Vatican envoy: Holy See forgives Habibi couple for Nazareth church incident

This is the right decision. If everything about this story and the plight of the family is true, perhaps this will bring these types of situations to light (link).

From the story:

Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Roman Catholic Church's custodian of holy sites in Israel and the Palestinian territories, met Monday afternoon with Haim and Violet Habibi and their adult daughter Odelia.

Pizzaballa, who is the Vatican's representative responsible for holy sites in Israel, said "it is the intention of the Church to forgive. This hurt us but we are not holding a grudge. As religious Christians, we must deliver a message of peace. There is no peace without justice and there is no peace without forgiveness. Nothing can justify what they did. They are unfortunate individuals.

"It's necessary to give also an important message of justice to the Christians and all the society in the country," Pizzaballa said in response to a question about whether charges should be pressed against the family.

The lawyer for the Habibi family, Pninat Yanai, said her clients embraced and kissed Pizzaballa and requested his forgiveness. Yanai also said her clients asked Batista for assistance in regaining custody of their children from state welfare authorities.

I for one hope Fr. Pizzaballa does help them get their child back if he was taken for no good reason. I hope that if there was a reason, these parents get help so they might be able to have their child again. There is no justification for what they did, but I'm not sure they were in their right minds or trying to hurt anyone. This seems to be an act of confusion, not malice.

"This is a most complex and difficult personal case," Yanai argued, "in which every ear was evidently closed to the silent 'cry of the impoverished,' and every door was locked at the sight of their distress. On the broken backs of the appellants was loaded a difficult and tragic personal story, which entails trials and tribulations, unfolding across years, and which reaches the existential root of the the way the establishment operates in the face of the weak individual with little means."

The appeal detailed the family's troubled saga up to last week, when, Yanai claimed, the welfare authorities decided "without any acceptable reason" to take the couple's youngest son. "In this arbitrary, radical and intolerable move, which was done by force, as the baby was torn from its mother, in the course of breast-feeding, the appellants reached a state of emotional chaos, profound distress, or what they have termed 'the height of the abuse against them.'"

The appeal also claimed that the Habibis came to the church with no intention of harming anyone and that the materials in their possession do not pose a danger to people.

Again, there is no justification for this action. But there can be mercy.

If this is true, maybe they went to the church in confusion, seeking comfort. Maybe they broke under their sorrow and pain. I don't know. But if this line is true:

welfare authorities decided "without any acceptable reason" to take the couple's youngest son. "In this arbitrary, radical and intolerable move, which was done by force, as the baby was torn from its mother, in the course of breast-feeding, the appellants reached a state of emotional chaos, profound distress, or what they have termed 'the height of the abuse against them."

If this is the case and proves to be true then:

May the tragic event that took place at the site of Mary's joy at accepting God's plan and receiving her own beloved Son be an event turned to good that heals this family and brings light to these situations in Israel and around the world.

Muslims in Bahrain want Unity and Love over Terror

Gateway Pundit has a great post on this protest (link)

There are Muslims who wish to battle terror. Sometimes it is easy to forget this fact in a world where some many fundamentalists spread hate. My prayers are with these people, may they claim their faith for love.

Pundit has links to some great pictures and information. A great job as always over there.

Killers of Catholic youth, Javed Anjum, sentenced

I'll repost the whole story (link):

Faisalabad (AsiaNews) – Twenty-three months after Javed Anjum, a 19-year-old Catholic boy, was murdered, the trial of two of his three killers has reached its verdict: Ghulam Rasool and Muhammad Tayab have been condemned to 25 years in prison. Umar Hayat, an Islamic cleric held to be the third murderer, was arrested in January after 22 months of being on the run; he is awaiting sentencing.

In April 2004, the three men tortured the boy for five whole days in a bid to force him to convert to Islam. When their persecution proved to be in vain, they handed Javed over to the police and made false accusations against him. His injuries were so severe that medical treatment was to no avail. The boy died on 2 May in a state hospital in Faisalabad: his medical report states that the Christian died “of 26 serious injuries resulting from torture”.

