Gunman shoots father-in-law during Catholic Mass in Utah
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OGDEN, Utah (AP) – A 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of walking into a Catholic church in Ogden, Utah, and shooting his father-in-law in the back of the head during Sunday Mass.
Police say Charles Richard Jennings Jr. was captured a few hours later after fleeing in a stolen pickup truck.
Parishioner Leon Bedford says the victim was sitting in a back pew with his wife when their daughter and son-in-law walked in holding hands. Bedford told the Ogden Standard-Examiner that the gunman “walked right up” to his father-in-law and pulled the trigger.
The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in critical but stable condition.
Another parishioner said the congregation was told by a priest that the suspect and his wife had been involved in domestic disputes.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Utah man shot during mass at Catholic church
Parishioners at a Catholic church in Utah were sent diving under pews in terror Sunday when a tattooed lunatic shot a man in the back of the head during morning worship, cops said.
Charles Richard Jennings, 35, felled his father-in-law with a single shot to the back of the head during 11:30 a.m. mass at St. James church in Ogden and then fled in a stolen pickup truck, KSL-TV reported.
Jennings was captured later after a brief but frenzied state-wide manhunt.
His father-in-law, who was not identified, was in critical condition at McKay Dee Hospital, the station said.
Cops said Jennings specifically targeted his victim.
According to witnesses, the shooting occurred as parishioners lined up to receive Communion.
Rev. Erik Richtsteig told KSL, “Nowhere is immune from evil and it’s what people do when they’re confronted with it that really shows their character and I’m really proud of my people here at the church.”
Jennings has a rap sheet that includes busts for burglary, domestic violence, theft and trespassing, among other crimes.
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‘Gay Lobby’ at the Vatican — Really?
A “gay lobby” at the Vatican? My first reaction to the leaking of the words of Pope Francis was, “If this Vatican ‘gay lobby’ is supposed to be working for me and the LGBT movement, we ought to fire them immediately!”
As a graduate of a Roman Catholic seminary and an admirer of progressive Catholic theology, I am always fascinated by the tortured relationship of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy to its gay members and leaders, but these latest developments raise serious warning signs.
In a report that surfaced from CLAR, a Latin American Catholic group, the pope is quoted as saying, “In the Curia there are holy people. It’s true, there are holy people. But there is also a stream of corruption. There’s also that; it’s true. The ‘gay lobby’ is spoken of, and it’s true: It’s there…. We’ll have to see what we can do.” The pope spoke in Spanish, according to a summary of the meeting posted on a Chilean web site, Reflection and Liberation.
What does the pope mean by “We’ll have to see what we can do”? These statements come in the midst of the biggest internal investigation of corruption at the Vatican in history. “Vatileaks” revealed mismanagement, money laundering, and more preceding the precipitous resignation of Pope Benedict XVI.
In relation to the “gay lobby,” The New York Times used the words “corruption,” “vying for power,” and “blackmail.”
Questions abound. Is this supposed to be a group of priests who just happen to be gay and are assuring their own place and profits at the Vatican? Would it be possible that they are advocating for gay rights for ordinary gay Catholics and LGBT people around the world whose human rights are being denied every day?
Is this some kind of campy, cosmic joke?
A “gay lobby”? My mind reeled, thinking of the Vatican foyer — perhaps that’s what they meant by “gay lobby.” I can picture gay Vatican fashionistas redecorating. But isn’t Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel enough? Or are they lobbying the new pope to continue the recent tradition of red Prada shoes? What are we talking about here? No one is confessing!
Vatican officials have not denied the pope’s remarks. And although CLAR published an apology for publishing what the Vatican describes as a private meeting, they did not disavow the content. Several spokespersons have stated that the remarks have to be understood in context — and the context appears to be the corruption investigation.
This is no joke. The Vatican may be preparing for another Inquisition. It is so typical for the Vatican to create a campaign to blame vulnerable groups for the sins of the fathers. When Catholics in the pews in the United States took a stand against the sexual predation, collusion, and coverup by Catholic officials, what did the Vatican do? The Vatican launched an investigation on nuns in the U.S. that is still ongoing.
