The flag of the European Union flying in Rome. / Credit: Bohumil Petrik/CNA

Madrid, Spain, Dec 10, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

The Commission of the Bishops? Conferences of the European Community (COMECE) has called on the European Union (EU) to appoint a coordinator for the fight against anti-Christian hatred in the same way it already employs coordinators to combat hate directed against Jews and Muslims.

?The time is mature for the appointment of an EU coordinator on combating anti-Christian hatred in Europe,? said Alessandro Calcagno, an adviser to the bishops on fundamental rights, during his speech at the European Prayer Breakfast held at the European Parliament last week.

?It is not a question of victimism but equal access to tools of protection,?Calcagno said. 

COMECE is the body that officially represents the Catholic Church to the EU.

Calcagno explained that the right to freedom of religion, as well as provisions to fight against discrimination on the grounds of religion, should not be seen only through the prism of protecting faith communities that are religious minorities. 

?It is necessary to break the ?majorities vs. minorities? dynamic that underpins the approach of certain actors and policymakers,? Calcagno stated.

Appointing a coordinator is one of the priorities that Calcagno, on behalf of the European bishops, outlined in relation to the exercise of religious freedom in the EU, among which is ?need to ensure equal protection to all dimensions of this core fundamental right, including the institutional one,? he highlighted.

?Too often, freedom of religion is depicted as a ?problematic? right, and its collective dimension, compared with its individual dimension, is neglected,? the adviser said.

The need to protect places of worship and data of a religious nature as well as better integrate the defense of religious freedom into EU policies was also addressed during the event.

The European Prayer Breakfast, attended by some 450 participants from across the continent and beyond, was held in conjunction with a panel focused on current trends of rising religious intolerance in Europe.

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

Ålesund, a port town on the west coast of Norway. / Credit: May_Lana/Shutterstock

Oslo, Norway, Dec 10, 2024 / 13:00 pm (CNA).

On Monday, the parish community of Our Lady?s Church in Ålesund, a port town on the west coast of Norway, gathered for a day of prayer dedicated to the unborn in the wake of new abortion laws in the country. 

This year, the celebration of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary ? usually celebrated Dec. 8 ? was moved to Monday, Dec. 9, as the second Sunday of Advent took precedence. The day began with Mass followed by adoration and the recitation of the rosary, emphasizing the inviolable dignity of human life from the moment of conception.

The parish?s initiative was in part a response to recent changes in Norway?s abortion laws, which for the first time allow for sex-selective abortions and so-called ?twin reduction? procedures. 

The new abortion laws, adopted by Norway?s Parliament on Dec. 3, also extend the legal limit for abortion from 12 to 18 weeks. Women in Norway can still have abortions beyond that time frame with the approval of a medical board.  

The changes in the law have sparked debates in Norwegian society and within church communities, raising serious ethical and moral concerns. Faced with these realities, the diocese sought to respond through prayer, reflection, and increased awareness.

Father Dariusz Buras, parochial vicar of Our Lady?s Church, told EWTN Norway, CNA?s news partner, that he drew inspiration for the pro-life event from Sts. Teresa of Calcutta and Gianna Beretta Molla.

During her Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in Oslo in 1979, Mother Teresa highlighted the unborn as one of the most vulnerable in our time. She described abortion as a threat to peace, asking poignantly: ?If a mother can kill her own child in the womb, what is to prevent you and me from killing each other?? Stressing that nations that permit abortion are spiritually impoverished, she promoted adoption as a hopeful alternative, showing that every child can find a loving home.

Another prominent saint for the unborn, Gianna Beretta Molla (1922?1962), was an Italian physician and mother who faced a grave moral dilemma when she was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor during her pregnancy. She chose to carry her child to term despite the risk to her own life, because she saw the unborn child as an irreplaceable human being. After giving birth to her daughter, Gianna Emanuela, Molla died of complications. 

Canonized by Pope John Paul II in 2004, St. Gianna Molla remains a modern example of heroic love for life, even under difficult circumstances.

While Mother Teresa addressed the right to life of the unborn from a global perspective, St. Gianna Beretta Molla demonstrated through her life that care for the unborn is not just an abstract principle but a concrete reality ? a pastoral, medical, and maternal care that prioritizes the life of the child. 

Together, the lives of the two saints are a reminder of the Christian call to protect life in all circumstances and to offer alternatives to destruction, such as social support, adoption, and prioritizing the vulnerable with sacrificial love.

Monday?s gathering at Our Lady?s Church in Ålesund, inspired by the witness of the two saints, became a moment of deep reflection and prayer in a society where laws increasingly undermine human dignity, especially the dignity of the unborn.

John Traynor is believed to be the first British Catholic to be cured at Lourdes. / Credit: Courtesy of Hospitality of Our Lady of Lourdes

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 10, 2024 / 09:30 am (CNA).

The healing of a British World War I soldier at the Marian shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France has been proclaimed as the 71st miracle attributed to the pilgrimage site.

Archbishop Malcolm McMahon of Liverpool in England declared the miraculous healing of John Traynor, a soldier of the British Royal Navy, on Dec. 8, the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the 81st anniversary of his death.

The Church has not recognized a miraculous event at Lourdes since 2018.

The news comes after the president of the Lourdes Office of Medical Observations, Dr. Alessandro de Franciscis, commissioned a review of Traynor?s case last year, which was undertaken by an English doctor and member of the International Medical Committee at Lourdes, Kieran Moriarty.

Moriarty?s investigations uncovered numerous files in the archives at Lourdes that included the testimonies of the three doctors who examined Traynor before and after his cure, along with other supporting evidence.

McMahon concluded during a canonical commission that based on the evidence assembled by Moriarty, Traynor?s healing was indeed miraculous.

?Given the weight of medical evidence, the testimony to the faith of John Traynor and his devotion to Our Blessed Lady, it is with great joy that I declare that the cure of John Traynor, from multiple serious medical conditions, is to be recognized as a miracle wrought by the power of God through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes,? the archbishop stated.

?I hope that in February 2025, during the jubilee year, we will have a fitting celebration at the metropolitan cathedral to mark this significant moment in the history of our archdiocese, helping us all to respond to the jubilee call to be ?pilgrims of hope,?? McMahon added.

Traynor was born in Liverpool, England, in 1883. Though his Irish mother passed away when he was young, Traynor?s personal testimony featured on the shrine?s website states that ?her devotion to Mass and holy Communion and her trust in the Blessed Mother stayed with him as a memory and fruitful example.? Traynor described his mother in the testimony as a ?daily Communicant when few people were.?

A member of the Royal Navy Reserve, Traynor was mobilized at the outset of the war in 1914. During the battle at Antwerp, he was hit in the head by shrapnel while attempting to carry an officer off the field. He quickly recovered and returned to service.

On April 25, 1915, Traynor took part in an amphibious landing on the shores of Gallipoli as a part of an unsuccessful attempt by British and French troops to capture the peninsula in the Ottoman-occupied Turkey. Traynor was one of the few soldiers to reach the shore during that first day, having prevailed through the onslaught of machine-gun fire by the Turkish forces who were poised atop the steep banks of the beach.

For over a week, Traynor remained unscathed as he attempted to lead the small coalition that survived the landing up the sandhill.

However, on May 8, Traynor caught a spray of machine gun bullets to the head, chest, and arm during a bayonet charge. The wounds he sustained from the battle left him paralyzed in his right arm and regularly susceptible to epileptic attacks. Doctors attempted numerous surgeries to repair the damaged nerves in his arm and to treat the head wounds believed to have been the source of his epilepsy, but to no avail.

Eight years after the battle that left him ?completely and incurably incapacitated,? Traynor was slated to be admitted to a hospital for incurables. Instead he went to Lourdes.

A long journey to Lourdes

Against the pleas of his wife, doctors, and several priests, Traynor insisted upon joining a parish-led pilgrimage to Lourdes from Liverpool from July 22?27, 1923.

Traynor wrote in his testimony that he ?succeeded in being bathed nine times in the water from the grotto spring,? despite being desperately ill in the first three days of the trip and facing much resistance from his caretakers.

On the second day of the trip, Traynor recalled suffering a severe epileptic fit while being wheeled to the baths. ?Blood flowed from my mouth and the doctors were very much alarmed,? he said. When the doctors attempted to bring him back to his lodgings, Traynor refused, pulling the brakes on his wheelchair with his good hand.

?They took me into the bath and bathed me in the usual way. I never had an epileptic fit after that,? he said in his testimony.

The next day, Traynor went again to the baths ? while he was bathing, he recalled his legs becoming ?violently agitated? and feeling as though he had regained use of them. Since he was due to return for a Eucharistic procession, Traynor?s caretakers ? who believed he was having another fit ? rushed him to Rosary Church.

When the archbishop of Rheims passed him by with the Blessed Sacrament, Traynor?s arm too became ?violently agitated,? and he broke through his bandages and made the sign of the cross for the first time in eight years.

The next morning, Traynor leapt from his bed and ran to the grotto. 

?My mother had always taught me that when you ask a favor from Our Lady or wish to show her some special veneration you should make a sacrifice,? Traynor recalled. ?I had no money to offer, as I had spent my last few shillings on rosaries and medals for my wife and children, but kneeling there before the Blessed Mother, I made the only sacrifice I could think of: I resolved to give up cigarettes.? 

On the morning of July 27, Traynor was examined by three doctors who found he had regained his ability to walk perfectly, as well as full use and function of his right arm and legs. The sores on his body had healed completely and his fits had ceased. Remarkably, an opening in his skull that was created during one of his surgeries had also ?diminished considerably.? 

One of the official reports issued by the Medical Bureau at Lourdes on Oct. 2, 1926 ? later discovered by Moriarty ? states that Traynor?s ?extraordinary cure is absolutely beyond and above the powers of nature.? 

Traynor went on to have three children after receiving his cure, one of whom is called Bernadette. He is believed to be the first British Catholic to be cured at Lourdes, according to the shrine?s website.

The Holy House of Our Lady in the Shrine of Loreto. / Credit: Tatiana Dyuvbanova/Shutterstock

Rome Newsroom, Dec 10, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

What do Galileo, Mozart, Descartes, Cervantes, and St. Thérèse of Lisieux have in common? They all traveled hundreds of miles to step inside the Virgin Mary?s house, which is preserved inside a basilica in the small Italian town of Loreto.

Catholic pilgrims have flocked to the Holy House of Loreto since the 14th century to stand inside the walls where tradition holds the Virgin Mary was born, raised, and greeted by the angel Gabriel.

In other words, if the structure actually comes from the ancient house in Nazareth, the holy house?s walls witnessed when the ?Word became flesh? at the Annunciation, a point on which the history of humanity turned.

Pope Francis elevated the feast of Our Lady of Loreto in 2019 by decreeing that it be included in the current Roman calendar as an optional memorial each year on Dec. 10.

Tradition holds that the Holy House arrived in Loreto on Dec. 10, 1294, after a miraculous rescue from the Holy Land as the Crusaders were driven out of Palestine at the end of the 13th century.

There is an often-repeated story that angels carried the Holy House from Palestine to Italy. While modern listeners may doubt the legend?s veracity, historic documents have vindicated the beliefs of pious pilgrims over the centuries ? with an ironic twist.

In 1900, the pope?s physician, Joseph Lapponi, discovered documents in the Vatican archive stating that in the 13th century a noble Byzantine family, the Angeli family, rescued ?materials? from ?Our Lady?s House? from Muslim invaders and then had them transported to Italy for the building of a shrine.

The name Angeli means ?angels? in both Greek and Latin.

Further historic diplomatic correspondence, not published until 1985, discusses the ?holy stones taken away from the House of Our Lady, Mother of God.? In the fall of 1294, ?holy stones? were included in the dowry of Ithamar Angeli for her marriage to Philip II of Anjou, son of King Charles II of Naples.

A coin minted by a member of the Angeli family was also found in the foundation of the house in Loreto. In Italy, coins were often inserted into a building?s foundation to indicate who was responsible for its construction.

Excavations in both Nazareth and Loreto found similar materials at both sites. The stones that make up the lower part of the walls of the Holy House in Loreto appear to have been finished with a technique particular to the Nabataeans, which also was widespread in Palestine. There are inscriptions in syncopated Greek characters with contiguous Hebrew letters that read ?O Jesus Christ, Son of God,? written in the same style inscribed in the cave in Nazareth.

Archaeologists also confirmed a tradition of Loreto that third-century Christians had transformed Mary?s house in Nazareth into a place of worship by building a synagogue-style church around the house. A seventh-century bishop who traveled to Nazareth noted a church built at the house where the Annunciation took place.

From St. Francis de Sales to St. Louis de Montfort, many saints visited the Holy House of Loreto over the centuries. St. Charles Borromeo made four pilgrimages in 1566, 1572, 1579, and 1583.

St. John Paul II in 1993 called the Holy House of Loreto the ?foremost shrine of international import dedicated to the Blessed Virgin.?

The victory over the Turks at Lepanto was attributed to the Virgin of Loreto by St. Pius V, leading both General Marcantonio Colonna and John of Austria to make pilgrimages to the shrine in 1571 and 1576 respectively.

