The United Nations on Thursday issued a new appeal for $4.7 billion in funding to "protect millions of lives and stem the spread of coronavirus in fragile countries."

The South African government is seeking a $4.2 billion loan from the IMF to support its response to the Covid-19 crisis.

Mineral Resources and Energy Minister Gwede Mantashe says that if there is appetite for nuclear power in the market, the SA government will pursue it over the next five years.

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The situation in Zimbabwe is deteriorating again under a new wave of political violence organised by Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party, and the country faces another illegitimate election and crisis unless credible, enforceable reforms can first be implemented.

Slow and inadequate progress in implementing the compromise they reached three years ago threatens to push Zimbabwe’s contending forces into premature elections and undermine political and economic recovery.

Bold steps can be taken by the EU to ease sanctions while not rewarding recalcitrant behaviour by Zanu-PF leadership

Zimbabwe’s growing instability is exacerbated by dire economic decline, endemic governance failures, and tensions over ruling party succession; without major political and economic reforms, the country could slide into being a failed state.

An incorrect GPS coordinate leads a worship team to the end of the road, yet God has another route planned.

A zeal for the Jezreel Valley overcomes fear and insecurity.

During a medical outreach in Guatemala, the OM team members and volunteers witnessed a special moment of forgiveness.

Over an eight-day period, 18 Ride2Transform cyclists travelled 690 kilometers, participating in a personal journey with the Lord and praying for the country of Malawi.

The students of OM Malawi’s two schools are receiving something more than a Christ-centred education; a way to pay for future schooling.

Prison ministry in Ntaja, Malawi is reaching out to prisoners and guards alike; planting seeds and bearing fruit.

OM Malawi’s Chiyembekezo School is giving out goats.

Miraculous healing from sudden paralysis gives an OM worker opportunity to preach the gospel in a community.

"[The village] didn’t know about the cyclone." OM worker Macdonald tells how his village experienced Cyclone Idai.

Read about how a short term missions trip to a Muslim country changed a US pastor's life! Click to read more!

Getting the whole family involved in a short term missions trip is an unforgettable experience!

Forty-seven women from all over the world are climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Kenya this week to raise awareness of global injustices against women and children.

150 gathered for the first Freedom Climb Conference in September to learn how to become advocates for oppressed women and children around the world.

The Freedom Climbers remain encouraged through increasing altitudes and dropping temperatures as they continue upward to Mt. Everest Base Camp and Kala Patthar Peak.

Two OMers are riding unicycles across the US this summer in aid of Syrian refugees and displaced people.

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- A new “dial-a-Mass” service enabling Catholics with no internet connection to listen to Sunday Masses is proving a success, an English bishop has said. 

Bishop Terence Drainey of Middlesbrough said that 100 people used the Mass-by-Phone service when it launched May 3.  

Public Masses were suspended in England from March 20 and churches ordered to close days later. The government has not indicated when churches will be allowed to reopen. 

The Diocese of Middlesbrough, in northern England, decided to introduce the phone line -- believed to be the first of its kind in England -- when it became clear that some Catholics were unable to follow livestream Masses because they didn’t have smartphones or Wi-Fi.

Bishop Drainey told CNA: “We’re trying to reach out to as many people as possible. But it became obvious to us that there are some people who aren’t on the internet and they are being completely missed and also wanting to somehow take part in the Mass.”

“As a result of that, talking to our communications people, we came up with this idea of having a ‘dial-a-Mass’ system.”

When Catholics call the service, they hear a brief message welcoming them to St Mary’s Cathedral in Middlesbrough. A recording of the Sunday Mass then begins. 

The Knights of St Columba Council 29 is funding the service, which the diocese believes is the first in England that doesn’t require special access codes.

Bishop Drainey said the line was part of the Church’s creative response to restrictions imposed by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“One of the things that this crisis situation has brought out is people’s imagination: how to initiate new ways of praying, new ways of getting in touch with the larger Church, participating virtually in liturgical celebrations,” he said.

He added that the service was likely to continue after the crisis passed. He recalled that an 86-year-old woman had phoned him just before the lockdown to talk about livestreamed Masses:

“I said we’re about to do it. ‘That’s fine, great,’ she said. ‘But when all this is finished, you need to continue livestreaming. People like me who can no longer get out, we long to be able to somehow be in contact with the Mass. So promise me there you'll really encourage livestreaming after this has all passed.' And I said: 'Yes, absolutely. I agree.'”

In addition to livestreaming Masses and Mass-by-Phone, the diocese is planning to hold a virtual pilgrimage to Lourdes after it was forced to postpone its regular trip to the French shrine at the end of May. The online pilgrimage will include services on Facebook as well as special prayers and reflections. 
 

