Major Motion Picture: Of Gods and Men - Movie about the Trappist Monks in Algeria

"Cannes Film Festival grand-prize winner had 'monastic adviser' on set"

By Mark Pattison
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- "Of Gods and Men," the Cannes Film Festival grand prize-winning feature now debuting across the country, had a "monastic adviser" on the set to help faithfully depict the lives of the French monks whose story is at the heart of the movie.

Henry Quinson, who lived for six years at a Cistercian monastery in France, knew two of the monks portrayed in the film.

The subject matter is not typical for a movie: the lives of seven Trappist monks in turmoil-ridden Algeria in the mid-1990s. All seven were kidnapped in 1996 and ultimately beheaded.

"It's very difficult for me to make a movie that would be cheap -- the kind of movie that would only be about blood," Quinson told Catholic News Service in a Feb. 18 telephone interview from Marseilles, France, where he lives. "It would be very far away from the spirit of the people I knew."

Xavier Beauvois, who directed and co-wrote "Of Gods and Men," approached Quinson after seeing his memoir on monastic life; Quinson had earlier translated into French an English-language book on the murdered monks.

Quinson said Beauvois e-mailed him asking, "I need someone to be with me on this movie. ... When it's written (in the script) 'the monks pray,' how are they dressed? What do they do? Do they sing? I need someone who knows the monastic life from the inside."

Quinson, who had been considering making a movie himself on the French Trappists, agreed to help Beauvois.

"My little job," Quinson said, "was to tell their story, ... be faithful to the brothers, and reach out to as many people as we can."

Quinson said Algeria in the mid-1990s was struggling through many of the same issues today roiling Muslim-majority nations in North Africa and the Middle East.

"The murder of the monks was a turning point in Algeria. That doesn't mean there's no violence in Algeria today. Things are shaking up in Algeria right now," he told CNS. "What is true is that no Christians were murdered after '96, and I think that Algerian people started to come to terms with the idea that violence is not going to beget any bright future and another way to solve the problems would not be terrorizing people, not only for their religious faith -- most people who were murdered in Algeria were Muslims themselves -- but questions were raised about who murders whom."

Quinson said, "For the two months when we shot the movie in Morocco, I was there every day. Beauvois would have me very close to him -- 'Henry, are you sure this is right?' -- to re-create the atmosphere of the monastery."

Then came the bombshell from Beauvois when it came to the chapel scenes: "Henry, for these parts you are the film director. I cannot direct something I know nothing about. What are they going to do? What are they going to think?"

"I found all the songs, and all the dialogue, which makes up about 15 percent of the movie. I rewrote one of the speeches about being a martyr, which was a very important part of the movie," Quinson told CNS. "We spent several days in a monastery" coaching the actors, working with Beauvois on the setting, and re-creating the monastery in Morocco for filming.

Quinson, the son of a banker, was born in New York City but has lived in Europe, primarily France and Belgium, since age 5.

"I'm not a real monk in the sense that I'm not a part of a monastic order. But I'm celibate, working within the church," said Quinson, who turns 50 March 8. "I worked as teacher here in Marseille. I managed to have part-time jobs so I would have a lot of time to help out the neighbors" in a Muslim enclave in Marseille with "a lot of educational help and now a lot of financial help. ... A lot of these kids were considered not very able to go far in their studies" for academic or financial reasons.

Quinson said that, before filming, he had gotten advice from "a big French film producer" he would not name that "this story with seven monks being killed is not going to sell." Cannes awards and international acclaim later, the producer's opinion is being debunked.

In his review of "Of Gods and Men," John Mulderig of CNS' Media Review Office called the movie "a restrained religious masterpiece and a memorable viewing experience."

The film received a classification of A-III -- adults -- for brief gory violence, some unsettling images and a single instance each of rough and crass language. But Mulderig said older teens could profit from seeing the movie.

Director Beauvois, according to Mulderig, "finds a path to the heart of the Gospel through simplicity, a compassionate sense of brotherhood and an atmosphere of prayer enriched by sacred music and potent silence."

Polish Priest Murdered in Tunisia

Roman Catholic Salesian missionary Father Marek Rybinski was found dead with his throat cut in Tunis on Friday. The Tunisian interior ministry says it believes he was murdered by “fascist terrorists”.

The ministry in the Tunisian capital “strongly condemned” the murder, adding that the perpetrators would be “severely punished”.

Father Rybinski, who was 34 years old, went missing on Thursday morning and after a search of the Salesian school in the Manouba district, police found his body in a storage room, his throat cut.

"Given the manner of his murder [we believe] that a group of fascist terrorists are behind the crime," the ministry said in a statement.

Rybinski’s family has been notified.

Police say that the priest is the second Christian religious figure to be killed during the social unrest which led up to and followed the ousting of President Ben Ali in January.

On 31 January, the Salesian missionary’s web site says the order in Tunis received death threats in an unsigned letter.

Father Rybinski worked in Tunisia for three years and had been a priest for five after being ordained in Lodz, central Poland. He served in the Salesian missionary centre in Warsaw and also worked for a year in the Olsztyn Salesian institution, where he prepared educational and volunteer mission trips.

The Salesian Society mission is the third largest Christian missionary organisation in the world.

"Human Rights Priest Slain in Philippines"

From Catholic.net

CATUBIG, Philippines, SEPT. 14, 2009 (Zenit.org).- A Catholic priest who championed human rights for victims of injustice was shot in the head last week.

On Sept. 6, Father Cecilio Lucero, 48, was ambushed by some 30 men while driving from his parish in Catubig to Catarman, on the island of Samar.

The priest died immediately with a bullet to the head, and two men who were traveling with him were taken to the hospital with injuries.

Father Lucero was chairman of the Human Rights Desk and the Social Action Center of the Catarman Diocese.

The head of the diocese, Bishop Emmanuel Trance, is calling for "government officials to get to the bottom of this extra-judicial killing which has claimed the life of one of our priests," the Filipino bishops' conference reported.

The prelate said that in that area there have been some "18 killings during the past six months," and that Father Lucero sought a police escort because "he also feared for his personal safety."

"Orissa victim Fr. Bernard Digal passes away"

From Mangalorean.com

By Team Mangalorean

Chennai/Mumbai October 28, 2008: Fr. Bernard Digal, one of the victims of Orissa carnage who was beaten up mercilessly by the Hindu fundamentalists on August 25, lost his battle for life and succumbed to the injuries today October 28, 2008.

Archbishop of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar Raphael Cheenath SVD in a communiqué with Mangalorean.com said that Fr. Digal had been to Chennai to visit the Vicar General of the Archdiocese who had undergone a bypass surgery. While in Chennai Fr. Digal again developed health complications due to the internal injuries that he had received, and was admitted to St. Thomas Hospital in Chennai where he was operated by the doctors to remove a blood clot from his brain.

Archbishop Raphael Cheenath SVD rushed to Chennai to be at his side when he learnt that Fr. Digal's condition further deteriorated. Fr. Bernard who was kept on respirator slipped into coma as both his lungs collapsed and he passed away on the night of Tuesday, October 28, 2008 at 9:25pm(local time).

Archbishop Raphael Cheenath who administered the Sacrament of anointing of the Sick, mourning the death of Fr. Digal said that, "The Church in Orissa is blessed with a Martyr for the suffering and persecuted Church. May he now enjoy the Crown of glory from His Lord and Master, he said adding "Let us continue to show our solidarity and our spiritual closeness to our people in Orissa."

According to the Archbishop, Fr. Digal's body will be flown to Archbishop's house in Bhuvaneshwar today October 29, 2008. Fr. Digal was a native of Raikia (Khandamal district) and he had mentioned in his will that he would be laid to rest in his native place after his death. "If the situation permits, we will fulfill his wish and he will be laid to rest according to his will," Archbishop told mangalorean.com.

Fr Digal was brutally beaten up on August 25 and was left in the forest half naked and bleeding the entire night. He was later admitted to the Holy Spirit Hospital in Mumbai.

