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With the help of Our Lady

Fedor Konyukhov

Russian priest in hot air balloon flies round the world in record time

Fedor Konyukhov barely ate or slept for 11 days with only Virgin Mary icon and a cross for company

A Russian Orthodox priest and explorer who set a world record for the fastest circumnavigation of the globe in a hot air balloon says he barely ate or slept for 11 days and kept himself awake with a spoon.

Fedor Konyukhov, whose voyage broke the record when he touched down at the end of July at the exact point where he had set off near Perth, Australia, managed the feat in 11 days and six hours. The previous record – set by American Steve Fossett in 2002 – was 13 days and 8 hours.

Konyukhov (64) also set several other records, becoming the first person to fly a balloon around the world on his first attempt, ascending to a height of 11,200 metres and travelling 35,000km in total.

At a press conference in Moscow on Wednesday, Konyukhov recounted how he had overcome extreme fatigue, hunger, cold, equipment malfunctions and stormy weather on his journey.

He allowed himself to rest for only a few seconds at a time with a technique he attributed to Russian monks: he held a spoon between two fingers that would fall as soon as he dozed off, clanging to the floor and waking him up.

“I couldn’t sleep, not even for a minute,” Konyukhov said. “If I had dozed off, I would have fallen.”

Though remarkable, the record-breaking mission was just the latest in a long line of adventures for Konyukhov.

Born in a Ukrainian village, he attempted to cross the nearby Azov Sea in a rowing boat aged 15. After years working as a maritime navigator, he completed a solo trek to the North Pole in 1990, which he followed with a solo trek to the South Pole five years later.

He has climbed mountains on every continent, including Mount Everest, crossed Russia by bicycle, sailed around the world by himself on three occasions and rowed across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. He is also an ordained priest and an accomplished painter and member of the Russian Arts Academy.

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Our Lady Of New York

Our Lady of New York: Why Gotham is Mary’s City

Many people, Catholic or not, are unaware that the city of Los Angeles is dedicated to and named after the Virgin Mary. On September 4, 1781, Spanish governor Felipe de Neve, with the assistance of two Franciscan priests, gave the village its official name, El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Angeles del Río de Porciúncula which translates to mean “The Village of Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels of the Porziuncola River.” Porziuncola, is a small church in the village of Santa Maria degli Angeli, (Italian: St. Mary of the Angels…there’s an obvious pattern here) located two miles north of Assisi, Umbria, Italy; the place where the Franciscan movement started. The word porziuncola is an Italian word meaning “a small portion of land” and refers to the fact that a Benedictine abbot of Monte Subasio gave the chapel to St. Francis of Assisi in 1208 on condition that the saint made it the motherhouse of his order.

This is admittedly a magnificent spiritual history of the name of the city of Los Angeles and it gives the impression that Angelinos are more dedicated to Our Lady than are New Yorkers. I have one thing to say to those who think that New Yorkers would take the backseat to anyone when it comes to dedication to the Blessed Mother:

Fuggedaboutit.

Despite Los Angeles being dedicated to the Virgin Mary in name, the Big Avocado only has 23 out of its 104 churches actually dedicated to her honor. The Big Apple, however, a city that has never been associated with sanctity or godliness, has 92 churches set aside for Mary.

I examined the names of all of the churches in both dioceses that make up New York City (because of Brooklyn’s previous history as a separate political entity, New York City is the only city in the world divided into two dioceses) and counted the ones both directly dedicated to her as in Our Lady, Help of Christians or to one of her monikers and sobriquets such as the Immaculate Conception, the Assumption, Holy Rosary or Visitation. I didn’t include churches dedicated to the Holy Family nor to All Saints though technically I could have included them on technical grounds. When all the data was compiled, I found there were 37 Marian churches in Manhattan, Bronx and Staten Island (Archdiocese of New York) and 55 in Brooklyn and Queens (Diocese of Brooklyn) for a total of 92 in all five boroughs of New York City. That is, about 30-percent of the City’s churches are dedicated to her. Brooklyn has the most number of churches dedicated to Mary in the City but more than fifty-percent of Queens’ churches are dedicated to her which is ironically appropriate considering the name of that borough. But this is only half of the story as the Archdiocese of New York is comprised of seven additional counties north of the Bronx. Westchester has the most number of churches dedicated to Mary in the upstate counties of the Archdiocese of New York. If one adds up all of the Marian-dedicated churches in both dioceses, one finds that 149 out of 563 churches are dedicated to her. All-in-all, approximately one-third of the churches in the combined dioceses are dedicated to Blessed Virgin.