Christopher Columbus made a vow to the Madonna of Loreto in 1493 when he and his crew were caught in a storm during their return journey from the Americas. He later sent a sailor to Loreto on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving on behalf of the entire crew.

Queen Christina of Sweden offered her royal crown and scepter to the Virgin Mary in Loreto in 1655 after her conversion from the Lutheran faith to Catholicism.

Napoleon plundered the shrine and its treasury on Feb. 13, 1797, taking with him precious jewels and other gifts offered to the Virgin Mary by European aristocracy, including several French monarchs, over the centuries. Yet, the object of real value in the eyes of pilgrims, the Holy House of Mary, was left unharmed.

In a homily in 1995, St. John Paul II called the Holy House of Loreto ?the house of all God?s adopted children.?

He continued: ?The threads of the history of the whole of humankind are tied anew in that house. It is the Shrine of the House of Nazareth, to which the Church that is in Italy is tied by providence, that the latter rediscovers a quickening reminder of the mystery of the Incarnation, thanks to which each man is called to the dignity of the Son of God.?

This article was first published on Dec. 10, 2022, and has been updated.

Archbishop Laurent Ulrich presides at the first Mass in the reopened Cathedral of Notre Dame on Dec. 8, 2024. / Credit: EWTN/Screenshot

ACI Prensa Staff, Dec 9, 2024 / 15:10 pm (CNA).

The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, on Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, celebrated the first Mass during which the altar of the restored cathedral was consecrated following the fire that ravaged the church in April 2019.

At the Eucharist, which was attended by the president of France, Emmanuel Macron, some 170 bishops from the country and from around the world concelebrated with Ulrich as well as one priest from each of the 106 parishes of the Archdiocese of Paris and one priest from each of the seven Eastern-rite Catholic churches.

The clergy wore chasubles designed by Jean-Charles Castelbajac, the 74-year-old Frenchman who was entrusted with the task and who has designed clothing for such celebrities as Madonna, Beyoncé, and Rihanna.

One of the bishops in attendance was the archbishop of New York, Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who was also present at the Dec. 7 opening ceremony.

In a post on X, Dolan said he was grateful to participate in the first Mass in the cathedral and highlighted the generosity of the many Americans who contributed to the restoration of the emblematic cathedral.

Before proceeding to the consecration of the altar, the relics of five saints ? three women and two men ? ?whose history is linked to the Church of Paris: St. Marie Eugenie Milleret, St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, St. Catherine Labouré, St. Charles de Foucauld, and Blessed Vladimir Ghika? were placed in a recess in it, according to the archdiocesan website.

The Parisian prelate then read the prayers for the consecration of the altar and anointed the entire altar with chrism (blessed oil), which he spread with his hands as the ritual requires. Five small containers holding lit coals were set on the corners and center of the altar and the archbishop then placed incense on them, releasing the fragrant smoke heavenward.  

After the containers were removed, deacons wiped off the excess chrism from the altar with towels and placed the altar cloth on the altar. Finally, altar servers placed six candles on the steps to one side of the altar and a priest placed one candle and a plain hammered metal cross on the altar itself.

In his homily, the archbishop of Paris proclaimed: ?This morning, the pain of April 15, 2019, is taken away,? adding that ?in a certain way, and even if the shock caused by the fire has been lasting, the pain was already overcome when prayer rose from the banks of the [River] Seine and from hundreds of millions of hearts throughout the world.?

After stating that he would soon consecrate the altar so that it may be ?the table of Christ?s sacrifice, the place where he gives his life for all,? Ulrich noted that ?the material chosen by the artist [for the altar], bronze, enters into a frank dialogue with the stone building.?

?And this altar block,? he continued, ?as if taken from the earth for the sacrifice, is prepared as a fraternal table for the Lord?s supper.?

The prelate then encouraged all the faithful present to not be simply ?dazzled by the rediscovered beauty of the stones, but let yourselves be led to the greatest joys, to the most beautiful gift that God gives you and gives us of his loving presence, of his closeness to the poorest, of his transforming power in the sacraments.?

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

Archbishop of Paris Laurent Ulrich knocks on the door of Notre-Dame Cathedral during a ceremony to mark the reopening of the landmark cathedral in central Paris on Dec. 7, 2024. / Credit: Christophe Petit Tesson/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

CNA Newsroom, Dec 7, 2024 / 20:15 pm (CNA).

The doors of the newly restored Notre-Dame of Paris Cathedral were officially reopened to the public during a ceremony Saturday evening just over five years after a blaze ravaged the iconic structure?s roof, frame, and spire.

The celebration, which began at around 7:20 p.m. local time, was attended by some 1,500 people, including about 40 heads of state, including U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York and Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai of Antioch were among the 170 bishops from France and around the world who attended the ceremony, which featured a message from Pope Francis, who did not travel for the occasion.

Authorities mobilized a massive security force of some 6,000 police and gendarmes for the event, citing a ?very high level of terrorist threat.? Space was provided for up to 40,000 people outside the cathedral.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who was initially scheduled to speak on the cathedral?s forecourt to respect the law of separation between the church and the state, wound up speaking inside the building due to inclement weather, as previously announced in a press release from the Archdiocese of Paris.

Expressing ?the gratitude of the French nation? to the cathedral?s rebuilders during his address, Macron asserted that Notre Dame ?tells us how much meaning and transcendence help us to live in this world.?

Breaking five years of silence, the bell of Notre-Dame, known as the ?bourdon,? rang out across Paris. This was the first step in the reopening office, initiated by three knocks on the cathedral?s central portal, the Portal of the Last Judgment, by the archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich. The opening of the doors was set to the music of the polyphonic piece ?Totus Tuus,? composed in 1987 by Henryk Gorecki during Pope John Paul II?s visit to Poland and sung by the 150 young members of the Maîtrise de Notre Dame.

?May the rebirth of this admirable church be a prophetic sign of the renewal of the Church in France,? Pope Francis said in a letter read by the apostolic nuncio of France, Archbishop Celestino Migliore, after a tribute to the firefighters who saved the 800-year-old cathedral from the flames and the French president?s speech.

?I invite all the baptized who will joyfully enter this cathedral to feel a legitimate pride and reclaim their faith heritage,? he added.

There followed the awakening and blessing of the great organ, a three-century-old instrument whose pipes had remained clogged with lead dust following the 2019 fire.

?Notre-Dame has known darkness; now it is back in the light. It has known silence, and now it rediscovers the joy of our chants,? said Ulrich, who took possession of the Paris cathedral for the first time, two years after his nomination as head of the Paris Archdiocese, succeeding Archbishop Michel Aupetit.

In his brief homily, Ulrich emphasized that ?it is not only princes, chiefs, and notables who have their place in the Church? but that ?the door is open to all,? including foreigners and nonbelievers.

After singing the Magnificat and reciting the Our Father, the ceremony concluded with a final blessing and the singing of the Te Deum.

At the end of the religious ceremony, a concert organized and broadcast by France Télévisions and Radio France featured internationally renowned artists including Chinese pianist Lang Lang, South African soprano Pretty Yende, and Franco-Swiss tenor Benjamin Bernheim.

The consecration Mass for the cathedral?s new main altar was scheduled for Sunday at 10:30 a.m. local time, again in the presence of the French president and religious leaders. The cathedral itself was not desecrated by the blaze, as Aupetit celebrated a Mass there two months later.

Celebrations surrounding the reopening of Notre-Dame will continue until Dec. 16, with each day devoted to welcoming different communities and groups, including firefighters and patrons. At the end of this octave, the cathedral will return to its usual schedule. 

The fire, the causes of which have yet to be determined, has sparked a wave of emotion around the world, including in the United States, which has the largest number of foreign contributors to the restoration and reconstruction work, amounting to almost 700 million euros ($740 million).

Michel Picaud, president of the Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris, said in a recent interview that American donors accounted for 90% of 50,000 euros? (about $53,000) worth of international donations received by the charitable association. The five years of work involved a total of 250 companies and hundreds of craftsmen.

With almost half of the French population already planning to visit the breathtaking and now-immaculate cathedral, rebuilt in the style of the one designed by 19th-century architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc, extended opening hours will be offered until next Pentecost, with a new free online booking system.

At a press conference in Paris on Nov. 13, the cathedral?s rector, Monsignor Olivier Ribadeau Dumas, announced that some 15 million visitors would now be expected to visit the cathedral each year, compared with about 12 million before the fire.

?Now is the time to return to Notre-Dame!? he declared.

Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples, Italy. / Credit: Vincenzo Amoruso via Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Rome Newsroom, Dec 5, 2024 / 17:35 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis will create 21 new cardinals at a consistory this Saturday, including Archbishop Domenico Battaglia of Naples, Italy, who said he sees the appointment not as a personal honor but as ?a call to dream together of a Church that gets its hands dirty, that is not afraid of the peripheries and that allows itself to be guided by the transforming power of the Gospel.?

In an interview with ACI Stampa, CNA?s Italian-language news partner, Battaglia described his initial reaction to the news as ?a deep inner silence, inhabited by awe but also by fear.?

?At that moment I felt all the weight and grace of a call that I had neither sought nor imagined,? said the 62-year-old archbishop, who is known in his diocese simply as ?Don Mimmo.?

Appointed as archbishop of Naples in late 2020, Battaglia spent more than 20 years leading a center for drug rehabilitation in Catanzaro.

Speaking about what it means to become a cardinal in Naples today, Battaglia emphasized that ?this is the meaning of the purple: service, not honor.?

?Becoming a cardinal in this time and in this city means embracing the cross of the weakest, making room for their dreams and struggles, sharing the hope of those who, despite a thousand difficulties, continue to believe in a different future,? he told ACI Stampa. ?Naples when it loves, loves totally, and I believe that in this, my people, can help me in this totality of giving.?

Battaglia drew inspiration from Bishop Tonino Bello, a venerated Italian prelate known for his work with the poor, quoting his saying: ?We do not have the right to sit on the side of the road and watch those who pass by; we must take up the path again with the Gospel in our hands and poverty in our hearts.?

The archbishop acknowledged that the challenges facing Naples are complex. ?Naples is a city that changes you before you can even imagine changing it,? he said. ?In these years I have seen the beating heart of this land emerge powerfully: the generosity of people, the creativity that flourishes even in the midst of decay, the deep faith of those who rely on God with all their fragility.?

However, he also pointed to ongoing struggles, particularly among young people. ?I have also seen the pain that does not cease, the loneliness of so many, the young people struggling to find prospects, the bonds broken by malfeasance, and especially the difficulty of children living in a real educational emergency.?

To address these challenges, Battaglia has initiated an Educational Pact in Naples, bringing together various stakeholders involved in education and youth work. ?Naples cannot be changed from above: We need to walk together, listen, get alongside people, build networks of hope,? he explained.

Looking toward his new role as cardinal, Battaglia said he sees it as ?an invitation to go even deeper? rather than a culmination. ?I will try to continue my journey together with my Church, starting again always and every day from the streets, the alleys, the faces that meet my life every day,? he said.

He emphasized that as a cardinal, he feels ?even stronger the call to widen my heart to the entire universal Church, collaborating with Pope Francis and my brother bishops, to proclaim the Gospel and continue to give voice to the least, to denounce injustice, to build alliances for the common good.?

Battaglia, who participated in the recent Synod on Synodality, also reflected on the connection between synodality and hope, particularly in light of the upcoming Jubilee Year of Hope declared by Pope Francis.

?Synodality is walking together, while hope is the force that pushes us to take steps,? he said. 

?The pope invites us to be a Church not closed in on itself but open to dialogue, to listening to each other, to building common paths. This is not only a method but a way of life, a conversion of the heart.?

The consistory for the creation of new cardinals will take place on Saturday, Dec. 7, at St. Peter?s Basilica.

This story was originally published by ACI Stampa, CNA's Italian-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

null / Credit: Andrii Yalanskyi/Shutterstock

Vatican City, Dec 5, 2024 / 10:00 am (CNA).

In October, Italy became the first country to ban surrogacy for its citizens both within and without its borders ? a legal move that could be replicated in other nations, according to experts.

?For us, Italy is an example to follow for other countries,? Bernard Garcia Larrain, a lawyer and international anti-surrogacy advocate, told CNA.

Garcia Larrain is the coordinator of the Casablanca Declaration, an international group calling for the abolition of surrogacy worldwide.

On Oct. 16, Italy?s Senate passed a bill making it possible to prosecute Italian citizens for pursuing surrogacy abroad. The practice was already a crime within Italian borders.

Garcia Larrain told CNA that national regulation of surrogacy is not enough, because surrogacy ?is a global market,? which is why the group he coordinates is calling for its universal abolition for the protection of children and women.

In the meantime, however, the lawyer said Italy has taken a good first step that he hopes other countries will follow.

?Italy is a good example, but now countries like Italy have to join our movement to call for an international treaty [banning surrogacy],? he said.

Surrogacy has been illegal in Italy since 2004. The prohibition is contained within the country?s Law 40, which regulates medically assisted procreation.

Under the recently passed law the Italian state will be able to prosecute its citizens who seek surrogacy even in countries where it is legal.

