Week,” the Vatican statement said, “these families share with Christ the experience of being unjustly subjected to violence and they participate in the suffering of Christ Himself.”

“Pope Francis is constantly concerned about the situation of Christian families and other groups who have been the victims of being expelled from their homes and villages, particularly in the city of Mosul and on the Nineveh Plain,” the Vatican said. Terrorists from the Islamic State have been active in the region.

“The pope prays for them and hopes that they soon can return and resume their lives on the land and in the places where, for hundreds of years, they lived and wove relationships of peaceful coexistence with all,” the Vatican statement said. CNS

... and mourns with families of Germanwings crash victims VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis

prayed for the repose of the souls of the 150 passengers and crew of a Germanwings plane that crashed into the French Alps on March 24.

The Airbus A320 began to lose altitude shortly after taking off from Barcelona, Spain, for Dusseldorf, Germany. It crashed into a mountain about 50 minutes later, of¿cials said.

All of the passengers on Flight 9525 – including two babies and 16 German high school students – were presumed dead.

“Pope Francis mourns with the families and expresses his closeness in their pain,” said Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, in a March 24 message to Bishop Jean-Philippe Nault of Digne, the diocese in which the crash occurred.

The cardinal said the pope also “expresses his deep sympathies to all those who are touched by this tragedy, as well as to the rescuers who are working in dif¿cult conditions”.

Germanwings’ airline employees comfort each other in Cologne, Germany, on March 25. CNS photo

The pope prays that God grant them “strength and consolation”, he said.

By March 25, rescue of¿cials had found the plane’s black box.

French authorities had set up a chapel near the crash site and a local school cleared its sports hall to take in the bodies of the victims.

CNS

POPE FRANCIS 15

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

Prayers, not ‘gossip’, needed for upcoming meeting on family VATICAN CITY – No matter how weary, wounded or sinful a family has become, the Church will always do everything to try to help family members heal, convert and reconcile with the Lord, Pope Francis said.

The pope called on everyone to pray each day for the much anticipated bishops’ meeting on the family and for the Church so that it could be even more “dedicated and united in the witness of the truth of God’s love and mercy for the families of the world, [with] no one excluded either inside or outside the Àock”.

Prayers, “not gossip”, said the pope, are needed for the Synod of Bishops on the family, to be held in Rome from Oct 4-25. “I invite even those who feel distanced or those who aren’t used to it to pray”, he said at his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square on March 25.

Special prayer cards with the pope’s prayer for the synod (see box on right) were distributed to the more than 17,000 people who turned up in the pouring rain.

“Perhaps it will be a little wet,” he said about the prayer card, asking people to keep it with them and recite the prayer as often as possible. He led the people both in the prayer on the card and

Prayer for the synod on the family Jesus, Mary and Joseph, in you we contemplate the splendour of true love, to you we turn with trust.

Holy Family of Nazareth, grant that our families too may be places of communion and prayer, authentic schools of the Gospel and small domestic Churches.

Holy Family of Nazareth, may families never again experience violence,

A Philippine family poses for the camera. The Church never abandons the family even when it is disheartened or wounded, said Pope Francis, in comments related to the upcoming Synod of Bishops on the family. &16 ¿OH SKRWR

in reciting the Hail Mary.

He said the Hail Mary touches upon “the beauty of this bond” between God and the family – the beauty of God wanting to be born a child into a real human family.

The pope noted that St John

Joy comes from faith, not doctrine, pope says

By Carol Glatz

said. “They didn’t understand the joy of the promise; they didn’t VATICAN CITY – God’s law is understand the joy of hope; they about love for God and for others, didn’t understand the joy of the not cold, abstract doctrine, Pope covenant.”

Francis said at a morning Mass.

The doctors of the law “didn’t “It’s sad to be a believer with- know how to rejoice because they out joy and there is no joy when had lost the sense of joy that only there is no faith, when there is no comes from faith”, he said. Not hope, when there is no law, but only did they lack faith, “they had only rules and cold doctrine,” he lost the law. Because at the heart said at the March 26 of the law is love – Mass in the Domus love for God and for There is no Sanctae Marthae one’s neighbour.” where he lives.

“They only had joy when there a system “The joy of faith, of clear-cut is no faith ... the joy of the Gospel doctrines,” he said. is the touchstone of a As “men without but only person’s faith. Withfaith, without law and rules and out joy, that person is attached to doctrine”, not a true believer,” cold doctrine. they lived in a world he said, according to that was “abstract, a – Pope Francis Vatican Radio. world without love, a In his homily, world without faith, the pope pointed to Abraham as a world without hope, a world a model of faith, hope and joy without trust, a world without in God’s covenant. But such joy God. And this is why they could was absent in the doctors of the not rejoice,” the pope said. “Their law described in the day’s Gospel hearts had petri¿ed.” reading; they threw stones at JeHe asked that people pray for sus after he told them how Abra- “the grace to be jubilant in the ham “rejoiced to see my day”. hope” of knowing and encoun“These doctors of the law tering Jesus and for the “grace of didn’t understand,” Pope Francis joy”. CNS

‘

Paul II’s encyclical on the value and inviolability of human life, Evangelium Vitae (The Gospel of Life), explained the importance of the family as “the womb of human life” and as an institution blessed by God to be a community of love and life.

In fact, Pope Francis said, “the bond between the Church and family is sacred and inviolable” as the Church “is solemnly committed to taking care of the family”, which is a gift of God, in good times and bad.

“The Church, as mother, never abandons the family even when it is disheartened, wounded and demeaned in so many ways,” he said, “not even when [the family] stumbles in sin or distances itself from the Church”.

The Church, he said, “will do everything to try to take care of it and heal it, invite it to conversion

rejection and division: may all who have been hurt or scandalised ¿QG UHDG\ FRPIRUW DQG healing.

Holy Family of Nazareth, may the approaching Synod of Bishops make us once more mindful of the sacredness and inviolability of the family, and its beauty in God’s plan.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, graciously hear our prayer.

and reconcile it with the Lord”.

Given that commitment, the pope said, the Church needs prayers that are “full of love for the family and for life” and a community of people who know “how to rejoice with those who rejoice and suffer with those who suffer”.

Pope Francis asked that prayers and the synod process itself be driven by “the compassion of the Good Shepherd for his Àock, especially for people and families who, for different reasons, are ‘troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd’”. CNS

Pope welcomes homeless to Sistine Chapel &16 ¿OH SKRWR

VATICAN CITY – Just before they

began their private tour of the Sistine Chapel, a group of VIP guests – homeless people who live around the Vatican – were surprised by a visit from Pope Francis.

The 150 visitors had just reached the Sistine Chapel at about 5 pm on March 26, when Pope Francis walked through the door. “Welcome,” the pope said.

“This is everyone’s house, this is your home. The doors are always open for all.”

The Vatican Museums had closed 90 minutes early to allow the special guests of Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, to have the Sistine Chapel to themselves. Archbishop Krajewski distributes charitable aid from Pope Francis and has made a special point of assisting the homeless who live near the Vatican.

During the recent visit, the guests, accompanied by professional guides, began their tour in the Vatican Gardens and the Vatican Museums.

Pope Francis thanked the archbishop for arranging the “little caress” for those who live on the streets of Rome.

“Pray for me. I’m in need of

‘This is everyone’s house, this is your home,’ the pope told homeless people visiting the Sistine Chapel.

prayers by people like you,” the pope told them. He blessed them saying, “May the Lord protect and help you on the path of life and let you feel his tender, fatherly love.”

The pope greeted each guest individually, spending more than 20 minutes with them before they

were served dinner in the museums’ cafeteria.

The Vatican press of¿ce said Pope Francis asked that no cameras be present during his meeting with the group.

One guest named Mauro, who speaks Italian and serves as a spokesman for a group of Poles who sleep near the Vatican press of¿ce, told Catholic News Service on March 27 that his favourite part of the Vatican Museums was the vintage carriage and car collection.

“I’m passionate about cars and what they have is great,” he said.

Mauro said he and his friends always see long lines of tourists waiting to get into the museums, so it was great to see what all the fuss was about. And they didn’t even have to wait in line or deal with a crowd; “it was just us,” he said.

“It’s spectacular,” he said.

“It’s beautiful.” CNS

16 POPE’S HOLY WEEK

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

A look at Pope Francis’ Holy Week celebrations, as he washes the feet

‘Today’s Pilates are those who ignore religious persecution’ VATICAN CITY – Widespread indifference to the violent persecution of Christians and other communities suggests the world is full of Pontius Pilates who eagerly wash their hands of all responsibility, the papal preacher said.

How many times the world witnesses other examples of “ecce homo” – “behold the man” with so many “prisoners that ¿nd themselves in the same situation as Jesus in Pilate’s Pretorium: alone, shackled, tortured, at the mercy of rough soldiers ¿lled with hate”, Capuchin Fr Raniero Cantalamessa said during the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday.

“Jesus is in agony until the end of the world in every man and woman who is subjected to His same torments,” he said in his homily during the April 3 service in St Peter’s Basilica.

The pope began the rite after a silent procession down the central nave. Two assistants helped him kneel to lie prostrate on the Àoor before the main altar in silent prayer, a sign of adoration and penance.

During the veneration of the cross, after the homily, the pope removed his red chasuble and, in a sign of penance, placed a red stole over his shoulders, bowed three times and kissed the cross.

Deacons, cardinals, bishops and Religious then processed before the cross to genuÀect and then kiss Christ’s feet.