Unsurprisingly, two of the dioceses’ largest street festivals, one in East Harlem (Archdiocese of New York) and the other in Williamsburg (Diocese of Brooklyn) are dedicated to Mary in her appellation of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. The celebrations arose in the Italian-American communities in those neighborhoods. Every year, on July 16, the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, and for two weeks afterwards, nearly one million people attend the City’s two festivals dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. The image used in the Harlem feast is specifically coroneted by pontifical authority. Its crown is made of gold and is adorned with precious stones. The statue’s dress is made in India and valued at $8000.

The feasts are still celebrated with the Procession of the Giglio, a three ton 65-foot tall tower topped by a statue carried by a team of 100 male parishioners in the streets in honor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Local news broadcasts and newspapers regularly report on both festivals every year. The feasts are both a celebration of Italian culture and of the community’s love for the Mother of God. The two are intimately connected because, as every Italian knows intuitively from birth, to get to the Son, one must go through the Mother.

The Mexican community in New York City have brought their devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe to New York City in recent years including an enormous parish celebration on West 14th Street in Manhattan and a parade on December 12.
Our Lady’s Garden, also known as the Bonnefont Cloister Garden, at The Cloisters Museums in Inwood, Manhattan is another example of a sacred space dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The hortus conclusus or “enclosed garden” is taken from Song of Songs 4:12:

You are an enclosed garden, my sister, my bride, an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed.

Thus the walled garden is a metaphor for Mary who is the love and union between Christ and His Church, the mystical marriage between the Word of God and the Church as the Bride of Christ. In addition, Gabriel’s Visitation to Mary has traditionally been understood as having taken place in a garden which is, again, reminiscent of the Garden of Eden.

There are very few chapels dedicated to Our Lady of China, the 1900 apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Donglu, China, but New York City has several; one in Flushing, Queens and the other in Chinatown Manhattan. In 1928, Pope Pius XI, Archbishop Celso Costantini, Apostolic Delegate in China and the other bishops of China, declared the Chinese people dedicated to Our Lady of China. In 1941, Pope Pius XII set the day as an official feast of the universal liturgical calendar. In 1973, after the Vatican II Council, the Chinese Bishops conference, upon approval from the Vatican, placed the feast day on the vigil of Mothers’ Day (the second Sunday of May).

In addition, The Protection of the Holy Virgin Cathedral on 59 East 2nd St. is a Greek Orthodox church dedicated to Mary. In addition, there are five Anglican churches throughout New York City dedicated to her.

New Yorkers have even dedicated Mount Saint Mary Cemetery, a cemetery within the City’s boundaries, in Mary’s honor. In addition, two others dedicated to her lie immediately outside of New York City limits in neighboring Diocese of Rockville Centre which New York Catholics are interred (i.e., Queen of All Saints Cemetery and Queen of Peace Cemetery.)

Even a cursory drive through New York City’s outer boroughs will reveal that Mary is still the most popular saint to which lawn shrines are dedicated especially in Queens and Staten Island. And throughout the City, Marian processions are coming back into vogue as are rosary prayer groups and other Marian devotional societies.

So there you have it: in New York City, Mary is Queen. 149 Marian-dedicated churches built to accommodate 1,600,000 Catholics in Brooklyn and Queens and 2,500,000 in the Archdiocese of New York. By any standard, Catholicism is the most dominant religion and the most prominent Christian denomination in New York City.

4.1 million Catholics can’t be wrong; New York City is Mary’s city since more churches are dedicated to her here than in any other city in the world including Europe in which whole cultures are more often associated with a devotion to her. The churches dedicated to her in the City stand as constant reminders of New Yorkers’ love of Mary are ever around us.