Rome, Italy, May 8, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See has called attention to the role of faith-based organizations in delivering U.S government relief funds to assist people who are suffering due to the coronavirus in Italy.

“The United States is funding NGOs and faith-based organizations that can effectively deliver critical assistance,” U.S. Ambassador Callista Gingrich told EWTN News May 6. 

“It’s important that American money be put to good use. Faith-based organizations are effective and trustworthy partners. They’re inspired by a sense of purpose and dedication to help those most in need,” the ambassador said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed $50 million to aid Italy as it responds to the outbreak, which includes $30 million in funding split between faith-based organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and public international organizations, an official from the embassy told CNA. 

This is part of the $900 million the U.S. government is contributing globally in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 6, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that $100 million will be used to support virus detection and control, and $28 million to support refugees and migrants.

While the U.S. government is still in the process of vetting which NGOs and faith-based organizations will be receiving funds in Italy, Ambassador Gingrich said that the assistance package includes funding for “some of our Vatican-affiliated partners here, in Italy.”

A USAID document published in April describes the work of Catholic Relief Services and Caritas in Bangladesh, Nepal, Lebanon, Liberia, Kenya, Guatemala, and Mexico in supporting health care among vulnerable populations. It also showcases the contributions of Islamic Relief USA, the Jewish Distribution Committee, World Vision, and Malteser International, the aid agency of the Order of Malta.

In Italy, Malteser International set up a hospital and donated 260 ventilators, and distributed food and medicine to elderly in isolation.

A symposium at the Vatican on government partnerships with faith-based organizations co-hosted by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in October also highlighted the work of Caritas Internationalis, the Community of Sant’Egidio, and Aid to the Church in Need in providing humanitarian assistance.

The U.S. government has previously partnered with faith-based groups to provide emergency relief, defend religious freedom, and combat human trafficking, stating that faith-based organizations provide “unparalleled access to local populations and a fierce dedication to human dignity.”

In April, the embassy publicized the work of the evangelical Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse in creating and staffing an emergency field hospital in Cremona, Italy, in an online video. 

“As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, faith-based organizations are playing a vital role,” Gingrich said in the video. 

Nearly 30,000 people have died in Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, according to the Italian Ministry of Health’s statistics on May 7. At least 89,000 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Italy after a total of more than 215,000 cases were documented, mostly in the north of the country.

Due to Italy’s nationwide lockdown, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has had to cancel several events it had scheduled for the spring, including a symposium, “Confronting the global rise of anti-Semitism,” scheduled to coincide with the opening of the Vatican’s archives on Pope Pius XII. 

However, the ambassador said that she has continued to speak with members of the diplomatic community via weekly video conferences.

“This pandemic will greatly affect our priorities and activities going forward. However, through meetings, symposiums, and cultural diplomacy, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See will continue our important work with the Vatican to advance peace, freedom, and human dignity around the world,” Gingrich said.

Rome Newsroom, May 8, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- After the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ruled that the hospitals of the Brothers of Charity in Belgium can no longer be considered as Catholic, the religious order is seeking to prevent the hospital network from using its name, their general superior told CNA. 

Br. René Stockman, general superior of the Congregation of the Brothers of Charity, said he fought to keep the Catholic identity and mission of the hospitals intact. But when the Brothers of Charity Organization, the non-profit group which manages the hospitals, approved pro-euthanasia guidelines 2017, he immediately referred the matter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which issued its decision at the end of March.

The CDF decision was communicated in a letter dated March 30, stating that "with deep sadness" the "psychiatric hospitals managed by the Provincialate of the Brothers of Charity association in Belgium will no longer be able to consider themselves Catholic institutions."

Stockman said he was now working to stop the 15-hospital network run by the Brothers of Charity Organization, the non-profit which brought in the pro-euthanasia policy, from continuing to use the order’s name.

“As a congregation,” Br. Stockman said, “we will clearly ask them not to use the name Brothers of Charity anymore for the psychiatric hospitals,” adding that ”we will do everything to come to clear arrangements without going to legal fight.” 

“We hope that we can make it [work] in that way,” he said, but the non-profit’s board have signalled resistance. 

Raf De Rycke, president of the Brothers of Charity Organization, said on May 5 that he intends to continue using the order’s name, and claimed the hospitals fulfil the same mission, and the same vision as ever, despite bringing in euthanasia.

The Stockman said the order was always adamant that they would never accept the possibility of euthanasia in their hospitals, but only a few brothers remain working in the hospitals, mostly in management roles. The order has asked them to leave their positions, now that they can no longer be considered Catholic. 

But, he said, “there are many doctors who don’t agree with the situation and they made their objection of conscience, but it becomes more difficult for them in an environment where the management is developing clear guidelines on how to perform the process and moving towards euthanasia when a psychiatric patient is asking for it.”

