Poland renews consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
On June 11, at a ceremony presided over by Archbishop Stanisław Gądecki, Archbishop of Poznań and President of the Polish Bishops’ Conference, the Bishops of Poland renewed the consecration of their country to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Referring to a stained glass window in the Sacred Heart Basilica in Krakow, where the ceremony took place, Archbishop Gądecki said that Catholics should see there “a call to make the Heart of God the centre of the universe. The new act is a great stimulous to recall this truth, which must be present in the life of every Christian.”
This act of renewal is the culmination of celebrations begun last year for the centenary of the consecration made on July 27, 1920, when the Polish Bishops implored divine help against the advance of the Red Army, obtaining victory the following month despite their numerical inferiority.
Catholic mountaineer carries statue of Our Lady to the top of Everest
A twenty-four-year-old Indian Catholic, Tagit Sorang Abraham, has realized his dream of climbing Mount Everest. He has been involved in mountain climbing since 2013 and for the last four years has been preparing to climb the highest peak in the world. The final ascent began on May 30 and on the morning of the next day, the feast of the Visitation of Our Lady, they reached their goal.
To celebrate the feat and give thanks for his success, Abraham left on the summit of Everest a small statue of the Blessed Virgin and a rosary that he always carried with him on his expeditions. “Since my mother passed away in 2003, the Virgin has become my Mother,” the young man declared.
According to the ANS agency, Sorang Abraham, who is a member of the Association of Salesian Cooperators, is aware that the most difficult mountain to climb is that of holiness, which he intends to achieve through his service in the Church. Born into a Protestant family, he was received into the Catholic Church together with an uncle in 2000.
Measures to support the family in Hungary
At a conference in June, the Hungarian Minister for Families, Katalin Novák, presented the good results of the recent measures implemented in her country to support religious institutions and the family. In this regard, she stated: “We not only proclaim and speak about a hypothetical Christian renewal, but we have decided to take the necessary measures.”
According to figures from Eurostat, Hungary is the European Union country that grants the proportionally highest funds to churches and religious educational establishments.
Consequently, statistics show the progress achieved since 2010: the number of children born within marriage has increased, while the abortion rate has decreased considerably and the current divorce rate is the lowest in sixty years. Additionally, the number of religious educational institutions and children enrolled in them has doubled, three thousand churches have been restored and one hundred and thirty churches have been built.
Priest guillotined by Nazis to be beatified
Fr. Jan Franciszek Macha, killed by the Nazis during World War II, will be beatified at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Katowice, Poland, on November 20. The official recognition of the priest’s martyrdom came out on November 29, 2019, but the beatification ceremony, originally scheduled for October 2020, was postponed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Ordained a priest just months before German troops invaded Poland, Fr. Macha was part of a resistance group and provided aid to families who had lost loved ones in action. The Gestapo arrested him on September 5, 1941 at a train station in Katowice, later sentencing him to death.
He was executed by guillotine on December 3, 1942, in a city prison.
Fr. Macha was only twenty-eight years old, and had been a priest for just over three years. His remains were never found.
Historical Church in Canada Targeted in Attack
On June 30, St. Jean Baptiste Church in the city of Morinville, Province of Alberta, joined the numerous religious buildings recently destroyed or vandalized in Canada. The local authorities described the fire, which reduced the church to ashes, as a hate crime.
For his part, Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, expressed his disapproval of the occurrence and condemned the attacks, commenting that “destroying places of worship” is “not the way to go.”
The residents of Morinville, who witnessed the bell tower and the roof of the building collapse, engulfed in flames, claim that the century-old church was “the heart and soul” of the town. Its loss is very significant for the region.
Catholics target of violent attack during procession in Paris
On May 29, a procession held in memory of the 150th anniversary of the martyrdom of dozens of Catholics executed by the Paris Commune – the anti-clerical regime that ruled the city after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 – was violently interrupted by groups opposed to the Catholic Church.
The procession, called March of the Martyrs, was to follow a four-kilometre route leading to the Church of Notre-Dame-des-Otages, built in honour of the martyrs killed on May 26, 1871. From the very outset of the walk, the group of about three hundred participants, consisting mostly of families and including children and the elderly, was jeered and insulted. The problems escalated when approximately fifty anti-establishment militants physically attacked the participants of the religious act. Two elderly people were thrown to the ground by the aggressors, and one of the faithful suffered a serious head injury requiring hospitalization.
In videos published on social media, individuals dressed in black can be seen beating the members of the faithful, who were forced to take refuge in a neighbouring church until the authorities brought the situation under control.
Speaking of the attack, France’s interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, said: “Freedom of worship must be exercised with complete tranquillity in our country. Our thoughts are with the Catholics of France.”
Eucharistic procession to ask protection against COVID-19
The Blessed Sacrament travelled through the streets of Weliweriya, Sri Lanka, on June 27, at a time when places of worship remained closed in the country. The initiative was undertaken by Fr. Roshan Fernando, parish priest of St. Anthony’s Church, and its main objective was to pray for the blessings of Heaven and ask for protection against the COVID-19 pandemic.
From the doors of their homes, the faithful waited for the passing of the vehicle that bore the monstrance with the Eucharist, accompanied by Fr. Fernando, who blessed them.
Study reveals that the practice of religion is beneficial to health
A study conducted by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which compared data on attendance at religious services and mortality among women, showed that the practice of religion has health benefits.
Data was collected from over seventy-four thousand women, taking into account medical history, lifestyle and demographic factors. The results reveal that women who attend Mass or go to church at least once a week have 27% less chance of developing cardiovascular disease and a 21% less risk of cancer.
