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Belfast Telegraph
5 days ago
- Belfast Telegraph
‘I loved those kids as if they were mine': Childminder ‘broken' by Fermanagh shooting tragedy
Jenny Bowles also spoke of how the community has been 'broken' by the suspected triple murder and attempted suicide near Maguiresbridge. Vanessa Whyte (45) died along with her children James (14) and 13-year-old Sara. Last night hundreds gathered for a vigil in memory of the three. People wrapped their arms around each other at the event, which was organised by a community group and held at the local primary school that James and Sara once attended. First Minister Michelle O'Neill was among the crowd. Also present was Ms Bowles, who was childminder for James and Sara for eight years from when they were about three months old each. She said the tragedy has left the community shattered. 'Our family — we're just devastated,' she told the Belfast Telegraph. 'James and Sara were just like our own children. We treated them like our own family and they both were very fond of my own two boys, Jordan and Adam. 'James looked to Jordan and Adam as his brothers. They were his role models. 'Vanessa was such a lovely person, very hard-working and a very strong person. 'To describe her, she was just so lovely. James and Sara were great. They loved the outdoors. 'James loved machinery, especially the harvester at this time of the year. Sara loved the animals on the farm. 'They were big into their sports, and I know when we had James at our house he loved the football.' The shooting happened at a house near Maguiresbridge on Wednesday morning. Vanessa and Sara were pronounced dead at the scene. James died a short time later in the South West Acute Hospital from the injuries he sustained. A man remains in a critical condition at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Belfast. Describing her reaction to the tragedy, Ms Bowles added: 'I just went into complete shock. I couldn't even find the words to tell my husband. We are just heartbroken. 'Sara and James were just part of our family. They loved outdoors, and they would have rather been out helping and working, rather than sitting in, playing with toys. James absolutely loved getting out to help my husband in the workshop and making wee things out there or tidying up. 'They were just an exceptional family. Vanessa was just exceptional in every way, and so were the children. 'To describe the community, I would say... broken. 'James had really wanted to get to Enniskillen Royal Grammar School too, because Jordan and Adam had gone there, and he achieved that.' She also told how James had become an Arsenal supporter, because her own two sons were. Jenny added that the local community has been 'amazing' in the unity they've shown and praised the fact all denominations have been able to 'come together under some tragic circumstances'. Multiple clergy led the large crowds in prayer at the vigil, including Rev Rodney Beacom, a local Presbyterian minister; Passionist priest Brian D'Arcy, and the Church of Ireland's Rev Lindsey Farrell. A two-minute silence was held, with a poem read by the vice chairperson of Maguiresbridge Development Association, Sonya Smith. She recited: 'How do we go on? After the unthinkable happens, how can we carry the burden of knowing? The world can be cruel and dangerous, the future so unpredictable.' Also in attendance at the vigil was the local MP Pat Cullen, former MP Michelle Gildernew, and MLAs Aine Murphy, Jemma Dolan and Deborah Erskine. Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir was also there. Ms Whyte had worked for his department, and had recently been promoted to the most senior government vet within Co Fermanagh. Watch: DUP Leader Gavin Robinson pays respects to mother and children killed in Fermanagh shooting She had also formerly been part of the Maguiresbridge Running Club. Yesterday evening, some of its members remembered her as being 'full of life' and 'very determined'. 'Just for someone so ordinary, so hardworking, the soul of the community and of so many different clubs and in a cross-community capacity — she didn't deserve that,' one member said. Another said that the running club's route often takes them past the family's house, noting that 'it will never be the same' each time they pass it now. Many people stayed after the vigil for hours, queuing to sign the book of condolences that has been set up for members of the public to pay their respects to Ms Whyte and her children. Members of all ages from St Mary's Maguiresbridge Gaelic football club, and Lisbellaw Hurling Club, of which all three shooting victims were 'active and beloved' members, walked together to the vigil from the local GAA pitch. St Mary's described Sara as 'a joy to be around and always had a smile on her face'. The club said that James, who was captain of the under-14 team this year, 'was the heartbeat of our team and he had the confidence to be vocal and show leadership to younger team members'. They said that Ms Whyte 'had a passion for our games that encompassed everything good about the GAA showing dedication, sportsmanship, and camaraderie, and it was clear to see how Vanessa instilled these same values in her children'. James and Sara both attended Enniskillen Royal, and the school announced that it will be open all of next week for any of its students or other young people that need help and support.