Belgium has ushered in ever-expanding access to euthanasia in recent years, including for mental health patients, even minors, suffering from conditions like depression. Belgian law prohibits contractual clauses or other provisions prohibiting doctors working in institutions to euthanize patients. A doctor or nurse still has the individual freedom of conscience to refuse to euthanize or participate to euthanasia, but the same freedom is no longer afforded to insitutions. 

Stockman said there was no question of not complying with Rome’s decision, and he hoped it would inspire others to reconsider the gravity of the spread of euthanasia.

“We hope that also others will reflect on it, especially in the field of mental health care. It is the first time that the Holy See through the CDF has given a clear answer on the growing practice of euthanasia in the field of mental health care,” he told CNA.  

Belgium has ushered in ever-expanding access to euthanasia in recent years, including for mental health patients, even minors, suffering from conditions like depression.

In an official statement published on their website, the Brothers of Charity Organization has accused Stockman of using the issue of euthanasia "within a broader and longer-lasting conflict” between the order and the non-profit on the use of assets. 

The non-profit suggested that Stockman has long wanted to devote more resources to the Brothers’ missions in Africa and Asian, as vocations have dried up in Belgium, where most of the order’s members are over eighty. Meanwhile, in the developing world, the congregation is growing; last year Br. Stockman welcomed 27 new novices in Nairobi.

The Brothers of Charity Organization frames the dispute as one of control over assets, and its statement said they "do not see the need to adapt our operations after this [CDF] letter because we are convinced that we are acting correctly."

The situation is being monitored closely by other Catholic organizations in the country who see it as a possible test case. So far, the bishops have remained circumspect.

In a May 6 statement, the Belgian Episcopal Conference said that "the bishops experience this as an excruciating and complex affair, in which different types of topics and different lines of responsibility meet." 

The conference called for "a prolonged dialogue between all those involved,” while stressing their "utmost appreciation for the commitment of the Brothers of Charity in Belgium and all their employees to the benefit of mentally disabled, sick or injured people."

Calls for dialogue, however, may prove wishful thinking. As part of its review of the situation, the CDF sent Bishop Jan Hendriks, auxiliary of Amsterdam, as an apostolic visitor to try to resolve the situation, but, the Congregation said, he was unable to find "a viable solution that avoids any form of responsibility of the institution for euthanasia."

The conference also said that "based on their pastoral responsibility, the bishops will continue to work for unity and solidarity in the ecclesial community. They maintain their trust and will continue to cooperate with all the health institutions of Christian civil society."

Stockman did not comment on the bishops’ conference statement.

“Of course,” he said, “we feel, as a congregation, alone [in this fight], but [we are proceeding] in line with the doctrine of the Church, with the clear statement made by our general chapter in 2018 and with our charism of charity.” 

An OM team in Hong Kong listens to the story of a woman in prostitution and offer her comfort and prayers.

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God not only rescued Kamil and Klaudia's marriage but also transformed their relationships with Him.

By Father Dave Pivonka, TOR

On the afternoon of March 6, I walked around the campus of Franciscan University of Steubenville, saying goodbye to students as they headed off for Spring Break. On that cold afternoon, it was unimaginable that those students wouldn’t come back to campus to finish out the school year. It was even more unimaginable that our University, where the Mass has always been at the center of campus life, would cease the public celebration of the Eucharist.

Tragically, at Franciscan University, like everywhere else, the global spread of the coronavirus quickly made the unimaginable our new reality.

I’ve been living with that new reality for over two weeks now, and I don’t like it. So, last week, I decided to do something about it: I hung a white ribbon on the door of our University chapel.
Let me explain.

It breaks my heart to not celebrate the Mass with students, faculty, staff, and their families. I miss the singing and the filled pews, the cries of babies and the responses of the faithful. Most of all, I miss Holy Communion; I miss giving Jesus to those hungry to receive him.

I understand why our bishops and leaders made the decisions they’ve made. I’m not questioning the necessity of those decisions. Extreme social distancing, for now, is a necessary evil.

Just the same, like my brother priests everywhere, I miss my people. I long for the day we can gather again, to worship, to listen to the Word of God, to preach and to receive Jesus in the Eucharist.

Until that day comes, however, I want the men and women I serve to know that they are always with me in thought and prayer, that I’m not letting a day go by without interceding for them before God, and that I could never forget them.

Even more important, I want them to know that God could never forget them. God didn’t forget his people when they wandered in the desert for 40 years. He didn’t forget them when they worshipped idols, ignored his commands, and found themselves exiled in Babylon. And he hasn’t forgotten us now.
 
