Faith of the Fathers

Monday, October 08, 2012

The following excerpts are from Catholic Culture's Catholic World News:

Former Irish President Mary McAleese has said that Cardinal Bernard Law angrily rebuked her for supporting women’s ordination while she was visiting Boston in 1998.

The following excerpts are from National Catholic Register (ncregister.com):

ASSISI, ITALY-The Italian city of Assisi, that was the home of St. Francis, became from 1943 to 1944, a shelter for thousands of refugees displaced by World War II. Italian Scholar Francesco Santucci has researched and recounted the Catholic effort to protect Jewish refugees. Yesterday Part I told the story of Assisi’s wartime bishop, Guiseppi Nicolini, and his priest secretary, Father Aldo Brunacci, who together masterminded the network of hiding places for Jewish families in the city’s convents, monasteries and private homes—including the bishop’s palace. Part II recounts the strategy that prevented Assisi from suffering any military damage despite its location in an embattled region.

The following excerpts are from National Catholic Register (ncregister.com):

ASSISI, ITALY — For almost eight centuries, pilgrims venerating St. Francis have come to the picturesque hilltop town of Assisi, 100 miles northeast of Rome, where the saint was born in 1182. Here was where he founded three religious orders and died at age 45.
Less known, especially by American Catholics, is Assisi’s legacy as a sanctuary for thousands of refugees displaced during World War II, including approximately 300 Jews who were hidden in the city’s convents, monasteries and private homes.
Religious and civil leaders of wartime Assisi dramatically mirrored the saint’s message of compassion and peacemaking. The compassion they extended to outsiders while Allied and Axis forces fought on Italian soil is the subject of ongoing research and an exhibit, “Museum of Memory, 1943-1944 Assisi,” at Assisi’s Palazzo Vallemani.

Read more by clicking below:
Following Francis' Footsteps: How Assisi Protected Jews During World War II, Part I | Daily News | NCRegister.com