Pope Francis prays in front of the tomb of St. Mark the Evangelist inside St. Mark's Basilica in Venice on April 28, 2024. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 09:35 am (CNA).

Pope Francis had a full slate of events Sunday during his day trip to Venice, a trip that tied together a message of unity and fraternity with the artistic patrimony of a city that has been a privileged place of encounter across the centuries. 

?Faith in Jesus, the bond with him, does not imprison our freedom. On the contrary, it opens us to receive the sap of God?s love, which multiplies our joy, takes care of us like a skilled vintner, and brings forth shoots even when the soil of our life becomes arid,? the pope said to over 10,000 pilgrims gathered in St. Mark?s Square. 

Framing his homily during the Mass on the theme of unity, one of the central points articulated throughout several audiences spread across the morning, Pope Francis reminded Christians: ?Remaining united to Christ, we can bring the fruits of the Gospel into the reality we inhabit.?  

?Fruits of justice and peace, fruits of solidarity and mutual care, carefully-made choices to preserve our environmental and human heritage,? the pope continued, seated center stage in a red velvet chair and vested in a white cope.

Pope Francis arrived in Venice early Sunday morning for a day trip to the prestigious Biennale art exhibition ? which is celebrating its 60th anniversary ? where the Holy See?s pavilion, titled ?With My Eyes,? dovetails with this year?s broader theme: ?Foreigners Everywhere.?

The pope?s visit also holds a deep meaning as Francis is the first pontiff to visit the Biennale ? where the Vatican has held a pavilion since 2013. 

In his homily, Pope Francis pointed out that our relationship with Christ is not ?static? but an invitation to ?grow in relationship with him, to converse with him, to embrace his word, to follow him on the path of the kingdom of God.? 

Francis built upon this point to encourage ?Christian communities, neighborhoods, and cities to become welcoming, inclusive, and hospitable places,? a point he linked to the image of the city of Venice as a ?a place of encounter and cultural exchange.? 

Pope Francis observed that Venice ?is called to be a sign of beauty available to all, starting with the last, a sign of fraternity and care for our common home,? the pope continued, highlighting the tenuous situation of Venice, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, which faces a myriad of problems ranging from excessive tourism to environmental challenges such as rising sea levels and erosion.

After the recitation of the Regina Caeli, the pope entered St. Mark?s Basilica to venerate the relics of the evangelist before leaving by helicopter to return to the Vatican as pilgrims and tourists bid farewell from land and sea.

Earlier in the morning the Holy Father met with female inmates, staff, and volunteers at Venice?s Women?s Prison on the Island of Giudecca, where he spoke on the topic of human dignity, suggesting that prison can ?mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others.?

The deeply symbolic visit was followed by a brief encounter with the artists responsible for the Holy See?s pavilion at the Biennale, where the pope encouraged artists to use their craft ?to rid the world of the senseless and by now empty oppositions that seek to gain ground in racism, in xenophobia, in inequality, in ecological imbalance and aporophobia, that terrible neologism that means ?fear of the poor.??

The Holy Father traveled by a private vaporetto, or waterbus, bearing the two-tone flag of Vatican City, to the 16th-century baroque Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, which sits on the Punta della Dogana, where he met with a large group of young people. 

Reflecting on the visit as a ?beautiful moment of encounter,? the pope encouraged the youth to ?rise from sadness to lift our gaze upward.? 

?Rise to stand in front of life, not to sit on the couch. Arise to say, ?Here I am!? to the Lord, who believes in us.? Building on this message of hope, which the pope emphasized is built upon perseverance, telling them ?don?t isolate yourself? but ?seek others, experience God together, find a group to walk with so you don?t grow tired.? 

The pope made his way to St. Mark?s Square in a white open-top golf cart bearing the papal seal, where he closed his visit with Mass. At the end of the Mass Archbishop Francesco Moraglia, the patriarch of Venice, thanked the pope for his visit. 

?Venice is a stupendous, fragile, unique city and has always been a bridge between East and West, a crossroads of peoples, cultures, and different faiths,? Moraglia noted. 

?For this reason, in Venice, the great themes of your encyclicals ? Fratelli Tutti and Laudato Si? ? are promptly reflected in respect and care for creation and the person, starting with the good summit of life that must always be respected and loved, especially when it is fragile and asks to be welcomed.?

Pope Francis waves while traveling by boat in Venice, Italy, for a meeting with young people at the Basilica della Madonna della Salute on April 28, 2024. Earlier in the day he met with inmates at a women's prison. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Rome Newsroom, Apr 28, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis opened his one-day visit to Venice on Sunday morning with a meeting with female inmates where he reaffirmed the importance of fraternity and human dignity, noting that prison can be a place of new beginnings. 

?A stay in prison can mark the beginning of something new, through the rediscovery of the unsuspected beauty in us and in others, as symbolized by the artistic event you are hosting and the project to which you actively contribute,? the pope said to the female inmates gathered in the intimate courtyard of the Women?s Prison on the Island of Giudecca. 

Pope Francis left the Vatican by helicopter at approximately 6:30 in the morning, arriving in the Floating City by 8 a.m. The pope?s visit, albeit short, holds a deep meaning as Francis is the first pontiff to visit the prestigious Venice Biennale art exhibition, which is marking its 60th iteration. As part of the exhibition the Holy See has erected a pavilion at the women?s prison titled ?With My Eyes.? The pope also spoke with artists while he visited the pavilion.

Taking a center seat in the intimate courtyard of the 16th-century former convent, the pope opened his address by saying that he wanted it to be thought not as an ?official visit? but an ?encounter? centered on ?prayer, closeness, and fraternal affection.? 

?No one should take away people?s dignity,? Pope Francis said to the inmates, volunteers, and staff, joined by the patriarch of Venice, Archbishop Francesco Moraglia. 

Drawing attention to the ?harsh reality? of prison, the pope highlighted some of the problems inmates are confronted with, ?such as overcrowding, the lack of facilities and resources, and episodes of violence, [which] give rise to a great deal of suffering there.? 

But Francis, anchoring his message on hope and mercy, implored the women to ?always look at the horizon, always look to the future, with hope.? 

The pope continued by noting that prison can also be a place of ?moral and material rebirth where the dignity of women and men is not ?placed in isolation? but promoted through mutual respect and the nurturing of talents and abilities, perhaps dormant or imprisoned by the vicissitudes of life, but which can reemerge for the good of all and which deserve attention and trust.? 

Pope Francis stressed that it is ?fundamental? that prisons offer inmates ?the tools and room for human, spiritual, cultural and professional growth, creating the conditions for their healthy reintegration. Not to ?isolate dignity? but to give new possibilities.? 

?Let us not forget that we all have mistakes to be forgiven and wounds to heal and that we can all become the healed who bring healing, the forgiven who bring forgiveness, the reborn who bring rebirth,? the pope added. 

At the end of the encounter there was a lighthearted exchange when the pope, after asking the inmates ? who responded, in unison, ?Of course!? ? to pray for him, quipped: ?But in my favor, not against.?

At the end of the address, the pope presented an icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary as a gift to the inmates, saying: ?Mary has tenderness with all of us, with all of us, she is the mother of tenderness.? In return the female inmates presented the pope with a basket of all-natural toiletries they make through a worker-training program. 

Following the encounter with the inmates, the pope made his way to the prison?s chapel, where he spoke to the artists, imploring them to use their craft to envision a world based on fraternity where ?no human being is considered a stranger.? 

?Art has the status of a ?city of refuge,?? the pope said to the artists, ?a city that disobeys the regime of violence and discrimination in order to create forms of human belonging capable of recognizing, including protecting and embracing everyone.? 

Prayer house at San Simeone, Italy, September 2012. / Credit: Courtesy of Ricostruttori nella preghiera

Rome, Italy, Apr 28, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Across Italy there are houses of prayer run by the Ricostruttori (Reconstructors) community, a Catholic movement dedicated to people who are far from the Church but attracted to spirituality, particularly Eastern meditation and Buddhist practices. 

The Reconstructors was founded in 1978 by Jesuit Father Gian Vittorio Cappelletto.

?During the postconciliar period, the Church was faced with the need for new forms of evangelization and apostolate, to reach out to people who were drifting away,? Don Roberto Rondanina, priest and superior of the Ricostruttori, explained to CNA. ?It was a time when Eastern meditation, Hinduism, Buddhism, the New Age ... were beginning to spread in Europe.? 

?Father Cappelletto, who lived in Turin, sought to understand the meaning of this ?flight to the East? and felt the need to find new forms of spirituality that were more experiential, closer to mysticism, open to mystery, allowing to touch one?s own interiority,? Rondanina said. 

To achieve this, Cappelletto drew some inspiration from Indian masters, recovering from their teachings forms of profound prayer with a Christian matrix, such as the famous ?Jesus prayer? (?Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner?).

?His encounter with the East was an opportunity to rediscover this vein, which had previously been confined to monasticism, particularly in the Orthodox Church, but which was not widely practiced here at the time,? Rondanina said.

The East that leads to Christ

Cappelletto then designed a meditation course for the public with some characteristics similar to Eastern forms of meditation.

?It wasn?t a lectio divina type of meditation; there was posture, breathing, silence, and it had a big impact in the ?80s and ?90s because it was something new,? the superior said. 