Make no mistake: Our Lord does not like being separated from his people in this way. Jesus wants to give himself to us. He wants us to encounter him in the liturgy, in the Church, and in the Eucharist.
And this is where the white ribbons come in.

Ribbons have long been a sign of remembrance. They tell the world that we have not forgotten someone: a prisoner, a soldier, or a sick friend. I’ve tied a white ribbon onto the door of Christ the King Chapel, as well as the Portiuncula Chapel, here at Franciscan University, to remind our community that their priests and their God have not forgotten them. I’ve invited my friends who are priests and bishops to do the same. They, in turn, are inviting more priests and bishops to join us.

My hope is that as Catholics walk or drive past their churches, they will see those white ribbons and know their priests are praying for them and waiting for the day we can fling open those doors to welcome them back inside.

I also hope, when they see those ribbons, they know Jesus is waiting for that day, too. He longs for the day when we can gather together once more, and he can be with all of us, again, in the sacraments.

That day is not yet here. Like the Israelites of old, the Catholic faithful have to wander in exile a little longer. Jesus has not left us orphans, though. He is still with us. He is with us in the Scriptures, which are his Word. He is with us in his people—those we live with, work with, or encounter online. He is with us in prayer and in silence and in the beauty of his creation, which is singing his praises as spring finally comes.

Look for Jesus in all those places. Look for Jesus where you are. And when you see white ribbons hanging from a church door, remember God’s promise in Isaiah 49:15: “I will never forget you.”

In the midst of the chaos and the confusion, and the craziness, let those ribbons be a reminder that your priests are still with you. Let them be a reminder that Jesus is still with you. And let them be a reminder that one day soon, this exile will end, the churches will re-open, and your priests will be standing there, ready and waiting to joyfully welcome you home.

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 07:00 am (CNA).- A new “dial-a-Mass” service enabling Catholics with no internet connection to listen to Sunday Masses is proving a success, an English bishop has said. 

Bishop Terence Drainey of Middlesbrough said that 100 people used the Mass-by-Phone service when it launched May 3.  

Public Masses were suspended in England from March 20 and churches ordered to close days later. The government has not indicated when churches will be allowed to reopen. 

The Diocese of Middlesbrough, in northern England, decided to introduce the phone line -- believed to be the first of its kind in England -- when it became clear that some Catholics were unable to follow livestream Masses because they didn’t have smartphones or Wi-Fi.

Bishop Drainey told CNA: “We’re trying to reach out to as many people as possible. But it became obvious to us that there are some people who aren’t on the internet and they are being completely missed and also wanting to somehow take part in the Mass.”

“As a result of that, talking to our communications people, we came up with this idea of having a ‘dial-a-Mass’ system.”

When Catholics call the service, they hear a brief message welcoming them to St Mary’s Cathedral in Middlesbrough. A recording of the Sunday Mass then begins. 

The Knights of St Columba Council 29 is funding the service, which the diocese believes is the first in England that doesn’t require special access codes.

Bishop Drainey said the line was part of the Church’s creative response to restrictions imposed by the government to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

“One of the things that this crisis situation has brought out is people’s imagination: how to initiate new ways of praying, new ways of getting in touch with the larger Church, participating virtually in liturgical celebrations,” he said.

He added that the service was likely to continue after the crisis passed. He recalled that an 86-year-old woman had phoned him just before the lockdown to talk about livestreamed Masses:

“I said we’re about to do it. ‘That’s fine, great,’ she said. ‘But when all this is finished, you need to continue livestreaming. People like me who can no longer get out, we long to be able to somehow be in contact with the Mass. So promise me there you'll really encourage livestreaming after this has all passed.' And I said: 'Yes, absolutely. I agree.'”

In addition to livestreaming Masses and Mass-by-Phone, the diocese is planning to hold a virtual pilgrimage to Lourdes after it was forced to postpone its regular trip to the French shrine at the end of May. The online pilgrimage will include services on Facebook as well as special prayers and reflections. 
 

Rome, Italy, May 8, 2020 / 10:00 am (CNA).- The U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See has called attention to the role of faith-based organizations in delivering U.S government relief funds to assist people who are suffering due to the coronavirus in Italy.

“The United States is funding NGOs and faith-based organizations that can effectively deliver critical assistance,” U.S. Ambassador Callista Gingrich told EWTN News May 6. 

“It’s important that American money be put to good use. Faith-based organizations are effective and trustworthy partners. They’re inspired by a sense of purpose and dedication to help those most in need,” the ambassador said.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has committed $50 million to aid Italy as it responds to the outbreak, which includes $30 million in funding split between faith-based organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and public international organizations, an official from the embassy told CNA. 

This is part of the $900 million the U.S. government is contributing globally in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. On May 6, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that $100 million will be used to support virus detection and control, and $28 million to support refugees and migrants.