"The Christians in the district of Kandhamal have a powerful intercessor in heaven, Fr. Bernard will now continue his work for our people from his heavenly home," he said.

"Fr. Bernard Digal to be laid to rest today"

From Mangalorean.com

Bhubaneshwar Oct 30, 3008: The Mortal remains of Rev. Bernard Digal, the victim of Orissa violence, accompanied by Archbishop Raphael Cheenath SVD, arrived in Bhubaneshwar at 2:00pm today October 30, 2008.

The body flown in to Bhubaneswar from Chennai was escorted by police personnel from the airport to Capital hospital and was released at 5.00pm after conducting the postmortem. Hundreds of Priests, religious and the people from all over the state are flocking to pay their respect and homage at St.Vincent Church, where his mortal remains have been kept for public viewing.

According to Fr. Joseph Kalathil, heavy security has been deployed near St.Vincent Church where funeral mass will be held on Friday, October 31st at 10.00am.

Fr Bernard Digal(47), died on Oct. 28 at St. Thomas Hospital in Chennai where he was operated by the doctors for a blood clot in his brain. Fr. Digal who was also a treasurer of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese, underwent treatment at a hospital in Mumbai, after which he was convalescing in Chennai where he was visiting an ailing senior priest of the archdiocese.

In another significant move, government of Orissa today has ordered a probe into the death of Fr. Digal following a complaint lodged by Vicar General of the Archbishop’s House. It has been stated in the complaint that, Fr. Digal was attacked by the mob in Sankarakhol of Kandhamal district and was abandoned in a forest area where he was left to bleed before he was taken to hospital. It has also been stated in the complaint that Fr Digal was treated in different hospitals in Bhubaneswar, Mumbai and Chennai.

Fr. Digal was born in January 1962 in Raikia of Kandhamal district. He was ordained a priest in May 1992 for the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar.

"Indian Priest Dies After Beating"
From Zenit

NEW DELHI, India, OCT. 30, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Father Bernard Digal, 45, died in a hospital Wednesday from wounds he sustained in late August, when he was beaten by Hindu extremists.

The priest served in the Archdiocese of Cuttack-Bhubaneswar, in the state of Orissa, the hotbed for a large portion of the anti-Christian violence that has plagued India since the August death of a Hindu leader.

Father Mrutyunjay Digal, secretary of Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of that archdiocese, announced the priest's death to the Fides news agency. He said the community was in "a moment of mourning, of silence and of prayer for the entire local Church."

"During his life, Father Bernard showed determination and courage to give testimony and die for Christ," the secretary added. "He has died as an authentic Christian; immediately after the attack he suffered, he pardoned his enemies and persecutors."

The Fides agency cited Indian Christian organizations in reporting that some 100 Christians have died as a result of the wave of persecution, while thousands have been wounded. Some 15,000 Christians are living in refugee camps and perhaps as many as 40,000 more have fled to the jungle to hide from the extremists.

"Among the Fallen"

From a recent article by George Weigel about the Spanish Civil War of 1936-39:

"As the recent beatification of 498 martyrs of that period suggests, the Catholic Church suffered terribly during the Spanish Civil War; the new beati join hundreds beatified in the 1980s and 1990s and the nine Martyrs of Asturias canonized in 1999. Yet the beatified and canonized are a fraction of the total — some 7,000 bishops, priests, seminarians, monks, and nuns were killed (12 bishops, 4,184 priests, 2,365 monks and 300 nuns) simply because of who they were; no one knows how many thousands of lay Catholics were dispatched for the same reason. Some of the killings were beyond grotesque, as priests and seminarians were treated like bulls in the ring: stabbed, flayed, their ears cut off, and so forth, before the coup de grace. Entire monasteries, seminaries, and convents were wiped out; the dead bodies of nuns were exhumed and desecrated. There was little (some say no) apostasy."

Read the rest of the article HERE.

Sister Nirmala Meets Orissa Chief Minister, Prays With Him For Peace

From the Union of Catholic Asia News

BHUBANESWAR, India (UCAN) -- The head of the Missionaries of Charity congregation met the chief minister of Orissa on Oct. 7 to express the Church's concern over anti-Christian violence in the eastern Indian state.

Sister Nirmala Joshi, who succeeded Blessed Teresa of Calcutta as congregational leader, told UCA News on Oct. 8 their "cordial" meeting ended with both praying together for peace in the state.

The diminutive nun met Naveen Patnaik, who heads Orissa's two-party coalition government, and presented him a letter explaining the Church's concern over the six-week-long Hindu violence against Christians in the state.

At the end, Patnaik, Sister Nirmala and local Missionaries of Charity superior Sister Suma prayed together Saint Francis of Assisi's famous prayer, "Lord make me a channel of your peace."

The meeting took place inside the chief minister's office in the state capital of Bhubaneswar, 1,745 kilometers southeast of New Delhi. Sister Nirmala's letter thanked the chief minister for the "strong action" he has taken in the past few days to check the violence.

According to sources in Cuttack-Bhubaneswar archdiocese, the situation in the state is "better now," with no violence having been reported since Oct. 3. The violence began after the murder of a Hindu leader on Aug. 23 and has claimed at least 52 lives to date.

Hindu extremists have also burned down around 4,500 houses and 100 churches. The most-affected area is Kandhamal district, where the slain Hindu leader was based. Some 50,000 Christians have been driven from their homes there and hundreds were forced to convert to Hinduism.

Sister Nirmala's letter said it was "sad to see" innocent people being attacked and forced to live without their religious freedom. Such acts degrade Hinduism, which respects all religions, remarked the nun, a Hindu convert to Catholicism.

Her letter said she wanted the chief minister to continue taking "strong actions" to help restore peace and normalcy in the state, particularly in Kandhamal.

Meanwhile, the state police reported they have arrested 1,000 troublemakers from the affected areas. They also claimed to have arrested five people who were in a mob that attacked a Catholic priest and nun on Aug. 25, as well as the man who raped the 28-year-old nun.

Sister Nirmala told UCA News she was glad the administration has started taking "strong action" and expected such measures to continue and help build confidence among people so they can go back to their villages from relief camps.

An estimated 25,000 people now live in 17 relief camps, including one Sister Nirmala's nuns run about 20 kilometers from Bhubaneswar. Almost an equal number of people reportedly live scattered in city slums and with relatives elsewhere, archdiocesan sources said.

Sister Nirmala's letter brought to the chief minister's notice that the camp dwellers live without the chance to practice their faith, and she stressed the need for them to be able to return to their villages.

Meanwhile, a group of some 40 riot-affected people met Orissa Governor M.C. Bhandare on Oct. 7. State opposition leader J.B. Patnaik led them, demanding a high-level probe into the sectarian violence. The governor represents the Indian president in a state.

They reportedly dismissed the state's claim that affected people have started to return to villages from the relief camps. People leave relief camps, they acknowledged, but go to distant places because they do not feel safe in the villages.

"Indian bishops demand police take action against nuns' attackers"

By Catholic News Service

NEW DELHI (CNS) -- The Catholic Bishops' Conference of India is demanding police officials take action against people who attacked Missionaries of Charity nuns in central India.

On Sept. 5, about 300 Hindu fundamentalists barged into a train coach and took four infants from two Missionaries of Charity nuns and two helpers, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. The nuns from Raipur were taking the babies, all younger than two months, to an orphanage their congregation operates with a government license in Indore, about 500 miles south of New Delhi.

Divine Word Father Babu Joseph, spokesman for the bishops, called the attack "heinous" and "most contemptible." In a Sept. 6 statement, he appealed to law-enforcement agencies to "take stringent action against the perpetrators of crimes against the hapless religious women who have given their life for the sake of the most unfortunate ones in society."

"It is most regrettable," he added, "that organizations that claim to represent Hindu interests show utter insensitivity toward those whose services are received by members of their own community."

Sister Mamata, one of the Missionaries of Charity nuns, recounted the incident to UCA News Sept. 8, saying that Hindu extremists entered their coach at Durg, about 25 miles into the journey.

