Catholic News issue 13, 2017

SUNDAY JUNE 25, 2017

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Receiving Sacrament of Anointing of Sick in good time ter Often, people are disappointed, upset and angry that they cannot find a priest to celebrate the Sacrament of the Sick for a loved one who is dying or is in a critical condition. Some are under the impression that this Sacrament is reserved for those whose death is imminent. By then, the person might not be in a condition to be properly reconciled with God, his fellowmen and himself, or to find peace.

To benefit fully from the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, the Sacrament is best administered when the person is conscious and sober, so that he can be prepared for any eventuality. “This sacrament is to be conferred on the sick who at least implicitly requested it when they were in control of their faculties.” (Canon 1006) It is within this context that I wish to address when, and how the Sacrament of the Sick should be celebrated. This pastoral letter is not intended to give an exhaustive explanation of the Sacrament, but simply to encourage the faithful to have their loved ones anointed before they get admitted to hospital, lest they find themselves unable to secure the services of a priest at the last minute.

2. Catholic understanding of illness Right from the onset, the Bible teaches us that no one should suffer in vain. We all seek to be cured when we are sick. The hope to be healed of physical pain and discomfort is a natural desire for all. Praying for the restoration of health is in accord with biblical teaching and the Church’s recommendation for those who are sick. The Church has al-

Fr John Bosco Pereira giving the rite of the Anointing of the Sick to an elderly person at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd.

We would like to encourage those who are sick to seek the Sacrament of Anointing, particularly those who are dangerously ill due to sickness or old age.

– Archbishop William Goh ways prayed for those who are sick to be restored to fullness of health.

But health must not be considered in a narrow way, as if it concerns physical health alone. Fullness of health must include the body, the soul and the spirit. St Paul prayed, “May the

God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Th 5:23) However, as Christians, it is important that sickness is accept-

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INSIDE

ARCHBISHOP’S PASTORAL MESSAGE

1. Purpose of this pastoral let-

VOL 67

ed as a means for us to be purified in love and be united with Christ in His suffering, so that we can encounter God deeply. Our sufferings can help us appreciate our life on earth so that we can live fully each day. It is an occasion for us to share in the cross so that we can share in His resurrection, both by living life to the fullest on earth and later in heaven. When no cure is found, the sick person is called to hope for eternal life. United with Christ, he or she will be able to integrate pain and even death into the whole of his life.

Indeed, in Christian faith, suffering and death are not the last words but eternal life and resurrection.

In times of sickness, one need not give up hope and resign oneself to the illness. Rather, we should make ourselves available for healing, whether directly by God or through the instruments God has chosen for us, namely, through the doctors and the use of medication.

We must presume that it is God’s desire to make us whole. He came to heal us and to set us free from pain and suffering. Indeed, healings are signs of Christ’s messianic mission, “Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness” (Mt 9:35). His works of healing too, demonstrate the coming of God’s rule and of our spiritual healing.

3. Healing through the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick

HOME

Living out the faith at work Young adults learn how at a workshop n Page 10

ASIA

Vietnamese bishops against new religion law It restricts religious freedom, they say n Page 14

WORLD

Priest raises funds by fixing cars Money goes to aid seminarians n Page 16

POPE FRANCIS

Accept bishop or be suspended Pope tells Nigerian priests n Page 19

OPINION

Don’t spread fake news Says CN reader n Page 22

FATHER’S DAY SPECIAL

The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is the primary means by which the Church shows her mercy and compassion to the afflicted. In the Old Rite, it was called

Sharings on fatherhood and how it can be a vocation

n Continued on Page 4

n Page 23

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Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Learning about serving the less fortunate in Asia

By Christopher Khoo More than 800 people listened raptly as people who have served the needy in the region shared their experiences at the recent Humanitarian Forum & Fair.

The two-yearly event, organised by CHARIS (Caritas Humanitarian Aid & Relief Initiatives, Singapore), was held at Catholic Junior College on June 10.

It aims to provide the Catholic community with opportunities to listen, learn and engage with organisations involved in humanitarian aid and disaster response initiatives in the region.

In her welcome address, CHARIS chairman Jenny Teng said she hoped that the event, which had the theme, Impact, would “bring forth a greater and deeper consciousness for each of us to exercise a preferential option for the poor”.

She noted that many in the audience have been on mission trips building houses for the poor, providing education and journeying with the marginalised.

“Perhaps we should be asking ourselves these questions,” she said. “Are we building communities or building houses? Are we giving education or are we patronising the poor? Are we listening to the cries of the voiceless or just responding to those with loud voices. Are we working with our partners for the good of the poor or are we just searching for our own gratification?”

Challenges in Asia In his presentation entitled Encountering the Asian Face of Poverty, keynote speaker Redemptorist Br Karl M. Gaspar gave statistics on poverty in the world.

Br Gaspar, who is academic dean of St Alphonsus Theological and Mission Institute in Davao City, Philippines, noted that: n More than 795 million people in the world suffer from chronic hunger. n 62.4 percent come from Asia and the South Pacific. n 75 percent live in rural areas in Asia.

Br Gaspar, who has spent the last 30 years serving the poor in the Philippines, including the victims of Typhoon Haiyan, said that children are the most visible victims of hunger. He shared that: n 17 million babies are born underweight annually due to poor nutrition. n 146 million children continue to be underweight due to acute or chronic hunger.

The reasons for poverty and hunger in Asia include social ine-

He taught English to students there whose families are mainly subsistence farmers, some of whom have had their land taken by the government.

The hope is that these students will then teach English in their own communities to improve their opportunities in life.

The last speaker, Redemptorist Fr Simon Pereira, told the crowd: “Don’t think you can’t change the world because you can!”

He said that many young people are now going on mission to various countries.

Mission gives you a sense of self-knowledge and also helps you to appreciate your family, he said.

Breakout tracks

Redemptorist Br Karl M. Gaspar giving the keynote address at the Humanitarian Forum & Fair organised by CHARIS.

quality, conflict, natural disasters, climate change and exponential population growth.

People can help by engaging in advocacy to stop hunger, pledging to help the poor, getting involved with soup kitchens, minimising food wastage and praying for the poor and hungry, he suggested.

Impact speakers Four speakers then shared their varied experiences in mission work.

Mr Christopher James, founder of Fishing Rod, an organisation which serves refugees in Kuala Lumpur, said his former experience as a volunteer teacher in a refugee learning centre in the city led to him taking on a bigger role in this area.

In 2016, Fishing Rod adopted the Zotung Refugee Catholic Learning Centre, which was at the brink of closure.

“I put in best practices from the corporate world,” he said, such as providing school books, uniforms and paying the teachers better wages.

Fishing Rod later adopted a Malaysian orphanage, a refugee camp, and a convalescence home.

One memorable experience

‘

Are we building communities or building houses? Are we giving education or are we patronising the poor? ...

Are we working with our partners for the good of the poor or are we just searching for our own gratification?

’

– CHARIS chairman Jenny Teng

Participants at the event held at Catholic Junior College.

was of the beneficiaries taking part in a carolling activity to raise funds, he shared.

Ms Clare Westwood, from Malaysia, said her life changed when she joined an NGO in Penang in 2005 serving the less fortunate in the region.

The researcher with Third World Network, an international network involved in issues relating to development, shared how she gained experience helping poor farmers, and working for women and children’s rights Now she does workshops on Laudato Si’, the pope’s encyclical on the environment.

Mr Joshua De Souza, a volunteer with Barre, a Singapore group serving underprivileged children in Southeast Asia, spoke about his experience doing outreach work in Kontum, in the central highlands of Vietnam.

Participants then had the option to listen to speakers in four breakout tracks which were held concurrently. These were: n Building Communities from Within and Without, which focused on how to build capabilities and cultivate leaders from within marginalised communities. n Bridging the Gap Through Education, which looked at how the poor can succeed through education. n Telling the Story of Silent Communities, which was about giving a voice to the marginalised. n Changing the World Together, which focused on how volunteer groups can collaborate and synergise their efforts to meet different needs in a community.

Several of the speakers, such as Gelentio Aboganda, 18, left a deep impression on participants.

Aboganda shared in the first breakout track that he grew up in Payatas, a slum area in the Philippines, where people lived by scavenging from a rubbish dump and eating food discarded by restaurants.

At the age of eight, he started attending a free school in the area, where he came under a feeding programme run by Singapore Catholic missionary organisation Acts 29. n Continued on Page 7

Ms Rose Phyo Yu Par from Myanmar speaking at a breakout track.

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

BUILDING THE CHURCH OF TOMORROW 3

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Receiving the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick in good time n From Page 1

the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

This Sacrament was associated with death, rather than healing; and it was celebrated for those who were dying. Instead of seeing the Sacrament as a means to give hope for recovery, it was understood as a sign of gravity and hence was often called the “last rites” to prepare a person for death. As a consequence, many do not make use of this Sacrament till at death’s door. Such an understanding is contrary to the Church’s official teaching; that health could be restored through anointing, and that a person would be healed spiritually, if not also emotionally and physically.

For this reason, in the New Rite, the Sacrament of Extreme Unction is called the Sacrament of the Sick. This is to be understood from the perspective of Christ’s desire to heal the entire person, body, mind and spirit. It is also a privileged means by which a person is reconciled with the Lord, finds peace through the Sacrament of Reconciliation and encounters Him through the reception of the Anointing and the Eucharist, with the accompanying assurance of spiritual comfort and healing because of the Divine presence. Through the reception of this Sacrament, the sick person is strengthened; given hope and fortitude to endure the sufferings, overcome the fear of death, freed from anxiety about the future and delivered from depression, despair and the weakening of faith. It is the concrete means by which the Church, together with the Christian community, makes herself present in those receiving the Sacrament.

The letter of James invites us to call the elders to perform the Anointing of the Sick with oil in the name of the Lord. “Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective.” (Jms 5:13-16) This is in continuity with the Lord’s command to His disciples to anoint the sick with oil (cf Mk 6:13) and lay hands on them. (cf Mk 16:18) In this way, the saving power of Jesus is made present. The Sacrament is always effective in revealing its saving power even when it cannot prevent death because the person’s soul is saved through the forgiveness of sins and his heart is healed through union with the Lord.

Those who are elderly or homebound are advised to make regular confession and receive the sacrament of the sick at least once a year.

– Archbishop William Goh

the person’s condition becomes more serious, the sacrament may be repeated. It is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick just prior to a serious operation. The same holds for the elderly whose frailty becomes more pronounced.”

(CCC 1515 cf Can. 1004 §2))

Pastoral recommendations

Pope Francis blesses a sick man.

Recourse to the Sacrament of the Sick is also a wonderful occasion where the community can support the sick person. Sickness is a crisis in life, both for the individual and also the community. Therefore, whenever possible, members and friends of the sick person should be present for the celebration of the Sacrament. By being present, the prayer of faith will help the sick person to find hope and encouragement in such difficult times.

The Sacrament should be celebrated meaningfully and with solemnity.

Following the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the sick person and the relatives and friends should celebrate the liturgy of the Word of God so that they could be strengthened in their faith in God’s mercy and healing grace. Nourished with the Eucharist, the sick person will find further strength as he unites himself with the Lord in his suffering and resurrection. In this way, not only will the sick person find hope, but the family members as well. Both the sick and the family members will find healing in the process.

4. Instructions From the catechism of the Catholic Church and Canon Law Who should ask for the Sacrament?

“The Anointing of the Sick ‘is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from

sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived.’”

(CCC 1514 cf Canon 1004 §1) “This sacrament is to be administered in a case of doubt whether the sick person has attained the use of reason, is dangerously ill, or is dead.” (Canon 1005) “The anointing of the sick is

Archbishop William Goh: Prepare spiritually by celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly and when in serious illness, ask for the Anointing of the Sick from your priests in the parish.

not to be conferred upon those who persevere obstinately in manifest grave sin.” (Canon 1007) How often should we ask for the Sacrament of Anointing?

“If a sick person who received this anointing recovers his health, he can in the case of another grave illness receive this sacrament again. If during the same illness

In the light of what is said, we would like to encourage those who are sick to seek the Sacrament of Anointing, particularly those who are dangerously ill due to sickness or old age. “Pastors of souls and those close to the sick are to take care that the sick are consoled by this sacrament at the appropriate time.” (Canon 1001) Those who are going for surgery should make the Sacrament of Reconciliation and ask the priest of the parish for the Sacrament of the Sick before being admitted to the hospital.

This will give them confidence in the surgery and allay their fears and anxiety. Most of all, it will give them peace of mind.

In this way, it will also pre-empt situations when a priest cannot be found for the Sacrament of the Sick at the last minute. Of course, in times of emergency when the anointing could not be done before hand, they should call up the parish where the sick person belongs, or a parish near the hospital, for a priest to anoint the person if he had not yet received the Sacrament.

Those who are elderly or homebound are advised to make regular confession and receive the sacrament of the sick at least once a year, especially when there is the annual mass for the anointing of the sick held in their parish.

What should one do if death is imminent and no priest is available to administer the Sacrament of the Sick? When no priest is available, a deacon or an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion should be called to give communion (Viaticum) to the dying. (cf Canon 921) This is preferably done when the sick person is still fully conscious. “Holy Viaticum for the sick is not to be delayed too long; those who have the care of souls are to be zealous and vigilant that the sick are nourished by Viaticum while

fully conscious.” (Canon 922) If the sick person wishes to receive communion but is in a state of mortal sin, he or she should make a sincere, or perfect, act of contrition and then receive communion. This does not mean that those who are in mortal sin, even though they may feel contrite, could receive Holy Communion without sacramental confession beforehand. Only when there is a serious reason that prevents them from receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation at the point of death, such as when no priest is available or they are unable to communicate anymore, then they are to make an act of perfect contrition with the intention that they will confess their serious sins as soon as possible when the opportunity presents itself.

The following provisions given by the Church should allay the fear of those who could not receive the Anointing of the Sick for grave reasons, believing that they would otherwise be condemned. “Anyone who is conscious of grave sin may not celebrate Mass or receive the Body of the Lord without previously having been to sacramental confession, unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition, which includes the resolve to go to confession as soon as possible.” (Canon 916) “When it arises from a love by which God is loved above all else, contrition is called ‘perfect’ (contrition of charity). Such contrition remits venial sins; it also obtains forgiveness of mortal sins if it includes the firm resolution to have recourse to sacramental confession as soon as possible. (CCC 1452 confer 1492) Dear brothers and sisters, please help us to provide you with the best possible pastoral care for your body and soul, especially in the critical moments of your life. Due to the scarcity of priests serving such a large diocese of more than 380,000 Catholics, I appeal to you to prepare well spiritually by celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation regularly and when in serious illness, to ask for the Anointing of the Sick from your priests in the parish. In this way, you can be assured of the Lord’s healing grace for your body and your soul. May we never lose hope in the Lord but entrust our entire being to Him. “May the God of peace himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be kept sound and blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do this.” (1 Th 5:23f) n

Most Rev William Goh Archbishop of Singapore

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The Office for Young People (OYP) was established by Archbishop William Goh in Nov 2013 as the youth arm of the Archdiocese for young people aged 16 (post confirmation) to 35. OYP has pastoral charge over Catholic communities in the polytechnics, universities and archdiocesan young adult communities. Our pastoral work includes the running of retreats, providing formation, and one-on-one ministry and journeying. Our hearts’ desire is for young people to come to have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, grow in communion with the Church and be empowered to use their gifts to build God’s Kingdom.

Since we last saw you, we celebrated the Polytechnic Leaders Commissioning Mass and held our 4th School of Christian Leadership for university students.

We invite you to read on for more. As always, please continue to remember us in your prayers as we bring Jesus to our young people.

If you have any questions, please contact us at info.oyp@catholic.org.sg

School of Christian Leadership

FEATURES

Polytechnic Leaders’ Commissioning Mass

Our OYP Chaplains with the SOCL service team and participants

His Grace Archbishop William Goh and the OYP Chaplains with the newly elected leaders

by Charlotte Leong On the 26th of April 2017, Catholic leaders from all five Polytechnics, (Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Nanyang Polytechnic, Temasek Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic) came together for the Annual Polytechnic Leaders’ Commissioning Mass at the Cathedral of the Good Shepherd.

The leaders are from various walks of life but all of them decided to say “yes” and step up as leaders in their respective campuses. The journey of becoming a leader is rarely easy and can be fraught with challenges. “God has revealed the love of the Good Shepherd to me. Though I initially felt unworthy to serve as a leader of the Catholic Student Society, I have now learnt to offer up the little I have to God and let Him work his ways in me,” said Justin Toh from Singapore Polytechnic as he reflected on why he decided to step up and become a leader on campus.

The community was blessed to have His Grace Archbishop William Goh celebrate the mass with us. He reminded the leaders that they had been chosen to spread the Good News to the other Catholics in their campuses and that it should not be covered and kept to themselves. Instead, sharing the faith is the best way to protect it.