While the U.S. government is still in the process of vetting which NGOs and faith-based organizations will be receiving funds in Italy, Ambassador Gingrich said that the assistance package includes funding for “some of our Vatican-affiliated partners here, in Italy.”

A USAID document published in April describes the work of Catholic Relief Services and Caritas in Bangladesh, Nepal, Lebanon, Liberia, Kenya, Guatemala, and Mexico in supporting health care among vulnerable populations. It also showcases the contributions of Islamic Relief USA, the Jewish Distribution Committee, World Vision, and Malteser International, the aid agency of the Order of Malta.

In Italy, Malteser International set up a hospital and donated 260 ventilators, and distributed food and medicine to elderly in isolation.

A symposium at the Vatican on government partnerships with faith-based organizations co-hosted by the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See in October also highlighted the work of Caritas Internationalis, the Community of Sant’Egidio, and Aid to the Church in Need in providing humanitarian assistance.

The U.S. government has previously partnered with faith-based groups to provide emergency relief, defend religious freedom, and combat human trafficking, stating that faith-based organizations provide “unparalleled access to local populations and a fierce dedication to human dignity.”

In April, the embassy publicized the work of the evangelical Christian organization Samaritan’s Purse in creating and staffing an emergency field hospital in Cremona, Italy, in an online video. 

“As the world continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, faith-based organizations are playing a vital role,” Gingrich said in the video. 

Nearly 30,000 people have died in Italy’s coronavirus outbreak, according to the Italian Ministry of Health’s statistics on May 7. At least 89,000 people remain infected with COVID-19 in Italy after a total of more than 215,000 cases were documented, mostly in the north of the country.

Due to Italy’s nationwide lockdown, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See has had to cancel several events it had scheduled for the spring, including a symposium, “Confronting the global rise of anti-Semitism,” scheduled to coincide with the opening of the Vatican’s archives on Pope Pius XII. 

However, the ambassador said that she has continued to speak with members of the diplomatic community via weekly video conferences.

“This pandemic will greatly affect our priorities and activities going forward. However, through meetings, symposiums, and cultural diplomacy, the U.S. Embassy to the Holy See will continue our important work with the Vatican to advance peace, freedom, and human dignity around the world,” Gingrich said.

CNA Staff, May 8, 2020 / 12:30 pm (CNA).- A federal judge in Arkansas on Thursday upheld the state’s requirement that women obtain a negative coronavirus test before having an abortion.

Calling the decision “agonizingly difficult,” Judge Brian Miller for the Eastern District Court of Arkansas said the state’s testing mandate—which applies to all elective surgeries and not just abortions—is “reasonable” during the public health emergency and was not done “with an eye toward limiting abortions.

The judge noted that “it is undisputed that surgical abortions have still taken place.”

The abortion clinic Little Rock Family Planning Services had requested a temporary injunction on the state health department’s requirement that elective surgery patients obtain a negative new coronavirus (COVID-19) test result within 48 hours before the procedure.

Previously, the health department ordered a halt to non-essential surgeries on April 3 to preserve resources for treating COVID-19.

The Little Rock abortion clinic performed abortions while claiming they were offering “essential” procedures, and after the health department ordered them to stop on April 10, the clinic challenged the state in court. The diocese’s Respect Life Office noted that women were traveling to the clinic for abortions from nearby states such as Texas and Louisiana.

The clinic won its case for a temporary restraining order at the district court level, but the Eighth Circuit appeals court subsequently overruled that decision and sided with the state.

The April 3 directive was updated April 24 to allow for some elective surgeries provided certain conditions were met. Elective abortions were included in the “non-essential” surgeries that were allowed to continue on April 24.

These conditions included no overnight stays, no contact with COVID-19 patients in the previous 14 days, and a negative COVID-19 test for patients within 48 hours of the surgery.

According to the clinic, which asked for a temporary injunction, three women were seeking to obtain “dilation and evacuation” abortions but were prevented from meeting the state’s testing requirmenet. One woman said she was unable to get a COVID-19 test; another said the lab could not guarantee she would receive results in 48 hours. The third woman was unable to get an abortion in Texas, and drove to the Little Rock clinic; she was told the results of her test would not be available for several days.

In response, the state’s health department said that four surgical abortions had still been performed at the clinic between April 27 and May 1, with COVID-19 test results having been obtained within 48 hours of the abortions, and thus the directive was not an “undue burden” on women seeking abortion.

In his decision on Thursday, Judge Miller said that the pandemic is a serious threat, noting that at the time of the opinion more than 70,000 people had died in the U.S. from the virus including more than 3,500 people in Arkansas.

