For the nine days leading up to the Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is suggesting that the faithful pray a novena to Christ the King.
“Let us offer our prayers to Christ the King for the freedom of the Church,” the USCCB urges. Religious freedom allows the Church, and all religious communities, to live out their faith in public and to serve the good of all.
The novena begins Nov. 12, 2021 and concludes on the eve of the Solemnity, Nov. 20. To participate in the novena visit www.dioceseofvenice.org.
The idea behind the novena is that religious freedom is under attack in many places. Worldwide, it is estimated that upwards of 4 billion people (51% of the global population) live in countries that have intense violations of religious freedom.
Domestically, a major area of concern continues to be freedom for Catholic institutions, such as schools, hospitals, and child welfare service providers, to carry out their missions free from government intervention
If anyone wonders why Religious Freedom needs to be defended in the U.S., they need look no further than the frequent headlines about religious institutions being forced to pay for abortions in health care coverage, going against the teachings of the faith in defense of life from conception to natural death. Individuals have faced lawsuits for refusing to perform a service (bake a wedding cake, host an event) for same-sex couples because that violates their personally held faith-based beliefs.
Religious freedom is a human right, essential to the dignity of the human person and the flourishing of all that is noble in us. It should be noted that religious freedom does not exist to protect the government from religion, but religion from government intervention.
Another form of suppressing religious freedom is the disturbing trend in the past 18 months of overt acts of vandalism at Catholic sites globally and in the U.S. Since May 2020, the USCCB stated that more than 100 incidents of vandalism have been reported, including within the Diocese of Venice.
On Oct. 10, 2021, the USCCB responded to the latest such incident in Denver, Colorado, when satanic and other hateful graffiti was scrawled on the walls before Sunday Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.
In a statement from the USCCB condemning the incident in Denver, it was noted in part: “These incidents of vandalism have ranged from the tragic to the obscene, from the transparent to the inexplicable. There remains much we do not know about this phenomenon, but at a minimum, they underscore that our society is in sore need of God’s grace… where the motive was retribution for some past fault of ours, we must reconcile; where misunderstanding of our teachings has caused anger toward us, we must offer clarity; but this destruction must stop. This is not the way… These are not mere property crimes – this is the degradation of visible representations of our Catholic faith. These are acts of hate.”
The Solemnity of Christ the King was instituted by Pope Pius XI in his 1925 encyclical Quas primas (In the first), setting aside a special day so that “the Catholic Church, which is the kingdom of Christ on earth, destined to be spread among all men and all nations, should with every token of veneration salute her Author and Founder in her annual liturgy as King and Lord, and as King of Kings” [Quas primas 12].
Celebrated on the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year, this year the Solemnity is Nov. 21. The USCCB Ad Hoc Committee for Religious Liberty has urged “that the Solemnity of Christ the King – a feast born out of resistance to totalitarian incursions against religious liberty – be a day specifically employed by bishops and priests to preach about religious liberty, both here and abroad.”
“For Christians, when our faith is repeatedly marginalized in public life, we can fall into the habit of compartmentalizing our lives,” the USCCB website states in its article “About Christ the King.” “We love Jesus in our private lives, but we shrink from acknowledging the kingship of Christ in social life. When we celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King, we declare to the world and remind ourselves that Jesus is the Lord of the Church and of the entire universe.”
Once again, if you wish to participate in the novena to the Christ the King, please visit www.dioceseofvenice.org.
Leadership of the Southwest Florida Guild of the Catholic Medical Association met with Bishop Frank J. Dewane on Oct. 28, 2021 at the Catholic Center in Venice. The leadership provided Bishop Dewane with their annual report on their latest activities.
Bishop Frank J. Dewane took part in an Open House on Oct. 13, 2021 and said a blessing for the continued success of Pregnancy Solutions in their new location at 950 Tamiami Trail, Suite 105. The Port Charlotte previous location was across from an abortion doctor’s office which closed during the summer. The other locations are in Venice and North Port.
Compare that to the first 10 weeks at the new location which included 196 individual visits, including 84 ultrasounds, 99 pregnancy tests and much more, Zdrojowy continued. Other services include offering pregnancy options, adoption referrals, material support, parenting classes, support for men, and after abortion support.
Those are the situations that Greg Hasek specializes in, most specifically in situations where men are dealing with addictions, past trauma or PTSD. But Hasek has another specialization: how abortion affects men and those roots run deep. Almost always, men aren’t coming to him for help with the aftermath of abortion. They are seeking him out because of an addiction that has nearly destroyed their lives.
“I came out here so that young mothers choose life,” Hackett said. “I can only do that through prayer and the hope that the Lord will change her mind with an outpouring of love for that innocent unborn child.”
This battle comes at a time when laws on both ends of spectrum, in favor of life and against life, are being enacted or challenged. The most notable is the Texas “Heartbeat Law,” which is being considered in Florida. Other states, such as New York have passed legislation which allows abortions until the moment of birth. Another law under contention is from Mississippi and will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in December.
About 50 people of different faiths gathered for the opening prayer service and during the coming weeks they committed to being a voice for the voiceless on the front lines in front of Planned Parenthood.
While others saw a charming, funny, life of the party, inside Greg was depressed, lost and scared. This feeling of isolation began to impact not only his mental health, but also his relationships as well. After years of running from the pain and shame after abuse and abortion Greg knew he needed help, but did not know where to start or where to go to find healing.
The global Pandemic has had a devastating effect on our young people in ways many people don’t even realize. Many students were left alone in their homes if their parents had to work. They had on-line classes, but the temptation was there to explore the darker side of the Internet. Planned Parenthood unleashed an online outreach to snare young men and women into their web which resulted in over 744,000 anonymous conversations with their so-called sexual health experts as well as over 185,000 one-on-one conversations via chat rooms and texts.
40 Days for Life is an internationally coordinated 40-day campaign that aims to end abortion locally through prayer and fasting, community outreach, and a peaceful all-day vigil in front of abortion businesses. For those not yet ready to be among crowds due to the pandemic, they are encouraged to pray from home and fast for the end of abortion. Others are welcome to come to the sidewalk and social distance to their level of comfort.
The uncomfortable weather was no deterrent for the couple from St. John the Evangelist Parish, who, along with others, regularly prayer to God for the protection of the country but also have real fears about the state of religious freedom in the U.S. They gathered on U.S. 41 at Pine Ridge Road across from the Waterside Shops and have been doing so since March.
The goal of Religious Freedom Week is for all Catholics across the United States to pray, reflect and take action in support of Religious Liberty in our country and abroad.
Bishop Dewane said that we do have to act when religious freedom is threatened for all faiths, not just Catholics. “It is all about solidarity; just because I am not of one particular faith does not mean I will not speak out when religious freedom is threatened anywhere… It’s not just when it is on (Catholics), it is when it happens period.”
While this was a major victory for religious freedom, Bishop Dewane said there is much work to be done at every level of government and in the courts. Among items of ongoing concern includes seemingly never-ending battle between the Church and the HHS Mandate which requires entities to pay for abortion coverage in health care. This was actually the start of the modern religious freedom effort of the Catholic Church which dates to 2012 when massive “Religious Freedom Rallies” were held nationally and right here in the Diocese of Venice with Bishop Dewane on the front lines raising awareness.
“This has been a trend in our society, when symbols of a faith community are attacked,” Bishop Dewane said on his radio show. “There used to be an unwritten rule of respect, but we must speak up for every House of God and faith that is disturbed or vandalized in an attempt to defame representations of faith.”