Each leader was given a crucifix. Engraved on it, was an image of the Good Shepherd and a dove to represent Jesus carrying His wayward sheep and the Holy Spirit guiding the Church respectively. Previous years’ leaders passed on candles to the new leaders, symbolizing the passing on of the baton of responsibility and leadership.

The newly elected leaders making a prayer of commitment

Our 4th School of Christian Leadership was held from 8th to 17th May 2017. A total of 74 participants were in attendance from 6 local universities. We had a blessed time getting to know our young people and empowering them to be leaders after the heart of Jesus the Good Shepherd. We invite you to read on for more on the school.

I was an intercessor and in this role, I was able to see God working in the ministry of prayer and sacrifice. While it was difficult for all of us to envision how our efforts paid off, we were blessed in that time by being able to listen to God and align ourselves with His will so that we could ask for the right things in our prayers. This was the beautiful thing about intercessory and it was a privilege to be part of that ministry.

- Jude Dominic, Service Team SOCL has truly afforded me the space to allow God to enter my life through daily prayer, Eucharistic Adoration, as well as the enriching sessions held by Fr Jude and the OYP Staff. I can truly testify that Jesus Christ is my saviour and that there is power in His name! Praise be to God! - Brendan Loy, Participant SOCL has been a really gratifying experience for me. I learnt to claim a lot of the truths that the Lord has revealed to me. He has spoken to me through prayer and especially through the people around me in the SOCL community. He has shown me the importance of community and the joy that comes with journeying with brothers and sisters in Christ.

- Chelsea Kang, Participant

UPCOMING: Freshmen Orientation Camps

United in prayer

“The mass touched my heart in an intimate way. Having been given the responsibility of an entire school community has not been easy to take in, but the mass showed me that I’m not the only one that God has called upon to serve, and that I’m not alone in this faith journey,” said Basil Kwok from Republic Polytechnic as he took on the mantle of leadership during the Mass.

We continue in our support for this new batch of leaders as they bring the Lord’s love and light to their respective campus communities.

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Pentecost Rally participants mark 50th anniversary of Catholic Charismatic Renewal

Archbishop William Goh speaking at the Pentecost Rally held at Holy Innocents’ High School on June 4.

The Holy Spirit creates diversity and unity, and in this way forms a new, diverse and unified people – the universal Church, said Archbishop William Goh. He was delivering his homily during Mass at the Pentecost Rally held at Holy Innocents’ High School on June 4.

The celebration was jointly organised by the Singapore Archdiocesan Catholic Charismatic Renewal (SACCRE) and the Office for New Evangelisation (ONE).

“Today, we are of different nationalities and races coming together as one Church,” said Archbishop Goh. “As individuals, we are Christians because we all follow Christ, but as Church we are Catholics. Are we proud to be Catholic? If we are, then we must go out to proclaim Jesus to others and gather them together into one body of Christ,” he

said.

“The Catholic Charismatic Renewal’s gift for every Catholic is to help them receive a conscious experience of the risen Lord through the Life In The Spirit Seminars (LISS). A definite, concrete sign that God is with us in our lives is the gift of tongues,” he said.

The most important of which is the language of love, said the archbishop. To remain relevant and attractive, especially to young people, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR) needs to give them not only the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but also a loving community where those who have encountered the Lord through the LISS can feel welcomed, he added.

Fr Terence Pereira, Episcopal Vicar for the New Evangelisation, reminded the 1,000 or so people in attendance that although Char-

The Filipino Light of Jesus community during a praise-and-worship segment.

Archbishop Goh exhorted participants to be truly part of a community on fire by continuously exercising their different charisms and using their gifts to make present the Holy Spirit.

Fr Terence Pereira reminded participants to continue to proclaim God to others.

Carmelite Fr Thomas Lim led the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament during the rally.

ismatics are known for their joyful praise and worship – which the Filipino Light of Jesus community demonstrated in the opening segment of the rally – they must also be

still before the Lord in the adoration room, to receive His peace, to discern His will, and to be more empowered to proclaim Him to others.

Carmelite Fr Thomas Lim then led the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament as the SACCRE Music Ministry led in worship and

prayer for a fresh infilling of the Holy Spirit and His peace, joy and empowerment.

Concluding the rally, Archbishop Goh exhorted everyone to be truly part of a community on fire in the CCR by continuously exercising their different charisms and using their gifts to make present the Holy Spirit. n

HISTORY At the beginning of the 1960s, Pope St John XXIII called for the Second Vatican Council because he desired the Holy Spirit to bring new vision and power in the life of the Church. Among the many fruits of Vatican II was a much greater appreciation of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and the blossoming of new ecclesial movements and communities.

Among these was the Catholic Charismatic Renewal (CCR), which was started in 1967 by a group of American students in Duquesne University, a Catholic university near Pittsburgh.

From these simple beginnings, the baptism of the Holy Spirit spread rapidly through the campuses of Catholic universities in the US and into the wider Church. Today, the CCR exists in

over 230 countries in the world, with over 160 million members.

SACCRE comes under the umbrella of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Rome, approved by the Holy See as a Private Association of the Faithful with a juridical personality recognised by the Pontifical Council for the Laity.

CCR participants also collaborate with non-Catholic ecclesiastical communities for ecumenical events, as encouraged by the Church.

In Singapore, SACCRE, together with Methodist, Anglican and Lutheran charismatic communities, organise annual ecumenical healing rallies attended by Archbishop Goh and the bishops of these Churches. n

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Singaporeans visit Rome; celebrate Pentecost with Pope Francis

By Gerard Francisco It was truly an awesome Pentecost experience to witness brothers and sisters in Christ from around the world – different nationalities, races and languages – gathering at St Peter’s Square as one Body of Christ, said Ms Wendy Tan. She was one of the 120 or so Singapore delegates who travelled to Rome for the May 31-June 4 Golden Jubilee celebration of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal.

The Singapore Catholic Charismatic Renewal (SACCRE), in collaboration with International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, organised delegates from different prayer groups in Singapore to attend the celebration.

“I felt very grateful to God for this grace-filled moment to be in Rome and being so privileged to sit so close to the Holy Father, the shepherd of the Holy Catholic Church,” said Ms Tan. It was truly an amazing and unforgettable experience, she added.

Another participant, Ms Wendy Cheong, said that as she waited for the Pentecost Mass with Pope Francis to begin, “I was filled with excitement and awe. During Mass, it was like a foretaste of how a banquet in heaven would be like. I felt a sense of peace and joy.”

Mr Frankie Tan said he felt “unity” as he “witnessed people from all parts of the world coming together to participate in the Eucharist.

“Truly, it is only with the Holy Spirit that all of us, regardless of nationalities, cultures, languages and even differences can be present there that day, as it is the same spirit that brought about and formed the Church!”

The five-day-long programme comprised a general audience with Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square, prayer meetings, Eucharistic adoration, a theological symposium, workshops, Eucharistic celebrations, a worldwide

Jubilee Charismatic gathering, the Pentecost Vigil and a final gathering to celebrate Pentecost.

The celebrations were jointly organised by the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services and the Catholic Fraternity of Covenant Communities.

The purpose was not to simply celebrate an occasion but to relook God’s purpose for releasing this “current of grace” into the Catholic Church 50 years ago.

Upon the invitation from Pope Francis, more than 30,000 Catholic Charismatics from 127 different countries were present to commemorate the celebration.

The pope reminded participants that the Holy Spirit brings

‘

I was filled with excitement and awe.

During Mass, it was like a foretaste of how a banquet in heaven would be like.

I felt a sense of peace and joy.

’

– Ms Wendy Cheong, on her experience in Rome

hope to all of creation. Filled with this hope, they can become consolers in the image of the Paraclete. This will enable them to be advocates, helpers and bringers of comfort to others.

At the theological symposium, Fr Raneirio Cantalamessa, preacher of the Papal Household, said that the Catholic Charismatic Renewal “enables Catholic theology to come alive”. At the same time there is a need for the renewal to be rooted in the teachings of the Catholic Church.

During the Pentecost vigil, Ms Michelle Moran, president of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, said, “We are here to thank God for all

The Singapore contingent posing for a photo near Rome. Photos: SACCRE

Members of the Singapore contingent at the Pentecost Mass in St Peter’s Square.

that He has given us in the last 50 years. Let this be a time to move forward in a new way in the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Pope Francis said that the Catholic Charismatic Renewal was started by God as a perpetual current of grace. It was born ecumenical. The Holy Spirit created this unity among Christians of all denominations. The early Church grew because of unity. Everyone has different charisms which can complement each other.

He exhorted all participants to move forward with greater strength and unity.

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal began in 1967 at Duquesne University, Pittsburgh, Michigan, where Catholic university students who went for a weekend retreat at the Ark and Dove Retreat House experienced a mighty outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Mr David Mangan and Ms Patti Mansfield, who were present at the Duquesne weekend retreat, led a prayer for the baptism in the Holy Spirit to continue the work of the New Evangelisation.

The atmosphere was electrifying with people of different nations expressing their praises in one common language, in the gift of tongues. n n See related story on Page 21

‘We are never too poor to give’

The Canossian booth showcasing items made by Myanmar beneficiaries. n From Page 2

The organisation helped him to process his birth certificate, and with that, he could attend school formally. He says his mission now is to help other children like him in Payatas to read and write.

Other speakers included 24-year-old Rose Phyo Yu Par, who comes from a farming family in Myanmar. During the second breakout track, she shared how she benefited from the Canossians’ Formation of Educators Programme there.

Singaporean Monica Goh also spoke about her experience as a volunteer teacher in the Epiphany group programme, which provides humanitarian aid to communities in the Indonesian Riau Islands.

During Mass which followed, Archbishop William Goh shared a story of how Mother Teresa noticed that a poor family was in need of food and gave them two bags of rice. However, the mother decided to give one bag to another poorer family down the road, as

they were also without food.

“We are never too poor to give because there will always be someone poorer than us,” said Archbishop Goh. Participants said they found the event an eye-opener.

Ms Carol Pereira, who has a background in social work, and who was attending the CHARIS event for the first time, said she was impressed that so much was being done to help the needy overseas, and that there are many opportunities for people to join.

She added that she is now thinking of joining a mission group.

Mr Ricky Yeo said that he was particularly impressed with Aboganda’s sharing. He added that he has applied to work with CHARIS as a volunteer.

The forum and fair also saw CHARIS affiliates and partners setting up booths to showcase their humanitarian projects and volunteer opportunities. n Additional reporting; MARISSA CHEW

christopher.Khoo@catholic.org.sg

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Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

proclamation on the family is good news indeed.

The Joy of Love experienced by families is also the joy of the Church. The desire to marry and form a family remains vibrant, especially among young people, and this is an inspiration to the Church.

As a response to that desire, “the Christian proclamation on the family is good news indeed”.

Families, become what you are

This month, the Archdiocesan Commission for the Family (ACF) sent Jeremy and Pearlyn, a newlywed couple of seven months to speak to Theodore and Ramona Olsen (married for 35 years) and Gerard and Wendy Lim (married for 28 years) to find out the secrets to a happy and fulfilling family life.

“I was not a good Catholic father, not a good Catholic husband,” Theodore would repeat throughout the interview. “In the past, I would go out with colleagues, drink, club, have fun. But the joy didn’t last because I did not have God in my life at that time.”

Looking at him and Ramona exchanging loving glances and holding hands throughout the interview, it was hard to believe that Theodore used to be a “married single” — a term used to describe those who were married but still living the single lifestyle.

“Now, all those things [that I used to enjoy] don’t matter anymore. And it is because I have found the Lord again. I forgot how to love. When I found the Lord… I learnt to love again.”

The Search for More In the first three years of their marriage, Gerard and Wendy Lim struggled to build a Christ-centred family life amidst the challenges of parenthood, household duties and work. “We had a permanent mountain of clothes that needed to be ironed in our house,” Wendy laughed as she remembered what it was like 28 years ago. “Life was ‘sleep, work, eat, shop, sleep’, a bit meaningless. We felt that something was missing.”

Gerard added, “We were asking ourselves how we could serve the church better but in reality we were also struggling to keep up with the demands of our young family”.

For the Olsens, Ramona was the first to feel the ache for more.

Deep in her heart, she knew there was something wrong with the way they were living their family life but didn’t know what was wrong.

When Ramona came across a Couples for Christ (CFC) flyer in church one day, something clicked in her and she decided to give it a try. Even then, it took two years of persistent prayer before Theodore realised that there could be more to being a Christian husband and father than just providing for the family.

‘when families realise the vision that God has for them and act accordingly, the world will be transformed, one family at a time.’

‘Life was ‘sleep, work, eat, shop, sleep’, a bit meaningless.

We felt that something was missing.’

Encountering a Community of Witnesses “For two years, I attended all the CFC events by myself and would always bring my youngest child along. Theo used to drop me at the prayer meetings and then go off for coffee. I kept praying, ‘Lord touch my husband, that he will go on bended knees to proclaim you are Lord and King,’” recounted Ramona.

Through the CFC community, the Olsens began their journey towards their own spiritual awakenings and healing. It was evident through Theodore’s eyes how much life he received from having a supportive Christ-centred community, “I love the people [in

Gerard and Wendy, who have been married 28 years, credit their CFC community for helping them to be more rooted in their faith.

Theodore and Ramona Olsen, their marriage turned for the better after discovering the CFC community. It took Ramona two years of persistent prayer before Theodore was convinced to look deeper in his vocation as a husband and a father, and assuming the role of priest, provider and protector of the family.

CFC]. We are like a bigger family.

I can be myself with them. Being able to share my struggles lifts my burdens and strengthens me.”

Gerard and Wendy also joined CFC, and being in a praying community gave them focus, priority and structure to grow their young family and helped them to be more rooted in their faith. “Families really need each other. Yes, the programmes are good but you also need to live out your family life in a community.

It is an active lifestyle,” Wendy emphasised.

To the Lims, family spirituality involves everyone in the family.

“When we joined, CFC was only six years old. We were a very small community and had to do everything. By providence, our kids were looking and watching us. Our son helped us set up chairs for the prayer meetings. Those were formative years. We were the first catechists and models [to our children]. What we could not teach in a formal manner, we showed by example.”

Where to Start Blown away by the testimonies shared by both couples during the two-hour interview, we eagerly pressed them for practical tips to bring about this transformation in our own families.

Gerard and Wendy smiled and said simply, “Desire [comes] first.

When you recognise the need for infusing spirituality in life, you’ll start doing things to bring about conversion. Do you see the value of marriage and that there could be a richer, more wholesome family life? If not, then there is no point.”

As for Theodore and Ramona, they believe there is no better way than to be “walking testimonies” to encourage other families to infuse spirituality into their family life. “I think it is the witnessing.

They [other families] need to see it in people’s lives. When they see a Christ-centred couple, the concrete actions they do, the love and respect, they will understand who God is. Then that is the best advertisement.” Theodore and Ramona encourage couples to be connected with their parish community through a ministry or programme. “Come, taste and see, how good our God can be.”

“Families, become what you are” was the phrase that rang in our heads as we parted ways that night. There was so much love, life and joy radiating from both couples in the evening we spent with them. Truly, as St John Paul II proclaimed in article 17 of Familiaris Consortio, when families realise the vision that God has for them and act accordingly, the world will be transformed, one family at a time.

library.catholic-link.org/post/130477525783/infographic-7-habits-of-catholic-families

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Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Amoris Laetitia

Corrinne’s Journal Photo by CTS Books

After the love that unites us to God, conjugal love is the “greatest form of friendship”. It is a union possessing all the traits of a good friendship: concern for the good of the other, reciprocity, intimacy, warmth, stability and the resemblance born of a shared life. Marriage joins to all this an indissoluble exclusivity expressed in the stable commitment to share and shape together the whole of life … Lovers do not see their relationship as merely temporary … The lasting union expressed by the marriage vows is more than a formality or a traditional formula; it is rooted in the natural inclinations of the human person. For believers, it is also a covenant before God that calls for fidelity.” - Amoris Laetitia, 123 An excerpt from Amoris laetitia (Latin: The Joy of Love) a post-synodal apostolic exhortation by Pope Francis released in April 2016.

My Family Moment

In this monthly column, we feature Catholic personalities and their favourite memories of being ‘family’.

In this issue, Fr Bruno Saint Girons shares why his family is special to him…

Fr Bruno with his parents (back, seated on chairs), brothers, sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews.

One of the things that I will always remember about my parents is the sense of independence that they gave to us, their four boys (of which I’m number 2). Rather than over-protect us or make us achieve their dreams, they helped us find our own vocation and happiness in life, according to what spoke to us. Having lived 15 years as a priest now, I am grateful how each year has been amazing in its own way. And, my priestly vocation has given the family uniquely funny moments.

For instance, in 2009, I

baptised the third child of one of my brothers and, after the baptism, I noticed his elder sister (who was three at the time), crying alone in church.

I attempted to comfort her, saying “I’m here, don’t worry,” but without success. Later that day, while at my brother’s home for lunch, she asked him, “Daddy, why does this priest stay with us all the time?”

Another memory is when my nephews and nieces joined my parents for Sunday mass at the village church, they would go and hug the priest after Mass … until my parents told them one

day that the priest was not their Uncle Bruno!

