Christianity

Filipino Catholics in the Washington, DC area made a pilgrimage to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on September 18, 2021 to celebrate a 500-year journey of faith that continues.

The mass commemorating 500 years of Christianity in the Philippines and the feast of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz, the first Filipino martyr and saint, drew around 450 people, including women wearing indigenous silk dresses in pastel colors with delicate stitching and men wearing the traditional tagalog barong embroidered long sleeve shirts.

The morning began with a procession of around 100 Filipino Catholics who sang hymns and walked around the exterior of the basilica and through its main entrance, led by young adults carrying a cross and followed by children and d adults, some carrying banners representing different Catholic groups. Statues of Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Santo Niño de Cebú, an image of the Holy Child Jesus sacred to the Filipinos, were reverently carried in front of the sanctuary of the basilica and placed there.

In accordance with coronavirus safety guidelines, some participants wore special red masks with the anniversary year theme and logo, “Gifted to Give,” referring to how Filipino Catholics received the gift of faith. 500 years ago and are called to share this gift with the world.

Echoing this theme, Auxiliary Bishop of Washington, Mario E. Dorsonville, the principal celebrant of the Mass, told Filipino Catholics in his homily: “You have the gift of going out and giving.” Bishop Dorsonville, chair of the Committee on Migration of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, encouraged them to heed Pope Francis’ call by going out and being missionary disciples bringing Christ to the world, especially to those in the peripheries, such as the poor and migrants and refugees.

The mass at the basilica was part of the jubilee year commemorating the first mass in the Philippines, celebrated at Easter on March 31, 1521, by a Spanish priest accompanying the journey of Ferdinand Magellan, the explorer who died after engaging in a tribal battle there, but whose expedition which started with five ships and 260 men eventually completed the first round-the-world trip, with 18 surviving crew members arriving in Spain on a ship remaining laden with spices in September 1522 .

The Christian faith has flourished in the Philippines over the past five centuries. Today, the Philippines has the third largest Catholic population among any country in the world, with Catholics constituting 86 percent of its approximately 110 million people. Over 10 million Filipino migrants, mostly Catholics, live in 100 different countries around the world. An estimated 2.9 Filipino Catholics live in the United States.

This faith could be seen in dramatic fashion in 1995, when an estimated crowd of over 5 million attended Pope Saint John Paul II’s closing Mass during World Youth Day in the capital, Manila. of the Philippines, and in 2015, when it was believed that even more Filipinos attended Pope Francis’ closing Mass during his visit to that country.

In April 2021, as the bishops of the Philippines opened holy doors in cathedrals to help kick off the anniversary year, Pope Francis in a video message encouraged Filipino Catholics to “be thankful for the gift of faith … Reach out to others and bring them the hope and joy of the gospel.

Filipino Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle, Prefect of the Vatican Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples and former Archbishop of Manila, also posted a video message for the jubilee, praising the “simple hidden witnesses of the faith” over the past 500 years who have contributed to “our character as Filipinos, to the improvement of Filipino culture and to the formation of the Filipino nation.”

Cardinal Tagle said the anniversary was a time for Filipino Catholics “to re-engage in the faith (and) act on it… It is also a time to share the gift of faith with our families, in our communities, in our parishes and even for the rest of the world. The gift we have received, we must not keep for ourselves.

At the National Mass of the Sanctuary, Mgr. Walter Rossi – the rector of the basilica – welcomed the Filipino Catholics, noting that over the years he had witnessed the joy and faith of this community. He noted that Saint Lorenzo Ruiz is depicted in the dramatic mosaic of the dome of the Trinity of the sanctuary, and that its crypt church level includes an oratory at Our Lady of Antipolo which marks its 25^e anniversary next year and was donated by Filipino Catholics nationwide.

Bishop Dorsonville in his homily said that the importance of the basilica’s artwork depicting Saint Lorenzo Ruiz reflected the vital role of Filipino Catholics in the Church in the United States. He praised the testimony of this saint, who was martyred with missionaries in Japan in 1637 after refusing to renounce his faith, was canonized 300 years later and is revered as the patron saint of the Philippines, youth and servants choir, and for people working abroad.

The bishop said that this saint brought Christ to others, and he praised Filipino Catholics today for the faith that stays close to their hearts and families and inspires them to serve their parishes and be evangelists around the world. Praising the lay faithful as a blessing to the Church, the bishop also asked the Filipino priests and nuns present at mass to stand up, and he joined the congregation in applauding them.