Filipino Times
22-05-2025
- General
- Filipino Times
Vatican elevates Marikina shrine to basilica under Pope Leo XIV
The Vatican has officially designated the Diocesan Shrine and Parish of St. Paul of the Cross in Marikina City as a minor basilica, making it the first in the country to receive the honor under the newly elected Pope Leo XIV. The announcement follows a decree issued by the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments just five days after Cardinal Robert Prevost assumed the papacy. The request to elevate the shrine was filed in December 2024 by Antipolo Bishop Ruperto Cruz Santos during the pontificate of Pope Francis. With the approval granted, the Marikina shrine now joins the Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Taytay as the second minor basilica within the Diocese of Antipolo. Bishop Santos hailed the recognition as a 'momentous blessing' and a 'sacred recognition' for both the shrine and the faithful in the diocese. 'May this basilica become a haven of prayer, renewal, and spiritual refuge, echoing the love and mercy of God to all who seek Him,' Santos said in a CBCP News report. He added that the two basilicas now serve as 'spiritual pillars' that welcome pilgrims and lead worshippers to a deeper encounter with Christ. Founded in 1975, the St. Paul of the Cross shrine is the oldest church in the country dedicated to the Passionist saint. Originally administered by the Passionist Fathers, the parish was turned over to the diocese in 2004. It also houses the pontifically crowned image of the Nuestra Señora de Fatima de Marikina—a major site of Marian devotion. Minor basilicas are churches granted a special bond with the pope and the Church of Rome. They are allowed to use papal symbols such as the ombrellino (a red-and-gold canopy), the tintinnabulum (a ceremonial bell), and the crossed papal keys on their official emblems and banners.
The Hill
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hill
Crowds flock to newest Catholic saint in Assisi — a millennial teen whose ordinariness is the draw
ASSISI, Italy (AP) — Pilgrims have been pouring into this medieval hilltop town to venerate not only two of the Catholic Church's most celebrated saints, Francis and Clare, but its newest — Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint, who will be canonized on April 27. 'St. Francis, St. Clare, of course, important saints who marked an epoch – but that's far removed from today's teens. Carlo is like the kids,' said Maria Rosario Riccio, a mother and educator who was visiting Acutis' shrine recently with a 50-strong parish youth group from southern Italy. 'He's a near-saint of our time, who can show teens that it's possible to love Jesus while being a regular youth.' The group lined up to enter the Santuario della Spogliazione — a somber church, also known as Santa Maria Maggiore, marking the spot where more than 800 years ago St. Francis renounced his family's wealth. There, they prayed by the monument where Acutis' body is on view, wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and sneakers. On that Saturday, hundreds filed past — a priest and his parishioners from the Azores islands, a nun from Colombia and her Passionist sisters, a family with two teens from near Venice. Some clutched rosaries, others took selfies or touched the protective glass in front of the seemingly sleeping young man, who died of leukemia at 15 in 2006 and is generating a devotion that astonishes even Assisi's bishop. 'I'm seeing here a volcano of grace erupting … I can't believe my eyes,' said the Rev. Domenico Sorrentino. When he became bishop two decades ago, the church next to his residence just off the main street was 'forgotten' by the throngs that visited the monumental Basilica of St. Francis. Over the last year, more than a million pilgrims paid homage to Acutis, Sorrentino said, drawn by 'his smiling way of living our faith.' The teen's happy image, usually in a red polo shirt and carrying a backpack, is as popular in souvenir shops across town as Francis in his simple brown habit. One store owner picked up a blessed icon the first time she went to the shrine and keeps it glued to her cash register. 'I was really curious about this new saint who attracts youth,' Silvia Balducci said. Both the church and his family describe Acutis as an exceptionally devout but otherwise regular Italian boy, who's working miracles after his untimely death precisely by drawing youth to faith when most of his contemporaries are abandoning organized religion. 'Carlo wasn't an alien, he was a normal person. But if it's illuminated by the light of Christ, a life becomes extraordinary,' his mom, Antonia Salzano Acutis, told The Associated Press. 