Statement by the Patriarch of St. Stephen Regarding the School Shooting in Connecticut

Sub Tuum. 

Rutherford Card. Johnson

To say that the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, today came as a shock to most people would be perhaps quite an understatement. The national outpouring of grief has indeed been great. We offer our prayers for the souls of the dead and our prayers and compassion for their families and for those who survived. 

This tragic event is not the result of a lack of laws. We have many laws in this country. The shooter did not respect or follow the law, for what he did was most certainly against the law. Why would anyone think that he would respect new laws? More laws that burden the good and decent citizens of our country are not the answer. Instead let us work through our tears and consider the real underlying problem. 

Today's tragedy was a part of a greater tragedy, and that is a nation that has largely turned from God and fails to respect life. How can we be outraged at the 27 deaths in today's shooting while we turn a collective blind eye to the murder of over one million unborn children? It is no surprise that a culture that glorifies violence and every type of perversion would spawn someone who would kill his fellow students and even his own mother. This is the root of the problem, and it has been a long time in the making in America as society seems determined to push the love of Christ to the back of the storage closet to gather dust. Indeed we need not scratch our heads in wonderment at why such a horrible thing has happened. 

I do not believe, however, that every person in America has turned from God or glorifies gratuitous violence and perversion. Perhaps these are the "silent majority" we hear whispers about. It is long past time for the good and decent people of America to stand up and be heard in spite of those who wish to ridicule and even silence them. It is long past time to stop this insidious indulgence of deviant behavior and instead restore the sense of right and wrong that made American society great. 

The school shooting in Connecticut is the product of the secular society that we have created. The earliest occurrence of a school shooting according to US News is in the 1960s, and they have continued regularly ever since. That decade marks the general start of liberalization and secularization in America. Tolerance for deviance, degradation, and sloth has been on the rise ever since, as has the belief in moral relativism. 

In the wake of this terrible school shooting, what America needs is an awaking of the spirit, not an Alka-Seltzer tablet to make us feel better because we witnessed or heard about something we do not want to see. That would be like taking an aspirin to dull the pain while ignoring the cancer that grows within. Condemn the shootings for the cowardly murders that they were. Console the families of the dead and the survivors. But, let us also turn the magnifying glass on ourselves as a society and realize that the only true path to ending school shootings is a return to the love of Christ above all other things. Remember the New Commandment given by our Lord that we love our neighbors as ourselves. That is the path to life. 

Priest named Chaplain of the Year

LEXINGTON, SC, 1 November 2012 (ACNS) - The Very Rev. Anthony Giunta, TOR Mar., PhD, was the recipient of three honors for his work as a hospital chaplain. He was named 2011-2012 Chaplain of the Year for the Lexington Medical Center by vote of the hospital staff.

Fr. Giunta (left) with other award recipients.

Fr. Giunta was chosen out of over three hundred chaplains. He also was named as one of the top ten chaplains in the Pastoral Care Division and received recognition for working the most hours as a chaplain at the hospital over the past year. Fr. Giunta, who also serves as a police chaplain, is Rector of Holy Cross Mission in Lexington and Minister General of the Franciscan Third Order Regular of Penance of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Parish celebrates its first Holy Mass

LEXINGTON, SC, 21 October 2012 (ACNS) - The faithful gathered today as the Holy Cross Mission of Lexington, South Carolina, celebrated its first mass. The Celebrant was the Rector of the mission, the Very Rev. Dr. Anthony Giunta, TOR Mar., who also serves as the Minister General of the Franciscan Third Order Regular of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The mission parish is part of the Archdiocese of the Southeast of the Anglican Rite Roman Catholic Church and works to provide the saving graces of the sacraments of Christ's Holy Church to all people who seek Christ. Fr. Giunta and the Holy Cross Mission also provide Christian counseling services to those in need.

Fr. Giunta celebrates the Holy Mass.



Blessing of the Animals

LEXINGTON, SC 4 October 2012 (ACNS) - Holy Cross Mission participated in the “Blessings of the Animals” at Columbia Police Department in Columbia, SC. The Columbia police Department came together on Thursday, October 4, 2012 at 6pm to have the complete K-9 Unit blessed on the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi. Fr. Anthony, is a member of the Chaplain Corp at Columbia Police Department. The Asst. Chief Wisner was pleased to have Fr. Anthony come and provide a valuable service to the Officers of the department.

Letter to American Voters

Sub Tuum.