The intruders shouted anti-Christian slogans and forced the nuns off the coach, she said. Some women among the extremists snatched the babies while others verbally abused Christian missionaries in general for converting the poor under the pretext of service, she said.

Police took the nuns, their helpers and the Hindu extremists to their office at the railway station. Sister Mamata said the police and Hindus had closed-door talks, while the police denied the nuns permission to use the station's telephone to seek assistance. She said the radicals forcibly took the adoption papers from the nuns, alleging they were false.

Someone who happened to arrive at the station allowed the nuns to use his cell phone to contact the Raipur archbishop's residence. Priests at the residence informed a Missionaries of Charity convent in Bhilai, and two nuns came to help their colleagues.

However, the Hindu radicals beat up one of the Bhilai nuns and their driver and deflated their vehicle's tires before police intervened, Sister Mamata said.

She said that even while the nuns were under police protection the Hindu extremists continued to abuse them.

"They even threatened to kill us, saying, 'This is your last journey,'" Sister Mamata recalled. She said the police kept the nuns and their helpers in custody and returned the sisters to the respective convents in Bhilai and Raipur by 3 a.m.

The infants were reportedly admitted to a government hospital in Durg, Sister Mamata reported.

"Come what may, I will fight to get them back," she said.

The incident occurred on the 11th anniversary of the death of Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who founded the Missionaries of Charity. On that day, nuns at the order's headquarters in Calcutta prayed for peace in Orissa, where Hindu-Christian violence that began in late August had left 27 dead by Sept. 9.

"More martyrs: a Carmelite priest is massacred in Andhra Pradesh"

Thanks be to God that there are still men in this world willing to say yes to God and make the radical commitment to serve Him, His Church and His people in places where the faithful are few, but persecution abounds.

From AsiaNews.it
by Nirmala Carvalho

38 year old Fr. Thomas Pandippallyil, was assassinate don the night of August 16th on his way to a village to celebrate Sunday mass. His body showed signs of torture, with wounds to his face, his hands and legs broken and his eyes pulled from their sockets. The bishop of Hyderabad denounces the growing climate of “violence against Catholics” in the country.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) – “Father Thomas is a martyr: he sacrificed his life for the poor and marginalised. But he did not die in vain, because his body and his blood enrich the Church in India, particularly the Church in Andhra Pradesh”. Those are the words of Msgr. Marampudi Joji, archbishop of Hyderabad and secretary of the bishops’ conference of Andhra Pradesh (a state in South East India), commenting the barbarous killing of the Carmelite priest Thomas Pandippallyil, 38, assassinated on the night of August 16th in Mosalikunta, on the road between Lingampet and Yellareddy, 90 km from the regional capital.

On the night of August 16th his body was found on the roadside by a group of people, not far from the village of Balampilly; the body of the Carmelite of Mary Immaculate carried wounds to the face while the hands and legs had been crushed and the eyes gouged out. His motorbike was found one kilometre on from the body. According to witnesses, Saturday afternoon Fr. Thomas celebrated mass in Burgida, before setting out for another village in the district where he was to have celebrated Sunday mass. The last people to have seen him alive were religious sisters from Lingapetta convent, where the priest had stopped for supper before continuing his journey.

“P. Thomas is a martyr – said Msgr. Marampudi, archbishop of Hyderabad, on hearing of the brutal murder. The Indian Church is shocked and deeply saddened by this barbarous killing, the result of a growing climate of intolerance and violence against Christians in this country”. The prelate immediately made his way to the area where the massacre took place and speaks of a “traumatized” Christian community. He forcefully denies accusations of “proselytism and forced conversions”. Given that there are “five families of Catholic faith” in the parish where Fr. Thomas was murdered.

Msgr. Marampudi Joji maintains the crime is the result of a climate of “jealousy of the Catholic Church”, whose only fault is that of trying to help develop the abandoned rural areas of the country and support and aid those who are “victims of violence and oppression”. “Priests and nuns – continues the archbishop of Hyderabad – have for decades been at the service of the least fortunate in India, and this makes them targets of forces of evil who do not want the marginalized and impoverished to become empowered”.

The remains of Fr. Thomas Pandippallyil will be laid to rest on Wednesday in the Carmelite provincial house in Balampilly: the priest was actively involved in educational field. He joined the Chanda mission of the CMI on 24th June 1987. He was ordained a priest in 2002. He was the rector for the Chanda mission province of the CMI, and also worked as hospital administrator, school manager and mission centre director.

A vocation in response to evil.

From PatrickMadrid.com

Below is a powerful letter written by Sister Lucy Vertrusc, a young nun, to her mother superior. It is a difficult story about God's will, vocations and abandonment to Divine Providence. Certainly it is not to say that God caused what happened to Sister Lucy, but indeed it was allowed to happen. Sister Vertusc became pregnant after she was raped in 1995, along with two other sisters, during the war in the former Yugoslavia. The content of the letter was originally publised in an Italian newspaper at the request of her mother superior. I find it particularly poignant after watching the new Batman movie "The Dark Knight". A film filled with horrible acts of violence, which ultimately asked the question - what do good people do, when unspeakable evil is forced upon them? What is our answer to the senseless violence of our world? Sister Vertusc knows the truly heroic answer...

"I am Lucy, one of the young nuns raped by the Serbian soldiers. I am writing to you, Mother, after what happened to my sisters Tatiana, Sandria, and me.

Allow me not to go into the details of the act. There are some experiences in life so atrocious that you cannot tell them to anyone but God, in whose service I had consecrated my life nearly a year ago.

My drama is not so much the humiliation that I suffered as a woman, not the incurable offense committed against my vocation as a religious, but the difficulty of having to incorporate into my faith an event that certainly forms part of the mysterious will of Him whom I have always considered my Divine Spouse.

Only a few days before, I had read "Dialogues of Carmelites" and spontaneously I asked our Lord to grant me the grace of joining the ranks of those who died a martyr of Him. God took me at my word, but in such a horrid way! Now I find myself lost in the anguish of internal darkness. He has destroyed the plans of my life, which I considered definitive and uplifting for me, and He has set me all of a sudden in this design of His that I feel incapable of grasping.

When I was a teenager, I wrote in my Diary: Nothing is mine, I belong to no one, and no one belongs to me. Someone, instead grabbed me one night, a night I wish never to remember, tore me off from myself, and tried to make me his own . . .

It was already daytime when I awoke and my first thought was the agony of Christ in the Garden. Inside of me a terrible battle unleashed. I asked myself why God had permitted me to be rent, destroyed precisely in what had been the meaning of my life, but also I asked to what new vocation He was calling me.

I strained to get up, and helped by Sister Josefina, I managed to straighten myself out. Then the sound of the bell of the Augustinian convent, which was right next to ours, reached my ears. It was time for nine o'clock matins.

I made the sign of the cross and began reciting in my head the liturgical hymn. At this hour upon Golgotha's heights,/ Christ, the true Pascal Lamb,/ paid the price of our salvation.

What is my suffering, Mother, and the offense I received compared to the suffering and the offense of the One for whom I had a thousand times sworn to give my life. I spoke these words slowly, very slowly: May your will be done, above all now that 1 have no where to go and that I can only be sure of one thing: You are with me.

Mother, I am writing not in search of consolation, but so that you can help me give thanks to God for having associated me with the thousands of my fellow compatriots whose honor has been violated, and who are compelled to accept a maternity not wanted. My humiliation is added to theirs, and since I have nothing else to offer in expiation for the sin committed by those unnamed violators and for the reconciliation of the two embittered peoples, I accept this dishonor that I suffered and I entrust it to the mercy of God.

Do not be surprised, Mother, when I ask you to share with me my "thank you" that can seem absurd.

In these last months I have been crying a sea of tears for my two brothers who were assassinated by the same aggressors who go around terrorizing our towns, and I was thinking that it was not possible for me to suffer anything worse, so far from my imagination had been what was about to take place.

