St. Marianne Cope Roman Catholic Parish

Washington D.C., Dec 6, 2019 / 07:30 am (CNA).- The House of Representatives this week passed legislation recognizing the mass detention of Uyghurs and other abuses committed by the Chinese government in the province of Xinjiang.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who sponsored the House version of the legislation, said on the House floor on Tuesday that “millions of stories” are “waiting to be told about the crimes against humanity being committed by the Chinese government against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Turkic Muslims.”

“We cannot be silent. We must demand an end to these barbaric practices and accountability from the Chinese government. We must say “never again” to the cultural genocide and the atrocities suffered by Uyghurs and others in China,” Smith said.

The bill, the Uighur Intervention and Global Humanitarian Unified Response Act (UIGHUR Act), was sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). It passed the house overwhelmingly on Tuesday by a vote of 407 to one. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the lone vote in opposition.

“The Chinese Government and Communist Party is working to systematically wipe out the ethnic and cultural identities of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang,” Rubio stated on Tuesday.

Now the amended legislation heads back to the Senate for consideration. The UIGHUR Act notes that the communist Chinese government “has a long history of repressing Turkic Muslims, particularly Uighurs, in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.”

In 2014, the repression grew more intense as the government’s “Strike Hard against Violent Extremism” campaign began under the guise of an anti-terrorism campaign.

Between 800,000 and two million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other ethnic minorities are estimated to have been detained in “re-education” camps in Xinjiang since 2014, the bill finds.

There have been reports of forced labor, rape, forced abortions, re-education and torture in the camps, poor working conditions at factories once detainees have been released from camps, and mass surveillance by the government in the region. Families have been separated and Muslim religious practices have reportedly been forcefully curtailed.

Last month, leaked documents emerged offering insight into the organization and management of the camps. 

One of the documents appears to be part of a manual or handbook for the operation of the internment camps, which are referred to as “vocational skills education and training centers.” The handbook is dated to 2017, when the internment camps first began operating, and is marked as “confidential.” 

The manual includes details on how prison camp employees should work to prevent escapes of prisoners, prevent information about the camps themselves from being leaked, and how to indoctrinate prisoners. Additional guidelines in the document detail how to stop disease outbreaks, fires, and when those imprisoned in the camp are to be allowed to use the bathroom or see their relatives. 

One former Uyghur camp detainee, Zumrat Dawit, testified at a side event of the United Nations General Assembly in September on “The Human Rights Crisis in Xinjiang” on Sept. 24. She reported being beaten, shackled, denied food, and sterilized, according to the Associated Press.

The Chinese government has defended the existence of the camps, previously calling them vocational training centers. After the New York Times in November published leaked Chinese government files ordering the mass detention of Muslims in Xinjiang, China said that detentions were efforts to curb terrorism in the region.

The bill, S.178, directs the President to submit a list of senior Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and subject them to sanctions. It also calls on the President to condemn the abuses in Xinjiang and call for the camps to be closed; the Secretary of State should also consider sanctions under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the bill says.

It would direct various U.S. government entities to report to Congress on the Uighurs, on matters such as the scope of detention, forced labor, and government surveillance in the Xinjiang province of China, the eligibility of certain Chinese individuals for human rights sanctions, and the forcible return of Uighur refugees and asylum-seekers by foreign countries to China.

“We will not be silent. Justice is coming. We will demand accountability—not only because it is the right thing to do, but because U.S. interests are threatened by China’s high-tech authoritarianism,” Smith said.

Rep. Massie, who voted against the legislation, also opposed a bill to sanction human rights abusers in Hong Kong and express solidarity with pro-democracy protesters.

He explained his “No” vote on the bill on Twitter on Tuesday, saying that “When our government meddles in the internal affairs of foreign countries, it invites those governments to meddle in our affairs.”

“Before expressing righteous indignation re: my vote against these sanctions, please consider whether you committed enough to the issue that you would personally go a week without buying something made in China,” he stated.

On Nov. 27, President Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, sponsored by Rubio, which provided for sanctions of human rights abusers in the region.

Smith, who first introduced a version of the legislation in 2014, said that “Xi Jinping should understand that the US is not kidding about human rights. Beating, torturing and jailing of democracy activists is wrong and this historic legislation lets China know that respecting fundamental human rights is paramount.”

Washington D.C., Dec 6, 2019 / 07:30 am (CNA).- The House of Representatives this week passed legislation recognizing the mass detention of Uyghurs and other abuses committed by the Chinese government in the province of Xinjiang.

Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), who sponsored the House version of the legislation, said on the House floor on Tuesday that “millions of stories” are “waiting to be told about the crimes against humanity being committed by the Chinese government against Uyghurs, Kazakhs, and other Turkic Muslims.”