 

Dear Brethren in Christ in the United States,

 

The upcoming Presidential election is perhaps the most important one in American history. If not, then it is at least one of the most critical. Christians must remember their faith and their sacred duty under that faith when they cast their vote in November. The separation of Church and State can never mean that the Church must remain silent on issues of faith and morals at the heart of government policy. Faithful citizens must not check their religion at the door to the voting booth. Your faith must be your guiding light and your moral compass as you cast your vote.

 

Your vote gives you tremendous power. You have the ability to help preserve life, the family, and freedom. This is a tremendous power, and it comes with tremendous responsibility. At stake in the November Presidential election are many fundamental rights Americans have long taken for granted. These rights are granted by God. America’s soldiers have long fought and died to preserve them against the tyrants of the world. Now you have the power with your vote to take a stand against tyranny and for the preservation of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Your voice can be heard, and you can speak for those who cannot yet speak for themselves.

 

Much has been said, discussed, and debated, particularly over the past year, regarding health care in America. This is one of the most important and contentious issues surrounding the upcoming election. The Presidential Administration says that their health care program, known better as “Obamacare,”is needed in order to provide many people health insurance who currently do not have health care. Those who oppose this for whatever reason are often vilified and accused of not caring about the poor.

 

From a Christian perspective, all life is sacred from the moment of conception to the moment of death. All life must be treated with respect and dignity. Health care must likewise respect life, treating all persons with respect and dignity. No one ought to be turned away due to an inability to pay.

The fact is that the poor people of America have plenty of venues for receiving the health care that they need. Catholic hospitals, for example, provide health care to all in need, regardless of ability to pay. And, Catholic and religious-based hospitals are far from the only examples of health care facilities that provide services to those without insurance and without ability to pay. There is hardly a place in America that does not have some sort of charitable health care to ensure that the destitute, the indigent, those whose employers do not provide insurance, and those who are simply having trouble making ends meet can have their health care needs met. 

 

Why, then, is national health care, which provides abortions and abortifacient birth control, being touted as necessary in order to provide health care for all Americans? Christian hospitals, as well as even state-run hospitals have long been providing necessary health care to people, regardless of ability to pay. That abortions and abortifacient birth control are being labeled as “women’s health care” is further troubling and displays a lack of respect for the sanctity of life. Certainly there is a need for health care reform in American. Yet, the policies underlying Obamacare are so contrary to Christian doctrine and principles that no Christian may support them. 

 

The issues at hand in the November Presidential election are grave. The Christian Faithful cannot simply stand aside due to distaste for the political process and not take part. Christians have the opportunity to take a stand for life and for freedom, and therefore we have a duty to do so. You must vote according to your conscience in November, and you must allow your conscience to be guided by the Holy Spirit. This is your sacred duty. 

 

In the peace of Christ,

+Rutherford Card. Johnson

Bishop of Saint Stephen

Patriarch of the Anglican Rite Roman Catholic Church

Parish receives first class relic

HARDIN, Ill. 11 September 2012 (ACNS) - The Church of Saint Concordia received a first class relic of the bones of Saint Camilla Battista Varano, an Italian Saint canonized in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI. She lived from 1458 until 1524 and was beatified by Pope Gregory XVI in 1843.

 

Saint Camilla entered the monastery in Urbino at the age of 23 as a Poor Clare, professing in 1483. She had a vision of Saint Clare of Assisi that lasted for fifteen days. She was elected the abbess of her monastery in 1500, and again in 1507, 1513, and 1515. In 1505, Julius II sent her to found a monastery in Farmo. She died of the plague at the age of 66 in the year 1524. Her extensive writings emphasized following the poor and crucified Christ and are considered quite significant among Poor clare literature.

 

 

 

 

Amy Bishop Pleads Guilty to Killing Colleagues at Faculty Meeting

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. 11 September 2012 (ACNS) - A former professor at the University of Alabama at Huntsville plead guilty on Tuesday to a capital murder charge in connection with the 2010 shooting deaths of three colleagues at hte university. The incident took place during a faculty meeting in the biology department. The former professor, Amy Bishop, age 47, plead guilty to one count of capital murder and three counts of attempted murder in the shootings, which also wounded three faculty members. Prosecutors had been seeking the death penalty in the case. It is not clear at present whether they will seek a lesser penalty as part of the plea deal. Bishop had earlier plead not guilty by reason of insanity. Her sentencing will occur after a hearing on September 24.