The 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis was “the highlight of my life,” said Cardinal Seán Brady, the day the Pope accepted his resignation as archbishop of Armagh, Northern Ireland.

Pope Francis “challenges and inspires me” with the “message of God having mercy and at the same time choosing us, despite our sinfulness,” the cardinal told people gathered in St Patrick’s Cathedral in Armagh. “It reminds me that I, too, need to say sorry and to ask forgiveness. And I do so again, now.”

Cardinal Brady spoke on September 8, the day it was announced at the Vatican that Pope Francis had accepted his resignation, which bishops must submit when they turn 75. The cardinal, who as archbishop of Armagh serves as primate of all Ireland, will be replaced by Archbishop Eamon Martin, who has served as coadjutor since early 2013.

“It has been my privilege to have been appointed a bishop by Pope St John Paul II, to have worked closely with Pope Benedict XVI, and to have taken part in the conclave that elected Pope Francis — that conclave has been the highlight of my life,” he said.

“The people of the Archdiocese of Armagh and the people of Ireland will remain in my prayers for the rest of my life. I ask the favor of your prayers to help me continue to serve God as best I can all the days God gives me.”

Cardinal Brady was ordained a priest in 1964 and was initially appointed to teach in a Catholic high school while serving as a part-time secretary to the late Bishop Francis McKiernan of Kilmore.

It was in this role that he assisted in a canonical inquiry into a priest who had been accused of abuse. Then-Father Brady interviewed a 14-year-old boy who alleged he had been abused by Norbertine Father Brendan Smyth. The allegations were not shared with the civil authorities, and Father Smyth went on to abuse in Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic and the United States; he was arrested and imprisoned in 1994.

When Cardinal Brady’s role came to light in 2010, he faced serious pressure and calls for his resignation. However, he refused to quit, but admitted he had done wrong, sought forgiveness and pledged to stay on, describing himself as a “wounded healer.”

During his time as president of the Irish bishops’ conference, Cardinal Brady was responsible for the adoption of stringent child-safeguarding procedures on both sides of the Irish border that have won praise from the civil authorities in both jurisdictions. He also spearheaded a zero-tolerance approach to abuse and insisted that all allegations are passed on to the civil authorities.

In a bid to ensure confidence in the new procedures, he established the National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church as an independent watchdog to ensure that the church was following its own guidelines when it came to the protection of children and vulnerable adults.

As an archbishop whose diocese straddles the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic, he keenly followed events that led to the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement in Northern Ireland.

In 2001, he led his fellow bishops in supporting a radical program of reform of policing that would phase out the sectarian Royal Ulster Constabulary and replace it with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, which had an affirmative action policy to ensure equal recruitment from the Catholic and Protestant communities.

He showed a passion for ecumenism. The Rev Donald Watts, co-chair of the Irish Inter Church Meeting and president of the Irish Council of Churches, said the cardinal made an “enormous contribution to interchurch relations in Ireland.

“He chaired meetings with a gentle humility that has enabled rich dialogue and built understanding. As he retires, we enjoy unprecedented positive relationships between our member Churches,” Rev Watts said.

Original Post by Catholic Herald

Pope Francis mourned the deaths of three Xaverian Missionary Sisters of Mary, who were murdered in two separate attacks in their residence in Burundi.

Sister Lucia Pulici, 75, and Sister Olga Raschietti, 82, were found dead on September 7 in their mission residence in the capital of Bujumbura. Sister Bernadetta Boggian, 79, who had found the bodies, was killed the next night.

According to the Washington Times, Sisters Raschietti and Pulici were stabbed to death, while Agence France-Presse reported that Sister Boggian was beaten and beheaded.

In telegrams sent to Archbishop Evariste Ngoyagoye of Bujumbura and Sister Ines Frizza superior general of the Xaverian Missionary Sister of Mary, the Pope expressed his sadness concerning the “tragic deaths” of these “faithful and devout nuns”.

The messages, sent on behalf of the Pope by Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said the Pope hoped that “the blood they have shed may become the seed of hope to build true fraternity between peoples.”

Xaverian Missionary Father Mario Pulcini, superior of the Xaverian Missionaries in Burundi, told MISNA, the missionary news service, that he had gone to the mission house on September 7 after he and Sister Boggian had been unable to reach Sisters Pulici and Raschietti by telephone all of that day.

“I was in front of the main door with the idea of forcing it open when it opened and I saw Bernadetta there very upset. She had found a side service entrance open and, once she entered, found the lifeless bodies of Sisters Olga and Lucia,” he said.

