An aerial view of Washington Square in San Francisco on May 22, 2020. / Credit: JOSH EDELSON/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

San Francisco police arrested a homeless man last Sunday for allegedly stabbing a parent from a nearby Catholic school after an altercation involving the two outside a historic Catholic church in the city. 

Twenty-five-year-old Marko Asaulyuk of San Francisco was charged with attempted murder and eight counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

The Catholic school father, who was released from the hospital Sunday, only suffered a minor injury to his leg, Father Tho Bui, pastor of Sts. Peter and Paul Church, told CNA Thursday in an email.

San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone was conferring the sacrament of confirmation on the parish school?s students and students from a nearby parish during a noon Mass when a ?disruptive man? entered the church, as Bui described him.

The man was walking up and down the main aisle of the church holding a bottle of wine, ABC7 reported. 

Bui said a group of parishioners and parents told the disruptive man to leave the church and escorted him out. ABC7 reported that the man was speaking with someone outside the church and said ?Jesus is not real.?

A ?scuffle? then occurred on the sidewalk and that?s when the man stabbed the parent in the leg, according to the priest.

The suspect, who was reported to be homeless, was arrested the same day, Bui said. Police said when they arrived at the scene, aid was given to the victim, who was brought to the hospital with ?non-life-threatening injuries.?

Witnesses helped the police locate the suspect, police said. 

Bui called the incident ?sad? and ?extremely disturbing? but noted ?the good news is that the criminal is behind bars, charged with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, and is being held without bail.?

?Very likely, by getting him off the streets, our parishioners and dads prevented something even worse from happening,? he said. ?But this is just the latest in an unending series of incidents caused by our city government?s tolerance of crime and mentally ill people on the streets.?

?It?s not specific to Sts. Peter and Paul. We saw in the news just this past week that the nurses at SF General [Hospital] and the librarians at our public libraries are demanding more protection from exactly the kind of incidents we had on Sunday,? he said. 

?Like SF General and the public libraries, we are open every single day. The mission of Jesus Christ requires it! While both our school and club can, and do, fulfill their missions while having gates and doors locked, the Church cannot,? Bui said.

CNA reached out to the archdiocese for comment but did not receive a response. 

Pope Francis prays during his Wednesday general audience in St. Peter?s Square at the Vatican on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 16:10 pm (CNA).

Asked during a new interview if he has any message for Vladimir Putin, the Russian president who instigated the war in Ukraine, Pope Francis stated that ?a negotiated peace is better than an endless war.?

CBS News broadcast some excerpts April 24 from a new interview conducted by journalist Norah O?Donnell with Pope Francis at St. Martha House, the pontiff?s residence in the Vatican.

During the exchange, the full version of which will be released on May 19, the Holy Father reflected on world conflicts and especially on the suffering of children during wars.

O?Donnell asked the Holy Father if he had any message for Vladimir Putin regarding Ukraine, to which the pontiff replied: ?Please, countries at war, all of them... Stop the war. Seek to negotiate. Seek peace. A negotiated peace is better than an endless war,? he said.

Regarding the children who are suffering the consequences of the war in Gaza, Pope Francis said that ?every afternoon at 7 p.m. I call the parish in Gaza. There are about 600 people there, and they tell me what?s happening. It?s very hard. Very, very hard. And food comes in, but they have to struggle to get it. It?s very hard,? he lamented. The pope also assured that he prays a lot for peace to be achieved.

The pontiff also asked people to think about the children of Ukraine, who due to the war ?forget how to smile,? which he described as ?very serious.?

In the interview, Pope Francis also talked about climate change and said that those who deny it do so ?because they don?t understand it or for what benefits them,? and stressed that ?climate change exists.?

Regarding those who don?t see a place for themselves in the Catholic Church anymore, the Holy Father responded that in the Church ?there is always a place,? noting that ?the Church is very big. It?s more than a church building ? you shouldn?t flee from it.?

Pope Francis? controversial ?white flag? statements

When referring to the conflict in Ukraine during an interview released in March by the Swiss radio station RSI, Pope Francis said: ?I think that the strongest one is the one who looks at the situation, thinks about the people, and has the courage of the white flag, and negotiates.?

The words sparked some controversy, as they were interpreted as a call for Ukraine?s surrender to Russia and had to be clarified by the spokesman for the Holy See?s Press Office, Matteo Bruni.

The Vatican spokesman clarified that the Holy Father supported ?a cessation of hostilities and a truce achieved with the courage to negotiate,? rather than Ukraine?s outright surrender.

Bruni also pointed out that it was the journalist interviewing the pontiff who had used the term ?white flag? when asking the question.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The pro-life flag from the Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com). / Credit: Pro-Life Flag Project (www.prolifeflag.com)

Toronto, Canada, Apr 25, 2024 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

The International Pro-Life Flag will not fly over Toronto Catholic schools this May.

Toronto Catholic District School Board (TCDSB) trustees voted against an April 23 motion proposed by trustee Michael Del Grande that the pro-life flag fly outside all schools and the Catholic Education Centre during the month of May, just as the board voted to fly the Pride flag in June.

Del Grande?s motion was defeated at the April 23 board meeting when only Garry Tanuan supported Del Grande?s motion. The eight other board members in attendance and the two student trustees opposed his proposal.

Though Del Grande could not muster enough backing from his colleagues, his plan, which would have also directed all TCDSB schools to teach an exclusively pro-life curriculum on May 9, the day of the National March for Life, garnered boisterous audience support.

Defying repeated entreaties from chair Nancy Crawford to remain silent, spectators cheered when listening to Del Grande, Tanuan, and two guest delegates? statements supporting the motion. And when Angela Kennedy signaled her intent to vote against the motion early into her prepared remarks, she was drowned out by protests. One male attendee continually uttered: ?We answer to Jesus Christ.?

Crawford concurred that ?we do answer to Jesus Christ,? but she told the man he must be quiet or he would be escorted from the building by security. Attendees ignored the warning and the objections continued, forcing Crawford to pause the meeting for 10 minutes to calm the situation.

Upon resuming the proceedings, Crawford appealed to the audience?s ?sense of kindness, charity, and generosity? not to interrupt the meeting again, saying otherwise it would lead to the call for security to remove everyone from the gallery.

The crowd initially complied, remaining silent as Kennedy gave her speech and trustee Maria Rizzo delivered her dissent to the motion.

However, the tension in the room elevated when trustees voted against the motion. Those disappointed by the outcome admonished the board by repeatedly shouting ?shame,? and Crawford ordered security to escort all the visitors from the building as ?they are not prepared to remain silent.?

The speeches in favor or against flying the pro-life flag were overshadowed to an extent by the controversy surrounding the audience?s conduct. Nevertheless, both sides conveyed passionate arguments.

Del Grande shared what the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the recent Dignitas Infinita declaration released by the Vatican Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith state about the sanctity of life and abortion. Dignitas Infinita warned that ?today, in many people?s consciences, the perception of [abortion?s] gravity has become progressively obscured. The acceptance of abortion in the popular mind, in behavior, and even in law itself is a telling sign of an extremely dangerous crisis of the moral sense, which is becoming more and more incapable of distinguishing between good and evil, even when the fundamental right to life is at stake.?

Del Grande said he ?could think of no legitimate reason why this motion shouldn?t pass unanimously. We?re a pro-life board, and I expect you will vote in favor of my motion so that TCDSB does its part to vigorously defend the most marginalized and victimized group in this country, namely children in the womb who are killed at a rate of 100,000 annually.?

Tanuan suggested pro-life Canadians would revere the International Pro-Life Flag as a symbol denoting ?safety, truth, and hope? and would deliver the comparable empowering impact as would an Indigenous child or adult seeing the Every Child Matters flag.

Rizzo, in her response, said the motion shows how ?the school board has become a kind of locus of controversy.? She contended that the critical difference between the decision to fly the Pride flag and the pro-life flag motion is the former was ?student-driven.?

Kennedy said the motion amounts to ?a kind of indoctrination? that is at odds with the Ministry of Education?s expectation ?that each student will achieve academically, socially, spiritually, and will be the Ontario graduate who will be successful on the global stage.? 

She also argued that the TCDSB has ?well-rounded Catholic graduate expectations, and this motion, if passed, would destroy the meaning behind these expectations and render them meaningless.?

This article was first published in Canadian Catholic News and is reprinted here with permission.

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CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 11:30 am (CNA).

Louisiana State Police have obtained a new search warrant to collect documents from the Archdiocese of New Orleans as part of an ongoing investigation into Church abuse in that state.

State police spokesman Jacob Pucheu confirmed to CNA on Thursday that the bureau had obtained the warrant as part of its investigation into ?numerous complaints of child sexual abuse? leveled at the archdiocese. The inquiry was first launched in 2022, he said.

?As part of the ongoing investigation, on Monday, April 22, 2024, SVU investigators obtained an additional search warrant to collect information and documents from the Archdiocese of New Orleans,? Pucheu told CNA.

?The archdiocese is cooperating with investigators to fulfill the terms of the search warrant,? he said. ?This investigation remains ongoing with no further information available at this time.?

Pucheu declined to directly provide a copy of the warrant, saying that ?since it is under investigation, it is not readily available.?

The archdiocese itself did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday morning.

The warrant comes as state police are investigating retired priest Lawrence Hecker, who was indicted in September on felony charges related to allegations that he raped an underage teenage boy in the 1970s.

A team of forensic experts this week said Hecker, who is 92, is presently unfit to stand trial due to short-term memory loss, though the experts said the accused priest could stand trial at a later date.

Prosecutors earlier this year had vowed to proceed with Hecker?s trial amid doubts of his competency. Orleans Parish First Assistant District Attorney Ned McGowan promised to ?roll him in on a gurney? to try him.

The archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2020, with Archbishop Gregory Aymond pointing to financial pressure from clergy sex abuse claims as the driving force behind the reorganization.

?The prospect of more abuse cases with associated prolonged and costly litigation, together with pressing ministerial needs and budget challenges, is simply not financially sustainable,? the prelate said at the time.

Last year the archdiocese said it would ask ?parishes, schools, and ministries? for monetary contributions in order to protect diocesan assets during the bankruptcy proceedings.

The archbishop had previously said that ?parishes, schools, and ministries? would not be affected by the filing.

But ?this is no longer the case,? Aymond said last year, ?because of many external factors now facing us, including the fact that the law governing the statute of limitations has changed to now permit the filing of past abuse claims in civil court.?

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CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 10:52 am (CNA).

Following a recent Vatican declaration on human dignity, the Catholic bishops of England and Wales condemned medical and social transgenderism while encouraging a ?sensitive? response in a pastoral reflection released on Wednesday.

The Vatican?s doctrinal office came down strongly against gender ideology, stating that ?all attempts to obscure reference to the ineliminable sexual difference between man and woman are to be rejected.?

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales followed the Vatican?s lead in their April 24 statement, ?Intricately Woven by the Lord,? which encouraged rooting pastoral care in ?acceptance ? of the body as created.? 

?We cannot encourage or give support to reconstructive or drug-based medical intervention that harms the body,? they wrote. ?Nor can we legitimize or uphold a way of living that is not respectful of the truth and vocation of each man and each woman, called to live according to the divine plan.?

?Rather, when a family or person experiencing these challenges seeks to be accompanied on their Christian journey, our aim is to help them rediscover and cherish their humanity as it was conceived and created by God, body and soul,? the bishops continued.  

In the statement, the bishops specifically addressed ?adult members in our Catholic communities who have chosen to transition socially and medically.?

?You are still our brothers and sisters,? the bishops stated. ?We cannot be indifferent to your struggle and the path you may have chosen. The doors of the Church are open to you, and you should find, from all members of the Church, a welcome that is compassionate, sensitive, and respectful.?

According to a 2021 census released in 2023, 0.5% of English and Welsh residents (262,000) over the age of 16 identified as transgender. An estimated 300,000 youth in the U.S. identify as transgender, and nearly one in five people who identify as transgender are between 13 and 17 years old, according to a 2022 study by the Williams Institute. 

The bishops addressed the controversial issue of medical transition for minors. England ended puberty blockers for minors in March of this year because of safety concerns. Sex changes and puberty blockers were recently ?paused? in Scotland.

?Medical intervention for children should not be supported,? the bishops continued. ?Social ?transition? can have a formative effect on a child?s development, and this should be avoided with young children.?

According to a recent Mayo Clinic study, puberty blockers can cause ?irreversible harm? to young boys in particular. In 2022, another study gained national attention after it found that putting children on puberty blockers causes irreversible harm to bone density. 

The bishops noted that ?every person is something of a mystery ? to themselves, and to others ? but not to God, who fashioned each of us in secret.? 

?Pastoral accompaniment must flow from an acceptance and celebration of the body as created, respect for parents as primary educators, and uphold best practice in terms of safeguarding principles,? they continued. 

The bishops emphasized ?discernment? and ?safe relationships? in the accompaniment process. 

?Those who offer particular pastoral accompaniment to gender dysphoric persons need a clear understanding of the Catholic vision and understanding of the human person and a holistic view of human sexuality,? the bishops explained, adding: ?Their work should help young people ?to discern how God is calling them to find true happiness.??

?This formation and competence is vital to ensure that the testimonies and lived experiences of those struggling with gender identity can be properly understood and responded to in a way which honors their perception of reality, particularly when painful,? the statement continued. ?At the same time, we are encouraged by Pope Francis to accompany others to a complete appropriation of the mystery of our human nature.?

Pope Francis speaks to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, Sept. 25, 2015. / Credit: L?Osservatore Romano

Rome Newsroom, Apr 25, 2024 / 07:22 am (CNA).

Pope Francis is reportedly considering returning to the United States in September to speak before the United Nations General Assembly.

The news was initially reported by the French Catholic newspaper La Croix and has not yet been officially confirmed by the Vatican. A source from the Vatican Secretariat of State, meanwhile, told CNA this week that ?a formal invitation has arrived from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and Pope Francis seems inclined to respond positively.?