Source Credit National Catholic Register

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Nutella Founder said Secret of Success Was Our Lady of Lourdes

Last year at the grand age of 89, Michele Ferrero died in Monte Carlo after a months long illness. His company, founded in 1946 in Italy, produced the popular hazelnut chocolate spread Nutella, along with Mon Cheri, Kinder eggs, Ferrero Rocher, Fiesta, and Pocket Coffee treats.
At the companies 50th anniversary, Michele Ferrero noted that the secret of their success was Our Lady Of Lourdes stating ” The success of Ferrero we owe to Our Lady of Lourdes, without it we can do little.” And indeed, a small statue of the Virgin Mary is present in each of the Ferrero outlets worldwide.
He was a man endowed with a strong faith who spent his life away from the limelight. Each year he went on pilgrimage to Lourdes, taking his top manager. He also organized a visit to the French shrine for his employees .According to The Guardian UK newspaper, which published a profile of him in 2011, the company’s Rocher pralines are rumored to have been inspired by the craggy rock grotto, called the Rocher de Massabielle, at the shrine in Lourdes.
A man showing true faith and testament to the guidance of Our Lady through life’s long  and sometimes difficult path. In his own quest for strength from Our Lady he himself provided support and security for his many employees  All you have to do is have Faith in Our Lady, Pray and Ask and you will receive..
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Pope condemns ‘absurd violence’

Vatican City, Jul 26, 2016 / 07:27 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis has decried the “absurd violence” which has left an elderly priest dead after his church in northern France was taken hostage during Mass.

In a statement released Tuesday by the Vatican, the Pope, having been informed of the situation, “participates in the pain and horror of this absurd violence,” while radically condemning “every form of hatred.”

The statement said the pontiff is praying for those affected by the tragedy, which took place in the Normandy region, adding that the Vatican is following the situation.

Fr. Jacques Hamel, 84, was killed Tuesday after two armed gunmen stormed a church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray during Mass, the BBC reports. The assailants entered the church and took the celebrating priest and four others hostage.

The BBC further cites police sources which say the priest’s throat was slit in the attack.

Reuters reports that both of the hostage takers were shot dead by police. Authorities say one of the hostages has been critically wounded, the BBC reports.
According to the ISIS-linked Amaq news agency, the assailants were “two soldiers of the Islamic State,” the BBC reports.

“We are especially moved because this horrible violence took place in a Church — a sacred place in which God’s love is announced — with the barbaric murder of a priest and the involvement of the faithful,” the Vatican’s statement read.

“We are close to the French Church, the Rouen archdiocese, to the affected community, and the French people.”

Pope Francis has also sent a telegram to Archbishop Dominique Lebrun of Rouen, assuring him of his “spiritual closeness,” and his prayers for the suffering of the families, the parish community, and the diocese.

In the telegram, signed by Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope prayed that God “welcomes Fr. Jacques Hamel in peace,” and brings comfort to the injured person.

Affected that the “act of violence” took place during Mass, the pontiff “implores God’s peace for the world,” the telegram read. He prayed that God might inspire “thoughts of reconciliation and fraternity.”

Archbishop Lebrun, who is currently in Krakow, Poland for World Youth Day, responded to the news of the killing, calling on believers and non-believers to “cry out to God with all men of good will.”

The archbishop said he had prayed in Warsaw with the youth attending WYD at the tomb of Fr. Popiulusko, a priest who was assassinated in 1984 during the communist regime.

“The Catholic Church cannot take weapons other than those of prayer and brotherhood among men,” the Rouen archbishop said, explaining that he would be returning to his diocese where the people are “very much in shock.”

“I leave here hundreds of young people who are the future of humanity, the true ones,” he said. “I ask them not to give in to the violence,” but instead “become apostles of the civilization of love.”
French prime minister Manuel Valls decried the ”horror” of the “barbaric attack,” writing on Twitter: “The whole of France and all Catholics are wounded. We will stand together.”

Tuesday’s killing comes little over a week after a teenage Afghan Islamist went on an axe rampage in Würzburg, Germany, which left several passengers severely wounded. More recently, just last Saturday, around 80 people were killed and 230 people wounded after two explosions struck the Afghan city of Kabul.

The Vatican’s July 26 statement came in response to the “terrible new news” of the deadly hostage situation in a church in Rouen, the latest in “a series of violence which, in recent days has shocked us,” and caused “immense suffering and worry.”

In less than two years, France has witnessed several deadly attacks attributed to Islamic state militants, with the most recent — and second deadliest — taking place earlier this month. On July 14, 84 people were killed in Nice, France when a Tunisian man intentionally drove a large truck through a crowded beach street at high speed during a Bastille Day celebration.

On Nov. 13, 2015, nearly 130 people were killed in a series of attacks throughout Paris. In January of that same year, a total of 12 people were killed in the French capital after terrorists stormed the offices of the Charlie Hebdo satirical magazine.