According to Rondanina, who is the first successor to the founder, who died in 2009, Cappelletto?s ?strong intuition? was to adopt technical disciplines from the East containing certain aspects of physical and psycho-physical attention and orient them ?towards Christ and the Church.?

?Furthermore,? he told CNA, ?Father Cappelletto has deepened an anthropological vision that is lacking in the East: the human person seen as a unique person who must be valued. Eastern schools tend to move towards an experience of the impersonal divine, where the divine in myself and in others is more essential than anything that defines the person. In the Western Christian matrix, on the other hand, each person makes his or her own choices, builds his or her own life and retains his or her uniqueness, expressed also in the dogma of the Resurrection.?

The Reconstructors today

The movement launched by Cappelletto spread by word of mouth throughout Italy, from Piedmont to Sicily. Today, it is recognized as a public association of the faithful, encompassing people from various backgrounds and vocations. 

The community is made up of about 30 priests, a few laymen, and about 40 laywomen. In all, there are just under 70 consecrated people. The priests are incardinated in their dioceses, while the laypeople work outside ? as bank officials, doctors, religious teachers, or employees of charitable organizations.

More than 200 associates have also joined the movement.They are not consecrated but participate in the charism of the community in some way. ?But it is much bigger than that,? Rondanina said. ?Many people frequent our houses; it?s difficult to quantify.?

The landscape has changed a lot since the early days. 

?Before, there were hardly any non-baptized people. People knew the Church. Today, we find people who are far away but who haven?t moved away, simply because they?ve never been close.?

As in the past, the Reconstructors centers offer a methodical evangelization program, beginning with meditation, raising awareness of the sacred dimension, and then providing Catholic teaching.  

The reconstruction of man

The name of the community ? ?Ricostruttori? ? has a few different meanings. 

?Our community is linked to the manual labor of reconstruction, as many of our out-of-town centers for retreats have been reconstructions,? Rondanina explained. ?We began by restructuring an old building (cascinali) that had been used as housing for women working in the rice fields in the 1950s.?

This work of reconstruction also symbolizes the inner rebuilding of the person. For Rondanina, who teaches philosophy, personal reconstruction is an ongoing journey. Likewise, ?to keep a youthful movement, and not close ourselves off in dogmatic forms, we must always be searching.?

Spiritual growth, the priest added, ?happens when you move from the phase where you think you?ve found the magic wand to solve all your problems, the initial phase of youth where everything seems rosy, to a phase of crisis, where you take a step forward. The kingdom of God advances like this, with the ability to see our limits, to rebuild ourselves time after time, to understand where we went wrong, to remove the dross to get to the essential things.?

Every Tuesday evening at 10 p.m., between 800 and 900 students converge on the historic St. Joseph?s Chapel at Lille Catholic University for a candlelight Mass. / Credit: Courtesy of Prudence Cuypers

National Catholic Register, Apr 27, 2024 / 06:00 am (CNA).

?The good makes no noise,? St. Francis de Sales would say of Lille?s candlelight Mass. 

Indeed, while France regularly shows itself to be at the forefront of the de-Christianization of the West and recently made headlines for its constitutionalization of abortion, the embers of Christian renewal are already igniting ? quietly yet powerfully ? on the country?s northern horizon.

Every Tuesday evening at 10 p.m., between 800 and 900 students converge on the historic St. Joseph?s Chapel at Lille Catholic University for a candlelight Mass. This number has been growing month after month since the initiative was launched in 2016 and has significantly increased the number of new catechumens there journeying toward baptism.

For its initiators, this unexpectedly successful formula is a universal model to be exported to touch the souls of the vast number of young people who thirst for interiority in a world profoundly atomized by the expansion of the virtual world into all spheres of daily life.

?Simplicity of beauty?

Launched on the initiative of a group of six students in a small chapel under the chaplaincy of the prestigious Lille university (France?s largest private not-for-profit university, also known as ?La Catho?), the candlelight Mass quickly surpassed the 300-participant mark, forcing the organizers to relocate in order to continue to welcome the growing flow of students, whether believers or simply curious. 

To this end, in 2019, the large St. Joseph?s Chapel adjoining the school, which celebrated its 100th anniversary this year and was long used as a room for students to take exams, was restored. The following year, the building?s capacity of some 600 seats was met at the Mass, forcing students to arrive early to avoid standing or sitting on the floor. 

During Lent this year, the security service had to turn away hundreds of faithful, as current regulations forbid the reception of more than 900 people in the building.

How to explain the craze for a Mass in the middle of the week when Europe?s churches are tending to empty out at a worrying rate? 

While traditionalist and charismatic movements within the Church have had a rare ability to galvanize crowds in France in recent years, as demonstrated by the incredible success of pilgrimages to Chartres and Paray-le-Monial, this Mass in Lille makes no claim to any particular identity or sensibility, other than an attachment to the beauty of the liturgy and the quality of its preachers. The chants are usually sung by a polyphonic choir, whose depth and musicality the participants praise.

?Over and above the various movements developing within the Church today, I think that what is most likely to attract young people is the simplicity of beauty,? said Joséphine Auberger, a student at La Catho and head of communications at the chaplaincy.

She added: ?I have a friend who usually only attends the Traditional Latin Mass, precisely because of his quest for beauty, and who finds himself completely in this celebration, and I think he?s far from alone.?

For Louis Tranié, a physiotherapy student and vice president of the chaplaincy office, the ?WYD Lisbon? effect (referring to the World Youth Day that attracted hundreds of thousands of pilgrims to the Portuguese capital in August 2023) has also added to the fervor surrounding this weekly gathering.

?People attract people; word of mouth has played a big part in this unexpected triumph, not to mention the fact that immersion in the dark also attracts many young people estranged from the Church, who are thus no longer afraid of being judged by their neighbors,? Tranié noted.

?The time ? 10 p.m. ? also represents free time for these students, who have finished their day and generally have nothing planned for that time,? evoking an ideal moment to ?give something to God and receive something in return,? added Father Charles-Marie Rigail, chaplain at the Catholic university.

Anchor in a changing world

Placed mainly in the choir and central aisle, so that only Christ on the crucifix is illuminated, the candles are there to help the young participants raise their gaze to heaven in an authentic heart-to-heart with God, stripped of all worldly artifice. 

?Everything is focused on the Word of God, of his Church, which goes so much further than what men are capable of creating, and which is part of a long history and tradition that goes back a long way, offering a solid anchor for all those who are thinking about their future and feel they are living in a very changeable world, very liquid and filled with uncertainties,? Rigail said.

He added with a smile that the world?s Instagram and other social networks, on which young people spend a lot of their time, will never be able to quench this thirst to belong to something beyond fashions and ephemeral electronic devices.

?This is how to touch people?s hearts, break down current prejudices about the Church, and raise awareness of its usefulness and relevance, trying to offer something that is good and as right as possible.?

The young chaplain also pointed out that, alongside the community dimension instilled by the crowd, this darkness penetrated by candlelight alone makes for a very personal experience, a necessary condition for the interiority that this Mass aims to foster.

Creating torchbearers 

Apart from the triumph of the initiative, revealed by figures directly at odds with the general trend in the country, other fruits are already visible, made manifest by the doubling of new catechumens every year for the past four years. 

?I make it a point to stay and chat with people after Mass, and I meet all kinds of people, from classic practicing Catholics to avowed atheists, some of whom, moved by what they saw, end up wanting to know more, while some nonpracticing believers decide to go further in their faith,? Rigail said. 

This evangelizing mission is reinforced throughout the rest of the week by the various activities promoted by the eight young members of the chaplaincy office and the many volunteers who assist them.

The ultimate mission of this initiative, as Rigail recalled, is in fact not to turn those who approach it into ?consumers of beautiful liturgy? but rather into Catholics capable of being actors of their own faith and exporting this model once they?ve left university.

?We?d be missing the point if, on arriving in their local parishes, these young people were discouraged by far less engaging celebrations and decided to travel 50 kilometers to find a liturgy that suited them,? he concluded. ?On the contrary, our aim is to increase their appreciation of the liturgy to the point of encouraging them to roll up their sleeves and get more involved in their parishes to enhance the beauty of the celebrations and thus reproduce locally the ?little miracle of Lille.??

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

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023. / Credit: Synodaler Weg/Maximilian von Lachner

CNA Newsroom, Apr 26, 2024 / 13:57 pm (CNA).

Four German bishops on Wednesday distanced themselves from the controversial Synodal Way?s plans for a permanent body to oversee the Church in Germany, instead appealing for unity with the universal Church. 

The four bishops are the same who have previously blocked funding for this body: Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne and three prelates from Bavaria: Gregor Maria Hanke, OSB, of Eichstätt; Stefan Oster, SDB, of Passau; and Rudolf Voderholzer of Regensburg.

In a joint statement, the prelates confirmed on April 24 that they would not be parties to a committee charged with setting up a German ?Synodal Council, as this would conflict with the sacramental constitution of the Church.?

The four bishops also rejected the view that the German Bishops? Conference could legally establish a ?synodal committee? if four of its members did not support the committee. 

Given the Vatican?s repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said on Wednesday they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome to point the way for ?a more synodal Church [in Germany] in unity with the universal Church.

Warning of a threat of a new schism from Germany, the Vatican intervened as early as July 2022 against plans for a German synodal council. 