If the New York trip occurs, the pope would visit the United Nations during its ?Summit of the Future,? which the international body will convene from Sept. 22?23.

The possible trip to the United States could change the pope?s already-busy September travel schedule. The Holy See Press Office has announced that Pope Francis will be in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and Singapore from Sept. 2?13.

Pope Francis is also expected at the end of September in Belgium, where he is scheduled to celebrate the 600th anniversary of the University of Louvain, which has been divided into two different linguistic entities since the 1960s. The Holy Father told Mexican television network Televisa last December that he intended to travel to Belgium in 2024.

According to a source familiar with the planning of papal trips, Pope Francis? trip to Louvain could be postponed to 2025. The postponement of the journey would leave room at the end of September for the visit to the United Nations.

During his planned stay in Belgium, Pope Francis will also celebrate Mass at the national shrine of Koelkenberg. There are also rumors that the pontiff will stop in Luxembourg, one of the small nations favored by the pope for trips to Europe. Luxembourg officials have denied the visit, but the Vatican Secretariat of State has indicated the trip is possible.

The September summit?s objective is to strengthen the structures of the United Nations and global ?governance? to face more fully the ?new and old challenges? of the coming years, the U.N. has said. 

The meeting will lead a ?pact for the future? to advance rapidly toward realizing the U.N.?s ?sustainable development goals.?

In a meeting with students in April, Pope Francis described the summit as ?an important event,? with the Holy Father urging students to help ensure the plan ?becomes concrete and is implemented through processes and actions for change.?

Pope Francis, who is 87, has undergone two surgeries in the last four years and is under regular medical screening. A planned trip to Abu Dhabi to participate in the COP28 meeting was canceled last December due to health reasons. 

The pope was last in the United States in 2015, during which he also appeared before the United Nations.

One of the priests on ?The Sacristy of the Vendée?show sparked a firestorm after quipping in February that he prayed that Pope Francis would ?go to heaven as soon as possible.? / Credit: LSDLV

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

?The Sacristy of the Vendée? is now back on YouTube.

Nearly two months ago, the priests featured on the Spanish-language talk show voluntarily suspended the program in the wake of a firestorm that was sparked when one of them quipped on their Feb. 22 show that he prayed that Pope Francis would ?go to heaven as soon as possible.?

The YouTube program has had more than 70,000 followers and takes its name from the region in western France that resisted the subordination of the clergy to the government during that country?s bloody 1789?1799 revolution. 

The Archdiocese of Toledo in Spain, to which three of the six priests normally on the show belong, demanded in a Feb. 28 statement that they all apologize for the comments made ?that harm the communion of the Church and scandalize the people of God.? 

In a Feb. 28 post on X ?The Sacristy of the Vendée? apologized, stating that ?it was a comment in bad taste and although it does not express a wish for the pope to die, as some media have maliciously portrayed, we understand that it can be understood that way.?

In addition, the priests expressed their ?adherence to Pope Francis, in the same terms in which it was clearly expressed in the program of last Feb. 22. We reject attacks against the pope and the unity of the Church and those who deny the legitimacy of the pope?s ministry.?

In a March 6 special edition, the program announced it was being suspended ?until further notice,? given the controversy that had broken out: ?After much reflection and of our own volition, wanting to avoid putting our bishops in the position of having to make a difficult decision that would grant victory to our enemies, we have decided to make a strategic retreat.?

Now, as of April 20, ?The Sacristy of the Vendée? is back on YouTube. At the beginning of the program, host Father Francisco José Delgado noted that it?s a medium that doesn?t take precedence over his pastoral duties and that if it served ?to harm the Church,? then it was time to ?let it go.?

Father Francisco Torres, another regular on the show, said with an allusion to the battlefield that ?we return here to this trench of Christ the King to the joy of many and the disappointment of our dear enemies for whom we pray as Our Lord Jesus Christ commanded us.?

Father Ricardo Gómez of the Archdiocese of Madrid joined the show as a newcomer and Delgado thanked him for his presence because ?the truth is that it?s not easy for someone to dare to join us today.?

Not present, however, was Father Gabriel Calvo, who made the following controversial remark on the Feb. 15 show: ?I also pray a lot for the pope, so that he can go to heaven as soon as possible.?

The topic of the show was the Valley of the Fallen, a monumental complex located about 30 miles northwest of Madrid that was dedicated in 1959 in memory of both sides killed in the 1936?1939 Spanish Civil War. 

The purpose of the complex was to foster national reconciliation after the war that bitterly divided the country. Overlooking the complex rises the largest cross in the world. The current socialist government wants to secularize the memorial site, which includes a basilica and abbey, and reconfigure the area?s historical significance.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. / Credit: Canva

CNA Staff, Apr 25, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

This weekend, on Sunday, April 28, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass in St. Mark?s Square during a one-day trip to Venice, Italy. Afterward, he will privately venerate the relics of St. Mark the Evangelist inside the basilica. This papal visit to the iconic basilica puts a spotlight on the famous church dedicated to St. Mark and on its significance to the famous ?floating city.? 

St. Mark?s Basilica, also known as the ?Church of Gold,? is a Byzantine cathedral in St. Mark?s Square. Founded in 828 A.D. after the remains of St. Mark were transported from Alexandria, Egypt, the basilica has undergone several transformations.

After being built as a permanent church in 832, the basilica was burned down in a rebellion in 976. St. Mark?s was rebuilt in 978 but it was a construction project started in 1063 that formed the basis of the current form of the church.

On Oct. 8, 1094, St. Mark?s Basilica was consecrated and dedicated to the apostle and saint credited by many to be the writer of the Gospel of Mark. 

It wasn?t until 1807, on orders from Napoleon, that the city church became the residence of the patriarch of Venice and declared a city cathedral. 

The basilica?s architecture, which combines Byzantine, Gothic, and Romanesque styles, features a central dome, spandrels, and four pillars supporting the immense vaults. Inside, St. Mark?s is adorned with beautiful gold mosaics, marble flooring, and luxurious decor. The presbytery, which is reserved for clergy, houses the high altar, which holds the relics of St. Mark. 

The sacristy, which was crafted in 1486 by Giorgio Spavento, has impressive inlaid cabinets illustrating scenes from the life of St. Mark and a vault with mosaics depicting Old Testament prophets. 

There are also several side altars and chapels paying homage to various saints such as the Madonna del Mascoli and St. Isidore. The Chapel of St. Isidore also holds the saint?s relics, which were brought to Venice from the Island of Chios in 1125. 

St. Mark?s Museum was built during the 19th century. It hosts a diverse collection of artifacts and artwork, mostly acquired from Constantinople during the Fourth Crusade. One of the most notable highlights are the Horses of St. Mark ? four bronze horses that once were a part of the basilica?s facade ? as well as Byzantine and Gothic manuscripts, artifacts, and liturgical objects. 

St. Mark?s Basilica welcomes more than 3 million visitors a year and is truly the center of public and religious life in Venice. 

The Holy See Press Office has released the Holy Father?s schedule for this trip to Venice, which includes meetings with inmates at the women?s prison, a tour of the Vatican art exhibit on display there, a meeting with the featured artists, and a speech to young people.

null / Credit: Photographee.eu via www.shutterstock.com

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

Father Augusto Meloni Navarro, a priest, physician, and former vice president of the World Health Organization (WHO), urged prayers for the soul of Ana Estrada, the first person to undergo euthanasia in Peru. Meloni also emphasized the importance of protecting life and providing palliative care in these kinds of situations.

As a Church ?we stand in solidarity, we sympathize with every human person in all their circumstances. And, of course, at the moment of transition to a new life, which in cases of desperation, as in the case of this person, our sister, and her family, probably calls for more prayer,? Meloni said in an interview with ?EWTN Noticias,? the Spanish-language broadcast edition of EWTN News.

Estrada was a 47-year-old Peruvian psychologist and activist who suffered from polymyositis ? an incurable disease that left her confined to a wheelchair ? and who underwent euthanasia on Sunday, April 21. The procedure was carried out in accordance with a plan approved by Peru?s Social Health Insurance (EsSalud), but it was not specified whether she died by direct euthanasia or medically assisted suicide.

Euthanasia is not legal in Peru. However, in 2022 the judiciary ruled in favor of Estrada so that in her case Article 112 of the current Penal Code ?would be unenforced.? The code punishes anyone who ?out of pity, kills an incurably ill person? with a prison sentence of no more than three years.

Meloni said he has personally committed to praying for the family, and especially for Estrada?s soul, appealing ?to the infinite mercy of God.?

?I pray that in those last mysterious seconds of slipping away and the passage from the present life to a new life? that this person could be saved ?so that she could truly find life.?

?We are also going to pray that the Lord increase the faith, if they have it, of those people who in some way have been involved in this very painful outcome, as well as of all the people who may mistakenly think that some progress is being made here, some progress in freedom, for the good, and we know from experience that these issues can often be manipulated and [people] not even being treated with respect. And that is why we are going to pray,? he added.

In early April, the Vatican published the declaration Dignitatis Infinita, which warns of 13 grave violations of human dignity, one of which is euthanasia. 

The document, which encourages palliative care for patients, emphasizes that ?suffering does not cause the sick to lose their dignity, which is intrinsically and inalienably their own? and points out that ?helping the suicidal person to take his or her own life is an objective offense against the dignity of the person asking for it, even if one would be thereby fulfilling the person?s wish.?

Meloni noted that when we lose ?sight of the dignity of the human person, [who is made in] the image of God and loved by Jesus Christ, we tend to treat people as things.?

?We also tend to view human pain and suffering superficially. Life goes beyond the biological. It?s a dimension that is revealed in Jesus Christ, who shows us the meaning of suffering and human dignity,? he explained.

He assured that, as a doctor and priest, he understands ?that life goes beyond what is taught at the university.?

?Life is Jesus Christ, and he shows us that pain does not destroy our dignity but is part of the path to its fulfillment [in eternal life],? he said.

The importance of palliative care

The former vice president of the World Health Organization acknowledged that Estrada faced for decades a serious illness ?not yet understood by science and without a cure.? However, he noted that there is palliative care available for this type of illness.

?Palliative care helps people cope with these difficult situations. Science, technology, and medicine have advanced a lot in this field,? he commented, while adding that it is also ?insufficient.?

The reason, according to Meloni, is that palliative care must include a spiritual dimension: ?spiritual assistance, everything that the Lord has left us through his Church so that we can have all the means precisely to face these extreme situations and recognize that love of God.?

This assistance, he said, should not only ?be offered to the person who is directly facing pain but also to their family members so that they can understand and help effectively and not believe that eliminating the human person is the solution.?

?I would like to emphasize first of all the need for us as a society, as a community, as a country, as families, as the Church, that we attend to people?s faith. Let us take care of the gift of new life that we have received in Christ Jesus in baptism, so that those who are not baptized will be baptized and those who are already baptized find that treasure that is the new life that we have received in Christ,? he concluded.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pro-life advocates demonstrate prior to an Arizona House of Representatives session at the Arizona State Capitol on April 17, 2024, in Phoenix. / Credit: Rebecca Noble/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 17:15 pm (CNA).

The Arizona House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to repeal a law protecting unborn babies from abortion throughout pregnancy.

The narrow 32-28 vote passed an ?abortion ban repeal? bill designed to overturn the pro-life law. Republicans have a narrow majority in the Arizona House, but the bill was able to pass as three Republicans joined the Democrats against the pro-life measure.

The repeal bill will now be considered by the Arizona Senate where Republicans also hold a narrow 16-14 majority. Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs has already signaled she will sign the bill into law if it is passed by the Arizona Senate.

Even if the repeal bill is signed into law it will likely not go into effect until 90 days after the legislative session closes, meaning the pro-life law may be in effect for a short time. The pro-life measure is currently set to go into effect on June 8.

This comes after Democrats launched several unsuccessful attempts to repeal the pro-life law after a controversial Arizona Supreme Court decision ruled that the law ? passed in 1864 ? could go into effect.

Dormant since being invalidated by Roe v. Wade in 1973, the 1864 law protects all unborn life from conception and imposes prison time for those who ?provide, supply, or administer? an abortion. The court ruled that since the U.S. Supreme Court overruled Roe in the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision, there were no legal reasons to keep the law from being enforced.

On Tuesday, President Joe Biden criticized the Arizona pro-life law as backward, blaming former President Donald Trump for the Supreme Court overturning Roe and ?literally taking us back 160 years.? 

Abortion is currently legal in Arizona until the 15th week of pregnancy. If the 1864 law takes effect, however, all abortion will be illegal, except in cases in which the mother?s life is in danger.

Pro-life and pro-abortion activists at a demonstration outside the U.S. Supreme Court as it hears arguments in the Moyle v. United States case, in Washington, D.C., on April 24, 2024. The case deals with whether an Idaho abortion law conflicts with the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA). / Credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

A divided Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Wednesday in a case that will determine whether federal law requires pro-life states to have broader exceptions for women who seek abortions in emergency situations. 

The crux of the case focuses on whether Idaho?s Defense of Life Act conflicts with a federal rule that requires hospitals to provide stabilizing health care that is consistent with standard medical practice in certain emergency situations.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit that argues Idaho?s law prevents hospitals from providing this care in some situations because it only allows abortions in cases of rape, incest, and when ?necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman.?

The lawsuit, Moyle v. United States, is based on the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA), which Congress enacted in 1986 to ensure that everyone has access to emergency medical care even if they can?t afford to pay for that care. 

Under EMTALA hospitals that receive Medicare funds must provide stabilizing care when the absence of care could put the patient?s health in serious jeopardy or cause the impairment of bodily functions or serious dysfunction of bodily organs. The law does not specifically reference abortion, but the Department of Justice is arguing that an abortion will sometimes be the standard care necessary to meet these rules.

