Washington D.C., Sep 5, 2014 / 04:19 am (CNA/EWTN News) - Many U.S. immigration cases are effectively life-or-death trials, and the Justice Department should not be fast-tracking deportation hearings for child migrants, said federal judges at a talk in Washington, D.C.
“We deal with cases which are often in effect death penalty cases, situations where if the person is removed from the United States, they may be killed upon return to their country,” Judge Dana Leigh Marks, president of the National Association of Immigration Judges, said at the National Press Club last week.
Immigration judges: Deporting children can be a death sentence
By MATT HADRO
Catholic middle school to open in
Hays on TMP-Marian campus
Change brings with it opportunity.
On June 12, 2011, the Hays USD Board of Education voted to close Kennedy Middle School, the smaller of its two middle schools, in an effort to cut district expenses.
Four days later, the pastoral leadership of the Heartland Parishes of Ellis County formally approved the expansion of the curriculum and activities at Thomas More Prep – Marian to include a seventh and eighth grade beginning with the 2012-13 academic year.
Currently, Catholic students in preschool through sixth grade attend Holy Family Elementary School, and ninth through 12th grades attend TMP-Marian. Now the Hays community will have Catholic education available for students K through 12.
Bill DeWitt, TMP-Marian principal, along with his staff, will be taking on the responsibility of the influx of students next year, promising to make the TMP-Marian campus a lively hub of activity. Hays Catholic schools are prepared to provide an education for any students who want to be a part of the K-12 system.
Pope: division is the greatest sin of Christian communities
By ELISE HARRIS
Vatican City, Aug 27, 2014 / 05:04 am (CNA/EWTN News) - During his weekly general audience Pope Francis spoke on the unity and holiness of the Church, stating that despite the fact we are sinners, we are called to live as a community centered on Christ.
“In a Christian community division is one of the most serious sins, because it does not allow God to act,” the Pope said in his Aug. 27 general audience address. “What God wants is that we be welcoming, that we forgive and love each other so as to become more and more like Him, who is communion and love.”
Addressing the thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square, the Roman Pontiff explained that as Catholics “we affirm in the Creed that the Church is one and that she is holy.”
Outcry flares over Calif. abortion push in Catholic colleges
By KEVIN J. JONES
Sacramento, Calif., Aug 26, 2014 / 03:02 pm (CNA/EWTN News) - Amid backlash from religious liberty and education advocates, Calif. Gov. Jerry Brown's administration has ordered abortion coverage in health insurance plans for two Catholic universities.
“California Catholics are no longer safe to practice their faith within their own institutions. Gov. Brown's decision demonstrates that, in California, tolerance does not extend to people of faith and moral conscience,” David Luke, co-founder of Renew LMU, told CNA Aug. 26.
Luke's group aims for the renewal of Catholic identity at the Los Angeles-based Loyola Marymount University, from which he graduated in 1993.
He said that Gov. Brown and his administration has given the university leadership “a unique opportunity to prove that being a Catholic institution still means something.”
Kansas Legislators set to take up
Pro-life Personhood Amendment
TOPEKA -- A state constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to life of every human being and ending the practice of abortion in Kansas has been pre-filed in the state legislature. Representative Randy Garber and 25 current co-sponsors will introduce the measure this session. If passed, Kansas citizens can vote the measure into law in the next general election.
Section 1 of the Kansas Bill of Rights recognizes that “All men are possessed of equal and inalienable natural rights” including “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” The amendment will ensure that—regardless of one’s age--these rights are not denied to any person.
“Kansas has grown weary of the abortion debate,” said Personhood Kansas Committee Chairperson Bruce Garren. “We come back, year after year, and fight about which children will enjoy the full protection of the law, and which will not, just so we can gear up every twelve months and do it all over again. The Kansas Personhood Amendment will put us all out of business.”
Events in Washington, around U.S.
mark 39th anniversary of Roe v. Wade
WASHINGTON (CNS) -- One thing that always stands out in the annual marches and rallies in Washington and across the country marking the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision legalizing abortion is the crowd.