Following tradition, the homily was delivered by Fr Cantalamessa, preacher of the papal household.

He said the continued carnage in the world, including the “homicidal violence” against Christians and others shows the continued cruelty of which humanity is capable.

The Capuchin priest recalled that one Italian commentator had “the courage to denounce the disturbing indifference of world in-

Above: Pope Francis lies prostrate at the beginning of the Good Friday liturgy in St. Peter’s Basilica. Fr Cantalamessa, the papal preacher, higlighted how Christians today experience the same situation as Jesus when He faced Pontius Pilate. Inset: The pope celebrating the Good Friday liturgy. CNS photos

stitutions and public opinion” concerning the current wave of people being persecuted for their faith.

“All of us – organisations and people of the western world – risk being Pilates who wash their hands,” he said.

“The problem of violence plagues us, shocks us as it has invented new and frightening forms of cruelty and barbarity today,” he said. Even though critics may point to Old Testament accounts of aggression, Christianity insists that

no one can kill in the name of God, he added.

“Jesus overcame violence not by opposing it with greater violence but by enduring it and exposing all its injustice and futility.”

With his passion and cruci¿xion, Jesus showed His “in¿nite generosity” not just by accepting His fate, but by forgiving “His most relentless enemies” and defending them before God. “To forgive with the same greatness of soul does not entail just a negative attitude through

which one renounces wishing evil on those who do evil; it has to be transformed instead into a positive will to do good to them” with the hope they will be led to the truth and stop harming themselves and others, he said.

“True martyrs of Christ do not die with ¿sts clenched but with their hands together in prayer,” Fr Cantalamessa said, recalling the death of the 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians who were murmuring Jesus’ name as members of the Islamic State murdered them. CNS

Pope baptises 10 people at vigil From Page 1

Champa Buceti, 13, from Cambodia holds a candle after being baptised

by Pope Francis.

During the Easter vigil Mass, Pope Francis baptised, con¿rmed and gave ¿rst Communion to 10 people, who ranged in age from 13 to 66. Four were Italian, three were Albanian and one each came from Cambodia, Kenya and Portugal.

Pope Francis rubbed the chrism oil over their foreheads and, during the con¿rmation rite, tenderly gave each one a kiss on the right cheek.

The youngest of the new Catholics – Champa Buceti, a 13-year-

old Cambodian, and Mr Francesco Comegna, a 28-year-old Italian – brought up the gifts at the offertory.

“It is good for us, on this vigil night, to reÀect on the experience of the women” who went to Jesus’ tomb on Easter morning to anoint His body, said Pope Francis. Entering the tomb is to enter “into the mystery which God has accomplished with his vigil of love”.

“We cannot live Easter without entering into the mystery. It is not something intellectual, something we only know or read about,” he

said. “It is more, much more!”

Entering the mystery means being able “to wonder, to contemplate; the ability to listen to the silence and to hear the tiny whisper amid great silence by which God speaks to us”.

To enter the tomb and enter the mystery takes courage, the pope said. It “demands that we not be afraid of reality, that we not be locked into ourselves, that we not Àee from what we fail to understand, that we not close our eyes to problems or deny them, that we not dismiss our questions”. CNS

POPE’S HOLY WEEK 17

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

of prisoners and gives advice to fellow priests

Humility stressed on Palm Sunday

Pope Francis poured water from a plastic pitcher over each person’s foot, scrubbed it slowly with a white towel, bent low to kiss it and then looked up into the eyes of each person with a broad smile.

Pope washes feet of prisoners and a toddler VATICAN CITY – In a moving ceremony that recalled how Jesus loved the world so deeply that He lowered Himself to serve others, Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 prison inmates, plus a small toddler who lives with his incarcerated mother.

The pope arrived at Rome’s Rebibbia prison on Maundy Thursday to cheers and shouts of hundreds of prisoners chanting “Francesco!” and applauding as they stood along metal barricades lining a prison courtyard.

In his brief, off-the-cuff homily, the pope told the inmates that back in Jesus’ era, when people came to visit, their feet would be dirty from wearing sandals on dusty roads.

“They didn’t have sampietrini

cobblestones back then,” he said, needed to be cleansed by the Lord, as people smiled, recalling Rome’s and asked that everyone pray that signature lava stone-lined streets. “the Lord also wash away my ¿lth so But instead of having a slave that I become more of your servant, wash the apostles’ feet, Jesus per- more of a servant in the service of the formed the ritual Himpeople, like Jesus was”. self to the apostles’ The pope later reThe pope’s shock and incompremoved his vestments hension, the pope said. caring gestures and put on a large white Jesus loved people so brought many garment tied over his much that “He became He knelt before of the inmates alb. a slave in order to serve each of the 12 detainto tears. us, heal us, cleanse us”. ees: most were Italian, He said the men and others came from Nigewomen who would participate in the ria, Congo, Ecuador and Brazil. Two foot washing ceremony would be aides assisted the 78-year-old pope representing everyone, all 2,100 peo- in kneeling and pulling him back up. ple, housed in the detention facility.

He poured water from a white The pope then said that he, too, plastic pitcher over each person’s

foot, scrubbed it slowly with a white towel, bent low to kiss it and then looked up into the eyes of each person with a broad smile.

The gentle and caring gestures brought many of the inmates to tears while children’s squeals and banter bounced off the tall brick walls of the prison chapel.

Before washing the foot of a mother from Nigeria, the pope washed the tiny foot of her small boy, who calmly watched the proceedings from his mother’s lap.

When the Mass ended, the pope patiently and happily made his way down the centre aisle that had now become chocked with inmates eager for a hug and blessing. CNS

VATICAN CITY – From modernday martyrs to those who quietly care for the sick or elderly, Pope Francis remembered all those who “sacri¿ce themselves daily”, following Jesus in serving others and giving witness to the Gospel.

In overcoming the daily temptations of power and pride, the pope said at Palm Sunday Mass, Christians can look to those who, “in silence and hiddenness, sacri¿ce themselves daily to serve others”, whether that be a sick relative, an elderly person or someone with special needs.

On a bright, sunny day, about 70,000 people carrying palms and olive branches joined Pope Francis for the Palm Sunday Mass, the beginning of Holy Week.

The pope also remembered “our brothers and sisters who are persecuted because they are Christians – the martyrs of our own time.

There are many of them! They refuse to deny Jesus and they endure insult and injury with dignity. They follow Him on His way.”

Some 400 young people led the procession into St Peter’s Square, carrying glossy, deep green palm branches that were taller than them. About 80 cardinals and bishops followed, carrying palmurelli, pale green palm branches that were woven and braided.

The heart of the Palm Sunday celebration, the pope said in his homily, is a line from the Letter to the Philippians: “‘He humbled Himself.’ Jesus’ humiliation.”

Humility and humiliation is “God’s way and the way of Christians”, he said, adding that “we will never get used to a humble God.” “This week... which leads us to Easter, we will take this path of Jesus’ own humiliation,” he said.

“Only in this way will this week be holy for us, too.” CNS

Pontiff to priests: trust God, don’t try to be ‘supermen’

Pope Francis breathes over chrism oil, a gesture symbolising the infusion of the Holy Spirit, during the Chrism Mass.

VATICAN CITY – Priestly ministry is hard, sometimes lonely or dangerous work serving the neediest with an open, vulnerable heart, Pope Francis told the world’s priests.

But priests need to learn how to draw strength from their Àock and their love for God, and not look for rest in “worldly pursuits”, hiding in their of¿ce or riding in cars “with tinted windows”, he said on April 2 during the Chrism Mass in St Peter’s Basilica.

If a priest is doing his job right, if his heart is open and he experiences with compassion all the troubles, fears and joys of his people, then “so many emotions, so much affection exhaust the heart of a pastor”, he told the more than 1,500 priests, bishops and cardinals.

For a priest, knowing what one’s Àock is going through comes from “suffering with them”.

“How dif¿cult it is to learn how to rest,” he added. “What comes into play here is our trust and our remembering that we too are sheep and we need the Lord to help us.”

He described three kinds of “weariness” to look out for.

Like Jesus, the priest is called to care for others, he said, which leads to a kind of “weariness of the crowd”.

A priest “with the smell of sheep”, referring to the people he serves, experiences a “good and healthy tiredness” and can smile “the smile of a father who gazes upon his children or grandchildren”.

But that gaze “has nothing to do with those who smell of expensive cologne and look at you from afar and from on high”, the pope said.

The pope next described the “weariness of enemies”, which comes from defending one’s Àock from evil and battling the devil, who tries to silence the word of God and distort it, he said.

Priests must not let down their guard and must “neutralise” the bad without destroying the good, but they also must not presume “to protect like supermen what the Lord alone must protect”.

“In these situations of weariness, the Lord says to us: ‘Have courage! I have overcome the world’ and this word gives us strength,” he said.

The third kind of weariness was “perhaps the most dangerous” because it is self-centred, he said. It is a paradox of giving up everything for the priesthood yet yearning for the Àeshpots of Egypt, he said, referring to the complaints of the Israelites in the Exodus story who missed their lives in Egypt.

It is “a weariness I like to call ‘Àirting with spiritual worldliness,’” he said.

The best way to avoid this, he said, is to never let go of that ¿rst love for Christ.

“Only love gives rest,” he said.

