Tag: Christianity

Tbilisi, November 7, 2023

Photo: patriarchate.ge     

The Holy Synod of the Georgian Orthodox Church gathered in Tbilisi on Thursday, November 2, under the chairmanship of His Holiness Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II.

The hierarchs dealt with a number of issues concerning the internal life of the Georgian Patriarchate, and also addressed the violence affecting Orthodox people and places.

In his opening word, Pat. Ilia “noted that the situation in the international space and in specific regions is very difficult and dangerous, and that, against this background, Georgia’s concern for maintaining peace is welcome, which should continue in the future,” reports the Georgian Church.

The Holy Synod formulated a general position:

From the very first days of Russia’s military operations in Ukraine, the Catholicos-Patriarch of Georgia Georgian and Romanian Patriarchs, ROCOR, and Finnish hierarchs call for peace in UkraineWe entreat the Holy Trinity to grant peace to the population of Ukraine and the whole world.

“>issued an appeal about the need for an immediate end to the conflict, which, otherwise, would bring very serious consequences.

And today, when the developments in the Middle East are becoming increasingly large-scale, it’s clear that a globally explosive and dangerous environment is being created, which puts the whole world in great danger.

The wars in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip have already produced many casualties. Innocent people, children, and the elderly people are dying together with soldiers, and infrastructure, housing, religious and other buildings and structures are being destroyed; in general, there is also violence on religious grounds.

We express our deep sorrow and sympathy to those affected by the war. Terror, cruelty, injustice are unequivocally condemnable and its direct or indirect support is unacceptable to the civilized world.

We join the prayers of all people of good will and ask God to grant peace to Ukraine, the Holy Land, and the whole world.

​Pat. Ilia also made an appeal Patriarch of Georgia appeals to Patriarch Bartholomew on behalf of persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox ChurchAs the persecution of the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the brotherhood of the Kiev Caves Lavra continues to intensify, hierarchs, clergy, and international organizations from around the world have begun speaking out in defense of the Church.

“>in March to Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople on behalf of the persecuted Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the brotherhood of the Kiev Caves Lavra.

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The largest health care workers’ strike in U.S. history recently ended, and more labor disputes in the industry could be ahead. Though the strike — which included workers across several states — raises questions about negative effects on patient care, Catholic labor advocates and medical ethicists say all parties to the labor disputes make plans to avoid harm.

“None of these strikes happen without warning; they are announced ahead of time, allowing patients and facilities time to make alternative plans,” Joe McCartin, executive director of the Kalmanovitz Initiative for Labor and the Working Poor at Georgetown University, told OSV News.

To his knowledge, none of these strikes have been shown to lead to harming patients.

“Let’s keep in mind that the workers engaging in these actions have decided to devote their lives to providing care for others,” said McCartin, who describes himself as a labor historian whose work is influenced by Catholic social teaching.

“I don’t know of a strike in health care in which a central demand of the strikers was not for improvements in the patient care for the systems which they’ve dedicated their lives to working within,” he added. “In every case that I know of, workers are fighting to make their jobs more sustainable and their institutions better at providing care.”

Strikes at the health facilities of Kaiser Permanente took place from Oct. 4-7 in California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington state and the District of Columbia, and for one day, Oct. 4, in Virginia and the District of Columbia, CNN reported. Most labor action was concentrated in California. Workers who left their positions included nurses, pharmacists, optometrists, X-ray technicians, receptionists, medical assistants and sanitation workers.

The Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions collectively represents about 75,000 of the workers who went on strike and about half of the union workforce at Kaiser Permanente overall. The labor organizations involved in the strike followed federal rules that required them to give 10-day notice to authorities before striking. They sought higher pay and demanded vacant staff positions be filled, among other concerns.

The strike resulted in a proposed contract, which union members were voting to ratify in an election taking place from Oct. 18 to Nov. 3.

Ahead of the strike, Kaiser Permanente promised “robust plans” were in place to “ensure members continue to receive safe, high-quality care during the strike.” Hospitals and emergency departments remained open and the health care provider said contract staff would be brought in. According to The Washington Post, some laboratories had to close during the strike or had fewer staff, possibly delaying lab work. Some pharmacies also were closed or more limited in capacity. Some elective and nonemergency surgeries were rescheduled or postponed.

OSV News contacted Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

“I believe the unions put thought into this and took precautions so that patients in need of urgent care got it,” McCartin said. “Kaiser Permanente hospitals remained open during the three-day strike. Some pre-scheduled health visits might have been delayed, but not all delays are dangerous. By contrast, the union argued that failure to resolve the current chronic understaffing crisis, which was at the heart of its demands, is an ongoing and festering danger.”