He said the case “presents the tug-of-war between individual liberty and the state’s police power to protect the public during the existing, grave health crisis,” and noted that the three women as well as others “are very troubled. There is a strong urge to rule for them because they are extremely sympathetic figures, but that would be unjust.”

Rome Newsroom, May 8, 2020 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- After the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith ruled that the hospitals of the Brothers of Charity in Belgium can no longer be considered as Catholic, the religious order is seeking to prevent the hospital network from using its name, their general superior told CNA. 

Br. René Stockman, general superior of the Congregation of the Brothers of Charity, said he fought to keep the Catholic identity and mission of the hospitals intact. But when the Brothers of Charity Organization, the non-profit group which manages the hospitals, approved pro-euthanasia guidelines 2017, he immediately referred the matter to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which issued its decision at the end of March.

The CDF decision was communicated in a letter dated March 30, stating that "with deep sadness" the "psychiatric hospitals managed by the Provincialate of the Brothers of Charity association in Belgium will no longer be able to consider themselves Catholic institutions."

Stockman said he was now working to stop the 15-hospital network run by the Brothers of Charity Organization, the non-profit which brought in the pro-euthanasia policy, from continuing to use the order’s name.

“As a congregation,” Br. Stockman said, “we will clearly ask them not to use the name Brothers of Charity anymore for the psychiatric hospitals,” adding that ”we will do everything to come to clear arrangements without going to legal fight.” 

“We hope that we can make it [work] in that way,” he said, but the non-profit’s board have signalled resistance. 

Raf De Rycke, president of the Brothers of Charity Organization, said on May 5 that he intends to continue using the order’s name, and claimed the hospitals fulfil the same mission, and the same vision as ever, despite bringing in euthanasia.

The Stockman said the order was always adamant that they would never accept the possibility of euthanasia in their hospitals, but only a few brothers remain working in the hospitals, mostly in management roles. The order has asked them to leave their positions, now that they can no longer be considered Catholic. 

But, he said, “there are many doctors who don’t agree with the situation and they made their objection of conscience, but it becomes more difficult for them in an environment where the management is developing clear guidelines on how to perform the process and moving towards euthanasia when a psychiatric patient is asking for it.”

Belgium has ushered in ever-expanding access to euthanasia in recent years, including for mental health patients, even minors, suffering from conditions like depression. Belgian law prohibits contractual clauses or other provisions prohibiting doctors working in institutions to euthanize patients. A doctor or nurse still has the individual freedom of conscience to refuse to euthanize or participate to euthanasia, but the same freedom is no longer afforded to insitutions. 

Stockman said there was no question of not complying with Rome’s decision, and he hoped it would inspire others to reconsider the gravity of the spread of euthanasia.

“We hope that also others will reflect on it, especially in the field of mental health care. It is the first time that the Holy See through the CDF has given a clear answer on the growing practice of euthanasia in the field of mental health care,” he told CNA.  

Belgium has ushered in ever-expanding access to euthanasia in recent years, including for mental health patients, even minors, suffering from conditions like depression.

In an official statement published on their website, the Brothers of Charity Organization has accused Stockman of using the issue of euthanasia "within a broader and longer-lasting conflict” between the order and the non-profit on the use of assets. 

The non-profit suggested that Stockman has long wanted to devote more resources to the Brothers’ missions in Africa and Asian, as vocations have dried up in Belgium, where most of the order’s members are over eighty. Meanwhile, in the developing world, the congregation is growing; last year Br. Stockman welcomed 27 new novices in Nairobi.

The Brothers of Charity Organization frames the dispute as one of control over assets, and its statement said they "do not see the need to adapt our operations after this [CDF] letter because we are convinced that we are acting correctly."

The situation is being monitored closely by other Catholic organizations in the country who see it as a possible test case. So far, the bishops have remained circumspect.

In a May 6 statement, the Belgian Episcopal Conference said that "the bishops experience this as an excruciating and complex affair, in which different types of topics and different lines of responsibility meet." 

The conference called for "a prolonged dialogue between all those involved,” while stressing their "utmost appreciation for the commitment of the Brothers of Charity in Belgium and all their employees to the benefit of mentally disabled, sick or injured people."

Calls for dialogue, however, may prove wishful thinking. As part of its review of the situation, the CDF sent Bishop Jan Hendriks, auxiliary of Amsterdam, as an apostolic visitor to try to resolve the situation, but, the Congregation said, he was unable to find "a viable solution that avoids any form of responsibility of the institution for euthanasia."

The conference also said that "based on their pastoral responsibility, the bishops will continue to work for unity and solidarity in the ecclesial community. They maintain their trust and will continue to cooperate with all the health institutions of Christian civil society."

Stockman did not comment on the bishops’ conference statement.