Every day hundreds of hungering creatures used to knock at the doors of our convent, shivering from the cold, with despair in their eyes. Some weeks ago, a young boy about eighteen years old said to me: How lucky you are to have chosen a refuge where no evil can reach you. The boy carried in his hands a rosary of praises for the Prophet. Then he added: You will never know what it means to be dishonored.

I pondered his words at length and convinced myself that there had been a hidden element to the sufferings of my people that had escaped me as I was almost ashamed to be so excluded. Now I am one of them, one of the many unknown women of my people, whose bodies have been devastated and hearts seared. The Lord had admitted me into his mystery of shame. What is more, for me, a religious, He has accorded me the privilege of being acquainted with evil in the depths of its diabolical force.

I know that from now on the words of encouragement and consolation that I can offer from my poor heart will be all the more credible, because my story is their story, and my resignation, sustained in faith, at least a reference, if not example for their moral and emotional responses.

All it takes is a sign, a little voice, a fraternal gesture to set in motion the hopes of so many undiscovered creatures.

God has chosen me-may He forgive my presumption-to guide the most humble of my people towards the dawn of redemption and freedom. They can no longer doubt the sincerity of my words, because I come, as they do, from the outskirts of revilement and profanation.

I remember the time when I used to attend the university at Rome in order to get my masters in Literature, an ancient Slavic woman, the professor of Literature, used to recite to me these verses from the poet Alexej Mislovic: You must not die/because you have been chosen/ to be a part of the day.

That night, in which I was terrorized by the Serbs for hours and hours, I repeated to myself these verses, which I felt as balm for my soul, nearly mad with despair.

And now, with everything having passed and looking back, I get the impression of having been made to swallow a terrible pill.

Everything has passed, Mother, but everything begins. In your telephone call, after your words of encouragement, for which I am grateful with all my life, you posed me a very direct question: What will you do with the life that has been forced into your womb? I heard your voice tremble as you asked me the question, a question I felt needed no immediate response; not because I had not yet considered the road I would have to follow, but so as not to disturb the plans you would eventually have to unveil before me. I had already decided. I will be a mother. The child will be mine and no one else's. I know that I could entrust him to other people, but he-though I neither asked for him nor expected him-he has a right to my love as his mother. A plant should never be torn from its roots. The grain of wheat fallen in the furrow has to grow there, where the mysterious, though iniquitous sower threw it.

I will fulfill my religious vocation in another way. I will ask nothing of my congregation, which has already given me everything. I am very grateful for the fraternal solidarity of the Sisters, who in these times have treated me with the utmost delicacy and kindness, especially for never having asked any uncareful questions.

I will go with my child. I do not know where, but God, who broke all of a sudden my greatest joy, will indicate the path I must tread in order to do His will.

I will be poor again, I will return to the old aprons and the wooden shoes that the women in the country use for working, and I will accompany my mother into the forest to collect the resin from the slits in the trees.

Someone has to begin to break the chain of hatred that has always destroyed our countries. And so, I will teach my child only one thing: love. This child, born of violence, will be a witness along with me that the only greatness that gives honor to a human being is forgiveness.

Through the Kingdom of Christ for the Glory of God."

"Catholic Priest assassinated: the first in the history of Nepal"

From Christian Telegraph

A Catholic priest, Salesian Fr. John Prakash, 62 years old was killed last night in Sirsiya (Morang district), in east Nepal. He is the first priest to be killed in the country. Police have opened an inquest into his death, their suspicions falling on a terrorist group, reports AsiaNews.it.

Fr. John Prakash, a native of Kerala India had worked in Nepal for over 10 years (see photo). He was the principal of Don Bosco School and lived along with two other Salesians in their residence attached to the school. Fr. George Kalangara, the parish vicar told AsiaNews that during the night a group of armed men broke into the priest’s residence and immobilised Fr. Mathew who had only just joined the community in Nepal. Another resident priest Fr. Lazarus Maradi was travelling abroad at the time. The group then turned on Fr. Prakash demanding money. “Then we don’t know really what happened” – says Fr. Kalangara – “we only know that there was an explosion. When the police arrived there were signs of a struggle. On one side of the room the windows were smashed and broken glass was everywhere”.

Police have confirmed that the bomb ha sled to widespread damage of the buildings, opened just one year ago. At the scene of the crime the furnishings were completely destroyed.

The security forces suspect an underground terrorist group, the Terai Defence Army, of being behind the attack. A policeman confirmed to AsiaNews that leaflets belonging to the group were found in the complex. Twice in the past the group had demanded money from the school principal. Police reported that there were bills amounting to 600 US dollars as well as Indian Rupees and Nepalese coins littered on the ground at the scene of the crime.

Fr. Benjamin Pampackel, another Salesian speaking to AsiaNews, warns against hurried conclusions: “We can only say that Fr. John is no longer here. We will wait for the police inquiry to do its job, in order to understand what really happened and who were responsible”.

Msgr. Anthony Sharma, Nepal’s first bishop, has condemned the incident. He told AsiaNews that he had no knowledge of the group believed to be behind the attack.

Read the rest of the article HERE.

"Priests Among Targets in Zimbabwe"

From Zenit

Aid Group Reports Continued Intimidation Before Runoff

HARARE, Zimbabwe, MAY 27, 2008 (Zenit.org).- Many Zimbabwean priests are in hiding out of fear for their lives, Aid to the Church in Need reported.

The statement Monday from the charity organization coincided with ongoing reports of an intimidation campaign leading up to the June 27 runoff election between President Robert Mugabe, 84, and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai.

Tsvangirai won the March elections, but supposedly not by a wide enough margin to have clinched the victory. Results from that election were withheld for weeks; meanwhile human rights groups began to report torture and even the killing of those who had voted against Mugabe.

A priest, who remained anonymous for safety reasons, informed Aid to the Church in Need that people who voted against Mugabe's party have been kidnapped, tortured, maimed and raped by soldiers -- particularly in rural areas.

"Many Catholic priests and lay people are on the wanted lists of these soldiers and militia groups," he said, "and many of them are forced to remain in hiding following death threats."

Reprisals come after the Catholic Church joined with other denominations earlier this month to speak out about the country's deteriorating human rights situation, including the organized violence in areas that did not vote for Mugabe.

Making a bad situation worse, local hospitals are unable to care for the wounded due to lack of even basic painkillers, Aid to the Church in Need lamented.

The priest who spoke with the aid group said he fears the situation will only deteriorate as the runoff nears.

Food is being withheld from those who did not vote for Mugape, he said, and despite their best efforts, Catholic dioceses are unable obtain any food for the hungry.

In any case, with an inflation rate at 160,000%, food has been scarce for months.

A report on post-election violence by the Christian human rights organization the Solidarity Peace Trust, published in Johannesburg on May 21, contained up to 50 eye-witness accounts of orchestrated beatings, torture and the destruction of homes and shops.

"Hindu Radicals Ransack Convent and Attack Two Nuns"

As we live out our peaceful day to day lives, the article below is a helpful reminder to pray for those whose vocations are lived out in far less peaceful regions of the world, where persecution and martyrdom are realities of life.

From ASSIST News Service
By James Varghese

MADHYA PRADESH, INDIA (ANS) -- A group of Hindu radicals recently ransacked a convent and attacked two nuns.

The attack occurred on May 15 in the early evening in the Indian State of Madhya Pradesh.

According to a story reported by the Global Council of Indian Christians (GCIC) on the organization’s web site www.persecution.in, it was the Presentation Sisters Convent that was attacked.

The incident occurred at Gondarmug village under the Gandhinagar Police Station area in the outskirts of Bhopal, the state's capital.

GCIC reported that the Presentation Sisters have been working in the city’s underprivileged section for six years.

Convent Superior Sister Sister Silvya Francis told GCIC, “The (approximately 30 criminals) first forced their way into the convent campus. Then 12 of them barged into the convent through the main door, and began to destroy the window panes, television set, lantern and other furniture.”

The GCIC story reported the loss to be about $2500.