In January 2023, Rome asserted ?that neither the Synodal Way, nor any body established by it, nor any bishops? conference has the competence to establish the ?synodal council? at the national, diocesan, or parish level.? German Bishops? Conference president Bishop Georg Bätzing immediately dismissed the warning. 

In the meantime, Synodal Way organizers have continued with plans to establish a synodal committee: On Monday, April 22, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee.

The move is a significant development: The German prelates were initially expected to vote on the statutes for a preparatory committee during their February plenary assembly. 

However, that vote was suspended following another Vatican intervention. 

Following a March meeting where ?differences and points of agreement were identified,? the Vatican and Synodal Way supporters announced they would work together to resolve the issues.

Given that the bishops have now adopted the statutes for a synodal committee and the lay organization ZdK already approved these on Nov. 25, 2023 ? despite earlier warnings from Rome of the risk of a new German schism ? it is unclear how, or if, the Vatican will respond. 

According to an earlier report on the official portal of the Church in Germany, katholisch.de, the synodal committee will still meet again in June to discuss plans. 

The Synodal Way ? ?Synodaler Weg,? sometimes translated as Synodal Path ? is not a synod but a highly controversial event designed to create ?pressure? on the Church, as one founder has admitted. 

The German process, which cost several million dollars, not only aims to establish a permanent synodal council: Delegates also passed several resolutions to change Church practices based on transgender ideology and have called for the priestly ordination of women, same-sex blessings, as well as changes to Church teaching on sexual acts.

null / Shutterstock

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A difficult childhood

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

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

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

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

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

?I opened doors to evil? through the occult

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

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

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

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

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

Abandoned by his family, he fell into prostitution

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

?I knew this wasn?t normal?

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

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

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

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

Baptized at age 22 

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

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

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

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

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

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

?I no longer want other loves?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Forgiving his mother

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

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

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

?The Holy Virgin is key?

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

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

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

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

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

Spiritual and psychological help

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

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

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

Fiducia Supplicans

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

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

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

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

Message to parents of children with same-sex attraction

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

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

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

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

Edward Burne-Jones, ?St. George Kills the Dragon,? 1866 / Credit: Public Domain

Washington D.C., Apr 23, 2024 / 04:00 am (CNA).

St. George may be among Christianity?s most famous and beloved saints, immortalized through the famous legend of St. George and the Dragon ? a tale thoroughly medieval in character in which a brave and chivalrous knight charges in and saves a fair princess from being devoured by a dragon. 

In England, a country long devoted to George and one of several nations to claim his patronage, the saint?s name adorns the signs of churches and pubs in nearly equal measure. His feast day is celebrated with festivals, many of which involve reenactments of the saint?s daring feats against the ferocious dragon.

Alas for these revelers, the real St. George was not a knight, and to history?s knowledge he did not save any princesses from a fiery death. George was a Roman soldier, condemned to torture and martyrdom during the Diocletian persecution at the beginning of the fourth century.

Tradition holds that he withstood several rounds of torture and was ultimately beheaded rather than renounce his Christian faith. He was immediately venerated throughout the Christian world as a martyr, but we know almost nothing else about him. Pope Gelasius I, who canonized him nearly two centuries later in 494, stated on the occasion that George was among those saints ?whose names are justly reverenced among men, but whose actions are known only to God.?

The famed tales of George defeating a dragon did not arise until more than 500 years after his death, and no one is quite sure how a Roman soldier of near-complete anonymity metamorphosed into a dashing hero celebrated the world over for his courage. Likely it began as a fable to demonstrate the warring forces of good and evil, and soon the story obscured the true history of St. George.

We cannot say that facts do not matter, but in the case of St. George, perhaps we can argue that the particulars of his life, fantastical or otherwise, do not alter the truth for which he died. G.K. Chesterton wrote:

?Fairy tales do not give the child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.?

The legend of George and the Dragon is not real, but the truth that it reveals most certainly is.

There is evil in the world, true evil that seeks to devour all that is good and innocent. In stories it breathes fire and flies. In history it can take the shape of despots like the man who ordered St. George?s death. The bloodlust of the dragon was real, even if its scales were not, and it has not died but continued on to plague our world in all its insidious forms and iterations. But just as the dragon?s brutality was no fable, neither was the bravery of the man who fought it. This courageous faith in the face of evil has echoed through the centuries, to be emulated by knights, soldiers, kings, and even the children brandishing their wooden swords on St. George?s Day.

St. George surely never fought a dragon. But he did defy an emperor and stare without flinching into the eyes of his torturers and executioner, unyielding in his faith. No fair maiden awaited him at the end of his trial in life, but upon his death, no doubt, the gentle arms of Christ?s mother clasped him, bringing him to the throne room of her Son.

This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA?s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.

Participants in Italy's pro-life demonstration in Rome on May 21, 2022. / Credit: Daniel Ibáñez/CNA

Rome, Italy, Apr 22, 2024 / 14:15 pm (CNA).

An amendment to a health care law that permits ?nonprofits with experience providing maternity support? in family planning clinics, including pro-life groups, will be voted on by the Italian Senate on Tuesday, April 23, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.  

Amendment No. 44.028, a provision attached to a health care system law, part of Italy?s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), would allow local public health authorities to freely collaborate with qualified third-party consultants, including nonprofit organizations that specialize in pregnancy and maternity support, ?without new or greater burdens on public finance,? according to the web site Centro Studi Livatino. 

Last week, the Brothers of Italy party, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, introduced the amendment to the Chamber of Deputies, Italy?s lower house of Parliament. On April 18, the amendment passed by a vote of 140-91 and is also expected to pass the Senate, Italy?s upper house of Parliament, this week.

In relation to the inclusion of pro-life groups in pregnancy counseling centers, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican secretary of state, said to journalists on Sunday: ?We are in favor of life and of all those instruments that can affirm the right to life, especially for women in difficulty.?

Since 1978, abortion has been legal in Italy for the first 90 days of pregnancy. Women opting for an abortion ? particularly for cases in which the pregnancy is beyond the first trimester ? must obtain a certificate from either a public or private health authority attesting to the risk of the pregnancy to her life and the health of the child due to a malformation.  

In addition, Article 31 of Italy?s constitution outlines the duty of the state to assist with ?the formation of the family? through ?economic measures and other benefits, and ?protect mothers, children, and the young by adopting necessary provisions.? 

The prospect of having pro-life groups and associations provide counsel or services in family planning clinics continues to spur heated debate among the media as well as activist groups in Italy and across Europe.

According to Eugenia Roccella, Italy?s minister for the family, this amendment does not subvert, and is consistent with, Italy?s abortion law (Law 194/1978). 

Article 2 of the Italian abortion law already establishes that family counseling centers should ?assist pregnant women? and help them ?to overcome the factors which might lead the woman to have her pregnancy terminated.?

However, Gilda Sportiello, a member of Parliament representing the Five Stars Movement, argued that a woman should ultimately have the right to choose whether to be a mother or not. 

?No woman who wants to interrupt her pregnancy should feel attacked by the state,? she said after speaking out in Parliament about her choice to have an abortion 14 years ago.

Italian journalist Antonella Mariani offered a different view, saying this health care amendment would afford women more options, information, protection, and support when making their own decision about pregnancy.

?Those who truly care about women?s self-determination should consider that it is not one-way: That is, it does not only concern the freedom to have an abortion but also the freedom not to have an abortion,? she said, as reported on the Italian news site Avvenire. 

The Rosario Livatino Study Centre ? a group of jurists inspired by the life and example of Blessed Rosario Livatino who research issues concerning family, the right to life, religious freedom, and legal matters ? published an editorial written by one of its members in relation to the health care proposal.

A member of the center and a lawyer, Francesco Farri, according to Centro Studi Livatino, wrote that the amendment to be voted on in the Senate this week does not ?innovate? but ?confirms? current Italian law: ?The 194, it should be remembered, does not only concern the voluntary interruption of pregnancy but also ?norms for the social protection of maternity.??

Father Nicéforo Obama from Equatorial Guinea was able to be trained as a priest thanks to the Pontifical Mission Societies. / Credit: OMP

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 21, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

On Sunday, April 21, in addition to celebrating the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, the Catholic Church in Spain also celebrates what it calls ?Native Vocations Day? to support and provide formation for those who feel called to the priesthood and consecrated life in other countries so that no one is prevented from pursuing a vocation due to lack of resources.

The Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle is in charge of this effort, one of the four Pontifical Mission Societies that in different ways provides the resources to maintain 725 seminaries around the world.

In Asia, these seminaries (152 minor, 13 preparatory, and 62 major) serve more than 15,000 candidates for the priesthood. In Africa, more than 67,000 seminarians attend the 225 minor, 116 preparatory, and 142 major seminaries. In Asia, thanks to the Pontifical Mission Societies, 112 future priests are undergoing formation in five major seminaries, while in the mission lands of the Americas, 157 seminarians are in formation, distributed across one minor seminary, two preparatory, and seven major seminaries, according to data from the Pontifical Mission Societies.

To support these seminaries, in 2023 the Pontifical Society of St. Peter the Apostle allocated more than 16 million euros (about $17 million), which helped support more than 83,000 seminarians and 2,000 formators.

The aid is intended to cover an annual subsidy for living and enrollment expenses, which represents the largest item (78% of the total). The rest is used for the construction and maintenance of the buildings, with means to self-finance, support for formators, scholarships, and to support the first year of formation for the novitiates of religious congregations originating in mission territories.