Before Mass, people prayed dozens of rosaries in English, then in the Filipino languages ​​of Tagalog, Bicolano, Ibanag, and Cebuano. Petitions to Mass included a reading in Ibanag “for the victims of the pandemic, the earthquake in Haiti, the wildfires in North America, Hurricane Ida, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, (and) in particular migrant refugees and orphans from all over the world ”.

The mass was hosted by the Filipino community in the Washington area, in collaboration with the Archdiocese of Washington Office of Cultural Diversity and Outreach and the Asian and Pacific Islands Affairs section of the Secretariat of the Cultural Diversity of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

New Delhi: Amid an argument over the remark by the bishop of the Church of Kerala on “love and narcotic jihad”, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday (September 22nd) denied allegations of forced conversions of the Christianity to Islam in the state.

Criticizing the controversial comment by Catholic Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt, Vijayan said those making such remarks had no factual basis. “Those who create unwanted controversies over ‘love jihad’ and ‘narcotics jihad’ have no factual basis. The concern that there are forced conversions from Christianity to Islam in the state is not true, ”said Kerala CM, quoted by ANI.

The Kerala CM added that young people who have been influenced by ISIS have been de-radicalized and reintegrated into the mainstream. “Since 2018, the Kerala Police Special Branch has been running deradicalization programs in the state for young people. Some young people who have been influenced by the ideas of Daesh have been de-radicalized and brought back to the mainstream. Anti-radicalization programs are being carried out successfully, ”he said.

Since 2018, the Kerala Police Special Branch has been running deradicalization programs in the state for young people. Some young people who have been influenced by the ideas of Daesh have been de-radicalized and brought back to the mainstream. Anti-radicalization programs are successfully carried out: Kerala CM

– ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2021

Kallarangatt had angered many people by alleging that Catholic girls were largely the prey of “love and narcotic jihad” in Kerala, adding that these tactics were used to destroy non-Muslims. “They realized that in a democratic country like India, taking up arms and destroying others is not easy and adopted various tactics to target non-Muslims. In the eyes of the jihadists, non-Muslims should be destroyed. Two weapons are used. and that includes the jihad of love and the jihad of narcotics, ”he said at a religious celebration in Kottayam district in Kuruvilangadu on September 9.

Meanwhile, several Muslim organizations have urged Kallarangatt to withdraw his controversial declaration of “narcotic love and jihad”, saying no religious leader should make such “immature” remarks.

Earlier Monday, leaders of various religions met in Thiruvananthapuram and called for measures to strengthen the secular fabric of Kerala society.

Even though CM Vijayan had condemned the remarks before, he did not accept requests from the BJP and Congress to call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

(With contributions from the agency)

Live

New Delhi: Amid an argument over the remark by the bishop of the Church of Kerala on “love and narcotic jihad”, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday (September 22nd) denied allegations of forced conversions of the Christianity to Islam in the state.

Criticizing the controversial comment by Catholic Bishop Joseph Kallarangatt, Vijayan said those making such remarks had no factual basis. “Those who create unwanted controversies over ‘love jihad’ and ‘narcotics jihad’ have no factual basis. The concern that there are forced conversions from Christianity to Islam in the state is not true, ”said Kerala CM, quoted by ANI.

Kerala CM added that young people who have been influenced by ISIS have been de-radicalized and reintegrated into the mainstream. “Since 2018, the Kerala Police Special Branch has been running deradicalization programs in the state for young people. Some young people who have been influenced by the ideas of Daesh have been de-radicalized and brought back to the mainstream. Anti-radicalization programs are being carried out successfully, ”he said.

Since 2018, the Kerala Police Special Branch has been running deradicalization programs in the state for young people. Some young people who have been influenced by the ideas of Daesh have been de-radicalized and brought back to the mainstream. Anti-radicalization programs are successfully carried out: Kerala CM

– ANI (@ANI) September 22, 2021

Kallarangatt had angered many people by alleging that Catholic girls were largely the prey of “love and narcotic jihad” in Kerala, adding that these tactics were used to destroy non-Muslims. “They realized that in a democratic country like India, taking up arms and destroying others is not easy and adopted various tactics to target non-Muslims. In the eyes of the jihadists, non-Muslims should be destroyed. Two weapons are used and that includes the jihad of love and the jihad of narcotics, ”he said during a religious celebration in the district of Kottayam in Kuruvilangadu on September 9.