In an Oct. 16 press release, the Casablanca Declaration applauded Italy?s decision, calling it ?a major step forward in the universal abolition of surrogacy.?

?Italy is showing the way forward for all the other countries that have not yet dared to take initiatives to protect women and children from surrogate motherhood,? the group said.

Italy?s wider ban on surrogacy has been frequently referred to by media and elsewhere as a ?universal crime.?

Giorgio Mazzoli, the director of U.N. Advocacy for Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) International and an expert in public international law and international human rights law, explained that the term ?universal crime? is a legal misnomer, and the Italian law is actually based on a ?more narrowly defined form of extraterritorial jurisdiction.?

Mazzoli has done anti-surrogacy advocacy since 2017 and was among the first to speak out against surrogacy and for a universal ban on the practice at the United Nations. He explained more about the legal implications of the ban in a written interview with CNA.

The full interview can be read below:

CNA: What does the extension of Italy?s law banning surrogacy do, practically speaking? What might enforcement look like?

Mazzoli: Before the adoption of the new law, Italian legislation did not impose sanctions on maternal surrogacy arrangements commissioned by Italian citizens outside national borders. This allowed couples to circumvent domestic prohibitions by entering into surrogacy agreements in jurisdictions where the practice is permitted or tolerated, and subsequently requesting the legal recognition of parentage for children born through these arrangements. The new law closes this loophole by extending criminal penalties to surrogacy arrangements carried out abroad by Italian citizens. Italian citizens who commission surrogacy in other countries will now be prosecuted under Italian law.

The primary mode of enforcement is without a doubt deterrence: By establishing that surrogacy will be punished regardless of where it occurs, the law aims to dissuade individuals from engaging in such practices in the first place. In practical terms, enforcement is closely linked to the existing legal requirements for the recognition of parentage for children born through surrogacy, which include the need to ascertain the child?s origins. This framework, combined with increased scrutiny of intermediaries and clinics promoting surrogacy abroad, should empower Italian authorities to identify and investigate cross-border cases effectively.

CNA: What does the term ?universal crime? mean?

Mazzoli: The term ?universal crime? is a legal misnomer and should not be confused with universal jurisdiction, which allows states to prosecute specific grave offenses regardless of where they occurred or the nationality of those involved. However, Italy?s law banning surrogacy abroad is not based on universal jurisdiction. Instead, it relies on a more narrowly defined form of extraterritorial jurisdiction, which enables Italian authorities to prosecute their citizens for commissioning surrogacy arrangements outside the country.

CNA: What are the legal limits of Italy?s new ban on surrogacy outside its borders, if any?

Mazzoli: While surrogacy has been prohibited domestically in Italy since 2004, the new ban on surrogacy abroad does not cover the conduct of non-Italian citizens due to reasons of jurisdiction.

CNA: Could Italy be an example for other countries on how to totally ban the practice of maternal surrogacy?

Mazzoli: Yes. As the first country in the world to ban surrogacy outside its borders, Italy could serve as a model for countries determined to combat this deeply unethical, inhumane, and exploitative practice, which turns children into commodities and women?s reproductive capacities into tools for others? desires. However, addressing the full scope of this human rights issue requires a unified global response. That is why I, along with many human rights experts and organizations, have long been advocating for a universal ban on surrogacy in all its forms.

The nave of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral on Nov. 29, 2024. The cathedral is set to reopen with a planned weekend of ceremonies on Dec. 7?8, 2024, five years after the 2019 fire that ravaged the world heritage landmark and toppled its spire. / Credit: STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Rome Newsroom, Dec 5, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, five years after the fire that devastated its roof and spires and made it unusable, is ?a renaissance,? Paris Archbishop Laurent Ulrich told CNA.

The Paris cathedral reopens on Dec. 8, but the celebrations for the cathedral?s return to worship will last until Pentecost next year. 

The restorations have produced a cathedral with brighter walls but intact in its original structure. In the rooster at the top of the spire, the relics of the saints of Paris ? St. Louis, St. Genevieve, and a piece of Jesus? crown of thorns ? which were miraculously saved from the fire ? are displayed. 

On Dec. 8, Notre Dame will not yet be fully accessible. But the reopening is a sign that France is coming to life again. Over the last century, the cathedral has become a symbol of national unity. 

Victor Hugo?s novel ?Notre Dame de Paris? brought the cathedral back to center stage in the 19th century. The architect Viollet Le Duc renovated it by inserting the famous gargoyles into the structure. Then, starting with Napoleon ? who chose Notre Dame for his coronation ? the cathedral has increasingly become a national monument. 

Speaking to CNA, Ulrich stressed that the reopening of Notre Dame is ?a renaissance, a rediscovery for the priests and faithful of Paris who have been waiting for this moment for five years.?

?About 40 recently ordained priests have never had the opportunity to celebrate or attend a celebration in our cathedral,? Ulrich explained. ?That day will certainly be memorable. It will be a day of profound joy for Paris, France, and the world. Notre Dame is also a reference point for those passing through the Archdiocese of Paris. Everyone knows Notre Dame; even foreigners are very fond of it.?

According to the archbishop, the cathedral has ?balanced architecture.? Above all, it is ?a symbol of Christian Europe and medieval Europe,? which has ?surpassed the centuries? and taken on a national dimension in the last century, especially after the celebration held at Notre Dame to give thanks for the liberation of Paris in 1944 and for the end of the war in May 1945. 

Ulrich noted the differences between the rebirth after World War II and the current reopening of Notre Dame, although ?the national sentiment is the same.? But ?in 1944-45, many French were still regular churchgoers, attending Mass regularly. Today, it is no longer the same. For many, going to Notre Dame is a discovery, sometimes spiritual, but above all cultural.? 

The archbishop said he wishes ?that people who come to Notre Dame discover not only a national monument but a place of Christian prayer, and that the tour route ? which we have redesigned for this reopening ? makes everyone know something about the Christian faith. Not everyone will become a Christian, but everyone has the right to hear about the Christian faith.? 

For this reason, in the reconstruction process, the identity of Notre Dame has been forcefully defended. There was talk of turning the cathedral into a museum and regulating access through a ticket, but the Church of France strongly opposed this. Although the state is the ?concessionaire? of the building, President Emmanuel Macron can only speak outside the cathedral on Dec. 7 when he symbolically hands over the renovated cathedral. On Dec. 8, he will participate in the inauguration Mass, but the focus will be entirely on the Church of Paris and France. 

Upon his entrance, the great organ will be rekindled, and the office of the Maîtrise de Notre Dame will be sung by the choir led by Henry Chalet, culminating with the Magnificat. 

The archbishop will then give a final blessing, and the Te Deum will be sung. In the evening, a cultural program with giant screens and performances outlines a ?great mystery of the Middle Ages.? 

The inaugural Mass will be held on Dec. 8 at 10:30 a.m. The new high altar designed by Guillaume Badet will be consecrated. Nearly 170 bishops from France and around the world will participate in the Mass, as will a priest from each of the 106 parishes of the Diocese of Paris and a priest from each of the seven Eastern-rite Catholic Churches. 

The Mass will be full of symbols: Holy water will be sprinkled on the people, then on the altar and the pulpit as a sign of purification of these elements intended for sacred use. 

The rites of consecration of the altar will take place in five phases. The first is the deposition of the relics of the saints on the altar. Five saints are linked to the Church of Paris: St. Marie Eugénie Milleret, St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, St. Catherine Labouré, St. Charles de Foucauld, and Blessed Vladimir Ghika. 

The second phase will be the prayer of dedication of the anointing with oil. Then, incense will be offered, and the altar will be ornamented and lit. 

After the inauguration, there will be a special eight-day period during which each day will be a solemn celebration with a dedicated theme. This will involve, in particular, those who supported Notre Dame during the reconstruction period. 

Jaime Mayor Oreja inaugurates the sixth Transatlantic Summit of the Political Network for Values ??held in Spain?s Senate. / Credit: Nicolás de Cárdenas/ACI Prensa

Madrid, Spain, Dec 4, 2024 / 17:10 pm (CNA).

?Faith is not imposed, but it doesn?t hide? is how Jaime Mayor Oreja, the driving force behind the pro-life and pro-family summit held Dec. 1?2 in Spain?s Senate chamber, summed up the Christian position in the face of forces in the world that seek to suppress outward expressions of faith. 

The theme for this year?s event was ?For Freedom and the Culture of Life.?

Spain?s former minister of the interior and honorary president of the Political Network for Values ??(PNfV) denounced ?the sick obsession against the Christian foundations [of society], the contempt for science and biology, and the perverse manipulation of history? by those who tried to prevent the meeting from being held. Some 300 political and civic leaders from 45 countries on three continents participated in the event.

?They call us fundamentalists because we defend the foundations [of society]. But it?s the opposite, because we defend the regeneration? of the Western world, argued Mayor, who affirmed the group?s conviction of being ?at the forefront of the debate over the future,? which will be characterized by being ?between those who don?t believe in anything and those who want to believe and have permanent [points of] reference.?

?We don?t have to be afraid at all, even though the prevailing fashion is to be enraged,? Mayor said while proclaiming that ?the defense of the right to life is the foundation, the pillar of all our positions within this cultural debate.?

?Let?s not lose our cool, as they are losing theirs with us,? the leader urged, before concluding that ?by the solidity of our foundations, not by embracing extremism, let us know how to fulfill our obligation to the truth: to tell the truth, to defend the truth, and also sometimes to suffer for the truth.?

Lola Velarde, the executive director of the PNfV, told ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner, that the participants in the summit had come to Spain to ?defend the infinite dignity of the human person, from which a culture of life is born and of course the freedom to be able to defend these values.?

José Antonio Kast: ?They hate us because they fear us?

During the summit?s introductory panel, the leader of the Republican Party of Chile, José Antonio Kast, also spoke.

In the words of Chilean politician Jaime Guzmán, who was murdered by left-wing groups, Kast gave an explanation for the attempts to cancel, persecute, and disqualify this summit: ?They hate us because they fear us. And they fear us because they know we can?t be eliminated.?

?They know that we are brave and that we will never give up in the defense of our values,? he added.

Kast recalled that 10 years ago the first international summit of the PNfV was held, a time during which ?this network has been strengthened and expanded with parliamentarians from dozens of countries, with opinion leaders, with researchers, advisers, and members of different governments.?

Kast announced that he was stepping down as president of the PNfV to mount another electoral bid for the presidency of Chile. ?The time has come for me and my family to face a tremendous challenge, which is to run for president of our country, and we are doing it as a family,? he said.

Kast ran against Gabriel Boric in the 2021 Chilean presidential election and lost.

Before the summit began in the Senate, the apostolic nuncio in Spain, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, celebrated Mass at the Monastery of the Incarnation, located near the Senate chamber, where a small group of abortion advocates gathered.

Aúza emphasized that human dignity, as set forth in Dignitas Infinita, is the ?fundamental principle and basis of our culture,? without whose recognition ?it would not be possible to live in society.?

The prelate explained that this dignity exists ?beyond all circumstances? and must be defended ?in every cultural context? and, after thanking the participants in the summit for their work, encouraged them to ?educate the conscience of many to recognize the centrality of human dignity.?

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

Palliative care. / Credit: Photographee.eu/Shutterstock

London, England, Dec 4, 2024 / 14:30 pm (CNA).

The case for assisted dying rests on dangerous misconceptions about the reality of death and dying, according to leading palliative care doctors across England and Wales.

Following a Westminster debate on Nov. 29 in which members of England?s Parliament (MPs) voted in favor of legalizing assisted suicide, 15 palliative care specialists voiced their concerns in a letter to The Times, published Dec. 3.

Reflecting on the historic vote, the signatories wrote that ?anyone watching the debate would have been forgiven for thinking that most deaths involve great suffering.?  

?While we do not deny ?bad deaths? can happen, most reflect failure of care,? the doctors wrote. ?As the bill progresses through Parliament we must ensure that this is accompanied by progress in understanding ?ordinary dying.??

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill was initiated by MP Kim Leadbeater and allows terminally-ill adults aged 18 or over the right to request medically assisted suicide.

The bill passed its Second Reading last Friday, with 330 MPs voting in favor of it and 275 against it.

The Association of Palliative Medicine in the U.K. is opposed to changing the law on assisted suicide in England and Wales.

In their letter to the Times, the palliative medical experts highlighted a number of other misconceptions underpinning the debate before the vote, including the idea that people regularly resort to starving themselves to death and that covert euthanasia is already happening across England and Wales.

?Several MPs suggested that many people resort to starving themselves to death, which we believe misunderstands the expected reduction in oral intake in dying people as the body shuts down,? the doctors wrote. 

?Other misconceptions concerned the use of morphine to treat pain and suffering at the end of life, with the conflicting suggestions that there is both a limit to the amount of morphine that can be safely used and that high doses of morphine are already used as ?covert? assisted dying,? they said.

Pro-life campaigners are now redoubling their strategic efforts to ensure the bill falls at the next hurdle.

A statement released by Right to Life UK on Nov. 29 read: ?A large number of MPs who voted for the bill indicated that they were only doing so with a view to debating the bill at further stages. As the vote margin was 55 votes, it would only take 28 MPs to move their vote to opposing the bill for it to be voted down at Third Reading. This provides a clear path for those opposing the bill to defeat it at Third Reading.?

