Prince of Peace Parish

ACI MENA, Sep 15, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

On Thursday, Sept. 12, the Armenian Catholic Patriarchate held a grand ceremony in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square to welcome the remains of cardinal and patriarch Gregory Peter XV Agagianian from Rome. His body will be laid to rest in the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of St. Elias and St. Gregory the Illuminator in downtown Beirut.

Agagianian, known for his strong opposition to communist rule during the Cold War era, became a prominent figure in Catholic Church history. He was a leading candidate for the papacy on two occasions. The process of his beatification, a step toward sainthood in the Catholic Church, began in Rome on Oct. 28, 2022.

The late Armenian Catholic patriarch’s remains arrived in Lebanon in a glass casket carried by 12 young Lebanese men from various religious denominations, symbolizing interfaith unity. 

As the Armenian scouts’ band played, attendees reached out to touch the casket for blessings. Some threw rice and rose petals on the casket — a Middle Eastern tradition symbolizing a joyful welcome. 

The ceremony, attended by various political and religious figures, began with a documentary about the late patriarch’s life.

In a heartfelt speech, the current Armenian Catholic Patriarch, Raphaël Bedros XXI Minassian, said: “We brought him to Lebanon to show the world our unity, solidarity, and mutual love among denominations and all parties. Young men from various denominations carried the casket, representing a true reflection of what a Lebanese family looks like.”

Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros al-Rahi, leader of Lebanon’s largest Christian community, confirmed that Aghajanian’s tomb would be in the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of St. Elias and St. Gregory the Illuminator in Dabbas Square, Beirut.

“He is among the incorruptibles of the Church,” he added. “We hope that this miracle will facilitate the plea for his beatification. In any case, he will be a blessed and great saint. We congratulate the Armenian Catholic Church, all churches, and all of Lebanon. God’s wonders are great in his saints.”

Bishop Krikor Badishah, auxiliary bishop of the patriarchal Diocese of Beirut, stated: “Thanks to the magnificent presence of numerous participants, Martyrs’ Square is once again not a mere location but a national symbol that unites all Lebanese, regardless of their affiliations. It is a beacon of hope shining over our beloved homeland, constantly reminding us of our shared values and our unbreakable unity.”

During the ceremony, singer Layal Nehmé Matar performed, accompanied by the Lebanese army’s band, adding an atmosphere of reverence and solemnity.

The beatification process

The initiative to beatify Agagianian began with former Armenian Catholic Patriarch Krikor Bedros XX Ghabroyan. It gained momentum when the current patriarch, Minassian, requested the opening of Agagianian’s tomb about two years ago, revealing his apparently incorrupt body.

While there is no official protocol in the Church for determining whether a body is incorrupt and incorruptibility is not considered an indication of sainthood, many saints are considered to be incorrupt. The formal process for his possible canonization was launched in Rome on Oct. 28, 2022. 

This stage involved a thorough investigation, examining all aspects of Agagianian’s life and virtues. Information was gathered from written documents and contemporary witnesses, as well as accounts of miracles attributed to his intercession. The process is now progressing rapidly.

The legacy of Patriarch Agagianian

Agagianian was renowned for his virtue. The Virgin Mary held a special place in his spirituality, and he was devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Eucharist. He was an advocate for justice and served the marginalized, including the elderly, orphans, and people with disabilities. Even after becoming a bishop, he continued to visit the Armenian diaspora worldwide.

Agagianian held several significant positions in the Church. Named a cardinal by Pope Pius XII in 1946, he was head of the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith (Propaganda Fide), the future Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples, from 1958 to 1970 and presided over the papal commission responsible for drafting laws for Eastern Catholic Churches. He was also appointed by Pope Paul VI to serve as one of the four moderators of the last years of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), a landmark event in modern Catholic history. At a time when the pope rarely left Rome, Agagianian served as an envoy of the Holy See, visiting many countries across multiple continents. He was twice considered “papabile,” a serious candidate for the papacy, in 1958 and 1963.

Agagianian’s connection to Lebanon

Agagianian was of Georgian-Armenian descent but acquired Lebanese citizenship after coming to the country as an apostolic visitor in 1935. A year later, at the age of 42, he became patriarch of the Armenian Catholic Church.

He developed close relationships with various segments of Lebanese society and worked to bring politicians together. He would often gather them at the Armenian Catholic monastery in Jounieh (Mount Lebanon) for private meetings. Agagianian played a role in reconciling Maronite Patriarch Paul Meouchi with then-Lebanese President Camille Chamoun. He also helped appoint Charles Helou (who later became president of Lebanon) as the first Lebanese ambassador to the Vatican.