Meanwhile, several Muslim organizations have urged Kallarangatt to withdraw his controversial statement of “narcotic love and jihad”, saying no religious leader should make such “immature” remarks.

Earlier Monday, leaders of various religions gathered in Thiruvananthapuram and called for measures to strengthen the secular fabric of Kerala society.

Even though CM Vijayan had condemned the remarks before, he did not accept requests from the BJP and Congress to call an all-party meeting to discuss the issue.

(With contributions from the agency)

Live

ROME — On the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Pope Francis celebrated the Byzantine Divine Liturgy and called Christianity without the Cross worldly and sterile.

“Crucifixes are found all around us: on our necks, in houses, in cars, in pockets. What good is it if we do not stop to look at Jesus crucified and open our hearts to him, if we do not allow ourselves to be struck by the wounds he bears because of us, if our hearts do not swell with emotion and if we let us cry before the wounded God for love for us ”, declared Pope Francis in Slovakia on September 14th.

“The witnesses of the Cross have only one strategy, that of the Master: humble love. They do not wait for triumphs here on earth, for they know that the love of Christ bears fruit in the events of daily life, renewing all things from within, like the seed that falls into the earth, dies and produces lots of fruit, ”he said. .

The Pope presided over a Divine Liturgy broadcast live in the Byzantine rite in Prešov, eastern Slovakia, and delivered a homily in which he asked the question: Why did Jesus die on the cross?

“Why did he do this?” He could have saved his life, he could have kept his distance from the misery and brutality of human history, ”Pope Francis said.

“Instead, he chose to enter into this story, to immerse himself in it. This is why He chose the most difficult path possible: the Cross. So that no one on Earth is ever to the point of not being able to find Him, even there, in the midst of anguish, darkness, abandonment, scandal of their own misery and mistakes.

“There, at the very place where we think God cannot be present, he has come. To save those who despair, He Himself chose to taste despair; taking upon himself our bitterest anguish.

Pope Francis said that Jesus even experienced abandonment so that no one would ever be alone in their trials.

At the start of the Divine Liturgy, the Pope spent a moment in the prayerful veneration of the Cross.

A large Byzantine cross with three transverse arms hung above the outer altar of Prešov, flanked by an icon of Mary, Mother of God, and the icon of Christ the Master.

“’We proclaim the crucified Christ… the power of God and the wisdom of God.’ This is what Saint Paul tells us, but he does not hide the fact that, in terms of human wisdom, the Cross appears as something completely different: it is “scandal” and “madness” ”, declared the Pope in his homily.

“The cross was an instrument of death, but it became the source of life. It was a horrible sight, but it revealed to us the beauty of God’s love. This is why, on today’s feast, the people of God venerate the Cross and the liturgy celebrates it.

The feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross dates back to the 4th century, when the solemn consecration of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher took place on September 13, 335, at the site of Christ’s crucifixion in Jerusalem.

“One can not accept, except perhaps in words, a weak and crucified God, and instead prefer to dream of a powerful and triumphant God. It is a great temptation, ”said Pope Francis.

“How often do we miss a Christianity of victors, a triumphalist Christianity which is important and influential, which receives glory and honor? However, a Christianity without a cross is a worldly Christianity and shows itself sterile. “

Pope Francis arrived at the Divine Liturgy in Prešov in the popemobile, which passed through crowds of people standing in the streets waving Vatican flags. About 40,000 people attended the liturgy, according to local authorities.

Prešov was part of the Kingdom of Hungary until the middle of the 20th century and is home to most of the 200,000 Byzantine Ruthenian Catholics in the country.

The Ruthenian Catholic Church is one of the 23 Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with the Holy See.

In April, Byzantine Catholics in Slovakia and around the world celebrated the 375th anniversary of the Union of Oujhorod, an agreement that brought the Ruthenian Orthodox Church into fellowship with the Pope after nearly six centuries of schism.

Since the Union of Oujhorod, eparchies have been established to guide Ruthenian Catholics wherever they live, including the Metropolitan Eparchy of Pittsburgh and its three Suffragan Eparchies in the United States, and the Metropolitan Eparchy of Prešov in Slovakia with his suffragants, as well as a Slovak Eparchy in Canada.

During the Divine Liturgy in Prešov, Pope Francis recalled the testimony of the Byzantine Catholic priests and bishops of the Eparchy of Prešov who were imprisoned and martyred by the Communist regime in the 1950s.

