Salesian Cardinal overseeing destruction of Honduran church says Viganò “hurting faith”

LifeSiteNews reports:

Cardinal Maradiaga rebukes papal critics: McCarrick abuse scandal ‘of a private order’

The scandal of ex-Cardinal McCarrick’s homosexual abuse of young priests and seminarians and Pope Francis’ alleged cover-up are “of a private order,” and a merely “administrative affair,” according to one of the Pope’s top advisers, Cardinal Andrés Rodriguez Maradiaga. He made these remarks in a recent interview in one of the most revealing statements to date on the Viganò testimony.

In an interview published on Wednesday evening by Religion Digital, the religious portal of the Spanish-language news site Periodista Digital, Maradiaga once again strongly criticized Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò for having gone public about McCarrick’s sexual predations and the protection the Cardinal received from the highest spheres in the Vatican, especially since Pope Francis was elected to the See of Peter and trusted the American prelate to help him choose new cardinals for the Church in the USA.

Asked to comment about Viganò’s call on the Pope to resign, Maradiaga answered:

It does not seem correct to me to transform something that is of the private order into bombshell headlines exploding all over the world and whose shrapnel is hurting the faith of many. I think this case of an administrative nature should have been made public in accordance with more serene and objective criteria, not with the negative charge of deeply bitter expressions.

Leave aside, just for the moment, just for the moment!--that Maradaiga is part of the worst cover-up in the Catholic Church in living memory. Leave aside--just for the moment!--that when his good seminarians complained about rampant sodomy and sodomy-enabling behavior at their seminary, he attacked them as "gossipers."

Leave that aside for now, and just look what has happened to the Honduran Catholic Church during the time Maradiaga has been in charge. We've reported on this before. In 2014 the Pew Organization did a major study on the religious demography in Latin America. Pew reported:

“the period between 1970 and 2014 is marked by significant declines in the percentages of Catholics in nearly all of the (Latin American) countries surveyed – ranging from a 47-point drop in Honduras to a 5-point decrease in Paraguay."

Get that? "a 47-point drop."  Since 1970, Catholics have fallen from 94% to 46% of the population of Honduras. Maradiaga has been a bishop in Tegucigalpa, Honduras' capitol, since 1978, and the Archbishop of Tegucigalpa and hence the Metropolitan of the whole country since 1993--25 years. Now he professes to believe that Archbishop Viganò's telling the truth "is hurting the faith of many."

A Salesian worthy of the name! Cardinal Joseph Zen

He just visited our Chinese Apostolate (and the rest of us!)  again at Saints Peter and Paul a few months back. He has been fighting for the Catholics in China for decades, and won't stop because of the misguided Vatican initiative. The article below is from UCA News--LifeSiteNews and many others have the story.

Cardinal Zen's opposition to China deal gains online support Young Hong Kongers back the prelate's disapproval of the Vatican's dealings with the Chinese Communist Party

Young Catholics in Hong Kong are taking to Facebook to support Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun, days after the city's sixth bishop blasted the Vatican for preparing to "surrender" to the Chinese Communist Party amid speculation of an agreement between the two sides on clerical appointments.

Legions of social media users in the semi-autonomous region are now changing their profile pictures to show their support for the retired cardinal. 

The framed image was created by a Hong Kong designer with the Christian name Dominic. It features a yellow wave at the bottom with five Chinese characters superimposed on it. Facebook users can then add any other image on top of this, for example a photo of Cardinal Zen, a cartoon anime — or as is proving most popular, their own face.

"Seeing so many Catholics support 'grandpa' spontaneously, I decided to make this Facebook profile picture frame for them to use," the 38-year-old told ucanews.com, using an affectionate local moniker for the cardinal, who was named cardinal in 2006 and his term ended in 2009….

Another Hong Kong local, a 36-year-old who gave her name as Giana, said she adopted the cardinal's meme on her Facebook page because she admired his courage and outspoken attitude.