“We cannot be silent. We must demand an end to these barbaric practices and accountability from the Chinese government. We must say “never again” to the cultural genocide and the atrocities suffered by Uyghurs and others in China,” Smith said.

The bill, the Uighur Intervention and Global Humanitarian Unified Response Act (UIGHUR Act), was sponsored by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). It passed the house overwhelmingly on Tuesday by a vote of 407 to one. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) was the lone vote in opposition.

“The Chinese Government and Communist Party is working to systematically wipe out the ethnic and cultural identities of Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang,” Rubio stated on Tuesday.

Now the amended legislation heads back to the Senate for consideration. The UIGHUR Act notes that the communist Chinese government “has a long history of repressing Turkic Muslims, particularly Uighurs, in China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region.”

In 2014, the repression grew more intense as the government’s “Strike Hard against Violent Extremism” campaign began under the guise of an anti-terrorism campaign.

Between 800,000 and two million Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs, Kyrgyz, and other ethnic minorities are estimated to have been detained in “re-education” camps in Xinjiang since 2014, the bill finds.

There have been reports of forced labor, rape, forced abortions, re-education and torture in the camps, poor working conditions at factories once detainees have been released from camps, and mass surveillance by the government in the region. Families have been separated and Muslim religious practices have reportedly been forcefully curtailed.

Last month, leaked documents emerged offering insight into the organization and management of the camps. 

One of the documents appears to be part of a manual or handbook for the operation of the internment camps, which are referred to as “vocational skills education and training centers.” The handbook is dated to 2017, when the internment camps first began operating, and is marked as “confidential.” 

The manual includes details on how prison camp employees should work to prevent escapes of prisoners, prevent information about the camps themselves from being leaked, and how to indoctrinate prisoners. Additional guidelines in the document detail how to stop disease outbreaks, fires, and when those imprisoned in the camp are to be allowed to use the bathroom or see their relatives. 

One former Uyghur camp detainee, Zumrat Dawit, testified at a side event of the United Nations General Assembly in September on “The Human Rights Crisis in Xinjiang” on Sept. 24. She reported being beaten, shackled, denied food, and sterilized, according to the Associated Press.

The Chinese government has defended the existence of the camps, previously calling them vocational training centers. After the New York Times in November published leaked Chinese government files ordering the mass detention of Muslims in Xinjiang, China said that detentions were efforts to curb terrorism in the region.

The bill, S.178, directs the President to submit a list of senior Chinese officials responsible for human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and subject them to sanctions. It also calls on the President to condemn the abuses in Xinjiang and call for the camps to be closed; the Secretary of State should also consider sanctions under the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998, the bill says.

It would direct various U.S. government entities to report to Congress on the Uighurs, on matters such as the scope of detention, forced labor, and government surveillance in the Xinjiang province of China, the eligibility of certain Chinese individuals for human rights sanctions, and the forcible return of Uighur refugees and asylum-seekers by foreign countries to China.

“We will not be silent. Justice is coming. We will demand accountability—not only because it is the right thing to do, but because U.S. interests are threatened by China’s high-tech authoritarianism,” Smith said.

Rep. Massie, who voted against the legislation, also opposed a bill to sanction human rights abusers in Hong Kong and express solidarity with pro-democracy protesters.

He explained his “No” vote on the bill on Twitter on Tuesday, saying that “When our government meddles in the internal affairs of foreign countries, it invites those governments to meddle in our affairs.”

“Before expressing righteous indignation re: my vote against these sanctions, please consider whether you committed enough to the issue that you would personally go a week without buying something made in China,” he stated.

On Nov. 27, President Trump signed the Hong Kong Human Rights and Democracy Act, sponsored by Rubio, which provided for sanctions of human rights abusers in the region.

Smith, who first introduced a version of the legislation in 2014, said that “Xi Jinping should understand that the US is not kidding about human rights. Beating, torturing and jailing of democracy activists is wrong and this historic legislation lets China know that respecting fundamental human rights is paramount.”

Belfast, Northern Ireland, Dec 6, 2019 / 12:00 am (CNA).- Reports emerged this week of a third act of sectarian vandalism at a social housing development in Northern Ireland, into which a Catholic mother and her daughter were in the process of moving from a different part of the city.

According to the Irish News, vandals smashed windows and hung a UK flag— a symbol associated with the Protestant-majority Democratic Unionist Party— from a drainpipe at the property in north Belfast.

The prospective tenant, a 24-year-old woman from a Catholic background with four children who declined to give her name, has reportedly abandoned plans to move in.