According to the DOJ, Idaho?s threshold for when it permits abortion is too strict, because it only permits abortions when necessary to prevent the death of the mother and does not include any exceptions that would cover the other health risks considered in EMTALA.

The Supreme Court?s decision in this case could have far-ranging effects on protections for unborn children in Idaho and more than 20 other states that have passed pro-life laws in the past few years.

Idaho claims there is no conflict

In oral arguments presented to the justices, Idaho?s lawyer Joshua Turner said Idaho?s law does not conflict with EMTALA in any way and claimed the DOJ is ?misreading? the statute when it makes that assertion.

Turner argued that states can legally regulate the practice of medicine and that they frequently impose such regulations. As an example, he noted that states control medical licensing and the legality of certain treatments. He referenced the different approaches among states related to how long a doctor can prescribe opioids to someone who is dealing with chronic pain and said there are ?countless examples? of this.

The DOJ?s interpretation, according to Turner, would prevent the state from enforcing any of these regulations because it ?lacks any limiting principle? and essentially ?leaves emergency rooms unregulated under state law.? He further said that proper ?professional standards? change from day to day and that it is limited to available treatments, according to the text: ?Illegal treatments are not available treatments.? 

Turner added that the provisions in EMTALA have never been used to challenge a state regulation or criminal statute. He claimed that for EMTALA to override a state?s criminal law, it would need to be very clear. 

?Congress must speak clearly,? Turner said. ?It has not done so here.?

Some of the judges challenged Turner on his interpretation and probed him with questions about when abortions would be allowed under Idaho?s law. Justice Elena Kagan argued with Turner about whether EMTALA was clear, claiming ?the federal government has plenty to say about [when care must be provided] in this statute.?

Justice Sonia Sotomayor pressed Turner with questions about whether Idaho?s law would permit an abortion in various hypothetical situations. Turner said the law permits an abortion when the life of the mother is threatened, which is based on ?the doctor?s good-faith medical judgment? but was repeatedly interrupted when he sought to explain further.

The line of questioning and frequent interruptions provoked the ire of Justice Samuel Alito, who commented that Turner was presented with quick hypotheticals and ?asked to provide a snap judgment of what would be appropriate? and ?hardly given an opportunity to answer.?

DOJ asserts abortion is covered under EMTALA

U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, who provided the legal arguments on behalf of the DOJ, said Idaho?s law conflicts with the text of EMTALA, which has real implications for what is ?happening on the ground.? She asserted that Turner is ?gravely mistaken? in saying that there is no conflict. 

?This case is about how [EMTALA] applies to pregnant women in a medical crisis,? Prelogar said. 

Prelogar challenged Turner?s interpretation that the DOJ?s position would threaten all state medical regulations, asserting that EMTALA is ?textually very narrow.?

According to Prelogar, if abortion is necessary to provide stabilizing care for a woman under the conditions set in EMTALA, ?the statute protects her and gives her that choice.? She said the patient must ?be offered pregnancy termination [when it is] the necessary treatment.?

Some of the justices challenged Prelogar?s interpretation of the law. Justice Clarence Thomas noted that EMTALA imposes a rule on hospitals as a condition to receive Medicare funding but that the law does not make demands of the state. 

?In this case, you are bringing an action against the state, and the state?s not regulated,? Thomas said.

Thomas and other judges noted that EMTALA concerns spending and questioned Prelogar on whether it would preempt a state?s criminal laws. 

?Congress has broad power under the spending clause to impose [these rules],? Prelogar responded. 

The judges also questioned Prelogar about whether EMTALA respects conscience objections made by doctors and hospitals who have moral objections to providing abortions, and she said those protections are still in place. They also asked her whether a mental health crisis could ever permit an abortion under EMTALA, to which she replied that abortion is ?not the accepted standard of practice to treat any mental health emergency.?

A Coptic Orthodox church in Old Cairo, a historic area of the Egyptian capital. / Credit: Sun_Shine via Shutterstock

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Apr 24, 2024 / 15:45 pm (CNA).

Muslim extremists set on fire several homes of Christians in Minya, a province in southern Egypt, in a continuation of anti-Christian violence less than two weeks before Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter. 

According to The New Arab, when anti-Christian fanatics failed to dispossess Christians of their homes in retribution for attempting to build a church in Al-Fawakher village, they proceeded to burn down the houses on the evening of April 23.

On his official Twitter account, Coptic Orthodox Bishop Anba Macarius wrote on April 24 that Egyptian security forces ?brought the situation under control, arresting the instigators and perpetrators,? and that the government ?will compensate those affected and hold the perpetrators accountable.? 

After noting that calm now reigns in Al-Fawakher, Macarius added: ?May God protect our dear country, Egypt, from all harm.? 

CNA reached out to authorities of the Coptic Orthodox Church but did not receive a response by the time of publication. Video of the burning homes was shared on social media that featured celebratory music and Arabic lyrics.

Christianity in Egypt dates to the very beginnings of the faith and nearly 10% of the country?s population of 111 million are Christian. Most Egyptian Christians belong to the Coptic Orthodox Church, while about 2.5% belong to the Coptic Catholic Church and other particular churches. 

Christians constitute the largest minority in Egypt, and Macarius leads the Coptic Christians of Minya Province, where approximately one-third of the country?s Christians live. He narrowly survived an assassination attempt more than 10 years ago. 

The Open Doors organization, which monitors persecution against followers of Christ, ranks Egypt as the 38th most dangerous country in the world to be a Christian. In 2018, seven Christians were killed by Muslim terrorists who attacked a bus carrying pilgrims. In 2017, Islamic State terrorists bombed two Coptic Orthodox churches, killing over 40 people. And in December 2016, a terrorist detonated a bomb killing himself and 189 worshippers at Sts. Peter and Paul Church, injuring more than 400 others. 

On his 2017 visit to Egypt, Pope Francis celebrated a Mass for the small Catholic community and called on Christians to forgive the atrocities. Relations between the Vatican and the Coptic Orthodox Church, the leader of which is Pope Tawadros II, have improved in recent years. 

Earlier this year, Pope Francis recognized the Coptic Orthodox Church?s canonization of 21 Coptic Orthodox Martyrs of Libya. 

Last year, Pope Tawadros II celebrated a Divine Liturgy at the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran, where he delivered a homily on Christian unity. Since then, however, Tawadros II has reduced relations with the Vatican following the December 2023 publication of Fiducia Supplicans.

The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), while noting that President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi?s government has appointed the first-ever Christian to the Supreme Constitutional Court and also sentenced a extremist Muslim murderer of a priest, has criticized the ?slow pace of approvals for the backlog of legalization applications,? which would allow the construction of new churches. Egypt is on the USCIRF Special Watch List for tolerating severe violations of religious freedom.

In 2016, Egypt?s legislature passed the Church Construction Law, ostensibly to legalize such construction with permits.

Anti-death penalty activists rally outside the U.S. Supreme Court in an attempt to prevent the execution of Oklahoma inmate Richard Glossip on Sept. 29, 2015, in Washington, D.C. / Credit: Larry French/Getty Images for MoveOn.org

CNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond this week asked the Supreme Court to halt the execution of a condemned man whose death sentence has been criticized by an archbishop and other Catholic advocates. 

Drummond announced the filing on his website on Tuesday. In his petition to the Supreme Court the attorney general detailed ?why the execution of Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip should be halted and his conviction remanded back to district court.?

Glossip was first convicted in 1998 for allegedly ordering a handyman at a motel Glossip managed to murder the motel?s owner. Glossip was largely convicted on the handyman?s testimony.

Since his initial conviction, two independent investigations have uncovered serious problems with his trial, including allegations of police misconduct and what were reportedly incorrect instructions given to the jury in the case. Prosecutors had also reportedly failed to correct false testimony in Glossip?s trial. 

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals upheld Glossip?s death sentence in April of last year, even though the state had previously admitted error and asked the appeals court to overturn the sentence. Drummond called that decision ?remarkable and remarkably flawed.?

By ?dismissing this extraordinary confession by the state,? Drummond?s office said this week, the appeals court engaged in a ?flawed whitewashing of federal constitutional violations.?

The court should ?vacate the judgment of conviction and order a new trial? for Glossip, Drummond?s filing said. 

Archbishop: Court?s review ?offers hope?

The U.S. Supreme Court announced in January that it would review Glossip?s case. At the time, Oklahoma Archbishop Paul Coakley told CNA that the high court?s decision ?offers hope in furthering the cause toward one day abolishing the death penalty.?

?With new evidence and the state of Oklahoma?s admission of errors in the case prompting the Supreme Court review ? issues that seem to be more and more prevalent ? we can clearly see reason to reconsider institutionalized violence against the incarcerated as we hopefully move to respect the dignity of life for all human persons,? Coakley told CNA. 

The Death Penalty Information Center says on its website that Oklahoma has the highest number of executions per capita of any U.S. state since the death penalty?s reinstitution in 1976. It is second only to Texas in total number of inmates put to death.

Glossip?s case has drawn support from other anti-death penalty Catholics. Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy, the executive director of Catholic Mobilizing Network, said last year that Glossip ?should not be put to death ? not ever.? 

?No state should have the power to take the lives of its citizens,? she said at the time. ?As we see in Mr. Glossip?s case, the system is too broken, too cruel, too disrespecting of human dignity."

?We give thanks to God that Richard Glossip has been granted a temporary stay of execution,? Vaillancourt Murphy said shortly thereafter, ?and we pray the Supreme Court decides to formally take up his case.?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, reflecting an update promulgated by Pope Francis in 2018, describes the death penalty as ?inadmissible? and an ?attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person? (No. 2267).

St. John Paul II, meanwhile, called the death penalty ?cruel and unnecessary? and encouraged Christians to be ?unconditionally pro-life.? 

The former pope argued that ?the dignity of human life must never be taken away, even in the case of someone who has done great evil.?

This is not the first time Glossip?s case has been to the highest court in the land. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court in Glossip v. Gross ruled that lethal injections using midazolam to kill prisoners on death row do not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

null / Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

As euthanasia and assisted suicide are legalized in more jurisdictions throughout the U.S. and the rest of the world, one Catholic-focused ministry is promoting end-of-life resources that the group?s founder says will help Catholics finish their earthly journeys while remaining faithful.

Aging with Dignity, a nonprofit that for years has been promoting end-of-life support in line with Church teaching, announced this month the release of ?Finishing Life Faithfully,? a booklet that ?makes complex end-of-life decisions easier.? The materials address ?basic questions? on how to approach end-of-life topics such as pain management, feeding tubes, and other matters surrounding death.

The document ?summarizes the Catholic Church?s guidance on end-of-life decision-making and the ethical considerations involved and helps patients and families better understand these teachings and follow them,? the group said this month.

Jim Towey, the founder and CEO of Aging with Dignity who previously served as legal counsel to Mother Teresa, told CNA this week that he launched the nonprofit in 1996 ?to give people a hopeful vision for end of life that helps them practice their faith and that doesn?t treat dying like it?s just a medical moment.?

For years Aging With Dignity has distributed its ?Five Wishes? legal document, which helps Catholics and others ?express [their] wishes ahead of a serious illness.? A form of what?s known as an ?advanced directive,? Towey said it lets the faithful ?address their personal, emotional, and spiritual needs? before the final weeks and days of their lives.

The Five Wishes program has been immensely popular; the group has distributed over 40 million copies of the guide in 33 languages. But, Towey said, ?it needed a companion guide to help Catholics understand what the Church teaches on feeding tubes, anointing of the sick, hospice, and pain management.?

Towey said he spent all of last year working with various collaborators, including priests, to develop the guide. The group says the document offers ?a positive vision of care at the end of life that contrasts with the euthanasia/assisted suicide movements.?

The guide provides information on the ethical questions that often surround end-of-life concerns. It notes, for instance, that Catholics ?can take or increase pain medication to lessen suffering? even if such medication might hasten the onset of death, so long as ?death is not willed as either an end or a means.?

Elsewhere it notes that Catholics are not ?obliged to accept or continue every medical intervention available? and that waiving ?disproportionate medical treatments? that promise ?only a precarious or painful extension of life? is ?not the equivalent of suicide or euthanasia.?

The organization distributes the materials through more than 5,000 distributing organizations, including health care providers, churches, and employers. Individuals often request the documents to distribute to family or friends.

Both euthanasia and assisted suicide have been legalized in more and more jurisdictions throughout the U.S. and Western Europe. Assisted suicide is legal in nine U.S. states and under consideration in several more. Numerous countries, meanwhile, allow euthanasia and/or assisted suicide, including Canada, Belgium, Spain, and several others. 

Towey said when he founded the organization nearly 30 years ago, there were already warning signs on the horizon regarding those deadly procedures.

?What I saw back in 1996 were the clouds gathering in favor of assisted suicide,? he said. ?Now the storms have begun.? 

?We?re seeing more and more people, including Catholics, deceived by the arguments in favor of assisted suicide,? he said.

Both the advanced directive and the end-of-life guide have been touted by U.S. Church leaders, including Cardinal Timothy Dolan and Cardinal Sean O?Malley of the Archdioceses of New York and Boston. O?Malley described the documents as ?grounded in the primacy of protecting God?s gift of life.?

Of the group?s end-of-life advocacy, meanwhile, Towey told CNA: ?We?re just getting started.?

?Assisted suicide isn?t the solution,? he said. ?Good end-of-life care and healthy family discussions are.?

?The Church needs to make this easier for families. We don?t make it easy for them to access some of this information,? he said.

?The Church needs to help people in this critical transition in their life to eternity, to remain faithful and to be assured by the accompaniment of the Church.?

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson / Shutterstock

CNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 13:35 pm (CNA).

Catholics Charities Corporation in Ohio was found partially negligent this week in the 2017 death of a 5-year-old boy who was being supervised by one of the organization?s caseworkers at the time he died.