'We always pray to the saints, and in the end, what did saints do? They opened the doors of their lives to Christ.' She quoted one of her son's favorite phrases: ''Everyone is born an original, but many die photocopies.' 'The saint is one who didn't die like a photocopy, who realized that project of holiness that God established in eternity for each of us, as we all should,' she said. Not an observant Catholic herself when she had him, Acutis used to joke with her husband that their young son was 'a little Buddha' because of his unselfishness, attention to others, and cheerful obedience. He developed a precocious interest in faith, such as wanting to enter every church to 'say hi' to Jesus and Mary. Later, he started attending Mass, adoring the Blessed Sacrament and praying the rosary daily — while also entertaining with jokes his friends who were less interested in religion and more into going to nightclubs with their girlfriends and smoking an occasional joint. 'This was a bit of a way of hiding his faith life, because Carlo knew that his friends couldn't understand,' his mother said. 'But Carlo was a witness, a silent witness through the value of friendship, through the value of generosity, helping his classmates in school, defending the teens who were bullied.' Acutis often helped the homeless and was uninterested in the trappings common for a wealthy child in Milan, one of Europe's fashion and business capitals. He asked his parents to donate to the poor what they would have spent for a second pair of sneakers for him, and insisted he wanted to teach catechism at his parish instead of going on skiing holidays at fancy resorts like his peers. That denial of privilege is a parallel with St. Francis, to whom Acutis was so devoted that he asked to be buried in Assisi, said the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, who spent most of his religious career there and heads the pontifical committee for World Children's Day. 'And there are more similarities with St. Francis. St. Francis left the churches and went to the squares to preach. Carlo Acutis prophetically realized that today the public squares are online, on the Web,' Fortunato said. 'That's where youth are, that's where people are, so he lives and brings the Gospel in those squares. That's one of the reasons why he will become the patron of the Web, Internet and social media.' Particularly devout to the eucharist and wanting to share the Catholic belief that Jesus is literally present in it, Acutis created an online exhibit about miracles where the bread and wine became flesh and blood throughout the centuries. It's been used in thousands of parishes worldwide, his mother said. For her, his being 'a bridge to Jesus' — even in his terminal illness, which he faced without complaining, certain of eternal life — is a more important legacy than any miracles or supernatural signs. To become a saint, however, miracles do need to be attested. One in Acutis' canonization process was the healing of a Costa Rican student from a bicycle accident in Italy after her mother prayed to him, Sorrentino said. Sabina Falcetta goes often to Acutis' shrine from the nearby city of Perugia with a group of fellow mothers to pray for their children. 'Carlo Acutis gives us peace,' she said. 'Most importantly he gives us the certainty that God is a good father. And you can't ask for more.' As she talked outside the sanctuary, a Confirmation group from Lake Garda in northern Italy was praying in a circle by a cutout of Acutis in his jeans and backpack standing by a larger-than-life monstrance. One of the catechists, Veronica Abraham, said she had been teaching about both St. Francis and Acutis, focusing on the teen's charity and his custom of sitting down to chat with anyone who looked lonely, 'since even a ciao is important for those who are alone.' Her son Mario Girardi, 13, said he was really struck by the fact that Acutis — when only a couple of years older than him — 'spoke with everyone, didn't let anything bother him but helped everyone.' While he's not considering the priesthood, Girardi does go to church every Sunday and plans to 'always stay in this mindset' — maybe even going to daily Mass. Would he want to become a saint, too? 'Well, let's hope. Yes, right? Never say never, who knows,' the boy said, grinning. ___
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Crowds flock to newest Catholic saint in Assisi — a millennial teen whose ordinariness is the draw