Father Sinclair Oubre, spiritual moderator of the Catholic Labor Network and pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Orange, Texas, told OSV News he knows many nurses who make “great family sacrifices to be there for their patients.” Many hospitals have moved to 12-hour work shifts, a prohibitive schedule for working parents. He said his parish high school director of religious education had started her nursing career on an eight-hour schedule but was forced to abandon her career after five years “because it was impossible to be a wife and mother with a 12-hour shift.”

“Nurses’ unions like National Nurses United and United Healthcare Workers West have been advocating for more nurses and the need for management to respond to the staffing shortage,” the priest said. “The unions were forced to push management to address an issue that endangered the nurses’ physical and mental health. If the nurses’ physical and mental health are compromised, the well-being of the patients are also threatened.”

More than a dozen strikes involving health care workers have taken place this year, according to The New York Times. The labor disputes could be a sign of more to come.

Nurses and nurse practitioners at Pittsburgh’s Allegheny General Hospital voted Oct. 17 to authorize a possible strike, citing a need for higher pay and more staff, WTAE News reported, but the strike was averted hours before it was to begin when a tentative agreement was reached Nov. 2, according to CBS Pittsburgh.

In New York, Rochester General Hospital and union member nurses have avoided a possible strike after reaching a tentative agreement to address complaints about wage and staffing shortfalls, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle reported.

Catholic social teaching recognizes both the right to basic health care and the right to strike. The Catechism of the Catholic Church in paragraph 2211 discusses a right to medical care.

Pope Francis reiterated this right in Jan. 16 remarks to Italian health care specialists.

“A world that rejects the sick, that does not assist those who cannot afford care, is a cynical world with no future. Let us always remember this: health care is not a luxury, it is for everyone,” he said, according to Catholic News Service. In the same remarks the pope emphasized the need for “proper working conditions” and “an appropriate number of caregivers” to guarantee the right to health care for everyone.

Catholic teaching on the right to strike is compiled in various sources, including the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, published in 2004 by the Pontifical Commission for Justice and Peace. The compendium says the rights of workers include the right to a just wage, the right to a safe working environment and the right to form labor organizations and to strike.

John F. Brehany, executive vice president and director of institutional relations at the National Catholic Bioethics Center, told OSV News that he previously worked at a Catholic hospital where the nurses had unionized and at times threatened to go on strike. Hospital administrators and other leaders have their own duty to ensure patient care, he said.

“Typically, administrators prepare for strikes by designing plans to address patients’ needs, including by hiring travel nurses on a temporary basis,” said Brehany. “Many hospitals typically prepare for strikes and can weather them in the short term, to avoid the worst impacts on patient care. I believe that labor strikes in health care are limited, but I don’t follow the trends closely. Everyone can suffer some harm if a strike is called — patients, potentially; the financial health of the hospital certainly; and even the strikers in some respects.”

“It may appear that a strike wrongly prioritizes employee interests,” Brehany added. “However, union members might say that they are striking only as a last resort, after bargaining has failed, because nurses are being significantly harmed (e.g., working conditions or compensation).” He also noted union members’ arguments that patients too are harmed because of improper staffing levels.

Brehany suggested the ethics of a union’s decision to strike, especially in health care settings, are comparable to the ethics of a nation’s decision whether to declare war or a person’s decision to defend himself with violence.

“All parties definitely have a right to do such things; each has important goods to protect. But these decisions should be made carefully, with good intent and with means ordered both by justice and by prudential considerations about consequences,” he said.

In Father Oubre’s view, management bears a responsibility for creating the conditions that result in a strike.

“No nurse wants to leave her or his patients,” he said. “So, the conditions must be very severe for her or him to take such extreme steps.”

McCartin said that much of the American health care system, including 40% of hospitals, operates on a for-profit basis.

“The real conflict it seems to me is one between profit and patient-centered care. That’s not a conflict the unions invented, it’s built into the system, but it’s one that they have to deal with,” he said.

“If not for organized health care workers, who would speak out and use their political influence to defend patients’ interests? Who will complain about short staffing and overworked care workers if not the workers themselves?” he asked. “If the workers take precautions of the sort the Kaiser Permanente workers took, the common good is served by these workers being organized, educating management, patients, and the public about their problems, and, when all other efforts at redress are exhausted, taking collective action to force some accountability on the system.”

Damascus, November 7, 2023

Photo: Facebook     

His Beatitude Patriarch John X of Antioch and All the East led a thanksgiving prayer on the occasion of the glorification of the two hieromartyrs, Frs. Nicholas and Habib Khasha, at the Church of the Holy Cross in Al-Qassaa, Damascus on Saturday, November 4, reports the Patriarchate of Antioch.

The saints, a father and son pair, martyred in 1916 and 1948 respectively, were canonized by the Holy Synod of the Patriarchate of Antioch on Antiochian Church canonizes two saints, adds St. Raphael and All Saints of Antioch to calendarThe service of their glorification will be celebrated this coming Saturday. Then they will be commemorated annually on July 16.