Lastly, after my parents moved house, they had an elderly priest in their new village, who eventually died.

A month after the death of the old priest, one of my mum’s friends called her on the phone and enquired about me, asking: “How is your priest?” and my mum replied “Oh, he died last month…”

These little anecdotes continue to remind me of the joy of family. I’m glad I still meet my close family members more or less every three years now.

Catholic singer-songwriter Corrinne May shares her thoughts on various family moments and matters being a daughter, sister, wife and mother in Singapore and Los Angeles in this monthly column.

One Bread, One Body Back in May, Mary’s month, our little family of three, Kavin, Claire and myself, decided to pray the family rosary every night before going to bed. No matter how tired we were, nor how much Claire protested about being too sleepy and only wanting to say one decade of the rosary, we soldiered on through all five decades each night. It’s funny how virtue is strengthened through the practice of it, and so, the habit of praying the rosary every night has become for us, a wonderful way to bond with each other in prayer, to lift up each other in our spiritual needs and to teach each other to care for those beyond our little family circle, to lift others up in prayer as needed. For we are all one Body in Christ.

The other big milestone in our family spirituality was Claire’s reception of her first Holy Communion on Good Shepherd Sunday, May 7th of this year.

Over the past year or so, Claire had been increasingly expressing her yearning to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. She finally got her wish to receive Jesus with the rest of her second grade classmates at St Mel’s elementary in Los Angeles. For a child who, since the age of four, has heard the voice of the Good Shepherd through the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, it was truly a blessing for Claire to be called to the table and to receive the Eucharist on Good Shepherd Sunday.

As for me, I feel such joy, knowing that Claire can now receive at every mass, the best gift that God gives us here on earth; the intimate union with Him, wholly present in the Eucharist - His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. When we receive the Eucharist, He expresses His Love for us, oneon-one, in the deepest recesses of our hearts and minds, body and soul. What a supreme gift!

Catholic Family Events in July - August 2017

On that day of Claire’s first Holy Communion, I felt as if my baby had ‘graduated’ in a sense. The day before her first Holy Communion, we all went to partake of the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a family. And the day that Claire received Jesus was the day where our little family was truly united in Christ for we all received Him at Mass that day.

There is unspeakable grace that flows from the Eucharist and to be able to receive that grace as a family is a blessing beyond words. It is the ultimate ‘superfood’ for the spiritual growth of the family.

This year, we celebrate the centennial of Fatima. According to Sister Lucia, one of the three shepherd children to whom Mary appeared to at Fatima, the final battle between God and Satan will be over Marriage and Family.

Let us strengthen our families to fight the good fight in this spiritual war by heeding Our Lady’s exhortations to pray the rosary, especially with our families. Let us also strive to receive the Eucharist regularly with our families at Mass, to be strengthened in our spiritual journey so as to embrace the cross of Christ and to bear witness to His Truth. http://voiceofthefamily.com/ cardinal-caffarra-we-are-nolonger-witnesses-but-desertersif-we-do-not-speak-openly-andpublicly/

For a list of family events in the Archdiocese visit

catholicfamily.org.sg/events

August

July 7

22

25

Marriage Encounter Weekend 7 - 9 July (Friday - Sunday), 8pm-6pm

Understanding Family Dynamics in the 21st Century

MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER HOUSE 201B Punggol 17th Avenue, Singapore 829651

22 July (Saturday), 9.30am-12.30pm

Discover the weekend that has been transforming marriages all over the world for more than 40 years.

Join FLS Family Therapist Clement Ong and coach William Ledbetter as they share how we can build stronger, cohesive families with the right knowledge and skills.

For couples married two years and above.

Programme starts Friday (8pm) and ends Sunday (6pm) http://wwmesg.org/me-weekendselector to book a weekend.

Lee Kong Chian Auditorium, YMCA, 1 Orchard Rd, Singapore 238824

$38 per family (up to 4 pax with kids from ages 7 to 12 years old), inclusive of a buffet lunch

sales@covocal.com 6747 3900

4

13

22

Pieta Monthly Support Session for Bereaved Parents 25 July (Tuesday), 7.30pm-9pm

Marriage Encounter Weekend 4 - 6 August (Friday - Sunday), 8pm-6pm

AGAPE VILLAGE 7A Lorong 8 Toa Payoh, Singapore 319264

MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER HOUSE 13 August (Sunday), 1pm-5.30pm 201B Punggol 17th Avenue, CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF Singapore 829651 PERPETUAL SUCCOUR 31 Siglap Hill, Singapore 456085 Discover the weekend that has been

We meet as a group of bereaved parents to find mutual support through prayer, scripture and sharing of experiences.

No need to register; just walk in. pieta.singapore@gmail.com https://m.facebook.com/ PietaSingapore

transforming marriages all over the world for more than 40 years.

For couples married two years and above.

Programme starts Friday (8pm) and ends Sunday (6pm) http://wwmesg.org/me-weekendselector to book a weekend.

CEP@OLPS Introductory Session: The Institution of Marriage Under Threat

A parish-based, post-marriage catechesis and formation programme to help couples build Christ-centred and emotionally intelligent marriages.

goto_cep@hotmail.com Victor & Annabelle @ 9105 9921 Jason & Andrea @ 9857 9075

Pieta Monthly Support Session for Bereaved Parents 22 August (Tuesday), 7:30pm-9pm

AGAPE VILLAGE 7A Lorong 8 Toa Payoh, Singapore 319264 We meet as a group of bereaved parents to find mutual support through prayer, scripture and sharing of experiences.

No need to register; just walk in. pieta.singapore@gmail.com https://m.facebook.com/ PietaSingapore

This section is produced by the Archdiocesan Commission for the Family and is published on the last issue of each month. For more information on Catholic family life matters, visit catholicfamily.org.sg.

10 HOME

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Can faith and work coexist?

Young adults gain insights on the topic at a workshop

By Pius Lee and Celeste Wee How can Catholic Social Teaching (CST) be lived out in the workplace?

This is what more that 80 young adults between the ages of 21 and 35 sought to learn at a workshop titled The Spirituality of Work.

The workshop, held on May 27, was part of the annual Building The Kingdom series, which began in 2015 as a means for young adults to learn how they can apply CST to their daily lives.

It was organised by the Caritas Singapore Young Adults Committee.

During the workshop, Dominican Friar David Garcia shared how CST can help bridge the division between faith and secular life.

He addressed questions about the purpose of human work in the divine plan: Is work a blessing from God given to people from the beginning, or is it a curse?

Why does work feel so burden-

like how Father ‘I debunked our misconception that work and spirituality exist in different spheres, but are in fact one.

’

– Ms Clare Yong, a participant

Dominican Friar David Garcia speaking to participants at The Spirituality of Work event held on May 27.

some? How do seemingly meaningless tasks – replying e-mails, coping with office politics – contribute towards building the King-

dom of God? How do we make sense of the unpleasant aspects of work, the “toil”, and unite this toil with the cross of Christ?

He then elaborated on the different dimensions of work, not just as a means to contribute to the common good, but also as an action that transforms the working individual and improves personal relationships.

In addition, he shared with participants how work fulfils their spiritual needs and allows them to live out the divine call to be prophets and priests.

Fr Garcia also highlighted the nature of rest as a duty, to prevent the idolatry of work and enable further self-development.

Participants then broke up into groups to share and dis-

cuss how they could bring their Catholic faith into their working lives.

One participant, Ms Clare Yong, shared, “I like how Father debunked our misconception that work and spirituality exist in different spheres, but are in fact one.

“I thought that the question he posed to us: ‘Does your work improve (1) yourself, (2) others, and (3) the world?’ can help me infuse meaning into my work, rather than find it in my work.”

Ms Joyce Tan, 27, said, “One input that was affirming is that we are part of God’s work in the unfolding of creation. I can now see the work that I do as meaningful, and also other people’s work, regardless of the monetary value attached.” n

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

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Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Dear Muslim brothers and sisters,

In solidarity with you all during this special time of prayer, fasting and good works, where you strive to deepen your relationship with God and neighbour, I wish you God’s abundant blessings. We are most fortunate in Singapore to be able to share in and express our solidarity with one another at various religious occasions and reiterate our mutual commitment to ongoing interreligious harmony and peace building.

Just over a month ago in April, His Holiness, Pope Francis visited Egypt as a messenger of peace. He spoke frankly in a video message about the state of the world today, “Our world is torn by blind violence, a violence that has also struck the heart of your beloved land. Our world needs peace, love and mercy.

It needs peacemakers, people who are free and who set others free, men and women of courage who can learn from the past in order to build the future, free of every form of prejudice. Our world needs people who can build bridges of peace, dialogue, fraternity, justice and humanity.”

At the International Peace Con-

ference held at the Al-Azhar Conference Centre in Cairo organised by the Grand Imam of Al-Azhar, Pope Francis was invited to share some pointers to help deepen interreligious dialogue. He mentioned that there are three basic interlinked areas: “the duty to respect one’s own identity and that of others, the courage to accept differences, and sincerity of intentions.”

Firstly, in respecting one’s own identity and that of others, we should not compromise on our beliefs just in order to please others. In other words, we should remain authentic and truthful to our religious convictions, expressing our faith with courtesy and respect for others. We should not engage in false compromise and irenicism. But this does not mean that we can impose our faith beliefs on others or denigrate oth-

ers’ beliefs. Faith is dependent on a personal religious experience of the Sacred or of God. Without which, there is no faith but only religion and empty doctrines and ritualistic practices.

Secondly, we must also have the courage to accept differences, welcoming others as fellow pilgrims in the journey towards God, believing that the “good of each resides in the good of all”. We have much to learn from each other. Rather than speaking of differences, we should share our distinctiveness and thereby enrich the faith of others and their religious practices and values. We all can learn from each other in loving God and neighbour.

Finally, there is the importance of sincerity of intentions because dialogue “is not a strategy for achieving specific goals, but rather

a path to truth, one that deserves to be undertaken patiently, in order to transform competition into cooperation.” Inter-religious dialogue is not a masked attempt at proselytism but an honest desire to show appreciation and mutual understanding of each other’s religion and to strengthen our fraternal brotherhood.

May our respective Muslim and Christian communities continue to uphold the good relations we have enjoyed in our beloved nation. May we never take for granted the peace and harmony that we have but continually work towards enhancing our interreligious understanding and cooperation.

On behalf of the Catholic Archdiocese of Singapore, I wish you all a happy and holy Hari Raya Aidilfitri! n

Most Rev William Goh Archbishop of Singapore

Msgr Philip Heng, S.J. Vicar-General (Interreligious Relations)

ASIA 13

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

CHARIS response to Sri Lanka floods, Marawi crisis SINGAPORE – Caritas Humanitarian Aid & Relief Initiatives, Singapore (CHARIS) has pledged a total of US$100,000 (S$140,000) in grant aid for two separate relief efforts.

The aid is for Caritas Sri Lanka in response to the floods in the country, and the National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA)/Caritas Philippines for victims of the ongoing clashes between Philippine government forces and Islamic militants in Marawi.

The funds for Caritas Sri Lanka will be used to aid ground relief efforts – providing food, clean drinking water, hygiene kits and other necessary support for affected families.

In late May, relentless intermonsoonal rains caused severe flooding and landslides in various parts of Southern Sri Lanka.

This flood disaster was the worst to hit the country since 2003.

Initial assessments indicated that at least 5,000 houses have been damaged and more than 631,000 people have been displaced from their homes with immediate need for secure shelter, food and water.

The current death toll has risen to more than 200, with many still missing.

On May 23, a group of gunmen claiming to be Islamic militants seized Marawi City in the Philippines. To date, 218,665

Retreat aims to ease pain of drug-war orphans can heal from the suffering that whose parents died in the Philip- they’ve been through is for them pine government’s war against to acknowledge it,” said the nun drugs gathered for a retreat recently who encouraged the children to share stories with each other. in an attempt to overcome trauma.

Kayla, an 18-year-old girl “The purpose was to expose [the children] in a different envi- whose father and brother were ronment away from places where killed in a police anti-narcotics operation, said she quit they had bad expeschool because she riences,” said Ms The three-day got tired of answerRubylin Litao of the retreat was held ing questions from faith-based group in a secluded people in school.

Rise Up. 11-year old LaThe three-day convent in a dylove, whose parretreat was held in a suburb of Manila ents were also killed secluded convent in a suburb of Manila where participants in a police operation, where participants underwent acting, said, “People called me a drug addict underwent acting, writing and and they said we are writing, and music workshops “to exmusic workshops a family of [drug] pushers.” press themselves.” ‘to express Sr Jose said the Ms Litao said themselves’. children should be most of the partreated “sensitively ticipants “exhibited and with extra attention” to be signs of trauma and distress.”

Sr Evelyn Jose of the Holy able to feel “that they are not Spirit Missionaries congregation alone or different.”

The nun warned that if these said that aside from holding values formation talks, prayers, and children do not get help “they meditation, “we want them to be might turn rebellious or hate not just everybody but themselves.” more communicative.”

“The only way that they n CNS

MANILA – A group of children

Set aside time for counselling PHILIPPINES – A Catholic bishop in the central Philippines urged priests in his vicariate to find time for “official counselling” for parishioners and not to use the Sacrament of Penance and Reconciliation as an alternative.

“I have observed that parishioners use the confession as a time to seek counselling from priests,” said Bishop Warlito Cajandig of the Vicariate of Calapan.

“This should not be the case,” he said. “I know priests have their hands full with our daily obligations but we must have a time for counselling,” added the prelate.

He told members of the clergy during an ordination rite on June 5

that more people need the help of pastors these days due to the “uncertain times.”

Bishop Cajandig cited the case of the gunman who ransacked a casino in Manila on June 2. The man had been suffering from depression because of a gambling addiction.

“Many need counselling especially those in poor areas,” said the prelate.

He also reminded his priests to always have patience. “Do not shout at people.”

“People may see us shouting and anybody can judge us for this.

The only scenario that a priest is allowed to shout is in a case of fire,” he quipped. n UCANEWS.COM

individuals have fled the hostilities in Marawi, seeking safety in evacuation centres or with relatives in the surrounding provinces. NASSA/Caritas Philippines launched an emergency appeal to provide support to 2,500 evacuees who have been impacted.

CHARIS is the umbrella body for overseas humanitarian aid by the Archdiocese of Singapore. Humanitarian situations include natural disasters and other adverse circumstances faced by the poor and needy.

For more reports, visit www. charis-singapore.org. To donate towards these and other humanitarian efforts, please call 63374119 or email: info@charis-singapore.org n

A part of a flooded highway exit is seen on May 29 in Matara, Sri Lanka.

CHARIS has pledged a total of US$100,000 (S$140,000) in grant aid to Caritas Sri Lanka in response to the floods in the country and Caritas Philippines for the victims of ongoing clashes between Philippine government forces and Islamic militants in Marawi.

Symposium calls for treaty to assure peace in Korea SEOUL – A peace treaty is

to 1953, made them bitter needed to replace the 64-year enemies. truce between North Korea and In recent months, tensions South Korea, ending a situation have been high over North where the two countries remain Korea’s nuclear weapon and technically at war, said speakmissile development proers at a June 1 symposium orgramme. ganised by the South Korean Mr Peter Eul-chul Lim, a bishops. researcher at the Institute for Mr Hak-jae Kim, a reFar Eastern Studies at Kyungsearcher at the Institute for nam University, said, “It will Peace and Unification Studies take a long time to be reunified at Seoul National University, even if we settle the peace in told the symposium in early the peninsula.”

June that a peace accord would During one session, Bishop help usher in better relations Peter Lee Ki-heon of Uijeongwith the North, Asian Church bu, South Korea, president of news portal ucanews.com rethe bishops’ committee, said ported. that the past two South Korean Mr Kim said it remains administrations had suppressed Women pray at Mass in Seoul. A symposhocking that Koreans continthe Catholic Church’s activisium organised by South Korean bishops ue to live under a truce put in ties for the reconciliation of the called for a new peace treaty between place at the end of the Korean Korean people.

North and South Korea that would help War in 1953. The truce was “We could do nearly nothpromote better relations. CNS file photo originally seen only as a teming,” Bishop Lee said. “I hope porary measure. [the] new government led by “For a peace treaty, the first Reconciliation of the Korean Timothy Moon Jae-in solves thing we need to do is to rec- People. the inter-Korean problems very The North and the South have well.” ognise North Korea as an independent country,” Mr Kim told been divided since Korea’s libThe symposium commemoparticipants of the symposium, eration from the Japanese at the rated the Month of National which was hosted by the Ko- end of World War II. The Kore- Reconciliation and Unity. n rean bishops’ Committee for the an War, which lasted from 1950 CNS

Vatican Radio to have Korean section

SEOUL – Church officials met in Seoul to discuss the newlyestablished Korean section of Vatican Radio, the first language version produced outside of the Vatican.

Cardinal Andrew Yeom Soojung of Seoul and Msgr Dario Edoardo Vigano, the Vatican’s communications director, discussed further cooperation for the newly-established Korean section of the Vatican Radio on June 2.