This is reportedly the third act of vandalism against homes in the housing development since last week, all of which targeted Catholic families moving to the area, the BBC reports. The first two incidents involved “sectarian” graffiti sprayed onto the houses, including an anti-Catholic slur.

The police are treating the incidents as hate crimes.

According to the Irish News, a councillor for the Democratic Unionist Party last month contacted the housing development, telling them that there was a “concern” about the mother moving to the area, but did not specify what the concern was.

The mother says she still has not heard from either the councillor or the housing development what the “concern” was. The housing development has refused to comment. She said she contacted the police, but the police later confirmed they were unaware of any threats against her.

"As a public representative I raised a concern to Choice Housing which came to my attention,” the councillor in question, Dale Pankhurst, said in a statement.

"This centred on the safety of the woman in question. I wished to raise this matter in confidence with the organisation. I have a duty of care to all residents when I receive any form of information that may indicate danger to life or property.”

Dublin, Ireland, Dec 5, 2019 / 07:00 pm (CNA).- After the demolition of a Dublin building, archaeologists have  discovered the foundations a 300-year-old church that was used during times of Catholic persecution.

The church was uncovered by a team of archeologists during a dig taking place before the development of a 10-story office building planned for the site.

Excavation of the church will likely take place until December.

“We have to dig here very carefully because the church is a recorded monument,” archeologist Franc Myles told The Irish Times.

The church, St. Andrew’s Parish in central Dublin, was built in 1709, when British penal laws outlawed the practice of Catholicism.

“There was probably a building used as a chapel from the foundation of St Andrew’s Parish in 1709 and it is depicted on John Rocque’s map [of Dublin] of 1756,” a developer’s archeological report explains about the site.

Despite the prohibitions on Catholicism, the parish grew in its first hundred years. In fact, the archaeological report adds that, after significant growth in the parish, “it was decided that the chapel would have to be reconstructed” in 1811.

Father Daniel Murray, who later wasArchbishop of Dublin from 1823 to 1852, laid down the foundation stone in 1814 for a new chapel. By 1831, significant progress had been made on the Church’s reconstruction, but a new parish priest decided to move the church to a different location.

Construction on the office building will likely continue after the archaeological process has been completed and recorded.

Myles had hope that the archeologists would have found on the site timber structures dating back to the 1670s. He said none of those have been found, and speculated they had been demolished by construction in the 1960s.

 

Tucson, Ariz., Dec 5, 2019 / 03:59 pm (CNA).- The U.S. government’s “Remain in Mexico” policies put vulnerable migrants at risk of kidnapping, rape, cartel violence, gang activity, and other dangers across the border, the Catholic Bishop of Tucson, Arizona said this week.

“The Migrant Protection Protocol is a policy that does not provide protection to these most vulnerable people and in fact has placed them in significant danger in cities that cannot adequately assist them,” Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Tucson said Dec. 2. For these reasons I call on others of good will to oppose this policy and to join me in communicating this opposition to our congressional delegation.”

The Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, were announced in January 2019 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. These policies have meant between 50,000 and 60,000 asylum seekers, mainly families with children, have remained in border cities like Tijuana, Juarez, Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros while their cases are processed by immigration courts – a procedure that may take years.

“The numbers of people forced across the border have overwhelmed the cities, the humanitarian aid organizations and the Mexican Government,” Weisenburger said.

Sanitary conditions in some areas are so bad in some areas that 2,500 people share only three toilets. Pregnant women receive only one bottle of water per day. Families and children live in “makeshift tents on sidewalks,” the bishop said.

“In addition to the inhumane conditions in which the people must remain, they are subject to extortion and kidnapping by cartels and gangs, 364 rapes and assaults have been reported in one city, and daily threats of violence when the family has no money to pay the extortion,” said Weisenburger.

The government’s “Remain in Mexico” policy had not been implemented in the Tucson Sector until Nov. 22, when a change in policy was announced. The Department of Homeland Security decided the sector was a “weak link” in its efforts to detain undocumented migrants and asylum seekers, the bishop reported.

“The policy is not to apply to children traveling alone, pregnant women, people who are ill or with disabilities or those who were determined to face violence in Mexico,” he said. Still, he added, “There is reason to believe this policy has not been adequately implemented and that many of these most vulnerable people are living in the streets in the city of Juarez where they will be taken from Tucson.”

The bishop emphasized the Christian duty to aid migrants, asylum seekers and others in need.

“As Catholics, we are bound by faith to see all people as one family created in the image of God. We are called to offer hospitality to those who need us,” he said. “We are required to treat all with dignity and respect because they are our sisters and brothers. We are called to walk in solidarity with migrants on their journey.”