“>October 19.

On Saturday, the Antiochian Patriarch led a procession across the church courtyard with the icon of the new saints. During the service of thanksgiving, the text of the Holy Synod’s declaration of glorification of the two hieromartyrs was read out.

Photo: Facebook     

Following the service, His Beatitude gave homily on the importance of the Church of Antioch and the lives of the new saints.

“Antioch is the mother Church that introduced the word ‘Christians’ to the world, since the disciples were first called Christians here; it gave this name to the whole world and made it dance with joy on people’s lips. Antioch is the Church that gave the whole world great men, male and female saints, who showed benevolence and virtue,” the Patriarch said.

Photo: Facebook     

Regarding the lives of Sts. Nicholas and Habib Khasha, His Beatitude stressed two points:

1. “That holiness is the path of every believer, and not “exclusively” for monks and nuns. Holiness is the path of every good human being, which is to forget what is behind, that is, darkness, murder, and vice, and to extend forward, to the Master and to virtue.

2. About the importance of family. St. Nicholas and St. Habib, were both born into a family and raised one, so let us preserve our families and our children. His Beatitude pointed out that the words father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, brother, and sister are sacred words that we must preserve. We must raise our children according to the Holy Bible.”

Following the prayer service, the faithful participated in another procession with the icon of the hieromartyrs. Booklets containing their lives and copies of their icon were distributed to them as well.

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The Vatican’s pediatric hospital has offered to treat 8-month-old baby Indi Gregory after a British court ruled that she be removed from life support against her parents’ wishes.

Gregory, who was born in February, suffers from a rare degenerative mitochondrial disease and has been receiving life-sustaining treatment on a ventilator at the Queen’s Medical Centre in Nottingham, England.

After England’s high court ruled that it was in the child’s “best interests” to be taken off life support, Gregory’s parents appealed to take her to Rome for treatment, an appeal that was denied by a British judge over the weekend.

The Italian government decided in an emergency meeting on Monday to grant the critically ill child Italian citizenship and to cover the cost of her medical treatment at the Vatican’s Bambino Gesù hospital.

“They say there isn’t much hope for little Indi, but until the very end, I’ll do what I can to defend her life,” Italian President Giorgia Meloni wrote on social media on Nov. 6. “And to defend the right of her mamma and papa to do all that they can for her.”

The Bambino Gesù hospital has previously offered medical treatment to other critically ill children, including Alfie Evans in 2018 and Charlie Gard in 2017, both of whom were ultimately denied the chance to travel to Italy by U.K. courts and died days after being removed from life support.

Christian Concern has published a letter from the president of the Bambino Gesù hospital outlining “a detailed treatment plan” for the child, which includes “life-sustaining treatment and palliative care to ensure Indi’s survival and comfort while the treatments take effect.”

Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern and the Christian Legal Centre supporting the Gregorys’ case, has noted that this is believed to be the first time that a parent’s appeal against an order to withdraw life-sustaining treatment has been rejected by the Court of Appeal without a hearing.

“The law is there to protect life and the most vulnerable in our society. What is happening in this case sets a very worrying precedent with regard to that principle,” Williams said.

“It is very concerning that a child can be held against the parents’ wishes when they have alternative treatment available.”

With the newly granted Italian citizenship, the child’s parents, Dean Gregory and Claire Staniforth, can appeal to the Italian consulate in Britain to request that their daughter be airlifted to Italy for treatment, according to Reuters.

Simone Pillon, an Italian lawyer assisting the Gregory family, wrote on Nov. 7: “We are working to find an agreement between the two countries to satisfy the family’s request and treat Indi in Rome.”

In response to the Italian government’s decision, Dean Gregory, Indi’s father, said: “My heart fills up with joy that the Italians have given Claire and I hope and faith back in humanity. The Italians have shown us care and loving support and I wish the U.K. authorities were the same.”

Washington, D.C., November 7, 2023

Evstraty Zorya, a lead propagandsit of the schismatic “Orthodox Church of Ukraine.” Photo: washingtontimes.com     

The Ukrainian Council of Churches and Religious Organizations (UCCRO) sent a delegation to America on a propaganda tour last week.

Besides talking about the effects of the war, the delegation blatantly lied about the facts of the persecution against the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

The group consisted of schismatics, Uniates, Jews, Muslims, and sectarians, but the canonical UOC, the largest confession in Ukraine, was not permitted to send a representative.

Among the speakers at a panel discussion with the U.S. Institute of Peace was “Metropolitan” Evstraty Zorya, once the faithful servant of the defrocked and anathematized “Patriarch” Philaret Denisenko, and now a representative of the “Orthodox Church of Ukraine,” whose ministry, conducted online, is centered on denouncing the faith of his fellow Ukrainians in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.