Agagianian was known as the “builder patriarch” due to his numerous architectural projects, including a school and an orphanage in Anjar, Lebanon. His remains were laid to rest in the Armenian Catholic Cathedral of St. Elias and St. Gregory the Illuminator, which he built in the heart of Beirut.

This article was first published by ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

ACI Prensa Staff, Sep 15, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

In an increasingly digital world, many Catholic priests have found social media to be a powerful medium for evangelizing and connecting with hundreds of thousands of people. In light of Hispanic Heritage Month, here’s a look at five Hispanic priests who are distinguishing themselves in spreading the Gospel on various platforms.

Father Pedro Núñez: ‘Know Your Catholic Faith First’

Father Pedro F. Núñez, a priest of the Archdiocese of New Orleans, is a prominent Catholic preacher in the Spanish-speaking world. Born in Cuba, he emigrated to the United States in 1962 and was ordained a priest in 1977. 

For more than three decades, he has produced and hosted several television and radio programs on faith, including “Conozca Primero su Fe Católica” (“Know Your Catholic Faith First”) on EWTN; and “A Solas con Jesús” (“Alone with Jesus”) on Catholic World Radio.

Núñez is also a prolific author, with books in Spanish such as “Know Your Catholic Faith First” and “150 Stories That Will Change Your Life.” He is currently the Hispanic Catholic priest with the most followers on Facebook, with more than 1.9 million followers on his official page. He also has hundreds of thousands more followers on other social media sites.

He travels constantly throughout Latin America and the United States, spreading the Gospel and reaching millions of people.

Father Jorge Obregón: ‘New Fire’

A priest of the Legionaries of Christ, Father Jorge Obregón has dedicated his life to the formation of young people in leadership, faith, and values. With a solid academic background, he studied business administration at the Technological Institute in Monterrey, Mexico, and completed his studies in philosophy and theology at the Regina Apostolorum in Rome. In addition, he obtained a master’s degree in biblical theology from John Paul the Great Catholic University in San Diego.

In 2012, Obregón founded the Search retreat, an innovative spiritual formation program aimed at young people. Then, in 2017, he launched the New Fire platform, a Catholic resource designed to connect and form young people throughout Latin America. This platform invites people to know God, be formed in the truth, and find answers to their existential questions. It offers clear, simple, and in-depth resources that facilitate understanding and provide solid formation. With an attractive approach, it promotes a comprehensive lifestyle and responds to St. John Paul II’s call for a new evangelization.

Obregón also participates, along with six other priests of the Legionaries of Christ, in the podcast “¿Qué Haría Jesús?” (“What Would Jesus Do?”), which offers daily reflections on the Gospel.

Currently Obregón resides in Rye, New York, a town outside of New York City, where he continues to carry out his mission.

Father Juan Carlos Vásconez: ‘Talking with Jesus’

Father Juan Carlos Vásconez, originally from Quito, Ecuador, is passionate about digital evangelization and spiritual formation. A systems engineer who holds a doctorate in moral theology, he was ordained a priest in 2015. Currently, he works as a chaplain in two educational institutions and leads several digital projects with the aim of bringing people closer to God through social media.

Inspired by Pope Benedict XVI, Vásconez is one of the priests behind the project “Hablar con Jesús” (“Talking with Jesus”), a well-known channel found on different social media such as WhatsApp, YouTube, Spotify, and Telegram, where users can listen to 10-minute meditations every morning “talking with Jesus face-to-face.”

Father Ángel Espinosa de los Monteros: ‘The Ring Is Forever’

Father Ángel Espinosa de los Monteros, LC, has given more than 4,000 conferences on marriage, family values, and spirituality in various cities in Mexico, the United States, Spain, and South America. He has counseled numerous couples with advice and programs for marital and family growth. He is the author of the Spanish-language book “The Ring Is Forever” and has given more than 20 conferences based on it. Currently, he dedicates all his time to giving conferences and putting on marriage renewal programs in 20 countries.

In recent years, Espinosa has become a viral figure on social media for his simple, empathetic, and joyful way of presenting the Gospel, with millions of views of his videos. He currently has more than 500,000 followers on YouTube, more than 100,000 on TikTok, and more than 200,000 on Instagram.

Father Ignacio Amorós: ‘Rebels Wanted’

Born in Madrid, Spain, Father Ignacio Amorós initially had a career as a financial broker, but his life changed radically when he became involved in charitable missions in Madrid and later in Calcutta. This experience took him to Burundi, Africa, where he decided to become a priest and work on missions in a region plagued by civil strife. After his ordination, he dedicated himself to writing books and organizing humanitarian activities around the world, finally settling in Uruguay.