During an address at WYD for the launch of DoCat, a new Catholic social doctrine app for young people, the Archbishop of Manila, Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, responded to the attacks.

“We want to express also our unity, our communion of prayer, even of sorrow, with the people of France,” he said.

Although little is yet known about the incident, he said we are nonetheless “shocked, we are saddened, and we pray for the people of France.”

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/pope-condemns-absurd-violence-after-priest-is-killed-in-french-church-55847/

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Nice Bastille Day Atrocity

We have a candle light vigil burning for every one affected by such a mindless tragedy. We Pray for those whom lost their lives and for those injured. Our thoughts are with them and their family, loved ones and friends. Let us include them in our Prayers.

The candle can be viewed here http://www.ourladydaily.com/candle-full.php?cndlid=103

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Pope Francis Names his new spokesman, Mr Greg Burke

Pope Francis on Monday named a former Fox TV correspondent, Greg Burke, as his spokesman and tapped a Spanish woman to be the deputy, the first time a woman has held the post.

The change is aimed at making the spokesman’s job — long directed at Italy and Italians — more international in focus, and reflects the demographics of the Catholic Church during the first-ever Latin American papacy.

“Obviously Italian is the internal language of the Vatican,” Burke said in a phone interview. “But half of the Catholic world population is Spanish-speaking, and if you want to speak to the globe, the language is English.”

Burke, 56, takes over from the Rev. Federico Lombardi, 73, a Jesuit like Francis who has been Vatican spokesman for a decade.

Burke, who is a member of the conservative Opus Dei movement, in December moved in as Lombardi’s deputy after working as a communications adviser in the Vatican’s secretariat of state since 2012.

His deputy will be Paloma Garcia Ovejero, 40, currently the Vatican correspondent for Spanish broadcaster Cadena Cope of the Spanish bishops’ conference.

Both, therefore, come into the spokesman’s office having been part of the Vatican press corps and aware of the needs of a 24/7 news cycle that seems particularly interested in the Francis pontificate.

The change is part of an overhaul of the Vatican’s entire communications operations that has centralized authority under the new Secretariat for Communications headed by Monsignor Dario Vigano.

Vigano presented Burke and Garcia to the Vatican press corps Monday after the three had a tete-a-tete with Francis.

Lombardi was named spokesman exactly 10 years ago Monday, adding to his already heavy load as director of Vatican Radio.

He won the respect of journalists for his dry humor, reliable readouts and cool amid many Vatican storms. From sex abuse scandals to Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI’s historic resignation and the election of a fellow Jesuit as pope, Lombardi rarely seemed to get flustered.

Lombardi told The Associated Press on Monday he didn’t know what he would do in the future but that “I don’t foresee disappearing completely from the Vatican,” suggesting a possible informal communications advisory role down the line.

He said he had always offered Francis his availability to step aside as part of the Vatican’s revamping of its communications operations and said the time simply had come for the change.Pope Francis and Greg Burke The new Vatican spokesman

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A story of Faith

Rome, Italy, Jul 2, 2016 / 09:13 am (CNA/EWTN News).- It was during the thalidomide sleeping pill craze that Sarah Figueiredo became pregnant with her fourth and last child, Anthony.

Developed after the Second World War and found not only to help with sleeplessness but Pope_Francis_Figueridosalso to alleviate morning sickness for expectant mothers, thalidomide was widely prescribed by doctors across the world to their pregnant patients as a safe drug to use.

Sarah, who was raising her young family in Nairobi at the time, was one of the expectant mothers prescribed the drug.

It wasn’t until 1961 that thalidomide was discovered to cause severe birth defects in babies born to mothers using it. Many of the children were born with a condition called “phocomelia,” which results in shortened, absent or flipper-like limbs. It was taken off the market in 1962.

When the doctors found out that Sarah’s unborn son would be among the children with this disability, they advised her to have an abortion. However, Sarah and her husband, both devout Catholics, refused. Sarah believed her son had “a special mission.”

According to her son – now Msgr. Anthony Figueiredo, 52 – what his parents told the doctors was that “if God has allowed us to conceive a child, that child will not be wasted. On the contrary, God will have a mission for that child, which they believe very strongly is that I would be a priest.”

The priest said that his parents didn’t like to talk about the doctors’ push to abort, and that they only informed him that had happened on the day of his ordination.