The rose window of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral is seen a few weeks before its reopening to the public scheduled for Dec. 7, 2024, on Oct. 25, 2024, in Paris. / Credit: Chesnot/Getty Images

Seattle, Wash., Dec 3, 2024 / 09:05 am (CNA).

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump announced plans to travel to Paris this Saturday to attend the grand reopening of Notre Dame Cathedral, marking his first foreign visit since winning the presidential election in November.

Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social platform, stating: ?It is an honor to announce that I will be traveling to Paris, France, on Saturday to attend the reopening of the magnificent and historic Notre Dame Cathedral, which has been fully restored after a devastating fire five years ago.?

He also praised French President Emmanuel Macron, saying he has done a ?wonderful job ensuring that Notre Dame has been restored to its full level of glory, and even more so. It will be a very special day for all!? Macron was among the first foreign leaders to congratulate Trump after his electoral win last month.

The reopening will be a high-security affair. About 6,000 police officers and members of the gendarmerie will be deployed on Saturday and Sunday for the event, which is expected to be attended by about 50 heads of state and government, Paris police chief Laurent Nuñez said at a press conference. Pope Francis said in September he would not attend.

The Île de la Cité, where Notre Dame is located in the middle of the River Seine, will be accessible only to invited guests and residents of the island, Nuñez added. There will be room for 40,000 spectators along the Seine?s southern bank.

The reopening service, presided by Archbishop Laurent Ulrich, will be attended by Macron, other officials, donors and Parisian clergy. The service will include the singing of the Te Deum, the Magnificat, prayers for the world, and the Lord?s Prayer.

In a gesture of unity, Catholic churches throughout the United States have been encouraged by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to peal their bells at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 7.

The inaugural Mass will be celebrated the following day, where the archbishop will consecrate the high altar. About 170 bishops and priests from around the world will participate, along with one priest from each of the 106 parishes in the Archdiocese of Paris.

Events from Dec. 8?15 will follow, inviting the faithful and those involved in the restoration to daily services. The cathedral will resume its daily schedule starting Dec. 16.

Notre Dame, an iconic symbol of French heritage and Gothic architecture, suffered major damage in April 2019 when a fire engulfed its roof and spire. Its main structure was saved, along with many of its priceless contents, but the $760 million restoration project has been monumental, involving teams of architects, artisans, and engineers dedicated to preserving the cathedral?s historical integrity.

Prior to the fire, the cathedral attracted between 14 million to 15 million visitors annually, according to France?s Tourism Board.

Attendees including workers of reconstruction of Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral gather during a speech by French President Emmanuel Macron (center) in the nave of the cathedral in Paris on Nov. 29, 2024. / Credit: CHRISTOPHE PETIT TESSON/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Dec 2, 2024 / 16:15 pm (CNA).

As the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris prepares to reopen on Dec. 7, U.S. bishops are calling on local American churches to show their solidarity with the Church?s ?eldest daughter.? 

Five years ago, a devastating fire broke out across the timber roof and 315-foot-tall oak spire of the beloved 12th-century French cathedral. Restoration to the structure began with a two-year cleaning process followed by a $760 million reconstruction project.

In a social media post, the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) wrote that as the cathedral reopens its doors, ?local churches in the U.S. are invited to peal their bells in a gesture of unity.? 

?This gesture of uniting our local Churches with the cathedral of Paris would be one more sign of our union to the eldest daughter of the Church whose forefathers contributed so much to the U.S. struggle for independence,? USCCB President Archbishop Timothy Broglio stated in the post. 

The Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., is also encouraging local churches to accept the bishops? invitation and will ring its bells at 2 p.m. ET on Dec. 7, according to the USCCB. 

Notre Dame Cathedral will open its doors to the public on Dec. 7, beginning with a triduum that will include the official inauguration of the cathedral by the French state, which owns and maintains most of the country?s cathedrals as historic sites. The Notre Dame altar will be consecrated on Dec. 8, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, during the first Mass in the restored cathedral.

Photo and video images have been circulating across social media and various news outlets from French President Emmanuel Macron?s visit to Notre Dame on Friday, giving the world a first glimpse into the cathedral?s interior since a fire broke out across its roof and spire in April 2019. 

Last month, the bells of Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris also rang out for the first time since the fire.

null / Credit: PeopleImages.com/Yuri A/Shutterstock

Madrid, Spain, Dec 2, 2024 / 15:15 pm (CNA).

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal in Spain has accepted ?with filial obedience? the recent doctrinal note by the country?s bishops on practices of ?intergenerational healing? that are not in accord with the magisterium and tradition of the Catholic Church.

In a statement published on its website, the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Spain said it gratefully welcomes the content of the document approved by the Spanish Bishops? Conference and ?adheres to it with filial obedience, agreeing with its content and the concern that underlies it.?

The movement also stated that it ?will continue to ensure that, within the scope of our association, part of the entire stream of grace, its guidelines are followed.?

The charismatic organization added that the bishops? document, titled ?His Mercy Extends from Generation to Generation,? is necessary ?to clarify concepts, risks to this practice, as well as the areas of its implementation, in the light of the studies carried out and the notes from the magisterium of the Catholic Church that are enunciated.? 

In addition, the association hopes that what the bishops have set forth will help ?identify and correct these practices that deviate from the tradition and the magisterium of the Church and that can cause great moral and spiritual harm to the holy people of God.?

The statement from the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Spain was signed by its national coordinator, Víctor Gregorio Arellano, and the national spiritual adviser, Father Francisco Javier Ramírez de Nicolás, a priest of the Diocese of Osma-Soria.

The Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Spain is a private association of the faithful whose statutes were approved by the Spanish Bishops? Conference in 2004 and modified in 2011.

The doctrinal note from the Spanish Bishops? Conference noted that Father Robert DeGrandis of the Society of St. Joseph ?has popularized the practice in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal due to his involvement in it.?

De Grandis and other authors teach ?the intergenerational transmission of sin and, correlatively, the possibility of intergenerational healing,? the bishops? note criticizes.

The way to supposedly ?cure? physical and mental illnesses consists of ?identifying the sin in one?s own family tree? and breaking ?the bond of sin? through ?intercession, exorcisms, and, especially, the celebration of a Eucharist,? which results in a supposed healing, the doctrinal note explains.

The Spanish bishops point out that ?sin is always personal and requires a free decision of the will? and that the same is true of the punishment associated with sin. The prelates noted that ?the only sin that is transmitted from generation to generation is original sin? but that this occurs only ?in an analogous way.?

Furthermore, they affirm that it?s not possible to ?maintain that there is an intergenerational transmission of sin without contradicting Catholic doctrine on baptism,? the sacrament in which ?the forgiveness of all sins occurs.?

Regarding the Eucharist, the bishops maintained that offering petitions during Mass for intergenerational healing ?seriously distorts the Eucharistic celebration.?

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

Bishop John Sherrington, auxiliary bishop of Westminster and lead bishop for life issues, said he hopes and prays the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill might be rejected at a later stage in the legislative process. / Credit: Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)

London, England, Nov 29, 2024 / 12:20 pm (CNA).

The Catholic bishops of England and Wales have expressed dismay after a historic vote today, Nov. 29, during which members of Parliament (MPs) voted in favor of assisted suicide.

Following a five-hour, Second Reading debate in the House of Commons, 330 MPs voted in favor of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, while 275 voted against it. 

While this does not mean that assisted suicide is now law in England and Wales, it does mean the bill will now progress to the next legislative stage. 

The last time MPs voted on the issue in 2015, the bill was voted down at Second Reading and progressed no further.

Following the vote today, Bishop John Sherrington, lead bishop for life issues, said he hopes and prays the bill might be rejected at a later stage in the legislative process.

In a statement released this afternoon, Sherrington said: ?We are disappointed that MPs have voted in favor of the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill progressing through Parliament. We believe that this bill is flawed in principle and also contains particular clauses that are of concern. We ask the Catholic community to pray that members of Parliament will have the wisdom to reject this bill at a later stage in its progress.?

Sherrington said bishops were particularly concerned about a lack of protection for conscientious objection. 

?In addition to being opposed to the principle of assisted suicide, we are particularly concerned with clauses in the bill that prevent doctors from properly exercising conscientious objection, provide inadequate protection to hospices and care homes that do not wish to participate in assisted suicide, and allow doctors to initiate conversations about assisted suicide,? he said. ?We ask that these voices be heard in the next stages of the bill to strengthen the deep concerns about this proposed legislation.?

The bill would allow assisted suicide for people aged 18 and over who are terminally ill and have a prognosis of six months or less.

Sherrington went on to say that real compassion involves supporting people at the end of their lives. 

?We have expressed the view, during this debate, that genuine compassion involves walking with those who need care, especially during sickness, disability, and old age,? he said. ?The vocation to care is at the heart of the lives of so many people who look after their loved ones and is the sign of a truly compassionate society. It is essential that we nurture and renew the innate call that many people have to compassionately care for others.?

Sherrington continued: ?It remains the case that improving the quality and availability of palliative care offers the best pathway to reducing suffering at the end of life. We will continue to advocate for this and support those who work tirelessly to care for the dying in our hospices, hospitals, and care homes.?

Meanwhile, pro-life campaigners have vowed not to give up. 

Spokesperson for Right to Life UK Catherine Robinson said: ?This is just the first stage of a long journey through the Commons and then the Lords for this dangerous assisted suicide bill. We are now going to redouble our efforts to ensure we fight this bill at every stage and ensure that it is defeated to protect the most vulnerable.?

?A very large number of MPs spoke out against this extreme proposal in Parliament today. They made it clear that this dangerous and extreme change to our laws would put the vulnerable at risk and see the ending of many lives through assisted suicide,? Robinson said.

Three Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles, are all smiles at Colwich Abbey in Staffordshire, England. / Credit: Courtesy of the Benedictine Sisters of Mary, Queen of Apostles

London, England, Nov 29, 2024 / 09:18 am (CNA).

The Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, have opened a new location at St. Mary?s Abbey in Colwich, Staffordshire, England. 

The Benedictines became well known after the body of their founder, Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster, who died in 2019, was discovered well preserved in 2023.  

The order was welcomed by Archbishop Bernard Longley of the Archdiocese of Birmingham, England, who invited the sisters to consider the property. The abbey had been up for sale since 2020 because of a decline in vocations.

?We informed the local ordinary, Archbishop Longley, about the sisters soon-to-be in exile in his diocese and we certainly were not expecting an invitation to stay, but that is exactly what happened!? Mother Abbess Cecilia Snell, the Benedictines of Mary?s first abbess, wrote in a spring 2024 newsletter. ?His Excellency has welcomed us most graciously to remain in the [arch]diocese of Birmingham.?

The Benedictines of Mary have now completed the deal, with financial help received from Stanbrook Abbey, which loaned them 2.5 million pounds (over $3.1 million) to complete the purchase. In August, four sisters moved to Colwich to begin their apostolate in England. 

Colwich Abbey, among others, was founded by three great-great-granddaughters of St. Thomas More, who came together in 1623 at Cambrai, Flanders, after the dissolution of the English monasteries in the 1500s. 

The link to St. Thomas More is significant for the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, as the Mother Abbess described More as ?a saint of joy and grace under fire, grace that holds up under the challenges of an age.?

The Mother Abbess added her hopes that the new community in Staffordshire will be ?a place of expansion, especially for future foreign vocations to our community.? 

St. Mary?s Abbey, which has been occupied by Benedictine nuns since the 1830s, has a rich Catholic heritage, having its origins in a convent in 17th-century Cambrai in the Spanish Netherlands, which established a daughter house in Paris in 1652. 

The nuns who were suppressed in the French Revolution moved to England and eventually settled in Dorset, where St. Benedict?s Priory was formed. Now the Benedictines want to play their part in reviving monastic life in England. 

?It is our great hope and desire that our community can revive monastic life in this beautiful and historic sanctuary,? the Mother Abbesstold The Catholic Directory. ?The sisters have already brought the Benedictine ?ora et labora? to the Midlands, and we await God?s timing for the next step in this exciting endeavor.?

Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster founded the traditionalist Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, order in Gower, Missouri, and died on May 29, 2019. However, when her body was exhumed on April 28, 2023, to be moved for interment in the abbey church, the sisters discovered a well-preserved body. In August 2024, Bishop James Johnston of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri confirmed, following a medical examination of the body, that no signs of decomposition were found.

The Mother Abbess explained on the community?s website the process of how they bought the English property.

?The sisters discovered that 15 miles away, St. Mary?s Abbey in Colwich was for sale. A week after their arrival, the sisters visited the Abbey grounds and were quite taken by the buildings, the historical value of the place, and its rural setting,? she said.

?With a formal invitation from the archbishop, it became clear the Lord wanted the Benedictines of Mary to stay in Staffordshire, and to do all in their power to restore Colwich Abbey to its former glory,? she continued.

England is traditionally known as the ?Dowry of Mary,? an ancient title given to Our Lady in 1381 by King Richard II in Westminster Abbey, who sought the protection of Our Lady amid political troubles. England took the title ?Mary?s Dowry? ? meaning the country was ?set aside? as a gift, or dowry, for Our Lady, who would give the country her protection. A rededication was made in 2020. 

