Bishop Kevin Farrell

The Chief Shepherd of the Catholic Diocese of Dallas

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Prefect of the new Dicastery for the Laity, Family and Life

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Bishop Kevin Farrell

I am extremely humbled that our Holy Father Pope Francis has selected me to lead this newly formed dicastery.  I look forward to being part of the important work of the universal Church in the promotion of the laity and the apostolate of the laity and for the pastoral care of the family in accordance with the Pope’s recent apostolic exhortation, Amoris Laetitia, the Joy of Love, and the support of human life.

While I am grateful for the Holy Father’s confidence in me, I meet this news with mixed emotions.

Dallas has been my home for 10 years and, from the beginning, I quickly grew to love the beautiful people and culture here.  The strong faith, kindness and generosity of the people in the Diocese of Dallas surpassed all of my expectations.  My brother priests were among the first to welcome me and I am extremely grateful for their collaboration, friendship, wise counsel and prayers.  A bishop can get nothing of significance done in a diocese without the hard work and cooperation of the pastors, priests, diocesan staff and people.  Together, I believe we have accomplished many goals, and put others in motion, that will continue to build up the Catholic Church in North Texas.

I cannot express enough my gratitude for all that the priests, staff and people have done and continue to do for me and the Diocese of Dallas.  I know our Holy Father is working, as we speak, to find the right man to serve as the new chief shepherd.  I am confident that, upon my departure, Bishop Greg Kelly will handle the needs of the diocese in the interim.  Please pray for him.  I also ask that you please pray for me as I begin this next unexpected chapter of my priesthood.  May God continue to bless the Diocese of Dallas.

A celebration of Bastille Day in Nice turned into a killing field

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20160714-nice

Another attack and scores more innocent people killed in a brutal and vicious manner. A celebration of Bastille Day in Nice turned into a killing field by terrorists determined to destroy western civilization.

Our prayers and hearts go out to the victims of the Nice assault and to all the people of France who have suffered so much at the hands of terrorists. We Catholics of the Diocese of Dallas owe much to the French priests and religious who re-evangelized Texas when the Spanish clergy withdrew after the war of independence from Mexico.

We ask our Father to bring peace and security to our world, comfort to the victims in France and in our own city and an end to the turmoil in the a Middle East that has generated so much suffering and death.

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Image credit: @cbsdfw on Twitter

Violence and deaths in downtown Dallas

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Five police officers dead, Seven wounded in downtown Dallas

The magnitude of the violence in downtown Dallas Thursday night is staggering. Five police officers were killed and seven other officers and two civilians were wounded in a deadly spate of gunfire at the conclusion of a peaceful march protesting recent killings of black men in Baton Rouge and Minneapolis.

Our first concern is for the families who have lost loved ones in this tragic attack. We pray for consolation and healing for both the families and those killed and wounded. We are reminded of the ever -present danger to those who are dedicated to protecting us.

We have been swept up in the escalating cycle of violence that has now touched us intimately as it has others throughout our country and the world. All lives matter: black, white, Muslim, Christian, Hindu. We are all children of God and all human life is precious.

We cannot lose respect for each other and we call upon all of our civic leaders to speak to one another and work together to come to a sensible resolution to this escalating violence. Let us implore God our Heavenly Father to touch the minds and hearts of all people to work together for peace and understanding.

Let us recall the words of Pope Francis, “May the God of peace arouse in all an authentic desire for dialogue and reconciliation. Violence cannot be overcome with violence. Violence is overcome with peace.”

4-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision in United States v. Texas

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United States v. Texas

It is ironic that the Supreme Court deadlock on the appeal of the injunction blocking President Obama’s 2014 deferred action executive order, was announced simultaneously with the publication of a study done by the Public Religion Research Institute and The Brookings Institution called “How Immigration and Concerns about Culture Changes Are Shaping the 2016 Election.” This study indicates how out of sync Washington is with American citizens on immigration Policy.