ASSISI, Italy (AP) — Pilgrims have been pouring into this medieval hilltop town to venerate not only two of the Catholic Church's most celebrated saints, Francis and Clare, but its newest — Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint, who will be canonized on April 27. 'St. Francis, St. Clare, of course, important saints who marked an epoch – but that's far removed from today's teens. Carlo is like the kids,' said Maria Rosario Riccio, a mother and educator who was visiting Acutis' shrine recently with a 50-strong parish youth group from southern Italy. 'He's a near-saint of our time, who can show teens that it's possible to love Jesus while being a regular youth.' The group lined up to enter the Santuario della Spogliazione — a somber church, also known as Santa Maria Maggiore, marking the spot where more than 800 years ago St. Francis renounced his family's wealth. There, they prayed by the monument where Acutis' body is on view, wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and sneakers. On that Saturday, hundreds filed past — a priest and his parishioners from the Azores islands, a nun from Colombia and her Passionist sisters, a family with two teens from near Venice. Some clutched rosaries, others took selfies or touched the protective glass in front of the seemingly sleeping young man, who died of leukemia at 15 in 2006 and is generating a devotion that astonishes even Assisi's bishop. 'I'm seeing here a volcano of grace erupting … I can't believe my eyes,' said the Rev. Domenico Sorrentino. When he became bishop two decades ago, the church next to his residence just off the main street was 'forgotten' by the throngs that visited the monumental Basilica of St. Francis. Over the last year, more than a million pilgrims paid homage to Acutis, Sorrentino said, drawn by 'his smiling way of living our faith.' The teen's happy image, usually in a red polo shirt and carrying a backpack, is as popular in souvenir shops across town as Francis in his simple brown habit. One store owner picked up a blessed icon the first time she went to the shrine and keeps it glued to her cash register. 'I was really curious about this new saint who attracts youth,' Silvia Balducci said. Both the church and his family describe Acutis as an exceptionally devout but otherwise regular Italian boy, who's working miracles after his untimely death precisely by drawing youth to faith when most of his contemporaries are abandoning organized religion. 'Carlo wasn't an alien, he was a normal person. But if it's illuminated by the light of Christ, a life becomes extraordinary,' his mom, Antonia Salzano Acutis, told The Associated Press. 'We always pray to the saints, and in the end, what did saints do? They opened the doors of their lives to Christ.' She quoted one of her son's favorite phrases: ''Everyone is born an original, but many die photocopies.' 'The saint is one who didn't die like a photocopy, who realized that project of holiness that God established in eternity for each of us, as we all should,' she said. Not an observant Catholic herself when she had him, Acutis used to joke with her husband that their young son was 'a little Buddha' because of his unselfishness, attention to others, and cheerful obedience. He developed a precocious interest in faith, such as wanting to enter every church to 'say hi' to Jesus and Mary. Later, he started attending Mass, adoring the Blessed Sacrament and praying the rosary daily — while also entertaining with jokes his friends who were less interested in religion and more into going to nightclubs with their girlfriends and smoking an occasional joint. 'This was a bit of a way of hiding his faith life, because Carlo knew that his friends couldn't understand,' his mother said. 'But Carlo was a witness, a silent witness through the value of friendship, through the value of generosity, helping his classmates in school, defending the teens who were bullied.' Acutis often helped the homeless and was uninterested in the trappings common for a wealthy child in Milan, one of Europe's fashion and business capitals. He asked his parents to donate to the poor what they would have spent for a second pair of sneakers for him, and insisted he wanted to teach catechism at his parish instead of going on skiing holidays at fancy resorts like his peers. That denial of privilege is a parallel with St. Francis, to whom Acutis was so devoted that he asked to be buried in Assisi, said the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, who spent most of his religious career there and heads the pontifical committee for World Children's Day. 'And there are more similarities with St. Francis. St. Francis left the churches and went to the squares to preach. Carlo Acutis prophetically realized that today the public squares are online, on the Web,' Fortunato said. 