“The project is a role model on cooperation between a lo-

cal church and the Vatican,” said Msgr Vigano.

“As the translation work is done in Korea, our stories are sent to Korean Catholics faster and more accurately. It is the first such trial for us to run a language section outside the Vatican,” he said.

On March 14, the Seoul Archdiocese and the Secretariat for Communication signed the Memorandum of Understanding to operate Vatican Radio’s Korean section.

Under the direct supervision

of Cardinal Yeom, the archdiocesan Communications and Media Affairs Department are translating all content provided by Vatican Radio, including Pope Francis’ speeches, and the activities of the Vatican and local churches worldwide.

The Korean section is staffed with eight translators and an editorial team of five priests who studied in Rome. In total, eight priests and seven lay people are carrying out the project, working in an office in Seoul and in Rome. n UCANEWS.COM

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Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Vietnam’s bishops criticise new religion law HANOI – Vietnamese bishops have told high ranking communist officials they are critical of a new religion law that is to take effect next year while also finding fault with the government’s belligerence toward religions.

In a formal statement, the bishops criticised the Law on Belief and Religion.

The statement said the law requires “religions to inform government authorities about their activities that authorities may or may not approve.”

“This mechanism shows that religious freedom is really not considered a human right but a grace that needs permission [from the government],” said the statement signed by Archbishop Joseph Nguyen Chi Linh, head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Vietnam and Bishop Peter Nguyen

Van Kham, its secretary general.

“It is the mechanism itself to legalise the government’s intervention in religions’ internal issues and its tight control over religious activities,” they said.

The bishops said charitable, educational and health care work done by religions is undervalued and even banned.

“The national assembly needs to have a more active vision on religions and religious organisations,” the bishops said.

The bishops hoped the national assembly would welcome their frank and honest criticisms which is a result of their patriotism.

The Catholic Church serves seven million Catholics in Vietnam. The Vietnamese government currently recognises 39 religious organisations from 13 religions, with 24 million followers. n UCANEWS.COM

Filipino residents of Marawi are escorted to safety by government forces on June 3. The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines called for an end to martial law in Mindanao, saying it was not the proper response to terrorist attacks in one city on a vast island. CNS photo

Philippine religious superiors call for end to martial law MANILA – The Association of

Nuns carry a large wooden cross in Hanoi, Vietnam. Vietnamese bishops slammed a new religion law that gives the government tight control over religious activities. CNS photo

Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines called for an end to martial law in Mindanao, saying that it is “not the proper response to terrorist attacks in just one city on a vast island.”

“The declaration of martial law is an extreme measure, and based on the reports we have received ... is a reaction disproportionate to the situation,” said the statement issued on June 6 by the influential organisation.

The association encompasses the superiors and heads of Religious congregations that run most of the country’s top universities and institutions.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte declared martial law across the southern part of the country after gunmen claiming to have links with the Islamic State group stormed the city of Marawi on May 23. The gunmen took several hostages, including Fr Teresi-

to Suganob, vicar of the Prelature of Marawi.

The Religious leaders called the government’s response in Mindanao “drastic” and maintained that it served to “enhance the perception of power and social impact that the terrorist group aims to achieve locally and internationally,” Asian news portal ucanews.com reported.

The Religious leaders said they were “gravely concerned” by the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, explaining that they

The declaration of ‘ martial law is an extreme measure, and ... is a reaction disproportionate to the situation.

’

– The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines

“reject the strategy of a war on terrorists in the manner that the [government] has been waging in the war on drugs.”

“In a war against terrorists, as in the current war on drugs, it is the poor who are the greatest victims, often dismissed as ‘necessary collateral damage,’” the Religious leaders said.

More than 200,000 people have been affected by the conflict.

Many of them have sought shelter outside of Marawi.

The Catholic bishops in Mindanao earlier issued a statement supporting martial law, saying that “at present we simply do not have solid and sufficient facts to absolutely reject the declaration ... as morally reprehensible.”

Cardinal Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato, who signed the bishops’ statement, said Church leaders in the southern Philippines “are certainly agreed that martial law must be temporary.” n CNS

Church fair educates Catholics in creative economy JAKARTA – More than 30 religious congregations in Atambua Diocese in Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province have held a creative economy fair to raise people’s awareness of alternative ways to improve their standard of living.

Many people in the diocese that covers three regencies – North Central Timor, Malaka and Belu – are poor farmers struggling to pay for the education of their children and to meet their daily needs.

More than 1,150,000 people or about 22 percent of the province’s 5.2 million population is considered poor, according to Central Bureau of Statistics, placing it third behind Papua and West Papua as

Indonesia’s third poorest province.

Bishop Dominikus Saku of Atambua said the two-day fair, from June 1-2 involved 32 out of 36 Religious congregations working in the diocese. “[Through this event] we want people to learn different ways to improve their standard of living,” Bishop Saku said.

Each congregation showcased products they had helped to produce, including woven fabrics, food items, and handicrafts.

Fair coordinator, Fr Leo Asuk, said the diocese wanted to encourage Religious congregations to share their work with Catholics in order to generate creativity.

“We want to explore how to educate people through a creative economy,” he said.

Sr Maria Ursula of the Daughters of Reinha Rosary, said her congregation showcased handicrafts such as baskets, rosaries, sandals, and wallets made by leprosy patients.

“We want to tell Catholics that if these patients can do it, they [healthy people] should be doing it better,” she said.

She said many former patients had returned to their hometowns and are now becoming better farmers, making and selling handicrafts.

“They even teach their neighbours,” the nun said. n UCANEWS.COM

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Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Chinese Church music contest receives good response MANILA – The Second Veritas Cup, a Chinese hymn-composing competition, has broken several records due to the response from Chinese Catholics around the world.

Overall entries increased with half of the 250 entries coming from mainland China, according to the Chinese section of Radio Veritas Asia, organiser of the contest, which stopped receiving entries on May 31.

Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan account for 25 percent of entries and overseas Chinese communities account for another 25 percent, said Radio Veritas Asia, which is based in Manila.

“There was an apparent increase in entries and inquiries from overseas communities, from countries like Belgium, Canada, New Zealand and the US,” Fr John, coordinator of the contest, told ucanews.com.

The last contest in 2013 attracted 182 entries, with 16 percent coming from overseas Chinese communities.

More musical bands formed by young people joined the contest as well, particularly from Malaysia and China.

Priests, nun and seminarians are also participating, he said.

Fr John said he was amazed to see that 70 percent of the contestants joined the hymn-composing competition for the first time.

“Several participants told us that they are joining the contest not for winning but with the hope to share their music,” the priest said.

“If they win the award, they would donate the cash prize,” he added.

The event also has greater varieties of entries, from songs for children, liturgy, worship and everyday faith life, as well as the music of ethnic minorities.

The result of the Second Veritas Cup will be announced on July 16 and a concert and award presentation will take place in Macau in October. n UCANEWS.COM

Death of prelate shows complicated situation of bishops in China HONG KONG – A Chinese bishop

ernment, which does not recognise who avoided government inter- papal authority over a bishop’s apvention in the affairs of his dio- pointment, a Catholic bishop must cese died without having his Vati- be produced through an election. can-appointed successor officially The result then must be approved ordained, illustrating some of the by the bishops’ conference, which complications of the situation of is not recognised by the Vatican, bishops in China. before an episcopal Asian Church ordination can take news portal place. ucanews.com reTo get around the ported that Vaticanrequirement, some approved Bishop dioceses hold an elecJohn Liu Shigong of tion after the Vatican Jining (Wumeng), in appoints a bishop for the northern Inner them, ucanews.com Mongolia autonoreported. mous region, died “The diocese had on June 9 after being Bishop John Liu Shig- prepared to run an diagnosed with liver ong of Jining passed election several years cancer in May. The away on June 9. His ago, but government 89-year-old was the successor has yet to be officials came and fourth bishop to die appointed due to the showed Bishop Liu situation of bishops in in China this year. the regulations about It is believed that China. Photo: UCANEWS.COM ordaining bishops, in 2010, the Vatican such as the diocese appointed Fr Anthony Yao Shun, has to accept that the authorities vicar general of the diocese, as can assign any bishop as conseBishop Liu’s successor. Fr Yao crator or co-consecrator,”said a was ordained a priest in Jining in Church source who asked not to 1991 and in 1996 graduated from be named.

St John’s University, Collegeville, Bishop Liu was unhappy after Minnesota. reading the regulations and there Soon after the Vatican ap- has been no progress with regard pointment, Fr Yao returned to electing a bishop according to to the diocese from Beijing, the government’s requirements. where he taught at the National The Vatican has prioritised Seminary, and began managing closed-door negotiations with Church affairs in place of the Beijing since 2016 in a bid to rebishop. solve the thorny issue of bishop According to the Chinese gov- appointments. n CNS

Churches shelter civilians fleeing Myanmar military ultimatum MANDALAY, MYANMAR – Hun-

dreds of civilians have fled their homes and are seeking refuge in churches in Myanmar’s conflicttorn Kachin State following an ultimatum given by the country’s military.

Church social workers say that more than 600 civilians, mostly Christians, are taking refuge in Catholic and Baptist church buildings in Tanai township, some 200 km north of the state capital of Myitkyina.

The military air-dropped letters on June 5 warning residents to leave the area around Tanai by June 15. If civilians remained, they would consider them to have links with the rebel Kachin Independence Army (KIA), the letters said.

The Rev Je Di, pastor of the local Kachin Baptist Church, reported clashes between the KIA and military. “Children, elderly and women are severely affected by the renewed fighting,” he told ucanews.com.

The region has gold and amber mines that are concentrated near Tanai and where an estimated 100,000 people work. Most of them are Bamar Buddhists from central Myanmar, according to local sources.

Mr Tsa Ji, general secretary of the Kachin Development Networking Group, a civil society organisation that monitors development projects in Kachin State, sees the latest military offensive about

Kachin refugees inside a shared kitchen at a camp in Myitkyina, Myanmar.

Hundreds of civilians are taking refuge in church buildings in Myanmar’s conflict-torn Kachin State due to ongoing fighting between the Kachin Independence Army and the military. CNS file photo

being who controls resources.

“The military sees tax from the gold and amber mines as being the main source of money for the KIA,” he told ucanews.com.

He said the military’s clearance operations will result in more than 100,000 workers becoming unemployed. The state is also rich in jade, timber and other gemstones.

Mr San Awng, a member of the Peace-Talk Creation Group in Kachin State that frequently mediates negotiations between the KIA and the military, said the renewed fighting is the military’s attempt to take control of the mines.

“The military wants to control

More than 600 civilians, mostly Christians, are taking refuge in Catholic and Baptist church buildings.

it and they want to clear out the KIA so their cronies can come to do business there,” Mr San Awng, a Kachin Catholic, told ucanews. com.

Mr San Awng said that the latest clashes could undermine the peace process. It only builds further distrust between the government and the KIA, he said.

Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s government pledged to bring an end to the decades-long civil wars in the country but renewed clashes have undermined her peace initiatives. Ongoing fighting has also raised questions on how much influence she has over the military.

Kachin State is 90 percent Christian, and has been beset by sporadic fighting for several decades. More than 100,000 people remain displaced since fighting restarted in June 2011. n UCANEWS. COM

Bishops issue letter on corruption INDONESIA – The Bishops’ Con-

ference of Indonesia has issued a 45-page pastoral letter to re-emphasise the Church’s commitment to fighting rampant corruption in the country.

The letter is a follow-up to the pastoral appeal by the bishops in their annual meeting in November 2016.

Bishop Dominikus Saku of Atambua, chairman of the Bishops’ Commission for Justice, Peace and Pastoral for Migrant People, told ucanews.com, “The fight against corruption must continue, be done systematically, strategically, tactically and on great scale.”

According to Transparansi Indonesia’s corruption perception index, Indonesia is ranked 90th out of 176 countries.

Data from Indonesia Corruption Watch reveals that during the

period between 2010 and 2015, 110 regents and 14 governors were caught up in corruption scandals.

Fr Siprianus Hormat, executive secretary of the Bish-

The letter describes the actions every Catholic should take to combat corruption through personal and collective commitments. ops’ Conference of Indonesia, said the letter describes the actions every Catholic should take to combat corruption through personal and collective commitments.

Mr Yudas Sabbagalet, Menta-

wai district head in North Sumatera, said “The Catholic Church’s stern attitude reminds us we must withstand every temptation of corruption and inspires us to develop good governance practices.”

Meanwhile, Mr Arman Suparman, a researcher at Regional Autonomy Watch, said the pastoral letter is important since corruption is rife, especially in government institutions.

Mr Suparman cautioned that the Church must also set a good example by fighting corruption within its hierarchy and every diocese or parish should prioritise transparency in financial management.

“It is not enough to simply issue this pastoral letter. The good shepherd must make this their way of life in order to combat corruption,” he said. n UCANEWS.COM

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Vatican: Failure to protect child migrants an insult to human dignity VATICAN CITY – Too often, na-

tional and international policies leave migrant children at the mercy of traffickers and sexual predators and are signs of a widespread failure to protect the innocent, a Vatican official said.

In addition, policies that involve criminalising and detaining child migrants “are an insult to human dignity” and are “the dramatic evidence of existing inequalities and failing systems,” said Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Vatican observer to UN agencies in Geneva.

“The grave error of the detention model is that it considers the children as sole, isolated subjects responsible for the situations in which they find themselves and over which they have little, if any, control,” the archbishop said.

“This model wrongly absolves the international community at large from responsibilities that it regularly fails to fulfil.”

Archbishop Jurkovic spoke about the plight of child migrants during a UN Human Rights Coun-

cil panel discussion on June 9 on “Unaccompanied migrant children and adolescents and human rights.”

Children forced to flee without the protection of their parents or family members, he said, are given no options for a better life and are often “left at the lower levels of human degradation” due to lack of education and health care.

“They must be considered children first and foremost, and their best interest must be a primary consideration in all actions concerning them,” Archbishop Jurkovic said.

The practice of detaining and criminalising migrant children should “never be an option” given that such a practice, even if for a brief period, “can have lifelong consequences on a child’s development,” he said.

While the protection of all migrating people is “vital and essential, it is not enough,” Archbishop Jurkovic added. The international community must step up its efforts to address the situations that

They must be ‘ considered children first and foremost, and their best interest must be a primary consideration in all actions concerning them.

’

– Archbishop Ivan Jurkovic, Vatican observer to UN agencies

A child sits on railroad tracks near a makeshift camp for migrants at the Greek-Macedonian border. A Vatican official called for greater efforts ‘to address the situations that force children to flee their homelands.’ CNS photo

force children to flee their homelands, situations that include war, violence, corruption, poverty and environmental disasters.

“A farsighted approach is urgently needed to tackle the tragic

and intolerable situations that drive such a drastic increase in the number of children who abandon their lands of birth and search alone for refuge and hope for the future,” he said.

Archbishop Jurkovic urged world leaders to promote an integral human development for the “hundreds of millions of children who are living in appalling conditions.”

“Even while we are engaged in discussion and debate today, any number of these children will have joined the already huge odyssey of children on the move – simply in search of safety, peace and of a fair chance in life,” he said. n CNS

Netflix series on teen’s Priest who fixes cars helps raise funds suicide raises concerns much of their interaction these days takes place through technolReasons Why,” which portrays a ogy.” fictional teen’s suicide and the afMs Lisa McGovern, supervitermath, has sparked the curiosity sor of counselling services for of young people and the concern Catholic Charities of Tennessee, of parents and school counsellors is concerned about teens bingein the Diocese of Nashville and watching the show in isolation, around the US. especially those who struggle Counsellors from Catholic with self-harm, or have experiCharities of Tennessee recently enced sexual assault or suicidal hosted a panel thoughts. “It can discussion to help really be a trigger When it comes to guide teachers and for them, bringparents and teens parents in talking that back up talking about ing to teens about to the surface,” issues like rape the show, which she said. includes graphic The series and suicide, the depictions of rape conversation should portrays several and suicide. characters as be ‘ongoing’, said Catholic Charhaving contribMs Lisa McGovern, uted to the lead ities counsellor Amy Sturm encharacter’s suisupervisor of couraged parents but in realcounselling services cide, to make time to ity no one person for Catholic Charities can or should be watch the show with their children blamed for a suiof Tennessee. and help walk cide. “Mental illthem through the issues they en- ness is a factor in 90 percent of counter while viewing it. all suicides, and external factors “A great time to connect usually cannot entirely explain with your teen is to watch it with why someone chooses to take them,” she said during the panel his or her life,” according to the discussion. Then “open the door Tennessee Suicide Prevention and listen” in a non-judgmental Network. way while they share their reacWhen it comes to parents and tions, she advised. teens talking about tough issues Ms Sturm, the mother of two like rape and suicide, “this is not teenage boys, said it’s important one conversation,” Ms McGovto have face-to-face conversations ern said. “It should be ongoing.” about these issues because “so n CNS

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, USA – The popular Netflix show “13

WASHINGTON – A priest who loves rebuilding cars and assisting seminarians is donating a 1969 Pontiac Firebird Convertible that he refurbished for a raffle in support of vocations for the Diocese of Gallup in New Mexico, USA. This is not the first time that Fr Matthew Keller remodelled a car.