SCOTUS’ 4-4 split let the lower court ruling blocking the injunction stand and dashed the hopes of an estimated four million immigrants whose threat of deportation had been deferred by the executive order. They are men and women who have been in the U.S. since 2010, have not committed any serious crimes and have children who are American citizens.

This case reflects an anti-immigrant movement that is antithetical to the feelings of most Americans as illustrated by the Public Research Institute document. The Religion Institute found that  “Close to six in 10 white Americans (57%) and more than seven in ten black (71%) and Hispanic Americans (75%) favor a policy that would offer illegal immigrants a chance to become citizens.” Among religious groups, “62 percent of Catholics, 61 percent of Protestants and 69 percent of black Protestants favor a citizenship path for immigrants and 49 percent of white evangelical Protestants favor allowing immigrants living here illegally to become citizens.”

Xenophobia appears to be a disease of Pennsylvania Ave. more than of Main Street where mercy is more abundant.

Pope Francis, on his visit to Washington, addressed Congress and cautioned against allowing immigration challenges to overwhelm us noting that, “We must not be taken aback by their numbers, but rather view them as persons, seeing their faces and listening to their stories, trying to respond as best we can to their situation,” and “respond in a way which is always humane, just and fraternal. We need to avoid a common temptation nowadays: to discard whatever proves troublesome.”

Let us pray for all those mothers and fathers and their children who now live in constant fear that their families will be torn apart.

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Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Orlando – the worst mass shooting in the history of our country

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Orlando shooting

Once again, we are attempting to understand an incredible act of savagery that destroyed the lives of 50 human beings and maimed more than 50 others. How could one warped individual inflict so much death and suffering?

Our heart goes out to the families of those who died so violently and to those whose lives have been forever changed. Their suffering is ours.

As we try to wrap our minds around this tragedy, now officially designated the worst mass shooting in the history of our country, we also mourn the ever increasing physical and verbal violence that has permeated our culture. We must ask where and when will it end? As followers of Jesus, we cannot accept it as inevitable and irreversible.

Please join me in praying for the victims of the Orlando massacre and their families, and for the end of violence and the restoration 0f peace in our nation.

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Image Credit: @OrlandoPolice on Twitter

Some relationship advice from Pope Francis

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Some relationship advice from Pope Francis

Sometimes we are blind to the beauty in front of us and it takes an outsider to point it out to us. Such is the case with Amoris Laetitia, Pope Francis’ Apostolic Exhortation on love in the family. Most readers scan such documents looking only for certain references of interest, but once in a while someone takes the time to not only read a document but also to reflect on it deeply.

One such person is Camila Domonoske, a writer for National Public Radio, who did a two-way article on Amoris Laetitia on April 8, entitled, Some Relationship Advice from Pope Francis, in which she observes, ” … even if you’re not Catholic, you might find some inspiration in the document. Because in addition to addressing questions of pastoral care, Francis muses on sex, communication, commitment and love in general — and for a 79-year-old man who has taken a lifelong vow of celibacy, the pontiff has some pretty solid relationship tips.”

Domonoske’s observations demonstrate the many layers of Pope Francis’ exhortation. I want to share parts of it with you in this and future blogs. Here are some good references to the Pope’s advice from her article. The numbers in parentheses I have added refer to paragraphs in Amoris Laetitia which is available for download at www.cathdal.org/joyoflove.

