Papal Conclave to Begin Today
As the conclave begins today in Rome, we pray in a special way for the Cardinals who will elect the next Holy Father. This is a historic time for the Church, a time of deep prayer and reflection for Catholics worldwide and in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. We thank Benedict XVI for his great service to Christ Jesus and to the Church, and we pray for the Chair of Saint Peter, which will soon be filled by the next Bishop of Rome and Shepherd of the Universal Church. In the interim, we wait upon the decision of the Holy Spirit and we take comfort in the words of the 1 Samuel, “I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. I will build him a sure house and he shall go in and out before my anointed one forever.”
Visit www.stlouisreview.com/papacy for all the latest in papal coverage including FAQs on the theology and history of the papacy.
More about the background of the conclave at EWTN.
Catholic Priest to Receive Medal of Honor
More than 60 years after his death as a POW, Fr. Emil Kapaun to receive nation’s highest award for bravery
He was a soldier. He was a war hero. He was a priest. His Cause for Canonization is being considered by the Vatican. And now Fr. Emil Kapaun will receive the Medal of Honor from the President of the United States.
Fr. Emil’s heroic story will be told in the soon-to-be-released book “The Miracle of Father Kapaun,” published by Ignatius Press. One of the most remarkable aspects of his story surrounds the atypical movement of support for both his sainthood cause and his Medal of Honor award. The witnesses to both his sanctity and his bravery have come from non-Catholics, men of Jewish faith, Muslim faith and Protestant tradition, who served with Fr. Kapaun in battle or in the brutality of conditions where he drew his last breath – a prisoner of war camp.
Fr. Kapaun died as a prisoner of war, and the Korean War veterans who served with him, who were saved by him, have lobbied the Army for more than 60 years to award Kapaun the Medal of Honor for his acts of bravery. They have also spent years petitioning the Vatican to elevate him to Sainthood because of what they witnessed on the battlefield.
Roy Wenzl and Travis Heying, the authors of “The Miracle of Father Kapaun,” interviewed the dozens of men who survived the POW camp because of the courageous acts of this young priest. “They said he repeatedly ran through machine gun fire, dragging wounded soldiers to safety. In the prison camp, he shaped roofing tin into cooking pots so prisoners could boil water, which prevented dysentery. He picked lice off sick prisoners. He stole food from his captors and shared it with his starving comrades. Most of all, Kapaun rallied all of them, as they starved during subzero temperatures, to stay alive. When their future seemed hopeless, he persuaded them to hope. Hundreds died in the camps, but hundreds more survived,” recounts Wenzl and Heying.
One of the surviving POWs, who will be at the award ceremony in April at the White House, said Fr. Kapaun was murdered by Chinese prison camp guards in 1951 because he openly defied many of the camp rules, including praying the rosary with other prisoners. Mike Dowe, who like dozens of other survivors of the camp has petitioned both Congress and the Vatican for these honors, recalls that by the time Kapaun died, Protestants and men of other beliefs were praying the Catholic rosary and were openly resisting the Chinese torture.
Since opening Kapaun’s Cause for Canonization in 1993, there have already been several allegations of miracles – healings attributed to Fr. Kapaun’s intercession that defy scientific explanation. These cures have been witnessed once again by non-Catholics – doctors, in fact, who can attribute no logical answer to the healing of seriously ill or injured individuals.
The last surviving members of Fr. Kapaun’s immediate family and several of the living POWs who served with him will travel to Washington, D.C., for the Medal of Honor award ceremony on April 11.
He was a soldier. He was a war hero. He was a priest. His Cause for Canonization is being considered by the Vatican. And now Fr. Emil Kapaun will receive the Medal of Honor from the President of the United States.
Fr. Emil’s heroic story will be told in the soon-to-be-released book “The Miracle of Father Kapaun,” published by Ignatius Press. One of the most remarkable aspects of his story surrounds the atypical movement of support for both his sainthood cause and his Medal of Honor award. The witnesses to both his sanctity and his bravery have come from non-Catholics, men of Jewish faith, Muslim faith and Protestant tradition, who served with Fr. Kapaun in battle or in the brutality of conditions where he drew his last breath – a prisoner of war camp.
Fr. Kapaun died as a prisoner of war, and the Korean War veterans who served with him, who were saved by him, have lobbied the Army for more than 60 years to award Kapaun the Medal of Honor for his acts of bravery. They have also spent years petitioning the Vatican to elevate him to Sainthood because of what they witnessed on the battlefield.
Roy Wenzl and Travis Heying, the authors of “The Miracle of Father Kapaun,” interviewed the dozens of men who survived the POW camp because of the courageous acts of this young priest. “They said he repeatedly ran through machine gun fire, dragging wounded soldiers to safety. In the prison camp, he shaped roofing tin into cooking pots so prisoners could boil water, which prevented dysentery. He picked lice off sick prisoners. He stole food from his captors and shared it with his starving comrades. Most of all, Kapaun rallied all of them, as they starved during subzero temperatures, to stay alive. When their future seemed hopeless, he persuaded them to hope. Hundreds died in the camps, but hundreds more survived,” recounts Wenzl and Heying.
One of the surviving POWs, who will be at the award ceremony in April at the White House, said Fr. Kapaun was murdered by Chinese prison camp guards in 1951 because he openly defied many of the camp rules, including praying the rosary with other prisoners. Mike Dowe, who like dozens of other survivors of the camp has petitioned both Congress and the Vatican for these honors, recalls that by the time Kapaun died, Protestants and men of other beliefs were praying the Catholic rosary and were openly resisting the Chinese torture.