A jury in Cuyahoga County ruled in the wrongful death suit that the Catholic charity group was 8% responsible for Jordan Rodriguez?s September 2017 death, local media reported. Rodriguez?s body was discovered buried in his mother?s backyard three months after he died.

The boy?s mother and her boyfriend earlier pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from his death, including involuntary manslaughter. Jordan was developmentally disabled and incapable of speaking.

In the civil wrongful death trial this week, Catholic Charities Corporation was ordered to pay $960,000 into Jordan Rodriguez?s estate. Several other defendants, including the boy?s mother and the county?s Department of Child and Family Services, were also found responsible. 

A caseworker contracted by the organization, Nancy Caraballo, had been assigned to Rodriguez?s case and was supposed to be checking on the boy, but she falsified reports and took bribes in connection with a food stamp scheme instead.

Caraballo had previously pleaded guilty to those charges and was sentenced to three years in prison, though she ultimately served only eight months. She was ordered to pay $240,000 in the civil case this week. 

The lawsuit had argued in part that the Catholic charity organization had failed to properly train and supervise Caraballo and thus failed to detect the false reports she had filed. 

Richard Blake, an attorney representing Catholic Charities Corporation in the case, told CNA on Wednesday that there is ?an active gag order prohibiting us from going into any detail or making any comments about the matter.?

?There?s still another portion of the law that permits punitive damages,? he said. A court date is set for next week, he added. 

Catholic Charities did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday. 

Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate Cisco, signs the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life, on April 24, 2024, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 11:06 am (CNA).

The CEO of Cisco Systems signed the Vatican?s artificial intelligence ethics pledge on Wednesday, becoming the latest technology giant to join the Church?s call for ethical and responsible use of AI.

Chuck Robbins, the chief executive of the multinational digital communications conglomerate, met privately with Pope Francis on April 24 before signing the Rome Call for AI Ethics, a document by the Pontifical Academy for Life. 

The document, first published by the pontifical academy in February 2020, has previously been signed by Microsoft President Brad Smith and IBM Executive John Kelly III.

The Rome Call underlines the need for ?algor-ethics,? which, according to the text, is the ethical use of artificial intelligence according to the principles of transparency, inclusion, accountability, impartiality, reliability, security, and privacy.

The text quotes the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in pointing to the equal dignity and rights of all humans, which AI must protect and guarantee, it says, while calling equally for the ?benefit of humanity and the environment.?

It states there are three requirements for ?technological advancement to align with true progress for the human race and respect for the planet? ? it must be inclusive, have the good of humankind at its core, and care for the planet with a highly sustainable approach.

Robbins said that ?the Rome Call principles align with Cisco?s core belief that technology must be built on a foundation of trust at the highest levels in order to power an inclusive future for all.? 

Years before the widely popular release of the GPT-4 chatbot system, developed by the San Francisco start-up OpenAI, the Vatican was already heavily involved in the conversation of artificial intelligence ethics, hosting high-level discussions with scientists and tech executives on the ethics of artificial intelligence in 2016 and 2020.

The pope established the RenAIssance Foundation in April 2021 as a Vatican nonprofit foundation to support anthropological and ethical reflection of new technologies on human life.

Pope Francis also chose artificial intelligence as the theme of his 2024 peace message, which recommended that global leaders adopt an international treaty to regulate the development and use of AI.

Pope Francis addresses pilgrims gathered in St. Peter?s Square at the Vatican for his Wednesday general audience on April 24, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

Rome Newsroom, Apr 24, 2024 / 09:09 am (CNA).

Pope Francis on Wednesday opened a new chapter in his ongoing catechetical series on virtues by pivoting to a reflection on the three theological virtues ? faith, hope, and charity ? which he noted form the key pillars of Christian life.

The Holy Father bolstered his analysis by looking to the legacy of St. John Paul II.

?Looking at his life, we can see what man can achieve by accepting and developing within himself the gifts of God: faith, hope, and charity,? the pope said to the faithful gathered in St. Peter?s Square. 

Saturday will mark the 10th anniversary of St. John Paul II?s canonization.

?Remain faithful to his legacy. Promote life and do not be deceived by the culture of death. Through his intercession, we ask God for the gift of peace for which he, as pope, has worked so hard.?

The pope framed his predecessor?s legacy within the context of the three theological virtues, which he characterized as the ?fundamental attributes? of a Christian life and ?the great antidote to self-sufficiency.?

?The Christian is never alone,? the pope said. ?He does good not because of a titanic effort of personal commitment but because, as a humble disciple, he walks behind the master, Jesus.? 

Harkening back to his previous reflections on the four cardinal virtues ? prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance ? Pope Francis noted while they ?constitute the ?hinge? of a good life,? it is the three theological virtues that lead Christians ?toward the fullness of life,? as they are ?received and lived out in relationship with God.? 

But the pope stressed that the four cardinal virtues were not ?replaced? by Christianity but instead ?enhanced, purified, and integrated.?

The pope stressed that living a life predicated upon the theological virtues forms a firewall against the vices, namely pride, which can ?spoil a whole life marked by goodness.? 

The pope asked: ?A person may have performed a mountain of good deeds, may have reaped accolades and praise, but if he has done all this only for himself, to exalt himself, can he still call himself a virtuous person?? 

But the Holy Father reminded the faithful: ?If we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit, he revives the theological virtues in us. If we have lost confidence, God reopens us to faith; if we are discouraged, God awakens hope in us; if our heart is hardened, God softens it with his love.? 

At the end of the audience, Pope Francis renewed his appeal for peace for the ?tormented? Ukraine, as well as in Myanmar, and in Israel and Palestine, repeating his regular refrain: ?War is always a defeat.? 

U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise says he is ?very blessed? that doctors caught his cancer early enough and that the treatments worked. / Credit: EWTN News Nightly/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 07:15 am (CNA).

In an exclusive update on his health this week, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise discussed with ?EWTN News Nightly? the role prayer and his Catholic faith played in his recovery from blood cancer. 

?For so many people that are watching, that said prayers and offered just true, genuine support, I can?t thank everybody enough ? because you feel that when you?re going through things,? Scalise said during an interview with EWTN News Capitol Hill correspondent Erik Rosales. 

?And thank God, God performed a lot of miracles and answered a lot of prayers,? he added. 

Scalise, a 16-year veteran of Capitol Hill and the No. 2 Republican in the U.S. House, started chemotherapy the day after he was diagnosed with blood cancer. After four months, he was isolated for six weeks for a stem-cell transplant.  

?I have a pretty intense job, and I missed being away. But I knew I had to focus on my health, and we did. We zoned in really tightly,? Scalise said.

Scalise said he was ?very blessed? that the doctors caught the cancer early enough and that the treatments worked. 

When asked what he would say to someone battling a similar illness, Scalise said that ?God gives you the strength to get through it.? 

?He puts people around you ? and recognize that it?s not just God himself in the flesh, it?s doctors and friends and other people that are in your life that can help you get through those tough times,? he explained. 

In 2017, Scalise almost died after being shot by a progressive activist, but he said the experience ?strengthened? his faith. 

?His intent was to kill all of us on that ball field,? Scalise said of the shooter. ?Again, God performed miracles that day ? [there?s] no other way to explain some of the things that happened. In the hospital, my doctor said I didn?t even have another minute to spare.?

?It also puts a different focus on what is really important in life,? he added in reference to his injury. ?I said, ?I?ve got to put this in God?s hands.? I said some really direct prayers to God, asked him for some heady things. I started thinking about my young kids, my daughter, and wanted to make sure I could go to her wedding.?

A young woman is baptized at the 2024 Easter Vigil at St. Mary?s Catholic Center at Texas A&M. / Credit: Courtesy of St. Mary?s Catholic Center, Texas A&M

National Catholic Register, Apr 24, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Zack Short was kneeling during adoration last fall, silently struggling with whether the host in the monstrance was actually Jesus or merely a piece of bread.

To his left was his girlfriend, Katie, a Catholic who had invited him to join the campus ministry?s catechism program for converts.

?I was like, ?Lord, if this is really you, please speak to me. Lord, help my unbelief,?? Short recalled. ?I kid you not: I saw light coming out of the Eucharist. It just clicked for me: This is really God.?

Later, he asked Katie if she saw the light. She didn?t. 

Short, 19, a sophomore majoring in mechanical manufacturing engineering technology who grew up going to a nondenominational church in Colorado, entered the Catholic Church during last month?s Easter Vigil Mass at St. Mary?s Catholic Center at Texas A&M.

He is one of thousands of new Catholics in the United States, part of what appears to have been a bountiful harvest for the Church this past Easter.

Nationwide numbers aren?t available yet. But certain dioceses are reporting increases of 30%, 40%, 50%, and even more than 70%.

A non-Catholic can become a Catholic any day of the year. But the Easter Vigil is the traditional time to enter the Church, whose adult conversion program is built around preparing converts for that moment.

The National Catholic Register, CNA?s sister news partner, contacted every diocese in the United States in early April asking about numbers of converts at Easter, which this year was the last weekend in March. 

Catechesis for converts

The Church?s conversion program for adults is widely known as Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, or RCIA, although the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops voted in November 2021 to begin a process to change the name to Order of Christian Initiation of Adults, with slight revisions of other terms as well.

The Diocese of Fort Worth, Texas, jumps out: The number of converts there rose from 896 at Easter 2023 to 1,544 at Easter 2024, an increase of 72%.

Part of that eye-popping figure can be attributed to the area?s skyrocketing population, said Jason Whitehead, the director of evangelization and catechesis for the diocese. He also credits young priests in the diocese, who he says are ?faithful,? ?energetic,? and ?willing to do anything,? including helping out at catechetical sessions.

But the diocese has also changed the way it prepares catechists to teach the faith. In 2021, the diocese began a three-year catechetical program that begins with an introduction to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and moves to an intermediate level of theological instruction. It finishes with an area of concentration, such as catechesis for converts.

?The heart and soul of all three levels is the ability to talk to anyone about the Catholic faith,? Whitehead said. 

The program offers not just information about what the Church teaches but how to organize it, beginning with the old Baltimore Catechism question: Why did God make you? (?? to know him, to love him, and to serve him in this world, and to be happy with him forever in heaven.?)

It?s crucial, he said, to present Catholic doctrine in its fullness. 

Whitehead, a former Baptist, came into the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil in 2012. While he was happy to become a Catholic, he wasn?t happy with his parish?s RCIA sessions. 

?I saw one person after another leave the RCIA program because they were not being given the truth of the Gospel and the teachings of the Catholic Church,? Whitehead said. 

?If I have any influence over RCIA,? he said, ?I?ll be doggone if anybody goes through an RCIA program like the one I went through. It is my personal mission that that never happens to another soul, until the Lord comes again.?

Hillsdale and the Diocese of Lansing

One perennial powerhouse of conversions is Hillsdale College, a nondenominational Christian school in Hillsdale, Michigan, that has a large population of Catholics. (One recent survey done by students in an applied math class at the school found that 43% of the students are Catholics.) 

The Easter Vigil Mass at St. Anthony?s Church in Hillsdale this year began at 9 p.m. and ended at midnight, followed by a Greek feast for more than 500 people that lasted until 4 in the morning, said Deacon John Crowley, who heads the parish?s conversion program.

Along the way, 28 people joined the Catholic Church, 22 of them current students at Hillsdale College, plus one who is a recent graduate of the school. 

The total number of converts in the parish is up from 20 in 2023 for a 40% increase.

As for Hillsdale students: 1.4% of the college?s 1,563 undergraduates joined the Catholic Church on Saturday, March 30. 

St. Anthony?s contributed to an approximately 30% increase in converts in the Diocese of Lansing from 2023 ? about 620 this year, the highest number in more than a decade. 

?To each of those new Catholics I say, ?Welcome to the body of Christ. This is just the beginning of great things,?? said Bishop Earl Boyea in a video produced by the diocese. 

The video highlights the Campbell family ? dad Cody, mom Kirsten, daughters Ryleigh, Khloe, and Cadyn, and son Elijah ? who all joined the Catholic Church at St. Mary?s in Charlotte, Michigan.

Though raised Baptists, Cody and Kirsten were without a church when Cody on his own started studying the Protestant Reformation and then the Church Fathers, which made him interested in Catholicism. 

?You could say there was a raging storm taking place inside of me ? like, I had to know. There was something that was pushing me to know where the truth actually comes from,? Cody said. 

Kirsten listened. Then a communion service at a Protestant church came up short for her. 

?I just sat there and I realized, ?This, it?s not it,?? Kirsten said.

They talked afterward and found they were thinking the same thing. They called the local parish, and the OCIA director let them join the program, ?a little late,? Kirsten said. 

?After we talked, after that day, it?s been nothing but peace. Like, I feel at home,? said Cody, who took the confirmation name Robert Bellarmine after the Counter-Reformation Italian Jesuit cardinal and doctor of the Church. 

Conversions Way, Way Up

As of mid-April, about two-fifths of the dioceses in the United States had responded to the Register?s queries. Some don?t have data for this year yet. A handful reported numbers similar to last year?s or small decreases. 

As for increases, some observers caution that this-worldly factors may be at play. Some cite a backup from the coronavirus shutdowns of a few years ago. One diocese reported that the diocese?s marriage tribunal issued a large number of declarations of nullity recently, which allowed would-be converts in what the Church considers irregular marriage situations to have their marriages blessed by the Church, therefore also facilitating their entrance into the Church this past Easter.

Even so, the increases are widespread. 

A small diocese in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the Diocese of Marquette, saw a 70% jump (from 40 to 68 converts) from 2023 to 2024. Others seeing large increases include Grand Island, Nebraska (35%); Portland, Maine (35%); and Grand Rapids, Michigan (33%). 

Topping the charts so far is the Diocese of Des Moines, Iowa, which went from 181 to 339, an increase of 87%. The Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, saw an increase in converts of 53%: from 227 in 2023 to 347 in 2024. 