"The Holy See does not understand our Hong Kong Catholics and the situation of the church in China. Now even the pope wants to compromise with the Chinese government," she said.

"Cardinal Zen is the only one sticking to his convictions with a conscience and telling the truth."

Another local Catholic, 30-year-old Michael Law, said he uploaded the meme to "express my love for him amid all the flak he has taken in recent days."

"We need the voice of a prophet even more now. Cardinal Zen is more than a shepherd — he is a living testimony to true religious freedom, and an example for young people to [follow]," he said.

He said the Catholic Church has built a strong reputation as a defender of human rights and personal freedom, even organizing non-violent protests in the past to resist former autocratic regimes in the likes of Poland, South Korea and the Philippines.

"I'm concerned that this Sino-Vatican agreement will further weaken the moral prestige of the church and narrow the rich mission of evangelization since the advent of Vatican II," he said.

AB Cordileone: The heart of a lion, the patience of a saint

Our great Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone joins his predecessor the great Archbishop (and 'pink brick' award winner) George Niederauer in trying to open the closed heart of his lost sheep, Nancy Pelosi.

LifeSiteNews reports:

San Fran. archbishop responds to Pelosi: ‘No Catholic can dissent in good conscience’ on abortion

SAN FRANCISCO, January 26, 2015 (LifeSiteNews.com) - After House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi repeatedly refused to say last week whether an unborn child at 20 weeks is a “human being,” her archbishop in San Francisco has responded by insisting that “no Catholic can dissent in good conscience” on abortion. 

CNSNews posed the question to Pelosi on January 22 in light of debate in the House of Representatives on the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, which would ban abortions after 20 weeks except in cases of rape, incest, and a threat to the life of the mother. 

After twice refusing to say whether an unborn child at 20 weeks is a “human being,” she stated: “As a mother of five, in six years, I have great standing on this issue, great understanding of it, more than my colleagues.” She added that she knows more about “having babies” than even the pope. 

"It is a scientific fact that human life begins at conception," he said. "This has been established in medical science for over 100 years. Catholic moral teaching acknowledges this scientific fact, and has always affirmed the grave moral evil of taking an innocent human life.” 

“This has been the consistent teaching of the Church from the very beginning, a teaching already discernible in the natural moral law, and so a teaching from which no Catholic can dissent in good conscience,” he added.

Pastors, he said, have an “obligation … to reach out to their people who have difficulty understanding and accepting such important teachings of the Church in order to extend to them true pastoral care and, where appropriate, to establish a regular dialogue.”

“This is something I have always striven to do in the various ministries I have exercised as a priest and bishop, including now as the Archbishop of San Francisco. I ask for people’s prayers for success as I continue to strive to do this,” he said.

God bless His Excellency and His Excellency Niederauer before him.  I point out that even Don Bosco, one of the most beloved and kindest of Saints, threw a couple of boys out of the Oratory because he feared they would become a bad influence on others.

It's about 8 year's now since our dear Fr. Malloy (who was also very kind and patient) told Pelosi not to receive communion:

From the Pastors Desk

Nancy, you are fooling yourself and I fear fooling many good Catholics. You are simply not in sync with the Catholic Church. Until you change your non-Catholic positions, you should stop calling yourself Catholic. Your record shows that you support embryonic stem cell research, Planned Parenthood, contraception, family planning funding, allowing minors to have an abortion without parental consent, and are against making it a crime to harm a fetus, etc. etc.

The fact that you favor married priests and women priests certainly would not classify you as conservative, but your answer to the question are you a conservative Catholic was:

“I think so. I was raised in a very strict upbringing in a Catholic home where we respected people, were observant, were practicing Catholics, and that the fundamental belief was that God gave us all a free will, and we were accountable for that, each of us. Each person had that accountability, so it wasn’t for us to make judgments about how people saw their responsibility and that it wasn’t for politicians to make decisions about how people led their personal lives; certainly, to a high moral standards, but when it got into decisions about privacy and all the rest, then that was something that individuals had to answer to God for, and not to politicians.”