He pointed to the work of the Tucson diocese’s Catholic Community Services, which has been operating its migrant shelter Casa Alitas for six years. So far in 2019 it has aided 20,000 people, mainly families with children, as they travel to meet their sponsors and take part in the legal process to seek asylum.

“All people assisted at Casa Alitas are provided medical screening, clothing, food, assistance with transportation, a clean bed and a safe place to recover from the trauma of an arduous journey,” he said. “Few if any of these resources are available in Juarez.”

“Instead of care, concern and dignity these same families are being pushed into the street facing danger and the uncertainty if and when they will be given to opportunity to present their case to an immigration official,” said the bishop.

A Catholic-run migrant shelter in El Paso, Texas, across the U.S.-Mexico border from the city of Juarez, closed in mid-2019 because the migrants it would have assisted were barred from entering the country. After opening in 2018, before the policies changed, the shelter had been taking in 40 to 80 migrants per day after the migrants were cleared by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

As a whole, the U.S. bishops have been critical of the Trump Administration and previous administrations’ handling of migration.

In a March 13 joint statement, Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Sean Callahan, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services said the “Remain in Mexico” policy “needlessly increases the suffering of the most vulnerable and violates international protocols.”

“We steadfastly affirm a person’s right to seek asylum and find recent efforts to curtail and deter that right deeply troubling. We must look beyond our borders; families are escaping extreme violence and poverty at home and are fleeing for their lives,” the statement said.

The Trump administration has justified its policies on several grounds, including the need to limit the number of false asylum claims.

The number of asylum claims has dramatically increased over the last decade, with very few asylees being allowed to stay. In 2009, there were 35,811 people who applied for asylum in the United States, and 8,384 were granted. In 2018, that number had more than quadrupled to 162,060 claims, with 13,168 actually granted.

Tucson, Ariz., Dec 5, 2019 / 03:59 pm (CNA).- The U.S. government’s “Remain in Mexico” policies put vulnerable migrants at risk of kidnapping, rape, cartel violence, gang activity, and other dangers across the border, the Catholic Bishop of Tucson, Arizona said this week.

“The Migrant Protection Protocol is a policy that does not provide protection to these most vulnerable people and in fact has placed them in significant danger in cities that cannot adequately assist them,” Bishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Tucson said Dec. 2. For these reasons I call on others of good will to oppose this policy and to join me in communicating this opposition to our congressional delegation.”

The Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the “Remain in Mexico” policy, were announced in January 2019 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. These policies have meant between 50,000 and 60,000 asylum seekers, mainly families with children, have remained in border cities like Tijuana, Juarez, Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros while their cases are processed by immigration courts – a procedure that may take years.

“The numbers of people forced across the border have overwhelmed the cities, the humanitarian aid organizations and the Mexican Government,” Weisenburger said.

Sanitary conditions in some areas are so bad in some areas that 2,500 people share only three toilets. Pregnant women receive only one bottle of water per day. Families and children live in “makeshift tents on sidewalks,” the bishop said.

“In addition to the inhumane conditions in which the people must remain, they are subject to extortion and kidnapping by cartels and gangs, 364 rapes and assaults have been reported in one city, and daily threats of violence when the family has no money to pay the extortion,” said Weisenburger.

The government’s “Remain in Mexico” policy had not been implemented in the Tucson Sector until Nov. 22, when a change in policy was announced. The Department of Homeland Security decided the sector was a “weak link” in its efforts to detain undocumented migrants and asylum seekers, the bishop reported.

“The policy is not to apply to children traveling alone, pregnant women, people who are ill or with disabilities or those who were determined to face violence in Mexico,” he said. Still, he added, “There is reason to believe this policy has not been adequately implemented and that many of these most vulnerable people are living in the streets in the city of Juarez where they will be taken from Tucson.”

The bishop emphasized the Christian duty to aid migrants, asylum seekers and others in need.

“As Catholics, we are bound by faith to see all people as one family created in the image of God. We are called to offer hospitality to those who need us,” he said. “We are required to treat all with dignity and respect because they are our sisters and brothers. We are called to walk in solidarity with migrants on their journey.”

He pointed to the work of the Tucson diocese’s Catholic Community Services, which has been operating its migrant shelter Casa Alitas for six years. So far in 2019 it has aided 20,000 people, mainly families with children, as they travel to meet their sponsors and take part in the legal process to seek asylum.

“All people assisted at Casa Alitas are provided medical screening, clothing, food, assistance with transportation, a clean bed and a safe place to recover from the trauma of an arduous journey,” he said. “Few if any of these resources are available in Juarez.”

