Central Kansas Medical Center in
Great Bend to focus on outpatient care
The newly named ‘St. Rose Ambulatory and
Surgery Center’ a nod to an earlier time
Central Kansas Medical Center in Great Bend will soon return to its roots, with plans to become St. Rose Ambulatory and Surgery Center.
CKMC officials hope that the change will be made by April.
At that time, the hospital will focus exclusively on outpatient services, including comprehensive urgent care services and same-day surgery and cancer care, and will no longer provide in-patient care.
Texas Catholics to governor: don’t execute mentally ill man
Austin, Texas, Dec 2, 2014 / 04:59 pm (CNA/EWTN News) - The Texas Catholic Conference has called on governor Rick Perry to stay the execution of mentally ill death row inmate Scott Louis Panetti, saying his execution is “not merely unjust, but immoral.”
“Mr. Panetti’s lengthy history of mental illness, his delusional behavior while defending himself at trial in 1995, and the multiple diagnoses from mental health professionals confirming his severe mental illness, provide even more reason to stop his execution,” the conference said in a Nov. 21 letter to the Texas governor, who is a Republican.
“Putting to death anyone whose faculties are so severely debilitated by mental illness as to not comprehend nor be responsible for his actions is not merely unjust, but immoral,” the conference continued, adding that the Church opposes the death penalty as “a desecration of human life.”
In September 1992 Panetti killed his in-laws Joe and Amanda Alvarado in their home in front of his estranged wife and their 3-year-old daughter. He was heavily armed and dressed in camouflage.
He had been hospitalized for mental illness more than a dozen times before the murders, and is a diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic.
The art and soul of compassion
Welcoming the bishop-elect
When word was released that Father John B. Brungardt was named bishop-elect of the Diocese of Dodge City, it came with an official request from the Holy See that the Diocese of Dodge City begin preparing for his arrival.
Chancery and cathedral staff went to work sending out invitations for the ordination, preparing the liturgy, lining up transportation for dignitaries, arranging for food, ... which is all well and good.
But that isn’t exactly what the Holy Father was referring to.
Jerusalem victims had a name, a family, a story, priest recalls
By ELISE HARRIS and KEVIN JONES
Jerusalem, Israel, Nov 19, 2014 / 04:31 pm (CNA/EWTN News) - For one Jerusalem priest, the “horrific” killings at a Jerusalem synagogue show the need to humanize the victims of violence, in order to advance peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy City.
“What happened yesterday is an absolute tragedy. Four grandfathers killed, a policeman killed. The scenes yesterday were absolutely horrific,” Father David Neuhaus, S.J. told CNA Nov. 19.
“Going into a synagogue where people are praying is of course a terrible act of violence. But let’s not forget that we’re talking about a situation in which tragedy is almost our daily food, and that is what makes it even more sad.”
Two Palestinian men on Nov. 18 attacked the Bnei Torah Kehilat Yaakov synagogue in West Jerusalem, wielding a gun, an axe and meat cleavers. They killed four rabbis and a police officer. The attack is the latest example of ongoing tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.
Download the special issue of the Southwest Kansas Register
commemorating the ordination and installation of the
Most Rev. John Balthasar Brungardt by clicking on the page
listings at the top of this page.
Pope called alleged Spanish abuse victim, encouraged him to file charges
Vatican City, Nov 20, 2014 / 01:29 pm (CNA) - A Vatican source has confirmed to CNA that Pope Francis called a 24-year-old man in Spain who alleges he was the victim of sexual abuse a decade ago in the city of Granada.
According to the Vatican official, the Holy Father called the man to voice his solidarity with him and “encouraged him to file charges against the guilty because (Francis) really wants to end the scandal of pedophilia.”
The alleged sexual abuse took place approximately a decade ago, when the alleged victim was an adolescent. The now 24-year-old man recently filed a lawsuit against the priests.
Earlier this week, the Archdiocese of Granada released a statement emphasizing that the allegations had been dealt with immediately.
PHOTO SLIDESHOW
Double click on the photo to download
or to see all of the photos
The Ordination and Installation of
the Most Rev. John Balthasar Brungardt, Feb. 2, 2011
Vespers/Evening Prayer
Feb. 1, 2011, Sacred Heart Cathedral, Dodge City
Vespers Reception, Feb. 1, Santa Fe Train Depot;
Luncheon preceding the ordination, Feb. 2, KofC Hall;
Reception following the ordination, Cathedral
Few topics more manipulated than hunger, Pope tells UN
By ELISE HARRIS
Rome, Italy, Nov 20, 2014 / 12:49 pm (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Francis on Thursday condemned the excessive consumption and misuse of food, saying that often the statistics surrounding the topic of hunger are twisted for the sake of national security.
“There are few subjects about which we find as many fallacies as those related to hunger; few topics as likely to be manipulated by data, statistics, the demands of national security, corruption, or futile lamentation about the economic crisis,” the Pope said Nov. 20.
It is “painful,” he said, to see that the struggle against hunger and malnutrition “is hindered by 'market priorities,' the 'primacy of profit,' which have reduced foodstuffs to a commodity like any other, subject to speculation, also of a financial nature.”
Lots of high fives: Philly celebrates announcement of Pope's visit
By KEVIN JONES
Philadelphia, Pa., Nov 18, 2014 / 04:47 am (CNA/EWTN News) - Pope Francis’ official confirmation of a visit to Philadelphia in 2015 has stoked great Catholic enthusiasm and prompted hopes that a papal visit will reinvigorate the archdiocese.
“Everyone is absolutely overjoyed. There are a lot of high-fives around here, a lot of big smiles. Everyone is celebrating,” Donna Farrell, executive director of the 2015 World Meeting of Families, said in a Nov. 17 conference call with reporters.
“One of our top goals with the World Meeting of Families is to reenergize, to reinvigorate the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and even the wider Church. I think Pope Francis is the man to do it,” she added.
“That’s why, in part, we are so grateful. This means an awful lot for the archdiocese.”
Bishop John J. McIntyre, a Philadelphia auxiliary bishop, said the announcement was “a moment of great joy for us.”
Fervor, devotion, joy
Parish Mass illustrates some of Kenyans’ gifts
Editor’s Note: CNS International Editor Barb Fraze and Visual Media Manager Nancy Wiechec are in Kenya on a trip funded by the Pontifical Mission Societies in the United States.
By BARB FRAZE
Catholic News Service
NAIROBI, Kenya (CNS) -- Mass was approaching the two-hour mark at St. Mary’s Church. Members of the choir were wiping the sweat from their brow under the heat of the corrugated tin roof. Some of the dancers were fanning themselves with the tri-fold papers that contained the Sunday readings.
Yet 50 minutes later, when the announcements were over and the concelebrants had processed out, the choir members -- accompanied by shiny red bongos, shakers and a Yamaha keyboard hooked up to an amplifier -- were still singing, moving, gesturing, ululating -- expressing their praise of God.