“They were armed with hockey sticks, cricket bats and stones,” the web site reported she added Francis also said, “they also climbed up the first floor of the two storied building, and dragged two of the novices down and manhandled them. Besides this, they tried to lock one of them into a room. However, both managed to escape from them. They had also disconnected the telephone line before entering into the campus.”

According to a story carried by www.ucanews.com, Francis said by phone that the attackers identified themselves as Hindus, and said they did not need the nuns there.

“We are not going to move out from here,” Francis told UCA News.

UCA News reported the sisters immediately filed a police complaint against the unidentified attackers. The next day, nine people were arrested.

Commenting on the incident, the spokesperson of the Catholic Church in Madhya Pradesh, Father Muttungal, told UCA News, “it is really sad to see the deteriorating religious harmony along with law and order. The state government have failed to follow the High Court interim direction to provide security to (the) Christian community. We will approach the court again ...”

UCA News reported that Christians in Madhya Pradesh have faced a series of violent attacks since the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP, the Indian People’s Party) came to power in the state five years ago. Church leaders and others also say intolerance of Christians has increased. The BJP is regarded as the political arm of Hindu groups that want to make India a Hindu nation.

Christian leaders told UCA News that such attacks continue, despite several petitions seeking protection for Christians from radical Hindu groups. They complain that nobody was punished for the attacks. In many instances, police register complaints against the Christian victims, accusing them of trying to forcibly convert Hindus to Christianity.

UCA News reported that of Madhya Pradesh’s 60 million people, 91 percent are Hindus. Catholics and other Christians together comprise less than one percent, but Catholic educational and health institutions are valued nonetheless. Since the BJP came to power, however, radical Hindu groups have been saying these organizations are just fronts for luring poor people to Christianity.

"Pope speaks about religious sister who was killed by Satanists"

From the Catholic News Agency

Vatican City, Apr 9, 2008 / 10:28 am (CNA).- Today at the end of the general audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Benedict spoke to a group of nuns and lay people, who were present to honor the memory of Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti, a religious sister who was killed by Satanists.

That Italian sister, said the Holy Father, "with a total giving of self, sacrificed her life while praying for those who were attacking her".

The murder of Sr. Maria Laura happened during the night of June 6-7, 2000 in the small town of Chiavenna, Italy. The sister was stabbed to death by three girls, two of whom were 17, while the third was 16.

Sister Maria Laura was well known in the small town she lived in for her social and charitable commitment to young dispossessed and poor people. Consequently, the three girls were able to draw her into an ambush by saying that a pregnant girl was in serious need of her help.

After luring Sr. Maria Laura to their ambush, the girls stabbed the sister to death as a sacrifice to Satan. As Sr. Maria Laura died, she found the strength to pray for her killers and forgive them.

Police investigators discovered the satanic plot and arrested the three girls 22 days after the sister’s murder.

The Congregation for the Causes of Saints recently recognized the death of the religious as martyrdom, thus opening the way to her beatification.

Website for Sr. Maria Laura's cause for Canonization (Italian)

What are You Complaining About?

Catholics in India's Orissa state recall Christmas nightmare


by Anto Akkara
Catholic News Service
(emphases mine)

POBINGIA, India (CNS) -- As the vicar of St. Peter's Church in Pobingia was supervising his parishioners making decorations Christmas Eve, he got an urgent call from the parish priest less than 15 miles away in Phulbani, warning him that Hindu mobs were attacking churches.

Father Prasanna Singh, the vicar, contemplated what to do next. Police, ordered by the government to guard the church, fled when they heard 600 Hindus approaching and shouting anti-Christian slogans. Other police officers stood by and watched.

As the priest fled through the backyard, the mob -- armed with swords, axes, crowbars and spears -- broke the gates and destroyed the church.

"See, this is not the result of an earthquake," Father Singh told Catholic News Service Jan. 5, pointing to the destruction around the church. The tall trees in front of the church were cut down, a 20-foot concrete cross on top of the church was torn down, and everything inside the church, rectory and student hostel was reduced to ashes.

The days of violence in India's Orissa state began with Hindus destroying Christmas decorations at the local market. In retaliation, Christians burned Hindu shops and houses, followed by widespread violence over 600 square miles and four days.

Five Catholic churches, 48 village chapels, two seminaries, half a dozen hostels and four convents were destroyed. Dozens of Hindu homes and hundreds of Christian homes were burned and looted in the Kandhamal district.

Several Catholics have gone into hiding to evade arrest after 90 Christians were charged with setting fire to Hindu houses. Government officials have refused to distribute relief to Christians whose houses were burned down by Hindus and have urged Christians to give up the hiding men.

Many Christian families also fled deep into the jungle for safety.

"All of us are still scared," said Sadananda Digal, a Catholic layman. Many of the 130 Catholic families of Pobingia, Digal said, were "still sleeping in the jungles in the night."

Father Laxmikant Pradhan, parish vicar of St. Paul's Church in Phulbani, explained that a dozen Hindu youths barged into the church and destroyed their Christmas decorations. Then a mob of 400 people broke in and burned everything inside the church and his residence.
"All this happened with the police watching from outside," Father Pradhan said angrily.

The mob headed to the adjacent St. Paul's minor seminary, where almost all rooms were reduced to black chimneys. Some members of the mob left riding the seminarians' bicycles while other bikes were dumped in a well.

Meanwhile, in Balliguda's Carmelite convent, a statue of Mary, now headless and burned, scares those entering its destroyed premise.

"We do not have even a glass here to drink water," said Sister Sujata, superior of the order.

When the heavily armed mobs broke in, the nuns hid under the staircase.

"When they spotted us, they wanted to drag the younger ones into the room and molest them," said Sister Sujata. In addition to the four nuns, four young women -- including two novices -- were in the convent, which has a hostel for 120 poor girls.

"We prayed and held our hands together and resisted," Sister Sujata recalled. Fortunately, the assailants let them go, and the nuns jumped over the back walls and fled into the pitch-black darkness of the jungle. After a week, the nuns returned once federal security forces were deployed there.

At the Capuchin seminary in Barakhama, less than 10 miles from Balliguda, Father Chinnappa Payarda and 32 seminarians kept vigil in the bitter cold. They thought the danger was over, but a Hindu helper came running around noon on Christmas, shouting, "They are coming."

"We fled for our lives and could not take out any important document," said the rector, who is worried about losing all the documents, including the original school certificates of a new batch of seminarians.

As they fled in different directions, two seminarians were caught by the Hindu mob that spared them for being "too young."

"We want to kill the priests only," one of the mob leaders told the others, ordering them "not to harm" the teenage seminarians.

Father Robi Subhashsunder, parish priest of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish about 75 miles from Barakhama, said that while he was on the phone briefing Archbishop Raphael Cheenath of Cuttack-Bhubaneshwar about the trouble, the priest saw mobs breaking down his locked gates. He escaped safely.

Over the next few days, he stayed in the jungle with the other Catholic families, surviving on stream water and wild fruit. He recalled seeing a 3-year-old Catholic child dying during the jungle sojourn.

"I do not know what to do now," Father Subhashsunder told CNS Jan. 6 after returning to his parish.

Missionaries of Charity are among the refugees in the forests of Orissa

by Nirmala Carvalho

The regional superior of the Missionaries of Charity recounts her visit to the district of Kandhamal, struck by anti-Christian violence last Christmas, a scene of unimaginable destruction. Also with her was Sister Nirmala Joshi, who has written a letter calling for reconciliation.

Mumbai (AsiaNews) - "No one could ever have imagined the unbridled reign of terror unleashed against the Christian community in this part of Orissa" at the end of December. Sister M. Suma, regional superior of the Missionaries of Charity (MC), shares her impressions with AsiaNews following her visit to the district of Kandahar, the scene of anti-Christian violence last Christmas. The superior general of the order founded by Mother Teresa, Sister Nirmala Joshi, also visited the site of these incidents.