Zorya spoke of the UCCRO as an image of the “peaceful co-existence of people who have different faiths, different national identities, but deep and fruitful, mutual cooperation.”

“We really enjoy freedom of religion and belief. We really protect these rights,” the schismatic claimed, while failing to mention that the people of his organization routinely violently attack priests, matushkas, monastics, and laymen while damaging and seizing their churches.

Zorya also deceived his audience concerning the Ukrainian Parliament votes for bill to ban UOC in first reading, second reading still to comeMany local administrations have declared bans on the Church, though at the same time, the Church’s activities have continued in those localities.

“>draft law that aims to ban the Ukrainian Orthodox Church. He noted that the bill does not name any specific religious organization, but aims to ban any group that is headed within Russian. Thus, according to him, the fact that the canonical UOC is against the bill proves that they still consider themselves part of the Moscow Patriarchate. However, he chose not to mention that despite the fact that the UOC declared its independence already more than a year ago, Ukraine takes another step towards banning the Church—declares UOC is still part of Moscow PatriarchateThe Ukrainian state has taken another serious step towards banning the canonical Ukrainian Orthodox Church.”>the Ukrainian state has, conversely, declared that the UOC remains part of the Moscow Patriarchate. This supposedly justifies outright persecution against the only canonical Orthodox Church in Ukraine.

The same propaganda was repeated the next day at a meeting with American journalists, representatives of research institutions, and Sen. Church Grassley (R-Iowa).

Zorya also gave an interview to Voice of America in which he called Truth about what’s happening to the Ukrainian Church is banned in the U.S., UOC lawyer tells Tucker Carlson (+VIDEO)“It is shocking to me that a country such as the United States, with strong Christian leadership—I thought—could allow this to go on,” Amsterdam says.

“>Tucker Carlson and Bob Amsterdam, the lawyer who is providing a pro bono defense to the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, propagandists because they spoke about the facts of persecution in Ukraine today.

He also claimed that the canonical UOC “did not consider it necessary to send a person corresponding to the level of the delegation to participate in this event.” However, Archpriest Nikolai Danilevich, Deputy Head of the UOC’s Department for External Church Relations, explains that this is another lie, that the UCCRO ignored the UOC’s attempts to involve a delegate.

The UOC’s Department for External Church Relations issued a response to the propaganda from the UCCRO delegates:

On October 31, 2023, the official website of the UCCRO posted a message stating that during a recent trip to the USA and meetings with American journalists, experts from leading research centers, and a U.S. Senator, which took place in Washington on October 31, 2023, the delegation members declared that “despite the martial law, a high level of religious freedom is maintained in Ukraine and no church has been banned.”

In connection with the fact that on October 19, 2023, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted in the first reading bill №8371, which is aimed at prohibiting and violating the right to freedom of religion of religious communities and believers of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – the largest religious association in Ukraine, the declared “high level of religious freedom” may be lost.

Furthermore, we draw attention to the fact that some statements that were made public by individual representatives of the UCCRO cannot be considered as the position of the UCCRO, as they were not subject to review and were not adopted at its meetings, where decisions are made by consensus. Therefore, such statements should be regarded as the personal position of some representatives of the UCCRO delegation.

We also believe that in light of the adoption in the first reading of bill №8371, it is incorrect to speak about the presence or absence of violations of religious freedom concerning a particular denomination, in our case – the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, without the direct presence of representatives of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, who for some reason were not included in the delegation, although they had submitted a candidate representative.

In view of this, we emphasize that:

1. Some statements that sounded in Washington should not be considered as the position of the UCCRO, but only as the personal position of individual members – that is, individual religious figures.

2. It is also incorrect to speak about the Ukrainian Orthodox Church without the presence of its representatives. Just as the state of Ukraine demands that politicians do not decide its fate and do not lead discussions about its position without its presence at the international level, so too our Church calls not to talk about it without the presence of official representatives from the UOC.

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The Cathedral of the Annunciation in Stockton, California, was vandalized on the morning of Nov. 5 with white paint splattered across the church’s signs and front doors, with law enforcement currently investigating if the vandalism constituted a hate crime against the church.

Stockton police described the vandalism as “white paint randomly applied to the front door area, a walkway, and landscaping area as well as a flatbed trailer parked.”

The vandalism is believed to have occurred around 5:45 a.m., according to police. Law enforcement will be investigating if the vandalism was a hate crime.

There have been no arrests in the case and a suspect has not yet been identified, a police spokesman told CNA on Monday.

Diocese of Stockton Bishop Myron Cotta said in a statement Sunday that he was “deeply saddened” to learn about the attack on the church.

“I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to our dedicated parish staff and parishioners for their swift assistance in managing the situation,” Cotta said in the statement.

He also gave a “special thanks” to the Stockton Police Department for its “prompt response” arriving at the scene.