“Of course,” he said, “we feel, as a congregation, alone [in this fight], but [we are proceeding] in line with the doctrine of the Church, with the clear statement made by our general chapter in 2018 and with our charism of charity.” 

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, May 8, 2020 / 03:10 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Springfield, Illinois, said that the Church must return to “normal life” after the governor announced plans to ban large gatherings until a COVID-19 vaccine or treatment is available.

Earlier in the week, the state’s Governor JB Pritzker unveiled a five-phase “Restore Illinois” plan that bans gatherings of more than 50 people until a vaccine or treatment is available, or the virus has stopped spreading for a sustained period of time. Health officials have said that a vaccine for the new coronavirus (COVID-19) might not be available for 12 to 18 months. 

Currently, people in the state are allowed to attend religious services of 10 or fewer people, but no gatherings of more than 10 people are permitted until phase 4 of Pritzker’s plan, and the state wouldn’t even be able to “advance” to phase 3 until May 29.

“The Church has certainly done her part in making great sacrifices to slow the spread of this virus,” Andrew Hansen, director of communications for the diocese of Springfield, Illinois, told CNA on Friday.

“That said, the Church must return to her normal life of liturgy and communal worship,” Hansen said, while emphasizing precautions such as social distancing “will likely be the appropriate path longer term for the return to some version of normalcy for the Church.”

Previously, in-person or drive-in religious services were banned in the state. The Thomas More Society filed a lawsuit on behalf of a church in Lena, Ill., on April 30. Later that evening a paragraph was added to the governor’s executive order allowing for people to leave their homes to attend religious services of ten or fewer people, the society’s president Peter Breen told CNA.

The next day, May 1, the archdiocese of Chicago announced it would be resuming public Masses with 10 or fewer people.

According to the “Restore Illinois” plan, there could not be any gathering of between 11 and 50 people in size until phase 4 of the plan—“Revitalization.”

That phase can start only when certain conditions have been met: the positivity rate of COVID tests is at or under 20% and doesn’t rise by more than 10 points over 14 days; hospital admissions don’t increase for 28 days; and hospitals have at least 14% “surge capacity” in ICU beds, medical and surgical beds, and ventilators.

Pitzker clarified in a Wednesday press conference that religious services would be part of this 50-person limit in phase 4, and schools would not be allowed to reopen until then, raising questions of how tuition-dependent Catholic schools might fare in the fall if remote learning is still widely utilized.

The state’s superintendent of education has said that at least some schools might have to begin the new school year with remote learning, or with students attending classes in-person only on certain days.

“So we continue to hope and pray schools will reopen next school year. Certainly, when our schools reopen, new measures and precautions will be in place,” Hansen told CNA.

The president of DePaul University, located in Chicago, announced earlier this week that the university already plans to “minimize our footprint on campus this fall,” and that an announcement of the fall plans could happen by June 15.

Denver Newsroom, May 8, 2020 / 05:29 pm (CNA).- Mother’s Day is going to look different for most families this year, due to the coronavirus pandemic.

For Catholics, some churches are in the process of slowly re-opening public Masses, but the dispensation from the Sunday obligation continues to stand, as the virus has not gone away and a cure or vaccine has yet to be found.

While most Catholics are eager to return to Mass, a small group of Catholics are relieved that they will not be sitting in a public pew this Mother’s Day.

“We actually heard from one woman who said, ‘I kind of feel badly about saying this, but I'm sort of glad that we won't be in the pews this year for Mother's Day,’” Ann Koshute, founder of Springs in the Desert Catholic ministry, told CNA.


“That's something that we hear and that everybody I think on the team has experienced at one point in this journey,” she said - the desire to avoid Mass on Mother’s Day. That’s because Koshute, along with other members of her ministry, have had painful experiences with infertility, and the customary Mother’s Day blessing given to mothers at many parishes that day can bring their grief and sense of loss poignantly to the fore.


“I think that so often people in our own families, our friends, and even our pastors don't really understand the full extent of the pain and the grief or even the full extent of the issue of infertility, of how many couples are really dealing with it,” she said.


The pain of infertility, and the lack of resources available to Catholics on the subject, was why Koshute and her friend, Kimberly Henkel, founded Springs in the Desert, a Catholic ministry to spiritually and emotionally support women and couples experiencing infertility and infant loss. Originally, Henkel and Koshute, who have both experienced infertility, thought they might write a book. But they decided to start with a ministry website and a blog that could bring people together and allow for other women and couples to share their experiences. The group is relatively new, and held its first retreat in Philadelphia in December. They were set to hold a second one this weekend - Mother’s Day weekend - in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, when, well, the pandemic hit.

Now, they’ve moved the retreat online and opened it up to Catholics across the country - and they’ve been overwhelmed by the response.

