May 5, 2018 // World News

News Briefs: May 6, 2018

Catholic News Service

Pope, others mourn death of British toddler Alfie Evans

LIVERPOOL, England (CNS) — Pope Francis said he was mourning the death of English toddler Alfie Evans, who died four days after doctors withdrew his life support system. The 23-month-old boy died at about 2:30 a.m. April 28 after his father, Tom Evans, spent 10 minutes trying to revive him by mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, according to reports in the British media. Tom Evans, a Catholic, announced the death of his son on Facebook later that day with words: “My gladiator lay down his shield and gained his wings at 02:30 … absolutely heartbroken … I LOVE YOU MY GUY.” Alfie’s mother, Kate James, wrote: “Out baby boy grew his wings tonight at 2:30 a.m. We are heartbroken.” Soon afterward, Pope Francis, who had met Tom Evans at the Vatican April 18, tweeted: “I am deeply moved by the death of little Alfie. Today I pray especially for his parents, as God the Father receives him in his tender embrace.” 

Restorative justice seen as a critical piece of criminal justice reform

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Restorative justice should be advocated as a key eleme some interesting takeaways. While the majority of Americans say they believe in a higher power, what they are talking about isn’t necessarily God “as described in the Bible.” Pew’s studies in recent years have shown a decline in the number of Americans who believe in God with absolute certainty and a growing number conversely having doubts in God’s existence. This led researchers to question what exactly people are rejecting: a higher power or spiritual force or the Christian idea of God. Here’s what they found from a survey last December of more than 4,700 U.S. adults: The vast majority — 90 percent — believe in some kind of higher power. Fifty-six percent profess faith in God as described in the Bible and 33 percent say they believe in another type of higher power or spiritual force. One in 10 Americans say they don’t believe in God or a higher power of any kind.

Dismissal of Catholic House of Representatives chaplain sparks outrage 

WASHINGTON (CNS) — The apparent forced resignation of the chaplain who tends to the spiritual needs of the U.S. House of Representatives and is Catholic has drawn fire against the Speaker of the House, who also is Catholic. Earlier in April news trickled out that Jesuit Father Patrick Conroy, a beloved figure on Capitol Hill, was set to retire in May, but various news outlets on April 26 began reporting that he was “ousted” and forced to resign by House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Wisconsin. NBC News reported April 26 that it had obtained a letter penned by the chaplain to Speaker Ryan saying: “As you have requested, I hereby offer my resignation as the 60th Chaplain of the United States House of Representatives.” Father Conroy’s office declined an interview request by Catholic News Service about the resignation, but in an interview published by The New York Times, he said he was asked to resign but didn’t know why, and expected to leave the post he’s held since 2011 by May 24. 

More Americans believe in higher power than in God, study says

WASHINGTON (CNS) — A new Pew Research Center survey has some interesting takeaways. While the majority of Americans say they believe in a higher power, what they are talking about isn’t necessarily God “as described in the Bible.” Pew’s studies in recent years have shown a decline in the number of Americans who believe in God with absolute certainty and a growing number conversely having doubts in God’s existence. This led researchers to question what exactly people are rejecting: a higher power or spiritual force or the Christian idea of God. Here’s what they found from a survey last December of more than 4,700 U.S. adults: The vast majority — 90 percent — believe in some kind of higher power. Fifty-six percent profess faith in God as described in the Bible and 33 percent say they believe in another type of higher power or spiritual force. One in 10 Americans say they don’t believe in God or a higher power of any kind

Unlikely companions on the Camino move from brokenness to brotherhood

INDIANAPOLIS (CNS) — Mark Peredo knew he had to do something drastic. His 27-day, 600-mile walking pilgrimage across the Camino in France and Spain in late 2016, left him with a lingering combination of anger and brokenness. He was also still trying to come to terms with the recent death of his father, who had always been his best friend. And he was still trying to recover emotionally and physically from the horrific accident in 2015 that nearly killed him when another driver struck his car head-on at a high speed — a crash that led Peredo to have eight surgeries. That’s when Peredo started a search for the driver of the other car, Luke Hutchins. “After my return from the Camino, I had a need to seek him out, to understand, to see if he was OK,” recalls Peredo, a member of St. Mary Parish in Lanesville in southern Indiana. “There was still this whole forgiveness I was withholding from Luke. I was still angry. I knew I needed another way to go. I was trying to make a forgiveness breakthrough.” During his search, Peredo found a news report that said the accident wasn’t the result of drugs or alcohol, but an epileptic seizure. For the first time, Peredo realized that Hutchins had suffered, too, and was likely still suffering. When he finally came face to face with Hutchins in the early part of 2017, Peredo did something that still stuns Hutchins: Peredo asked him if he wanted to walk  the Camino with him. “I was hoping I could create a way to make something great out of something bad — and he would be a partner with me in this,” Peredo told the Criterion, newspaper of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis. “Through nobody’s fault, both of us had almost been killed in the accident. I wanted to do this for myself and him — to walk as brothers, to create something positive for our futures.” 

Pope: Heaven is an encounter with Jesus, not a boring waiting room

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Heaven is not an eternally dull existence but rather the completion of a journey toward a promised encounter with the Lord, Pope Francis said. Although Christians may know full well that their goal is to go to heaven, “we begin to slip” when asked, “What is heaven,” the pope said in his homily April 27 during Mass at Domus Sanctae Marthae. “Many times, we think of an abstract heaven, a faraway heaven, a heaven that we say ‘yes, it’s fine.’ But some may think: ‘Isn’t it a little boring being there for all eternity?’ No, that is not heaven,” he said. Pope Francis’ homily focused on the day’s first reading from the Acts of the Apostle, in which St. Paul proclaims “that what God promised our fathers he has brought to fulfillment” through Jesus’ resurrection. Trusting God to fulfill His promises, he said, puts Christians on a path “toward an encounter, the definitive encounter with Jesus. Heaven is the encounter with Jesus.”