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PRIEST who SHAMED the MAFIA
Sicilian priest Don Puglisi died because his faith was hated. But in assassinating the priest who was their implacable foe, the Mafia may well have shot itself in the foot. Soon, Fr Puglisi may be an official saint. - Pages 12-13
Pope urges Catholics to rediscover treasures of Vatican II to stay
Faithful to the truth
Pope Benedict XVI waves as he arrives to celebrate Mass outside the Cathedral of St Peter the Apostle in Frascati, Italy, on July 15.
CHRISTIANS don’t preach what the powerful want to hear or what will please a crowd; “their criteria is truth and justice”, even if it garners no applause, Pope Benedict XVI said during an outdoor Mass. The Pope celebrated Mass on July 15 outside the Cathedral of St
Peter the Apostle in Frascati, about five miles from his summer villa at Castel Gandolfo. Bishop Raffaello Martinelli of Frascati had worked with the Pope at the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, specialising in catechesis. Pope Benedict told
the estimated 8,000 people gathered in the square outside the cathedral that the bishop’s “voice is very much present” in the text of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Pope asked Catholics to reread the Catechism and, particularly, the documents of the Second
Vatican Council as the Church prepares to celebrate in October the 50th anniversary of the opening of the council. “The council documents contain an enormous wealth for the formation of new generations of Christians, for the formation of
Journalist put child before treatment By John Jalsevac ONE DAY early in 2010, newlyweds Ignacio Cabezas and Barbara Castro Garcia were sitting in a café eating breakfast. The couple both had smiles on their faces that, in the words of Ignacio, were “impossible to erase”. After 11 years of dating, the couple had gotten married several months before, and now they had just found out they were expecting their first child. “We were crazy about getting married and, once married, we wanted very much to be parents,” Ignacio remembers.
Little did they know that this pregnancy, which had already brought them so much joy, was also the beginning of a saga that would test their faith to the limit— and ultimately take the life of the young mother. Four months into the pregnancy, Barbara took a trip to the dentist complaining of a sore in her mouth. The dentist sent her on to a specialist, who diagnosed her with mouth cancer. The couple was presented with a conundrum: Barbara urgently needed life-saving treatment, but the treatment had the potential to
harm their unborn child. Bolstered by her Catholic faith, Barbara, who worked as a journalist in the communications office of the Catholic diocese of Cordoba, made the difficult decision to forgo all treatments except for a surgical procedure that left her in immense pain. But Ignacio says that throughout the ordeal, Barbara remained strong. “My wife said from the beginning that our daughter would be born the day that God wanted, not one day before,” he says. A statement on the diocese of Cordoba’s website remembers Barbara’s faith at this time.
“Anchored in the heart of Christ, the inexhaustible source of love, Barbara opted first for the life of her daughter,” the diocese says. “At all times she has maintained an unwavering faith, and has been the encouragement and hope for all who have surrounded her during this long and painful illness.” Their child, Barbarita, was born on November 1, 2010 – a healthy baby and the source of much conPlease turn to Page 9 Barbara Castro Garcia who, like Chiara Petrillo, chose the life of her child over urgent medical treatment.
PHOTO: TONY GENTILE, REUTERS, CNS
our consciousness. So read them, read the Catechism of the Catholic Church and rediscover the beauty of being Christian, of being Church, of living as part of the great ‘we’ that Jesus formed around him to evangelise the world,” the Pope said. World news - Pages 8-9