Among larger sees, in Texas, the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston saw an increase of 30%, from 1,820 in 2023 to 2,364 in 2024; and the Archdiocese of San Antonio went up 39% (from 1,285 to 1,789). 

In the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the total number of converts increased by about 4% (from 3,462 in 2023 to 3,596 in 2024). But the number of previously unbaptized catechumens receiving baptism in the Catholic Church increased 19%, from 1,743 to 2,075, the highest number in the archdiocese since 2016. 

The number of converts in the Archdiocese of New Orleans jumped 48% ? from 294 in 2023 to 436 in 2024.

In the Diocese of Knoxville, Tennessee, where the number of converts went from 278 at Easter 2023 to 388 at Easter 2024, a jump of almost 40%, the director of Christian formation, Deacon Jim Bello, credits a more flexible catechesis schedule, a spokesman said. 

?Formation is year-round, not just an RCIA ?season,? if you will,? said Jim Wogan, the diocese?s director of communications, by email. ?It seems to have been successful.? 

That?s also a point of emphasis in the Diocese of St. Augustine in northeast Florida, which saw an increase from 625 converts in 2023 to 838 in 2024, up 34%. 

Spanish-speaking families make up a big portion, said Erin McGeever, the diocese?s director of Christian formation. San Jose Parish in Jacksonville, for instance, brought 64 people to the Rite of Election during Lent 2024, a 36% increase from 47 in 2023. 

The Cathedral-Basilica of St. Augustine has seen steady growth, from 12 in 2022 to 18 in 2023 to 24 in 2024, she said. 

While she?s not sure why, exactly, she noted that the diocese has been emphasizing making the conversion program year-round.

The typical schedule mimics the school year, beginning around September and finishing in June, with the high point being the Easter Vigil. Sticking to that schedule can leave out people who show interest at some other point during the year.

She said that the cathedral parish has begun engaging with would-be converts right away. 

?So whenever people call, they put them into some programming, until they can get into the formal formation,? McGeever said. ?Maybe that?s the key: taking people where they?re at? and filling in the blanks with them.? 

In the Diocese of Little Rock, Arkansas, which saw an increase of 33% (from 515 in 2023 to 685 in 2024), the director of faith formation, Jeff Hines, said he?s not sure what to attribute it to, but he said it suggests a spiritual hunger in a society sharply divided. 

?You look at the state of the world, there?s a lot of reasons not to have hope today, particularly for young adults; so people are really looking for meaning and hope, which is exactly what the Church offers,? Hines said. 

?So it makes sense for this to happen,? he added. ?We should not be surprised. We should be faithful to being open to people who are searching.? 

Deep in the soul of Texas

St. Mary?s Catholic Center at Texas A&M is so busy it offers its conversion program year-round and brings people into the Church twice a year: a September-to-Easter track and a January-to-November track. 

The group that entered the program in January 2024 is among the biggest that program director Kevin Pesek has seen.

This past Easter, St. Mary?s had 51 students enter the Church (18 baptized, 33 who made a profession of faith). That followed a group of 34 converts in November 2023 (14 baptisms, 20 professions of faith).

?I?m seeing more and more people coming in with nothing ? no religious background,? Pesek said. ?It?s very interesting.? 

Non-Catholic students join the program because Catholic students invite them, Pesek said, along the lines of Jesus? words in John 1:39: ?Come and see.?

?I?m not the one bringing them in. It?s all through our students. They?re the ones bringing them to Mass, doing the evangelization, bringing them in the door,? Pesek said. ?I provide pizza the first night. That?s about as creative as I get.? 

In recent times, he has conducted an anonymous survey of new converts asking what drew them to the faith. He shared 57 of the responses, and they?re hard to characterize. Some cite the Eucharist, others the teaching authority of the Church, the papacy, unity, clarity, liturgy, community, the communion of saints, and strength to live a better life.

?The students who aren?t Catholic are hungry and are looking for something,? said Father Will Straten, the pastor of St. Mary?s. ?People are just looking for something that?s authentic and real. They?re looking for something that?s grounded and seems to make sense.?

One of the Easter 2024 converts is Kirsten Ruby, 23, who is finishing a master?s degree in accounting at Texas A&M after spending four years there as an undergraduate. She began seriously considering the Catholic faith during the summer of 2023 through the intervention of a friend. 

As a kid, she went to Protestant churches (mostly Baptist) sporadically, but was never baptized. The main draw of RCIA for her was a chance to learn more about Jesus: ?I saw it as a way of making up for never going to Sunday school as a kid,? she said. 

Once in the program, she engaged with the Church?s history and theology, aided by apologetics books by Catholic authors, including Richard Gaillardetz?s ?By What Authority??

She said she found the catechesis program at St. Mary?s helpful and particularly her sponsor, a current senior. 

Asking questions helped bring Ruby to the faith, and that continues now that she has joined the Church. 

?A big thing that keeps me close to God is questions, forever getting to know him,? Ruby said. ?He?s an eternal spouse. You wouldn?t just marry your husband and run away with the ring. You?d want to stay and get to know him better.?

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA?s sister news partner, and is reprinted here on CNA with permission.

Katie Chihoski, a student at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, eats with her baby, Lucia, on her lap in the company of fellow students. Chihoski is among the first students to benefit from a new initiative at the Catholic college called the Saint Teresa of Calcutta Community for Mothers, which provides free babysitting and other material support for young mothers on campus. / Credit: Fabrizio Alberdi, EWTN News in Depth

CNA Staff, Apr 24, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

A young mother will be the first to graduate from a Catholic school in North Dakota with the support of the school?s program that provides young student-mothers with child care, housing, and community. Katie Chihoski plans to walk across the stage to obtain her diploma with her 18-month-old daughter, Lucia, by her side. 

In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court?s decision in 2022 to overturn Roe v. Wade, supporting women with unplanned pregnancies has become an even greater priority for many groups and organizations. Planned Parenthood?s latest report reveals that the abortion giant performed its highest-ever number of abortions the year Roe v. Wade was overturned, numbering almost 400,000 abortions between Oct. 1, 2021, and Sept. 30, 2022. 

With the help of concerned donors, University of Mary, a Catholic liberal arts college in Bismarck, North Dakota, launched the Saint Teresa of Calcutta Community for Mothers in 2023. Known as ?St. Teresa?s,? the program pledges to help single mothers by providing room, board, and child care ? as well semesterly retreats and frequent ?community nights.? 

The whole campus has stepped in to help, with students volunteering to help with child care and professors welcoming kids in class, while residence directors who live on campus ? and are often recently married with young children ? offer community and support to the St. Teresa?s moms. 

A gift to campus: St. Teresa?s Community for Mothers 

?Katie and Lucia are beloved on campus,? said Vice President for Student Development Reed Ruggles, who oversees University of Mary?s program for mothers. 

Because of the program, Ruggles said that he, staff, and students on campus have been able to ?see some of these children grow up.?

?Lucia, for example, was very little when she moved in with her mother, Katie,? he said. ?To see her take her first steps, say her first words, and grow from carrier to highchair in our Crow?s Nest Restaurant on campus has been a gift to all of us.? 

Ruggles observed that Chihoski?s friends treat Lucia and Katie as ?one of their own? and said they are ?integral members of our campus.?

?Faculty and staff who know Katie are so supportive of her,? he continued. ?From volunteering to babysit Lucia to holding Lucia during a meeting or Mass, we consider it a great joy to have Lucia and Katie on campus.?

Noting that the program is only in its third semester, Ruggles said that he is ?excited? to celebrate ?our first graduate.?

Chihoski hopes to walk across the stage with Lucia, who will be wearing a toddler-sized cap and gown on graduation day. 

?I think she will walk across the stage with me, if I can figure out the logistics,? she said. ?I would love to make that a tradition for future graduating mothers.?

Chihoski said that although she had some worries about attending school with a young daughter, Lucia has made things ?twice as fun.?

?Coming to school, I expected to be seen as different, and somewhat outcast from the typical college life,? she explained. ?I think it was difficult to get used to my tag-along when going to events on campus, but Lucia makes the world twice as much fun.? 

?Attending school with my daughter, Lucia, has been the most amazing thing to witness,? she said. ?Children bring out the joy in people and offer a fuller sense of purpose.?

?Our students hear all the time about how they can give their life away in love,? Ruggles added. ?This community shows students what that can look like from a practical perspective and gives students an opportunity to practice that by giving their time and love to these mothers and their children.?

?It has been wonderful having the community of mothers on campus,? Ruggles said. ?We have students from as far away as Texas and Colorado and from right here in North Dakota. Supporting these mothers is truly a gift to us.?

Chihoski?s happily ever after

Chihoski was a sophomore studying abroad in Rome when she discovered she was pregnant. 

St. Teresa?s hadn?t begun at the time, but Chihoski said that her UMary classmates were supportive of her: checking in on her, encouraging her to stay at UMary, and helping her move back in. 

?It was the best day of the whole semester!? she said, recalling the day she announced her pregnancy to ?the whole cohort? of study abroad students. 

While pregnant with Lucia, Chihoski took online classes for a semester from her home in Golden, Colorado. She moved back to UMary junior year and stayed with a residence director until St. Teresa?s opened the next semester.

At St. Teresa?s, each mom has two rooms, one for her child and one for her, Chihoski explained. Mothers in the community are assigned a semester chore to focus on and babysit at least once a week. The moms go to fun events or eat dinner together, Chihoski said. Students volunteer to babysit so the moms can go to class and other campus events.

?I have seen [the student babysitters] make time for the kids and even bring them to classes if we are short on babysitters one week,? Chihoski said. ?They come into our community willing to help in whatever way they can, and they do it so cheerfully!?

?One thing that has made the biggest difference for me returning to college was the mothers in the Bismarck community and residence directors [RDs] on campus,? she said. ?Some of the RDs are mothers, and they are beautiful witnesses to living the role of a Catholic wife and mother well.?

Because of this, Lucia has several playmates her age. She?s also very popular on campus.

?Since Lucia was 4 months old, she was going to sports games, campus events, and meeting people,? Chihoski explained. ?Because of that, she is the most social baby you will ever meet!?

Chihoski is now engaged and will marry her fiance, Josh, in October. They will move to his home state of Minnesota after graduation. Chihoski hopes to work in a school using her social work degree.

She and Josh began dating later on in her time at UMary. 

?I always say that Josh fell in love with Lucia before he fell in love with me, which I had always desired for my future since having Lucia,? she said. 

When asked what she would say to someone who found themselves unexpectedly pregnant, Chihoski encouraged moms to ?not isolate yourself from your community.?

?Whether you?re living by yourself, with family, or are going to school, there is a community out there waiting to help,? she said. ?You just have to ask.?

Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, and Rev. Mother Teresa Agnes Gerlach of the Most Holy Trinity Monastery in Arlington, Texas. / Credit: Diocese of Fort Worth; Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity Discalced Carmelite Nuns

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 23, 2024 / 18:15 pm (CNA).

In direct defiance of a Vatican decree, a Texas monastery of cloistered nuns is asking a judge to grant a restraining order against the parties the Vatican has tasked with overseeing the monastery ? an association of Carmelite monasteries and Diocese of Fort Worth Bishop Michael Olson.

The request, filed by the Monastery of the Most Holy Trinity in Arlington on Monday, came just days after the Vatican issued a decree concerning the governance of the monastery. That decree entrusted the monastery to the Association of Christ the King in the United States ? an association of Carmelite monasteries ? and named its president, Mother Marie, as the lawful superior of the monastery. 

The decree also ordered the monastery to regularize its relationship with the bishop, with whom the nuns have feuded over the past year.

If the District Court of Tarrant County grants the monastery?s request, it would prevent Olson, Mother Marie, and any representatives of the diocese or the association from entering the premises. 

Before filing for the restraining order, the nuns indicated their intent to defy the Vatican?s decree, labeling it ?a hostile takeover that we cannot in conscience accept? and warned Mother Marie and the association that they are not welcome there.

The dispute between the diocese and the monastery began in April of last year when Olson launched an investigation into the former prioress, the Reverend Mother Superior Teresa Agnes Gerlach, over alleged sexual misconduct with a priest. The prioress, who was dismissed from the religious state by the bishop, admitted to sexual conduct occurring through the phone and through video chats, but later recanted her confession and claimed she was medically unfit and recovering from an operation when it was given.

The situation escalated when the monastery filed a lawsuit against the bishop, accusing him of illegally seizing property from the nuns during his investigation. The claim was later dismissed by a judge. The Vatican originally granted the bishop the role of pontifical commissary over the monastery, which gave him temporary governing authority over the nuns, but the monastery never recognized that authority.

Michael Anderson, a lawyer representing the diocese, said in a statement provided to CNA that the monastery?s argument in its request for a restraining order ?is basically a rehash of the lawsuit filed last year,? which was dismissed by a judge. He said the only new part of this filing is the addition of the Carmelite association.

?The Arlington nuns? decision to file suit on this basis is squarely at odds with an affidavit filed in the first lawsuit, wherein Ms. Gerlach testified that the [monastery] only answers ?directly to the pope,?? Anderson said. ?Apparently this no longer applies since the catalyst for this new lawsuit was a decision by the Holy See.?

What the monastery is arguing

The restraining order makes legal arguments against the bishop and the association and includes an affidavit signed by Gerlach ? whom the Vatican no longer recognizes as the monastery?s legitimate superior.

In its request for a restraining order, the monastery states that Olson attempted to take over ?full governing powers? and ?full governing responsibility? of the monastery. It said that now the Association of Christ the King in the United States is seeking to take over management of the monastery ?under the guise of some religious backdoor.?

Although the bishop?s authority was recognized by the Vatican and the association?s authority was decreed by the Vatican, the monastery states that it is a legal nonprofit corporation that is protected under ?laws of the State of Texas.? It states that neither the bishop nor the association has any legal authority to govern the monastery, according to state law. 