“People are always surprised by the number of pro-lifers that show up in Washington and in their own state capitals,” said Carol Tobias, president of the National Right to Life Committee.
“The crowds are getting bigger and bigger each year and have more young people, which is encouraging for the pro-life movement and a shock for those who think abortion should remain legal,” she told Catholic News Service Jan. 4.
Vatican spokesman: ISIS threat to Pope Francis unfounded
By ELISE HARRIS
Vatican City, Aug 26, 2014 / 08:42 am (CNA/EWTN News) - In response to rumors that the Islamic State may be targeting Pope Francis, Fr. Federico Lombardi S.J. said there is no reason for concern.
“There is nothing serious to this. There is no particular concern in the Vatican. This news has no foundation,” the spokesman told CNA Aug. 26.
The rumors spread following an Aug. 25 article published in Italian newspaper “Il Tempo,” which said the number of jihadists in Italy is on the rise due to the influx of unidentified immigrants in the country.
According to the article, Islamic fundamentalists led by Al-Baghdadi plan to “raise the level of confrontation” in Europe and alluded to Israeli sources who said that Pope Francis is “also in the crosshairs of ISIS” as “the greatest exponent of the Christian religions” and the “bearer of false truth.”
Al-Baghdadi has been named as Caliph – the head of state and absolute monarch – of the self-proclaimed Islamic State in western Iraq and north-eastern Syria, and is the former head of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), also known as the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
While the reports regarding the threat of attacks in Europe and on the Pope appear to be unfounded, an Aug. 20 article published by Italian news agency Rai reveals that Italy is tightening its security.
According to the agency, there have been no targeted threats or specific indications of attacks on Italy. However, a nationwide alert has been issued.
'Word Workin' your way to a closer relationship with God
‘Word Working’ your way to a
closer relationship with God
Special form of prayer asks,
‘What am I called to do?
Who am I called to be?’
In 2003, the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City initiated a special form of prayer that is now regularly used as an opening prayer at many church functions.
A form of prayer? Isn’t prayer just ... well, prayer?
There are many forms of prayer. There’s the Rosary; there is song; there is recitation of established prayers; and there is simply chatting with God.
And there is Lectio Divina, known as Word Working in southwest Kansas.
Word Working is a form of prayer that’s designed for groups. It’s for sharing, but more importantly, it’s about listening -- listening to those around you, and listening to God’s voice. It is designed to allow the individual to prayerfully discern God’s will for their lives.
“To be able to discover the actual will of the Lord in our lives always involves a receptive listening to the Word of God,” said Becky Hessman, Coordinator of Vocations.
A refreshed Benedict XVI captivates students with homily
By ELISE HARRIS
Vatican City, Aug 26, 2014 / 12:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News) - Participants in the annual Ratzinger “schulerkreis” study group were overjoyed at seeing the retired pontiff in good health, noting that they were deeply moved by his homily on the triumph of God's love.
“The homily was very moving. It was the Gospel of the day about Cesarea of Philippi where Jesus asks the apostles, 'Who do you say I am?'” Father Vincent Twomey recalled to CNA Aug. 25.
“Peter answered 'you are Christ, son of the living God,'” to which Jesus responds: “you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.”
Arlene Vasquez MCDP:
The sister who had no intention of becoming a sister
By DAVID MYERS
Southwest Kansas Register
Sister Arlene Vasquez, MCDP (Missionary Catechists of Divine Providence) had no intention of becoming a sister.
It’s not that the thought of becoming a sister hadn’t occurred to her. It had. And she decided it wasn’t for her.
But that doesn’t mean she didn’t have a deep personal faith.
After attending Catholic school in San Antonio run by the Congregation of Divine Providence, and having been reared by two deeply devout parents, Arlene chose to become a lay associate, which is a bit like being a sister, with one large exception – you don’t profess vows.
“I remember thinking, this I can do,” she said. “A non-vowed member is fine. I was one of those who had a long litany as to why religious life is not pertinent in today’s society.