“Here I think of the martyrs who, in this nation, bore witness to the love of Christ in troubled times, when everything advised silence, shelter, not professing the faith. However, they could not help but testify ”, declared the Pope.

“How many generous people suffered and died here in Slovakia for the name of Christ! Their testimony was given out of love for the One they had long contemplated. So much so that they looked like him even when they died.

Pope Francis said there is no shortage of opportunities for witnessing today if Christian witness is not weakened by worldliness and mediocrity.

“Dear brothers and sisters, you have seen such witnesses… Humble and simple people who gave their lives in love to the end. They are our heroes, the heroes of everyday existence, and their lives have changed history. Witnesses generate other witnesses, because they are life givers, ”he said.

“This is how faith is spread: not with worldly power, but with the wisdom of the Cross; not with structures but with a testimony. Today, the Lord, from the eloquent silence of the Cross, asks us all … Do you want to be my witness?

Image courtesy of Vatican Media

David Stanton’s August 19 letter to the editor identified the motivation behind the seizure of money by the Diocese of Rochester and some of the scams used to earn and keep that money. In summary, Stanton points out that the hierarchy holds a lot of money and receives taxpayer money in addition to the money they must distribute for the hierarchy’s criminal behavior involving sexual abuse.

Most Catholics and non-Catholics know this to be the case even if they don’t know the details. For this reason alone, most people do not view bishops as leaders and teachers, including Catholics loyal to the church. Almost all bishops are guilty of this criminal behavior, if not explicitly in the sin itself, then in concealment or for that matter by remaining silent.

But to make matters worse, the hierarchy abrogated Church teachings undermining their own authority and forcing the faithful to seek spiritual or psychological nourishment elsewhere.

So today the hierarchy finds itself in a leadership role, without any credibility with anyone Catholic or otherwise in its ability to teach and lead.

The picture is rather gloomy, because to change, it will take humility on the part of the bishops who believe themselves to be smarter, more spiritual, more powerful and richer than those around them.

But suppose the hierarchy has stopped receiving government money and has been scattered out of the imagination of its own minds. What would it look like locally?

The diocese would stop blaming the bishops who reigned before for the failures that are happening now. Certainly, some problems belong to the predecessor, but not all. Not anymore. It’s been seven years.

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The diocese would allow the abuse cases to progress from the victims and in this way, to resolve the real cases and to gain the much needed goodwill.

The diocese would complete the canonization of Fulton Sheen, restore faith and a good education in the diocese.

The bishop spoke directly to people with his concerns and thoughts. Then he listened to the concerns and thoughts of the people and worked with them for the betterment of the diocese.

No more rump advice manipulated with up front conclusions, no more one-day notice meetings, no more scripted or filibustered meetings, no more blame for worshipers and stop using homilies as chairs of bullies .

Seek Christ not Mammon.

Dana lupo

Auburn

In their very first joint statement, the spiritual leaders of the three largest Christian denominations addressed the United Nations.

“Hear the cry of the earth, promising meaningful sacrifices”, declared their call. “We have to decide what kind of world we want to leave for future generations. “

Pope Francis of the Roman Catholic Church; Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church; and Justin Welby, the Evangelical Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, launched their advocacy this month to delegates attending next month’s United Nations climate summit in Scotland.

Noting that life on “the land that God has given” has become an “urgent matter of survival,” the three leaders called inaction a grave injustice.

“The people who suffer the most catastrophic consequences of these abuses are the poorest on the planet,” they said, “and have been the least responsible for their origin. “

The Lausanne / World Evangelical Alliance Creation Care Network (LWCCN) “wholeheartedly endorsed” the statement.

“The environmental crisis represents the greatest challenge humanity has ever faced,” said Ed Brown, LWCCN co-catalyst for the care of creation, “and constitutes a monumental failure to obey the clear command of the scriptures of take care of God’s creation.

Francis, Bartholomew and Welby urged companies to seek “people-centered profits”. They called on nations to “stop fighting over resources and start working together.”

But they also called Christians to pray, celebrating this “Season of creation. “

In 1989, then Ecumenical Patriarch Dimitrios I declared September 1 as a day of prayer for creation. In partnership with the World Council of Churches (WCC), the day has become a season, extended until October 4. And in 2015, the same year, François published the historical encyclical on the environment. Laudato Si (Be praised), the Catholic Church embraced the initiative.

Brown served on the Season of Creation advisory board until last year.

“Doctrinal unity is not necessary to join hands in the face of a common threat,” he said. “But cooperation opens up opportunities to share why we work to save God’s creation: because we love him and care about the poor, two characteristics of historic evangelical Christianity.