The city of Stockton is located south of Sacramento and just east of San Francisco.

The cathedral on Sunday posted photos of the vandalism to Facebook.

The cathedral on its Facebook page said it is “alive with the Holy Spirit.”

“Thanks to our amazing parishioners [who] volunteered their pressure-washing equipment and talent, and our maintenance person who will finish off the details on the doors,” the post said.

“Thank you to the community for your prayers. God is good!” the church wrote.

Numerous acts of vandalism against Catholic churches have occurred around the U.S. in recent months.

Last month, two Catholic churches in Massachusetts were vandalized, one being the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston.

In August, police arrested a man suspected of attempting to light an Ohio church on fire in addition to heavily vandalizing it, causing an estimated $20,000 in damages.

In June and July, a church in El Paso, Texas, and a school in Denver were targeted as well.

Leveling hierarchical distinctions in the Church without removing them entirely has emerged as a principal objective of Pope Francis’ Synod on Synodality.

That is perhaps the chief conclusion to be drawn from the first session of the synod, which took place October 4-29 at the Vatican. The second, and presumably last, session will be held in October next year.

Advance speculation had focused on whether the synod would address hot-button issues like ordaining women and giving blessings to same-sex couples. But although these topics were discussed — though no consensus was reached — the synod’s more immediate goal was the less dramatic, but in the long run arguably more significant, objective of cutting back on clergy-only hierarchy.

Several things that happened at the session suggest as much.

One was the seating arrangement. In a dispatch from the synod, Christopher Lamb, Rome correspondent of the London Tablet and a synod booster, wrote enthusiastically of what he called “a new moment” — cardinals, bishops, and laypeople all sitting together at roundtables. Even the pope sat there while addressing the synod, Lamb noted.

The symbolism was clear — rank doesn’t count at a synod.

Father Dario Vitali, an Italian theologian serving as coordinator of theological consultants at the synod, carried things beyond symbolism when he told the participants that in the synodal Church of the future, “we will have to rethink the whole Church, all the institutions, the whole life of the Church in a synodal sense.”

And Cardinal Michael Czerny, SJ, prefect of the Holy See’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, provided the clincher when he told a news conference, “I think that the identification between [holy] orders and offices is something that is being overcome.”

What does that mean? Cardinal Czerny gave this explanation:

“In other words, we’re understanding orders not to be necessary for every office which until now has been headed by a cleric and in fact a hierarch and in some cases even a cardinal. There’s no danger to the nature of the Church because there are responsibilities which are already being, and which perhaps will increasingly be, entrusted to noncardinals, nonbishops, nonpriests.”

The trajectory of events being described here did not begin with the Synod on Synodality. In fact, it goes back a half-century and involves the progressive clericalization of the Catholic laity. A little history sheds light on that.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-65), speaking of the apostolate of the laity, said laypeople have “this special vocation: to make the Church present and fruitful in those places where it is only through them that she can become the salt of the earth” (“Lumen Gentium,” 33).

That formal recognition of the lay apostolate directed to evangelizing the secular order was real progress. But within a few years, the word “apostolate” had disappeared from the Catholic vocabulary as a description of the laity’s special role and been replaced by “ministry.” Originally, lay ministries were limited to liturgical offices, but over time “ministry” came to be used for just about anything laypeople do in a church setting. That is approximately where the clericalization of the laity stands now.

If the change that Cardinal Czerny outlined — letting laypeople hold some offices in the Church now reserved to people in holy orders — becomes reality, that will be the next step in clericalizing the laity. Meantime, apostolate carried on by laypeople and directed to evangelizing an increasingly de-Christianized world will be even more out in the cold. Score one for synodality, I guess.

Early on Oct. 7, Jesus Fernandez was flying into Tel Aviv to organize a conference to help some Arab government leaders work toward normalizing relations with Israel, as envisioned in the Abraham Accords. When the plane ended Wi-Fi service shortly before landing, he was optimistic.

Minutes later, as Wi-Fi returned on the runway, “we had received about 1,000 notifications about rockets hitting the southern part of Israel — and the hostages,” said Fernandez, a 2016 graduate of St. Anthony High School in Long Beach who is now associate director of global events for the Atlantic Council.

The conference was canceled. Fernandez hesitates to predict the future of the effort. His advice to LA Catholics who want to help is to support the major Catholic organizations doing humanitarian work in and around the war zone. “There are Christian leaders doing great work over there,” he said. “Remember the most vulnerable and find ways that you can support them.”

Catholics from Southern California are known for stepping up with that kind of support when it’s been most needed.

Denise Scalzo is councilor for the Western Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem — whose grand prior is Archbishop José H. Gomez of Los Angeles — and a founder of the Franciscan Foundation for the Holy Land.

