Posted by frenchie.
Rham Emmanuel, 55th Mayor of Chicago, former Chief of Staff of Obama's White House, famous DNC operative, brother of Hollywood legend and son of famed Jewish terrorist from the Irgun (turned pediatrician in the USA) famously penned this new motto of the left:
"Never let a good crisis go to waste"
Genarrini, the NCW leader in the USA, did not forget this lesson. Perhaps it is their common leftist background that allow for that communion of ideas.
Cardinal O'Malley the Capuchin Cardinal of Boston and one of the most notable backer of the Neos in the USA, (now that Mc Carrick has fallen) regularly runs positive stories about some of the NCW initiatives or actors. This week is not an exception. In the widely distributed journal of the Archdiocese of Boston, the Pilot: O'Malley used the tragedy of the armed conflict in Ukraine to lionize the actions of one of the presbyter of the NCW in Ukraine.
For those who doubt of the strong affiliation between O'Malley, Kiko, and Genarrini, ask why O'Malley is the Chair of the NCW's Domus Galilae in Israel, the multi million venture of the Neos on the shores of the dead sea in Israel?
Father
Pedro Zafra is a 31-year-old priest from CÓrdoba, Spain, who arrived in
Kyiv in 2011 for priestly formation. He was ordained last June and is a
member of the Neocatechumenal Way. The priest serves the parish of the
Assumption of the Virgin in the Ukrainian capital.
Despite the
outbreak of war, the priest decided to stay with his parishioners and
not leave the country. "It was an inner battle," he said, adding that he
found the answer in prayer with a passage from the Gospel which "spoke
of the mission and the support of God's grace to carry it forward," and
that's why he decided to stay.
Until Feb. 24, when the Russian
invasion of Ukraine began, life in the parish was like that in any
other. But since the start of the war, the parish has become a reception
center, where more than 20 parishioners are sheltered in the basement
because their houses weren't safe enough.
"We have several
elderly people in wheelchairs, families with their small and adolescent
children, and some young missionaries," Fr. Zafra told the Spanish daily
ABC, and stressed that living through this situation in community
"helps us a lot to cope with it."
"I'm not a hero. I couldn't
handle this situation by myself. It's God who gives me strength through
prayer and the sacraments," he said.
"There are times when I become a little anxious
in the meaninglessness of not understanding the human reason for what
is happening, but now I have found much more meaning in prayer and the
sacraments, which give me the grace not to flee and persevere with those
who are suffering," the priest explained.
Fr. Zafra said this
improvised community gets up at 7:30 am, prays together, has breakfast,
and then spends the morning doing different tasks. In his case he
usually visits the sick and elderly who can't leave their homes, to
bring them Communion and anything they may need.
In addition,
according to ABC, the Assumption of the Virgin parish functions as a
distribution center for humanitarian aid because many people, including
non-believers, come there every day to ask for material and financial
help.
The vast majority of basic services such as gas stations,
supermarkets, and pharmacies remain open and Fr. Zafra says that they go
about normally, although on occasion they have heard explosions in the
distance.
The parish also continues its activities with relative
normality, although they have rescheduled Mass earlier so the faithful
can return to their homes before curfew, and at times with the risk of
bombing they moved the celebration to the basement. In recent weeks they
have celebrated two First Communions and three weddings.
The
priest also noted that this last month the number of people who attend
Mass has increased. "People come looking for an answer to suffering.
Before they had their job, their life project and now all that has
disappeared, they no longer have any security and they are looking for
an answer from God," the priest told ABC.
Fr. Zafra stressed the
great suffering of the Ukrainian people: "There is a lot of tension,
concern for security, for life itself. The uncertainty created by not
knowing what's going to happen, living from day to day. We don't know if
we're going to be alive tomorrow or not."
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