Last year, he fixed up a donated 1972 Chevelle and raised US$140,000 (S$190,000) for seminarians.

The money helped five seminarians start their journey to becoming priests for the Diocese of Gallup.

“Gallup is a really wonderful and unique diocese,” Fr Keller said in a phone interview with Catholic News Service (CNS). “We have about 35 to 40 priests and 65 parishes plus our missions.”

Fr Keller mentioned that few priests there have only one parish to serve. Gallup is the poorest diocese in the country and is in dire need of more seminarians.

As the former vocations director for the diocese, Fr Keller knows that financial support is necessary for those studying in the seminary.

In many cases, it can cost up to US$30,000 to finance each seminarian to study for the priesthood.

The raffle of the Pontiac was set for June 17.

Fr Keller’s passion for vehicles began early on. “I built my first car when I was 16,” Fr Keller said. “I was a car guy.”

After he entered the seminary, he sold his 1964 Chevy Malibu SS, leaving his love for cars aside.

Fr Matthew Keller, rector of Sacred Heart Cathedral in Gallup, New Mexico, USA, poses with a 1969 Pontiac Firebird Convertible that he refurbished for a raffle in support of vocations for the Diocese of Gallup. CNS photo

However, his excitement for them did not stray far.

“One of my friends, who knew I was into cars, ... said, ‘You should get a car to work on with the seminarians and use it as a human formation project,’” Fr Keller said.

He decided to find a vehicle and eventually the 1972 Chevelle was donated to him for the project. In his position, he constantly was working on human formation projects and used this as a way for the seminarians to bond.

It took him and a group of 20 core workers two years to finish the redesign of the vehicle.

“Before we were even done with the Chevelle, a second opportunity came along,” Fr Keller said.

The opportunity was the

chance to purchase the 1969 Pontiac Firebird.

In addition to helping seminarians, the project also helped grow the community and offered a chance for evangelisation.

“One of the surprise elements of the project was how it turned into a community bonding,” Fr Keller said. “There was an opportunity for evangelisation.”

Fr Keller talked about a group of men who were not Catholic and how the experience helped them open up to faith. Many people took advantage of the time spent working on the car by having their confession heard in the garage.

The next project for Fr Keller is focused on refurbishing a 1966 Mustang Convertible. n CNS

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Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Pope, English bishops offer prayers for victims of London attack MANCHESTER,

ENGLAND

–

Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark, the archdiocese that covers London south of the River Thames, where a terrorist attack on June 3 claimed seven lives and injured 48 people, offered prayers for the victims and survivors.

He joined Pope Francis and the rest of the world in expressing sorrow for those killed and severely injured in the terrorist attacks.

“Following the tragic attack on innocent people last Saturday evening in the Borough, we pray for those who have been killed and those who were injured, some critically, and I offer our sympathy to their families, friends and colleagues,” Archbishop Smith said in a June 6 statement.

The incident unfolded, authorities said, when three men in a van mowed down people on the London Bridge and then left the vehicle to go on a killing spree in Borough Market, a popular restaurant and bar district located south of the river. Some people in the market area attempted to stop the attackers by throwing chairs and bottles at them, police said. The three men were shot and killed by police at the scene.

“I want to thank the police, the other emergency services and

members of the public who rushed to help the victims,” said the archbishop, who serves as the vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

Archbishop Smith praised first responders for their courage under difficult circumstances “despite the danger to themselves, and we pay tribute to them and give them our heartfelt thanks for all that they have done.”

After celebrating Mass on Pentecost on June 4, with an estimated 60,000 people in St Peter’s Square, Pope Francis offered public prayers for the victims of the attacks in London.

“May the Holy Spirit grant peace to the whole world,” he said. “May He heal the wounds of war and of terrorism, which even last night in London struck innocent civilians. Let us pray for the victims and their families.”

In a June 5 statement sent to Catholic News Service (CNS), Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury, England, said under current circumstances, “This is a moment when we need to recall the Christian values on which British society is based.”

“We have already seen how acts of selfless charity, the recognition of the stranger as our neighbour and gestures of solidarity

A person walks past a memorial for victims of the London Bridge terror attacks which took place on June 3.

of selfless charity, ‘Acts the recognition of the stranger as our neighbour and gestures of solidarity have been shown to be stronger than the terror of murderous hate and violence.

’

– Bishop Mark Davies of Shrewsbury, England Anglican Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury (centre) attends a June 5 vigil with Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis (right) for the victims of the London Bridge terror attacks. CNS photos

have been shown to be stronger than the terror of murderous hate and violence,” he said.

“We must find our security in these true values which make us stronger than those who seek to terrorise and divide us,” he added. “I

am sure these Christian foundations of British society can withstand any threat of division between individuals or communities in this land.”

Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth, England, said in a June 5 telephone interview with CNS

that he suspected “aggressive secularism” might be partly to blame for the rise of radical Islam in the United Kingdom.

“There are many factors in why somebody should become radical, but it [Islamic terrorism] is a Satanic and evil way of drawing attention to suffering and to the lack of God in life,” Bishop Egan said. n CNS

Decision to abandon Paris agreement ‘troubling’ WASHINGTON – President Donald

Trump’s June 1 decision “not to honour the US commitment” to the Paris Climate Agreement “is deeply troubling,” said the chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.

“The Scriptures affirm the value of caring for creation and caring for each other in solidarity.

The Paris Agreement is an international accord that promotes these values,” Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, said in a statement released shortly after the president made his announcement in the White House Rose Garden.

“President Trump’s decision will harm the people of the United States and the world, especially the poorest, most vulnerable communities,” the bishop said after Mr Trump announced the US will withdraw immediately from the Paris accord.

The accord is an agreement within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) dealing with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance.

It has been ratified by 147 of

President Trump’s ‘ decision will harm the people of the United States and the world, especially the poorest, most vulnerable communities.

’

– Bishop Oscar Cantu of Las Cruces, New Mexico, chairman of the US bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace

US President Donald Trump announces his decision that the United States will withdraw from the landmark Paris Climate Agreement on June 1 in the White House in Washington. CNS photo

the 197 countries that approved it in December 2015 under the UNFCCC. “The impacts of climate change are already being experienced in sea-level rise, glacial melts, intensified storms, and more frequent droughts,” Bishop Cantu said. “I can only hope that the president will propose con-

crete ways to address global climate change and promote environmental stewardship.”

Mr Trump said the climate accord “is less about the climate and more about other countries obtaining a financial advantage over the United States.”

He said he wants to create a “level playing field” and establish

the “highest standard of living, highest standard of environmental protection.” The United States now joins Syria and Nicaragua in not being part of the accord.

Bishop Cantu said that although the Paris Agreement is not the only possible mechanism for addressing global carbon mitigation, the lack of a current viable alternative is a serious concern.

He said the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), Pope Francis “and the entire Catholic Church have consistently upheld the Paris Agreement as an impor-

tant international mechanism to promote environmental stewardship and encourage climate change mitigation.”

Before Mr Trump made his announcement, Bishop Cantu issued a statement saying the United States had an obligation to honour the Paris Agreement to protect “our people and our planet” and “mitigate the worst impacts of climate change.”

USCCB released the earlier statement along with copies of letters sent weeks earlier to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Treasure Secretary Steven Mnuchin and National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster.

“We write about our shared obligation to care for the environment. The Judaeo-Christian tradition has always understood ‘the environment’ to be a gift from God,” said the letters urging the Trump administration officials in their respective capacities to reaffirm the US commitment to the Paris accord.

“Pope Francis and the Holy See have also consistently voiced support for the Paris Agreement,” Bishop Cantu said. n CNS

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Florida Catholics remember victims of Pulse nightclub ORLANDO, FLORIDA, USA – On

the anniversary of the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, the Diocese of Orlando broadcasted via Facebook Live a prayer service attended by clergy of various faiths to remember on June 12 the 49 people who died during the largest mass shooting by a single gunman in the country’s history.

Orlando Bishop John G. Noonan was joined by local religious leaders of various faiths at the St James Cathedral for prayers and hymns and the lighting of candles remembering each one of the Orlando victims, as well as for cities and towns touched by terrorist attacks and violence around the world.

For Orlando, the city’s brush with terrible violence arrived on June 12, 2016, as gunman Omar Mateen went on a shooting rampage at the club in the early hours, firing at club-goers after having pledged his allegiance to known terrorist groups and individuals,

authorities said. He was killed during a shootout with police.

Many of those fatally shot at the club were gay.

While the violence was taking place and even after it stopped, various faith groups, including Catholics, arrived to help the victims and assist their families, as well as authorities responding to the massacre.

“We need to walk with and accompany everybody – there is no exception,” said Bishop Noonan during the Call to Prayer anniversary ceremony. “We treat everybody with dignity because they are made in the image and likeness of God and that’s what it’s all about.”

The nearby Diocese of St Petersburg tweeted “A prayer for Orlando” on June 12, saying “we cherish each person as a child of God.” Many Catholic churches around the US participated in tolling church bells 49 times on the anniversary of the massacre to remember those who died. n CNS

Bishops in southern Mexico face threats from organised criminal groups MEXICO CITY – Bishops in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero have suffered threats from organised criminal groups as they serve a region rife with drug cartel activities and parishes located in impoverished indigenous communities where people eke out existences by cultivating opium poppies.

Bishop Maximino Miranda Martinez of Ciudad Altamirano was robbed of his vehicle after encountering a roadblock manned by an armed group in the violent Tierra Caliente region. Bishop Dagoberto Sosa Arriaga of Tlapa, meanwhile, was asked to pay extortion, but escaped making payment as those making the demands were run off by rivals.

Attempts to reach spokesmen in both dioceses were unsuccessful.

Three priests also have received death threats, said Bishop Salvador Rangel Mendoza of ChilpancingoChilapa, who provided details on the incidents at a May 27 news conference in Chilpancingo, south of Mexico City.

He said bishops and priests had intervened in conflicts among the increasing number of small criminal groups clashing over the cultivation and smuggling of heroin from Guerrero to the US. Bishop Rangel himself has spoken of establishing communications with cartel bosses in an attempt to pacify one of Mexico’s most violent states.

Mexican civil police patrol a prison in Monterrey, Mexico. Bishops in Guerrero have suffered threats from organised criminal groups as they serve a region rife with drug cartel activities. CNS photo

“It’s not my place to say it, but I asked for assistance from the state and they sent state police, but [those police] were disarmed [by criminals] and the police left,” he said of the attempt to quell a cartel conflict.

Violence has worsened in Mexico over the last two years and crime statistics show the country is set to record its highest homicide rate in 20 years. Guerrero state – site of the 2014 abduction of 43 teacher trainees by police – has been especially violent as dozens of criminal groups contest drug turfs. The murder rate of 61 per 100,000 residents in 2016 was the highest in the country.

At least four priests and two seminarians have been murdered in the southern Mexican state since 2009.

At least four priests and two seminarians have been murdered in the state since 2009.

Bishop Rangel has attracted national attention for his work in Chilpancingo-Chilapa, where he has candidly acknowledged seeking a dialogue with drug cartel leaders and has spoken compassionately of the “campesinos” growing opium poppies to make ends meet.

“Opium poppies are produced as harvested and I cannot in any way condemn it because they are campesinos [poor farmers] who have no other way to live,” Bishop Rangel told the newspaper Reforma in March.

His comments, however, have attracted criticism for their portrayal of criminal groups and allegations that he downplayed the damage caused by drug cartels. n CNS

New sterilisation policy slammed BHOPAL, INDIA – Church lead-

ers in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh have criticised new guidelines on providing sterilisation services to traditional tribal groups and are lobbying the authorities to reconsider it.

“The new regulations appear to be disastrous” for impoverished tribal groups, said Fr Sebastian Poomattam, spokesperson for Catholic bishops in Chhattisgarh, homeland of several tribal groups.

“For these groups who already face a serious threat to their existence, this new law might further threaten their survival,” he told ucanews.com on June 11.

The ruling pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party relaxed a 1979 state law on May 26 making access to public provisions for sterilisation easier among five traditional tribes in the state.

The law was passed almost four decades ago at a time when the federal government used forced sterilisations to control the

Women who had sterilisation operations lie on hospital beds in Bilaspur, India. Church leaders in India said the new guidelines on providing sterilisation to tribal groups may ‘further threaten their survival’. CNS file photo

population. It restricted sterilisation among tribal people whose poverty and ill health resulted in low birth rates.

Fr Poomattam said the regulation was important to ensure tribal mothers could only access the service once a leading government

official had certified it as a case of emergency.

The recent amendment has relaxed those rules. A government officer may certify the sterilisation if the tribal mother simply acknowledged that she understood the consequences. n UCANEWS.COM

POPE FRANCIS 19

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Pope tells Nigerian priests: accept bishop or be suspended VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is

Women at a leadership forum for young Catholic women. Pope Francis said women rights ‘must be affirmed and protected, including through legal instruments wherever it may prove necessary.’ CNS photo

Uphold a woman’s right to contribute fully to society VATICAN CITY – The more women

ten unrecognised because of the are involved in and contribute to many evils that afflict this world communities, politics, economics and that, in particular, damage and the Church, the more positive women’s dignity and their role.” changes will come about, Pope Women and children are freFrancis said. quently the victims of “blind vio“Women are fully entitled to lence,” he said. actively take part in all settings, More must be done to recogand their rights must be affirmed nise women’s gifts and their ability and protected, including through to find new ways to welcome and legal instruments wherever it may respect others in a multicultural, prove necessary,” he globalised world, he When women said on June 9. said. It is also imporThe pope was tant to take advantage have the speaking to mem“their conviction opportunity to of bers, consultors and that love is the only guests of the Pontifi- fully share their power that can make cal Council for Interthe world habitable gifts with the religious Dialogue, whole community, for everyone.” which was holding When women the community have the opportuits plenary assembly in Rome from June nity to fully share ends up 7-9. Participants had gifts with the ‘transformed’ in a their discussed the role of whole community, women in teaching positive way, said the community ends universal fraternity.

Pope Francis. up “transformed” in “We cannot truly a positive way, the call on God, the Father of all, if we pope said. refuse to treat [others] in a brotherly He also urged all groups inway,” Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran volved in interreligious dialogue told the pope, quoting from “Nostra to invite women to participate in Aetate,” the Vatican II declaration all aspects of their discussions, that addressed the Catholic Church’s not just when a topic or a gatherrelations with other religions. ing is about women.

Pope Francis told the assem“Many women are well prebly that unfortunately the impor- pared to address very high-level tant ability of women to teach meetings on interreligious diathese values is “obscured and of- logue,” he said. n CNS

giving priests belonging to the Diocese of Ahiara, Nigeria, 30 days to write a letter promising obedience to him and accepting the bishop appointed for their diocese or they will be suspended.

The papal text in English was posted on June 9 on the blog of Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Jos, president of the Nigerian bishops’ conference. Cardinal John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja told Catholic News Service the same day that the text was what Pope Francis said. The Vatican press office released the text on June 10.

Nigerian Church leaders had met Pope Francis on June 8 to discuss the situation of Bishop Peter Ebere Okpaleke, who was appointed Bishop of Ahiara by then-Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, but who has been unable to take control of the diocese because of protests, apparently by the majority of priests.

Initially the Vatican issued only a short communique on the meeting with the pope, describing the situation in the diocese as “unacceptable” and saying the pope “reserved the right to take appropriate measures.”

The protests were motivated by the fact that Bishop Okpaleke is not a local priest.

In the full text posted later, Pope Francis told the Nigerian leaders, “I think that, in this case, we are not dealing with tribalism, but with an attempted taking of the vineyard of the Lord.” The pope also referred to “the parable of the murderous tenants” in Matthew 21:33-44.

“Whoever was opposed to Bishop Okpaleke taking possession of the diocese wants to destroy the Church. This is forbidden,” the pope said.

Pope Francis said he even had considered “suppressing the diocese, but then I thought that the Church is a mother and cannot abandon her many children.”

Instead, he said, every priest

A woman prays at a Church in Nigeria. Pope Francis has asked priests from the Diocese of Ahiara in Nigeria to write him a letter promising obedience to him. CNS file photo

of the diocese, whether residing in Nigeria or abroad, is to write a letter to him asking for forgiveness because “we all must share this common sorrow.”

Each priest’s letter, he said, “must clearly manifest total obedience to the pope” and indicate a willingness “to accept the bishop

Holy Father, ‘The after a careful evaluation, spoke of the unacceptable situation in Ahiara and reserved the right to take appropriate measures.

’

– A statement from the Vatican

whom the pope sends and has appointed.”

“The letter must be sent within 30 days, from today to July 9.

Whoever does not do this will be ipso facto suspended ‘a divinis’ and will lose his current office,” the pope said.

“This seems very hard, but why must the pope do this?” Pope Fran-

cis asked. “Because the people of God are scandalised. Jesus reminds us that whoever causes scandal must suffer the consequences.”