Make Time for One Another, Even If You’re Busy

Love needs time and space; everything else is secondary. Time is needed to talk things over, to embrace leisurely, to share plans, to listen to one other and gaze in each other’s eyes, to appreciate one another and to build a stronger relationship. Sometimes the frenetic pace of our society and the pressures of the workplace create problems. At other times, the problem is the lack of quality time together, sharing the same room without one even noticing the other. (223)

Often the other spouse does not need a solution to his or her problems, but simply to be heard. Sometimes, just listen. (137)

Instead of offering an opinion or advice, we need to be sure that we have heard everything the other person has to say. … Often the other spouse does not need a solution to his or her problems, but simply to be heard, to feel that someone has acknowledged their pain, their disappointment, their fear, their anger, their hopes and their dreams. (147)

Accept Your Partner’s Shortcomings (100) (240)

It does not matter if they hold me back, if they unsettle my plans, or annoy me by the way they act or think, or if they are not everything I want them to be. Love always has an aspect of deep compassion that leads to accepting the other person as part of this world, even when he or she acts differently than I would like. (92)

The fact that love is imperfect does not mean that it is untrue or unreal. (113)

… and be generous with their imperfections (106)

We have to realize that all of us are a complex mixture of light and shadows. The other person is much more than the sum of the little things that annoy me. Love does not have to be perfect for us to value it. The other person loves me as best they can, with all their limits, but the fact that love is imperfect does not mean that it is untrue or unreal. (113)

Think about these. I will have some more to consider in a few days.

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Image credit: Andrew Itaga on Unsplash.com

Are we losing civility?

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Are we losing Civility?

Paradigms don’t shift overnight, they occur very gradually, like growing old. One day you look in the mirror and realize you are looking at an old man or an old woman. How did this happen, we ask? I don’t remember growing old.

Without our realizing it, civility, a paradigm of our American way of life, has shifted radically. Key elements of that paradigm are respect of self and others, how we are governed, the quality of our private and public discourse and demeanor.

A general lack of respect for self and others is reflected by the acceptance of the ever increasing use of vulgarity and obscenity in the media and public discourse. Many in our government no longer seek to serve the common good or general welfare, but only the good of the party which places retaining or regaining power over truly serving the country. Those seeking public office seldom address issues that are endangering our country but seek only to demonize and destroy their opponents.

Those disagreeing with us no longer are seen as good people holding different opinions but as ill-informed people whose ideas are unworthy of consideration that don’t deserve to be heard. Peaceful protests, a hallmark of democracy, are all too frequently commandeered and misappropriated by those with nefarious intent.

We appear to be on a self-destructive path that disparages common courtesy and compromise. If we do not act to change that, I fear that the words of Samuel Johnson will be prophetic.

When once the forms of civility are violated, there remains little hope of return to kindness or decency.

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Image credit: Jamelle Bouie on Flickr

Stop the Christian Genocide

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Stop the Christian Genocide

On Monday Congress approved unanimously a resolution declaring that ISIS is guilty of committing genocide against Christians and other religious minorities in the Middle East. The vote by the House of Representatives came as the State Department and White House are facing a congressionally mandated March 17 deadline to make a decision on making a similar declaration. A similar bill is awaiting action in the Senate.

Congressional action came on the heels of Genocide against Christians in the Middle East,  a report submitted to Secretary of State John Kerry by the Knights of Columbus and in defense of Christians. Carl Anderson, head of the Knights of Columbus, states “The evidence contained in this report, as well as the evidence relied upon by the European Parliament, fully support the conclusion that reasonable grounds exist to believe the crime of genocide has been committed.”

In February, the European Parliament declared that genocide by the Islamic State is taking place in the Middle East against Christians, Yazidis and other ethnic and religious minorities. The crime of genocide is defined in international law in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide. Article II: In the present Convention, genocide means … acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.

Not only is the Islamic State driving Christians and others out of the lands they have lived in for more than a thousand years, they are determined to obliterate any remnants of their ever having been there, wantonly destroying churches, monasteries, shrines and ancient temples.

I commend members of the House of Representatives and the Knights of Columbus for their efforts to bring this crime, not only against Christians, but against humanity to the forefront. These people, Christians and other minorities, are being systematically slaughtered.

Where is our moral outrage?

I urge you to heed the urgent call from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to support a petition to stop genocide in the Middle East and convince the U.S. Department of State to include Christians in any formal declaration of genocide. The petition is available at www.stopthechristiangenocide.org. Please sign today.