That sounds fair and tolerant, but your record belies high moral standards.

The NARAL rates you 100% pro-abortion. Your statement: “To me it isn’t even a question. God has given us a free will. We’re all responsible for our actions. If you don’t want an abortion, you don’t believe in it, [then] don’t have one. But don’t tell somebody else what they can do in terms of honoring their responsibilities. My family is very pro-life. They’re not fanatics and they’re not activists. I think they’d like it if I were not so vocally pro-choice.”

Do we not elect politicians to make laws that help people honor their responsibilities, such as protecting life itself? Can politicians not tell someone else not to kill? If you can kill a baby in the womb, Nancy, why not outside of it? Oh wait, you are in favor of partial birth abortion, so-called because the baby sticks out of the “mother” about halfway, while the “doctor” sucks out the baby's brain. That seems comparable to the choice the Nazis made killing six million Jews.

Yes, Nancy, we (together with your pro-life family) would all like it if you were not so vocally pro-choice, i.e. pro-death. Until your choice is in line with Catholic doctrine, please, Nancy, do not receive the Eucharist when you attend Mass.
Rev. John Malloy, SDB

San Francisco, CA

Catastrophic Catholic Fall-Off in Latin America

Yesterday, Pew Research released a new study which documents the catastrophic fall-off among Catholics in Latin America (via Rorate):

Latin America is home to more than 425 million Catholics – nearly 40% of the world’s total Catholic population – and the Roman Catholic Church now has a Latin American pope for the first time in its history. Yet identification with Catholicism has declined throughout the region, according to a major new Pew Research Center survey that examines religious affiliations, beliefs and practices in 18 countries and one U.S. territory (Puerto Rico) across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Historical data suggest that for most of the 20th century, from 1900 through the 1960s, at least 90% of Latin America’s population was Catholic (See History of Religious Change). Today, the Pew Research survey shows, 69% of adults across the region identify as Catholic. Emphasis added.

The worst fall off is in Honduras, where, since 1970, Catholics have fallen from 94% to 46% of the population. Honduras is home to our Salesian Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga. His Eminence has been a bishop in Tegucigalpa, Honduras' capitol, since 1978. If he is not already, he needs to do some reflecting on why this is happening. The author at Rorate opines that the falling away is the result of the Second Vatican Council. I think that is right. He also notes that while the increase in secularism during that time "...would explain the collapse in Western Europe, North America, and Australia. But in Latin America (where the current pope studied to be a priest during the 1960s, being ordained in December 1969), what happened instead during the same period was an intense religious revival."

Except it was not a Catholic revival, but one among the various Protestant denominations. The fall-off is not from religion, but from whatever it is that the Church in Latin America is offering. Reflection and soul-searching are in order--that is, if the Latin American hierarchy considers this to be a problem. If they don't consider this to be a problem, that is a real problem.

Happy First Anniversary, Fr. Malloy!

Today is the first anniversary of the rebirth into eternal life of our dear Fr. John Malloy, SDB. How can we thank him for all he has done for us and for the Church?

His unheralded 2001 arrival (at age 79!) at Saints Peter and Paul parish in San Francisco introduced an unapologetic champion of Catholic orthodoxy, of life and the family, into the city of St. Francis, which had become ground zero for the culture of death.

It was the 2004 rally in defense of marriage, which he hosted as pastor of Saints Peter and Paul, that fired the opening shots in the defense of marriage and family in our City. Fr. Malloy was not alone in fighting that battle, others worked with him, but as was said of the first Salesian pastor of Saints Peter and Paul, Fr. Raphael Pipierni, he “started the fight when it was hard to start.” That war to restore sanity to the culture has just begun, and it will continue for generations.