Despite his crippled arm, Msgr. Figueiredo was ordained in 1994 and has vast experience in missionary work and a hefty academic background in theology. He currently serves as a spiritual director to hundreds of seminarians studying at Rome’s Pontifical North American College, advises cardinals on their writing and speeches, and works closely with the Pope.
He has also met Mother Theresa and was able to work as a personal assistant to St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI for several years.

The priest largely credits his parents and their faith for encouraging his vocation, telling CNA that they “never discouraged me from being a priest.”

“With great sacrifice they sent all of us to Catholic schools and now with old age my mother is the happiest woman in the world, one would say, because she has a son who is a priest.”

Sarah, 84, told CNA that she and her husband had prayed that one of their three sons would become a priest, and that she knew this prayer would be answered in Tony, as she calls him, because “I dreamt that one day. I had a dream that one of my sons, the last one,” would be ordained. “I (knew) he had mission.”

While there are “a lot of blessings” in having a son who is a priest, one of the biggest came during a trip Sarah made to Rome to visit her son during the June 1-3 Jubilee for Priests.

Msgr. Figueiredo said he had been walking in the Vatican Gardens one day in April when he got a phone call from the Pope himself.

The Pope said that he knew the priest’s mother would be coming to Rome for the Jubilee of Priests, and wanted to meet her. Since he was busy throughout the three-day event, which concluded with a Mass June 3, Francis told Msgr. Figueiredo that “I would really like her to come to my home prior to that Mass.”

It was Pope Francis himself, then, who “completely organized everything,” and welcomed both the priest and his mother into his residence at the Vatican’s St. Martha Guesthouse the morning of June 3.

“It was very, very beautiful. He was just like an ordinary parish priest the way he made my mother welcome,” Msgr. Figueiredo said, recalling how Francis spoke about the number of children in their families and the biblical roots of some of their names.

One particularly touching moment for Msgr. Figueiredo was when the Pope told him that he recognized the priest’s mother from a photo he had given him.

“I gave him the photo three years ago,” Msgr. Figueiredo said, saying it’s “quite extraordinary that this Pope, who is probably the most photographed man in the world, remembers each person. It’s as if he has them in his heart.”

Pope Francis also administered the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick to Sarah, who has suffered from two strokes in recent years and in 2010 was diagnosed with aggressive, stage 4 breast cancer, but today is cancer-free.

The Pope “took his time, there was no rush, and he was particularly compassionate,” the priest said, noting how when his mother attempted to stand up for the anointing, Francis told her sit down and himself got up.
“I think that’s amazing from a Pope. There’s really no sense of being in authority, he’s really a servant, a servant of the servants of God. We touched that that day in his residence.”

Sarah, who carried the chalice up to the altar during the Mass after their meeting, said to visit the Pope was “a gift from God…I felt very proud that God had chosen me to come to this special occasion.”

After bringing the chalice to the Pope, “he pressed my hand, and he recognized me and he held me tight,” she said, explaining that the experience is something “I will remember all my life and I thank God for that.”

She also thanked her son for helping give her the opportunity to meet the Pope and to receive his blessing. Giving advice to parents who are hoping for a religious vocation among their children, she counselled that “the more you pray the better it is.”

“We need more priests in this world,” she said, noting how she “always prayed” for her son’s vocation. Even at 84, Sarah continues to pray a daily rosary, keeping one under her pillow so that should she wake up during the night, she can pray a decade before going back to sleep.

Msgr. Figueiredo said that to celebrate the Jubilee of Priests alongside his mother “was an enormous sign to me that God is faithful,” especially when someone gives something of their life to him, whether it’s a parent, a child, a type of suffering, or a vocation.

In regards to the “special mission” his mother believed he had, the priest said for him, this mission has entailed showing a special compassion and solidarity with those who suffer.

“I truly believe what St. Paul said: that God’s power is made perfect in weakness,” he said, voicing his belief that priests “who particularly have a cross can show a certain kind of compassion and mercy to those who are suffering.”

While as a priest “I can preach until the cows come home,” people really start paying attention when they see “that you yourself suffer in your flesh…one immediately connects.”

For Msgr. Figueiredo, this is what Christ did on the Cross: “he suffered on the cross for us, and so when I am going through suffering myself I see that he’s gone there before me and has faith, believing that the Father will bring good even from tragedy.”

“That’s really helped me to stay close to the smell of the sheep, as Pope Francis exhorts us as priests and as every Christian,” he said.