Last month, the World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) met with the WCC to to discuss areas for future cooperation, including climate change. And last week, EAJ General Secretary Thomas Schirrmacher participated at the World Congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, joined by the Catholic representative, Cardinal Peter Turkson.

“Our motivation is clear: to collaborate around a global, pressing and unifying issue,” said Dave Bookless, LWCCN co-catalyst, “but without compromising our biblical and Christ-centered base.

An Anglican priest in the UK and director of theology for A Rocha International, a Christian conservation organization, Bookless served as Brown’s advisory committee.

Responsible for preparing the scriptural reflections of the Time of Creation, he provided the biblical foundation. And in the run-up to the UN climate summit, churches across the UK have called “Climate SundayTo be celebrated within five weeks of the summit.

Tearfund has prepared a phrasebook. World Vision delivered a sermon on the trees. The Methodist Church of the United Kingdom and the Conference of Catholic Bishops are sponsoring partners. Over 1,600 congregations have registered to date.

Bookless praised the cooperation with evangelicals.

“Our experience with Lausanne and WEA has been very positive,” he said. “And the media stereotype of American evangelicals does not reflect the world image at all.”

In 2012, the WEA launched its Creation Care Task Force, and two years later it joined forces with Lausanne to create the LWCCN. But its climate ambassador, Katherine Hayhoe, appointed in 2020, finds that the American response is lacking.

Only a third of American evangelicals support her, she tweeted, referring to a 2015 Pew Research study.

“I do not accept global warming on faith: I crunch the data, I analyze the models”, she said noted. “The data tell us that the planet is warming, [and] science is clear that humans are responsible.

Brown notes that the National Association of Evangelicals in the United States has placed an emphasis on the care of creation. And Bookless says there is no reason the WEA could not have been included in the joint Catholic-Orthodox-Anglican declaration.

“Until now, this was a personal initiative between the leaders,” he said. “But I guess it could grow beyond them.”

About 3,000 Los Angeles Police Department employees are raising religious objections in an attempt to evade the required COVID-19 vaccination. In Washington state, hundreds of state employees are asking for similar exemptions. And one Arkansas hospital has been inundated with so many requests from employees that it apparently calls their bluff.

Religious objections, once used sparingly across the country to be exempted from various required vaccines, are becoming a much more widely used loophole against COVID-19 shooting.

And it’s only likely to grow as a result of President Joe Biden’s new vaccination mandates covering more than 100 million Americans, including executive branch employees and workers at companies with more than 100 on the list. payroll.

The administration recognizes that a small minority of Americans will use – and some may seek to exploit – religious exemptions. But he said he believed even marginal improvements in immunization levels would save lives.

It is not yet known how many federal employees have requested a religious exemption. The Ministry of Labor said an accommodation can be refused if it entails an excessive burden.

In the United States, mask and vaccine requirements vary, but most offer exemptions for certain medical conditions or religious or philosophical objections. The use of such exemptions, particularly by parents on behalf of their school children, has increased over the past decade.

The allowance was enshrined in the Federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, which states that employers must make reasonable accommodations for employees who object to job demands because of “sincere” religious beliefs.

A religious belief should not be recognized by an organized religion, and it may be new, unusual or “seem illogical or unreasonable to others”, depending on the rules set out by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. But it cannot be based solely on political or social ideas.

This puts employers in the position of determining what is a legitimate religious belief and what is a dodge.

Many major religious denominations have no objection to COVID-19 vaccines. But the deployment has sparked heated debate due to the long-standing role that cell lines derived from fetal tissue have played, directly or indirectly, in the research and development of various vaccines and drugs.

Roman Catholic leaders in New Orleans and St. Louis have gone so far as to call Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 shot “morally compromised.” J&J pointed out that there was no fetal tissue in his vaccine.

Additionally, the Vatican Doctrine Office said it was “morally acceptable” for Catholics to receive COVID-19 vaccines based on research using cells derived from aborted fetuses. Pope Francis himself has said it would be “suicide” not to get shot.

In New York, state lawmakers attempted to make the vaccine mandatory for medical workers, without religious exemptions. On Tuesday, a federal judge blocked the rule because it did not have the opt-out.

An AP-NORC poll in August found that 58% of white evangelical Protestants, 72% of mainline white Protestants, 80% of Catholics and 73% of Americans who are not affiliated with a religion report having been vaccinated. Seventy percent of non-white Protestants say they have been, including 70 percent of black Protestants.

