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"She still has the bruises on her arm where this man manhandled her on Tuesday afternoon. It was about twenty to four in the afternoon," Paul Wagner of Fox 5 said Friday. "The story of what happened inside that house is incredible."

The nun, who spoke to the station on the condition of anonymity, said the intruder burst into the Columbia Heights home she shares with other nuns and grabbed her blouse.

"Yeah, he was nervous. He was frantic," she said. "‘Where's the money? Where's the money?' I don't know how many times he said that." Read more

Sister Pierrette Thiffault's authority to celebrate the marriage came from Rome after the Congregation of Divine Worship and for the Discipline of Sacraments agreed she would be suitable to carry out this ministry.

In a Catholic marriage ceremony, the minister celebrating the sacrament is not the priest. The ministers preforming the wedding are in fact the bride and groom themselves

According to Canon Law (Canon 1112) "Where there is a lack of priests and deacons, the diocesan bishop can delegate lay persons to assist at marriages, with the previous favourable vote of the conference of bishops and after he has obtained the permission of the Holy See".

It goes on to say that "A suitable lay person is to be selected, who is capable of giving instruction to those preparing to be married and able to perform the matrimonial liturgy properly."

In the Code of Canon Law, the word "lay" has no gender connotation. This means "every time Canon Law attributes something to a layperson, it applies to both men and women".

It goes on to explain that "Within the matrimonial liturgy, the priest's duty is that of being a qualified witness. For this reason, the canonical rules provide, exceptionally and in cases of proven need, the possibility of a layperson to preside over the liturgy, after obtaining permission from the Holy See.".

Pierrette is a pastoral worker in the parish of Moffett, which neighbors Lorrainville, where the wedding took place on 22 July.

Source

• La Croix
• Catholic News World
• LaStampa
• Image: LaStampa

So when the Volvo she was riding in one morning last week crested the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and the skyscraper came into full view, it made a strong impression.

"Oh, my gosh," Sister Rice exclaimed. Drinking in the scenery and the panorama of New York Harbor, she added, "We're well on our way."

It was her fifth day of freedom after two years behind bars for a crime for which she is boldly unapologetic. In 2012, she joined two other peace activists in splattering blood and antiwar slogans on a nuclear plant in Tennessee that holds enough highly enriched uranium to make thousands of nuclear warheads. All three were convicted and sent to prison. But on May 8, an appellate court ruled that the government had overreached in charging them with sabotage, and ordered them set free.

Since her release on May 16, Sister Rice, a Manhattan native, had been reconnecting with family and friends, as well as seeing doctors, lawyers and reporters. She took time to visit St. Patrick's Cathedral, and she made her first purchase: peanut butter frozen yogurt topped with hot fudge.

Now, dressed in a sweatsuit that fellow inmates had given her, the nun was traveling to the American headquarters of her order in Rosemont, Pa., a suburb of Philadelphia. The agenda was to confer with her superiors about her future — one in which she plans to continue her antinuclear activism. One threat was that the federal government might challenge the recent ruling and try to have her thrown back in prison.

"It would be an honor," Sister Rice said during the ride. "Good Lord, what would be better than to die in prison for the antinuclear cause?" Continue reading

Sources

• The New York Times
• Image: Huffington Post

Sr Megan Rice and two men had their convictions for sabotage overturned.

But their convictions for damaging government property were upheld.

The court ordered they be resentenced on the latter convictions, based on time already served.

In 2012, the three cut through four layers of fences and entered the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

They spray-painted antiwar slogans, splashed blood and hammered on exterior walls of the facility as part of their protest against nuclear weapons.

"They did not cut [the fences] to allow Qaeda to slip in behind," the ruling stated.

Continue reading

Bishop Joseph Gomes of Krishnagar, who visited the nun in hospital on Monday, added: "She told me that ‘justice should be done'."

"This should be never be repeated or happen to anyone else."

The attack took place after a group of masked men broke into the Jesus and Mary Congregation convent in Ranaghat, about 60 kms from Kolkata, last Friday night.

Ten suspects are currently being detained in connection with incident.

Demonstrations have taken place throughout India calling on authorities to hasten their investigation.

Continue reading

A 74-year-old nun was attacked by six men during a burglary at the Convent of Jesus and Mary, which was attached to a school in eastern West Bengal.

The woman is in a stable condition in a hospital near Calcutta.

Prayers for her are being said in churches throughout India.