At this death bed, Javed identified one of his persecutors, Rasool, who was arrested immediately: under interrogation, he named Tayyab and Umar as his accomplices.

Khalil Tahir Sindhu, the family lawyer, told AsiaNews: “The sentence handed down by Javed Iqbal Warraich, the district judge of Toba Tek Sing, is significant but not satisfactory. Pervez Masih, Javed’ father, has already asked me to file an appeal in Pakistan’s High Court to ask for the death penalty for the two torturers.

Masih was “taken away from the courtroom before the sentence was pronounced for security reasons”. The lawyer added: “The courtroom was full of students from Jamia Hassan Bin Ali Almurtaza, the madrassah where Javed was tortured to death. They were shouting and threatening the others who were present: it was a very tense situation.”

“I am convinced Javed was targeted by the three extremists because of the solidity of his faith,” said Sindhu. “Mgr Coutts, bishop of Faisalabad, told me that only a cross and a prayer book were found in his pockets when he died.”

My prayers for the loved ones left behind. I also pray for those who want the death penalty for his killers. May their sorrow at this great loss not lead them to beg for more blood.

Fulton Sheen

For those of you who don't know who Archbishop Fulton Sheen was, he was a very public personality for the Catholic Church. Archbishop Sheen was a great communicator and preacher for Christ.

He had a weekly radio broadcast called "The Catholic Hour" from 1930-1952. He actually won an Emmy for his television show, "Life is Worth Living" (1952-1957). He was off and on television from 1961-1968.

It was said that if Fulton Sheen was not a priest, he would have been America's greatest Shakespearian actor. His charisma and presence was indeed powerful.

He was the only person to ever give Milton Berle a run for his money as the most popular television show of the time. When asked why that was Berle said, "He has better writers."
Sheen said, "I thank my writers...Matthew, Mark, Luke and John."

Why, oh why am I going on about Archbishop Sheen? Because for lent I am reading his book "The Life of Christ". It is an overview of the gospels with theological commentary by Sheen. A few of my posts with be based on my Lenten reading, so I wanted to introduce the Archbishop to those who may not know him.

The real strength of Fulton Sheen is threefold:

1) Strong but accessible theology
2) Great charisma
3) He never forgot that he was doing everything for Christ

Offical site for his cause for sainthood (link)

I personally think Archbishop Sheen was a wonderful example of how to use modern media for Christ.

A good post on the effects of Abortion

Desired Passage has a very well written post on the effects of abortion (link).

The post over there is very well written and nicely researched. In the interest of honesty, that is my wife's blog.

Fr. Santoro and the inaction of Turkish Authorities

I read the headline and was filled with anger and sorrow:

Fr Andrea Santoro: As if nothing ever happened (link)

This is not right. If you read the article you see what is going on, but I'll give some quotes to vent here:

Now, it is as if nothing as happened for the media, which now and again fans the flames with their accusations of proselytism; everything seems to have returned to a chilling normality.

Perhaps what people fail to realize is that Fr. Santoro was not killed just by the boy who shot him (Later you will see that is in doubt as well) but by the whole attitude that Turkey promotes. To return to normality is to return to the attitude that caused the murder.

On 28 February, the national daily newspaper Vatan, reported once again that Fr Andrea used to hand out dollars to invite youth to church. And once again, the bishop of Anatolia, Mgr Luigi Padovese has been forced to cry out: “If there really was such a great distribution of money by Fr Andrea – as the newspapers seem to claim – for proselytism, then how come baptisms in his parish of St Mary in Trabzon were not adding up? I knew my fidei donum priest well, and I exclude such a hypothesis. If he had done this, he would not have had ‘only’ three or four catechumens coming to his church. The truth is that proselytism is an alibi, which is being resorted to in order to refuel a controversy which is both anti-Christian and anti-western.”

So Mgr Padovese has had to appoint a Christian lawyer, a friend of his, to take legal action against newspapers that made these baseless accusations, managing to secure the publication of some corrections.

And still the authorities keep silent.