The marriage rally galvanized the pro-family and pro-life movement in San Francisco, and gave birth to the Walk for Life West Coast, the best thing going in San Francisco!

Now our City is blessed with an even more prominent champion of marriage and the family, our good Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone. Who would have believed that 10 year’s ago?

Father, we thank you for all you did for us when you were here on earth. And we know you are still fighting the good fight and praying for us unceasingly in heaven!

Salesians Elect New Rector Major!

This is from an article by Fr. Anil Kr. Toppo, SDB, writing in Don Bosco India:


Kolkata, Mar. 25. The 27th General Chapter has elected Fr Angel Fernandez Artime, Provincial of Argentina South, as tenth Successor of Don Bosco. The election took place at 10:20 on the first ballot.

The official announcement was welcomed with long and warm applause.

Fr Angel Fernandez Artime, 53 years of age was born on 21 August 1960, at Gozon-Luanco, Spain. He made his first profession on 3 September 1978, his perpetual profession on 17 June 1984 and was ordained priest on 4 July 1987. Originally from Leon Province, he has been Youth Ministry Delegate, Rector of the Salesian school at Ourense, member of the Provincial Council and Vice Provincial, and from 2000 to 2006, Provincial of Leon.

He was a member of the technical commission in preparation for General Chapter 26. In 2009, he was appointed Provincial in Argentine South, a task he has carried out until now. In this capacity he got to know the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, now Pope Francis, and had the opportunity of working with him.

He has a Doctorate in Pastoral Theology and a Licenciate in Philosophy and Pedagogy.

On 23 December last year, he was appointed Provincial of the new province of Mary Help of Christians in Spain, a role which Fr. Angel obviously now will not be able to take on, since he will exercise his ministry as Father of the whole Salesian Congregation.


We thank Fr. Pascal Chavez for his long and devoted service, and we welcome Fr. Fernandez Artime!


May St. John Bosco and Mary Help of Christians guide his steps!

Video for the Bicentennial of Don Bosco's Birth Marred by President Obama

Here's a video in preparation for the bicentennial of Don Bosco's birth in 2015. It's well done, but it is marred by the producers' decision to use the words of the loathsome Barack Obama, who twice voted against the Illinois Born Alive Infants Protection Act, in the intro.

Perhaps they were so thrilled by having a U.S. President mention Don Bosco that they were willing to overlook this. I don't believe that Don Bosco, the patron saint of the young, would have made that mistake.


 

Congratulations, Fathers Armand, Count, Mario, & Paul!

This week the "Fantastic Four" of Saints Peter and Paul Church celebrate their anniversaries of priestly ordination. Here they are left to right, all companions of our dear departed Fr. Malloy: Fr. Armand Oliveri (age 93, ordained July 2, 1950), Fr. Austin Conterno (age 97, ordained June 29, 1948), Fr. Mario Rosso (age 89, ordained June 29, 1949), and Fr. Paul Maniscalco (age 97, ordained July 2,1944).

Have you ever seen a happier looking group of men? Click on the picture for a larger version.

Fr. Malloy's Funeral

We celebrated Fr. Malloy's funeral on Monday, April 1 at Saints Peter and Paul Church in San Francisco, where Father had served as pastor from 2001 to 2007. Fr. Tim Ploch, SDB, the provincial of the Salesian Province of St. Andrew the Aposotle (Western U.S. and Canada) was the principal celebrant. He was joined by 22 Salesian priests, as well as Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, editor of Ignatius Press, and Fr. Michael Strange, parochial vicar at St. Vincent de Paul Church in San Francisco. Fr. John Itzaina, SDB, current pastor of Ss. Peter and Paul read the Gospel, and Fr. Nick Reina, SDB gave the homily. Fr. John's nephew Don and I both gave eulogies.

