'I have the will to live': N.B. woman needs double lung transplant
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Pope Francis warned the Vatican's missionary fundraisers on Saturday not to allow financial corruption to creep into their work, insisting that spirituality and spreading the Gospel must drive their operations, not mere entrepreneurship.
Francis made the comments in a speech to the national directors of the Vatican's Pontifical Mission Societies, which raise money for the Catholic Church's missionary work in the developing world, building churches and funding training programs for priests and nuns. Deviating from his prepared remarks, Francis appeared to refer to a recent Associated Press investigation into financial transfers at the U.S. branch of the Pontifical Mission Societies: The former head oversaw the transfer of at least US$17 million from a quasi-endowment fund and donations into a nonprofit and private equity fund that he created and now heads. The intiatives provide low-interest loans to church-run agribusinesses in Africa.
"Please don't reduce POM to money," Francis said, referring to the Italian acronym of the Pontifical Mission Societies. "This is a medium, a means. Does it require money? Yes, but don't reduce it, it is bigger than money."
He said if spirituality isn't driving the Catholic Church's missionary efforts, there is a risk of corruption.
"Because if spirituality is lacking and it's only a matter of entrepreneurship, corruption comes in immediately," Francis said. "And we have seen that even today: In the newspapers, you see so many stories of alleged corruption in the name of the missionary nature of the church."
The Vatican has said it is seeking clarity on the transfers at the U.S. branch, which appear to be fully legal since the previous board approved them. The AP investigation uncovered no evidence of corruption, though a legal investigation commissioned by the branch's new national director, Monsignor Kieran Harrington, suggested the former head may have omitted information, or glossed over Vatican concerns, in his presentations to the board that ultimately approved the transfers, officials said.
The legal review determined that the transfers were approved in ways consistent with the board's powers and bylaws at the time, the society said in a statement to AP. After the review, Harrington replaced the staff and board of directors who approved the transfers, and overhauled its bylaws and statutes, to make sure nothing like it ever happens again.
In emailed comments responding to questions from AP, the former head of The Pontifical Mission Societies in the U.S., the Rev. Andrew Small, strongly defended the transfers and investments as fully approved and consistent with the mission of the church and the organization.
He acknowledged Harrington's new administration reflected the Vatican's "skepticism" about the social justice nature of his nonprofit Missio Corp., and private equity fund, in that they focused on food security, as opposed to the traditional idea of "evangelization" that is the primary and stated mission of The Pontifical Mission Societies.
"I didn't agree with the apartheid between pastoral and humanitarian work of the church then and I don't in my current position," Small said in an email response April 26. "On the ground in Africa, these distinctions aren't relevant as they try to find income to survive."
Small is now the No. 2 at the Vatican's child protection advisory board, which Francis created to provide a response to the clergy sexual abuse scandal. He did not respond to further questions from AP on Saturday about Francis' comments.
Small's boss as head of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, Boston Cardinal Sean O'Malley, also did not respond to questions from AP about the transfers or the implications for the commission, which is itself raising money for its child protection programs.
O'Malley spokesman Terrence Donilon said Thursday and Friday that the cardinal was travelling this weekend and unavailable to comment.
In a message to members of the commission last week after the AP story was published, O'Malley said he was aware of Small's work when he was national director of The Pontifical Mission Societies "and have come to know the work he did in developing Missio Invest."
"Adverse media attention is never easy, whatever its motivation. However, I have said publicly and frequently that, at least in terms of sexual abuse in the church, the media has played a vital role in helping, or maybe shaming, the church into being more open and transparent in its work as well as its commitment to improving its handling of cases and its welcome and care of victims and survivors," O'Malley wrote in the message seen by AP.
"We will continue to monitor the situation and respond accordingly," O'Malley said, adding his appreciation for the commission's "great progress" in signing recent agreements with Vatican offices and local churches on collaborations.
A New Brunswick woman suffering from sarcoidosis, a disease that limits your lung capacity, is in need of a double lung transplant.
Pius Suter scored with 1:39 left and the Vancouver Canucks advanced to the second round of the NHL playoffs with a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Friday night in Game 6.
A Chinese truck driver was praised in local media Saturday for parking his vehicle across a highway and preventing more cars from tumbling down a slope after a section of the road in the country's mountainous south collapsed and killed at least 48 people.
York Regional Police say they are continuing to search for a suspect in an auto theft investigation who was captured on video running over a police officer in Toronto last month.
The adorable trio of child actors from the 1993 classic comedy 'Mrs. Doubtfire,' which starred the late and great Robin Williams, are all grown up and looking back on their seminal time together.
Video of a suspect lighting a Richmond Hill barbershop on fire earlier this week has been released by police.
Crucial witnesses took the stand in the second week of testimony in Donald Trump's hush money trial, including a California lawyer who negotiated deals at the center of the case and a longtime adviser to the former president.
A source close to singer Britney Spears tells CNN that the pop star is 'home and safe' after she had a 'major fight' with her boyfriend on Wednesday night at the Chateau Marmont in West Hollywood.
A Quebec man who pleaded guilty to threatening Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier François Legault has been sentenced to 20 months in jail.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.
Since 1932, Montreal's Henri Henri has been filled to the brim with every possible kind of hat, from newsboy caps to feathered fedoras.
Police in Oak Bay, B.C., had to close a stretch of road Sunday to help an elephant seal named Emerson get safely back into the water.
Out of more than 9,000 entries from over 2,000 breweries in 50 countries, a handful of B.C. brews landed on the podium at the World Beer Cup this week.
Raneem, 10, lives with a neurological condition and liver disease and needs Cholbam, a medication, for a longer and healthier life.