A professional fundraiser who lives in the San Diego area, Scalzo has been to the Holy Land 103 times since 1991. She was scheduled for a medical mission when the war erupted.

“I don’t take sides,” she said of the current situation. Rather, Scalzo’s foundation works to keep a Christian presence in a region known for complex tensions and competing claims.

Three decades ago, “Christians were leaving the country and we were trying to provide enough for them to stay there,” Scalzo said. “They really didn’t want to leave. But they wanted their children to be in a safe community. So we worked on supporting basic human rights and resources that are important for their community.”

To do that, the Franciscan Foundation supplements income from the Holy Land collection, which churches around the world take on Good Friday for Franciscan ministry in the lands of Jesus and the earliest Christians. The popes have given custody of the Holy Land to the Franciscans since the 13th century because of their history of evangelizing through friendship. The foundation, incorporated in 1994, is intended to keep a Christian presence there, and provides humanitarian and educational assistance to everyone in those communities, regardless of faith or ethnicity.

Franciscan aid programs range from scholarships and music education to housing. Children Without Borders organizes soccer teams of Christians, Muslims, and Jews so that they interact with one another. It also sponsors the interfaith Children’s March for Peace each year in Bethlehem.

“Saying that all Palestinians are like Hamas is like saying that all Italians are like the mafia,” Scalzo said.

The people of Gaza endure especially harsh conditions, she said. Although that region has always been impoverished, after Hamas was elected to govern it in 2007, Israel and Egypt established blockades. It is extremely difficult for residents to leave, even in cases of dire need.

The young people who participated in church-sponsored programs in the 1990s “were more hopeful. They would say, ‘We don’t dislike Jews and other people the way our parents do.’… Seeing that break down is really hard to watch,” she said.

“But there is such a difference between going through the intifada and watching what is happening now.”

Late last month, the Vatican’s ambassador to the United Nations, Archbishop Gabriele Caccia, declared that the Holy see “unequivocally condemns the terrorist attack carried out by Hamas and other armed groups,” calling the killings crimes that “demonstrate utter contempt for human life.”

He also reminded the world that responsibility for terrorist acts “can never be attributed to an entire nation or people” and urged the governments of Israel and Palestine to “renew their commitment toward a peace based on justice and respect for the legitimate aspirations of both sides.”

Meanwhile, the Franciscan Foundation estimates that within 50 years the Christian community will vanish from the lands where Jesus walked unless major steps are taken to support them and the communities in which they live.

When the Holy See founded a relief committee during the Arab-Israeli War in 1949 — which it had entrusted to the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) — Christians comprised 20% of the Holy Land population. Today they are less than 2%, and just 1,000 of Gaza’s 2.2 million residents are Christian. CNEWA works in and through the Eastern Catholic Churches of the Holy Land, as well as in Eastern Europe and northeast Africa, to support their pastoral and humanitarian work.

“We always work through local institutions and the local church, but in places like Gaza, the Church is tiny,” said Michael La Civita, communications director for CNEWA. “The Church has many institutions there, such as schools and health care centers, but almost 100% of the population that they serve is Muslim.”

CNEWA has spent years helping humanitarian organizations in Gaza prepare for such an emergency. At Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, a Christian facility that was struck on Oct. 17 by a shell of disputed origin, “95% of the energy was supplied by solar panels. We installed those solar panels.” La Civita said.

Because all of CNEWA’s aid money is delivered and distributed through the Church, the agency has been able to continue transferring funds for the purchase of any relief supplies that are available, he said. The arrival of those supplies, however, has been hampered by the limited number of aid trucks able to enter Gaza. 

The most important Christian holy site in Gaza is St. Porphyrios Church, an Orthodox parish that traces its roots to the 5th century. Hundreds of people were sheltering in a multipurpose building on the church campus when it collapsed under fire on Oct. 19. Among at least 16 killed were a staff member of the international Catholic relief agency Caritas, her husband, and their infant daughter.

The 26-year-old staff member had “served as a lab technician with the mobile medical teams, tending to the needs of the most vulnerable people in Gaza,” said Marta Petrosillo, fundraising director for Caritas International.

By Oct. 20, the Arab Orthodox Cultural Center — which CNEWA supports — was caring for 3,000 refugees, while Catholic and Orthodox churches were sheltering hundreds of others.

“Israel and Palestine have a very strong Catholic presence that I don’t think people are aware of,” said Margaret Romano, lieutenant of the Western USA lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and a parishioner at St. Philip in Pasadena.

“The sisters there and the Franciscan priests work so very hard to bring the faith to the people; and keep them strong in their faith and give them hope. To see these events now is just heartbreaking.”

The Order of the Holy Sepulchre dates to the Crusades. In the 19th century the Holy See assigned it to support ministries of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem — including educational and social services that benefit people of all faiths — and has since expanded its work to include churches throughout the Middle East.