The funeral was magnificent--dozens of family, hundreds of parishioners, and a who's who of the pro-life community in the bay area were there to bid a fond arrivederci to Father, including Bill May, president of Catholics for the Common Good, Ron Konopaski and Cathleen Gilllies of San Francisco's 40 Days for Life, Vicki Evans, Pro-Life Coordinator for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, and of course many of Father's sons and daughters from the Walk for Life West Coast. Both Eva and Dolores led a decade of the Rosary before the Mass for their beloved chaplain. Our good Archbishop Cordileone would have celebrated, but he had a previous commitment to celebrate a baptism. Any number of people said they had never been at a more beautiful funeral.

Father's funeral instructions were simple:

"Follow the rubrics!"

We have not found too many photos of the funeral (we were all praying or crying, or both) but here are a few. If more turn up I will post them. Please click on the image for a larger version.

I will continue to post on Father's blog.

Your brother/son in Christ,

Gibbons J. Cooney

Fr. Malloy is Doing Better

Fr. Malloy is improving after his fall, which happened on January 28. He is out of the hospital, and in a rehabilitation facility where he is getting physical therapy.

He is impatient to get back home, of course, but his spirits are good and his wit as sharp as ever.He has had many many visitors!

Here he is a few years back with Mimi, his cat.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Happy Feast of St. John Bosco!

Today is the Feast of St. John Bosco, founder of the Salesians of Don Bosco, and the patron saint of youth!

St. John Bosco, pray for us!

Please also say a prayer for Fr. Malloy, founder of this blog, and Chaplain of the Walk for Life West Coast. He took a fall on Sunday and is in the hospital. He is reasonably OK, but could use our prayers.

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Father Thien Nguyen, SDB!

On Thursday, May 24, the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, Auxiliary Bishop William Justice of San Francisco ordained Deacon Thien Nguyen as Father Thien Nguyen, SDB.

Patrick Gee took this lovely photo, and he has other here.

Congratulations Father Thien!

Exciting! New Salesian Sisters Movie!

This year, our beloved Salesian Sisters (properly known as the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians) celebrate the 140th Anniversary of their founding. They are the largest order of women religious in the world. There is a new movie coming out about the formation of the daughters, and their founder, St. Mary Mazzarello. It's called, in English, "Main, the House of Happiness." ("Main," pronounced "my-ain", was the nickname of Mary Mozzarello). You can watch the trailer below--it looks great. It's in Italian, but it will be subtitled into many laguages when it is released. It needs to be--after all the Sisters serve in 94 countries!

Rotten Dutch Salesian Says: Read Foucault

The Salesians have acted quickly to remove the Dutch "Father B," who was sitting on the board of "Martijn," the Dutch version of NAMBLA, from any ministry and have relieved the Dutch Salesian Superior Fr. Herman Spronck. That's good, but extremely serious questions remain. Our first post on this was back on May 21.

Catholic News Service reports:

"The Salesian headquarters in Rome said a Dutch priest identified only as Father "B" and the superior of the Salesians in the Netherlands, Father Herman Spronck, had both been suspended.

'The Belgium-Holland Province officially announced that Father B no longer has permission to carry out any pastoral activity and that Father Spronck has been relieved of his office as delegate,' the congregation said in a May 23 press release."

In the nauseating interview Spronck gave to RTL Radio, he was quoted:

"We shouldn't consider age so rigidly. You should never break into the personal space of a child if the child does not want that, but that has to do with the child himself. There are also children who themselves indicate that it is okay. Sexual contact is then also possible."

A Microsoft web translation of the interview is here.

In the same interview, Spronck advised the interviewer to consult the works of the French author Michel Foucault. When I saw that, I could not believe my eyes. Foucault, unfortunately considered to be one of the more influential thinkers of the 2oth century, was an open homosexual. He was also a frequenter of the s/m leather bars and bathhouses in San Francisco, before his death from AIDS in 1984. That a Catholic priest would recommend the work of Foucault to anyone as an authority on matters of sexuality is just unbelievable.