Speaking of the title, and the community?s own commitment to Our Lady, the Mother Abbess told the Catholic Herald:  ?England belongs to Our Lady, as does this community, the members being entirely consecrated to her, collectively and individually. We are very grateful to be stepping into such a beautiful heritage, and by her prayers and intercession, being her instruments in assisting with the revitalization of monastic life within her land.?

Archbishop Dermot Farrell of Dublin (left) and Bishop William Crean of Cloyne (Ireland) / Irish Catholic Bishops? Conference

Dublin, Ireland, Nov 29, 2024 / 08:10 am (CNA).

As Ireland heads to the polls on Friday, respect for the dignity of human life is among the key issues highlighted for voters in a statement issued by the Irish Catholic bishops titled ?To Be a People of Hope.? 

Increasing homelessness and the impact of immigration are also raised as matters of grave concern.

Ireland?s general election takes place on Nov. 29 with no clear frontrunner among the three main parties ? Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil, and Sinn Féin. It is potentially one of the most significant elections in the state?s history, with Sinn Féin targeting a role in government.

The Catholic hierarchy?s statement to the electorate underscored the social and moral concerns that should shape voters? choices.

Archbishop Dermot Farrell, archbishop of Dublin and primate of Ireland, said, ?Voting matters because it is how we hold our leaders to account and mandate what we believe to be important.?

Housing, migration, and assisted suicide

The incoming government will face pressing social issues, including spiraling homelessness, immigration, and an influx of refugees to Ireland, which has stirred right-wing nationalism. Also looming is the prospect of legislation on legalizing assisted suicide.

Addressing this issue, Bishop William Crean of Cloyne stated, ?How we care for the weakest and most vulnerable goes to the core of our moral fiber and integrity as a society,? as he paid tribute to the culture of palliative care across Ireland, describing it as an ?extraordinary witness to compassionate care for all approaching life?s end.?

Amid rising concerns that so-called assisted dying could place undue pressure on the elderly and most vulnerable, the Irish bishops? message was unequivocal: ?The value of people?s lives seems to be calculated as if it were simply part of a cost-benefit analysis. Where is the hope in this??

A profound housing crisis is another pressing issue, with 15,000 people, including over 4,500 children, currently homeless in Ireland. The Irish bishops described this situation as a scandal that undermines social cohesion. They called for immediate action, emphasizing the dignity and well-being of every person.

The bishops also advocated for a compassionate response to immigration, urging politicians to welcome those seeking a better life in Ireland. Their statement called for fair and timely processing of asylum applications and a strong stance against racism.

In the international arena, the bishops expressed grave concern over ongoing conflicts, particularly the war in Gaza, urging an immediate ceasefire and highlighting the importance of Ireland?s role in promoting peace.

Aidan Gallagher, director of EWTN Ireland, told CNA, ?The Irish bishops? guidance serves as a very clear moral compass for voters and politicians alike, encouraging a commitment to hope, dignity, and respect for all as Ireland prepares for its pivotal election.?

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archdiocese of Westminster. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

London, England, Nov 28, 2024 / 10:30 am (CNA).

The leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales has made a robust defense of the role of religion in the political debate about assisted suicide as members of parliament prepare to vote on the issue tomorrow.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, was asked to respond to remarks by Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the former Lord Chancellor, who told The Guardian on Nov. 24, that ?religious beliefs? should not be imposed on others, when it comes to the debate on assisted suicide. 

During an interview with Times Radio on Nov. 25, Nichols said: ?I thought we lived in a democracy where people were permitted to express their views and to take forward an argument and a rational argument. If Mr. Falconer can?t extend that space to religious belief, then I?m not sure why he should be in politics, actually.?

He continued: ?It?s not as if politics is a separate, sealed-off way of living, it?s part of the life of this country. Religious belief is very much part of the life of this country, and the majority of people in the world actually hold a religious belief in God. So, it?s Charlie Falconer, who is in the box, not me.?

The vote on assisted suicide, which is scheduled in the House of Commons tomorrow, is thought to be "on a knife?s edge," according to voting projections. Recent analysis by Election Maps UK indicates that 285 MPs are in favor of the new law, while 289 MPs are opposed.

When asked by Times Radio how he would feel if assisted suicide was legalized in England and Wales, Nichols replied: ?I?d be fearful for many vulnerable people who would feel under pressure. You know the right to die can easily become a duty to die, that eats away [at] a person?s self-confidence.?

Nichols has also added his signature to a letter released on Nov. 24, signed by a number of faith leaders ? including Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, Coptic Orthodox, and Greek Orthodox leaders ? stating ?their deep concern? about the impact of the Bill. It reads:

?In the UK, it is estimated that 2.7 million older people have been subjected to abuse; many of these may also be vulnerable to pressure to end their lives prematurely. Disability campaigners and those working with women in abusive relationships have also highlighted the danger of unintended consequences should the law be changed.

?The experience of jurisdictions which have introduced similar legislation, such as Oregon and Canada, demonstrate how tragic these unintended consequences can be.

?Promised safeguards have not always protected the vulnerable and marginalized. Even when surrounded by loving family and friends, people towards the end of their life can still feel like a burden. This is especially the case while adult social care remains underfunded. In this environment, it is easy to see how a ?right to die? could all too easily end in feeling you have a duty to die.?

Meanwhile, an increasing number of significant political figures have come out against the Bill, in the run up to the debate.

Former Prime Ministers, Boris Johnson, Teresa May, Liz Truss, and Gordon Brown have all indicated that they are opposed to the Bill, while David Cameron who served as Prime Minister between 2010 and 2016, has changed his mind in favor of assisted dying.

Current prominent members of the government, including the Health Secretary, Wes Streeting, and Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, have made it clear that they are opposed to a change in the law and will be voting against the Bill.

The highly controversial Bill is sponsored by backbench MP, Kim Leadbeater, and has been allocated five hours of debate tomorrow in the House of Commons.

Following the debate, there will be a vote and if the Bill is ratified it will then progress to the next stage of the legislative process.

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, would allow terminally ill adults with a prognosis of six months or less, to apply for physician-assisted suicide.

MPs are allowed a "free vote" on the issue, which means they can vote according to their conscience, rather than following a party line.

Women holding hands in prayer. Stock image via Shutterstock. / null

Madrid, Spain, Nov 28, 2024 / 07:30 am (CNA).

The Spanish Bishops? Conference has published a doctrinal note criticizing the practice of so-called ?intergenerational healing? or ?healing of the family tree? promoted by some Catholic priests.

The doctrinal note was published in response to these practices ?in some Spanish dioceses, especially in the area of ??prayers and retreats organized by new religious movements of a charismatic nature.?

After receiving reports from various experts ?in the fields of dogmatic theology, spiritual theology and psychology,? the conference?s Commission for the Doctrine of the Faith prepared the text that was approved for publication.

The doctrinal note identifies as originators of these practices Anglican missionary Kenneth McAll, Claretian religious John Hampsch and Catholic priest Robert DeGrandis of the Society of St. Joseph, ?who has popularized the practice in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal due to his involvement in it.?

These authors teach ?the intergenerational transmission of sin and, correlatively, the possibility of intergenerational healing.? The way to ?cure? physical and mental illnesses resulting from the sins of ancestors consists of ?identifying the sin in one?s own family tree? and breaking ?the bond of sin? through ?intercession, exorcisms and, especially, the celebration of a Eucharist,? which results in a supposed healing, the doctrinal note explains.

The bishops warn that ?merging aspects proper to the Catholic faith with others that are foreign to it, results in a syncretism that appears Catholic with aspects that concern, explicitly or implicitly, questions of eschatology,? as well as ecclesiology, anthropology, and the theology of the sacraments.

The magisterium of the Catholic Church on sin

In the doctrinal note, the Spanish bishops emphasize some magisterial points to be taken into account on the question of ?intergenerational healing.?

First, they state that ?sin is always personal and requires a free decision of the will. The same is true of the punishment for sin. It always involved personal responsibility.?

In connection with this, they note that ?the only sin that is transmitted from generation to generation is original sin,? but they also point out that this transmission occurs ?in an analogous way,? that it does not have the character of personal guilt and that its punishment ?does not pass on? to the next generation.

The prelates explain in the second instance that although in the Old Testament it is affirmed ?that the sins of the fathers are visited on the children,? this conception of corporate responsibility, ?which called into question the justice of God,? evolved ?making man responsible for his own destiny?.

?In the New Testament Jesus rejected the concept of a hereditary transmission of sin, breaking with the logic of ?personal and collective guilt-punishment? in the well-known scene of the healing of the man born blind,? the bishops explain.

Baptism, Eucharist and intergenerational healing

The Spanish bishops also point out that it?s not possible to ?maintain there is an intergenerational transmission of sin without contradicting the Catholic doctrine on Baptism,? the sacrament in which ?the forgiveness of all sins occurs.?

Regarding the Eucharist, the prelates note that ?the so-called ?Masses of healing or deliverance,? closely linked to the practice of intergenerational healing,? are not found in the Roman Ritual and therefore ?the introduction of such intentions into the scope of the celebration of the Holy Mass seriously changes the nature of and distorts the Eucharistic celebration.?

The doctrinal note also refers to prayer meetings ?whose purpose is to obtain from God the healing of the sick,? to reaffirm that, although ?any member of the faithful can freely lift up prayers to God asking for healing,? when it comes to meetings ?they must be subject to the supervision of the local Ordinary.?

?These prayers for healing, as well as prayers for exorcism, liturgical or non-liturgical, cannot be introduced into the celebration of the Holy Eucharist, the sacraments and the Liturgy of the Hours,? they specify.

In conclusion, the Spanish bishops affirmed that ?basing ourselves on the Word of God, we wish to affirm that you can?t be guilty of someone else?s sins you had nothing to do with nor can anyone be held responsible for the sins of previous generations, but that each person is responsible for his own life and his own sins.?

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

The suspect faces life imprisonment for these crimes. / Credit: Pixabay

ACI Prensa Staff, Nov 27, 2024 / 14:39 pm (CNA).

Spain's National Police have arrested one of Europe's Most Wanted fugitives, a man accused of murdering a Catholic priest and injuring a nun in August 1991 in the town of Paloznak, Hungary.

According to a police statement posted Nov. 25 on their website, the man, who was not identified by name, was arrested in Girona province in the Catalonia region of Spain.

The fugitive had two European Arrest Warrants (EAWs) issued, one for aggravated homicide in Hungary and the other for violating traffic safety laws in Romania. In addition, a warrant was issued for theft in Hungary. The suspect faces life imprisonment for these crimes, the text states.

The man lived in a quiet area ?and took multiple security measures before leaving his home, which is why the agents had to pose as park and garden maintenance workers in order to arrest him, the police statement notes. 

After the EAWs were issued, Spain?s National Police began the investigation in May, finding that the accused had passed through the Spanish province of Huelva and that he did everything in his power to try to go unnoticed, such as using apps to avoid connecting with cell towers when contacting other people.

In mid-November, police officers found him in Girona province and set up an operation to finally arrest him in public when he was going to get into his car.

The crimes

The police report states that in August 1991, in Paloznak, Hungary, ?the suspect, together with other individuals, broke into a parish [building] in the city to steal valuables found there.?

At the scene ?they surprised the priest who ran the parish (an elderly man) while he was sleeping and, after tying him to a chair and aggressively assaulting him, he died.? They also tied up and assaulted ?a nun, also elderly (?) Although the woman survived the assault, she was seriously injured.?

According to Spanish media, the man arrested by the police in the town of Santa Coloma de Farners in Girona province, one of the most wanted in Europe, is Viorel Nae, a 55-year-old Romanian who is believed to be one of those who participated in murdering Father Gyula Csontos during the robbery that occurred more than 30 years ago.

According to El Caso online news, the nun who was injured during the incident died about 23 years ago. After being beaten, she supposedly told the criminals where some valuable things were that were ultimately stolen.

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

St. Hedwig's Cathedral in Berlin, Germany. / Cedric BLN via Wikimedia (Public domain).

CNA Deutsch, Nov 25, 2024 / 12:01 pm (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Berlin celebrated the reopening of St. Hedwig's Cathedral on Sunday after more than six years of renovation work. The interior has been given a state-of-the-art makeover, but not everyone is responding with enthusiasm. 

In his homily on Sunday, Berlin Archbishop Heiner Koch summarized the intention behind the new design: ?In the current renovation of St. Hedwig's Cathedral according to the designs of architect Peter Sichau and artist Leo Zogmayer, it was important to us that Catholics find a home here in this church and that people who do not share our faith also feel addressed by the language of the architecture and the artistic design and can perceive this church as a place of reflection, conversation, and open searching.?

Ulrich L. Lehner, the Warren Foundation Professor of Theology at the University of Notre Dame, in a post on X shared his response to the design of the cathedral writing: "This is what 40 million get you for your new Cathedral when you are a #Catholic Bishop in Germany: an eggshell altar. Dedicated to the 'supreme being"? The building is a visible sign for the dead #German #church - it is a shell without any life inside. Nobody will pray here.?