“We’ve become friends with people there who just want to raise their families like we do. They are people of very great faith,” Romano said.

She cited a letter from Suhail Abodawood, an 18-year-old Palestinian Christian who was sheltering with 700 others in Gaza’s Holy Family Church.

“I know that we are safe and secure in my Lord’s hands, Jesus Christ,” he wrote in a letter published by Vatican News. “I am praying and fasting in the church right now[.]”

Romano has also been inspired by the words and actions of Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, whose religious and humanitarian ministries her order supports. On Oct. 16 Pizzaballa told journalists that he was willing to be exchanged for the Israeli children that Hamas had taken hostage.

In a pastoral letter, he called for “ending decades of occupation and its tragic consequences,” saying that this was necessary for “a serious peace process” to begin.

But he stressed that the roots of peace are spiritual.

“It was on the cross that Jesus won: not with weapons, not with political power, not by great means, nor by imposing himself. The peace He speaks of has nothing to do with victory over others. He won the world by loving it,” he wrote.

“It takes courage to be able to demand justice without spreading hatred. It takes courage to ask for mercy to reject oppression, to promote equality without demanding uniformity, while remaining free.”

It’s a message that people like Scalzo have taken to heart. Recently at church, she wrote a petition for Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and ISIS “that they have conversion of heart.”

“All of this is demonic,” said Scalzo. “How can people possibly change if you don’t pray for them? Of course, we pray for the people who are struggling. Of course, we pray for survival for everyone. But if we don’t pray for a conversion of hearts, what is the purpose of our faith?”

How to help the Holy Land

Here are web links to some Catholic organizations working for peace and providing humanitarian aid in the Israel-Hamas War.

Hieromonk Silouan (Brown) Several years ago, Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen)Jonah (Paffhausen), Metropolitan

“>Metropolitan Jonah began building a new monastery outside Washington, DC. Dedicated to the Great Martyr Demetrios of Thessaloniki, it became the first Russian Orthodox brotherhood in the area of the U.S. capital. Fr. Silouan (Brown) was the first monk there. Now he spends most of his time serving the ROCOR mission in Uganda, but from time to time he returns here—to “recharge his batteries,” as he says.

—Father Silouan, you are a member of St. Demetrios monastery near DC. What does this monastery mean for you?

—It is home. Many of us are working clergy with parish responsibilities all over Virginia and Africa. We have a mission; we have priests. Ultimately, it is a very difficult calling to be a priest. So, the monastery is where we return to and recharge our batteries. It is the same way for everybody in many ways.

I had some friends on Mount Athos. Some years ago, there was a real shortage of clerics in Greece. One of the local bishops went to Athos and asked a number of hieromonks to come down from the Holy Mountain and serve at some of his local parishes. That bishop said he would build them a monastery where they could go and recharge their batteries. This monastery was set up with five hieromonks and three simple monks. On a rotating basis, one of the hieromonks would continue to do all daily cycle services, and the others were assigned and had their obediences in parishes around Greece. Then, when they returned to the monastery, they could re-focus on what is truly important: Christ and living the monastic life. So, their monastery became the place where they could recharge their batteries and get ready for active ministry in the world.

That is the way I see the monastery here. I have many challenges in Africa, and many times, I get beat up. But the monastery here is a safe place where I can go back to be with my brothers, be in church, recover, and come back to Africa and do it again.

—Why did you choose this monastery several years ago? Or did the monastery choose you?

Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) —My spiritual father chose me. I was significantly wounded by my time in the military when I served in Iraq. It beat me up emotionally, psychologically, spiritually, and physically. I ran into many situations that were just extremely painful and abusive. Metropolitan Jonah (Paffhausen) was probably the only spiritual father with enough patience to let me heal and get to where I am today.

I do not like the East Coast; I would love to be in the West. I grew up in Colorado. But finding a true spiritual father can be extremely difficult; you must be where you can get it. Whatever I do; I give myself 100 percent to it until God redirects me. I gave myself 100 percent to joining Metropolitan Jonah when he started this monastery. Then I was given the obedience to work in Africa, and I give myself 100 percent there, and will continue to do so for as long as God blesses and directs me. That is where I go.

—You became the first monk in the monastery. How did that happen? And what was the monastery’s life at that time?

—A: Metropolitan Jonah had started a monastery dedicated to St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco in California many years ago. It had a large brotherhood. Then, he was elected the Metropolitan and primate of the Orthodox Church of America (OCA). It was a short-lived obedience, and he went through many different situations and convergences.

I had met him around twenty years earlier, when he was still a hieromonk. So, we knew of each other. Shortly after Vladyka Jonah retired from the OCA, Metropolitan Hilarion (Kapral), the First Hierarch of the ROCOR, told me to find another monastery because he had closed down the monastery where I was tonsured a ryassaphore monk. Metropolitan Jonah was saying at the time that he wanted to start another monastery. However, he was still recovering from the traumas related to his retirement.