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Pope Francis on forgiveness

Pope Francis says praying for our enemies can heal our hearts

Praying for our enemies can heal our hearts: that was Pope Francis’ message at Mass in the Casa Santa Marta chapel on Tuesday morning. Recalling his own childhood in Argentina, when people prayed that dictators would go to hell, the Pope recalled how Jesus himself tells us to love our enemies and to pray for those who persecute us.

Reflecting on the Gospel reading from St Matthew where Jesus tells his disciples to love their enemies, Pope Francis noted that this instruction was in contrast to what the Doctors of the Law taught in those days: “You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy”. The Jewish Law, he said, was being taught in a way that was too theoretical, based only on the letter of the Law and not on the love of God at the heart of that Law.

For this reason, the Pope said, Jesus repeats the most important commandment of the Old Testament: Love your God with all your heart, and with all your strength, and with all your soul, and your neighbour as yourself. This was not at the heart of what the Doctors of the Law were teaching, he said. They were only worried about details and individual cases, but Jesus shows the true sense of the Law which he came to fulfill.

OSSROM125751_ArticoloThe Pope noted how Jesus offers many examples to show the commandments in a new light and to prove that love is more generous than the letter of the Law. From ‘Do not kill’ meaning don’t insult or be angry with your brother, to the instructions to give your coat to the person who demands your shirt, or go the extra mile with the person who wants to be accompanied for one mile.

This is not just for the fulfillment of the Law, the Pope said, but it also helps to heal our hearts. In Jesus’ explanations of the commandments, especially in St Matthew’s Gospel, he said, there is a journey of healing. Every heart wounded by sin – as each one of us has – must undertake this journey of healing in order to be more like our “heavenly Father (who) is perfect”.

The last and most difficult step on this journey towards perfection, Pope Francis said, is contained in Jesus’ words from today’s reading: “You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. The Pope recalled that as a child, people used to pray for God to send the dictators of that period to hell, but instead, he said, God calls us to examine our consciences and to pray for our enemies.

May the Lord give us grace, he concluded, to pray for those individuals who hurt and persecute us. The power of prayer, the Pope said, will do two things: it will change that person for the better and it will make us become more like children of our heavenly Father.

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Keeping Bishop Prasad Gallela in our thoughts and Prayers

MUMBAI — One of India’s leading Catholic prelates has denounced a brutal assault on a fellow Catholic bishop in the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, calling it “unbelievable that such a violent atrocity is perpetrated on a high-ranking religious leader of a minority community.”

According to a news release issued April 28 and signed by Archbishop Thumma Bala of Hyderabad, 54-year-old Bishop Prasad Gallela of Cuddapah was assaulted by unidentified persons on Monday, April 25, while returning from a religious function at Karunagari in Kadapa district. Bala’s statement says that Gallela and his driver were “blindfolded, forcibly confined and brutally attacked for several hours stretching through the night.”

The Hyderabad archbishop condemned “the ruthless manner” of the attack, saying that Gallela has “fully devoted his whole life to God and is totally dedicated to the service of the needy and marginalized.” Gallela serves in a diocese with a Catholic population of 81,000, where 95 percent of Catholics are landless agricultural laborers made up of “Dalits,” meaning the “untouchables” under India’s ancient caste system. One priority for the diocese under Gallela’s leadership has been providing educational opportunities for children, especially child agricultural workers.

Bala also appealed to police and law enforcement authorities to probe the case and arrest those responsible for “the heinous crime, so that safety and security of minorities can be ensured and lives of leaders of religious communities be protected.”Police officials have told Church leaders in the area that they have “good leads” and hope to make arrests in the case soon.In an interview with the Union of Asian Catholic News on Friday, Gallela said that unidentified kidnappers came in two vehicles and took “me to an undisclosed location.”“They hit me and punched me resulting in injuries all over my body. I did not resist,” Gallela told ucanews.com.

“Police are trying to find those behind the incident,” Gallela said. He said the kidnappers repeatedly asked him about financial transactions of the diocese.The kidnappers demanded 5 million rupees (US$75,325) and said that since “I help so many people, I should help them too,” the bishop recounted.
“When I asked who they were, they said they are from the police, but the police does not behave like this,” he said The prelate said that early the next day the kidnappers let him go and left him roughly 55 miles away from his diocese is based. “They appeared to be paid goons and non-Christians from the way they talked and behaved,” Gallela told UCAN.