Catholic News Service reported that the provincial of Belgium-Holland said, "'We distance ourselves completely from the comments by Father H. Spronck' and the order suspended him 'from all delegated authority' within the Salesian order."

Yes, but how did he get there in the first place?

Mary Help of Christians, pray for us!

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

Horrible, Heartbreaking News from Ivory Coast: At Least 800 Slaughtered Seeking Refuge at Salesian Mission

Horror upon horror. Mary Help of Christians, pray for the people of Africa, pray for us!

The Salesian News Agency had reported on the developing situation on March 31.

From today's Herald Scotland:

"A massacre in a Roman Catholic mission compound in the heart of the Ivory Coast’s cocoa-producing region could come to be seen as a crucial moment in the West African state’s escalating civil war. Reports are mounting of atrocities by both sides in the conflict − those loyal to head of state Laurent Gbagbo, besieged in his presidential residence in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s commercial capital, and those who follow northern leader and president-elect Allasane Ouattara.

Events at the Italian Salesian Roman Catholic mission in Duekoue increasingly echo a notorious church massacre during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. Early reports suggested that more than 800 people, largely from the Gbagbo-supporting Gueré tribe, were killed in a single day at the sprawling Salesian Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus mission in Duekoue, 300 miles west of Abidjan towards the Liberian border.

The attackers seem to have been largely soldiers descended from Burkina Faso immigrant Muslim families loyal to Ouattara. Late yesterday the Roman Catholic charity Caritas said more than 1000 people were massacred in Duekoue. A Caritas spokesman said Caritas workers visited the town and reported seeing a neighbourhood filled with bodies of people who had been shot and hacked to death with machetes."



The Divine Ripples blog quotes charity workers saying the as many as 40,000 persons have sought refuge at the Salesian Mission.

Gateway Pundit says that the number of slain at the mission is over 1,000:

"At least 1,000 Christians were slaughtered this week in at the Salesian Saint Teresa of the Child Jesus mission in Duekou, Ivory Coast by Muslim troops loyal to Alassane Ouattara. The state-run media has been slow to report the facts."

The Salesians serving in the Ivory Coast are part of the Salesian French West Africa Province (AFO).

Mary Help of Christians, pray for us!

Inspiring: The Salesians in Ecuador

National Public Radio has a two-part story on the work the Salesians are doing in Ecuador. You can listen here.

Excerpts of the text versions are below:

Ecuadoran Family Finds Refuge With Salesians
Larry Abramson and Marisa Peñaloza

Maribel Olmedo sits in her house, surrounded by some of her children, including Hamilton (from left), 16, Jonathan, 12, Pierina, 2, and Jose, 1. The family struggles to make ends meet, but Olmedo says she is grateful her children are alive.

Maribel Olmedo doesn't complain about life, even though life has not been kind. She doesn't ask for much, either. "My only dream is to set up a food business at home," Olmedo says.

and

God's Call: Catholic Order Provides For Street Kids
Larry Abramson and Marisa Peñaloza

In many developing countries, urbanization is leading to a huge problem — a rapid growth in the number of street children. They often flee their homes to escape abuse or just to earn extra money. Social services agencies have had limited success dealing with the problem because there are so many causes, from domestic violence to poverty.

From the front step of Segunda Ayobi's cinder block house, you can't escape the strong smell of trash and other waste that collects in a nearby estuary. Nearby, tough-looking young men glare at any strangers who cross their turf. Ayobi says this is not an easy place to raise a child...

"We have a lot of kids in the neighborhood who get involved in drugs — 13- to 14-year-olds," Ayobi says. "And I was very concerned about that."

A couple of years ago, Ayobi was worried about her son Mario, who was just 13 then. With her limited income from selling home-cooked food, there wasn't much money around the house....

Ayobi turned to a Catholic order that has taken a special interest in the plight of street children: the Salesians."