Koch spoke to the hopes and disappointments people may have when they see the renovations, saying in his sermon that ?the design of St. Hedwig's Cathedral addresses the dark experiences of many people.?

?For example, in the crypt in the Neapolitan nativity scene, the depiction of the birth of Christ includes the poverty and the drama of the flight of so many people,? he said. ?On the Way of the Cross in the crypt, which takes up the suffering of many people, is the chapel in which the guilt of the church over the course of its 2,000-year history and the suffering it has caused find expression. In addition, our recent history in Germany is taken up, in which we failed and did not sufficiently address the violation of human dignity.?

The archbishop continued: ?As Christians, we believe in the good God, who holds our lives and our history and the future of the world in his hands and who has given us salvation in Jesus Christ. We believe in God, who leads people?s lives to fulfillment, who has torn open the heavens and gives us a healthy, meaningful and fulfilling future that allows us to live together and leads our lives to unfold.?

Against this background, the crypt, he said, ?does not stop at people's dark experiences, but shows itself to be a place of hope. The tomb of Blessed Bernhard Lichtenberg and the tombs of the bishops bear witness to the hope of resurrection that fills us.?

The redesigned interior of the Berlin cathedral takes up the ?confession of Christ, the Savior, the fulfillment and completion of our lives and our future?, explained Koch. 

?The center of the cathedral is the altar as a symbol of Christ, of his life, suffering, death and resurrection. The church gathers around it and honors him in the liturgy. The community of believers gathers around it with the bishop, whose cathedra is inserted into this circle of believers around the altar as a sign of his task and his authority to lead and teach his diocese. Saint Hedwig thus becomes an expression of the idea of communion, which we have placed at the center of our life in the Archdiocese of Berlin and to which we are committed in the development of the synodality of our Church: communion with God and with one another.?

During his time as Cardinal and Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pope Benedict XVI categorized such a design of the interior of churches with the words: ?The turning of the priest towards the people now forms the congregation into a self-contained circle. In terms of form, it is no longer open towards the front and above, but is closed in on itself.?

Cologne Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, in contrast, said he is delighted with the new interior of St. Hedwig's Cathedral.?When I entered the room, I was completely overwhelmed. I was speechless at the brightness, the size, and the freedom that this space breathes. It is actually unrecognizable when you compare it to the room I remembered.?

Woelki was Archbishop of Berlin from 2011 to 2014.

?The Pantheon was brought to Berlin from Rome,? Woelki said on Sunday in an interview with Cologne Cathedral Radio. ?The altar is at the very center. Christ is at the center, next to it the cross, the ambo, from there the proclamation of the Word and overall simplicity. The space gives freedom, but at the same time it also creates a closeness to one another. People now sit much closer and kneel much closer to the salvation that takes place on the altar.?

St. Hedwig's Cathedral dates back to the 18th century. The building burned down during the Second World War. When it was rebuilt, it was already a very modern church. A few decades later, it was re-redesigned, initiated by Woelki.

This article was originally published by CNA Deutsch, CNA?s German language news partner, and has been translated and adapted for CNA.

null / Credit: Image created using OpenAI's DALL·E through ChatGPT

CNA Staff, Nov 21, 2024 / 15:50 pm (CNA).

Numerous news reports in recent days reported that a new artificially intelligent ?Jesus? has begun taking people?s confessions at a Catholic church in Switzerland. 

Claim: A holographic ?AI Jesus? has been created and deployed at a chapel in Switzerland specifically to hear confessions.

CNA finds: St. Peter?s Chapel in Lucerne, a historic parish church, recently installed ?an innovative project that explores the use of virtual characters based on generative artificial intelligence in a spiritual context? in collaboration with the Immersive Realities Research Lab at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts.

The AI program was reportedly trained with content from the New Testament, with the goal of allowing the ?Jesus? avatar to verbally respond, in one of 100 languages, to questions about the Bible from people entering the confessional. 

(Numerous reports described the ?Jesus? avatar as a ?hologram,? which is a 3D projection created with lasers; but a Deutsche Welle video of the installation in action showed that the artificial face of ?Jesus? merely appeared on a curved computer monitor behind the confessional screen.) 

The installation is titled ?Deus in Machina? (a Latin phrase meaning ?God in the machine? and a play on the more commonly used literary phrase ?Deus ex machina?). An announcement from the lab said the project, which is described as an ?art exhibit,? ?encourages thinking about the limits of technology in the context of religion.?

The breakdown: Despite being placed in the confessional booth, the parish notes on its website that the AI installation is intended for conversations, not confessions. Confession, also called penance or reconciliation, is one of the seven sacraments of the Church and can only be performed by a priest or bishop, and never in a virtual setting.

A theologian at the Swiss parish said the project is also intended to help to get religious people comfortable with AI and reportedly said he does see potential for AI to help with the pastoral work of priests, given that AI can be available any time, ?24 hours a day, so it has abilities that pastors don?t.?

Peter Kirchschläger, an expert in theological ethics, opined to Deutsche Welle in response to the theologian?s comments that ?we should be careful when it comes to faith, pastoral care, and the search for meaning in religion. This is an area in which we humans are actually vastly superior to machines. So we should do it ourselves.?

The Swiss art project is the latest in a series of attempts ? including an embrace of the technology at the Vatican itself ? to make AI work in service of the Catholic faith, which so far has yielded mixed results. 

CatéGPT, for example, an artificial intelligence chatbot designed by another Swiss, engineer Nicolas Torcheboeuf, aims to provide answers to questions about Catholic teaching by drawing on authoritative documents. Other similar AI-based services have gained popularity, such as the U.S.-based Magisterium AI. 

Less successful was an AI ?priest? created and unveiled earlier this year by the California-based apologetics apostolate Catholic Answers, which was criticized by some users for its video game-like priestly avatar. Moreover, at least one user managed to goad the priestly character into hearing their confession, prompting a statement from the apostolate in which it promised to replace the priest character with a lay character named ?Justin.?

The verdict: The ?AI Jesus? project exists, but it?s not intended to hear people?s confessions, or to replace a priest. Rather, it?s an art exhibit created by researchers at a local technical university in concert with theologians who say they want to raise questions about the use of technology in religious settings and to demonstrate the ability of AI to answer questions about the Bible. 

We rate this claim misleading.

St. John?s Cathedral in the Netherlands is lit up for Red Wednesday on Nov. 23, 2022. / Credit: Ldhank, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

CNA Staff, Nov 21, 2024 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

Catholic churches around the world were lit up in red on Wednesday as a display of solidarity with persecuted Christians.

Organized by the Christian aid group Aid to the Church in Need International (ACN), ?Red Week? has been taking place in honor of persecuted Christians every November since 2016.

Ed Clancy, director of outreach for Aid to the Church in Need, emphasized in an interview this week with ?EWTN News Nightly? the increasing persecution of Christians around the world documented in a recent ACN report.

Spurred in large part by the 2014 destruction of the ancient Christian community in Iraq by the so-called Islamic State, Red Wednesday aims to draw attention to this pressing issue by illuminating cathedrals, churches, and public buildings in red. 

Clancy told ?EWTN News Nightly? that the day of solidarity coincides with the period leading up to the feast of Christ the King, contrasting the commercial focus of Black Friday with a call to recognize and support persecuted Christians globally.

He noted that approximately 1 in 7 Christians globally face persecution. He identified regions such as Pakistan, Nigeria, the Sahel region of Africa, Egypt, and India as areas where Christian persecution is particularly severe and on the rise. 

He urged the faithful to support persecuted Christians through prayer and awareness-raising efforts like Red Wednesday.

This year more than 300 official Red Wednesday events were held in 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia, France, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Slovakia, Austria, Ireland, Malta, the Philippines, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia.

Here?s a look at some of the church and government buildings that were lit up on Wednesday. 

Father Max Josef Metzger, a Catholic priest executed by the Nazi regime in 1944 for his peace activism and ecumenical work, was beatified Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024, in Freiburg, Germany. / Credit: Photo courtesy of the Archdiocese of Freiburg, Germany

CNA Newsroom, Nov 21, 2024 / 12:00 pm (CNA).

Father Max Josef Metzger, a Catholic priest executed by the Nazi regime in 1944 for his peace activism and ecumenical work, was beatified Sunday in Freiburg, Germany.

Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Vatican?s Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, presided over the beatification Mass at Freiburg Cathedral as the representative of Pope Francis, the diocese reported.

?His death is an eloquent testimony to what constitutes a martyr in the Christian understanding of faith,? he said, according to CNA Deutsch, CNA?s German-language news partner.

Metzger, who served as a military chaplain during World War I, became a passionate advocate for peace and reconciliation between nations after witnessing the horrors of war. In 1917, he developed an ?international religious peace program? that he submitted to Pope Benedict XV.

?Peace between peoples and nations became his great passion,? Koch said in his homily, noting that this led Metzger to found both the World Peace League of the White Cross and the Peace League of German Catholics in 1919.

The cardinal emphasized that Metzger?s twin commitments to peace and Christian unity were inseparable. As the Nazi regime gained power, Metzger became increasingly involved in ecumenical work, becoming a promoter of the Una Sancta movement for Christian unity in 1938.

?Metzger was convinced that the Church can only credibly advocate for peace in the world when Christians and Christian churches reconcile with each other,? Koch said.

Nazi persecution

The Nazi authorities viewed Metzger?s peace work and public criticism of the war as treason against their ideology. He was arrested multiple times. On Oct. 14, 1943, he was sentenced to death by the People?s Court and executed by guillotine on April 17, 1944, at Brandenburg-Görden Prison.

According to prison chaplain Peter Buchholz?s account, the executioner remarked that he had ?never seen a person go to their death with such radiant eyes as this Catholic priest.?

Koch connected Metzger?s martyrdom to today?s global challenges, noting that ?when we look into today?s world with the terrible wars in the Middle East, in Ukraine, and in many other places, such dark prospects should no longer appear otherworldly to us but rather very realistic and current.?

Legacy of peace

The beatification of Metzger was approved by the Vatican?s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints in March, recognizing his unwavering commitment to peace and Christian charity.

Born in Schopfheim in Germany?s Black Forest region in 1887, Metzger served as a diocesan priest of the Archdiocese of Freiburg. His last resting place is in Meitingen near Augsburg, Bavaria, where he had established the headquarters of the Christ the King Society in 1928.

The ?beatification is a great honor for the Archdiocese of Freiburg,? Koch said. ?At the same time, it comes with the demand that we are called to witness to peace and unity in today?s world in following Jesus Christ.?

?In Jesus there is no contradiction between truth and charity,? notes professor Marta Rodríguez Díaz, who teaches in the philosophy department of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. / Credit: Courtesy of Marta Rodríguez Díaz

Madrid, Spain, Nov 21, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Marta Rodríguez Díaz, a Catholic expert on gender ideology, said that rather than fighting gender ideology, the mission of the Catholic Church is ?to seek to make light shine in the darkness? and to offer critical dialogue.

Rodríguez also pointed out that ?if the Church is not credible today in terms of gender, it is not for a lack of having much to say but because there is a lack of educators who know how to convey its message in a comprehensive and accurate way.?

Rodríguez was chosen by the Spanish Bishops? Conference to provide formation to diocesan delegates for family and life pastoral care regarding the challenge the gender ideology issue represents for the Catholic Church.

She holds a doctorate in philosophy from the Pontifical Gregorian University and is a professor in the philosophy department of the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum. She is also coordinator of the academic area of ??the Institute for Women?s Studies.

Rodríguez is also the academic director of the course on gender, sex, and education at the Francisco de Vitoria University in collaboration with the Regina Apostolorum and was part of the Dicastery for Laity, Family, and Life.

She spoke recently with ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner, about gender ideology, Catholic anthropology, and how it relates to the culture today.

ACI Prensa: How should the Church combat gender ideology?

Rodríguez: I don?t know if I like the word ?combat? ... I think that the mission of the Church is to be light and to seek to make light shine in the darkness. To be light means proposing the entire truth about the human being, to educate and also to warn and point out those ideas that contradict the dignity of the person or don?t help attain its fullness.

Personally, I would prefer to see us, as a Church, more dedicated to a dialogue capable of seriously addressing the ideologies of our time than to making total denunciations that only those who already think like us understand.

According to the data you offer, pastoral workers either have a vague understanding of the Catholic teaching on the subject or don?t know or understand it at all. What steps must be taken to reverse this situation?

Formation, formation, formation. It?s necessary to provide formation in Christian anthropology. My experience is that pastoral workers have insufficient knowledge of it and are not capable of proposing it in all its beauty and depth. In addition, it?s necessary to provide formation in moral theology so that they know how to discern the pastoral applications that are appropriate in each case, without in any way blurring the truth about the [human] person. It?s also necessary to provide formation in a pastoral style that knows how to connect with the postmodern world and to propose the perennial beauty of the Gospel in a language that is comprehensible to today?s world.

I think that if the Church is not credible today on gender issues, it?s not because it doesn?t have much to say but because there is a lack of formators who know how to convey its message in a comprehensive and accurate way.