Among white evangelical Protestants, the religious group least likely to have been vaccinated, 33% say they will not be vaccinated.

In the United States, officials, doctors and community leaders have tried to help people bypass COVID-19 mask and vaccine requirements.

In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Pastor Jackson Lahmeyer offers a “religious exemption” form on his church website for download, along with links for church donation suggestions. The 29-year-old is a candidate for the US Senate.

Anyone interested can have the form signed by a religious leader. He said on Twitter that more than 14,000 people had downloaded it. He wrote that what was astonishing was “the number of pastors who refuse to sign the form for members of their church”. He said he can sign if someone joins the church and donates.

But getting a religious exemption is not as simple as producing a form signed by a religious leader. Measles outbreaks in schools over the past decade have prompted some states to change their policies. Some now require a signed affidavit from a religious leader, instead of an online form. California got rid of non-medical exemptions in 2015.

Erika Cole, a Maryland-based lawyer who serves as a senior editorial advisor to ChurchLawAndTax.com, a CT partner site, previously said CT employers should not require church leaders to verify religious exemptions.

“Currently, there are two legally recognized exemptions from compulsory vaccination: medical reasons and sincere religious beliefs. When receiving a religious exemption notice, some employers have asked the employee to provide support for the church they attend. This, of course, is inconvenient for a number of reasons, ”Cole said. “… According to the EEOC, the individual, and not the church they attend, holds the ‘sincere religious belief’ which may be the reason for refusing vaccination. As such, it is the individual’s right to inform his employer of this belief, and not a requirement of the church he may attend.

Some private employers are taking a hard line. United Airlines last week told its employees that those who get religious exemptions will be placed on unpaid leave until new coronavirus testing procedures are in place.

In Los Angeles, Police Chief Michel Moore said he was awaiting advice from the city’s personnel department regarding exemptions. The city demanded that city workers get vaccinated by Oct. 5, unless they are granted a medical or religious exemption. A group of LAPD employees are pursuing this policy.

“I cannot and will not comment on the level of sincerity” of those calling for a religious exemption, the police chief said. “I don’t want to speculate. Religion in America has many different definitions.

Ten LAPD employees have died from COVID-19 and thousands in the department have been infected.

In Washington state, approximately 60,000 state employees are subject to a warrant issued by Gov. Jay Inslee that they must be fully immunized by October 18 or lose their jobs, unless they get medical or religious exemption and receive housing that allows them to remain employees.

As of Tuesday, more than 3,800 workers had requested religious exemptions. So far, 737 have been approved, but officials have stressed that an exemption does not guarantee job retention.

Once the exemption is approved, each agency must assess the employee’s position and whether the person can still do the job with accommodation while ensuring a safe workplace. So far, seven accommodations have been granted.

Inslee spokeswoman Tara Lee said the process “can help distinguish between a sincere personal belief and a sincere religious belief.”

In Arkansas, about 5% of staff at Conway’s private regional health system have requested religious or medical exemptions.

The hospital responded by sending employees a form listing a host of common drugs, including Tylenol, Pepto-Bismol, Preparation H and Sudafed, which it says were developed through the use of cell lines. fetal.

The form asks people to sign it and certify that “my sincere religious belief is consistent and true and I will not use or will not use” any of the drugs listed.

In a statement, Conway Regional Health President and CEO Matt Troup said, “Staff who are sincere… should not hesitate to accept the list of listed drugs. “

PREŠOV, Slovakia (CNS) – Falling into the temptation to reject the cross and choose a triumphalist form of Christianity leads to superficial and sterile faith, Pope Francis said.

Presiding over a Divine Liturgy on September 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Pope Francis declared that although God saved humanity by “allowing the evil of our world to be unleashed upon itself”, the world views the cross as a “failure.”

Christians too, he warned, can also fall into the trap of preferring “a mighty and triumphant God” rather than “weak and crucified.”

“It’s a great temptation. How often do we miss a victorious Christianity, a triumphalist Christianity that is important and influential, that receives glory and honor? However, a Christianity without a cross is a worldly Christianity and shows itself sterile, ”declared the Pope.

The liturgy took place in a square outside the Mestská športová hala stadium. A plaque outside the stadium commemorates Saint John Paul II’s meeting in Prešov with Byzantine Catholics in Slovakia in 1995.