'That's where youth are, that's where people are, so he lives and brings the Gospel in those squares. That's one of the reasons why he will become the patron of the Web, Internet and social media.' Particularly devout to the eucharist and wanting to share the Catholic belief that Jesus is literally present in it, Acutis created an online exhibit about miracles where the bread and wine became flesh and blood throughout the centuries. It's been used in thousands of parishes worldwide, his mother said. For her, his being 'a bridge to Jesus' — even in his terminal illness, which he faced without complaining, certain of eternal life — is a more important legacy than any miracles or supernatural signs. To become a saint, however, miracles do need to be attested. One in Acutis' canonization process was the healing of a Costa Rican student from a bicycle accident in Italy after her mother prayed to him, Sorrentino said. Sabina Falcetta goes often to Acutis' shrine from the nearby city of Perugia with a group of fellow mothers to pray for their children. 'Carlo Acutis gives us peace,' she said. 'Most importantly he gives us the certainty that God is a good father. And you can't ask for more.' As she talked outside the sanctuary, a Confirmation group from Lake Garda in northern Italy was praying in a circle by a cutout of Acutis in his jeans and backpack standing by a larger-than-life monstrance. One of the catechists, Veronica Abraham, said she had been teaching about both St. Francis and Acutis, focusing on the teen's charity and his custom of sitting down to chat with anyone who looked lonely, 'since even a ciao is important for those who are alone.' Her son Mario Girardi, 13, said he was really struck by the fact that Acutis — when only a couple of years older than him — 'spoke with everyone, didn't let anything bother him but helped everyone.' While he's not considering the priesthood, Girardi does go to church every Sunday and plans to 'always stay in this mindset' — maybe even going to daily Mass. Would he want to become a saint, too? 'Well, let's hope. Yes, right? Never say never, who knows,' the boy said, grinning. ___ Associated Press religion coverage receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
Associated Press
27-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Crowds flock to newest Catholic saint in Assisi — a millennial teen whose ordinariness is the draw
ASSISI, Italy (AP) — Pilgrims have been pouring into this medieval hilltop town to venerate not only two of the Catholic Church's most celebrated saints, Francis and Clare, but its newest — Carlo Acutis, the first millennial saint, who will be canonized on April 27. 'St. Francis, St. Clare, of course, important saints who marked an epoch – but that's far removed from today's teens. Carlo is like the kids,' said Maria Rosario Riccio, a mother and educator who was visiting Acutis' shrine recently with a 50-strong parish youth group from southern Italy. 'He's a near-saint of our time, who can show teens that it's possible to love Jesus while being a regular youth.' The group lined up to enter the Santuario della Spogliazione — a somber church, also known as Santa Maria Maggiore, marking the spot where more than 800 years ago St. Francis renounced his family's wealth. There, they prayed by the monument where Acutis' body is on view, wearing jeans, a sweatshirt and sneakers. On that Saturday, hundreds filed past — a priest and his parishioners from the Azores islands, a nun from Colombia and her Passionist sisters, a family with two teens from near Venice. Some clutched rosaries, others took selfies or touched the protective glass in front of the seemingly sleeping young man, who died of leukemia at 15 in 2006 and is generating a devotion that astonishes even Assisi's bishop. 'I'm seeing here a volcano of grace erupting … I can't believe my eyes,' said the Rev. Domenico Sorrentino. When he became bishop two decades ago, the church next to his residence just off the main street was 'forgotten' by the throngs that visited the monumental Basilica of St. Francis. Over the last year, more than a million pilgrims paid homage to Acutis, Sorrentino said, drawn by 'his smiling way of living our faith.' The teen's happy image, usually in a red polo shirt and carrying a backpack, is as popular in souvenir shops across town as Francis in his simple brown habit. One store owner picked up a blessed icon the first time she went to the shrine and keeps it glued to her cash register. 