“We thought that we would be really excited if maybe a couple dozen people found out about it and came. We are over 100 participants now. And it's free and it's going to be available all weekend,” Koshute said. The retreat is trying to address the emotional and spiritual experience of infertility and loss for a broad range of people, Henkel said - from mothers who have miscarried, to women who are past child-bearing years and still grieving the loss of infertility, to women “who feel like their biological clocks are ticking and just haven’t met the right guy.” But now that it's a virtual, pre-recorded, watch-at-your-leisure retreat, it also has the potential to reach a population that is often more reluctant to gather in groups and talk about their experiences of infertility: men. “It's mostly women who are emailing us (about the retreat), although we know that many of their husbands will watch with them. But we've also had a few men email us,” Koshute said.


“One in particular, it just really touched my heart. And he said that he was searching the web for help for his wife on Mother's Day. And I was just so filled with praise and thanksgiving to God for that, for a husband to see that hurt in his wife and to want to find a way to help her,” she added. Men and women typically experience the grief of infertility quite differently, Koshute noted. “For us women, it's so visceral because life is conceived within us and we carry that life. But for a man, it's so different,” she said.

“(Men are) kind of distant from that experience until the child is actually born. And so I think many times men, the grief and the burden that they carry is their wife's. They really carry her sadness and I think feel at a loss because they want to make everything right. They want to fix this, and they want to make her whole. And the mystery of infertility is that it's not that simple. And that's one of the things that makes it so difficult,” she said. Henkel said she experienced her own difficulties in trying to discuss infertility with her husband. Now that they’ve experienced the joy of growing their family through adoption, she said, he is much more open to inviting other men to share their experiences. Henkel said she is hoping that an additional benefit of this retreat being online is that it will facilitate discussions between couples watching the videos together. Both Henkel and Koshute said that while the experience of infertility and loss is painful, and they want to help couples acknowledge and accept that pain, they also want Springs in the Desert to be a positive and supportive experience for couples and women, where they can find hope and redemption even in their suffering. One of the topics they focus on is how all women are called to motherhood in their lives, whether it is spiritual or biological.

“My experience has shown me that my motherhood is really engaged in so many ways that I never considered before,” Koshute said.

“Not just with my godson or with other children in my family, but with women who are older than I who are friends and who might come to me with a difficulty or problem and I can help them,” or by helping family members in need or through charitable works, she added. “That's one of the messages that we try to get across to women and to couples as well, that those kinds of things, what we would maybe refer to as spiritual motherhood, is not illegitimate,” she said.

“It's not second-place. It's a real way of engaging and living out our motherhood. It's also not a replacement for a baby. So it's not as if you go out and volunteer in your community and now you won't have this longing for a child anymore. But we've really found through our own experience and through talking with other women that the more we kind of put ourselves out there and give ourselves to others, the more that we can begin to see that motherhood enacted in us.”

Henkel said she also likes to encourage couples to look at the ways God is calling them to be fruitful in their marriages outside of biological children.

“We really encourage these couples that they are not forgotten, they're not being punished. That God loves them so much and that he has something amazing for them. He's using this to draw them near to him and to allow them to cry out to him and ask for him to guide them, to lead them, to give them his love and show them what fruitfulness he has for them, what place in ministry and mission he has for them.” Henkel and her husband in particular like to share with couples their experience of foster care as one example of where God might be calling them to be fruitful. After a frustrating and expensive experience with some adoption agencies, Henkel and her husband decided to look into giving a home to children through foster care.

“Here is a situation where these children really need families,” she said. “It's hard because there's no guarantee you're going to get to keep this child, so there's a sense of this new greater level of having to learn how to trust God.” “I think that with a couple discerning that fruitfulness, it's also discerning - where is God really calling you? There's so much need in this world. And he wants to use us.”

Couples interested in the Springs in the Desert Mother’s Day weekend retreat can sign up for free online at the Springs in the Desert website. Content will be uploaded and available for anyone who registers, Henkel said, even if they register late. The retreat team will also be hosting a live talk on Sunday, May 10 at 2 p.m. Eastern on the ministry’s Facebook page.

“There's a place for you in Springs of the Desert,” Henkel added. “There's so many women who have reached out to us in Philly. We added several more women to our group, to our team, our official team, women who came to the retreat. One woman had come there and she said she had had a miscarriage, and neither one of us has experienced that. So we said, please join us. We want your voice.”

“We're trying to really bring the voices of many different women to our team so that people will feel there is somebody that is talking they can really relate to. Because there are all of these different situations, but they've got obviously a very similar undercurrent.”

God miraculously provides food for a much larger crowd than OM Mexico had planned for during their July outreach to a prison in Oaxaca.