The monastery asserts that both the bishop and the association are ?trying to utilize a religious back door to usurp the laws of the State of Texas to take over the management and assets of the [monastery].?

In an affidavit, Gerlach states that if the nuns lose their ability to govern the monastery, ?it would allow the defendants to remove us from our home, as they already have threatened to do.? 

?The level of emotional trauma and infliction of psychological distress this whole episode has caused me personally and the sisters is incomprehensible,? she said. ?We have never faced such moral violence and adversity. These actions are affecting my emotional and physical well-being as well as that of our sisters. I pray they be stopped.?

A spokesperson for the diocese told CNA that the monastery ?is not owned by the diocese and the diocese has no interest in owning the property.?

The Vatican has not yet issued any orders in response to the monastery?s most recent defiance of its decrees.

President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign stop at Hillsborough Community College?s Dale Mabry campus on April 23, 2024, in Tampa, Florida. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 23, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

President Joe Biden on Tuesday called for a national right to abortion during a campaign speech in Tampa, Florida, in which he blamed the overturning of Roe v. Wade on former President Donald Trump. 

Speaking to a crowd of supporters at Hillsborough Community College, Biden, a Catholic, called the overturn of Roe v. Wade ?a political deal? made by Trump with ?the evangelical base of the Republican Party to look past his moral and character flaws.? 

He criticized Republicans as ?extreme? for passing laws to protect unborn life, particularly singling out a Florida six-week abortion limit set to go into effect on May 1 as ?bizarre.? 

?Let?s be clear, there is one person who is responsible for this nightmare, and he?s acknowledged and he brags about it, Donald Trump,? Biden said. 

?Trump is literally taking us back 150 years,? he went on, adding that Trump is responsible for efforts to limit abortion as well as in vitro fertilization and the chemical abortion drug mifepristone. 

Though Trump recently said he would not sign a national abortion ban into law, Biden accused Trump of currently secretly working with Republicans in Congress to pass a federal abortion limit. 

?Now women in America have fewer rights than their mothers and their grandmothers had, because of Donald Trump,? he said. ?It was Donald Trump who ripped away the rights of women in America. It will be all of us who will restore those rights for women.? 

Urging people to vote this November, he pledged to enshrine a national right to abortion. 

?We?ll teach Donald Trump and the extreme MAGA Republicans a valuable lesson: Don?t mess with the women of America,? he said. ?Elect a Democratic Congress and Kamala and I will make Roe v. Wade the law of the land again.? 

Biden also praised a pro-abortion amendment that will be on the Florida ballot in November and could enshrine a right to abortion into the state constitution. 

If passed, the amendment would change the Florida Constitution to include a provision reading: ?No law shall prohibit, penalize, delay, or restrict abortion before viability or when necessary to protect the patient?s health, as determined by the patient?s health care provider.?

Biden endorsed the effort to add the abortion amendment to the state constitution, saying: ?Let?s get this done.? 

?Since the [Supreme] Court said that states should make the decision, states all over the country from Ohio, Kansas, Michigan, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Virginia, women and men of every background voted in record numbers to protect reproductive freedom,? Biden said. ?This November, you can add Florida to that list. You can. Are you ready to do that? You?ve got to show up and vote.? 

Trump campaign responds

Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee, responded to Biden?s speech by telling CNA that the incumbent president?s ?radical abortion agenda ? refusing to support any limits and allowing abortion up to the moment of birth ? is wildly out of touch with most Americans.?

?But that will not stop him from pitching it to Florida voters,? he went on. ?Biden must have forgotten that thousands of Americans have fled from extremist Democrat policies to prosperous and pro-life states like Florida.? 

Karoline Leavitt, national press secretary for the Trump campaign, told CNA that though Biden ?may be a self-proclaimed Catholic, or a ?cafeteria Catholic? as he was recently described by the Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C.,? his actions ?prove he does not deserve the vote of Catholic Americans.? 

?Biden supports abortion up until birth, his Department of Justice targets and imprisons pro-life activists, and Biden?s FBI plotted to infiltrate Catholic Masses to spy on attendees,? she said. ?President Trump will end Biden?s discrimination against all Christians and stand for religious freedom, as he did in his first term.? 

Floridians weigh in

In response to Biden?s speech, Lynda Bell, president of Florida Right to Life, told CNA that she was ?not surprised but disgusted.? 

Bell called the Florida abortion amendment touted by Biden ?radical,? stating: ?Biden doesn?t care about women, Biden doesn?t care about girls, Biden doesn?t care about safety, Biden cares about votes. If he thinks sacrificing babies through birth will get him a vote, then he?ll do it. The man has zero principles.? 

A group of pro-life Floridians from Turning Point USA also held a ?rally for life? outside the building where Biden gave his speech.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis also criticized Biden for making a trip to Florida to advocate for abortion and said his efforts to win Florida would be in vain. 

?He?s coming down to try to support a constitutional amendment that will mandate abortion up until the moment of birth, that will eliminate parental consent for minors, and that?s written in a way that is intentionally designed to deceive voters,? DeSantis said. ?So, all I can tell you is Floridians are not buying what Joe Biden is selling and in November we?re going to play an instrumental role in sending him back to Delaware where he belongs.? 

Democrats place hopes on abortion

Vice President Kamala Harris also hit the campaign trail this week advocating for a national right to abortion. 

At a stop on her ?Reproductive Freedoms? tour in La Crosse, Wisconsin, on Monday, Harris slammed Trump as the orchestrator of the overturning of Roe v. Wade and urged supporters to send ?Joe and me to the White House.? 

John White, a professor of politics at The Catholic University of America, told CNA that though he believes pro-abortion voters will turn out to the polls in large numbers, he does not think they will be able to win the state.

?Abortion is a motivating factor in this year?s election,? White said. ?If the past is prologue, it is an issue that helps Democrats, he added.

However, White noted that in recent years the Sunshine State has ?moved rather decidedly toward the Republicans.?

?The abortion amendment on the ballot does make the state more competitive and Republicans may have to spend more money defending their candidates than they counted on doing,? he concluded.

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey walks across the campus of St. John's Prep in Danvers, Massachusetts, on April 9, 2024. / Credit: Screenshot of St. John's Prep Facebook page last visited April 19, 2024

Boston, Mass., Apr 23, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

Pro-lifers in the Archdiocese of Boston are criticizing Cardinal Seán O?Malley over two recent appearances at Catholic education events by the pro-abortion governor of Massachusetts.

Earlier this month, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, a Democrat who supports legal and publicly funded abortion and who has taken steps to make abortions easier to obtain, spoke at a fundraiser for The Catholic Schools Foundation, which raises money for Catholic schools in the archdiocese and helps poor students attend.

O?Malley, the archbishop of Boston, is the chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation, though he was in Rome at the time of the gala and did not attend it.

Healey also recently visited a Catholic school north of Boston, speaking to students and answering questions.

C.J. Doyle, executive director of the Catholic Action League of Massachusetts, called Healey?s appearances ?a grave scandal.? 

?Cardinal O?Malley should be ashamed of himself. Is Maura Healey an inspiring role model for Catholic students?? Doyle said.

Thomas Harvey, chairman of the Massachusetts Alliance to Stop Taxpayer Funded Abortions, called including Healey at the Catholic events ?really disgraceful,? and he placed the blame on O?Malley.

?Maura Healey is a huge proponent of killing babies in the womb, in direct defiance of Catholic teaching, and yet here she is being presented to impressionable Catholic students as if she were a Catholic role model,? Harvey told the Register by text. ?And the clear message being sent to Catholic students here is that killing babies in the womb is just not that big a deal.?

In June 2004, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops approved a document called ?Catholics in Public Life,? which states: ?The Catholic community and Catholic institutions should not honor those who act in defiance of our fundamental moral principles. They should not be given awards, honors, or platforms which would suggest support for their actions.?

Terrence Donilon, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Boston, pointed out that Healey was not an honoree at the gala or during her earlier appearance at the Catholic school.

Since Healey is the governor of the state, Donilon said, Cardinal O?Malley has worked with her ?on a number of issues important to Catholics and the wider community,? including public funding for the archdiocese?s charitable work providing ?basic needs assistance, job training, child care services, and immigration and refugee assistance to thousands of residents,? as well as building ?badly needed affordable housing? and trying ?to stem gun violence.? 

?At the same time, the cardinal has been a leader in the pro-life movement for over 50 years and his commitment in being a staunch promoter of life is well known and unwavering,? Donilon said.

O?Malley, 79, a Capuchin Franciscan, has frequently attended the March for Life in Washington, D.C., and has spoken at pro-life rallies. Last week, The Boston Globe published a column by O?Malley urging state legislators to oppose a bill that would legalize physician-assisted suicide.

But critics such as Doyle claim that O?Malley during his time as archbishop has seemed to mix easily and uncritically with abortion-supporting Catholic politicians, including the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy (whose funeral Mass he celebrated), the late Boston mayor Thomas Menino, former Boston mayor Marty Walsh, and the current governor, Healey, with whom he co-authored a column in The Boston Globe in September 2017 on immigration.

Donilon, O?Malley?s spokesman, addressing Healey?s participation in The Catholic Schools Foundation gala last week, said that ?the governor has been a vocal supporter of Catholic education. ? Our Catholic schools save cities and towns hundreds of millions of dollars in education costs. Our families benefit from an outstanding education based in an excellent faith-based environment.? 

Who is Maura Healey?

Healey, 53, was elected Massachusetts attorney general in 2014 with an endorsement from Planned Parenthood Advocacy Fund. She served two terms as attorney general before being elected governor of Massachusetts in November 2022. 

As an elected official, Healey has frequently supported public policies that clash with Catholic teachings on life and sexuality.

She has verbally attacked pro-life pregnancy centers, steered state government money to private abortion funds, and, in April 2023, quietly arranged for the flagship campus of the state-run University of Massachusetts to purchase 15,000 doses of abortion pills.

Healey?s administration in June 2023 successfully proposed a curriculum framework for public schools that calls for teaching between third and fifth grades ?the differences between biological sex and gender identity? and ?how one?s outward behavior and appearance does not define one?s gender identity or sexual orientation.?

Healey also supports same-sex marriage. In February, she nominated her former same-sex partner for a seat on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, which is the state?s highest court. She is currently living with a woman.

Two appearances

Healey appeared Thursday, April 11, at the annual gala of The Catholic Schools Foundation at a hotel in Boston.

?So I didn?t have the benefit of going to Catholic school,? Healey said, according to a text of her remarks provided by a spokesman. ?My mom went to Catholic school, and my nephew goes to Catholic school; we have priest[s] at the dinner table every Sunday. But I do know, both having been your attorney general and now as your governor, what your work means. And I can see that experience firsthand.? 

She also said she wants to find ways ?to partner? with the foundation ?in the important work that you [are] doing.? 

?And I want you to know that, as governor, I value our vibrant mix of education, our public schools, our private schools, and our religious schools,? Healey said. 

Two days earlier, on Tuesday, April 9, Healey spent about 50 minutes with a group of 120 students at St. John?s Preparatory High School, a Catholic boys? school founded by the Xaverian Brothers in Danvers, about 18 miles northeast of Boston, according to a description of the visit published on the school?s website. The school is in the Archdiocese of Boston, though it is not run by the archdiocese. 

Healey had never visited the school before, ?but it was quickly clear her personal values are closely aligned with those of the Xaverian Brothers,? the school?s write-up states. 

Healey emphasized leadership and empathy during her remarks. The governor also told the students that while she believes in civil discourse, ?there are some basic values that have kept our society intact,? and she told students they should ?call out hate when you see it.?

?We can have differences of opinion on things,? Healey said, according to the school?s write-up, ?but, to me, equality has got to abide. Respect for the dignity and worth of each person is something I call on people to really adhere to.?

Robert Joyce, a lawyer and member of the board of the Pro-Life Legal Defense Fund, which provides legal representation for pro-lifers, said that St. John?s Prep last fall turned down an offer he made to provide a pro-life assembly for students featuring a canon lawyer, a physician, and a vocations director. (The head of school, Edward Hardiman, did not respond to requests for comment by deadline.)

Joyce called Healey?s recent appearances at the gala and at the school ?abominations for Catholic education.?

?They send the clear message to Catholic students and parents that critical, fundamental precepts of the Catholic faith are not all that important. In simple terms, they declare that protection of innocent unborn life and the defense of traditional marriage are negotiable with these Catholic educators,? Joyce indicated.

Healey is also a featured speaker at the annual Spring Celebration of Catholic Charities Boston scheduled for Wednesday, May 29, at the Boston Harbor Hotel in Boston. O?Malley is expected to receive an award at the event for his work in welcoming immigrants.

Healey and the Catholic Church 

Healey does not often talk about religion in public, but she occasionally identifies herself as a Catholic.

In October 2018, when she was state attorney general, she led off a brief column in The Boston Globe with the words: ?As a member of law enforcement and as a Catholic ?? 

In April 2022, when Healey criticized Bishop Robert McManus of Worcester for calling for a Catholic school to take down a rainbow flag, she added, according to MassLive.com: ?And I speak as a Catholic ?? 

In October 2022, during a debate while she was running for governor, Healey used a Catholic reference while defending herself from a claim by her Republican opponent that a bill she had supported effectively legalized infanticide, as the National Catholic Register subsequently reported. ?You know, my mom goes to Mass every morning,? Healey said.

Healey is widely thought of as a potential candidate for other offices. She would be an obvious Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Massachusetts if either of the two incumbents (both in their 70s) leaves office.

Additionally, just hours before her appearance at The Catholic Schools Foundation gala, Healey participated in an event at Northeastern University in Boston honoring former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee Michael Dukakis. The moderator floated Healey as a potential future candidate for president of the United States, to applause from the audience.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA?s sister news partner, and is reprinted here on CNA with permission.