They alerted government, military, judicial and religious authorities, the priest said, and an investigation was begun.

Despite the murders, the sisters decided to spend the night in their home. However, they phoned Father Pulcini during the night of September 8, afraid that “the aggressor was in the home”. When the priest arrived, he found Sister Boggian had been killed, too.

There was no word yet on possible suspects or motives of the killings.

The three missionary sisters had been working in Burundi, helping the poor and the sick, the past seven years, Vatican Radio reported. Sister Boggian had been a superior of the congregation for many years.

On September 8, the mission house was “full of people who have come to mourn the nuns and express their solidarity,” Vatican Radio reported.

Original Post by Catholic Herald

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, said on Tuesday that he was “delighted” at the announcement that the Duchess of Cambridge is pregnant again.

The news of Catherine’s second pregnancy was released in advance of her canceling a public engagement at Oxford University with Prince William.

Catherine suffers from Hyperemesis gravidarum, extremely severe morning sickness in the early weeks of pregnancy, which can cause dehydration, weight loss and a build up of toxins in the blood and urine. During her first pregnancy with Prince George, Catherine was admitted to King Edward VII hospital. This time she is being treated at Kensington Palace by the surgeon gynaecologist to the Queen.

Cardinal Nichols said: “I am delighted at the happy news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a second child. Our prayers are with the family, and indeed all families awaiting the birth of a child.”

Speaking yesterday, Prince William said: “(Catherine’s) feeling OK, it’s been a tricky few days… we’re immensely thrilled, it’s great news.”

Original Post by Catholic Herald

Whenever prophetic voices rise to explain world events from a non-secular perspective, those voices often are minimized as “fringe” and “lunatic.”

But that is simply an occupational hazard of offering a prophetic voice. They will be beaten to a pulp by competing godless voices until they give in or give up.

For example, consider today’s voices in the wilderness that connect this country’s moral collapse to the twin scourges of terrorism and financial indebtedness. Anyone who connects our current struggles to our own spiritual and moral vacuum will be labeled a “nut.” I mean, who wants to hear about such things, right?

But even a cursory look at biblical prophets during times of crisis will quickly reveal how the godless voices of their day attacked them.

Immediately prior to God sending His people into Babylonian exile, the prophet Jeremiah tried to remind the people, again and again, that their abandonment of biblical morality was the reason for the impending disaster.

Their rejection of God’s law then is the equivalent of today’s attack on Christianity in our court system and the “loosening” of sexual ideals across our country.

Prior to the exile, Judah’s priests rationalized their own moral failure, and worse, legitimized the power of kings to legalize immorality and uphold it as a virtue. In modern times, too many of our pastors and priests have sought to go along with our pagan culture and have in essence told the typical pew sitter to go ahead and “live it up.” Certainly, God does not do anything so medieval as to punish disobedience, they believe. Surely, He would never allow disaster to come upon us.

Today’s religious leaders have preached fun, entertainment and sports. We should grab all we can from this life and expect nothing but indefinite happiness. After all, they say, God just wants us to be happy and free to pursue our pleasures.

Meanwhile those leaders act to silence any voice that warns of the impending consequences to unbridled heathenism.

They label prophetic voices as “bigots.” Such voices are “narrow-minded” and full of all sorts of “phobias.”

In ancient times, such rejection of the prophets was well-and-good until disaster struck and the king of Babylon conquered Jerusalem, taking its inhabitants into exile.

For many people today, that’s just a sad story. But it will be an all-too-real story when history repeats itself.

What will be the equivalent of exile in our time? Devastating terrorism that ends our way of life? Complete financial collapse from unrecoverable debt?

Ancient nations always lived with the threat of war and conquest. But we naively refuse to believe that anything really devastating could ever happen to us. In the tradition of the ostrich, we believe that our way of life will continue on forever.

But whatever we may face in the coming years, we can be sure that our response will be just like Jerusalem’s. We will never say: “We brought this on ourselves.” We will never declare: “We should have listened to the prophetic voices”; nor will we ask: “How can we find our way back to God?”

Instead, we will blame the prophetic voices. And we will throw in a good measure of blaming God, too.

May we as a nation, and a church, wake up in time to turn to the only truth that is worthy.

Michael Youssef, Ph.D., is the founder and president of Leading the Way with Dr. Michael Youssef, a worldwide ministry that leads the way for people living in spiritual darkness to discover the light of Christ through the creative use of media and on-the-ground ministry teams. Youssef was born in Egypt.

Original Post by Charisma Mag