God Bless these Sons of Don Bosco!

Salesian Father Jose Lucero Leads Parishioners at 40 Days for Life

Valerie Schmalz, writing in this week's Catholic San Francisco reports on San Francisco's "40 Days for Life" vigil, and the March 18 closing of the Golden Gate Health Center (formerly Planned Parenthood Golden Gate). The story is on page 10 of the PDF version of the paper.

She shares the good news that Salesian priest Fr. Jose Lucero, of Corpus Christi Church, will lead his parishioners at Planned Parenthood's new location:

"On March 19, the San Francisco 40 Days for Life vigil will move to 1650 Valencia St. in the Mission District, where Planned Parenthood Shasta Pacific opened a clinic in January. That
clinic is within a 10-minute walk of Corpus Christi Church and school, said Corpus Christi
Associate Pastor Salesian Father Jose Lucero, who began praying with parishioners outside
the clinic on Ash Wednesday.

'It is clear that there should not be abortions allowed – period,' said Father Lucero, who began recruiting parishioners at all the Masses on the weekend of March 5-6. 'They should
not be happening. Anyone Catholic needs to uphold that.'”

God bless this Son of Don Bosco! May other priests follow his example!

A Letter From the Salesian Sisters in Japan

Here is a report from our Salesian Sisters on the ground in Japan. This was forwarded to us by Sister Ann Cassidy, FMA.

If there is one group you can be sure will be working day and night as long as they can draw breath it is the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians. God bless them!

"As we see in the news, the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan has created a situation of crisis in the country. We have 15 mission sites in Japan. Our sisters run 9 schools, various youth centers, social ministries, immigrant outreach, etc. In one of our schools all students got stranded and the sisters are taking care of all their needs since the roads and accesses were destroyed.

Sr. Marisa Gambato, provincial secretary of the Japanese province wrote telling us how they are living these days and what the general situation is like.

«The earthquakes continue and are fairly serious. Many people are still isolated, and a stronger quake is feared (or foreseen?) here in Tokyo . At this very moment in which I am writing to you I feel a tremor. It is the second in just fifteen minutes.

We are living these hours in the fear that something else will happen. For this reason we are praying that if it must happen, it may not be while the pupils are in school.

We are living in fear. Television transmissions continue to show and talk about the numbers of victims, injured, homeless, people who are isolated, the danger of nuclear reactors and many other things.

One of our Sisters had no news of her parents and so did not know what had happened to them. However, just half an hour ago she was able to communicate with them and know that they, too, are out of danger.

It is the same for relations of other Sisters, past pupils and friends. The Bishop of the diocese of Sendai cannot be reached.

Here in Tokyo , the situation has returned to normal. The day of the first the
earthquake, all public transport stopped and the city and its surroundings were paralysed. Even trains between different cities had stopped.

One of our Sisters was out of the house in the afternoon, when the earthquake took place. She had to walk home and arrived at 1:30am. She was not the only one walking and so was not afraid. Many people had to do the same thing.

The situation of our pupils and their families is not a cause for worry, but we are thinking of the many children and old people in emergency shelter, in gyms or halls, all together: men, women, children and the elderly, etc., lacking everything. Water and food is being distributed, but it seems that, at times, they have to wait for hours before what they need arrives.

We are organising ourselves to collect money. We have been asked by Caritas Japan and other government and non government organisations to collect funds. It is the best way to help for the moment. As for volunteering, it is still impossible to think of anything. For now the military and specialist groups who are coming from other countries are what is needed. Many areas can only be reached by helicopter, and some not even by that means. One of the ways of collaborating is the sense of bearing things of the people in difficulty.

At the airport of Sendai 1,300 people are still waiting for help. The State is moving, but roads are interrupted in various places. Whole villages have disappeared.