Currently, Amorós leads the digital evangelization project “Se Buscan Rebeldes” (“Rebels Wanted”), which provides Catholic formation on topics relevant to today’s society in line with the magisterium of the Catholic Church.

In addition, the priest leads the Spanish-language expansion of Bishop Robert Barron’s digital apostolate Word on Fire. This project is aimed at the global Spanish-speaking community in Spain, Latin America, and other regions. With more than 10 years following Barron’s evangelizing work, Amorós seeks to bring the mission of Word on Fire to a wider audience.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

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Quito, Ecuador, Sep 14, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

The presentation by Bishop José Ignacio Munilla at this year’s International Eucharistic Congress in Quito, Ecuador, was considered one of the most impactful so far, containing inspiring reflections that resonated in the hearts of the nearly 5,000 people gathered to hear the prelate.

The bishop of Orihuela-Alicante, Spain, called for spiritual renewal centered on the heart of Jesus and the Eucharist as the only ways to “Christify ourselves” and “transform our heart of stone” into one like that of Jesus.

Below are 15 quotes that left their mark on attendees from more than 50 countries.

1. “If they don’t teach you to love, you confuse loving with possessing, loving with desiring. Learning to love is quite a challenge. We need Jesus Christ, the heart of Jesus, to learn to love.”

2. “I am loved, therefore I am. If I had not been loved by God, I would not exist.”

3. “How many people suffer because they do not have a well-founded self-esteem! … If God loves me and wants me, and this is what the heart of Christ has revealed, I have no right to despise myself or think that this life has no meaning.” 

4. “The heart of Jesus is a school of love. Allow me this expression: It is the human school of divine love and it is the divine school of human love.”

5. “We all have a holy guardian angel. Not just those of us who are baptized. An atheist, even if he doesn’t know it, has a guardian angel; you’ll find out.”

6. “The Church is not an NGO [nongovernmental organization]; it is the family of Christ that continues the message, extending the message of Christ’s salvation to the entire world.

7. “We are weakened by sin. We are not capable of love. We need the heart of Jesus as a school of love.”

8. “Without the grace of Christ, it is impossible to heal the emotional wounds that characterize the present time and that make us suffer so much.”

9. “In God’s plan we are all necessary. There is not a person that is not needed.”

10. “My enemy is Satan, it is not this one who is making my life impossible, or this one who is next to me.”

11. “It is said that abortion is a right, that killing a child in the womb is a right. That is unnatural.”

12. “Conversion is a forgetting of ourselves, it is to stop pretending to be the center of the universe… and saying: ‘Lord, sit down, now the center is going to be you.’”

13. “From the heart of Jesus springs the Eucharist, and from the Eucharist springs that transformation of my heart of stone into a heart like that of Jesus.”

14. “Frequent Communion well carried out and Eucharistic adoration will be the keys to the miracle of interior transformation.”

15. “Let us be in love with the Eucharist, because the Eucharist will be responsible for Christifying us. We Eucharistize ourselves to Christify ourselves.”

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

ACI Africa, Sep 14, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

While many Catholic leaders in Nigeria are concerned about the influence of Pentecostalism, Catholics in the southeastern parts of the country are concerned about another trend.

In rural parts of the West African country, the number of young people participating in Sunday Mass has plummeted and continues to fall as many of them turn to paganism.

Father Vitalis Anaehobi serves in the region and said that most of the young people he has spoken to are grieved by “difficulties in life” such as poverty, unemployment, and “the failure by the Church to protect them” as attacks against Christians continue in the country where religious-based persecution is one of the highest in the world.

In an interview with ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, regarding concerns about the growth of private ministries linking themselves to the Catholic Church in Nigeria, Anaehobi said: “We are not upset by the influence of these ministries. The greatest fear we have, especially in southeast Nigeria where I am based, is the fact that young people are going back to traditional religion.”

He said that the youth in rural villages in Nigeria are not going to Pentecostal churches but to religions that their forefathers abandoned when they embraced Christianity.

“Our youths are going back to paganism,” Anaehobi told ACI Africa. “This emerging trend is nowhere on social media but for us here, this is our greatest worry. Very young boys and girls are going back to these practices.”

Anaehobi, who is the secretary-general of the Regional Episcopal Conference of West Africa (RECOWA), said that at the heart of the worrying trend is the increasing insecurity in the region.

“There is the false belief that in the face of the current insecurity in the region, Christianity cannot protect anyone. [The youth] believe that with traditional religion, they can obtain some way to protect themselves,” he said.

“According to our young people, Christianity is not as practical as traditional religion. When you go to the churches in our villages, you will not find young people there. They are out there practicing traditional religion.”