The pope told priests to let Jesus continue to personally wash their feet and cleanse them from “every stain, that worldly and grimy smog that clings to us from the journey we make in his name”. No priest has to let his feet stay dirty and sore, he said. “Like war wounds, the Lord kisses them so that He washes away the grime of our work”. CNS

18 OPINION

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

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COMMENTARY

Easter joy versus Christmas cheer Why the Easter season need not pale before Christmas’ popularity

By Pete Sheehan There is often that debate about what is the bigger holiday – Christmas or Easter.

For popularity, it’s no contest.

Christmas is so popular that it’s sometimes unpopular – entering our consciousness as early as September and becoming dominant into November and December. Movies and TV specials as well as classic TV episodes and Christmas music Àood the airwaves.

At Easter time, you’d be hardpressed to come up with a top 10 list of Easter specials, movies, or songs. Interestingly, I seldom hear of controversy over celebrating – or even mentioning – Easter as I do with Christmas.

For the Church of¿cially, Easter is the primary feast because Jesus’ resurrection is of even greater signi¿cance than His birth. Of course, you get some people who make the argument that you couldn’t have Easter without Christmas so Christmas is more important.

That, however, would be like arguing that married couples should celebrate the anniversary of their engagement as much or more than their wedding.

I know of one priest who called for the same joy and excitement at Easter that we have at Christmas. The strains of Handel’s Messiah should be played as freely at Easter, he argued. In fact, the full version of Messiah encompasses Easter and includes the second coming of Christ, for which the Hallelujah Chorus was written.

Still the Hallelujah Chorus is heard widely at Christmas but seldom at Easter.

We tend think of Christmas in terms of pure joy, even though

The birth of Christ is a wonderful, wondrous sign of God’s love for us.

Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, however, we see more fully the depth of that love. the story of Christmas includes its share of hardship, which we tend to romanticise. Christmas is a mystery, but it expresses something profound about God’s love in a way that hits home.

To get to Easter, we have to go through Lent, which is not celebrated in the same severe manner as in the past, but it is still more of a challenge than Advent. Too often Advent becomes an early celebration of Christmas rather than a preparation or anticipation. And, of course, we have to go through Good Friday, which is sobering if we take it seriously.

The birth of Christ is a wonderful, wondrous sign of God’s love for us. Through Jesus’ death and resurrection, however, we can see more fully the depth of that love. When Easter arrives, the challenge is in some ways deeper.

Rather than God coming to us as

He does at Christmas, the risen Christ is calling us to Him. Easter has a more otherworldly aspect to it, calling us to transcend but also to transform the world. We are left with an empty tomb rather than a crowded stable.

Soon after Easter, Jesus ascends – still present yet paradoxically removed and pleading for us in heaven before the Father.

The birth and life of Jesus gets our attention. The cruci¿xion and resurrection challenge us to respond.

I love the Byzantine Catholic and Orthodox tradition of greeting one another at Easter with “Christ has risen.” Let us all ponder what that means and respond: “Indeed.

He has.” CNS 7KLV FRPPHQWDU\ ¿UVW DSSHDUHG LQ 7KH Catholic Exponent, newspaper of the Diocese of Youngstown, Ohio, USA

On physician-assisted death and euthanasia RAISSA MARITAIN, the philosopher and spiritual writer, died some months after suffering a stroke.

During those months she lay in a hospital bed, unable to speak. After her death, her husband, the renowned philosopher, Jacques Maritain, in preparing her journals for publication, wrote these words: “At a moment when everything collapsed for both of us, and which was followed by four agonising months, Raissa was walled up in herself by a sudden attack of aphasia. Whatever progress she made during several weeks by sheer force of intelligence and will, all deep communication remained cut off. And subsequently, after a relapse, she could barely articulate words. In the supreme battle in which she was engaged, no one on earth could help her, myself no more than anyone else. She preserved the peace of her soul, her full lucidity, her humour, her concern for her friends, the fear of being a trouble to others, and her marvellous smile and the extraordinary light of her wonderful eyes.

To everyone who came near her, she invariably gave (and with what astonishing silent generosity during her last two days, when she could only breathe out her love) some sort of impalpable gift which emanated from the mystery in which she was enclosed.”

The emphasis on the last sentence is my own and I highlight it because, I believe it has something important to say in an age where, more and more, we are coming to believe that euthanasia and various forms of physician-assisted suicide are the humane and compassionate answer to terminal illness.

The case for euthanasia generally revolves around these premises: Suffering devalues human life and euthanasia alleviates that suffering and the ravages of the body and mind that come with that suffering so as to provide a terminally ill person “death with dignity” and death with less suffering. As well, it is argued, that once an illness has so debilitated a person so as to leave him or her in a virtual vegetative state, what is the logic for keeping such a person alive? Once dignity and usefulness are gone, why continue to live?

What’s to be said in response to this? The logic for euthanasia, compassionate in so far as it goes, doesn’t go far enough to consider a number of deeper issues. Dignity and usefulness are huge terms with more dimensions than ¿rst meet the eye.

In a recent article in AMERICA magazine, Jessica Keating highlights some of those deeper issues as she argues against the logic of those who have lauded Brittany Maynard’s (the young woman who captured national attention last year by choosing assisted suicide in the face of a terminal illness) decision to take her own life as “courageous”, “sensible” and “admirable”. Keating concedes that, had she not made that decision, Maynard would no doubt have suffered greatly and would in all likelihood eventually been rendered unproductive and unattractive.

But, Keating argues, “she would have been present in a web of relationships. Even if she had fallen unconscious, she likely would have been read to, washed, dressed and kissed. She would have been gently caressed, held and wept over. She would simply have been loved to the end.”

That’s half the argument against euthanasia. The other half reads this way: Not only would she have been loved to the end, but, perhaps more importantly, she would have been actively emitting love until the end. From her ravaged, silent, mostly-unconscious body would have emanated an intangible, but particularly powerful, nurture and love, akin to the powerful life-giving grace that emanated from Jesus’ broken, naked body on the cross.

We too seldom make this important distinction: We believe that Jesus saved us through His life and through His death, as if these were the same thing. But they are very different: Jesus gave His life for us through His activity, His usefulness, through what He could actively do for us. But He gave His death for us through His passivity, through His helplessness, through the humiliation of His body in death. Jesus gave us His greatest gift precisely during those hours when He couldn’t do anything active for us.

And this isn’t something simply metaphorical and intangible. Anyone of us who have sat at the bedside of a dying loved one have experienced that in that person’s helplessness and pain, he or she is giving us something that he or she couldn’t give us during his or her active life.

From that person’s helplessness and pain emanates a power to draw us together as family, a power to intuit and understand deeper things, a deeper appreciation of life, and especially a much deeper recognition of that person’s life and spirit. And this, impalpable gift, as Maritain says, emanates from the mystery of pain, non-utility, and dying in which he or she is enclosed.

In our dying bodies we can give our loved ones something we cannot fully give them when we are healthy and active. Euthanasia is partially blind to the mystery of how love is given.

FEATURE 19

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

&DWKROLF1HZV EHJLQV D VHULHV RQ VRPH RI WKH DUFKGLRFHVDQ RIÀFHV WR KHOS UHDGHUV XQGHUVWDQG WKHLU UROHV

Multiple roles of the Chancery Photo: ANDRE THENG

By Jeanette Chang When the Chancery ¿rst moved into its physical of¿ce at Waterloo Street in December 2013, it was starting on a completely blank slate.

For Ms Regina Lim, one of two Chancery staff during those days, the initial set-up was “a steep learning curve” as they had to understand numerous Human Resource (HR) matters and ministry-related documents in a cycle of standardising procedures and guidelines, ¿ne-tuning and revision.

In a nutshell, the Chancery is an arm of the archbishop’s of¿ces – collectively known as the Curia – that handles administrative functions such as HR, clergy matters and records management and archives. Far from being bureaucratic however, the Chancery is pastoral.

Its primary functions are to help the archdiocese in its administrative functions and governance, and to preserve and safeguard documents for the Church’s future.

To date, the Chancery has one of¿ce administrator/Personal Assistant to the Chancellor, one HR staff, two Records and Archives staff and a part-time administrative assistant.

Chancellor’s role When Archbishop Emeritus Nicholas Chia retired in 2013, his successor, Archbishop William Goh, appointed Franciscan Friar JohnPaul Tan, as the Chancellor, a role mandated by canon 482 of the Code of Canon Law. Additionally, Fr John-Paul was responsible for setting up a Chancellor’s Of¿ce, otherwise known as the Chancery. Having been a parish priest for nine years at the Church of St Mary of the Angels, Fr John-Paul now enjoys the “macro view” of the archdiocese and putting administrative processes in place “so that the diocese will be able to serve the people better”.

As Chancellor, one of his aims for 2015 is to set up the Chancery Archives, a resource and storage facility for the history of the Catholic Church in Singapore.

Records management & Archives Thanks to canon 486 of the Code of Canon Law, the Catholic Church is one of the most extensive record keepers in the modern world. On top of organising records like historical letters, title deeds and registers for baptism, con¿rmation and marriage, the Chancery’s Records Archives staff, Ms Valerie Siew and I, also receive canonical status updates and requests for sacramental records from other Chanceries.

While one of the best things about working with old documents is certainly the chance to have, as Ms Siew says, “history in my hands”, our constant worry

Left: A Chancerysponsored lunch for young priests after a formation session.

Photo: FR JOVITA HO

Franciscan Friar John Paul Tan was appointed Chancellor in 2013.

is ensuring that everything will stand the test of time.

For example, due to poor paper quality, some external correspondence from the 1960s have already begun to deteriorate. Part of our work involves protecting these fragile documents in archival sleeves that keep the paper together and slows down decay.