The government is not asking for anything from the citizens except to remain calm and avoid exposing themselves to danger. Since it is possible that there may be further earthquakes they should be ready to escape to safe places. I do not know if Japan is different from other countries, but the people have a great ability to bear things and so do not get discouraged easily. I tell all those who ask about Japan to continue to pray».

Dr. Bruchalski: Great Conversion Story--and a Warning to Salesians

Today LifeSiteNews has the story of Dr. John Bruchalski. Dr. Bruchalski is an OB-GYN who early in his career was an abortionist. Like Dr. Bernard Nathanson and Ms. Abby Johnson, he had a conversion experience. (I wonder why we never hear of those converting to the pro-abortion side? Does it happen?). After his conversion (or as he says, reversion) Dr. Bruchalski founded one of the largest pro-life health centers in the United States, the Tepayec Family Center. Read the story and you will want to donate.

There is a wonderful interview with Dr. Bruchalski on the Tepayec Family Center webpage. Dr. Bruchalski attended a Salesian High School in Northern New Jersey--I guess that would be the one at Ramsey. He decribes his experience, and it is not flattering:

"But after a Catholic high school education that emphasized only social justice, and a college education that emphasized the same along with an ethics department that was situational and relative, I simply bought the entire argument that humans would be better off economically and socially by controlling their fertility through chemicals, barriers, plastics and surgery."

That should be a lesson to all Salesians and all Catholic educators. Don Bosco, pray for us!

Posted by Gibbons J. Cooney

New Salesian Cardinal "a vanguard soldier of Papa Ratzi's 'border patrol'"

That's how widely respected Vatican-watcher Rocco Palmo described Salesian Cardinal-designate Angelo Amato in a June, 2007 posting. The appointment is wonderful news for Catholics, and special source of joy to Salesians in particular. In the same posting, Rocco quoted from an address His Eminence made to a group of Italian Chaplains:

"'Reading the daily papers -- or using internet, TV or radio -- every day we see a perverse film about evil, which is 'filmed' in every part of the world with scenery and backdrops ever more cruel, as we see in the thousands of provocations of international terrorism,' the archbishop said.

'Besides the abominable terrorism of suicide bombers, which is ever-present in the media,' he went on, 'there is the so-called terrorism with a human face, which is also a daily occurrence and just as repugnant, which continues to be propagated by the media, manipulating traditional language with expressions that hide the tragic reality of the facts.'

Among his examples, Amato cited abortion clinics -- 'authentic slaughterhouses of nascent human beings'; 'the laboratories where, for example, RU-486, the morning-after pill, is made or where human embryos are manipulated as if they were simply biological material... [and] the parliaments of so-called 'civil' nations which promulgate laws contrary to the nature of the human person, like the approval of marriages between persons of the same sex, or of euthanasia.'

Six days later, amid a sustained furor in the press over his assertions, the complete text of Amato's remarks ran as a spread in the Sunday edition of the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

The move was an unmistakable indicator that the Holy See stood firmly by the speech."

A good man! Cardinal-designate Amato has been a Salesian priest since 1967, and was ordained archbishop of Sila on Jan. 6, 2003, by Pope John Paul II himself. After serving as secretary of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, he was named prefect of the Congregation of the Causes of Saints on July 9, 2008.

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In other Salesian news, Father Massimo Palombella has been appointed the director of the Sistine Chapel Choir. Father Palombella succeeds Monsignor Giuseppe Liberto, who held the post since 1997.

Father Palombella was born in Turin on Christmas Day in 1967--wow, quite a young man! He was ordained a Salesian priest in 1996. He has studied with maestros Luigi Molfino, Valentín Miserachs Grau, Gabriele Arrigo and Alessandro Ruo Rui, and earned a diploma in Choral Music and Composition.

He is the founder and director of the Inter-university Choir of Rome. He has worked in university ministry in the Diocese of Rome since 1995, and teaches in the faculties of theology, eschatology and of music and liturgy at the Pontifical Salesian University.

Congratulations, Father Palombella!