Bishop Okpaleke, the contested bishop, also met the pope and was joined in Rome by other Nigerian bishops and a handful of priests making an unusual kind of visit “ad limina apostolorum” (to the threshold of the apostles) in early June.

The group had also met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, and with Cardinal Fernando Filoni and other top officials from the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples to examine what the Vatican called the “painful situation of the Church in Ahiara.”

When Bishop Okpaleke was appointed to the diocese, the announcement was met by protests and petitions calling for the appointment of a bishop from among the local clergy. Nevertheless, he was ordained a bishop in May 2013.

Ahiara is in Mbaise, a predominantly Catholic region of Imo State in southern Nigeria.

Bishop Okpaleke is from Anambra State, which borders Imo to the north. n CNS

Pontiff, Panama bishops discuss WYD, gender theory VATICAN CITY – Preparations for

World Youth Day 2019 and the dangers of gender theory on marriage and the family were among the major themes that bishops from Panama discussed with Pope Francis.

Describing the nearly twohour meeting on June 8 with the pope as a “wonderful visit among brothers,” Archbishop Jose Domingo Ulloa Mendieta of Panama told journalists that the pope emphasised the important role that lay people and young men and women have in the Church.

Pope Francis “insisted very much that young people are not only the future; they are the present of the Church and the present of humanity,” Archbishop Ulloa said.

Pope Francis met with the 10

prelates from the Central American nation during the periodic “ad limina” visits that bishops are required to make to the Vatican.

Archbishop Ulloa, who also serves as president of the Panama bishops’ conference, said Pope Francis “knows the situation in Panama very well.”

“For all the bishops – especially those who had their first experience of an ‘ad limina’ visit – it was a chance to regain strength to continue along the path and the mission that we have in this moment as bishops in each of our dioceses,” he said.

Another issue the bishops discussed with the pope were the challenges that threaten marriage and the family, including the influence of gender theory.

While it is one thing for a person to choose his reality, the Central American prelate said, it is an entirely different circumstance “to impose an ideology.”

Archbishop Ulloa said that gender theory, which argues that male and female characteristics are largely malleable social constructs, is “diabolical” in that “it wants to break a bit with the reality of the family.”

“With respect to other people, we must be clear about the importance of the family according to God’s plan between man and woman,” he said.

Cardinal Jose Lacunza Maestrojuan of David told journalists that although some in Panama regard teaching gender theory and homosexuality in schools as a

A member of the LGBT community in Bangalore, India. One of the issues Pope Francis and Panama bishops discussed was the influence of gender theory.

CNS photo

human right, “from our perspective of faith, this has nothing to do with human rights.”

“The human rights that homosexual people must have are respect to their dignity, their choices and that they are not discriminated

against,” Cardinal Lacunza said.

“But to go from there to pushing so that society should accept those choices as something good, desirable, digestible and that it is taught to little children, we are not willing to go there.” n CNS

20 POPE FRANCIS

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

VATICAN’S AIDILFITRI MESSAGE

Safeguarding creation is religious obligation VATICAN CITY – Christians and

Muslims, believers in one God, have an obligation to safeguard the world God created, said the Vatican’s annual message to Muslims for the end of their fasting month of Ramadan.

“Our vocation to be guardians of God’s handiwork is not optional, nor is it tangential to our religious commitment as Christians and Muslims: It is an essential part of it,” said Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran and Bishop Miguel Angel Ayuso Guixot, respectively president and secretary of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

Each year, the council for interreligious dialogue publishes a message to the world’s Muslims in preparation for the celebration of the end of Ramadan.

Hari Raya Aidilfitri is celebrated on June 25 in Singapore.

The pontifical council chooses a theme annually to promote dialogue by “offering insights on current and pressing issues.” The theme chosen for 2017 was “Caring for Our Common Home,” which echoes Pope Francis’ encyclical on the environment, Laudato Si’.

“As believers, our relationship with God should be increasingly

shown in the way we relate to the world around us,” Cardinal Tauran and Bishop Ayuso wrote.

Pope Francis’ encyclical, they noted, was addressed “to the whole of humanity” and drew attention “to the harm our lifestyles and decisions are causing to the environment, to ourselves and to our fellow human beings.”

“What is needed,” they said, “is education, spiritual openness and a ‘global ecological conversion’ to adequately address this challenge.”

The encyclical’s reference to the earth as a “‘common home,’ a dwelling for all the members of the human family,” they said, means that “no one person, nation or people can impose exclusively their understanding of our planet.”

Without getting specific, the message spoke of “certain philosophical, religious and cultural perspectives that present obstacles which threaten humanity’s relationship with nature.”

The message repeated Pope Francis’ call for “a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet …, since the environmental challenge we are undergoing, and its human roots, concern and affects us all.” n CNS

A child walks across a drain filled with garbage in New Delhi. The Vatican said Christians and Muslims have a commitment to protect the environment for the whole of humanity. CNS photo

Young people should focus on the future as it is a good antidote to the resignation and hopelessness in society, said Pope Francis. CNS photo

Don’t be overly harsh on youth; they have much to give VATICAN CITY – Young people often are judged too easily, even though with their limitations they are still a much needed and valuable part of the world, Pope Francis said.

Do not forget how God often chose the smallest, because proclaiming the Gospel “is not based on the greatness of human strength, but rather on the willingness to let oneself be guided by the gift of the Spirit,” he said on June 1.

The pope was speaking to members, consultants and others who took part in the Congregation for Clergy’s plenary assembly, which was held at the Vatican from May 30-June 1.

The assembly discussed the importance of priests who are the living presence of Jesus, who dwells among His people and possesses a welcoming and compassionate heart, Cardinal Beniamino Stella, congregation prefect, told the pope in his opening remarks.

Young priests in particular need special attention and accompaniment by their bishops, fellow priests and Church communities

because “the risk of spreading oneself too thin, exhaustion or seeking refuge in spiritual worldliness is high” in today’s culture of indifference, individualism and secularism, the cardinal said.

And, he said, God always watches over his children and will guide their steps.

Speaking about young people in general, the pope said, “One has

Young people are creative, imaginative and courageous when it comes to change, and they generously give of themselves for others, said the pope. to admit that often young people are judged a bit too superficially and they are labelled too easily as a ‘wishy-washy’ generation, lacking passion and ideals,” he said.

“But this must not keep us from recognising that youth are able to firmly take a chance in life and generously throw

their hat into the ring,” he said.

Their focus on the future is a good antidote to the resignation and hopelessness in society, the pope said. They are creative, imaginative and courageous when it comes to change, and they generously give of themselves for others and for ideals like justice and peace.

“With all of their limitations, they are always a resource,” he said.

The pope asked young priests to always pray, always be journeying and always share God’s tenderness with others.

Young priests have a great opportunity to reach out to their lay peers, “not as just another friend,” he said, but as someone who really knows how to share, listen and guide.

“Young people do not need an expert in the sacred or a hero who, from on high and the outside, answers their questions,” the pope said. “Rather, they are attracted to those who know how to sincerely be interested in their life, being by their side with respect and listening to them with love.” n CNS

POPE FRANCIS 21

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Pope: Pentecost is celebration of unity in diversity Pope Francis prays during a Pentecost vigil marking the 50th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic renewal at the Circus Maximus in Rome on June 3. On the right is Ms Patti Gallagher Mansfield, a participant in the 1967 Pittsburgh retreat that marked the beginning of the Charismatic renewal. CNS photos VATICAN CITY – The Holy Spirit

continues to give Christians different gifts and to call them to share those gifts with each other in a community marked by forgiveness and “unity in diversity,” Pope Francis said on Pentecost.

“In a way both creative and unexpected,” the pope said, the Holy Spirit “generates diversity, for in every age He causes new and varied charisms to blossom. Then He brings about unity: He joins together, gathers and restores harmony.”

With tens of thousands of Catholic Charismatics from around the world and with dozens of Pentecostal and evangelical leaders present, Pope Francis celebrated Pentecost Mass on June 4 in St Peter’s Square and concluded a five-day celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Catholic Charismatic renewal.

In his homily at the Mass, the pope said Christians can block the unity in diversity desired by the Holy Spirit by focusing on their differences rather than on what they share.

“This happens when we want to separate, when we take sides and form parties, when we adopt rigid and airtight positions, when we become locked into our own ideas and ways of doing things, perhaps even thinking that we are better than others,” he said.

“When this happens,” the pope said, “we choose the part over the whole, belonging to this or that group before belonging to the Church” and taking pride in being “Christians of the ‘right’ or the ‘left’ before being on the side of Jesus.”

The other temptation, he said, is to seek unity without tolerating diversity. “Here, unity becomes uniformity, where everyone has to do everything together and in the same way, always thinking alike.”

When the Holy Spirit descended on the disciples at Pentecost, he said, the first gift the Spirit brought was forgiveness for their sins and the grace to forgive others.

“Here we see the beginning of the Church, the glue that holds us together, the cement that binds the bricks of the house: forgiveness,” he said.

Forgiveness “preserves unity despite everything, prevents collapse and consolidates and strengthens,” he said. “Forgiveness sets our hearts free and enables us to start afresh.”

Pope Francis began his Pentecost celebrations at an ecumeni-

The Holy Spirit ‘generates diversity, for in every age He causes new and varied charisms to blossom.

Then He brings about unity,’ said Pope Francis. cal vigil on June 3 with some 50,000 Catholic Charismatics and Pentecostals from more than 125 countries gathered for praise and worship at the site of the ancient Roman Circus Maximus.

Although less exuberantly, the pope, too, sang with his hands cupped open or with his hands raised. He stood between Ms Michelle Moran, president of the International Catholic Charismatic Renewal Services, and Ms Patti

Mansfield, who was present when the Catholic Charismatic Renewal was born.

The Charismatic renewal is “a current of grace,” Pope Francis told the crowd at the Circus Maximus.

“It is a work that was born – Catholic? No. It was born ecumenical,” with similar results in many denominations and with Pentecostals providing support and education to new Catholic Charismatics.

“It was born ecumenical because it is the Holy Spirit who creates unity,” the pope said. The Holy Spirit drew Catholics and Pentecostals together to profess that Jesus is Lord and “to proclaim together the Father’s love for all His children.”

In ancient Rome, Pope Francis said, Christians were martyred in the Circus Maximus “for the entertainment of those watching.” He urged the crowd to remember how many Christians are being killed for their faith today and to recognise that their murderers are not asking them their denomination, just whether or not they are Christian.

If those who want to kill Christians believe they are one, he said, it is urgent that Christians be “united by the work of the Holy Spirit in prayer and in action on behalf of those who are weaker.”

“Walk together. Work together.

Love each other,” Pope Francis told them. n CNS

People sing as Pope Francis leads a Pentecost vigil at the Circus Maximus on June 3.

22 OPINION

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

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LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Christians should not spread ‘fake news’ My wife told me that she had received multiple WhatsApp messages informing her that a certain priest had passed away. The message encouraged people to pray for his soul.

I made a few calls to check

and the message turned out to be a rumour.

While I applaud the intentions of the originator of the WhatsApp message, I think it is important in these days of fast news, fake news and lightning-

It is important in these days of fast news, fake news and lightning-speed social media that we (especially as Christians) send out only information that is true.

speed social media that we (especially as Christians) send out only information that is true.

Fake news and rumours abound today and many of us Christians, wittingly or unwittingly, are party to spreading false information.

A call to the Religious congregation to check if the priest had indeed passed away would have verified the truth.

Is it more important to be first to spread the news in social media and does truth matter anymore? n Tony Yeo Singapore

Following the path of God “I GO on ahead to prepare a place for you!” Jesus speaks those words to His disciples on the eve of His death as He sits at table with them and senses their sadness as they grapple with His dying, His going away. His words are meant to console them and give them the assurance that they aren’t being abandoned. It’s just that He is going on ahead to prepare a place for them to come and join Him later.

That story speaks to me very personally because of how one of my sisters died. She was young, the mother of a large family, and seemingly too young to leave her young children behind.

She was dying of a cancer that, while relentlessly doing its deadly work, mercifully left her relatively pain-free and clear in mind and heart to the very end. The cancer eventually took her to a point where she could no longer eat, but could still be nourished for a time by intravenous transfusions. But these too eventually no longer worked and, once unhooked from the intravenous needles, she was told that she had roughly a week still to live. She chose to spend those last days in a hospital rather than at home, with her family having easy, 24-hour, access to her hospice bed.

The days leading up to her death were a sacred time. I gave her communion several days before she died and, with her head still very clear, she told me what I should say at her funeral liturgy. She had chosen that exact text where Jesus, on the night before He dies, tells His heavy-hearted disciples that He is going ahead, to prepare a place for them. She shared how, before every one of her children was born, before she went to the hospital to give birth, she had carefully prepared everything at home for the new arrival, the crib, the diapers, the clothing, the room. She brought each of her children home to a place she had carefully prepared. And now she was going on ahead of them again, to prepare another place for them.

I preached those words at her funeral and despite our grief and despite the fact that in moments like these there is nothing really that can be said that takes away the pain, her raw testimony of faith left us with an image that placed us all, not least her husband and children, inside a bigger story, a faith-narrative, that highlighted two things.

First, the image of her going on ahead of her children awakened our grieving faith to the truth that a mother can go on ahead to prepare a place for her children in much deeper ways than simply bringing a new-born home from a hospital. Second, her “going ahead” was also showing her children, and the rest of us, how to die, how to do that act that we all someday must do. After you watch a good person die, you become less afraid to die yourself because you see how it can be done in an ordinary way, by an ordinary person, in a way that you can also do. In her dying, she prepared a place for us.

But this isn’t a lesson only about dying. This image, I go on ahead to prepare a place for you, is a metaphor which defines the essential task of our adult, mature years. Our task of as “elders”, whether that be as a mother or father, an older brother or older sister, an uncle or an aunt, a teacher, a clergyman, a nurse, a worker, a colleague, or a friend, is to live in such a way so as to create a place where the young can follow. Our task as adults is to show the young how to live at a place where they’ve never been as yet.

And it is both a noble and humble task. Most of us cannot live up to the lofty ideals we see lived out in the lives of the great saints, though their lives have created an ideal place for us. However, while not everyone can live as Mother Teresa did, perhaps they can live like you do and your life can be their exemplar for meaning, wholeness, anonymous sanctity, and dying without unnecessary fear.

I’ve been graced to be at the deathbed of a goodly number of ordinary people who died very ordinary looking deaths, with no choirs of angels silently chanting in the background, no alleluias on their lips, with pain and thirst dominating their concerns, with their hands being tightly grasped by loved ones, and their hearts still very much focused on the pain of leaving this world. And that’s not a bad way to die. In how they managed their deaths they prepared a place for me.

Looking at how they died, I am far less fearful and can more readily say: I can do this!

What a grace to have someone go on ahead to prepare a place for you! n

FATHER’S DAY FEATURE 23

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

How can fatherhood be a vocation?

By David Gibson I am the same father today that I was 44 years ago when my parenthood journey began. Yet, paradoxically, I am not the same. Fatherhood changed me!

Fatherhood, after all, encompasses a vast commitment, and no real, ongoing commitment leaves people as it found them.

In the Church’s eyes, moreover, fatherhood – like all parenthood – is a vocation, a call. Specifically, God calls fathers to put love into practice in the concrete circumstances of their lives, and true love is a pathway to greater maturity.

A fun part of fatherhood comes with the joy of witnessing the endearing antics of little children.

The growth, accomplishments and emerging insights of older children provide ample reason to celebrate life and genuinely enjoy it too.

I might enjoy writing about just the fun parts of fatherhood, and there would be plenty to say.

But the temptation could arise to oversimplify a father’s vocation greatly. For fatherhood is a genuinely challenging and demanding role.

A father, for example, serves as a teacher, model, guide, authority figure and companion to children who may well not become his clones in terms of their greatest interests.

Over time, as children’s unique personalities develop, a father may not always know how

to speak with children about surprising talents and goals of theirs, particularly those that seem somewhat foreign to his own best talents and goals.

A father’s ill-defined job description inserts him into a relationship with children who are a mystery. Children neither are fully known nor understood at any given moment, though little by little they reveal what makes them tick.

Indeed, children are a constant revelation to parents. This can be wonderful and surprising, and, yes, it can sometimes feel like a lot to accept, absorb and handle.

So, in the end, fathers do not guide children simply by speaking words of wisdom to them. Fathers are listeners, too.

A remark Pope Francis made to four British religious leaders who visited him in April this year seems relevant here.

“The ability to listen: This is very important,” the pope commented. What is interesting, he suggested, is that “when people have this capacity for listening, they speak with a low, calm voice. ... Instead, when they do not have it, they speak loudly; they even shout.”

A father’s role, it appears, is complex, multifaceted. He both succeeds and fails at staying one step ahead of his children.

What in any of this makes Christian vocations of fatherhood or motherhood? Perhaps one answer is that “the love of parents is the means by which God our Father shows His own love,” as

Fathers do not guide children simply by speaking words of wisdom to them.

Fathers are listeners too.