'I was really curious about this new saint who attracts youth,' Silvia Balducci said. Both the church and his family describe Acutis as an exceptionally devout but otherwise regular Italian boy, who's working miracles after his untimely death precisely by drawing youth to faith when most of his contemporaries are abandoning organized religion. 'Carlo wasn't an alien, he was a normal person. But if it's illuminated by the light of Christ, a life becomes extraordinary,' his mom, Antonia Salzano Acutis, told The Associated Press. 'We always pray to the saints, and in the end, what did saints do? They opened the doors of their lives to Christ.' She quoted one of her son's favorite phrases: ''Everyone is born an original, but many die photocopies.' 'The saint is one who didn't die like a photocopy, who realized that project of holiness that God established in eternity for each of us, as we all should,' she said. Not an observant Catholic herself when she had him, Acutis used to joke with her husband that their young son was 'a little Buddha' because of his unselfishness, attention to others, and cheerful obedience. He developed a precocious interest in faith, such as wanting to enter every church to 'say hi' to Jesus and Mary. Later, he started attending Mass, adoring the Blessed Sacrament and praying the rosary daily — while also entertaining with jokes his friends who were less interested in religion and more into going to nightclubs with their girlfriends and smoking an occasional joint. 'This was a bit of a way of hiding his faith life, because Carlo knew that his friends couldn't understand,' his mother said. 'But Carlo was a witness, a silent witness through the value of friendship, through the value of generosity, helping his classmates in school, defending the teens who were bullied.' Acutis often helped the homeless and was uninterested in the trappings common for a wealthy child in Milan, one of Europe's fashion and business capitals. He asked his parents to donate to the poor what they would have spent for a second pair of sneakers for him, and insisted he wanted to teach catechism at his parish instead of going on skiing holidays at fancy resorts like his peers. That denial of privilege is a parallel with St. Francis, to whom Acutis was so devoted that he asked to be buried in Assisi, said the Rev. Enzo Fortunato, who spent most of his religious career there and heads the pontifical committee for World Children's Day. 'And there are more similarities with St. Francis. St. Francis left the churches and went to the squares to preach. Carlo Acutis prophetically realized that today the public squares are online, on the Web,' Fortunato said. 'That's where youth are, that's where people are, so he lives and brings the Gospel in those squares. That's one of the reasons why he will become the patron of the Web, Internet and social media.' Particularly devout to the eucharist and wanting to share the Catholic belief that Jesus is literally present in it, Acutis created an online exhibit about miracles where the bread and wine became flesh and blood throughout the centuries. It's been used in thousands of parishes worldwide, his mother said. For her, his being 'a bridge to Jesus' — even in his terminal illness, which he faced without complaining, certain of eternal life — is a more important legacy than any miracles or supernatural signs. To become a saint, however, miracles do need to be attested. One in Acutis' canonization process was the healing of a Costa Rican student from a bicycle accident in Italy after her mother prayed to him, Sorrentino said. Sabina Falcetta goes often to Acutis' shrine from the nearby city of Perugia with a group of fellow mothers to pray for their children. 'Carlo Acutis gives us peace,' she said. 'Most importantly he gives us the certainty that God is a good father. And you can't ask for more.' As she talked outside the sanctuary, a Confirmation group from Lake Garda in northern Italy was praying in a circle by a cutout of Acutis in his jeans and backpack standing by a larger-than-life monstrance. One of the catechists, Veronica Abraham, said she had been teaching about both St. Francis and Acutis, focusing on the teen's charity and his custom of sitting down to chat with anyone who looked lonely, 'since even a ciao is important for those who are alone.' Her son Mario Girardi, 13, said he was really struck by the fact that Acutis — when only a couple of years older than him — 'spoke with everyone, didn't let anything bother him but helped everyone.' While he's not considering the priesthood, Girardi does go to church every Sunday and plans to 'always stay in this mindset' — maybe even going to daily Mass. Would he want to become a saint, too? 'Well, let's hope. Yes, right? Never say never, who knows,' the boy said, grinning.