According to statistics published in the CIA World Factbook, in Slovakia Latin Rite Catholics represent 62% of the population, while 3.8% are Eastern Catholics.

More than 30,000 people, most of them masked, were present at the Divine Liturgy. Although the government initially mandated all participants in papal events to be vaccinated, authorities relaxed their initial regulations and allowed participants who presented a negative COVID-19 test or proof of recovery from the coronavirus.

Arrived in his popemobile, the Pope greeted the thousands of faithful present, many of whom had waited several hours outside for his arrival. As the early morning rain threatened to complicate the liturgy, moods brightened as much needed sunlight broke through the clouds.

As he toured the square, the Pope waved and blessed the crowd as they sang and waved the yellow and white papal flags.

In his homily, the Pope reflected on the reading of the Gospel of Saint John’s day recounting the crucifixion of Jesus. The evangelist, he noted, both “sees and witnesses” to the mystery of the cross.

Saint John, he said, saw “an innocent and good man, brutally put to death between two criminals”, a reflection of the countless injustices suffered throughout the history of mankind in which “the good are put aside and the wicked prevail and prosper. “

Nevertheless, he also saw the “glory of God” which “is offered willingly for every man and woman.”

“There, at the very place where we think God cannot be present, he has come. To save those who despair, he himself chooses to taste the despair; taking upon himself our bitterest anguish, he cried from the height of the cross: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

While Christians often carry crucifixes, hang them on walls or carry them in their pockets, Pope Francis has said that without taking the time to contemplate Christ crucified, the cross will remain “an unread book of which we know the title and the author, without having any impact on our lives.

“Let us not reduce the cross to an object of devotion, let alone a political symbol, a sign of religious and social status,” said the Pope.

Contemplating the cross, he continued, leads to witnessing to Jesus and transforming his life by becoming his reflection, like the Slovak martyrs who gave their lives for the faith.

“How many generous people suffered and died here in Slovakia for the name of Christ! cried the Pope. “It was a testimony given out of love for the one they had long contemplated. So much so that they looked like him even when they died.

Although there is no persecution of Christians in the country “as in too many other parts of the world,” he added, witnessing to Christ can be “weakened by worldliness and mediocrity.”

“A witness to the cross does not dwell on the wrongs of the past and does not continue to lament the present. The witnesses to the cross do not employ the ways of deception and worldly pretension: they do not want to impose themselves and theirs, but to give their lives for others ”, declared the Pope.

Concluding his homily, Pope Francis encouraged Christians in Slovakia to remember those who bore witness to the love of God, especially those who “nourished and helped you grow in the faith” and gave their “lives”. in love until the end ”.

“They are our heroes, the heroes of everyday existence, and their lives have changed history,” the Pope said. “Witnesses generate other witnesses, because they are givers of life. This is how faith is spread: not with worldly power but with the wisdom of the cross; not with structures but with a testimony.

Pope Francis was in Slovakia from September 12 to 15 for a brief pastoral visit. He traveled to Prešov from the capital, Bratislava, where he stayed every night.

After the Divine Liturgy, the Pope made an unexpected stop at the Jesuit house in Prešov.

Later, in Košice, he was to meet the Roma community and young people.

– – –

Follow Arocho on Twitter: @arochoju

ROME – Pope Francis categorically rejected on Tuesday the use of the cross as a political tool, an apparent attack on nationalist forces in Europe and beyond who have used imagery of Christianity for personal gain.

“Let us not reduce the cross to an object of devotion, let alone a political symbol, a sign of religious and social status,” Francis said in eastern Slovakia during a four-day visit to this country. and to Hungary, his first trip since undergoing bowel surgery in July.

The remarks were made two days after Francis stopped in Budapest, where he met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who made the nation’s Christian roots and identity the hallmark of his message and policies. policies, including anti-immigrant and nationalist measures.

“The cross is not a flag to be waved, but the pure source of a new way of life,” Francis said, adding that a Christian “does not regard anyone as an enemy, but everyone as a brother or a sister”.

On Sunday, he urged the bishops of Hungary to embrace diversity. And after celebrating Mass there, with Orban in the front row, he said strong Christian roots enabled a nation to reach out “to all.”

But the pope’s words in Slovakia on Tuesday were more direct. He appeared to extend his criticism to politicians and activists who use Christian references and symbols to gain traction in so-called culture wars.

“How many times do we desire a Christianity of conquerors,” he asked, “a triumphalist Christianity that is important and influential, that receives glory and honor?

