VATICAN INSIDER: KATE MAHONEY, HER MIRACULOUS CURE AND A BEATIFICATION – POPE FRANCIS TAKES QUESTIONS FROM CHILDREN IN HURRICANE-HIT TEXAS, PUERTO RICO – PRIEST EXORCIZES LAS VEGAS SHOOTER’S HOTEL ROOM WITH HOLY WATER AFTER FEELING EVIL PRESENCE

VATICAN INSIDER: KATE MAHONEY, HER MIRACULOUS CURE AND A BEATIFICATION

My guest this weekend in the interview segment of Vatican Insider is Kate Mahoney whose miraculous cure of multiple organ failure following treatment for cancer was credited to the intercession of Servant of God Mother Marianne Cope and this led to Marianne’s beatification in 2005. Kate tells an amazing – and extremely inspiring! – story so be sure to pour that extra cup of coffee as you listen to her tale.

Here is a photo I took of Kate as she met Audrey Toguchi, another “miracolata” as we call her in Rome, whose cure of lung cancer was attributed to Blessed Damien of Molokai, a miracle that led to his canpnization in 2009. The two met for the first time at the Damien and Marianne Catholic Conference that I attended last weekend in Honolulu. The second photo also shows Bishop Larry Silva of Honolulu.

They both gave wonderful talks about their cures and answered questions for those attending this session.

Kate has written a book about her journey through illness to her pilgrimage to Rome for Mother Marianne’s beatification.

In the United States, you can listen to Vatican Insider (VI) on a Catholic radio station near you (there is a list of U.S. stations at www.ewtn.com) or on channel 130 Sirius-XM satellite radio. Outside the U.S., you can listen to EWTN radio on our website home page by clicking on the right side where you see “LISTEN TO EWTN.” Vatican Insider airs Saturday mornings at 9:00am (ET). On the SKY satellite feed to the UK and parts of Europe, VI airs on audio channel 0147 at 11:30 am CET on Saturdays, and 5:30am and 10pm CET on Sundays. It’s also available on demand on the EWTN app and on the website. CHECK YOUR TIME ZONE. Here’s a link to download VI to your iTunes library: http://www.ewtn.com/se/pg/DatService.svc/feed/~LE.xml   For VI archives: http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/file_index.asp?SeriesId=7096&pgnu=

POPE FRANCIS TAKES QUESTIONS FROM CHILDREN IN HURRICANE-HIT TEXAS, PUERTO RICO

ROME (CNS) — Pope Francis said that there are no easy answers to the suffering and destruction wrought by hurricanes and that while such disasters happen naturally, humankind must also take responsibility for not caring for the environment.

In a video chat with young children participating in a program of the international network of “Scholas Occurrentes” Oct. 26, the pope spoke with children from Texas and Puerto Rico, where Hurricanes Harvey and Maria struck hardest.

“If God loves us all, why did he make hurricanes and heavy rains?” asked Pedro Garcia, a 9-year-old Mexican-American boy living in Houston who lost his home after Hurricane Harvey struck Texas.

Galveston-Houston Catholic school students smile for a photo before a live video chat with Pope Francis at Telemundo Houston Oct. 26. In a video chat with young children from Texas and Puerto Rico, the pope said there are no easy answers to the suffering and destruction wrought by hurricanes. (CNS photo/James Ramos, Texas Catholic Herald)

Click here for full story: https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/10/27/pope-francis-takes-questions-children-hurricane-hit-texas-puerto-rico

PRIEST EXORCIZES LAS VEGAS SHOOTER’S HOTEL ROOM WITH HOLY WATER AFTER FEELING EVIL PRESENCE

(from EWTN’s ChurchPOP) –  The Las Vegas shooting on October 1st, 2017 was the deadliest shooting in modern American history, leaving 58 people dead and over 500 people injured.

About two weeks later, Fr. Clete Kiley from Chicago arrived in Las Vegas with a group meant to help and comfort the traumatized staff of the Mandalay Bay Hotel, from where the killer had opened fire on the concert crowd outside.

He had just finished leading prayer with several hundred members of the hotel staff when the hotel manager approached him. She explained that the shooter’s room had just been released back to the hotel by the FBI, and she wanted him to perform a blessing in the space.

As soon as he set foot in the hallway of the 32nd floor where the room was, he says he immediately felt a dark spiritual presence.

“I felt like I was being pushed back, like ‘don’t come in here’,”he told Newsweek. But he pushed on anyway: “On the inside, I’m going, ‘Oh no, you have to go’.” So he started praying the Prayer to St. Michael.

“When I stepped in the room, I really felt a real profound silence,” he later explained. “I immediately noticed the broken windows covered from outside. It was very powerful to see the physical damage.”

He could sense an evil presence in the room, so he used a palm branch to disperse Holy Water while praying to the Holy Spirit.

Right away, he could feel a sense of comfort and relief. When he returned back downstairs, the hotel staff was also relieved that a Catholic priest had blessed the room.

“You could see people go, ‘Thank God, that’s good’.” he said. “I really saw the whole thing as part of a healing process. A small part of a healing process.”

POPE “DEEPLY MOVED BY LOSS OF LIFE, IMMENSE DEVASTATION” OF HURRICANE HARVEY

I leave for vacation this coming Saturday and, in order to depart with peace of mind, I’ve spent most of the past week preparing a number of special segments for “At Home with Jim and Joy” for those Mondays and Thursdays of each week I will be away.  I also prepared four Specials for my weekend radio program, “Vatican Insider.”  It has all been a lot of work but will be worth it as I relax in Chicago, Honolulu and San Diego with friends and family for what everyone says when they leave on vacation, “some well-deserved time off!

I am so in the mood for Waikiki and Pearl Harbor and other amazing places in Oahu, not to mention the best part, my friends, that I’ve set my dining room table with items from Honolulu. My table is set year round for four people (just in case someone drops in) and this is my Hawaii table!

POPE “DEEPLY MOVED BY LOSS OF LIFE, IMMENSE DEVASTATION” OF HURRICANE HARVEY

Pope Francis has sent a Message to Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, archbishop of Galveston-Houston and president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, expressing his condolences to the loved-ones of the victims of hurricane Harvey, promising continued spiritual solicitude for all those affected, and asking for the prayerful solidarity that has already been shown, to continue in the days and weeks to come.

The message was sent by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin in the Pope’s name:

“His Holiness Pope Francis asks you kindly to convey the assurance of his spiritual closeness and pastoral concern to all those affected by the violent hurricane that swept through the states of Texas and Louisiana in these days.  Deeply moved by the tragic loss of life and the immense material devastation that this natural catastrophe has left in its wake, he prays for the victims and their families, and for all those engaged in the vital work of relief, recovery and rebuilding.  He likewise trusts that the immense and immediate needs of so many individuals and communities will continue to inspire a vast outpouring of solidarity and mutual aid in the best traditions of the nation.  With these sentiments, and with the renewed promise of his prayers, the Holy Father sends his blessing as a pledge of consolation, strength and peace in the Lord.”