One priest?s story

Father Nicéforo Obama learned to read with the Spanish Carmelite missionaries of Charity of St. Joaquina de Vedruna, who went to spread the Gospel in Equatorial Guinea in the 1980s. As a young child, he discovered his priestly vocation and soon entered the minor seminary. He was ordained a priest a decade ago.

During a meeting held April 16 in Madrid, Obama explained that the first thing he noticed when he reached the age of reason was the Church and the charitable works of the nuns, which made him wonder: ?Why do these young girls leave Spain, their people, to work here; what will they be gaining from it??

All of this was causing him inner anxiety. In primary school, he could see the vulnerability of the human condition and found that ?Jesus is the one who gives meaning to life and the one who has the answers to the great questions that human beings have,? he explained. This led him to decide to become a priest, not only ?to find the answer in Jesus but to help others find these answers.?

After going through the minor seminary, he attended the interdiocesan major seminary, which was run by the Diocese of Ávila in an agreement with the Spanish Bishops? Conference.

?If your parents don?t have enough to eat, how are they going to support a vocation?? he asked, to give an example of the typical mentality in mission lands where people don?t always understand ?how you can invest in a student who isn?t going to generate income for the family.?

The priest explained that unlike the governments in developed countries, in mission lands the Church also provides health care, education, and charitable assistance in addition to its mission to catechize and provide the sacraments.  Thus, ?supporting one of these vocations is helping many people.?

The Pontifical Mission Societies has a website (in Spanish) dedicated to vocations in other countries where testimonies are shared, specific details of different projects are explained, and there is an opportunity to make a donation.

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

Archbishop Marek J?draszewski of Krakow announced on April 14, 2024, the decision to begin the process of beatification and canonization of Helena Agnieszka Kmiec, a young lay missionary murdered in Bolivia in 2017. / Credit: The Helena Kmiec Foundation

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 19, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Archbishop Marek J?draszewski of Krakow, Poland, announced the decision to begin the process of beatification and canonization of Helena Agnieszka Kmiec, a young lay missionary murdered in Bolivia in 2017.

The prelate said that after the preliminary phase began in December 2022, he made the decision to officially open the process for Kmiec after having consulted the Polish Bishops? Conference and receiving the go-ahead from the Vatican?s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.

?With this edict I call on all those who have any document, letter, or information about the Servant of God, both positive and negative, to send them to the Metropolitan Curia of Krakow before June 30,? the archbishop stated.

The edict opening the cause was published April 14 and will be read in all the parishes and chapels in Krakow on Sunday, April 21. 

Who was Helena Kmiec?

Servant of God Helena Agnieszka Kmiec was born on Feb. 9, 1991, in Krakow. She was the second daughter of Jan Kmiec and Agnieszka Bejska. Her mother died just a few weeks after she was born.

Her father later married Barbara Zaj?c, and Kmiec was raised ?in a home full of love, warmth, and, above all, deep faith,? the edict noted.

Beginning in 1998, she attended primary and secondary schools run by the Association of Catholic Educators in Libi??, Poland. She then spent two years on a scholarship in the United Kingdom. From 2009?2014 she studied engineering at the Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, Poland.

The edict noted that Kmiec went ?to holy Mass almost every day while she was a student, which for her was a very important time of the day.?

At the university, she learned about the Salvator Missionary Volunteer Service of the Congregation of Salvatorian Priests and became one of their missionaries. In 2012 she went to Hungary to run a summer camp for children; in 2013 she was sent to Zambia, where she worked with street children; and in 2014 she went to Romania, where she served young people.

Before being sent on one of these missions, Kmiec wrote: ?I received the grace of God, ? the gift freely given to give to others, and I have to share this gift! All the skills I have, the abilities I acquire, the talents I develop, are not meant to serve me, but so that I can use them to help others.?

?The greatest gift is that I know God and I can?t keep it to myself, I have to spread it! If I can help someone, make them smile, make them happier, teach them something, then I want to do it,? she added.

Murdered in Bolivia

On Jan. 8, 2017, Kmiec began volunteering in Bolivia, where she planned to stay six months. Just days after her arrival, on Jan. 24, she was murdered at Edmundo Bojanowski School, which is run by the Congregation of the Servants of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Pacata neighborhood of Cochabamba.

According to reports, two criminals entered the school to rob the place and were surprised by the young woman. One of them attacked her with a knife, killing her.

Kmiec was 26 years old when she died on her last volunteer mission with Salvator.

After her death, the edict related, ?her reputation for a holy life and dedication to God and the Church spontaneously arose among the faithful. Many people prayed and continue to pray for her intercession.?

The edict concluded by noting that ?the example of the Servant of God can certainly be an inspiration for people ? especially young people ? to pursue their vocation to holiness with great passion and commitment through volunteering and missionary activity.?

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

A bishop and a priest exchange the sign of peace during Mass. / Credit: Father Lawrence Lew, OP; photo courtesy of Martin Beek via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 18, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

The director of the Chair of Theology of the Consecrated Life at San Dámaso Ecclesiastical University in Spain, Sister Carolina Blázquez Casado, OSA, explained that the rite of peace at Mass ?is not a greeting or friendly gesture.?

The sister explained the meaning of the rite in a video posted by the university, which is under the Archdiocese of Madrid.

The sign of peace, which takes place between the recitation of the Lord?s Prayer and the Fraction (breaking) of the Host, ?is a prior step to be able to approach Communion with the body of Christ in a dignified manner,? the Augustinian sister explained.

The sign of peace is exchanged in recollection of the words of Jesus recorded in Matthew 5:23-24, namely: ?Therefore, if you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift.?

Blázquez noted that ?Christians, from when they first began to celebrate the Eucharist, had these words of the Lord in their minds and hearts. And that is why the rite of peace has been present since very ancient times in the Eucharistic celebration.?

Consequently, the sign of peace is not a simple polite gesture or a gesture of human love, but rather it expresses ?the sincere desire to be reconciled among ourselves, to overcome all divisions between us, to be instruments of peace, to be truly members, one of another, of the one body of Christ.?

The video posted by the San Dámaso Ecclesiastical University is part of a series titled ?The Eucharist. Learn More? in which several teachers from the institution explain various aspects of the sacrament.

Abuses of the rite 

In 2014, while Cardenal Antonio Cañizares was prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, a letter on the subject titled ?The Ritual Meaning of the Gift of Peace in the Mass? was approved and confirmed by Pope Francis.

The letter addresses problems arising from some ?exaggerated expressions? of the rite of peace, which led Pope Benedict XVI to consult the bishops? conferences on the possibility of the rite being modified or eliminated from the Roman Missal.

In the end, it was decided to keep it in place while offering a series of ?practical provisions to better explain the content of the exchange of peace and to moderate excessive expressions that give rise to disarray in the liturgical assembly before Communion.?

The letter emphasized that ?if the faithful through their ritual gestures do not appreciate and do not show themselves to be living the authentic meaning of the rite of peace, the Christian concept of peace is weakened and their fruitful participation at the Eucharist is impaired.?

Among the provisions, the letter stated that the rite of peace can be omitted ?and sometimes ought to be omitted? if circumstances deem it advisable. The bishops? conferences should consider, ?in those places where familiar and profane gestures of greeting were previously chosen,? replacing them with ?other more appropriate gestures.?

Abuses to avoid include ?the introduction of a ?song for peace,? which is nonexistent in the Roman Missal; the movement of the faithful from their places to exchange the sign of peace; the departure of the priest from the altar in order to offer the sign of peace to some of the faithful? or taking advantage of the occasion ?for expressing congratulations, best wishes, or condolences among those present.? 

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

Father Benedict Kiely, founder of Nasarean.org, speaks during a panel discussion on Day 2 of The National Conservatism Conference at the Claridge on April 17, 2024, in Brussels, Belgium. / Credit: Omar Havana/Getty Images

Brussels, Belgium, Apr 17, 2024 / 16:30 pm (CNA).

Belgium?s highest court ruled late last night that a conference upholding conservative values in the public square could go ahead in the country?s capital after a Brussels district mayor had ordered police to shut it down yesterday. 

Emir Kir issued the order to halt the National Conservatism conference that was scheduled to take place April 16?17 and that featured among its speakers the Vatican?s former doctrinal chief, Cardinal Gerhard Müller.

Police surrounded the venue on Tuesday, denying access to speakers and guests. 

The conference, organized by the Edmund Burke Foundation, a public affairs institute, aims to promote conservatism as ?inextricably tied? to the idea of nation, national independence, and the revival of national traditions. 

The event has been held in various capitals including Rome, London, and Washington, D.C., since its founding in 2019.

Among other speakers at this year?s conference were Hungary?s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Britain?s former Home Secretary Suella Braverman, and the founder of the Brexit Party, Nigel Farage. The British politician called the attempted shut down ?a disgrace? and accused the EU of becoming the ?new form of communism.?

Kir said he made the decision because the conference?s vision ?is not only ethically conservative (e.g., hostility to the legislation of abortion, same-sex unions, etc.) but also focused on the defense of ?national sovereignty,? which implies, among other things, a ?Eurosceptic attitude.?? 

His order also stated that some of the speakers ?are reputed to be traditionalists? and that the conference must be banned ?to avoid foreseeable attacks on public order and peace.?