A father kisses his daughter. A father serves as a teacher, model, guide, authority figure and companion to children. CNS file photo

Pope Francis said in Amoris Laetitia (The Joy of Love), his 2016 apostolic exhortation on marriage and the family.

He believes a parent’s “selfless and loving service” is “a sign of the free and selfless love of Jesus.”

I must mention trust as one

A father’s experience

By Paul Senz Fatherhood is a divine gift that too often goes unrecognised and unremarked upon. It is a vocation of love and a complete giving of self.

In recent years, there has been an increased focus on the importance of the vocation of fatherhood. With role models such as St Joseph, St Louis Martin (father of St Therese of Lisieux) and, above all, God, our heavenly Father, it is clear that fatherhood must flow from a place of deep spirituality.

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers is a writer and speaker who travels all over the world – all the while being a devoted husband and father of four children. Born in Barbados, Deacon Burke-Sivers grew up in Newark, New Jersey, USA, and now lives in Portland, Oregon.

His personal experience of fa-

therhood has had a dramatic impact on the way that he fathers, and how he relates to God as his father.

“Having grown up with a father who was not by any stretch of the imagination the ideal fa-

God allows men to ‘ borrow His sacred name ‘Father,’ for the brief time we are here on earth.

There are responsibilities that come with that.

’

ther, I had no model for what that was supposed to look like,” Deacon Burke-Sivers said.

As a result, the other men in his life – including the Benedictine monks at his high school – St Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark – and especially St John

Paul II – took the place of his father, spiritually.

“God allows men to borrow His sacred name ‘Father,’ for the brief time we are here on earth,” he said. “There are responsibilities that come with that, and God has shown us, through His son, how to be a father. I try to model that same fatherhood in my own family, to serve, protect and defend.”

For Deacon Burke-Sivers, those are three key words for fatherhood. “Jesus said, ‘I come not to be served, but to serve.’ So I think of that model of self-sacrifice, modelled by Christ, but lived out in a spirit of fatherhood by St Joseph, who faithfully followed everything that God asked of him as a father,” he said. “That is our model as fathers.”

Senz is a freelance writer living in Oregon with his family. n CNS

of the essentials in every parentchild relationship. Even if exasperation seizes the moment now and then, and the road a parent and child travel together gets a bit rocky, children have little choice but to trust their parents’ faithfulness, whose love, they assume, is unshakeable.

The trust children place in parents and their integrity is a mind-boggling fact of life. I am reminded of one of my grandsons, who in a fit of anger at his mother stormed off to his room and slammed the door.

But every few minutes thereafter the little guy reappeared briefly, opening the door to make sure his mother was all right and to assure her he still was angry.

Obviously, he did not doubt she remained there for him.

My intent from this article’s outset was to avoid oversimplifying a father’s vocation. So much more could be said of fatherhood.

But my conviction is that there is scant room for platitudes in discussions of fatherhood (or motherhood). Fathers are real people, but imperfect too.

Sure, we make mistakes. Fatigue or worry can wear us down.

But the hope survives that our committed love will help to bring the mystery of a child’s life into the light.

Gibson served on Catholic News Service’s editorial staff for 37 years. n CNS

FOOD FOR THOUGHT “The Eight Beatitudes are the provocative standard by which we measure every other vision of what fatherhood entails,” writes Mr Greg Popcak in his book “BeDADitudes: 8 Ways to Be an Awesome Dad.” “When we practice the beatitudes in our fathering efforts, we seek to attain the utmost fullness of fatherhood by striving to become transparent, so that when our wives and children look at us, they see God’s own loving face looking back at them,” Mr Popcak says.

In an article featured on the For Your Marriage website, Mr Popcak discusses how to apply the beatitudes to the roles of father and husband: n Blessed are the dads who are poor in spirit. “Seek to be a father after the Father’s own heart.” n Blessed are the dads who mourn. “Empathise with you family’s tears, fears and struggles.” n Blessed are the dads who

are meek. “Cultivate the humble strength of a listening heart.” n Blessed are the dads who hunger and thirst for righteousness. “Awesome dads are on a mission from God. Live for Him. Lead your family to Him.” n Blessed are the dads who are merciful. “Be a loving mentor in your home.” n Blessed are the dads who are pure in heart. “Cherish the treasure of your wife and children.” n Blessed are the dads who are peacemakers. “Keep your house in order. Prioritise your family.

Protect the heart of your home.” n Blessed are the dads who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. “The world will try to undermine your effort to be an awesome dad. Be one anyway.”

Read more at: http://www. foryourmarriage.org/the-bedaditudes-8-ways-to-be-an-awesomedad/ n CNS

24

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

By Jennifer Ficcaglia After the flood, the number of Noah’s descendants grew and grew.

One of those descendants was a man named Terah, who lived in the land of Ur of the Chaldeans. Terah had three sons, Abraham, Nahor and Haran. Haran also had a son, whom he named Lot. Haran died while his father was still living. Afterward, Terah decided it was time to move out of the land of Ur. He took Abraham, Abraham’s wife Sarah, and his grandson, Lot, and travelled to the land of Canaan. However, before reaching Canaan, they settled in a place called Haran, where Terah died.

It was in Haran that God spoke to Abraham.

“Go forth from your land, your relatives and from your father’s house to a land that I will show you,” God

told Abraham. “I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.”

Abraham took Sarah and Lot and set out for Canaan. They travelled as far as the sacred place at Shechem, by the oak of Moreh.

“To your descendants I will give this land,” God told Abraham.

Abraham travelled a little further to the hill country east of Bethel, where he pitched his tent and built an altar to God. When there was a famine in the land, Abraham, Sarah and Lot lived for a while in Egypt, where they accumulated many farm animals and servants.

After the famine, they were very rich with money and possessions. They left Egypt and returned to Canaan.

On their way to Bethel, Abraham and Lot realised that the land could not support all of their animals. So

SPOTLIGHT ON SAINTS:

St Oliver Plunkett St Oliver Plunkett was born in Ireland in 1625. He was educated by his Cistercian cousin, Patrick Plunkett, who took part in the 1641 Irish rebellion.

Oliver was ordained in Rome in 1654, and in 1669, he was named Archbishop of Armagh and primate of Ireland. He went on to confirm thousands of people over the next decade as well as visiting other dioceses and organising synods.

In 1679, he went into hiding during a persecution by the English. That same year he was arrested on false charges of treason, and he was executed in London 1681.

We remember him on July 1. n

they decided to go their separate ways.

Lot chose to live on the Jordan Plain, pitching his tent near the city of Sodom. Meanwhile, Abraham settled in the land of Canaan.

“Look about you, and from where you are, gaze to the north and south, east and west; all the land that you see I will give to you and your descendants forever,” God told Abraham. “I will make your descendants like the dust of the earth.”

Abraham then moved his tents and settled near the oak of Mamre in Hebron, where he built an altar to the Lord. n Read more about it: Genesis 13

Q&A 1. To whom did God promise the land of Caanan?

2. Why did Abraham and Lot part ways?

Wordsearch: nGREET

n ALTAR

n LAUGH

n SUPPORT

n PROMISE n FOREVER n CANAAN

n IRELAND

n DIOCESE n EDUCATE n FAMINE

n SODOM

BIBLE TRIVIA: What were the previous names of Abraham and Sarah?

Bible Accent:

Answer to Bible Trivia: Abram and Sarai

PUZZLE: Circle the sentences below that describe things that happened in the life of Abraham. Hints have been provided.

1. Abraham had a son name Ishmael. (Genesis 16:15) 2. Abraham asked God to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.

(Genesis 18:23-24)

3. God changed Abraham’s name to Amos. (Genesis 17:5) 4. God told Abraham to sacrifice his son, Isaac. (Genesis 22:2)

Answer to Wordsearch

When Abraham was 99, he was living near the oak of Mamre. He was sitting in the entrance of his tent when God came to visit him.

Abraham looked up and suddenly saw three men. He immediately arose and greeted them, telling them to sit in the shade of the tree and have something to eat. He quickly asked his wife to make some bread and for his servant to prepare a calf.

As the three men were resting and enjoying Abraham’s hospitality, one of them asked where Abraham’s wife was.

He replied that Sarah was in the tent.

One of the men told Abram that he would return the following year and Sarah would have a son.

Sarah overheard what the men were talking about. She laughed to herself, as she was 90 and too old to have children.

Abraham and Sarah did not realise that one of the three men was God, who wanted to know why Sarah had laughed.

“Is anything too marvelous for the Lord to do?” God said to Abraham. “At the appointed time, about this time next year, I will return to you, and [Sarah] will have a son.”

And just as God said, the following year Abraham and Sarah had a son, whom they named Isaac. n

WHAT’S ON 25

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

JULY 1 MASS FOLLOWED BY PRAYERS FOR HEALING All are welcome. Time: 2pm-4pm. Join us for praise and worship and Mass followed by prayers for healing. After Mass, prayer teams will be available to pray with you.

Please spread the word to your family and friends. Celebrant: Fr Francis Leong.

Organised by SACCRE-Praise@Work.

Venue: Church of Sts Peter and Paul. For more information: E: praiseatworksg@ yahoo.com; T: 97472467.

EVENT SUBMISSIONS WHAT’S ON submissions now require the completion of a form from the Archdiocese before the event can be publicised. For events with foreign speakers, please submit the necessary documentation for approval to the Chancery. For more information and to download the form, visit http:// www.catholic.sg/events/announcementadvertisement-request/.

Once forms have been submitted online, kindly send us details of your event for publication at www. catholicnews.sg/whatson/ at least one month ahead of the publication date.

JULY 3 TO AUGUST 14 LIFE IN THE SPIRIT SEMINARS Time: 7.30pm-9.45pm. The seminars at the Church of the Risen Christ comprise praise and worship, talks, sacraments, small group sharing and prayer ministry to bring you to an experience of God’s love.

Contribution: $10. To register: W: https:// www.facebook.com/afla mecpc.rc, For more information, 97649432 (Charisse Teo). E: enquiry.liss@gmail.com.

JUNE 6 TO JULY 4 BASIC CATECHIST CERTIFICATION LEVEL 1 –LITURGY: THE MASS Every Tuesday from 7:30pm-10pm.

Venue: CAEC, 2 Highland Rd, S549102.

In this basic course, catechists will gain a deeper understanding of the importance of liturgical worship in our lives as Christian disciples. To register: visit this URL: http://tinyurl.com/l2a6ovy. T: 68583011; E: formation@catechesis.org.sg

JULY 6 SPIRITUALITY FOR BUSY PARENTS Time: 7.30pm-10pm. A spirituality for busy parents is essential to enable and enrich their lives as they go about their co-parenting efforts. Organised by Kingsmead Centre, 8 Victoria Park Rd. Cost: $30. To register: W: http://tinyurl. com/busyparents; T: 64676072.

JUNE 18 ASSISI FUN DAY 2017 Time: 10am-430pm. The annual event comes alive with gastronomic treats, performances and entertainment.

Venue: St Joseph Institute International.

490 Thomson Road S298191.

For more information: T: 68322880.

JULY 6 TO AUG 17 CATECHIST ELECTIVE COURSE INTRODUCTION TO VIRTUES Time: 7:30pm-10pm. Venue: CAEC 2 Highland Rd Spore 549102. Introducing Catholic doctrine & morality about sexuality to catechumens is never limited to teaching about avoiding sin – it deals with growth in the Christian virtues and developing the capacity for self- giving. To register: visit the URL: http://tinyurl.com/ y9qxr3r3. W: www.catechesis.org.sg; E: formation@catechesis.org.sg; T: 68583011.

JUNE 21 WITNESS IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE. CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES Time: 7.30pm-9pm. Venue: St Joseph’s Church, Victoria St, parish hall.

With reference to the magisterium, this talk explores the various scenarios of witnessing to the Catholic faith in the public sphere. Challenges and opportunities will be discussed using case studies in America and Singapore.

Organised by Catholic Theology Network.

For more information: T: 97843682

JULY 14 TO JULY 16 MONTFORTIAN XPERIENCE 4 – LOVE OF ETERNAL WISDOM Friday (6:30pm)-Sunday (1pm). If you have a burning desire to acquire wisdom, come and join us for a weekend live-in retreat based on the spirituality of St Louis Marie de Montfort. Venue: Montfort Centre.Conducted by Br Dominic YeoKoh and Br John Albert. Cost: $130.

JUNE 23 TO JUNE 25 JUNE CHOICE WEEKEND June 23 (7pm)-June 25 (6pm). It takes that one weekend to inspire you for the rest of your life. Come away for a Choice Weekend – it is by the choices we make that we define what our life is all about.

Organised by Choice Singapore - 47 Jurong West St 42, S649368. To register: 9790 0537 (Hill); 97109680 (Francesca); E: registration@choice.org.sg; W: http:// choice.org.sg/? page_id=131

JULY 15, 22 AND AUGUST 5 CLARITY’S INTRODUCTORY TO SELF-WORTH FOR YOUTHS WORKSHOP Time: 10am-noon. How can we better maintain our self-worth and gain a sense of peace through such tough times? Come join us and learn ways to maintain your self-worth through various activities.

Venue: Blk 854 Yishun Ring Road, #013511. Cost: $10. To register: T: 67577990; E: registration@clarity-singapore.

JUNE 29 CATHOLIC BUSINESS NETWORK MY JOURNEY SERIES TALK Guest speaker: Y.C. Koh, president of Asia, American Express. Time: 7pm-9pm.

Join us for an evening of fellowship, networking and listen to the sharing of Y.C. Koh. He will share about his personal and corporate life journey, his challenges and joys from both a business and a spiritual perspective. Venue: Cathedral of the Good Shepherd, Annex Blk, Level 3. Love offerings welcomed. For more information, 92284463 (Raymond).

JULY 16 OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL Our Lady of Mount Carmel feast day Mass times: 7.30am (English), 2.30pm (Chinese), 4.30pm (English), 6.30pm (English). Venue: Carmelite Monastery, 98 Bukit Teresa Road, S099750.

Crossword Puzzle 1187 1

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JULY 17 TO JULY 19 MONTFORTIAN XPERIENCE 6 – CHRISTIAN DISCIPLESHIP Monday (9am)-Wednesday (1pm).

A live-in retreat based on the spirituality of St Louis Marie de Montfort.

Venue: Montfort Centre.

Conducted by Br Dominic Yeo-Kok and Br John Albert. Cost: $130.

JULY 21 TO JULY 23 ART & SOUL: A WAY TO GOD THROUGH ART July 21 (8pm)-July 23 (1pm). Venue: Montfort Centre. Contribution: $350/ person (includes materials). See how art, life and creativity can lead to “finding God in all things”. This is not an art workshop, but a time for prayer and reflection. Nonartists are most welcome. Organised by the Cenacle Sisters and team. To register: W: www.cenaclemission.com; T: 65652895; E: cenaclemissionsingapore@gmail.com JULY 22 SJI 165TH ANNIVERSARY GALA DINNER Time: 6:30pm. Venue: Fairmont Ballroom, Raffles City Convention Centre. SJI is celebrating its 165th year as a Lasallian school. For more information, W: http:// www.sji.edu.sg/165th- anniversary.

JULY 27 TO OCT 19 BIBLE STUDY ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN Delivered by Msgr Ambrose Vaz. Time: 8pm-10pm. Organised by the Biblical Apostolate Team, Church of Christ The King. Venue: Ang Mo Kio Ave 8. To register: T: 98321538 (Lene); E:ctkbat@ hotmail.com; W:www.christtheking.com.sg AUG 3 CAREGIVING WITH PURPOSE AND LOVE Time: 7.30pm-9.30pm. Caregiving is the art of providing unpaid assistance and support to individuals in need. In this talk for caregivers, learn about how we can care without feeling burdened. Organised

by Kingsmead Centre, 8 Victoria Park Rd. Cost: $30. To register: W: http://tinyurl. com/caregive17; T: 64676072.

AUG 11 TO AUG 13 GRIEVING: A WAY TO HEALING Aug 11 (8pm)-Aug 13 (1pm).

Venue: Montfort Spirituality Centre.

Contribution: $250/person. This retreat will offer ways of dealing with unfinished business of the past to discover the grace coming from past hurts. Organised by Cenacle Sr Mel Benedictos and team.

To register: T: 65652895; W: www.cenaclemission.com; E: cenaclemissionsingapore.com AUG 20 CATHOLIC NURSES’ GUILD BIANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND ANNUAL MASS 2017 Come celebrate our bi-annual general meeting and Mass at the Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace 4 Sandy lane S437321. Time: 3pm (meeting), 5.30pm (Mass) followed by dinner at $10/pax.

For more information, T: 97670579 (Laura); 92361047 (Theresa); 91093391 (Doreen); 93210031 (Janet).

ACROSS 1 “He is seated at the right ___ of the Father.”