"We have three houses in Kandhamal", Sister Suma's account begins, "and all of our sisters had to flee together with the other Christians seeking to save themselves from the fury of the Hindu extremists. They escaped with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and hid in the forests without anything to eat or any way of sheltering from the winter cold". Meanwhile, in Sasanada, the militants damaged the house of the Missionaries of Charity: this was located in a little church where the inhabitants usually go to Sunday Mass. The chapel was completely destroyed in desecrated. "It was heartbreaking to see Mother Mary’s statues all smashed and burned", Sister Suma acknowledges, "and the MC House looted".

Sister Suma arrived in the stricken area on December 28. Together with some of her fellow sisters, she brought supplies to help the people in hiding. "We were greeted with such joy", she explains, "not because of the food and other relief we carried for them, but because we symbolised the hope that had sustained them as they hid from their persecutors in hunger and in the biting cold".

The religious sister says that "the convents in Balliguda and Phulbanii had been set on fire by a mobs carrying swords and other weapons who entered the convent shouting 'Kill the Christians'. Sadly, nearly every convent we visited had the same tragic tale to tell".

On January 16, Sister Nirmala Joshi also arrived in Orissa. She came by train, without alerting the authorities in advance. "I took her to see all the schools, parishes and convents that were attacked in the area", Sister Suma recounts. "We also met with the sisters, brothers and all people who were victims of the attack. However, on January 19th the government officials came to know of Mother Nirmala's visit and came to the K. Nuaga diocesan pastoral centre where we were staying to enquire about who was touring the district. Although they did not recognise Sr Nirmala, they immediately provided her with a police escort". At the end of the visit, the superior general wrote a letter addressed to all "without distinction of caste or creed", calling them to reconciliation and forgiveness.

Blood of Martyrs...Seeds of Faith

21 Church workers killed for faith in 2007

Rome, Dec. 31, 2007 (CWNews.com) - At least 21 Catholic priests, deacons, religious, and seminarians died for the faith in 2007, the Fides news service reports.

Each year Fides, an arm of the Congregation for Evangelization, compiles a full list of the Church workers who are killed while serving the Gospel, particularly in missionary territories. The preliminary list includes 21 names-- not accounting for lay workers.

The largest toll of clerics and religious who died for the faith came in Asia, where 4 priests, 3 deacons, and 1 seminarian were killed this year.

UPDATE: See the list of names and how these individuals were martyred at Independent Catholic News.

Heroes of Sacrifice - Martyr Priests of the Mexican Revolution

The Post below was written and compiled by Fr. Phillips on his blog AtonementOnline.

Since reading his biography several years ago, I can’t get him out of my thoughts. There’s something about this man which is captivating – from his wonderful sense of humor to his fearless final cry, “Viva Cristo Rey!” He’s a priest I would have liked to have known, although to have known him in his circumstances would require a courage I wonder if I would have had. I hope I would, but one never knows until faced with the situation. I guess it’s kind of like St. Augustine’s prayer, “Lord, make me holy, but not yet…” I want God’s grace for courage, but I'm not sure I would want to face the circumstances which would make me use it.

Bl. Miguel Pro led to his execution (martyrdom).

Bl. Miguel Pro in the final seconds before his martyrdom.

Because the firing squad failed to kill him, Bl. Miguel Pro received a final point blank shot to end his earthly life.

Anyway, my profound respect for Blessed Miguel has made me, over the years, look at the lives of others who were martyred during that horrible period in Mexico’s history. The following comments about them come from the website, Catholic.net:

+ Fathers Cristobal Magallanes Jara and Agustin Caloca were martyred together on May 25, 1927 at Colotitlan, Jalisco. Father Magallanes was accused of promoting the Cristero revolt, although he had preached and written against armed rebellion. While he was in jail, he told Father Caloca, “Cheer up, God loves the martyrs . . . one moment and we are in Heaven.” Father Caloca, responded, “We have lived for God and in him we die.” Before he was shot, Father Magallanes distributed his few possessions among his executioners and gave them absolution, saying: “I am innocent and I die innocent. I forgive with all my heart those responsible for my death, and I ask God that the shedding of my blood serves toward the peace of our divided Mexico.”

+ Father David Galvan, a seminary teacher, was arrested while on his way to aid the victims of a confrontation in Guadalajara on January 30, 1915. Warned that he might be killed, he replied, “What greater glory is there than to die saving a soul?” He was executed by firing squad.

+ Father Luis Batiz, and the Catholic laymen David Roldan, Salvador Lara, and Manuel Moralez were killed August 15, 1926 at Chalchihuites, Zacatecas. The three laymen were officers of the Liga Defensora de la Libertad Religiosa. Father Batiz was accused of plotting an uprising. The four were offered their freedom if they recognized the legitimacy of President Calles’s anti-religious laws. All of them refused. Father Batiz asked the soldiers to free Morales, because he had children, but Morales told them, “I am dying for God, and God will care for my children.” He raised his hat as the soldiers fired. The others died crying out “ Viva Cristo Rey! Viva Santa Maria de Guadalupe!”

+ On January 17, 1927, Father Jenaro Sanchez, a pastor in Tecolotlan, Jalisco, was arrested and hanged from a mesquite tree. When the soldiers put the rope around his neck, he said, “My countrymen, you are going to hang me, but I pardon you, and my Father God also pardons you, and long live Christ the King!”

+ As a young priest Father Mateo Correa gave First Communion to Miguel Pro. In 1927, frail and elderly, he was taking the viaticum to a sick parishioner near Valparaiso when he was caught and accused of being in league with the Cristeros. Taken to Durango, he heard the confessions of some Cristeros awaiting execution. When the commander demanded to know what they had said, the brave confessor refused to answer, and he was shot.

+ On March 26, 1927, Father Julio Alvarez, pastor of Mechoacanejo, Jalisco, was arrested, tied to the saddle of a horse, and led away to Leon. On hearing his sentence, he said, “I know that you have to kill me because you are ordered to do so, but I am going to die innocent because I have done nothing wrong. My crime is to be a minister of God. I pardon you.” He crossed his arms and the soldiers fired, then threw his body onto a trash heap near the church.

+ While in prison in Cuernavaca, Father David Uribe wrote, “I declare that I am innocent of the things of which I am accused. . . . I pardon all my enemies and I beg pardon from any that I have offended.” On April 12th, 1927, he was shot in the back of the head near San Jose Vidal, Morelia.

+ On April 11, 1927, the pastor of Totolan, Jalisco, Father Sabas Reyes was arrested, beaten, and tortured, but he suffered with heroic patience. His hands and feet were burned, he was starved, left in the sun, and given nothing to drink. He was beaten until a number of his bones were broken and his skull was fractured. On April 13, he was taken to the cemetery and shot. Three or four times the rifles spoke; each time, Father Reyes raised his head and cried out “Viva Cristo Rey.”

+ Father Roman Adame, the parish priest of Nochistlan, Zacatecas, was denounced and arrested on April 18, 1927. He was forced to walk barefoot from Mexticacan to Yahualica, until a soldier offered his horse when he realized the elderly priest could not walk another step. For three days, Father Adame was kept tied to the columns in front of his jail, given neither food nor water. Although a ransom was paid, he was taken to the cemetery on April 21 and shot. One of the soldiers from the firing squad refused to take part in the execution; in punishment he himself was shot.

+ Father Jose Isabel Flores of Zapotlanejo, Jalisco, was denounced, arrested, and starved for three days. On June 21, 1927, he was taken to the cemetery and tortured by being hanged from a tree limb, then raised up and down three or four times. Finally he told his tormentors: “This is not the way you are going to kill me, my children. . . . But just let me say, if you received the sacraments from me, don’t cripple the hands that served you.”
One of soldiers present, who had been baptized by Father Flores, then refused to take part in the execution; once again, the soldier himself was immediately shot. When the guns of the remaining soldiers did not fire properly, the commanding office slit the throat of Father Flores with his sword.