Prior to Kir?s attempted shutdown, political pressure had already forced the organizers to cancel two other venues shortly before the conference had begun, after which they found a third hotel venue, called Claridge, located in Kir?s district.

Cardinal Müller told author Rod Dreher, who was also speaking at the conference, that the attempt to shut down the conference was ?like Nazi Germany? and that the authorities were acting ?like the SA? ? Hitler?s brownshirts who used violence and intimidation against opponents. 

The attempted forced cancellation also drew opposition from Belgium?s Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, who defended the rights of the conference participants to freedom of speech and of assembly. 

Writing on X before the court?s decision, he called the attempted shutdown ?unacceptable? and said that ?banning political meetings is unconstitutional. Full stop.?

The Belgian court overturned Kir?s decision after the order was challenged by conference organizers with the support of ADF International, a Christian legal group that works to oppose threats to religious liberty. 

Paul Coleman, executive director of ADF International, said that while ?common sense and justice? had prevailed, the attempt to shut down the conference was a ?dark mark on European democracy.? 

?No official should have the power to shut down free and peaceful assembly merely because he disagrees with what is being said,? he said in a statement. ?The kind of authoritarian censorship we have just witnessed belongs in the worst chapters of Europe?s history.? 

Belgian ADF lawyer Wouter Vaassen called the attempt to shut down the conference ?unjust? and said that it ?should never have happened, especially in Brussels ? the political heart of Europe.? 

?We must diligently protect our fundamental freedoms lest censorship become the norm in our supposedly free societies,? he added.

Along with Müller, other Catholic speakers at this year?s event included Father Benedict Kiely, founder of Nasarean.org, which helps persecuted Christians; the German aristocrat Princess Gloria von Thurn and Taxis; and Gladden Pappin, president of the Hungarian Institute of International Affairs.

Another speaker, Jewish author and broadcaster Melanie Phillips, told the audience that she was in Jerusalem on Saturday night when Iran launched aerial attacks on Israel. 

?At 2 a.m., the air raid siren wailed, and I huddled in my stairwell for safety,? she recounted. ?Well, I left a war zone to come here. I didn?t realize that I was coming into another war zone in Brussels.? 

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

Statue of St. Peter in front of St. Peter's Basilica. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 17, 2024 / 05:00 am (CNA).

The World Meeting of Parish Priests for the Synod on Synodality will be held April 29?May 2 in Sacrofano, Rome, and will reflect on the theme ?How to Be a Synodal Local Church in Mission.?

With a view to the second and last session of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will be held at the Vatican next October, the General Secretariat of the Synod has invited a number of parish priests to travel to Rome.

Bishop Luis Marín de San Martín, undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod and coordinator of the initiative, explained that it is ?a meeting of listening, prayer, and discernment promoted by the General Secretariat of the Synod and the Dicastery for the Clergy, together with the Dicastery for Evangelization and the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches.?

The meeting also responds ?to the recommendations of the participants in the first session of the Synod of Synodality, held in October 2023, who suggested listening more to the voice of the parish priests.?

As Marín explained, the objective will be to ?listen to and enhance the synodal experience that they are having in their respective parishes and dioceses? as well as ?enable dialogue and the exchange of experiences and ideas.?

Another purpose of the meeting is to ?provide materials that will be used in the drafting of the Instrumentum Laboris (working document) for the synod?s second session, together with the summaries of the consultation coordinated by the bishops? conferences and the results of the theological-canonical study carried out by five working groups formed by the General Secretariat of the Synod.?

The number of participants was determined according to a criterion similar to that used for the election of members of the Synod Assembly by the bishops? conferences (approximately 200). However, given the requests received from some bishops? conferences, the number of participants will be greater than 200.

In selecting participants, bishops? conferences and Eastern Catholic Churches were asked to take into account, as far as possible, those ?who have significant experience with the perspective of a synodal Church? as well as ?favor a certain variety of pastoral contexts of rural or urban origin or specific sociocultural contexts.?

On the last day of the gathering, May 2, the parish priests will meet with Pope Francis at the Vatican and the meeting will end with a Mass in St. Peter?s Basilica.

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

1960. Varigotti (SV). Father Luigi Giussani with students during the Tower Ray. / Credit: Communion and Liberation Official Site

Rome Newsroom, Apr 16, 2024 / 10:30 am (CNA).

The Archdiocese of Milan announced on Monday that it will begin collecting testimonies for the canonization cause of Servant of God Luigi Giussani, the founder of the lay Catholic movement Communion and Liberation.

Archbishop Mario Delpini will hold the first public session of the testimonial phase of Giussani?s cause in the Basilica of Sant?Ambrogio on May 9, the solemnity of the Ascension. 

During this new phase in Giussani?s sainthood cause, people who knew the Italian priest will share their testimonies with a specially formed commission. 

Giussani (1922?2005) founded Communion and Liberation in the 1950s in Milan in response to ?having felt the urgency to proclaim the need to return to the elementary aspects of Christianity.? 

In the 70 years since its founding, the movement has grown to have 60,000 members in 90 countries. 

During his life, Giussani encountered many young people as a teacher, author, and university lecturer and developed an educational method that emphasized encounter, as outlined in one of his many books, ?The Risk of Education.?

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who delivered the homily at Giussani?s funeral in 2005, said that Giussani ?understood that Christianity is not an intellectual system, a packet of dogmas, a moralism; Christianity is rather an encounter, a love story; it is an event.?

Giussani?s beatification process was first opened in 2012. Two miracles attributed to his intercession are required for him to be named a saint in the Catholic Church.

Communion and Liberation?s President Davide Prosperi welcomed the news that Giussani?s cause is advancing ?with great joy? in a statement released on April 15.

?This is a fundamental step in the beatification process of our dear Father Giussani,? he said.

?We are also very grateful to Pope Francis for the attention and esteem that he has repeatedly expressed, also publicly, for the figure of Father Giussani and for the path that the movement is taking in this period,? he added.

Prosperi said that members of Communion and Liberation will continue to ask for Giussani?s intercession in prayer, ?placing the irrepressible desire we carry in our hearts to soon see Father Giussani counted among the blessed and saints of the Lord in the hands of the Church.?

Chiara Minelli is the postulator for Giussani?s cause for the Archdiocese of Milan.

?I was given the gift of faith so I could give it to others, communicate it,? Giussani said.

?That people come to know Christ, that humanity comes to know Christ, this is the task of those who are called, the task of the people of God, the mission: ?I have chosen you, that you may go forth.??

Sachin Jose reaches more than 148,000 people with the Catholic faith with his digital apostolate on X (formerly Twitter). He works as a journalist and social media consultant. Sachin has been reporting on Church topics for over five years. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Sachin Jose

CNA Newsroom, Apr 16, 2024 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Sachin Jose reaches more than 148,000 people with the Catholic faith through his digital apostolate on X (formerly Twitter). Working as a journalist and social media consultant, he has been reporting on Church topics for over five years. CNA Deutsch, CNA?s German-language news partner, spoke to him recently about faith and media.

In an interview, you said that the most important thing in your life was your Catholic faith. Why is that?

The Catholic Church was commissioned by Jesus to teach the faith ? a task it has fulfilled for two millennia. It was through the Church that I came to know Jesus, and it continues to guide me on my earthly path. That?s why I declared that the Catholic faith is the most important thing in my life.

I also deeply admire the contributions the Church has made to the world in various areas, including education and health care. The best educational institutions of the Middle Ages in Europe were founded by the Catholic Church. The modern health care system worldwide owes much to the contribution of the Church, including in the United States. For example, the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, considered one of the best hospitals in the United States, was originally founded with financial contributions from Catholic nuns.

You mentioned that you believe faith should not be hidden in public. Why do you see it that way?

Faith is not something that should be hidden. When we get to know Jesus, we feel the urge to share his love with others. We are called to live this faith openly in public.

You have also said that the book ?Pardon, I Am a Christian? by C.S. Lewis was an important turning point for you. What do you mean by that?

As you may know, C.S. Lewis, the author of well-known books such as ?The Chronicles of Narnia,? was an atheist before his conversion. In ?Mere Christianity? he formulates Christianity on a philosophical and theological level with remarkable clarity. As someone in search of the truth, I found his book fascinating when I first read it, and it gradually led me to the realization that Christianity is the most rational faith.

Many Western nations are in a state of ?self-destruction,? some claim. What are your thoughts?

The German-speaking people reading this can see the self-destruction of their nation if they look around. This also applies to other Western countries. I would like to quote one of my favorite pastors, Cardinal Robert Sarah, who once said: ?The West has denied its Christian roots. A tree without roots dies.?

Western civilization began denying its Christian roots several decades ago, which has led to the acceptance of all kinds of immorality and confusion, including the confusion of gender theory. Furthermore, the resulting vacuum appears to be filled by individuals and groups who harbor hatred for the West and its Christian origins.

What can we do to save the Western nations? 

The only answer is a return to the Christian faith, which should happen immediately, otherwise there will be no return. Even the well-known atheist Richard Dawkins recently lamented the decline of Christian culture. At the very least, these events should open our eyes. However, I really hope that people start to realize the mistakes they have made.

Immigrant Christians are doing their best to reevangelize Western nations. During Holy Week their churches were overcrowded. I believe this has inspired the people who have lived there for centuries to reconnect with their Christian faith and heritage. It is worth noting that many churches in the West reported high attendance for this year?s Easter Vigil.