“Instead of care, concern and dignity these same families are being pushed into the street facing danger and the uncertainty if and when they will be given to opportunity to present their case to an immigration official,” said the bishop.

A Catholic-run migrant shelter in El Paso, Texas, across the U.S.-Mexico border from the city of Juarez, closed in mid-2019 because the migrants it would have assisted were barred from entering the country. After opening in 2018, before the policies changed, the shelter had been taking in 40 to 80 migrants per day after the migrants were cleared by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.

As a whole, the U.S. bishops have been critical of the Trump Administration and previous administrations’ handling of migration.

In a March 13 joint statement, Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration, and Sean Callahan, president and CEO of Catholic Relief Services said the “Remain in Mexico” policy “needlessly increases the suffering of the most vulnerable and violates international protocols.”

“We steadfastly affirm a person’s right to seek asylum and find recent efforts to curtail and deter that right deeply troubling. We must look beyond our borders; families are escaping extreme violence and poverty at home and are fleeing for their lives,” the statement said.

The Trump administration has justified its policies on several grounds, including the need to limit the number of false asylum claims.

The number of asylum claims has dramatically increased over the last decade, with very few asylees being allowed to stay. In 2009, there were 35,811 people who applied for asylum in the United States, and 8,384 were granted. In 2018, that number had more than quadrupled to 162,060 claims, with 13,168 actually granted.

Washington D.C., Dec 5, 2019 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- Hungary is promoting pro-family policies because its Christian identity is at stake, the country’s family minister told CNA in an interview.

“If we give up on our Christianity, then we will lose our own identity, as Hungarians, as Europeans,” Katalin Novák, Hungary’s Minister of State for Family Affairs, told CNA in an interview on Wednesday.

Novák spoke at the second annual conference on family policy on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, co-organized with the Embassy of Brazil. She joined officials from the Trump administration, members of Congress, and representatives of non-governmental organizations in discussing how governments can promote pro-family policies.

Hungary’s birth rate is well below replacement level; the country’s central statistics office estimates the total fertility rate at 1.48 births per woman. Every country in the European Union has a sub-replacement level birth rate, Novak said. And according to United Nations data, both Eastern and Western Europe have estimated total fertility rates of 1.657 and 1.683 live births per woman for the years 2015 to 2020—well below the replacement rate of 2.1.

“We have a demographic challenge ahead of us,” Novák told CNA. While some countries may rely on immigration, Hungary is trying to reverse the trend with a two-pronged approach: financial incentives for families to have more children, and promoting a culture that is pro-life and welcoming of large families.  

In 2011, Hungary’s birth rate stood at just 1.23, Novák said on Thursday, causing the government to ask such questions as “what is the reason behind” the phenomenon, and “how can we help?”

Now, the administration of Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pushed a seven-point family protection action plan with incentives for marriage and children.

Women who marry before their 40th birthday will be eligible for a subsidized interest-free loan of around €31,000 from the state; one-third of the loan can be forgiven if the couple has two children, and the entire loan can be forgiven if they have three or more children. Women with four or more children will be exempted from income tax for life. Families with at least three children are eligible for a grant to purchase a car that seats seven or more people.

Housing assistance is also a key part of the platform. Families with two children will be eligible for mortgage loan reduction that could be increased if they have a third child.

Will the new financial incentives result in more children? Time will tell, but the matter is of utmost importance to the state.

“We are convinced that our future lies in strong families,” Novák told CNA.

Perhaps even more critical to strong families than financial incentives is a culture that encourages and normalizes children.

“We speak too much about money, actually,” Novák said on Wednesday. “Having children is not about money. Of course, not having children, it can be about money, but having children, it’s not your decision because of the financial incentives—it shouldn’t be.”

The state is aiming to create a culture that is more welcoming of families. It first tried to do this by enshrining certain pro-family and pro-life values in law.

Hungary was historically a Christian country since its first King Stephen, Novák said, and the state’s pro-family policies are meant to be a reflection of that in establishing a “strong identity.”

“Without a strong identity, you cannot take responsibility for others,” she told CNA.

In 2011, the Hungarian Parliament adopted its Fundamental Law that recognized the nation’s Christian roots and affirmed “inviolable” human dignity, the “right to life” of everyone and the protection of life from “the moment of conception,” marriage as the voluntary union of one man and one woman, the “family as the basis of the survival of the nation,” and the protection of persons with disabilities, Novák said.

In addition, the state is now issuing public messages that “life is a gift” and that having children is a “lifelong adventure.”

“Do you really acknowledge those who are taking care of children? Do you really value that stay-at-home mom who is taking care of five, six, seven children and is not playing an active role in the labor market?” Novák asked. “Do we really value them? Do we acknowledge them? Do we protect them?”