+ Father Jose Maria Robles was pastor of Tecolotlan, Guadalajara. He founded the congregation of sisters known as the Hermanas del Corazon de Jesus Sacramentado. In response to suggestions that he should leave his parish to avoid persecution, he said, “The shepherd can never abandon his sheep.” He was arrested and, in defiance of a legal stay of his execution, he was led on horseback to an oak tree where he prayed briefly, blessed the members of his parish, then pardoned and blessed his murderers. He kissed the rope, put it around his neck, and was hanged on June 26, 1927.

+ Father Miguel de la Mora, pastor at Colima, was on a trip with friends and stopped for breakfast when a woman asked him to officiate at her daughter’s wedding. Some government officials overheard the conversation, and arrested the group, taking them back to Colima. Advised of his sentence, Father Miguel calmly recited his rosary. He was shot August 7, 1927.

+ In October 1927, Father Rodrigo Aguilar, a priest in Union de Tula, Jalisco was betrayed and captured by government soldiers. He was taken to the main square of Ejutla where he blessed and forgave his executioners. One of the soldiers arrogantly asked, “Who lives?” telling him he would be spared if he would answer: “Long live the supreme government.” Instead, in a firm voice, the priest responded, “Christ the King and Our Lady of Guadalupe.” Furiously the soldier pulled on the rope to suspend the priest in mid-air. Then he lowered him and again asked, “Who lives?” Father Aguilar gave the same answer. When the same question and answer were repeated a third time, the soldier left the priest to hang until death.

+ During the height of the persecution, a bishop in the state of Guerrero could not find a priest willing to go to the parish of Atenango del Rio, because city officials had threatened to kill any priest who dared to go there. When he heard of that problem, Father Margarito Flores—a seminary professor and vicar of Chilapa, Guerrero—volunteered at once. On the way, he was caught and forced to walk to Tuliman in the blazing sun, half naked and barefoot. Serenely, Father Flores shared his last meal with his captors, then was taken behind the church where he blessed the soldiers and prayed as he was led forward. He was shot on November 12, 1924.

+ When he was advised to leave his parish, Father Pedro Esqueda of San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco, responded “God put me here; He knows where I am.” November 18, 1927, he was captured by government troops at a private home. He was brutally tortured for four days, but suffered in silence. On November 22, he was led to a mesquite tree and ordered to climb it. Although he attempted to obey, he could not because his arm was broken. He was tortured again, then shot.

+ On February 5, 1928, the parish priest of Valtierilla, Michoican, Father Jesus Mendez had just celebrated Mass secretly when he heard fighting outside the house where he was staying. He left by a back window, taking the chalice under a tilma, but was stopped by a soldier who thought he was carrying arms. He quickly admitted he was priest. Taking his prisoner to the town plaza, the commanding officer attempted three times to kill him. On the first attempt the officer’s pistol misfired. So he ordered his soldiers to shoot the priest, but not a single shot hit Father Mendez (possibly because no one wanted to kill him). Finally, the soldiers removed the priest’s medals and cross, and on a third attempt they succeeded at least in wounding him; one of the soldiers then gave him the coup de grace. His body was thrown on the railroad tracks, but the wives of the town officials rescued and buried it.

+ Father Toribio Romo was assigned at Tequila, Jalisco where he lived in an abandoned factory. He prayed for courage, telling his sister, “I am cowardly, so if one day God wants me to be killed, I hope he will give me a rapid death, with only the time necessary to pray for my enemies.” In the early morning of February 25, 1928, government troops forced the local mailman to show them where the secret Masses were celebrated. They surprised Father Romo and shot him in his bed, stripped his body of clothing, and threw the naked corpse in front of the city hall.

+ Father Justino Orona, parish priest at Cuquio, Jalisco, wrote to a friend, “Those of us who walk the road of sorrows with fidelity can leave for heaven with a feeling of security.” On June 29, 1928, at a local ranch, he and his young vicar, Father Atiliano Cruz, recited the rosary and planned their hidden ministry. He asked Father Cruz if he was afraid of the soldiers, and the younger priest replied that he would greet them with the words, “Viva Cristo Rey.” At dawn on July 1, soldiers broke into the house where the two priests were sleeping. Father Cruz greeted them as he had promised, in a strong clear voice. Father Orona was killed immediately; Father Cruz was mortally wounded. Their bodies were thrown in the town plaza.

+ Father Tranquilino Ubiarco was arrested on October 5, 1928, while officiating at a wedding in a private home. As he was led to his execution, he asked who was commissioned to kill him. When all the soldiers remained silent, he said, “All of this is God’s will; the man who is made to kill me is not responsible.” One of the soldiers then confessed that he was the one who had been chosen, but he now felt that he could not carry out the assignment. Calmly, Father Ubiarco blessed all the soldiers. They hanged him from the branch of a eucalyptus tree at the entrance of town. Once again, the soldier in charge of the execution refused to carry out the order, so he was shot.

+ Because of the political unrest in Mexico, Father Pedro de Jesus Maldonado was ordained in El Paso, Texas. Returning home, he became pastor of Santa Isabel, Chihuahua. In the early 1930s, he was sent back to safety in Texas, but he begged to be allowed to return. A group of armed and drunken men arrested him at his house and made him walk barefoot to Santa Isabel. He recited his rosary along the way. He was beaten and hit on the head so hard that his left eye popped out. He had prayed for the grace of receiving final Communion. He had a consecrated host with him in a pyx, and when his murderers found it, one of them forced him to eat it saying, “Eat this, this is your last Communion!” He was then beaten until he was unconscious, then taken to the civil hospital where he died on February 11, 1937.

What men these were! I’m sure not one of them, in his youth, imagined he would have his life end as it did. But God gave them His grace for courage -- and each one used it for God’s glory, and for the Gospel.

Fr. Dwight Longenecker on "Asceticism in America"

Among other problems in our culture that contribute to our current vocations "crisis", the lack of asceticism would certainly be one. In an American culture of super-sized fast food meals, on demand everything, and instant gratification - the idea of intentional asceticism is a foreign one. It doesn't take much imagination to see how this could be an issue for young vocations.


Asceticism in America
The following was posted by Fr Dwight Longenecker on his blog Standing on My Head

A friend of mine has been reading about the Cure d'Ars and commented that he didn't think the Cure's asceticism would be understood in our society.

Strange isn't it, that people in or society are willing to work, sweat, fast and put themselves through considerable pain and embarrassment-- (you think the clothes people wear to the gym are flattering?) in order to get a firmer tummy, nice butt or better pecs, but they would consider celibacy, fasting and prayer to be weird religious fanaticism.

Others in our society are willing to endure rounds of expensive and painful surgery to get a better set of breasts, plumper lips, or a youthful looking face, but they'd consider an hour's silence, giving up meat once a week or abstaining from sexual relations because you're practicing natural birth control to be strange and dangerous religious extremism.

This is not to mention the athletes in sports-crazy America. They put themselves on strict diets, do physical training to get into shape, establish practice regimes that test their limits of endurance and regularly risk their careers, family lives and serious physical injury for what? A few moments of glory and a plastic trophy? And they think religious people are insane?

The idea that one should make any sacrifice at all for one's religion is almost dead within American Christianity. Religion is there, isn't it, to make you happy, to make you feel better about yourself, to provide warm fellowship for you and your Christian chums, to reassure you that after a pain free victorious life in Jesus you will be on the express train to heaven and even more unimaginable happiness. Yes, American Christians do expect to make financial sacrifices as they tithe, but even then it is often seen as a form of investment. After all, "You can't out give God. If you tithe regularly you will receive much more back in return and be even more prosperous. "Right?"

The idea that asceticism in any form should be part of one's faith is lost on Protestants. This is because, once you are saved anything you do physically doesn't matter anyway. You can't earn your salvation, so why would you want to engage in asceticism? It's true, that some non-Catholic forms of spirituality do put some premium on a mild form of asceticism. Some Protestants would endorse some low level fasting, but this is purely for utilitarian reasons. "Fasting," the argument goes, "helps you concentrate when you are praying. It helps you to discipline the body and get focussed away from yourself and your stomach to God."