On social media, you have tens of thousands of followers on Twitter and Instagram. How is it possible to effectively proclaim and evangelize the Catholic faith in the digital age?

When I started being active on social media, I had no idea that I would reach so many people. Lots of good things are happening around us. During the Easter Vigil, thousands of people became Catholic, including in the United States, where we had the largest number of converts.

We need to use our social media platforms to spread this great news that is happening around us. Furthermore, there are many people out there who truly live the Catholic faith even under difficult circumstances. If we shared their stories, thousands would be inspired. Social media is so powerful at this time that God will work miracles through us if we use it effectively.

This article was first published by CNA Deutsch, CNA's German-language partner, and has been translated and adapted for CNA.

The popular chocolate Ferrero Rocher actually honors Our Lady of Lourdes. / Canva Stock Images

CNA Staff, Apr 16, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Many know Ferrero Rocher for its popular hazelnut chocolates, but the company?s tie to Our Lady of Lourdes is lesser known.

Michele Ferrero, the company?s founder and a devout Catholic, had a deep devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and wanted to honor her through his work. It is reported that he named his company ?Rocher? after the rock grotto, the Rocher de Massabielle, which marks the location where the Virgin Mary appeared to St. Bernadette in Lourdes, France.

In fact, ?rocher? means ?rock? in French. With this in mind, many point to the chocolate?s crunchy coating and uneven gold wrapping as Ferrero?s attempt to resemble this rock formation at Lourdes, which had a special meaning to the chocolatier. 

At the 50th anniversary of the founding of the company, Ferrero said: ?The success of Ferrero we owe to Our Lady of Lourdes; without her we can do little.?

In an interview with CNA?s Spanish-language news partner, ACI Prensa, in 2023, Father Mauricio Elias, a chaplain at the Sanctuary of Lourdes, said: ?Mr. Ferrero had a lot of devotion to the Virgin of Lourdes; he came a lot to Lourdes and was a benefactor.?

?He was a man who always came here, he had a lot of devotion to the Virgin, he confessed, he led a Christian life,? Elias added.

It was said that Ferrero made annual pilgrimages to Lourdes and also organized a visit for his employees. He also had a statue of the Virgin Mary in each of his company?s 14 production facilities around the world. 

Ferrero passed away on Feb. 14, 2015, at the age of 89. Shortly before his death, a flood damaged the sanctuary at Lourdes. Ferrero promised ?a great donation to recover what was lost,? Elias shared. After his death, his children kept their father?s promise and helped with the repairs. 

The family-run business continues its tradition with Michele?s son, Giovanni Ferrero, running the company today. Founded in 1946 in Alba, Italy, by Pietro Ferrero, Michele?s father, today Ferrero Rocher is the third-largest chocolate producer in the world. Since its launch in other European countries in 1982, the company has expanded to include other brands such as Nutella, Tic Tac, and Kinder, among others.

Pope Francis blesses an unborn baby during the Papal Foundation's annual pilgrimage in Rome, Friday, April 12, 2024. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Stampa, Apr 15, 2024 / 17:45 pm (CNA).

?Italians are in danger of disappearing.? 

?The birth rate in Italy is at an all-time low.? 

These are not just canned phrases but the specific findings of Italian research and surveys. The famous ?demographic winter? often mentioned by Pope Francis is evident in many regions of Italy except one: Alto Adige-Südtirol and its capital, Bolzano. 

To date, this area has been called a ?parallel procreation universe? in Italy, with a birth rate that has remained constant for decades.

Its secret? This region invests in children and families.

According to an April 1 New York Times article, ?the reason [for the consistent birth rate], experts say, is that the provincial government has over time developed a thick network of family-friendly benefits, going far beyond the one-off bonuses for babies that the national government offers.?

But what are these reforms specifically about?

In Bolzano, parents enjoy discounts on day care, child care products, groceries, health care, energy bills, transportation, after-school activities, and summer camps. According to the Times, ?the province supplements national child care allocations with hundreds of euros more per child? and boasts child care programs, including one in particular ?that certifies educators to turn their apartments into small nurseries [nursery schools].?

?All of that, experts say, helps free up women to work, which is vital for the economy,? the Times reported.

The website of the administration of the province of Bolzano states: ?The province supports families, starting with financial contributionsin favor of households with children and through the work done by the Family Agency for entities that provide child care services. The Family Agency also provides information for parents and works to improve family conditions. Families in Alto Adige need to live well and enjoy, even in the future perspective, a good quality of life.?

Everything is about family in these areas. Walking around Bolzano or South Tyrol, one can see an abundance of flyers advertising ?Welcome Baby? backpacks that are filled with picture books and advice for new parents.

?The difference is that it has a constant investment, over the years, unlike most national policies that are one-offs,? Agnese Vitali, a demographer at the University of Trento, told the New York Times. ?Nobody plans to have children on the basis of one-off policies.?

In addition to the state check, it is possible for families to apply for a provincial check.

Another Bolzano perk is the ?Family+? benefits card, promoted by the municipality and is tied to the Despar Aspiag Service brand (a food retailer), which pledges to make a booklet of 12 vouchers, each worth 10 euros, for families with three or more children.

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

Before the march began, the president of the Polish Bishops? Conference, Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, stressed that ?life is a gift from God and as such it is an inalienable right of every human being, which is why it must be protected and supported at every stage of its development.? / Credit: EWTN Polska

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 15, 2024 / 16:45 pm (CNA).

On Sunday, April 14, 50,000 people flooded the streets of Warsaw, Poland, for the National March for Life to defend the unborn at a time when the country?s parliament is considering bills to legalize abortion. 

Under the motto ?Long live Poland,? the event was organized by the Fundacja ?w. Benedykta (St. Benedict Foundation) and was sponsored by the Polish Bishops? Conference, among other organizations.

The spokeswoman for the march, Lidia Sankowska-Grabczuk, announced the estimated number of march participants. In addition, the bishops of Poland asked all parishes to pray for the unborn at all Sunday Masses.

At the march, signs could be read with messages such as ?To kill or not to kill, that is the choice,? ?I choose life,? ?Together for life,? and ?Love them both.?

An emotional moment for the participants was when the heartbeat of an unborn child was played over the loudspeakers. The march was broadcast by Radio María in Poland, EWTN Polska (Poland), TV Mn, and W Realu 24, among others.

Father Piotr W. Wisniowski, the spiritual director of EWTN Polska, noted that the National March for Life took place ?exactly on the 1,058th anniversary of momentous event of the baptism of Poland (April 14, 966) and on the National Day of the Christianization of Poland, established by the Polish Parliament five years ago.? 

Before the march began, the president of the Polish Bishops? Conference, Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, stressed that ?life is a gift from God and as such it is an inalienable right of every human being, which is why it must be protected and supported at every stage of its development.?

?Respect for life, which belongs to the most important values, is one of the fundamental duties of every human being,? he said.

The prelate highlighted that the National March for Life is ?a manifestation of respect for the life that has been conceived, of acceptance of this life in love and of an expression of gratitude to the parents who undertake difficulties of raising children, giving them the opportunity to grow and develop.?

The abortion debate in Poland

Two days prior to the march, on April 12, CNN reported that lawmakers in the Polish Parliament voted on four proposals, one of which would return the abortion law to what it was before 2020, which allowed abortion if ?the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest, if the mother?s life was at risk, or in the case of fetal abnormalities.? In 2020, a law was passed that prohibits abortion almost completely in the country.

The proposals approved for debate also include one from Prime Minister Donald Tusk?s party, which would allow abortion up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. However, if passed, it would face the possible veto by the country?s Catholic president, Andrzej Duda.

The former president of the Polish Bishops? Conference, Archbishop Stanislaw Gadecki, recently pointed out that Article 38 of the Polish Constitution ?guarantees the legal protection of the life of every human being,? which was confirmed by the Constitutional Court in its May 28, 1997, ruling.

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

Approximately 1,000 people have been working daily on the restoration of the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris, France. / Credit: Sumit Surai, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 15, 2024 / 14:45 pm (CNA).

On April 15, 2019, Paris witnessed one of the most devastating tragedies in its recent history. Notre Dame Cathedral, a religious, architectural, and cultural symbol that had withstood the passage of time, was engulfed in flames.

The fire, which originated in the space under the roof, quickly spread through the wooden rafters of the attic loaded with centuries of history and flammable material. The flames consumed the iconic spire of the cathedral, which collapsed in a dense column of smoke.

Despite the disaster, except for the main altar, all the works of art in the cathedral and the reliquary containing the crown of thorns were rescued and safely stored in different places.

The archbishop of Paris, Laurent Ulrich, announced in a pastoral letter that the reopening of the cathedral is scheduled to begin with a triduum on Dec. 7 that will include the official inauguration in which the French state, which actually owns the cathedral, turns it over to the Catholic Church for the use of worship. A liturgical celebration with a Magnificat or a Te Deum will be held that day and then vespers.

The consecration of the altar is scheduled to take place on Sunday, Dec. 8, during the first Mass in the restored cathedral. Finally, the solemnity of the Immaculate Conception will be celebrated, which this year is moved to Dec. 9 because the feast falls on the second Sunday of Advent.

In addition to the events for the reopening of Notre Dame, the archbishop of Paris announced an octave from Dec. 8?15, with each day featuring a solemn celebration with a particular theme.