Hungary also sees part of its Christian identity in helping Christian victims of persecution in other countries. In Iraq, the government helped resettle Christian genocide victims through its aid program Hungary Helps, providing more than $3 million for the effort.

“For that reason, we see that we have the responsibility to provide help for the brothers and sisters who suffer from persecution anywhere in the world,” Novák said. “It’s not through international aid organizations with a lot of administration and a lot of costs,” she said, but rather “is really direct help, which is addressed to the persecuted ones”

The right to life from the moment of conception is a fundamental part of this identity. While the country’s abortion rate is at its lowest-recorded level, more work must be done, Novák said. “Nothing above zero is a good number.”

The approach the state is taking to advance the pro-life cause is to “acknowledge the life of the unborn,” she said, “by providing family benefits.” By the second trimester of pregnancy, women are already eligible for family benefits.

The state also acknowledges the importance of a “family-friendly workplace,” she said, and is trying to reward employers with generous family policies.

While other countries might see immigration as a demographic solution to a declining population, Novák warned against viewing it as a long-term support for the country’s future. Orban’s seven-point family plan was also rolled out as an alternative to immigration being a solution for the country’s future.

Hungary has received international criticism for its strict immigration policies. The UN’s human rights chief said its 2018 law criminalizing the assistance of asylum seekers was “blatantly xenophobic.” As of early 2018, the UN’s refugee agency said Hungary was only admitting around two asylum seekers per day through its transit zones.

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants, who recently visited the country, said that “migrants are portrayed as dangerous enemies in both official and public discourses.”

Novák said that Hungary does not “see immigration as a solution to our demographic problem,” and is willing to assist with resettling refugees but is not prioritizing the acceptance of economic migrants seeking a “better life.”

“We are, in the first place, responsible for our own people. And if they need more help in order to be able to raise more children and have a family, then we have to provide this help,” she said.

Countries with a high outflow of economic migrants won’t be helped in the long run, she said.

“I actually do think that the responsible way of thinking is not if you extract the best-educated, the most mobile, and the wealthiest people out of these countries,” she said, “and what is going to happen to the others who just stay there?”

Hungary is providing training and free university education for thousands of students from these countries, she said, “to enable them to return to their countries and there to drive real change.”

However, in 2018 the Central European University had to stop its program for refugees after a significant tax by the government of Hungary on activities supporting immigration.

Pope Francis, in his message for the 2019 World Day of Migrants and Refugees, said that “our response to the challenges posed by contemporary migration can be summed up in four verbs: welcome, protect, promote and integrate.”

Washington D.C., Dec 5, 2019 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Thursday rejected the suggestion that she “hates” President Donald Trump, and said that her Catholic faith prevents her from hating anyone. 

"I don't hate anybody. I was raised in a Catholic house, we don't hate anybody—not anybody in the world,” said Pelosi. She had been asked by a journalist during her weekly press briefing if she “hates President Trump.”

Pelosi had earlier announced the House Democrats would begin drafting the articles of impeachment. 

"As a Catholic I resent you using the word 'hate' in a sentence that addresses me," a visibly angered Pelosi said, pointed her finger at the journalist. She went on to claim that she prays for Trump “all the time.” 

“So don't mess with me when it comes to words like that," she added. The Speaker said that any disagreement with Trump was rooted in policy, not in who he was as a person. 

Pelosi has in the past encouraged people to pray for President Trump. In October, Pelosi said that people should pray for the president’s health after she abruptly left a meeting with the President. In September, Pelosi said that she prays for the Trump family “all the time,” and that she “wish(es) that he would pray for the safety of other families and do something courageous on guns.” 

On Twitter, Trump said that he did not believe Pelosi prays for him, “not even close,” and that Pelosi had suffered a “nervous fit” during her briefing. 

“She hates that we will soon have 182 great new judges and sooo much more,” said Trump. “Help the homeless in your district Nancy,” he added. 

Pelosi has repeatedly cited her Catholic faith in the political realm, and used it to justify her positions, especially her long-standing support for abortion. Pelosi’s statements have occasioned significant pushback from members of the Catholic hierarchy at different times. 

In 2008, in her second year as Speaker of the House, Pelosi stated on an August 24 episode of “Meet the Press” that "as an ardent, practicing Catholic, [abortion] is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition,” and that her faith “shouldn’t have an impact on a woman’s right to choose.” 

At least 22 bishops released statements correcting Pelosi on this statement, and clarified the Church’s teachings on abortion. 

“While in canon law these theories led to a distinction in penalties between very early and later abortions, the Church’s moral teaching never justified or permitted abortion at any stage of development,” said a statement published Aug. 25, 2008 by Cardinal Justin Rigali and then- Bishop William Lori. 