The Vatican ambassador to Colombo, Archbishop Brian Udaigwe (third from left) and Sri Lanka's Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith (fourth from left) take part in a remembrance service during the fifth anniversary of the Easter Sunday suicide attacks at St. Anthony Church in Colombo on April 21, 2024. / Credit: ISHARA S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty Images

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 16:05 pm (CNA).

More than 50,000 Catholics have asked the Church in Sri Lanka to recognize as martyrs the 171 victims of the 2019 Easter massacre in the island nation.

On April 21, 2019, Easter Sunday, eight suicide bombers attacked two Catholic churches, a Protestant church, and three luxury hotels, killing 269 people and leaving more than 500 injured.

Of the victims, 171 were Catholic faithful who were attending Mass at St. Sebastian and St. Anthony Churches in Colombo, the capital of the Asian country.

Five years after the tragedy, on Sunday, April 21, the local Church announced that it will begin the procedures to recognize the martyrdom of the 171 Catholics, who were remembered with various initiatives, including a petition with more than 50,000 signatures that was presented to the archbishop of Colombo, Cardinal Albert Malcolm Ranjith.

The Archdiocese of Colombo will now send an official request to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to proceed with the opening of the diocesan phase of the beatification cause.

?The collection of signatures and raising awareness among the faithful has been underway since the beginning of Lent. Among the people there is full awareness of the gift of faith of those innocent people, murdered in the church while celebrating the resurrection of Christ,? Father Jude Chrysantha Fernando, director of the archdiocese?s communications office, told the Vatican news agency Fides from Colombo.

The priest said that on Sunday ?there was a large participation of the faithful in the celebrations: in the morning memorial Masses were held in all churches and a special ceremony was held in the presence of Cardinal Ranjith at St. Anthony Church in Colombo? as well as with other religious leaders and civil authorities.

In Colombo thousands of people observed ?a solemn two-minute moment of silence, which was also observed in churches across the country, to honor and remember those who lost their lives? on Easter 2019.

?It was a moment of great spiritual intensity for the Catholic community of Sri Lanka: The memory of these ?heroes of the faith? is alive and a source of inspiration for many,? Fernando told Fides.

In the Mass held at St. Anthony Church, Ranjith noted that the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka has been asking for justice for five years and demanding that an international and independent investigation into the 2019 attacks be carried out.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Archbishop Luis Argüello and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. / Credit: Archdiocese of Valladolid; La Moncloa

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

The Spanish government approved today in the Council of Ministers a plan to implement recommendations made in a report on sexual abuse within the Catholic Church. 

While recognizing some good points in the plan, the Spanish Bishops? Conference (known by its Spanish acronym CEE) issued a statement strongly objecting to what it called unfair treatment and discrimination against the Church by the government.

Before giving details of the government?s plan, the minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Legislature, Félix Bolaños, extrapolating data from a survey commissioned by the People?s Ombudsman, estimated that in Spain there are about 440,000 adults who were victims of sexual abuse as minors, representing 1.13% of the adult population in Spain.

?Around half of these abuses would have been committed by [male] religious of the Catholic Church,? Bolaños claimed.

The bishops, however, noted that ?reparation measures cannot be proposed that, following the ombudsman?s report, would leave out nine out of 10 victims.?

Consequently, ?the Church cannot accept a plan that discriminates against the majority of victims of sexual abuse,? the bishops emphasized.

Furthermore, the prelates pointed out that ?the text presented is part of a condemnatory judgment of the entire Church, carried out without any type of legal guarantee, a public and discriminatory targeting by the state.?

The CEE stressed that ?by focusing only on the Catholic Church, it addresses only part of the problem. It?s a biased analysis and covers up a social problem of enormous dimensions.?

For the bishops, the changes in the law provided for in the government?s plan ?question the principle of equality and universality that any process that affects fundamental rights must have.?

The plan, which will be in effect until 2027, is structured around five key points: 1) recognize and make reparation, 2) care for victims, 3) prevent, 4) train and raise awareness, and 5) report and investigate the first point.

In addition, the government announced it will organize a public event with the victims of sexual abuse committed within the Catholic Church intended to be a type of ?symbolic reparation,? and mechanisms also will be established for material reparation ?that it is adequate and that it is sufficient in financial terms.?

During his appearance, Bolaños said that the government?s idea ?is to do it in collaboration, hand in hand with the Catholic Church.? Last Friday, he held a meeting with the recently elected president of the Spanish Bishops? Conference, Archbishop Luis Argüello of Valladolid.

At that meeting, according to the statement from the Spanish bishops, ?the CEE already gave Minister Bolaños its critical assessment of this plan that only focuses on the Catholic Church,? although it expressed its willingness to collaborate ?in the areas of its responsibility and competence, but always to the extent that it addresses the problem as a whole.?

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Over a year after the earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey in February 2023, restoration of Aleppo's Church of St. George has been completed. / Credit: Abdul Kareem Daniel

Aleppo, Syria, Apr 23, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

This year?s feast of St. George was a particularly joyful one in the Syrian city of Aleppo, especially for the Melkite Greek Catholic community.

The church is reopening its doors after undergoing restoration due to damage from a February 2023 earthquake. Additionally, Archbishop George Masri of the Melkite Archdiocese of Aleppo and its environs will celebrate his golden jubilee.

The celebrations took place during the visit of Patriarch Joseph Absi, the current patriarch of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church, who presided over the Divine Liturgy in the restored church on the evening of April 23. The evening before, there was a procession along Holy Bible Street followed by vespers.

In an exclusive interview with ACI Mena, CNA?s Arabic-language news partner, Father Fadi Najjar, principal of Providence Private School, which is adjacent to and belongs to the church, explained that last year?s earthquake caused cracks in the church walls on both the right and left sides, allowing rainwater to leak inside. The exterior facade was also shattered, with falling stones damaging the stairs.

?The first step was removing the loose stones from above to protect people, especially since the church hall had sheltered the displaced for over a month, providing meals,? Najjar explained. ?The restoration then began, taking about a year under Archbishop Masri?s direct supervision. The cracks were sealed, the exterior facade restored, the interior repainted, the stone polished, and new stairs built.?

Regarding Providence School, Najjar said that classroom walls had also cracked while sanitation systems were damaged. ?We didn?t just restore the school. Rather, we began a complete renovation, taking advantage of the summer vacation. In five months, the building rose beautifully from the ashes,? he explained.

?New classrooms are being opened, the language lab revived, bathrooms added, as well as a TV/cinema hall, playroom, and aerobics studio. About 150 seats will be restored, walls repainted, floors polished, and stonework whitened ? all thanks to funding from the Salla charity. Aid to the Church in Need covered the church?s restoration costs,? he added.

Najjar revealed that Masri strongly supported the school?s renovation, expressing deep appreciation for the contractor, engineer Joseph Nono, who was entrusted with both the church and school projects.

Notably, Absi?s Aleppo visit included stops at the Dar Al-Nahda Music Institute under artist Shady Najjar?s direction and a dinner for men and women named after St. George born between 1960 and 1980. He has also planned a tour of Aleppo?s Old Square.

This article was originally published in ACI Mena, CNA's Arabic-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

The Augustine Institute's new facilities in Florissant, Missouri. / Credit: Boeing Company and Augustine Institute

CNA Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

The Augustine Institute, a Catholic educational and evangelization apostolate based in Denver for nearly two decades, announced on Tuesday that it will be moving its operations to a new campus in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. 

The institute, founded in 2005 as a Catholic graduate theology school, currently has an enrollment of 550 students. It says on its website that it exists to serve ?the formation of Catholics for the new evangelization? by ?equip[ping] Catholics intellectually, spiritually, and pastorally to renew the Church and transform the world for Christ.?

The organization announced on Tuesday that it had purchased the former Boeing Leadership Center in Florissant, Missouri, just outside of downtown St. Louis. The school will ?begin transitioning its operations over the next few years,? it said in a press release. 

The nearly 300-acre property ?offers an unprecedented opportunity to expand our Graduate School of Theology and further our mission to help Catholics understand, live, and share their faith,? institute President Tim Gray said in a Tuesday press release. 

The Boeing facility, a former retreat center that went on sale in March, offers ?state-of-the-art facilities? for the group?s Catholic mission, Gray said. 

The president told CNA this week that the Augustine Institute ?wasn?t even in a search mode? when they learned of the facility.

?Some of the leadership at the Archdiocese of St. Louis told us about this property when it became available,? he said. 

The property was on the market for nearly a year before the institute began exploring it. ?A couple of different buyers tied it up, but those deals fell through,? he said. ?We found out about it toward the end of November, and it wasn?t until December that we started looking into it.?

Gray himself visited the campus in January; within several weeks the institute had purchased the property. 

?My head?s still spinning,? he said. ?Just a few months ago this was not even on our radar.?

?We have a big vision for this property?

Archbishop of Denver Samuel Aquila said in the institute?s press release this week that the discovery of the property was ?providential? for the organization. 

?It will allow the institute the opportunity to remain faithful to its mission while continuing to grow,? the prelate said, calling the purchase ?the realization of a long-standing hope for a campus environment for students, faculty, and expanded theology programs.?

In addition to its graduate school, the Augustine Institute offers sacramental preparation resources, a Bible study app, an apologetics course for high school seniors, and other instructional and catechetical materials. 

Much of that material is in digital format. Gray said this week that the new property will allow the Augustine Institute to expand from digital into ?a national center for Catholic conferences, retreats, evangelization, and fellowship.?

The institute had largely outgrown its facilities in Denver, he told CNA. 

?We?ve been growing here and we?ve filled up our building,? he said. ?We love Denver, it?s been great for us. But we didn?t have student housing. Housing is very expensive in Denver and it?s hard to recruit people to move out here. Those were challenges we were facing.?

The organization had to work quickly to raise enough funds to realize the sale, he said. 

?We had to raise a lot of money in just a few months so we could purchase this campus in cash,? he said. ?We also had to raise enough money to have a reserve fund for the operations of such a large campus.? The institute amassed $50 million over the course of several months, he said.

The Augustine Institute is expecting to hold its 2024-2025 graduate school year at the new property starting in September. 

Mitchell Rozanski, the archbishop of St. Louis, said in the press release that the facility could become ?the premier center for the new evangelization in the United States.?

The institute ?can foster a new era of collaboration with Catholic organizations nationwide,? the archbishop said, ?and invite more people to encounter Jesus Christ and his Church.?

Brooklyn Bishop Robert Brennan leads a Eucharistic procession inside a packed Louis Armstrong Stadium in Brooklyn, New York, on April 20, 2024. / Credit: Jeffrey Bruno

National Catholic Register, Apr 23, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

I?d never ridden the subway with a bishop before.

But then again, how many of us have? 

Bishop Robert Brennan from the Diocese of Brooklyn is not your typical bishop ? and I mean that with the utmost respect for the men who hold the office. Each is unique, endowed with their own personalities, charisms, and abilities. So perhaps don?t go telling your bishop he needs to start riding mass transit just yet.

He?s striking in the way he carries himself: You can sense a deep spirituality and humility within him. He?s genuinely kind and attentive ? a true pastor.

If there were a contest for ?Most Likely to Ride the Subway With His Flock,? I believe Brennan would win hands down.

I first met him in 2021, upon his eventful reassignment to Brooklyn. He had barely settled into the Diocese of Columbus, Ohio, in 2019 ? where the paint in his office was probably still drying ? only to be moved, much to the sorrow of the Columbus flock.

On the bright side, he?s a Mets fan. Though their recent performance hasn?t been much of a consolation, maybe his prayers will give them a boost.

So, early on Saturday morning, in anticipation of the Eucharistic Revival at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Flushing Meadows, he boarded the 7 train with members of his flock in tow. With each stop, more of the faithful joined, filling the carriages.

And they did exactly what you would expect a group of Catholics on a subway to do: They sang, they chanted, ?Viva Cristo Rey!? and they laughed with a joy so palpable it electrified the air.

By the time we rolled into Mets-Willets Point Station, it felt like a rolling celebration.

That would have been enough to fill our hearts, but it was just the warmup.

The day unfolded with thousands traversing the borough to join a daylong celebration of the diocese?s Eucharistic Revival.

I could speak volumes about the day, but there was one moment ? a moment that shook me to the core.

It was during the Eucharistic procession, a winding path around the stadium?s exterior, mostly out of sight ? until the point of entrance.

As Brennan, carrying Christ, became visible to the gathered crowd, applause erupted ? not just any applause, but one of overwhelming joy.

It was the kind of spontaneous outpouring that occurs when words fall short and emotions soar.

They were applauding for Christ.

The sound wrapped around the stadium, penetrating hearts and souls, as evidenced by the smiling, tear-streaked faces turning toward him.

I?ll leave it at this: Something breathtaking happened in Queens that Saturday.

And in mid-July, that same breathtaking event will unfold at the heart of the United States.

In three weeks, the Catholic faithful will kick off four historic and unprecedented pilgrimages, each originating from one of the four compass points of our great land.

Together, they will travel more than 6,500 miles with more than 100,000 participants converging on the 10th Eucharistic Congress in Indianapolis from July 17-21 ? the first congress in 83 years.

Proclaiming Christ the King, the giver of all gifts, fully present in the Blessed Sacrament to the entire world.

What a beautiful time to be alive.

What an incredible gift to have faith.

What a breathtaking reality to know and love Jesus Christ.

But all of that pales in comparison to the truth that we are known and loved by him.

Praise God.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA?s sister news partner, and is reprinted here on CNA with permission.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. / Credit: Shutterstock

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 23, 2024 / 11:45 am (CNA).

Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is embracing a ?massive subsidized day care initiative? to reduce abortions in the United States without restricting legal access to the procedure.

In a new webpage recently added to Kennedy campaign?s website, the candidate unveiled a policy platform the campaign is calling ?More Choices, More Life.? 