Since opening Kapaun’s Cause for Canonization in 1993, there have already been several allegations of miracles – healings attributed to Fr. Kapaun’s intercession that defy scientific explanation. These cures have been witnessed once again by non-Catholics – doctors, in fact, who can attribute no logical answer to the healing of seriously ill or injured individuals.
The last surviving members of Fr. Kapaun’s immediate family and several of the living POWs who served with him will travel to Washington, D.C., for the Medal of Honor award ceremony on April 11.
CCC Responds to Pope Benedicts Resignation
The more than 500 priests and deacons of the Confraternity of Catholic Clergy express our profound respect, admiration and filial love for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI as with great sadness we learn of his abdication from the Chair of Saint Peter at the end of this month. Father John Trigilio, President of the Confraternity, said: “Pope Benedict has been a bridge of continuity after the long and wonderful papacy of Pope John Paul the Great. He has also been a beacon of hope for orthodoxy of thought and for reverence in divine worship. We clergy are particularly grateful for his paternal love, example and piety as pope, bishop and priest. Viva il Papa”
A national association of priests and deacons dedicated to promoting ongoing spiritual, theological and pastoral formation in a fraternal setting, the CCC in the United States has fellow Confraternities of Catholic Clergy in Australia and in Great Britain. There was an international gathering of all three in Rome in 2010 where priests and deacons of this association attended the papal Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany. A convocation is planned every five years in Rome with the next one taking place in 2015.
Mr. Thomas J. McKenna, Executive Director of the CCC, expressed his thoughts on the Pope’s resignation. “We are all painfully aware of His Holiness’ declining health and while his resignation saddens us, his decision to surrender the keys of St. Peter for the good of Holy Mother Church is further witness of this great man’s wisdom and humility. As a true father, the Holy Father places the needs of his spiritual children first. That is why he feels his physical limitations prevent him from fully providing what his sons and daughters need.”
Fr. Trigilio is asking all the members of the CCC to offer special prayers of support for Pope Benedict as he prepares for his official relinquishment of papal authority on February 28th.
A national association of priests and deacons dedicated to promoting ongoing spiritual, theological and pastoral formation in a fraternal setting, the CCC in the United States has fellow Confraternities of Catholic Clergy in Australia and in Great Britain. There was an international gathering of all three in Rome in 2010 where priests and deacons of this association attended the papal Mass on the Feast of the Epiphany. A convocation is planned every five years in Rome with the next one taking place in 2015.
Mr. Thomas J. McKenna, Executive Director of the CCC, expressed his thoughts on the Pope’s resignation. “We are all painfully aware of His Holiness’ declining health and while his resignation saddens us, his decision to surrender the keys of St. Peter for the good of Holy Mother Church is further witness of this great man’s wisdom and humility. As a true father, the Holy Father places the needs of his spiritual children first. That is why he feels his physical limitations prevent him from fully providing what his sons and daughters need.”
Fr. Trigilio is asking all the members of the CCC to offer special prayers of support for Pope Benedict as he prepares for his official relinquishment of papal authority on February 28th.
The CatholicTV Network to Hold Telethon
The CatholicTV Network will hold its 21st annual telethon on Friday, February 1, 2013 and Saturday, February 2, 2013.
The CatholicTV Network will hold its 21st annual telethon on Friday, February 1st, and Saturday, February 2nd. The telethon will air from 9AM to 9PM ET on Friday and 9AM to 10PM ET on Saturday.
The CatholicTV telethon will broadcast from the Msgr. Francis T. McFarland Television Center in Watertown, MA. CatholicTV president Father Robert Reed, Jay Fadden and Kevin Nelson will host this annual event; it is the major fundraiser for this fully viewer-supported Catholic television station.
The telethon features entertainment and highlights from the network's family-friendly, faith-filled programming. The 21st annual Telethon guest will include: Rockapella, Father Dan O’Connell, Matt Weber, Friends of the Orphans Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos Choir, Diana Doyle, Anne DiSanto, Pointe Blank, Spotlight’s “Film Fathers”, Christine Caswell, John Monahan, Hosts of The Gist, and Going My Way’s Father Chris Hickey and Father Paul Rouse.
Members of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas and Knights of Columbus will be among the volunteers answering phone calls during the telethon. Viewers can call 617-923-3450 to make a pledge to CatholicTV or visit: www.catholictv.com/donate to make an online donation.
Telethon donations will help CatholicTV deliver the Good News into millions of homes across the country.
Visit www.CatholicTV.com for more information.
The CatholicTV Network will hold its 21st annual telethon on Friday, February 1st, and Saturday, February 2nd. The telethon will air from 9AM to 9PM ET on Friday and 9AM to 10PM ET on Saturday.
The CatholicTV telethon will broadcast from the Msgr. Francis T. McFarland Television Center in Watertown, MA. CatholicTV president Father Robert Reed, Jay Fadden and Kevin Nelson will host this annual event; it is the major fundraiser for this fully viewer-supported Catholic television station.
The telethon features entertainment and highlights from the network's family-friendly, faith-filled programming. The 21st annual Telethon guest will include: Rockapella, Father Dan O’Connell, Matt Weber, Friends of the Orphans Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos Choir, Diana Doyle, Anne DiSanto, Pointe Blank, Spotlight’s “Film Fathers”, Christine Caswell, John Monahan, Hosts of The Gist, and Going My Way’s Father Chris Hickey and Father Paul Rouse.
Members of the Catholic Daughters of the Americas and Knights of Columbus will be among the volunteers answering phone calls during the telethon. Viewers can call 617-923-3450 to make a pledge to CatholicTV or visit: www.catholictv.com/donate to make an online donation.
Telethon donations will help CatholicTV deliver the Good News into millions of homes across the country.
Visit www.CatholicTV.com for more information.
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