5 Samoan capital 9 To do this is forbidden by the seventh commandment 14 Netman Nastase 15 Bugs 16 Madrid museum (with “el”) 17 Gone by 18 Car with removable panels 19 Relaxes 20 Author of Ecclesiastes (with “The”) (Eccl 1:1) 22 They fed Elijah (1 Kings 17:2–4) 23 15th letter of the Greek alphabet 24 “For our ___, he was crucified…”

25 Chicken Little, for one 26 “…sittin’ in a tree ___” 30 Dose amt.

33 Thorough view 36 Musical group 37 In front 39 NT epistle 40 Australian acacia 41 Congeal 42 Spanish rice dish

44 45 47 49 50 54 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66

Proof ending Pew attachment Maximum (abbr.)

Obscene The feast day of St Teresa of Avila is in this month An epistle Imaginative Look for Nav. officer Summer drinks Italian composer Tied, as a score Liturgical season Ford flop Land of Sts Brendan and Brigid Former JFK arrivals

DOWN 1 Augustine was bishop here 2 Fright 3 Japanese-American 4 Disengage 5 Saint of Padua 6 Saucer for the Eucharist 7 Composer Stravinsky 8 Cleopatra’s demise 9 Talks 10 Grotesque likeness 11 Relaxation 12 Capital of Yemen 13 Setback cause

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

MAY 5, 2017 TO MAY 31, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF ST TERESA Every Friday from 7.45pm-9.45pm.

To register: W: www.stteresa.org.sg/rcia/; E: stteresa@singnet.com.sg; T: 62711184.

MAY 24, 2017 TO MAY 16, 2018 RCIA @ CATHEDRAL OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD Every Wednesday from 7.30pm-9.30pm.

Please register at cathedral.rcia@catholic. org.sg. Registration forms are also available at the entrance of the cathedral.

Organised by Church Of Our Lady Of Perpetual Succour, 31 Siglap Hill S456085.

For more information: T: 94517396 (Magdalene); W: website@ www.olps.sg.

JUNE 27/29, 2017 TO MARCH 31, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF THE HOLY CROSS Every Tuesday (Chinese) and every Thursday (English) from 7.45pm-10pm.

Venue: 450 Clementi Ave 1 S129955. For more information: T: 97577115 (Susan); E: holycrosschurch.rcia@gmail.com.

JULY 1, 2017 TO MAY 19, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF DIVINE MERCY Every Saturday from 3pm-5.30pm. Register at the parish office. For more information: T: 65833378; E: rcia@divinemercy.sg.

MAY 28, 2017 TO MAY 20, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF OUR LADY QUEEN OF PEACE Every Sunday from 3pm-6.30pm.

For more details, please contact Catherine at kosp2411@yahoo.com.sg or Gregory at teiktiong@yahoo.com.

JULY 4, 2017 TO MAY 20, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF STS PETER AND PAUL Every Tuesday at 7.30pm. Registration forms are available at the parish office or register your interest via http://sppchurch. org.sg/contact- us/

MAY 30, 2017 TO MAY 20, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF ST BERNADETTE Every Tuesday from 7:45pm-9:45pm at the parish hall. Venue: 12 Zion Road, S247731. Registration forms can be found at http://www.stbernadette.org.sg/ and from the parish office.

JULY 11, 2017 TO APRIL 1, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF ST IGNATIUS Every Tuesday from 8pm-10pm. Sponsors amd facilitators start on July 11. Inquirers start on Aug 1. Registration forms are available at: http://stignatius.org.sg/home/ min istries/faith-formation/rcia- ministry/.

For more information, T: 64660625 (Angela); 96286472 (Sandra)

MAY 31, 2017 TO MAY 20, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF THE HOLY FAMILY Every Wednesday from 7.30pm-9.30pm.

From August, every Sunday from 11.30am-12.45pm. To register: E: rciaholyfam@gmail.com; T: 63440046 (parish office); T: 93414999 MAY 31, 2017 TO JUNE 5, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF THE RISEN CHRIST Venue: 91 Toa Payoh Central, S319193.

Every Wednesday from 7.30pm-9.45pm.

Registration forms are available at the church’s secretariat/website. For more information: W: www.risenchrist.org.sg; E: rcia1718@gmail.com.

MAY 31, 2017 TO APRIL 25, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF CHRIST THE KING Every Wednesday from 8pm-10pm.

Venue: 2221 Ang Mo Kio Ave 8, S569809.

To register: E: query.rcia@gmail.com; W: http://www.christtheking.com.sg.

JUNE 15, 2017 TO MARCH 31, 2018 RCIA @ CHURCH OF THE NATIVITY OF THE BVM Every Thursday from 8pm-10pm. Every Sunday from 10.30am-12.30pm. For more information, contact the parish office at 62800980; E: nativitysg@yahoo.com.sg

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

21 Statement of belief 22 Altar balustrade 24 Place of the ____ (Mt 27:33) 27 The Garden of Eden might have been in this modern-day state 28 Moses was floated down this river in a basket 29 A gift of the wise men 30 Short nail 31 Keep away from 32 Paris pop 34 americangreetings. com product 35 One of them?

38 This archdiocese

40 42 43 46 48 50 51 52 53 54 55 56

Special thanks to holy apostle, St Jude for prayers answered.

Also grateful thanks to our Father, Sacred Heart of Jesus, Mother Mary, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour for the countless intercessions, miracles and prayers answered during most difficult times. Please continue to bless us and intercede for us.

Kenric, Jordana, Simon and Winy

IN MEMORIAM In loving memory of

JUNE 16, 2017 TO JUNE 1, 2018 CANTONESE RCIA @ CHURCH OF STS PETER AND PAUL Every Friday from 7:45pm-9:30pm at parish second floor, room 8. For enquiries, T: 63372585 (Parish Office); T: 97120452.

JUNE 18, 2017 TO JUNE 3, 2018 MANDARIN RCIA @ CHURCH OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR Every Sunday from 9am-10.30am.

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.

JOHN DE CRUZ Departed: June 10, 1988 In our hearts you will always live Your love, your voice is found in South and your smile Australia Are forever imprinted Paul was in our minds. shipwrecked here They fill the church Lovingly remembered by wife, children Alfalfa and loved ones.

Legume

Thirteenth Anniversary In loving memory of

JOSEPHINE GOMES Departed: Jun 29, 2004 Take her in Thy arms, dear Lord, And ever let her be A messenger of love Between our hearts and Thee.

Always remembered by family and all loved ones.

Sums Group of religious Waits Incident Reposes Talk irrationally Had bills to pay Fourth of eight, now 57 906, in the Roman Empire 59 Gentleman’s grade

Solution to Crossword Puzzle No. 1186 W I N E

I D E S

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I D V O W I S I I D S E S T P R E O I L U D O T E

C R O A S M U S O G A H M E B A L E R M L Y O S P V A E P D A

R U T H

I L I E

B E S S

C A C A O

A L C A N

B E A M S

E S A U

C E R T

T A R O

www.wordgamesforcatholics.com

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

26 IN MEMORIAM Seventh Anniversary In loving memory of

PETER PERERA Departed: Jul 3, 2010 God gave us the strength to bear it And courage to fight the blow What it has meant to lose you God alone will ever know.

Loving you always: wife Evelyn, son and daughter, daughterin-law, son-in-law, grandchildren and relatives.

In loving memory of

In loving memory of

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Third Anniversary In loving memory of

MARGARET TAN GUEK NEO Departed: Jun 20, 2004 ERIC MARTIN OLIVEIRO Softly within the Born on 8 Feb, 1951 shadows Called home to be with God gave a gentle call the Lord With farewells left on 29 June, 2014 unspoken Mum, you silently left Our Lord Jesus us all knew what was best Our hearts still ache He took you home with sadness and for eternal rest Silent tears still flow We wiped our tears For what it means and tried not to be sad to love and miss you, And remember the Mum, no one will precious times we had. ever know.

Deeply missed and Always loved and always remembered fondly remembered by loved ones. by loved ones

Fifth Anniversary In loving memory of

TERESA MARIA ANG Departed: June 28, 2012 In our home she is fondly remembered, Sweet memories cling to her name; Those who loved her in life sincerely, Still love her in death just the same.

Fondly remembered by family and loved ones.

Twenty first Anniversary

FRANKIE THERESA JANSEN WILFRED JANSEN NEE JOSEPH Nov 20, 1931 – Jun 21, 2014 Aug 6, 1925 – Sept 19, 1996

Death leaves a heartache No one can heal Love leaves a memory No one can steal.

Lovingly remembered by your children and their families and all loved ones.

43rd Anniversary

40th glorious years 27th glorious years

Fourth Anniversary In loving memory of

Third Anniversary

Third Anniversary In loving memory of

In loving memory of

In loving memory of

NOEL ARTHUR PEREIRA Departed: Jun 29, 1995 His life was earnest, his actions kind, A generous hand and an active mind, Anxious to please, loath to offend, A loving husband, father and faithful friend.

Sadly missed and fondly remembered by family and friends.

In loving memory of our beloved parents

V. KANNIAH AUGUSTINE NG ANNE TAN HONG KHIM GUEK NGO Called to their reward on: June 22, 1977 July 27, 1990

June 11, 1974

42nd Anniversary

KANNIAH FATIMAH Departed June 19, 1975

6th Anniversary

KANNIAH FATHIANATHAN June 20, 2011

In the emptiness and silence of our mourning comes the comfort from on high With peace in our hearts and the joy that you are always nearby.

Dearly missed and fondly remembered by family and all loved ones.

Their smiling ways and pleasant faces Are pleasures to recall; They had a kind word for each And died beloved by all.

Some day we hope to meet them.

Some day, we know not when, To clasp their hands in the better land, Never to part again.

Fondly remembered by loved ones and friends.

ANNE ONG POH SOON Departed: Jun 28, 2013 Time passes fast and it’s already four years And you have wiped away all our tears Your memory is as clear today As in the hour God took you away.

Always remembered by loved ones and great grandchildren.

ANTONY JOOSA Departed: Jun 18, 2014 “Blessed are those who trust in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.”

Jeremiah 17:7

Always remembered by family and loved ones.

Fourth Anniversary In loving memory of

Eleventh Anniversary In loving memory of

In loving memory of

WILLIAM TAN WEE LEONG Departed: Jun 30, 2006 Our Lord Jesus knew what was best He took you home for eternal rest We wiped our tears and tried not to be sad And remember the precious times we had.

Judith, Joanna, Chris, Cheyenne, and all loved ones.

In memoriam rates Minimum $80 for an insertion not exceeding an eightcentimetre column.

Additional space: $8 per one-centimetre column.

Please turn to pages 25 and 27 for more in memoriam and classified advertisements.

In loving memory of Fifth Anniversary

In loving memory of Twenty-third Anniversary

LOVIE CHELLIAH nee FLETCHER 5th April 1937 – 20th June 2013 Together with her beloved Cyril

Nineteenth Anniversary

“In life we loved you dearly, In death we do the same.

SAVRINATHAN MARISUSEAMAL DASS LUCAS Departed June 27, 1994 Oct 21, 1998.

Time takes away the edge of grief But memory turns back every leaf Gone from our lives one so dear But in our hearts forever near.

Always loved by your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Mass will be celebrated at Church of the Risen Christ on Tuesday June 27 at 6pm.

ANNIE CHUA GEK CHOO

STEPHEN TAN SOO CHUAN Departed:

June 21, 1999

April 15, 2012

Love still bridges the chasm of the worlds We live apart Memories still draw us together on the different journeys we embark Forever and ever you will always Live in our hearts.

Deeply missed and always remember by family and all loved ones.

MAUREEN YEOW KHIM CHIONG Departed: June 20, 2012 Thank you for the years we shared Thank you for the way you cared We loved you then and we love you still Forget you, we never will.

May you always remain in our Lord’s and Mary’s loving care.

Dearly missed by Peter, Richard, Jessie, Gim Hwa, Swee Hwa and all family members.

Four years have passed since God called you home.

But time does not change the memory this day brings.

You are no longer in our lives to share but in our hearts, you are always there, Mummy.”

Dearly missed by her children Rene & Denise, Michael & Lorna, Alison & Zachary, and Michelle; grandchildren Emma, Lara, Claudia, Charlene, Cassandra and Benjamin; siblings Yvonne, Doreen, Maureen, Gabriel and Francis; and loved ones.

IN MEMORIAM 27

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Third Anniversary In loving memory of

GERALD LUI SIEU LEONG Departed: June 23, 2014 Rest in peace, dear Gerald Another year has passed, But your love, your voice and your smile still live in our hearts May you always remain in our Lord’s loving care.

Cherished and fondly remembered by your family and loved ones.

Mass will be celebrated at the Church of St Teresa on June 23 at 6pm.

Twelfth Anniversary In loving memory of

RANDY HAROLD ISBELL Departed: Jun 24, 2005 His smiling way and pleasant face Are pleasures to recall; He had a kind word for each And died beloved by all.

Some day we hope to meet him, Some day, we know not when To clasp his hand in the better land, Never to part again.

Sadly missed by Popps (deceased), Mum, Steph, Colin, Cheyenne and Schuyler (God-son), Kyle, Sean Paul, family and friends.

Fifth Anniversary In loving memory of

LAWRENCE GUINEA GOH Departed: June 27, 2012 God saw you getting tired and a cure was not to be.

So he put his arms around you and whispered “Come to Me”.

With tearful eyes, we watched you fade away.

Although we loved you dearly, we could not make you stay.

A golden heart stopped beating, hard working hands now rest.

God broke our hearts to prove to us, He only takes the best.

Eighth Anniversary In loving memory of

DADDY, MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN PEACE WITH CHRIST. Your ever loving Family.

Third Anniversary In loving memory of

ELIZABETH POON GUAK NGOH Loving Mother, Mama and Lau Ma Called home to our Lord: June 25, 2009 “Even when we close our eyes There’s an image of your face And once again we come to realise You’re a loss we can’t replace.

Dearly missed and fondly remembered by loved ones.

ERIC MARTIN OLIVEIRO Born on 8 February, 1951 Called home to be with the Lord on 29 June, 2014 In our hearts you will always live.

Your love, your voice and your smile are forever imprinted in our minds.

Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, And let perpetual light shine upon him.

May his soul rest in peace.

Amen.

Missing you dearly and loving you always.

Wife : Angelina Son : Adrian Daughters : Fiona and Irene Son-in-law : Kenneth Granddaughter : Alyssa-Mae Always loved and remembered by family and friends.

Please turn to pages 25 and 26 for more in memoriam and classified advertisements.

Twelfth Anniversary In loving memory of

SIMON GILBERT WILLIAM LIM LIM Departed: June 30, 2005 July 5, 2005

Quickly and quietly came the call, Your sudden departure shocked us all.

We who have lost can tell, the loss of our loved one.

With a farewell, we still do grieve, though days have gone by, that both of you parted from us without a goodbye.

Deeply missed and fondly remembered by wife, children and their spouses, grandchildren, nieces, nephews and all loved ones.

28 ASIA

Sunday June 25, 2017 n CatholicNews

Helping kids in India whose parents live with HIV One priest is helping such children with education BHOPAL, INDIA – A priest in the

north Indian state of Rajasthan is fighting discrimination against children whose parents live with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Fr Jerish Antony is funding the education of 218 children whose parents have HIV as part of a programme run by the Diocese of Ajmer.

Fr Antony told Asian Church news portal ucanews.com that his original mission “was to take care of people with the disease who found it difficult to sustain themselves because of the discrimination they faced”.

His work began in 2009 when he met a couple who were not aware that a local government hospital could give them free treatment for HIV. “They were chased away from their home after they tested positive,” said Fr Antony, who is di-

rector of the diocesan social service centre. “As they were weak and unable to get medical help, I helped them get treatment.”

He started a temporary home for people with HIV at the diocesan headquarters in Ajmer.

“We don’t keep anyone here permanently and only help them get medical help. Once they regain their health, we ask them to go back to their respective villages,” he said. Patients though can return any time.

Working with patients, Fr Antony noticed the discrimination faced by their children, especially in education. “The children of people living with HIV were not

A man walks past an AIDS awareness mural in Mumbai, India. UNAIDS estimates that about 2.1 million people live with HIV in India. CNS file photo

even allowed to attend classes in schools,” he said.

The priest initially identified 14 children, including dropouts, whose parents were living with HIV and started sending them to schools and arranging funds for their education.

Children with HIV are moved to another home in Jaipur, the

of people living with HIV were ‘notTheevenchildren allowed to attend classes in schools.’

– Fr Jerish Antony, director of Ajmer diocese’s social service centre

state capital, where they get proper treatment along with education, food and accommodation, he said.

Rakesh Singh (not his real name) is one such child who is studying engineering in a college in Jaipur. Now 19, he lost his father to AIDS 12 years ago.

“When my father died and my mother tested positive for HIV, I thought I would never be able to go to school again,” he said.

The same was true for Sharat Singh, whose father died of AIDS when he was five. His mother,

Meera Bai, who also was diagnosed with HIV, lost her job at a non-government organisation. (Both their names were changed for this story.)

Fr Antony found local donors to help fund the education of such children and works with local private schools to spread awareness among children about HIV and AIDS. He also installed collection boxes in hotels and other public places to gather donations.

He said the children’s school principals are informed about their situations. n UCANEWS.COM

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