Vatican Sees Miracle in Hawaiian Woman’s Cure

HONOLULU – Theological consultors to the Vatican Congregation for Saints’ Causes have ruled that the cancer cure of a Hawaiian woman was due to Blessed Damien de Veuster’s intercession, Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva announced.

The decision represents a major step forward in Father Damien’s cause for canonization. The final actions required to declare the priest a saint are the endorsement of the congregation’s committee of cardinals and bishops and the approval of the pope.

Father Damien, the 19th-century Belgian missionary of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary who spent the final 16 years of his life caring for the Hansen’s disease patients on the Hawaiian Island of Molokai, was beatified in 1995 in Belgium by Pope John Paul II.

In his announcement, Bishop Silva included the name of the Oahu woman, Audrey Toguchi, whose cancer disappeared a decade ago after she began prayers to Father Damien that included pilgrimages to Kalaupapa where the priest worked and died.

Archbishop Says Denial of Communion Is a Local Issue

WASHINGTON – Following criticism that high-profile Catholic politicians who support keeping abortion legal were permitted to receive the Eucharist during the U.S. papal Masses in Washington and New York, Washington Archbishop Donald W. Wuerl reiterated that such an action should be left to the discretion of the bishop heading an individual lawmaker’s diocese.

In the archbishop’s April 30 column in the Catholic Standard, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Washington, he does not agree with those who say he supersedes the authority of an individual bishop when dealing with public figures from those jurisdictions who serve in the District of Columbia.

“A decision regarding the refusal of holy Communion to an individual is one that should be made only after clear efforts to persuade and convince the person that their actions are wrong and bear moral consequences,” he said.

“Presumably this is done in the home diocese where the bishops and priests, the pastors of souls, engage the members of their flock in this type of discussion.”

A recent column by syndicated columnist Robert Novak criticized Archbishop Wuerl and Cardinal Edward M. Egan of New York for inviting to the papal Masses U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, U.S. Sens. John Kerry, Christopher Dodd and Edward M. Kennedy and former New York mayor and GOP presidential candidate Rudolph Giuliani, all Catholics who have supported keeping abortion legal and all of whom were reported to have publicly received Communion.

U.S. Cites Vietnam as Major Violator of Religious Freedom

WASHINGTON – A U.S. watchdog group has named Vietnam as one of the world’s worst violators of religious freedom because of its participation and acceptance in suppressing its citizens’ ability to worship freely.

Vietnam’s religious communities, including Catholics, face ongoing and serious problems because the reforms meant to improve the situation are inconsistent and vary throughout the country, said the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom’s annual report on the status of religious freedom in countries around the world.

Vietnam also continues to detain religious prisoners and, overall, the human rights situation is deteriorating, said the report released by the commission.

The commission is an independent, bipartisan, federal agency mandated by Congress to review international religious freedom and recommend to the U.S. secretary of state which countries be designated as “countries of particular concern” for their engagement in or toleration of systemic and egregious violations of religious freedom.

Vietnam earned the designation for reasons including that: “independent religious activity remains illegal, and legal protections for government-approved religious organizations are both vague and subject to arbitrary or discriminatory interpretations based on political factors,” it said.

Praying the Rosary Is Experiencing New Revival

ROME – Praying the rosary is enjoying a revival among Catholics and can be a profound way to relive the events of Christ’s life, Pope Benedict XVI said.
The pope led the recital of the rosary with hundreds of Catholics in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major May 3.

Speaking at the end of the encounter, the pope said the rosary was “not a pious practice relegated to the past, like a prayer of former times to be remembered with nostalgia.”

The papal event took place on the first Saturday of May, the month the Church dedicates to Mary, at Rome’s pre-eminent Marian basilica.

In his talk, the pope emphasized that devotion to Mary through the rosary always has Christ at its center.

Challenge to Colleges to Be ‘Unambiguously Catholic’

PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Mich. – You can’t have a college or university that “happens to be” Catholic; the institution’s Catholic identity ought to unmistakably permeate every discipline, and its graduates ought to be willing to stand up for the Church.

This was part of the message delivered by Cardinal Francis Arinze, who spoke at a fundraising dinner for the SS. Peter & Paul Educational Foundation.
The Nigerian cardinal is the head of the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments and former president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue.

“Not only should it be a community of scholars and students, representing different branches of human knowledge,” Cardinal Arinze said, “but at the same time it should be an academic institution in which Catholicism is vitally present and operative.”