We have also begun to digitise records, and have planned for more important documents to be permanently captured on micro¿lm.

Another challenge for any diocesan archives is gathering material on a scale that captures the progress and growth of the entire archdiocese.

Not only are we protecting existing records, we must collect a good volume of archival material that represents the various of¿ces and bodies of the local Catholic Church.

This situation has necessitated an Archdiocese Records Retention policy which is in its early stages of implementation. On top of conserving written documents, we also see a need to gather, evaluate and conserve Singapore’s Catholic heritage in all forms, including old photographs, micro¿lms, and especially oral history archives.

In time, we will be appealing to the public to donate materials that convey the Church’s growth in Singapore. For now, as more local pioneers of the Church pass on, our immediate concern is the setting up of an oral history programme.

We are keen to start interviewing our retired clergy, Religious and lay people who were instrumental in building up parishes or nationwide ministries.

One of the most important tasks we will embark on is ¿nding volunteers who will be trained to conduct oral history interviews.

Administration and Documentation “Who checks if the guest speaker at my parish is legitimate?” “Who do my parish secretaries refer my

PNI (Prenuptial Inquiry) to if I want to get married in an overseas church?” “Can you please help me update my group’s details in the Catholic Directory?” The Chancery!

Being the administrative backbone of the archdiocese, the Administration and Documentation department processes various applications within Singapore and liaises with other Chanceries in the world to help the local Church.

Screening foreigners (whether clergy, Religious or laity) that come into Singapore for ministry work,

The Chancery is an arm of the archbishop’s RI¿FHV ± FROOHFWLYHO\ known as the Curia ± WKDW KDQGOHV administrative functions such as human resource, clergy matters and records management and archives. pre-nuptial dispensations, helping newlyweds arrange for overseas weddings or meeting with the pope, preparing for various clergy and council meetings and processing clerical applications to celebrate Mass outside his diocese are all in a day’s work for the staff, Ms Regina Lim and Ms Lydia Budiman.

In addition, the department oversees projects like compiling all organisation details for the bi-annual Catholic Directory and collecting Annual Statistics to be sent to the Vatican. This means collaborating with over 300 par-

ishes, of¿ces, schools and other local Catholic entities.

Ms Budiman also helps HR to ensure that policies, whether issued by the state or Church, are implemented and followed up.

While it seems straightforward, sticking to established policies is one of the hardest things to do as a governance body.

For example, under Singapore law, all foreigners giving talks or running workshops in Singapore must apply for miscellaneous work passes with the Ministry of Manpower. At the same time, in accordance with the Church’s stance on providing a safe environment for the faithful, the Chancery ensures that these foreign speakers are authenticated by their own ecclesiastical authority.

Human Resource Another important function of the Chancery is the HR department.

Staffed by Ms Sharon Lee, the

scope includes recruitment and selection; compensation and bene¿ts; training and development; and performance appraisal and employee relations.

Support to parishes and church entities are Ms Lee’s primary focus: guiding the leaders on technical matters like compensation administration, reviewing job descriptions, quali¿cations and skills when they ask for help; and in the constructive resolution of disagreements.

HR also liaises with external trainers to provide data protection workshops for clergy and lay Data Protection Of¿cers, as well as clergy-related matters, such as healthcare for priests.

As an of¿ce without precedent, work for the Chancery continues to come in many unexpected ways. We look forward to evolve as the diocese develops, as our own efforts and skill-sets broaden to support the outreach and development of the Catholic Church in Singapore.

Positions Available The Chancery is looking for professionals, volunteers and interns.

For details, visit http://www.catholic.org.sg/seek-opportunities/ or call 6336-9408.

FULL TIME 1. Administrative Assistant (General) 2. Administrative Assistant (Records management Archives) Please send your resume and a recent photo to recruitment@ catholic.org.sg.

VOLUNTEERS “Slippery History!”: Oral Archives Programme

1. Interviewers 2. Transcribers Please send your name, contact number and parish to chanceryrecords@catholic.org.sg,

with your desired position as the subject header.

SG50 Virtual Exhibition

1. Researchers/ historians interested in Catholic Church history 2. Narrative writers 3. Illustrators 4. Web specialists/developers Please provide a 200-word sample of your narrative writing, an original illustration or a link to a webpage you designed. Send the attachment, your name and contact number to chanceryrecords@catholic. org.sg with your desired position as the subject header.

20 FAITH JOURNEYS

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

How I came to join the Ca

New Catholics who joined the Church at the recent Easter v Mother’s fear of losing child drew her close to God

Ms Wan Xiaotian

Fiancee’s Catholic family gave her a boost “God had called me through my ¿ancee and his family,” said 27-yearold Wan Xiaotian from China.

“I watched his Catholic family embrace the Lord in their personal and family life,” she said.

Ms Wan shared that she followed her mother to Christian church services in China since young. But she “did not feel the calling to become a Christian”, she said.

In 2010, when she visited a Catholic church during a ¿eld trip, “that was the ¿rst moment in my life that I wanted to know more about the Catholic faith,” she said.

“I knew that I wanted to be God’s child since young but I was having a conÀict with myself of whether to be a Protestant Christian just like my parents,” she said.

After informing her parents of her decision to attend the RCIA programme at the Church of St Mary of the Angels, (SMOTA) Ms Wan was surprised when they were suportive, she said.

It was tough for Ms Wan to fully commit to the RCIA programme as she was working.

But “in early 2013, I resigned... and went for SMOTA’s ongoing inquiry for RCIA” in 2014.

Throughout the programme, Ms Wan said that she has felt her relationship with God strengthen.

Ms Wan says she wishes to join a Neighbourhood Christian Community group and be a volunteer in SMOTA’s Five Loaves bakery just like her fiancee’s parents.

Ms Elizabeth Lim, 43, who was formerly from a non-Catholic church, said she had felt out of place there when she was a teenager, as all her Christian friends “could speak in tongues” while she could not.

Later, she “was moving from one church to another but I never actually felt as if I truly belonged anywhere”.

She shared that while working in a restaurant company, she would go into her Catholic boss’ of¿ce to ask her questions related to Catholicism.

She had been working for this boss for almost 10 years.

“I would go into her of¿ce whenever I had a question about God,” she said.

When Ms Lim was pregnant with twins at the age of 38, she and her husband were given a scare when “doctors told me that I might lose one of my twins.”

“My husband who was a freethinker prayed to God to save my child.”

Thus when her twins were born healthy, “I wanted to make sure that my children would not be like mummy,” not belonging

to any church, she said.

At work, her boss advised her to attend Mass at the Church of St Mary of the Angels (SMOTA).

Heeding her advice, on Christmas day, Ms Lim strapped her kids into the car and headed to SMOTA. Upon arrival – 55 minutes late for Mass – Ms Lim broke down.

“I can’t remember if it was a song or a prayer but in ¿ve minutes,

Doctors told me ‘that I might lose one of my twins.’

– Ms Elizabeth Lim

I was so overwhelmed because I found God and automatically connected with Him,” she said.

After Mass, Ms Lim told her boss that she wanted to become a Catholic and her boss willingly “became my sponsor”.

Ms Lim said she enjoyed her RCIA programme.

“It felt as if I had picked up from where I left off at Sunday school,” she said.

Ms Elizabeth Lim and her husband Timothy Seow seen here their twin children Caleb and Alicia.

“Even when I asked questions like, ‘How is Santa Claus related to Christmas?’, I am happy to be in a community which can answer my questions with respect,” said Ms Lim.

Recently when Ms Lim’s father passed away, she “did not cry during his cremation. Instead, I prayed the Hail Mary and as I prayed, I felt myself grow stronger,” she said.

Couple baptised with their eldest child at Easter After newly-wed couple Caroline West, 33, and her husband Marc Sin, 34, moved in together, everything went topsy turvy.

The couple had a traditional Chinese wedding in 2006 as Mr Sin’s parents were Taoists.

But Ms West shared that she was raised a Catholic while living in Kuala Lumpur (KL).

Due to the couple’s contrasting beliefs and differences, “we fought, quarelled and screamed at each other... Then we had children. We fought even more,” said Ms West, a Singapore permanent resident.

After ¿ve years of ¿ghting, “Our marriage fell apart and we almost divorced,” she said.

Not knowing who to turn to for help, Ms West and her husband decided “that we should let God lead us”, she said.

She recalled vividly that when she lived in KL as a child, “I had a relationship with God”.

Staying with her grandmother and aunt, Ms West attended catechism classes and Mass with her cousins though she never got baptised.

“My grandma and aunt would even organise prayer sessions and Christmas carolling at home,” she added.

However, after moving to Sin-

Ms Caroline West seen with husband Marc Sin and their children (from left): Amelia, Amberly and Alessandra.

gapore at the age of nine, Ms West was able to attend Masses only on “special occasions”.

She soon stopped saying the Lord’s prayer before bedtime.

Ms West shared that many times during her teenage years, “I wanted to go back to church.”

But after “going to my friends’ [Christian] churches, I did not feel comfortable there,” she said.

Ms West then decided to con-

¿de in a Catholic friend who then accompanied the family to Catholic Masses.

During that time, Ms West and her husband signed up for the RCIA course with the Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour “as soon as they started handing out the forms”, she said.

Ms West said that it was a challenge to attend RCIA sessions as she gave birth to her third daughter

a month into the programme.