The candidate?s plan is to redirect money that is currently used to support military aid to Ukraine and put it toward federal funding for day care to help families in poverty. Last week the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation to provide $61 billion to Ukraine, with the government having already provided more than $110 billion in aid since Russia invaded the country. 

The campaign promises that a Kennedy presidency would ?safeguard women?s reproductive rights.?

Kennedy, who is the son of former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the nephew of former President John F. Kennedy, first launched his presidential bid in the Democratic primary in April 2023. In October he switched his party registration and declared he would run as an independent.

?This policy will dramatically reduce abortion in this country, and it will do so by offering more choices for women and families, not less,? the webpage states.

?A lot of women, when they get pregnant, feel they can?t afford to have a baby,? the campaign says. ?There isn?t a lot of support to raise a child in this society. You can?t call yourself pro-life if you are concerned only with life before birth. What about after birth? We have to make our society as welcoming as possible to children and to motherhood.?

Per the proposal, the federal government would fund 100% of day care costs for children who are under the age of 5 years old and living below the poverty line. For families living above the poverty line, their day care costs would be capped at 10% of the family?s income. 

Only single-location small businesses that provide day care services ? or parents who stay home with their children ? would be eligible for subsidies. The plan would not provide subsidies to corporate day care chains or hedge funds that own day care chains.

The campaign added that Kennedy supports strengthening adoption infrastructure and increasing the child tax credit. The website also noted that the candidate would fund organizations that support women in pregnancy and the months after birth. 

?There is a lot we can do to reduce abortions ? by choice, not by force,? the campaign says. ?As president, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will make it easier for women to choose life. He will give them more choices than they have today, we will see a lot fewer abortions and a lot more flourishing families.?

Kennedy has not made abortion a major part of his campaign. When asked about a proposal to prohibit abortion at the federal level in August of last year, the candidate initially said he would back a three-month restriction. However, his campaign later claimed that he misunderstood the question and ?does not support legislation banning abortion.?

Kennedy later voiced support for in vitro fertilization (IVF), which often discards human embryos, destroying human lives in the process. His running mate, Nicole Shanahan, has said she does not support ?anyone having control over my body? but that she ?would not feel right terminating a viable life living inside of me.?

The Washington Post reported this week that the Kennedy campaign said the candidate opposes former President Donald Trump?s plan to leave abortion policy to the states and that Kennedy further opposed an Arizona Supreme Court ruling that allowed a near-total abortion ban from the 1860s to go into effect in the state. 

Kennedy ?makes his position plain but does not dwell on the subject,? the campaign said, according to the Post.

The Post said that Kennedy?s new day care plan was posted shortly after the paper?s reporters contacted the staff about the candidate?s abortion policies. 

Although Kennedy has generally supported legal access to abortion, a pro-abortion group called Reproductive Freedom for All recently launched a television advertisement in Michigan and Wisconsin that accuses the independent candidate of not supporting abortion strongly enough. 

?Kennedy Jr. and Shanahan mean we?d be less safe from dangerous abortion bans and get more attacks on IVF,? the 30-second advertisement claims. ?Kennedy Jr. and Shanahan would put your reproductive freedom at risk.?

Although Kennedy is polling in a distant third place behind Biden and Trump, he is polling better than any third-party candidate since Reform Party candidate Ross Perot in the 1990s. According to poll averages between Jan. 22 and April 2 from RealClearPolling, Kennedy is averaging just under 12% in a three-way race.

Orvich said he wanted to share his experience with same sex attraction ?so that the Lord might touch hearts and that people repent and try returning to a chaste life." / Credit: Fran Orvich

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 23, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

For the last five years Fran Orvich, 30, has been living chastely following a conversion process that began after a traumatic childhood and years of sexual libertinism.

The young man shared his conversion process in a telephone interview with ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner, ?for the glory of God and the salvation of souls and to give light, hope, and salvation to these poor brothers of ours who are in the Church and are very confused.?

Specifically, Orvich said he wanted to share his experience with same-sex attraction ?so that the Lord might touch hearts and that people repent and try returning to a chaste life.?

A difficult childhood

While only five years have passed since his conversion, to explain what he has experienced Orvich referred back to his childhood. ?I had to grow up with a father who beat my mother, an alcoholic, a womanizer always using foul language. It was a hostile, terrible environment.?

The young man related that he was ?wounded within his mother?s womb? because his father mistreated his mother during her pregnancy. ?He never said ?I love you? to me,? he related, so his father became an absent figure to him: ?My father was there, but I have never had him as a father.?

Orvich described his mother as ?a woman of unwavering faith, of prayer? who, due to the family situation, adopted a ?protective? role. In addition, as he was the youngest of three brothers, he said, ?they bullied me a little.?

As a child, he began looking at pornography ? a habit that continued to increase ? so that ?when I was 8 or 9 years old, I was already doing things with three boys my age. Not deep into it, but it was already totally perverted,? he explained.

Orvich?s school years were difficult. A shy and quiet boy, his classmates ostracized him. He still recalls the day a teacher put him in front of the blackboard to do a simple addition problem. He didn?t know how to do it and the teacher encouraged his classmates to laugh at him. That left a deep wound that would only be healed years later during his conversion process.

?I opened doors to evil? through the occult

When he turned 12, he fell into daily masturbation. During high school he continued viewing pornography and entered the world of the occult. ?I opened the door to evil,? he acknowledged, through various esoteric practices.

The high-school Orvich wasn?t like the grade-school Orvich: ?I was the rebel, the bully, the class clown, the good-looking dude.? At that time he had five girlfriends and the homosexual acts of his childhood were just a memory of misdirected curiosity. 

At one point, however, he began to become interested in a boy at the school. ?I started to notice a boy in the classroom next door. He started to get my attention and something awakened in me. I started fooling around and I kind of liked that fooling around,? but it didn?t reach the sexual level.

Some time after that, at age 16, Orvich said, ?I was with the first boy.? He hid this relationship from his family and carried on the liaison in secret until, at the age of 18, there was a big fight at home between his parents. ?My father wanted to hit my mother and at 18 I wasn?t going to allow it,? he recounted.

His father called him a ?faggot? ? ?he was always using that word? ? and Orvich responded: ?Yeah, what?s up!? His father?s reaction was very aggressive: ?He wanted to kill me with a sickle, he threw a chair at me and I dodged it,? he said, describing the incident.

Abandoned by his family, he fell into prostitution

?Having just turned 18, my soul was at rock bottom,? he said, and he was terribly lonely. ?I didn?t have a Christian friend, a good friend to tell me: ?Don?t worry, come to my house.?? He said he had faith, because his mother had instilled it in him, but ?I didn?t go to Mass, I didn?t do anything, I didn?t pray.?

Given the difficult situation at home, the boy with whom he had a relationship at the time took him in: ?He is the only one who didn?t fail me, because my whole family failed me, they left me stranded.? However, that relationship ended badly and Orvich was forced to look for a room to rent.

He was just a kid who had barely left his parents? home. ?What do I do with my life now?? he thought. He tried a door-to-door sales job that didn?t go well until he made a dramatic decision: ?I prostituted myself.?

?It was something very painful, very humiliating and terrible. I don?t wish anyone to go through that situation. Now I can talk about it, because the Lord is healing me, but before I couldn?t,? Orvich told ACI Prensa.

Fortunately, that only lasted a week, because a cousin of his called and offered him a place to live with his aunt and uncle. In the family it was already known as ?official? that Orvich was homosexual.

Out of rage toward his father ? ?I hated him and wanted him dead? ? he participated in a television program. ?I made the biggest fool of myself in history and the devil deceived me in such a powerful way,? he said of the program, where he acknowledged his homosexuality in front of the cameras.

Orvich regrets the episode, especially because of the scandal it caused, particularly for his parents. ?I ignored the commandment to honor your father and mother,? he said.

?I knew this wasn?t normal?

At the time, through social media, Orvich was ?totally involved in the gay world.? However, in retrospect, he emphasized that he was always uncomfortable with the lifestyle.

?I was not pro-LGBTQ. I wasn?t, because I knew this wasn?t normal. I said to myself: This is what happened to me, because it is what it is. But I wasn?t okay with it.?

Despite this, the young man frequented Chueca (a gay haunt in Madrid, Spain) because ?when you are so full of demons, of lust, well in the end the body demands from you for what it demands from you.?

He had a series of toxic relationships and was emotionally dependent. ?In the end, in men I was looking for the figure of my father, but I sexualized it,? he recalled.

Baptized at age 22 

Despite his mother?s faith, various family circumstances led to Orvich not being baptized during his early years. At age 22, however, he sought the sacrament: ?Despite being ?stuck in a bad situation,? I told my mother that I wanted to be baptized.?

Finally, without much formal preparation due to his parents? business activities, he was baptized.

Despite this, Orvich continued with his esoteric practices: ?They dealt me cards and I loved the whole subject of spirits.? Deep down, he recognized ?it was a God tailored to me, because I believed, but I did whatever I felt like.?

Three years went by in which Orvich spent a lot of time cultivating his outward image and going to the gym, which led him to work as a model making good money.

The spiritual turnaround in his life came at age 25, when a newborn nephew was on the verge of death. It came as a powerful jolt to his soul that led him to pray fervently for the child?s life. ?The Lord told me in my interior: ?This is the last chance.? He said it to me like that,? Orvich related.

?I understood what I was doing wrong, the condition of my soul. I realized all of it and said: It?s over, I renounce this.? 

?I no longer want other loves?

So Orvich decided to go to confession ?to a good priest.? He describes what it was like receiving the sacrament of forgiveness.

?I have always wanted to find love and peace. I didn?t find it in men, nor in money, nor in fame, because I was always empty. I made my confession and told all my sins, because I had incredible enlightenment from the Holy Spirit,? he recounted.

?When the priest gave me absolution, I felt so much love!? he continued. ?I felt God?s forgiveness, his mercy. That was something incredible for me. I was on cloud nine, with a weight lifted off my shoulders.?

?I couldn?t stop crying and asking the Lord for forgiveness. I felt so loved, so loved! And when I knew this love of God, I said: I no longer want other loves, because I have been unhappy, nothing more, I have suffered a lot. I want to be with this love, I want to be with Jesus.?

Thus began a process of faith formation, including devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and divine mercy. Orvich had ?an incredible thirst for God, to love him, to worship him, to serve him, to make amends, to do penance.?

And, following that path of conversion, he participated in an Ephphatha (?Be opened,? cf Mk 7:34) Retreat where, in front of the Blessed Sacrament, ?face to face with the Lord, I cried a lot and asked for forgiveness for what I did,? he said.

Forgiving his mother

He also felt the need to ask forgiveness from his mother. She had been praying for seven years and told him: ?Son, the Lord finally heard my prayers. He has already taken out the dagger that I had in my heart for you. Blessed be the Lord.?

For Orvich, it?s important to explain how his mother related to him. ?She didn?t agree with my sin, but she loved me. She didn?t tell me ?bring your boyfriend whenever you want and introduce him to me,? no. She told me twice ?I don?t agree with this, with your life,? but always with a lot of love and a lot of mercy.?

Some time later, after a process, he was able to ask his father for forgiveness. ?He also asked for my forgiveness and I experienced a very powerful release, a weight was taken off my shoulders.?

?The Holy Virgin is key?

Orvich has been living chastely for five years. ?I don?t want to be with anyone, I want to be with Jesus Christ, I want to be in his Church. The things of God are what make me truly happy and give me peace.?

Despite his determination, he recognizes that he has temptations, ?attacks from the devil,? which he understands are ?part of the purification? he must undergo. To combat them he tries to go to daily Mass and receive Communion, pray the rosary, and do penances.

He has also consecrated himself to the Virgin Mary in accord  with the 33-day process advocated by St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort.

?The Holy Virgin is key in my fight against the demon that will always try to set me back. I have to be in a constant struggle. The Lord gives you perseverance.?

As part of this spiritual battle, in addition to his work, Orvich is a ?missionary on social media,? through his Facebook and TikTok profiles, where he tries to ?witness to young and old, giving the Word of God, a breath of peace and joy.?

Spiritual and psychological help

In order to live this new life, Orvich needed significant spiritual and psychological help, beginning with closing the doors he had opened through the occult.

?If St. Mary Magdalene had seven demons, imagine me,? said Orvich, who has undergone ?deliverance? prayer. In fact, he assumes he is ?still in the process.?

In other areas, he is aware that ?the psychological part and the spiritual part go together,? which is why he looked for ?a good psychologist priest, who will not lead me to evil but who will lead me to God? and has found him. ?The Lord has given me an excellent psychologist priest who addresses all these issues of same-sex attraction.?

Fiducia Supplicans

Near the end of the extensive conversation with ACI Prensa, Orvich did not hesitate when asked about his impressions of the Vatican document Fiducia Supplicans, which approves of blessings for same-sex couples.

?It caused me a lot of pain and sadness,? he said, because the document ?is very confusing, very ambiguous, it doesn?t give light. It can confuse many souls.?

?What is being said a lot is ?God loves you? and, in fact, God loves us a lot. But what is being omitted is that you have to convert,? Orvich emphasized, recalling the words of Jesus: ?Whoever wants to follow me, let him deny himself.?

Along these lines, he added: ?If we want to be in communion with the Lord, we have to try to do things right. We?re sinners and we fall, but you have to be on the road to conversion, every day. The Holy Curé of Ars already said there is no greater charity than saving a soul from hell by telling the truth.?

Message to parents of children with same-sex attraction

Finally, ACI Prensa asked Orvich to freely say anything he would like to share about his experience and that he considers essential. He had a twofold message for parents of children who experience same-sex attraction.

On the one hand, he advised parents to ?love their children, but do not accept their sin. Because if you accept it, it will be useless for you to pray.? Driving that point home, he emphasized: ?By confirming them in sin we are not helping them, we are condemning them.?

The second essential idea he wants to convey to parents is to ?never tire of praying for your children, because prayer has a lot of intercessory power.?

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.