Catholic san Francisco
(CNS PHOTO BY DANIELE COLARIETI, CATHOLIC PRESS PHOTO)
(CNS PHOTO FROM REUTERS)
Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
A crowd fills St. Peter’s Square for a canonization Mass led by Pope John Paul II May 16. The pope created six new saints: Italian laywoman Gianna Beretta Molla; Italian Fathers Luigi Orione and Annibale Di Francia; Spanish Father Josep Manyanet Vives; Italian Sister Paola Elisabetta Cerioli; and a Lebanese Maronite monk, Nimatullah Kassab al-Hardini. Pictured left a tapestry depicting St. Gianna Beretta Molla hangs from the front of St. Peter’s Basilica during her canonization Mass.
Pope canonizes Italian mother, Lebanese Maronite monk, four others By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Pope John Paul II elevated four men and two women to sainthood, including a mother who gave up her life to save the life of her unborn child. The pope said “this holy mother,” St. Gianna Beretta Molla, followed Christ’s example of loving one’s “own in the world and loving them to the end.” St. Molla and five religious were canonized May 16 in St. Peter’s Square as 40,000 pilgrims from all over the world watched and waved flags and banners.
In his homily, the pope said the six new saints trusted completely in Jesus’ promise of peace. “True peace is the fruit of Christ’s victory over the power of evil, sin and death. Who follows him faithfully will become witnesses and builders of his peace,” he said. Pietro Molla, more than 90 years old and the modern church’s first living husband of a saint, looked on with his two daughters, one son, and other relatives as the pope recited the formula of canonization. Born in 1922 near Milan in Magenta, Italy, St. Molla is often called the “pro-life saint.” She died of a
uterine tumor in 1962, just one week after giving birth to her fourth child, who was present at the ceremony. A doctor and surgeon, St. Molla had refused to undergo any treatment that may have saved her life but would have put the fetus she was carrying at risk. The pope said, “The extreme sacrifice that sealed her life pays witness to how only the person who has the courage to give oneself totally to God and others fulfills oneself.” Many of the newly canonized were Italian, but the SAINTS, page 16
CRS official speaks on immigration at annual ‘Public Policy Breakfast’ By Jack Smith Social, political and personal responsibility for the immigrant in America was the theme of the annual Public Policy Breakfast May 14 at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco. Ms. Erica Dahl-Bredine brought her experience as Mexico program coordinator for Catholic Relief Services to bear on how U.S. Government policy, local
communities and the individual of good faith might respond to the challenge of immigration in light of Catholic social teaching. The speaker outlined numerous ways in which current U.S. policy exacerbates the plight of immigrants and leads to unwanted effects both abroad and in the United States. In the last 10 years, $20 billion has been spent on U.S. border control, Bredine said,
while the number of undocumented workers has doubled. Failure to develop a coordinated and “holistic” approach encompassing trade, naturalization, and border controls are to blame, she said. Referring specifically to Mexico and Latin America, she said, “people leave their homes because they cannot find IMMIGRATION, page 19
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION On education justice . . . . . 3 News-in-brief. . . . . . . . . . 4-5 Care of migrants . . . . . . . . 6 Concern for environment . 10 Editorial and letters . . . . . . 14 Datebook & review . . . 20-21
‘Ad limina’ visit
Archdiocesan Choral Festival
Scripture & Reflection
Mind on Media . . . . . . . . . 22
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May 21, 2004
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VOLUME 6
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No. 19