Tending to “two school children and a newborn was no easy feat”, said Ms West. Most of the time, the couple was late for the sessions, she said.

Sometimes, they “had to bring all three children”, she said.

Despite this, “the RCIA core team at OLPS was the most helpful and they cared for our girls like their very own,” said Ms West.

“I know sometimes my girls’ presence was rather disruptive to the others, but the core team never complained. They were extremely patient and understanding,” she said Looking back at her journey, “I guess God never left me,” she added.

Ms West shared that once she, her husband and her eight-yearold daughter Amelia get baptised, the couple will prepare their two younger daughters for infant baptism in a few days’ time.

She said she also has plans to hold Bible sharing sessions every Sunday evenings with the family, as well as set aside time to pray together.

“Both my husband and I aim to join the RCIA again a year later as sponsors,” she added.

FAITH JOURNEYS 21

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

atholic Church

vigil share their faith journeys with Lorna O’Hara ‘Maybe God wanted me to live’ Mr Jimmy Low recalled that during his mother’s funeral eight years ago, different prices were charged for the types of religious chants recited.

The same thing happened at his father’s funeral in 2014.

“So what will happen to people who cannot afford to pay for the chants?” the 61-year-old freethinker asked himself.

Another incident in life made a deep impression on him.

While ¿xing a socket and plug which had caught ¿re in his home last year, “I didn’t notice that there was a live wire right beside me,” said Mr Low. “If I had touched it, I would have died.”

After the incident, he came to the realisation that “maybe God wanted me to live”.

But in that same year when his father passed away and he faced challenges with his son, Mr Lim asked himself “Why on earth am I suffering?”

“I was at the lowest point in my life and I felt depressed,” he recalled.

A few days after his father’s passing, Mr Lim passed by the Church of the Holy Trinity which is right behind his home in Tampines.

“Since I have been living behind this church for 16 years, why

Mr Jimmy Low

not attend this church and see what’s it all about?” he said.

He stepped into the church to attend Maundy Thursday Mass and “in the middle of the song, I felt a chill run down my body and I immediately felt comfortable,” said Mr Low. That was enough for him to want to return to the church.

“The more I wanted to ¿nd out about the Catholic religion, the more I came to church,” said Mr Low. Mr Low shared that in the end,

his neighbour encouraged him to attend the RCIA programme.

He settled in and felt “at home”, he said.

Since enrolling in the RCIA programme in June 2014, Mr Low has been going to church to pray at 8.30 am daily.

“I also volunteer at Willing Hands [a group that cleans the parish every week] and clean the church once a week,” he said.

“Even though the journey was long for me, I now feel much happier,” he said.

Intrigued by ‘black crosses’ on foreheads on Ash Wednesday In 2011, Ms Charlene Lim, her husband and their eldest son went to the Church of St Mary of the Angels to admire its architecture.

There, they “saw a group of people talking to each other with black crosses on their foreheads”, Ms Lim recalled.

After ¿nding out that Catholics were celebrating Ash Wednesday, Ms Lim got curious.

“I wanted to know more about Lent and how Catholics prepared for it” and went online to do some research, she said.

While online, she chanced upon the Jesuit website, Pray As You Go (PAYG), which offers a “10-15 minute audio track consisting of a song, a scripture reading, and questions to facilitate reÀection on the reading”, she said.

After Ms Lim’s Protestant church closed down, she “decided to take the leap to join a Catholic community”.

She enrolled in the RCIA programme at the Church of St Mary of the Angels (SMOTA) in 2014.

“At ¿rst, several alarm bells

could ‘seeCatholics expressions of our God in so many other ways other than through the Bible.

’

– Ms Charlene Lim

Ms Charlene Lim with her sixmonth-old daughter Lily.

went off in my head because I disagreed with some of the topics discussed in the inquiry stage,” she said.

Many Protestant Christians believe that if people do not believe in Christ, they “will go straight to hell”, said Ms Lim. “However, in the Catholic Church, I found out that people did not make such ¿xed conclusions.”

After attending more sessions, she realised that Catholics “could

see expressions of our God in so many other ways other than through the Bible”, said Ms Lim. Ms Lim admits that throughout the journey “towards being received into the Catholic Church, I had my doubts.”

But she was certain of her decision once she heard Archbishop William Goh’s homily during the Rite of Election on Feb 22.

He delivered his homily with “conviction and ¿re that helped me feel like I was in good hands,” she said.

Ms Lim said she would like to be a parent volunteer for the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. She also hopes to join a neighbourhood group at SMOTA.

Christ ‘gave me strength’ Growing up, Ms Immanuella Lim, 22, described her family life as “complicated”.

Family ties became strained when she was just seven years old, and things escalated until Ms Lim, at 16, found herself being separated from her younger brother and sister.

During that time, Ms Lim felt that “the situation was very bleak.”

But during that time, Ms Lim recalled her grandmother bringing her to Novena Church to pray.

There, she found out about the RCIA programme.

She told her grandmother that she wanted to become a Catholic but when she enquired about the programme, she was told that she was “too young”.

Ms Lim admitted that along the way, she got “caught up with my education and forgot about the RCIA journey, till I heard that the Church of St Mary of the Angels offered RCIA when I was 21”.

Throughout the programme, her friends, family and boyfriend “supported me by accomodating me in terms of blocking out times

Ms Immanuella Lim

and dates so that I could commit to the RCIA”, she said.

Ms Lim realised that joining the Catholic family ¿lled up that missing part of her life.

“God supported me. He journeyed with me, He answered my prayers, He gave me strength,” she said.

Ms Lim plans to become a Chinese lector. She also would like to create mobile apps related to the Catholic faith.

Doctor wanted to ‘stop sitting on fence’ Medical doctor Choong Siew with one priest turned sour when Foong, 56, was born into a strict “the priest said, ‘Why is it that you come only when you have probTaoist family.

Ms Choong shared that from lems?’” recalled Ms Choong.

After being cleared of ovarian young, her father told her that she was “never to become a Christian. cancer, Ms Choong felt that someHe feared any conversion would how, “God had been with me.”

She decided to attend Mass at stop me from practising Qing Ming [a festival to honour the dead]”, or the Church of St Teresa and soon visiting and sweeping the tombs of after, she told her friend, now her relatives who have passed away, godmother, that “I wished to stop sitting on the fence.” she said.

Her friend enThus throughMs Foong’s couraged her to out her primary and attend the RCIA secondary Catholic friends prayed programme at the school education, “I over her church. remember attending Throughout her compulsory Bible when she had journey to become a studies with detachovarian cancer Catholic, Ms Choong ment,” she added. said that she learnt In 2006, when in 2006. how to “turn to God she was struck with and pray” whenever ovarian cancer, she felt “resentment against God”, she she needed strength to overcome obstacles in life. said.

“My RCIA team has become During that time, her Catholic friends would bring her religious my con¿dantes and friends. Their medals and would “pray over me”, efforts in helping a group of stranshe said. This went on throughout gers get to know God has touched her chemotheraphy, surgery, and me and shown me the true calling when she was down with anxiety of being Christian... I can say that and on medication for a-year-and-a- I can feel God’s presence and love more often,” she said. half, she said.

They also brought her to see several priests but her encounter lorna.ohara@catholic.org.sg

22 FAITH ALIVE!

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

Finding the meaning of mercy

By Marcellino D’Ambrosio Several years ago, the Catholic Church designated the Sunday after Easter as Divine Mercy Sunday. That raises two questions – what exactly is “mercy” and what does it have to do with the Easter season?

In the mind of Pope Francis, the demands of Christian mercy extend beyond that. Rather than shoring up the walls that divide people and keep their lives separate, mercy closes up the distance between them and creates a new closeness.

“True mercy takes the person into one’s care, listens to him attentively,” Pope Francis told the priests of Rome in March 2014.

Mercy is not pity. Neither is it simply sparing someone from punishment. Mercy “is the very substance of the Gospel of Jesus”, said Pope Francis in a March 3 letter to the Catholic University of Argentina.

Jesus is the perfect human image of the Father’s mercy. When He meets those suffering from hunger, He feeds them. When He encounters people suffering from physical illness, He heals them. True mercy is not super¿cial, but radical.

Jesus recognises that the deepest suffering in human life, the root cause of all other suffering, is sin. Sin debases us, robs us of dignity, weakens and even ruptures our connection with the source of our life, namely, God. True mercy seeks to alleviate this deeper suffering that can potentially lead to eternal suffering.

It was to address this most profound of all wounds that Jesus gave up His life. And the risen Christ instituted the sacrament of penance to apply mercy to each individual

‘True mercy

takes the person into one’s care, listens to him attentively.

’

– Pope Francis

Pope Francis goes to confession during a Lenten penance service in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican on March 13. He said that mercy is the very substance of the Gospel of Jesus. CNS photo

sinner at the moment of their deepest need.

Where does the Bible say Jesus instituted the sacrament? In John’s Gospel 20:21.

Despite the locked doors, he stands amid the apostles and says, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.”

Jesus is the original “apostle” of the Fa-

ther – the word means “one who is sent”.

As He was sent on a mission of mercy, so He sends out his apostles on the same mission. He breathes on them and says in John 20:22-23: “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”

From the looks of this text, He gave the apostles and their successors, whom we call bishops, a great deal of authority in this matter. But He also gave them a great deal of spiritual power.

He is the spirit of mercy, the spirit of healing, the spirit of liberation and resurrection.

This means that going to confession is about more than an appointment with an of¿cial of the Church. It is an encounter with a man who has been anointed with the spirit of mercy to stand in the place of Christ and serve as an instrument.