There is a crisis in the family, in which the roles of men and women are confused. Is this a main cause of the confusion among young people on the issue of gender? What other elements push in this direction?

Definitely, the crisis of femininity and masculinity that we are experiencing has a very strong impact on young people. Without attractive role models, it is difficult to carry out the process of identifying with one?s own sex that is necessary in adolescence. In addition, there is the crisis of the family itself: many dysfunctional families, with absent fathers and mothers.

The media, social media, and movies certainly also have an influence, as they insist so clearly on one single message. In short, I think that today?s kids are bombarded by ideas that confuse them, and they have no solid points of reference to guide them.

You say that knowing things have not been done well up to now is ?liberating.? In what sense?

In the sense that it makes us see what depends on us and where we can improve our discourse to be more credible. Personally, I am very concerned when it?s said that the cause of all the confusion among young people is from social media, the news media, laws... because all that is true, but it?s also true that it doesn?t seem that it will change in the next few years.

But if, at the same time that we recognize the impact of all these external elements, we recognize that as a Church we have not always been up to the task; that we have not been able to propose the message with the depth and beauty that our times demanded ? then we have things that depend on us, and that allow us to hope that the landscape can, indeed, improve.

You list some risks in the educational field. What are you referring to by ?medical practices little proven from the scientific point of view??

[I?m referring] to hormonal treatments for children and adolescents. I?m not a doctor, but many doctors and psychologists have raised serious objections to this type of practice. In other countries they are backing off, but in Spain we are still carrying out experiments.

You state that ?it?s not necessary to declare war on the term ?gender?: It?s possible to take it up critically.? What part of that discourse is acceptable according to the magisterium of the Church?

The problem is not the term gender but the anthropology from which it draws. Amoris Laetitia No. 56 states that ?gender and sex can be distinguished, but they cannot be separated.? The same is said in Male and Female He Created Them in Nos. 6 and 11. And Dignitas Infinita again takes up this affirmation. I believe that the consolidated tendency of the magisterium in recent years has been to stop declaring war on the term and to engage in a critical dialogue with what I call ?gender theories.?

Gender is the development or cultural interpretation of sex. It?s fair to distinguish it from sex, but not to separate it from it.

What makes this era different from others in terms of cultural change and the distance between generations that makes dialogue on these issues so difficult?

I think the difficulty lies in what Pope Francis calls ?a change of era.? Culture is always in continuous change, but there are moments in history when a true change of era occurs. It?s a moment of rupture, where time ?changes its skin,? and a deeper adaptation of language, perspective, and vision is needed.

Veritatis Gaudium recognizes that ?we still lack the culture necessary to confront this crisis; we lack leadership capable of striking out on new paths.? It?s about learning to propose the beauty of Christ and of man in a postmodern world. This requires a new prophetic word. 

How can we balance welcoming those wounded by gender ideology as the good Samaritan would, with the proclamation of the anthropological truth of the creation of man and woman as the image of God and what follows from this affirmation?

In Jesus there is no contradiction between truth and charity. The same Jesus who proclaims the Sermon on the Mount and says that adultery begins in the heart raises up the adulterous woman.

Affirming that sex is a constitutive reality of the person and that it permeates body and soul does not contradict the recognition that identity in the psychological sense is bio-psycho-social and that the person has the task of integrating different elements: body, psyche, culture?

We can say that I am born a woman, but at the same time I have to become a woman. This process is not simple, and even less so today. I believe that we have to seriously take into consideration the experience of each person.

Christian anthropology is not a theoretical truth that we have to throw at people? If we believe that we are well made [by God], we know that the truth is within each of us and we can recognize it in the longings of our heart.

Perhaps the task of the Christian companion is to walk with people as Jesus did with the disciples [going to] Emmaus, helping them to enrich the grammar with which they interpret their story. If we believe that ?the truth makes us free,? then perhaps what we need to have is a lot of patience and love to accompany people to be more and more authentically themselves.

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

The historic Church of the Immaculate Conception in Saint-Omer, in the Pas-de-Calais department of northern France, was ravaged by arson on the night of Sept. 2, 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of Father Sébastien Roussel

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Nov 20, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

A recently released report from a European watchdog group has found nearly 2,500 documented instances of hate crimes against Christians living in Europe. Approximately 1,000 of these attacks took place in France. 

According to the Observatory on Intolerance and Discrimination Against Christians in Europe (OIDAC) report, which drew on both police and civil society data, 2,444 anti-Christian hate crimes and acts of discrimination and intolerance occurred across 35 European countries from 2023 to 2024.

Of these, 232 constituted personal attacks of harassment, threats, and physical assaults against Christians.

Most affected countries: France, England, and Germany

Nearly 1,000 of the anti-Christian hate crimes reported in Europe in 2023 took place in France, with 90% of the attacks waged against churches or cemeteries. The report also found there were about 84 personal attacks against individuals. 

Apart from physical assaults, the report cited data from the French Religious Heritage Observatory, which recorded eight confirmed cases of arson against churches in France in 2023 and 14 attacks in the first 10 months of 2024. Several reported cases were on account of ?Molotov cocktails,? a makeshift handheld firebomb.

Religious communities also reported incidents of harassment. Two nuns cited in the report, for example, announced in 2023 that they would be leaving the northwestern city of Nantes on account of ?constant hostility and insecurity.? The nuns reportedly experienced ?beatings, spitting, and insults.?

The United Kingdom followed close behind France, according to the report, with 702 reported anti-Christian hate crimes, a 15% increase since 2023.

The report also included as anti-Christian acts incidents of Christians being prosecuted for praying silently in the country?s so-called ?buffer zones,? such as the case of Adam Smith-Connor, who was convicted for praying in front of an abortion clinic.

The report stated that in Germany, the third most affected country, official government statistics reported 277 ?politically motivated hate crimes? against Christians in 2023, a 105% increase from the previous year when there were 103 reported attacks. 

OIDAC Europe independently estimated that ?at least 2,000 cases of property damage to Christian places of worship in 2023? took place. 

Motives and perpetrators of anti-Christian hate crimes

OIDAC Europe found that of the 69 documented cases where the motives and background of perpetrators could be accurately accounted for, 21 of them were provoked by a radical Islamist agenda, 14 were of a generally anti-religious nature, 13 were tied to far-left political motives, and 12 were ?linked to the war in Ukraine.?

The report also noted that numbers in this respect remained unchanged compared with 2022, ?except for cases with an Islamist background, which increased from 11 to 21.?

Pushed to the silent margins

In addition to overt attacks, the OIDAC report highlighted an increased phenomenon of discrimination in the workplace and public life, leading to a rise in self-censorship among those who practice their faith. 

According to a U.K.-based study from June cited in the report, 56% of 1,562 respondents stated they ?had experienced hostility and ridicule when discussing their religious beliefs,? an overall 61% rise among those under 35. In addition, 18% of those who participated in the study reported experiencing discrimination, particularly among those in younger age groups.

More than 280 participants in the same survey stated ?they felt that they had been disadvantaged because of their religion.?

?I was bullied at my workplace, made to feel less than, despite being very successful at my job in other settings, until I left,? one female respondent in her late 40s stated in the survey, while another respondent, a man in his mid- to late-50s, said: ?Any mention of faith in a CV precludes one from an interview. My yearly assessment was lowered because I spoke of Christ.?

The report explained that the majority of discrimination occurs due to the ?expression of religious beliefs about societal issues.? However, in the U.K., these instances have extended to private conversations and posts on private social media accounts, according to the report.

A case involving a mother of two children, Kristie Higgs, was cited in the report. Higgs was fired from her job as a pastoral assistant after sharing, in a private Facebook post, ?concerns about the promotion of transgenderism in sex education lessons at her son?s primary school.?

?I am not alone to be treated this way ? many of the others here to support me today have faced similar consequences,? Higgs stated after her hearing at the Court of Appeals in October.

?This is not just about me,? she added. ?It cannot be right that so many Christians are losing their jobs or facing discipline for sharing biblical truth, our Christian beliefs.?

Government interference with the Catholic Church

Two instances of government interference in Catholic religious autonomy were cited. 

One instance occurred in France, in which a secular civil court ?ruled against the Vatican?s internal canonical procedures? in a case regarding a French nun who was dismissed from her order. The Vatican sent a letter to the French embassy in response to the ruling, which it called ?a serious violation of the fundamental rights of religious freedom and freedom of association of the Catholic faithful.?

In Belgium, the report also noted, two bishops were convicted and ordered to pay financial compensation after they refused to admit a woman to a diaconate training program, despite human rights law, which protects the rights of religious institutions such as the Catholic Church, to decide on matters such as the ordination of clergy without state-level interference.

Recommendations

?As freedom of thought, conscience, and religion is a cornerstone for free and democratic societies, we hope that states will not compromise on the protection of these fundamental rights, and thus ensure an open and peaceful climate in our societies,? the report stated in its conclusion.

OIDAC?s report includes various recommendations to governments of European countries, human rights institutions, the European Union, members of the media, and other ?opinion leaders? as well as to Christian churches and individuals.

The watchdog organization?s recommendations include a call for safeguarding freedom of expression, more robust reporting on intolerance and discrimination against Christians, the abandonment of anti-Christian ?hate speech? in the public sphere, and for people of faith to engage in public-facing discourse as a means of ?dialogue between religion and secular society.?

Bishop José Ignacio Munilla was among the speakers featured at the 2024 Conference on Catholics and Public Life Nov. 15?17, 2024. / Credit: Courtesy of the Catholic Association of Propagandists (Advocates)

Madrid, Spain, Nov 19, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Bishop José Ignacio Munilla of Orihuela-Alicante, Spain, described socialism as an ideology that is an ?enemy of the cross? at the Conference on Catholics and Public Life organized by the Catholic Association of Propagandists (Advocates) this past weekend.

During his talk titled ?Thinking and Acting in Times of Uncertainty,? Munilla pointed out that ?we cannot confront this attack and this systematic imposition of a new society only with criticism and new political leadership, but rather a movement of converts is required. We will only get out of this crisis through a renewal of holiness.?

He also maintained that society needs a ?change of worldview in which we go from being enemies of the cross to being the people of the cross? because, he emphasized, ?without the cross there is no glory; it?s a great mistake to make a dichotomy between the cross and happiness; the cross leads us to glory, and glory is complete happiness.?

In this context, he described socialism as an ?ideology that is an enemy of the cross? whose sociological and political currents have become ?the grave of peoples, in which the ?nanny state? solves all the problems,? without appealing to the sacrifice and commitment of individuals.

As a result, an ?anthropological crisis is being created, raising it to the level of law and supreme precept, which seeks to rebel against the natural order, turning wounds into rights instead of accepting emotional wounds, the fruit of the disintegration of the family.?

The bishop added that ?we are trying to compensate for the inner emptiness of man with consumerism and materialism; fleeing from affective commitment and from opening up to the gift of life; and suffering is being treated as something incompatible with human dignity: This world suffers so much for not wanting to suffer, for escaping from the cross of Christ.?

Hadjadj: Facing uncertainty is a life-or-death challenge

For his part, French philosopher Fabrice Hadjadj addressed the general theme of the conference, ?Quo Vadis? Thinking and Acting in Times of Uncertainty,? appealing for each person to get involved: ?Where are you going? Not ?where is the world going,? since with this question one can be a spectator and can be content with complaining.?

Hadjadj pointed out that living in a time of uncertainty ?is not just any challenge? but rather a challenge that is configured as a question ?if not of honor, at least of life or death.? To do so, it is necessary ?to have a healed soul, to accept having a body bruised by martyrdom.?

At the same time, he pointed out that it is inevitable to experience ?the least confessable emotion: fear. Not so much the fear of dying, but the fear of living up to the challenge, the fear of maintaining our reputation for being alive.?

In postmodern Europe, this challenge is embodied in a continent, a society that ?despairs of what is human and tends today to constitutionalize abortion and euthanasia; to revise colonial history, lumping together the conqueror and the missionary.?

These are demands ?that many imagine to be linked to the affirmation of individual freedom and, in reality, they emanate from the death of aspiring. They correspond to the agitation of despair,? the philosopher pointed out.

Ayaan Hirsi: The less Christian presence, the greater the crisis

The conference also featured the participation of human rights activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, who stressed that ?the less presence there is of Christianity in society,? the greater the social crisis in the West.

In her presentation, titled ?Free to Seek the Truth,? Hirsi explained that multiculturalism and globalization are ?two sides of the same coin.?

On the one hand, there is a ?retribalization of society, with the growth of identity groups ?who have no national loyalty to the country they call home.? On the other, there is the evaporation of a set of shared values, the fragmentation of society, and the ethnicization and racialization of all political issues.

Hirsi denounced the ?atrocious restrictions on freedom of expression, religion, and the resurgence of a [socially] acceptable and legitimate racism against whites and against Jews in Europe and in America in the name of intersectional social justice.?

She also warned of the proliferation of ?pseudo religions that present themselves as equal or superior to Christianity itself? as well as the appeal of ?ideas that challenge reality? such as ?the existence of multiple genders.?

These trends, in her opinion, create an increasing difficulty in teaching children the difference between good and evil. At the university, the search for truth is replaced ?by the development of narratives,? while ?the search for excellence through merit is branded as an enemy of diversity.?