The fact that papers say that proselytism would be an excuse for the murder should wake the west up about this. In many nations to convert people is a death penalty, but think about that for a second. If the western world really wants to understand what Christians face in these places, just run this through your head:

A person lives a Christian life. They are happy, they care for people and follow Christ in action, word and spirit. People see this and decide that maybe there is something to this thing called Christianity. Because of that, you can be killed. And the media would blame it on you. And the public would accept that. It's bloody madness.

Going by the testimony of Loredana, a young pastoral collaborator of Fr Andrea, who only managed to catch a glimpse of the murderer’s silhouette, and to hear his voice at the moment of the shot, it seems his bulk was much bigger and his tone of voice, when he shouted “God is great”, was much deeper than that of a mere boy.

For the moment, police investigations are not giving anything away. It is feared that they are doing their utmost to close the case: an arrest to placate consciences and to cover the tracks of a bigger fish.

If as they say, the crime was the isolated action of a weak-minded boy, then how come today, a month after Fr Santoro’s murder, churches, priests and religious are still being kept under strict surveillance by police? The residents of Trabzon and the Turkish population do not seem to be too interested in this question. The issue has not drawn much attention


Ok, so the one person says it was not the boy. The authorities say it was because it is easier for them if it was.

Tomorrow, St Mary’s church will be reopened, and at the same hour of the afternoon as a month ago, a simple mass in suffrage will be celebrated. Fr Pierre Brunissen, parish priest of the church of Samsun – another Turkish city on the eastern coast of the Black Sea – will say mass, with a small group of Christians and under police guard, given that this elderly French priest has also received several threats by phone. He has also had “not very pleasant visits” to his church by a group of youth, most recently some days ago: they shouted threats and tore up placards. The mass will be a small light of faith and hope which is bigger than fear and indifference.

This small community is still under attack. Think about that: A priest is murdered. The authorities say it was a random act. But people are now sending threats to the priest who had come to say mass when the church reopens. It does not sound like a random act to me.

Lord, I pray you protect those who suffer for their faith. Give them strength. And give us the strength to champion thier cause in whatever way we can.

Head of Pediatrics Department Resigns to Protest Discrimination Against Coptic Christians

There are links to this story at:

The Free Copts
My Christian Blood

But so it is in as many places as possible I'll repost the text of the letter from Prof. Dr. Salem Ahmad Sallam :

I would like you to accept my resignation from heading the department of pediatrics to protest the antagonistic practices by the medical teaching staff against the resident Mira Maher Raouf ( A Coptic female physician) in order to prevent her from holding a teaching post solely because of her faith. In addition, I'm protesting the university's negligence in addressing such grave matter despite the abhorrent mistreatment and injustice against the (Coptic) physician.

Upholding citizenship rights is of great importance in order to achieve a comprehensive development of the Egyptian society in all aspects. There is no citizenship rights without providing an equal opportunity to everyone regardless of their religious affiliations."

May the Lord be thanked for this Muslim doctor and his courage. Love will overcome fear. I pray that when one stands others may join him.

Cartoonist's daughter sought

Here is a link, but I'll repost the article below:


Caricaturist's daughter sought

The daughter of one of the artists behind one of the controversial newspaper caricatures of the prophet Mohammed was sought out at her school by twelve Muslim men, a leading Danish politician claims.

Jens Rohde, political chairman of the prime minister's Liberal Party, made this claim during a debate program on Danish television on Thursday evening.

The twelve cartoonists are now in hiding after receiving death threats.

"And a daughter of one of the artists was sought out by twelve Muslim men at a school, they wanted to get hold of this daughter. Luckily she was not at school," Rohde said.

Rohde told Danish news agency Ritzau that he received this information from a meeting with the artists.

I'm surprised that I have not seen this on the main news servers and shows. I get the errie feeling that the mainstream media wants to put out the impression that the cartoon issue is finished.

They can try and tell that to the cartoonist who was lucky enough that his child was not at school. I shudder to think what may have happened if she had been there.

I thank the Lord for her safety.