The Archbishop of Calcutta, Thomas d'Souza, told the BBC that there are only three sisters in the community.

"One sister was molested badly. The other two, and a guard, were tied to chairs."

The men also stole money from the school, he said, vandalised the chapel, broke open the tabernacle and took away a ciborium.

"They not only committed a heinous crime, but they also vandalised the chapel . . . This is the first time such an attack has happened in India," he said.

Eight men have been detained by police and there are reports that four of the six attackers have been identified through CCTV footage.

A reward of 100,000 rupees is on offer for any leads on the suspects.

The attack has fuelled fears among beleaguered Christians in the country.

Christian groups have recently held protests in the capital, Delhi, saying they are being targeted and demanding better protection.

A spate of attacks on churches prompted the Hindu nationalist prime minister, Narendra Modi, to promise a crackdown on religious violence.

Mr Modi had been heavily criticised for not speaking out earlier against religious violence.

He has also faced flak for remaining silent about a spate of mass "re-conversions" of Christians and Muslims to Hinduism.

The 2012 gang rape of a student led to a major reform of India's rape laws, speeding up trials and increasing penalties.

But many campaigners say little has changed for women.

Sources

• BBC
• The Guardian
• Image: New York Daily News

Forcades — a Benedictine nun, activist, feminist theologian and physician from Catalonia in Spain — and Francis — a Jesuit pope from Argentina — share a kindred vision of empowering the poor through nonviolence.

Both understand the relationship between capitalism and poverty.

Francis has denounced the "idolatry of money" and implored world leaders to assure all people "dignified work, education and healthcare."

In a way, Forcades takes it further by advocating that the state must be challenged from the bottom up. The people must be the agents of change.

"When I talk about church, we talk about how the Gospel inspired us. There are many kinds of church, and I identify with the people at the bottom, at the base.

"Many people have a hope that the Catholic church might change because of the pope, but if you look at history, change comes from bottom up, not from top down," Forcades said to a room overflowing with "local radical activists" Continue reading.

Source: National Catholic Reporter

Image: psalmboxkey.com

I noticed on my Facebook newsfeed a story about an Sr Cristina Scuccia, an Italian member of the Ursuline Sisters of the Holy Family, and her stunning performance of "No One" (originally by Alicia Keys) on the Italian version of the popular tv show, The Voice.

Her voice, enthusiasm, and spirit brought the crowd to its feet and tears to the eyes of at least one judge. Watch here.

Soon after watching, I came across an article in "The Atlantic" questioning the enthusiastic response of the crowd and wondering to what degree they were excited by the novelty of the scene, rather than by a response to the performance or to a genuine value of seeing a vowed religious in this context.

These are strong questions arising from a legitimate concern that our society of spectacle embraces even (or perhaps especially?) religiosity in a way that does not, at the same time, invite reflection and allow for the possibility of deep transformation toward God. Continue reading.

Source: Daily Theology

Image: Daily Theology

Troy Grant, a former police officer who is now a member of the state Parliament, said the nun visited his home and ‘‘provided me with false evidence and tipped off a priest''.

Grant told a special commission of inquiry in Newcastle that he was aware of collusion within the Church to hide serious sex offences as far back as 1974.

"There were individuals who acted completely inappropriately, commensurate with their pastoral care. I believe they acted illegally," he said.

"Their level of culpability has never been tested in the court system, they've never been questioned or put before their peers to answer for what they did," he said.

"What they did in 1974, 1975, 1981 and then 1995 meant that a lot of (church abuse) victims need not have been victims — that's where the tragedy is."

Grant was a strong lobbyist for the royal commission that is currently inquiring into the handling of child sex abuse claims, and has publicly called for the resignation of Cardinal George Pell of Sydney over his personal handling of cases.

Earlier, whistleblower cop Peter Fox — whose allegations of Church cover-ups sparked the NSW inquiry — gave evidence that Troy Grant had warned him about a "Catholic mafia" within the police force.

But speaking to media after giving evidence, Grant said he had never encountered a "Catholic mafia" within the police.

The commission will examine the extent to which Catholic Church officials co-operated with police, including whether any investigation was hindered by failure to report criminal offences.

Three senior clergy will testify — current Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson, who held senior positions in the Maitland-Newcastle diocese in the 1980s and early 90s, retired Bishop Michael Malone, and Australian Catholic Bishops Conference secretary Father Brian Lucas.