News of the pope’s comment on a “gay lobby” overwhelmingly suggests that this is about corruption. NPR’s coverage places the remark in the context of a confidential report handed to Pope Francis by Pope Benedict and cites Vatican analyst Marco Politi, who said, “The three hot issues in the Vatican Curia are issues about career, about personal ambitions; are issues about money, which means corruption; and are issues about sex. … There was money laundering through the Vatican bank, money of the mafia. … [I]n the ’90s, there were big amounts of money for bribes for Italian political parties.”
It is a dangerous situation when a trusted news source like NPR lumps together political bribes and mafia money laundering with anyone who is gay at the Vatican.
This scenario is a far cry from the idea of a “gay lobby” that is working behind the scenes to move the whole Roman Catholic Church toward more openness to all its members. I personally know priests who are doing that work, at great sacrifice to themselves. I also know priests, bishops, and archbishops who condemn vast swaths of people because they are the same as them: They are gay. Such dissonance can lead to breaking free — or simply breaking.
So the new pope is cleaning house and wants to expose the powerful “gay lobby” — that is, to punish entrenched, closeted gay men. The idea of a powerful “gay lobby” in the Vatican working for the human, civil, and spiritual rights of LGBT people is tantalizing, but the probability of placing generations of corruption at the feet of a group of gay men in the Vatican — some celibate, some not — is probably the next chapter we are facing.
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Utah Catholic Mass Shooting: Dad Shot By Son-In-Law During Father’s Day …
The suspect was charged Tuesday with attempted murder, aggravated burglary and robbery and possession of a firearm by a restricted person. (Photo : REUTERS/Kham)
James Evans’ Father’s Day abruptly turned into a tragedy after the 66-year-old was shot in the head by his son-in-law while he was praying in a special holiday Mass service in Utah.
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Police have arrested 35-year-old Charles Ricky Jennings in connection with the shooting. According to witnesses, Jennings, a parishioner at the church, walked into the Mass with his wife Cheryl. Moments later, police say he fired a single shot at the back of Cheryl’s father’s head, nearly killing him, reports the Associated Press.
Afterward, Jennings stole a truck from a nearby neighbor at gunpoint and led police on a highway chase, said officials. He was caught hours later on foot after the truck ran out of gas.
Jennings, a father to a 3-year-old boy, was charged Tuesday with attempted murder, aggravated burglary and robbery and possession of a firearm by a restricted person. His bail has been set at $105,000.
Police are still trying to determine why Jennings shot his father-in-law, said Ogden Police Lt. Danielle Croyle on Tuesday. They think he may have been drinking or on drugs, and detectives know the couple had a history of domestic disputes that may have triggered Sunday’s shooting, she said.
Evans was struck at the side of his head, the bullet going through near his ear and out his cheek and missing his brain, said Dr. Barbara Kerwin, the director of the intensive care unit at McDay-Dee Hospital in Ogden.
“He turned his head just at the right time,” his wife said Monday, crying at a hospital news conference. “If didn’t turn his head, he would have been hit in the back of the head and he would have been dead.”
Doctors say Evans is awake and is communicating with hand gestures and writing, however he will need reconstructive surgery and rehab to learn to swallow and speak again, reports CBS News. Tuesday is Evans’ 66th birthday.
A new spirituality
Commentary
By Carmelita Roxas Natividad
Philippine Daily Inquirer
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings having a human experience– Teilhard de Chardin
There was a time when being worldly ruined one’s reputation. The implication covered various levels of the social structure—persons of ill repute, social butterflies, bohemians, fun lovers, even whores. They were all sinners for the world was evil and to denounce it was to be a good Christian.
“Pleasure” was a bad word, so Christians were admonished to make sacrifices, to practice self-denial, so as to strengthen their resolve against the world’s corrupt and evil elements. Suffering translated into an imitation of Christ’s agony and the saints’ immolation that led to their sanctification. Life on earth was a prelude to a life after death where pure joy awaited the faithful in heaven, our real home.
In my youth, I took these teachings very seriously because I believed they were a mandate from God through the authority of the Church. I was determined not to die in a state where I could end up in an infernal hole along with the dregs of humanity. Thus fearful, I became a model Roman Catholic, attentive to the rules and regulations imposed by my religion, and obeyed most of God’s 10 commandments as well as the Church’s five commandments.