True, this instrument is a sinner who is himself in need of mercy, much like Peter and doubting Thomas were, but he is nonetheless an instrument of God’s healing and merciful love.

The spirit Christ breathed on the apostles has been passed on to bishops and priests through the Sacrament of Holy Orders.

That means that Jesus Christ is ultimately the one who comes to meet you in the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation.

His merciful love means that He did not die simply to “cover our sins” and wipe them off God’s record book, leaving us the same miserable creatures we’d always been.

In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus invites me, as He did with Lazarus, to come out of the place of darkness and decay.

He tells his priests the same thing He said to the people standing around Lazarus’ tomb: “Untie him and let him go.”

That’s divine mercy. CNS D’Ambrosio writes from Texas, USA. He is cofounder of Crossroads Productions, an apostolate of Catholic renewal and evangelisation.

Roots of Divine Mercy Sunday

By Daniel S Mulhall Divine Mercy Sunday is celebrated each year on the Second Sunday of Easter. This designation was established by St John Paul II in the Jubilee Year 2000 on the canonisation of St Faustina Kowalska, a Polish nun who had visions of Jesus as the Divine Mercy.

On this day the Church remembers and celebrates that Jesus is the ful¿lment of God’s love for the world.

There are many people who have a special devotion to the Divine Mercy, following in the practice begun by St Faustina. There are numerous websites related to the Divine Mercy, and there are national and international conferences held in conjunction with this feast. There is a Divine Mercy chaplet, which is prayed like the rosary, and a Divine Mercy novena, which is prayed for the nine days prior to the feast.

All of these celebrations and prayers are designed to help us remember and reÀect upon the mercy that God has shown us in our lives, especially in giving us His only Son for our salvation.

One of the things Catholics are asked to do on Divine Mercy Sunday is to reÀect on how they experience God’s mercy in their own lives and to consider how they have been the vehicle

On the second Sunday of Easter, the Church remembers that Jesus is the IXO¿OPHQW of God’s love for the world.

of God’s mercy to others.

Reading the Gospels is a good place to ¿nd stories that illustrate how Jesus had mercy upon those in need of healing. The story found in John 5 seems particularly appropriate for this reÀection, for it shows Jesus helping, without being asked, a man he comes upon who is in¿rm.

In our reÀection on this story we might ask, When have we noticed someone in need and reached out to help them? We might also ask ourselves about times when we have not cared enough to notice or when we noticed and chose not to get involved.

Pope Francis speaks continuously about God’s great mercy.

The Holy Father has frequently compared the Church to a ¿eld hospital, a place where hurt and forgotten people can turn to for love and affection, where their immediate injuries can be healed and where they can experience the love of God without exception.

That is what we celebrate on Divine Mercy Sunday, that God’s love and care for us is unceasing. CNS Mulhall is a freelance writer and a catechist for adults. He lives in Laurel, Maryland, USA.

FOCUS 23

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

FEATURING RETREAT CENTRES IN SINGAPORE

Finding true rest at Oasis especially, would understand this because we speak of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.”

The relationship between a directee and spiritual director is one of companionship, “one which is always directed towards the deepening relationship between the Creator God, and the self”, she adds.

Experiences

Above: Good Shepherd Sr Elizabeth Lim started providing spiritual direction in 1976. Left: The foyer of Good Shepherd Oasis. The newly built retreat centre is located on Level 4 of Good Shepherd Place, Lorong 8, Toa Payoh.

By Mel Diamse-Lee In her book, Quiet Journeys – Finding Stillness in Chaos, Good Shepherd Sr Elizabeth Lim says that “the burdensome restlessness that plagues most of society” boils down to a lack of reÀection.

Good Shepherd Oasis, established in 1998 by Sr Elizabeth, hopes to bring one to experience contemplation in silence and be rested in God. People who go on retreat at Oasis, now located on Level 4 of Good Shepherd Place, Lorong 8 Toa Payoh, have told her, “I don’t know why I don’t know where I am [in life’s journey].” Sr Elizabeth says this is in the heart of various individuals.

“It is so important to help individuals understand the real meaning of who they are... what it is that they love, what God wills in

Name an occasion you felt embarrassed.

On my ¿rst Lent in Kenya, I gave a religious education session to the girls at the boarding school on the three spiritual exercises recommended for Lent – almsgiving, prayer and fasting. I was going on and on about fasting and abstinence, when one of the girls told me that they were always fasting or abstaining from meat because often there wasn’t enough food. I felt embarrassed because I had assumed too much and had not considered their experience and perspective.

Name an occasion/incident when you felt God was far away.

In 2002 in Kenya, I was in a

their lives.” This is why, she adds, “retreats and days of quiet and reÀection have to be considered a little bit more.”

Value of feeling and sensing To those who are uncomfortable with silence and insist on hearing the sharing of others in a group retreat, she offers a challenge: “There is so much to learn from your own experience. Maybe there is greater wealth in your experience that brings you to a relationship with God.” She adds, “Many people need to understand what they sense or feel. Feelings are indicators of how far or how near you are to God, in a sense. Out of those feelings, if you are not aware, you react, say in anger. That shows you do not have the presence of God in you.”

community in the country’s largest slum. Once, violence erupted because of the rivalry between tribal groups. The police stepped in and the violence escalated.

Each day, crowds formed outside the gates of the house of the Missionaries of Charity or at ours, begging for food. A woman begged us to take in her young daughter as she was afraid that the girl would be violated by men taking advantage of the chaos. I felt helpless against the tide of so much misery and poverty. I felt God was far away.

What do you like best about being a Religious/consecrated person?

The support of community and community structures that keep

Preparation For ¿rst-timers of directed retreats, Sr Elizabeth usually initiates a phone conversion to sense their need and for the retreatant to articulate the need. Following that

Spiritual direction is ‘really a listening of the heart, not a listening of the mind. Catholics, especially, would understand this because we speak of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

’

she would recommend a retreat of between three and ¿ve days.

A retreatant may be asked to bring a particular scripture text that resonates with him or her, or if the person has deep concerns,

me human and grounded! I can be a workaholic and driven and so the community structures or schedules for meals, for communal prayer and community time help me live a balanced life. Being a consecrated person also makes me free inside. I don’t have to prove myself to anyone.

How would you make vocations attractive to the youth of today?

I don’t believe in “making vocations attractive”. It is not a job advertisement but a commitment. Unless we can stir up the passions of the youth to want to serve God and unless we can help them encounter God in daily life, they will not consider the consecrated life. I believe we

that could be the retreat’s starting point.

“A retreat is a time where the silence of the environment, or the silence of your own heart is a great help in bringing you to an experience of God’s presence in your life,” remarks Sr Elizabeth.

Spiritual direction vs spiritual counseling Having a spiritual director (SD) is a “very necessary thing. It is highly recommended,” she says.

“In spiritual direction, we try to move with directees. The journey will help them have a mindset that will settle them. They will know deep down, ‘This is what is really inside of me’ and they feel free, experiencing everything as lovely.

“Spiritual direction is really a listening of the heart, not a listening of the mind. Catholics,

have to present Religious life in a way that is relevant and real.

What has sustained your life as a Religious, especially in the face of challenges/changes?

Prayer. Both communal and personal, especially before the Blessed Sacrament. Our foundress, Blessed Mary of the Passion, once said, “Jesus in the Eucharist is the greatest missionary.”

How would you summarise your life today as a Religious?

I am happy and ever grateful Singaporean Sr Veronica de Roza Franciscan Missionaries of Mary www.fmm-mysg.weebly.com

Ms Christabel, a retreatant, says, “When I went for my ¿rst silent retreat, I was worried that I would be bored out of my wits by the silence. How wrong I was! I discovered that instead of empty and mindless nothingness, the silence was ¿lled with God’s loving presence – full of promise and possibilities for renewal and growth.”

A minister in a non-Catholic Church, who gave his name as SJ, notes, “While at the retreat, I began to see my ordination as an important part of my service and witness of the Gospel of God’s grace… I began to accept the ordination as something more than a formality.”

Ms Corinne Cheok, who has been a directee since 2007, shares: “I can hear much more clearly the Spirit speaking, and follow His promptings to whatever I am seeking guidance or enlightenment on.

“I am often amazed at how God knows things about me that even I have forgotten. Spiritual direction helps me to shed the false con¿dence I have come to rely on, from all the reading and knowledge. It helps me to encounter God as He is. It is an incredibly personal and intimate encounter which deepens and enlarges my faith.” mel.lee@catholic.org.sg

that God has chosen to call me to be a Franciscan Missionary of Mary. I feel I have come home.

24

Sunday April 19, 2015 Â&#x201E; CatholicNews

On the third day after Jesusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; death, Mary of Magdala went to His tomb.

The stone had been rolled away and the body gone.

She ran to tell the apostles. Peter and another apostle rushed to the tomb and found only Jesusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; burial cloths inside. They did not understand that Jesus had risen from the dead.

The two apostles returned to a home in which Jesusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; followers had locked themselves because they feared being persecuted.

But Mary stayed at the tomb and wept. Suddenly, Jesus appeared.

At Âżrst, Mary did not recognise him.

But when she Âżnally did, her sorrow turned to joy. Jesus asked her to tell the apostles that she had seen Him. â&#x20AC;&#x153;But go to my brothers and tell them, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I am going to my Father and

your Father, to my God and your God,â&#x20AC;? He told Mary.