Architect Philippe Villeneuve was in charge of supervising the restoration of the church, working with a team of professionals to reconstruct the cathedral according to its original design, including the spire, which was designed by architect Eugène Viollet-le-duc in the 19th century.

Reconstruction work began just 24 months after the tragic incident. The first phase consisted of cleaning and securing the site with the participation of more than 200 different companies.

Those responsible for the project have estimated that approximately 1,000 people have been working daily on the restoration process.

According to the Rebuilding Notre Dame de Paris project, the task of restoring the cathedral is estimated to have cost about $767 million. Thankfully, the global response has been overwhelming: A total of approximately $928 million has been raised to date, given by donors from 150 countries.

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

Jaroslaw Kaczynski (front, center), leader of the Law and Justice political party (PiS) in Poland, takes part in the voting on four draft projects on abortion rights at the Polish Parliament (SEJM) on April 12, 2024, in Warsaw, Poland. / Credit: Omar Marques/Getty Images

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Apr 12, 2024 / 15:00 pm (CNA).

Catholic bishops in Poland are asking the faithful to make Sunday a ?day of prayer? for unborn children after the country?s lawmakers advanced four pro-abortion bills in the heavily Catholic country on Friday.

?I warmly encourage you to make the coming Sunday a day of special prayer in defense of the unborn,? Archbishop Tadeusz Wojda, the chair of the Polish Episcopal Conference, said in a statement.

?I ask that in all churches in Poland, at every holy Mass, we pray for this intention,? Wojda said.

Lawmakers on Friday advanced four pro-abortion bills to be considered by a special committee in the Sejm, which is Poland?s lower legislative body. This was the first major action on abortion taken by the new coalition government led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk after voters ousted the Law and Justice party from leadership of the country. 

Two of the bills would legalize abortion through the 12th week of pregnancy, which would be a sharp departure from the country?s strong pro-life laws. Under current law, abortion is only legal when the mother?s life is at risk or when the pregnancy occurred from illegal sexual activity, such as rape or incest.

A third bill would decriminalize abortion. Although women who procure abortions do not face criminal penalties under current law, anyone who assists a woman in carrying out an abortion could land up to three years in prison. The proposal would eliminate those criminal penalties for abortionists and other accomplices.

The fourth bill, which was proposed by the center-right Third Way party, would maintain most of the current abortion laws but expand legal abortion to instances in which the unborn child has a fetal abnormality.

In his call for a day of prayer, Wojda referenced his ?Statement on Respect for Human Life in the Prenatal Phase,? which he published on Thursday amid the ongoing abortion debate in Poland.

?Life is a gift of God and as such is an inalienable right of every human being; therefore, it must be protected and supported at every stage of its development,? the archbishop said. ?Respect for life, which belongs to the most important values, is one of the fundamental duties of every human being.?

The annual March for Life in Poland is also scheduled to take place in Warsaw, the country?s capital, on Sunday. The pro-life demonstration routinely draws thousands of people to the city.

A long abortion debate ahead

Several left-wing lawmakers in Poland cheered the result of the vote on Friday, but other members of Tusk?s coalition government took a more nuanced approach, which suggests that it?s still uncertain whether the proposals will make their way through the committee or whether they would pass the Sejm.

?We got it!!? Robert Biedro?, a member of the Polish New Left, said in a post on X. 

?The Sejm voted on the abortion [proposals] prepared by the Left and referred them to a special committee in the Sejm,? Biedro? said. ?This is good news, especially for Polish women who have been fighting for their rights for 30 years. We keep working!?

Sejm Marshal Szymon Ho?ownia, a member of the center-right Third Way and chair of the legislative body, did not indicate that he would vote for the proposal. Rather, in a post on X, he said the chamber?s decision to advance the bills was based on respect for the democratic process.

?We promised to stop arguing and we kept our word,? Ho?ownia said. 

?We believe that the greatest chance for change is provided by a referendum, but we voted for all the [proposals],? he added. ?We did it out of respect for democracy and concern for the durability of the coalition. Now we leave the fate of these bills in the hands of the committee members.?

Third Way has not formally endorsed the plan to legalize abortion through 12 weeks of pregnancy. Rather, the party?s official position has been that the Polish people should decide the country?s abortion laws via a national referendum. 

The country is governed by a three-prong coalition. The New Left and Tusk?s centrist Civic Coalition have both endorsed the plan to legalize abortion through 12 weeks. Third Way, which is part of that coalition, has not formally endorsed the plan. The conservative Law and Justice and the Confederation Liberty parties, which are in the minority, are opposed to the proposals. 

Dariusz Matecki, a member of Law and Justice, handed out figurines of an unborn child that show the child?s development by 10 weeks of pregnancy ? a time in which the child could be aborted under the proposals. 

?This educational model raises awareness of what a 10-week-old unborn baby looks like,? Matecki said in a post on X. ?... Many [members of Parliament] from Tusk?s coalition reacted with simple aggression and vulgarity.?

Poland and Malta are the only two countries in the European Union that have strong pro-life protections for unborn children.

German police cars (file image) / Mike Baumeister via Unsplah (CC0)

CNA Newsroom, Apr 12, 2024 / 14:00 pm (CNA).

German authorities have reported the arrest of four suspects allegedly planning terror attacks in Germany. According to Bild newspaper, the group intended to target Christians attending church services and police stations with knives and Molotov cocktails.

The Düsseldorf public prosecutor?s office revealed that the suspects, who are between 15 and 16 years old, were apprehended over the Easter weekend.

?The suspects are strongly suspected of having planned an Islamist-motivated terrorist attack and of having agreed to commit it,? authorities stated, as reported by CNA Deutsch, CNA?s German-language news partner.

The arrests were conducted following an investigation by the Public Prosecutor General?s Office and the anti-terror unit, ZenTer NRW. North Rhine-Westphalia?s interior minister, Herbert Reul, detailed the case at a press conference in Düsseldorf on Thursday, noting that the suspected terror plans were ?quickly and purposefully thwarted.?

Reul mentioned that it took only five days from the initial findings by German security authorities to the arrest. ?We succeeded in preventing worse things from happening,? he stated, as quoted by FAZ newspaper.

These arrests are not isolated incidents. In November 2023, two teenagers, aged 15 and 16, were arrested on suspicion of terrorism. They reportedly sympathized with the Islamic State and were believed to have planned a Christmas market attack using a vehicle, CNA Deutsch reported.

In December and early January, several of Europe?s most renowned cathedrals, including those in Cologne and Vienna, were on high alert due to concerns about a planned attack for New Year?s Eve. Authorities detained but later released three suspects; the men were reportedly members of the Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K), the same group linked to the March 25 Moscow concert hall attack.

In July 2023, German police arrested seven members of an alleged Islamist terror cell in the same region. According to public broadcaster ZDF, similar arrests were made simultaneously in the Netherlands. The men of Tajik and Turkmen origin reportedly traveled to Western Europe via Ukraine.

Pope Francis meets with a group of 200 children studying catechism and in a relaxed manner answered some of their questions on April 11, 2024, at St. John Mary Vianney Parish in Borghesiana, Italy. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 12, 2024 / 13:30 pm (CNA).

Pope Francis made a special ?getaway? from the Vatican yesterday afternoon and met with a group of 200 children at a parish in metro Rome.

A brief statement released by the Holy See?s Press Office said that the Holy Father went to St. John Mary Vianney Parish in Borghesiana, east of the Italian capital.

There Pope Francis met with a group of 200 children studying catechism and in a relaxed manner answered some of their questions.

Pictures from the meeting posted on social media show the Holy Father happily greeting the children and even giving them playful ?high fives.? 

According to the Dicastery for Evangelization, for approximately one hour, the ?pope catechized with the children.?

Responding to their questions, he offered a brief catechesis on the topic of the prayer of thanksgiving, emphasizing that it is one of the most important in the Christian life.

?It?s important to give thanks for everything. For example, if you enter a person?s house and don?t say thank you, or don?t say hello, is that good? The first word is ?thank you,? so the second is ?permission,?? he told the children at the parish in suburban Borghesiana, located in the eastern part of the diocese.

?The third word is ?forgiveness,?? the pope continued. ?Is a person who never asks for forgiveness good? It?s difficult to ask for forgiveness, sometimes shame and pride go with it. But it?s important when you say I?m sorry a lot. Three words: thank you, permission, sorry.?

Next, Pope Francis asked the children: ?But do you pray? How do you pray? What can you say to the Lord?? One of the children said that he and his family pray before eating.

?He said something important. But do you know that there are so many children who don?t have food? Do I thank the Lord for giving me food? Do I thank you for giving me a family?? he asked.

The last question touched on the topic of faith. ?But are you Christians?? Pope Francis asked. ?Do you have faith? Let?s say it together. Thank you, Lord, for giving me faith.?

During the exchange, one of the children?s most emotional questions was from a 10-year-old named Alice: ?How can I thank the Lord in my illness??

?Even in dark moments, we have to thank the Lord, because he gives us the patience to tolerate difficulties. Let?s say it together: Thank you, Lord, for giving us the strength to tolerate pain,? the pontiff said. The children also asked him why there was death and loneliness.

?We must always thank him, at all times. I give you some advice,? Pope Francis said. ?Before going to sleep, think: ?What can I thank the Lord for today?? Give thanks,? he encouraged the children.