Because I believed that availing oneself of all the sacraments of the Church earned for one an abundance of grace, I wanted to incorporate all seven into my spiritual life. But I wasn’t ready then for matrimony, wasn’t eligible for holy orders, and had to be dying for extreme unction. So I added to my sufferings and self-denials.
Lent was the best time to suffer—a gesture of sympathy and compassion for the crucified Christ. I abstained from fun activities like reading, socializing and listening to the radio, unless it was tuned in to the Seven Last Words. The priests who delivered the message of Christ’s passion and death had the skill of drama for a performance that would bring the faithful to tears of compassion and repentance. I was among the weepers.
Utah man shot during Catholic Mass upgraded to fair condition, son-in-law …
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OGDEN, Utah — A Utah man shot in the head during a Father’s Day Mass was upgraded to fair condition Tuesday — just a few hours after his son-in-law was charged with attempted homicide in the shooting.
On his 66th birthday, James Evans was moved out of the intensive care unit at McDay-Dee Hospital in Ogden, another step in what doctors expect to be a full recovery. The bullet police say was fired at point-blank range by his son-in-law, Charles “Ricky” Jennings Jr., remarkably missed his brain, entering near his ear and exiting out his cheek.
Evans’ wife, Tara, who was standing beside him, said if her husband hadn’t turned his head when he did, he would have been killed.
Doctors said Evans will need reconstructive surgery and rehab to learn to swallow and speak again. He has been awake, nodding yes and no, writing and using hand signals to communicate.
Jennings, 35, is in jail on $105,000 cash-only bail. He made a brief court Tuesday appearance by video. He was charged Tuesday in Weber County with attempted murder, two counts each of aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery, and possession of a firearm by a restricted person.
His next court hearing has been set for Thursday afternoon. Attempts by The Associated Press to reach Jennings’ attorney were not immediately successful. He has not yet entered a plea.
The shooting occurred during a quiet part of the Father’s Day Mass as about 300 people stood up in preparation for communion. Police say Jennings pulled a gun from his waistband and fired a single shot at the back of Evans’ head, nearly killing him.
“It was echoing in my head so loud,” said Rebecca Ory Hernandez of the gunshot that rang out only feet from where she was with her 5-year-old son. She grabbed the boy, threw him under the pew and got on top of him. She said she heard the pastor blurt out an expletive into his microphone. “I was waiting for another gunman,” she said.
The shooter ran from the church, the pastor and a half dozen other men close on his heels. Ory Hernandez and other parishioners went to James Evans. They used scarves and a shirt to help soak up the blood, and she cradled his head. His wife, Tara, who had been standing next to him, and others prayed.
“I’m OK, I’m OK,” Evans kept saying, as blood spilled from his mouth.
Meanwhile, Jennings stole a truck from a nearby neighbor at gunpoint and led police on a highway chase, police said. He was caught hours later on foot after the truck ran out of gas.
Police are still trying to determine why Jennings shot his father-in-law, said Ogden Police Lt. Danielle Croyle on Tuesday. They think he may have been drinking or on drugs, and detectives know the couple had a history of domestic disputes that may have triggered Sunday’s shooting, she said. But, she said Jennings has not revealed a motive.
The full scope of Evans’ relationship with his son-in-law is not yet clear, but court records show Jennings has a criminal record going back to 1996. Over the years, he’s pleaded no contest to felony charges of receiving a stolen vehicle, criminal trespassing and pleaded guilty to theft charges and a felony charge of attempting to tamper with a witness or juror.
Lt. Croyle said Jennings’ wife, Cheryl, stayed inside the church after her husband fled. There is no indication she knew what her husband was going to do, and authorities don’t expect to file any charges against her, Croyle said.
After paramedics rushed James Evans to the hospital, the Rev. Erik Richtsteig returned to the brick church that sits on the east side of Ogden at the foot of a steep rock mountain called Jumpoff Canyon.
As doctors operated on Evans, who had recently accompanied the priest on a trip to the Holy Land in Jerusalem, Richtsteig told his congregation who the shooter was, and asked them to pray for the couple and their 3-year-old son.
Then, for those who stayed, he finished the Mass, explaining his reasons matter-of-factly, Ory Hernandez said.