It was not immediately clear whether the assault was linked to India’s recent increase in anti-Christian violence, fueled largely by Hindu extremism, but activists in the country say on average there’s one physical attack on a Christian somewhere in India every other day. Father Anthoniraj Thumma, the executive secretary and spokesman for a group called the “Federation of Telugu Churches,” told Crux it is unclear whether the attack was “communal” in nature, which is generally how Indians refer to animosities based on ethnicity, religion, or both.

“The motive is not clear yet, we are not sure if this was a communal attack,” he said. “It could even be for money.”Thumma said Gallela has wounds on his head and his face, which are swollen, and is receiving treatment for his injuries in his residence. Recently, Cardinal Baselios Cleemis, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, led two other officials in meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who came to power in 2014 backed by Hindu nationalists. That meeting was taken as a sign of a possibly warming relationship between the country’s Christian minority and the political wing of the Hindu nationalists, the BJP party. The government’s response to the assault on Gallela may be viewed as a test for how serious any such improvement turns out to be.

Gallela was born into a family of teachers in 1962, and pursued his theological studies in India. He was ordained in 1989, serving as both a youth minister and a parish priest in the Diocese of Kurnool. In the late 1990s, Gallela went to Rome for further studies at the Dominican-run Angelicum University, writing his doctoral thesis on “Christian Charity as Witnessed by Mother Teresa of Calcutta.”

From 2000 to 2004, Gallela served abroad in the Diocese of San Angelo, Texas, in the United States. In 2004 he returned to India to teach in a seminary, and was named Bishop of Cuddapah by Pope Benedict XVI in 2008.

 

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A statement from the Servant Sisters of the home of the Mother,on the victims of the earthquake in Ecuador

Due to the obvious confusion in the news surrounding the tragic earthquake that hit the coast of Ecuador this past April 16, we would like to offer precise information regarding our communities of Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother in Ecuador.

The Servant Sisters of the Home of the Mother have three communities in Ecuador: one in Guayaquil and two in the Province of Manabí (one in Chone and another in Playa Prieta).The latter has suffered the most losses in the earthquake. Our Sisters ran a school there, “Colegio Sagrada Familia”, which offers a human and religious education to over 400 children from the area. The Sisters’ residence was located on the third floor of one of the school buildings.

At the moment of the earthquake – 18:58 (Ecuadorian time) – the four professed Sisters of the community were inside the building. The four Sisters are: Sr. Estela Morales (age 40, from Spain), Sr. Therésè Ryan (age 36, from Ireland), Sr. Merly Alcybar (age 34, from Ecuador), and Sr. Clare Crockett (age 33, from Northern Ireland).

Along with the Sisters, inside the building as well, were seven young postulants, all of them natives of Ecuador: Jazmina, Mayra, Maria Augusta, Valeria, Catalina, Guadalupe, and Mercedes. In addition to their work in the school, the Sisters also carry out significant humanitarian relief work in the area, especially in response to the state of emergency caused by the intense flooding that devastated the area in the days leading up to the earthquake. The flooding left countless families stranded, without homes.

A friend of the community had recently written to us, just days before, commenting his admiration for the Sisters: “The Sisters are smiling as always, but you can tell they’re exhausted from all the work.” There were no students in the school at the time.The first news that reached us in Spain – at 3:10 AM Spanish time on Sunday, April 17, 2016, just an hour after the earthquake – was that all the Sisters and postulants in Playa Prieta were under the rubble.

All of our communities – in Spain, Italy, and the United States – were immediately informed. From that moment, all of the Sisters began praying an unending Rosary in front of the Blessed Sacrament, hour after hour.Shortly afterwards, news arrived that Sr. Therésè had been rescued, with a fractured ankle and several bruises.

The improvised rescue team composed of local neighbors, heard the voice of Sr. Estela, Superior of the community, and was able to reach her. They found she had a broken foot, a black eye, and was covered with bruises.

As soon as she felt the impact of the earthquake, Sr. Estela went running into the chapel to rescue the Blessed Sacrament. As soon as she had the Lord in her hands, everything around her collapsed and fell down to the ground floor. Her first thought had been to save the Lord before saving her own life, and the Lord rescued her in turn – there is no doubt about it. Both Sisters were immobilized before being taken to a nearby house to await a medical visit.