At the end of the meeting, the children together with the Holy Father recited a ?Prayer of Thanksgiving? composed for the occasion, which will serve as a reminder of an extraordinary moment in their lives.

Before leaving, Pope Francis, greeting and joking with them, gave each of the children a chocolate egg.

To the priests and the 20 catechists present he gave the first six volumes published in the series ?Notes on Prayer.?

What is the School of Prayer?

This is the pontiff?s first meeting for the so-called ?School of Prayer,? an initiative promoted by the Vatican as part of this Year of Prayer in preparation for the Jubilee Year 2025.

As part of the project, Pope Francis will hold different meetings ?with some different categories of people to pray together, including some forms of prayer.?

As Archbishop Rino Fisichella, pro-prefect of the Dicastery for Evangelization, explained to ACI Prensa, CNA?s Spanish-language news partner, these prayer meetings ?will depend on the commitments of Pope Francis and will possibly include people and families from the Diocese of Rome.?

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

Archbishop Georg Gänswein and Pope Francis on St. Peter?s Square, May 21, 2014. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

CNA Newsroom, Apr 12, 2024 / 10:25 am (CNA).

Not for the first time, it has been reported that Pope Francis is considering a diplomatic role for Archbishop Georg Gänswein, the former private secretary to the late Pope Benedict XVI.

According to Argentinian newspaper La Nación, Gänswein may be appointed to nuncio, or papal ambassador, though the country for this posting has not been disclosed. 

The future role of the late Benedict?s secretary has been the subject of rumor and gossip across Rome and the Church in Germany for many months. 

Previous speculations ? as early as March 2023 ? included the claim that Gänswein would serve as papal ambassador in Costa Rica. The eloquent prelate is fluent in several languages, including German and Italian.

Gänswein currently resides in his home region of the Archdiocese of Freiburg, southern Germany. He has been without any official role in the Church following instructions from Pope Francis that he should not live in Rome.

While speculation is again running rife on social media about Gänswein possibly being sent to an exotic posting, neither the German prelate nor the Vatican have confirmed an appointment. 

Though sidelined officially, the 67-year-old has been warmly received by ordinary Catholics in Bavaria and elsewhere and holds the title of an honorary canon in Freiburg Cathedral.

The archbishop traveled to Rome on Dec. 31, 2023, to mark the first anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI?s death, where he celebrated Mass at St. Peter?s Basilica.

The relationship between Gänswein and the current pope has been notably strained. In a recent Spanish-language interview book, ?El Sucesor,? Pope Francis went so far as to say Benedict was ?being used? by Gänswein in the context of the publication of a ?tell-all? book. 

Before his July 2023 departure from Rome, Gänswein spent many years in the Eternal City: He served as Benedict XVI?s personal secretary from 2003 until the Bavarian pope?s death on Dec. 31, 2022. Benedict also appointed him to serve as the prefect of the papal household in 2012, a role he carried into the pontificate of Pope Francis.

Hailing from the Black Forest region of Germany, the son of a blacksmith was ordained a priest in 1984 by Archbishop Oskar Saier in Freiburg and holds a doctorate in canon law from Ludwig-Maximilian University in Munich.

On April 11, 2024, Bishop José Ornelas Carvalho Leiria-Fátima, Portugal, said that a ?fundamental team? would be convened in order to determine the total amounts of compensation awarded to abuse victims.  / Credit: Santuário de Fátima

CNA Staff, Apr 11, 2024 / 15:25 pm (CNA).

The Portuguese Episcopal Conference announced on Thursday the creation of a ?financial compensation? fund for victims of Church abuse in that country.

The Conferência Episcopal Portuguesa (CEP) said on its website that the bishops at their plenary assembly ?unanimously approved the allocation of financial compensation, on a supplementary basis, to victims of sexual abuse against vulnerable children and adults in the context of the Catholic Church in Portugal.?

The assembly had convened in Fátima on Monday of this week. The fund ?will count on the solidarity contribution of all dioceses? in the country, the announcement said. 

An independent commission authorized by the Portuguese bishops found last year that thousands of children had been sexually abused by priests and others within the Church in that country since the 1950s.

The commission, which began its work in January 2022, received a total of 564 testimonies, of which it validated 512. Many of the victims who testified said they knew of other children who also had been abused. 

Officials ultimately estimated ?a minimum number of 4,815 children? abused by Church officials there. 

On Thursday, Leiria-Fátima Bishop José Ornelas Carvalho said that a ?fundamental team? would be convened in order to determine the total amounts of compensation awarded to abuse victims. 

Carvalho, who serves as president of the CEP, noted that ?no amounts or contingents have been fixed for each diocese? and that ?if a diocese has more difficulties of means, it will not be alone in this situation.?

The conference will ?take until the end of this year to collect the applications? for the fund, the prelate said. 

The conference in its announcement expressed ?communion with the suffering of the victims,? adding that the Portuguese bishops ?reaffirm the total commitment to do everything for their reparation.?

Last year, announcing steps to end sexual abuse in the Portuguese Church including all-lay diocesan commissions and a memorial to victims, the bishops expressed ?deep gratitude to all the victims who have given their testimony? to the investigation. 

Father Manuel Barbosa, a spokesman for the conference, said at the time that the bishops also offered ?a word of courage to all the victims who still harbor the pain in the depths of their hearts.?

The consecration of Father Martin Chambers as the new bishop of Dunkeld, Scotland had been scheduled for April 27. / Credit: Diocese of Dunkeld/Shutterstock

ACI Prensa Staff, Apr 11, 2024 / 14:05 pm (CNA).

The Diocese of Dunkeld, Scotland, announced Wednesday that Bishop-elect Martin Chambers, who was scheduled to be consecrated as its new bishop on April 27, passed away at the age of 59.

?It is with deep regret and sadness that I have to inform you that our bishop-elect, Martin Chambers, died in his sleep last night,? diocesan administrator Father Kevin Golden posted on the diocese?s X account April 10. ?May he rest in peace and may his family and loved ones find comfort in the risen Lord and in the love of family and friends.?

The diocese did not give a cause of death. However, the bishop-elect had believed to be in good health, according to The Tablet in the U.K.

The diocesan administrator invited the faithful to join in prayer for the bishop-elect at a Mass this Friday at 1 p.m. in St. Andrew?s Cathedral.

Chambers? sudden death was also mourned by neighboring dioceses.

?Father Chambers was due to be ordained bishop of Dunkeld on April 27. Last week he traveled to Lourdes to pray for his new diocese,? the Archdiocese of Glasgow observed on its X account.

Chambers was born on June 8, 1964, and ordained a priest for the Diocese of Galloway on Aug. 25, 1989.

Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Dunkeld on Feb. 2, and his episcopal consecration was scheduled for April 27.

Upon learning of his appointment this past February, Chambers said: ?As I undertake this new mission as bishop of Dunkeld, I promise to sit in prayer as a disciple at the feet of Jesus, listening to his voice calling me forward in faith.?

?Together, with the strength and inspiration of Christ, we can all continue to build the kingdom in the Diocese of Dunkeld,? he said.

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

null / Credit: Brian A Jackson / Shutterstock

CNA Newsroom, Apr 11, 2024 / 06:45 am (CNA).

At a hearing for a criminal trial in France, a priest of the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) who spent six years in the U.S. has admitted to sexual misconduct with French minors over a period of 15 years, local media reported Sunday. 

Speaking at the criminal court in the city of Gap in southeastern France, Father Arnaud Rostand on April 4 admitted to the accusations, according to La Provence newspaper, saying: ?I ask for forgiveness from the victims and deeply regret everything I have done.?

The 58-year-old is charged with misconduct against seven boys, often during church-related activities like scout camps in France, Spain, and Switzerland, the paper said, noting the abuse allegedly took place over a 15-year period between 2002 and 2018.

During that time, the priest held several roles, including that of a school principal in France, but also served as U.S. district superior from 2008 to 2014. In a ?farewell letter? published in July 2014 but no longer linked on the current website, he announced his departure from that role, writing he had been assigned to manage communications for the society from its general house in Menzingen, Switzerland.

In a statement published April 5 on its website, the SSPX expressed deep regret over the abuse.

?The Society of St. Pius X cannot find strong enough words to condemn these acts, which have irreparable consequences. It wishes to express its profound compassion for the victims, whom it intends to support as much as possible.?

The accused priest, according to the SSPX, had ?been the subject of appropriate disciplinary supervision within the fraternity.? 

Furthermore, the statement said, ?when, in 2019, the fraternity?s superiors learned of the existence of facts relevant to the tribunal, they reported them to the judicial authorities and strengthened the disciplinary framework.?

In a critical response to the statement, the victim advocacy platform SSPX Victims Collective noted that Rostand held senior roles and positions of authority, and that at least two other priests had been accused.

?For the third time in nine months, a priest of the fraternity [of St. Pius X] finds himself before a French court for sexual assault or rape. Not to mention multiple proceedings abroad,? the group said in a statement.

The sentence in the Rostand case is expected to be passed in early June.

The SSPX is a traditionalist group founded by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in 1970 that has an irregular canonical status. The group is not overseen by the Catholic Church or any diocese within the Catholic Church.

In 2020, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation launched a multiyear investigation for alleged sex abuse by clergy, including SSPX members and four Catholic dioceses. The report, released in 2023, identified 188 suspects but did not result in charges.