That evening, after hearing of Jesusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; appearance to Mary, the apostles received their own visit from the Lord. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Peace be with you,â&#x20AC;? Jesus said as He suddenly appeared inside their locked room. Jesusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; friends started to rejoice. The Lord then breathed the Holy Spirit upon them. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained,â&#x20AC;? He told His friends.

One of Jesusâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; apostles was not there to witness the Lordâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appearance. His name was Thomas. He refused to believe that his friends had seen Jesus. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands and put my Âżnger into the nail marks and put my hand into his side, I will not believe,â&#x20AC;? he told them.

SPOTLIGHT ON SAINTS:

St Zita St Zita was born in Italy to very devout Christian parents. Her older sister was a Cistercian nun, and her uncle was a hermit. When she was 12, she went to live in the village of Lucca to be a servant for the family who owned a wool and silk weaving business.

She was known to get up during the night to pray. She also attended Mass at a nearby church.

She always gave her food to the poor, and a lot of times she slept on the ground.

She was very well-liked by the family she served, and she eventually became their housekeeper and also their adviser.

The family allowed her all the time she wanted to visit the sick, poor and imprisoned. She was especially devoted to those prisoners who were going to be put to death.

She served the same family for 48 years and died peacefully in 1278 at age 60. We remember her on April 27. Â&#x201E;

A week later, Thomas was with his friends in the locked room when Jesus again came into their midst. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Put your Âżnger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side,â&#x20AC;? Jesus told Thomas, â&#x20AC;&#x153;and do not be unbelieving, but believe.â&#x20AC;?

Thomas did what he was told. He looked at Jesus. â&#x20AC;&#x153;My Lord and my God!â&#x20AC;? Thomas exclaimed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Have you come to believe be-

cause you have seen me?â&#x20AC;? Jesus asked His friend. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed.â&#x20AC;? Â&#x201E; Read more about it: John 20

Q&A :KDW GLG WKH DSRVWOHV ÂżQG LQ -HVXVÂś tomb?

2. Which apostle did not believe that his friends had seen Jesus?

Wordsearch: Â&#x201E; SORROW Â&#x201E; ROOM Â&#x201E; CLOTH Â&#x201E; BURIAL Â&#x201E; DEAD Â&#x201E; BODY Â&#x201E; LORD Â&#x201E; FINGER Â&#x201E; JOY

Â&#x201E; GONE Â&#x201E; TOMB Â&#x201E; STONE

KIDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S CLUB: Share your thoughts with family and friends on a Bible story by writing an essay in response to this question: Why should we not be doubtful like Thomas?

Bible Accent:

Answer to puzzle: 1. Pontius Pilate; 2. Simon the Cyrenian; 3. The daughters of Jerusalem; 4. Joseph of Arimathea

Jesus appeared to His followers several times before ascending into heaven. In Luke 24, two of his friends were walking along a road to a village near Jerusalem called Emmaus. As the two were talking about what had happened to Jesus, the Lord appeared and began walking with them. His friends did not recognise him, however.

After reaching Emmaus, the two friends asked Jesus to stay with them. Jesus broke bread with them, and just as they recognised Him, He disappeared.

In John 21, Jesus appeared to seven of His followers â&#x20AC;&#x201C; one of whom was Simon Peter â&#x20AC;&#x201C; who were Âżshing at the Sea of Tiberias. They saw Him on shore as they brought their boat in. He told them to come and eat a breakfast of bread and Âżsh.

As Jesus talked and handed out the food, His followers Âżnally recognised him. It was during this visit that Jesus told Simon Peter to feed His lambs and sheep. Â&#x201E;

PUZZLE: Many people prepare for the Easter season by praying the Stations RI WKH &URVV ZKLFK UHWUDFH -HVXVÂś MRXUQH\ IURP WKH *DUGHQ RI *HWKVHPDQH WR KLV FUXFLÂż[LRQ DQG EXULDO LQ WKH WRPE 8VLQJ WKH hints provided, answer these questions about the stations.

1. Who condemned Jesus to death? (Station 1; Luke 23:24) 2. Who helps Jesus carry His cross? (Station 5; Luke 23:26) 3. Who does Jesus comfort as He walks to Golgotha? (Station 8; Luke 23:27-28)

:KR WRRN -HVXVÂś ERG\ IURP WKH FURVV" (Station 13; Luke 23:50-51)

Answer to Wordsearch

By Jennifer Ficcaglia

WHAT’S ON

Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

CATECHISM FOR THE ELDERLY Catechism classes for the elderly are held in English, Mandarin, Peranakan, Hokkien, Teochew and Cantonese on Thursdays from 1pm-2.45pm at Church of the Holy Family and on Saturdays at St Joseph’s Church (Victoria Street), parish hall from 9.30am11.30am. Register T: 9115 5673 (Andrew).

EVENT SUBMISSIONS

We welcome information of events happening in our local Church. Please send your submission at least one month before the event.

Online submissions can be made at www.catholicnews.sg/whatson

RCIA/RCIY

APRIL 12 IJHCC CHARITY CONCERT 4pm-5.30pm: CHIJMES is presenting a charity show to raise funds for IJHCC, an orphanage that started in CHIJMES in 1854. Former convent students will put together a show that links CHIJMES past and present. All proceeds raised will be donated to IJHCC. To purchase tickets, visit W: http://chijmes.com.sg, under “Events” section.

A journey for those seeking to know more about the Catholic faith. Baptised Catholics are also invited to journey as sponsors.

WEDNESDAYS RCIA @ CHURCH OF CHRIST THE KING 8pm-10pm: 221 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 8, RCIA Room 105. Register T: 8188 4141 (Benjamin Chan) / 8188 4242 (Gwen Lim); E: query.rcia@gmail.com.

TUESDAYS FROM APRIL 14 TO JUNE 2 KNOWING GOD BETTER 7.30pm-9.30pm: Calling all newlybaptised Catholics and Catholics who want to get more out of their faith, join us for a video series titled Knowing God Better, by David Payne. The series invites Catholics to reÀect on their beliefs with the help of mime, music and testimonies.

Organised by F.R.E.E. Ministry. At Church of the Risen Christ, 91 Toa Payoh Central, Parish Hall. All are welcome.

Register W: http://free.risenchrist.org.sg.

SATURDAYS RCIA @ CHURCH OF ST IGNATIUS 4pm: 120 King’s Road. Enquiries T: 9762 6330 (Evelyn) / 9790 5251 (Ruth); E: rciy.ignatius@gmail.com; W: http://stignatius.org.sg/dvc/rciy.html.

SUNDAYS MARCH 1 TO APRIL 3, 2016 RCIY @ CHURCH OF ST FRANCIS XAVIER 10.15am-noon: At 63A Chartwell Drive.

Register T: 9751 3448 (Mark) / 9002 9977 (Angela); E: angela.soh137@gmail.com.

WEDNESDAYS RCIA @ CHURCH OF HOLY FAMILY 7.30pm-9.30pm: 6 Chapel Road. Register T: 9666 6542; E: rcia@holyfam@gmail.com.

APRIL 14 CHRISTIAN LIFE PROGRAMME 7.30pm-9.30pm: Calling all single men and women between the ages of 21 and 40. Join us for an integrated course intended to lead participants into a renewed understanding of God’s call to them as Christians. It will run for a total of 13 separate sessions, once a week. Rekindle your relationship with God. Organised

by Singles for Christ. At CANA Catholic Centre, 55 Waterloo Street, #02-01.

Register T: 9221 0906 (Neil) / 9339 1156 (Thet); E:cityclp.cana@yahoo.com.sg.

FRIDAYS RCIA @ CHURCH OF OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE 8pm-10pm: 4 Sandy Lane. Enquiries T: 9030 9527; E: admin@queenofpeace. sg / martinds52@gmail.com.

SUNDAYS APRIL 12 RCIA @ CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR 7.30pm-9.30pm: 31 Siglap Hill.

Register T: 9630 3276 (Edward); E: jjwong5@yahoo.com.sg.

FRIDAYS APRIL 17 RCIA @ CHURCH OF ST TERESA 7.45pm-9pm: 510 Kampong Bahru Road, Parish House, Level 5. Register T: 6271 1184 (Joanna); E: stteresa@singnet.com.sg; W: www.stteresa.org.sg.

TUESDAYS MAY 19 RCIA @ CHURCH OF STS PETER AND PAUL 7.30pm-9.30pm: 225A Queen Street.

Register T: 9753 6863 (Joanna Sng, coordinator); E: sng.joanna@gmail.com.

SATURDAYS JUNE 6 TO APRIL 2, 2016 CHINESE RCIA @ CHURCH OF ALPHONSUS (NOVENA CHURCH) 3.30pm-5.30pm: SJI Junior, 3 Essex Road.

Led by Sr Assunta Cheng. All are welcomed.

Register T: 9626 8546 (Alphonsus); E: alphs_cool@singnet.com.sg.

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APRIL 25 CHARITY GOSPEL CONCERT – THE JOY OF THE GOSPEL 7.30pm-9.30pm: This concert will celebrate Gospel music and spread joy that our Lord has given to us. Ticket fee: $15/$20. All ticket sales will go to charity.

Organised by Vox Cordis Chorus, a choir based in Church of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour. At Church of the Risen Christ, 91 Toa Payoh Central. To purchase tickets, T: 8158 1772 (Maike)/ 8457 7397 (Monika).

Enquiries E: voxcordis.chorus@gmail.com.