At the time, Rigali was the chair of the USCCB’s pro-life activities committee, and Lori led the USCCB Committee on Doctrine. Lori is now the Archbishop of Baltimore and Rigali retired in 2011. 

In June 2013, Pelosi opposed a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks gestation and said that the bill was an effort to ensure that “there will be no abortion in our country.”

“As a practicing and respectful Catholic, this is sacred ground to me when we talk about this,” she said at the time. “I don't think it should have anything to do with politics.”

Washington D.C., Dec 5, 2019 / 01:00 pm (CNA).- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on Thursday rejected the suggestion that she “hates” President Donald Trump, and said that her Catholic faith prevents her from hating anyone. 

"I don't hate anybody. I was raised in a Catholic house, we don't hate anybody—not anybody in the world,” said Pelosi. She had been asked by a journalist during her weekly press briefing if she “hates President Trump.”

Pelosi had earlier announced the House Democrats would begin drafting the articles of impeachment. 

"As a Catholic I resent you using the word 'hate' in a sentence that addresses me," a visibly angered Pelosi said, pointed her finger at the journalist. She went on to claim that she prays for Trump “all the time.” 

“So don't mess with me when it comes to words like that," she added. The Speaker said that any disagreement with Trump was rooted in policy, not in who he was as a person. 

Pelosi has in the past encouraged people to pray for President Trump. In October, Pelosi said that people should pray for the president’s health after she abruptly left a meeting with the President. In September, Pelosi said that she prays for the Trump family “all the time,” and that she “wish(es) that he would pray for the safety of other families and do something courageous on guns.” 

On Twitter, Trump said that he did not believe Pelosi prays for him, “not even close,” and that Pelosi had suffered a “nervous fit” during her briefing. 

“She hates that we will soon have 182 great new judges and sooo much more,” said Trump. “Help the homeless in your district Nancy,” he added. 

Pelosi has repeatedly cited her Catholic faith in the political realm, and used it to justify her positions, especially her long-standing support for abortion. Pelosi’s statements have occasioned significant pushback from members of the Catholic hierarchy at different times. 

In 2008, in her second year as Speaker of the House, Pelosi stated on an August 24 episode of “Meet the Press” that "as an ardent, practicing Catholic, [abortion] is an issue that I have studied for a long time. And what I know is, over the centuries, the doctors of the church have not been able to make that definition,” and that her faith “shouldn’t have an impact on a woman’s right to choose.” 

At least 22 bishops released statements correcting Pelosi on this statement, and clarified the Church’s teachings on abortion. 

“While in canon law these theories led to a distinction in penalties between very early and later abortions, the Church’s moral teaching never justified or permitted abortion at any stage of development,” said a statement published Aug. 25, 2008 by Cardinal Justin Rigali and then- Bishop William Lori. 

At the time, Rigali was the chair of the USCCB’s pro-life activities committee, and Lori led the USCCB Committee on Doctrine. Lori is now the Archbishop of Baltimore and Rigali retired in 2011. 

In June 2013, Pelosi opposed a bill that would ban abortion after 20 weeks gestation and said that the bill was an effort to ensure that “there will be no abortion in our country.”

“As a practicing and respectful Catholic, this is sacred ground to me when we talk about this,” she said at the time. “I don't think it should have anything to do with politics.”

Peoria, Ill., Dec 5, 2019 / 12:50 pm (CNA).- The Diocese of Rochester confirmed on Thursday that it had requested a delay of the beatification of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, which had been scheduled for Dec. 21 until it was postponed indefinitely earlier this week.

But an official in the Diocese of Peoria said the Rochester diocese has not disclosed all of its interventions to delay the beatification.

“A person’s cause for beatification must entail a review of the person’s entire life. In this regard, the Diocese of Rochester has considered the tenure of Archbishop Sheen as the Bishop of Rochester,” the diocese said in a statement Dec. 5.

The diocese noted it had particularly considered the issue of Sheen’s role in “priests’ assignments.”

“The Diocese of Rochester did its due diligence in this matter and believed that, while not casting suspicion, it was prudent that Archbishop Sheen’s cause receive further study and deliberation, while also acknowledging the competency of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to render its decision. The Holy See ultimately decided to postpone the beatification,” the diocese said.

The statement came one day after CNA's first reported Dec. 4 that Bishop Salvatore Matano of Rochester had asked the apostolic nuncio to the United States to delay the beatification, citing concerns about an ongoing state attorney general’s investigation into the dioceses of New York state.

