tvc.dsj.org | February 19, 2019
IN THE CHURCH
13
Sainthood causes of Blessed Newman, Cardinal Mindszenty Advance
By Cindy Wooden
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis
has signed a decree recognizing a
miracle attributed to the intercession
of Blessed John Henry Newman, the
English cardinal, clearing the way for
his canonization.
The Vatican announced February 13
that Pope Francis had signed the decree
the day before.
Also February 12, he formally
recognized that the late Hungarian
Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, jailed and
exiled by the communists, had lived
the Christian virtues in a heroic way;
the recognition is an early step in the
sainthood process.
In the sainthood cause of Blessed
Newman, Bishop Philip Egan of Ports-
mouth had reported in November that
the proposed miracle involved a young
law graduate from the Archdiocese of
Chicago who faced life-threatening
complications during her pregnancy
but suddenly recovered when she
prayed to the English cardinal for help.
Blessed Newman was born in
London in 1801 and was ordained an
Anglican priest in 1925. He was a leader
in the Oxford Movement in the 1830s,
which emphasized the Catholic roots
of Anglicanism.
After a succession of clashes with
Anglican bishops made him a virtual
outcast from the Church of England,
he joined the Catholic Church at the
age of 44 and was ordained a Catholic
priest in 1846. Pope Leo XIII made him
a cardinal in 1879 while respecting his
wishes not to be ordained a bishop.
A theologian and poet, he died
in 1890 and his sainthood cause was
opened in 1958. Pope Benedict XVI
beatified him in Birmingham, England,
in 2010.
The date for his canonization will be
announced after Pope Francis holds a
meeting of cardinals to formalize their
support for declaring Blessed Newman
a saint.
The sainthood cause of Cardinal
Mindszenty, who led the Archdiocese
of Esztergom, Hungary’s primatial
see, is in its initial stages. The decree
of “heroic virtues” means he can be
called “venerable.”
He was born March 29, 1892, in
what was Austro-Hungary and was
ordained to the priesthood in 1915,
named archbishop in 1945 and a car-
dinal in 1946.
Arrested by the communists in 1948
on charges of treason, Cardinal Mind-
szenty was tortured into confessing. He
was sentenced to life in prison.
During the Hungarian Revolution of
1956, he was released, but when Soviet
forces invaded Hungary to restore the
communist government, he took refuge
in the U.S. Embassy in Budapest. He
spent more than 15 years there.
After negotiations with St. Paul
VI, the cardinal was allowed to leave
Hungary in 1971. He died in exile in
Austria in 1975. Once democracy was
restored, his body was reburied in
Hungary in 1991.
Thirst for Profit Threatens Humanity, Vatican Official says
ROME (CNS) – Left unchecked,
unbridled greed and a thirst for profit
leads down a slippery slope that en-
dangers the earth and all who live on
it, especially indigenous populations,
a Vatican official said. Msgr. Fernando
Chica Arellano, the Vatican’s perma-
nent observer to the U.N. Food and
Agriculture Organization, the Interna-
tional Fund for Agricultural Develop-
ment, and the World Food Program,
called on world leaders to make human
beings, and not material gain, as their
primary concern. “If this priority is
not clear, we will leave withered lands,
depleted seas, polluted air, wastelands
where beautiful orchards used to flour-
An woman from the Pataxo Ha-ha-hae tribe
looks at dead fish near the Paraopeba River
after a tailings dam owned by Brazilian min-
ing company Vale SA collapsed near Sao
Joaquim de Bicas, Brazil, Jan. 28, 2019.
(CNS photo/Adriano Machado, Reuters)
ish as an inheritance to future genera-
tions,” Msgr. Chica said February 13 at
the Fourth Global Meeting of the Indig-
enous Peoples’ Forum. The theme of
the February 12-13 conference, held at
the International Fund for Agricultural
Development’s headquarters in Rome,
focused on “promoting indigenous
people’s knowledge and innovations
for climate resilience and sustainable
development.” In his address, Msgr.
Chica said that the world must not view
indigenous people as minorities but
rather as “authentic interlocutors” who
correctly instruct humanity about the
“harmonious and fruitful relationship
between human beings and nature,
reminding us that man does not have
absolute power over creation.”
New Jersey Dioceses Publish List of Priests ‘Credibly Accused’ of Abuse
WASHINGTON (CNS) – Dioceses
in the state of New Jersey made public
February 13 the names of priests whom
they said had been “credibly accused” of
sexual abuse of minors, and one of the
names is former U.S. Cardinal Theodore
E. McCarrick. The former U.S. cardinal’s
name appears in the list from the Arch-
diocese of Newark with a footnote that
says Archbishop McCarrick “has been
included on the list based on the find-
ings of the Archdiocese of New York
that allegations of abuse of a minor
against then Father McCarrick were
credible and substantiated.” The longest
list is from the Archdiocese of Newark,
which lists 63 priests among the total of
188, which includes clergy from the dio-
ceses of Trenton, Paterson, Camden and
Metuchen. The Diocese of Metuchen
also notes in its disclosure that its first
bishop, then-Bishop McCarrick, is “cur-
rently involved in a church trial by the
Holy See for the abuse of a minor when
he was a priest of the Archdiocese of
New York.” “The revelations of clergy
sexual abuse of minors throughout this
past year have provoked feelings of
shock, anger, shame, and deep sorrow
throughout our Catholic community,”
Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin of Newark
said in a news release accompanying the
list from his archdiocese. “Victims, their
families, and the faithful are rightfully
outraged over the abuses perpetrated
against minors. Additionally, the failure
of church leadership to immediately re-
move suspected abusers from ministry
is particularly reprehensible,” he said.
In other decrees signed February 12,
Pope Francis recognized:
• The miracle needed for the
canonization of Blessed Thre-
sia Chiramel Mankidiyan, the
Indian founder of the Sisters
of the Holy Family. She died in
1926 and was beatified in 2000.
• The martyrdom of Jesuit Father
Victor Emilio Moscoso Carde-
nas, who was killed in Ecuador
in 1897.
• The heroic virtues of Father
Giovanni Battista Zuaboni, an
Italian diocesan priest who
founded the Company of the
Holy Family. He died in 1939.
• The heroic virtues of Spanish
Jesuit Father Emmanuel Garcia
Nieto, who died in 1974.
• The heroic virtues of Sister
Letizia Formai, the Italian
founder of the Missionary Sis-
ters of the Good News; she died
in 1954.
• The heroic virtues of Sister Ana
Julia Duque Hencker, the Co-
lombian founder of the Sisters
of the Annunciation, who died
in 1993.
When it Comes to
Prayer, There is no
Room for Individualism,
Pope says
VATICAN CITY (CNS) – Prayer is
not just a private and intimate dialogue
between a person and God, but rather
an opportunity for Christians to bring
the needs of others before the Lord,
Pope Francis said. “There is no room
for individualism in the dialogue with
God,” the pope said February 13 during
his weekly general audience. “There is
no display of one’s own problems as if
we were the only ones in the world who
suffer. There is no prayer raised to God
that is not the prayer of a community
of brothers and sisters.” Arriving at the
Paul VI audience hall, the pope was
welcomed by the sound of a children’s
choir singing a song based on his own
teaching of the three words that are im-
portant for family life: “please,” “thank
you” and “sorry.” Walking down the
center aisle of the hall, the pope greeted
the joyful pilgrims who held out their
hands to greet him, have their religious
objects blessed or their babies kissed.
Continuing his series of talks on the
“Our Father,” the pope focused his
reflection on Jesus’ instructions on how
to pray, which he said was a secret act
that is “visible only to God.”