?If this trend continues, it will mark the beginning of the downfall,? she emphasized.

Recovering a strong and reliable Christianity 

For Hirsi, ?we must recover a strong and reliable Christianity. Churches must stop adopting every new fad and revive the true message and teachings of Christ.?

She also called for ?resisting the ongoing demographic decline? in Europe by making it attractive for young people to marry and have a family. She also called for schools, universities, and the arts to recognize ?their role in promoting the Christian ethos that led to the formation of the institutions that make the West extraordinary.?

?None of these changes can be achieved if we do not organize, participate, and mobilize to achieve a strong majority that participates and acts. Only by recovering a sense of unity based on common values ??and not on differences will we be able to build stronger and more cohesive societies in these uncertain times,? she concluded.

Presence of young people at the conference

The 26th Conference on Catholics and Public Life sought to reach out to young people in particular, offering some specific opportunities, such as a roundtable with digital missionaries.

It was attended by 1,000 young people from different Spanish cities who heard testimonies and encouragement from three evangelizers on social media: Carlos Taracena, Carla Restoy, and Irene Alonso, among others.

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

Gilmour Street train station in Paisley, Scotland. / Credit: Lachlan1/Shutterstock

London, England, Nov 17, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

The new president of the bishops of Scotland is taking the Church?s message to ?the streets? by joining in the evangelistic efforts of a Scottish railway mission. 

Bishop John Keenan, who was announced as the new leader of the Church in Scotland on Nov. 4, recently participated in the mission of Rail Pastors in Inverclyde, Scotland. He told CNA: ?It is the Church on the streets where the Spirit wants us to be and where we feel his unique presence in almost every encounter.?

Keenan defined the Rail Pastors? mission as ?creating a little bit of community and warmth? at train stations where he shared ?the joy of the Gospel,? using the phrase popularized by Pope Francis in his 2013 apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. 

The Rail Pastors are familiar to many Scots, as they have been active in Scotland for a number of years and operate at train stations in Fife, Inverclyde, and Paisley. 

The group?s mission is ?to listen, care, and help travelers who otherwise might feel a little unsafe, or needing a helpful person to chat to.? Easily recognizable in bright sky-blue uniforms, Rail Pastors send people to relevant agencies for further support and are urged to be on the lookout for people contemplating suicide. 

One Friday evening last month, Keenan, who is also the bishop of Paisley, joined an ecumenical team of Rail Pastors as an observer on the trains and stations from Port Glasgow to Wemyss Bay, and then Paisley to Greenock in the west of Scotland. 

Reflecting on the mission, he said: ?Uniformed as Rail Pastors, they engaged passengers of all ages from teenagers to seniors creating a little bit of community and warmth on a dark and wet Scottish autumn night.? 

Mental health statistics among Scotland?s young people are concerning, with 1 in 6 young adults aged 18?34 having self-harmed. In addition, 76% of parents have reported that their child?s mental health deteriorated while waiting for professional mental health support.  

Keenan explained that he sees the Rail Pastors as offering ?a safe and reassuring presence to the young people who appreciate this pastoral care even while they are making merry.? He was able to reach out to some young people who were ?amazed? to see him operating as part of the Rail Pastors team.

?A group of teenage girls recognized me from my visit to their Catholic primary school, while they were preparing for the sacrament of confirmation, and we had a nice conversation,? the bishop recalled. ?Another asked me to pray for her mum. They were amazed to see me engaging with them in this role.?

He added: ?In the station bar, a young man recognized me and, as we got on the train and shared his journey home, he opened up about his faith and his parents? deep Catholic convictions. Our meeting made his day, and he got off the train renewed in faith and spirit.?  

During the evening mission, Keenan also spoke to retired police officers, transport police officers, and rail safety officers. ?By midnight we had been six hours out and about as salt, leaven, and light and, where the occasion allowed, sharing the joy of the Gospel,? he said. 

Rail Pastors team leader Chris Jewell said the team was ?delighted? to be joined by the bishop. 

In Scotland, Keenan has emerged as a proponent of the new evangelization, which was championed by St. John Paul II and subsequent popes. Keenan is also well known for promoting the rosary and supporting Pope Francis? rosary ?marathon? for an end to the pandemic in 2021.

Ernest Board (1877-1934), ?Albertus Magnus Teaches in the Streets of Paris.? / Credit: Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 4.0

National Catholic Register, Nov 15, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

St. Albert the Great was considered the ?wonder and the miracle of his age? by his contemporaries. He was an assiduous Dominican whose accomplishments and gifts to the Church are difficult to exaggerate.

Born around 1206 and joining the Order of Preachers in 1223, Albert quickly became a master of almost every academic subject. Notwithstanding the standards of his own time, he became a pioneer of the natural sciences ? both empirical and philosophical. His teachings on nature and theology were revolutionary, and he captured the attention of a young and taciturn Dominican ? St. Thomas Aquinas.

While surpassing all his contemporaries in intellect and cogency, it was his own student who managed to shine brighter than he. If Albert blazed the path, then it was Aquinas who reached and held the summit. Then, tragically, when the quick flash of Aquinas? life was over, it was Albert who defended him and held him up as a beacon of light for the whole Church. St. Albert the Great was a teacher, a bishop, and a forerunner to some of the greatest theological gifts the Church has received.

After joining the Dominicans, Albert went to Paris in 1245 and successfully received his doctorate. He then began teaching in Paris and then in Cologne, Germany. It was during his time in Cologne that he noticed a young man named Thomas. The quiet student was nicknamed ?Dumb Ox? by his peers, because of his weight and the mistaken notion that his silence was due to an obtuse mind. In time, Albert realized the great acumen of the young man, and Albert took him on as a disciple.

God and nature

What drew Aquinas ? and the praise and condemnation of others ? to Albert was his exhaustive study of nature and God. Though it was over a millennium since the birth of Christ, the Church still struggled to define nature and its role in creation. In essence, different theological camps disagreed on how to communicate a supposedly autonomous nature ? with its own laws and movements ? and an omnipotent God.

If it snows, is God making it snow or are there self-moving natural causes for the snow? Though a simplistic example, the relationship between God and nature is a deciding point between theology and science or even faith and reason. Oftentimes, certain groups worried that granting nature independent causes would detract from God?s glory or resurrect pagan ideals.

At the center of many related controversies was the pagan philosopher Aristotle. The writings of Aristotle had come originally to Catholicism through Jewish and Islamic scholars, which detrimentally imported a good deal of erroneous commentary. The errors ? which ranged from a misunderstanding of Aristotle to thinking Aristotle was infallible ? colored the Catholic mind against the Greek philosopher on many counts. 

Albert?s indefatigable spirit strove to show that Aristotle?s account of nature could import a great service to the Church and her theology. Though he wrote an entire chapter titled ?The Errors of Aristotle,? Albert showed that the principles articulated in Aristotle?s natural philosophy could be harmoniously placed within the cosmos described by Scripture.

The Church and science

The first major gift Catholicism has inherited from the riches of St. Albert?s pursuit is the idea that the Church and science are not at war with one another. Though nature moves by its own laws, the Author of those laws is the same Author of holy Scripture ? this stance is a great affirmation of the belief in a harmony between faith and reason. 

The philosophical foundations for the Church discussing issues like evolution, the age of the earth, psychology, the origins of the universe, etc., all point back to the early erudition of St. Albert the Great. The concept of nature having its own causes, and that those causes could be studied via experiments, was so revolutionary that many could not decipher between scientific experiments and magic; thus, St. Albert was once accused of being a magician.

Scholasticism

The second achievement of St. Albert was Scholasticism and his pupil St. Thomas Aquinas. The Scholastic approach was unique in the sense that it centered itself on a true belief in the harmony of faith and reason, and in a well-ordered cosmos with one Divine Author. It was precisely this holistic gathering of all the sciences under one divine science that earned the scholastic St. Albert the title of ?universal doctor.?

It would be difficult to exaggerate the importance Scholasticism still holds within Holy Mother Church. Pope Leo XIII declared that ?it is the proper and singular gift of Scholastic theologians to bind together human knowledge and divine knowledge in the very closest bonds.? 

Pope Sixtus V confirmed that Scholasticism ?has an apt coherence of facts and causes, connected with one another; an order and arrangement, like soldiers drawn up in battle array ? by these the light is divided from darkness, and truth from falsehood. The lies of heretics, wrapped up in many wiles and fallacies, being stripped of their coverings, are bared and laid open.?

And while St. Albert must be remembered in his own right, we must acknowledge the magnificence of his student ? St. Thomas Aquinas. 

After Thomas? sudden death on the way to the Council of Lyons, St. Albert declared that the ?light of the Church? had gone out. Later, the Church bestowed upon St. Thomas the title of ?angelic doctor.? 

The Church only continued to esteem the scholar and his scholasticism: the ?chief and special glory? was having his ?Summa Theologiae? laid upon the altar as a source of inspiration at the Council of Trent. He was then declared the patron of all Catholic schools and universities by Pope Leo XIII.

Behind all the appropriate adulation for St. Thomas, his ?Summa? and all it represents is the genius and perseverance of St. Albert.

This article was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA?s sister news partner, on Nov. 15, 2011, and has been adapted by CNA.

Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark. / Credit: Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk

London, England, Nov 14, 2024 / 12:40 pm (CNA).

The bishops of England and Wales continue to urge Catholics to ?raise their voices? in opposition to an assisted suicide bill, the text of which was published earlier this week.

Late on Nov. 11, English Labour Member of Parliament Kim Leadbeater published her Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill before Parliament members vote on it Nov. 29. This means that members have less than three weeks to prepare to vote on a controversial issue.

Archbishop of Southwark John Wilson said: ?As followers of the Lord Jesus, we must be bold in our efforts to uphold, respect, and protect every human life from conception until natural death, because if we don?t stand up and value the dignity of human life, who will??

?The Catholic Church is clear: Every life is valuable ? regardless of a person?s physical or mental state,? he continued.

The archbishop?s words come as the contents of Leadbeater?s controversial bill showed that terminally ill adults who are expected to die within six months would legally be able to seek help to kill themselves provided they receive the approval of two doctors and a judge. 

However, Wilson is concerned that the new bill will communicate the message that the elderly and vulnerable are ?nothing but a burden to society.?

?People are being presented as a problem,? he said. ?As a burden. A statistic. Something we can deal with through ending their life. Where is the dignity in that? Where is the love in that??

Reacting to those who say ?life has no value,? he said: ?We need to raise our voices to say that is not true. We are stewards, not owners, of the life we have received. Life is not ours to dispose of.? 

Leadbeater insisted that her bill contains ?robust? safeguards, claiming that coercion would lead to 14 years in jail, but Wilson believes the pressure on sick and vulnerable people to opt for assisted suicide would be ?immeasurable.?

?The pressure this would put people under who are suffering illnesses or disabilities is immeasurable. It demeans humanity and deprives people of their right to life. This right is given by God and is for God alone to take.?

The archbishop challenged U.K. Catholics to contact their members of Parliament and pray for the defeat of the bill in obedience to their calling as disciples of Christ. 

Warning that the new bill represents ?a very real prospect of assisted suicide becoming law in the U.K.,? he said that ?as followers of Christ we must do all we can to support and protect the most vulnerable in our society.? 

Issuing a rally call for Catholics to take action, he said: ?Together let?s show that we will not stand idly by while the elderly and people with illnesses and disabilities are treated as if they are nothing but a burden to society or to their family. Let?s be clear that they are made in the image and likeness of God.?

Wilson pointed out that, under the new bill, ?assisted suicide ? will radically change how our health care practitioners care for us.?  

Catholic U.K. medic Dermot Kearney commented that ?most [doctors] still believe that the principle of doing no harm to patients is essential in the provision of authentic health care.? Rather than introducing the bill, Kearney told CNA that a better way of approaching end-of-life care would be ?to improve and expand the palliative care and hospice services that are already in existence but have been severely underfunded for so long.? 

Bishop Patrick McKinney of Nottingham backed up Archbishop Wilson?s words, with a focus on the social context of the bill?s introduction. 

Health Secretary Wes Streeting, who has confirmed his own opposition to the bill, has admitted the U.K. National Health Service is ?broken.? 

Palliative care services are also in crisis, while many elderly people have seen the government remove their winter fuel payment. 

Following the publication of the bill, McKinney shared his concerns, saying: ?Catholics can never support assisted suicide, but our societal context makes this bill even more alarming: An NHS at [its] breaking point, inadequate social care provision, access to palliative care is patchy and underfunded, [and] winter fuel payments withdrawn from many.?

The archbishop of Southwark urged U.K. Catholics to use the Right to Life UK website to contact their members of Parliament and express opposition to assisted suicide. 

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, called on Catholics in England and Wales to join him and his fellow bishops for a Holy Hour on Nov. 13 ?to pray for the dignity of human life? in the light of the upcoming vote on Leadbeater?s bill. 

?We pray passionately that we will not take a step in legislation that promotes a so-called ?right to die,?? Nichols said.

?That will quite likely become a duty to die and place pressure on doctors and medical staff to help take life rather than to care, protect, and heal,? he said.