The priest said that because of poverty and lack of employment, young people there, especially in the rural parts of the country, are avoiding the Church where they are told “to go ahead and give the little they have to get blessings.”

They say that with traditional religion, no one is allowed to give much, Anaehobi shared with ACI Africa, adding that young people embracing African religious practices instead “meet, slaughter animals, perform rituals, dance, and go home with full stomachs.”

At the moment, this trend can only be observed in rural villages.

“We are not worried about the cities because there, the Church is full of young people,” Anaehobi said. “What we worry about the most is our villages.”

To encourage young rural people to stay in the Church, the priest has suggested that the Church in Nigeria rethink its role and look for practical ways to empower youths in the country.

“As we teach and give hope, we must go out and meet these young people where they are. They are out there looking for solutions to their poverty and unemployment,” he said. “The Church may not have the means to get our young people employed, but we can organize mentorship programs for them and facilitate their link to potential recruiters.”

In an interview with ACI Africa on Sept. 4, Bishop Emmanuel Adetoyese Badejo of Nigeria’s Diocese of Oyo said he had observed the increasing presence of paganism in the country.

“At the moment, we are talking about the revival of superstition and old traditional religions and beliefs in Nigeria,” the bishop said.

Badejo’s comments were echoed by Archbishop Ignatius Ayau Kaigama of the Archdiocese of Abuja in Nigeria, who raised an alarm about the emergence of a group in the country calling itself “Old Catholics.” 

“We have a new group coming in, calling themselves ‘Old Catholics,’ and they are setting up churches all over the place and causing confusion among the people,” the archbishop said, adding that some members are dressed as Catholic priests and hold liturgies similar to the Mass.

“Very many people are following this group,” he lamented. “We are very careful as bishops to watch out and to enlighten our people to be very careful not to fall into their traps. This isn’t healthy for us at all.”

This article was first published by ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, and has been adapted by CNA. 

CNA Staff, Sep 14, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

An archdiocese in the Philippines opened a museum this month in honor of Cardinal Jaime Sin, a Filipino cardinal who was the people’s “voice against corrupt forces” during difficult times in the country’s history. 

Sin’s family residence will be home to the museum, called the “Museo Kardinal,” according to the Archdiocese of Manila. The project was a collaboration between the local diocese of Kalibo and the Serviam Foundation. 

“Jaime Cardinal Sin was the archbishop of Manila during critical times in Philippines history,” said Father Rufino Sescon Jr., the former personal secretary to the cardinal. “At a time when the people were looking for leaders who could be their voice and defense against abusive and corrupt forces, Cardinal Sin rose to the occasion.”

Sin left a legacy behind as an important figure during the 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution, which ousted the dictator Ferdinand Marcos, restoring democracy in the Philippines. He is remembered as a driving force behind two revolts that ousted two dictators.

In his address to the people in 1986, the cardinal spoke on Radio Varitas to the Philippines, saying: “My dear people, I wish you to pray, because it’s only through prayer that we may solve this problem.” 

In his address, Sin called for a nonviolent protest, inspiring 20,000 people to rally peacefully at Camp Aguinaldo on Feb. 22, 1986,  to protect “our two good friends”: defense minister Juan Ponce Enrile and vice military chief Fidel Ramos, who defected from Marcos’ regime. 

“He led two people power revolutions. He was not afraid to be unpopular and criticized if only to denounce the evils of society,” Sescon explained. 

The museum is located in New Washington in Aklan and holds a collection of archival materials and Church artifacts, such as the mitre used by Sin, according to the Archdiocese of Manila. Sescon donated memorabilia to the museum as well. 

The first floor of the museum had already been turned into a chapel in honor of St. John Paul II. Sin hosted both of John Paul II’s visits to the Philippines in 1981 and 1995. 

The new museum was unveiled and blessed on Aug. 31, on what would have been Sin’s 96th birthday, and opened to the public the following day. 

The cardinal was born Aug. 31, 1928, and appointed archbishop of Manila by Pope Paul VI in 1974. In 1976, at the age of 48, he became the youngest cardinal in the world. Sin died on June 21, 2005, of complications from diabetes. 

“Hopefully, the museum in his hometown will instill to the people, especially the youth, the importance of good citizenship and morality in public office, that a good Christian is also a good citizen and leader,” Sescon noted. 

“May his life and legacy inspire more Filipinos to be more concerned and participative in the plight of the country and the need to choose righteous leaders,” he added.

An inscription on the wall of the museum reads: “My duty is to put Christ in politics. Politics without Christ is the greatest scourge of the nation,” a quote attributed to Sin.

“Cardinal Sin showed that love for country is also an expression of love for God,” Sescon said. “Our Catholic faith should also impel us to work for justice, peace, and good governance.” 

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