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ACROSS 1 These were waved at Jesus when he entered Jerusalem 6 Alphabet string 10 Sir’s complement 14 Prairie State hub

15 Soothe 16 Juan’s “other” 17 Place of reservation for the Blessed Sacrament 19 “…and sends ___ on the just and on

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the unjust” (Mt 5:45) St Thomas’ surname Early landing place Negative electrode Do away with

28 Brother of Miriam 29 They come before the entrees 31 Molts 32 Challenge 33 D.C. lobbying group

APRIL 25 OPEN HOUSE ON THE HILL TOP 9am-1pm: Calling all parents of preschoolers! Join us for a free workshop to equip you with skills to engage young kids in reading and writing. There will also be exciting games for your children.

Organised by Canossian Convent Kindergarten. At 100 Jalan Merbok.

T: 6469 2201; E: cckg.generalof¿ce@ gmail.com; W: www.canossian.org.sg.

MAY 1 TO MAY 3 LIFE IN THE SPIRIT SEMINAR Yield and experience Jesus’ gentle and outpouring love through the Holy Spirit.

Coming to you on May 1: 9am-9pm; May 2: 9am-9:30pm; May 3: 9am5:30pm followed by Mass. Organised

by Charismatic Prayer Community from Church of the Holy Spirit. At Chapel of Church of Holy Trinity, 20 Tampines Street 11. Register T: 9692 0186 (Jeremy) / 9877 7021 (Janice); E: jlck_07@yahoo.co.uk.

APRIL 19 TO APRIL 25 CHARIS MISSION TRIP – HAIYAN HOUSE-BUILDING Two years ago in November, Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, killing more than 6,000 people. A CHARIS mission team will be deployed to help survivors with the building of transitional houses.

Join us as we work hand-in-hand with those in need. Help rebuild their homes and lives. Organised by CHARIS. At Cebu, Philippines. Register T: 6337 4119 (Lilynne); E: lilynne@charis-singapore.org.

APRIL 16 TALK OF THE TOWN 7pm: CANA invites you to meet Fr Robert Balhetchet. Fr Balhetchet was an assistant priest and a rector of the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd right after his ordination till the 1980’s. As part of SG50, he will talk about ‘Catholics being Church in the last 50 years’.

Organised by CANA. At Crossings Cafe, 55 Waterloo Street. Fee (inclusive of dinner): $25. Register T: 6338 4080; E: canatheplacetobe2013@gmail.com.

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APRIL 25 SJI OPEN HOUSE 9am-1pm: For Sec 4 students who are seeking admission to JC1 in 2016, come to our open house. There will be informative talk, guided tours and exhibitions.

Organised by SJI. At SJI, 21 Bishan Street 14. Register W: www.sji.edu.sg.

APRIL 19 PILGRIMAGE IN MY BACKYARD 2pm: We invite you to take a walk through the back yard of St Teresa’s Church, to listen to the stories of our own champions of faith, and to reÀect on our own pilgrimage here and now. Organised by CANA. At Church of St Teresa, 510 Kampong Bahru Road. Register T: 6338 4080; E: canatheplacetobe2013@gmail.com.

APRIL 25 SJI INTERNATIONAL GARAGE SALE 10am-3pm: Children’s books, comics, toys, homeware, accessories, shoes, bags, and more. All sold at never-to-be-seen-again prices. All are welcome! Organised by SJII Parent Support Group. At SJII High School Hall, 490 Thomson Road (opposite Polo Club, next to SLF Building).

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APRIL 25 SSVP MASS FOR FRIENDS-IN-NEED 2pm: Join us to remember and pray for the Society of St Vincent de Paul conferences’ Friends-in-Need, as well as all the poor and needy in Singapore. Archbishop Goh will be the main celebrant. Open to all.

Organised by Society of St Vincent de Paul. At Church of Immaculate Heart of Mary, 24 Highland Road.

APRIL 18 CANOSSIANS CONNECT – AFRICANA 6.30pm: Calling all former students, staff and families of Canossa Convent Primary School and St Anthony’s Canossian Schools to reunite and revel in the Canossian heartbeat. The dinner is themed Africana in honour of our Canossian Sister, St Josephine Bakhita. Organised by Canossian Alumni Association. At Grand Plaza City Hall Hotel (Ballroom). Register T: 8316 3020 (Catherine); E: info@canossianalumni.com.

APRIL 16 EVENING OF PRAYER WITH THE SONGS OF TAIZE 7.30pm-9.30pm: All are welcome to join fellow Christians this Easter in an Evening of Prayer with the Songs of Taizé. The theme will be Of One Heart and Mind. Organised

by ACCED. At Saint Andrew’s Cathedral, Cathedral New Sanctuary, 11 St Andrew’s Road. Enquiries E: info@acced.org.sg.

Crossword Puzzle 1133 1

APRIL 18 WORKSHOP LOGOS ENCOUNTER II – PRAYING WITH THE WORD 8.30am-5pm: Have a personal encounter with Jesus through the Word of God. Fee: $50. Retreat conducted by Verbum Dei Missionaries. Organised by Archdiocesan Biblical Apostolate. At La Salle Centre, 490 East Coast Road. Register W: biblicalapostolate.wordpress.com.

Enquiries T: 6280 0354 (Mon to Fri 9am -6pm); E: logosencounter@gmail.com.

Golf mounds “___ Angelicus” Trillion (pref.)

60’s demonstrators Prohibiting perfume?

According to Proverbs, a gracious woman gets this (Prov 11:16) Take into custody Jungian term Slow Natural environment Snacked First-class Friend who’s française Approval word Scorch Ooze David married his widow Sharpen Celtic language Canonized pope known as “the Great”

DOWN 1 Container used for cooking 2 Exclamation of surprise 3 Science rm.

4 Theology degree (abbr.)

5 Religious speeches 6 Poor ___ (religious order) 7 Dictator 8 Former measure of length

MAY 2 THERE IS A SEASON FOR EVERYTHING – A TIME FOR MOURNING 9.30am-noon: For those experiencing the loss of someone or something in life, join us for a session with Fr Leslie Raj, SJ. Organised by Kingsmead Centre. At Kingsmead Centre, 8 Victoria Park Road, Hall of the Pilgrim. Register T: 6467 6072; E: cisc2664@gmail.com.

MAY 9 INTERRELIGIOUS DIALOGUE LEARNING TRIPS 2015 – 2ND IN A SERIES 3pm-5.30pm: To appreciate more deeply Catholic perspectives on interreligious dialogue, come join a visit to the Singapore Jain Religious Society. All participants must attend a 2-hour orientation and formation session on April 28 at 7.45pm at the Church of St Ignatius, 120 King’s Road. A debrief right after the visit will be done to help process one’s experience. Organised by ACCIRD. At 18 Jalan Yasin. Register by sending your name, the parish which you belong to and your handphone number by April 26 to E: gerald@accird.org.sg (Gerald).

9 Some hotels 10 “Bad company ruins good ___” (1 Cor 15:33) 11 Xbox ancestor 12 Operatic melodies 13 One-twelfth of a year 18 Land in which Cain settled 22 Traveled 23 Throws 24 Reacted to a massage 25 People looked like this to the blind man Jesus cured (Mt 8:24) 26 Scuttles 27 Jai ___ 30 “___ Dei” 33 Old-fashioned way to write a letter 34 Odour

35 Unit of weight in gemstones 37 Heaven 38 Killed by Cain 39 Novelist Morrison 41 Authentic 42 “___ papam” 43 Stay attached 44 Catholic Olympian 46 Biblical tooth action?

47 Lover 48 Korean or Japanese, for example 50 Tropical cuckoo 52 Copies 55 Sea, to Sartre 56 “Our Father who ___…”

57 Up to, informally 58 OPEC member 59 Chi ___

Solution to Crossword Puzzle No. 1132 G O O D

N A M E

A H A B

T H R O W

H A I F A

O R C A S

C A S I M P C O A S E

T U N A C Y M A A N H P H O O S T E E D L S

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T R E E S S U I T E

G R U E L I M N O G O

H A N M I S E O T H S E M S T R E A L A N G L I T T I G N O L A G P D E B A S L E C B I L N O T A B O E N T B E L O O S E K

A D A M

N I E N E O R

E X A L T

R I N S O

S I T A R

E V A N

N E R I

E R S T

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IN MEMORIAM 25 CLASSIFIED THANKSGIVING O Holy St Jude, apostle and martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor of all who invoke your special patronage in times of need. To you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you, to whom God has given such great power, to come to my assistance. Help me in my present urgent petition. In return I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked. St Jude pray for me and all who invoke your aid. Humbly in need of your intercession.

Amen. Thank you for answering my prayers.

Once again, grateful thanks to St Jude Thaddeus for prayers answered. Also heartfelt thanks to our Father, Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Divine Mercy, Mother Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Sts Joseph, Anthony and all Holy Angels and Saints for the intercessions, miracles, blessings and prayers answered during most difficult and troubled times.

Please continue to guide, protect, pray and intercede for me and my loved ones.

Thanks for the intercession and all favours received. Ida Miranda

Please turn to pages 26 and 27 for more in memoriam advertisements.

OBITUARY

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Sunday April 19, 2015 CatholicNews

PUBLISHED BY THE CATHOLIC NEWS, 2 HIGHLAND ROAD #01-03, SINGAPORE 549102. PRINTED BY TIMES PRINTERS PRIVATE LIMITED, 16 TUAS AVENUE 5, SINGAPORE 639340.