So, founding the monastery was a process; I think both of us were looking, waiting, and discerning what God wanted to do next with us as individuals and eventual members of the brotherhood, putting one foot in front of the other and living the life in Christ. The goal of a solid monastic brotherhood was always on the horizon.

Ordination of Hieromonk Silouan. Photo: virginiamonks.org     

The monastery is very full now, and we must find a bigger place. People want to join us, but there is no room in our monastery. However, I am confident that God will provide everything this monastery needs as long as we remain faithful to him.

Vladyka Jonah has a special gift for helping young men struggling in their ways and lives and giving them the support and patience to be healed and find Christ.

—Have you seen monastery life in other countries—in Russia, Ukraine, or others? How does it correspond to what you have at St. Demetrios?

—Vladyka Jonah’s spiritual father, Bishop Pankratiy, is the Abbot of Valaam. The last time I was there, I was told that when the monks were reopening the monastery after the fall of the Soviet Union, they did not really thrive under a strict Russian Typicon. So, they brought in some Athonite monks, who brought with them some of the best of the Athonite traditions. So, the brotherhood in Valaam was basically able to come up with the best of Russia and Greece in their monastic Typicon. And you can see in their chants, even today, a syntheses of the monastic traditions.

So, that influence was powerful with Metropolitan Jonah; in addition to that, from St. Silouan to St. Sofrony to Elder Zacharias in Essex monastery (monastery of St. John the Baptist in Essex, England), there has been a real emphasis on the Jesus prayer, and its place in our spiritual and psychological healing. So, our monastery is very similar to the All Saints skete on Valaam. We have the Liturgy, Vespers, and Hours. Still, we also have periods of sitting and silence as the brotherhood says the Jesus prayer. It is kind of a synthesis coming through Valaam; it is a synthesis of the best of America, the best of Greece, the best of Russia, and desert spirituality—the focus on the Jesus prayer and using it as a tool to uproot our deeply rooted passions.

—Can you share your experience of your personal relations with your heavenly patron, St. Demetrios? How do you talk to him? What answers do you hear?

—I visited him in Thessaloniki, and I asked for his help. But this relationship comes really from Metropolitan Jonah, not me directly. When he was starting his first monastery, he took a trip to Greece; he had many young men who wanted to come and live the monastic life. Vladyka was in Thessaloniki, went to St. Demetrios, and said: “I have these young men; they really want to be monks, but I do not have a place for them. Please help!”

When he returned to the US, a very large check from a donor was in the mail waiting for him. It was clear that St. Demetrios’s help allowed him to build his first monastery.

So, I do not know how to describe the relationship any more straightforwardly than to say that we are co-workers…

Photo: orthodoxafrica.org     

—Now you spend almost all your time in Africa, serving a mission in Uganda. Do you want to open a St. Demetrios chapter or an independent monastery in Uganda sometime in the future?

—I do not have any plans for that. Clearly Africa needs strong monasticism, and a couple of monasteries are doing some excellent work bringing up young monastics. Definitely, monasticism is the backbone of the Church and its Evangelization. That being said, God can do whatever He wants, but I do not see myself as having that charism. I do not think that this is my talent. It would be very difficult to imagine myself as superior to the monastery, an abbot, or something like that. I do not think it is me, but… God has surprised me many times before, so—He knows.

St. Engelbert was born in Berg around 1185, the son of a count. He studied at the cathedral school in Cologne, and was made provost of the churches of St. George and St. Severin while he was still a boy. In 1199, he was made provost of the cathedral at Cologne. 

Engelbert was involved in many worldly affairs, and waged war for his cousin, Archbishop Adolf, against Archbishop Bruno. Adolf and Engelbert were excommunicated by the pope and deposed for two years until he submitted to the pope, and joined the crusade against the Albigenses. 

In 1216, he was elected Archbishop. He welcomed Franciscans and Dominicans into his diocese, and insisted on strict religious observance. He was known as a friend to the poor and the clergy. 

In 1221, Engelbert was appointed guardian of the king of Germany, Henry VII, who was then a minor, and administrator of the empire. At 12, Henry was crowned king by Engelbert, who continued to watch over his education and secure peace within the realm. 

Many of the nobility feared Engelbert, and he surrounded himself with bodyguards. His own family posed a threat to him as well; his cousin, a count, had oppressed the abbey of nuns in Essen, and Honorius III urged Engelbert to protect the nuns. The count and his men attacked Engelbert one evening and killed him. His body was covered and brought to Cologne four days later. The cousin was banned and punished, and confessed his guilt before he died. 

Engelbert’s body was laid in the cathedral of Cologne in 1226. Cardinal Conrad von Urach declared him a martyr, and a convent for nuns was erected in the place where he died.