Pope adds way
to become saint
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis has added a fourth pathway to possible sainthood -- people who lived a good Catholic life and who freely accepted a certain and premature death for the good of others.
Until now, gaining consideration for sainthood in the Catholic Church required martyrdom, living a life of heroic values or -- less frequently invoked -- having a clear, saintly reputation.
The Vatican announced Tuesday that the pope has issued a law on his own initiative -- known as a motu proprio -- adding the fourth route.
Examples of people who might fall into that category include those who take the place of someone condemned to death or expectant mothers with fatal diseases who suspend treatment so their babies can be born.
While John Paul II streamlined the canonization process, Archbishop Marcello Bartolucci, an official of the Vatican's Congregation of the Causes for Saints, noted in L'Osservatore Romano that the norms for beatification -- the first step toward sainthood -- have been in place for centuries.
Under the new category, a miracle must be attributed to the candidate's intercession prior to beatification. Martyrdom -- being killed out of hatred for the faith -- does not require a miracle.
The pathway could apply to cases like that of Chiara Corbella Petrillo, a young Italian woman who died in 2012.
Diagnosed with cancer during her third pregnancy, she had forgone chemotherapy and other treatments to safeguard the life of her son, Francesco, who was born safely.
Friends started an association last month, on the fifth anniversary of her death, to seek her beatification.
-- The Associated Press
Mennonites drop
holdings in Israel
ORLANDO, Fla. -- The Mennonite Church USA voted last week to sell its holdings in companies that profit from the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, the latest American Christian group to do so.
The decision was made at a national Mennonite convention in Orlando, Fla. Although the economic impact is expected to be minimal, such votes are closely watched as a measure of views on Israel and the Palestinians from within the U.S., the Jewish state's closest and most important ally.
The resolution directs managers of the $3 billion Everence church fund to regularly screen holdings to avoid any economic support for Israeli policies in the occupied territories.
Mennonites had rejected a divestment proposal at their last national meeting two years ago amid fears that the resolution would be considered anti-Jewish. The statement adopted last week condemns anti-Semitism, encourages stronger ties between church members and Jews, and endorses a review of how Mennonites responded to the Holocaust. The Mennonite Church has just over 75,000 members.
In previous years, the Presbyterian Church in the U.S. and the United Church of Christ approved divestment measures. The Episcopal Church rejected a similar proposal at a national meeting two years ago, as did the 12.8 million-member United Methodist Church at a conference last year. However, the Methodist pension board has barred investment in five Israeli banks, citing human rights concerns, and last week announced a new social values investment fund that will bar profits from the use of fossil fuels and evaluate holdings according to concerns expressed by church policy-making bodies about Mideast peace, including Israeli treatment of Palestinians.
-- The Associated Press
Religion on 07/15/2017