Sources:

The Australian

Newcastle Star

Sydney Morning Herald

Image: Newcastle Star

This description of life in Gaza under bombardment comes from a sister of the Congregation of the Incarnate Word, which is charge of the pastoral care programme for the Holy Family parish.

Continue reading

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To be sure, Farrell has spoken publicly and with quiet clarity about why the organization she heads.

But it is Farrell's own life — a vocation that has taken her from the Iowa heartland to ministry in Pinochet's Chile and war-ravaged El Salvador and back again to Iowa — that may be the best way to understand the root of Rome's clash with the nuns, and why it may not be going away anytime soon, much as Farrell wishes it would.

"I've had a dramatic life, I really have. But the drama of it is not what's important," says Farrell, a soft-spoken, 65-year-old Franciscan who eventually, if hesitatingly, agreed to discuss her more than two decades in Latin America. "The best of what we do is not about high drama."

Indeed, behind the drama is a story of service to the poor, advocacy for the marginalized, and a radical spirituality that has profoundly shaped Farrell and many nuns like her — as well as shaped the identity of the LCWR. Viewed in this context, the standoff is not a political struggle or power play as much as a contrast of complementary roles and experiences in the church. Continue reading

Image: CathNews USA

They also argue, that according to the Church's moral guidelines, religious women are free to take the pill for this purpose.

As reported by the Guardian, the scientists say that it is an established scientific fact that by not having children there is an increased risk in getting cancer because pregnancy, and breastfeeding a baby, reduces the number of ovulatory cycles a woman has in her lifetime.

More ovulatory cycles increases cancer risk.

While increasing the risk of blood clots, the oral contraceptive pill has been shown to reduce the

• overall mortality rates of women who have ever taken it by 12% compared with non-users, and
• risk of developing ovarian and endometrial cancers by 50%-60% in pill users compared with never-users. (Protection that persists for 20 years.)

Writing in the Lancet, Dr Kara Britt from Monash University, Melbourne, and Professor Roger Short from the University of Melbourne say religious women should have the option to take the pill.

"The Catholic church condemns all forms of contraception, as outlined by Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae in 1968. Although Humanae Vitae never mentions religious women, they should be free to use the contraceptive pill to protect against the hazards of nulliparity since the document states that 'the church in no way regards as unlawful therapeutic means considered necessary to cure organic diseases, even though they also have a contraceptive effect."

"If the Catholic church could make the contraceptive pill freely available to all its nuns, it would reduce the risk of those accursed pests, cancer of the ovary and uterus, and give nuns' plight the recognition it deserves," they write.

Women who begin their periods at an early age and hit the menopause late are also at a higher risk of mortality from breast, ovarian and uterine cancer.

Sources

• The Guardian
• Image: St Rita

Footage obtained by Students for a Free Tibet purports to show a 35-year-old woman in nun's robes standing on a street corner engulfed in flames.

Ivian Lunasol Sarcos Colmenares who was orphaned at a young age said she spent five years in a convent, and now she said she wants to use her title to help other people.

She said: "Winning means everything to me and I hope to take advantage of being a winner in a productive manner. I'm unbelievably happy to have won and there are some incredible girls. I first and foremost want to help people in need."

"I would like to help people like me. I am an orphan. I would also like to help the elderly and troubled teenagers. As many people as I can."

"Unfortunately I lost both my parents at a very young age which led me to study for five years in a nunnery. I spent my five years in there and my dream was to become a nun," Colmenares said.

Colmenares, 21, has a degree in human resources and currently works for a broadcasting company.

Miss Venezuela, Colmenares, beat contestants from 122 countries to the title after impressing the judges in the categories of beach beauty, top model, talent, sports, and beauty with a purpose - where the contestants must demonstrate involvement in a charity project.

Source

• Daily Mail

Women's Organisation of the Waikato Muslim Association (WOWMA) founder, Aliya Danzeisen, told the Waikato Times she has also been physically pushed in Westfield Chartwell mall, called a "f**ing Muslim" in public, and shouted at from passing cars.

WOWMA was established four years ago to help Muslim women integrate into New Zealand society. Ms Danzeisen said discrimination in the region was high, with Muslim women the target of harassment.

The women had been verbally attacked on the bus, physically pushed in public, shouted at on the street and told to go back home, but for this group of young Muslim women, Hamilton is home.

Source

• Waikato Times
• Image: Sunday StarTimes