The volunteers also heard the voices of Sr. Merly, Guadalupe, and Mercedes. It was not easy reaching them. They encouraged one another, praying and singing songs to the Lord, especially when they felt they were being suffocated by the lack of oxygen. Sr. Merly suffered a severe concussion when an entire wall collapsed on her head. Guadalupe and Mercedes suffered minor bruising.

Rescue efforts continued all during the night, however there were only a few men with inadequate instruments. The Sisters of the community in Guayaquil had also been affected by the earthquake, however to a much lesser degree (the only damage suffered was a cracked wall in the residence for university students).

These Sisters organized a rescue team with men from our movement “Lay Members of the Home of the Mother”, who generously gave of their time and effort, placing their own lives at risk (the area has suffered countless aftershocks, some of high intensity).

This new rescue team made a four-hour car ride in the middle of the night, in order to reach Playa Prieta. What they found was a devastating sight. Other groups of lay men and women also arrived from Guayaquil and Chone, to come to the Sisters assistance in Playa Prieta.

The Sisters who arrived from Guayaquil started off by attending to the wounded Sisters and postulants. The nearest hospital, in Portoviejo (the largest city in the area), had collapsed. Archbishop Voltolini welcomed the wounded Sisters and Postulants in the Diocese buildings, along with other priests and families that had lost everything.

Considering the situation in Manabí, the Sisters from the community of Guayaquil decided to transfer the wounded Sisters to Guayaquil, in order to offer them proper medical attention. With the help of the improvised rescue team, they made an “ambulance”, placing couches in the back of a pickup truck.

This was the transportation used to take Sr. Estela, Sr. Therésè, and Sr. Merly, along with Mercedes and Guadalupe. They were accompanied by two Sisters from the community in Guayaquil and around two o’clock in the afternoon (Ecuadorian time), on Sunday, April 17, they were hospitalized. Just hours later, they were all released from the hospital and taken to our house in Guayaquil. In the meantime, in Playa Prieta, the other two Sisters from the community in Guayaquil were able to obtain better equipment, as well as assistance from the Ecuadorian Armed Forces.

The hours passed and worries increased as no voices of Sisters were heard from underneath the rubble. There was particular concern when a fairly intense aftershock toppled what was left standing of the building. Sr. Clare and five postulants were still under the rubble. The postulants’ families were able to arrive on the scene. At 7:50 (Spanish time), the first feared news arrived.

The lifeless body of Jazmina had been uncovered. At the time, our community in Spain was praying Vespers. Upon receiving the news, many Sisters could not keep back the tears.When they were able to return to their prayers, it was God’s Word that shed light on this moment of suffering. We had not planned on praying that Psalm, but the Lord in His infinite tender love had prepared it for us.

It was Psalm 111, from the Second Vespers for Good Shepherd Sunday: “He has no fear of evil news; with a firm heart he trusts in the Lord. With a steadfast heart he will not fear.” Hours later, around 1 AM on Monday, April 18, the rescue team was able to locate the lifeless bodies of Sr. Clare, Mayra, Maria Augusta, Valeria, and Catalina.As Sisters who sincerely love each other in the Lord, we mourn the loss of our Sisters. However, our faith assures us that “death is not the end of the path.” Sister Clare had spent nearly 15 years of her life in consecration to the Lord. She was a generous Sister with a special gift for reaching out to children and young people. The postulants had entered the Order just a year ago and were generously preparing themselves to become Servant Sisters. And the Lord found them all prepared.

As soon as we received the first telephone call, we asked Our Blessed Mother to protect them all under her mantle. We are certain that she has done so. And now our gaze is fixed on Heaven, where we hope that the merciful Lord has received them. We would like to take advantage of this opportunity to thank all of those who have reached out to us in this difficult moment, especially those who have helped us from Ecuador.

We also thank all of those who have showed us their support from all over the world. We ask for prayers for our Sisters and their families. We do not want to enclose our hearts in our own suffering, but to embrace the pain of the entire Ecuadorian people. We ask the Lord to help them not to be scandalized by their affliction; we ask Him not to allow them to depart from His side. May these moments inspire them to abandon themselves into His hands more than ever, trusting in His love for them.

Pray for us, that we may be who the Lord wants us to be, and fully live out our vocations as “Spouses of the Crucified Lord.”

United to the Cross in this Easter Season,

May the Lord and Our Mother in Heaven bless all of you.

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