He then added to his message of inclusion by traveling to meet the country’s Roma, who have long suffered from discrimination and poverty, in the dilapidated and isolated neighborhoods of Kosice.

In his homily on Tuesday, Francis spoke at length about Christian identity, lamenting that the cross and crucifix have too often become mere ornaments, diluting their true meaning.

In recent years, some European politicians have used religious symbols as part of campaign messages focusing on identity politics.

In Italy, Matteo Salvini, leader of the populist League party, has often campaigned with a rosary in his hand. At a rally with far-right leaders from France, Germany and the Netherlands, he also invoked the protection of the Virgin Mary over Italy.

Some conservative Vatican cardinals – many of whom are very critical of Francis – have spoken enthusiastically about Salvini and also expressed sympathy for Orban.

In interviews ahead of the pope’s visit on Sunday, several Hungarian priests and other Catholics in Budapest echoed Orban’s emphasis on Hungary as a Christian country. They said the prime minister had been unfairly criticized for opposing waves of predominantly Muslim migration, which he compared to an invasion.

On Sunday, Orban and Francis gathered for a courtesy meeting that lasted 40 minutes, and the prime minister urged the pontiff “not to let Christian Hungary perish”.

Francis only spent seven hours in Hungary, despite calls from his bishops to stay longer.

The Vatican said the Pope’s visit to Budapest was of a purely spiritual nature, to celebrate the closing mass of a week-long Catholic congress. But others close to the Pope admitted that there could be an unspoken message to Orban in the gap between time spent in Hungary and time spent in Slovakia, which is led by a progressive president who, like Francis, is critical. with regard to nationalism.

ROME – Pope Francis categorically rejected on Tuesday the use of the cross as a political tool, an apparent attack on nationalist forces in Europe and beyond who have used imagery of Christianity for personal gain.

“Let us not reduce the cross to an object of devotion, let alone a political symbol, a sign of religious and social status,” Francis said in eastern Slovakia during a four-day visit to this country. and to Hungary, his first trip since undergoing bowel surgery in July.

The remarks were made two days after Francis stopped in Budapest, where he met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who made the nation’s Christian roots and identity the hallmark of his message and policies. policies, including anti-immigrant and nationalist measures.

“The cross is not a flag to be waved, but the pure source of a new way of life,” said Francis, adding that a Christian “does not regard anyone as an enemy, but everyone as a brother or a sister”.

On Sunday, he urged the bishops of Hungary to embrace diversity. And after celebrating Mass there, with Orban in the front row, he said strong Christian roots enabled a nation to reach out “to all.”

But the pope’s words in Slovakia on Tuesday were more direct. He appeared to extend his criticism to politicians and activists who use Christian references and symbols to gain traction in so-called culture wars.

“How many times do we desire a Christianity of conquerors,” he asked, “a triumphalist Christianity that is important and influential, that receives glory and honor?

He then added to his message of inclusion by traveling to meet the country’s Roma, who have long been victims of discrimination and poverty, in the dilapidated and isolated neighborhoods of Kosice.

In his homily on Tuesday, Francis spoke at length about Christian identity, lamenting that the cross and crucifix have too often become mere ornaments, diluting their true meaning.

In recent years, some European politicians have used religious symbols as part of campaign messages focusing on identity politics.

In Italy, Matteo Salvini, leader of the populist League party, has often campaigned with a rosary in his hand. During a rally with far-right leaders from France, Germany and the Netherlands, he also invoked the protection of the Virgin Mary over Italy.

Some conservative Vatican cardinals – many of whom are very critical of Francis – have spoken enthusiastically about Salvini and also expressed sympathy for Orban.

In interviews ahead of the pope’s visit on Sunday, several Hungarian priests and other Catholics in Budapest echoed Orban’s emphasis on Hungary as a Christian country. They said the prime minister had been unfairly criticized for opposing waves of predominantly Muslim migration, which he compared to an invasion.

On Sunday, Orban and Francis gathered for a courtesy meeting that lasted 40 minutes, and the prime minister urged the pontiff “not to let Christian Hungary perish”.

Francis only spent seven hours in Hungary, despite calls from his bishops to stay longer.

The Vatican said the Pope’s visit to Budapest was of a purely spiritual nature, to celebrate the closing mass of a week-long Catholic congress. But others close to the Pope admitted that there could be an unspoken message to Orban in the gap between time spent in Hungary and time spent in Slovakia, which is led by a progressive president who, like Francis, is critical. with regard to nationalism.