All well and good, but the Catholic theology of asceticism is far more profound and mysterious. Why should we fast or engage in asceticism? Because by any suffering that we endure we are sharing in the cross of Christ and the glorious sacrifice of the martyrs. When we participate in asceticism we are not only disciplining our appetites and our bodies, we are cooperating with the grace of God to 'complete the sufferings of Christ' in the world. This is nothing we do of our own, and through our own power. Instead it is an application of God's grace. It is a practical action in which what we do applies and ministers Christ's ultimate sacrifice in the world for the redemption and salvation of the world.

This motivates and inspires me more and more as I come to understand and ponder more deeply the mystery of what I am doing in Christ as I celebrate the Mass each day. That sacrifice I offer brings Christ's one full final sacrifice into the present moment. That sacrifice is linked with whatever small sacrifices of asceticism I might make in the world. That sacrifice fills and empowers whatever I might try in my halting way to do and say to complete Christ's action of redemption in the world.This sharing through sacrifice is not only active in and through asceticism. It is active in and through every action of love and sacrifice for the others with whom I live. For a Catholic who wants to be alive in the faith, every action. Every thought. Every choice becomes full of the grandeur of God.

Or else it becomes a dark, empty hole of everlasting darkness.

For the Catholic everything matters. Each action has an eternal consequence in a way that no other creed or belief can match.

Isaac's Feast Day

Our not so old family tradition, is that everyone gets to choose their favorite meal and desert on their feast day. Today was Isaac's! It's usually a great day for the kids since their Godparent's often send gifts, cards, or call on the phone to wish them a happy feast day. Isaac's Godfather, Rev. Br. Gregory Plow, TOR has been very good to Isaac over the years getting him all kinds of great books, antique holy cards, third-class relics, and most of all an abundance of graces through his prayers. An excerpt from his email to Isaac today:

"Please tell Isaac I wish him a happy feast day today and that I led all the friars in prayer for him today at mass! Through the intercession of St. Isaac Jogues, may Isaac Watkins receive abundant blessings from God in all he does in his life!"

The same can be said for all our kid's Godparents, especially Therese Marie's Godmother Jean Plow (yes, mother of Deacon Gregory), who always sends wonderful things to Therese and Liliane on their feast days.

The day will end with stories about the saints. I'll spare Isaac for a few more years, some of incredible details of his patrons martyrdom (only for a few more years - as I love to tell people every graphic detail of his heroic sacrifice). For tonight we'll read a story out of Amy Wellborn's very good "Book of Saints". The saints are grouped into similar categories, and are extremely well done retellings their lives from the perspective of how it might pertain to a childs life. I can't recommend the book highly enough. Here is the beginning of the excerpt on St. Isaac Jogues (from the section "Saints are people who are brave"):

"Would you ever consider helping a person who would probably hurt you?

Would it ever even cross your mind?

Say there are some kids in your neighborhood who have been mean to you for a long time. They've decided that you and your friends don't deserve respect. When you pass them on the street or in school, they always make fun of you.

But suppose you've heard something about these kids. You've heard that some of them aren't doing well in school. In fact, they're coming close to flunking math, a subject you're really good at.

Would you got to those kids and offer to help them?

You could you know. It's not impossible. When you ask, God can give us strength to do anything, no matter how hard it is.

It takes a special, deep kind of courage to go where you're not wanted. It takes a lot of love to help people who've hurt you once and will probably hurt you again.

It's the kind of courage St. Isaac Jogues had. It's the kind of love - God's love - that absolutely nothing can defeat.

Isaac Jogues was born in France. When he was studying for the priesthood..."

Oh, and the kids get to stay up a bit later on their feast days. But it's about time to call it a night - chanting our bedtime prayers of course! Happy feast day Isaac! St. Isaac Jogues - Ora pro nobis!

Ice cream and cake for desert - complete with blue icing, hence the blue lips. And for those who have followed the blog for a while, yes, Liliane took her Lactaid before eating the ice cream. A different book of Saints is on the table, not the Amy Wellborn book.

The Priests of Dachau

Book review for InsideCatholic.com
by Ronald J. Rychlak
10/08/07

Priestblock 25487: A Memoir Of Dachau
Jean Bernard, translated by Deborah Lucas Schneider
Zaccheus Press (2007)

Reviewed by Ronald J. Rychlak

During the Second World War, when the Nazis moved into a new area, local religious leaders could present a threat to their authority. It was not unusual for the Nazis to send priests and ministers to concentration camps. Ultimately, several thousand clergy (mainly Catholic priests) were crammed into a small section of Dachau known as the priest block. Fr. Jean Bernard of Luxembourg was one of those priests, and this fascinating book is his account of the horrific experiences he suffered in the hands of the Nazis.

Priests at Dachau were not marked for death by being shot or gassed as a group, but over two thousand of them died there from disease, starvation, and general brutality. One year, the Nazis "celebrated" Good Friday by torturing 60 priests. They tied the priests' hands behind their backs, put chains around their wrists, and hoisted them up by the chains. The weight of the priests' bodies twisted and pulled their joints apart. Several of the priests died, and many others were left permanently disabled. The Nazis, of course, threatened to repeat the event if their orders were not carried out.

Early in Fr. Bernard's imprisonment, priests were treated slightly better than other prisoners at Dachau. The Nazis did this in order to create resentment among the prisoners and to keep the priests isolated. Later, as the war went on, especially when Pope Pius XII or the German bishops were critical of Hitler or the Nazis, the treatment got much worse. "That's fine kettle of fish your Pope got us into," said one Protestant minister following one round of particular brutality. The worst week of treatment, meriting an entire chapter in the book, followed a Vatican Radio broadcast critical of the Nazi regime.

There was so little food that Fr. Bernard tells of risking the ultimate punishment in order to steal and eat a dandelion from the yard. The prisoners would secretly raid the compost pile, one time relishing discarded bones that had been chewed by the dogs of Nazi officers. Another time the Nazi guards, knowing what the priests intended, urinated on the pile. For some priests, this was not enough to overcome their hunger.

Fr. Bernard received a highly unusual reprieve when, in February 1942, he was given a nine day pass. His mother had died, and it seems that the Nazis thought there was an opportunity for some good publicity. It also seems likely that they did not expect Fr. Bernard to return to Dachau. He, however, recognized their agenda and despite the absolute misery that he knew awaited him, Fr. Bernard went back to the concentration camp. (This episode, just one chapter in the book, inspired the motion picture The Ninth Day.) Later, he declined the Nazis' offer to release him from Dachau if he would promise to leave the priesthood.

It was said that sores never healed in Dachau, but despite the unsanitary conditions and brutal treatment, priests were usually better off in the priest block than they were in the infirmary. There was an order that priests were to receive no medical treatment in the infirmary. They received so little food that Fr. Bernard once ate his bunkmate's ration before reporting that the man had died.

For all prisoners, the infirmary was more of a place to die than to receive treatment. When Fr. Bernard was first admitted, he learned that the beds had three bunks. "You have to go up to a top bunk," explained one attendant. "You can still climb pretty well. When you can't manage anymore, you'll get a middle bunk, and then one at the bottom." Most prisoners who left the infirmary were dead.

One message that comes through loud and clear is the absolute joy that the sacraments brought to these men who were in such dire conditions. Although they could be executed if caught, they secretly said Mass and used what little scraps of bread they could find to provide communion for priests and non-priests alike. Fr. Bernard wrote: "It is a sea of comfort that pours over the gathering. Comfort and hope and strength for new suffering joyfully accepted."

This is a wonderful book and an easy read. It provides insight into history, human nature, and faith. It also reminds us of an important part of the Holocaust that is too often forgotten.

Ronald J. Rychlak is MDLA Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the University of Mississippi School of Law. He is the author of Hitler, the War, and the Pope (Our Sunday Visitor 2000) and Righteous Gentiles: How Pius XII and the Catholic Church Saved Half a Million Jews from the Nazis (Spence Publishing, 2005).