“Evil will not prevail,” Richtsteig said.
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Mt 5:43-48 God And All His Children
This is a syndicated post from Daily Meditations with Fr. Alfonse. [Read the original article...]
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father…So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
God did not need to change his heart. We did.
Now, is anyone listening? Or are we still like children covering their ears.
P.S. Check out the latest in Catholic News. Read how Charles Darwin’s great-great-great granddaughter decided to become Catholic.
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Gunman shoots man during Catholic Mass in Utah
OGDEN, Utah – A 35-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of walking into a Catholic church and shooting his father-in-law in the back of the head during Mass.
Charles Richard Jennings Jr., 35, was captured Sunday afternoon in nearby Box Elder County after fleeing in a stolen pickup truck, investigators said.
Witnesses say they heard one gunshot during the 11:30 a.m. Mass on Sunday at Saint James the Just Catholic Church in Ogden, and that parishioners immediately hit the floor.
The victim was taken to a hospital, where he was listed in critical but stable condition. His name wasn’t immediately released.
Police said the victim was deliberately targeted by the gunman and it wasn’t a random act of violence.
“We don’t know the motive,” Ogden police Lt. Danielle Croyle told The Salt Lake Tribune. “It is a domestic violence-related incident.”
Parishioner Rebecca Ory Hernandez said the congregation was told by a priest that the suspect and his wife had been involved in domestic disputes.
Hernandez was sitting close to the victim when the shooting occurred, she said.
“The guy walked up to his father-in-law and shot him point blank in the head,” Hernandez told Ogden’s Standard-Examiner. “Then I ran over to the victim and pulled my scarf off and put it around his head.
“He was pretty calm. There was so much blood … People were in shock and some people were passing out. We have some military guys in our parish and they ran out after the guy,” she added.
Parishioner Leon Bedford said the victim was sitting in a back pew with his wife when their daughter and son-in-law walked in holding hands as the congregation started saying a prayer.
“Oh, it’s obvious it was well planned out,” Bedford told the Standard-Examiner. “They came into the church hand in hand, and he walked right up to (the victim) and pulled that trigger. We just hope and pray that he makes it.”
Jennings is accused of stealing the truck at gunpoint from a nearby resident after fleeing the church. He was booked on charges of attempted aggravated criminal homicide and aggravated robbery.
Further details about the shooting will not be released until a news conference Monday morning at McKay-Dee Hospital, officials said.
A family spokesperson and a police representative will be on hand to discuss the case and status of the victim, hospital spokesman Chris Dallin said.
Alex Trinidad, 8, Gives Away First Communion Money To Feed The Hungry …
A boy celebrated his First Holy Communion by giving all the money he received from family and friends to a local ministry that feeds the hungry, WFMZ TV reports.
Alex Trinidad, who is in the third grade in Lehigh County, gave $465 to the Ecumenical Kitchen in Allentown, Penn. According to its website, the soup kitchen has served over 40,000 meals a year for the last three years.
His mother, who has a blog called Filling my Prayer Closet, wrote about how her son chose to make the decision:
Our son, who LOVES Pope Francis, thought he should give all of his Communion money away to the local Ecumenical Kitchen. “If we don’t feed them [the poor and hungry] who will, Mommy?” Yes. That’s a direct quote from our son. Unprompted.
When asked about his gift Alex told WFMZ: “Pope Francis said Feed the poor. I feel good because everybody gets to eat.”
To which we say — Amen little brother.
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Boston College Theology Prof. Stephen Brown Elected VP of Academy of …
Brown has been a faculty member at Boston College since 1979. His teaching and research interests are medieval theology and philosophy. He has served as president of the Society for Medieval and Renaissance Philosophy.
His numerous publications include: Saint Bonaventure: The Journey of the Mind to God, Aquinas: On Faith and Reason, Catholicism Orthodox Christianity (co-author Khaled Anatolios), and Protestantism.
The Academy of Catholic Theology’s principal purpose is to foster theological work of the highest intellectual standard that is faithful in the Spirit to the Revelation of God in Christ, as that Revelation has been handed on in Scripture and Tradition, and authoritatively interpreted by the Magisterium.
–Kathleen Sullivan, Office of News Public Affairs, kathleen.sullivan@bc.edu
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