Sources told CNA that Matano was especially concerned that the attorney general could time the release of an announcement concerning Sheen to coincide with the beatification, potentially marring the celebration with allegations of scandal.

The Dec. 5 Rochester statement said the diocese had requested a delay “prior to any announcements of the beatification.”

The diocese said it had “provided the Diocese of Peoria and the Congregation for  the Causes of Saints through the Office of the Apostolic Nuncio with documentation that expressed concern about advancing the cause for the beatification of Archbishop Sheen at this time without a further review of his role in priests’ assignments.”

Msgr. James Kruse, an official in the Diocese of Peoria involved in advancing Sheen’s cause, told CNA that while the Rochester diocese had raised those concerns before the beatification date was set, it also raised them again in recent weeks. Two other officials connected to the beatification cause confirmed Kruse's statement.

Kruse said the Rochester press release did not acknowledge that fact.

The priest told CNA that Matano sent a letter to the apostolic nuncio Nov. 19, after the beatification was announced, saying that he could not support the scheduled beatification and requesting that it be delayed.

“They did not agree with the fact the beatification date was set and announced, and asked that further consideration be done,” Kruse told CNA Dec. 4.

CNA requested a copy of the Nov. 19 letter from the Diocese of Rochester. The diocese told CNA Dec. 5 that “it is not appropriate to release a letter addressed to the Apostolic Nuncio.”

Kruse told CNA Dec. 4 that the issue in question is the case of Gerard Guli, a former Rochester priest.

“Guli is the issue,” he told CNA.

The priest was ordained in 1956, and from 1963 to 1967 served in parishes in West Virginia. According to a document issued by the Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston, in 1963 the Diocese of Rochester received an allegation that in 1960 Guli committed abuse or misconduct against adults, not minors.

Kruse told CNA that the priest “returned from Wheeling to help his sick parents” in 1967.

Sheen became Rochester’s bishop in October 1966.

Some have claimed that Sheen gave Guli an assignment in the Diocese of Rochester, despite the 1963 allegation against him, Kruse said, and that Bishop Matano was concerned the NY attorney general would identify this issue in any report or announcement.

But Kruse said that Sheen never assigned Guli to ministry.

“We have studied extensively Sheen’s administrative decisions regarding Guli, and he never put children in harm’s way,” Kruse said.

“And in talking with Guli, assignments that some say Sheen gave him, Guli says ‘I never served there.’”

“And so this whole concept that Sheen appointed a pedophilic priest, that’s just not true,” Kruse added.

“The documents clearly show that Sheen’s successor, Bishop Hogan, appointed Guli, and it’s at that assignment that Guli offended again.”

“It’s [Bishop] Hogan who appointed Guli to the parishes in the towns of Campbell and Bradford where Guli offended, and it’s part of the reason that led to his ultimate removal and laicization, as well as other issues.”

Hogan was Sheen's successor.

In 1989, Guli was arrested for an incident of abuse involving an elderly woman. The priest was serving at Rochester’s Holy Rosary Parish at the time. He was subsequently laicized.

Guli was not mentioned in the Diocese of Rochester’s Dec. 5 statement, and the diocese declined to answer questions about the priest Dec. 4.

“We have known about the Guli issue for quite a long time and all of that has been thoroughly examined…that all of the life and everything has been vetted, and in the end, Sheen is exonerated in things. And likewise, Rome has vetted all of that also,” Kruse told CNA.

The Rochester diocese said Dec. 5 it “appreciates the many accomplishments that Archbishop Sheen achieved in his lifetime in proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ worldwide through media, thereby bringing the message of Jesus to a vast audience.  His legacy in the area of communications made him a prophet in the future use of mass media to advance the teachings of Jesus, a phenomenon recognized by Catholics and non-Catholics alike.”

On Dec. 3, the Diocese of Peoria said the delay of Sheen’s beatification is “unfortunate especially because there continue to be many miracles reported through Sheen’s intercession.”

“Bishop Jenky is deeply saddened by this decision. In particular, Bishop Jenky is even more concerned for the many faithful who are devoted to Sheen and will be affected by this news. He is firmly convinced of the great holiness of the Venerable Servant of God and remains confident that Sheen will be beatified. Bishop Jenky has every intention of continuing the Cause, but no further date for Beatification has been discussed.” the diocese added.

For its part, the Diocese of Rochester said that “a beatification process reminds us that we are all called to be saints to live with the Lord eternally in heaven, praying that the Lord judges us worthy to behold Him face to face in that beatific vision that brings everlasting joy. From his place with the Lord, Archbishop Sheen enjoys eternal peace and joy in the everlasting presence of God, Our Father, whom he did serve with dedication and zeal for the salvation of souls.”